Serpents in a Pile in South America.

In the savannahs of Izacubo, in Guiana, I saw the most wonderful, most terrible spectacle that can be imagined; and although it is not uncommon to the inhabitants, no traveller has ever mentioned it. We were ten men on horseback, two of whom took the lead, in order to sound the passages, while I preferred to skirt the great forests. One of the blacks who formed the vanguard returned at full gallop, and called to me, "Here, sir, come and see the serpents in a pile." He pointed out to me something elevated in the middle of the savannah or swamps, which appeared like a bundle of arms. One of my company then said:-That is certainly one of the assemblages of serpents, which heap themselves on each other after a violent tempest; I have heard of these, but have never seen any; let us proceed cautiously and not go too near.' When we were within twenty paces of it the terror of our horses prevented our nearer approach, to which none of us were inclined.

On a sudden, the pyramid mass became agitated, horrible hissings issued from it, thousands of serpents rolled spirally on each other, sent forth out of their circle their hideous heads, presented their envenomed darts and fiery eyes to us. I own I was one of the first to draw back, but when I saw that this formidable phalanx remained at its post, and appeared to be more disposed to defend itself, than to attack us, I rode around it in order to view its order of battle, which faced the enemy on every side. I then thought what could be the design of this numerous assemblage; and I concluded that these species of serpents dreaded some colossean enemy, which might be the great serpent or cayman, and that they reunited themselves after having seen the enemy, in order to resist this enemy in a mass.-Humbolt.

A Lesson to an Egotist.

The Boston Post tells a story of a gentleman, who, for aught we know, lives in New York, and whom for convenience it calls Mr. A., who was perpetually walking up and down his office, talking to his clerks, something in the 'Bounderby' manner, though with more direct vaunting, either of himself, or his money, or his ox, or his ass, or of something else that was his, to the great annoyance of the clerks aforesaid. One day, pursuing his favorite theme, he broke out as follows:

'Young gentlemen, you have doubtless observed that I have my little peculiarities. In fact, I am a very peculiar man-a particular man, too—very particular. Now my personal habits are peculiar -very peculiar-peculiar in everything. Let me give you an instance. I always sleep in a wide bed a very wide bed-and have a light burning by the side of it. Queer, is it? but that's my way.'

Now, be it known to the reader (as it was to all the boys in the office) that the wife of Mr. A. was notoriously the homeliest woman in town. 'It is queer-rather-in one respect,'-observed one of the clerks and in one respect it isn't. I can understand why you should choose a very wide bed, but why the d-l you should want the room lighted, is more than I can imagine!'-Eve. Post.

SENTIMENTALITIES.-By a Sentimental Young Lady de l'age de 35 ans.-The heart is a nursery of the tenderest plants, to which the least chill often proves most destructive.

White hair is the chalk with which Time keeps its score-two, three, or fourscore, as the case may be, on a man's head.

Two's a secret, but three's none.

The heart-strings will snap, just like harpstrings, from excess of cold and neglect.

Good nature is a glow-worm that sheds light even in the dirtiest places.

Man has generally the best of everything in this world-for instance, in the morning he has nothing but the newspaper to trouble his head with, whereas poor Woman has her curl papers.

Kindnesses are stowed away in the heart, like bags of lavender in a drawer, and sweeten every object around them.-Punch.

Hens and Chickens should never be allowed to amuse themselves, as it always results in foul play.

THE SECOND BABY.-Between the first baby and the second baby what falling off is there, my country women! Not in intrinsic value, for the second may chance to be "as pretty a piece of flesh as any;" but in the imaginary value with which it is invested by its nearest kin and more distant female belongings. The coming of the first baby in a household creates an immense sensation; that of the second is comparatively a common place affair. The first baby is looked for with anxiety, nursed with devotion, admired with enthusiasm, dressed with splendor, and made to live upon system. Baby number two is not longed for by any one, except, perhaps, the mother; is nursed as a matter of course, and admired as a matter of courtesy; is dressed in the cast off clothes of number one, and gets initiated into life without much ceremony of system,

BUNKER HILL.-A Yankee gentleman conveying a British gentleman around to view the different objects of attraction in the city of Boston brought him to Bunker Hill. They stood looking at the splendid shaft, when the Yankee said:

"This is the spot where Warren fell." "Ah!" replied the Englishman, evidently not posted up in local historical matters, "did it hurt him much?"

The native looked at him with the expression of fourteen 4th Julys in his countenance.

"Hurt him!" he exclaimed, "he was killed sir!" "Ah, he was, eh?" said the stranger, still eyeing the monument, and computing its height in his own mind, layer by layer. Well, I should think he would have been, to fall so far."

ANOTHER SHANGHAI WORK.-At a dinner party last week, the conversation turned upon the fowl mania, recently developed in this country; one gentleman referred to the popular engravings of Shanghai monstrosities, another to Burnham's book on the hen fever, and a third to Melvill's story in Harper of "Cock-a-doodle;" "yes," observed another, better versed in cotton than literature, "the thing seems to be getting into books fast; I saw one advertised the other day, called 'Wolfert's Roost,' another Shanghai work, I suppose." The best of the joke was that Irving was at the table, and within ear shot.-Boston Transcript.

THE law of nature, fixing the numerical relation of the sexes, is an everlasting testimony against polygamy. The number of females born is slightly greater, about 4 per cent., than males; but at 20 years of age they are nearly equal; at 40 there are more males than females; and at 70 they are nearly equal again. The mortality of females between 10 and 40 is very great, and is probably too much increased by the confined and unnatural lives they lead; after 40 their chances of long life are much better than men's, and the last census showed several hundred women in this country over 100 years old.

PHILANTHROPY.-The first paper printed in New Bedford was on April 2d, 1774; it contained the following advertisement:

"LOST, on Monday evening last, from the house-yard of the late Mr. Daniel Smith-a large BRASS KETTLE with a crack in the bottom and a patch thereon. Whoever will give information, so that the Kettle may be found, will greatly assist a distressed family."

