NEW ENGLAND FARMEK. 



H 



taals, to Ihe extent of double, nay, I believe, 

 treble their present numbers. 



"They will not, they cannot exceed the de- 

 mand, that must regulate the supply, alter all 

 we can say or write, but much may be done to 

 enable us to raise cheaper and better animals. 

 If cheaper the demand will be greater. We have 

 iione much in this way, but much remains to do. 



'• Thirdly, wc arc very del'icieut in Horticul- 

 ture. To be sure there is no great profit in 

 cash arising tothe farmer from gardening beyond 

 ihe limits of twenty miles from a great town — 

 but when men have arrived to the degree of 

 comfort which our farmers generally enjoy, they 

 ought to seek innocent luxuries. We cannot hope 

 or expect to see their front yards ornamented like 

 those of the Dutch and English cottages, who 

 are not worth a twentieth part as much as they 

 are, with flowering shrubs and plants, so neat 

 and so beautiful as to realize the description of 

 the poets, who have descanted on pastoral life. 

 This depends in those countries on fashion, and 

 as the more opulent indulge in those luxuries, 

 the others follow as imitators ; but a delightful 

 pear — an excellent plum or peach, or an admi- 

 rable winter apjile, fresh in April, would be as 

 sweet to the palate of a farmer as to that of a 

 luxurious and opulent merchant, and why these 

 are neglected, I never could comprehend, as the 

 labour amounts to a trifle in procuring and in 

 preserving them. 



" Perhaps New England owes its inferiority 

 in these particulars more to the want of good 

 nurseries, than to any other cause. No farmer 

 ought to be without his asparagus bed, which, 

 once laid down, will last without his labour for 

 forty years — no one ought to be without his patch 

 ot green peas — lettuce — early and late beans. 

 If more attention were paid to these comforts, 

 we should hear less of spotted and typhus fevers 

 in our otherwise healthy villages, and our fe- 

 males in the country would be more proud of 

 the grounds about their houses, and take more 

 interest in their neatness and comfort than some, 

 perhaps too many of them now do. We do not 

 mean to say, there are not a great many farm- 

 ers who pay some attention to these things, but 

 the deficiency is deplorable." 



The next paper in the Repository is a letter frojn 

 the Hon. Timothy Pickerisg, President of tlie Agri- 

 cultural Society tor the County of Essex, to John Low- 

 ell, Esq. Corresponding Secretary of the Massachusetts 

 Agricultural Society. In this letter the honorable wri- 

 ter observes, in substance, that the greatest difficulty 

 to be encountered in raising peas is to produce them 

 free from bugs. An effectual remedy for this evil is 

 late sowing ; but the hot sun of June will so pinch the 

 vines of the late sown peas, that the crop will be 

 small ; unless the land be moist as well as luli. He 

 then details some experiments by which he concludes 

 that this insect is limited to a certain period for depos- 

 iting its eggs ; and that if the tender pods are not found 

 till that period has passed, the pease will be free from 

 bugs. Mr. Pickering quotes the following from a pa- 

 per, written by the late Mr. Bartram, a distinguished 

 N.aturalist of Pennsylvania. 



" They (the pea bugs) feed, when in the ca- 

 terpillar or grub state, on the green garden or 

 ficl ' pea, as soon as the pods have arrived to a 

 State of maturity sufficient to shew the peas which 

 ar. Within liiem. In the evening or on a cloudy 

 da)-, the female deposits her eggs on the outside 

 of the pod.s ; these egg;!^ or nits soon hatch, and 

 ♦he yo'jng larva or v, orm eat.' directly through, 



and enters the tender young pea, where it lodg- 

 es, and remains (ceding on its contents, until it 

 changes to a chrysalis, and thence to a lly or 

 beetle, before tlie succeeding spring ; but do 

 not eat their way out until the colds and frosts 

 are i)ast, which is about the beginning of April, 

 when we generally begin to plant peas." "Af- 

 ter they haye disseminated their eggs, they 

 perish." " But that which is suprising and dii- 

 licult to be accounted for, is, that the womi 

 lea>es the rostcUum or sprout untouched, or at 

 least uninjured; for almost every pea vegetates 

 and thrives vigorously, notwithstanding the cor- 

 culiiin (the rudiment of the young plant) and 

 plumula seem to be consumed." 



" One or two years observation," continues 

 Mr. Pickering, " in different climates, may be 

 recpiisite to ascertain the time when the flight 

 of these insects is over and they perish. As 

 peas of various sorts blossom and form their 

 pods at very different times, some that come 

 late may perhaps admit of such early sowing 

 as to secure a vigorous and ample growth of 

 the vines before the intense heat of summer ar- 

 rives ; in which case a satisfactory crop may 

 more surely be expected." 



Mr. Pickering concludes this paper with the follow- 

 ing remarks on the opinions which some people enter- 

 tain of the influence of the moon on agriculture and 

 other sublunary concerns. 



