58 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
called, [the soil being principally sandy,J has been 
much used for an unknown length of time, and is 
found of great use on the sands ; laid on at all sea¬ 
sons, but chiefly on the clover leys in autumn, anc 
spread to eighty loads an acre ; duration twenty to 
fifty years. Sea ouse, a calcareous mud, forty loads 
per acre. 
Grass .—Very little natural turf in the county, [the 
alternating system being generally adopted.] 
BERKSHIRE. 
Peat ashes, as a manure, almost peculiar to Berk¬ 
shire, though they might be obtained by the same 
process wherever peat of the same quality abounds, 
as they are in Holland. An acre of peat land, at 
Newbery, now sells at 30U to 500Z. though it former¬ 
ly sold at 35Z. The ashes are generally applied in 
March and April, from twelve to fifteen bushels the 
acre. The benefit two years. 
Hogs. —The native breed are the best in Britain— 
improved by a cross on the China. 
Poultry. —Near Qakingham, many are crammed for 
the market; they are put up in a dark place, anc 
crammed with a paste made of barley-meal, mutton 
suet, and some treacle, (molasses,) or coarse sugar, 
and are found to be completely ripe in a fortnight. If 
kept longer, the fever that is induced by this continued 
state of repletion, renders them red and unsaleable, 
and frequently kills them. 
YORKSHIRE. 
Orchards and gardens. —A particular species of plum 
grows at Sherburn, and in its neighborhood, called the 
'Wine-sour. It grows well in gravels and limestone, 
is hardy, and a good bearer.. The fruit sells from 21s. 
= to 84.60 per peck, when sound and good, to 4s. Qd. 
when cracked and damaged. They are easily hurt 
by rain. [This plum is superior for preserves—may be 
had at the Albany Nursery.] 
Live stock. —Near Leeds, where milk tastes of tur¬ 
nips, a tea-spoonful of dissolved nitre (salt petre) is 
put into eight gallons ot milk, which entirely removes 
the flavor. 
tain powers of the intellect, as memory, imagination, or 
even perception, may be on the decline, yet the accu¬ 
mulated materials in the granary of the mind may, and 
often do, enable it to construct edifices of noble dimen¬ 
sions, and more durable architecture, than at earlier 
and more vigorous epochs of life.” 
This proposition is illustrated by the example of 
Shakspeare, Scott, Byron, Milton, Johnson, Bacon, 
Newton, Locke, Linnaeus, &c. whose finest produc¬ 
tions were written after they had passed the golden 
era, or the age of 42. These successful efforts of 
the mind, however, are ascribed to the “ accumulatec 
stores in the emporium of the soul, which have been 
laid up in earlier life.” “ If we hope to send forth 
corruscations of mind, says our author, in advancer 
age, we must charge the electric battery, (the minds 
material organ) in the prime of life. He who at¬ 
tempts, in the vale of years, he continues, to aston¬ 
ish the world with the elaboration of knowlede ac¬ 
quired after the completion of his sixth septenniac 
(42) and with energies of mind not exerted strenu¬ 
ously before that epoch, will find himself lamentably 
disappointed.” 
Emulation and Ambition. —“It is in the fifth septen- 
niad that the emulation of youth gradually slides into 
the ambition of manhood. The change is so gradual 
as to be scarcely perceptible—like the mutations of fi¬ 
gures in the magic lantern, or the transformations which 
fancy loves to trace in the moving panorama of clouds 
on a summer’s eve. That which was in early life only 
a laudable desire to excel in literature, arts, science, or 
manly exercise, becomes in manhood a passion for out¬ 
stripping and eclipsing our neighbors in rank, wealth, 
estimation, power, and all the thousand objects, paths 
and pursuits of ambition.” 