Now after the lapse of 61 years, the New Bedford Mercury re-inserts the advertisement gratis, having as it says, received no intimation that the "distressed family" has yet been assisted.

Scarborough, of the Brownsville Flag, has been captivated by one of the tender sex, and having seen her at a recent party, thus gives vent to his feelings:

"The fact is, we would have given all the quoin in the Flag office for one from the owner of two sparkling II's that were there. Yes, we'll stick to that, and my **! would we not face a regiment of tt, ayet, to give proof that we are correct. We would bless the whole world by and though our bank were exhausted, deem our happiness without a. True, every word, or palsied be the that writes this ¶."

The London Diogenes gives the following rules for the preservation of sanity:

1. Avoid Bulwer's metaphysical novels. 2. Ditto Bradshaw's Railway Guides.

3. Don't attempt to master the principles which regulate the fluctuations of the Stock Exchange. 4. Break the appointment with the friend for whom you have promised to accept that little bill. 5. Let the correspondence with Julia drop. Never mind breach of promise.

6. Provide for your wife's mother in an unhealthy climate.

A VENOMOUS REPTILE.-We were shown yesterday, by Mr. Harris, engineer of the steamer Welaka, the rattles taken from a rattlesnake recently killed by Mr. Hayne, of Mayport, Fla., on an island near the mouth of St. John's river. The banch or cluster was 8 inches in length, and the number of rattles 35, besides the button at the end of the tail. As the first rattle does not appear until the fourth year, his snakeship must have been 39 years old.

Who would like to encounter such a monster in a cane-brake?-Savannah Republican.

PERSEVERANCE.-Mirabeau said of Robespierre, "That man will succeed in his undertaking, for he believes every word he says." It is remarkable, on scanning history, to find what great works have been accomplished by the indomitable perseverance of single individuals. To a man of the right stamp, setting out to achieve an object with the determination, "I will accomplish it," all obstacles seem as chaff before the wind. When a man is in earnest, and knows what he is about, his work is half done.

A pedagogue relates a laughable story of one of his scholars, a son of the Emerald Isle. He told him to spell hostility.

"H-o-r-s-e, horse," commenced Pat.

"Not horse-tility," said the teacher, "but hos-tility.

"Sure," replied Pat, "an' didn't ye tell me the other day, not to say hoss? Be jabers it's wun thing wid ye one day, and another the nixt."

A beautiful Turkish story is going the rounds, illustrative of fortune's freaks. A beggar asked alms of a rich man, and was harshly driven from the door. Soon the rich man lost his fortune, and being unable to support his wife, was divorced. She was married again. Soon a beggar asked alms at the door. She was directed to supply him; the beggar proved to be her former husband, and the present husband, the former beggar.

A boy is very miscellaneous in his habits. We emptied Master Smith's pockets and found the contents to consist of the following articles: Sixteen marbles, one top, an oyster shell, two pieces of brick, one doughnut, a piece of curry comb, a paint brush, three wax ends, a handful of corks, a chisel, two knives,both broken, a skate strap, three buckles, and a dog eared primer.

They have fancy names for newspapers out in Keokuk. The three daily papers published there are called respectively-"The Gate City," "The Morning Glory" and "The Keokuk Nip-and- Tuck." Imaginative people.

No men are so oft in the wrong, as those who pretend to be always in the right.

VOL. XX.

Poetry.

No flaunting banners wave,
No pomp surrounds his grave,

No arch triumphal blazons forth his name;
More fitting pile we raise

For one whose brightest days

Were given to deeds worth a far nobler fame.

Plain monumental stone!
Whereon the summer's sun

And autumn moonbeams silently will lie.
O'er thee, soft gales of spring
May float with unseen wing,

And mingle here with the mute pilgrim's sigh.

And while we linger round
This consecrated ground,
Perchance, as star-beams mirrored in the wave,

His spirit lingering near,
May be reflected here,

In silent hearts inspiring works of love.
January, 1855.

MARY TOLES PEET.

[Mrs. Peet is herself a deaf mute, yet her mental ear seems fully alive to the harmonies of verse.]

Original.

Louis Napoleon's Visit to England.

Of all the strange vicissitudes of fortune on record, as parts of history and not romance, the career of Louis Napoleon is the strangest. His late visit to England, the stage of his former humility, has been one of the most singular events of his life of changes. He was received with the most distinguished attention-flattered by the populace, followed by the aristocracy, feted and fawned on by en who once thought it a superlative condescention on their part to appoint him to the low station Special Constable, and received with thrilling atentions by sovereigns that once never thought of

but to despise him. Everything in this recepa was of the most splendid and enthusiastic aracter, and everything taught beholders the lese of how uncertain a character popular favor is. The Emperor himself was conciliating, and won den opinions of all sorts of men." The Emhad all that loveliness and an amiable temper drake her, and added much to the warmth of - husband's reception. The speech of Louis Na

to the Lord Mayor was all that such a Fra should be, and was calculated to cement closer the bonds of union between France and d. On the way of the procession, the Emas seen to gaze intently on the house in che resided only seven years ago, and to point to the Empress. What a train of thought sight of that ignoble dwelling create! How did all the extravagant hopes of that perisober realities, dart through his mind!

HARTFORD, SATURDAY, MAY 26, 1855.

He was then a dreamer of bright visions. He was now in the full, wakeful reality of their enjoyment. He was then sneered at by the very individuals of the English aristocracy that now were combining to do him honor, for his fixed, firm belief in the future reality of that destiny he was now fulfilling. He was a madman then-a rash adventurer afterward-an Emperor now! Who would refuse now to believe but that he was the man of destiny? That silent man, so visionary in his future thoughts of himself, had reached the acme of his hopes and beliefs as silent, as incomprehensible as ever! Does history teach such another lesson?

