The people's journal. (Coudersport, Pa.) 1850-1857, October 11, 1856, Image 1

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    VOL. VIII.
TEE PEOPLE'S JOURNAL.
PIIBLISULD EVERY THITRSDAY MORNING, BY
ADDISON AVERY.
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the Publisher.
LITTLE ONES
I=
Weep not, mother; o'er his breast
Fold the little hands to rest;.
4;,..d bath called—he kfloweth bcit
Round the dead thou Invest so,
Brighten angels coute :Ind go ;
I+ it well thou wesTen so
ant thou guard as'angels eau,
And tbino eye the pathway scan
Leaping up from boy to luau
Cmit Mon mark the chaining fears,
And the ever-falling tears,
Well as Le that weaves the yearsl
Is thy lot so dear to thee,
All itt sin and misery—
Thou wouldst lead thy child by thee 1
Braiding garlandi that ins!ead
; Vale bloom coveted,
Bind but theme atiout hie head ?
4 itter smile and breathe a pr.tyer,
tflianking God far his dear care
I i" ti? worn I?eart's I;:w , singi rare—
moiling as volt lowly bow,
Last to kiss time darling brow,
' , Sayfiug, "Angels ki,,c hint now
For my cherished oie is lifted
From my path where snows lcmi &Med—
Irmo my heart so %veal: and rifted—
Where ne earth blight can appall,
Or a templed splra
Where the Father keepeth all.
Now my little nne ble.t;
For ho nestles on a breast
Neror he.tving with unrest
Anti tLis face that silently
Turns its culthies: up to
I , a swee:er sight to see
Thou a ❑lan-Itrow rough with care,
Bearing signs of blight and snare,
And but little love-light there.
Ye., my Fwher—l am blest ;
Keep my darling on Thy breast ;
A:tdi fta me when it is best."
It i 4 •muter. that wo shoeld weep;
11 e, who wt. 1.1) ;catches keep,
NVllen a pure child falli
Peter let a .mile be :pent,
And praer to Ilea% 9C1:1:
" 111 Sheet hope are we coigent."
OREELEy'S ADDRESS IN ERIE CO
'flio following is a report of Mr.
GREELFA'i runiarks at the Erie County
F;:ir, at Haraburgh, It will no doubt
bo read with interest
I p,rceive (said fir. G.) that the
i.uconvenience of arrangements,
for which I, of coil NC, am not responsi
ble, will not allow of my - being heard
by any conside:able number of those
present, and as this gathering is re
garded by most of you as a festival, I
advise all such as find themselves
either unablo or disinclined to hear
what I have to offer, to go to other
parts of the grounds, and amuse them
selves in the manner ivhich,. is most
congenial to their taste, taking care
not to disturb those who prefer to re
main around the stand. (Nobody
went; even those who could not hear
him seemed to think the orator the
ii.OSE remarkable production on exhibi
tion.)
The truth which I am most anxious
is impress (continued Mr. G.) is, that
no poor man can afford to be a poor
farmer. When I have recommended
agricultural improvements, I have often
Leen told, "this expensive farming will
do well enough for rich people, but
We who are in moderate circumstances
can't afford it." Now, it is not orna
mental farming that I recommend, but
profitable farming. It is true that the
amount of a man's capital must fix the
lAtofjis business, in agriculture as
In everything else. But however poor
you-may be, you can afford to cultivate
land well if you can afford to cultivate
at all. It may be out of your power
to keep a large farm - Under a high
state of cultivation, but then
,you should
sell a part of it, and cultivate a small
one. if you aro a poor man, you can-
Lot afford to raise small crops ; you
caunot afford to accept half a crap
THE PEO 'LE'S JOURNAL.
from land capable of yielding a whole
one. If you are apoor man you can
not afford to fence two acres to secure
the crop that ought to grow on one;
you-cannot afford to pay or lose the
interest on the cost of a hundred of
acres of land to get the crops that will
grow on fifty. No man can afford to
raise twenty bnshels of corn to an
acre,• nut even if the land were given
him, for twenty bushels to the acre
will not pay the cost of the miserable
cultivation that produces it.
No poor man can afford to cultivate
his land in such a manner as will cause
it to deteriorate in value. Good farre
_
ing improves the value of land; and
the fanner who manages his farm so
as to get the largest crop it is capable
of yielding, increases its value every
year.
