100 



THE FARMER'S MONTHLY VISITOR 



July, 1842 



acrount. " Well, let us fee !" and lie tooU tiie bill 



"Cr. I{y one bushel of cor\t, fifty cents." 



"li's ."oriie corn I hud from \ou." 



"I reckon you must be nikitaken. You never 

 got any corn Iroin nie." 



"Oh yes I .liii. I remember it perfectly well. 

 It is airri!.'hl." 



"But when did you get it, friend Barton? Inm 

 sure that I hav'iit the most distant recollection 

 of it." 



'• My hog.s got it," the shoemaker said, in rather 

 a low and hesil.iling tone. 



"Your ho-a!" 



'• Yes. Don't you remember when my hops 

 broke into ^ou^ field, nnil destroyed your corn?" 



" Oh dear ! Is that it ? Oh, no, no, friend Bar- 

 ton ! I cannot allow that item ill the bill." 



"Yes, hut J on must. It is perfectly just— and 

 I shall never rest until it is paid." 



" I can't indeed. Vou couldn't help your hogs 

 (retting into my fieM ; and then you know, friend 

 Barton (lowering his tone) my geese were very 

 troublesome !" 



The shoemaker blushed and looked confused; 

 but fjirmer Gray flapped him fiimiliarly on the 

 ahonlder, and said, in a livi ly, cheprfiil way— 



" Don't think any thing more about it, fiiend 

 Barton ! Ami hereafter, let us endeavor t.) rfo as 

 we would be done bi/, and then every thing will go 

 on us smooth as clock-work." 



" But you will allow that iienri in the bill.'" the 

 shoemaker urged, perseveringly. 



"Oh no, I couldn't do that. I should think it 

 «'rong to make you pay tor my own or some of 

 my men'.s negligence iii leaving the burs down." 



"But then (hesitatingly) those geese 1 I killed 

 three. Let it go f()r llienu'" 



"If you did kill them, we ate iheni— so that is 

 even. "No — no — let the past be forgotten, and " 

 it makes better neighbors and friends of us, we 

 never need regret what has happened." 



Farmer Gray remained firm, and the bill whs 

 Bellied, omitting the item of "corn." From that 

 time forth, be never had u belter neighbor than 

 the shoemaker. 



The cows, and hogs, and geese of both, wi 

 o-casiofially trespass — but the trespa-ssecs v 

 always kindly removed. The lesson ivas not lost 

 on either of ihem— fi>r even Farmer Gray used to 

 fee', sometimes, a little annoyed vvheii his neigl 

 hoi's cattle broke into his field. But in leaching 

 the shoemaker u lesson, he had taken a little of it 

 to liiiiiself. 



Risk of Mercantile Life. 



Gen. Dearborn, in a lecture delivered last win- 

 ter, before the (armers of the Alassacliiisetts Leg- 

 islature, declared that ninety-nine out of every 

 one hundred persons, who oblaiiied their liveli- 

 hood hy buying and selling,y<<i/e(/, or died insol% 

 vent. This fact lie a.scertained by relijrenci 

 the books of the custom-house, the banks, 

 Probate ofiice, and from the recollections of the 

 oldest merchants. If this sUitement uppro.v 

 mates the truth in relation to the risks of nii'i 

 cantile life, it should induce fiiiher.s, who ca 

 place their sous upon a farm, to instil into the 

 minds a love of ugriciiltiirul pmsnits. General 

 Dearborn declared, that "he would prefer a cot 

 tage in the country with five acres of ground, t( 

 the mo.st splendid palace that could be erected ii 

 the city, if be must depend upon the success u 

 merchandize to support it." 



There are six manufactories of buttons in the 

 United Stales, emploving when in full operation, 

 2,500 persona: capital emploved, Sl,40(),000; the 

 value of annual product, $1. 1,000,000; persons 

 depending on the trade for em|iIoymenland sub- 

 sistence, 10,000. 



There are two manufactories of Pins in tlie 

 United States, vet in their iiifancv; persons i 

 jdoyed 100; annual product !5|00",000. 



Value of Combs made in the L'nited Stij 

 81,700,000; ilo. Brushes, 81,7.50,000. Al 

 5000 persona einployed in the two ; waffts per 

 day SI, for males, a'lid 76 cents for females. 

 Europe the cost of similar labor is only twenty 

 cents per day. In the nianufacline of bellows, 

 COD hands are employed: capital, $100,000. 



The value of cotton goods iTmnufaciiired in the 

 country is $46,000,000 per nnnnm ; capital em 

 |)lo;'»d in tU« wauufacture, $51,000,000. Thtirt 



;irc 141 fiictories in the cotton crowing Slat 

 pital, $1,700,000 ; annual prodiict. $ 1 ,'.>00,'000. 

