124 



THE FARMER'S MONTHLY VISITOR. 



Horses. 



SciclBE BT A Horse.— A horse at Louisville 

 becoming restive in his f^t-ar, reared, floundered, 

 pitched, &c. and in hiM operations dashed his 

 brains out upon the paVLinenl. Strange tliat hor- 

 ses will act so nnicli like rational beings. — JVorth- 

 eni Paper. 



Stopping a Horse. — As a horse harnessed to 

 a cA«r-n-A/«nc was yesterday running off at full 

 speed down the faubourg St. Martin, a locksmith 

 boldly placed himself in the middle of the street, 

 and, in spite of all the warnings of the bystan- 

 ders, tiuietly awaited the arrival of the frightened 

 animal. On the horse reaching hitn, he, with the 

 greatest presence of mind, seized it l)y the nose 

 with such force as to throw it to the ground. A 

 crowd soon assembled, in the midst of which 

 the bold locksmith walked away. A woman had 

 been knocked down by the vehicle in its progress, 

 but was not seriously injured. — French Paper. 



VVe once saw a horse who had killed himself 

 with a scythe, and was said to have committed 

 suicide by cutting his throat; but it was, as the 

 jury said, "accidental suicide." The cythe hung 

 over a fence by which he was feeding ; and as 

 he raised his head suddenly, it cut his neck just 

 at the junction with the liead, and killed him in- 

 stantly. 



Last week a dray horse on the Neck, after a 

 bard drive, was unharnessed, to refresh himself 

 by a roll. While rolling with his legs in the air. 

 a cracking of a bone wa.s twice distinctly heard. 

 It was tound that by some muscular convulsion 

 one of his legs was broken in two places, and, as 

 an act of humanity, he was shot We have heard 

 of a powerful man breaking his arm by the eon- 

 traction of the muscles in striking at an antag- 

 onist, whom the blow did not reach.; but this is 

 the first instance we have heard of a similar frac- 

 ture among (juadrupeds. Probably previous o- 

 ver-work had caused morbid and violent muscu- 

 lar action. 



We once marked a fine sorrel belonging to 



Mr. , in , who day after day ainused 



himself with a practical joke on some hogs. — 

 He would, while grazing on the green w ith them, 

 edge cautiously and watchfully along, until he 

 got them between himself and the river bank, 

 and then suddenly backing his ears and winnow- 

 ing, he would dash at them and drive them over 

 the bluff; and as they went rolling and scram- 

 bling to the water's edge, he would crane over 

 the brink to see the fun, with a silent horse- 

 laugh. We have heard of horse-laughs, but nev- 

 er saw one executed by a horse before or since. 

 The hogs never seeming to understand the joke, 

 exposed themselves often to its repetition ; and 

 as often as they did so he rej^ated the same sly 

 approach and sudden rush, until he seemed per- 

 fect in his tactics and never weary of his fun. 

 Other horses are trained to do clever things, but 

 that was an original genius. There was some- 

 thing human in it; and we enjoyed it as much as 

 when we see human swine absorbed in their 

 earthly instiucts, and rooting sordidly on in one 

 dull routine of selfishness, flurried and turned top- 

 sy turvy by the mischievous humor of some 

 shrewd wag, who has a soid above vegatables. 

 We dare say the pigs thought the sorrel took lib- 

 erties, and were as indignant at his indecorum as 

 a buzzard is with a boy who pelts one of them 

 with a corn cob; yet tliey put themselves in the 

 vvay of being worried again, just as we see the 

 victims of the Circe of complacent vanity, or 

 the soulless drudges of venality, day after day stu- 

 pidly following their noses to the brink of an up- 

 set — and when startled and tumbled over, indig- 

 nantly grunting and squeaking, and coining back 

 to be turned over again, and never thinking of 

 thanking the superior animal for not turning in 

 seriously and kicking them to death.— CAar.'ps- 

 toit Memmj. 



The Contrast. 



I. 



Do you see that proud, overbearing man, riding 

 in his jiiUled carriage? Look! he stops before a 

 magnificent mansion, and liveried lacquies, obedi- 

 ent to his call, assist him to descend. 



Do you see that poor jiiiseralile boy, wlio.=e tat- 

 tered clothes scare. ]., shi, I, | lilm from the in- 

 clemency of the weuili., ;- Mark! with a beseech- 

 ing look he soliiits-tl,;. ,„.|| man to purchase a 

 pencil, or a card of pm.s : ,u„l Ixliold how con- 

 tem|)tuously he is spuriied ! 



