Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

The New York papers announce the marriage of Mr. Watson to Miss Watson. My ! Watsons ought to follow this union. Maj. J. W. Thomas has removed into his new residence at juncture of Cedar and \ ine streets, Nashville, —a Capital corner. We are glad to see that Mr. B. F. Nevill, of Chattanooga, is again engaged with the N., C. & St. L. Cos., as passenger agent. Nashville is now his office. Thanks to T. C. Evans, a prince of ad vertising agents, who sends unique calen dars for 1880 to the Dixie Farmer; also an advertisers’ hand-book of easy reference. Vice-President W. A. W r heeler spent the holidays at Chattanooga. He was on a visit to his cousin, Xonophen Wheeler, United States District Attorney for East Tennessee. The distinguished gentleman was called upon by prominent citizens, re gardless of party. The Nashville (Tennessee) Young Men’s Christian Association has begun the publication of an “Association Bulletin.” It is published semi-monthly, and will be mailed regularly to subscribers for 25 cents per annum, in advance. It promises to lie an important auxiliary to the association’s usefulness. Five Sundays in February. —We have heard of many unreasonable things to oc cur “ February 80,” but the lifth Sunday in this short month does occur three times in every hundred years. It can only occur on leap years, of course, and then when the first day of the month is Sunday, as will be the case this year. The trouble about a “ fair count ” is not in Louisiana, but Maine. The Republicans have been beaten by the Democrats and Greenbackers combined. The “ fusion ” ticket carried by too large a majority, think the Stalwarts, and serious trouble has been imminent for several days. Gov. Garcelon showed proper nerve for the occasion. His attorney stated in his absence, the other night, that there had not been a fair count in Maine for twenty-three years. The most unique Confederate monument in Tennessee stands in the Court-house yard at Bolivar. It represents, in the carved marble, a tented army, with battle flags, etc., and cannons reversed. The following sentences are quoted: “ Hardeman county erects this monument to the memory of her sons who fell in the service of the Confederate States. ” “In hope of a joyful resurrection.” “ Though men deserve, they may not win, success.” “ The brave will honor the brave, though vanquished.” When the vote on secession was taken, there was but one vote for “ No separation” A great desideratum of the Southern States is a diversity of labor and associated effort in hundreds of small industries ; such as plaining mills, tanneries, laundries, wag on, chair, bucket, broom, basket, and agri cultural implement manufactories ; and, particularly, neighborhood cotton mills, such as the Clement Attachment, dispensing with gin screw bagging and ties. The smoke should issue from more steam pipes in town and country. The Clement At tachment alone would work a revolution in our condition. The dissatisfaction in the old world, especially Great Britain, by the depression in the value of their cotton fab rics, and failure in crops, will c ause a di version of their capital and skilled labor to our hospitable shores. Let laggards standout of the way, the tide is coming. Much of success in farming is in propor tion to the use of improved plows, hoes, tools, and wagons, good stock, and a liberal quantity of manure. Superficial work will not sullice —deep tillage is needed. Shal low plowing fails to mix the ingredients of the land and to incorporate the manure with the soil. Of what is the advantage to expend money in the application of ma nures, and yet have sorry team and indiffer ent plows to cultivate the crop? Better not waste money on the first, without a suf ficient investment in the latter to make the combination effective. The large yield of manured land is not the result of manure alone, hut of superior cultivation as well. Deep tillage—a sina qua non of good crops — is impossible, without strong horses or mules, and plows; and all inefficient with out manure. Their value is correlative, the effectiveness of each depending upon the other. Tiie Chicago Tribune states that at a donation party at which six farmers were to contribute a jug of milk apiece, on man—a very mean man, Jake Mason—thought it would not make any difference if he con tributed water in place of milk; so he filled his jug with water and took it to the donation. Wbeu he got there, ho turned it over the bung and it ran into a barrel where all the other farmers had poured their milk. Mow, what do youthiuk was the result? Why, every one of the six farmers happened to be us mean as Jake Mason. They all had brought wator. If moderation is needed any whero on the farm, it is in the driving of cows. A boy or a dog that will hurry, and, therefore, wor ry