 Tliereare550 vessels engaged in the whale 



fishery alone. Tlie ag£regate expense of the 

 tfii'is over §10 000,000 Vor each voyage. Value 



of ship- and outfits over $-20,000,00U. Annual 



product over $7,000,000 perannum. 



"Charcoal as a Manure." 



We wish to call attention to a paper under 

 tJiis title in the Tiansactiojis of the N. Y. Wtate 

 Agricultural Society, fbrnislied by J.ll. Hepburn, 

 l'.s,|. of Luoii,iiig,'Pa. The fi.cts there stated, 

 :igittiMg as they do with what everyone miisl 



secure for charcoal as a manure, a greater de- 

 gree of consideration than il lias yet received. 

 As it is pidiiable some of our readers may not 

 meet with the "Transactions," we shall con- 

 lense some of his stiitements for the benefit of 



" During the last autumn, businei«s called me 

 into Harfijid county, Maryland. Widle there, I 

 was sur|)rised at" the exceedingly luxuriant 

 growth of a crop of grain, but lately seeded 

 into a field on l).-er Creek, and also at the pe- 

 culiar uppearaiii-e of the soil. The soil upon 

 which the giniii w.is growing, had a remarka- 

 blv dark appearance, iiiid appeared to be so 

 mellow and triable as nearly to bury the foot at 

 every .ste|>. * * \ mq'iired if the fieli" 



had not been covered with cjiarcoal, and was 

 told that it had l)eeii. I incpiiied when it w 

 done, and was lold that it bud been spread n 

 on it more than twei\ty years ago.' I then aski 

 what was the general cpialily of the crops ruiseil 

 upon it, uiiil was told they were invariably fine, 

 lioih as to qtianiily and qiialiiy." Mr. Hepburn 

 gives, among other experiments, one made by 

 gentleman in the iron businefS. " He had 

 huge qiianlily of coal that had becniiie too fine 

 to he used in his fiiniuce. and not knowing 

 what lo do with it. coinludcd as the easiest way 

 to dispose of it, lo haul it out, and spread it on 

 his grass land. He spread it late in the liill, and 

 for many years he infiirmed me bus olwervcd 

 the most uslonishing effect produced upon his 

 yield of grass. The quantity was neiirly dou- 

 liled, and the good eftect coiuiiiiied as long ns 

 he owned the priqierty, which was at least ten 

 years." .Mr. Hepburn" also suites the important 

 tiict, lliut " wherever charcoal has been .Tpplied, 

 rust never affects the growing crop of wheat" 



Every coal burner is aware that a vigorous 

 and healthy vegetution always .siiriounds the <dd 

 hearths, or coal bed.*, us the place when; the 

 coal bus been burned is called. We have known 

 a blacksmith who made his own coal, that al- 

 ways used ihe hearth tor an onion bed, and his 

 uniform success justified the use to which he 

 appropriated those filuces. In another instance 

 a fanner who whs remarkable for his gardening 

 operations, lohl us tlial his practice was lo make 

 his garden beds lor his onions, ca'iots, &c. and 

 llim spread over them a layer of straw some ten 

 or twelve inches in thickness, which was burnt 

 on the ground. The charcoal and ashes made 

 bv this dressing was sliL'hily raked in, and then 

 the .seeds sowii. In this way. his crop never 



lo this facility of absorption that charcoal owes 

 its sweeteninir properties, as its effect on partially 

 s|ioiled meat is termed. 



As charcoal is almost indestructible, and its 

 effects as a manure remain as long as it exists 

 in the soil, it is possible ihat idiarcoal o ay be 

 found one of ihe cheapest us well as most effi- 

 cient manures for some crops, and on some soils. 

 It appears evident from the inunner of its action, 

 that plants requiring the t'lealesl supply of ni- 

 tro;;en would be the most bencfilled hy it.! apjili- 

 cation, and hence its efficacy when given to 

 wheal. It conid prortiice little effect on extreme- 

 ly wet soils, us alternations of dryness, lo allow 

 the contact and condensation of the ga.<es, and 

 of moisture to render such absorption available, 

 are necessarv lo u'ive effect lo charcoal. Char- 

 coal has a physical, as well as a chemical effect 

 on .soils, deci"dedly ii-elid. It renders them as 

 far as ills present, li-lit aiidfii.ihie ; and jiixes 

 ndililional wariinli to ilieni by iis color, which 

 absorbs and ntains nailily the i;iys of liie .mmi 

 iluring the day. It i< not siirpi i>iii:: that those 



fi>iin(l more effective and durable, than those in 

 which its place is occupied by peat or even com- 

 mon mould. — Albany Cultivator. 



