Newspaper Page Text
' ImMi in® tasfetaafci I ijili.
BY JAMES GARDNER.
(COMMUNICBTED.] I
On the Use of Lime and Magnesia for Agri- 1
cultural Purposes. ;.
SECOND ARTICLE.
BY PROFESSOR JULIEN* DEBT.
Were we to attempt to draw any conclusions
on toe use of lime in agriculture from the opin
ion of a large portion of the agriculturists ol this
or other countries, we would find such conflict
ing views as regards its value, that it would be
impossible for us to form any generalisations on
tb» subject. Some affirm that lime is good every
where and anywhereand needed always; while
rate ’s will openly express the contrary, i. e., j
’ t lime is useless everywhere. Both these
Ctle.isses of persons reason uuphilosophicaily. from I
result of unsk.;ful!y,qr ignorantly conducted
experiments i. 4 Jven foe-:.y, =■•;<! noth ng is ;
‘cJfno.v e.- to a.i merit in science, I
*er rove fruitful! of iii effects in its application to
' trie aits, than these fa’se inductions.
Tqe first thing to be done when an inorganic
rornare is to be used is to acquire a knowledge ot I
a;, ns properties. Without this knowledge the
inverse to what is expected may often be pro-i
dueed, and such substances as would be very ,
beneficial in one spot,. useless or even
‘noxious io ISr. This is the case with lime,
as We shall attewpt to prove.
Toe great diversity of opinions regarding the i
agricultural use ot lime, have their origin in the
varied physical and chemical effects ot this sub
stance, when buried in soils of different compo
sition, either mechanical or chemical, and also is
influenced by chemical circumstances. No ag
riculturist, ignorant of these facts, can act other
wise than blindly when using lime, and he can
expect happy results only, as a mere chance or i
accident. And I ask, how many are acquainted
with the action of lime on the constituents of I
the soil, on organic substance put into cantact
with it, or as regards its effects on the living
plant ?
Without entering into details as to the well
known manufacture of lime, we may here recal.
to mind that it is obtained by the calcination of
the carbonate of lime commonly known by the
name of limestone, marble, chalk, &c. The r _.
limestones are exceedingly variable in their com
position ; some are nearly pure while others are
more or less mixed with foreign substances, such
as alumina, silica,iron, magnesia, and manganese
which, by their Sifferent proportions, produce
magnesian limestone (dolomite), hydraulic lime
stone, &c.
In these diverse (more cr less pure) limestones
the si'ica present is very liable by too great a
Beat to vitrify with the lime and other metalic
oxides, and so to produce stable insoluble com
pounds, which diminish or destroy the vjjue of,
this lime as an agriculturtil manure.
As a genera! rule, the purest limestone must
be prepared for agricultural purposesj-sad the
first thing to l< done by ar. enliehtoeed fiw-»r is
ts .e qua ity of his iime beforUap- ■
t -huUud*.
~ 1 .-e simplest way of doing this, is to pound
up a piece of the limestone rock as fine as pos- .
sib’e, to weigh it exactly, to pour on it some
strong acetic acid which dissolves the lime and
magnesia and to filter the whole through a paper
filter. The residue remaining on the filter (af
ter drying and deduction of the weight of the
filter) gives the weight of the amount of impuri
ties in the lime, (which impurities are insoluble
in acetic acid). This last weight being deducted
from the primitive weight of the whole lime
stone, furnishes exactly enough, for all ordinary
purposes, the proportion of lime in an impure
limestone.
If the relative quantity of iime and magnesia
be wanted, the first of these may be precipitated
from the filtered solution, by adding an excess of
oxalate of ammonia. This precipitate is filter
ed, dried and weighed, and gives us a certain
amount of oxalate of lime, which may be reduc
ed to a corresponding quantity of carbonate of
the primitive rock by calculation, * (i. e. by mul
tiplying the quantity of oxalate by 29, and di
viding the product by 41.) The difference be
tween the weight of the carbonate of lime, and
that of the limestone (from which has been sub
tracted the insoluble parts.) gives us the relative :
proportion of carbonate of magnesia.
Recently burned lime is caustic, but when .
left exposed to atmospheric influences it absorbs*
damp and vapour, and becoming hydrate, it falls j
into duet or slacks. This new combination,
which is yet caustic ends, sooner or later, by
loosing this property by the absortion of carbonic
acid gas from the surrounding air. which trans
forms it from hydrated oxide of calcium (fresh
slacked lime) to carbonate of lime. Under
ground, when fresh burnt lime is buried in the
soil, these changes are much more rapid than in i
the air, as there is a much larger amount of err
bonie acid always found, it being produced by
the decomposition of organic matter, or brought I
in solution by the water of rain.
The modes of action of caustic lime on vege- |
tation are exceedingly numerous. Among the j
most important are:
Ist. Its power of neutralizing the excess of
acetic, phocphoric, carbonic, tonnic, and some
other acids ol the soil, which make it invaluable
for rendering fertile some<other wise uncultivable
soils.
