Chapter C: Original Correspondence (1)

FOR THE RURAL MAGAZINE.

The following is an extract of a letter from the late President Adams, to a friend of the editors. Any thing from the pen of this eminent and venerable man will be read with interest, and ought to be public property. The anecdote is characteristic, and the obvious moral influence to be deduced from it, will strike the mind of every attentive reader.

_Quincy, January_ 12th, 1820.

DEAR SIR.--I thank you for your New-Year's letter, &c. * * * * As agriculture is the nursing mother of us all, it cannot be too assiduously cultivated; nor is it likely to be too much honoured, while mercantile profits are so much greater, and military glory is esteemed the highest glory!

The "American"[1] is an able writer; but I wish he had avoided so many appearances of endeavouring to justify, or at least to apologize for slavery in general. His arguments _ad hominem_ from the Bible, reminded me of an anecdote, which as I am an old man, and as old age has a privilege to be talkative and narrative, I will attempt to relate: In the winter of '76, Mr. Paine's Common Sense and my Thoughts on Government, made their appearance in public, the one not long after the other. Common Sense recommended the Thoughts on Government; an organization in three distinct departments, as independent of each other as human beings can be;--the legislature to consist of three branches. Mr. Paine came flying to my apartment, to reproach me for publishing a monarchico, aristicratico, democratico system. He scolded violently, but I soothed him down by laughing at him in my turn. Paine, said I, how could you be such an abominable hypocrite, as to pretend to prove in your Common Sense from the Old Testament, that monarchy was not lawful by the word of GOD? This struck him dumb for a moment, but recovering himself, and shrugging his shoulders, and laughing, said, with great contempt; "I believe nothing of the Old Testament, nor the New neither;" and then pausing, said, "I have had thoughts of publishing my opinions upon religion, but upon the whole I have concluded to put _it_ off till the latter part of my life." This plan he consistently pursued.

[1] The author of a long letter to the "Edinburgh Reviewers,"
published in the National Intelligencer.

I am not sorry his bones are gone to England, to moulder in the soil where they grew; for I claim neither to myself or to my country, any honour from having once supported them.

I am, Sir, your obliged friend, and humble servant,

JOHN ADAMS.

FAMILIAR LETTERS

_From an Englishman in this country to his Friend at home._

(Communicated for the Rural Magazine.)

No. II.

_Philada. Sept. 16, 1819._

My Dear G.

You know how very apt persons are to form an opinion of other persons with whom accident or design makes them acquainted, either on the _very_ wise principles of Lavater, or the _still wiser_ principles of Doctor--what's his name--(I wish I could forget as easily the labour I lost in studying him)--who first conceived craniology. You know also that I had every predisposition to the study of both these abstruse sciences, and the consequent deductions; so you will not be much surprised when I tell you that I have employed the time that has elapsed since the date of my last, in observing the physiognomy of Philadelphia. I did this, before I trespassed on the good-will, the hospitality, or the politeness of any of its citizens. You will observe I am perfectly distinct in my classification, and I beg of you to remember this, when you peruse any of my rambling epistles hereafter. My letters would, I hope, have commanded the civil attention of any person to whom they were addressed, independent of any particular kindness to which the recommendation of our venerable Quaker friend D---- of London would on the principle of reciprocity entitle me. But before I penetrated like Asmodeus in "Le Diable Boiteaux," into the domestic circle, the parlour, the halls, the tables, or the toilettes, or (shall I say it) to the counter and the desk. I wished to see the roofs, at least, if I could not see through them. So for the last week I have been studying physiognomies. There can be no need of apology to you my friend, who, (Heaven be praised) have never had occasion to leave the precincts of your ancient patrimony for any thing but pleasure, for dilating on a city that so far as it regards myself, has hitherto been on a par with Herculaneum or Pompeia. Some manuscripts and some printed accounts I _have_ seen, but like those saved from the lava of Vesuvius, they were hardly worth unfolding. Indeed, I always pitied poor Sir Humphrey for so incomprehensible a task. He had better have staid at home, and made experiments in separating the brick and mortar from the old ruins lord L---- boasts of having been in his family, at the smallest calculation from William Rufus. I do wonder what it could have been that the ancients took such care of.

Well--I have _seen_ Philadelphia.--And if it were not for the dull monotony of its right angles--the wide streets that throw such an immense space between your lodgings and any desired object--the want of all the cries I have been used to in all the popular cities I have frequented, except, indeed, the solitary halloo of a _sweep_, (and then only before one gets up in a morning) and the everlasting _gong_ that wakes me from my sweetest slumber, and dreams of home, with all its indefinable attractions, I would say that Philadelphia was a very decent, orderly, well arranged, and handsome city. But give me Hogarth's line of beauty; I hate your everlasting parallels that run together to infinity, and never unite. By the way I am told that I shall be amply gratified in this respect in New York and Boston. There is only one street in this city, called Dock street, that is entitled to any claim to my fancy; and that is too broad, and nobody lives in it--all shops and warehouses.

