125 



THE NEW GENESEE FARMER^ 



Vol. 3; 



tiom the Maik Lane Express for Ftbitiary. 



Comparative Condition of the Eugiish and 



French Laborers. 



To the Editor of the Mark Lane Express : 



Sir — As at tbis moment all Englishmen ore oceu- 

 pied witlianticipatcil alteinijons in the corn In-.ve, Uie 

 relative niodee of txistenee ol tbe Bridahand foreign 

 labourer are often comtjared. lam aware that no man 

 understands better tban yourself tbe comfjne or the 

 wants of the farm servant in England ; but as, during 

 your sojourn and travel on the continent, 1 think you 

 did not visit tbe West of France, give me leave to 

 point out tbe situation of a day laborer in tbatcpuntry 

 (eay Department de la iMayeiicc). He came Uveniy- 

 rwo sous a day, lid., (untej) ; his ordinary food con- 

 sists ol black bread made of buck wheal, and a soup 

 composed ul salt and water, in which a lew cabbage 

 leaves have been boiled with a little grease— of this 

 he eats three times a day ; on Friday a ceitain quan- 

 tity of buck wheat flour is boiled into a kind of paste 

 and eaten, stasoned wiih salt. On Sunday, some- 

 times, he has a little bacon, hut fresh iheai.(exeepting 

 a bit of liver or the inside of a aheep) be docs not eat° 

 nor docs he taste wheaten bread, liis general bever- 

 age ii water, sometimes, when at a good house, he 

 gets a little cider water of the most piqiiant descrip- 

 tion. A woman earns four sous a day, and her food, 

 which is soup such as J have before described, and 

 sourinilk eaten with black b.-end. The man's drees 

 in summer is a coarse linen jacket, troweers, and 

 shirt ; the hemp with which they are made has been 

 grown m bis garden, spun by his wife, and woven by 

 tt neighboring weaver ; that nsed for the outer gar- 

 ment is dyed blue, and the shirt is left unbleached ; 

 he wears no stockings, a red or grey woolen night-cap 

 covers bis bead. In winter the same, only substitut- 

 ing homespun wool lor hemp, and a wisp of straw in 

 his sabots to keep his feet warm ; t'ljee pairs (of these 

 last) per annum, at eight sous a pair, keep him well 

 shod. Ho possesses a hat, pairol shoes, socks, and a 

 neckcloth, but these he only wears on Sundays and 

 lete days. His dwelling is stone built, a ground tioor; 

 the window place is iron-barred with a strong inside 

 BbuUer, and totally unglazed ; the door is divided in 

 two, the upper half and the shutter are generally left 

 o.jcn lor light ; a bed or two in the corners, on wood- 

 iii liames, and the floor is of earth. 



This is not an exaggerated statement, but one drawn 

 iioin real life. My only wish is that when the com- 

 lorts ol the foreign laborer are vaunted, the real state 

 of ibe case may be known by those interested in tbe 

 vellare of our own men, but whose pursuits or occu- 

 pations have not permitted them to make personal ob- 

 servation. There is a noble emulation now e.xistino 

 in England for the improvement of agriculture, and 

 it is not a compliment when I say that you have lent 

 n powerhil aid to its progress. That England eoula 

 feed her people, and have to spare, I have no doubt ; 

 but to accomplish that great good, ber millions of acies 

 ol yet unreclaimed wastes must be given up to spade 

 husbandry, her pastures must be ploughed, and her 

 tattle be stall-fed. Forgive my trcepassiiig so long 

 on your lime. 



Yours, &,c., Q_ g_ 



may be got at a much lower price ; whilst for coffee 

 and sugar they must pay from 18 to 25 cents a pound, 

 and for tea from 75 cents to $3. 



The consequence is, that the foreign articles, even 

 of the first necessity, as the above are used by a very 

 iew families, in proportion to the population of the 

 country: scarcely one person in a hundred is rich 

 eno^ngh to use coflee and tea in Poland, since it has 

 been diemembertd. An owner ot two or three hun- 

 dred acres of weil cultivated land, sjildoni mokes use 

 ol any article which does not grow on his soil. As 

 to the laboring class, they never see any. The pro- 

 duce sf tbe soil feeds and clothes them. 