No farmer can afford to produce .
weeds. They grow, to be sure, with
out cultivation; they spring up spon
taneously on all land, and especially
Fick land but though they cost no toil,
a farmer cannot afford to raise them.
The same elements that feed them,
would, with proper cultivation, nourish
a crop, and no farmer can afford tot ex
pend on weeds the natural wealth
which was bestowed by Providence to
fill his granaries. I am accustomed,
my friends, to estimate the Christianity
atilt: localities through which I pass, .
by the absence of weeds'on and about
the farms. When I see a farm cover
ed. by a gigantic growth of weeds, I
take it for granted that the owner is a
heathen, a heretic, or an infidel—a
Christian he cannot be, or he Would
not allow the heritage which God gave
him to dress and keep, to be so de
formed and profaned. And if you will
allow me to make an application of
iho doctrine I preach, I must be per
mitted to say that there is a great field
for missionary effort on the farms be
tween here and Buffalo. Nature has
been bountiful to you, but there is
great need of better cultivation. To
prevent the growth of weeds, is equiva
leavto enriching your land with manure,
for to retain-in it the elements of which
crops are formed, is as profitable as to
bring them there. It is better that
weeds should not grow at all ; but
when they exist, and you undertake to
destroy them, it is economy to gather
them up and carry them to your barn
yards, and convert them into. manure,
You will in this manner restore to
your farms the fertility of which the
weeds had drained it.
Farmers cannot afford to grow a
crop on a: soil that does not contain
the natural elements that enter into its
composition. When you burn a vega
table, a large part of its bulk passes
away during the process of combustion
into the air. But there is always a -
residue of mineral matter, consisting
()rhea°, potash, and other ingredientS
that entered into its composition.
Now, the plant drew these materials
out of.the earth, and if you . attempt
to grow that plant in a soil that is
deficient in those ingredients, you are
driving an unsuccessful business. Na
ture does not make vegetables out of
nothing, and you cannot expect to take
c rop after crop off from a field that
does not contain the eloments of which
it is formed. If you wish to maintain
the fertility of your farrro, you must
constantly restore to them the materials
which are withdrawn in cropping:
No farmer can afford to sell his_:.ashes.
You annually export from Western
N. Y. a largo amount of potash. De
pend upon it there is nobody in the
world to whom this is worth so much
as it is to yourselves. ~You can't af
ford to sell it, but a farmer can well
afford to buy ashes at a higher price .
than is paid" by anybody that does
not wish to use them as fertilizers
of the soil. Situated as the farmers
of this county are in the neighbor
hood of a city that burns large quanti
ties of wood for fuel, you should make
it a part of your system of farming to
secureall the . ashes it produces. When
your teams go into town with loads
of wood, it would cost comparatively
little to bring buck loads of ashes
and other fertilizers that would ira-
DEVOTED TO THE PRINCIPLES OF DEMOCRACY, AND THE DISSEMINATION .OF MORALITY, LITERATURE, AND NEWS
COUDERSPORT, POTTER COUNTY, PA., OCTOBER 11; 1855.
prove the productiveness of your
farms.
No poor farmer can afford to keep
fruit trees that do not bear good.
fruits. Good fruit is always valuable,
and should be raised by the farmer,
not only for market, but large con
sumption in his own family. As
more enlightened views of diet pre 7
rail, fruit is destined to supplant the
excessive quantities of animal food
that are consumed in this country.
This change will produce better health,
greater. vigor of body, activity of mind
and elasticity of spirit, and I cannot
doubt that the time will come when
farmers, instead of putting down the
large quantities of meat • they do at
present, will give their attention in
autumn to the preservation of largo
quantities of excellent fruit, for con
sumption as a regular article of duty,
the early part of the following summer.
Fruit will not then appear on the table
as it does now, only as dessert after
dinner, but *ill come with every meal,
and be reckoned a substantial aliment.
No poor farmer can afford to 'work
with poor implements, with imple-
merits that either do not do the work
well, or that require an Unnecessary
expenditure of power. A farmer
should use not merely one kind of
hoes adapted to the various kinds of
work he wants to accomplish with
them. The ordinary old-fashioned
hoeis an indispensable implement, bat
the scuffle hoe and various other hoes
should be regarded as equally so, as
they are adapted to uses for which the
old-fashiofted hoe is wholly unfit.