The weather is remarkably fine,--every body complains of a want of rain:--for my part I must confess I had enough at home; and if I must find fault with the climate, it is too hot. Yet I do not find the lassitude I expected, consequent on exercise in the open air. Notwithstanding a mid-day sun, that in England we should have thought intolerable, a young gentleman with whom I formed an acquaintance at our excellent hotel, prevailed upon me to take a promenade along the Philadelphia Bond street, which here is denominated Chesnut street. We saw some mansions that would not have disgraced one of our fashionable squares;--some ladies that would have honoured the very first equipage that sports in Hyde Park. Only a few could boast of our Saxon complexion; but their forms were cast in a superior mould;--this I apprehend is aboriginal--and although I cannot learn that any are willing to acknowledge their derivation from the native Indians, several circumstances induce me to believe there has been a greater mixture with the first occupants of this vast continent than has been generally supposed. But more of this hereafter--if in my contemplated visit next summer to the falls of Niagara, I should meet with some of the _deer_ skinned heroes and heroines of this western hemisphere. I have laid all those of the sock and buskin on the shelf, and am enthusiast enough to expect perfection among the savages of North America. Why should I not? Through all the obloquy that has been thrown upon them by their ruthless despoilers,

"More savage still than they,"

through all that inveteracy of feeling which those who injure universally entertain--and "they who injure never pardon," you may still find a confession, or rather an admission of their virtues and their talents, of their magnanimity of character, and their elevation of soul. Not merely that indifference to privation and bodily suffering which we have been taught, was characteristic of savage life, but in spite of the natural principle of retaliation and revenge, (and I will maintain that it is a natural principle) they have evinced that virtue which the Bible has never taught many of us who have had access to it--_forgiveness of our enemies_.

Do not, however, think that I have lost myself in the interminable forests which still remain to the original proprietors of this continent--or that I have assumed the rifle and the moccasin. I should even prefer taking up my residence in this place which you know we have always considered one of the advanced posts in the march of civilization. It is true I have not yet descended from the roofs as aforesaid, to see what kind of an animal a Philadelphian really is in his own family circle, and shall have to defer a picture of this non-descript till opportunity of observation occurs. I have as yet seen only the outside. I have seen the Pennsylvania hospital externally; I have seen the figure of old William Penn standing like a good old fashioned broad brimmed sentinel before the door of the edifice, like all sentries exposed to the wind and the weather, with his head as it were drooping over the fine hot-house plants that surround him. But a bronze statue of the old gentleman I must confess seemed rather _outre_, although he richly deserved an equipment in that same costume from the perseverance which history tells us he evinced in the strife with the bailiffs that beset him in our old island. But let that pass; I would consent to be surrounded by tipstaves all my life to leave such a character as he did behind.--I have seen the Academy of Fine Arts, most modestly retiring from public view, behind a range of buildings that some of the cits have unconscionably erected on the front of the street, thus clearly evincing their disposition, to use the words of my Chesnut street friend, to throw the fine arts in the _back ground_. By the way the good people here are said to be (by the New Yorkers at least) most intolerably given to _punning_, and I must admit that some of the gentlemen who attend our excellent ordinary, have put off a few attempts at that vile species of wit, of a most contemptible character. I should, however, be very sorry to pass an opinion on the whole genus by the few specimens I have seen. Philadelphia is really a very handsome city; yet to take a panoramic view of it, _you_ would be exceedingly disappointed. There are no steeples, or rather there is _one_, and that a very decent one--the architecture of which is by no means contemptible; but then there is _but one_ steeple in a city of upwards of fifteen thousand houses, principally constructed of brick. If there were only a standard or ensign appended to its spire, which is about 200 feet from the ground, and that standard in proportion to its height, this goodly town would look like one grand encampment. Few of the houses exceed three stories, of about ten or twelve feet each. The city is however, flanked by two shot towers, one in the southeast, the other in the northwestern extremity; which afford some relief to the dead uniformity in the general aspect of the town. How successful the proprietors of these said towers may have been in the pursuit of their vocation, I know not; but for ornament to this place, I would not give one steeple, like that which is bottomed in the good old diocesan episcopal church for a thousand of them.

You see I have obeyed the injunction laid on me at parting, to express every thing as it presented itself to my observation, but in nothing can you find more sincerity of feeling than when I assure you neither time nor distance has diminished the warmth of affection with which I continue to be your friend.

_Treatise on Agriculture._

SECT. II.

Of the actual state of Agriculture in Europe.

This is very different in different states, and even in different parts of the same state; its greater or less degree of perfection, depending on causes physical, or political, or both. Where a state, or part of a state, from _soil_, _climate_, _manners_, or _geographical position_, draws its principal subsistence from the fishery or the chase, as in the more northern parts of Europe, agriculture will not succeed; when a state is from any cause both essentially maritime or manufacturing, as in England, or principally manufacturing, as in Prussia; where public opinion has degraded manual labour, as in Spain, Portugal, and the Papal territory; or where laws villainize it, as in Russia, Prussia, Poland, Hungary, &c. &c. it is in vain to expect pre-eminent agriculture.--These principles will receive illustration as we go along.

1. In the Campania of Rome, where in the time of Pliny were counted twenty-three cities, the traveller is now astonished and depressed at the silence and desolation that surround him.--Even from Rome to Trescati, (four leagues of road the most frequented) we find only an arid plain, without trees, without meadows, natural or artificial, and without villages, or other habitation of man! Yet is this wretchedness not the fault of soil or climate, which (with little alteration[2]) continue to be what they were in the days of Augustus. "_Man is the only growth that dwindles here_," and to his deficient or ill directed industry, are owing all the calamities of the scene.[3] Instead of the hardy and masculine labours of the field; the successors of Cato and of Pliny employ themselves in fabricating _sacred vases, hair powders and pomatums, artificial pearls, fiddle strings, embroidered gloves, and religious relics_! They are also great collectors of pictures, statues, and medals--"dirty gods and coins," and find an ample reward in the ignorance and credulity of those who buy them.