2d. It forms a calcerous radical, necessary to
most, if not all plants. We may take as an ex
ample, corn or maize. To this plant numerous
*Thiscalculation is based on the atomic weight
of bodies, and requires some knowledge of chem
istry to make out. In order to facilitate research
es, we give here the formula and the manner by
which it is obtained.
Ca 01 C 2 03 x 2 If 0. or oxalate of lime—(29ox
300, x (190x300)x(2xl 12,9)—399x490x229—1029.
1029:390 (Ca 0) —precipitate obtained x (Ca O.) I
41: 14—precipitate obtained x
X—J4x aurn obtained —sum of Ca 0 in theprecip-
itato experimented on.
41
To reduce x to carbonate of Urao, wo have
X'Ca 0) Y (Ca 01 C 02)—14 25
v—Xx25—25U4X sum of precipitate obtained, -
14 41
24 x sunt of precipitate |
I
AVGUSTA, GEORGIA, WEDNESDAY, 3, 1855.
- . —l-L— .■ I„|, .
analysis have proved that a certain amount of f
lime and magnesia is aiway found; of which t
sometimes, the one and sometimes the other pre- s
dominates, but the sum of both seems to vary
little. Supposing a maximum crop to produce 1
80 bushels of corn to the acre, and the bushel to '
' weigh GO pounds, the quantity of straw, cobs. I
fre., in the relation of 4:1 to the grain, we ob- 1
tail: the following results in making use of a 1
mean, calculated from all analysis known to me:
SO bushels of grs-in weigh 4800 pounds.
80 bushels of grain correspond to 19.200 lbs. 1
or straw, cobs. &c.
i The 4800 pounds corn give 114 pounds of in- '
organic matter
The 19,200 ponds straw give 576 pounds of
ashes.
The ashes c! ci contain 18 per cent, of lime I
ana mag-wsia. I
The nihes ot straw,■set,. btc.,.conta'’fl 19 P*r’j
cent, ol idem.
144 pounds at 18 per cent. p:oducens 92 j
'576 “ “19 per cent, produce 86,40 I
. Total amount ol lime and magnesia taken !
from the g u 1 by one maxiinuui crop of corn, j
IllSpoun-' 100.
Thes. ulation may be applied to Wheat,
1 Cotton, other vegetable, whose composi
tion is• detern. wd. As, however, the use of
lime is not only to furnish the plant with that
quantity found in its structures, but also to act as
! a solvent on silicates of the soil a*s well as on di
verse constituents of manures, and that a portion '
,of it is lost, by passing into insoluble carbonate, I
! or by not coming into contact with the roots of ]
' the plants, the quantity above named would be I
too small for a soil entirely deficient in this use- :
j ful element.
1 3d. Lime acts as hastening the decomposition ]
"of silicates; the silicic acid of these becoming I
soluble, is absorbed by the plant, and the freed I
I radicals often serve their turn to feed the plant, ]
especially when these are potash or soda. In the
j above example, a crop of corn would take from I
the soil 143 pounds of silica, and 294 pounds ol
j potash and soda, (which, in the same manner as ■
with lime and magaesia L are isomorphous, or can !
: re-place one another in all proportions in the I
i vegetable economy) a portion of which has need- !
ied lime for its production in an available form j
‘ for the plant. Ina soil containing feldspar, lime
will act powerfully as a producer of potash, as
also in clays rich in silicates.
4th. Lime produces a mjre speedy decomposi
tion and transformation of organic substances in
to humus or vegetable mould, and renders the
constituents of this humus as nitrogen, almates,
Deverne salts, &c., soluble and absorbable. The
details of these combinations, which it would be
an easy task to enumerate, would lead us too far
. for the columns of a popular paper. It is sut
yficient to know, that lime acts as a solvent on
manures, whether naturally present in the soil,
‘ or introduced there by the hand of man.
5 th. Lime augment' or dimiqishe ' the tern- |
i ;*ei •* g cu.-.u, .«i t u-is it more emu- I
pact .j.- rooie friable and Jo<w". It is weJWfcown
' that a compact soil ras a greater power ‘
■ tion for moisture, and is consequently colder the I
! greater is its tenacity; on the contrary,a loose soil |
| offers less resistance to the evaporation ot its j
moisture, and allows a free and often excessive !
, circulation of the air between its particles, it is I
' consequently dry and hot.
’ If lime be applied to a sandy soil, the consis- |
i tance it imparts to it, w ill, joined to the reiiec-
I tive power of light colored substances, cause the :
• ground to become colder. Iflime be added to a |
I compact clay, this last becomes looser, allows oi i
j free and beneficial circulation of vapour and I
I gases around the rootsol plants, and the surface I
becomes hotter, because mote dry. Lime may j
’ in this manner act in two quite different and op- |
■ ■ posite manners on the texture and temperature [
I ot soils, and it will be necesssary to keep this in j
view during the application of lime, so as to pro- !
