NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



July 27, 18^; 



FELLENBERG SCHOOL AT HOFWYL. 



Extract of a letter from John Murray, Esq — 

 Sir, — You have in a late number of the Gardener's 

 Magazine, (p. 77.) amongr your notices of foreign 

 publications, adverted to tlie ' Annales Agricoles 

 de Roville,' as containing an account of the very 

 interesting establishment of M. Fellenberg at 

 Hofvvyl. As I visited these magnificent arrange- 

 ments on the 2lith August, 1825, porhaps a suc- 

 cinct notice may not be uninteresting. I am un- 

 willing, however, to trespass on your valuable 

 pages further than to give a very summary ac- 

 count of what 1 personally witnessed ; especially 

 as there are numerous pnblicalions filled witli de- 

 tails of these peaceful and interesting scenes. 



"The agricultural implements, which are en- 

 tirely made on the spot, are numerous, varied, and 

 complete, including all the ingenuity of the most 

 recent invention. There is a fine dairy, though 

 none but ordinary cheese is made. The milk is 

 preserved in shallow trays of wood, in subterra- 

 nean cellars, and the floors frequently sprinkled 

 with water, to keep them cool. There are fifty 

 milch cows, which are regularly curried down and 

 dressed like horses, fourteen horses, and fourteen 

 o.ven for labour, which are particularly large, of 

 the Ftibourg breed. Liquid manure is duly ap- 

 preciated, and holds its proper place in the econo- 

 my of agriculture, which is not merely theoretic, 

 but practical, and that, too, on a magnificent scale. 

 " On our visit we found that the greater part of 

 the pupils had sol out on their annual pedestrian 

 excursion, via Neufchatel, under the care of one 

 of the classic tutors. We were informed that 

 there were then ninety-nine scholars. Of these 

 fifteen were English, ten Scotch, including two 

 ionsofthc eccentric Mr Owen, who had twice 

 visited Hofwyl, two Russians, one Grtek, seve- 

 ral Danes, Swedes, and Germans ; the rest French 

 and Swiss. There were, of course, no Spaniards. 

 Twenty-one masters teach the languages, belles 

 lettres, arithmetic, natural philosophy, chemi^^try, 

 Tjotauy, agriculture, &c. There are five profes- 

 sors for the various accomplis.iments, as music, 

 drawing, &c. In the saloon for music we noticed 

 two kettle-drums, a grand piano-forte, &c. ; and 

 on a large black board were ch-lked lines and 

 notes, for tho use of beginners. They have a 

 concert every month. The various compartments 

 for instruction are arranged with judgment and 

 method ; in fact, nothing car be well conceived 

 more complete than the louie tnsemble of this very 

 extraordinary establishment. There is a chapel 

 that serves at once for Protestant and Catholic 

 worship : for the former the altar and imagery of 

 Catholicism are most judiciously concealed from 

 Yiew, being shut up in a convenient case. 



" The beds where the pupils repose are ele- 

 gantly neat, and all subordinated to health and 

 comfort : each insulated compartment has its tor- 

 responding clonot. In the salle a manner, or din- 

 ing room, is a closet which descends, by means of 

 machinery, into the kitchen beneath, and is wound 

 up again loaded with its covers. Even in the 

 kitchen for the working people we noticed a Pap- 

 in's digpster. Proper houses and rooms are ap- 

 propriated for tailors, shoemakers, &c. ; und we 

 fou id the carpenters and mechanics at their re- 

 spective labours. The children of the poor have 

 gratuitous instruction. A large building is ap- 

 propriated to horsemanship and various gymnas- 

 tic exercises, and for the latter there are also 

 erections of wood, (Sec. without. There is a plot 



of ground allowed to each pupil for a garden, in 

 which he may e.xercise his own taste. There were 

 new edifices being erected for various purposes' 

 and M Fellenberj,' superintended them in person. 



A French Count was very polite to us ; even to 

 excess. 



" This is a truly peaceful scene. IIow different 

 that which follows the footsteps of the warrior 

 compared to this ? ' Ubi, solitudinem faciunt, hie 

 pacem appellant.^ 



" Every thing at Hofwyl is calculated to infuse 

 into the toils of the student the sweets of recrea- 

 tive enjoyment ; ' lahor ipse voluptas.^ I found 

 M. Fellenberg mild and courteous, intelligent and 

 polite. To say more of such an estimable charac- 

 ter would be waste of praise. We left this beau- 

 tiful domain with regret, to visit Count d'Erlach 

 at Hindlebank, to whom I had an introduction, 

 often contemplating the mairnificent appearance 

 of the establishment of Hofv/yl in the distant pros- 

 pect. — GarJener^s Magazine. 



GUINEA GRASS. 



This grass, which grows in great abundance in 

 the West Indies, id there of such great utility, 

 that the preservation of the stock in many of the 

 islands, frequently depends on it. A few years 

 airo, a considerable quantity of the seed was 

 brought to New- York ; but owing to the want of 

 correct information as to its cultivation, several 

 attempts made to raise it, were unsuccessful, 

 which led to its being abandoned. Among the 

 Bath and West of England Agricultural Society 

 papers, we observe an article on this subject, from 

 the pen of a gentleman in Jamorica, who speaks 

 from his own knowledge as to the manner in 

 which this valuable plant is roared in that colony. 

