34 



®l)c jfcirmct's illontljh) Visitor. 



A Garden in Mourning— or, the way 'Squire 

 Easysoul was reformed. 



Captain Jabez Novveed is one of the very best 

 gardeners in all the regions bordering on the 

 Kennebec ; and it puts this "fine old gentleman" 

 in as much pain to merely cast a look at some 

 gardens, as those buzzing little millers exhibit on 

 a summer's eve when they lose their wings in 

 battling with the tapers. 



'S luire Jason Easysoul lives in Jabez's neigh- 

 borhood ; but, so far as gardening operations are 

 concerned, it would seem that he did not profit 

 much by his neighbor's good example, as his 

 most prominent garden crop has usually been 

 weeds. 



Many and many is the time, the Captain has 

 taken the 'Squire to do relative to bis slovenly 

 gardening operations, with a view and a sincere 

 hope of bringing about a salutary reformation, 

 but his efforts have been crowned with ill suc- 

 cess. 



Last summer, the 'Squire's garden was un- 

 commonly neglected ; and when the weeds had 

 attained such a growth as to almost completely 

 conceal from view the sickly-looking vegetables, 

 the Captain could not contain himself any long- 

 er, and resolved upon a desperate effort to bring 

 his neighbor to his senses, affirming, if this last 

 scheme didn't work, the 'Squire and his garden 

 might both "go to gross." 



One day the Captain was slowly marching 

 home from this unpleasant and to him wretched 

 looking scene, with his eyes cast on the ground 

 and his hands clasped behind him, musing, and 

 looking for all the world as though something 

 very uncommon and afflictive had happened, 

 when Aunt Squiggles, attracted by his unusual 



appearance, came to the door and inquired : 



" What's happened, Cap'n ?" 



"Some one is dead at 'Squire Easysoul's, I 

 suspect." 



"Do tell — who can it be— never beard any on 

 'em was sick — it can't be — who told you so?" 



"No one told me so, hut then I suspect such 

 must be the case." 



" Oh, lor — mortals all we he, droppin' down 

 like the grass — who knows whose turn'll come 

 next— I must go right over to the 'Squire's and 

 console 'em." 



" I didn't say, Aunt, that some one loas dead at 

 the 'Squire's, but 1 suspect that is the case." 



" I know it, 1 know it— the Lord comfon'em — 

 but what makes you suspect some on 'em is 

 dead ?" 



" I saw deep mourning there as I passed." 



"It must be — it must be," exclaimed the good 

 lady as she turned and entered the house. 



The Captain went home, and Mrs. Squiggles 

 soon spread the melancholy news all over the 

 neighborhood. Great was the grief, rendered 

 doubly so by the suddenness of the event, no one 

 having heard that any of the 'Squire's family had 

 been indisposed. 



In a few minutes several good ladies, led by 

 Aunt Squiggles, were seen wending their way 

 towards the 'Squire's, often making use of their 

 linen 'kerchiefs to wipe away the tears. They 

 entered the front yard with trembling steps, 

 beating hearts and moistened eyes. One of the 

 'Squire's daughters, seeing the sorrow-stricken 

 troop approaching, and fearing that something 

 dreadful must have happened in the neighbor- 

 hood, ran and apprised her father, mother and 

 sisters, who immediately rushed to the door. 

 Aunt Squiggles was surprised at meeting them 

 thus, and "thunderstruck when they spoke, with 

 one voice, and inquired what had happened ? 



"Oh, dear— aint it so?" exclaimed Aunt. 



" Why, what do you mean ? explain yourself, 1 

 said the 'Squire, his feeling wrought up to a high 

 pitch, for him. 



" Why, aint any one of your folks dead?" ea\ 

 Aunt wilh a heavy sigh. 



« Dead— dead!" repeated the 'Squire. " Why, 

 who told you such a story ?" 



" Cap'n Noweed said he suspected some one 

 on yer was dead." 



"Cap'n Noweed told you he suspected some 

 one of us was dead ! Can it he possible !" 



" He said so — and when I asked him what 

 made him suspect so, he said he saw deep 

 mourning here when he passed." 



"Saw deep mourning here! What can my 

 good neighbor mean ? Sit you down, while I go 



for the Captain for an explanation," said the 

 'Squire, as he put on his hat. 



