REVIEW OF JANUARY NUMBER OF THE AGRICULTURIST. 
99 
Wire Fences. — Capital article this. Look at it 
again — everybody and his wife. Do not let the 
cattle destroy your shrubbery, when you can so 
easily prevent it, without disfiguring the town by 
an unsightly fence. Ah, how cheap we could 
fence along the roads to keep out passing cattle, 
if the hoggish custom of letting swine run at 
large, were out of fashion. 
Turkeys in Tennessee.— Well, that does beat all 
natur', that's a fact. What a long roost it would 
make, if we had only one of these flocks. It 
makes my mouth water to think of it. Roast 
turkeys by the wholesale ! 
An Italian Villa. — Ah, have I not seen some 
beautiful ones since I have been gone ; and such 
admirable grounds, too, about them, and trees, 
and shrubbery, and fountains, and statuary? 
But time would fail me to tell of all these 
things; and besides, all the old farmers — at 
least all in my neighborhood — would think such 
" nonsense," as they term it, quite out of place 
in this paper. 
What does it Cost Jo Grow an Acre of Potatoes'] — 
This is a valuable table, but it ought to have 
stated that they were Irish, and not sweet pota- 
toes; as at the south, the name of "potatoes" 
alone means sweet ones. 
Mr. Robinson's Tour — Estates of Messrs. Bur- 
gwins. — I have read this article with great 
interest, because I knew these young men in 
times past ; and I said to myself, if these city- 
bred gentlemen make good planters, then it is 
not necessary for a man to grow up upon a farm, to 
make a good cultivator. Only let him have good 
common sense, and study into the theory, and he 
will soon learn the practical parts of farming. I 
am right glad to hear that they succeed, and hope 
others in the "Old North," as this state is called at 
the south, will follow their good example. Rip 
Van Winkle is really waked up in the Carolinas. 
Cisterns for Horse and Cattle Yards. — Readers 
in all the western states should particularly 
notice this article. 
The Spanish Fowl.—rWeU, if you have no "ex- 
perience in this kind of fowl," I have ; and the 
"objection" that your friends make to them, is 
good. Their combs and wattles freeze badly, 
in this northern climate ; but it is a superb bird 
for the south. By the way, I have just got hold 
of Mr. Browne's book, which the publisher was 
so kind as to send me, as a New- Year's present. 
It is a good work, and I hope it will have a 
large sale. This is all the puff I am going to 
give it. 
Speaking of poultry, allow me to add, that I 
see the Boston folks are getting very enthusias- 
tic, to say the least of it, on this subject. Now, 
with all their " notions," if they don't produce a 
great deal of notional humbug, before they get 
through, then I shall be greatly mistaken. Here 
I have lying before me, one of their late agricul- 
tural papers, with a Shanghae cock, standing 
his feet on the ground, and stretching his head 
twelve inches or more above the top of a barrel! 
In the name of common sense, if the thing be 
not a caricature, what do people, in this cold 
climate, want to do with such great, coarse, 
feather-legged, overgrown, Southern-India birds'? 
Better stick to fine points and a medium size, 
my hearties. But every dog must have its day, 
and every "notion" its run. Perhaps they will 
get cocks — I beg pardon — roosters, cockerels, or, 
as Sergeant Teltrue, in his mock, affected 
modesty, quizzingly calls them, " crowing bid- 
dies ;" I say, perhaps they will get birds, by and 
by, as large as I once recollect, in a voyage to 
Stamboul, (Constantinople,) a jolly old Turk 
and fellow passenger told me Mahomet found, 
in his nocturnal visit to the second heaven. The 
said cock, or rooster, which he found there, was 
of brilliant white, and so tall, that it took a 
thousand days' journey to travel from his great toe 
up to his crest ! ! It was his duty to salute the 
great Allah, every morning, with his melodious 
crowing, which echoed all over the silver dome 
of his resplendent domicil, and rebounded 
against the stars, suspended in golden chains 
from the lofty arch above; the tuneful strain 
awaking the numerous inhabitants dwelling 
here, to their daily, gladsome employments. 
Then the fat, jolly old fellow, sitting cross- 
legged on his mat, on the deck of the ship, would 
give a loud chuckle, flap his arms, encased in 
the broad sleeves of a flowing dress, as if they 
were a pair of wings, and shout his " Allah il 
Allah" — God is God, and Mahomet is his pro- 
phet. This is a dull story to tell ; but I wish 
the Boston folks could once hear the w r aggish 
old Turk repeat it, and see the comical ges- 
tures that accompanied it. I fancy they would 
find it a cooler for the hot breeze they seem to 
be getting up just now, to thaw out their ice- 
bound region, and gull the foolish gullible. I 
hope there ain't no wooden nutmegs brewin' 
there ; nor punkins bein' turned into brass kit- 
tles — nor nothin' ! 
Pruning. — I must have my hand on some of 
those implements ; for, I declare, my trees and 
shrubbery don't look quite so trim to me as they 
used to. Perhaps the reason is, my late rambles 
among the parks and gardens of Europe, have 
somewhat refined my eye in these matters. 
Expect a call from me very soon, at your ware- 
house, Messrs. Editors. 
Chamber Birds. — Excuse me, ladies; I have 
talked so long to the gentlemen, that I must be 
off', now, though I would gladly stop and discuss 
Canaries with you — more especially, as I am 
just from the beautiful islands of their native 
home. But I must decline this, and The Flower 
Pots, and even that luscious beverage, I see you 
have so temptingly set out for my further deten- 
tion in your charming society, namely, Beef Tea; 
for my dear wife and daughters have just made 
their entry to the study, and insist upon my 
dropping the pen for the evening, [arid that wo 
adjourn to a cup of genuine black tea ; for they 
look upon all other kinds as only colored and 
perfumed up to order, by the Chinese. In this 
" notion," I heartily agree with them ; for I know 
this to be a fact. 'Jack Chinaman and I, are old 
acquaintances — the cunning fellow, lie dtfinkg 
black tea simply, for he knows it to be the only 
kind that is not stewed and drugged. He leaves 
all else, to the outside barbarians — believe me. 
Reviewer. 
