Me 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



APKIb 15, ll?40. 



AND HORTICULTURAL RKG.ISTER. 



Boston, WEDNEsnAv, Apbil 15, 1840. 



ON THE VALUE OF PUNCTUALITY, 



Our friend's remarks below are delivered in a plain 

 way, but are not on tliat account llie less valuable. We 

 commend them to the special attention of those who are 

 setting out in life ; and their bearing upon domestic peace 

 and good will, is placed in a striking but not too serious 

 a light. Ljall matters of business, indeed in any fixed 

 appoinlment, the want of exactness and punctuality is 

 inexcusable; .-ind in m;iny cases is entitled to no rnildix 

 designation than tliat of an iniinoralily We will sup- 

 pose an individual engages to meet a (ommittoc of ten 

 or twenty at a fixed hour. Nineteen of liieni are at the 

 place precisely at the time, hut he docs not make his ap- 

 pearance until a quarter of an hour after the time. This 

 is a positive loss in the aggregate, of nineteen quarters, 

 or four hours and three-quarters of time ; and if these in- 

 dividuals have other fixed appointments, it is not easy to 

 Bay how many persons- may be put to groat inconveni- 

 ence and ouiTcr \ciy serious loss and much niottilicution 

 by the neglect of this individual. Suppose an appoint- 

 ment is made with a tradesman or a laborer, or a [)rofes- 

 sional man. His time is his ntoney. Very great lo.ss 

 must be occasioned to him hy unnecessary delay or dis- 

 appgintment. Robbing him of liis time is not a whit 

 more venial than robbing him of his money ; lo say notli- 

 ing of the disappointment which it may compel him to 

 occasion to other of bis employers. What example can 

 be more instructive or more useful than that of Washing- 

 Ion, who was scrupulously precise in every engagement ; 

 who allowed ten minutes for a possible variation in 

 clocks, but waited for no guest beyond that time; and 

 .whose orders to his cook were, not to inquire whellier 

 the company Inid come, but whether the hour hart cop;s. 



H. C. 



A GOOD CLOCK OR WATCH IS A GOOD THING. 



The editor of the Farmer's Almanac somewhere passes 

 off his jokes uptm the Peter Foschin.s, who pride them- 

 selves upon their pocket turni[>s with tow chai^is and 

 rusty copper and colored glass trinkets. But there is a 

 difference between a watch worn for use and one worn 

 for show. 



Some years since, having business with a Mr B., I call- 

 ed at his house and inquired for him. His wife observed 

 that he was at work in a distant field, but would be in at 

 twelve o'clock, which was thciir dining hour. I conclud- 

 ed to wait his return. The dinner pot hung over the 

 fire: at differciit intervals the various articles designed 

 for the meal were put in : the time not occupied with 

 this, was spent in sewing, till the hour to spread the ta- 

 ble and make the other necessary preparations for dinner. 

 A bowl <if water and a napkin were placed upon the 

 wash-stand, and at the hour mentioned, -Mr H. came in ; 

 after a few words, he washed himself; and now all 

 things were ready, and we drew up to the table. The 

 dinner was well cooked; nothing overdone by remaining 

 too long over the fire ; nothing spoiled hy standing after 

 being taken up; no complaints because Mr B. had come 

 home so late, nor becanse Mrs B. had not got things 

 ready on his return. The cluck in the hou-;e agreed in 

 time with the watch which Mr B. carried in his pocket ; 

 while Mr and .Mrs B , confident of this, and being in the 

 habit of regulating iheniselves by these, did not subject 

 one another to those countless inconveniences which 

 grow up in families, because the wife never knows when 

 the husband will be at Jiome, and the husband never 



knows v\hen his nii^als will be ready. Some may calcu- 

 late time without a watch more accurately than others, 

 but very few can do it with such accuracy as to have the 

 whole concerns of a family well regulated without one, 

 or not in a very short time to lose more from loss of odd 

 hours and minutes than the purchase of such articles of 

 furniture amount to ; to say nothing of tiumerous little 

 collisions of feeling and the chagrin of disappointment 

 arising from mistakes made in respect to the true time of 

 day. 



AniDTig the first things which a couple spiting out in 

 life should fiiruish them.sclves with, arc a clock to be 

 kept in the house, and a watch to be carried when any of 

 the fajnily have occasion to be from home; and the sea- 

 sons fixed for their regular meals, with specified times 

 fiir other events, should be like the laws of the Medes 

 and Persians. 



But to revert to the family of Mr B. My acquaintance 

 with them continued during their life, (they are now 

 gathered to their fathers,) and 1 often had opportunities of 

 noticing the advantages of the strict regard which was 

 paid to time ; how much it facilitated the labors of the 

 family, how much confidence it excited among its mem- 

 bers, how it saved them from fears and apprehensions, 

 Iciiot tlie delay of one member rniglii liiwarlsome of the 

 plans and arrangements of the rest. Everyone could fix 

 a time when he or she would do a thing, or be at a cer- 

 tain place, or attend to an entrusted duty- Order, confi- 

 dence, peace were in the family, as the fruits in part at 

 least of the fact that neither Mr or Mrs B. had to guess 

 the lime. 



