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About Weekly Georgia constitutionalist and republic. (Augusta, Ga.) 1851-185? | View Entire Issue (Jan. 3, 1855)
' 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.
