MOORE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER: AN AGRICULTURAL AND FAMILY NEWSPAPER. 
(Bbucational liqinrttnrat. 
BY L. WETHER ELL. 
MENTAL IMPROVEMENT. 
I was much pleased with an article in the 
Rural under the head of “ Evening Schools/’ 
from your excellent correspondent, D. W, 
Ballou, jr., of Lockport, N, Y. The ef¬ 
forts there noticed, to place within the reach 
of a heretofore neglected class the means of 
education are worthy of the age. But we 
recognize in those movements only the work¬ 
ings of that spirit which is to characterize 
a future and more enlightened age—the 
early dawn of that period spoken of by the 
Prophet Daniel, when “ many shall run to 
and fro, and knowledge shall be increased. 
Science and Literature, to-day, are not what 
they were a few years ago, nor what they 
will soon become. A few years hence and 
the world will look back and wonder at the 
ignorance of the present day. Wo look 
with astonishment upon the discoveries of 
Mechanical and Artistical genius of a few 
years past; but greater and more wonder¬ 
ful inventions may yet lie buried in the fu¬ 
ture. Our Continent will yet hold converse 
with the Old World by means of the Mag¬ 
netic Telegraph—our Railroad cars will 
double their speed and make it. a practical 
business—and wo may reasonably expect 
that Electro Magnetism will yet supercede 
the use of steam. A thousand other things 
equally momentous and grand in their ope¬ 
rations and effects, may crown the future; 
and we might possibly be no less surprised, 
could we survey the physical world a hun¬ 
dred years from now, than would bo Fulton, 
Fitch or Fuller at the present day, could 
they come back and contemplate the mighty 
revolutions produced by steam. 
The mental wealth of the rising genera¬ 
tion must exceed that of our own, that pos¬ 
terity may rationally participate in the 
greater duties and responsibilities of their 
day. It has been said that the moral world 
has gained but little if anything since the 
days of the Apostles. But this cannot be 
said of the mental nor physical. The world 
of mind and of matter are advancing; and 
lie who stops to complain of his circumstan¬ 
ces, and find fault with Providence, will soon 
find himself far in the rear. The watch¬ 
word is onward—we must bo up and doing. 
Watts says, “no man is obliged to learn and 
know everything.” But a certain degree of 
mental discipline is absolutely necessary to 
the successful prosecution of any business 
or pursuit in life. The time was, when a 
man might put a bushel of corn in one end 
of a bag and a stone in the other to balance 
it on his horse, and thus go to mill. But 
times have changed. 
Circumstances will do much towards the 
cultivation of the mind; but a fixed, unwa¬ 
vering determination will do vastly more. 
“Other things maybe seized on by might, 
or purchased with money; but knowledge is 
to be gained only by study.” A mere me¬ 
chanical exercise in a few lessons will not 
do. The mind must be interested —a desire, 
a thirst for knowledge must be formed, and 
your acquisitions will astonish even your¬ 
self. Lot the beauties and benefits of learn¬ 
ing take deep hold* of the soul—let the dor¬ 
mant faculties be aroused; there is no dan¬ 
ger of injuring the mind, like a horse, by 
pressing it into service. “ We cannot all bo 
Franklins it is true, but by imitating his 
mental habits and unweariod industry, we 
may reach an eminence we should never 
otherwise attain. Nor would ho have been 
the Franklin lie was, if he had permitted 
himself to be discouraged by the reflection 
that we cannot all bo Newtons. It is our 
business to make the most of our own tal¬ 
ents and opportunities.” 
There is a certain class of persons, who, 
unfortunately, never have the time to culti¬ 
vate their minds—they are always too busy 
to subscribe for, or even read a newspaper. 
But they “need pity more than hate.” I 
have seen time enough wasted by this class 
the last summer, in pitching quoits, if rightly 
applied, to have qualified at least one person 
for either the Pulpit or the Forum. This was 
at a country tavern. Few other places in our 
country are exempt from this and kindred 
practices. If, then, the murder of time was 
a criminal offence, how many youths and 
young men, and even married men, who 
should be examples of diligence and econ¬ 
omy, would be innocent ? If this same 
class would btffc make a right use of their 
leisure hours, they would have no occasion 
to deplore their ignorance, nor complain that 
“their lot had been hard.” 