[2] The climate of Italy is now warmer than it was in the Augustan
age, which Buffon ascribes to the draining of great tracts of swampy
lands in Germany.

[3] "Un Romain meme le plus indigent rougiroit de cultiver la
terre." Bosc.

2. How different from this picture is that of _Tuscany_! where the soil, though less fertile,[4] is covered with grains, with vines, and with cattle; and where a surface of 1200 square leagues, subsists a population of nine hundred and fifty thousand inhabitants, of whom eighty thousand are agriculturists. It may amuse, if it does not instruct, the reader, to offer a few details of a husbandry, among the most distinguished of the present age. The plough of the north of Europe, as of this country, has the powers of a wedge, and acts perpendicularly; but that of Tuscany resembles a shovel, is eight or nine inches long, and nearly as broad, and cuts the earth horizontally. This instrument is particularly adapted to the loose and friable texture of the soil. A second plough, of the same shape, but of smaller size, follows that already described, and with the aid of the hoe and the spade,[5] throws the earth, already broken and pulverised, into four feet ridges, or beds, on which the crop is sown. The furrows answer a threefold purpose; they drain the beds of excessive moisture, ventilate the growing crops, and supply paths for the weeders.

[4] "Two thirds of Tuscany consist of mountains." Vol. viii. p. 232.
_Geographic, Mathematique et Phisique_: See also Forsyth's remarks,
p. 80, where are detailed the principal causes of her prosperity.
"Leopold," says he, "in selling the crown lands, studiously _divided
large tracts_ of rich but neglected land, into _small properties_.
His favourite plan of encouraging agriculture consisted, not in
_boards_, _societies_, and _premiums_, but in giving _the labourer
a security and interest in the soil_--in multiplying small
freeholders--in extending the livelli, or life leases, &c. &c.

[5] It is among the most important covenants of a Tuscan lease, that
one third of the ground be annually worked with a spade.

The _rotation of crops_, employs two periods of different length; the one of three, the other of five years. In the rotation of _three_ years, the ground is sown five times, and in that of four years, seven times, as follows.

First year, wheat, and after wheat lupins.

Second year wheat, and after wheat turnips.

Third year, Indian corn or millet.

First year, wheat, and after wheat beans.

Second year, wheat, and after wheat lupins.

Third year, wheat, and after wheat lupinella: (annual clover.)

Fourth year, Indian corn, or millet.

In the _Syanese Maremna_, where the lands want neither repose or manure, the constant alternation is _hemp_ and _wheat_, and the produce of the latter, often twenty-four bushels threshed, for one sown.

It will be seen from this course of crops, that the principal object of Tuscan agriculture, is wheat, of which they have two species, the one bald, the other bearded; both larger than the corresponding species in other countries of Europe; convertible into excellent bread and pastes, and probably but varieties of that _Sicilian family_, which Pliny describes, as yielding "_most flour_ and _least bran_, and _suffering no degradation from time_." It is harvested about the middle of June and when the grain crop is secured, the ploughing for the second, or forage crop, begins; which besides lupins, lupinella, and beans, often consists of a mixture of lupins, turnips, and flax. The lupins ripen first and are gathered in autumn; the turnips are drawn in the winter and the flax in the spring.

Besides the application of _ordinary manures_, the lupin is ploughed down, _when in flower_; a practice that began with the Romans: Columella says, "of all leguminous vegetables, the _lupin_ is that which most merits attention, because it costs least, employs least time and furnishes an _excellent manure_." The culture of this vegetable is different, according to the purposes for which it is raised; if for grain, the ground has two ploughings and twenty-five pounds weight of seed to a square of a hundred toises: if for manure, one ploughing is sufficient. Like our buckwheat, its vegetation is quick and its growth rapid; whence the farther advantage of suppressing, and even of destroying the weeds that would have infested any other crop. In the neighbourhood of Florence, they are in the practice of _burning the soil_; which they do by digging holes, filling them with faggots and raising the earth into mounds over them.--The faggots are then inflamed and burnt, and with them the incumbent earth, which is afterwards scattered, so as to give the whole field the same preparation.

3d. "The countries," says Arthur Young, "the most rich and flourishing of Europe, in proportion to their extent, are probably _Piedmont_ and the _Milanese_. We there meet all the signs of prosperity--an active and well conditioned population, great exportations, considerable interior consumption, superb roads, many opulent towns, a ready and abundant circulation, the interest of money low, the price of labour high; in one word, it is impossible to cite a single fact that shews that Manchester, Birmingham, Rouen, and Lyons, are in a condition equally prosperous, as the whole of these Dutchies." Their population is stated at "1,114,000, and the territory at little more than two millions of arpents, (acres.) Wheat, rye, indian corn, flax and hemp, the vine and the olive, the caper and the cotton tree, with all kinds of garden fruits and vegetables, are cultivated here: the soil knows no repose, and much of it yields annually and uniformly two crops of grain, or three of grass."[6] These are the miracles of irrigation; not a drop of water is lost. Besides the permanent supplies furnished from lakes, ponds, rivers, creeks and springs, even the winter torrent and summer shower, are every where intercepted by drains, and led to reservoirs; whence they are distributed at will to the neighbouring grounds.