Where were the very aged who could remember when the English nation would not even acknowledge the position de facto as Emperor, of Napoleon I, though a man of a thousand glorious exploits to his nephew's one; and of a thousand traits of a generous mind ready to be useful to his subjects while he was terrible to his enemies, utterly unknown to his kinsman? But the acknowledgment of Napoleon the Third, presupposes the existence of a Napoleon the First, and equally acknowledges the two. Would England, in the pride of her power, have believed that the revolutions of time could have produced such changes?

It is said that Prince Albert was very attentive to the Empress, and kissed her hand at parting, when the jealous little Victoria did not see him. It is supposed that this visit will be returned by the English sovereigns, some time in the course of the

summer.

A Glance at Lebanon.

Mr. Editor:-In this inclement May, the country has few charms even for the warmest admirers of nature. Gazing abroad upon the fields but faintly tinged with green, we are obliged to supply by imagination the want of reality, and to anticipate what will be, rather than to dwell on what is. Yet some quiet towns inspire an interest independent of the vicissitudes of the seasons; an interest which augments with every passing year, depending, as it does, on the lives of those who are now departed, the places of their habitation, or the spots rendered classical, sometimes even sacred by their identification with the exploits or the sufferings of these men of pith.

Such reflections as these occupied my mind as I was rambling about a town which has been a "nursing mother" to men distinguished in the councils of the State and the affairs of the nation, and who might well be called "the cedars of Lebanon." In this town lived the two Governors Trumbull, father and son; and here stands the "war office," so called-a building in which the former gentleman transacted his public business during the war of the Revolution. The Hon. William Williams, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, and uncle of Judge Williams of Hartford, was a native of this place, and here Col. Trumbull, the painter, was born. Indeed, the cemetery in this village contains within its bosom the remnants of many a revolutionary worthy, whose deeds

"Smell sweet, and blossom in the dust." Nor in remembering the dead would we forget the living. The pleasantness of the situation, the fertility of the soil, and the general indications of

NO. 11.

thrift on the part of the inhabitants, taken in connection with its easy accessibility and the quiet which is characteristic of the place, render this town a fit locality for any pursuit whose prosecution makes desirable a retired and healthy situation and a well-ordered community. And I was glad to see that these advantages had been enlisted in the service of education by a gentleman well qualified for such an undertaking, namely, the Rev. Mr. Nichols, formerly pastor of the Congregational Church in the town, who, being obliged by ill-health to relinquish his charge, has undertaken the charge, less important only in degree, of conducting the mental and moral training of such boys as may be committed to his care. This gentleman is well known to many of your citizens, and needs no further commendation; yet I may say in passing, that his patience and devotion to the best interests of his pupils, to say nothing of his competence, have fully met the wishes of those who have intrusted their children to his guidance.

A curious feature of this place is its extremely wide street, which suggests the idea that there were giants in the days when it was laid out. I have only one reflection to cast on the memory of the worthies who lie in the burying-yard, namely, that they neglected to adorn this broad thoroughfare with trees. If this street were shaded by a quadruple row of trees, (for which there is ample room and verge enough,) no street in the country would surpass it in beauty. Let the present generation look to this, that their posterity may be as distinguished in one way as their ancestors were in W.

another.

Miscellaneous.

Rev. E. H. Chapin on Temperance. Rev. E. H. CHAPIN made a most glowing and powerful speech before the great State Temperance Convention in Boston, the other day. We give

some extracts:

He said: Ladies and Gentlemen, it is no new thing for me to speak to a Boston audience or to lift my voice in behalf of temperance before the citizens of Massachusetts. I rejoice to see so many faces around me that I have seen in years past, working in this good cause, and looking forward to a good result with the same calm assurance which they exhibited in days gone by. This convention is the image of the moral sentiment and the consistent logic of the New England mind. If Massachusetts has been foremost in what some call pestilent fanaticisms, but what others deem to be grand movements of humanity, it is because here as nowhere else the great principles of the New Testament have been brought into full relief of the community in the light of common schools. We have found that these uncouth radicalisms are verily imbedded in the Gospel text. As we bring the lens of christian culture more steadily to bear, these great principles stand out with more distinctness and the nebulous generality of christian truth becomes resolved into specific forms.

The temperance movement may appear to some comparatively new and novel, but it is as old as the parable of the Good Samaritan, or the precept Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself,' which is the principle carried out in the temperance movement. The Maine Law is the legitimate result of carrying out that movement. It is a movement

which has maintained consistency throughout. If the men who have carried it forward are consistent, they could not help occupying the position which they hold to-day; and I lay it down as a claim of the temperance movement that from its first word, made by men like Dr. Beecher, down to men of the present like Neal Dow, it has pursued a legitimate end and has maintained consistency.

He here described the dreadful evils of intemperance as they existed before the Maine Law was conceived-poverty and crime stalking hand in hand with the bottle between them and the spirit of the destroyer devastating thousands of happy homes. But the temperance men finally conceived that as intemperance was not merely a personal evil, as it did not rest simply upon the action of the private will, but was a social and public evil, they had a right to use means, all the means which God and nature and the enlightened public sense would give to them; and so they passed the Maine Law, and so they say they are in earnest. And every liquor dealer will find it so, and will say as the Yankee did when he went out to battle and came back saying, 'confound them they're firing bullets.' The liquor dealers will find that we are firing bullets.

But there are two or three classes who stand opposed to the prohibitory statute as it exists. First are the consumers of intoxicating drinks. They say it may have a philanthropic end but it overreaches in its action, overstrains itself till it becomes fanaticism, and confounds the use with the abuse. There is no use for intoxicating drinks and no man can find a use as a beverage. As a medicine and mechanical agent it is a different affair. They say we are depriving them of a social beverage. God did not make brandy and wine for a beverage. set his distilleries among the hills and the drink he gives, drops from the spring on the summit. It flies along and becomes a rivulet and all along its banks it makes a perpetual refreshment and song. It goes farther on and spreads out into the ocean and upholds the navies on its heaving bosom. God has given to man for a beverage and a blessing, the circulation of the waters. (Applause.)

