156 



&i)e farmer's Ifloutljljj tetter. 



which I never shall forget. ' Your note is out- 

 lawed," said my brother, 'it was dated twelve 

 yeare ago, payable in two years; there is no wit- 

 ness, and no interest has ever been paid ; you 

 are not bound to pay this note; we cannot re- 

 cover the amount.' 'Sir,' said the old man, ' I 

 wish to pay it. It is the only heavy debt i have 

 in the world. It may be outlawed here, hut I 

 have no child, and my old woman and 1 hope 

 we have made our peaee with God, and wish to 

 do so with man. I should like to pay it,' and he 

 laid his bank notes before my brother, requesting 

 him to count them over. ' I cannot take this 

 money,' said my brother. The old man became 

 alarmed. ' I have cast simple interest for twelve 

 jears and a little over,' said the old man. ' I 

 will pay you compound interest, if you say so. 

 The debt ought to have been paid long ago, but 

 your father, sir, was very indulgent — he knew 

 I'd been unlucky* and told me not to worry about 

 it,' 



" My brother then set the whole matter plainly 

 tiefore him, and, taking the bank bills, returned 

 ihem to the old man's pocket-book, telling him 

 that, although our father left no formal will, he 

 had recommended to his children to destroy cer- 

 tain notes, due-bills, and other evidences of debt, 

 and release those who might be legally bound to 

 pay them. For a moment the worthy old man 

 appeared to be etupified. After he had collected 

 himself, and wiped a few tears from his eyes, he 

 stated that, from the time he had heard of our 

 father's deatli, lie had raked and scraped and 

 pinched and spared, to get the money together 

 for the payment of this debt 'About ten days 

 ago,' said lie, ' ! had made up the sum within 

 twenty dollars. My wile knew how much the 

 payment of this debt lay upon my spirits, and 

 advised me to sell a cow, and make up the dif- 

 ference, and get the heavy burden oft' my spirits. 

 I did so — and new what will my old woman 

 •say ? I must get back to the Cape and tell her 

 the good news. She'll probably say over the 

 •very words she said when she put her hand on 

 my s'hotilders as we parted — I have never seen the 

 righteous man forsaken, or hh seed begging bread.' 

 After a hearty shake of the baud, and a blessing 

 upon our old father's memory, he went on his 

 way rejoicing. 



" After a short silence — taking hie pencil and 

 making a cast — ' TJiere,' said my .brother, 'your 

 part of the amount would be so much — contrive 

 a plan to convey to me your share of the pleas- 

 tire derived from this operation, and the money 

 is at your service;" 



Such is the simple tale which I have told as it 

 was told to me. 



Agricultural Science. — The time has gone 

 by, when Agricultural Science was a subject of 

 derision or neglect by practical farmers. Every 

 one must rejoice to see the rapid advance which 

 it is making in the United States. Its greatest 

 triumphs have been hitherto in the old world, 

 and especially in England, where it has made a 

 garden spot of the whole island, and enabled a 

 mere speck on the surface of the waters to sup- 

 port at) unmenee population. But even in our 

 own country it has achieved its victories, for our 

 farmers are every day paying more attention to 

 the principles on which it devolves, and apply- 

 ing them with great success in their cultivation 

 of the soil. This is particularly observable in 

 some of the worn-out lands of our own State, 

 which have been made to renew their youth, and 

 though at one time as poor as Job in his lowest 

 estate, yet it may now he said of them, as it was 

 of the afflicted patriarch, that their " latter end 

 is better than their beginning." We have the 

 authority of one of the wisest practical farmers 

 of the State for the opinion, that Virginia, by 

 the advantages afforded by practical agricultural 

 science and the enlightened and persevering 

 employment of them, is destined not only to re- 

 pair her waste places, but make them equal in 

 fertility and beauty to the virgin regions of the 

 Western States.— Richmond (Va.) Republican. 



From Sharpe's Magazine. 

 My Own Place. 



BY MARTIN F. TOPPER. 



Whoever I am, wherever my lot, 



Whatever I happen to be, 

 Contentment and Duty shall hallow the spot, 



That Providence orders for me; 

 No covetous striving and straining to gain 



One feverish step in advance, — 

 I know my own place, and you tempt me in vain 



To hazard a change and a chance ! 



I care for no riches that are not my right. 



No honor that is not my due ; 

 But stand in my station by day or by night. 



The will of my Master to do ; 

 He lent me my lot, be it humble or high, 



And set me my business here, 

 And whether I live in his service, or die, 



My heart shall be found in my sphere ! 



]f wealthy, 1 stand as the steward of my King, 



If poor, as the friend of my Lord, 

 If feeble, my prayers, and my praises I bring; 



If stalwart, my pen or my sword ; 

 If wisdom be mine, I will cherish His gift, 



If eimpleness, bask in His love, 

 It' sorrow. His hope shall my spirit uplift, 



If joy, 1 will throne it above ! 



The good that it pleases my God to bestow, 



I gratefully gather and prize ; 

 The evil — it can be no evil, 1 know, 



But only a good in disguise ; 

 And whether my station be lowly or great, 



No duly can ever be mean, 

 The factory cripple is fixed in his fate, 



As well as a king or a queen ! 



