408 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



THE HAPPV MXy.—TrarulaUd from Horace. 

 Happy the man, who free from care, 



Manures his own paternal fields, 

 Content, as bis wise fathers were, 



T' enjoy the crop his labor yields. 



Nor usury torments his breast, 



That barters happiness for ^^^'"1 

 Nor war's alarms disturb his rest. 



Nor hazards of the faithless main : 



Nor at the ever wranjling bar. 



With costly noise and dear debate, 



Proclaims an everlasting war. 

 Nor fawns oa bad men basely great. 



But for the vine selects a spouse, 

 Chaste emblem of the marriage bed, 



Or prunes the too luxuriant boughs, 

 And grafts more fruitful in their stead : 



Or views the lowing herds, that share 



The produce of his fertile plains. 

 And ponders with delightful care. 



The prospect of his future gains : 



Or shears his sheep which round him graze, 

 And droop beneath their curling loads, 

 * Or plunders his laborious bees 



Of balmy nectar, meet for god?. 



When autumn comes to crown the year. 

 And bending boughs reward his pains. 



Joyous he plucks the luscious pear. 

 The puiple grape his finger stains. 



Each honest heart's a welcome guest, 

 With tempting fruits his table glows, 



And still the Almighty Donor's blest. 

 For wliat his Providence bestow?. 



LIGHTNLNG RODs! 

 The first object of the rod (s.ays Dr. FrnnU- 

 Jin) is to prevent a discharge oi electricity from 

 the cloud — to effect this object, the rod should 

 be well elevated, and terminate in a slim sharp 

 point. Dr. Franklin's experiments as well as 

 others, prove that the power of tlic pointed rod 

 extends quite to the clouds, and takes from them 

 a vast quantity of the lluid before they arrive 

 within the striking distance. From the rod 

 which he erected on his own house, he led a 

 small wire into one of the rooms in the house; 

 on the end of the wire was fixed a small bell, 

 and at six or eight inclies distance from the 

 bell was placed another ; from this bell a wire 

 was led into the cellar and fixed to the pump 

 rod ; between the two bells, a brass ball was 

 suspended by a silk thread ; when a thunder 

 cloud appeared over the house, the bells would 

 be electrified, and the brass ball would be at- 

 tracted and repelled alternately, ai. ^.'.play quick- 

 ly between the liclls, and keep up a continual 

 ringing till the cloud had passed over the bouse. 

 At one time he was aw.ikened by an unusual 

 noise— he immediately sprang out oi bed to as- 

 certain the cause ; and on opening the door he 

 perceived the quantity of lluid that was passing 

 down w.is unusually great ; the brass ball was 

 removed at a distance from the bells, and an 

 uninterrupted column of lluid was passing from 

 one bell to the other. This circumstance is 

 sufficient to prove that the pointed rod will 

 prevent, or at least, lessen the discharge from 

 lie clouds ; a dull or blunt point will have little 

 or no eflpct ; therefore, pains ought to be taken 

 to have it in its proper shape. 



The second object of the rod is to receive 

 and conduct the electrical fluid into the earth, 

 when the point is insufficient to prevent a dis- 

 charge from the cloud ; to effect this object, the 

 conducting power of the rod should be made as 

 great as possible, by having the rod communi- 

 cate with some conducting substance, such as 

 water, or very moist earth. Franklin says, the 

 rod should be settled, at least, six feet below 

 the surface of the ground. Some have recom- 

 mended putting a large quantity of charcoal at 

 the bottom of the rod, and have it extend some 

 distance from it ; this may have a good efect, 

 for charcoal is a perfect conductor of electrici- 

 ty. The conductor ought to be three fourths 

 of an inch in diameter; rods of iron but Bttle 

 smaller than this have been known to be com- 

 pletely dissipated at one stroke of lightning. — 

 The rod ought to pass in the most direct course 

 possible, for the conducting power ot a red or 

 wire is alwaj's weakened by increasing its letigth, 

 and the lluid will follow a short condtictir in 

 preference to a long one, in all cases. U obght 

 to be supported by wood, and not suffered to 

 come in contact with any metallic substjnce, 

 such as staples, or nails of iron, brass 01 any 

 other metal. — Providence Journal. ' 



each sheep owner, where the sheep were s 

 erally shorn. ^ 



V^' 



There is sense in the following extract at 

 least; whether it be common sense or not, we 

 will not pretend to decide: 



SENSE. — There are a great many gradq- 

 atioQs of wisdom among people — there is good 

 sense, great sense, and fine and high sense, be- 

 sides no sense and little sense ; but the bestkird 

 of sense in my estimation, is that which is vul- 

 garly denominated common sense. Your good 

 sense is always running away with itself; yojr 

 great sense is sure to have mischief at the bjt- 

 tom of it; your tine sense makes broken hearts ; 

 your higb sense broken tieads ; your no sense 

 goes blundering to the devil often, and your lit- 

 tle sense is not much better — hut common seree 

 fills a man's purse with dollars, bis cellar wih 

 beef and pork, and his peaceful fire-side wih 

 a — good wife and good children. Common sense 

 is best. 



