1807.] Advantages and Disadoantages of American Farmers. 553, 
To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. 
SIR, 
QUR Antiquary’s correspondent, 
“ Indagator,” p. 317, in his ac- 
count of that curious work, the “ Dialogues 
of Creatures Moralysed,” has commit- 
ted a slight mistake when he states 
that it is not mentioned in Herbert’s 
* Typographical Anugquities.” This in- 
dustrious compiler has twice spoken of 
it, viz. inp. $45 and 1751. ‘IT also take 
this opportunity of saying, that the Latin 
orginal was first printed at Gruda, by 
Gerard Leen, in the year 1480. I am 
rather at a loss to comprehend what is 
meant by “the translation of ‘sep su- 
perseding the publication of the Di- 
alogues.” 
As we are on the subject of old books, 
I shall beg leave, Sir, to present you with 
an extract from one of very great rarity 
and curiosity; and in so doing, I may not 
only manifest a due degree of patriotic 
zeal, but chance to contribute te the 
consolation of those true Britons, who 
are perpetually ogcupied in venting their 
spleen against our arch and implacable 
enemy, Napoleon. The prophetic ap- 
plication of Revelations xii. 4,5, 6,7, was 
unhappily found not to succeed, and the 
forty-two months passed away, but the 
dragon remained to torment the nations. 
Yet we have hopes; for the author of the 
book of “The Blasynge of Armes,” 
the end of Dame Julian Berners’s cele- 
brated Treatise on Hawking, Hunting, and 
Fishing, printed at Saint Albans, 1486 ; 
and afterwards by Wynkyn de Worde, 
1496, has informed us that “ Tharmes of 
the Kynge of Fraunce were certaynly 
sent byan angell from heven, that is to 
saye: thre floures in manere of swerdes 
in a felde of asure, the whyche certen 
armes were geven to the forsayd hyng 
of Fraunce in sygne of everlastynge trow- 
ble, and that he and his successours 
alway with batayle and swerdes sholde 
be punysshyd.” Whether the abolition 
of the fleurs-de-lis since the revolution, 
will make any difference in the above 
curse, is at least doubtful; in all events 
it will behove the Bourbons, whenever 
they are restored to the throne of their 
ancestors, to be very cautious how they 
adopt the lilies ! Anti-Nap. 
SS 
To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. 
SIR, 
NOW proceed to compare the advan- 
tages and disadvantages of the Ame- 
rican farmer,with those of the English one. 
. It is scarcely necessary to premise, 
Montuty Mac, No, 158. 
at | 
that these statements are by no means 
applicable to the extensive territories of 
the United States, which comprehend 
many varieties of soil and climate ; but 
are the result of observations in the 
county of Montgomery, Pennsylvania, and 
im what is called the Great Valley, from 
twenty to thirty miles distant from Phi- 
ladelphia; the soil of which is mostly 
a rich, deep loam; and sells trom twelve 
to twenty pounds sterling per acre. 
The first inconvenience that strikes a 
European, on viewing an American farm, 
is the total want of the fences. Postsand 
rails, or rails placed angularly, are the 
common fences of the country: these 
require a continual expence of wood and 
labour, to make and repair them. A 
few persons have planted thorn-hedges; 
and where they are duly attended to, 
they are in a thriving condition: the 
most promising one I ‘nave seen, had 
short straw laid on the roots of the young 
guicksets, which preserves them from the 
extremes of heat and cold, and prevents 
the vrowth of weeds. 
The winters in America are more se- 
vere thanin England. Half acentury ago, 
the snow generally fell in November, 
and continued till March: to provide 
for these five unproductive months, re- 
guired a great share of the produce of the 
other seven. But the climate has under- 
gone a very favourable alteration in this 
respect, and of late years the winter sel- 
dom assumes its rigorous aspect till after 
Christmas. It is not however untill the 
month of April, that sheep can subsist 
entirely without fodder; from that time 
vegetation makes a rapid progress, and 
on land well managed, clover will be 
eight or ten inches high by the ist of 
May. 
The price of labour in the United 
States is much higher than in more po- 
pulous nations, nor can servants or la- 
bourers be at all times procured in suf- 
ficient numbers. Twenty to thirty 
pounds sterling are the wages of a man by 
the year; and from half to three-fourths: 
of a dollar for a day’s work. 
Distance from market is another in- 
convenience of the country. The sea- 
ports, or those ports situated on navigas 
ble rivers, are the markets for the sale 
of farming productions; consequently, 
but a small proportion of the land can 
have the advantage of contiguity. The 
prices also of grain and stock are below 
the English ones; of which the lower 
price of land in the United States, is 
both the cause and the effect, : 
4B The 