For Duty's bright livery glorifies all 



With brotherhood, equal and free, 

 Obeying, as children, the heavenly call, 



That places us where we should be ; 

 A servant — the badge of my servitude shines 



As a jewel invested by heaven ; 

 A monarch — remember that justice assigns 



Much service where so much is given ! 



Away then with " helpings " that humble and harm, 



Though " bettering " trips from your tongue ; 

 Away ! for your folly would scatter the charm 



That round my proud poverty hung; 

 1 felt that 1 stood like a man at my post, 



Though peril and hardship were there, — 

 And all that your wisdom would counsel me most, 



Is — " Leave it : — do better elsewhere." 



If " better " were bettor indeed, and not " worse," 



I might go ahead with the rest, 

 But many a gain and a joy is a curse, 



And many a grief for the best ; 

 No ! — duties are all the " advantage " I use ; 



I pine not Tor praise or for pelf, 

 And as to ambition, 1 care not to choose 



Mv better or worse for myself! 



I will not, I dare not, I cannot ! — I stand 



Where God has ordained me to be, 

 An honest mechanic — or lord in the land — 



He fitted my calling for me : 

 Whatever my state, be it weak, be it strong, 



With honor, or sweat on my face, 

 This, this is my glory, my strength, and my song, 



I sland, like a star, in my place. 



O^r" We find the following excellent article in 

 the N. Y. Sunt— 



" Our farmers are just beginning to inquire in- 

 to and appreciate the benefit of applying science 

 to the cultivation of the soil. They resisted the 

 innovation at first, as resolutely as they did the 

 introduction of labor-saving machines, but inter- 

 est is ever mightier than prejudice, and a few 

 successful examples set by men who had taken 

 up agriculture more for experiment than liveli- 

 hood, soon loused the old fashioned farmer to 

 inquiry and imitation. The adaptation of soils 



to particular products has been consulted from 

 time immemorial, but without scientific tests; it 

 was never more than a half guess and chance 

 work. The farmer planted corn where he could 

 no longer grow wheat, and running through the 

 scale of grains, at length found his field only ca- 

 pable of bearing beans. Science has taught him 

 that any soil may bn kept in its first strength, 

 and even enriched forever, and that land which 

 has once borne wheat, may always bear wheat. 



"The plodding plough follower, who for cen- 

 turies turned his furrow m obedience to weather 

 signs, and knew nothing of chemical analysis 

 beyond the application of various manures in 

 greater or less quantities to his fields, has been 

 surprised to find the earth only a great chemical 

 compound, to be studied and worked into ser- 

 vice by the strictest rules of science, and that 

 guessing at the quality of soil is no longer ne- 

 cessary. What has a little science done simply 

 by its improved modes of grafting, towards re- 

 creating the fruit orchards of the country, pro- 

 ducing fruits of* new qualities and flavors? Hor 

 ticulture exemplifies the advantage of scientific 

 knowledge and application still more. With no 

 more expense and less labor, the scientific farmer 

 is enabled to produce from the acre double what 

 his 'old style' neighbor produces. By innocu- 

 lations, he produces new forms from old, and 

 raised two, three and four different crops from 

 his ground, instead of one yearly. 



"The introduction of labor-saving machines 

 created a new era in the history of agriculture, 

 but the application of chemical science to the 

 soil was a grander step. This last key unlocks 

 the earth and lets the farmer into secrets, now 

 as simple and beautiful, as they were once mys- 

 terious and confounding. Without enlarging 

 the boundaries of the farm-field, its products are 

 doubled and trebled by scientific culture, and 

 the country finds itself, by an easy and peaceful 

 revolution, without tax upon labor, increased in 

 its truest wealth ten, fifty, and an hundred pet- 

 cent. Scientific farming is in its infancy, but 

 spreading rapidly, it will soon cover our whole 

 soil. And born of this revolution, are the na- 

 tional, state, and county exhibits of agricultural 

 science and industry, which are so many incal- 

 culable stimulants to emulation among our farm- 

 ers. The golden age is rapidly approaching, and 

 its zenith will be indexed by the perfection of 

 the Earth's culture. When the farmer becomes 

 as skilful in cultivating his fields, as the warrior 

 has been in desolating them, the Millennium and 

 Paradise will have descended upon mankind." 



Parsnips. 



A correspondent has written to inquire "whe- 

 ther we know, by our own experience, the quali- 

 ty of the parsnip for feeding and fattening pigs." 

 In answer, we beg to state, that, at our farm at 

 Catlunds Bingmea, we have been in the habit of 

 employing parsnips for that purpose for some 

 time. Upon reference to our books, we find that 

 on the 11 th of October, 1847, we put up two 

 shotes of eleven weeks old, and fed them on 

 skim milk and parsnips, for three months, when 

 they were killed, weighing two hundred and 

 thirty-one and two hundred and thirty-eight 

 pounds. They were well fattened, firm in flesh, 

 and the meat of excellent flavor. The quantity 

 of parsnips consumed by litem was nine bushels 

 each. — Sussex (English) Express. 



We have often wondered that no account is 

 made of this valuable root. All the world is 

 alive to the value of the carrot ; while this escti- 



