Vo. 9. 



AxND GARDENER'S JOURNAL. 



l;35 



r El;' 



tan 



n BubjectB directly and indirectly bearing upon ngri- 

 lulture, is to be regnrdcd. 



In continuntion of this subject, wc ahnll endeavor to 

 loint out good raetUod to pursno, to enable ue to 

 .dopt a natural system of cultivation. We must lay 

 mr foundation well, commence witli primary princi- 

 les, and the results must be successful. 



The Working-Man's HomcPtaisnres, 



"I crown lliec king of inlim.itfi dcIiKhis, 

 Fireeiilc enjoyments, homc-liorn happiness. 

 And fitl the comforts that the lowly roof 

 (if nmlisturb'd retirement' nnil the h»nr3 

 Of long uninterrupted evening know.'* 



CoWPER. 



OKI 



IC1V( 



The family relation implies community of interest; 

 IS there is a common 8toc\, so there are common sor- 

 0W6 and common joyo. Put a dozen ol people to- 

 other in a house, and let each lead the life of a her- 

 1, i nit: this would be no family, even though they might 

 ,i!| 10 blood relations. There is more of domestic life 

 iven iu the steerage of a pneket-ship, where like seeks 

 ts like, and httlc congenial groups are formed before 

 he voyage is over. The true glory of home is in the 

 niddle region o( civilization: it is absent alike from 

 he highest and the lowest. What can be more cbeer- 

 cse than the sullen selfishness of the Indian wigwam; 

 vhore the relenile.93 savage wraps himself up in indo- 

 ent dignity, while the sqaaw and childrcd are spurn- 

 id, as unworthy of a look — u.'.lees it be the elegant 

 ,nd fashionable household of the prince or noble, 

 vherc each is independent of the other, and has his 

 eparalo equipage and peculiar friends. Compare with 

 his the cottage of the poor laborer, who returns at 

 wilighlto.be welcomed by every human being, and 

 very domestic animal; who tells over, or hears, all 

 he occurrences of the day, and who feels that there 

 6 no interest which he doei not share with every one 

 round him. 



There is more value than «U believe, in the simple 

 naxim^ let familij enjoyjnenis be common to all. If 

 here are few who deny this, there are still fewer wlio 

 ict upon it in its full extent. Something of it, as I 

 lave said, there must be, to make a family at all. 

 iVe occupy tbe same house, sit around the same fire, 

 •nd cat at the same table. It would seem churlish, 

 tnd almost inhuman, to do otherwise But I am for 

 larrying the matter much farther, and for knitting 

 nore closely together those who cluster around the 

 ame hearth; believing that every influence is evil 

 fhich severs father from child, vnd brother from bro- 

 ber. The morsel that ie eaten alone becomes sooner 

 .r later a bitter morsel. 



Meniocrs of the same household should feel that 

 hey a'e ilcpendent on one another, and should be as 

 ree to ask, as ready to give, assistance. Kach should 

 •ise in the morning with the impression, that no duty 

 >l the day is more urgent than to make every indi- 

 ridual happy, with whom he is brought into contact. 

 \nd this contact should be sought not shunned. It is 

 I bad sign, when members of the same household are 

 shy of one another. I do not, of course, allude here 

 to those horrid instances of unnatural, brutal temper, 

 where persons of the same blood, daily gathered 

 iiround the same board, refuse to speak to one anoth- 

 er: malice and envy must rankle deeply where this 

 can be the case. I refer to a more common fault, 

 which Bometimos e-viets where there is a degree of 

 real adection, but where the members of a family 

 have separate pursuits and separate pleasures. The 

 hnsty morning meal is swallowed with little inter- 

 course. When it is done, each hurries to his or her 

 peculiar lino of employment. The mother is busy in 

 the kitchen, the father in the flup, the sous go 

 their several ways. This might do well enough, if it 

 were confined to business, but it becomes the habit of 

 the hours of leisure. The father has his evenings 

 abroad; the sons are seldom within doors till a late 

 hour, and too often, she who most needs the cheering 

 inSuencea of the family circle, the mother, is left to 

 patch or darn by a dim candle, with the cradle mov- 

 ing at her feet, during those hours in which her 

 daughters are laughing or singing among their yovmg 

 company. All this is highly undesirable. The eve- 

 nings of the industrious family may be, ard ought to 

 be, deligbtlul seasons of joint sntifactions. If we 

 must have evening parties of friends, let there be n 

 proper mingling of sexes and ages. The presence of 

 tbe old may tn a degree moderate the mirth of the 

 young, but in the same proportion the aged will be 

 enlivened. This parcelling and assorting society, like 

 labelled packages in a ehop, is becoming too common 

 and in my judgment injurious. Tue young folks 

 must be nil together; and the childion must be all to- 

 gether; and if matters go on thus, we may live to see 

 parties of greybsarda and parties of aucklings. No! 