the cows, as they are taken to and from the pasture, should be — to put it mildly —attended to. Boys, do not run the cows homo, oven if it is getting late, especially if it is on thd way to the yard, and their udders are full of milk. * - From the Dixie Farmer. BILL ARP-HIS LETTER. —— He Addresses the “Grand Brotherhood” and Looks on the Cheery Side of Farm Life—We Must “ Unlearn,” So as to Keep Up with New Inventions. All hail to the Dixie Farmer! and I hope it ain’t too late to wish a happy New Year to all the Dixie farmers. What a grand brotherhood your new head-light em braces ! What a noble people you have to work for ! The Dixie farmer does not make much noise in the world, nor gather a for tune quickly, but then he lives well and feels his independence, and gets along kind ly with his nabors. Lawyers and doctors and dentists are useful and clever, but they are a fussy set, and always seem envious of one another; merchants and bankers say their prayers and go to meeting, but they will cut under and take the bridle-path to get trade and business ; railroad companies conspire together to break down competing lines; workmen strike for higher wages; politicians keep up a continual commotion in saving the country, and the busy world seems to be in a hurry to get ahead of some thing or somebody: but the farmer moves along amidst all the ferment and confusion, calm and serene, enjoying good health and a good conscience, and looking at the strife as a boy looks at a monkey show. It’s a wonder to me that everybody don’t go to farming. Lawyers and doctors have to set about town and play checkers, and talk politics, and wait for somebody to quarrel or fight, or get sick ; clerks and book-keepers figure and multiply and eount until they get to counting their foot-steps, and counting the stars, and the flies on the ceiling, and the peas in the dish, and the flowers on the papering; the jeweler sits by his window all the year round, working on little wheels, and the mechanic strikes the same kind of a lick every day. These peo ple do not belong to themselves ; they are all penned up like convicts in a chain-gang; they can’t take a day nor an hour for recrea tion, for they are the servants of their em ployers. There is no profession that gives a man such freedom, such latitude, and such a variety of employment as farming. While I was ruminating this morning, a hoy came along and said the dogs Lad treed something down in the bottom. So me and my boys shouldered the guns and an axe, and look Mrs. Arp and the children along to see the sport. We cut down a hollow gum tree, and caught a ’possum and two squirrels, and killed a rabbit on the run, and had a good time generally, with no loss on our side. We can stop work most any time to give welcome to a passing friend and have a little chat, and our nabors do the same by us; but if you go into one of these factories or work-shops, or even a printing oftce, the first sign-board that greets you says, “ Don’t talk to the_work men.” Sociable crowd, ain’t it? There’s no monotony upon the farm. There’s something new every day, and the changing work brings into action every muscle in the human frame. We plow and hoe, and harrow and sow, and gather it in at harvest-time. We look after the horses and cows, the pigs and sows, and the rams and the lambs, and chickens, and turkeys, and geese. We cut our own wood, and raise our own bread and meat, and don’t have to be stingy of it like city folks. A friend, who visited us not long ago, wrote back from the town that his grate don’t seem bigger than the crown of his hat since he sat by our great big friendly fire-place. But these city folks do beat us in schools, and preachers, and musical festivals, and shows of all sorts. Most of us are too poor to send off our children, but they will get enough learning, if they hanker after it, for newspapers and books are cheap, and what one knows now-a-days everybody can find out, if they want to. It won’t do to learn too much, nohow, for we have got to unlearn a heap, and start anew in the age of progress. When I was in Rome, the other day, I went up to the Shorter College, and found Prof. Lynes working in his little drug-store, weighing, and measuring, and melting, and mixing all sorts of chemicals, and I found out he didn’t know anything about pints and quarts, and ounces and pounds, and inches and feet, and yards, but everything was weighed and measured by a new system. His smallest measure held about a table-spoonful, and the next one ten times as much, and the next one ten times as much as that, and so on. There was no Troy weight for one thing, and apothecaries’ weight for another, and avoir dupois for another, but one set of weights answered for everything, from a hair to an elephant. Then he showed me his yard stick, which he called his meter. It was about three