Just as he stepped from the threshhold he 

 espied the Captain approaching, lie beckoned 

 to him — invited htm into the house, and, in the 

 presence of the anxious listeners, asked for an 

 explanation. 



" I told her I suspected' some one was dead 

 here, and the reason for my suspicion, and that 

 was, that 1 saw deep mourning here .'" 



"Deep mourning?" said the 'Squire, puzzled. 

 " What do you mean ?" 



" I mean just what I said," replied the Captain 

 firmly. 



"You haven't seen any mourning, about my 

 premises, certainly." 



" 1 have, and deep moilrning, too, and if you will 

 come to the door I will show it to you now." 



"There," said the Captain, pointing to the 

 garden, "don't you see deep mourning there ?" 



All eyes were strained to their utmost capaci- 

 ty, but they couldn't see anything that looked 

 like mourning. 



"Can't see it?" said the Captain, " why you 

 must all be blind! Can't see the numerous 

 heavu u'eeds! always indicative of deep mourn- 

 ing ?"' 



" Yes," said the 'Squire, " I can see them ; hut 

 they won't be seen long enough to get up another 

 such excitement as this, now 1 tell you," and the 

 way the 'Squire (hoe in hand) pitched into the 

 deep mourning vegetables was truly delightful to 

 the Captain. 



This last scheme of the Captain's had its de- 

 sired effect. The 'Squire raised a pretty good 

 crop of vegetables last season, though it was late 

 before he set about it ; and the coming season 

 he says his tutor will have to rise early if he 

 beats him. — .Maine Farmer. 



Cotton as Manure. — Some recent experi- 

 ments have been made in France to quicken the 

 growth of pot-herbs and other vegetables, by the 

 application of cotton. The refuse cotton from 

 a spinner's room was applied by him to the use 

 of a hot-bed, in place of ordinary manure. The 

 idea was naturally suggested from seeing the 

 heap, like manure, in a state of fermentation. — 

 Accordingly, on the 5th of December, 1845, he 

 planted on a bed of sweepings; and twenty-six 

 days after, on the 1st of January, 184(5, it brought 

 him a small bunch of asparagus. The bed was 

 made in an open kitchen garden; but the gar- 

 dener had taken the precaution to cover it with 

 coarse straw, thinly spread. He succeeded in 

 raising other asparagus from the same bed until 

 the end of May, when there was no use to force 

 it. In December, 1846, he resumed the experi- 

 ment on a seed plot of one year, with the same 

 success. From another bed he plucked on the 

 8th of May, 1846, his first melon, which was a- 

 bundantly ripe and mellow, and very good. The 

 seed was planted Feb. 10th. The beds are made 

 in the open kitchen garden. A ditch is excava- 

 ted, a yard or more wide, of convenient size for 

 a bed. The sweepings are deposited in this, in 

 a state of fermentation, and packed down with 

 the feet. This is abundantly watered, and on 

 the top a thin layer of manure is deposited. 



Clearing of Woodlands. 



There are few evils more to he lamented than 

 the wanton destruction of young growing wood, 

 Notwithstanding the consumption of timber and 

 fuel is so great in almost every settled part of our 

 vast territory, and the demand promises before 

 many years to exceed the supply, it is painful to 

 behold the useless and reckless warfare which is 

 so frequently waged against our forests. — 

 "France," observed an eminent statesman, "will 

 decline, as many flourishing countries have, if 

 she does not follow the example of Cyrus, who 

 planted forests in Asia Minor. It is only the 

 abundance of forests and water, that enables 

 China to support her 300,000,000 of people ; be- 

 cause, in that empire, there are planted more 

 trees than destroyed. Spain, so highly cultiva- 

 ted, and so densely populated, in the time of the 

 Romans, the Moors, and even Charles V., owes 

 her desolate aspect at present, to this waste of 

 wood." The same is the case with several parts 

 of Asia, as well as of South America, Mexico, 

 and California, and the same will inevitably be 

 the result in this country, unless efficient and 

 frugal means are speedily adopted to prevent iis 

 waste. 