Every farmer should also keep a vari
ety of ploughs adapted , to - a variety
of uses for which, that implement is
wanted. Ploughs for green sward,
for arable land already broken, for
sub-soil, fur working am-mg growing
crops, and fur other purposes, should
differ from each other in size and
form, and it is always good economy
for a farmer to work with the very
best implements, and those best adap
ted to the particular business in hand.
I regret, gentlemen, in gaing over
your grounds, to notice that there is
so great a lack of agricultural imple
ments on exhibition. It is true there
are a number of patented machines,
but of important agricultural imple
ments I see scarcely any. -In this re
spect, I think your fair is greatly de
ficient, for nothing is more indispen
sable to good farming that proper im
plements. To illustrate this, it will
be necessary to ask - your attention to
the nature and office of the mechani
cal operations requisite for the pro
duction of good . crops. It is a preva
lent but false idea that plants derive
their nutriment principally from the
soil in which they grow. It is true
they need the soil as a sort of anchor
age, and that they draw fret - nit a part
of their ingredients. But not more
than a twentieth part of the weight of
a vegetable is supplied by the earth
in which it grows. It is from the atmos
phere and the clouds that plants draw
he greater. share of their nutriment—.
Carbon, which enters more. largely
into the composition of vegetables than
any other ingredient, with the excep•
Lion' of Water, exists in the atmos
phere in small quantities in the form
ofcarbonic acid gas. This gas is de
composed by the plant, by the action
of its leaveS, and through these, which
are in fact its lungs or breathing or
gans, it receives a great part of mate
' rial which enters into its. composition.
Oxygen is another important ingredi
-ent of vegetables; This likewise all
comes either immediately or indirect
ly from the air ; but the portion that
is received through its roots in the
form' of water, falls into the bosom of
the earth fr.orn the clouds, and the at
mosphere must be regarded as its
source. It is essential to the thrifty
growth of a plant that the air should
have free access to every .part of it,
the roots as well as the leaves, and
that the soil in which it grows should
be moist, but
. 0 3t too moist, and should
have a certain degree of- warmth.—,
Those necessities of ,vegetation wlll
enable us to understand the mechani-
cal operations on the soil demanded
by good farming.
Tho soil should lie light and be fine.
ly pulverized in order that the little
fibres sent out by the roots in search
of nourishmant may easily permeate
in all directions. It should be porous
to be easily penetrated by air and vra.,
ter, and. as its' own weight and the
filtering of rains tend constantly to
bed it down into a compact mass, it
needs frequent stirring.
One of the molt important means of
putting the soil in a proper mocha ni
cal ccindition, but one which, as yet,
scarcely begins to be appreciated - its
it deserves in this country, is draining .
I am convinced that all the farms on
the Atlantic slope of this continent
would be benefitted by draining, the
too dry as well as the too wet. As this
may seem paradoxical, it is necessary
that I should explain.. it.
Thorough draining is the only
means by which
. the deep ploughing
'which I consider indispensible to good
farming can be rendered effective.—
There is a constant tendency in sub
soils, where the descent of the water
is arrested, to settle into a compact
mass and solidify into a hard-pan.—
But when you lay a drain at a consid
erable depth, the water penetrates
the subsoil thathas been stirred by
the plough, and leaves it -pervious to
the roots of plants. In dry weather,
when all the naJisture of the surface
soil has boon evaporated by the sun,
the advantage of a deep penetration
of the roots is incalculable. They can
bring up meisturofrom a great depth,
and with this kind of cultivation I am
convinced that a protracted drought
would never prove fatal to the et-ors.
I cannot insist with too much ear
nestuess on the importance. of dee?
ploughing. Farmers often show a
foolish ambition to °Ware, their farnie
by parchasing those of their neigh
bors, or as people sometimes express
it, they wish to own - all that joins them.