I portion the dose to the natural peculiarities ol i
i the locality.
| If a soil contain free acid principles, if it be I
' compact and cold, if it be rich to excess in hu- I
j mus, if it be deficient in lim*. or loose, dry and |
i hot, then will a certain amount of lime be par- j
j ticulariy beneficial, and this amount must be ;
proportionate to the state of the soil to which it 1
i has to be applied. If, however, a field be exces- I
! siveiy wet, dense and compact, we must not :
: conclude from what has been said above, that
lime alone will render it fertile. In this case
the use of lime must be subordinate to some sys
tem ol drainage. A soil which of itself is emi
nently calcareous, or in wh:r t , lime predomi
nates, is naturally damp and cold, and the addi
tion of lime here would only serve to augment
these delects instead of curing them. Such pe
culiarities are to be noted by the intelligent ag-
I riculturist, and cannot all be foreseen or put to
■ paper.-
j An excess ol lime is often very pernicious; it j
■ causes a too rapid re-solution of organic manures !
I in the soil, and a consequent loss by infiltration ■
j of water ; it eliminates the ammonia and takes i
j up a considerable amount of carbonic acid while j
| transforming itself into a carbonate, this ammo- ;
nia and carbonic acid being needed by the plant. I
Lime applied in immoderate quantities to a rich
land, would soon impoverish it more than would
even succession of unmanured crops, and this by
the faculty it has of causing a too rapid decom
position and loss of the food of vegetables buried
in the soil. It will rapidly dissolve and cause
the loss of the manure or humus.
From the above facts it will be seen that the
use of lime in agriculture is subordinate.
ist. To the composition of the limestone.
2d. To the chemical nature of the soil and its
constituents, whether mineral or organic.
3d. To the mechanical state of the soil.
4th. To the chemical nature of the crops to]
which it has to be applied.
Eeach of these cases is complete in itself, and
several combinations co-existing a*|a time, ren
der the practical application of lime to the soil so
difficult a problem that not many will dare affirm
t'iat they have studied the question in al! point
lof view before experimenting on their own
lands.
• Linue acts A4*t only as I have already said, iu
furnishing to the plant part of its aliment, but
more specially by its chemical action on other
substances, and by its physical aption on the soil.
If the limestone be hydraulic, and too much |
burned, it will be of little value ; if the lime I I
used has lain exposed long enough tn have been , *
retranslormed into carbonate ot lime, its proper- ] t
ties as a fertilizer wiil be very greatly dimit.isli |
ed. , ]
If the soil contain no silicates or other salts
upon which iime will have an indirect solvel-i*
action, if it contain no tannin or free acids w hich |
we wish to destroy ; then will lime have little <
or no influence as a fertilizer. . if no organic
matter or manure be present in the soil, as is too ,
often the case in worn-out” lands, then will i
lime be of no use as it must be regarded less as a
manure itself than as a solvent of other co exist- '• ‘
j organic or Inorganic manures. -I!
~ the soil )i‘:rnar.-h,a wet hog, or c" ca'-.ii
jcsreJlis nature, li-ne will b- e-lier.
! .nay even bee e pernicious.
! Il lime be given in excess to a rich land, it
i will cause a too rapid decomposition of tne fou>. :
lof the plant, and wiil generally have, as a conse
] quence, a very rapid growth of leaf end stem, to
the detriment ot flower and fruit on the first crop,
and a total failure on the succeeding crops, which
will be left without sufficient manure.
A good planter ought to know the composi
tion of the soil he is working, the wants of the
plants he cultivates, and the qualities of the
| lime he uses. Then alone can he know the
] quantity to be applied, and thus can he appreci
ate which will be the best method of applying
i ‘t-
The above enumerated causes of unsupcess are
! the principal ones to which may be ascribed the
; experiments tried by persons who affirm that
} lime has produced no sensible effects on their
crops; they have either used too much lime, or
I too little lime, or have applied it to soils, where?
| from the absence ot certain principles, or the t
I predominance of certain agents, it could be of no I
’ possible account. Sometimes, also, the lime used |
' has been of bad quality.
From what has been said, it will be evident ’
| that no general rule can be given, telling every
| man how many bushels of lime to the acre, he
; must apply, as this must vary according to innu
merable and often varying circumstances. 1
shall, however, attempt iu my next and conclu
ding article, to bring together some practical pre
cepts, in accordance withjthe teachings of sci
ence and out-of-door experiment, which wiil, I
hope, be found serviceable and comprehensible.
My only wish in penning these papers is to
be useful to the community at large, and I sbaii
be sufficiently rewarded for my trouble if I suc
ceed in being the indirect cause of adding a few
bushels more of corn to every maa’s acre, or a
pi mpkin or two to the fare of any man s bog.