inches longer than a common one, and was divided up into tenths and hundreths, instead of inches and fractions. Some folks say the old yard-stick comes from the length of the arm of King Henry the Eighth, and some say itcome from three barleycorns make an inch ; but they meas ured round the whole earth to get this one, and took one forty millionth part of it and then made thirteen yard-sticks out of plati num, and put them in glass cases, and give one to each of the great kingdoms and gov ernments, and they call them meters. The Professor says they have adopted the new system in some of the old countries, and are trying it in New York, and it will soon be all over the country. So we old folks have got to unlearn the old way, and fall into line with the rising generation. But it all seems mighty simple and natural, and it will do away with so many fractions. I never did like fractions, nohow. We old farmers will feel mighty awkward sending to town for a killdv ' of tobacco, or a deca logue of molasses, or ten meters of calico, or some such outlandish names; but I reckon we can get used to it, or get out of the way and let the young folks run the ma chine. I remember when we didn’t have any dimes nor half-dimes, and everything was in the meanest sort of fraction. We had thrips and seven-pences and which went for 6j and 12-1 and 18| cents; but the dimes and half-dimes are heap bet THE CARTERSVILLE EXPRESS. ter, and save a sight of figuring. I see the cotton men now quote it by points or tenths, and I like that. Very soon we will have no pecks, nor half-bushels, nor gallon meas ures. The old scales will have to be thrown aside. The carpenter’s square will retire, and the cook-books be remodeled. All our lands will have to be surveyed over again, and as the new yards are longer than the old ones, we won’t have quite so much land as we did before, which will be all the bet ter ; and if it will shrink up some women’s feet that I know, it may be considered a success. So let the new system come along, and the sooner the better. One of my nabors is opposed to it, and takes on terribly ; but really I don’t see why, for he hasn’t hail anything to sell for five years, and don t need any weights or measures of any kind. I told him, the other day, he reminded me of a feller who heard that a bank had broke and he run all the way home to see how many of their bills he had, and found he didn’t have any on that bank or any other bank. Yours, Bill Arp. Cartersville, Ga. PROSPERITY BY FARMING. Prosperity can never come to our people until they stop canting about hard times, go to work, and practice economy in its fullest extent. Solid wealth comes from the soil. Fortunes are not made in a day ; if they are, they arc as likely to be swept away in the same short period. A great mistake made by a large class of our citi eens is in the education of their children. There seems a desire to elevate the offspring above the parent. This is all the more sui cidal, as history proves the scheme impos sible. Our public school system, though beautiful in theory, is subject to great abuse. Too much education for a working man is almost as bad as none at all. The proof is, that a highly educated child despises man ual labor, and, as a rule, will not perform it. Consequently, the professions of law and medicine are so overdone that it is a mere accident when one of their followers succeeds. To become a great and influen tial merchant, a classical education is not necessary; and the amount of drudgery that the youth has to undergo to learn the rudimentary part of a merchant’s educa tion would make it painful for the high graduate. Our farmers should send their children to school ; but they should not only teach them to work, but let them feel that they are to succeed to their vocation in life. The farm should be cared for with that object in view, and then, with close economy, little by little, money may be ac cumulated. On nine farms in ten, there is an annual waste, which, if stopped, in ten years would represent an amount that would be star tling. A great variety of crops should be planted, so, if one fails, the others may fare better. Produce everything at home, and the surplus will then be ready money. It is a bad sign to see farmers coming to town with a loads of truck, and going back home loaded with store-goods, and per haps not a dollar left in his wallet ; yet such is an every-day occurrence Man’s wants are more ideal than real, and it re quires a deal of moral courage to put on the brakes and say no. But it must be done, or poverty will always hover around. Before the war, there lived in Madison parish, Louisiana, a lady whose husband was considered a rich man until after his death, when she found out that the estate was insolvent. Heart-broken, she went to New Orleans, and laid her case before a prominent merchant