312 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Oct. 



forty or more years of that period, having the re- 

 sponsibility as well as performing most of the la- 

 bor, ought to be honorably discharged from both, 

 and find himself in a position to work or enjoy a 

 quiet leisure, as he pleases. This cannot be done 

 so long as the sons all leave the farm, and seek 

 employment in some other field of labor. What 

 shall be the remedy ? 



THE IRISH BAK IN OLDEN TIMES. 



On the election in question, I was proposed 

 by Mr. Gtun-ge Ponsonby, and upon Mr. Grattan 

 rising next to vote upon my tally, he was imme- 

 diately objected to as having been expelled on the 

 report of Lord Clare's committee. A burst of in- 

 dignation on the one side, and a boisterous de- 

 clamation on the other, forthwith succeeded. It 

 V7as of an alarming nature : Grattan meanwhile 

 standing silent, and regarding, with a smile of 

 the most ineffable contempt ever expressed, his 

 shameless accusers. The objection was made by 

 Mr. John Gifl'ard, of whom hereafter. On the 

 first intermission of the tumult, with a calm and 

 dignified air, but in that energetic tone and style 

 so peculiar to himself, Mr. Gi'attan delivered the 

 following memorable words — memorable, because 

 conveying, in a few short sentences, the most 

 overwhelming phillipic — the most irresistible as- 

 semblage of terms imputing public depravity, that 

 the English, or, I believe, any other language, is 

 capable of affording : — "Mr. Sheriff, when I ob- 

 serve the quarter whence the objection comes, I 

 am not surprised at its being made ! It proceeds 

 from the hired traducer of his country — the ex- 

 communicated of his fellow-citizens — the regal 

 rebel — tlie unpunished ruffian — the bigoted agita- 

 to^* ! In the city a firebrand — in the court a liar 

 — in the street a bully — in the field a coward ! 

 And so obnoxious is he to the very party he wishes 

 to espouse, that he is only supportable by doing 

 those dirty acts the less vile refuse to execute."' 

 Giffard thunderstruck, lost his usual assurance ; 

 and replied, in one single sentence, "I would spit 

 upon him in a desert !" which vapid and unmean- 

 ing exclamation was his sole retort ! 



[n the celebrated cause of the King against 

 Heavy (in the King's bench,) Mr. Curran and I 

 were Heavy's counsel, and afterwards moved to 

 set aside the verdict on the grounds which we 

 considered to form a most important point, upon 

 legal principles. Curran had concluded his speech, 

 and I was stating what I considered to be the 

 law of the case, when Lord Kilwarden, impatient 

 and fidgety, interrupted me — "God forbid, Mr. 

 Barrington," said he, "that should be the law !" 

 "God forbid, my lord," answered I, "that it 

 8houldJ|S»5 be the law." "You are rough, sir," 

 exclainred he. "More than one of us have the 

 same infirmity, my lord." "I was right, sir," said 

 he. "So was I, my lord," replied I, unbendingly. 

 He fidgeted again, and looked haughty and sour. 

 I thought he would break out, but he only said, 

 "Go on, sir— go on, sir!" I proceeded; and, 

 while I was speaking, he wrote a note, which was 

 handed to me by the officer. I kept it as afford- 

 ing a curious trait of human character. It ran 

 thus: "Barrington: you are the most impudent 

 fellow I ever met. Come and dine with me this 

 day at six. You will meet some sfrnngers, so I 



hope you will behave yourself, though I have no 

 reason to expect it !" — Barrington's Personal 

 Sketches. 



Birds and Insects. — An English paper says, 

 "In the county of York there is a rookery belong- 

 ing to W. Vavasour, Esq., of Weston-in-Wharf- 

 dale, in which it is estimated that there are 10,- 

 000 rooks. One pound of insect food a week is a 

 very moderate allowance for each bird, nine-tenths 

 of their food consisting of wonns, insects and their 

 larva». Here, then, there is the enormous quanti- 

 ty of 468,000 pounds or 209 fo7is of worm^, insects 

 and their larva?, destroyed hij rooks of a single 

 rooJcer;/ in one year. Each rook in this calculation 

 is given to have picked up 1 pound of food per 

 week, nine-tenths of which was of insect matter, 

 the wirev.orm and larva^. I have kept rooks tame, 

 and to my certain knowledge they will consume 

 more than the quantity above stated. 



Death of a Famous Buck.— We learn from 

 the California Farmer that the famous French Me- 

 rino Buck, "Crystal Palace," is dead. He won the 

 great prize at the World's Fair in Paris in 1S56, 

 and numerous first prizes in the State of New 

 York, and was afterwards sent by J. D. Patterson, 

 Esq., to California, where he was sold in 18<59 for 

 $l,o00. Ilis weight was .300 pounds, and his clip 

 of magnificent wool was from 24 to d'2h pounds 

 for several years. When he died he was twelve 

 years old. — Stock Journal. 



The Hessian Fly.— There is considerable 

 complaint this year of the ravages of this insect, 

 in the wheat-growing sections of our country. 



In a late communication to the Country Gentle- 

 man, John Johnstone states that last fall, against 

 his better judgment and past experience, he de- 

 parted from his usual practice of sowing-about the 

 20th, and sowed on the 5th and 6th of September ; 

 he attributes the total failure of his crop to this 

 early sowing, where he fully expected about 40 

 bushels per acre. 



Summer Dress.— The Illinois Prairie Farmer, 

 — a paper, by the way, which suffers from our 

 shears as much as any one of our many able ex- 

 changes, — has been printed on new type, with a 

 new roller and clean paper, for several weeks past. 

 An evidence of well-to-do, as gratifying, as it has 

 been rare, of late, with the agricultural press. 



Coal Oil. — To illustrate how one discovery or 

 invention opens the way for others, we have seen 

 it stated that the discovery of coal oil has given 

 rise to more than a thousand inventions ; over 

 three hundred of which have been patented for 

 lamps to burn it in. 



Peach Borer. — It is stated in the Prairie 

 Furincr, that a man in that State, who has 4000 

 peach trees, finds that a pint of salt put around 

 the collar of each tree, to be a sure remedy for 

 the peach borer grub. He buys refuse salt from 

 the packing houses. 



