398 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



July 4, 1 858. 



I have seen, repeatedly suckling iulaiits, of a 

 few weeks old, treated to a share ol" the raw rum 

 gin, or brandy, to which the mothers had been 

 treated, at various couutiy stores and taverns. — 

 Indeed, it is a common thing, in this Western 

 world, for the commo;^ people to give their infants 



From the National lutdU^atccr. 



DRUNKENNESS. 



ITS CAUSES AND PREVENTIVES. 



Gentlemen : Formerly, it was a trite proverb, 

 that " Money is the root of evil ;" but it has now 

 become oljsolete, since we never hear it mention- 

 ed any more. 



What then can be the cause of the present de- 

 praved state of our morals ? I think that we may 

 trace it in the general use of strong drink, which 

 now jjcrvades every class : what I call strong 



drink is, any thing that causes unusual or more United States, in six or seven years ; whereas, now 

 tlian ordinary flow of spirits. This is efl'ected, we can scarcely take up a weekly paper, without 



be conceived of the tendency which they have tc 

 perpetuate notions which are far more adverse t(f 

 the dirtusion of enhghtened ideas than ignorance 

 itself. An ignorant mind will imbibe knowledge 

 when it is presented ; a mind prejudiced or bigot- 

 ed repels every idea not in accordance with thosf 



in some, by a gill of brandy ; and in others by a 

 glass of wine. 



There are several causes which lead to the 

 present degraderl state of society, in drinking, and 

 which bid fair to make us a nation of drunkards 

 surpassing all other nations in that vice. 



In the first jilace, the cheapness of liquors with 

 us, and particularly our domestic spirits, cannot 

 but have a fatal tendency that way. If the States 1 happy country, 

 would recommend to Congress to lay a tax of 25 

 cents a gallon on all domestic spirits, (with a cor- 1 

 responding advance on all foreign,) for a tUnd for ' 

 internal improvements, and pay over to the Treas- 

 ury of every State all the moneys so collected in 

 each Htate, then will that vice be made to contri- 

 bute much towards the general good of society : 

 for such a tax as that, would produce a revenue 

 sufficient to make a new stone turnpike through 

 State every eight or ten yeaiw. 



Another cause of Drunkenness is, our mistaken 

 notions of hospitahty, in always oflering our de- 

 canters of slow poison to all our friends, whenev- 

 er they enter our houses, and when we call at ho- 

 tels, or other pubhc places of resort, and calhng 

 for some strong drink ; every child, no matter how 

 young, must have a share of that poison, to them! 

 Can it be wondered at, if we turn out to be a na- 

 tion of tlrunkards, when we commence tippling 

 while yet in the arms of a nurse ? 



Another cause is, that instead of having all our 

 victuals cooked with the slightest seasoning of salt 

 and without any pepper, or other pungent article 

 — all of Vifhich ought to be kept in separate bottles 

 on the table, so that each person could add to suit 

 his palate — instead of which aU our dishes are 

 seasoned to suit the vitiated palates of the old, and 

 not the purer ones, of the children, who, if left to 

 themselves, will refuse all pepper, &c. unless their 

 taste has been already corrupted, by using those 

 articles, or by strong drink, &c. 



But, of all things, tobacco, whether in chewing 

 or smoking, is the greatest provocative to the use 

 of^and a preference for, strong drink: For no 

 •sooner does a person addict himself to the use of 

 this strong and most nauseous of all weeds, than 

 the mouth and palate lose all relish for milk or 

 water, or any mild beverage, and long continually 

 for something even stronger than this drug, to 

 drink, and excite similar sensations on those or- 

 gans which soon become much impaired m the 

 facility of tasting. If those who use tobacco, 

 would keep an account of the additional expenses 

 they incur, in quenching the continufd artificial 

 ihirst which is excited by the acidity of that pois- 

 onous weed, they will lind, that it not oidy impov- 

 erishes their purse, but likewise their heahh. For 

 I have hear<l a respectable physician say, that he 

 could distil a poison from the tobacco, sufficiently 

 strong to kill any man. 



a dram of whiskey as soon as born ! while I would already there. The one case is lilve sowing on ;. 

 as soon think of putting rat's bane in the mouth fallow field, the other Uke sowing on a field of 

 of a child of mine, as any kind of spirituous liquor weeds. The new British Almanatk is a combination 

 whatever. | of all that is good or founded on truth in the oth- 



When I was a j'outh, about forty years ago, it [ er almanaclts, and contains besides a 'variety of 

 was rare to hear of a murder committed in these I original matter." 



The price of the British Ahnanack is 2s. od. 

 sterUng, equal to 50 cts. The proprietors of thi' 

 work could of course afford to make that worth 

 something which was considered of some value 

 in market. In the United States there is such a 



finding an account of some murder, or nnuderous 



attempt ! It is true, our population has increased 



rapidly during that time, and an increase of crimes 



must be expected with it ; biU still, not in that gi- j competition among manufacturers of almanacks. 



gantic proportion in which we now find them. — | that those commodities will fetch next to nothing. 