!,l 



wherever it is possible, let the family chain be kept 

 bright and whole. In the|houee8 of the industrious, 

 it is surely broken often enough by separation at work 

 during the day. 



Instead of thus living apart, which engenders sel- 

 lishncss and moroscness, I love to see the members 

 of families flowing together, like congenial drops. 

 There arc some houses in which no one makes a con- 

 fident of another: if one would learn the secret of his 

 brother, he must go abroad for it. This is unnatural, 

 and wholly evil; incompatible with the itVnnknees of 

 simple love. Show me the father often waliting with 

 his sons, and these sons often with one another, not in 

 business merely, but in sports; and I shall think 1 

 see a virtnous and happy household. 



There is one particular in which the principle 1 

 have laid down may have n very important applica- 

 tion. I mean the cause of mental improvement. The 

 rule should here bo, so far as possible, let the pursuit 

 of knowledge in every family be a joint pursuit. For 

 many reasons this is desirable in every house, but it is 

 almost indispensible in the house of the working-man. 

 It wakes up the spirit of improvement; it saves time 

 and expense, and it gives tenfold zest to the refresh- 

 ments of leisure. To take one of the simplest instan- 

 ces, I wonld, in two words, say to every working- 

 man, Uaid aloud. If the book is borrowed, this is 

 often the only way in which every one can get his 

 share. If the family is very busy — and the female 

 members of all industrious families are as much so in 

 the evening as in the day — the reading of one will be 

 as good as the reading of all, and while one reads, a 

 dozen may knit or sew. There are many persons 

 who enjoy much more and retain much better what is 

 read to them than what they rend themselves: to the 

 reader himself, there is a great diflerenee in favor of 

 reading aloud, as it reganls the impression on his 

 own mind. The members of the circle may take 

 turns, and thus each will have a chance of learning, 

 what so few really attain, the art of correct and agree- 

 able reading. Occasion is thus oflered for questions, 

 remarlis, and general discourse; and it is almost im- 

 possible for conversation to flag, where this practice 

 i3 pursued. With this method, the younger members 

 of a family may be saved in a good degree from the 

 perusal of frivolous and hurtful books ; and, if a little 

 foresight be used, a regular course of solid or elegant 

 instruction might thus be constantly going forward, 

 even in the humblest family. 



But the moral and social effects of such a practice 

 are not less to be regarded. Evenings thus spent 

 will never be forgotten. Their influence will be 

 daily felt in making every member of the circle more 

 necessary to all the rest. There will be an attractive 

 charm in these little fireside associations which will 

 hold the sons and daughters back from much of the 

 wandering which is common. It will be a cheap, 

 wholesome, safe enjoyment, and it will be alUhis, at 

 home. 



The gains of an afleetionate family ought to be 

 shared and equalized; the remark is true of all de- 

 grees and kinds of learning. Study has a tendency 

 To drive men to solitude, and solitude begets selfish- 

 ness, whim, and inorosci-'-es. There are some house- 

 holds in which only one person is learned; this one, 

 however amiable, has, perhaps, never thought of shar- 

 ing his acquisitions with a brother or a eistor. How 

 seldom do men communicate what they have learned 

 to their female relations: or, as a man once said in 

 my heaving, " Who tells news to his wife? " And 

 yet how easy would it be, by dropping a word here 

 and a word there, for even a philosopher to convey 

 the chief residt of his inquiries to those whom he meets 

 at every meal. I have been sometimes surprised to 

 see fathers, who had made great attainmems, and 

 who, therefore, knew the value of knowledge, ab- 

 staining from all intercourse with their sons, upon the 

 points « hich were nearest their own hearts. In fam- 

 ilies where the reverse of thi3 is true, that i?!, where 

 ihe pursuits of the house have been a j.^int buEinc;^. 

 it is common to sec a succession of persons eminent 

 in the same line. Thus, among lingnitts, the Bux- 

 torfe; among painters the Vernets and the reales; 

 among muticinns, the Garciaa; in literature, the 

 Edgcworthi;, the Taylors, and the Wirts. 



