No. 9. 



AND GARDENER'S JOURNAL. 



143 



temperance movement bnving done ninre to rcgcncratp 

 the coiinlry than any thing eloe. U ia a very uncom- 

 mon thing to e«s tiny ninu drunk. 1 have oecn but 

 <)ne ma.« yet in all Ireland that won the uorso tor 

 drink. So that if they can, by any nicaiie, employ 

 their peiiple, Ireland must become a very independent 

 state. 1 think as soon aa it hoa been fairly tested that 

 property is enfs, alid the pbopls w ish it, nibnufactures 

 will tliiurish at once, and sobn become a great source 

 of wealth. 



The weather, both here and in England, has been 

 wet beyond any thing ever before known. It has 

 rained almost constantly for the lost twu months. 

 Thousand of acres nrs oil ready for the seed, yet they 

 can get no opportunity to sow their winter wheat, and 

 much that has been sown will rot in the ground 

 Nothing but a miraclecan save them froin a short crop 

 another year, potatoes have not been as productive 

 as usual, and it is so wet, a great many are yet to be 

 dug. To add still more to the misery of the people, 

 the wot weather has prevented a great many from lay 

 ing up their usual supply of turf for fuel : peat being 

 the chief dependence of large numbers. The pros- 

 pect ahead for the poor ic indeed oiIg of uiimingled 

 blackness. Yet the oplendid mansion overlooks the 

 humble cabin, and the rich and luxuriantly living pro- 

 prietor, cannot feel the misery of the ill-fed and half 

 clothed cottager, though a tenant of his wide domain. 

 Ob, ours is indeed a glorious country, and we are 

 blessed above any other people. May we ever be 

 mindfnl and duly thankful for those blessings, the 

 half of which we cannot appreciate without seeing 

 the misery and degradallbn of the people here in this 

 old World. 



Sincerely yoiirs, 



T. C. PETERS, 

 of Dnrien, Genesee Co., N. Y. 



Useless Complaints. 



To the Editor of the New Genesee Farmer : 



As this is my first attempt to spread rny ideas before 

 the readers of the Farmer, the meanness of my essay 

 may require sdme apology. I live in a portion of 

 the Union where the paper is hut poorly patronized, 

 either by subscription or contribution. Most of the 

 essays which fill its columns, Hre either from the pen 

 of the editor himself or from those of correspondents 

 living in the same latitude in New York, New Eng. 

 land, or the western states. Not long since, two co- 

 pies of the paper made their appearrnce at our post 

 office with no definite address, and though they bore 

 no other written message than the word " distribute," 

 I thought this in common with their beiiigsent might 

 be construed to inean considerable. It might signify 

 that the Genesee school of agriculture wished to edify 

 ns Morylanders ; or that they would know what we 

 were thinking and doing; or that the Farmer desired 

 our support ; or, perhaps, all these things together. 

 I would not be the one to undertake the cause of my 

 neighborhood with the New Genesee Farmer, were it 

 not that I supposed there were no o'her likely to do 

 It is true I have some ideas not just of a local na- 

 ture to communicate, but these I could whisper to that 

 abler correspondent, who might present them in a 

 more attractive garb. Consequently, if my friend 

 Colman thinks my remarks would be unprofi;ablo to 

 bis readers, he may keep the edification to himself. 



It is a common thing with the farmers of this part 

 of Maryland and our neighbors of Pennsylvania, to 

 naking continually complaints about the weather. 

 It may be that you Yankees are less ungrateful and 

 more philosophical on this subject than we are — that 

 you do not foolishly torment yourselves with viewing 

 only what ie gloomy in every picture, but make the 

 best of things beyond your control. If happily this 



ed for by the stnlo of afliiirs amongst you, I hope you 

 Hill send us a luminous lecture on the subject in some 

 future number of the Farmer. I ehfill lake great 

 pleasure in | resenting it to iny neighbors, that they 

 may see I am not alone in maintaining that it is un- 

 reasonable as well ao unchristian, to complain that 

 our \vi:ntlior ie riot better. Thfl religious farmer, who 

 is thus inclined to murmur, I would rcntind of the 

 debts he owes to a kind Providence. The farmer who 

 does not allow obligations to a superior being to occu- 

 py much place in his nfTections, 1 would remind of 

 the unhappincss he brings upon hiijiself by bis prone- 

 ness to find fault with the Vvcaiher. 



Upon taking a view of the past and this much of 

 the present year, I do not find that heat and cold; 

 rain and sunshine, coilld have been morfe happily 

 blended in our climate to promote the whole happi- 

 ness of hion. Produce tif most kinds Comes forth at 

 II in abundance, the air has been healthy and 

 pleasant, and yet thus fraught with blessiiigs as it is, 

 I can hear scarcely any thing respecting the weather 

 but a torrent of invectives. Because an occasional 

 frosty night endangered the blossoms that had put 

 forward prematurely, " It is the coldest spring t ever 

 saw." When just a plenty of rain, with a tetbpera- 

 ture the most agreeable to all who have been cursed 

 to wear clothing, was nourishing sviih the utmost vig. 

 or our wheat, oats and grass, " It is bad weather for 

 corn, — the cut worm will have half of it." When 

 the thermometer rose to 80* and 90° and we had a 

 little moisture, quite necessary to prevent things from 

 parching, " Won't this foggy weather be apt to rust 

 the wheat." When, just iii hay time itnd harvest, 

 the ritins were suspeiided for a month together, "lam 

 afraid the corn crops will be shirt." Now, while the 

 most agreeable vicisitudes of wetness and warmth are 

 forcing our green crobs to a most luxuriant growth, 

 almost every farmer who meels me exclaims " What 

 a bud time to harvest." Should this essay meet the 

 ey« of any one who has been tempted to such remarks 

 as these, I beg him to consider that should the weath- 

 er be really accessary to the evils here mentioned, if 

 his care cannot avoid them, how foolish to bo tronblcd 

 about it I If, on the contrary, his management might 

 have averted the bad effect, let him blame himself not 

 the weather. 

