£ljc .farmer's ittont ljhj faisttor. 



21 



An Incident in Real Life. 



A gentleman of lliis cily has furnished us 

 with the following interesting narrative of one 

 of those real struggles of the young, to assist 

 their parents, which sparkle like diamonds along 

 the pathway of human life. In traits like these, 

 there is a moral heroism manifested, which 

 ■marks the pure gold of human character. 



" Business called me to the United States Land 

 Office — while there awaiting the completion of 

 my business, a lad apparently ahout sixteen to 

 seventeen years old came in and presented the 

 Receiver a certificate of purchase for forty acres 

 of land. 1 was struck with the countenance and 

 general appearance of the lad, and enquired of 

 him for whom he was purchasing the land ; the 

 reply was, ' for myself, sir.' 1 then enquired 

 where he got the money ? he answered, ' I earn- 

 ed it by my labor.' 1 then said, you richly de- 

 serve the land. I then enquired, where did you 

 come from? 'New York,' said he. Feeling an 

 increased desire to know something more of this 

 lad, I asked him whether he had parents, and 

 where they lived ; on this question he took a 

 seat, and gave me the following narrative :" 



"I am from New York State — have there liv- 

 ing a father, mother, ami five brothers and sis- 

 ters — I am the oldest child. Father is a drink- 

 ing man, often would return home from his day's 

 work drunk, and not a cent in his pocket to buy 

 fooil for the family, having spent all his day's 

 earnings (or liquor with his drunken compan- 

 ions — the family hail to depend chiefly on mother 

 and myself for bread ; this distressed mother 

 much, and had a powerful effect on my feelings. 

 Finding father would not abstain from liquor, I 

 resolved to make an effort in some way to relieve 

 mother, sisters and brothers from want — after 

 revolving things over in my mind and consulting 

 with mother, I got all the information I could 

 phout the far Wes'. 1 started from home for 

 Wisconsin with three dollars in my pocket. 1 

 left home on foot ; after spending my three dol- 

 lars, I worked occasionally a day, and renewed 

 my travel so long as the money lasted. By la- 

 bor occasionally and the charitable treatment I 

 got on the road, I landed in Wisconsin : here I 

 got an axe — sat to work, and cleared land by the 

 job — earned money — saved it till 1 gathered $50, 

 which money I now pay for this lorty acres of 

 land." 



" Well, my good lad, (for by this time I be- 

 came much interested in his history,) what are 

 you now going to do with this land r" " Why, 

 sir, I shall continue to work and earn money, 

 and when 1 have spare time prepare some of 

 my laud fur culture, raise myself a log-house, 

 and when prepared will write hither and mother, 

 brothers and sisters to come to Wisconsin and 

 enjoy this home ; this land now bought by me, I 

 design for my mother, which will secure her 

 from want in her declining years." "What," said 

 I, " what will you do with your father if he con- 

 tinues to drink ardent spirits to excess ?" "Oh, 

 • sir, when we get him on the farm he' will feel at 

 home, keep no liquor in ihe house, and in a short 

 time he will be a sober man." I then replied: — 

 " Young man, these being your principles so 

 young, I recommend you to improve on them, 

 and the blessing of God will attend you. I shall 

 not be surprised to hear of your advancement lo 

 Ihe highest post of honor in the State — with 

 such principles as you have, you are deserving 

 of the noblest commendation." 



By this time the Receiver handed him his du- 

 plicate receipt for his forty acres of land ; rising 

 . from his seat on leaving the office, he said : " at 



LAST, 1 HAVE A HOME FOR MY MOTHER !" — Daily 



Wisconsin, of December 7th. 



Pore Air for Animals.— As the weather be- 

 comes warm, those farmers who have been care- 

 ful to make their animals comfortable by close 

 buildings, during the cold winter, should be 

 equally careful to supply them with pure air, as 

 warm weather approaches. If many animals 

 are in the same apartment, or near each other, in 

 close shelters, and exposed to the gases arising 

 from the manure, the atmosphere around them 

 becomes contaminated, and the animals are. very 

 liable to become diseased. 



In ventilating a barn or stable while the 

 weather is rather cool or chilly, carefully 

 avoid directing a fresh draught directly on 

 the animals, for, like human beings, they 

 are liable to colds, under great exposure. — 

 Plaster, charcoal powder, and various other ab- 

 sorbents, spread on the floor where stock are 

 kept, are excellent for imbibing the gase3 arising 

 from manures, and rendering the air pure. Com- 

 mon earth, of almost every description, as loam, 

 sand, gravel, pulverized peat, and sods, &.C., are 

 good absorbents, tending to render the air purer, 

 and save the manure ; and some of these are 

 within the reach of every farmer in the coun- 

 try. — New England Farmer. 



Past Memories. 



BY JOHN G. WH1TTIER. 



How thrills tnce more, the lengthening chain 



Of mem'ry at the thought of thee? 

 Old hopes which long in dust have lain, 

 Old dreams come thronging back again, 



And boyhood lives in me ; 

 I feel its glow upon my cheek, 



Its fullness of the Inart is mine, 

 As when I learned to hear thee speak, 



Or raised my doubtful eyes to thine. 



t hear again thy low replies, 



1 feel thine arm within my own, 

 And timidly again uprise 

 The fringed lids of hazel eyes 



With soft brown tresses overblown, 

 And memories of sweet summer eves, 



Of moonlit wave and willowy way. 

 Of slam and flowers, and dewy leaves, 



And smiles and tears more dear than they. 



