Vol. 6— No. 34. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



267 



ly happiness within his reach. So directly do his 

 labours lend to promote health, that they arc the ; 

 resort of invaliits tVom all other employments; 

 and often form the physician's last and hesl pre- 

 scription. Peace, too. if ever she finds a restins: 

 place in this disordered world, will fi.x her station 

 in the retired mansion of the farmer. Nor will 

 competence follow far behind, when health and 

 peace and industry lead the way. 



In the acUnowleilged fact that agricultural pur- 

 suits are more favorable to human happiness than 

 any other, 1 see, if I mistake not, additional indi- 

 cations of the goodness of God. For this must be 

 the e'niployment of the great mass of mankind : — 

 And to make it the easiest avenue to enjoyment, 

 will, theretbre, swell the amount of human happi- 

 ness more, than if the like pre-eminence had been 

 granted to any uther ait or profession. True, we 

 have not now a paradise to cultivate : and the 

 thorn and the thistle starting up on every side of 

 us, are mementos of that curse which followed 

 man from llie Garden of Eden. Still, in that curse 

 we perceive a mixture of mercy. The heart of 

 infiiiite benevolence seems to have yearned to 

 wards our guilty race, even at the moment when 

 they were driven from Paradise, and the sword 

 of a broken law turned every way to prevent tneir 

 re adiiultance In the bitter cup that was given 

 man to drink, there was mingled an antidote to 

 the poison. Though he must henceforth eat hia 

 bread in sorrow :ind in the sweat of his face, yet 

 would that very labor prove the greatest allevi.-'- 

 tion of his liials that could be granted to a fallen 

 being. 



In this light have almost every age and nation 

 regarded agriculture. National and individual 

 happiness has ever been known to be most inti- 

 mately linlsed with the successful cultivation of 

 the soil. We cannot say much, indeed, concern- 

 ing the views and elTorts of the antediluvians on 

 this subject. We have but one history of those 

 times, and this so concise, that it casts but a glim- 

 mering light on that Ion;; period of darkness. All 

 the vestiges of .science and civilization, that might 

 have e.xisted, have been swept away by the de- 

 luge : and the flood of the world has proved al- 

 most the flood of oblivion. 



Nor are the ages that for a long time followed, 

 involved in less obscurity. The building of the 

 Tower of Babel indicates a state of prosperity, 

 and un acquaintance with architecture ; and hence 

 we derive presumptive evidence in favor of a cor- 

 respondent advancement in agriculture. 



When the descendants of Abraham were se 

 curely settled in Palestine, they devoted them 

 selves almost e.Kclusively to agricultural pursuits, 

 from the chiefs of the tribes to the lowest menial. 



The Chaldeans made improvements in husband- 

 ry, before unknown. They seem to have ascer- 

 tained some method of recruiting an exhausted 

 soil, and were thus prevented the necessity of fre- 

 quently changing situations, like most other Ori- 

 ental nations. 



The proverbially' fertile soil of Egypt enabled 

 its inhabitants every year to raise vast quantities 

 of corn : and so highly was agriculture esteemed 

 among them, that they ascribed its invention to 

 their chief god, Osiris ; and even paid divine hon- 

 ors to tlie animals employed iu cultivation, and to 

 the products of the earth. 



In India, too, in ancient times, Bacchus was 

 worshipped as the inventor of planting vineyards, 

 and other agricultural arts. 



The Persian kings, also, once each month, laid ! REMEDY FOR THE WHOOPING COUGH 



aside the splendor of royalty, and ate with their Dissolve a scruple of salt of tartar in a gill of 

 husbandmen. Agriculture was incorporated into water, and tun grains of Cochineal finely powder- 

 thoir religion ; and it was one of their maxims, od, and sweeten this composition, so as to render 

 that he who sows the ground with diligence, ac- it palatable with fine loaf sugar. Give to an in- 



quires more religious merit, than by the repetition 

 of ten thousand prayers. 



The Phenicians or Philistines, and the Carlha- 

 geinans, were not unacquainted with agriculture : 

 and Mago, a celebrated Carlhagenian general, is 

 said to have written twenty-eight books on the 

 subject, which «ere translated into Latin by 

 command of the Roman Senate. 



The ancient nations of Europe seem to have 

 been much behind the Asiatics in their acquain- 

 tance with the cultivation of the soil ; for we find 

 the early Grecians deriving their subsistence, like 

 the wild beasts, from roots, herbs, and acorns. 

 The Athi'nians, however, ere long found that 



fant the fourth part of a table spoon full, four 

 limes a day. To a child 2 or ,3 years old, half a 

 spoon-full ; and to one 4 years old and iijiwards, a 

 spoon full may be given. The relief afforded by 

 this remedy is immediate, and generally a radical 

 cure is effected in .5 or 6 days. 



The above medicine has been used for several 

 years past, in cases of whooping cough, by eminent 

 physicians, with the greatest succes.;,and its salu- 

 tary effects have been singularly experienced in 

 many families. 