But if farmers want more hind they
can get it at a cheaper rate. They
may extend their farms downward,
and double the amount of soil they
cultivate by doubling its depth. A
farm of fifty acres cultivated to
the depth of two feet, is worth more
than one of 'a hundred acres cul-.
tivated to the depth of one foot, for- it
requires less fencing and will produce
a greater amount of crops. - Instead
of ploughing to the depth of only six
or seven inches, as is the practice of
too many A:nerican farmers, it is my
deliberate opinion, the result of long
observation, that the-subsoil plow
should work to the depth of full three
foot. You of course will not misunder
stand mo _as saying that the subsoil
from that depth should be brought up
to the surface and turned over.: What
I mean is that it should be stirred and
rendered pervious ,to air, water and
the roots of plants. The way I man
age on my owa farm is this. I go over
my land with a large surface plow,
. which cuts a furrow fourteen inches
deep and turns it over. Directly be
hind this follows another plow in the
same furrow, which stirs the subsoil
to a considerable depth, but leaves it in
the same position, _neither turning it
over nor brifiging it up to the surface.
•The subsoil plow is an implement
too little known. I am pleased to'
notice that there is one on the ground,
and I advise every farmer to take a
good look at it before leaving. Deep
culture is more particularly important
for fruit trees. Trees cannot make
fruit out of nothing, and if you expect
them to give you a crop every year,
you must give them the .materials to
-make it of. Great attention should be
paid to the preparation of the land
before you plant your orchard. You
want it mellowed to a. depth of four
or. five feet, and enriched with all the
.
ingredients that enterinto the compo
sition of trees and their fruit. Fruit,
with proper management, is the most .
profitable of all crops, and you may
as well have a crop from each fruit
tree every year, as to let it bear one
year in two or three, All attempts to
cheat Nature are utterly vain ; for Na
ture wont be cheated. She will repay
you all you bestow upon - her with in
terest ; but she insists that you . - shall
furnish her the materials out of which
she elaborates crops,:, and that you
shall remove all obstrUctions - to the
freedom of her operations.
Moses, the lawgiver of the Hebrews,
taught his countrynen that: every sev
enth year they should allow their lands
to lie fallow' This regulation was
founded on the principle that a con,
swat series of cropping exhausts the
fertility of the soil, and that it requires
periodical recruiting. The principle
is a sound one, but by the progress of
modern agriculture, wearo enabled
to accomplish the same result by dif
ferent and better means. Instead of
allowing the land to lie idle and im
bibe the elements of nevi fertility from
the atmosphere, we supply to it the
ingredients of which it has become
exhausted. One of the most approve d
modes of doing this is by green crops.
particularly clover. Clover sends itti
long roots down deep into the earth,
and brings up the essence of manures
that have been carried by water lower
than the roots of other crops penetrate,
while its numerous leaves drink in
from the atmosphere largo quantities
of carbon and other elemets of fertili
ty. When this crop is plowed under,
it enriches the surface soil with a
great deal that it has derived from
other sources, -- and is a most valuable
means of recruiting its exhausted pow
ers of production. Turnips is another
valuable crop for the same purpose ;
and a constant rotation of crops is a
most important means of sustaining
the continued fertility of the soil.
Different crops exhaust the land of
different materials, and by growing
them in such an order that crops of
similar composition 'shall not immedi-
Itely sticceed each other, the elements
of fertility aro greatly economized.
It is important that farmers should
understand the composition of the
crops the:) , raise. They will then be
enabled to replace directly the ele
ments which they have taken from
the land. Farmers- should likewise
understand the composition of the
soils of their farms, or they may incur
unnecessary expense in procuring
manures. Suppose, for example, that
a man's farm is not deficient in sul
phates, but lacks lime, and that in his
ignorance of its composition, he en
riches it with plaster of Paris. He of
course procures in this manner the
lime which he needs, but in a form
that renders it much . more expensive
'than if he had purchasedinerely the
lime he wanted.
In comparing our own agriculture
with that of Europe, there is probably
only one crop in which our trans-At
lantic-brethren do not excel us. That
is Indian corn, a crop whose value is
appreciated in Euyope, but the cli
mate does not permit its successful
culture there except in countries
where they don't know enough to
raise it. Having alluded to corn, I
will state my ideas of the manner in
which it ought to be cultivated. No
crop is aided more by deep plowing
and frequent stirring of the soil during
t he early stages of its growth.,
The ground should bo made very
rich, and the corn planted in strait
rows four feet apart - each way, for the
convenience of passing through in dif
ferent directions with plows and eul
tivators. While the soil should be
frequently stirred about it, it should
never be drawn up around the plant.
