148 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



For the New Enc/Iand Farmer. 



THE COUNTRY FAVORABLE TO LOCAL 

 ATTACHMENTS. 



An Extract from " The Farmer's Every Day Booh " — 

 Ml Manuscript. 



It may be assumed as an hypothesis of imdoiibtod 

 reality, that, all other things being equal, local at- 

 tachments are in proportion to their duration. Let 

 this rule be applied. A family living in a house a 

 year becomes attached to it more than living in it a 

 month ; living in it five years, more than living in it 

 a single year ; and for life, proportionably more than 

 for five years. And, especially if the same place is 

 tenanted by successive generations of the same fam- 

 ily, how -wonderfully developed becomes the tendency 

 of our nature of which we are speaking ! If tlicre 

 is any thing in this world that rationally binds one's 

 affections to it, if there is any thing that imparts a 

 philosophical dignity to life, it is living for successive 

 years, or through life, in competence and without 

 solitude, sharing with the same dear family circle 

 the mansion of a past generation. What varied 

 associations cluster around the fireside and the 

 household altar ! The hours of morning twilight, 

 the pensive and the mellowed shades of evening, 

 and no less the dark watches of midnight, arc alike 

 flooded with soothing recollections. 



In the country, upon the tidy and well cultivated 

 farm, such associations and such recollections convert 

 the whole of surrounding nature into a fau'y scene, 

 en which the imagination never becomes wearied. 

 If the starry and the moonlight heavens any where 

 shed over the human sensibilities a delightful emo- 

 tion, it is here ! If a landscape of hill, and dale, and 

 Avaving shadow, any where captivate the eye, it is 

 here ! If the murmuring rill, and the falling cas- 

 cade, and the distant echo of some disturber of mid- 

 night silence, any where send a thrilling pathos to 

 the soul, verily it is here ! Here the children were 

 born ! Here, amidst pure breezes and serene skies, 

 they are nurtured in body and mind ! Here, in 

 God's first temple, they are taught to lisp his praise ! 

 Here, away from the loathings of vice, they receive 

 the elements of useful knowledge ! Here, in rustic 

 simplicity, their manners are formed ! Here, always 

 at home, what can diminish the vigor of their nat- 

 ural affections ? 



It is difficult to imagine what there is in the city, 

 analogous to all this, to operate on the social affec- 

 tions. Persons of sufhcient means, in the city, may, 

 and do, occupy good houses ; sometimes it may be 

 princely mansions, provided also with expensive 

 furniture ; but is there any thing in such establish- 

 ments to produce tliis strong local attachment? 

 It appears to us that such establishments produce 

 about the same effect on the mind of the occupants, 

 so far as our present subject is involved, as the gild- 

 ed scenery of the playhouse. A sensation of de- 

 liglit is felt at the moment ; but with the occasion 

 it is all forgotten. How can it be otherwise ? They 

 have no permanent interests there. They can feel 

 no possible identity with them. They live in one 

 house one year, in another the ne.xt year, and so 

 on through life, leaving each in turn with as little 

 thought or regret as they v.-ould step out of a rail- 

 road car in which they had journeyed a few miles. 

 Their furniture also, instead of being preserved for a 

 lifetim.e, and cherished with affection as in the coun- 

 try, is cast fuside, and new substituted in its place, 

 with, the unconcern of casting away a pair of 

 old shoes. In going from house to house, they go 

 from street to street in the same unconcerned man- 

 ner. 



Now, is it possible that, in such a whirl and change, 

 in such a perpetual transition from place to place, 



there can be any local sympathies? And, if the 

 local sympathies do not arise, their intended influ- 

 ence is not felt. Hence, under such circumstances, 

 these auxiliary agencies in producing the delights 

 and the moral influences of home are lost. In like 

 manner, all similar agencies for kindred purposes 

 may be repudiated or neglected, and we be left to 

 the unassisted impulses of our nature, like the primi- 

 tive inhabitants of our land. Others may ridicule 

 all this as old fashioned and nonsensical ; but we 

 trust the day will never come, when we shall volun- 

 tarily neglect to gather flowers fi-om the retrospect 

 of life. 



It is not indeed our lot, as it is the lot of some fa- 

 vored ones, to connect a family chronology for a life- 

 time with the same local scenery. Our lot has been 

 one of vicissitude ; but we would go a day's journey 

 w-ith railroad speed, for the pleasure of retracing 

 the woodland paths of our childhood, and to survey 

 anew the spot where stood the cabin in which we 

 were born. Save that cabin, all around is a perfect 

 daguerreotype of those early days ! Here the sacri- 

 legious hand of modern improvement has committed 

 no depredation ! Close by stands proud Agonock, 

 scowling and frowning as of old ; his equanimity, to 

 appearance, not having been disturbed since the time 

 of Noah's flood ! At his feet is spread out dear 

 Suncook, mild and placid like a sleeping infant. On 

 its shores we were wont to bathe and nsh ; and here 

 we would again gather pebbles, casting one by one 

 upon her silvery bosom, causing rimple after rimple, 

 not unlike the pulsations of the virgin queen, whose 

 name it bears ! Sadness would indeed rise up be- 

 fore us ; for the graveyard could alone tell us of 

 the human forms with which we were accustomed 

 to commime ! It would be good to resort thither ; 

 for in that silent spot hopes of heaven would kindle, 

 and of friendships there to be renewed and made 

 perfect. 



Who could count the thoughts that in one short 

 hour would there flit across the mind ? or what 

 painter could delineate the images that would, as it 

 were, rise from the ground and dance before the 

 mental eye ? What sympathetic being can say, it 

 would not be good there to bring up such remi- 

 niscences of a long track of years, all but blotted 

 from human recollection, and to ret-mbody visions, 

 reaching into the \insecn future in that undying 

 world, where the pure in heart can alone enter ? 

 Can those born in the growing city, after the lapse 

 of half a century, thus gather food for the sovil ; 

 thus retaste the sweets of childhood ; thus feel 

 anew the buoyancy of youth ; and thus be assisted 

 in their aspirations after the land, not to be warmed 

 and cheered by the light and the heat of the mate- 

 rial sun? being overshadowed by the glory of the 

 Ancient of Days ; the land whose waters will be the 

 rivers of salvation, and whose bread will be the 

 unfailing essence of immortal existence and pleni- 

 tude ! FLEMING GROVE. 



OiiANGE, N. J., March 28, 1849. 



For the New EixgUaid Fai-tner. 



THE GARDEN. 



Farmers, have yoxi made preparations, this spring, 

 for the healthful luxuries of the garden, its rich 

 fruits, its crisp, and tender vegetables ? If not, you 

 are denying yourselves and families of many of the 

 healthful condiments which nature hiis kindly pro- 

 vided, and which man has collected from various 

 climes, and acclimated in your OM-n, for your special 

 benefit. "But this gardening is small work," says 

 one : " I don't wish to spend my time weeding onions 

 and beets and tending bushes. I raise cabbage and 



