No. 152 . 
380 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
Youth —“You needn't he afraid madam—island behind me ." 
TIac Kditor with liis Young Kcadcrs. | 
Here is a picture, got up by Mr. Punch, which has 
amused us not a little. It has also suggested several 
thoughts, some comical and some serious ones, but in¬ 
stead of printing thorn, we propose to as many of our 
young readers as may be so disposed, to write out their 
own thoughts. We can not promise to print what you 
write, for w e might not have room for a hundredth part, 
but we have some curiosity to know what you think of that 
boy in the picture. Write short, that is, put as many 
thoughts as you can into few words. Half a foolscap 
page or so will be enough. This will be a useful exercise 
for you, in more ways than one. 
■USELESS THINGS. 
How many times do people ask, what flies, weeds, and 
many other apparently worse than useless things were 
ever made for. It may not be possible to answer all such 
queries, yet the more knowledge we obtain, and the more 
enlarged, comprehensive views we can take of the works 
of God, the more reason w'e shall have to conclude that 
“ lie has made nothing in vain.’’ Many of what were 
once termed noxious weeds, have proved to be valuable 
plants, and such discoveries will continue to be made, 
until perhaps every plant will be found useful in itself. 
These weeds that are ever springing up on vacant spots, 
are of benefit to the soil, and are really fitting it for pro¬ 
ducing other plants more useful to man. Flies themselves 
are scavengers, gathering up avast amount of decaying 
matter, and changing it into a kind of hard flesh (their 
own bodies) which ultimately dries up without emitting 
unhealthy effluvia. Toads, which w'ere once considered 
a disgusting nuisance, are now found to be most useful 
occupants of the garden and field, which they help to rid 
of destructive insects, and we shall yet find that the in¬ 
sects they destroy, which we deem noxious, are them¬ 
selves of some use to man, before their existence is cut 
short by the toads. Many illustrations of this character 
might be given, but with this hint, we will now tell you a 
story, we recently heard for the first time, about 
THE GOOD DONE BY ONE LITTLE FLY. 
Near by a church lived a very wicked man, a rum- 
seller, by the way, who seemed not to fear God or regard 
man. He despised all good things, and loved to do 
wrong rather than right. The only good thing he de¬ 
lighted in, was music. It happened that fhe church near 
him was remodeled, and an organ was put in, and there 
was to be some good playing in it, and excellent music 
by the choir at the “ re-opening ” of the church. This 
man warned to hear the music, but he did not want to 
hear the sermon. He w'as puzzled for a time, but finally 
hit upon this plan: he would go into the church, take a 
seat in an obscure corner, and listen to the music, but 
stop his ears with his fingers when there was any pray¬ 
ing, preaching, or talking. So he went in and enjoyed 
the singing and the sound of the organ, but when the 
minister prayed he stopped his ears as tightly as possible. 
When prayer was over, and singing commenced, he took 
his fingers from his ears, but stopped them again as soon 
as the minister commenced reading a chapter in the Bible. 
While he sat thus, self-made deaf, a fly lit on his nose and 
began to run round, and occasionally it stopped and 
thrust down its bill as if to take a bite from the skin. 
The man bore it as long as he could, and then involun¬ 
tarily brushed the fly off with his hand, leaving one ear 
unstopped while he did so. Just at that instant the min¬ 
ister read the verse, “ He that hath ears to hear, let him 
hear.” The words struck him with peculiar force, he 
thought a moment, unstopped his other ear, and listened 
to the rest of the chapter and to the sermon following. 
He went from the church with a changed purpose, became 
a good man, and lived many years trying all the time to 
do all the good he could to others, and to repair the 
mischief done by his former conduct. The improvements 
in the church, the organ, the attractive exercises, were all 
instrumental in drawing this man in where a good seed 
might be dropped into the soil of his mind, but that little 
fly was also necessary to unstop his ears. 
LEAVING HOME. 
When boys are restrained from having their own way— 
as they often need to be—they often say to themselves : 
“When I’m a man, I’ll do as I please and there are 
many instances where this feeling lias been so strong, 
that they have run away from home, to look out for them¬ 
selves, rather than submit to the control of their parents. 