The old-fashioned method' of hoeing
corn, which I believe still prevails to
roaie.exteut, is the veriest waste of
labor; for it does no good. This
country has• expended two hundred
millions of dollars for nothing, in this
useless business of hoeing - corn. I
was myself brought up on a farm, and
in my early days have spent six weeks
.
in a season in draVving the 'earth
around corn with a hoe. Fortunately
for the crop, P was not a very good
-hand, at the business, and t did the
work poorly, A farmer should not
go into his cornfield' with a hoe till
about the first of August., •By :this
time the crop has attained such. a
size that he cannot go between the
rows with a cultivator, and it. is nee- ,
essary to use the hoe, but merely for:
the . purpose of. cutting away the
weeds. During this operation - the:
spaces between the rows should b
sown with turnip seed, and after - it is:
done the crop may. be left to tak
care of itself till after harvest, wheil
you may rely on a large return both
of corn and turnips. ,
Wri.—A. dispute arose. between
three noblemen, one Irish, one Scotcl
and the other English, as to the re
spective traits of 'their respective
countrymen.' A wager was laid tha ,
the Irish were the wittiest, the Seine's
Most cunning, and . the English mo
frank. They agreed to walk out
.1
the streets of London, and the first on.:
of either nation met, Should be inqui r
ed of as to what ho would take arid
stand watch all night iu the, tower 1.. .
St. Paul's church; pretty soon a Joli.i
Bull came along and • was accostej
thus:
"What will you tako, and stand
-all
night in the tower of St. Paul's
"I shouldn't want to do it short — a a
guinea, ho frankly answered.
The al xtt one accosted was a Scotc:i -
man, who answered with his cutinnin.;.
"And what will you give ine
Last, but not least, Patrick was in
quired of as to what be would tak-, 1
,and stand all night in the tower of St.
Paul's. To which Pat wittily answer
ed;
suro I think- I, should take 's
devil of a cold !" -
The wager was
A - KANSMI • VICTI st.—Rev. W. ll_
Wiley, who . was . recently expellel
front Missouri by a mob of slave-holl
ers, was in our city last Thured.!!
and Friday. Brothar Wiley is a na
tive of Baltimore; and went out ai
preacher from Maryland last fall, a I
labored successfUlly and peaceab" . .l
till July 26th, when a - gang of yillai34
invented a lie against bird and order.. I
him out of tho State. From him u
learn that the excitement in Misso.i
is rather on the increase than on el,
decrease. To show how nearly sore, -
of the pro-slavory-iteS had gone m
and in illustration of the absurd use
the word abolitionist, lie related as
anecdote of a very rich old alas--
holder, whose human goods were t;
numerous he didn't • know 'them •!I
when he saw them. This man wts
called upon to pay,his share - of a tat.
to defray the expense ofsending voters
to Kansas, which a public meeting
had resolved should b.e collected ol"
slave-holders in proportion to theilz
property, as it was to advance the
interests of the institution. In purs4--
once of the order
_of the meeting, 14.
man called upon this rich individual.
and demanded his tax.. When told
what it was for he refused to pay s it.
saying he wanted the Kansas peopl 3
to settle their own affairs as th
pleased. This sort of popular sover
eignty was not yvhat tire - canvas:l2r
bargained for, and he retorted by ac—
custng this owner of a thousand elev.:
of being an "abolitionist," "a nigg2r
thief."— TVest Clea. Advocate.
. STEWED, PARSNIPS.—Wash, pare,tn 1
cut them in slices; boil until soft, i a
just water enough to keep them fro
buiningl then stir in sweet milk ;
dredge in a little flour,. and let the is .
simmer fifteen minutes. This .s Et f.al
vorito dish with many persons. . •
GF'Neither wealth nor birth, but
mind only should be the aristocracy of
a free people.:
Or Holiness, the most lonely thin
that exists, is sadly unnoticed and un
known upon earth.
I Lowell, Massachusetts, atx..oril
ing to a census just taken, has. 33
000 inhabitants. •
FM
N0..21.