330 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
learn to nest where they are undisturbed. 
This done, the hand of female affection will 
be ever ready to add the embellishments of 
flowers. 
Tombstones need not, necessarily, be of 
marble, or even of quartz. There is a ma¬ 
terial now found, in a number of different 
localities in the United States, called steatite 
or soap-stone, of a light color, and so 
soft that it may be shaped with such tools 
as are used for carving wood, and yet it is 
durable as granite ; so that it is peculiarly 
adapted to cheap monumental purposes. 
We have noticed that slabs of common stone, 
after all, endure best of any in use, and pre¬ 
serve their inscriptions the most legibly. 
There is surely enough of this material for 
grave-stones, scattered broadcast over the 
country ; and we hope for such an one, with 
an uncouth inscription, rather than to have 
our last resting place unmarked and forgot¬ 
ten. The pious motive of such remem¬ 
brancers excuses the imperfections in their 
execution. 
There is one of these stones in our old 
country burying ground, that once marked a 
mound ; but time has, years ago, leveled 
down the earth. The stone has rough edges, 
and bears simply the initials P. B., cut or 
rather scratched upon its surface, and yet 
tradition has preserved the name, and resi¬ 
dence, and avocation of the deceased, while 
the surrounding dead are forgotten. 
Weather and Crops in Western New- 
York. —Mr. A. E. Raymond writes us, under 
date of Lockport, N. Y., July 27th : “ The 
oldest inhabitants in this county say they 
never saw so w-et a time. It has been rain¬ 
ing for the last six days, every day, with the 
weather very warm and somewhat foggy. 
The wheat in this county, not only that 
which has been cut but that which remains 
standing, is all damaged. Some of the best 
of it is so badly sprouted as to be nearly de¬ 
stroyed. I saw, on heads standing, sprouts 
more than half an inch in length. I had cut 
a few dozen shocks of wheat before the rain, 
and to-day have opened them, and find that 
the wheat has sprouted as much as an inch, 
which I suppose has quite spoiled it. I got 
m my hay in good order before the rain, but 
there are many tuns badly damaged by the 
wet weather. 
“ I get, every week, much useful informa¬ 
tion from the American Agriculturist , and I 
hope to be so situated after a while, as to 
try some of the experiments it speaks of, in 
raising different kinds of produce.” 
Crops in Virginia. —Mr. W. Summersbey 
writes us, under date of Falls Plantation, 
Va., July 27th : “ Our oats and wheat are 
all gathered in fine condition. The grain in 
both is said to be the finest ever seen in this 
section. Corn is a regular and first rate 
crop ; some of the stalks now measure 111 
feet in hight, and in many instances have 
four and frequently five ears to a stalk. 
“Apples and peaches are abundant. Our 
markets are now well supplied with egg¬ 
plants, tomatoes, melons, green corn, beans, 
and other vegetables, and with various fruits, 
all at reasonable prices, 
Crops in Monroe Co.,Mich. —Mr. J. Whea¬ 
ton writes us, under date of Bedford, Mon¬ 
roe County, Mich., July 18th: 
“ There has been very heavy rains here 
for the last three days. I have never seen 
so much water standing on the ground be¬ 
fore. Corn is quite small, and the crop very 
unpromising yet; but potatoes look well, 
and there is a great breadth planted in this 
section. Oats are very good. The wheat 
harvest promises only a middling crop.” 
Crops in Washington Co., N. Y.—Mr. L. 
Palmer writes, under date of Cambridge, 
July 16th: 
“ Corn is very backward ; spring wheat 
and oats look very promising ; rye is good 
potatoes look better than I ever saw them a 
this season, though we can not yet prophesy 
as to the yield. Flax, I think, is very prom 
ising.” * 
Quick Growth. —The Winchester (Va.) 
Republican states as follows : 
“One of our worthy farmers who cultivates 
his lands near the Round Hill, to some pur¬ 
pose, measured a stalk of corn one morning 
lately, at nine o’clock, and upon measuring 
it the next morning at the same hour, he 
was surprised to find that it had grown ten 
and a half inches in the 24 hours.” 
Does that farmer use Shanghai guano 1 
Anecdote of Shelley. —Shelley took 
great pleasure in making paper boats and 
floating them on the water. So long as his 
paper lasted he remained riveted to the spot, 
fascinated by this peculiar amusement. All 
waste paper was rapidly consumed ; then 
the covers of letters ; next, letters of little 
value. The most precious contributions of the 
most esteemed correspondents, although eyed 
wistfully many times and often returned to 
his pocket, were sure to be sent in pursuit 
of the former squadrons. Of the portable 
volumes which were companies of his ram¬ 
bles—and he seldom went without a book— 
the fly leaves were commonly wanting. He 
had applied them as our ancestor Noah ap¬ 
plied gopher wood. But learning was so 
sacred in his eyes that he never trespassed 
further upon the integrity of the copy. The 
work itself was always respected. It has 
been said that he once found himself on the 
north bank of Serpentine River without the 
materials for indulging those inclinations, 
which the sight of the water invariably in¬ 
spired, for he had exhausted his supplies on 
the round pond in Kensington Gardens. 
