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The Farm and the Flower-Garden.

Farm Work.-October is a busy and important month to the farmer. Our limits only allow us a brief allusion to some of the most important operations, though we have articles prepared in detail. On the first appearance of frost, all tender roots should be stored, and preparations made for those that are more hardy. We are convinced that all roots keep best in a good cellar; but few farmers have cellar room for a moiety of their roots, and they must consequently be stored out of doors. For this purpose a dry spot should be selected, and the earth thrown up from the trenches so as to throw off the water. Proper ventilation must also be provided for. Parsnips that are not wanted for winter use will keep best where they are grown. Turnips and carrots can remain in the ground until frosts become severe, and they will continue to grow. Plans should be matured for laying out orchards and transplanting deciduous trees and shrubs. The matter of planting fruit trees is one of the first importance to the farmer. He can make no better investment of his means. The planting should be done in the most careful manner, and the kinds of fruit, and their varieties, selected with the best judgment, both in reference to the wants of the family, and the demands of the market nearest at hand. Make suitable and careful provision for the comfort and well-being of your stock during the winter. Let not the dumb animals that minister faithfully to your wants and pleasure suffer unnecessarily from exposure to the severity of the weather. If you cannot provide proper shelter for them, pass them along to somebody who can. We have often had our pity moved at the sight of some poor animal turned out night and day to feed on husks during the bitter cold of winter, without so much as a board to shelter him; and our heart has been equally moved with indignation at the "brute" within sitting by his blazing fire. Of the two, we have thought we would rather be the "animal."

The Potato Rot.-From all sections of the country we hear of the ravages of the rot. Probably more than half the crop of the whole country will be an entire loss. In a ride of nearly two hundred miles we saw but one patch that was not more or less affected; and in the majority of cases that we had an opportunity of examining, there were not as many sound potatoes as would pay for the labor of digging them. Those planted late are most affected, as has always been the case heretofore. The lesson to be drawn from this fact is to plant early. Farmers who have dug their potatoes (many have not attempted to do so) have been selling them for almost any price they could get lest they should rot on their hands and prove an entire loss; potatoes, consequently, are now very cheap, but they will be dear enough before another season rolls round. Unless the disease has manifested itself decidedly, we think our friends would do well to "hold on," as they say in Wall-street, though it is pretty hard to

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"hold on" anything there just now, or to find anything to "hold on." This disease has thus far completely baffled every effort to ascertain its cause, and nearly all remedies have proved alike fruitless. The best plan we know is to spread them out and expose them to the light, carefully separating the good from the bad; (no doubt this would answer equally well for the Wall-street "rot;") in some cases a little air-slacked lime dusted over them has acted beneficially, but the decaying tubers must be daily removed. With our present knowledge of the disease and its cause, our remedies must partake of an uncertain character.

How to keep Celery during the Winter.-In our last we gave directions for earthing or blanching celery; we now purpose making some suggestions as to the best mode of keeping it for use during the winter. If simply protecting it from the cold of winter were the sole object, that could be easily attained; what we want to accomplish is to place it in such condition that it can be readily got at for daily use during the winter. There are several ways of doing this, the best of which we shall describe. If the plants are grown in beds, much trouble is saved, since there is thus no necessity for lifting the plants; this, however, is seldom or never done; indeed, very few know that celery can be so grown. When grown in trenches, it is necessary to lift the plants, and this should be done without shaking the earth from the roots. Select a spot conveniently near to the house, and prepare a bed as follows: Dig out the earth about two spades deep, and of any convenient width; then lift the plants from the trenches with the earth adhering to the roots, and put in a row, with some three or four inches between each plant, throwing some earth against them, as you proceed, to keep them in place; having completed one row, proceed with another about six inches from the first, and so on till the plants are all in, filling in the earth to the tops of the plants as you go along. While bedding them each plant should be well drawn together to keep the earth from the crown. When the plants are all in, the bed should be covered with a thick coat of coarse manure, straw, hay, or litter of any kind; manure, however, is best, owing to its superior warmth, and the greater ease with which it is removed during winter. The bed may be made of less depth than recommended above, but the plants are not so sure to keep well when the bed is made too shallow; no person, however, will begrudge a little trouble to have this delicious vegetable in perfection during the winter.

