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FOR THE LUMINARY.

AGRICULTURE.....No. II.

It must, it is presumed, be acceded, by every uprejudiced farmer, that the plan laid down for collecting compost, increasing its quantity, preserving and communicating its salts and oleaginous particles, is such as cannot fail to supply the farm with a sufficiency of manure for the constant invigoration of the soil, and securing its annual productiveness. The treatment of cattle, by feeding them in houses or stalls in preference to their running at large on the farm, being essential to this plan, it should be ascertained how far this treatment may affect the housed cattle.

Stall-feeding of cattle, intended for the slaughter-house, is so generally practised, that it would not be here adverted to but to prove, that a practice of such acknowledged benefit in finishing (as it may be termed) the beast, cannot be unworthy of experiment in preparing him for that process; or, in other words, the treatment that benefits the grown, cannot but be serviceable to the growing animal. The European farmers have, in many instances, adopted stall-feeding, and always succeeded; thus proving experimentally the correctness of a principle so theoretically rational.

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Dr. Thaer, of Hanover, in his memoir on the stall-feeding of cattle throughout the whole year, remarks, that cattle in stalls are less subject to accidents, do not suffer by the heat, by flies or insects, and are not equally liable to disorders. Of cows, the Dr. observes, that those used to the stall, will yield a much greater and richer quantity of milk.

In addition to this it may be observed, that cattle in stalls can never suffer, as they commonly do in the field, by over-feeding themselves with clover: this can be avoided by not giving them the clover while wet with dew.*

The housing of calves is peculiarly favorable to an early weaning, and consequently giving to the farmer the greater quantity of the cow's milk. Mr. Thomas Crook, of Tytherton, (England) fed his calves on a jelly, made by boiling for ten minutes one quart of linseed in six quarts of water, mixed with a small quantity of the infusion of the best hay steeped in boiling water; he fed the calves three times a day. Mr. Cook observes" My calves are

*The following method never fails to cure cattle that have overfed them. selves with clover: Fill an egg-shell with tar, and throw it down the throat of the beast; the swelling will subside in five minutes.

kept in a good growing state, and are much better, at this time, than those of my neighbors that are reared by milk."

Young oxen, intended for draft, will be more manageable, and easier broke to work by being fed and handled in the stall. The same observation will apply still more forcibly to young horses; the mode, too often practised, of taming or breaking them, by violence, hard-riding, and whipping, produces many evils to the animal, which cannot afterwards be remedied. So aware was the Elector of Bavaria of this, that he employed men to walk round and through the parks, where his young horses were kept, for several weeks before he permitted them to be handled.

Close feeding is particularly serviceable to swine. The sow will yield more milk, and the pigs may be sooner weaned. Count Rumford, in his essays on the quantity of nutrition in water, recommends feeding swine on potatos well cleaned and mashed in the water in which they are boiled: a farmer, in Ireland, found this mode peculiarly serviceable in rearing young swine. They grew fast, on little more than half the usual quantity of food. They ate of it at first very ravenously, but, in a few days, they used a lesser quantity, and yet continued to thrive beyond the anticipated expectation.

A general observation within the knowledge of all is, that the proportion of cattle lost in the fields by accidents or disorders, is much less than what occurs to cattle in houses or stalls, while the following advantages remain to be observed:

1. Cattle, in stalls, do not require as much food as when in the field.

2. Grass-lands, when not trodden by heavy cattle, are not liable to be injured by beating down the grass, or breaking the earth.

3. Manure is spread on the lands in such places and proportions as the farmer's judgment may suggest, while that which is dropped by the grazing beast is often of little use, and sometimes injurious.

Sheep being fretful animals, the housing of them admits of objections not applicable to other cattle; if, however, they should have easy access to sheds, where food will be left for them, they will ramble but little, and, being light, will not injure land. To some it has appeared that the great walks which sheep take, benefit them; while nothing is more evident than that it proceeds from their peculiar fondness for new or tender food, and that they must be benefitted in proportion as agreeable food is easy of pro

curement.