Ere this, thy quiet eye hath smiled, 



My picture of thy vouth to see, 

 When half a woman, half a child, 

 Thy very artlessness beguiled, 



And Folly's self seemed wise in me: 

 I too can smile, when o'er that hour 



The lights of memory backwaid stream, 

 Yet feel trie while tint manhood's power 

 Is vainer than my boyhood's dream. 



Years have passed on, and lefl their trace 



Of giaver care and deeper thought, 

 And unto me the calm, cold lace 

 Of Mankind, and to thee, the grace 



Of Woman's pensive beauty brought. 

 Oh life's rough blast, for blame and praise, 



The school' boy's name has widely down; 

 Thine, In the green and quiet ways 



Of unobtrusive goodness known. 



And tvider yet, in thought and deed, 



Our still diverging paths incline; 

 Thine, the Genevan's sternest creed, 

 While answers lo my spirit's need 



The Yorkshire peasant's simple line ; 

 For thee the priestly rile and prayer, 



And holy day and solemn psalm ; 

 For me, the silent reverend, where 



My brethren gather, slow and calm. 



Yet hath that spirit left on me 



An impress Time has wom not out. 

 And something of mysell in thee, 

 A shadow of ihe past I see 



Lingering e'en thy way about , 

 Not wholly can the heart unlearn 



That lesson or its belter hours. 

 Nor yet has Time's dull footsteps worn 



To common dust that path of flowers. 



Scraps of History. 



First export of lumber. — The first export of lum- 

 ber from New England was in 1633, only three 

 years after ihe first landing of the Pilgrims at 

 Plymouth. The ships Anne and ihe Little James 

 had been sent from England to Plymouth, laden 

 with supplies and passengers. They arrived in 

 Plymouth in July, IG23. On their return, Sep- 

 tember 10, 1G23, the pilgrims loaded them with 

 clapboards and furs. The clapboards they bad 

 made themselves, and the furs they had obtained 

 from the Indians. This was the commencement 

 of the lumbering business in this part of the 

 world, which since then, has been, and even now 

 is immense. The necessities of the colonists as 

 well as their inclinations soon pushed them into 

 commercial life, and they and their descendants 

 have pursued it with a vigor, perseverance and 

 success unrivalled by any other people on earth. 



The first settlers were an industrious and en- 

 terprising people. Although for the first two 

 years they suffered for the lack of bread, on the 

 fifth year (1625) they were so successful In the 

 cultivation of Indian corn that they became over- 

 stocked with it. They were not the men to let 

 this surplus lie idle. So they laid a deck on one 

 of their little shallops, loaded her wilh corn, and 

 sent her to Kennebec, and traded it off with the 

 Indians for furs. 



This is the first coasting voyage that we find 

 on record, and the first starting of a coasting 

 business which still continues to increase, and is 

 even now of an incredible amount. 



It is related that although the shallop was pro- 

 vided with a deck amidship to keep the corn dry, 

 yet the men were exposed to the weather with- 

 out shelter. Having no seamen for service, Mr. 

 Winslow and some of the "old standards" per- 

 formed this voyage, in a tempestuous season, on 

 the approach of winter. They disposed of the 

 corn to advantage, and returned with seven hun- 

 dred pounds of beaver besides other furs, and at 

 the same time opened a profitable trade for fu- 

 ture occasions. After this a large business com- 

 menced with England, in which the colonists 

 supplied their English friends with dry fish, 

 lumber and furs.— Maine Farmer. 



Easy method of breaking glass in any required 

 direction. — Dip a piece of worsted thread in spir- 

 its of turpentine, wrap it round the glass in the 

 direction that you require it to he broken, and 

 ) then set fire to the thread ; or apply a red-hot 

 iron round the glass, and if it does not immedi- 

 ately crack, throw cold water on it while the 

 wire remains hot. Glass that is broken by this 

 means may often be fashioned ami rendered use- 

 ful for a variety of purposes. — English paper. 



Earliest Food for Bees.— In a conversation 

 the other day with a worthy ami observing farm- 

 er, lie remarked that the earliest food for bees, in 

 the spring, is maple sap. He states that he has 

 seen them gather round the sap troughs, in the 

 woods, during the warm days in the spring, be- 

 fore the buds or tassels of the willow and other 

 trees and shrubs had put out, sipping ami making 

 themselves glad with the sweets that they find 

 there. It wouldn't be a bad plan, if a person had 

 any maples in the vicinity of his hives, to tap 

 them for the use of his bees, — Maine Farmer. 



Value of Human Excrement. — Boussingault says 

 that the excrements of a man for one year con- 

 tain about twenty pounds of nitrogen, a sufficient 

 quantity for the growth of nine hundred pounds 

 — fifteen bushels — of wheat, rye or oats, or for 

 one thousand pounds of barley. And as they 

 can be disinfected and rendered pleasant to han- 

 dle by admixture with peal ashes, all farmers 

 who have peat upon their estates should see that 

 the valuable fertilizer at the head of this para- 

 graph be not wasted, but that it be treated so as 

 to be rendered tributary to the improvement of 

 his land. 



If the peat in the process of being burnt into 

 ashes be so burnt as to prevent the fire from 

 bursting out, a large proportion of the mass will 

 he carbon, which will act as a fixer of the vola- 

 tile part of the nitrogen of the excrement, and, 

 by arresting loss by evaporation, give the prop- 

 erty of lastingness to it as a manure, thereby 

 enhancing its value. — American Farmer. 



Elevated.— A farmer was elected to a corporal- 

 ship of a company. His wife after discoursing 

 with him some time upon the advantage his fam- 

 ily would derive from his exaltation, inquired 

 in a doubtful tone— "Husband, will it. be proper 

 to let our children play with the neighbor's 



