Jul y, 1842. 



THE FARMER'S MONTHLY VISITOR. 



107 



on clialk, and beds of sand and gravel are coiri- 

 inoidy below clay. The labor of ini|iroviii<.' the 

 texture is repaid by a great peraiaiient advan- 

 tage ; less manure is required, and its fertility 

 insured; and ci)|iital laid out in this way secures 

 forever the productiveness, and consequently the 

 value of the land." (Lecture, p. 204.) Although, 

 too, we are aware, lioni the writings of agricul- 

 tural chemists, of the high value of liquid ma- 

 nure — that, in fact, 1 lb. of urine will produce 1 

 lb. of wheat, how seldom do we see iti)rcserved 

 at all. A writer in the Prize Essays of the High- 

 land Agricultural Society of Scotland, (Quarterly 

 Journal of Agr. for this" month, Dec. 1841,) cal- 

 culates that as much is lost os would, if applied, 

 have an effect equal to the whole of the lime, 

 rape dust and bones which are commonly used. 

 J. H. 

 North DeigMon, Wetherby, Yorkshire, Dec. 3!, 1812. 



Apoetical friend of ours has ■ paper folder 

 with the following lines from Gray, marked on it : 



" The ploughman homeward plods his weary way.'' 



On looking at the quotation, it occurred to him 

 that it might be expressed in various ways with- 

 ouj destroying the rhyme or altering the sense. 

 In'a short time he produced the following eleven 

 diflerent readings. We doubt whether another 

 line can be tound, the words of which will ad- 

 mit of so many transpositions, and still retain the 

 original meaning: 



The weary ploiighn)an plods his homeward way. 



Tlie weary ploughnian homeward plods his way. 



Tlio ploughman, weary, plods his homeward way. 



The plou^hm.Tn, weary, homeward plods his way. 



Weiiry the ploughman plods his homeward way. 



Weary the ploughman homeward plods his way. 



Homeward the ploughman plods his weary way. 



Homeward the ploughman, weary, plods his way. 



The homeward ploughman weary plods his way. 



The homeward ploughman plods his weary way. 



Boston Ttmiscript. 



Watering Plants. — Watering plants, though 

 so strongly recommended in English gardening 

 books, and so much in practice, is a thing of ve- 

 ry doubtful utility in any case, and in most cases, 

 of positive injury. A country often endures 

 present suffering from long drought; but even if 

 all the gardens and all the fields coidd, in such a 

 case, be watered with a watering-pot, I much 

 queslion whether it wordd be beneficial even to 

 the crops of the dry season itself. It is not, ob 

 serve, rain water, that you can, one time out of a 

 thousand, water with ; and to nourish plants, the 

 water must be prepared in clouds and mists and 

 dews. Observe this. Besides, when rain comes, 

 the earth is piepnred lor it by that state of the air 

 which precedes rain, and which makes all things 

 damp, and slackens and loosens the earth, and dis- 

 poses the roots and leaves for the reception of 

 the rain. To pour water, therefore, upon plants, 

 or upon the ground where they are growing, or 

 where seeds are sown, is never of much use, and 

 is generally mischievous; for the air is dry, the 

 sun comes immediately and bakes the ground 

 and vegetation is checked rather than advanced 

 by the operation. The best protector against fre- 

 quent drought is frequent digging, or in the fields, 

 ploughing, and always deep. Hence will rise a 

 fermentation and dews. The ground will have 

 moisture in it, in spite of all drought, which the 

 hard, unmoved ground will not. But idways dig 

 or plough in dry weather, and the drier the weath- 

 er the deeper you ought to go, and the finer yon 

 ought to break the earth. When plants are cov- 

 ered by lights, or are in a house, or are covered 

 with cloths In the night time, they may need wat- 

 ering, and in such cases nnist have it given them 

 by hand. — CobbetVs Jlmerican Gardener. 



Attachment ok Birds to Man. — A traveller 

 in Catalonia hiis furnished the following relation 

 of the attachment of the feathered race to a 

 member of a hermitage, formed on the pictur- 

 esque mountain of Montserrat. This hermitage 

 bears the name of St. Catharine, and is situated 

 in a deep and .solitary recess, but connnanding, 

 nevertheless, a most extensive and pleasing |)ros- 

 pect at noon-day, stretcTiing wide to the east and 

 west. The buiiding.s, garden, &c., are confined 

 within small liniit.s being fixed in a most pictiir- 

 escpie and secure locality, under the foot of one 

 of the high pines. Though this hermit's habita- 

 tion is thft most retired and solitary abode of the 

 many which are established on the mountain, 

 and far removed from the din of men, yet the 



courtly, affable, and sprightly inhabitant seems 

 not lo'feel the loss of human society. Although 

 not much accustomed to hear the voice of men, 

 he is somewhat recompensed by the notes of 

 birds, for it is their sanctuary as well as his; 

 since no part of the mountain is so well inhabit- 

 ed by the leathered race at this delightful spot. 

 Perhaps, indeed, they have sagacity enough to 

 know that there Is no other so perfectly secin-e. 

 Here the nightingale, the black-bird, the linnet, 

 and an infinite variety of little songsters dwell In 

 perlisct security, and live in the most friendly in- 

 timacy with their protector, and obey his call. 

 He has but to speak the wish, and instantly the 

 birds quit their sprays, and surround his person, 

 some settling on his head, others entangling their 

 feel in bis beard, and, in the true sense of the 

 word, taking bis bread even from his mouth. In- 

 deed their confidence is so great, that the strang- 

 er too partakes of their familiarity and caresses. 