[6] Geographic, Mathematique, &c. Article Italie.

In 1770, an agricultural school was established at Milan, consisting of 220 boys, who were instructed in theoretical and practical husbandry.--This institution has escaped the notice of travellers; and we are unable to say whether it has or has not, fulfilled the intentions of its projectors.

4. _Switzerland_ has about 1444 square leagues of surface, and presents an assemblage of mountains, one rising above another, until the summits are lost in masses of snow and ice, which never melt. This short description sufficiently indicates the character of both the soil and the climate; yet unpropitious as these are, we find a population of 1242 inhabitants to each square league! "This is perhaps the country of the world, which presents the most happy effects of an industry always active and persevering. The traveller who climbs her mountains, is struck with admiration when he beholds vineyards and rich pastures in those places, which before appeared naked and barren rocks. The traces of the plough are perceived on the border of precipices, where the most savage animals do not pass without danger; in one word the inhabitants appear to have conquered all obstacles, whether arising from soil, position or climate and to have drawn abundance from territory, condemned by nature to perpetual sterility."[7]

[7] Idem. Article Helvetia.

5. The classical reader will remember, that _Spain_ was the garden of the Hesperides of the Roman writers; by which was meant the combinations of a fine climate, a rich soil and an active and intelligent agriculture. To this state of things, even the empire of the Goths was not fatal,[8] and that of the Moors rendered it still more distinguished. In their hands, the plains of Valentia were cultivated throughout, with the utmost care and skill; and where their wheels, reservoirs, and drains of irrigation, yet remain, the soil continues to yield the richest and most abundant products. In Catalonia, Navarre, Galitia and the Austurias, many species of the ancient agriculture are yet in vigour, because "the _leases are long_, and the _landlord cannot capriciously violate them_." The same causes are followed by the same effects, in the three districts of Biscaya, Guiposcoa and Alava. "In running over these, every thing one finds is animated by the presence of liberty and industry; nothing can be more charming than the coasts, nothing more attractive than the culture of the vallies. Throughout the thirty leagues that separate Bedassod from Vittoria, every quarter of an hour we discover some well built village, or comfortable cottage."[9]

[8] It appears from Varro _Dere rustica_ and the letters of
Cassiodorus, that the Goths introduced into Spain the subterranean
granaries, called _Siilos_, and the _art of irrigation_. The former
are now exclusively used in Tuscany, and Cato's precept, 'Prata
irrigua,' &c. shews whence their knowledge of the latter was derived.

[9] Burgoing's modern Spain, vol. i.

How different is the aspect of the other provinces! In these, not more than two thirds of the earth are cultivated; and "it is not uncommon to travel eight and ten leagues together, without finding a trace of human industry. In the district of Badejoz alone, is a desert of twenty-six leagues in length and twelve in breadth.[10] Ten of the fourteen leagues that traverse the duchy of Medina Sidonia, consist altogether of pasturage. There is no where a vestige of man; not an orchard, not a garden, not a ditch, not a cottage to be seen! The great proprietor appears to reign, like the lion in the desert, repulsing by his roaring all who would approach him. But, instead of human colonies, we encounter troops of horned cattle and of _mares_, wandering, self directed, over plains, to which the eye can discover no boundary or barrier, and which brings to one's recollection the days when the beasts shared with man the empire of the earth."[11]

[10] Borde's Hineraira de l'Espagne, vol. iv. p. 30.

[11] Burgoing. Spain has been long renowned for its horses. The
Romans, in settling their pedigree and illustrating their swiftness,
called them '_the children of the winds_.'

"Even when the plough is used, it is little more than a great knife fastened to a stick, that just scratches the surface. The grain is threshed by horses, or mules driven over it, of by means of a plank studded with nails or flint stones and drawn across it. With even this miserable culture, the land in Andalusia yields considerable crops; yet are the inhabitants too lazy or too few to gather them together. This is done by Galiegos, who are the labourers of Spain." We need scarcely remark, that in a state of agriculture like this, the peasantry cannot be either well fed or well clothed. "The mountaineers live principally upon roasted acorns and goats' milk, and those of the plain (from Barcelona to Malaga) on bread steeped with oil, and occasionally seasoned with vinegar."[12]

[12] Swinburne's Travels, Vol. I. A Spanish peasant, who has earned
or begged enough for the wants of the day, will refuse to earn more,
even by running an errand. Striking as this fact is, it does not so
well illustrate Spanish indolence as the following anecdote from the
same pen. In the great sedition at Madrid, which ended in the defeat
of the king and the disgrace of his minister, (the Marquis des
Squillas) and in its most fervid moments, both parties retired about
dinner time to take their _nap_ or _meridiana_, after which they
returned to the combat with new vigour and enraged fury. If _habits_
can thus control the _passions_, to what important uses might not a
wise legislation turn them?