The High Cranberry. — Few people seem to be 

 aware that this shrub, or small tree, which grows 

 the bosom of the earth was not made merely to! plentifully in the marshes and swamps around us, 

 tread upon. Their princes recalled their subjects yielding rit' clusters of very handsome fruit, a 

 from predatory warfare to learn the peaceful arts I ''^''^ious tart, may be cultivated with ease and 

 of husbandry. The other States of Greece soon | success in our gardens and shrubberies. With- 

 fullowed the e.xample, and agriculiure rose into a j ""*■ knowing that the attempt had ever been made, 

 regular and important art. Their first writer on 1 ' tried it last spring, with some half a dozen 



shrubs, from Saratoga county, all of which bore 

 the transplanting very well, for they lived, grew 

 as vigorously as most vegetables do the first year, 



the subject was llesiod, who embellished his work 

 with the imagery and harmony of poetry. Zeno- 

 phon, Democritus, Aristotle, Theophrastus and , 



others, employed their pens upon the same sub- ' ="id some of them bore fine hunches of fruit.- 

 jgPt \ The twigs, taken ofli", put out as cuttings also 



Ihe high regard in which agriculture was held [ to"k, which shows with what facility we may 

 among the Romans is well known. Even their ] -^'"ck our gardens with cranberries. 



most illustrious Senators and commanders in the! _ , TT^ Z '. i^, 



,,.,,,.,.,., , .1 To clean moulding of carriascs. — lake one ta- 



intervals of public duty, devoted themselves to its , , ^,, .. 5,,.j, 



o 1 . J. u II 1 i- ble spoon full of ro: ton stone, nnely levigated, two 



pursuits. Kegulus requested to be recalled fiom '^ , . ,^ .. • r ■ , 



,. J ■ « 1 ■ .L . u • u.. .^ J . ounces and a :ialf of soirit of vitriol, two ounces 



Ins command in Africa, that he might attend to ..,,.,... ^ ■■ , ' r 



., 1.- .- ci r A 1 <-■■ • . and -1 half of spirit of wine, and one pint of water, 



the cultivation of lis farm. And Cincinnatus re- Z, ... - , , / ,, , 



, ., . I J .u • r ., ' Put t le spirit of wine in last, and a few small peb- 



ceived the summons to lead the armies of the re- , . . \ . , , . , , . - , • ,. 



... , i- 11 .u 1 u J 1 .u .1 bles to help in shaking. Apply it with a piece of 



public when following the plough : and when that I ,. . „ ^, , ,". ^ -, \. 



call of his country had been obeyed, and success 

 l>ad crowned his arms, he returned again to his 

 interesting occupation. Cato, the Censor, com- 

 posed a treatise on the subject. Varro followed 



thick flannel, then rub it off with a piece of moist 

 leather, afterwards with a dry flannel. 



Oi'tida Lake. — Among the documents received 

 from our Albany correspondent, is a report in fav- 

 him in a more regular work: and finally, Virgil or of lowering the Oneida lake, and the improve- 

 gave immortality to Roman agriculture, m his : „,(.„( ^f „,g „:,vigation of the Oneida river. The 

 Georgics. An art thus patronized by the rich and { o(,jg^j j^ i,,.^ fold— 1st To reclaim large tracts of 

 powerful, and occupying the attention of the ^ich sunken lands adjoining the lake, by which 

 learned, must have been carried to a considerable operation the healthiness of the surrounding coun- 

 degreeof perfection: though the want of any , j^y ^^ill be greatly improved ; and, 2dly, The im- 

 thing like a correct theory of agriculture, and the i , rovement of the navigation of the river, in such 

 substitution of numerous superstitious notions, ' ^^^ner as shall admit of steam-boat navigation 

 must have greatly impeded Us progress. j-^om Lake Ontario to the head of the Oneida.— 



But the Roman power was now on the wane. ^^^-^^ ^^o^id be truly a vast and valuable improve- 



Corruption had fixed upon the vitals of the State, i ,„p[)t JV Y Jidv 



and this vast fabric of empire, which was inipreg- j 



nable to all foreign assaults, must sink by the] Horse-chesnut dye. — A permanent buff, or naa- 

 slow workings of internal disease. Long did keen dye for muslin, linen, cotton, silk, or woollen 

 Rome linger over her fall : But at length the cloths, may be obtained from the horse chesnuts. 



huge pile of Gothic barbarity and ignorance was 

 raised on her ruins. For more than ten centuries, 

 a thick darkness brooded over the world. Relig- 

 ious intolerance and superstitious ignorance, those 

 spirits cf night, wielded their two edged swords 

 over the human mind, and lopped the first bud- 

 dings of genius and truth. Though here and 

 there a feeble light w>is seen, breaking through 

 the darkness, yet it was not till the middle of the 

 fifteenth century, that science and art were seen 

 rapidly rising from the chaos. In 1478, Crescen- 

 vio a Florentine, published a valuable treatise up- 

 on agriculture : and he was followed by many of 

 his countrymen in the same track. 

 /^To be continued.) 



For the buff color, take the whole fruit, husk and 

 all, when quite young, cut it small, and put it into 

 cold soft water, with as much soap as will just 

 cloud or discolor the water. When deep enough, 

 pour off the clear part, and dip whatever is to be 

 dyed, till it is the color required. For the nan- 

 keen color, take the husks only, cut or break 

 them small, steep them in soft water, with soap, 

 (as above) and dye it in the same manner. The 

 ! uska may be used for the buflf dye, after the ker- 

 nels are formed ; but it is only when they are the 

 most imperceptible that the whole fruit is used — 

 and the brightness of the buff color diminishes as 

 the husk ripens, till when quite ripe the dye if 

 most like nankeen. 