Twenty-five years ago that pompous man was 

 as poor, as friendless, and as wretched as the ur- 

 chin whom he despises. 

 II. 



Twenty-five years have passed since that day. 

 The same parties meet : lo ! the contrast. 



The once poor boy stands in the pride of man- 

 hood, active, intelligent, rich. A lovely woman, 

 his wife, leans upon his arms and three blooming 

 girls are by bis side. Grace in every action, l)e- 

 nevolence in every expression, and affluence 

 smiles in his unostentatious adornments. 



An old man approaches. The tottering step, 

 the thread-bare g.irments, and the painful ex- 

 pression that frets in every feature, too plaiidy de- 

 note a man of want and wo. Better dead, than 

 thus to drag on a miserable existence ! 



This may at the first blush appear to some an 

 improbable romance. It is truth. 

 III. 



In a country like ours, there is no man, howev- 

 er poor, if aided by industry, economy, and vir- 

 tue, but may rise from the lowest ranks of socie- 

 ty to the highest. The knowledge of this fact is 

 a blessed incitement to the young, and cheers 

 them on to struggle nobly in the paths which lead 

 to honor and independence, despite tlie thousjmd 

 obstacles that ojijiose their course. 



IV. 



There is no man, however affluent, but by 

 extravagance, and bad morals, may fall from 

 his high estate, and close bis days in peniu'y and 



Let none despise the poor because of their po- 

 verty : let none flatter the rich because of their 

 wealth. We may conquer poverty ; wealth may 

 subdue us. All men of equal virtue are equals. 

 If one man possesses more intelligence than his 

 fellows, though that of itself may not elevate 

 him in the ranks of the good, yet it brings him 

 added respect, and wins a willing admiration from 

 all men. " The good alone are great." 



from the Farmers' Cabinet. 

 The Farmer's Diary. 



Conversing with a friend in Delaware on the 

 very general rust which has befallen the wheat- 

 crop in that part of the country the present sea- 

 son, he assured me the evil had been the work of 

 a few hours only; the thick, moist and hot at- 

 inosphere of a certain Wednesday in June, hav- 

 ing been the cause of the prostration of their 

 hopes, which had, until then, been bright and 

 most promising. On my return home, I turned 

 to my diary, and read the following entries, which 

 to my mind fully corroborate the views which he 

 had taken, and go to prove the truth of the theo- 

 ry, that rust is occasioned by atmospherical influ- 

 ence. 



Tuesday, 22d June. Therm. 72deg. ; consi- 

 derable rain, close and warm ; afternoon excess- 

 ively close and hot. 



Wednesday, 23d June. Therm. aSdeg. ; close, 

 cloiiily, moist and hot ; a trying time for the 

 wheat. Lookout for blight, mildew artd rust; 

 rain about noon, excessively sulti-y. 



Thursday, 24lh June. Therm. 93deg. at noon, 

 hot and clear, the reverse of yesterday, by no 

 means so oppressive. It is hojied the wheat will 

 recover from the effects of yesterday. 



Friday, 25th June. Therm. 83deg.; a close, 

 thick, hot day ; at noon, heavy rain until 5 o'clock, 

 with therm, 77(leg., a dread time for the wheat. 



Saturday, 20th June. Therm. 77deg. ; close, 

 damp pnd hot in the morning; at noon clear. 



Is it not .strange, that every one concerned in the 

 state of the weather does'not keep a diary ? I 

 procured mine from the recommendation at page 

 190 of the Cabinet for January, and it is a perpet- 

 ual source of interest and pleasure to look back 

 to its pages and read those " prophecies of the 

 past " as they have been called, and benefit by ob- 

 servation and reflection on things gone by : by 

 them 1 have been convinced that theie is such a 

 tiling as weather-ivisdom, and find myself becom- 

 ing quite an adept in the science. H. 



The foregoing diary was kept in the State of 

 Pennsylvania, where there was abundance of 

 rain in June, of which we in many parts of New 

 England were entirely destitute. Thus far, if 

 we have suffered from drought, our crops are al- 

 most entirely free from blight and mildew. Rye 

 and oats that were in situations to be unaffected 

 with drought were never better filled than dur- 



ing the present year. The rye upon the newly 

 cleared fields on our mountains is most magnifi- 

 cent : twenty-five bushels to the acre is a com- 

 mon crop. Our enterprising townsman, Capt. 