“ What is ostentation in either sex, but the ambition 
of surpassing our neighbors, or equalling our superiors, 
in pomp and show ? Pride itself is oftener nothing 
else than ambition, gratified and elated by the supposi¬ 
tion, whether well or ill founded, that the individual is 
superior in personal importance, rank, riches, attain¬ 
ments, or other circumstance, to the generality of man¬ 
kind.” 
EAST LOTHIAN. 
Grass. —Natural meadows or pastures are not ad¬ 
mitted into the East Lothian system of husbandry, as 
they are found only where nature, or certain local cir¬ 
cumstances render them, in some measure, unavoida¬ 
ble, and are never kept voluntarily, or from an idea of 
profit. Many farmers fallow land to lie a few years 
in grass, especially where it has been exhausted by 
long and imperfect tillage ; but fields of this descrip¬ 
tion are not be ranked as permanent pastures, for the 
object is to restore them, as soon as possible, to a 
state capable of bearing corn crops to advantage. 
SCOTLAND. 
Though Scotland was far behind England, in culti¬ 
vation, till the middle of the last century, it has great¬ 
ly now outstripped that country, especially in arable 
husbandry. 
Economy of Health. 
We renew our notice of this sterling work of Dr. 
Johnson, because it exhibits a profound knowledge of 
the human frame, and of the human passions and 
propensities, and abounds in wholesome instructions 
for the promotion of health and the enjoyment of ra¬ 
tional happiness. 
We have reached, in order, the fifth and sixth sep- 
tenniads of life, extending from the 28th to the 42d 
years of man’s age, which the Doctor denominates 
the Golden Era—the double key-stone of the arch of 
human life, in which our physical and mental powers 
are most successfully developed. 
“ This is the epoch,” says our author, “ of man’s ex¬ 
istence—provided he has not grossly violated the laws 
of nature and of temperance, or carried into the world 
with him some hereditary taint—in which all the func¬ 
tions of the body are so nicely balanced, that no one in¬ 
terferes with another. The circulation in the heart 
does not disturb the respiration in the lungs—digestion 
is performed without the slightest consciousness—sleep 
is a temporary death without dying—and man springs 
from his couch with keen appetite for food, and inex¬ 
tinguishable energies for mental or corporeal exertion. 
The organs of supply are now more than able to com¬ 
pensate for the waste occasioned by the ordinary wear 
and tear of life; because the machine has ceased to 
make demands for additional growth. Hence it is that 
we are capable, during the fifth and sixth septenniads, 
of undergoing fatigues of body, and excitations of 
mind, that would he ruinous to health either before or 
after these epochs of existence-” 
After discussing the subject of phrenology, in which 
the Doctor is a staunch believer, with some limita¬ 
tions, he proceeds as follows : 
“ I have hinted, a few pages back, that although the 
mental and corporeal powers attain their acme in the 
fifth and sixth septenniads, the intellect may yet display 
greater prodigies after Ihe completion of that period, 
than it could have done during the golden era of moral 
and physical perfection. The reason of this is obvious. 
The mind continues to acquire knowledge long after the 
body has ceased to gain strength. And although ccr. 