He

Some oppose the law, and say it ought to be left to moral suasion. Moral suasion is still left open, but let there be a necessity added to it, and let the law stand upon the statute books as an expression of public sentiment against the nefariousness of selling. The argument of the seller is stronger than that of the drinker in this case; for the seller has a property interest, while the drinker has only the argument of a selfish appetite. But it is said, this is a lawful business, because there is a large capital engaged in it. So have many other kinds of business, but are they all lawful? But the interests of the community are of more worth than those of this class.

If the rum traffic is stopped the community will be enriched instead of impoverished. Will not the community be better off when the nine millions of bushels of grain now used in New York to make liquor is turned into flour, making flour cheap for the poor man. Is that impoverishing the community, and destroying property? That is a great property preservative which crushes piles of grain and destroys men's souls, that puts man with the staff of life so far above him he can't reach it and the point of death at his vitals! There arises an argument sufficient to silence all this, in the graves of those who have been swept down by the destroyer. (Applause.)

By the interests of dear humanity we refute all the arguments brought by a selfish and despotic monopoly.

It is said that rich men have the advantage.Well, money has many advantages, and in this respect as well as in any other. Again, it is objected by some temperance men that we go too fast and too far. They say restrictive licenses are the thing. But what shall we do? Shall we go back to those old days when we had licences, which did little or no good at all? For my part, I uphold this law because I see no other way in which we can consistently act. I believe there is no other thing which will help us in this great trial and peril of humanity.

He then spoke of the great progress which has been made in the temperance movement. It commenced with such men as Lyman Beecher, who sits here to-night still to uphold his first love. And

here too (holding up a pen) is the pen with which Governor Gardner signed the liquor bill. [Tremendous applause.] The pen is, after all, greater than the sword. The pen has given currency to ideas and spread glorious sentiments, aye-the pen is greater than the sword, even though it be in the hands of a Napoleon or an Alexander.

But as to this new law many men who now oppose it because they think it will not work well, will, when they see its beneficial effects, go in for it. In this connection he spoke of the changes which men undergo in regard to their opinions. The ultraism of one day becomes the radicalism of the

next.

It has been said this law was not perfect. It is for man to go straight forward in what seems to be the right. Men will fall into errors sometimes, but God will do the adjusting. I believe (said Mr. C.) in overcoming evil with good, but there are some cases where I think the stringent thing is the good thing. There are some cases in which it is right to be even intolerant against intolerance, and despotic against despotism.

Protect this intemperance as an evil! When I see how insiduous it is,-how it has swept down to destruction so many thousands of beguiled victims -I think the business ought to be prohibited by law, and if you can find anything better to do it than this law, find it, for I cannot. (Applause.)

I believe the cause of temperance to be a needed cause in the world, and I believe it right to use all the means we can. I do not see how we are going to stop short of a prohibitory law. This law will be the experiment, at least, of every State in the Union. It is said the lawyers can drive a coach and four through it. Well, if they can, I don't see why the liquor dealers need feel so oppressed about it.

The law will be tried, and if it is found to work well, if it is found that the streets are more orderly, that there is less crime and less taxation, you will not find the people of Massachusetts, New York, or any other State, repealing the Maine Law for the sake of a selfish property interest. If it is found that a blessed traffic has been cut off from existence, that men have been injured, that there is more drunkenness and more sin, then it will be repealed. I have no doubt of the result.

The last news from the Crimea is that the besieging forces have advanced upon the citadel and consolidated their army. The temperance men have advanced and consolidated their forces.What the result will be there I cannot tell, but I know what it will be here. We have besieged the enemy with all sorts of missiles, from cold water sermons down to the Maine Law, and as there is a righteous heaven above us, as there is a great energy of humanity in our work, by all the efforts of the past, and the hopes of the future, by all the ghastliness of widowhood, and the mass of human wrecks around us, WE SHALL TAKE OUR SEBASTO(Tremendous applause.)

POL.

TO YOUNG LADIES.-To the youthful female we would say that no individual of either sex can love with an affection so pure and so disinterested as your mother. Deceive her and your feet will slide in due time. How many young daughters deceive them by giving their hand in a clandestine marriage, thus digging the grave for all earthly happiness.

He who would persuade you to deceive your parents proves himself, in that very deed, unworthy of all your confidence. If you wed him, you will speedily realize what you have lost. You will find you have exchanged a sympathizing friend, and an able and judicious counsellor, a kind and devoted nurse for a selfish companion, ever seeking his accommodation and pleasure. He will tyrannize over and neglect you in health, and desert you when sick and broken hearted.

Who has not read the reward of deserted parents in the pale and melancholy features of the undutiful daughter?

An orator in the House of Commons was describing the inordinate love of praise which characterized an opponent. "The honorable member," cried he, "is so fond of being praised, that I really believe he would be content to give up the ghost, if it were but to look up and read the stone-cutter's puff on his tomb stone."

THE FARM AND THE GARDEN. MAY.-WORK TO BE DONE.-The Farm.-In the early part of this month pastures should be attended to. Do not pasture cattle until the grass has some growth, or the yield of the season will be less.

Clean and whitewash cellars, distribute charcoal dust and plaster of Paris about your hog-pens, stables, &c., and remove all putrescent and unwholesome substances. The charcoal dust and plaster of Paris will absorb deleterious gasses, as given off from vegetable and other matters undergoing decay.

