32 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



O.N THE LMLb Oi 

 BY T. C 



A MISIJIIUAOUS 

 FESSESDEN. 



Many have fallen by the edge of the award, but not so 

 many as have fallen by the loiifrue. 



Eccl. Apoc. xxviii, 8. 



Tho' millions the sword of the warrior has slaughter'd, 

 While fame has the homicide's eulogy rung ; 



Yet many more millions on millions are martyr'd — 

 Cut otf by that cowardly weapon, the tongue. 



One sword may bn match'd by another as keen, 

 In battle the bold man a bolder may meet, 



But the shaft of the slanderer, flying unseen 



From the quiver of malice, brings ruin complete. 



An insolent tongue, by a taunt or a gibe, 



Enkindles heart-burnings and bloody affrays ; 



A treacherous tongue, when impiU'd by a bribe, 

 The guiltless condemns, or a nation betrays. 



A smooth subtle tongue vile seducers employ 

 The fair sex to lure to libidinous thrall ; 



A slip of the tongue risay its owner destroy, 



And the tongue of the serpent occasionM the fall. 



Then be it impressed on Columbian youth. 



That the tongue is an engine of terrible force ; 



Not govern'd by reason, not guided by truth, 



A plague, which may desolate worlds in its course. 



From the New York Statesman. 



O.V THE WILD IJs'DIGO PLAJ^T. 



jVIessrs. Editors, 



While we are anxiously copying the manipu- 

 lations of European artists in our dyehouses, we 

 are neerlecting to use an indigenous plant, far 

 more valuable than any thing contained or used 

 in Europe. Our blue dyers began with tl^e ash 

 vat, described by Berthollet, and others, and I 

 which Dr. Bancroft infonns us, " is so costly, 

 as to be chiefly employed to dye silk." If this 

 tvere the only objection, it would in itself be 

 sufficient to induce an alteration ; but w hen in 

 addition to this we know that the color is not 

 so bright, or so permanent, as when indigo is 

 fermented by some vegetable basis, containing 

 in itself the primitive coloring matter, we shall 

 be much surprised that this mode of dying has 

 been so long continued. 



The plant used by Europeans, from time im- 

 memorial, to ferment their blue vats, has been 

 the isatis, or woad, which is indigenous in Eng- 

 land and other parts of Euro|)e. It is not sur- 

 prising, therefore, that it shou!:i be used there, 

 as nothing better offered itself; but tn the U. 

 States we have the wild indigo plant, growing 

 abundantly every where, that possesses all the 

 valuable fermenlative properties of woad, with 

 twentv times as much coloring matter, and giv- 

 ino- a tint that for permanency and brilliancy is 

 unrivalled. 



" It is well known, according to Mr. Clark- 

 son, that the African dyes are superior to those 

 of any otiicr part of the globe. 



>•• The blue is so much more permanent and 

 beautiful than that which is extracted from the 

 same plant in other parts, that many have been 

 led to (loulit whether the yVfrican cloths brought 

 into this country (England) were dyed with ui- 

 digo or not. They apprehended that the colors 

 in these, which became more beantiful upon 

 washing, must have proceeded from another 

 weed, or have been an extraction from other 

 iveed.? which are celebrated for dying tliere — 



The matter, however, has been cioarly ascer 

 tained ; a gentleman procured two or three of 

 the balls, which had just been prepared by the 

 Africans for use ; he brought them home, and 

 upon examination found them to lie the leaves 

 of indigo rolled up in a very simple state." 



Having noticed the above article in Dr. Ban- 

 croft's incomparable work on permanent colors, 

 I was induced last fall to collect some of the 

 jilant, not with an intention of coloring with it, 

 as I had no means of preparing for that jiurpose, 

 but to use the woad \ats m place of swill from 

 bran and madder, to assist their fermentation, 

 which were weak, owing to the woad being of 

 an inferior ciuality. I gathered nearly a cart 

 load, too late in the season to obtain it in matu- 

 rity, and bad it boiled, and used the liquor when 

 wanting. The plants were too old to retain 

 much of those succulent juices in which their 

 value chielly consists, yet it answered the in- 

 tended purpose, for the liquors so long as I was 

 enabled to supply them with it, worked much 

 freer and more vigorous, than in the usual way, 

 and although this experiment was not decisive, 

 for want of a sufficient quantity, and from the 

 plant being too old when gathered, yet 1 am 

 convincedljy the effect produced that it may be 

 used to great advantage. 