Physical labor, so far from weakening the 
mental powers, is virtually favorable to their 
fullest development. Some of the most 
distinguished characters of the present and 
former ages, have arisen from obscure me¬ 
chanical and agricultural pursuits; and were 
oarly subjected to sovoro physical exercise. 
A modern writer, in speaking of such, says, 
“ It is by no means certain that these men 
[Engraved expressly for Moore’s Rural New-Yorker.] 
WESTERN HOUSE OF REFUGE, ROCHESTER, NEW YORK. • 
The Western House of Refuge for Ju- 
; v exile Delinquents, a very accurate view 
I of which is here presented to the readers of 
the Rural New-Yorker, is one of the finest 
| edifices in Western New York—and the In- 
! stitution among tho most praiseworthy and 
I best conducted in the Empire State. Per- 
; haps we cannot give.a better description of 
| the premises than wc find in the Report of 
! the Board of Managers to the Legislature. 
! We therefore quote and condense as follows; 
“ Tim farm belonging to tho Institution, 
on a portion of which the buildings are lo¬ 
cated, contains 42J acres of excellent land, 
and is finely located about 1^ miles north 
from the central portion of the city of Roch¬ 
ester, on a slight elevation, between the Erie 
canal on the west and the road leading to 
the mouth of the Genesee river on the east: 
■±\ acres of it are surrounded with a stone 
wall 20 feet in height, within which stand all 
the buildings belonging to the Institution, 
except (lie barn ; 28 acres are enclosed with 
a stockade fence 10 feet in height formed of 
cedar posts, and arc designed for cultivation. 
The remaining 10 acres are appropriated to 
pasturage. Tho grounds within the walls 
are tastefully laid out in vegetable and flow¬ 
er gardens, walks and play grounds, and or¬ 
namented with trees and shrubbery, which, 
though now in their infancy, will in time add 
greatly to the beauty of the place, as well as 
to the comfort of the inmates. 
The centre building of the house proper 
fronts tho east, and is 86 feet wide, 60 feet 
deep and is in height three stories above the 
basement. The two wings, extending to the 
north and south, are each 148 feet long, 32 
feet deep and two stories in height above the 
basement, with the exception of the square 
towers which form the finish at the extrem¬ 
ities of the wings, and are three stories in 
would ever have been so distinguished for , 
mental excellence, had they not endured all i 
these fatigues of the body.” If your time 
is necessarily employed during the day, you 
have only the more diligently to improve 
your evenings. Do not be discouraged; hut 
launch out upon the ocean of thought; for 
if you have the desire, you have the ability 
to rise. The pent up faculties of the soul 
may begin to expand beneath an humble 
roof, and in an obscure corner, hut under 
the fostering care of freedom and philan¬ 
thropy, may bless the world. The median- ' 
ic’s shop, to-day, may contain tho elements 
of our nation’s greatest glory—her greatest 
mental power; and who shall say but that 
many Washingtons, Franklins, Patrick 
IIenrys, may yet rise up to bless the com- i 
ing time. 
The youth, in his struggles with poverty, 
should bo encouraged. He who has never 
felt the keen sting of adversity, knows little 
of the trials and discouragements to bo 
overcome, and is too apt to undervalue those 
little kindnesses and words of encourage- I 
ment so welcome to the poor, friendless 
seeker after knowledge. For myself, I feel 
deeply to sympathize with all such as have 
a desire for mental wealth, but are providen¬ 
tially deprived of tho means to obtain it. 
Having myself been early deprived of pa¬ 
rents, and “turned loose upon the world” 
at an early age, without education and with¬ 
out means, I have learned, by sad experience, 
a few of the inconveniences and embarrass¬ 
ments resulting from a want of mental cul¬ 
ture. But a single sentence—a word, oven 
—will often penetrate the deep recesses of 
the soul, and change the whole intellectual 
man. The idea contained in the following 
verse was tho means of awakening the at¬ 
tention and fixing the purpose of the humble 
writer, when lie could read only by spelling 
most of the words : 
“ Were I so t-ill ’* to reach the Pole, 
Or g'-asp the Ocean in my span; 
I must he measured hy my soul. 
For ’tis the mind that makes the man.” 
Romulus Centre, N. Y., Jan. 1, 18.32. S. Furman. 