 If the hermit's meals be scanty, his dessert is 

 served up with a song ; and his repose is linslied 

 by the voice of the nightingale. Breathing pure 

 air, feeding on light food, his mind never ruffled 

 by worldly affairs, his sleep is sweet and refiesh- 

 ing; and living In confidence of finding in death 

 a more heavenly residence, his life Is more lo be 

 envied than pitied by the rest of the world.— in- 

 dagator. 



A Valuable Table. 



The annexed tohle, showing the value of imports and 

 exports annually, from 1821 to 1841 inclusive— the re- 

 ceipts into the "treasury annually, from customs, during 

 the same period— and the value of bullion and specie im- 

 ported and exported — communicated l(» Congress on the 

 17th ult., having been prepared by the Register ot' the 

 Treasury, in compliance with a resolution of the House. 



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E-STllMATE. 



It has been estimated bv some that there was of specie 

 and bullion in the country on the 30th September, 1820, 

 gl8,000,000; butsay §20.000,000 



Imported trom 1821 to 18H, in 20 veara 181,589.841 



From the JSew Orleans Picayune. 

 Sketches of Mexico. 



The Freebooters. — Numberless are the sto- 

 ries told of the banditti Infesting the high roads 

 of Mexico, and not a few of them glow with sin- 

 gularity and interest. 



Not long since, six travellers were in the dili- 

 gence between .Talapa and Perote, having among 

 them several thousand dollars in gold, of which 

 fact the freebooters became duly informed 

 through their spies, who are ever on the alert. 

 '1 he travellers, however, bad old knowledge of 

 the road, sufficient to teach them caution and 

 the necessity of going prepared lor danger. 

 They accordingly armed themselves with pistola 

 and double-barrelled guns, keeping a lively look- 

 out along the road as their journey progressed. 



A Mexictiii diligence is similar in almost every 

 respect to a common American post coach or 

 mail stage, and a stranger from the United States, 

 taking his scat in one of them, while all else 

 around him i.s nearly the antipodes of what he 

 has been accustomed to, feels old sensations re- 

 vive, as he once more finds somcfAijig' that looks 

 like home. No better stages are used anywhere 

 than are those employed upon the roads of Mex- 

 ico, and for the best reason in the world, which 

 is that they are all Troy manufacture, and finish- 

 ed in the best possible style, excelling in neat- 

 ness, comfort and durability ; the latter quality 

 being particularly necessary In this mountainous 

 region. 



As was anticipated, a band of some eighteen 

 or twenty robbers appeared in a secluded wind- 

 ing of the road, and were not long in manifesting 

 their design. VVitbout much ceremony the gen- 

 tlemen of the road saluted the diligence with a 

 discharge of fire arms, which, passing off with- 

 out serious effect, the travellers did not return, 

 but waited for a nearer approach of their ene- 

 mies, who, on this occasion, were all on foot. 

 The diligence moved on, slowly climbing the 

 road, while the thieves continued to follow, and 

 the six passengers set calndy watching, with their 

 fingers on their trlggcis, for a chance to " blaze 

 away." The tliieves discharged another volley, 

 and this time their balls entered the body of the 

 diligence, but without injury to any one. It was 

 now returned by a salute from the six double-bar- 

 relled rifles, at which the cowardly rogues nearly 

 broke their worthless necks in their anxious e.x- 

 pedilion to more distant groimd. Again, howev- 

 er, they were daring enough to rally and fire, 

 when a shot passed through the coat sleeve of 

 one of the passengers, slightly grazing the flesh. 

 Again the double-barrelled guns were popped 

 ofif) and still no further efl'ect than to set tlie ban- 

 ditti hurrying and scrambling neck and heels out 

 of the way. The diligence continued moving 

 on, and the robbers tbilowing. In this manner 

 keeping up a sort of skirmishing fire lor several 

 miles, when at length a sharp aim from the coach 

 laid one of the rascals out, and put a stop to hos- 

 tilities at once, for the robbers then disappeared 

 and were not seen again. The freebooters this 

 time got nothing for their rascally work but the 

 trouble of burying their dead comrade. 



On another occasion, and it was but a few 

 months ago, ihe diligence was proceeding with 

 nine passengers along the same road, when It 

 was ordered to stop by two ruffians, w ho sudden- 

 ly darted Into the road from a thicket, and jiolnt- 

 ed their weajjons at the driver. Here the result 

 was very opposite to that we have just related. 

 None of the passengers were armed, all were 

 immediately terror-stricken, and the driver obey- 

 ed the freebooters' demand instantly, for fear of 

 being shot down from his seat. The poor fellow 

 sprang to the ground with all speed, and stood at 

 the head of his team, while the bewildered end 

 trembling [uissengers quietly subniitted to he 

 plundered. One of the thieves reiniiined on his 

 horse, while the other, with his carbine cocked 

 in one hand, was busy .'searching the pockets and 

 baggage of the travellers with the other. And 

 this piece of consummate audacity on one side, 

 and cowardice on the other, took place In full 

 daylight. Nine men .«at like blubbering school- 

 boys, and suffered them.selves to be rifled, when 

 nothing eonhl have been ea.-ler than to have dis- 

 armed one robber and shot down the other in a 

 twinkling, or at least scare him off, detaining Ihe 

 other a prisoner. Men who i.ould submit so 

 tamely to a force so despicably unequal, deserve 