of that city, begging him to help her out of her troubles. He investigated the case, anti thought he saw the remedy, provided the lady would follow his advice. “ Madame, I will take your business in hand on one condition —that you live upon your plantation, and give it your personal supervision. Raise your own hogs, make your own cloth, shoes and farm ing utensils as far as possible, plant an abundance of corn, and let your surplus labor be devoted to cotton, but keep from sending to the city for supplies ; in other words, buy nothing you can produce at home.” The lady went back, kept her word, and in less than ten years she had paid all her husband’s debtH, had the property un incumbered, and money to her credit in bank. That is what the bulk of our farmers should do. Make everything for their own wants and the surplus for market, and in a few years the long-looked-for prosperity will come. Omega. OUR WASHINGTON LETTER. New Year Ueremouies—Tlie Same Old Programme Military, Naval, and Diplomatic Splendor Pennsylvania Avenue as a Line of Military Defense Against the Indians—Modern Mimicry of Diplomacy. To day’s New Year calls, in Washington, were a repetition of the familiar programme. The President, Cabinet officers, Judges of the Supreme Court —nearly everybody, offi cial and non-official, received; and every body called. The New Year receptions at the capital are good, if for nothing else, to display the imposing reserve strength of the army and navy. It has been the policy of our Government to bring the chiefs of the savages to the Eastern cities, to impress them with the strength of our population, the extent of our resources, and the hope lessness of their cause in the irrepressible conflict. This policy has had no apparent effect upon Indian wars, because the savage is unable to distinguish those who have been taught French, engineering, and waltz ing to qualify them for their executioners, and the shop-keepers and dandies who promenade Pennsylvania avenue. The ac complished “ pups of war ” from West Point, and the exquisite civilian, look pre cisely alike when the former is masquerad ing in citizen’s dress, as is their custom for 364 days ot the year. The way to make the Government policy effective would be to bring the Indians here on the first day of the year, ami let them see our officers in their war-like panoply; they would then realize, from their epaulettes, scarfs, gold braid, and buttons, what terribly destruc tive fellows they are, and what a numerous reserve we keep at the capital, with Penn sylvania avenue as a line of defense. But the New Year official ceremonies are instructive and impressive in at least one other way. We are reminded or. the first day of the year that we have foreign rela tions ; that we, as a people, do not live to ourselves, nor order the fashion of our National household ; that Republicanism is not such anew departure as the apostles of new-fangled steam, electricity, and printing presses would have us lielieve.} that, in spite of the discovery of anew continent, the width of the Atlantic Ocean, and our vaunted secession from monarchial forms and formalities, we are compelled to ser vilely copy that which the “ efi’ete despot isms” perpetuate only as a venerable tradi tion. When we see the foreign diplomatic corps, the gorgeous embassadors of Russia, Turkey, Austria, Denmark, and the Canni bal Islands, with their numerous attaches, any one of them with twice as much gold braid and tinsel as our own resplendent army aud navy officers, our minds are car ried back to the day of Talleyrand and Matternich, or farther to the age of Riche lieu and Maechiavelli, when the policies of nations were not discussed, and the secrets of courts were not anticipated and exposed by the press, cabled to the four quarters of the globe for the information of all the world, and, finally, for the information of the diplomats. When we see the modern embassador in bis arduous and delicate diplomatic work of calling at the White House one day of the C 65, presenting his compliments to the President, wishing him sftul Mrs. Hayes a happy New Year, our hearts (not our pockets) may swell with the reflection, that, in spite of the press, steam, the Atlantic Ocean, and the Atlantic cable, we, also, have the proud privilege of pay ing a few millions a year, at foreign courts, in support of this venerable, antique, use less mimicry of diplomacy. C. Washington, D. January 1, 1880. By and By. MARC ARE 1" J. FRESTON. What will it matter, by and by, Whether my path below was bright, Whether it wound through dark or light, Under a gray or golden sky, When I look back on it, by and by ? W T hat will it matter, by and by, Whether, unhelped, I toiled alone, Dashing my foot against a stone, Missing the charge of the angel nigh, Bidding me thiuk of the by and by. W T hat wiil it