THW WISCONSIN AA.MAIR.



               The ruid Pest.

Translated hr Bayard Taylor fron the Allsnale.Gress
  diaLt of Joha Peter Rebel, for the Atlantic Monthly.

  Dye know the road to tk' bor'l of flour
     At break o' day let down the bars,
   And plow your wheat sid hour by hour
     Tl eundown--e till shine of dm.
   You peg away the Ulve-long day,
     Nor lf about, nor gape around
   And that's the read to the thmalhn' loor.
     And Into the kitchen, I'll be boundd!
   D'ye know the road where dollars are?
     Jolbow the red ocent here and there,
   For if a man leaves them, I gueSu
     He won't fnd dollars anywhere.
   D'ye know the road to Runday's rest?
     JMa don't of week days be aurd
   In field and workshop do y'r beat,
     And Sunday comes Itself, I've heerd.
   Oa Saturdays l not fur off.
     And brings a basketful o' cheer-
   A roat, and lots of garden tuff,
     And, like ea not, a jug of beer.
   D'ye know the road to poverty?
     Tur in at any tavern saga;
   Turn In-It's temptin' as oan be,
     There's bran'-new cards and liquor fine,
   In the last tavern there's a sack,
     And when the eash y'r pooket quits,
   Jist hand the wallet on y'r back-
     You vagabond I ee how It fits!
   D'ye know what road to honor leads?
     And good old ge ?-a lovely eight I
   By way o' temperano-. honest deeds,
     And tryin' to do f'r dootY right.
   And when the road forks ary side,
     And you're In doubt which one It is,
   Stond sal and let y'r ensciense guide;
     Thank God, It cn't letd much amiss!
   And now, the road to church-yard g
     You needn't Oas Go anywhere!
   For whether roundabout or straight,
     AU roads at last wtll bring you there.
   Go tferln' God, bnt lovin' more !
     I've tried to be an honest guide,-
   You'll find the grave has got a door,
     And somethin' for you t'other sde.

            Covering Gras uSed.

  I most heartily approve of your views as to
the importance of farmers giving more atten-
tion to the growing of the tame grasses. Am
intending to set some of my neighbors an ex-
ample in this respect. Ta there anything bet-
ter than the old fashioned bush to cover with?
                                      H. W.
 WAiXBHA 00. WlS.
 [Glad some of our readers are waking up to
the importance of grass and stook growing.
The bush does very well; but we have lately
seen notice of a simple contrivance whhioh may
answer still better, as it will more easily erum-



ble the lumps and smooth down the surface.
It consists of a miU alab, a foot or more wide,
an4 8 to 10 feet long; with holes bored at each
end about two feet frmn thq extremities. Ino
thes two holes two chains are fastened, their
ends being attached to the whiflietree. The
slab thus arranged is drawn with thke rounded
side down, and may bear any weight deemed
necessary.-ED.]

             The Culture of Flax.

  In the times long ago, when our grandmoth-
ers plied the spinning wheel and skillfully
twirled the distaff, tax was an important pro-
duct of American agriculture-at least, no
farmer felt that he properly provided against
the nakedness of his own immediate flock, un-
less the flax patch had its appropriate place
on the farm.  But Eli Whitney was born with
a spinningjenny in his head, and the music of
the old-fashioned wheel ceased.  For fifty
years Cotton has been supreme. Just now his
reign is suspended by the existing blockade of
the Southern coast, and the ancestral wheel or
soluething better mqst take its place again, for
a time, in the home of the American farmer.
  But the working of flax will not be confined
to the simple machinery and processes employ-
ed by the last generation. The ( enius of Me-
chanics, who forgets none of the world's in-
dustries, has not labored for cotton and silk
and wool alone. There is machinery now for
seeding, pulling, tcutehing and dressing, spin-
ning and weaving flax. Nor has the Genius of
Chemistry been aseep. Processes have been
invented by which the rotting may be expedi-
ted, by which the fibre may be so " cottonized "
as to be worked upon cotton machinery, while
the bleaching, Which a few years ago required
exposure on the grass for many weeks is now
completed in a very few hours.
  But it is in the production that farmers are
chiefly interested, and we hear them asking
the all-important questipn, "Can it be made
to pay? " We tlhuk it can. Why not ! Let
us Ipok at the figures:
  The prepat4tion of the "oil and the seeding
are not more expensive or laborious than for



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