Remember always that labor is one of tho 
conditions of our existance. 
height. The whole front of the building, it 
will thus be seen, is 382 feet in length/ Two 
Others wings extending to tho west from the 
extremes of tho two already built, can here¬ 
after be added if required. In the basement 
of the centre building are a kitchen and din¬ 
ing-room for tho superintendent, a kitchen 
and dining-room for the subordinate officers, 
and the kitchen for tho general purposes of 
the houso. Tho latter is furnished with a 
steam boiler and cooking apparatus of the 
most improved kind, which are supposed to 
bo sufficient to do tho work for a family of 
at least 250 inmates. It is also furnished 
with a steam engine of three horse power, 
which is used in part to elevate water from 
the cistern to a tank of the capacity of 2;500 
gallons in the fourth story, from which wa¬ 
ter is taken by means of leaden pipes to all 
parts of the house where its use is required; 
and in part to furnish a power for boring 
and morticing chair seats. On the first floor 
above the basement is the Managers’ room, 
with rooms for the Superintendent and his 
family. On the second arc two large rooms 
for the sick, and sleeping rooms for tho offi¬ 
cers, and on the third is the chapel, which 
is well arranged and commodious, and will 
seat 400 persons and more if necessary. 
In tho basement of the north wing i3 a 
bathing and washing room furnished with a 
plunging bath of the capacity of 5,000 gal¬ 
lons, a shower bath, and also with pipes and 
cocks so distributed that each delinquent 
can at the same time perform his ordinary 
ablutions under a running stream of water, 
without interfering with or being interfered 
with by any other There are also in tho 
basement of the same wing, a washing, dry¬ 
ing and ironing room, tailor’s shop, seam¬ 
stresses room and store room. The first 
floor embraces the dining-room, school room, 
Natural jfotonj. 
TREES AND PLANTS OF PARAGUAY. 
“The vegetable kingdom of Paraguay 
jircsents the richest attractions, not merely 
to the professional botanist, but to that im¬ 
portant class which is devoted to mercan¬ 
tile enterprise. The medicinal herbs which 
abound in the greatest profusion, are rhu¬ 
barb, sarsaparilla, jalap, bryonia, indica, sas¬ 
safras, holly wood, dragon’s blood, balsam of 
copaiva, nux vomica, liquorice and ginger. 
Of dye stuffs, too, there is an immense vari¬ 
ety—the cochineal, which is, indeed, an in¬ 
sect, but requires for its food a species of tho 
cactus plant; two distinct kinds of indigo, 
vegetable Vermillion, saffron, golden rod, 
with other plants, producing all the tints of 
dark red, black and green. 
Many of tho forest trees yield valuable 
gums, not yet familiar to commerce or med¬ 
icine; and they comprise some of the most 
delicious perfumes and incense that can be 
imagined. Others, again, are like amber— 
hard, brittle, and insoluble in water. Some 
cedars yield a gum equal to gum Arabic; 
others a natural glue, which, when once 
dried, is unaffected by wet or dampness.— 
The seringa, or rubber tree, the product of 
which is now almost a monopoly with Para, 
and also the Palo Santo, which produces tho 
gum guiacum, crowd the forests, ready to 
give up their riches to the first comer; and 
the sweet flavored Vanilla modestly flour¬ 
ishes, as if inviting the hand of man. 
Upon the hills, tho celebrated Yerba 
Matte, which is the exclusive beverage of 
one-half of South America, has only to be 
gathered. Its preparation is in an exceed¬ 
ingly crude state, and could bo beneficially 
improved by employing some of our corn 
mills; and probably its use could be intro¬ 
duced into this country with advantage. 
Upon the fertile alluvial banks of so many* 
largo streams, sugar cane, c »tton, tobacco of 
a superior quality, rice, mandoca, Indian 
corn, and a thousand other productions, 
vegetate with profusion; while seven vari¬ 
eties of the bamboo line the river banks and 
dot tho frequent lakes with islets of touch¬ 
ing beauty. On tho plains, quantities of 
hides, hair, horns, bones, tallow, &c., are lost 
for want of transportation. If wo go to the 
forests, wo find two or three kinds of hemp, 
vast quantities of wax, nux sapanico, or 
soap nut, tho cocoa, and vegetable oils in 
abundance, with two kinds of wild cotton, 
recitation room, and a room for tho library; 
and on the second are tho dormitories, which 
are 7 feet square and are arranged in two 
tiers on either side of a hall 15 feet in width, 
running the whole length of the wing.— 
Each dormitory has a narrow window ex¬ 
tending from tho floor to the ceiling, ren¬ 
dering it light, airy alid pleasant, and a ven¬ 
tilating flue which can be opened and closed 
at pleasure. The basement of the south 
wing will be occupied when completed, 
for store rooms and various other purposes 
The first floor will bo occupied chiefly 
by the school room and other rooms con¬ 
nected with the instruction of tho delin¬ 
quents ; the room now occupied as a school 
room in the north wing being too small for 
an enlarged number and being also needed 
as an addition to the dining room. The 
second floor is fitted up like that of tho north 
wing, with dormitories similarly constructed 
and arranged. The whole building with the 
addition of a few dormitories in the north 
wing will well accommodate 200 delinquents, 
with the officers and hands necessary to lake 
charge of them.” 