matter, by and by, Whether with laughing joy I went Down through the years with a glad content, Never believing, nay, not I, Tears would be sweeter by and by. What will it matter, by and by, Whether with cheek to cheek I’ve lain Close by the pallid angel, Pain, Soothing myself through sob and sigh, “All will be else wise by aud by ? ” What will it matter? Naught, if I Only am sure the way I’ve trod, Gloomy or gladdened leads to God, Questioning not the how, the why, If I but reach him, by and by. What will I care for the unshared sigh, If, in my fear of slip or fall, Closely I’ve clung to Christ through all, Mindless how rough the path might lie, Since He will smooth it by and by ? Ah ! it will matter, by and by, Nothing but this : That joy or pain Lifted me sky ward, helped me to gain, Whether through rack, or smile, or sigh, Heaven —home—all in all, by and by. Chicken Cholera. A correspondent writing to the Poultry World, says: “Under the above heading, in the September number of the World, your correspondent “ M. ” gives as his the ory of chicken cholera that it is ‘ caused by a certain amount of solar temperature, moisture, and vegetable decom|K)Bition• , Now my experience does not accord with ‘ M.’s ’ theory. I have recently lost a number of tine Dark Brahmas, and 1 am sure moisture had nothing to do with their having the cholera. Since June they had the range of three or four lots planted in corn and potatoes; had good shade, and were furnished fresh water to drink three times a day, and were fed twice a day on corn and cooked feed ; and aside from the water that was put out for their use, there was no water within their range, which is high and dry. As to the “solar tempera ture arid vegetable decomposHion,” I am unable to say what influence they had in starting the disease or making it unman ageable; but Ido feel sure that cholera is contageous, and that my fowls first caught it from a Light Brahma cock that deserted a Hock that were dying with the cholera, and came a distance of four blocks to my chickens. Of those that got sick all died # On two former occasions, two or three years ago, I had the cholera among my fowls, but saved all those I treated. My remedy was coal oil and pills, made from different proportions of blue mass, cam phor, capsicum, and opium. I was of the opinion that the remedy was “sure cure,” as some of my neighbors had used it with good success. But this season it failed en tirely. Up to the time of the cholera bird get ting among mine they were apparently in good health, and I have frequently washed their roosts with coal oil, and allowed but few to roost together; had furnished them lime and ashes in which to du jt themselves. So I think there is no doubt but that chol era is contagious ; and it is important, in the treatment of the disease, to remove at once from the flock every bird that shows the least symptoms of being diseased. . * . C .... . .IV . ■ * Improving TIIO Soil. Many farms are every year becoming poorer from constant cropping, and the question among the agricultural class is: How will we reclaim our land or bring it back to its former fertility ? We read and wo look to our best farmers for relief, but few have yet diverged from the old ruts, simply a rotation of crops, impoverishing the soil like one milking a good cow and not feeding her properly and expect a good flow of rich milk. Commercial fertilizers .are often too ex pensive, counting first cost, then the freight by rail for several hundred miles. It has been acknowledged by good farmers, and scientific men generally, that red clover is oue of our foremost fertilizing plants, and that buckwheat is next in value. The for mer penetrates the soil with its lap-roots and rootlets loosening up the soil, while the stems and foliage gather chemical proper ties from the atmosphere. Now, as these are facts, we have a good fertilizer near at hand, if properly managed. Our motto should be, till a less number of acres and do it better, and gather oti‘ of one acre more than some do off of two, and make “ better gains.” Clover is our best plant to utilize. I would advise the plowing of the land for clover early, as soon as dry enough, in the spring, where land is thin or badly worn, to the depth of three or four inches; then harrow down fine and level, sow the seed about at the rate of one bushel to eight acres. The seed should be tested before sowing, by trying some in a box of good damp soil set close to the fire. The seed should be new seed to insure a good stand. Immediately after the sower, let a boy fol low, with a lot of fiue brush drawn by a horse, in the same manner as brushing in turnips. Borne get a good stand by sowing on wheat land in the spring, or with a light sowing of oats, but land must be pretty new to insure a good stand, and sown early. To make the best use of clover as a fer