80 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



the 



BY T. O. FKSSEMDES. 



Hale not laborious icork, ntitlur husbamlry, which 

 Mosl Hish, hath ordained Ecck Apoc. 



Altliough some men, with pride tlale, 

 Caii't condescend to cultivate 



The life-supporting soil, 

 The Highest husbandry ordaiii'd, 

 Nor can the proudest be sustain'd 



Without the Farmer's toil. 



If Adam, in his sinless state 

 Was well employM to cultivate 



The soil, which gave hiiu birth, 

 One would suppose his sinful race 

 ^^'ould not esteem it a disgrace 



To till the fruitful earth. 



Yet many a liale and brawny lout 

 Wont stoop to set himself about 



So noble an employment ! 

 In doing mischief, doing nought, 

 And doiiig nothing which he ought. 



Is plac'd his whole enjoyment. 



Some dolts as stupid as a stump. 

 Have had the happiness to thump 

 Their pates against a college ; 

 Can construe, possibly, quid agis .' 

 And therefore think themselves great sages, 

 Quite prodigies of knowledge. 



Others, perhaps, still greater bores. 



Have learn'd the odds, in mei-chants'' stores, 



'Twixt muslin and molasses ; 

 But still for manners, means and mind. 

 Rank with those brutes, he wish'd to find, 



AVho sought his father's asses : 



Yet, being gfJi/Zemen by trade. 



They will not touch an axe or spade. 



But, useful labor shunning. 

 They lounge about in lazy bands, 

 Throng tippler's shops and tavern stands, 



Like rattle-snakes a sunning. 



And some the learn'd professions crowd, 

 Whose shallow pates are not allowM 



To take in two ideas ; 

 Their feeble wits for years they task, 

 Ere pride will suffer them to ask 



What nature's fix'd decree is. 



All these, a poor mistaken race, 

 Think husbandry a great disgrace, 



Though ^\ashington thought not ; 

 And hands which empire's rod could wield, 

 Have been employ'd to till the field. 



And bless'd their happy lot. 



Xow these our lays are not design'd 

 To undervalue men of mind, 



Nor fruits of intellect ; 

 The learn'd professions we would fill 

 \Vith men of science, sense and skiU, 



Most worthy high respect. 



Still, those professions, 'tis allow'd, 

 Are sadly cumber'd with a crowd, 



A nice but needy train, 

 Oblig'd to tax their brains with double 

 A common farmer's toil and trouble, 



A livelihood to gain. 



Merchants are useful in their places, 

 But if society embraces 



Too many of the caste. 

 As sure as man's to trouble born, 

 Straight through the small end of the horu 



Some must be squeez'd at last. 



Header, I don't pretend to say 

 But what your eminency may 



Be bless'd with parts uncommon ; 

 A better head and heart, peihaps. 

 Than commonly since Adam's lapse, 



Arc owu'd by man or woman. 



It dot-s not follow thence, however, 

 Vour hands, so delicate, must never 



Perform " laborious work :" 

 That you should loiter life away. 

 And vegi tate from day to day. 



As lazy as a Turk. 



You arc, perhaps, by mother wit. 

 As wfll as education fit 



Some famous part to act ; 

 But it is possible there may 

 Be other great men in your way, 



As good as you, in lact. 



And if you've reason to suspect 

 The higher toils of intellect 



Are not for you decreed ; 

 Your hands, in useful labor plied. 

 May, with God's blessing, still provide 



For every real need. 



Then swing the axe, or ply the spade. 

 Or work at that mechanic trade 



\Vhich suits your genius best ; 

 Become a tinker, rather thau 

 A mischievous, or idle man, 



A nuisance or a pest. 



And shun those imps, with pride elate, 

 \\ ho cannot stoop to culti^'ate 



'i he life-supporting soil ; 

 And contravening God's commands, 

 Will not employ their heads nor hands 



In any useful toiL 



From the Boston Daily Advertiser of October 1. 

 AGRICULTURAL I.NTF.LLIGENCE. 



The season hies been unusually fertile — Indian 

 Corn, our great staple has rarely been better or 

 in greater al.'undancc. All vegetables have 

 flourished unusually well, and the crops are 

 great. — Still it must be admitted to have been a 

 season beyond all example, dry. The springs 

 are lower than they have been for thirty years. 