Middle Ground, Ga , Dec. 27t\ w
Me. Gardner :— Sir— ln the notice of mv
i rest and snbsrqiLient co:
[ alleged to have been co.nrunteU at'-fie rUi.lfetMj
’ Hotel, ns published fn f !ie Unng'!. . j-'_ _ '
I injustice is done me. That statement, if sufferer, ,
| to go unexplained, is calculated to prejudice t'-e
I public against me, and greatly to mortify my !_•-
I lations and friends, whose good opinion I trust 1
i shall never forfeit. The statement in the Con
j stitutionalist is an exageration of the crime with
which lam charged. Davis, my accuser, states
l his loss at 15, not $150; he did not claim the port
j monie, nor did he recognise the money found
I upon my person as being absolutely Ids— he said
j “it looked like his,” and as to the gloves found
I in my over-coat pocket, there is no one of my
! acquaintance who believes they were placed
! there by me, it is well known I have no use for
' them. They were put in my pocket, doubtless,
I for the purpose of giving plausibility to the charge
■ which it was intended to prefer against me, these
! gentry very probably thought they had found a
I “green ’un” and that the occasion offered them a
lair chance, fora profitable speculation. I have
■ every assurance that I shall disappoint them, by
. accounting satisfactorily for every cent of money
] found in my possession, at the time of my arrest,
’ and I hereby respectfully request my friends
! and the public not to prejudge me, but to sus
-1 pend an opinion until the case shall have been
determined.
A. Simpkins Enecks.
; Sell Your Cotton.—Whqt makes the times
I so tight’ Scarcity of money. And what pro
duced the pressure in the money market? The
failure to sell cotton at the usual time, owing
to the yellow fever in Savannah and Augusta.
This scarcity is now kept up by the farmers re
fusing to sell at the present reduced rates, and
this is the principal cause of tight times with the
people of Middle Georgia. Hancock county pro
duced in the year 1849, 11,67.4 bales of ginned
cotton, averaging 490 lbs. Washington, the same
year, produced 7,445 bales, being an aggregate of
18.819 bales. Allowing for the short crop of the
present year, we might reasonably put down the
[ produce at 13,000 bales lor the two counties, or
I 6.000,000 of pounds of ginned cotton, which at
l 7J cents would bring into circulation the immense
: sum of $420,000, allowing J a cent for expenses.
I If this would not relieve the times, what would?
i A sound, practical philosophy teaches us the
I remedy, let it be applied and the cure is effected.
; Sell your cotton, and you’ll fare better than to
| wait till spring, and then sell at lower rates after
paying storage anil interest, and drayagc, and it
may be in many instances, cost ot suit. The
present war in the East will continue to embar
rass commerce and keep cotton down. Sell
while you can get a fair remuneration.— San
dersville Georgian, 261 h inti.
r Important, if True.—A writer in the New
York Times recommends the sowing of tansey
about the roots of peach trees, as a means of pre
serving them. He says he once knew a large
peach tree which was more than forty years old,
while several generations of similar trees in the
same soil had passed away. This led to exami
nation, and a bed of tansey was discovered about
the trunk. It was naturally inferred that the
j preservation of this tree to such a green old age,
I was attributed to the presence of this plant. It
was decided to tiy the experiment on others, and
accordingly a few of the roots were placed about
each of the other trees on the premises, some of
which gave signs of decay. Not only has it
preserved for several years thj sound trees, but
renovated those that were ffnsound. The odor
of the plant, he says, doubtless keeps off'the in
sect enemies of this kind of tree, and it might
have the same effect on others, as the plum, ap
ple and pear, as well as the elm, sycamore and
other ornamental trees.
’ T'?,* 1 " —
■ Mt.the Baltimore Sun.} I
Thirt Second Session.
■ W>shin«ton .Dec. 26,1854. I
SENATE. <
>■ . ii .rd presented a memorial from the j
Ppi ,<5 aoard of trade, asking Congress to s
in r for the relief of Dr. Kane; also, a i
-,wtit: in the sarrie source lor improving the s
Delaware bay. t
-“, r -. gave notice that early next t
wee :■ e ca i] up th e bi|) for the relief ol r
the/the warof 1812. t
submitted the following: 1
the committee on commerce (
be 4ir f J tT consider if any legislation be need
ed ir. or,. r‘o «ecure the wages of merchant sea- ;,
man in i .. -u of wreck.
V. F t presented the petition of J. Sidney >
inaw* until u. the city of Washington.
Mr. E glass introduced a bill that SI,OOO be i
I, '; “':i*' d 1 rum the contingent fund for ex- ,
i " H. Nebraska, the annual appropriation i
’■ apt rear being rendered unavailable |
-t Governor Burt. Passed.