tilizer, take a good sod plow and cutter, and turn the crop under while in bloom (say in June for winter wheat), five or six inches deep. After it has lain a sho*'t time, harrow thoroughly the same way that it was plowed, and cultivate two or three times during the summer before seeding time with corn cultivator; set light so as not to disturb the sod. Harrow, roll and pack well before drilling in your wheat. The next year sow wheat, or reserve for corn. Another way of handling clover with good results is as follows; Let the crop grow in the spring for hay; cut it as soon as the bloom fades, and stack, or put into the bam. Then let the clover come on with the second crop for seed; cut the seed off, and then break up late in the fall,deep. This will deposit a lot of seed in the bottom of the furrow which, if not disturbed, will lay dormant in the ground. Plow shal lower the following spring for corn, culti vate well; cut up the corn in large shock rows, and plow deep enough to bring up the dormant clover; harrow and roll the land ; thoroughly drill in your wheat early in the season for the latitude you are in ; save your barn-yard manure and straw manure, and with it try and get your land of average quality, by using it on the thin ner Bpots, which occur more or less on every farm. Brother farmers, try these experi ments as I have described in this article, and see if it will not give you full cribs, wheat bins, and a fat pocketbook.—J. C. C. in Prairie Farmer. REMINISCENCES OF EARLY DAYS IN TENNESSEE. Editors Dixie Farmer: Judge Jo C. Guild has given to the pub lic an interesting account of his early life in Sumner county, his attending a ball in Nashville, and having a tight with a flat boat captain, his fellow law students telling him the next morning that the city marshal, old man Brooks was looking for him, hi, big scare, and flight around capitol hill* hiding in the gulley at the Sulphur springs taking a bee line for Gallatin, not daring to stop until he reached the end of “Williams lane,” when he mounted the fence, took a seat under a big oak tree, and looked back for Brooks on his old pony. This “ William’s lane” is a historic spot when taken in connection with the early days of this country. A. D„ 1804, William Williams, of Halifax county, N. C., came to Nashville to see the surrounding country, and on his return purchased the Evans grant, containing 640 acres of land, and in the following year he, (riding the imp. stal lion Coeur d’Leon, whose decendants after wards figured on the turf in Tennessee,) and his brother Josiaii, moved to the farm and pitched their tent at the “ big spring.” In after years William let Josiah have the land lying West of the public road, each purchasing additional lands in the rear —a high and strong fence was built on each side of the road thus forming the well known “Williams’ lane.” The fourth and fifth mile posts on the road between Nashville and Gallatin were in this lane. Half th - ' length of the lane was as level as a race course, and equestrians in looking ahead were often tempted to try the speed of their steeds at Itheir best gaits when the “half mile stretch,” as it was called, was in good order. The farmers around kept well post ed in those days as to what was going on at the Nashville race course, for many of the well-to-do farmers owned thoroughbred horses, and when Haney’s Maria, Poliey Powell, or old Walk-in-the Water, was to make a trial of speed snd endurance with some bold opponent, business stopped. On one of these occasions a number of them, mounted on good saddle horses, were re turning from the races. About half of the number had new hata or boots, won on “old Walk.” One of the number was John Y., about twenty-one years old, who was rent ing a part of the Springbill farm. He rode a bay gelding that ran and paced quite fast, he carried in one hand his old hat (wearing the new one) and across his lap a pair of boots, won from A. & B. As they came near the level part of the lane, John pro posed io give A. a chance to *win back hat, but A. declined, not fearing the bay horse so much, but he saw mischief in John’s eye. The latter then bantered B. for a pacing race, which was accepted ; for B. knew his sorrel could distance the bay, and he was anxious to win back the boots. A short distance back John had pulled from, a wagon a white oak lath, but no one no ticed it. B. rode with spurs. The word was giveu—go —the bay a length in front, but soon B. had the sorrel going the right gait under a steady pull, and was half a length ahead. John stood up in his stir rups, raised the lath over his head and brought it down across the sorrel’s hips, making a report a loud as a pistol. Both horses broke, but John kept the bay be hind, and used the lath without stint on B.’s swallow-tail blue broadcloth that was streaming out behind over the