How different, I have often thought, was it with Mr 

 and Mrs G. They were naturally kind in their feelings, 

 and industrious in their habits; but they did not succeed 

 well in life, nor could it be said that they always mani- 

 fested the best feelings or used the kindest c?[pressions in 

 speaking to each other. The fact was that Mr G. had so 

 eflen been disappointed in his plans by being obliged to 

 wait for his dinner, and so often had an over-cooked or 

 cold dinner, because cither he cr his ' better half,' or, as 

 was often the case, both, had calculated v^rong about the 

 time, that his feelings had become fretted, his counte- 

 nance soured, and his observations occasionally bitter, 

 while the causes of a like character had been gradually 

 operating, if slower yet not less surely upon his wife. 

 Both felt in a degree injured, and though their better 

 sense kept them from real outbreaks of passion and re- 

 crimination, they did not always meet with the most 

 gracious look, nor speak to each other with the most ac- 

 ceptable words. The children caught something of the 

 parents' spirit, and there was very little of the "dew of 

 Hernion in that house." 



A good clock in that house, and strict regard to its strik- 

 ing, would have spread much poa< and comfort through 

 the family, and the same amount of labor would have 

 given him the reiil profit. 



A wooden turnip for show may be folly in the pocket 

 of the Foschins, but a good clock.is a good thing B. 



THE DAY FOU LAISOR, THE NIGHT FOR REST. 



This is the arrangement of Providence, and our obser- 

 vance ofit in iti leading principles is essential to health 

 of body, strength of mind, and the most perfect exercise 

 «C the moral faculties, I do not believe that an instance 

 can be found where a wilful and long continued departure 

 fiom this principle has been indulged, and the transgres- 

 sor not experienced some sensible inconvenience fioin it. 

 It is no less important to the laboring part nf animal crea- 

 tion than to man. I have many facts which I could pro- 

 duce as confirmation of this, but one among these will 

 simply express the conviction of my own mind, as made 



up from personal observation. For a number of years, I 

 had occasion to travel considerably. I used my own luu*- 

 ses. At firs', if I had a long or hard day's ride to make, 

 I was accustomed to rise qui'.e early imd go on some dis- 

 tance, feeding my horse or breakfasting myself ; but find- 

 ing, as I supposed, that niy luuses suffered inconvenience, 

 and perfectly confident that I did myselffrnin this course, 

 1 clianged my manner, gave my horse time to eat, took 

 my own breakfast, drove probably faster, and made short- 

 er stops, the resultof which was, or I was nnxiccountahly 

 deceived, my horses would get through the service with 

 less exhaustion, and 1 am sure that I cxpciienced much 

 less fatigue. 



There are other reasons, ( know, beside the one fr.-I 

 suggested, why travel must be more exhausting to the 

 horses and labor of all kind to cattle in the night than the 

 same would be by day : these come in as additional con- 

 siderations, and should not be ovcilookcd in reasoning 

 upon the subject ; but it must nut be fiiigotlen that the 

 great governing consideration is to be found in the fact 

 that the wise and benevolent Governor of the universe 

 has so constituted the laboring portion of creation, that 

 when the sun ariseth, they should go forth to their labor 

 until the evening; while those who will sleep so as to 

 gain the refreshment which this wonderful principle in 

 our nature is designed to afl'ord, must, as the apostle ob- 

 serveSj sleep in the ni^ht. If Jehovah, in accordance 

 Lo our necessities, does stay the evils which an occasion- 

 al departure from this order would naturally produce, we 

 have no encouraging grounds to expect he will do it when 

 these departures arc habitual or consulted. Therefiire it 

 must be an act of ignorant or foolish presumption fin' any 

 to expect the best success in any busine.s.s, while the laws 

 by which God directs the universe are disregarded Ap- 

 parent exceptions there maybe to thisobservation ; these 

 liowever, could the real causes of the exception be fully 

 searched out, would be found to originate in other cau- 

 ses, and their existence not in the least possible degree to 

 invalidate the general truth of the observation. 



The laws of the physical, mental and moral world just 

 as certainly bring poverty, in the wide sense of the ex- 

 pression, poverty in substance, bodily health, mental 

 vigor and moral discernment, upon those who work un- 

 reasonably by night as upon those who sleep unreasona- 

 bly by day ; and there are as many considerations why 

 persons should be regular in their Iiours of rest, as there 

 are why they should be regular and fixed in their hours 

 of business. The Maker of all has so planned his works, 

 while the reason and expeiience of men both bear testi- 

 mony to the general wisdom and goodness of stich ar- 

 rangements. B. 



NOTICE. 

 The Fruit Committee of the Massachusetts Horticnllu- 

 ral Society, will hold a meeting at the Rooms ofilie So- 

 ciety, 23 Tremont Row, on Saturday, the Itrlh instant, 

 at half past 11 o'clock, A. M. 



E. AI, RICHARDS, Chairman. 

 April 15th, 1840. 



[0=The speeches of Hon. Mr Websterand ofProfcssor 

 Silliman at the first agricultural meeting in January, at 

 the State House, have just been published, with copious 

 notes upon various important agricultural subjects, by Mr 

 Colman, the Commissioner, ftlr Webster's speech has 

 been revised and rewritten by himself, at the request of 

 the Commission, from the notes taken at the time and 

 published in the N. E Faru'er. It will be found for sale 

 althe New England Farmer office. — These speeches will, 

 we are confident, be heartily welcomed by the agricullu- 

 ral community ; and besides the instruction which they 

 furnish, the personal influence of men so distinguished in 

 the publicesteem and regard, must conlribute to elevate 

 the profession and help to give it the high place in the es- 

 timation of the public to which it is enlillc.l The notes 

 contain nearly as much in type as the speeches, and are 

 wholly prai tical. 