,fiuui the Treasury i
■dtdfi.o relative to the site of a marine !;
.jTi" .. C ■. aqganother submitting the an- i
: ~ :ne Superintendent of the Coast j ,
1- r latter was ordered to be printed, i ,
number of uuimpoitant and local :,
bill icsented and referred.
■’< ije bill for the erection of a light house ,
at ■ - |e was referred to the committee on
ndanother for the re-organization of ■
iii the District of Columbia was refer
, r ~ •'f mmittee on the judiciary.
v. .upuiAlnitetben adjourned.
Og REPRESENTATIVES.
passed the Senate joint resolution
re- ppq nting Rufus Choate and Gideon Hawley
wf •: the Smithsonian Institution.
nr. Wiiitfield introduced a bill to aid Kansas
is the ffcpstruction of a railroad in said territory. I
This give rise to some laughter, but the bill was ’
refers:- 'o the committee on public lands.
9 rr.ntion ol Mr. Bridges, it was resolved!
th.., 4 ■>- u.iiciary committee be instructed to in- ,
quii iu'othe expediency oi preventing by law 1
Lhof rq ertation oi foreign paupers into the United
Site's, and report by bill or otherwise at the ear- !
! ies v' sible date.
.On i.vt; of M> Hunt, the Secretary of ti e ;
; atructed to inquire into the expedi- I
!euc establishing a naval depot at or near;
Ncr-'." niearrs, tor the equipment and repair ol
na f ' ■. i vessels.
?' i.etche, offered a resolution, which was
adop* - instructing the committee on the judi
ciary > inquire into the expediency of report
ing . bill declaring null and void the law of
"in.;i,ota territory chatering the Minnesota
ar.d Railroad, Congress having disap-
power over the legislation of the terri-
Mi Russell, from the committee on printing,
ieporl>l in favor of printing 100,000 copies ot
if e rerart of the coast survey for the year 1854.
■’r. Cprwin offered a resolution, which bras
>i * instructing the committee on invalid
> te to inquire into the expediency of pro
vidingJ, r certain classes of persons not now en
ritled b pensions.
T i , ,’utther consideration of the bill granting
rands . itually to the States for railroad and educr
* -»p rpuses was postponed for three weeks.
.C iXi ’tinu of Mr. Fuller, the President ot the
ni'.jS.State was requested to communicate, in
bai v. th the report on commercial reia-
p.. - -ti e tariff copies of all the re-
• I-
Secretary ot the
k1? •" ,t- » I October, 1854.
I tSK». ..inj introduced a bill ceding a portion
j" the territory of Massachusetts to New York.
H> explained that Massachusetts proposed to
par- .ii f what is known as Boston Corners,
where the prize fights take place; and that it
contains one thousand and eighteen acres.
Mr. Haven presurned.that no gentleman would
interpose objection. The two States have acted, ;
but‘he Constitution requires the assent ot Con
gress.
The bill was passed.
Mr. Cobb introduced a bill amendatory of a
law of last session graduating and reducing the
price of public lands, which was postponed for
one-tfO-'k.
An ineffectual effort was made to adjourn till
Friday, and at two o’clock the House adjourned
till to-morrow.
Washington, Dec. 27, 1854.
SENATE.
A communication from tbe Secretary of War
was received relative to the improvement of
Rock river rapids.
The petition ot W. H. Brown was presented
concerning an apparatus for the relieving ot
wrecked vessels.
Mr. Badger moved that the Senate adjourn to
Friday. He observed that during the holidays
very few Senators were in their seats. It was
not right to do any important business when the
Senate was so thin, and he hoped the Senate
would adjourn to Friday and then to Tuesday
when the Senate would be full and members
prepared to dispatch business.
Mr. Wright moved to recommit the pend
ing teiritorial bill. Agreed to.
Mr. Wright submitted a resolution in reter
rence to the improvement of the harbors of
New Jersey. Referred.
Mr. Rockwell introduced the House bill
giving the assent of Congress to the transfer
Iroiu the State of Alassachusetts to the State ot
New York of Boston Corneis. He moved a con
currence, which was acquiesced in by Mr. Fish,
and the bill passed.
Mr. Fish moved that the committee on for
eign relations be instructed to inquire wheth
er any and what compensation should be paid
to Commodore M. C. Perry for his services
in relation to the achievement of the late trea
ty with Japan.
The Senate then adjourned to Friday, with
the then to re-adjourn to Tuesday
th,- 2d o$ January.
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.
Mr. Farley, from the commitee on territories
reported back, with amendments, the Senate
bill authorizing the construction of a subter-
ranean line of telegraph from the Mississippi
or Missouri river to the Pacific ocean. Refer
red to the committee of the whole on the state
of the Union.
The House then went into committee of the
wole on the state of the Union on the army ap
propriation bill. This, together with the bill
making appiopriations for the General Post-of
fice, was subsequently reported to the House.—
There was no debate on them.