The whole expense of tho premises, the 
building proper above represented being 
the principal item, is estimated at about one 
hundred thousand dollars. Commissioners 
for erecting the buildings — Isaac Hills, 
William Pitkin, and D. C. McCallum. 
Tho Institution was opened in August, 
1849. The number of delinquents, on the 
1st of January, 1850, was 37—tho 1st of 
Jan., 1851, 98—and the whole number now 
at the house is 130. The present Officers 
are — Samuel S. Wood, Superintendent; 
Aetemas W. Fisiier, Ass’t Sup’t; Joiim M. 
Denton, Teacher; Hugh Collins, Steward; 
Albert Backus, Gate-Keeper; David Stur- 
ges, Farmer; F. F. Backus, Physician. 
admirably adapted for tho manufacture of 
paper. 
But it is with tho forest trees of Paraguay 
that 1 love most to dwell. Giants! there 
they are, vast and noble in their aspect, and 
able, as it were, to utter for themselves the 
sublime music of tho wilderness. Sixty va¬ 
rieties already known, furnish timber of all 
kinds and colors and degrees of durability, 
elasticity and buoyancy. I have seen tim¬ 
bers of the Lapacho that have supported the 
roofs of houses, in Buenos Ayres, for more 
than two hundred years. They are now as 
sound as ever, and, to all appearrnce, capa¬ 
ble of performing the same service to the 
end of the world. A door sill of tho same 
wood, half imbedded in the ground, and 
marked * 1632/ belonged to the front door 
of tho houso which 1 inhabited in the city 
of Ascension. Upon tho clos'est inspection, 
it was in a state of perfect preservation.— 
Several other woods, of this same varioty, 
are so heavy as to sink in water, and all. 
while difficult to burn in houses, form, un¬ 
der a strong draft, a lire almost equal to 
stone-coal in intensity. 
Another tree, the Scibo, when green, is 
spongy, and soft as cork, and can bo cut 
like an apple; but when dry it is so hard as 
almost to defy the action of steel. Again, 
we have the Palo do Vivora, or snake tree, 
whose leaves are an infallable cure for the 
bites of serpents. The Palo de Leche, or 
milk tree, may bo called a vegetable cow, 
and the Palo de Borracho, or drunken tree, 
a vegetable distillery. The Isado rosan is 
found at the roots of trees, under ground, 
and is a natural pitch, ready prepared to 
pay the seams of vessels.” 
Timber in Oregon. —Some of the spruce 
and fir trees in Oregon, shoot up to the 
height of three hundred feet, without throw¬ 
ing out any largo lateral branches. A draw¬ 
ing of a tree ten feet in diameter at tho base 
( and 230 feet high, was engraved for a Lon¬ 
don pictorial paper. They are found upon 
tho ground, near the coast, three hundred 
feet long. The keel of the steamer Lot 
Whitcomb is made of tho trunk of a single 
tree, one hundred and sixty feet in length. 
To fell the spruce timber, auger holes are 
bored in the trunk near the foot, so that 
they meet in the contre. A fire is then kin¬ 
dled, which is kept up by the draught of air, 
and in a few hours the tree is burned so that 
it falls.— Roch. Dem. 
Respectful lovo inspires noble actions. 
Inbbatl; limbing! 
FORGIVE. 
Friends of my heart, most justly dear, 
If ever, in unworthy mood, 
I’ve drawn from you a single tear, 
Or caused one sorrow to intrude; 
All whom I ever met in life— 
My fellow-pilgrims to the tomb—• 
If aught of me with good at strife, 
To you on wings of mem’ry come, 
I make confession full and Iree, 
O, brother man, of every land; 
But fa n would give and take of thee 
Affection’ i he ,rt, an 1 friendship’s hand. 