"Plant Indian corn as soon as the leaves are as large as a mouse's ear." This is an old and safe adage, but we should advise that some be planted earlier, either broadcast or thickly in rows, for soiling cattle with the stalks. Peas, oats and buckwheat, as well as Indian corn, should be soaked in water, and then rolled in plaster before planting.Plant potatoes for your principal crop, if not previously done. Those planted early are less subject to be diseased. If you have land thoroughly prepared and well subsoiled, sow lucern; this crop will be found very profitable for those who soil cattle, as it may cut four times during the summer.— If the soil be not deeply disintegrated, lucern cannot succeed, as it is a deep-rooted plant and fails as soon as the ends of the roots reach a cold and compact subsoil.

Attend to insects, and read our articles on caterpillars, and modes of destroying them. If you have used six bushels of salt per acre on your win ter fallows and grass lands, but few insects will annoy you other than those which harbor in trees, &c., and where salt has been used, but few weeds will be found. Cleanse the bark of your fruit trees.

Secure manures from the influence of sun and rain as fast as made. Place them under cover, if practicable, and augment their quantity by admixture of muck, pond-mud, or even headlands, as during the warm weather stable manure decomposes rapidly, and gives off large quantities of ammonia, which should be received by such materials as are capable of retaining it. When muck cannot be had, cover the top of the heaps with charcoal dust or plaster of Paris.

If you have hog-pen manure which is free from long stuffs, mix it with charcoal dust under a shed, and by turning it will become pulverulent in time to sow with turnips, for which use it is equal to ground bones, and at less than one-third the cost. Dress corn and potatoes thoroughly, and if horn shavings can be had, apply them to corn in the hill; no manure is more safe and effective for this use. Should potatoes not show vigor, use guano (Peruvian) diluted with 100 times its bulk of charcoal dust or well-decomposed peat, in the hills, at the time of hoeing or cultivating, using a small handful to each hill. The improved super-phosphate of lime may be used instead of guano and charcoal.

Save soap-suds for fruit trees, both as a wash and

as a manure.

If you have salt meadows, ditch them, and the muck dug out will be ready for mixing in compost in October and November.

Orchard.-Attack the caterpillars by burning them with the camphene lamp described in a former volume. As caterpillars leave their nest at about 8 o'clock A. M., and return to them at 5 P. M., they should be attacked before or after those hours. Boiling water poured into the haunts of ants will destroy them.

If your trees were properly washed in early spring they will not be hide-bound now. Treat sluggish grape-vines as recommended in Mr. Galbraith's paper in a former volume. Sow a very slight quantity of fine salt around plum and some other fruit trees as recommended; trim off shoots from the roots.- Working Farmer.

THE CASSABAR MELON.-There have been re ceived at the Patent Office a quantity of the Cassa bar melon seed, seven years old, procured from Persia by the United States dragoman at Constan tinople. These melons, it will be recollected, are a very sweet and delicious flavor, very wholesom and nutritious, and are so simple in their characte that they may be eaten by invalids with impunit Those who receive the seeds for cultivation shoul bear in mind that if planted in the vicinity of ar

of the melon, pumpkin, cucumber, or any of the gourd bearing plants, they are liable to be hybridized or mixed, which will change the character of the seeds and destroy the purity of the variety; consequently they should be planted in an isolated position when influenced in the manner indicated above.-Washington Union.

MY EXPERIENCE WITH PEARS.-Permit me to suggest a remedy to prevent the grubs and lice from destroying young fruit trees. Take tin or sheet iron, bent round like a stovepipe, 6 or 8 inches long, not soldered or fastened together-let the sides slip by each other or lap over, so that it can expand as the tree grows; then spring it apart and set it around the bottom of the tree, one end crowded a little into the ground; fill it up with powdered charcoal. Be sure to have no grub in when the charcoal is applied. This, I think, will be a sure preventive.—Country Gentleman, May 10.

CAULIFLOWERS.-The seed should be sown now for the autumnal crop upon a gentle hot-bed. This sowing will come in during August, and for a later crop the seed should be sown the beginning or middle of May; this will furnish heads in October or November. If some of the plants of this last sowing be taken up and laid in like Broccoli, they will be more secure in case of cold, wet weather occurring at the end of the season.-Gardners' Chronicle. COOPING FOWLS.-Mr. Editor:-A year ago last fall I purchased a pair of Shanghai fowls, with a view of testing their qualities. I had at this time only the common dung-hill, and I let the Shanghais run with them during the summer, and was surprised at the improved appearance of the chickens. The half bloods were more than as large again as the old stock for flesh, and even as layers. I have been selling eggs nearly all winter at two shillings per dozen, while none of my neighbors, who have the Shanghais, have had half a dozen eggs. Only my half bloods lay. I prefer them to the full blood. Their bodies are more compact and less ungainly, and I have half bloods that will far outweigh the largest full blood I have yet seen. If those who are paying such extravagant prices for fowls would purchase but a coop and devote a small portion of their time to improving the poultry they have, the result would be much more to their benef.-R. D. R., Wilson, N. Y., March 1st, 1855.

The agricultural department of the patent office Las distributed this spring, among other vegetable novelties, acorns of the cork oak from the south of Europe, the bark of which is cork; seeds of the Cassabar melon from Persia-a very sweet and delicious fruit; seeds of the ban-ya-ban-ya from Australia, a tree of the fir tribe, that bears a cone, with seeds the size of an olive, of flavor more rich and delicate than pine apples; cuttings of the prune from France, to be engrafted on the common plum tree, which it is thought will thrive in any of the northern states; and fig cuttings, for experiment in the extreme south.

ULTIMATE EFFECTS OF GUANO.-The great value of guano as an application to worn or exhausted sils is very generally conceded, especially when used in giving poor land a start, so that a course of rotation and cropping can be commenced with encouraging results. But further observation and experience are needed to show whether it can be depanded upon year after year for the fertilizing of the farm, the same as barn-yard manure. We find subject started in the Piedmont (Va.) Whig, a per often containing editorial articles of value to de agriculturist. It is well known that guano has een the great manure for the renovation of the hausted soils of that section, and that its use and alue is probably better understood there than elseViere in the country.