Mr. Benton made an ineffectual effort to
amend the Post-office appropriation bill so as to
authorise the Postmaster General to contract for
carrying the mail from Independence, Mo., to j
San Francisco in coaches, wagons and sleighs— j ;
the contractors to open the road and a moderate |
toll to be charged for travelers. Both bills were ;
passed. | i
Mr. McDougal presented Col. Fremont’s nar- | 1
rative describing his last "exploration over the ■ I
plains. Ordered to be printed.
Mr. Noble introduced a bill making appropri- = !
ation for continuing the public works at Monroe, ' <
Michigan, and moved it be referred to the com- 1!
mittee of commerce. j 1
This was followed by a debate upon the mes- j 1
sage of the President vetoing the River and Har- I I
bur bill. | I
The committee then rose and the House ad- : '
joujned until Saturday. 1 1
VOL. 33 -NEW SERIES-VOL.-9-NO 16.
Suffering Amongst the Poor in New York.
The extreme cold weather and the vast num
ber of mechanics out of work in New York, are
creating much want and suffering in that city.
All the papers have more or less to say upon the
subject. The ominous gatherings in the Park,
premonitory symptoms of the great flour riot
some years ago, are noted. The Sun speaks ol
them “as a dangerous excitement,” but calls tbe
attention of labor to what charity and humanity
are doing on all sides. The Tribune suggests
that on New Year’s day ladies give up their cost
ly tables, spread for the reception of visitors, and
devote the sum they would cost to the poor.
Another meeting of the unemployed working
men was held on Friday afternoon, in the Park.
Several thousand were present. A committee
was appointed to solicit subscriptions, and it was
resolved that an office be opened in each ward.
A number of short speeches were made, appeal
ing to the sympathies of the community, de
nouncing speculators and exporters, demanding
the right to labor, and advocating land re
form.
One of the speakers of the meeting advocated
the prevention ot the export of corn. Another
advocated a “mass rising to treat the officers of
buncomb and insolvent banks to a coat of tar
arid feathers.” Many of the leading working
men, however, disavow these sentiments, and
allege that they were uttered by men who care
more fortheir own than the interest of the me
chanics.
Mr. Elias Fountain has published a notice to
the mechanics out of work in the city, assuring
them $15,000 for charity by New Year’s day.—
Mr. Fountain intends to collect 52,000 himself.
The superintendent of the “ Five Points House
of Industry,” in his report for Friday, says:
Twenty-six adults and sixteen children, who
applied here personally, to-day, have been turn
ed away unaided, except with food, for want of
means to receive them, besides seven who have
been received into the Institution. Most, if not
] all of them, would gladly take service with any
' one who would give them bread tor their labor.
: Thousands ot children, also young, interesting
| and lovely, are ready to be separated Iron? each
I other and their parents, to live, but too gladly,
I wherever they can find shelter.
Four modest and respectable looking girls,
i eleven, sixteen, n ; <ieteen and twenty-one years
;of age, came here to-day, together. An assistant,
i as usual, while I was otherwise engaged, took
; down their names, history and circumstances,
which were given in a simple, uncomplaining,
I aud evidently truthful manner, disclosing noth
| ing of mare peculiar note than the general story
in three words—unemployed—homeless—desti
tute. A look of suppressed suffering, howevei,
attracted my notice, and I called one of them
near me—a sweet looking meek pyed girl—and
said to her, “how old are you my child ?” Six
teen sir.” “Are you well?” “Yes sir,” said
she, with a slight hesitation; “I don’t know as
lam sick.” “But you do not look well” said I:
“you are very pale, and your lips look parched
and feverish. Her lips quivered as she still re
peated her answer—No sir, I don’t know as 1
am sick.”
Then I said, “ My child, tell me truly, have
you had anything to eat to-day ?” “ No, sir,”
she answered. “Did you have anything to eat
yesterday ?” Tears forced their way this time,
and she answered, “Np sir.” “Did you have
anything to eat day before yesterday ?” “ Only
a piece of bread that a woman gave me at the
intelligence office; my sister and I (pointing to
the smallest girl) ate it together.”
I asked her where she stayed last night. “In
the station house.” “Where the nigh s before ?”
J:, -the s'.a: ou b. ■. uj.” “Wiieie the night before
hat?” “In the station house”—and again the
silent tears trickled down her cheeks. “ How
many nights have you stayed in the station
house?” “Six.” “ Where did you live last?”
"At Mrs. ’s, No. Pearl street. We paid
fifty cents a week for lodgings, til! our money
gave out, and then she turned us into the street.”
“ Where did you go ?” “We went to the intel
ligence office in the day time, where I had paid
Ito get a situation. We were all four together.
The Courier thinks the desire of those poor to
work for their food and lodgings should be forth
with responded to.
“Surely (it says) there must be ten thousand
families in this city, and as many more in the
adjacent cities, who can each take in one or
more unfortunate fellow creatures during the
| winter, for such domestic assistance as they can
render, or. in the case of little children, for the
mere love of doing good.