There are some pleasures which, in their very na- 

 ture, are social; these may be used to give a charm to 

 the working-man's home. This is more true ofno- 

 thmg than music. Harmony implies a concurrence 

 of parts, I have seen families so trained that every in- 

 dividual had his allotted pai't or insirument. Lot the 

 thing, however, be conducted by some rule. If pro- 

 per pains be taken with children, while they are yet 

 young, they may all bo taught to sing. Where cir- 

 cumstances favor it, instrumental muac may be ad- 



ded. It is somewhat unfortunate that American wo- 

 men practice almost entirely upon the more expen- 

 sive instruments; and it is not every man who can or 

 ought to give two hundred and fifty dollars for a pi-- 

 ano-forte. In countries where the guitar is a com- 

 mon accompaniment, it is within the reach ot the 

 poorest. There may ho lovely music, however, with- 

 out any instrument. The most exquisite music in 

 the world, I mean that of the pope's Sistine Chapel, 

 is known to be such. There is great room for eelec 

 tion, however, both as to music and words. It is the 

 height of folly to buy every new thing which comes 

 from the nuisic-eellers. So far as words are concern- 

 ed, a full half of v;hat they publish is nonsense, or 

 worse; and I have blushed to see a young lady turn- 

 ing over what she very properly railed her " loose 

 music." Those persons, thcrefoje, dcserveour thanks 

 who from time to time are publishing in a cheap fiirm 

 such secular music as is proper for families. I hers 

 refer chiefly to euch works ns Kiugaloy's Social Choir, 

 Mason's Odeon, and the Boston Glee Book. 



But, after all, and without any reference to religion, 

 the best niusie is sacred music. It is on this that the 

 greatest masters have laid out their strength; it is this 

 which most suite the chorus of many voices. Secu- 

 li.r pieces, as commonly publislicil, are intended to 

 be sung by few, or by a single voice; but sacred com- 

 positions admit of the strength "fa whole company. 

 And it is truly delightful to drop into one ofthosa 

 families where the evenings are sometimes spent in 

 this way. There is the eldest daughters at the piaiio- 

 forte, accompnnicd by the eldest son upon the violin. 

 Another son and two daughters lead off vocally, with 

 the principal melody, while a neighboring youth 

 plays the tenor, and sings the same part. The old 

 gentleman in spectacles labors at his violincello, and 

 two or three flutes come in modestly to complete the 

 orchestra; while ncices, nephews, cousins, friends, 

 and, perhaps, suitors, fill up the sounding chorus 

 with right good will. This is, indeed, something 

 more than a mere family meeting, but it is what 

 grows out of it; and when the evening ends, and 

 some little refreshments have gone around, the transi- 

 tion is not abrupt from this to the social worship, 

 when all voices join once more in a happy evening 

 hymn. — The Workinsman. 



For the New Genesee Farmer, 

 Mom. 



BY D. tV. C. ROBERTS. 



Whietling far through ether, springs 

 The early lark on soaring wings; 

 The sombre mists of midnight flee 

 With tbe dews off grass and tree; 

 As Morn, all decked, and smiling led. 

 Peers o'er the mountain's distant head. 

 Lo! her chariot's joyous train 

 Sweeps the heavens' cerulean plain! 

 Flowers, gemmed with diamond dew, 

 All the crystal pavcraente strew; 

 Aireof riclrest fragrance blow. 

 Floods of rarest music flov/; 

 The merry song of chanticleer. 

 And loo of kino, fall on the car: 

 The milkmaid, singing, seeks her cow; 

 The Farmer hastens to the i)loHgh, 

 Thus life and j'..y, on every hand. 

 Prevail when Morn comes o'er the land! 



; BucUthorn Heilge. 

 If any gentleman wishes to see a beautiful buckthorn 

 hedge, he may be cratitied by stopping at the rcsidenco 

 of the editor, in Cambridge. Wc are satisfied, from 

 our o-,vu experience, that tanners mig'ot adopt th's 

 mode of fencing enclosures with succees. It would 

 be a perfect protection agairj?! all animals that usually 

 trespass on their grounds. The plant is not only use- 

 ful for this purpose, but is highly ornamental, fto 

 wor^ii ur borer attacks the root or tbe stem: no insect 

 preys upon the foilage. It is also of rapid growth; 

 and in six years it may be raised from tbe seed to a 

 elate of maturity euflicient to afford the protection re- 

 quired And the best recommendation of all is, per- 

 haps, that it will last as long as its owner or his heirs 

 may need it. Our plants were procured s.x years ago, 

 from Mr. Derby, of Salem, who it is well known, has 

 a specimen of the hedge which surpasses any thing ot 

 the kind in Maasachueetls.— Bosd'it Conner. 