 Such, of late yenis, has 



ment. Fellow farmers, consider that article. Ifyoti 

 have any thina to say aboUt it, I woUld like to hear it. 

 I would any something myself, but am too near tha 

 end of my thect, 



I must yet notice an article on " Noxious Weeds," 

 on page 103 of the late number. I object to the term 

 ' noxious, 'as I have yet to learn that a single plant that 

 has come from the Creator's hand is " noxious." It is 

 true, the sacred historian seemed to consider "thorns 

 and thistles" as an inconvenience, when he speaks of 

 their growth aa n consequence of man's dieobedience ; 

 but since the earth docs produce them, we might os 

 well just make the best of it. We have found that 

 thorns make very convenient fences, and to some parts 

 of the world it would be a real loss to part with them. 

 As for thistles, just look at the lair side of T. Tufts' 

 account, on page 105. How much better for his 

 brother's Iniid, that those Canada thistles absorbed 

 from the nir a fund of nourishment for some future 

 crop, than if, while its owner neglected it, no " nox- 

 ious weeds" had taken poscssion. Continual crop- 

 ping would exhaust ahy land, did not a growth (of 

 "noxioils iVeeds r'Jspring up in the inicrvals of cul- 

 ture, to replenish its fertility by their substance which 

 is not thought worth gathering. Friend Colman, I 

 have not room for more, thou eeest ; but 1 hope the 

 subjects I hnve hinted at, will receive more ample jus- 

 tice from aBler pehs. Thy patron, 



L. BALDERSTON. 

 Cecil County, Mil., 7lk »no., 1842. 



Fdrtlte New Genesee Farmer. 

 " Spare the Birds." 



A sort of skirmish has been goinj on for some time 

 past between the advocates of the birds on one hand, 

 and the friends of Unmanglcd fruit on the other ; the 

 one maintaining that all the depredations of the feaih- 

 ered rhce on the products of their orchards are im- 

 mctisely overbalanced by the hordes of pestiferous in- 

 sects they destroy ; while the others soy that the good 

 they do is greatly overrated, and that even those in- 

 sects which they do cot, are more commonly of the 

 harmless kind, the inore destructive aiTurding not 

 (juite such delicate morsels, and as a consequence re- 

 maining untouched. 



Now all this contention wotlld much better become 



the mode of philosophical inquiry adopted by philos- 

 been our progress i" Lphers of former centuries, who tried to investigate 

 knowledge, that the weather is almost the only thing „je operations of nature by abstract reasoning in their 

 tangible, whose laws we have not reduced to our own closets instead of observation in the open air. 



" They could tell what time of day 

 The clock would strike, by Algebra," 

 and some of thera even went so far as to get into long 

 and angry quarrels whether two angels or spirits could 

 actually occupy the same mathematical point at the 

 same time I I 



Common sense teaches that when any thing is to 

 he ascertained in the natural world, the right way to 

 do it is by direct observation and experiment, not by 

 splitting hairs and dove tailing syllogisms. If you 

 want to know which way the wind blows, why, go 

 out doors and see ; or how many bushels of wheat you 

 hnve to the acre, measure it ; argument and guessing 

 will not avail much. So with the bird controversy ; 

 instead of battling it out on paper, resort to direct ex. 

 aminotion. Watch their operotions, and sec what 

 they eat ; dissect their stomachs and see what they 

 have swallowed ; and let not hasty examination suf- 

 fice. The experiments must be repeated, and repeat- 

 ed, and repealed, — in all seasons and at all places ; 

 and then we shall not woik in the dark, but know 

 which are our enemies and which our friends ; which 

 are devouring the noxious and which the harmless 

 insects ; and properly estimate the pleasures of their 

 singing, while we are sighing for the loss of our fine 



administration. J. P. Espy and his compesrs may in 

 vesligate and theorise, but if they contemplate con 

 troting the winds and clouds, I despair of their success 

 Nor is it to be desired. This control of the elements 

 is one of the essentials of success in farming, which 

 the Creator has reserved to himself. He has promiseJ 

 that "seed time and harvest, cold and heat, should 

 continue" to the end of the world, and hitherto he 

 has verified his word. So auspiciously has he order- 

 ed the elements in eur favored climate, that we are 

 actually groaning because of our abundance. How 

 unreasonable and impious then to complain ! In- 

 stead of murmuring, let us be thankful we were not 

 doomed to toil to bring water from the clouds as well 

 as bread from the earth. To the kindness of Provi- 

 dence ore we indebted that this additional burden with 

 a thousand more, were not imposed upon us. The 

 receiver of alms has not the shadow of right to choose, 

 and since fruitless murmurs about what be receives 

 can only embitter bis condition, it is both wisdoin 

 and virtue to be content with our lot. 



Since I commenced this article, the 7th number cf 

 the current volume of the Farmer has come to band. 

 An editorial on the first page entitled "Political Anom- 

 alies and Inconsistencies," is excellent. In these ( 



be the case, and n»y remarks B^ould be thought uncall- times of silly eomplaim, it ia a perfect dainty insenti-l fruit which they have just swallowed. 