As the indigofera is found every where in 

 the United States, and in many places m great 

 abundance, it would seem desirable that some 

 experiments should be made on it, to test the 

 superiority attributed to it, of which there ap- 

 pears but little room for doubt ; for if this were 

 established it would become an object of great 

 national importance, inasmuch as the color 

 made from it, would be superior to those ob- 

 ta!ne<l from Europe, and thereby give to Amer- 

 [ ican fabrics the preference in color in which 

 they are now decidedly deticient. 



fapiuehend the balls are made by simply 

 placing the leaves together, face ways, as they 

 are gathered ; that when a ball is made it fer- 

 ments, and exudes sufficient moisture, to cause 

 an adhesion of the mass ; and that this process 

 developes the coloring matter, so as to enable 

 the vat liquor to extract it with sufficient faci- 

 lity. This IS not the only mode of preparing 

 thie plant. The following extracts will prove 

 there is considerable latitude, both in preparing 

 and in working it afterwards. 



Capt. G. Roberts, in the account of his voya- 

 ges, mentions " the indigo plant as growing 

 wild at Bonavista; and that the natives prepare 

 it, only by pounding the leaves of the shrub 

 while green, in a wooden mortar, with a wood- 

 en pestle, and so reduce it to a kind of pulp, 

 which they form into thick round cakes, or 

 balls, ^iid dVying it, keep it till they have occa- 

 sion to use It Tor dying their clothes. Mr. 

 Mungo Bark, in the" account of his travels in 

 Africa, says, " that to i\\& cloth of a lasting 

 blue color, according to the practice of the ne- 

 gro women, the leaves of the indigo when fresh 

 gathereil, are pounded in a wooden mortar, and 

 mixed in a large earthen jar, with a strong ley 

 of wood ashes^ (chainberley being semct'mes 

 added) and the cloth is steeped in this inixUiiv, 

 and allowed to remain until it has acquired a 

 proper shade. When indigo is mosi plentilui. 

 they collect the leaves and\lry them in the sun, 

 and when they wish to use them, they reduce a 

 suiiicicnt quantity to powder, and mix it with 

 lev a* before mentioned. 



Mr. iMarsdeii. in hts h;.-iory of .Suinatra, sa;. -. 

 "■ the indigo shrub (Yaroom) is always found in 

 their plantations ; but the natives, to dye with 

 it, lea\e the stalk and branches lor some days 

 in water to soak, then boil it, and with their 

 hands, work some quick lime among it, with thf 

 leaves of' the pacoo sabba for fixing the color 

 They then drain it off, and use it in a liquid 

 state." 



Other extracts might be added, confirmincr 

 the good qualities of this plant, but I think 

 enough has been made to convince the most in- 

 credulous reader, that it may be appropriated 

 without much difficulty, to purposes highly val- 

 uable. 



The indigo made from the wild plant is said 

 to be of much better quality than that which is 

 obtained from the cultivated, but that it does 

 not contain so great a quantity of coloring 

 matter. 



The leaves should be gathered when the 

 plant is in full blossom, which at three cents a 

 pound, would be a lucrative employment for 

 country children, and if a sufficient supply ot 

 the dried leaves could be obtained at that price, 

 It might be rendered, when manufactured ready 

 for use, at less than the first cost of woad in 

 England. By this means the American dyers 

 could lie supplied with a native article now 

 considered as useless, equal to woad as a fer- 

 mentative medium, containing twenty times as 

 much coloring matter, more permanent than 

 manutactured indigo, and giving a color une- 

 qualled by any other plant, or process 



UOPSON. 



Cleanliness. — Aristotle ranks cleanliness as ; 

 minor virtue; and Addison not only recommend 

 it as a proof of refinement, and as the means o 

 conciliating esteem, but considers it as havinc 

 some analogy to purity of heart. To the opin 

 ions of these good judges m morals we ma) 

 add, that it holds a place amongst the charm- 

 of social life, Avhilst it is, at the same time, tht 

 greatest preservative of health. 



Value of Time.— The difference of rising ev 

 ery morning at six and eight o'clock, in tht 

 course of forty years, supposing a person to g( 

 to bed at the same time he otherwise would 

 amounts to 29,200 hours, or three years, 121 

 days, and 19 hours, which afford eight hours a 

 daV for exactly ten years, so that it is the samle 

 asif ten years of life, (a weighty consideration" 

 were added, in which we may command eigh 

 hours every day, for the cultivation of our live; 

 and the despatch of business. 



It is a mortifying rellection, says Dr. .Tohn 

 son, for any man To consider what he has done 

 compared with what he might have done. 



" Mr. P." said a citizen, '• has a \ ast deal o 

 wit." " Very probable," said another, '• am 

 he seems determined to keep his stock guud 

 for he never was known to expend or to mak< 

 use of any." 



Sir Thomas Overlmry observes that the mai 

 who has nothing to boast of but hiS illustriou 

 ancestors, resembles a potatoe — the only gooi 

 belonging to him being under ground. 



Dinner Time. — A pcr'.on asked a Grecian ]dii 

 losopher what he thought was the proper l:i n 

 iodine. '-Sir," said the ancient, '•' the prop c 

 time of dinner, with the opulent, is when O.o 

 choose ; with the poor man, when he cr.oi." 



