268 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
Dukedom in the village schools. He has also written a 
work upon the Cerealia, unexampled in Europe; and 
has already a work ready for the press upon cottage and 
out-house architecture, adapting the plans to every grade 
of want and means of the peasant. 
“ At seven o’clock, Monday morning, I accompanied 
the Director, a blacksmith, and a student in agriculture, 
to witness a trial of four plows; among which was one 
of American model After a ride of four miles in one 
of the most inconvenient farm wagons, we reached the 
place of acti n. It was a tract of land in the valley of 
the Rhine, about three-quarters of a mile square, owned 
or worked by four peasants. Near were eight pair of 
fine, large, fat horses, all trailing plows of the ordinary 
construction here: every plow having either a pair of 
wheels, or a kind of shoe near the clevis, regulating the 
depth. The plows were severally tried and condemned 
or approved, as the peasants thought proper. The Ame¬ 
rican plow was adapted to much deeper work than they 
considered necessary, and its behavior created no little 
amusement. Uncontrolled by wheels, it shook the plow¬ 
man and his pipe so inordinately that he condemned it 
in less than twenty yards of trial. Improvement in ag¬ 
ricultural implements is just being introduced here, and 
these different models of plows will be tried by at least 
four or five peasants, and their form altered, if necessary 
to meet the unanimous opinion of them; and a manufac¬ 
ture commenced. I will give you in a short space, a 
summary of much that I learned during my visit. 
“They do not plow deep here—generally not more 
than six inches. The soil is a clayey loam, fine texture 
for tillage. The cultivation most thorough, notwith¬ 
standing the imperfection of the instruments compared 
with those of America. No pasture-land is here permit¬ 
ted. The cows, which are profitably worked by the 
humbler peasantry, being stall-fed. There are somewhat 
extensive tracts of government land, enjoying a system 
of irrigation from a stream of ten feet wide by two in 
depth, the waters of which are conducted, when the sea¬ 
son is dry, to every twenty square yards, exclusively 
given to grass. 
“The potatoe sickness is well known here, and guard¬ 
ed against by perpetual changes of varieties and soils— 
bringing from up-land to low-land, and vice versa, be¬ 
sides replacing from the seed. Every variety of plant 
having its period of existence, they look forward to its 
ultimate extinction, and provide for its replacement. 
Geology gave us this great truth some time since. This 
is, however, too wide a field to broach. 
“ Whole potatoes do better than parts, and potatoes to 
be planted should be spread out during the winter and 
kept dry, to prevent the development of the shoots be¬ 
fore planting. If the eyes are grown at all, they should 
be handled with much care so as not to break them off. 
“ All fruit is grafted. Apples and pears are the chief 
fruits grown by the peasantry. The trees all appear to me 
Stinted, as if the propagated fruit was already old. They 
think there are identical fruits here, already 600 years 
old. I doubt it. The nursery is owned by a kind of 
county agricultural society, from which the best speci¬ 
mens, after five years’ growth, (those from the graft,) 
are taken by individual members. Of the remainder, the 
imperfect ones are destroyed, and from the balance, all 
the peasants who wish them, are supplied, at the mere 
expense of taking them up. A man having a new vari¬ 
ety of tobacco, or of seed which he wishes to try, sends 
it to the Director, and he gives it to peasants near, di¬ 
recting as to its treatment. The result of the experiment 
is communicated to the original owner, without charge. 
“ Agricultural meetings of the economs are held month¬ 
ly, at which questions about every thing connected with 
agriculture are submitted, and among themselves com¬ 
mittees appointed upon them. Of these, and many other 
matters, I took brief notes, which I will preserve, for 
they may yet be of service in America. The Director 
has paid a visit to England to compare agriculture there 
with that of Baden. In cattle, sheep, and swine, the 
English are far before the Germans; in cultivation^ de¬ 
cidedly behind, he thinks.” 