Witti all of human race at last 
1 crave in amity to live; 
And for the errors of the past 
1 make my only plea—“ Forgive !” 
O, Father of the human race— 
All-seeing, powerful, and pure— 
Sin cannot see.thy peaceful face. 
Nor human pride thy frown endure. 
How have I wrong’d thy righteous claims; 
How turned an alien to thy shrine; 
And wasted on unworthy aims 
The service which of right was thine! 
Yet unto thee I fain would come— 
Confess the sins my hands have done— 
A wanderer, estranged from home, 
Unworthy to he called thy son. 
In the blest promise of thy word, 
I wait thy pardon to receive: 
While in the name of Christ, the Lord, 
I raise my earnest cry—“ Forgive !” 
OBJECT OF LIFE. 
“ Only get men to think less of wealth, and 
power, and fame, and more of human elevation, so . 
that they can forget self m their efforts to unlock 
the storehouse of knowledge, and scatter its treas¬ 
ures among the people.”— 8. Luther. 
“ Aye, there’s the rub !” “ Only get men 
to think less of wealth and power !” Get 
them to be more social, and less selfish; 
more benevolent, less covetous; more ra¬ 
tional and less sensual, and more as their 
Creator designed them to be ! 
But what is the object of living ? The an¬ 
swer may be found in the nature of mail.— 
Is liis nature fitted only for toil ? Judging 
from the conduct of many, we would cer¬ 
tainly come to this conclusion. Is ho wholly 
selfish ? Appearances in many instances 
favor the affirmative. 
Surely, the great object of living is great¬ 
ly overlooked. Man was not made exclu¬ 
sively for toil; bis nature is not exclusively 
physical nor sensual. Ilis compound na¬ 
ture, social, intellectual, and moral, points 
to something higher than mere physical toil, 
or selfish gratification. 
Tho object of living is not, then, to indulge 
one part of our nature, to tho neglect of the 
others. If that had been tho design of tho 
Creator, ho never would have made man 
what ho is. The brute answers his end, be¬ 
cause ho lives according to his nature.— 
That man does not answer his end, who lives 
with no higher aim than the brute. 
Man is not then what ho should be, nor 
what he will bo, when he comes to fulfill Lis 
high destiny. Let him study his own na¬ 
ture. Let him realize what lie is. Let him 
consider himself not only as a physical and 
sensual, but as a social being; not only as 
social, but as rational and intellectual, and 
hence moral; and not only as rational and 
moral, but as responsible and immortal.— 
When man shall realize what lie is; shall 
understand his true nature and dignity, then, 
and not till then, will he estimate things ac¬ 
cording to their true value. Then will ho 
regard “wealth and fame,” not as tho ob¬ 
jects, but as the accidents of life.' Then 
will lie live for comfort, as well as for toil; 
to enjoy, as well as to hoard up; to olevato 
and bless his fellow man, as well as to bless 
himself. Then will he livo for his country, 
for tho world, and for posterity, as well as 
for himself and his own. H. 
Down East, Dec., 1851. 
ACT WELL YOUR PART. 
We cannot always pitch our tents where 
we please, or enjoy ever tho sweet song of 
delight, sung by friends who played with us 
in childhood or conned at school the same 
lessons. The world is a busy one, full of 
adventure, and ho who would act well his 
part, must take his chance as he can, and 
feel happy if lie can so perform it as to ex¬ 
claim at the dying hour, “I have endeavor¬ 
ed to do my duty.” 
So wherever wo aro placed and in what¬ 
ever situation, it should be our earnest and 
persevering endeavor to discharge our duty 
as faithfully as our abilities will permit. We 
owe this, no less to our fellows than to our¬ 
selves, for however great the good they may 
reap, it can in no wise, and I may say under 
no circumstances equal that which we may 
gather ourselves. 
It ip therefore imperative upon us to work 
at all times, as God gives us means and op- 
portunites, and the moro so, when he guar¬ 
anties us so rich a blessing in the perform¬ 
ance. In this view, with our hearts fully 
attuned to the “better spirit,” the most irk- 
somo duty grows a pleasant task while tho 
blossing is thereby doubled in the getting. 
Words are the daughters of the mind, but 
actions are the sons of the soul.—Sir. /F. 
Jones. 
