Nashville patriot. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1858-1860, 1859-09-17

Miss HARRIET MARTINEAU, having farm
of two acres, lives in the country, and thus
appreciates the life she lives:
"Whoever grows anything feels new in
terest in everything that grows; and, to
the mood of mind in which the occupation is
pursued, it is, TO town-bred women singu-
larly'elevating and refining. To have been
reared in q farmhouse, remote from society
and books, and ignorant of everything be-
yond the bounds of the parish. is one thing;
and to pass from an indolent or literary
life in town to rural pursuits, adopted with
a purpose, is another. In the first case, The
state OF mind may be narrow, dull, and
coarse; in the latter il should naturally be
expansive. CHEEKY. and elevated. The gen
uine poetry of man and nature invests an
intellectual and actual life in the open uni
verse of rural scenery. If listless young Ia
dies from any town in England could wit
ness the way in which hours slip by in tend
ing garden. and consulting about the crops.
and gathering fruit and flowers, they would
think there must be something in it more
than they understand. If they would but
try their hand at making a batch of butter.
or condescend TO gather eggs. and court ac-
quantance with hens and their broods, or as
sumo the charge of 2 single nest. from the
hen taking her seat TO the maturity of the
brood, they would find that life has pleasures
for them that they kGew not Of-pleasures
that have as much romance and poetry
about them as any book in NUDES library.
Among the many pleasant things the lady
is able to say about :he farm, is the following
suggestion, 10 educate cats &
''We educate our own cat. and that at the
cottage; aud if the neighbors would do the
same, there would be an end everywhere to
to the loss and discomfort and ill-will which
arise from this cause. When a cat is seen to
catch chicken. tie ii round her neck, and
make hear wear il for two three days.
Fasten il securely: for she will make incredi-
bic efforts to get rid of it. Be firm for that
time, and the cat is cured. She will never
again desire to touch bird. This is what
we do with our own cats, and what we recon-
mend to our neighbours; and when they try
the experiment, they and their pets are secure
from re2roach and danger henceforth. Wild,
homeless, hungry, ragged. savage. cats are
more difficult TO catch; but they are outlaws,
and may be shot with the certainty that all
neighb0rs will be thankful.
The Toad--ugly and venomous. hath yet
precious jewel in his appetite and taste. So
think the undergraduates of Paris and
London, who employ toads to destroy insects
that prey upon the produce oftheir vegetable
beds. In such demand has come this auxili-
AIRY to successful cultivation, that he has be-
come game reptile, ana trade IN loads
has sprung up in both those cities. The mar
ket price in Paris is about fifty cents dozen.
In London they have been sold as high as
a dollar and half, and this difference in
value has produced considerable import
from France.
The kitchen gardens that surround London
cover four thousand eight hundred acres, and
employ thirty-tive thousand persons. The
mInutest care is bestowed upon their cultiva
ton, and the same piece of land is some n-
stances made to produce, in a single season,
five successive crops. Not single weed is
permitted to show itself, and magnifying
glasses are used to detect mildew, blast, or
parasite. that it may be removed as soon as il
appears.
Slugs, snails. and other insects. are so vo-
raeious in some localities. around London
especially, as In single night to deprive OF
all commercial value. asparagus, lettuce, car
rots, and also the early spring fruits. The
toads wage an exterminating war ON all
these destructive pests. Besides The toads,
the gardeners have recourse likewise TO
chickens. These are employed to destroy
sood-lice. But frst their feet are covered
with species Of stocking, 10 prevent them
from scratching up the soil, and TO oblige
them to procure their prey With the bill only.