YANKEE FARMING.—NO. 11. 
271 
should have retained its vegetating power as it 
is that nature is able to produce a new plant. 
It is believed by some persons, in this age 
of wonders, that even life can be produced ar¬ 
tificially. True, of a very low grade, but still 
possessing life. It certainly is a subject not un¬ 
worthy of scientific investigation, to inquire whe¬ 
ther vegetation that sometimes appears to come 
upon the earth mysteriously, has not sprung 
from seed of its kind that has laid dormant for 
ages unknown, or whether the Power that crea¬ 
ted all things has not again been brought into 
exercise to beautify and replenish the earth, 
and thereby add to the comfort and happiness 
of man, if his preverse nature would allow him 
to see what a happy home this earth might be, 
if all were as earnestly disposed to cultivate the 
fruits of love and neighborly kindness as they 
are to plant thorns and thistles. 
Delaware. 
Our correspondent above, seems to revive some 
of the conceits of the dark ages. The effort 
was made by the ingenious author of “ Vestiges 
of Creation,” but without success. The doctrine 
of mutation , or the change of one specific plant 
to another of a totally different species, as of 
wheat to chess, is exploded by all intelligent 
and careful minds. The greater absurdity of 
spontaneous creation, must of course follow. In 
this, no considerate mind for a moment calls in 
question the omnipotence of Deity; but while 
fully conceding this, we say conclusively, that 
Deity has fixed , and to a certain extent known 
laws, by which he governs the world, and this 
affair of spontaneous creation is not one of them. 
YANKEE FARMING.—No. 11. 
The Sausage Staffer and Cutter .—In order that 
my readers may better understand what follows, 
I think it best to inform them it was only last 
spring, for the first time since A-gok-ne-quaw 
was settled, that any of our merchants, or rather 
storekeepers, as we call them, had sufficient 
enterprise, or could muster the courage to add 
a few improved agricultural implements to their 
otherwise excellent assortments of well selected 
seasonable goods. These were at once so de¬ 
servedly appreciated by our best farmers, and 
sold so well, that it encouraged the merchants to 
keep on ; and among other things procured last 
fall, was a stock of those highly useful little 
machines, sausage-meat cutters and sausage 
stuffers. 
Happening in at one of the village stores, ear¬ 
ly in December, to la}” in her winter stock of 
groceries, my wife was shown the above ma¬ 
chines. She thought so highty oftheir labor-sav¬ 
ing capabilities, that, notwithstanding the seem¬ 
ingly high price asked, she determined on pur¬ 
chasing them; for the cutting up of a consider¬ 
able quantity of sausage meat every winter, with 
no other implement to perform the operation, 
than the common chopping knife, and then the 
only means to stuff it, a short round stick or the 
ba re finger, renders sausage making one of the 
most disagreeable and laborious of household 
duties. 
Well, shortly after the purchase of these little 
machines, my fresh-killed pork being ready, my 
wife and I sat down one fine frosty evening to 
make sausages. To give them their just dues, 
both cutter and staffer worked to perfection, and 
enabled us to accomplish more in one hour, than 
we could do in a whole day without them. Just 
as we were in the midst of our operations, who 
should pop in quite unexpectedly upon us, for 
an evening visit, but our good neighbors, Uncle 
Sim, Aunt Nabby, the fair Molly, and both of 
the boys. Their curiosity was instantly excited 
by the array of things before them, and in order 
to gratify it, they solicited us to continue our 
employment. As the fine, even-cut meat rolled 
out of the box, and sausage link after link was 
drawn from the end of the stuffier, Uncle Sim 
cocked his eye with utter astonishment; Aunt 
Nabby drew in a long breath, and closely 
pressed her lean, sinewy mouth; Molly’s eyes 
sparkled with delight at the facility of our 
operations, and the thought of what a light task 
she and her mother, too, might hope to have of 
it hereafter; while the boys stood by and chuck¬ 
led somewhat greedily with the idea that sau¬ 
sages and gravy would henceforth be more 
plenty on their father’s table. 
“ Wal, Miss Teltrue,” said Uncle Sim, at length 
breaking the silence and smacking his lips, 
“ now du say, what did them ’ere sassenger ma¬ 
chines cost ?” “ The cutter,” said my wife, “ is 
of the best kind, Mr. Doolittle, and I paid ten dol¬ 
lars for it; though I could have got one with 
wooden, pins instead of iron,.for half the money. 
But I preferred the best made, as unquestionably 
the cheapest in the end. The stuffers only diff¬ 
ered half a dollar in the price, so I again chose the 
highest, and paid five dollars.” “Ten dollars!” 
said Uncle Sim, with great surprise, and then 
raising himself up in his chair, “ and five dol¬ 
lars! Why, how you du talk, Miss Teltrue; all 
that makes fifteen ! and fifteen dollars is mor’n 
our whole fattin’ shoats is all worth, and the 
swill tubs into the bargain. Who ever heered 
on sich a sum for sich little gimcracks ? A 
body would think now-a-days a storekeeper 
had’nt no conscience to ask so much for nothin’. 
But may be ’tis a patent right. Wal, a patent 
righter, and a pedlar, and a lawyer, ought to be 
put all into one bag, and shook up together. 
What a purty mess they would make, heh? 
4 Birds of a feather all flock together,’ the ramp- 
scullions. Wal, I guess they think sassenger 
meat when its chopped fine enough, is the raei 
Californy dust, and that the links is all goold 
bars, fresh melted down, and ready for shippin’, 
this side up with care, the gonies. I tell you 
’tis a downright, clean out and out extortion and 
no mistake, and I don’t care who hears Simeon 
Doolittle say it, I snore.” Here he brought his 
clinched fist emphatically down upon his knee, 
and I must confess I had never seen him mord 
excited in a small matter. But the idea of 
touching his purse, generally, was apt to touch 
his sensibilities; though Uncle Sim could hardly 
be called a close man in the strict meaning of 
the term; it was rather a narrow-minded dislike 
on his part, at first, to pay for an improved im- 