It is wide of our object to examine the causes of the degradation of character, which marks the agriculture of Spain. Well informed writers have ascribed it to the expulsion of the Moors and Jews, to the weight of taxes and imposts, to the _mesta_ or common right of pasturage, to the discovery of America and its consequences, to the effect of climate and the ill judged charity of bishops and convents, but principally to the great _manorial grants_ and _unequal division_ of the soil, which followed the conquest. "We often find six, eight, ten, and even fifteen leagues of extent belonging to one master. The nobility and clergy possess nearly the whole country. One third of Spain belongs to the families of Medina, Celi, D'Alva, De l'Infatado, D'Aceda, and to the archbishops, bishops and chapters of Toledo, Compostella, Valentia, Seville and Murcia. A great proportion of these lands remain untilled and untenanted, and those which are let in _Cortijo_ or farms are double or treble the quantity that can be occupied in tillage."[13]

[13] Le Borde's Heneraire D'Espagne, Vol. 1.

6. The agriculture of _Portugal_, has been subjected to the same evils as that of Spain, to which may be superadded, her connexion with Great Britain; under whose policy she has become a raiser of _fruit_ instead of _grain_.

7. _France_ is probably the country of Europe, which most unites the great desiderata of an extended and profitable agriculture; fertility of soil, mildness of climate, a dense population, an enlightened government, and facility of exportation. Within her ancient limits, she boasts of a surface of more than one hundred and fifteen millions of arpents, and a population of twenty-two millions of inhabitants. The following tables will shew, in a compressed form, the nature of her soil, and the use to which it is put.[14]

[14] See Geographique, &c. Vol. VI. Art. _France_, p. 13, and
Young's tour through France.

GEOLOGICAL TABLE.

Arpents or Acres.
Alluvial and other rich soil, 26,159,340
Chalky do 13,268,911
Gravelly do 3,261,826
Stony do 18,128,660
Sandy do 7,553,956
Substratum of clay with a slight
covering of sand--called
_landes_, 21,879,120
Granitic and other mountains 25,261,946

AGRICULTURAL TABLES.

Arable land 63,600,000
Vineyards, 4,764,960
Woods, 15,931,850
Natural meadows, 5,464,800
Artificial meadows, 6,332,100
Lakes, marshes, wastes, 19,400,049
-----------
Total, 115,493,759

From the average of a number of statistical tables made by the Abbe D'Expillyt and others, it appears that in 1777, the agriculture of France was sufficient for the subsistence of its inhabitants, and had a surplus to spare;[15] and though it be universally admitted that her condition in this respect is not less prosperous _now_ than it was _then_,[16] still it cannot be dissembled that her husbandry has many defects.

[15] The products of agricultural labour, were, in these tables,
stated at 114,552,000 L. T. Those of manufacturing labour at
128,015,000.

[16] The effects of the revolution of 1789 on _agriculture_ are no
longer doubtful. The suppression of _tythes_--of the _exclusive
privilege_--of the _chase_--of every species of _corvee_ (labour
performed by tenants for landlords)--of _taxes_ or _rents_, and of
_rights_ of _commonage_--was among these effects; and if to these
we add the _division_ of the _great landed estates of the nobility
and clergy_, there can no longer be any scepticism on this point. No
truth is better established than the advantage of _small_ farms over
_great_, as far as the _public_ is concerned. The Roman latifundia
(military grants) destroyed Roman agriculture.

1. A supposed resemblance between the earth and animals, gave rise to _fallows_; because men and horses required repose after _labour_, it was supposed that after _cropping_, the earth also required it. Faithful to this absurd analogy, the French landlord binds down his tenent by lease, not to crop the soil more than _three_ years in _four_, which in effect is to consign to barrenness or weeds, one fourth of the whole arable land of France yearly!

2. There is not a sufficiently fixed, or steady proportion, between _arable_ and _pasture_ land.--The production of grain is the great object of culture--often with too little regard to the nature of the soil, and generally without any to its improvement. "Where pasturage is scanty, where natural meadows are bad, where artificial are rare, and root husbandry little extended, cattle cannot be either numerous or well conditioned; and as without these there can be no manure, so without manure there can be no abundance."[17]

[17] Herbin's statistique Gen. de la France Vol. I. introduc.

3. The land is generally worked by _farmers, hired for that purpose, or by renters on short leases_; which in neither case betters the condition of the soil; the one having no interest in improvements, and the other too small a one to justify any expense in making them.

4. A _good rotation system_, adapted to the soil and climate, is not absolutely unknown, and may be found even in whole districts (as in French Flanders) but much too rarely. We have seen _wheat_ and _fallows_ alternately for years; and _wheat_, _rye_, _hemp_, and _rye_, and many others equally ridiculous.

5. To the eye, more than one half of France is a common, without fences of any kind, excepting garden or park walls. Can there be order, economy and security, under such circumstances? Can the _police_ and the _gens d'armes_ be sufficient substitutes?

[_Albany Argus._

(To be continued.)

_The Moral Plough Boy._

In that volume whose morality is as sound, as the religion, it inculcates is celestial; and which is in fact an inexhaustible source of human wisdom, as well as a pure and incorruptible fountain of divine light; we are taught to "_despise not the day of small things_."

How much better off than they are, would thousands of their countrymen be at this moment, had this injunction never failed of its proper effect upon their conduct! If they had constantly cherished it in their recollection and carried it into practice in their daily occupations. But to contemplate the past or the present is needless, if it be not with a view to awaken the soul not only to a proper train of reflection, but to a salutary system of practice for the future.

If we had not "_despised the day of small things_," and sought too eagerly after brilliant speculations and splendid fortunes, thousands of us might now be blessed with ease and competence, and still animated by a sober and useful spirit of industry, who are, on the contrary, plunged into embarrasment, stripped of our property, and paralyzed in our energies.