The law of action and reaction is applicable to il, as well as to all else in nature. "Everyang stimulated or excited to an unusual degree tion, must suffer a corresponding depression de the excitement is over." And all ammoniacal

res seem to have an active, stimulating effect, **eived almost immediately in increased growth the products of the soil to which it is applied. illustrated, and also its ultimate results, in a mentioned by Liebig, and referred to by our Charity. The vine-growers of one of the princi

pal Rhine wine regions made a discovery by means of which they doubled their crop of grapes.

Unfortunately, in a year or two, their specific not only failed to accomplish the purpose expected, but their crops dwindled away almost to nothing, They had stimulated their vines by manuring them with shavings of horn, which contains a large quantity of ammonia; and when the reaction came, the product fell as far below the medium standard as it had for a year or two been above it. The vines, too, were permanently injured by this treatment, and were never restored to their original condition. Another case is related of a Virginia gardener who, when guano was first introduced, made trial of it upon some rose bushes.

"The consequence was such a development of flowers as no one had ever seen before. The trees were loaded with a profusion of roses, of the finest quality. But it soon became manifest that it was only a temporary excitement, soon to be succeeded by a corresponding depression. The trees never recovered fully from the shock which they had received, and some of them perished outright."

From this it would appear that on perennial plants, the continual application of guano produces very injurious effects in the end, but these effects would probably be much less on annuals, renewed from year to year, like the grain crops. But still some result must be produced, and this it should be made the object of careful experiment to ascertain. There can be no question, however, of the importance of this manure to the country, and everything going to show how it can best be employed, and giving a better understanding of the results which may be expected, will be of value.-Rural New Yorker, April 14.

POTATOES.-A large quantity of European potatoes were sold a few days since by auction, in New York, and at a price which would pay the foreign farmer a very large profit beyond the cost of freight, etc., and this, too, in a country where they might be produced at less than the freight paid by the foreign farmer. Every year since our childhood, we have heard farmers say that they feared potatoes would be low next year, as everybody would be raising them in consequence of the high prices; and thus far has prevented a full supply being grown, particularly during the last few years, when the extra crop required each year for the consumption of the half million emigrants, has been a million and a half of bushels beyond the requirement of the previous year, and which, at the average crop of 100 bushels per acre, would require 15,000 acres of land for their culture. This is not only true of potatoes, but of other roots, the consumption of which is not only increased from the same cause, but from our own citizens becoming convinced that a large appropriation of vegetable diet is conducive to health. The farmers and liverystable keepers are also feeding roots more liberally to cattle and horses, and as a consequence, carrots are now sold readily in the New York market at fifty cents per bushel; and even parsnips and ruta baga turnips bring prices equally large, as compared with those of former years.- Working Far.

GRASS SEED FOR AN ACRE.-An English farmer recommends the following mixture for an acre, 8 lbs red clover, 2 lbs. white do., 2 lbs. yellow do., with 1 bushel of rye grass. This, by his computation, affords 100 seeds of rye grass, 50 red clover, 32 white, and 12 yellow clover, per superficial foot. In this country, a good substitute for the rye grass would be the same quantity of red-top per acre.

PLASTER.-Plaster operates beneficially on light, dry, and sandy or open soils, as they soonest admit the rain water which dissolves and conveys it to the roots of the plants. Plaster may be applied to pasture or mowing lands in March or early in April, often with fine effect.

DWARF PEAR TREES.-Dwarf pears on quince stocks are not only beautiful objects, but bear earlier and more freely and certainly, and produce larger and finer fruit than those grown on free stocks. They are also, by their small height and size, better adapted to gardens and restricted grounds, easier managed, giving greater room for variety, as well as presenting fruit easy of access, and secure from high winds, often very injurious to standard trees. The pyramidal form of training is

the most beautiful, takes up the least room, and gives the best fruit. No garden should be without its dwarf pear trees, at once so productive and ornamental.

AN ANTIDOTE TO THE POTATO ROT.-Professor Bollman, of the Russian Agricultural Institute, has published a pamphlet on the potato rot, and he announces that mere drying, if conducted at a sufficiently high temperature, and continued long enough, is a complete antidote to the disease. This result was ascertained by repeated experiment conducted for a series of years. The temperature required to produce the desired result is not very clearly made out. Mr. Bollman's room, in which his first potatoes were dried, was heated to about 79 degrees, and much higher. By way of experiment, he placed others in the chamber of the stove itself, where the thermometer stood at 136 degrees, and more. He also ascertained that the vitality of the potato is not affected, even if the rind is charred. This hint may be useful, and with similar experiments, carefully conducted, the fact may be established.

CURE FOR THE HEAVES.-I have occasionally seen, in your excellent paper, remarks upon heaves in horses, and a course of feed prescribed as a relief-the disease being generally considered incurable. I give below a very simple and perfect cure for this disease:

Keep the horse one winter on corn stalks; and if you feed any grain, let it be corn in the ear, and when you turn the horse to grass in the spring he will be perfectly cured of heaves. In the Southern States, where horses are kept exclusively on corn blades (the leaves of corn stripped from the stalk and dried) and corn, heaves are unknown. A heavy horse taken from the North into the Southern States, and fed on blades and corn, is very soon cured. I have owned several heavy horses, which I have cured in this State by feeding as above. I would not hesitate to purchase a horse otherwise valuable, because he has the heaves.

Correspondence Country Gentleman. Important, if true.-ED.

John Randolph of Roanoke-Personal Characteristics, Anecdotes.

Sitting one day opposite a gentleman at a hotel dinner table, in Richmond, he observed that he was eating one of the luxuriant soft crabs of that region, and that, as was the custom of the hotel, a glass of milk had been placed near his plate.Looking up from his own, he said, in a thin, piping Voice:

"That's a singular dish of yours, sir, very singular; crabs and milk! Juba, bring me a bowl of milk, and crumble some crabs in it!"