 He says that it is capable of thriving in any situa- 

 tion, in respect to climate and soil, and can bear 

 the efi'oets of dry or wot w-eatlier in a most re- 

 markable manner. It wet weather in grows so 

 fast, that it may be cut once in a fortnight, and 

 sometimes oftener, when the land which yields it 

 is new or fe/tile. — In dry, it is a long time before 

 it withers, and, when reduced thereby to such a 

 state us to seem totally destroyed, will revive 

 with a slight shower in a very few hours ; and 

 when rain falls, though in so sparing a degree 

 as to be of little or no service to common pas- 

 tures, it will occasion this to vegetate, and to 

 be fit for use in a few weeks : nay, in some situa- 

 tions, not too much exposed to the heat of the sun, 

 it is known to flourish, and derive ample support, 

 from occasional dews only. It has, farther, so 

 peculiar a quality of stocking, that, with very lit- 

 tle care in its infancy, it will overcome all other 

 grasses and weeds ; and in ground full of stones 

 and rocks, though planted at very great distances, 

 at random, as the appearance of soil admits, will 

 spread itself about them, in a few months, and at 

 last cover them entirely. This srra'ss, when ready 

 to seed, is from six to eijht feet high ; but it is 

 (renerally fed upon, or cut, when only three or four. 

 It agrees with all kinds of stock; and horses, mules, 

 and cattle, when turned out to feed upon it, will 

 fatten so fast, tfant the two former will be in good 

 condition in two months, or less ; and the latter 

 will become fit for the butcher in the course of 

 three months. 



The cultivation of this grass is very easy, and 

 attended with little care, expense, or trouble. It 

 is net immediately produced from the seed, but 

 is previously planted. The land intended for it 



is generally made perfectly bare by hoeing, and 

 holes are then dog, from three to five feet distant, 

 varying in this respect according to the quality of 

 the soil ; that is, if it be rich, the holes are to be 

 made at a greater, and if poor, at a less distance. 

 These holes should be large, and deep enough to 

 admit, and bury a good depth, a few roots of the 

 grass. The roots to bo planted are dug up from 

 a neighbouring field, or nursery ; and the grass 

 arising from them being topped, within three or 

 four inches, they are put into each hole, and well 

 covered with earth, pressed down by the foot. — 

 Care is taken to keep the plants free from weeds 

 by repeated hocings. The months most approv- 

 ed offer planting, are April and May, as the grass 

 will then seed in September .and October, at which 

 periods it is found to seed by far the most abun- 

 dantly. It is necessary to be careful that the 

 ground is quite clean when the seed is ready to 

 drop; and if the spaces between the roots are 

 thei. stirred up with the hoe, it will be found very 

 beneficial. 



When the seed is all fallen, stock is turned in 

 to tread it into the ground, and feed upon the 

 grass. In very rich and new land, the grass at 

 first will grow so rank as to produce very thick 

 stalks, which, by running up the noses of the 

 stock, will prevent them from eating it so close as 

 they otiierwise would. When, however, it is 

 eaten as near the ground as possible, the remain- 

 ing grass, with the roots which were planted, are 

 dug up with the hoe and burnt off. The grass 

 after this, if favourable rains attend, will grow 

 from the seed, and by covering the ground in the 

 month of May following, will be perfectly estab- 

 lished for several years, according to the quality 

 of the land, so as to be cut for use, or become a 

 pasture. 



Whenever the grass grows thin, holes may be 

 opened in such places as may occasionally ap- 

 pear so, and roots again planted to supply it ; and 

 by this attention bestowed upon it, a field will 

 scarcely ever be so totally worn out as to require 



the labour of being at any one time replanted. 



The blades of this grass, when flourishing, appear 

 not unlike those of wheat, only rather broader 

 and longer ; and the stalks, during the first 

 growth, also much like those of it, but they get 

 weaker and less, the oftener the grass is fed up- 

 on or cut, till at last it becomes a fine, rich, and 

 entire swarth. 



During the first 10 years of the present century, 

 the average quantity of wool imported into Great 

 Britain was 7,200,600 lbs. 



The season in England is remarkably fine — and 

 the wheat promises an abundant harvest. 



N. York is infested with mad dogs, several per- 

 sons have recently been bitten by them in that 

 city. It is supposed the hot weather has an influ- 

 ence in causing canine madness. 



The fourth of July was marked in Ohio by let- 

 ting in the water, and navigating the first boats on 

 the Portage Summit of the Oliio Canal. 



The following toast was drank at a late cele- 

 bration in Upton, Mass. — 



The present Militia System of the United States. 

 — Of mammoth size, and puny weight — the poor 

 man's tax — the rich man's scorn — a source of 

 safety to none, and of complaint to all. 