We began the world with fair prospects, and we thought, at the same time with firm resolutions not to blast them by seeking too eagerly after _fairer_ ones; but man is rarely contented with what is simply good or bright; he must have something _better_ and _brighter_. There is always some tree whose fruit is forbidden, or beyond his reach, but of which he cannot rest easy till he has tasted. He can never think of resting upon the clear declivity, whilst the "cloud-capped" summit is above him, veiling something which he has not seen, and which may be, as he is apt to imagine, a pleasing, a valuable or a wonderful discovery.

Thus it is that we always reject the good within our grasp, in the delusive hope of grasping something better beyond it; that we lose sight of the content and happiness which are to-day within our reach; and look to the morrow to bring forth that which will satisfy our desires, and cause us to rejoice in our existence. But the morrow comes, our anticipations are not realized, and we vainly regret that we had not enjoyed the day before, as we might have done, without trusting to a deceitful futurity.

We aim to inculcate moderation in the desire of wealth, or of any other acquisition which is supposed to contribute to human happiness, combined with a steady, industrious and persevering attention to the means of obtaining what we desire. To this end, we must not "_despise the day of small things_;" but must set out in every undertaking with a determination to take advantage of the most trivial, as well as the most important circumstance, calculated to favour our designs. We must watch with the eyes of an _Argus_ for Opportunity, never forgetting, that she is bald behind, and must therefore be caught by the forelock, if caught at all. When once she turns her back upon us, she is soon out of sight, and we vainly attempt to overtake her. She mocks at our folly, and leaves us to brood, in hopeless amazement, over our own blindness and imbecility.

But who are they that "_despise the day of small things_?" They are too numerous for description in a brief essay; but we shall point out a few, and leave the reader's imagination to enlarge the catalogue.

The MECHANIC who puts off a small job, as unworthy of his attention, because he happens to have a larger one on hand; without stopping to reflect, that small streams are more numerous than large ones; that the former continually supply the latter; and that by a steady succession of small jobs, he may acquire a capital to execute large ones upon his own account.

The MERCHANT who will sit behind his counter with a segar in his mouth, and think it derogatory to his dignity to reply to a demand for a shilling's worth of any thing. Such "_small things_" are too insignificant for this man of smoke; and consequently when those who call for them, and find themselves neglected, have occasion to make a _large_ purchase, they go to him, who will not only lay down his segar, but leave his dinner, if required to wait upon them in ever so small a way.

The PHYSICIAN, who passes by the the poor man's door hardly stopping to give a hasty prescription, although he never fails to loiter in the sick rooms of the rich and the powerful, till his sycophancy becomes as disgusting to the mind, as his medicine is nauseating to the stomach of his patient.

The LAWYER who turns a deaf ear to an honest client with but _five_ dollars in his pocket; but is quick of hearing when accosted by a party with a _fifty dollar bill_, and not over scrupulous either about the justice of the cause.

The CLERGYMAN--and what shall we say of the Clergyman, who "_despises the day of small things_;" who forsakes and forgets the poor, but pious flock, which first cherished him, to gratify his pride and ambition, and acquire those robes and riches which moths may corrupt and thieves may steal; and who is so eager withal to make converts, that he does not stop to be satisfied that conversion is the offspring of conviction, forgetting how much joy there is in Heaven over one sinner that truly repenteth; and that the hope of the hypocrite shall perish for-ever!

The FARMER who clears more land than he can cultivate to advantage, destroying the present and preventing the future growth of timber to no purpose; who keeps his produce on hand, when he can get a good and saving price, in hopes it may rise; who sells it at last for less than he could have had at first; and who is not as grateful to God for a scanty harvest, as he is for a plentiful one.

We might enlarge the catalogue of those, who, by "_despising the day of small things_," never arrive at that of great ones; but we do not wish to tire the reader with a tedious essay, when a light and pleasant one is our aim.

There is, however, one precious delinquent, in whose soul we would gladly awaken those moral energies which alone can save it from eventual ruin; from the tortures of self condemnation, the contempt of mankind, and the horrors of despair.

We mean the YOUNG STUDENT of GENIUS, who consumes the vigour of his youth in the haunts of vice and infamy--who despises the minutia of his profession, whatever it may be, and wantonly neglects his daily studies for the _present_, in pursuit of pleasure, intending, perhaps, to make great and rapid strides at a _future_ time--but when that time arrives may find his former neglect and dissipation have destroyed the energies of his mind, and left it like a sieve, incapable of containing any thing but dregs! In this case the ruin is indeed a melancholy one; for instead of being "led, through paths of glory, to the grave," the stews and the state prison are too often the pathways of such a youth to that closing scene; and his _hic jacet_ may be found, if found at all, in the _Potter's field_, that last receptacle of the dregs of humanity! Think of this, ye giddy, ye thoughtless young men, who are squandering your precious moments in idleness and vice, dishonouring yourselves, disgusting your friends, disappointing the expectations of your country, breaking the hearts of your fond parents, and bringing their "grey hairs with sorrow to the grave!" How bitter will be your feelings, when you are driven to reflect, as you finally must be, and perhaps at the foot of the gallows, that by your folly and wickedness, you have not only sealed your own ruin, but madly

"Steep'd a mother's couch in tears,
"And ting'd a father's glowing cheek with shame!"