Celery will keep very well during the winter in a cool cellar, if buried in sand in the manner described above; but it will not be necessary to cover the tops of the plants; they may, however, be placed much closer together. Our practice, during very cold weather, is to dig enough for several days' use, and lay it on the cellar floor. It should not lay too long, or it will wilt and lose its flavor. Having said thus

much about keeping celery, we shall venture to add a word about eating it, or rather preparing it to be eaten, which few persons really know anything about. We have to remark, first, that celery is not grown for ornamental purposes; hence it should not be curled and frizzled like the hair of a vain young miss dressed for a ball; on the contrary, let it be placed on the table in its plain native simplicity. Cut off the root close up to the crown; the stalks will then break away readily; put them in clean water, and wash them thoroughly; the outside stalks should be thrown away, using none but those that are solid and well blanched; and, as intimated above, avoid splitting and curling the stalks. The green leaves boiled in soup impart to it a delicious flavor, and will generally be preferred to parsley.

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Winter Pears.-These should be left on the trees until there is danger of frost, in order that they may mature as fully as possible; when picked too soon they are apt to shrivel and ripen off badly. Put them away in a cool dry place, where they will be free alike from frost and fire heat. There they will keep well until our next number appears, when we shall devote an article to their winter treatment and ripening, a somewhat complicated subject, for which we have no room at present.

Gathering Fruit.-Much fruit is injured every season, and its value lessened by carelessness in gathering. Fruit carefully gathered by hand will not only keep longer, but, as it looks much better than when bruised by rough handling, will always sell more readily and at a higher price. A little care and neatness in selecting and putting up fruit for market is by no means labor lost. Any one will pay more for a neatly arranged basket of fruit than for the same care

mens will not only injure the sale, but often really injures and sometimes destroys the whole.

Vinegar from Beets. We find, in an exchange, directions for making vinegar from beets. We have not tried it, but it strikes us that excellent vinegar might be made in this way. We know that much of the vinegar purchased at stores is vilely adulterated, and we regard favorably any plan which will enable us to obtain a sup-lessly thrown together. A few decaying speciply of the pure article for domestic use. If our readers should not succeed with the beet, we then recommend them to procure the "Vinegar Plant;" with this we know they can make a good article at a very small cost. The "Vinegar Plant" is not easily obtained, but we have a few which we can spare, and will part with them to such of our readers as will furnish us with the name of at least one new subscriber. The following is the method of making vinegar from beets:

"The juice of one bushel of sugar beets, worth twenty-five cents, and which any farmer can raise with little cost, will make from five to six gallons of vinegar equal to the best elder wine. First wash and grate the beets, and express the juice in a cheese press, or in any other way which a little ingenuity can suggest, and put the liquor into a barrel, cover the bung with gauze and set it in the sun, and in fifteen or twenty days it will be fit for use. By this method the very best of vinegar may be obtained without any great trouble, and I hope all who like good vinegar will try it."

THE WORLD AT LARGE.
A map of busy life,

Its fluctuations and its vast concerns.-COWPER.

On the morning of the 11th of August, when three
The Atlantic Telegraph has temporarily failed.
hundred and thirty-five miles from the Irish coast, and
while the "Niagara" was proceeding at the rate of four
miles an hour, the brakes were applied in order to
lessen the speed of paying out, and the cable parted
some distance from the stern of the ship. The tele-
graph squadron returned to Plymouth, where they
were to rendezvous. There still remained over two
thousand miles of cable, sufficient to unite the two
continents, and the experiments made fully satisfied
all who took part in them of the practicability of the
enterprise.
Mrs. Cunningham Burdell, it is
fully related her autobiography will be one of the
said, is about to write a history of her life. If truth-
most astounding ever given to the world.. . A Na-
tional Emancipation Convention assembled at Cleve-

It

attended, and Rev. Dr. Hopkins, of Massachusetts, was
chosen president. They discussed, among other
things, the appropriation of the public lands and the
revenue from the customs beyond the expenses of the
government, to the compensation of slaveholders..
The American Association for the Advancement of
Science held its session at Montreal, Canada.
opened on the 12th of August, and adjourned on the
19th. Professor Caswell presided... The Metropol-
itan Church at Washington, District of Columbia, for
which a great deal of money was collected in the
Northern States, is said by a letter-writer in the North-
western Christian Advocate to be "undoubtedly a
failure; at least," says the writer, "it is unknown here,"
that is, in Washington.

