AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
| FEBRUARY, 
WSso wsiuls to Sue SSicSi ? 
Does the young reader sometimes say, “I wish I was 
rir h ?” Look at th'e above beautiful picture, and see how 
easy il is to be “ richer than a king.” IIow much is that 
baoy worth to its brother and sister ? No money could 
buy it of them. They would make a poor bargain in sel¬ 
ling it for gold. Its smiles are brighter than dollars, its 
little laugh makes sweeter music than the clink of money* 
and Its love brings more real pleasure than wealth can 
purchase. These “little chicks” are healthy, innocent, 
loving, and therefore happy ; what could riches do more 
for them 1 The artist has added much to the beauty of the 
sketch by introducing the hen and her brood, that come 
fearlessly to pick up the stray crumbs. It shows that 
these creatures have confidence in the kindness of the 
children. Good qualities, like grapes, are likely to grow 
in clusters. If the whole story of the picture could be 
known, no doubt we should find these children obedient, 
industrious;’ and the source of much comfort to their 
parents. How many such families does the American 
Agriculturist visit? Let your home be No. 1. oh tiie list; 
A Singular Tra'dLitiom. 
Among the Seminole Indians there is a singular tra¬ 
dition regarding the white man's origin and superiority. 
They say that when the Great Spirit made the earth, he 
ttiso made three men, all of whom were fair com- 
p.sxioned; and that after making them, he led them to 
the margin of a small lake, and bade them leap in and 
wash. One obeyed, and came out of the water purer and 
fairer than before ; the second hesitated a moment, dur¬ 
ing which time the water, agitated by the first, had 
become muddied, and when he bathed he came up cop¬ 
per-colored ; the third did not leap until the water became 
black with mud, and he came out with its own color. 
Then the Great Spirit laid before them three packages, 
and out of pity for his misfortune in color, gave the black 
man the first choice. He took hold of each of the pack¬ 
ages, and having felt the weight, chose the heaviest; the 
copper-colored man then chose the next heaviest, leaving 
the white man the lightest. When the packages were 
opened, the first was found to contain spades, hoes, and 
all the implements of labor; the second enwrapped hunt¬ 
ing, fishing, and warlike apparatus; the third gave the 
white man pens, ink, and paper—the engines of the mind 
and the real foundation of the white man’s superiority. 
I£«s» ISoBiSacwr am! Iiei* JPicSwta’es. 
Many of you have probably seen an engraving of the 
picture called “The Horse Fair” painted by a French 
lady, Rosa Bonheur. Her history is interesting, as show¬ 
ing what industry and plucky determination will do. Her 
father was a poor drawing-master in Paris, and appren¬ 
ticed Rosa at the age of twelve to learn dressmaking; but 
her heallh failed and she left a business she did not 
like. She soon commenced to make models of animals, 
and copy her father’s paintings, hoping some day to be 
able to support herself. She worked hard day after day, 
until her father noticed her wonderful progress, and gave 
her a course of instruction. He then sent her to the 
Louvre, the finest picture gallery in Paris, to copy from 
the best paintings. Here she used to work from morning 
until night. Soon her pictures began to sell for a small 
sum, which increased her diligence. She was then but 
sixteen years old. Having resolved to devote herself to 
painting animals, and being too poor to buy models, she 
used to take a bit of bread in her pocket, walk out into 
the country, and copy from nature. She would also visit 
the cattle pens in the city where animals were kept pre¬ 
vious to being slaughtered. This was not a pleasant 
place for a young lady, but she was too much in earnest 
to be stopped by trifles. Her reward soon came. When 
nineteen years old, she received several prizes for her 
pictures exhibited in Paris, and at last took the gold medal 
for the best painting. At thirty-two, she finished the 
“ Horse Fair,” which brought her $8000, a-nd from that 
time her fortune was made. She is now very wealthy, 
ami the best animal-painter in Eumpe. Remember the 
secret of her success: She loved her work ami stuck to it. 
ELoi-ri JJclviile amS iii»> Pel Btain. 