Many of those giddy young men, to whom these remarks apply, may perhaps sneer at the idea of being brought up at last, in their mad career, by the arm of the public executioner. But let them turn, in some hour of solitude, if such hours ever bless them with the sweets of calm reflection, to the pages of the _Criminal Recorder_! They will there find, that from GEORGE BARNWELL, down to JAMES HAMILTON, those who have died upon the gallows have not always plunged at once into the depths of depravity; but have gone on, step by step, from slight deviations to serious ones, till they have lost all sense of shame, and become rebels to God as well as man. In this degraded state of their souls, they have not stopt at the brothel, the cock-pit, or the gambling table; but urged by the demons of hell, they have wantonly seized the dagger of assassination, and bathed it in the blood of innocence! thus closing their criminal career by a deed of desperation.

H. H. jr.

Mr. Nicholson's Prize Essay.

_On a Rotation of Crops, and the most profitable mode of
collecting, preserving, and applying Manures._

(Communicated to the Albany County Agricultural Society.)

[CONTINUED.]

In the spring of the third year, we propose to sow the ground with barley, after two or three ploughings--seed, two and a half bushels to the acre. At the same time also, give the ground at least 12 pounds of red clover seed to the acre, which may be carefully mixed with the barley, and sown together. Harrow the ground before sowing, and harrow in the seed, after it has been prepared in the manner before directed; then, if the farmer is in possession of the roller, let this be passed over the ground, particularly if it be somewhat dry; for, in such case, barley, being covered with a husk, requires a close envelopement with earth, in order that the progress of its germination be not either partially or wholly retarded. Next spring give the ground a top dressing of gypsum, of from one to two bushels to the acre, as circumstances may seem to require.--Two clover crops are to be expected this season. The next, either one or two may be taken, according to the climate, but usually one only in more northerly regions; and in this case let the second growth be laid prostrate, by the roller passing over it in the same direction in which the plough is to follow, in order that the growth may be carefully turned under, which will form an excellent lay for winter wheat, or for rye, if the climate is not adapted to the growth of the former crop. In suitable climates, wheat will succeed on a good clover lay even on light sandy lands. It is believed, however, that the species of wheat which is considerably cultivated in Pennsylvania, called spelt, (_triticum spelta_) may be successfully cultivated in any part of the northern states where wheat of the common sorts do not flourish.--When the sward has thus been turned under, let the surface be levelled by running the harrow lightly over it, in the same direction in which the plough runs, and then cover the seed with the harrow, run in a similar direction. Let the seed wheat be prepared in the manner before described, and let it be free from any mixture of rye, or the seeds of cockle, or other weeds. Next spring give the ground another top dressing of gypsum, in order that a growth of white clover may rise after harvest, as this will afford considerable fall feed, and a fresh sward to be turned under in the latter part of the fall, the effect of which will be explained when speaking of manures, &c.

Thus our rotation requires six seasons for its completion, and is composed of six or more different and successive crops. In exhibiting our plan, we intend it merely as an outline of what we deem at least one of the best and most profitable systems of culture that can be pursued in good arable lands, where all obstructions to the most complete culture have been removed.--Other courses may probably be devised which may be as good, but we feel confident there can be none better. We consider this rotation as comprehending a sufficient variety of crops for every purpose of affording the land rest by changes; and although a course of rotation might be made to include a greater variety of crops, still the profits of them in the aggregate, would probably be less than in the plan we propose. We insist much on the culture of root crops for the greatest possible profits. In some instances the growths of roots and vines we propose, as well as of the grain crops, might be substituted for others, and sometimes, for the sake of further variety of growths, particularly of roots, it might be advisable; all this must, however, depend on the soil, and on other circumstances. If the soil be rich and deep, perhaps the mangel wurzel, should have a preference to the common turnip, and the pumpkin, in the first years crop, and perhaps in such soil the cabbage culture should sometimes come in for a share.

We should hardly advise that crops of carrots or of parsnips should ever enter the list of a general rotation of crops, as they require peculiar soils, and uncommon preparation. They are very valuable crops for particular purposes, but their uses for feeding and fatting cattle seem to be in a great measure superseded by the less expensive culture of the crops before-mentioned. There are, however some mellow fertile soils, of sandy texture, where these roots, particularly carrots, may be cultivated with great advantage. A very serious objection to the culture of parsnips is, that in the soils most suitable for them they extend so deeply that their extraction from the earth is a matter of no small difficulty.

In recommending the alternate culture of the pumpkin with the corn crop, we have been influenced by two considerations; firstly, from an account we have lately seen of a trial made of the culture of the large sort of pumpkin by itself, in which at the rate of 25 tons to the acre were raised; and, secondly we are of opinion that in cultivating the crop in the way we propose, nearly as great a product may be obtained as if the ground were planted entirely with this crop.--Growing in drills by itself it will not impede the growth of the corn, nor do we conceive that this crop will be injured by the extension of the pumpkin vines over the ground; whereas if the two crops were planted together in the same hills, or drills, as is commonly practised, the growth of the one must, in a great measure, serve to rob the other of its due share of nutriment. The large sort of pumpkin, to which we have reference, has been raised of the weight of upwards of 150 pounds, but it is probably less nutritious, because less sweet, than pumpkins of the common sorts. Another large sort, which we have seen exhibited in this county, of more than four feet in length, is probably entitled to a preference for culture, as it appears to be as sweet as pumpkins of the smaller kinds.

