203 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
so plainly indicates the character of the house¬ 
keeping as the manner in which these things 
are performed. And these are things which it 
is possible to have always done well. The meat 
may always be placed in the same spot, and the 
vegetables and gravies have a place of their own, 
from which they never depart. There is never 
any necessity that the plates should be all hilter- 
sfcilter, or the knives and forks all askew , and 
simple food will relish a thousand times better 
for being neatly and tastefully arranged. 
I have seen many drawings made to teach 
this art, but most of them are too elaborate for- 
the every-day table of a farmer’s house, and I 
have thought it would not be amiss to give a 
simple one, upon which are only those articles 
which are used at every meal. 
At first thought, many will exclaim, “ how 
foolish ! as if every lady did not know how to 
set a table,” yet it is lamentably true that not 
one in a hundred is arranged even neatly, to say 
nothing of taste. 
I sometimes stay where there are two very 
pretty girls, who are well educated as far as 
books are concerned, who are very intelligent 
and amiable, and who, with their mother, have 
always done the work of the family, and are 
therefore supposed to be well acquainted with 
all household affairs, yet they have not the least 
idea of the ‘proper way of doing any thing about 
a house. The dishes are thrown upon the table, 
and the eatables are dropped down here and 
there without any reference to order, or even 
convenience. The daily food would be good if 
it were only well prepared, but if ever so well 
prepared would lose its relish by such a disor¬ 
derly "arrangement. Any young man would 
expeGt them to make good wives, because they 
have always worked, but I should rather have a 
tow-string. 
But I have talked so long, I have left no room 
for my drawing. I shall have to leave it till 
another time. 
THE TALL GENTLEMAN’S APOLOGY. 
The wit and grace of the following lines, by 
Mr. Robert Bell, would extinguish even Dr. 
Johnson’s hostility to puns.— Evening Post. 
Upbraid me not, I never swore eternal love to thee, 
For thou art only five feet high, and I am six feet three; 
I wonder, dear, how you supposed that X could look so low ; 
There’s many a one can tie a knot who cannot fix a beau. 
Besides, you must confess, my love, the bargain’s scarcely 
fair, 
For never could we make a match, although we made a pair: 
Marriage, I know, makes one of two; but here’s the horrid 
bore. 
My friends declare if you are one that I at least am four. 
*Ti3 true, the moralists have said, that Love has got no eyes. 
But why should all my sighs be heaved for one who has no 
size? 
And on our wedding-day I’m sure I'd leave you in the lurch, 
For you never saw a steeple, dear, in the inside of a church. 
’Sis Usual for a wife to take her husband by the arm, 
fcut pray excuse me should I hint a sort of fond alarm. 
That When I offered you my arm, that happiness to beg, 
Your highest efforts, dear, would be to take me by the leg. 
I do admit I wear a glass, because my sight’s not good; 
But were I always quizzing you, it might be counted rude ; 
And though I use a concave lens, by all the god 3 1 hope, 
My wife will ne’er look up to me through a Herschel’s teles¬ 
cope. 
Then fare thee well, my gentle one, I ask no parting kiss; 
I must not break my back to gain so exquisite a bliss; 
Nor will I weep lest I should hurt so delicate a flower; 
The tears that fall from such a height would be a thunder 
shower. 
Farewell! and pray don’t throw yourself in a basin or a tub, 
For that would be a sore disgrace to all the Six Feet Club. 
But if you ever love again, love on a smaller plan, 
$or why extend to six feet three the life that’s but a span ? 
up* Corner, 
ANOTHER BOY’S LETTER. 
We are glad to receive another boy’s letter, 
and hope for many such. We shall not think 
the space uselessly occupied, if these letters 
stimulate other boys to think and write. Our 
present boys of 10 and 12 years, will soon be 
our active business men, and we are glad to find 
any of them preparing themselves to observe 
what is going on around them, and to commu¬ 
nicate their observations to others. We trust 
the day is not distant, when farmers are to 
be the most intelligent and most influential class 
in the country. Boys, which of you are aiming 
to be first-class intelligent farmers ? 
The following letter contained some errors, 
most of which we have corrected. There were 
two or three errors in spelling, such as rasberry 
and schollarship, and in use of capital letters, 
such as english, Philadelphia, but the letter is 
on the whole, quite well written. Let all boys 
remember to use as few words as possible in 
expressing their ideas; to write only on one 
side of a sheet, leaving the lines far enough 
apart for the editor to write in his corrections; 
and also let them keep an exact copy of their 
letters, so as to see what corrections are made, 
for this will often teach them very much. Well 
here is this letter. Who will write the next? 
For tlie American Agriculturist. 
Messrs. Editors :—As you have had no com¬ 
munication in the boy’s corner of your paper 
for a week or two, I take the liberty of address¬ 
ing you, though I fear I am not capable of writ¬ 
ing any thing that will prove interesting to 
your numerous readers, and like the boy from 
“ Down East,” I have never attempted any thing 
of the kind before. By your kindness in allow¬ 
ing other boys to write for your columns, I, with 
many others may improve, but I assure you 
that I will not complain as much as the “ Down 
East” boy about my studies, for I hope I will 
like school better than him when I get an op¬ 
portunity to go, which will not be till next win¬ 
ter. 