Mr. Horsford happened to be at the city of Frankfort 
at the time of its great Fair, at which he thinks there 
were engaged in disposing of various articles, about 
3,000 people. In this place three of the celebrated fa¬ 
mily of Rothschilds reside, in reference to whom Mr. H. 
makes the following rerhark: 
(i In walking about town, I passed the residences of 
the three Rothschilds who permanently reside here. 
They are fine dwellings, but eclipsed by many in Broad¬ 
way. (The younger brother, whom we happened to 
meet, reminded me most forcibly of my friend Mr. S. 
just beyond the Normans-kill.) The mother of these 
sons, whose united wealth is supposed to equal 500,- 
000,000 florins, or $200,000,000, still lives in the house 
that gave them birth, in the so called Jew-street, which 
is without exception the most wretched avenue I ever 
passed through. I refer to its external appearance. The 
first story is occupied by old women and men, in loath¬ 
some apparel, engaged in buying or selling old coats, 
old shoes, broken andirons, nails, bits of chains, &c., 
every thing exhibiting the most squalid features. This 
is, however, I was told, a safe guard, for above are in¬ 
dices of the wealth which enables the Jew to do so much 
toward controlling the commerce of Europe.” 
Concerning the state of morals and religion, Mr. Hors¬ 
ford observes, 
“ In Heidleberg the Protestant and Catholic churches 
worship in the same house, and so they do also in 
Frankfort—alternately, in the latter town—while in the 
former, they have thrown up a wall midway between. 
So far as I have yet seen there is very little church-going 
here. Indeed the fact that the best operas are alu ays on 
Sunday evening, would establish what is by no means a 
question, that the Sabbath is a mere suspension of labor 
for amusement. In looking over my experience of the 
Sabbath thus far in this land, where science sheds so 
much light, my heart turns to New England and the 
Northern portion of the United Slates, as my friend Nor¬ 
ton in Edinburgh remarks, as the hope of the world.” 
MR. MITCHELL’S LETTERS—No. IX. 
Paris, 23d July, IP45. 
Luther Tucker, Esq—Of the capital of France 
there is little to be said agriculturally, except to mention 
the abundant supply of vegetables of every variety—of 
meats and of fruits. Apricots, peaches, plums, and figs, 
are in all the fruiterer’s windows, and are no less grateful 
in taste than fair in appearance. Prices for such are less 
than in English markets, and do not greatly differ from 
prices at home. 
Flowers form no inconsiderable object of sale in the 
Paris markets, and upon some particular days the value 
of these exposed for sale has been estimated at 45,000 
francs. One or two markets are exclusively devoted to 
their sale. 
Meats range at even higher prices than in the larger 
number of the English markets; this arises not so much 
from scarcity, as from the high duties which attend its 
introduction into the city, and the charges of the slaughter 
houses. The city duties, or octroi, are levied upon every 
article of farm produce, or home or foreign manufacture, 
which comes within the city barriers. No private gen¬ 
tleman can go out of the city for an evening ride without 
stopping at the gates upon his return and submitting to 
the examination of the officers of the city customs. The 
poorest peasant with his donkey, or the highest officer of 
the crown—all but the king—are exposed to the same 
treatment. Oxen pay per head, 24 francs; cows, 15 
francs; calves, 6 francs; sheep, 1 franc and 10 sous. 
The slaughter houses, or abattoirs, are city property, 
built by order of Napoleon. There are five, and no cat¬ 
tle are allowed to be slaughtered elsewhere in the city. 
Three are on the northern border, two on the south. 
The duties paid for admission within the abattoirs are 6 
francs on an ox; 4 francs a cow, &c. I was at the 
largest of these—the Abattoir de Popincourt, yesterday. 
The buildings, which are built in most serviceable order, 
consisting of stalls, slaughter houses, attics for drying 
skins, lofts for hay, tallow houses, &c., are within a high 
stone enclosure, 640 feet long, by 570 broad. 400 oxen 