In selecting seed for the pumpkin crop, take such plants as bear the greatest weight of pumpkins, and from the largest of these let the seed be preserved.

We have next to speak of the rotations proper for clayey lands, or those which have more or less alumin in their composition. Lands of this description are various, as well in regard to their natural fertility, as to their being more or less inclined to a superabundance of moisture. Some are naturally too wet for cultivating even grain crops with success, and should therefore be kept for mowing and grazing lands. Some again may be merely too wet for crops of winter grain, and in such case spring crops should be substituted, while at the same time the lands should be more applied to the business of the dairy, and of the grazier. In the mean time, let the possessor of lands which are naturally too wet, proceed to laying at least a part of them dry, by hollow drains; and then by making his barn dung principally into heaps of compost, in which lime and sand shall be considerably used as additional ingredients, and applying such compost manure to the drilled crops before-mentioned, and in the manner before directed, he will find no difficulty whatever in pursuing the course of crops we have recommended, nor of raising them of luxuriant growth. Where clayey lands are naturally dry enough for winter crops, we advise to a similar course of crops, with the manure prepared and used in a similar manner. In all stiff soils, however, an important point in husbandry, is to keep the ground, while under a course of crops, in a mellow crumbly state; and for this purpose nothing is more conducive than frequent deep ploughings, and raising the ground into high narrow ridges, as well to lie in that state during winter, as for the culture of all the drilled crops in particular. The ridges are to be formed by four gathering furrows, and in cleaving the ridges down new ones are formed with the middle or highest part of each where the last furrows were of the former ridges. When, therefore, the manure is to be used for the drilled crop, it is to be laid in the furrows, between the ridges, and then covered over with two gathering furrows run on each side, and thus the beds or ridges for the crop prepared.

If, however, it should still be found that some clays, even with this management for the purpose of ameliorating them, should still be found unsuitable for Indian corn, and for the turnip and ruta baga crops, we can only advise that, for the former, the Windsor bean, and for the two latter the mangle wurzel and the cabbage crop, be made substitutes. The Windsor bean is considerably cultivated in the clay lands of Great Britain; and Mr. Deane, in his Farmer's Dictionary, says its growth on such lands in this country is luxuriant. Perhaps in place of this species of the bean, another, which is cultivated in the southern states, and is there called the cow pea, should be prefered.

It should be further observed, that gypsum, when applied as a top dressing to clay lands, particularly those which are too wet, has but very little effect; but when they are laid dry by hollow drains, and thrown into ridges as before-mentioned, the effect of this manure upon them is nearly the same as in other dry arable lands.--And as we conceive it essentially necessary that all clay lands which are to be cultivated for spring crops, as well as all other soils which are naturally too wet, should lie in ridges during the winter, we advise that, at the beginning of the rotation we have mentioned, such lands have a second ploughing in the fall, for the purpose of being laid in such ridges. When thus laid they are easily reduced to a mellow state in the spring; but if this be neglected, they will usually be found, more or less, in hard baked clods, a state very unfit for good cultivation.

In Great Britain it is found essentially requisite that clay lands should be effectually summer fallowed as often as every sixth year; as well for the purpose of extirpating growths of weeds, as for mellowing the soil, and rendering it more lively. A fallowing there is performed by many repeated ploughings and harrowings during the summer. But it should be remembered that the climate of that country is very different from this. Their wheat harvest is in autumn, their summers being wet and cool. Here we have time after the harvest is over to cleanse and enliven the soil by repeated ploughings and harrowings.

On hard gravelly lands, which are unfit for any crops of roots, except perhaps potatoes, no very extensive rotation can be had to advantage without plentiful manuring. Gypsum has a powerful effect on such lands, and with the aid of this manure alone even the poorest of gravels may be made to yield good crops of buckwheat and of red clover; and on a lay of this latter crop turned under, a tolerable good crop of rye may be had. St. Foin, and some other tap rooted grasses, flourish in such soils better than might be expected. Gravelly lands require very deep and frequent ploughings, in order to make them sufficiently retentive of moisture. They are usually much assisted by compost manures where clay, mud, upland marl, &c. form a considerable share of the ingredients. But as there are different degrees of fertility in gravelly lands, according to the nature of the gravel, and its greater or less predominance in the soil, we can lay down no definite course of crops that in all cases would be found most advisable. Say, however, that with effectual deep ploughings, and plenty of suitable manure for the drills, the first crop shall be Indian corn, intermixed with the potato and the pumpkin growths, as before-mentioned; next spring, oats, or barley, if the ground will answer for this crop. As soon as this crop comes off, turn the stubble under, and harrow in buckwheat for a green dressing, in the manner mentioned in treating of manures, and on this growth, turned under, sow rye, if the ground is too gravelly for wheat. Sow the clover seed the next spring, in the quantity before-mentioned, and then harrow the ground, which will serve the purpose of covering the seed, and also of assisting the growth of the crop of wheat, or rye, as the case may be. The advantage derived from harrowing these crops in the spring has been well ascertained by experiment. After the second year's growth of clover has been fed or mowed off, turn over the ground in the fall to commence the rotation anew.

When we speak of gravelly lands, we do not mean to include those which are, properly speaking gravelly loams; for soils of this description are generally well fitted for the rotation first mentioned. By gravelly lands we mean those where gravel is mostly predominant, as we call those lands sandy where silex forms the greatest proportion of the soil, and of these something is now to be said.