He does not like the idea of going to college, 
and thinks it but another name for boarding- 
schools. This may be true, but it is a well- 
known fact that he or any one else, may learn 
fully as much at one as the other if he is dili¬ 
gent in application; that is the difficulty with 
most boys, particularly at our ages. I am a lit¬ 
tle surprised at the Down East boy’s complaints, 
for the Yankee boys are distinguished for in¬ 
dustry and intelligence. As for myself, I am 
but little older than he is, but I think there is 
quite a contrast between us. I have been to 
school but two winters for three or four years 
past, and have not had as good a chance of 
learning as the “ Down East” boy. Last winter 
I attended the “ New Castle Institute,” which 
is on the same plan of the “ Philadelphia High 
School,” which is well known throughout the 
country. Reports were sent, once a month, to 
show the attendance, conduct, and scholarship 
of the pupils. I was number one in my class 
about two months, and once received an average 
of 99 3-10—one hundred being the highest 
average attainable. Without flattering myself, 
I must tell you that I studied pretty hard when 
compared with the rest of the school, though 
we only recited lessons, such as geography, 
grammar, &c., two or three times a week, and I 
frequently complained of not having enough to 
do, for I am satisfied I could have studied much 
more had the lessons been longer. But I will 
not give you an account of all my school days, 
for it would occupy too much space in your pa¬ 
per. 
I am now at home, attending to the duties of 
the farm, but the late rains have prevented us 
from doing much work. Tho com is now 
planted, though it was much later than usual, 
but if the weather keeps favorable, there will be 
good crops. This season will no doubt prove 
profitable to the farmer, for the prospect of 
higher prices tor grain were never better, 
though the prices are very high now, particu¬ 
larly of wheat and oats. The farmer’s life is a 
happy one, though the work be hard. When 
night comes how sweet is sleep, and to rise 
early in the morning and partake of a good 
breakfast, affords much pleasure. 
I have had a little experience in the culture 
of the raspberry which may be of some impor¬ 
tance to your readers. Two years ago last 
spring, I dug up some wild raspberry vines and 
set them out in our garden. The first year 
they bore very few, but the second year the 
vines were very full, and were of a different 
sort from the common. They were similar to 
the English, and were fully as good, if not bet¬ 
ter. It is very probable that the English kinds 
were once found in a wild state, and were trans¬ 
planted and increased in size and quality. 
You will probably find as many mistakes in 
this as the boy’s letter from “ Down East,” but 
I hope you will make allowances for one so 
young and inexperienced as I feel I am. I can¬ 
not close this without saying something of the 
merits of your paper, though you say you sel¬ 
dom publish letters concerning yourself. But 
my intention is not to flatter you, for truth is 
not flattery, and I will simply say that I would 
not like to be without your paper for three or 
four times the price of subscription. I have 
always taken much interest in reading the news¬ 
papers, which are pretty plentiful in our family. 
We take five weeklies, (including the American 
Agriculturist,) two semi-weeklies, one daily, 
and one monthly. Some folks say we take too 
many, but editors must live as well as farmers 
and others. Now, Messrs. Editors, I have writ¬ 
ten my first letter, full of imperfections, I fear, 
but I have tried my best. 
A Delaware Farmer’s Son. 
M -, Del., May 27,1854. 
-- 
Mysteries of the Ocean. —A paper, contain¬ 
ing the results of various observations made in 
the coast survey by A. D. Bache, was read be¬ 
fore the Scientific Association at Washington. 
Among other interesting passages, was one re¬ 
lating to the shape of the floor or bottom of the 
ocean, showing that some extraordinary depres¬ 
sions exist along our own coast. 
For instance, on the seaward line abreast of 
Charleston, from the shore to sixty miles out, 
the depth increases pretty gradually, till at that 
distance it has acquired the depth of one hun¬ 
dred fathoms. But Jt soon deepens with great 
rapidity, as if on the side of a mountain, until, 
at about eighty miles out, the ocean bottom is 
more than six hundred and fifty fathoms from 
the surface. This continues forward less than 
ten miles, when the depth as suddenly decreases 
to not more than three hundred and fifty fath¬ 
oms, which so goes on only a few miles, when 
it again deepens to about five hundred fathoms, 
with subsequent fluctuations. There is, there¬ 
fore, a submerged mountain peak or ridge be¬ 
tween these points, of a truly remarkable char¬ 
acter. The differences in the temperature of 
the water vary almost precisely according to 
the change of contour of the bottom, showing 
that the temperature at great depths is much 
modified by the propinquity of the ocean’s bed. 
True Account of Accounts. —Printer’s ac¬ 
counts are said to be like faith, “ the substance 
of things hoped for, and the evidence of things 
not seen.” 
“ Constitutionally tired,” is now the polite 
way of expressing the fact that a man is na¬ 
turally lazy. We live in wonderfully refined 
times, 