“ The children of the poor families who are
now daily turned into the streets, or shivering
half-naked and half starved in their empty rooms,
are not generally the graceless and disgusting
little reprobates which many take them to be.
They are generally titter and safer inmates for
our houses than the servants we employ at high
er wages. They are simple, susceptible and af
fectionate, and often very beautiful. The larger
ones (from 10 to 14) will make good waiting
maidsand errand boys; and the little ones, once
taken in, will quickly become such pets that
their patrons will never dispense with them.—
Many of our best families have lately adopted or
hah adopted such children, and we never heard
that it was regretted. Every family would do
well to educate its own domestics from childhood,
in the spirit of parental kindness and charity.—
“ The greatest plague in lite’ would then be abol
ished.”
The French Conscript.—There is a critical
period in the life of every Frenchman. Assoon
as he arrives on the threshholdof manhood, he is
compelled by the laws of his country to draw in
a great lottery, that chance may decide whether
he shall pursue the career which his birth, his ed
ucation, and his apitude have marked out, or
shall pass the seven most important years of his
| life in red pantaloons, with a knapsack and a
musket. There is no exception to the rule.—
The son of the oldest noble, the wealthiest bank
er, the neediest professional man, the poorest
peasant, all are compelled to pass through the
same ordeal. Wealth, it is true, has its consola
tions. The impost of blood is not exacted with
republican rigidity. All incur apparently the
same risk ; but some are able to purchase im
munity.
It is difficult to express the influence which
the existence of the law of conscription has upon
the forms of the French society, and the habits
of French thought. It assists in producing that
state of mind—so re markable in many instances,
but more or less perceptible every where—which
can only be compared to the fever of the gamb
ier, and which at particular periods renders the I
whole nation ready to stake its fortunes on the
hazard of a die. The French youth is brought
up in the knowledge that at a definite period he
is to gamble for his destiny—to draw it forth,
white or black, from the bottom of an urn or an
old hat. Unless he is quite certain that the
price of a man cannot rise above his means, he
never knows whether, at twenty-one years ol
age, he will not be incoiporated in the army, all
his studies and all his projects being interrupted,
probably, forever. Not only is he forbidden to
marry until he “ has satisfied the law”—that is '
the expression—but he dares enter into no en
gagement of the affections. It is only in ro
mance that maidens can be expected to wait '
seven years. This is why, as a matter ol course, 1
all young affections become in France to be con- i
sidered necessarily evanescent. The notion is
so rooted in the national mind, that the contrary
appears ridiculous. However, we may add in ;
passing, that as soon as the great event has hap
pened, and a good number has been drawn, in
very quiet demure places mothers hasten to mar i
ry their suns—to find wives for them—and, i:
they fail, mourn like Rachel. In the agricultu
ral provinces, an old bachelor and a bad eubjec
are synonymous terms.
(From the New York Times.}
In Hard Times Keep Out of Debt.
Keep out of debt, and you are rich; not rich in
all senses, but in most, richer than many who
have the reputation. Mr. A., who drove past a
moment ago, is taxed as if he were worth a
hundred thousand, but his liabilities are e hun
dred and fifty thousand. He wiil fall in !e»s
than a month and retire upon the profits of the
failure, and be hereafter a broken merchant with
money enough, and a shabby reputation. You
owe not a cent and have hardly a cent to show
after buying your next dinner: but nobody looks
on you as the cause of his ruin, nobody fails be
cause of your failure to meet your engagements;
no widows turn their rebuking eyes on you; no
orphans charge you with the authorship of their
want. With your empty pocket you are richer
than he in his (un ) comfortable retirement with
money enough (that does not belong to him.)
Out of debt, every sixpence you get is your
own; you may look on it withan unalloyed sen
sation of right to save or to spend it, to turn it
into any fashion of pleasure or enjoyment that it
,s equal to. But iu debt, your money is not your
own. It belongs to your baker, butcher, grocer,
tailor—or the old uiicb: wh? was silly enough to
lend to you.
It is not hard for a man who is making a living
—who gets decent wages—to keep out of debt,
and generally he ought to do it. Il he does not
make living wages, it is a different thing. For
borrowing is better than starving, and a debt is
less to be dreaded than no bread. And again,
when one has, as capital, a good trade or profi
table profession, or a stock on hand that is not
immediately convertible into cash, he is foolish
not to take a hundred dollars if he can have use
of it for six dollars a year, and yet be sure of the
principal to repay when it is demanded. But to
go in debt for a luxury, or a mere convenience,
or for any other than an absolute necessity, is
always a matter of doubtful propriety. Some
borrow and make fortunes on their borrowed
capital before pay day comes. But for such
operations, great brains or an easy conscience are
required, and where one succeeds ten fail.
