354 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
to disturb their nests, or to shoot them at any 
season of the year. It is a henious offence here 
to injure a bird, sure to be punished by the 
judges. It chanced a few summers ago, that a 
pair of swallows built a nest on the piazza, not 
far from the door. As they were not troublesome, 
they were suffered to remain. The female bird 
had finished laying, and was beginning to sit 
upon her eggs, when there came a heavy storm, 
doing a considerable damage, among the trees, 
and dislodging some of the birdlings from their 
nurseries. The proprietor found a nest of 
young robins upon the ground a few days old, 
apparently deserted of their parents. They 
were taken home, and committed to the care of 
a servant, with a view to save them, if possible. 
At length it occured to him, that this swallow 
might be willing to anticipate her maternal 
cares, and to provide for them. Watching his 
opportunity, when she flew from her nest to get 
her daily food, he carefully slipped the young 
robins in with her eggs, and watched for her 
return. She soon returned, and stood upon the 
edge of the nest, a picture of astonishment at 
the strange intruders. Was ever bird in such 
luck before ? A whole nest of birdlings hatched 
in her absence. Here was a case for consulta¬ 
tion, and away she flew for her mate. Both 
birds were soon twittering over the new brood, 
and after a little deliberation, concluded to adopt 
the strangers. They immediately began to feed 
them, and brought them up, with as much 
fidelity, as if they had been their own young. As 
this incident in bird life occured under the eye 
of the narrator, there can be no doubt of its 
authenticity. A similar instance occurred not 
long after, in which a pair of robins repaid the 
swallows, by bringing up a nest of young mea¬ 
dow larks, whose mother had been accidentally 
killed by a scythe in mowing. These are very 
interesting facts in natural history, and would 
hardly have come to light elsewhere, than in 
some bird paradise, like Hokanum. 
THE STOCK 
upon this farm, is in keeping with the luxuriant 
provision made for their wants. Beside fine 
horses, we saw a herd of Short-horns, that are 
among the finest in the country. Some of them 
have been exhibited at the agricultural fairs, 
and have been greatly admired by good judges 
of neat stock. The porkers looked sleek and 
fat, and were literally living like pigs in the 
clover. Poultry is raised to a considerable ex¬ 
tent, but little attention is paid to purity of 
breeds. 
THE VEGETABLE GARDEN 
has a prominent place here, occupying some 
four acres, and the most of it under a high 
state of cultivation. The strawberry beds were 
very ample, and the vines luxuriant. There was 
a large plantation of raspberries, and tall canes 
loaded with fruit was one of the finest sights in 
the garden. A large square was devoted to green 
fleshed melons, planted at different times, so as 
to give a succession of fruit from August till 
the time of frost. Here were melons nearly full 
grown, and vines just starting into blossom. 
The more common garden vegetables were grow¬ 
ing in the greatest abundance, and luxuriance. 
A prominent feature of Hokanum is its 
HEDGES. 
We have never met with their equal for extent, 
and for neatness. They almost entirely encircle 
the ornamental grounds, and will soon give a 
green border to the whole farm. The favorite 
tree for this purpose is the arbor vitae, and it 
succeeds admirably wherever it has been planted. 
It makes its branches sufficiently low, and the 
foliage is thick enough when shorn to present 
a perfect mat of green. The althea also does 
well, and we saw in the vegetable garden a 
short row of the thorn locust. It looked pro¬ 
mising, certainly, but from what we have seen 
of its performance elsewhere, we have no san¬ 
guine expectations of its success, even under 
the magic training of the gardener of Hoka¬ 
num. 
It is sad to turn away from all these scenes of 
life, from the trees with their fresh coronals of 
green, from the flowers with their fragrance and 
beauty,from the fields with their golden harvests, 
from the birds with their songs of gladness, to 
the chill presence of death. Follow down this 
path to yonder hillock, crowned with a grove, 
and you come to a lonely grave. Not a year 
has gone by since the child was here, as full of 
life and joy as the brightest thing among all this 
living throng. Now he rests beneath the green 
turf, and flowers bloom over his sleeping dust. 
Thus life and death ever go hand in hand, and 
amid the fairest creations human skill can rear, 
we have this dread presence, pointing us on¬ 
ward to the new heavens and the new earth, 
where the faded flowers, we mourn as lost, re¬ 
appear, clothed with immortality. 
We have done but feeble justice to our own 
conception of this beautiful rural residence. 
Next to the difficulty of creating such a scene, 
so that a cultivated taste shall find constant en¬ 
joyment in beholding it, lies that of describing 
it, so that others may have a correct idea of it. 
And the more tasteful such a work of art is, the 
greater is the difficulty of conveying to others 
any just conception of its beauty, just as the 
most eloquent of speeches are the hardest to 
commit to the printed page. Hokanum, as a 
work of art, would do great credit to a profes¬ 
sional landscape gardener. We do not remem¬ 
ber in all our acquaintance with rural im¬ 
provements, a single instance in which natural 
advantages have been so tastefully used, as here. 
A gentleman whose days are principally spent 
in Wall street, and whose dreams might be sup¬ 
posed to run mainly upon stocks and railroads, 
has here given many a lesson of art, that the 
professional gardener may study with profit. 