In a former number of these essays, two fields, or 27 acres, were proposed to be reserved for feeding cattle, and it was calculated that sixty animals, equal to about 34 grown oxen, would be reared thereon. It would be wearying the reader to quote the many experimental proofs, by which it has been ascertained, that the produce of land will feed at least three times the number of cattle in stall, that it will feed in the usual mode of grazing; when to this is added (what was omitted in the former calculation) that a considerable quantity of straw, potatos, turnips, cabbage, pumpkins, &c. may be taken from the tillage land and applied to the feeding of cattle, it will readily be admitted that the produce of the farm applicable to the support of cattle, will supply at least one third, if not one half, more than the number already calculated; or as many as will be equal to 45, or perhaps 51 full grown oxen; a number more than usually to be found on a farm of 100 acres.

The labor, and consequent expenses of attending so many cattle, and bringing their food to them, will, to some, be a ground of objection; but before that cause be permitted to influence him, let the cost of attending a large farm, in the usual mode, and that of attending a small farm, as herein recommended, be fairly ascertained; and also a fair view taken of the result of each mode; and a preference will certainly be given to the culture of small farms. Or let the timid farmer make the experiment on some small or convenient scale; let him see how conveniently time can be divided, so as to meet the different parts of the labor; let him see in how many instances his children can attend to the business; let him experience the advantages of viewing his entire stock, and the whole of his farm, in a few minutes. The result will be certainly conclusive in determining his adopting a system seemingly too circumscribed, but which, on a full display, will appear grand and lucrative; and will practically prove that the word "large," as applied to farms, ought to be significant, not of the number of acres, but of their actual produce.

[To be continued.]

ASTROLOGY.

Astrology was long considered as a science by which future events could be foretold, from the aspects and positions of the heavenly bodies. In the literal sense of the term, astrology should signify no more than the doctrine or science of the stars; which was its original acceptation, and made the ancient astrology; though, in course of time, an alteration has arisen; that which the

ancients called astrology, being afterwards termed astronomy. Astrology may be divided into two branches, natural and judicial ; the latter is that which pretends to foretel moral events; i. e. such as have a dependance on the free will and agency of man; as if they were directed by the stars. This art, which owed its origin to the practices of knavery on credulity, is now universally exploded by the intelligent part of mankind. The professors of this kind of astrology maintain, "that the heavens are one great volume or book, wherein God has written the history of the world; and in which every man may read his own fortune, and the transactions of his time. The art, they say, had its rise from the same hands as astronomy itself. While the ancient Assyrians, whose serene, unclouded sky, favored their celestial observations, were intent on tracing the paths and periods of the heavenly bodies, they discovered a constant settled relation of analogy, between them and things below; and hence were led to conclude these to be the Parce, the destinies, so much talked of, which preside at our births, and dispose of our future fate. The laws, therefore, of this relation, being ascertained by a series of observations, and the share each planet has therein; by knowing the precise time of any person's nativity, they were enabled, from their knowledge in astronomy, to erect a scheme or horoscope of the situation of the planets, at that point of time; and hence, by considering their degrees of power and influence, and how each was either strengthened or tempered by some other, to compute what must be the result thereof." Such are the arguments of the astrologers in favor of their science.. But the chief province, now remaining to the modern professors, is the making of calendars and almanacs. Judicial astrology is commonly said to have been invented in Chaldæ, and thence transmitted to the Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans; though some will have it of Egyptian origin, and ascribe the invention to Ham. But it is to the Arabs we owe it. At Rome the people were so infatuated with it, that the astrologers, or, as they were then called, the mathematicians, maintained their ground in spite of all the edicts of the emperors to expel them out of the city. The Bramins, who introduced and practised this art among the Indians, have hereby made themselves the arbiters of good and evil hours, which gives them great authority; they are consulted as oracles; and they have taken care never to sell their answers but at good rates. The same superstition has also prevailed in more modern ages and nations.

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How sweet it is at dawn of early day,

To wander forth the dewy meads among;
To listen to the birds' wild matin song,
Ere Sol has tinged with gold the mountains gray;
The landscape smiles to greet the orb of light,

Which now emerging, paints all nature gay;
From whom gray shadows flee with mists away,
To wait once more, the dark approach of night.
Encreasing beauties crowd upon my sight,

As more distinct the varied prospect grows; There the gay rustic, to his labor goes, Refresh'd by peaceful rest, and slumbers light. Each object warm, with animation glows, Rejoicing in the sun, full, clear, and bright. New-York, April 18, 1812.

M. A. W.

EPITAPH.

In a Country Church-Yard.

Reader, pass on, ne'er waste your time
On bad biography and bitter rhyme,
For what I am this cumb'rous clay insures,
And what I was, is no affair of yours.

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