 A pond which has been full to overilowing for 

 thirty-five years, has been for six weeks past, 

 two feet bclotv its ordinary level. Many wells 

 have failed, which were never known to fail 

 before. The after feed is nearly cut ofl", and 

 the effects will be felt next spring in the high 

 price of hay, unless we are supplied from the 

 Eastern shore, where the season has been more 

 favorable. 



Apples are more abundant and larger and 

 fairer than we have ever known them, but we 

 fear they will be preserved with difficulty. 

 They will ripen prematurely, and cannot be 

 preserved till spring without great care. The 

 use of these hints will be perceived, if those 

 who raise, or buy winter fruit, will in conse- 

 (juonce of this intimation, take unusual care in 

 picking^their fruit and in its preservation. As 

 the apples are so ripe and of course the skin so 

 soil, it will require more caution to prevent 

 bruises in picking them, vvhich arc always fatal 

 to the fruit. Purchasers buy apples by the bar- 

 rel without inquiring into the iiunmer in which 

 they have been picked and put up. Yet one 

 barrel well picked, is worth two carelessly man- 

 aged. When put up in such a season particu- 



larly, and in all seasons, they should be kept as 

 cool as possible. — Any degree of cold short of 

 freezing is not only not injurious but highly 



beneficial to fruit intended for winter use. 



Pears have been fairer and finer this year than 

 for ten years past, but they ripen, and rot much 

 earlier than usual. They should be exposed to 

 the greatest possible degree of cold. It is not 

 probably generally known that winter fruit can 

 be preserved in ice houses till August in per- 

 fection, and that cherries and other summer 

 fruits can in like manner be kept perfect for 

 many weeks, long after their season is past. 



The sweet potato has flourished this season 

 beyond expectation. It is very sweet and dry — 

 full as good as those raised in New-Jerscv, and 

 we think better. We have had them in per- 

 fection for seven weeks, since the 6th of August 

 — and on one eighth of an acre, \\c have raised 

 enough for our own wants, and have been able 

 to send to market what will pay the whole ex- 

 pense. Our neighbours, who attempted to raise 

 them, we are sorry to perceive, have failed, ow- 

 ing- partly to the unusually severe, and early - 

 frosts of the past week, but more particularly 

 to the injudicious selection of southern seed. 

 They procured them from Virginia instead of 

 New-Jersey. This, like all other plants, must 

 be (to use a southern phrase,) acclimated. The 

 peach and cherry were gradually introduced 

 into northern regions. If we should import a 

 peach tree direct from Armenia or Persia, its 

 native region, it would never ripen its fruit with 

 us. It is only by very gentle transitions that 

 we procure m perfection fruits not natural to 

 our soil. A ROXBURY FARMER. 



From the Connecticut Mirror. 



Mrs. Wells of Wcthersfield, (formerly Miss 

 Woodhouse) has received by the hands of Mr. 

 Marcus Bull of this City, the Medal and twenty 

 guineas which were awarded to her by the 

 British " Society of Arts," for her ingenuity in 

 the manufacturing of the splendid Bonnet, which 

 Mr. Bull carried to London. We have not seen 

 the Medal, but we understand that it is of per- 

 fectly pure silver, of about the circumference 

 and twice the thickness of a crown — with vari- 

 ous emblematic devices, elegantly executed on 

 one side, and on the other a short inscription 

 stating who gave it, to whom it was given, and 

 lor what reason. 



In remarking- on the new material for fine 

 straw plait, the Connecticut Courant says — 



" The importance of this discovery to that 

 country will be readily perceived, when we 

 state that nut less than one hundred thousand 

 females, who have been formerly employed in 

 the manufacture of Straw Bonnets, are now 

 either partially or wholly deprived of their only 

 means of obtaining a reputable subsistence. — 

 From the experiments already made in cultiva- 

 ting the grass in England, no doubt remains as 

 to Its success ; and we may say with safely, that 

 in giving this discovery to our mother country, 

 we make her a valuable return in the account 

 of reciprocating national discoveries and im- 

 provements. \Vc sincerely hope that the im- 

 portance of this discovery to our own country 

 may not be lost sight of; but that immediate 

 and extensive establishments may be formed for 

 the manufacture of domestic Leghorns, as we 

 cannot iloubl that surli establishments would meet 

 with a liberal support from all classes of society. 