sorrel’s hips. 8., in trying to hold on, stuck the spurs deep in the sides of his horse every jump, which added fury to fright—John yelling like a wild Indian, B. alternately begged and cursed, but in vain. The end of the lane was reached, but on they went, up and down the hills, and out of sight for more than a mile, when the sorrel flew the track and let the bay pass. The crowd galloped on, and before the riders had time to rein up their steeds, return to the post,dismount and fight it out, the judges interfered, and B. joined in the laugh. Owing to the winter rains, and snows, and freezes, and thaws, and rains again, this lane much traveled became muddy. It be came as notorious for its mud in winter as for its smooth, level stretch in summer; all produce was transported in those days by wagon or boat, and the lane was dreaded by all teamsters. John went one evening with a cart load of rails to repair his fence on the road, and he avoided the muddy and almost impassable lane by going through a gate that opened into the lane above the mud; ascending the ridge he met four large covered wagons, with five or six horses hitched to each, just coming up from the opposite side, heavily loaded with goods for the merchants. The driver of the first wagon stopped John and asked if that was Williams’ lane ? “ Yes, sir.” “ We heard of it before we left Kentucky for Nashville; is it very muddy now ?” in quired the teamster. “Ob, no, sir,” said John, “ I came through it with these calves and this load of rails ; your teams will go through it like a streak of greased lightning; good evening,gentlemen.” John spent an hour repairing the fence and then walked back to the top of the ridge to see the fun. The men and horses were making desperate efforts to get through, but first one and then another gave up, with curses loud and deep upon the infernal steer driver that had beguiled them into the place. The following morning John saw the drivers unloading the wagons, and con cluded it might be better for him to let his place alone for a few days, at least until ti e Kentucky teamsters were gone. About this time the Hon. Jo C. Guild was elected to the legislature from Sumner county, and instead of walking to Nash ville, (John, who related the circumstance* to him,) says he thought he would be dig nified and ride in the stage coach. Dennis, the driver, a son of the Emerald Isle, was as good a driver as ever blew a stage horn or snapped a whip over a four-in-hand, but the fates were against him that time. It was dark and raining when he entered the lane with his four grays, already jaded with their long muddy tramp. He pulled them up on the ridge a few moments to let them blow, then cracked his whip, and into the mire they went, John says he saw the coach there the next morning, and heard that Dennis told Guild be must take his chances either to sleep in the coach or crawl out and get on the leader as best he could and ride bareback to Nashville. Judge Guild chose the latter, and cooned it out t old Charley. Dennis unhitched, and put ting the mail bags on Dick mounted, and the two waded out. When they got to ’Bquire Williams’ big gate, Judge Guiid said to Dennis he wished to have a talk with Esq. Williams about some important State matters that he wanted actedjon by the Legislature, ’especially about internal im provements; he also wanted to have the Es quire’s opinion about some race-horses. So the new-made legislator passed the night with Esq. Williams, and thus avoided the humiliation of riding into the capital bare back on a stage horse. How changed is everything now from those days of long ago! Esq. Williams was an able advocate of internal improve ments, and a leader in building the Nash ville and Gallatiu turnpike. Judge Guild acted an important part in building the railroad from and to the game places, each located a few steps west of the old road. Seated under the same old oak tree, spared by ibe woodman’s axe and unhurt by the storms of centuries, where young Guild rested more than half a century since, and looking west, instead of seeing Marshal Brooks, I see the horseman, the young girl U’.ing a pleasure ride in phaeton, the spring market wagon, the family carriage, the long train of coaches and cars, drawn by the iron-horse, all moving to and fro ; the race course, the muddy Jane, now a field of liv ing green, promising next season an abund ant harvest. Viator. Good Home-made Guar Cotton-seed swamp-muck, and stable-man n**, mixed, and little lime thrown over, —Don’t crowd your fowls in the hen houses. Give them breathing-room, space to move about in, and ample roosting ac commodations. Your hens will not lay well if you stive theca up in close quarters. They must have air, and be so situated that their bodies will not come into contact, h J night or by day—as far as ibis is possible to be managed.