It is therefore, chiefly, to the general use and cheap- and it must be confessed are often worth no m'ori' 



ness of our liquors, that we nnght attribute that than what they sell for. 



increase of crimes which now pervade this once ] 



REARING SILK WORMS. 

 By the kindness of Dr Mease, of Philadelphia. 

 (a genilemau whose enhghtened philanthropic ex- 

 ertions to ])romote the useful arts have rendered 

 him as well known as he is highly respected,) wo 

 have received two copies of a pamphlet entitled 

 " J}irections for the rearing of Silk ft'orms, and the 

 cullv-rc of the fVliite Mulberry Tree. Published by 



NBW ENGLAND FARMER. 



BOSTON, FRIDAY, JULY 4, 1828. 



BRITISH ALMANACK FOR 1828. 

 A work with this title lias been published in 



England under the superintendence of the Society thiPennsi/lvania Society associated for the Promotion 



for the Diffiision of Useful Knowledge. We have gf g^g^.g Objects." Likewise seme seeds of the White 



not seen this Almanai k, but find in a late number 

 of the Gardener's Magazine a recomniendatoi-y 

 notice, from which we extract the fol'oving re- 

 marks, which suggest ideas, useful to an Ameri- 



of those Ohje 



Mulberry Tree, with tiirections to " give them to 

 one man, who will make a business of rearing the 

 trees ; — and let him have the profit." 



The pamphlet contains 25 pages large octavo, 



can as well as an English reader. " The compi- ' closely printed ; and we concluded not to com- 

 lations, bearing the names of Moore and Par- j^g^pg reprinting it so near the termmation of our 

 tridge, originally appeared above a century ago, ! present voltmie. We intend to give extracts, or 

 and tliey continue to be published witli much of | perhaps the whole pamphlet m the next, or sev- 



enth volume of our paper. The white mulberry 

 seed we should be happy to present to any gen- 

 tleman, who would engage to comply with llio 

 above mentioned condition of the donation. 



the astrological predictions and ]irophetic impos- 

 ture peculiar to that time. These works profess 

 in the plainest terms to foretell the weather, even 

 to a day, stating that on one day there will be 

 rain, on another snow, and on a third thunder. — 



They also prophesy as to political events with ^ ^ „,. ,^,,„ ^-^^^^ ^ gentleman arrived in this 



iiear y eqiial confidence, though not quite so dis- ^. f,.„^ pg,,.^;^^ ^-^ ^^^ j,,;^ ^„„„,_ ^^.^^^ jqo 



tmctly. Thus one says that at a j^rticular time hogsheads of To6«^co .' It was raised and cured 



'there ml! arrive good news from Cadiz, Scotland j^^ ^j,^^ Michigan territory ; is of a fine quaUty : 



and mples ; and another tells you that, about ^„^ ^^^^ j;^ ^^^j ^.f ;„ ,t_ ^^ ^ ,„„, .-ate, but at 



such a date, ' a great minister will be impeached^ ^ ^^-^ f^^^ ;„ jj^j, ,i, 



or, ' a d.gmtanj of the chnrch driven from his pre- ^,„^j, attention is now paid in that and other of 



ferment. Nor are they free from party pohtics. ^y^^ Western States and Territories, to the culture 



Otie gives int.mat.ons and even prints of a nature ^j.,,,;^ ^^^^^ . ^„^ ,h^ ^ j,^ perhaps, not distant, 



calculated to set different religious sects in con- ^^.j,^,, ^^ y^ „,g ,„„,,,^ ^j- i^,^, ,^^3,,,,, 



flict ; and another dates the year as the 150th ,„,^ ^.g^j^^n canal,) it wdl find a market at the 



from the ' horrid Popish Jacobite plot' thus keeping North.— .-Mtoov Ar<rus. 



alive, for the purpose of exciting religious animos- _____!' 



ity, the meinorj' of transactions which are a dis- jj^^ ,„ „,„•;, „ Letter.— hel the writing be so 

 grace to the character of this country, and the pj^;,, that every body can read h, and the mean- 

 worst blot upon the history of its law ; affirming ;„„ ^e so plain "that every body can understand it. 

 as real, crnnes m a great degree imaginary, and Admiral Collingwood, hi" a letter to his daughter, 

 grossly mistaking even the notions respecting that ^^^.^ that "if pens are bad, they should be mend- 

 plot which prevailed at the time. Some parts of g^f „ ^,^1 ,„ore time is lost in making the apology 

 these almanacks are not marked by much regard f,„, g,.g„t haste, than would have been necessary 

 to decency ; but there are others also greatly cir- t„ fi„ish the letter in good style. These remarks 



ciliated, which are utterly obscene, and could 

 never be admitted into any decent house, had not 

 habit unfortunately reconciled the community to 

 such things, as well as the absurdhies of their as- 

 trology." 



" When it is mentioned that the sale of these 

 works exceeds annually, 500,000, some idea may 



a|)ply with equal force to almost every species of 

 writing. 



Thirty thousand silk worms are now in opera- 

 tion at a farm near Baltimore. The worms, with 

 specimens of silk, are shewn gratuitously to the 

 public. 