We knew' a lad w ho did this. He was a boy with many 
excellent qualities, but very headstrong, determined upon 
having his own way without stopping to think that his 
parents were older and wiser than himself, and knew 
what was best for him. At the age of fifteen he ran aw'ay 
from home and went to sea. He had read many stories 
about sailors, and thought, as some of you may do, that 
they led a happy life, without caro, and that upon the 
ocean he could be free as a bird. It required but a little 
experience to show him his mistake. When sea-sickness 
came upon him, there was no tender mother or kind sis¬ 
ter to care for him. the rough sailors only laughed at him, 
and instead of his own neat and quiet little bedroom, he 
had only a narrow “bunk” down in the filthy forecastle, 
where the sailors were smoking, talking, and quarreling. 
He soon found, too, that he had gained nothing in freedom. 
He was made the servant of all the rest, and was kicked 
and cuffed about like a dog, 
often without cause. The 
vessel made a long voyage, 
and was absent three years, 
lie passed through many 
hardships, and when the ship 
returned, he hastened to 
leave it and went immediate¬ 
ly home. But the mother who 
had loved him, and had not 
ceased to mourn for him, was 
in her grave—on her dying 
bed, she had prayed for her 
poor wandering boy. His 
sister had married and re¬ 
moved to a distant part of the 
country, and his father, re¬ 
duced almost to beggary by 
reverses of fortune, was 
w orking as a day-laborer for 
his support. Had George re¬ 
mained at home, his mother 
might have lived many years, 
fur those who knew her said 
fhe was worn out,sorrowing 
for her son. That boy’s re¬ 
collections of his early days 
w ill embitter his whole life. 
If ever you should be tempt¬ 
ed to leave home thus, re¬ 
member poor George R-- 
BUILDING CASTLES. 
We do not mean by this, 
putting up great buildings of 
stone or brick, such as were 
erected by men in old times 
to keep off their enemies. 
The time for such things has 
passed, in this country at 
least, and men can rest safe¬ 
ly in unfortified houses. But 
we mean, doing what little 
Johnny was so busy about, as he lay upon the grass in the 
shade the other afternoon, with his head resting upon his 
hand, and his eyes directed to the clouds that w'ere float- 
ingslowly past. He was so intently engaged, that it was 
necessary to call him several times before he could hear, 
and then he started up as if he scarcely knew where he 
was. “ Oh I” said he “ what made you call me then 1 I 
was in the most beautiful place you ever saw.” “ Why 
Johnny, where have you been 1” “ Oh, up in the clouds 
there—and I saw the brightest fields, and the finest lakes 
with splendid boats on them, and great fishes swimming 
about, and there were glorious mountains all full of gold 
and silver, and I had such a splendid palace to live in ! 
Oh, I wish I could go up there and stay.” 
He had been watching the clouds, and imagining they 
were what their curious shapes resembled—fields and 
lakes, and mountains, and palaces—until his mind became 
so engaged that they appeared like realities. He was 
“ building castles in the air.” Young people do this very 
often. It is not necessary to have the clouds as materials 
for building. The imagination is such a wonderful work¬ 
man that it can use anything that comes to hand—the 
waters of the brook or the ocean, the steam from the ket¬ 
tle, and even the fire in the fire place or stove, are em¬ 
ployed by it for structures more beautiful than any archi¬ 
tect has yet been able to erect. Even when n®ne of these 
things are present, the mind can find its own materials, 
and we can “ make up” from our thoughts most won¬ 
derful scenes, and in imagination see most delightful 
views. It is quite easy, too, in this way, to put ourselves 
in any situation we choose. We may be as rich as Astor 
or Gerard, as powerful as Alexander, and as brave as 
Hercules, and pass safely through as many adventures as 
Sinbad the sailor, or Jack the Giant-Killer. This faculty 
of the mind, the imagination, may yield us great pleasure 
and be of much profit if used aright, or it may if not used 
properly, make us quite miserable. It is not well to busy 
the imagination with improbabilities—for instance, to 
picture to ourselves the happiness we should enjoy by be¬ 
coming rich suddenly. After a day dream of this kind, a 
person will feel dissatisfied with his present circumstances, 
and work will be harder and more unpleasant than ever. 
Novel reading is injurious from this cause. The mind is 
kept busy with improbabilities until that which is real loses 
its interest, and gives little satisfaction. Even this, how¬ 
ever, is not so foolish, as to let the imagination keep us 
miserable by magnifying the little trials of life. Some 
seem to look at every thing through black, or blue, “spec¬ 
tacles.” They are continually afraid of poverty, acci¬ 
dent, disease or death, and they seem dissatisfied unless 
they aro thoroughly miserable. Sometimes persons have 
become insane by continually indulging such ideas; 
