88 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 
[March, 
THE LUCKY BRANCH.— From a Painting by P. Levin. 
(Engraved for the American Agriculturist.) 
The Editor with his Young Readers. 
[A private word with you, young friends, about your 
parents. They may not think it proper for us to be whis¬ 
pering to you about them, but if they don’t read this page, 
why they will know nothing about our chat. Not long 
ago we heard a little boy complaining, that his father did 
not love children. He said, “ he did not believe his father 
ever w'as a boy, for he never seemed to take any pleasure 
in boys’ amusements.” We have heard similar expres¬ 
sions from others, whose parents were compelled to work 
so hard that they w-ere generally too weary, when not 
occupied, to enter freely into the feelings, sports, and 
amusements of their children. Perhaps you, without 
knowing it, have sometimes felt, as the boy referred to 
expressed himself. But this is a mistake. However 
your parents may appear to you now', it will be years, be¬ 
fore you can fully know and appreciate how much they 
truly love you, and how much pleasure they really take 
in seeing you happy. Some people never express half of 
what they feel, and others express, on the wrong side, a 
great deal more than they feel. If you happen to hear 
your wearied, care-worn father or mother say that they 
don’t want to hear your noise, or listen to your talk, you 
must not conclude that they have no real interest in the 
things which you enjoy. W’e do not believe there are any 
parents, and but very few other grown up people, in the 
world, who are not really pleased when they see children 
happy—no matter how morose or unfeeling they may ap¬ 
pear to be. Let us give you 
A TELLING ILLUSTRATION. 
Not long since we chanced to know that an old sub¬ 
scriber complained of the engravings, and especially of 
the Boys’ and Girls’ department, in the Agriculturist. If 
you had seen that man’s expression of countenance, as 
he spoke—his stiff, up-and-down demeanor, and his 
dignified bearing on all occasions, you would have thought 
him one who would be glad if no more children were ever 
born. We determined to test hii heart, and so taking 
time when a little at leisure, we handed him a copyofthe 
paper which he had not yet seen. lie sat down with it, 
and we appeared lobe attending to something else, but 
kept an eye on him. The first thing he did was, to look 
all through the paper, and carefully examine and even 
study the pictures. Then, before looking over a single 
other article, he turned to the boys’ and girls’ columns, and 
read them all through— stories, puzzles, and all. Then he 
read the headings to the other articles, and finally settled 
down upon those topics which he at first led us to believe 
ho would have the whole paper filled up with. Once be¬ 
fore, we tried it similar experiment upon another com 
plainer, and with precisely the same result. Now we 
are sure that these men, in their hearts, really love chil¬ 
dren. and take pleasure in the things that please them. 
And so it is with all other grown up folks. They love to 
unbend, though their notions of dignity may keep them 
from appearing to do so. Some of the most dignified and 
learned of our subscribers, clergymen, professors in col¬ 
leges, and legislators, have actually expressed to us their 
pleasure at the introduction of these boys’ and girls’ col¬ 
umns. Just w r atch your parents, and see if they do 
not read your special department. You will then cast 
away that feeling you may have harbored, that grown up 
persons have no interest in the things that please you. 
We know they have, they all have, and that you have 
more sympathy and love for you, than you hare yet 
dreamed of. But, One Hint Here. 
Our young friends must not by any means think that 
these columunsof the paper are the only ones for them to 
read. They should read the whole of it ; read about the 
trees, and plants, and flowers, and about the cattle, arid 
the modes of culture too. Don’t fail to read and study the 
articles about insects, commenced in this number-they 
will open a new field of instruction and delight 
“ THE LUCKY BRANCH.” 
The picture above, would be pretty, simply asagroup of 
innocent,happy children. It was painted, however, in il¬ 
lustration of a custom prevalent in the hop-growing 
towns of England. As the English people are great beer- 
drinkers, hops are in demand, and large gardens or fields 
are devoted to their culture. The hop-gardens of the 
counties of Kent, Sussex, and Herefordshire, are the 
most extensive. In Kent County alone, about thirty 
thousand acres are devoted to this single crop! and as 
many more in the other two counties named. And many 
of these hop-gardens are almost as beautiful as the vine¬ 
yards of Southern and Middle Europe. The hop-picking 
season is especially one of activity as well as mirth. At 
this time, it is customary for the pickers to select the best 
branch of hops each one can find, and whoever finds the 
largest and most beautiful one, carries it as a present to 
the proprietor. This is called the “ Lucky Branch,” and 
the finder expects and usually receives some nice pres¬ 
ent in return. Our picture represents a group of children 
going with their prize. The little fellow bears aloft the 
lucky branch, seated astride his brother’s neck, with his 
arm around the sister’s head. The satisfaction and the 
hope expressed in the countenances of this group, are hap¬ 
pily brought out by the artist. It is a fine sketch for copy¬ 
ing by those who are practicing with the pencil or brush. 