Our author illustrates his position, that emulation 
in the school is the germ of ambition in manhood, 
by citing the cases of Napoleon and Byron among 
the dead, and of Peel and Brougham among the liv¬ 
ing, and continues,— 
¥ “These four illustrations might be multiplied ad in¬ 
finitum, and easily made to prove several propositions, 
but especially the following, viz:— First. That the emu¬ 
lation of youth becomes the ambition of of age. Se¬ 
condly. That talent is not developed at any period of life, 
unless it has existed from the beginning—in other words, 
that it is congenital, and not acquired; consequently 
that men are not born equal. Thirdly. That if any 
thing be entitled to the denomination of ‘ universal 
passion,’ it is ambition taken in its extended sense.” ** 
_ “ As common economy is most advantageously prac¬ 
tised in the season of prosperity, so the economy of 
health is most beneficially cultivated when we are in the 
fullest enjoyment of that blessing. The stings of unme¬ 
rited penury are blunted by habits of previous modera¬ 
tion, and so the dangers and sufferings of accidental dis¬ 
ease are obviated or mitigated by previous attention and 
temperance. It is in these two meredian epochs, how¬ 
ever, that the seeds of various diseases, sown at much 
earlier periods, now take an activity of growth, and 
bring forth their bitter fruits. But, independently of 
these, the germs of many new afflictions, hitherto un¬ 
known to the constitution,' are firmly planted, and soon 
fructify with disastrous fertility. The dry-rot of the 
frame, consumption, which may have lain dormant for 
so many years, is frequently called into action about the 
beginning of the fifth or sixth septenniads, by causes 
which had not previously operated. But the great evil— 
the root of innumerable evils—the proleiform malady— 
dyspepsia— the hydra-headed monster of countless brood 
and Medusa mien, is the progeny of civilization—and is 
much more indebted for its existence and d iffusion to intel¬ 
lectual refinement, than to bodily intemperance—in other 
words, its causes, multifareous as they are, may be trac¬ 
ed far more frequently to anxieties, cares, and tribula¬ 
tions of mind, than to improper indulgence of the pa¬ 
late or senses. This nova pestis was unknown to, or 
so rare as to be underrated by, our ancestors. This as¬ 
sertion need not stagger us. All diseases are the crea¬ 
tures, or rather the creations, of circumstances. Nu¬ 
merous maladies of antiquity have disappeared from 
the tablet of nosology, and others have taken their 
place. It may be proper to advert to syphilis and cho¬ 
lera, no authentic types of which can be found among 
the records of Greek and Roman medicine. To come 
nearer home, the diseases of the heart, one of the protean 
forms of the malady under consideration, Avere so little 
attended to before the French revolution, as to be scarce¬ 
ly noticed by medical Avriters. The portentious scenes of 
that eventful period called forth such a multitude of ex¬ 
amples of this fatal disease, that a v r olume was soon writ- 
ten on the subjectby Ccrvisart— and the mental excitation 
that has ever since continued, has kept up the tendency 
to affections of the heart, which are now among the 
most prominent and dreadful of human afflictions.” 
* * “ To prevent the corporeal malady, and to di¬ 
minish, as much as possible, the mental affliction itself, 
the individual must tread in the steps—baud passibus 
oequis—of Xenophon and Byron. He must “ keep the 
body active, and the stomach empty.” I can answer 
for the A r alue of this precept. It prevents not the indi¬ 
vidual from throwing into the prescription as much phi¬ 
losophy, and even theology, as he pleases. Of the last 
ingredient it becomes not me to speak, eA r en compara¬ 
tively ; but of the two other items, I can conscientious¬ 
ly OAvn, that they are as ‘ dust in the balance,’ when 
weighed against the Grceco-Byronian receipts Avliich I 
have so strongly recommended. The poor man has not 
far to cast about in quest of the means for putting this 
principle into practice. Generally speaking, he adopts 
it, nolens volens ; and hence it is that the most indigent 
suffer less from moral ills and misfortunes, than those 
who are far remoA^ed from want. As a man rises in 
rank and riches, he becomes deprived—or rather he de¬ 
prives himself—not of the means, but of the inclina¬ 
tion, to embrace the protection which this principle 
holds out. Among the inferior order of society, indo¬ 
lence and inebriety give a fearful impetus to the shock 
of misfortune, and soon induce a variety of corporeal 
disorders, that curtail the range of life, and destroy the 
springs ot happiness. And even in the higher quarters, 
where we might expect better things, the mental afflic¬ 
tions, or the moral adversity, appears to paralyze the 
energies of the soul, prostrate all firmness of resolve, 
and place in complete abeyance all fortitude and power 
of resistance against the overwhelming evil! In such 
condition it is no wonder that temporary solace is sought 
in wine and other deleterious stimulants, which only 
smother the flame, like coals heaped on a fire, to make 
the combustion more fierce and destructive afterAvards. 