Manure.-A late number of the American Agri-land, Ohio, on the 26th of August. It was numerously culturist "We have very often referred to says: the value of muck and swamp mud as fertilizers for all crops, and on all soils not well supplied with organic matter, and especially of the great utility of mixing it in large quantities with the yard manure, but we cannot return to this topic too often. If we accomplish nothing else than to stir up farmers to appropriate to their fields a moiety of the rich stores of organic matter now lying useless in the swamps, swales, and low spots, we shall not labor in vain. All these black earths are the remains of plants, and, as we have formerly shown, they furnish just the elements to nourish other plants of every kind. If not already attended to, now is the time to dig out and pile up large stores of these materials, before the ground is filled with water. The carting to yards and fields can be done at leisure, in the later autumn or winter months. Remember that one load of manure and two loads of muck are better than two loads of manure not so treated." As autumn advances and the leaves begin to fall in the woods, they

A monument to the memory of the late Dr. Woods of Andover has been erected by the alumni of the theological seminary at a cost of over five hundred dollars. It has this inscription: In reverent remembrance of the pious care, patience, skill, learning, and wisdom of their instructor, friend, and counselor, his affectionate pupils place here this stone... The Evangelist, from an examination into the facts of the case, makes it appear that, as a matter of history, Congregationalism has no greater strength in this city than it had eight or ten years ago. The Independent returns the compliment, and by an examination of the statistics of the New School Presbyterians reaches the conclusion that, "even including the Mission Churches for foreigners, the history of the New School Presbyterian Church in

New York for the past eight years shows a net loss of two churches, and a net loss of 902 members in all the churches; namely, in 1849, whole number, 7,430; in 1857, whole number, 6,528." The Southern Aid Society has issued a circular calling for funds, on the ground that the Gospel seems to be more decidedly owned of God at the South than at the North, there being more orthodox conversions in southern than in northern churches. . . . The Erie Railroad has laid down a few miles of road with iron superstructure or roadway. It requires no bolts or spikes of any kind; and it may be taken from the furnace and adjusted upon the road with less labor and expense than is usually required to lay the ordinary wooden sleepers. This iron casting is imbedded in the ground on stone, or a similar solid foundation, where it is secure from frost and other disturbing causes. The rails rest upon India rubber springs, which deaden the noise of a train, and at the same time ease off those heavy blows and shocks of the engines and cars while running, thus diminishing their wear and tear.

The last number of THE NATIONAL mentioned a serious revolt among the native troops in British India and it was predicted that the accounts then received revealed but the commencement of the difficulty. Later accounts confirm the prediction. Advices have been received up to the 24th of June, and they show a much more extended mutiny than previous accounts had indicated. Upward of eighty native regiments, infantry and cavalry, had revolted, or been disarmed and disbanded as no longer trustworthy. A report that the city of Delhi, the stronghold of the insurgents, had been carried by storm was in circulation, but was not generally believed. It was not taken on the 27th of June, the date of the latest accounts through known and regular channels. But on the 8th of June a strong position of the mutineers outside of the city walls was carried by assault, which probably was the foundation of the rumor in question. On the morning of June 17 General Barnard still lay before the city, waiting re-enforcements, which were proceedng thither by forced marches. At the latest intelligence from India, Delhi was still in possession of the insurgents.

The city of Delhi is situated on the River Jumna, and is the depot of communication between Cabul and Cashmere and India. It is about seven miles in circumference, is entered by eleven gates, and has a strong wall on three sides, mounted with cannon. It contains an English Church, and a college managed by a joint committee of natives and Europeans. The recapture of the city from the natives is probably only

a matter of time.

The most horrible barbarities were practiced upon European women and children at most of the points where the troops revolted. At Delhi the mission establishment of the Church of England was broken up, and all but one of the missionaries fell victims to the popular fury. Several missionaries of the London Missionary Society in various districts became martyrs, and others narrowly escaped with their lives. The Rev. Mr. Butler, superintendent of the mission of the Methodist Episcopal Church, at the call of the commandant of his district, left his station barely in time to escape a general massacre which followed. A conspiracy had been discovered in Calcutta. The ex-king of Oude and some members of his family, it is alleged, were implicated, and were arrested. The revolt, indeed, does not appear to have a military character exclusively, but to be political and national also. It is almost as much a rebellion as a mutiny, and the immense efforts which the English government and the East India Company are making to meet the emergency sufficiently shows the magnitude and importance of the crisis. The government has asked and obtained permission from Parliament to call out the militia of the kingdom during the recess of Parliament if their services are needed.