At the same hotel, he said to a waiter in the temporary absence of Juba, handing to him at the same time his cup and saucer:

"Take that away-change it."

"What do you want Mr. Randolph ?" asked the waiter, respectfully. "Do you want coffee or tea?" "If that stuff is tea," said he, "give me coffee, if it is coffee, bring me tea; I want a change."

Most readers have heard perhaps, of his reply to a well known and highly respectable gentleman of the South, who introduced himself to him while standing and conversing with some friends, with,

"I should be pleased to make the acquaintance of so distinguished a public servant as Mr. Randolph. I am from the city of Baltimore. My name is Blunt."

'Blunt,-oh!" replied Mr. Randolph: "I should think so, sir;" and he deigned him no further

notice.

Equally familiar to many, it may be, will be found his reply to a gentleman who rather forced himself upon Mr. Randolph's notice, while engaged in conversation with others, in a hotel in Virginia. "I have had the pleasure, Mr. Randolph, recently of passing your house."

"I am glad of it," said Mr. Randolph; "I hope you will always do it, sir!"

On one occasion, at Washington, a brother-member of Congress was enlightening Mr. Randolph, as to the manner of "shopping at the capital."

"The merchants," said he, "have two pricesan asking price and a taking price." I used to send my wife around to make all the purchases for

the family, by which we made a saving of fifteen to twenty per cent."

"I had rather my wife," said Randolph, "should make a living in any other way, but one, than that!" Being a confirmed old bachelor, the remark was no less comical than severe.

A sporting friend was once relating an adventure which had occurred on the part of another hunter he had fallen in with on the banks of the Potomac : "The man," he said, "had followed a large flock of canvas-back, until they entered a cove, and secreted himself behind a log, to await an opportunity to get a large number in range. After waiting in the cold for some time, finding a fair chance to place his gun over the log to take rest, and just as he had taken sight and was going to pull the trigger, what should he see but another long gun directly opposite, aiming at the same object! He had barely time to drop down behind the log, before away blazed the other sportsman, the whole charge coming into the log behind which he was-"

Lying!" said Mr. Randolph, suddenly finishing the sentence, to the great amazement of the company.

Scarcely anything more characteristic of Mr. Randolph is recorded of him by any of his biographers, than the following incident, which occurred on the morning he was to leave for England, on his last visit to that country. The steamer is waiting to convey passengers, when his friend calls upon him:

Curious and Interesting Discovery-An Ancient and Civilized People.

The following curious letter is calculated to arrest more than ordinary attention. It is from the pen of O. H. Green, of the United States sloop-ofwar Decatur, is dated "Off the Straits of Magellan, February 15," and appeared in the New Orleans Picayune of the 1st inst:

"Mr. Randolph," he says, "in the name of Heaven, what is the matter! Do you know that it is nearly ten o'clock, and that the steamboat waits for nobody? Why, you are not even dressed!"

of Nature, which they voluntarily undergo as a penance, evidently thirsting after the dissolution of their bodies; and firmly believing that the soul, at death, is released from its prison, and launches forth into perfect liberty and happiness. Therefore, they are always cheerfully disposed to die, bewailing those that are alive, and celebrating the funerals of the dead with joyful solemnities and triumph.

There being no appearance of a change of weather, I obtained leave of absence for a few days, and accompanied by my class-mate and chum, Dr. Bainbridge, Assistant Surgeon, was landed on Terra Del Fuego. With great labor and difficulty we scrambled up the mountain sides, which line the whole south-east shore of these Straits, and after ascending 3,500 feet, we came upon a plain of surpassing richness and beauty. Fertile fields-the greatest variety of fruit-trees in full bearing, and signs of civilization and refinement meeting us on every side. We had never read any account of these people, and thinking this island was wholly deserted, except by a few miserable cannibals and wild beasts, we had come well armed, and you can judge of our surprise. The inhabitants were utterly astonished at our appearance, but exhibited no signs of fear, nor any unfriendliness. Our dress amused them, and being the first white men ever seen by them, they imagined that we came from their God, the Sun, on some peculiar errand of good. They are the noblest race I ever saw, the men all ranging from 6 feet to 6, well proportined, very athletic, and straight as an arrow. The women were among the most perfect models of beauty ever formed, averaging about 5 feet high, very plump, with small feet and hands, and with a jet-black eye which takes you by storm. We surrendered at discretion, and remained two weeks with this strange people.

"I can't help it, sir," replied he, "I'm all confusion this morning, everything goes wrong; even my memory has gone a wool-gathering. I am just writing a farewell address to my constituents, and I've forgotten the exact words of a quotation from the Bible, which I want to use, and as I quote correctly, I cannot close my letter until I find the passage; but strange to say, I forgot both the chapter and the verse. I never was at fault before sir.What shall I do?"

"Do you remember any part of the quotation ?" asked his friend, "perhaps I can assist you in the

"It begins," said he, "how have I loved, oh-, 'but for the life of me, I can't recollect the next words. Oh, my head! There, do you take the Bible and run over that page while I am writing the remainder of my address."

"My dear sir," was the reply, "you have no time to do this now: let us take the letter, Bible and all upon the steamer, where you will have enough time to find the passage you want, before we reach the packet."

After a great deal of hesitation and reluctance, and after much expostulation, the proposition was agreed to.

A rather cruel test of the affection of his servant John was tried on the occasion referred to. John had in some way offended his master that morning, and, as he was preparing the trunks, Mr. Randolph said to him:

"Finish that trunk at once, John, and take it down to the steamboat; and on your return, take passage in the Philadelphia, call on Mr.

in

Their teachers of religion speak the Latin language, and have traditions from successive priests, through half a hundred centuries.

