Indies’ Department—Flowers—Their Uses. 
Farmers of the prolific south and west, when shall 
we have as good deeds to record of you ] Let those 
who deny the advantages of oxen for farm labor, at¬ 
tend the N, H. Co. lair, the coming autumn, and 
witness the ploughing of 34 rods of land (nearly one 
fourth of an acre) by a single team in 36 minutes ! 
This is distancing Eclipse and Hemy; yet the Com¬ 
mittee think there is loom for improvement l We in¬ 
fer this was done by a single yoke of oxen , without a 
driver; but we think there is more room lor improve¬ 
ment in the reports of some of the committees than 
in the ploughing. Pardon us, gentlemen ; but you 
don’t give us the particulars above, which we are 
obliged to conjecture, -and we are also in the dark as 
io the breeds of most of the premium animals, quan¬ 
tities of' vegetable products per acre, &c.. &c. The 
mode of raising premium animals and crops ought 
always to accompany their exhibition, and we can 
then enforce the precept on the audience with more 
justice, ** Go thou and do likewise.” It was in this 
county the splendid Durham oxen were reared, re¬ 
cently sent to this city by Wm. K. Townsend, Esq. 
Tie Ladies’ Department will be added in the sub¬ 
sequent numbers of our work. The flower garden, 
botany, &c., &c., are as essential for them and their 
share of the “ farm stock,” the younglings of the fa¬ 
mily, as graver matters tor the oilier sex. 
Flowers—Their Uses .—Not long since, we had occa¬ 
sion to call on a friend in the country who had. re¬ 
tired from the busy throng of the adjoining city, i 
where he had been an active participator in the ex¬ 
citing scenes of its ambitious citizens. Like most 
others of an ardent temperamenx and too sanguine 
expectations, he had been tempted beyond his depth 
in the recent allurements of the times. He was over¬ 
whelmed with the disasters that followed in such ra¬ 
pid and irresistible succession, and with blighted 
hopes, and sad forebodings of the future, he sat de¬ 
jected and silent, and buried in the melancholy mus- 
ings of his own sad spirit. Rather irritatingly re¬ 
pulsed in some topics of consolation I had volunteered 
to him, 1 silently withdrew to a retired part of the 
room, more pained than vexed, that my benevolent 
intentions had been so rudely repelled; but I deemed . 
it the better philosophy to allow the smouldering fires 
of discontent to exhaust themselves, rather than by 
stirring, to kindle them anew. We had noF been 
long sitting thus unsociably, when the sound of merry : 
voices came ringing in our ears, and a moment after 
in burst a trio, the avant couriers of the boisterous 
group. The first to reach our melancholy Jacques, 
•were the old family dogs, a large Newfoundlander, 
beating his shaggy sides with his tail, and pushing 
his intelligent nose into his master’s lap, and a favorite 
little Terrier bounding all over the room with joy ; 
■close behind them, and only in their rear, because 
lie had but two legs to their four, came little Ned, a 
flourishing younker, of nearly four, whose cheeks, 
beaming with health, and eyes radiant with delight, 
were at once unceremoniously thrust into the face of 
the unhappy man, and claiming a kiss, exclaimed, 
holding up at the same moment one hand full of wild 
flowers, the first of the season, and the other grasp¬ 
ing divers evergreens, twigs, and switches, for the 
better discipline of his hobby horse, “ See, papa, what 
' i have! ” 
Before this brief address was fairly out of his 
mouth, France, a swarthy little Gaul, the babies’ 
maid, came patting in, and sans ceremonie deposited 
her to filing charge in the father’s lap, a rosy little 
budget of femality of scarcely 18 moons, who smil- ■ 
47 
ing |jer delight, muttered her tiny bits of sentiment 
as she held a little bouquet of already half demolished 
Spring beauties, up to his face, soliciting his admira¬ 
tion. Last followed the more sedate, but scarcely less 
joyous wife and mother, and with a face flushed with 
1 her healthful walk, and the excitement of her happy 
ramble in the balmy breath of spring, she triumph¬ 
antly held up her glittering prizes of “ earth’s fresh- 
. est, fairest flowers.” “Only see,” says she, “the 
• variety I have found together, and so early too and 
drawing a seat close by my friend, she spread the ra- 
. diant things on her lap, and culling the different spe¬ 
cies, she exhibited their various characters. | 
i “ See this beautiful Hepatica, with its trilobed leaves 
• and quintuple petals most delicately shaded, with every 
i variety of hue, from the purest white, through every 
- shade of pink, and blue, and purple; and frequent- 
■ lyon the same duster. Here is ilie delicate Anemone, 
s two varieties, both varying from a perfect white to the 
> deepest peach blossom; here is the Viola rotundifolia, 
• and here are the little yellow, and the large blue, 
Violet. Here is the firm, glossy, mottled leaf of the 
: Ery thenium, or Adder’s tongue, and the syphon stem, 
with the yellow bud, that will soon expand into the 
beautiful, yellow, lily shaped flower, with its modestly 
■ curled petals ; and here the Sanguinalia, or Blood- 
, root, with its delicate blossoms ol snow, far-famed 
• for its medicinal root; here the wind Anemone, and 
here the Zephyr flower; and here the little wild’Star of 
Bethlehem, just peeping from the ground ; and here 
is the gaudy Cowslip, more useful in its leaves, which 
furnishes a most delicate esculent for the table. Smell 
this exquisite fragrance; ’tis the modest Epigcea re- 
! pens, or trailing Arbutus, whose little vines, after 
patient search among the withered autumnal leaves, 
our little Edward brought me. These are the Trilliurns 
both red and white, not yet expanded; and here the 
bud of the Mandrake, and here the silver tassels of 
the Birch, the Alder, two kinds of Swamp-Willow,and 
here the delicate tiny flowers of the Ash and Maple”-- 
“ And here,” interrupting her voluble recital, and re¬ 
laxing the misanthropic scowl he had vainly endeavor¬ 
ed to retain, and giving full vent to his softened feel¬ 
ings, extending his arm, and drawing her to himself, 
“ Here is Heaven’slast best gift,andworth all the world 
besides; and see what lovely flowers it bears,” catch¬ 
ing up and half-smothering with kisses his little Bess, 
. that was quietly enjoying the display of flowers, oc¬ 
casionally throwing one to her favorite tabby, that 
was just then purring round her feet. “ I was just 
trying to make myself believe I was the unhappiest 
: man the wide world contains; because I had lost 
much I was determined to persuade myself that I had 
lost all. But here I am surrounded by a wilderness 
of sweets and comforts, not half of which I can fully 
enjoy ; and,”—he was going on with his confessions, 
but seeing his fortress of misanthrophy had been taken 
by storm, and fearing my bachelor feelings would be 
carried away by his conjugal rhapsodies, I quietly 
opened the latch beside me, and slipped out of the door 
to help the little urchin, who had thrown down his 
late highly prized acquisitions, and was trying to 
catch a pet rabbit that was amusing him by just 
keeping out of his reach. I could not but recal, in 
connexion with my friend, the incident of Mungo 
Park when ready to perish, destitute and abandoned, 
he had thrown himself on the blistering sands of Afri¬ 
ca, determined to yield himself unresistingly to his 
fate, but turning, he descried a little flower sending 
up its sweet perfume and displaying its beautiful pe¬ 
tals on the arid waste; surely, thought he, if God 
cares for this fragile flower, so lone and friendless, he 
will provide forme; and his subsequent exertions 
brought him within aid that rescued him from des- 
■ traction. Flowers are indeed God’s smiles, when they 