In these tight times, when Wall street is like
one’s mouth after eating persimmons, when rents
fall fifty per cent., and the safest men are shak
ing it behooves al! small dealers to look sharp to
their accounts. Let them owe no man, if they
are so fortunate as to be thus far out of debt, and
be quite sure, too, that no man owes them ex
cept his debt be secured by the most undoubted
security. For in these times whoever has lent
is around looking up his borrower with the most
assiduous perseverance, and it is distressing to
note how many borrowers are not at home
when such call. Let the ornaments go un
bought this season. Let the amusements be for
sworn. Let the coat—we talk to unpretend
ing people—be coarser than last year; and, la
diesjet the bonnet be a dollar or two plain
er. Put what you meant to spend for a wreath
into the coal bin, and what you designed for a
velvet that should surpass Mrs. Smith’s into the
flour barrel. Be hard up for weeks together
wear a patch on your garment; wear a nap
less hat ; eat sirloin instead of a porter-house
1 steaks ; rent a second floor instead of a whole
house; live comfortably instead ot keeping up
: appearances; do anything that is honest—never
. mind whether it is respectable—rather than in
such times as these to tun in debt.
The Money Power in England .
■ >’.>. ~■ Kun, ■ Ra,.icc. . r ol .
: Surrey, having filled the las!! session of
Parliament in a;, atfompi to procure an alteration
i in the present law of inheritance to Real Estate, '
because, as Lord John Russell informed him, any
infringement of the rights of Primogeniture
would “raise a platform wherefrom to attack the
hereditary Monarchy end the hereditary Ixfo-
- tocracy,” yet succeeded in getting the sanction
1 ol the three estates of the realm to a less pre
tentious but noteworthy little statute entitled
> “the Real Estate Charges Act.” The state of s.
- the law was this : It aland owner mortgaged his
estate, on his decease the heir or devise of the
1 estate could come upon the land owner’s execu
i tor and demand the redemption of the mortgage •
r in other words, the personal estate was said to
? be “primarily liable” for the debt. The Court
i of Chancery had for many years leant against
! this principle, and had effected many limitations
ot it, which had rendered the state of the law on
i this point very intricate. Mr. Locke King’s
; recent act alters the old rule, and makes the es
, tate itseli primarily liable for the chaige affect
; ing it when a contrary intention is not’declared
Henceforth the heir or devisee will take the
■ estate “cum onerethat i , along with its lia
bilities.
This act of legislation is similar in drift to a
large number of others which have been enacted
year by year since the reform of Parliament in
: 1832. One of the most prominent of these was
: the act to “render freehold and copyhold estates
assets for the paymentot simple contract debts.”
By the old state of the law,-only those creditors
whose debts were secured by a writing, under
’ seal, could claim satisfaction from the lands of a
deceased debtor. Thus tradesmen must remain
unpaid, if their debtors’ personal estate proved
insufficient, while his lands devolved intact upon
bis heirs. Ibis evident lemnat ol feudalism was
swept away by the first Reformed Parliament
in 1833. Another act of the same stamp was
that for taking the succession to real estate; In
1793 the squirearchies! Legislature of that time
refused to subject real estate to the payment of
legacy duty, but granted that tax on personal
property. This injustice was remedied last year
by extending tbe tax to real estate, Air. Glad
stone having the goou fortune to connect his
name with the change.
These three statues serve to illustrate the gen
eral proposition that in Britain the power foun
ded on territorial possessions, on land, is giving
way to the power founded on chattels, on money B
and consequently the heir-at-law is no longer the
special favorite of British law—he has been un
seated by the executor, the personal representa
tive. It is the plutocratic stage of society fol
lowing after and superseding the aristocratic
N. Y. Tribune.
Decline in Rents in New York.—lt is sta
ted that there are one hundred and sixty-one “to
let” bills posted on buildings in Broadway alone
and that there have not been so many unrented
stores in that street at any time since the great
crisis of 1836-7, as at present. The Evenin’
Post says : “
This is the natural result of the exorbitant
rents that have prevailed in that great thorou-h
--tare. Only a year ago, and the common priceof
a first floor, 20 by 80, in. a good location was
s4.soojper annum; of a whole buildin» 25 bv
80 or 100 feet, ten or twelve thousand”dollars
and we know one instance in which the owner
of a fine edifice, situated not a great way from
Canal-street, refused to fix a definite price for the
store, (20 by about 4o feet,) because he had been
offered so much more than he had designed ask
ing—one applicant proposing to pay $6,000, and
to deposit $20,000 worth of good stock as collat
eral security for the payment of the ren 4 —and
be didn’t know where the excitement would
stop. 1 hat store has never yet been occupied,
basa to lease” notice on it at the present mo
ment, and, may be had, doubtless, for half the
amount so repeatedly offered aud spurned.
I’he Savannah Republican of the 29th inst
savs -Hve Shad were caught in Buck River
yesterday which sold in market at $1.50 each.