Lord Melville, of Scotland, had a large pet ram called 
“Bi.l,” which used to follow him like a dog. One day he 
carelessly left the front door open, and Bill stepped in. 
and passed along into the drawing-room, where was a 
very beautiful glass mirror bought of a Spanish noble¬ 
man, for nearly a thousand dollars. No sooner did Bill 
see his image, than he gave a challenge to fight, bv 
stamping, and “getting into his position,” which, of course 
was answ ered by the image, and Bill dashed with all force 
against the glass, shivering it to atoms. A few years aftei 
when the animal was slaughtered, a spoon and a hand 
some silver-mounted snuff-box were made of his horns, 
and Lord Melville gave these articles to his friend Wil¬ 
iam Pitt, Prime Minister of England. Subsequently, Mr. 
Pitt, in writing to the Spanish Nobleman who formerly 
owned the mirror, mentioned to him the story of the rain. 
Tiie Spaniard- read the letter to the King, who was so 
much amused by the incident, that lie sent Lord Melville 
a splendid mirror from Ills own palace. In return, Mr. 
Pitt presented the King with the snuffbox made of Bill’s 
horn, and we suppose it is now in the Palace at Madrid. 
A B.iasJe SFarigging XtsBJi. 
When in his talks with the boys the Editor calls one by 
name, thevest may all think he means them too. if what 
he says is applicable to their cases. This time we w ant to 
have a talk with Tommy. Many tolerably good farmers 
near where you live are careless of their manure ; they 
throw it out of tiie stable doors and windows and scatter 
it about the yard now and then, or they leave il in a heap 
against the barn, so that it rots the boarding, or it heats 
and fire-fangs, showing white mold all through the heap. 
Then, again, these farmers draw out the manure upon the 
land every now ar.d then, and either leave it in small heaps 
for months or weeks ; or perhaps the fields never see it, 
but il goes upon the garden and is spread about in the 
autumn to lie until spring before it is plowed in. Where 
manure is thus carelessly treated, the cattle usually are not 
stabled so as to save all their manure. Tommy, we want 
you to think this all over, and when you do your stable 
work, for probably you have to lend a hand at any rate in 
cleaning out the stable, as well as at milking and feeding, 
think how quickly horse manure ferments and decays. 
If it is not well cleaned out of the stable, it will soon give 
off ammonia and other offensive gases, w hich are very in¬ 
jurious to the horses’ lungs, and to the eyes also. You do 
not want to do any thing wh'eh will give Dobbin a cough 
or injure his eyesight, for of all things which make a horse 
valuable none are more important than lungs and eyes. 
The stables therefore ought to be cleaned out every day. 
Now what will you do with the heap that grows so fast 
in size by every day’s additions ? Is it good for anything ? 
Of course it is.—Then save it so as to make it most valu¬ 
able. “ Half a loaf is better than no bread ” to be sure, 
but if you will only save it you may have the whole. 
Don’t let the manure lie long in the heap as it is throw n 
out, but if it must be kept unsheltered, spread it evenly in 
an oblong pile of convenient size, and spread each day's 
manure so that it will lie two or three inches thick, and 
then cover it with a thin layer of earth ; dry muck from 
the swamp is better. When manure lies long in a heap it 
heats, and when it heats long it “ burns,” and this is a 
great damage. If it is packed very closely, by being 
trodden down by men or animals, it ferments slowly; 
when it is mixed with soil or muck, more slowly still. 
After it has begun to heat a little, and before the ferment¬ 
ation has progressed hurtfully, it is best to work it alt over, 
mixing it thoroughly, breaking up the cakes and lumps, 
and bunches of straw, and making another compact pile, 
which will in turn need to be watched and worked over 
again, if it lies very long. We want our young friends 
to grow up first rate farmers, and one of the first and most 
important lessons to be learned is to take care of manure. 
Kissinq a Sunbeam. —A babe, not old enough to speak 
or walk, was creeping on the floor. By and by a bright 
ray of sunshine fell upon the carpet. Baby saw it, and 
crept toward it, and all around it, with the greatest 
interest in her sweet face, and then putting down her lit¬ 
tle lips she kissed it.-Now was not that beautiful ? The 
bright little sunbeam lighted up joy in her baby heart, and 
she expressed that joy with a sweet kiss. 
Tiie witty Sheridan, while visiting at a country 
house, was asked to take a walk by a rather undesirable 
lady companion, but excused himself on account of the 
bad weather. She soon after caught him attempting to 
escape without her. “Well,” she said, "I see it has 
cleared up.” “ Why, yes,” he answered, “it has cleared 
up enough for one, but not enough for two 1” This was 
too plain to be misunderstood and Sheridan was relieved 
of her troublesome attentions forever thereafter. 