Lord Elgin, the British special embassador to China, had arrived at Hong-Kong. He had determined to send all the troops ordered for China direct to Calcutta. The British Admiral (Seymour) at Canton had made three successful attacks upon the Chinese fleet of war junks. The engagements took place on the 25th and 27th of May and the 1st of June, respectively. The Chinese fought with much courage and skill, but were totally defeated, with comparatively a small loss to the English. The latter, however, no longer speak of the Chinese as timid barbarians, incapable of prolonged and effective fighting... It is reported that Persia, since the Indian revolt, has refused to evacuate Herat, which the late treaty of peace with England required her to do.... Turkey has been made to feel that the European powers are her masters. France, Prussia,

Russia, and Sardinia have suspended diplomatic rela tions with her, until she will consent to annul the recent elections in the Danubian principalities and order new ones; and it is said that England advises her to make the concession. A conference of the five powers is to be held on the subject. Spain, after having accepted the good offices of England and France for the settlement of her dispute with Mexico, has notified those powers that she can no longer consent to their negotiating the matter, and it is probable that she will yet go to war with Mexico. It is said that the government of Madrid has been plainly apprised that in such a case neither England nor France will render any assistance for the defense of Cuba, the loss of which would be an almost inevitable consequence of war with Mexico. Twenty-five thousand troops have been or dered there from Madrid. . . . The popular mind in the Italian states is restless and unquiet. In Genoa futile attempt at insurrection had been made at the instigation of Mazzini and his co-refugees in London. The assasination of the Emperor of France was to be consentaneous with the outbreak at Genoa, but was frustrated by the vigilance of the Paris police. Three Italians, who had been hired by Mazzini for the purpose, had been arrested, tried, and condemned to long imprisonment. The confession of the criminals and correspondence found in their possession clearly implicated Mazzini and some of his companions in having employed and paid them. . . . Russia is earnestly urging a claim to again anchor her fleet in the Black Sea.... General Concha, captain-general of Cuba, has been recalled to Madrid, and Marshal Serrano has been appointed in his stead. . . . The boundary difficulties between Nicaragua and Costa Rica have been settled by those two governments on terms mutually satisfactory. Costa Rica is to have the north bank of the San Juan River, and Nicaragua the south between Castillo and Salmas Bay... An important report has just emanated from the committee appointed by the Parliament of England to inquire into the expe diency or otherwise of renewing the charter of the Hudson's Bay Company. As the chairman of this committee is a member of the present administration, it is to be inferred that the recommendations and suggestions of the committee are in accordance with the views of the government. It is proposed that Canada shall be permitted to annex the Red River settlement and the fertile valleys of the Saskatchewan as soon as she desires to do so, and can give assurance of her power to maintain authority there. So also with regard to territory lying still beyond those named. Vancouver's Island is to be detached from the authority of the company as speedily as possible, and it and the adjacent territory west of the Rocky Mountains are to be formed into a new colony. At least such we suppose to be the committee's recommendation, though, from some ambiguity in the committee's language, it is uncertain whether they may not be added to Canada. The hunting grounds of the company and the monopoly of the fur trade are to remain with the company for another term of years.

The English papers announce the death of Dr. Thomas Dick, the well-known author of the "Christian Philosopher," and other works that have had a wide and beneficial influence; and of Dr. Blomfield, exbishop of London; and the French papers the death of Eugene Sue, the novelist; and Beranger, the poet and song writer.

A work has appeared in London, entitled "Burning the Dead; or, Urn Sepulture Religiously, Socially, and Generally Considered: with Suggestions for a Revival of the Practice, as a Sanitary Measure. By a Member of the Royal College of Surgeons." The Paris Academy of Medicine has again set the papers to writing and the people to thinking earnestly of the revival of the prac tice of burning the dead. They say that in the summer time the Parisian hospitals are crowded by the victims of pestilence engendered by the foul air of the graveyards in the neighborhood. The vicinity of the cemeteries is a constant source of mortality; their putrid emanations filling the air, and the poison they emit impregnating the waters, are held chargeable for the many new and fearful diseases of the throat and lungs which baffle all medical skill.... The English Wesleyan Conference commenced its sessions at Liverpool on the last Wednesday in July. The Rev. Francis A. West was chosen president, and the Rev. Dr. Hannah secretary. On the 7th of August the United States frigate "Niagara" and Her British Majesty's ship "Agamemnon" commenced laying the Atlantic telegraph cable in the bed of the ocean, the Niagara taking the lead. The failure of the expedition we have alluded to above.