From these sources are derived many of those hypo¬ 
chondriacal miseries, dyspeptic torments, and even in¬ 
tellectual aberrations, which we every day observe.—• 
The application of the counteracting principle in ques¬ 
tion must be left to individual ingenuity. Women hav^e 
less facilities for putting in practice than men, for obvi¬ 
ous reasons; but fortunately they bear dispensations 
and vicissitudes with much more fortitude than their 
boasted superiors—the stronger sex.” 
Dr. Johnson then proceeds to show, that man is 
punished in this world—that he has a foretaste here 
of his final punishment hereafter—for the wanton vi¬ 
olations which he commits of the laws of God and 
man. He then proceeds: 
“ The same reasoning may apply to reAvards as to 
punishments. Because virtue, and merit, and talent, are 
not apparently rewarded on this globe, it does not follow 
that they are not really so. If the wicked man carries 
a hell in his bosom, the virtuous may and does main¬ 
tain a heaven in his breast. Of all rewards, here or 
hereafter, happiness must be the greatest—and we 
have the authority of the great Ethic Bard, as well as 
daily experience, that 
“ Virtue alone is happiness below.” 
Even the hope of beward in another world, based 
on conscientious rectitude of conduct and religious feel¬ 
ing, is in itself a reward beyond all estimation. It is 
an anchor in the storms of adversity.” 
Correspondence condensed. 
THE GBAIN-WOBM. 
James Cooke, of Johnsonslmrgh, N. J. professes to 
have adopted a successful mode of preventing the rava¬ 
ges of the grain-worm. The preventive consists in 
steeping the seed in a brine made of one pound of salt¬ 
petre, one pail of water, and tAvo double handfulls of rye 
flour; and after the seed is draAvn from the liquid, to 
put to it as much plaster as will adhere to it. It pre¬ 
vents injury from the worm, by causing a luxuriant 
growth. Mr. Cooke undoubtedly alludes to the Hessian 
fly, and not to what we call the grain-worm, as this lat¬ 
ter has not yet reached that state. Whatever induces 
vigorous groAvth, tends to lessen the evils of the fly ; 
but no steep, avc are persuaded, will prevent the attack 
of the grain-Avorm. 
QUANTITY OF GYPSUM PEB ACBE. 
A correspondent at Kingsville, Md. is anxious to 
knoAV what Avould be the effect of applying a ton of 
plaster to the acre? And why not as beneficial in this 
quantity as lime or bone? Gypsum has been tried in 
various quantities upon land, at the rates of from one 
to tAventy bushels per acre. In no case has any quan¬ 
tity above six bushels to the acre proved beneficial; and 
generally those avIio made the experiments have come 
to the conclusion, that no more than one to tAvo bushels 
can be profitably applied to the acre. The reason Avhy 
it differs from lime and bone, applied in large quanti¬ 
ties, Ave apprehend to be this: It is the specific food of 
certain plants, not in its simple, but compound form; 
it combines with the other elements of these plants 
in a certain definite proportion; this definite propor¬ 
tion never exceeds say two bushels on an acre; and 
all that is applied beyond this is useless, otherwise 
than by improving the texture of a too stiff or too open 
a soil. Lime and bone benefit upon different princi¬ 
ples. 
CULTUEE OF ONIONS. 
The onion grows to full size in the northern states in 
one season; but in Pennsylvania and south, it requires 
two seasons to perfect its growth. There, the tops ge¬ 
nerally die the first season, when the bulb has attained 
the size of a filbert or Avalnut; these are planted out 
the second season, and come to maturity. J. H. King, 
of Georgetown, D. C. asks the cause of this difference, 
and Aidshes our directions for the culture of the onion. 
The cause of the difference, we believe, is to be im¬ 
puted wholly to climate: the Avarm weather of the 