With many of our farmers, it is customary to 

 pursue a very injudicious course in regard to their 

 woodlands, selecting the older and larger trees, 

 or those which are decayed or dead, with the 

 view of leaving the younger or more vigorous 

 ones to grow. By this method it is next to an 

 impossibility to fell large trees, without serious 

 injury to the smaller ones, which must inevitably 

 be more or less mutilated or crushed to the 

 ground. Hence, if the growth be thick, nume- 

 rous openings will be made, and roads, or path- 

 ways, must he cleared, in order to haul out the 

 wood after it is cut. 



In France, the most economical plan of man- 

 aging woodlands is, to cut clean and smooth as 

 you go. The clearing thus made, if intended for 

 future growth, is not burnt over as wilh us, but 

 is immediately enclosed and carefully protected 

 from the depredations of cattle, sheep, &.C., al- 

 lowing the youn™ sprouts, which start with vigor, 

 to pursue their growth unmolested, until they are 

 beyond the reach of harm. In felting a tree, the 

 closer it is cut to the ground, the more will be 

 gained in vvood, and often it will well pay the 

 tinnier to grub it up by the roots; for, the nearer 

 the ground, the larger and stronger the trunk, 

 and even the roots of some kinds of trees are 

 highly valued for numerous purposes in con- 

 struction, as well as in the arts. — JV. Y. Agricult. 



Bread-making. — Dr. H. B. Lewis, of this city, 

 has published a small tract upon bread-making, 

 a copy of which is before us. We heartily re- 

 commend it to the attention id' all families. Dr. 

 Lewis says that in one barrel of flour, by the 

 process of effervescence, in comparison with 

 fermentation, that there is a savinjr of thirty-three 

 pounds. Of this we have no doubt, although wo 

 believe, from experiments which we have seen 

 made, that the fermented bread is, what is tech- 

 nically called, lighter, more spongy. The gas 

 developed by fermentation is carbonic, therefore 

 it is recommended that bi-carbonate of soda and 

 muriatic acid be used tn develop this gas in the 

 making of bread, by the mixing of these sub- 

 stances together. The following are the recom- 

 mended proportions: For 3 lbs. fine flour 9 

 drachms of bi-carbonate of soda mixed with the 

 flour in cold water, the soda to be dissolved first 

 in a little milk-warm water, muriatic acid 114 

 drachms, and water in proper kneading quantity, 

 about 1| lbs. There is no use in adding salt in 

 making bread in this manner, as the combination 

 of muriatic acid with soda forms common salt — 

 the muriate of soda. The little pamphlet of Dr. 

 Lewis should be in the hands of every house- 

 wife, as it reveals much domestic chemical 

 knowledge, and Sir Humphrey Davy once said 

 "every good wife that boils a kettle or a pan, 

 would be all the better of drinking at the foun- 

 tain of chemical knowledge." — Scientific American. 



A friend of ours, who began life with less than 

 one thousand dollars, and who has brought up 

 reputably and well-educated, a large family, and 

 has now become rich from the profits of farming 

 alone, informed us that one season he expended 

 $900 for city manure, all of which he put on 

 twenty acres of land ; that he had not a doubt 

 but this manure increased the hay product of 

 that field at least one and a half tons per acre, 

 but he would only calculate it at one ton. Hay 

 was then worth for a series of six years the ave- 

 rage price of $15 per ton ; he thus realized 

 8L800 more within that six years than he other- 

 wise would have done, had he not purchased the 

 manure. He calculated that the grass this field 

 produced, which he fed off after mowing, was 

 an equivalent for the extra expense of cutting 

 and marketing this extra ton per acre ; and the 

 land at the end of the six years was in much bet- 

 ter condition than it was before he put on the 

 S900 worth of manure. — Agriculturist. 



Buckwheat.— Howitt, in his late work on 

 Germany, remarks that this corn affords a curi- 

 ous instance of how we sometimes translate the 

 names of things. In Germany, be says, it is 

 called buch-w'eizen, which means beech-vvheai, 

 because the grains are three-cornered, or shaped 

 exactly like the nuts of the beech. We have re- 

 tained' the name buck, which in English gives no 

 meaning, or a wrong one as though it were call- 

 ed nfterthe buck or male iallow-dcer. 