 Samuel Blake, senior, last year purchased a lot 

 high up on Kearsarge — a lot which looks down 

 upon and over the Merrimack river valley as far 

 as the eye can reach. Upon this land he laid out, 

 if we mistake not, sixty days work, taking his 

 hands with liim from Concord — fidling the large 

 trees, burning over, piling and clearing off tlie 

 huge logs upon 17 acres: the whole expense 

 probably not exceeding sixty dollars. His crop 

 of rye, if it be only twenty bushels to the acre, 

 will be more than three hundred bushels ; and, 

 supposing it to take the value of sixty days more 

 for securing, housing and thrashing the crop, his 

 rye will cost him less than fifty cents the bushel. 

 If the land cost three dollars the acre, the first 

 crop will more than reimburse the whole cost ; 

 and he will have beautiful pasture lawd at free 

 cost, valued at ten dollars tlie acre, and really 

 worth twice that amount. 



After all, we may not have suffered ^o much 

 from the drought in tliis vicinity as had been sup- 

 posed. It is true that on some spots labor has 

 been nearly lost in the cultivation of corn and 

 potatoes ; but the grain, wherever it has grown, 

 is excellent — the hay, although less in quantity, 

 is much better in quality. Where the drought 

 has not curled the Indian corn, there will yet be 

 good crops. The potatoes, in many cases, have 

 escaped ; and we have reason to believe there 

 will be fine crops of an excellent quality, where 

 the vines ai-e yet green. If we have suffered 

 from drought,"there are hundreds of our fields 

 that derive a great benefit (iom escaping the 

 blight and mildew. — Ed. F. M. Visitor. 



For the Farmer's Monthly Visitor. 



Calais, Vl., July'J,\U\. 

 Mr. Editor — Dear Sir: — At the request of a friend 

 and patron of your useful paper, I send you these lines fol- 

 lowing. Should you Ihmk them worthy the Farmer's no- 

 tice lira place in your paper, you are at hberty to use 

 theni : 



THK FARMER'S SONG. 

 Come, Farmers who rise with the lark in the morn, 

 .\nd Joyfully echo the musical horn, 

 Your voices now raise, singing — '' Never/ear toil,'' 

 For remember you're christened the " Lords of the Soil." 

 The very first man put his hand to the plough 

 By command, and eat bread through the sweat of the 



Then Adam had no one his household to guide — 



A deip sleep came o'er him ; none to wake far and wide : 



That sleep brought a blessing instead of a broil, 



For wives are companions with lords of the soil. 



Our statesmen the best were enured to the field. 



Those ablest in council, in war last to yield ; 



When met by op'posers mid ruin and spoil, 



Their foes did acknowledge them lords of the soil. 



On Eric, at Plattsburgh — Orleans' British bands, 



Learned that farmers could catch musket balls with their 



the wi 

 From these han 



Agriculture, employment, by God designed Man, 

 Is the noblest of all since the world was began — 

 Gives vigor of mind, even lengthens our life, 

 Cheats never a neighbor, shuns discord and strife. 

 Then come, come ye young men beginning in life 

 In choosing pursuits choose a Farm and a fiye: 

 'T is certain the comforts of this life they yield, 

 Besides the grand title of lords of the field. 

 Our purest and warmest affection should flow 

 To the Author of blessings to us here below. 

 And always remember, while lords of the sod, 

 To reverence a higher — our creator Gun. 



Cause of Inferior Stock. — Some farmers 

 sell or .slaughter their best stock of cows, ewes, 

 or sows, and thus destroy all hope of improve- 

 ment at a blow. Does a heifer show a disposition 

 to fatten easily.' she is encouraged by feed uniil 

 fat, and is then sold or eaten, while her fellows, 

 of the breed of Pharaoh's lean kine, are kejit for 

 milk or rearing calves, because they are not and 

 cannot become fit for the butcher. Has a farmer 

 a sow pig that becomes fat with the feed on 

 which the rest of his swine are starving? he 

 gives her over to the knife, and propagates from 

 land shads and com cribs. Has he a fine, round, 

 bright-eyed ewe? she will be fat about the time 

 his half-filled pork barrels are empty, and she is 

 stripped of her fine .skin and fair proportions. 