The Turks and Austrians at Krajova. The town of Krajova, in Turkey, where the recent affray, mentioned by telegraph, occurred between the Turks and Austrians, is the capital town of Little Wallachia, and, according to the terms of agreement between Austria and Turkey, has been occupied by Austrian troops. The affray was occasioned by an Austrian officer, who, on the 11th of March, seeing a beautiful lady at a window, entered the house and used insulting language towards her. The lady called for assistance, and her husband came and calmly requested the officer to leave the house. The Austrian drew his sword and stabbed him to the heart. This murder naturally caused much excitement among the citizens, and they demanded justice of the Austrian General. He refused in insolent terms to punish his soldiers for such fellows as the Turks. By this time a body of Turkish troops had arrived from Kalafat, having been despatched by the commander of that place, in anticipation of difficulty. Encouraged by this arrival, the citizens closed the stores, armed themselves, and assembled in the streets crying "Death to the Austrians." They promenaded the town, putting every Austrian they met to death; and at length the Austrians turned out in full force and attacked them, killing forty at the first charge. At this juncture the Turkish soldiers and national gens d'armes joined the citizens, and after a fierce fight, in which, according to the official statements, two hundred and forty-seven persons were killed on both sides, the Austrians were driven from the town, and at last accounts remained encamped in the fields.

They tell us this island was once attached to the main land; that about 1,900 years ago, by their records, their country was visited by a violent earthquake, which occasioned the rent now known as the Straits of Magellan; that on the top of the mountain which lifted its head to the sun, whose base rested where the waters now flow, stood their great temple-which according to their description, as compared to the one now existing we saw, must have been 17,203 feet square, and over 1,000 feet high, built of the purest pantile marble. A thousand reflections crowd upon the mind, in viewing this people and this paradise, before unknown to the world.

Arch street, and tell him that I have sailed; then go to Baltimore, and call on Mr. in Monument place, and say that I shall write to him from London; thence to Washington, pack up the trunks at my lodging, take them with you to Roanoke, and report yourself to my overseer."

After a pause, he added, in a sarcastic tone. "But you need not obey them, unless you choose to do so. You can, if you prefer it, when you arrive in Philadelphia, call on the Manumission Society, and they will make you free; and I shall never look after you. Do you hear, sir?"

"A NEW DISH."-Under this caption an exchange announces that "a Mr. Enfield Ham was recently married to Miss Jemima Egg." We presume the union took place on a fry-day,

The ship is in sight that will carry this to you, and I must now close; only saying that the official report of Dr. Bainbridge to the Department, will be filled with the most interesting and valuable matter, and astonish the American people. The vessel proves to be the clipper ship Creeper, from the Chinchi Islands, with guano, for your port, and I will avail myself of this opportunity to send you a specimen of painting on porcelain, said to be over 3,000 years old, and an image made of gold and iron, taken in one of their wars many years before the straits of Magellan existed.

CURIOUS ADVERTISEMENT.-The following is from an English paper: "Wanted, a man and his wife to look after a farm, and a dairy with a religious turn of mind without incumbrance."

A Speculator Cured.

Once on a time a country Dutchman early one morning went to town, where by chance he overheard some traders telling each other how much money they had made that morning by speculation; one of them had made $100, $200, $500, &c. Hans's bump of acquisitiveness was so excited that he, without any reflection, forthwith concluded to leave his former business, which was labor, and try his hand at speculation, and on his return home anade his intentions known to his faithful vrow. Early next morning he gathered his wallet containing his funds, amounting to five dollars, and off he goes post haste and half bent, to look up a speculation. He had not proceeded far when he met a wagoner, and accosted him thus:

They number about three thousand men, women and children, and I was assured the population has not varied two hundred, as they prove by their traditions, for immemorable ages. As the aged grow feeble they are left to die, and if the children multiply too rapidly, they are sacrificed by the priests. This order comprises about one tenth of the population,and is what the ancient Greeks called "Gymnosophist." They are all of one peculiar race, neither will they admit a stranger into their order. They live, for the most part, near the beautiful stream called Tanuhan, which takes its rise in the mountains,passes through the magnificent valley of Leuvu, and empties into the Atlantic at the extreme southwestern point of the Island.

This residence is chosen for the sake of their frequent purifications. Their diet consists of milk, curdled with sour herbs. They eat apples, rice, and all fruits and vegetables, esteeming it the height of impiety to taste anything that has life. They live in little huts or cottages, each one by himself, avoiding company and discourse, employing all their time in contemplation, and their religious duties.They esteem this life but a necessary dispensation

'Good morning, Mr. Wagoner, I wants to speculate a leetle dish mornin wid you.' 'Well, say,' said the wagoner, 'how do you want to speculate.' 'Vell,' says the Dutchman, 'I will pet you fife dollar you can't guess what my tog's name ish.' 'Call him up till I look at him,' rejoined the wagoner. Dutchman: 'H-er-e Va tch, he-re Va-tch, he-re Va-tch,' the dog trots up, the wagoner eyes him for a moment and said, 'I guess his name is Watch.' Dutchman: 'O besure, Mr. Wagoner, you has won him, de monish is yours,' and Hans returned to his old occupation, perfectly satisfied.

It

SOMETHING FOR THE LADIES.-The London Gazette contains some important information for the ladies in regard to the manner of placing their lips when they desire to look amiable, dignified, &c. says that when a lady would compose her mouth to a bland and serene character, she should, just be

verly

fore entering the room, say Besom, and keep the d the expression into which the mouth subsides, until the the of the

Sto this

desired effect upon the company is evident. If, on the other hand, she wishes to assume a distinguished and somewhat noble bearing, not suggestive of sweetness, she should say Brush, the result of which is infallible. If she would make her mouth small and pretty, she must say Flip; but if the mouth be already small, and needs enlarging, she must say Cabbage. Ladies, when having their da guerreotypes taken, may observe these rules with some advantage.