" Having noticed the folly of regarding the 

 Moon in relation to the time of sowing pease, 1 

 add, that the idea of its influence in any other 

 operations in husbandry, ought to be alike dis- 

 carded. It is a mischievous supposition kept a- 

 live by tradition, and countenanced and support- 

 ed by the idle remarks and representations in 

 almanacks. The figure of a man marked w ith 

 the signs, and the prognostications of the weath- 

 er, ought to be expunged ; and every well dis- 

 posed almanack-maker would banish them if he 

 knew the injuries they occasion, by misleading 

 the farmer in any branch of rural economv. I 

 once heard some farmer.s — speaking of spread- 

 ing manure on grass-land in the spring — say ve- 

 ry gravely, that it sliould not be done Zi'hen the 

 horns of the moon -jnere turned upwards, for then 

 the inaaure, instead of sinking into the ground, 

 ■xould 7-isc '^ith the grass, and do no good. On the 

 contrary, they mentioned one farmer whott'o«/rf 

 not set up his worm fence w/ioi t!ie horns of the 

 moon pointed dozz-n-j^'ards — for then the stones 

 placed under the angles of the fence would sink, 

 and the lower rails touch the ground and rot. 

 And an industrious farmer in another state told 

 me that he had slaughtered a tine heilier calf 

 which he wished to have raised, becmtsc it ixas 

 dropped in the dark of the inoon. If 1 had not 

 witnessed these facts, I should have hardly 

 thought it possible that such ridiculous notions 

 could have been entertained by any persons who 

 claimed a share of common sense. Even the 

 changes of the weather so generally supposed 

 to be influenced by the phases of the moon, ha^ e 

 been found, by long course of observations, to 

 happen at all periods of the moon's appearance 

 indiscriminately. This fact which your father 

 mentioned to me twenty years ago, was this day 

 repeated to me by the gentleman who had no- 

 ted those observations. Were it otherwise, he 

 remarked, — did the moon's influence deter- 

 mine the weather — then should not this be fair 

 or foul, at the same times, in all countries on 

 the globe ?" {To be contimied.) 



Prayer of a Young Gentleman for a Wife. 

 From a vain coquette — from a pert assuming 

 Miss, good Lord deliver mo. From one whose 

 time and thoughts are employed in dress, orna- 

 ments and visit* ; from one who is enamoured 

 of her own pretty face and afcom|di<hments, 

 and " (lelightclli with her praise ;" from one 

 who talkelh loud, aflcctetli much, and laugheth 

 always, may I by a providence, be delivered.— 

 From one who is not dclightod with her home, 

 whose eyes roll with boldness on the faces of 

 men? frnni one who is insolent, proud and coneeil 

 ed, I earnestly desire to be delivered. From okc 

 ivho appe;weth to be delicate beyond what is 

 natural; from one on the contrary, who delights 

 to be seen performing the duties of men ; from 

 one who is pleased with a gorgeous apparel ; 

 from one on the contrary who is sluttish, neg- 

 lects her dress, and wanders about bareiboteTl 

 and barelegged, I pray to be delivered. From 

 her who would be thought learned in the sci- 

 ences, whose ambition is gratified in disputing 

 upon politicji and divinity ; from one on the con- 

 trary who is ignorant, and delighteth not in books, 

 I wish to be dcHvered. From one who i^ per- 

 petually finding fault, fretful and uneasy ; whose 

 house and family will be kept in continual up- 

 roar by her termagant disposition, I ever prav 

 to be delivered. From her whose treatment to 

 her friends is all ceremonious; from her whose 

 manners in company are awkward, who is too 

 bashful to join in the conversation and amuse- 

 ments of polite company ; v.ho knows not when 

 to speak and how to speak, may 1 be delivered. 

 But grant me the hand and heart of that amia- 

 ble, modest, unaffected, neat and virtuous fair, 

 whose frankness and serenity manifest the dis- 

 position of her natural mind. Grant me one 

 who walketh in maiden sweetness ; with inno- 

 cence in her mind and modesty in her cheeks. 

 One who is adorned with neatness in her dress; 

 whose conversation is instructive, pure and de- 

 cent ; one whose eyes sparkle love and kind- 

 ness ; one who delighteth not in slander and ob- 

 .scenity ; one whose breast is the mansion of 

 goodness, whose actions are the index of a pure 

 and virtuous mind. Give me the giil who has 

 not yet been taught to disguise the honest sim- 

 plicity of iwture, by the modes of behavior 

 originating from the " beggarly refinement of 

 modern education ;" one whose great beauty 

 consists in mental accomplishments ; and whose 

 heart and conscience dare to ai ow the sentiments 

 of her mind ; one who shall alleviate my trou- 

 bles by her counsels, and sweeten enjoyments 

 by her endearments ; whose answers are all 

 mildness and truth ; whose affections mitigate 

 distress ; and whose good humor and compla- 

 cency banish afflictions. Such a young lady 

 shall be the object of my affections. Such au 

 one 'hould be cherished as a blessing from above. 

 The kindness of my behavior shall endear her 

 to my heart. Happy shall I be to find such a 

 wife. She shall be more precious to me than 

 riches. 



Dr. Franklin. — Lord Howe in a conversation 

 with Dr. Franklin on Staten Island, in the time 

 of the Revolutionary war, said " I feel a great 

 affection for the people of America, and should 

 be sorry for the fall of the people of this coun- 

 try." " We w'ill endeavor to prevent youi' sor- 

 row, my lord," replied Franklin. 