WHAT no YOU THINK OF YOURSELF 1 
Our first reading book, in school, was the old Webster’s 
spelling-book— not “ Webster's Elementary,” but one a 
couple of generations older, for Cobb’s spelling book came 
between the two. Almost the first line of reading we 
spelled out in that book was : “ T-h e w-i-c-k e-d f-l-c-e 
w-h e-n n-o m-a-n p u-r-s-u-c-t-h.” That was a pretty 
hard lesson for a little boy to read, and 
a still harder one to know the meaning 
of; but in those days, teachers and others 
had not learned, as now, that it is betier 
for scholars to have lessons that they can 
understand. We well remember how- 
puzzled we were to make out w hy a flea 
should be wicked, when no man pursued 
it. Yet after all, that hard sentence may 
have done us more good than an easier 
one, for it made us think a good dea , 
and thinking, you know, makes the mind 
grow strong, just as working makes the 
body strong. Well, we of course found 
out, afterwards, what our lesson meant, 
and how many times since have we seen 
proofs of the truth that the wicked flee, 
run away, are scared, when there is no 
real danger—their consciences, their own 
hearts, tell them that they have done 
wrong, and the feeling that they at least 
deserve to have somebody after them, 
makes them afraid ; while the righteous 
are as bold as a lion—they feel that 
they have done nothing wrong, and have 
no cause to be otherwise than bold, man¬ 
ly, fearless, like the lion Young friends, 
when you act so that you are not afraid 
of yourselves, you will have far less fear 
of others. When alone and tempted to 
do w rong, because you think no one will 
see you, stop and say, “ I shall see my¬ 
self, and I will not degrade myself in 
my own eyes.” Yes, have as much re¬ 
spect for yourself, for your own opinion, 
as you have for that of others; do nothing 
which will low er you in your ow n esti¬ 
mation, and then you can walk forth 
confidently, and not shamefacedly, in 
the presence of others. Now promise 
not to forget the subject of this lesson, not forget to stand 
well in your own regard, and we will tell you a story il¬ 
lustrating how a man’s fears of Satan, or his feeling that 
the old fellow ought to pay him a visit, made him act, or 
HOW A MAN GOT SCARED. 
Formerly, when wood, instead of coal, was burned in 
our large cities, the narrow chimneys rapidly filled up 
with soot, and it was necessary to have them cleaned or.t 
oftener than now. There were a good many persons, 
called “ chimney sweeps,” who made it their constant 
business to clean out. chimneys, and as the sweeper was 
often obliged to go down into small flues, little boys were 
engaged for this purpose. In a block of buildings, where Ihe 
houses were all alike, one of the occupants engaged a man 
with his boy to clean out his chimneys. The boy was let 
down from the top by a rope, but as it chanced, lie w ent into 
the wrong chimney, and unexpectedly to himself and ihe 
occupant.be landed, all blackened and begrimed with 
soot, in the office of a man who was just planning out a 
wrong business transaction. The man started up in 
amazement, and verily believed a little imp had arrived. 
The boy was equally frightened, and cried out., “ My 
father’s coming in a minute.” The man thought that if the 
“ old fellow” himself was coming.it. was time to make 
tracks, and he rushed from the room in terrible frght, 
while the boy scrambled up ihe chimney again. One bad 
business scheme was stopped, and we hope, no others 
were ever afterwards undertaken by this man. 
A BOY SEEING A STRANGE SIGHT. 
A pretty good story is told of a boy who chanced to be 
born in a backwoods cabin, (he was none the w-orse for 
that.,) where a looking-glass had not yet been added to 
the furniture, and none of the younger inmates had been 
favored with a daguerreotype sight, of their own “ looks.” 
The bov referred to, like many other hoys, was very care¬ 
less in his dress, and no advice of his mother, or shaming 
of his father was successful in keeping him in respectable 
trim. His face was seldom washed, and his hair never 
combed ; and as to his hands, you could never tell the na¬ 
tural color, because you could never see down to ihe skin. 
-It happened that this boy was sent on an errand to a 
neighboring farmer, who had recently got a new mirror. 
While there, he chanced to get square before Ihe glass, 
and turning round, he obtained the first full view of him¬ 
self he had ever had. What he thought of his per¬ 
sonal appearance, you can imagine from the result. 
Without stopping to take a second look,he bolted through 
the door, ran home in breathless haste, rushed to his 
father, and exclaimed, that at the house where he had 
been ‘they kept a little devil—he had seen him in a cage 
in the wail.”.When your hair is uncombed, vour 
hands and face unwashed, or you are olherwiso Slovenly 
just remember that cage in the trail I 