Not a single scrap of paper could be found, 
save only a bank-note for £50. He hesi¬ 
tated long, but yielded at last. lie twisted it 
into a boat with the extreme fineness of his 
skill and committed it with the utmost dex¬ 
terity to fortune, watching its progress, if 
possible, with a still more intense anxiety 
than usual. Fortune often favors those who 
fully and frankly trust her. The north-east 
wind gently wafted the costly skiff to the 
south bank, where during the latter part of 
the voyage the venturous owner waited its 
arrival with patient solicitude. 
The late Dr. Chapman, of Philadelphia, 
was walking in the streets, and a baker’s 
cart, driven furiously, was about to run him 
down. The baker reined up suddenly, and 
just in time to spare the Doctor, who instant¬ 
ly took off his hat, and bowing politely, ex¬ 
claimed—“ You are the best bred man in 
town !” 
A man in Maine who had stolen a watch, 
gave as an excuse that he was unwell and 
his physician advised him to lake something. 
WHERE A MAN’S PROPERTY GOES TO IF HE 
DIES WITHOUT A WILL. 
The following article answers questions 
frequently asked. It is from the Coopers- 
town (N. Y.) Freeman’s Journal, and refers 
especially to the laws of New-York Stale, 
though not differing materially from those of 
most other States in its priucipal provisions : 
A person who dies without making a Will, 
is said to die intestate. Those to whom his 
real estate goes are said to take by descent; 
those who inherit the personal property take 
it by distribution. The real estate descends, 
the personal is distributed. 
If the intestate leave a widow, she is enti¬ 
tled to the use, during her life, of the third 
part of all the lands owned by her husband 
during the marriage. This is the wife’s 
dower; and such “dower” may be barred by 
jointure ; or by a pecuniary or other provis¬ 
ion, if she assent to it, in lieu of dower. If 
her husband have exchanged lands, she can 
not have dower in both, but may eleet; and 
if the lands have been sold on a mortgage 
given for purchase-money, she can only have 
dower in surplus. After the widow’s dower 
is set off, the residue of the real estate is 
liable for the debts of the intestate, in case 
they could not be paid out of the personal 
property ; and such residue, together with 
the widow’s third after her death, then de¬ 
scends thus : 
1. To the children in equal parts; but if 
any such children shall have died leaving 
issue, then such issue are to take the share 
which the parent would have received if 
living. 
2. But if the intestate die without lawful 
descendants, the inheritance goes to his 
father if living, unless it came to the intes¬ 
tate from his mother and she be living; but 
if she be dead the inheritance derived from 
her goes to the father for life and then to the 
brothers and sisters ; but if there be no 
brothers or sisters or their descendants liv¬ 
ing, then to the father in fee. 
3. If the intestate die without descendants 
and his father be not living or be not entitled 
to take under the last provision, then the in¬ 
heritance goes to the mother during her life, 
and after her death to the brothers and sis¬ 
ters ; but if there be no brothers or sisters or 
their descendants, then the inheritance goes 
to the mother in fee. 
4. If there be no descendants and no father 
or mother, the inheritance goes to the broth¬ 
ers and sisters in equal parts. 
It should be mentioned here that, in all 
cases, the descendants of a parent who is 
dead, take the share which would have be¬ 
longed to the parent if living. 
5. If there be no brothers or sisters, or de¬ 
scendants of brothers or sisters, the uncles 
and aunts on both sides take the inheritance ; 
unless it have come to the intestate on the 
part of the father, in which case his brothers 
and sisters and their descendants, are to be 
preferred; but if it have come from the moth¬ 
er, her brother and sisters and their descend¬ 
ants are to be preferred to those of the 
father. 
6. If an intestate who is illegitimate die 
without descendants, the inheritance goes to 
the mother and her relatives. 
7. Children and relatives who arc illegiti¬ 
mate are not entitled to inherit. 
8. Relatives of the half blood inherit 
equally with those of the whole blood ; un¬ 
less the inheritance were derived from an 
ancestor, in which case those not of the 
blood of the ancestor are excluded. 
The personal property of an intestate is to 
be first applied to pay his debts, and the res¬ 
idue is to be distributed as follows : 
l, One-third to the widow, and the residue 
