316 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



JBomcstic JBcpartmcnt. 



Maternal Influknce. — If we would preserve 

 our republican institutions from decay, — if we would 

 transmit the liberties of freemen, and, to all appear- 

 ance, the world's last political hope, to a posterity 

 ca;)able of njuarding the sacred trust, — it is a truth, 

 about which there is no debate, that we must have 

 mothers of the right stamp. It is the mother who 

 forms the character ; it is she that bends the twig. 

 It is the mother that instils her own principles into 

 the opening and confiding mind ; it is she that 

 6tamps"^he lasting impress upon the tender and 

 warm feelings, which forms the basis of the subse- 

 quent character of the man and of the citizen. In 

 vain may we enact wholesome laws ; in vain may 

 we establish a wise and republican system for the 

 management of our national finances ; in vain may 

 we present to the Avorld the show of a just and 

 equitable republican government, wisely balanced 

 and adjusted in all its parts, — if the worm of ma- 

 ternal ignorance and neglect should prey at the root. 

 On what ground do the great pillars of our liberty 

 stand ? Is it not the instructions of the family circle 

 — the impressions received in the nursery r Let the 

 mother be addicted to fashion, vain show, idle visit- 

 ing, and gay frivolity, to the neglect of the solid 

 duties which devolve upon her, in relation to her 

 family and her children, and they will grow up like 

 the wild and poisonous weeds of the uncultivated 

 field, rarely qualified for the enlightened and faithful 

 discharge of their duties to the country. 



Those influences which are silent, subtile, and 

 unseen, are the most powerful. The dews of heaven 

 fall in silence and unperceived, during the still hours 

 of night; but they refresh and gladden the whole 

 face of nature. The attraction of gravitation is a 

 mighty power, which binds the universe together ; 

 but it is unostentatious and unseen. So is maternal 

 influence ; it is exerted amid the sacred and seques- 

 tered scenes of the family circle, but with a power 

 which nothing can stay, and with an effect which 

 nothing can destroy. 



The philosopher, who, in some secluded haunt of 

 a crowded city, works out those great truths, which 

 give birth to revolutions and republics, is lost amid 

 the glare and blaze of the practical statesman, who 

 builds upon his foundation, and carries out his prin- 

 ciples. Even the jirudent and eloquent statesman, 

 who furnishes the sinew and strength of war, is often 

 forgotten amid the dazzling blaze of military glory 

 which encircles the brow of the conqueror. 



So, while the mother is not seen, and her fair fame 

 may be utterly obscured by the brilliancy of her son's 

 deeds, still it is her influence and instructions that 

 constitute the fountain to which they owe their 

 origin. — Selected. 



SwEF.T Flag Preparation. — We have received, 

 from Mrs. Bela Hubbard, a specimen of the sweet 

 flag preparation, to which allusion was made in the 

 Farmer a few numbers back, together with the fol- 

 lowing recipe. We tender our thanks for the very 

 agreeable treat ; it is certainly quite a luxury in its 

 way, and as healthful to the system as it is pleasant 

 to the taste, the flag being thus divested of its pun- 

 gency, while it retains its peculiar aromatic flavor in 

 a mild form. 



Recipe. — After peeling, slice the roots, put them 

 into cold water, and boil until the strength is reduced 

 to the degree that is desired ; then make a thick 

 sirup of sugar and water, in which boil the flag, 

 stirring constantly, until the sirup becomes candied 

 and dry, the flag being completely coated and satu- 

 rated with it. — Michigan Farmer. 



Bo^s' JBtpartmcnt. 



Business First, then Pleasure. — A man who 

 is very rich now, was very poor when he was a boy. 

 When asked how he got his riches, he ' replied, 

 " My father taught me never to play till all my work 

 for the day was finished, and never to spend money 

 till I had earned it. If I had but half an hour's 

 work to do in a day, I must do that the first thing, 

 and in half an hour. After this was done, I was 

 allowed to play ; and I could then play with much 

 more pleasure than if I had the thought of an unfin- 

 ished task before my mind. I early formed the 

 habit of doing every thing in its time, and it soon 

 became perfectly easy to do so. It is to this habit 

 that I now owe my prosperity." Let every boy who 

 reads this, go and do likewise. — Wright's Casket. 



The Glowworm. — No two insects can differ 

 more than the male and the female of this species 

 from each other. The male is in every respect a 

 beetle, having cases to its wings, and rising in the 

 air at pleasure ; the female, on the contrary, has none, 

 but is entirely a creeping insect, and is obliged to 

 wait the approaches of her capricious companion. 

 The body of the female has eleven joints, with a 

 shield breastplate, the shape of which is oval ; the 

 head is placed over this, and is very small, and the 

 three last joints of her body are of a yellowish color : 

 but what distinguishes it from all other animals, is 

 the shining light which it emits by night, and which 

 is supposed by some philosophers to be an emanation 

 -which she sends forth to allure the male to her 

 company. — Selected. 



Cjealtl). 



Bathing. — We have already urged upon the 

 attention of our readers the importance of frequent 

 bathing or washing as a preservative of health and 

 promoter of comfort ; yet so negligent are most per- 

 sons on this subject, that they need line upon line. 

 As various disorders now prevail in nearly all parts 

 of our country, and some diseases are severe and 

 fatal, we again urge the importance of this simple 

 and effectual remedy or preventive. 



Frequent washing the whole body, and rubbing it 

 thoroughly with a coarse cloth, keeps the skin clean 

 and healthy, and keeps open the pores, so that the 

 perspu-ation freely passes off. But if washing is 

 neglected, the skin becomes foul, perspirable matter 

 gathers upon its surface, forming a coat, and closing 

 the pores, and the large amount of matter usually 

 thrown off by perspiration is thrown back upon the 

 intestines or vital parts, which, from the languid 

 state of the system at this season, can hardly per- 

 form their usual functions, and they become diseased 

 under too great a burden. 



Thus a want of frequent washing is one of the prin- 

 cipal causes of summer complaint, dysentery, fevers, 

 cholera morbus, and Asiatic cholera. Now, is it not 

 astonishing that people have a great fear of these 

 diseases, which walk in darkness and waste at noon- 

 day, and they continue to nourish this fear, which 

 is the way to court disease, or induce it in the sys- 