Mr. Hepburn remarks Ihat he shall not at- 

 ternpl to exjdain the chemical action or affinities 

 which imparl such value to charcoal. We think 

 the following quolalion from Liebi:;, will exhibit 

 one great caiise of its efficiency. In speaking of 

 the power of various sidistances to absorb am- 

 monia from the atmosphere, he says: — "Pow- 

 dered chan-o.il surpasses all other substances in 

 the power which it possesses of condensing uni- 

 moiiia within its pores, particularly when it has 

 been previously heated lo redness. Charcoal 

 absorbs 90 times its volume of iimmoniacal gas, 

 which may again be separated by simply nioist- 

 eiiing it with water." The experiments of Lucas 

 given in the appendix lo Liebig, are also most 

 s-triUing proofs of the value of charcoal to vege- 

 tution, and the miinner in which it operates. 

 They show that plants thrive in [lowderetl char- 

 coal, and maybe broiiLdil to blo.^soni and hear 

 fVuit, if exposed lo the influence of the rain and 

 the atmosphere: n result almost impossible to 

 obtain in any other simple suhsiancc, and which 

 can only bn owing lo the facility with which 



gases, whether carbonic or amiuouiaeal. It iii 



Robert Lincoln's Song. — I was a little alarm- 

 ed the other day, .Mr. Hdiior. on reading a notice 

 in your paper, regarding my old " Hny day" friend, 

 Robert Lincoln, Esq., commonly called in this 

 deinocralic " good-as-you" country, "Bob Link." 

 This led me to believe, or rather feaiMliat among 

 the innovations and changes of the limes, he hud 

 also changed his song. 



Judge my gratification, however, when yester- 

 day I made" a special visit to the fields of Jecsey, 

 to ascertain what change, if any, he had under- 

 gone, either in song or costume. I knew his 

 haunts. I was sure, if lo be found unywhere, I 

 should meet him where I soiighl him— and I was 

 not disappointed. I saw him on the bough of 

 an apple-tree that stood on the skirt of a meadow, 

 amusing himself in tuning his pipes, as il were, 

 to catch the right pilch, at times striking " B and 

 E fiat." and again a semitone, approaching "C 

 sharp" — wearing as usiiid, the summer cosiiiine 

 of his father and grand-fatlier, and 1 don't know 

 but that of his great-grand-father loo — black 

 satin vest and pantaloons, and while round-ahoiit 

 j icket. Just then, his old fiivorile, Mury Lincoln, 

 in a dark grey riissell morning dress, started fioin 

 a tuft of high grass on a shopping excursion, 

 when "Robert." alive lo the duties of gallantry, 

 instantly ofll-red his services, " wing-fnlly" aiitl 

 "song-liill," and the air at once was filled with 

 his delicious melody — "in linked sweetness long 

 ilrawM out;" the same " time-cherish'd ' note, and 

 line, and word, precisely, as I heard in ch Idhoml. 

 For the information of some of your renders, 

 who may not have a copy of Robert Lincoln's 

 son:;, I iiow transcribe it; and, if they WiiUt to 

 hear it sung, let thciii go to the hay-fiehU of New 

 Jersey. 



Tho Song. 

 Miry LiacMn— M:iiy Liiic.ln— 



Won't you w lit for Bobby Lincoln 7 



Don't you fee — don't you see 

 Bobby Lincoln — satin pantaloons 



And summer jacket? 



Tackle to— tackle to — Marv Lincoln — 

 Not so last— not so fist ! 

 I'll Ibllow thee — round about clover-top, 

 And dock-wee.i, and apple tree — 

 Bobby Lincoln never lets iVi-iry Lincoln 

 Gad .about ilone with Harry H mse— inuckle weayerj 

 JNor shall she marry Michael Man-jcl wurtzel. 



— iV. Y. American. 



Importation of Wool. 



We make the lollowiiiK extracts from a late 

 number of the Boston Cultivator, and invite fiir 

 them the attention of our readers. Every one Is 

 aware that wool, costing less than 8 ci nts per 

 pound, is admitted free of duty ; as it was sup- 

 posed that none but the coarse Smyrna or Bue- 

 nos Ayres wools, which would come in com peti- 

 lioti with none grown in this country, could In 

 procured al those rates. Such, however, itseeins 

 is not Ihe fiicl ; but Ihat grades of wool, vUiicIl 

 directly compete with a huge proportion of our 

 wiiol, raii!;in:; from middlini; lo line, ar'! import- 

 ed to a jireal exlenl, liiid at prices which exempt 

 it from duty. Of this diity-liee wool, the im- 

 porlation aiinuully ii iVum teu to Gt'teeu luiiliou' 