“ Here are a hundred points that will delight 
the artist; here are meditative walks, and a 
thousand suggestive aspects of nature for the 
poet; and the man of the world, engaged in a 
feverish pursuit of its gold and its glitter, may 
here taste something of the beauty and refine¬ 
ment of rural life in its higher aspect, and be 
able afterwards understandiugly to wish that” 
“One fair asylum from the world he knew. 
One chosen seat, that charms the various view. 
Who boasts of more, (believe the serious strain) 
Sighs for a home, and sighs, alas ! in vain, 
Through each he roves, the tenant of a day, 
And with the swallows wings the year away .’'-Rodgers. 
July 4th, 1854. 
-••*- 
To Ruin a Son. —1 . Allow him to have his 
own way. 
2. Let him have plenty of money. 
8. Let him roam about on Sunday. 
4. Let him be disrespectful to his parents. 
5. Give him bad companions. 
6. Call him to no account for his evenings. 
7. Give him no steady employment. 
SHOW OF THE ROYAL AGRICULTURAL 
80CIETY. 
This show came off at Lincoln, the past month 
and was said to be highly successful. As there 
have been so many Short-Horn, Hereford and 
Devon Cattle imported into this country the past 
two years, we give a list of the winners at this 
show, for the benefit of Americans breeders, to¬ 
gether with the remarks upon them by the edi¬ 
tor of the London Agricultural Gazette , from 
which paper we copy. In our next, if we 
have room, we will give the list of winners of 
Long-wolled and South-down Sheep. 
Short-Horns. —In the class of old bulls, the 
1st prize is justly awarded to Mr. Standay, of 
Nottingham for a fine straight, well-proportioned 
animal, of very good quality of flesh, which we 
remember a calf by Usurer, in Lord Ducie’s 
herd at Tortworth, 3 years old. 
No. 5, winning the 2d prize, is a white bull, 
shown by Mr. Booth, and he is also a first-rate 
animal, of very superior quality. There would 
have been more difficulty in deciding between 
these two, had the latter appeared as well as 
the other when turned out. No. 6, is a red, 
thick, useful beast—head quarters not quite per¬ 
fect ; shown by Mr. Burtt, of Grantham. No. 8, 
a dark roan heavy-fleshed animal, of good qual¬ 
ity, shown by Mr. Robinson; 9, a heavy, well- 
made animal, with very deep chest, drooping 
slightly in the back; shown by Mr. Dickenson, 
of Ulverston. The remainder in this class are 
very useful animals. 
Class 2, young bulls, consists of 23 animals, 
among which are many of very great merit, 
Mr. Kirkham, of Hagnaby, shows two in this 
class, by the same bull as the prize bull. No. 27 
is a good roan, shown by Lord Zetland, straight 
back, and very good loins and hind quarters. 
No. 31 and 32 deserve notice, as compact, well- 
made beasts; the latter shown by Mr. Douglas, 
of East Lothian, is first-rate in his hind quarters 
and flesh—not so good in front, and somewhat 
course about the head. No. 35, shown by Mr. 
Maw, cuts a very poor figure by its neighbors. 
No. 36, shown by Mr. Odling of Market Rasen, 
carries off the first prize. He is a remarkably 
well-proportioned beast, of first-rate quality. 
The second prize was carried off by Mr. Towne- 
ley, a very thick, good bull, and the judges must 
have had some difficulty in deciding the superi¬ 
ority of its rival. It was with reference to this 
bull, which is, if we remember rightly, faulty in 
the color of the muzzle, that the remark of the 
herdsman applied, “Races are pretty even when 
won by a neck, but here we have been hardly 
beaten by a nose.'' The prize in bull calves is 
also carried off by Mr. Towneley, for a roan bull 
of good form and quality—“Master Butterfly.” 
Amongst others, Mr. Kirkham shows a nice calf 
by Usurer in this class. 
We now come to the class of old cows, con¬ 
sisting of 25 head, among which are a few not 
very excellent, but the largest number are very 
superior animals. Eight or ten may be selected 
of the best we ever saw together. We never 
had such a show of cows at any previous meet¬ 
ing. Mr. Towneley figures well here with his 
cow Beauty by Victor—a roan of remarkably 
fine touch—somewhat patchy about the rumps, 
in other respects level and good. Mr. Booth 
carries off the 2d prize for a fine cow of the 
same family as Mr. Towneley’s first prize ani¬ 
mal. “ Lady Barrington,” shown by Mr. Tan- 
queray, is remarkable for fine quality of flesh, 
with however some imperfection, especially in 
her shoulder, though had she been in condition 
the determination of the prize animals would have 
been more difficult. Mr. Stratton shows two 
useful cows in this class, which are highly 
commended by the judges. 75, shown by Lord 
Hill is also justly commended by the judges. 
In the young class there is the best show of hei¬ 
fers we ever witnessed. The first prize is taken 
by Mr. Douglas, of East Lothian; she is a perfect 
model andjustly merits her position. We believe 
her even better than Mr. Wilson’s celebrated 