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NEW towns or cities, of the Old World or | below Derby the breadth of the stream is

FEW

nence, as

New, can boast of a greater degree of beauty of situation, or of environs more replete with the picturesque, than Birmingham. Indeed, to this village must be assigned the most attractive situation of the valley towns. It occupies a bold emiit were the point of a cape, washed on the one side by the waters of the Housatonic, on the other by those of the Naugatuck. Just below the town the two rivers united spread themselves over a considerable extent of surface, affording the appearance of a lake bordered with bold hills, portions of which are wild, and thickly wooded, others under a high state of cultivation. In the midst of the seeming lake an island appears, adding greatly to the beauty of the whole landscape. On the left is the parent town of Derby, with its antique buildings. At a short distance VOL. XI.-29

greatly narrowed, and on the left of the landscape an opening is seen between the hills through which the river passes onward to the sea. In every direction from the village the views are of the most picturesque and varied description. On the one side, looking up the valley of the Naugatuck, the village of Ansonia appears in the distance, forming a charming feature in the landscape; on the other, the Valley of the Housatonic affords views of great beauty, though perhaps not as varied as those of its lesser but more romantic tributary.

The view of Birmingham which I present was taken near a rock known as the "Lover's Leap," on the east side of the river, about one fourth of a mile south of Derby. Upon the left of the engraving, the opening which appears is the Valley

of the Housatonic; corresponding with this, on the opposite side of the village, is the Naugatuck River.

Derby boasts an antiquity greater than any other town of the Naugatuck Valley. As early as 1653, Governor Goodyear and others in New Haven purchased a considerable tract at this place. The settlement was commenced the following year; this was twenty-three years before the settlement of Waterbury. The original name of Derby was Paugasset.

The year succeeding the settlement the inhabitants presented a petition to the general court of New Haven for the privileges of a distinct town. This petition was granted by the court, and also permission to purchase a considerable additional tract. The inhabitants of Milford were greatly dissatisfied with this procedure, as Paugasset had been a part of that town from its first settlement. Trumbull, in his "History of Connecticut," says: "They therefore remonstrated against the doings of the court at its next session, and induced that body to reconsider its vote, at least so far as to order that Paugasset should remain a part of Milford, unless the respective parties should mutually consent to have the act of incorporation go into effect.

"In 1657 and 1659 a further purchase was made of the chief sagamores, We-ta-na-mow and Ras-ke-nu-te, and the purchase was afterward confirmed by the chief sachem, Okenuck."

The settlement seems to have continued very small up to the year 1675, when, upon a second application for town privileges, Paugasset was represented as numbering but twelve families, and that about the same number were intending to remove there. The settlers had made at this time a provision for the support of the Gospel, having procured a minister and built a house for him. Upon this renewed application the assembly granted them the privileges of a town, and it was called Derby. Birmingham and Ansonia are parishes of Derby.

The antiquated appearance of the parent town, with its quaint old store-houses and other edifices, presents a striking contrast to its youthful and vigorous offspring. The illustration exhibits the greater part of the village known as Derby proper. The river is navigable to the landing here for vessels of about eighty tons, there being ten feet of water.

merce of Derby was very considerable; at one period it exceeded that of New Haven. The people of Derby date the decline in their commerce to the building of the Washington bridge at Stratford.

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In 1824 the first steamboat was placed upon this route, the "General Lafayette," running between Derby and New York. This was before the commencement of steam navigation between Bridgeport and New York. The General Lafayette" was succeeded by the "Housatonic," which was hauled off on account of the obstructions of the drawbridge. From this period to the present steamboats have from time to time plyed upon these waters.

Returning to the earlier history of the Valley of the Naugatuck, its lower portion, as well as the banks of the Housatonic near its junction with the Naugatuck, were favorite haunts of the aborigines. The relics scattered thickly over this region are, perhaps, of as ancient origin as any to be found in the country. A few years since specimens of pottery were found deeply imbedded in the earth, which showed evidence of skill in manufacture unknown to the Indians who existed here at the period of the settlement of this valley.

Within the bounds of the original settlement of Derby was a mound or hill, which contained a number of graves marked with rude stones placed at the head and feet; some were of ordinary length, others of almost gigantic size. No tradition could be gathered respecting them, except that "Indians were buried there ;" and they were supposed to be the remains of some long departed tribe, who, from their method of placing their memorial stones, must have been acquainted in some degree with the customs of the white men."

Mr. De Forest, in his "History of the Indians of Connecticut," designates the tribe who occupied the northern part of the original town of Derby, as the "Naugatuck Indians." Below the confluence of the Naugatuck River with the Housatonic, the Indians living upon the borders of the stream were known as the Paugussetts or Wepawaugs. The last sachem of this tribe was Konckapotanauh, who died at his home, in Derby, about the year 1731. Mr. De Forest says:

For the facts contained in the last two

From the war of the Revolution to the paragraphs, I am indebted to Dr. T. A. Dutton early part of the present century, the com

and Mrs. E. Stone.

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