A Common laborer gets in Roland from 6 to ISj 

 cents per day ; n mechanic seldom more than 95 cts ; 

 a lemale servant, in tbe country, has from 37 to 75 

 cents per month ; n male servant from 50 cenii/to $1 

 per month. In the cities, the wages of servants are 

 about one loiirth higher. The cloth'Sig of the labor- 

 ing class of both sexes, is comfortable, but very poor, 

 made of linen and' woolen cloth, and furs of the 

 country. Tbe whole dress of a country female per 

 annum costs from 3 to $6; tbe drets of n laboring 

 man from 4 to $8, including shoes and boots. A pair 

 of shoes used by a laboring female sells' from 18 to 37 

 cents ; and a pair of boots of a laboring man, from 

 37J to 75 cents. As to the tlotbiugof a lady, this 

 costs nearly as much as in the United Slates ; the cot- 

 ton and silk stuffs, the ribands and other aiticlcs ne- 

 cessary to make ladies' dreesos, being almost of the 

 price throuebout Poland as here. It is tbe some 

 regard to the dress of a gentleman, — only that 

 the ladies' shoes and the gentleman's boots are cheap- 

 er in Poland : Fuch shoes as we pay here SI, 25 for, 

 are selling in Poland for from 25 to 37J cents ; for 

 such boots as cost here 7 or $3, they poy from 2 to 

 !fe3. But to get boots for $S, they must sell from 12 

 to 15 bushels of wheat; and tbe dress of 'n lady, 

 worth only $20, will cost them from 80 t,i 100 bushels 

 of it. A farmer, who has 2,000 bushels ot wheat for 

 sale, can buy a silver watch for biniecif, but not one 

 tor his wife ; while had he, before the dismemberment 

 of Poland; sold 9,000 buthels of w^heat, neither he or 

 his lady and half a dozen of daughters would look at 

 golti watches, notset with diainondo, or al len^t; with 

 rubies. 



The cattle, flocks, and herds, are also very cheap. 

 A milch-criw' sells at from 2,50 to ,f 8 ; an oX for 

 slaughter from 10 to $30. A horse, such as we pay 

 here $70 for, is svorih in some parts of Poland about 

 .■$25; in the pans a( the country incorporated with 

 Russia, such a horse is «orth only from 7 tn ijiio. A 

 common sheep sells from 13 cents to one dollar. 

 Those called ' merino sheep,' introduced from Spain 

 are sold from 20 to jUii (10. 



POLANO. 



BYMAJOR TOCIJMAIJ. 



Money is very scarce in all parts of Poland, the la- 

 boring class is in a wretched condition, and uneasi- 

 ness is to he seen even in the magniticont palaces 

 built by their fathers. Many a Pole, who possesses 

 thousands o/ acres of land, and who has thousands of 

 bushels of wheat in his granaries, Hnda himself often 

 under dilhculty to pay taxes and arbitrary contribu- 

 tions. Consequently every thing that the laborer and 

 the soil produce is very cheap -whilst the foreign ar 

 ticlea ol all kindsare rare and very dear ; the import- 

 ers ot the Inst being obliged to pay heavy duties, to 

 maintain their new commercial policy. 



In the last two or three centuriesbd'ore the dismem- 

 berment ol Poland, copper money woa almost un- 

 known ,„ Poland— silver and gold were in circulation 

 —the people scarcely knew any other money than dol- 

 lars and ducats, (a dollar was of the same value os 

 the American ; a ducat is a gold piece worth *2 50)- 

 now a Polish florin C-lohj poliski) which is equal 

 to one shilling of the State of New York, is divided 

 into thirty very small pieces of copper, called Vroric,' 

 and lor one such piece of copper, that is to say, for 

 the tbinieib of a shilling, they have a loaf of h?ead 

 sutticient lor tbe breaklast, dinner, and supper of an 

 American gemleman. The price of wheat is from 18 

 to X,c cents a bushel ; rye, barley, ond oais, s'ell at two 

 thirds or a ballot the price of wheat. In some parts 

 ol Poland, incorporated with Russia, these articjes 



Wind Power Machine. 



Mr. Henry Coi.man— I have this day received the 

 enclosed lett-r from Captain Glover, giving men de- 

 scription of bis Wind i\lill ; but as he observes in his 

 postscript, "but little insight can be had from the de- 

 scriptioy." Jet I am persuaded that the view of tbe 

 model for one minute by any mechanical genius, 

 would imprees its importance on the mind over all 

 other forms for Wind Power. 



I om respectfully, yours &c. 



O. WHYTE. 



Broolilinc, Jane 25, 1842. 



Foxbunj, 3Iass.,.r!i,ie^4, 1842. 