Whatever may be the opinions of our tn 

 marine readers, the vast flock thus concentrai 

 together with the multitude employed in sh(.^ 

 ing, and gathered to witness the operation, j"* 

 sented no contemptible spectacle. If the ei 

 bition was not In itself calculated, equally n' 

 any military displaij, to inspire ideas of natk 

 independence, it at" leist imbued the behol 

 with some notion of domestic comfort, and <)ii 1 

 ried his mind back to the sylvan simplicity '1 

 the patriarchal ages. 



On the spot a number of large tents w^ji 

 I erected, through which the voice of festi- 

 j resounded. We have not been furnished wli 

 jany formal orc/cr of the rites therein perform ir- 

 I but the following may be imagined to have b< Jf. 

 among the " toasts drank on the occasion." 



The festival xce celebrate — May eur politi \d 

 and ecclesiastical shepherds be as careful 

 to shear too close. 



Commerce — The golden fleece of the nation 



Jlgriculture and Manufactures — May they tlo n 

 ish by hook or by crook. 



National Independence — May it prosper m< 

 b}' industry than gunpowder. 



Our Legislators — May their tongues nev 

 like lamb's tails, wag, wag, wag. 



The Krout Club — Cabbage heads and Mut 

 heads; may a sufliciency of pluck attend botl 



The Fair Sc.x — When our bcau.r cast she; 

 eyes towards them, may they become ■warm 



ui'Ool. 



Ike 



iiJf 



From the Nantucket Inquirer. 

 "SHF.ARK\G." 



The annual Shearing took place on Mondiy 

 and Tuesday last. Our distant readers may pcs- 

 sibly smile at this annunciation of an event ap- 

 parently so unimportant. Uut when we assure 

 them that this is almost the only jubilee whiih 

 we islanders allow ourselves to celebrate in aiy 

 sort of style, they may offset this account agaiist 

 the innumerable details of Election festivals, 

 Fourth-oJ-Jaly parades, Tammany dinners, Christ- 

 mas treats, Linnean Coronations, Krout fcasl<, and 

 Horse Races, at which we are ever and aeon 

 compelled to expand our opticks and smack our 

 lips in envious wonderment. 



There are about 10,(X)U Sheep kept on this 

 island, which it had hitherto been customiry to 

 shear in two separate Hocks, east and west of 

 the town. The sheep owners the present year, 

 however, resolved on a general shearing; and 

 for this iiurposc an area of 300 acres w.is in- 

 closed, about three miles south of the town, 

 into which the sheep, collected from all quar- 

 ters of the island, were driven. In the centre 

 of this field, a large circular pen was I'ormed, 

 bordered on its exterior by the private pens of 



FORTY YEARS AGO— 

 Literature meant learning, and was supper 

 by common sense. Refined nonsense had 

 advocates, and was pretty generally kicked 1 



of doors. 



Forty years ago — men of property could lab 

 and wear homespun to c)iurch. Women coi 

 spin and weave, make butter and cheese, wh( 

 husbands were worth thousands. 



Forty years ago — there were but fevr mi 

 chants in the country — few insolvent debto 

 and very rarely imprisoned for debt. 



Forty years ngo--the young ladies of the fi 

 respectability learned music, but it was t 

 humming of the wheel, and learned the neci 

 sary steps of dancing in following it. Th« 

 forte piano was a loom, their parasol was 

 broom, and their novels the bible. 



Forty years oi,'o-^the young gentlemen ho 

 corn, chopped wood at the door, and went 

 school in the winter to learn reading, writii 

 and arithmetic. 



Forty years ago — there was no such thing 

 balls in the summer, and but fen in the winte 

 except snow balls : and 



Forty years ago — if a mechanic promised 

 do your work, you might depend ou his won 

 the tiling would be done. 



TERMS OF THE FARMER. 



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