12 
3 
A DREAM OF HOME. 
Take me to the dear old farm when the clover is in 
bloom; 
Let me wet my feet in the dew-bathed grass, and 
breathe its sweet perfume; 
Give me a seat ’neath the old roof-tree, a draught 
from the homestead well. 
A romp in the meadow or up on the hill, where the 
echoes used to dwell; 
And in one hour of calm delight, I’ll live again the 
years 
When the bitterest grief was swept away in a flood 
of transient tears. 
I see again the vine-clad porch, the rose-bush by 
the gate, 
Where the brightest gleams of sunset seem to love 
to linger late; 
The gray barn in the distance, the spring-house 
near at hand, 
The crystal spring, and the limpid stream with 
rustic bridges spanned; 
The orchard and the garden, the fields of waving 
grain, 
The cattle in the meadow, the pet lamb in the lane; 
And I hear the reapers’ voices, and the scythe- 
blades’ ringing sweep. 
Tne whistle of the meadow-lark, the bleating of 
the sheep; 
The tuneless droniDg of the bees that rob the jessa¬ 
mine, 
The buzzing of the summer fly, and all the farm¬ 
yard’s din; 
Discordant sounds to others' ears, but now they 
come to me 
More welcome than the dulcet notes of sweetest 
harmony. 
It was a dream. No more for me those sights and 
sounds so dear; 
My borne has been a stranger’s for many and many 
a year. 
The house is gone, and on the spot where memory 
sees it stand, 
Looms up a towered mansion for a child of fortune 
planned. 
And art has changed the orchard, the meadow and 
the field 
To “grounds” that but the rarest fruits and choic¬ 
est flowers may yield. 
I would not know the spot again, but hard by is 
the grove 
Where rest the moldering forms of those whose 
memory I love; 
And in the grove, and by their side, beneath the 
locust’s shade. 
Some day, ere many years, perhaps, my body will 
be laid. 
—Oath Brittle , in Demorest's Magazine for July. 
Succession of Crops in the Gar¬ 
den. 
Nearly every one has a good spring gar¬ 
den, which after the early vegetables are 
gathered, is too often surrendered to weeds 
and grass for the balance of the year. If 
the garden soil is properly manured, it 
should never be left idle, but should be con¬ 
stantly occupied by some profitable crop. 
There is no reason why we may not have 
an abundance of fresh vegetables every 
month in the year. 
The squares which have been occupied 
by Irish potatoes, beans, onions, etc., should 
be immediately planted in something else— 
corn, turnips, or winter cabbage. Crops 
that come off too la^e in the fall for plant¬ 
ing vegetables, may be succeeded by rye, 
barley or oats. Every crop should be kept 
clear of gj ass and weeds, not only for the 
benefit of the growing crop, but to facili¬ 
tate planting its successor. J. S. N. 
Fresh-Water Pearls. 
The cultivation of the pearls of fresh¬ 
water mussels has become an industry of 
considerable importance in Saxony and 
other parts of Germany. The pearls are 
generally inferior to those of the genuine 
pearl-oysters, but occasionally a gem of 
real excellence is produced. Some very 
fine settings of such were* exhibited at the 
Exposition in Berlin. The Venetians car¬ 
ried on this branch of trade to a consid¬ 
erable extent during the middle ages, and 
controlled it till 1621, when the Elector of 
Saxony also undertook it, at the suggestion 
of Moritz Schmirler, a draper of Oelsnitz, 
and appointed Schmirler, “first pearl-fisher.’’ 
Schmirler was succeeded on his death by his 
son. and the business has continued in the 
family to the present day, under the su¬ 
perintendency of the forestry department, 
which has also to do with the waters of the 
region. The pearl-hunting is carried on in 
the spring, as soon as the water is warm 
enough to wade in for hours continuously. 
The mussels are examined by means of an 
instrument, by which the shells can be op¬ 
ened enough to see what is within them 
without hurting the mollusks. If they con¬ 
tain well-developed pearls, tkey are sacri¬ 
ficed; if not, they are returned to their beds. 
The same beds are not usually gone over 
again for several years. Experiments made 
in the Elster, in the artificial production of 
pearls have not met with much success. A 
wound in the mouth of the mollusk will 
lead to the deposition of the calcareous 
matter, but it is uncertain whether it will 
be of common shell-matter or of pearl — and 
upon this all the value of the operation de¬ 
pends. In the Dutch East Indies, the form¬ 
ation of pearls in the pearl-oyster is some¬ 
times provoked by inserting a grain of sand 
within the shell. A considerable business 
is done at Adorf in the manufacture of arti¬ 
cles of fancy from the nacre of mussels.— 
Popular Science Monthly for July. 