 I now will describe, as well as I c;,;!. my Wind 

 Eov/er. |t is adapted to be placed on the roof of a 

 building, consequently occupies no room wanted for 

 other purposes ; it consists of 4 arms, to which is at- 

 tached the wings, composed of thin boards, cross lined 

 with the same, and fastened together with rivets or 

 nails, and is hung to the arms with staple hinges about 

 I by J, and is supported by a spring, of which there 

 are several sorts. The one I have adopted is some- 

 what like that of the main spring of a watch, wound 

 round the arm, and extended to the wing, so that 

 when a greater force of wind strikes the sals than is 

 required, this spring gives way and diminishes the 

 surface in exact ratio to its force ; hence it cannot re- 

 volve with any more speed in a gale than in (as we 

 sailors say) a royal breeze. It tends to the wind like 

 a weathercock ; has no canvass or cloth for sails ; no 

 rcefin?, no fiulingof sails ; reqv.irea no attendance. 



and by a simple brake is made to stop. A spindle, 81 

 bevel cogs, and shaft, are all that is necessaiy. The' 

 latter i= brought down through a pump log to the loft 

 where the drum or cog-wheels is to he attached, as< 

 the case may require. 



For grinding corn a simple cog wheel will give mo- 

 lion to as many run of stones as can stand around it, 

 and be thrown out of gear nt pleasure. For sawing, 

 ite.,. a drum can be used with bands. When not 

 wanted in motion for any considerable time, the wings 

 can be hooked or pinioned back. The power is in 

 proportion to its size, and if found too much or too lit- 

 tle in its operation, it can be regulated by extending 

 or contraciing the spring nut or in on the wing ; out 

 to increase, and in to decrease the powqr. The arms 

 or wings fly to leeward. The fan or wind board is 

 about twice the width of the wings, secured to the 

 frame of boards on each side, similar to a b(ivn door_ 

 Any carpenter can make the whole, except shaft, 

 spindle and cog wheels, which are of iron. 



P. S. You can get but little insight by this, tho 

 only way is to see the model. 



From tlie Boston Daily Advertiser. 

 The last Monthly Chronicle contains a statistical 

 accouiit recefuly published, by which it appears that 

 the agrrculturists of Franca possess the following 

 number of animals : 



Ox< n and Cows 

 Merino Sheep 

 Common Sheep 



Horses and Mulei 

 Pigs 



6,^81, OCO 



■31,612,162 



l,65t),(00 

 3,900,162 



43,849,162 



In Mr. McCuIIoch's statistics of the Bri'ish Em- 

 pire, published in 1839, the number of oxen and 

 cows in Great Britain is'eslimated at 5 220,000 



Sheep and Lambs in England 26 148,463 ' ' 

 do • do Scotland 3,50C,000 



29,645.463 

 l,500,OuO . 



Horses, prnhahly including Mules 



Pigs, tbe number not staled by Mc- 



Culloch, but are estimated by 



another writer, including tliosa 



of Ii eland, at 



18,000,000 . 

 ".'5r4,368,463 



By the census of 1840 there were found 

 in the United gtates Neut Cattlq ' 



Sheep 



Horses and Mules 



Swine 



94,919,622 



Supiosingthe foregoing cslimates of 'the number 

 f those animals in Gieat Britain and France to bo 

 correct, it follows that there are in the United States 

 upwards of three millions of neat cattle more than 

 111 both Great Bmain and France together. Fiance 

 has upv\-ards twelve millions of sheep, and Great Bril- 

 «in upwards of ten millioiia more than the United 

 Swtes. 



If to the number of horses in France used for agri- 

 cultural pu poses be added, three hundred and forty 

 four thousand, for tbe cavnliy and other uses, it gives 

 for that kingdom a total of two millions — these added 

 to the til'teen hundred thousand in Great Britain fall 

 short ot the number in tho United Slates by more than 

 eight bundled and thirty-live thousand. The Swine 

 in tbe United Slates exceed those of France, Great 

 Britain and Irelond together by about four million lour 

 hundred thousand. 



From the above it will be seen, that with the excep. 

 tion of sheep, there are many more of each of the 

 other animals in the United States than in France and 

 Great Britain together. Q. 



The subjoined siarzi was penned in an Album at 

 Niagara by Lord Morpeth, on his late visit to tho 

 Falls. Every generous mind, ond every friend to the 

 two countries must cordially join in the prayer. 

 " Oh, may the wars, that madden in thy deeps 

 There spend their rage, nor climb the encircling steeps. 

 And 'till the conflict of thy surges cease 

 The Nations on thy banks lepose in peace." 



