Bees, Fowls, &c. 165 III. Send thy gracious Spirit, Lord, BEES, FOWLS, &c. An industrious man soon finds out what will turn to profit. Bees and fowls are profitable, because they may be almost wholly taken care of by children. And this is good for the children, who ought, at a very early age, to be kept from idling about, and taught how to turn their time to advantage. They ought to learn the value of useful things, and they will then be fit to be entrusted with the care of them. Kindness to dumb animals is a lesson that cannot be learned too soon. A child of five years old may feed fowls, or any animal, as well as one of fifteen; and every child should be taught to contribute something towards its own maintenance. Poor boys should be taught to mend their own shoes, stockings, and other clothes. It may, perhaps, be more convenient to put these things out; but still this knowledge will be useful, and may often be turned to very good account. Children may, at a very early age, be taught to make nets for fruit trees, which will be found to be profitable to sell, or will preserve a great quantity of your own fruit, that would otherwise be destroyed: they may also learn to knit: boys pass away their winter's evenings very pleasantly in knitting stockings. The coarse kinds of wool may be also picked and prepared by children, The produce of a good and if the labourer has skill enough to make his own hives, the cost is nothing to him. Six hens, bought in November, when the wife and children are at home, and sold in April, may be made to clear, every week, the price of a gallon of flour; and, in this way, a woman with a family of children may gain a comfortable sum of money, as the following true story will fully prove. BETTY EVANS. IN the winter of 1816, a poor widow, named Betty Evans, made such exertions to maintain herself and four children without assistance from the parish, that one of her friends, fearful she would hurt her health by going another winter with so little food, gave her, in January 1817, two hens and a cock, which cost three shillings. In April she had gained fourteen shillings from eggs and chickens; she then bought a pig with twelve shillings, which was fed entirely on boiled potatoes, that were too small, or otherwise unwise unfit, to dress for herself and her children: every thing was given to it hot. At the beginning of December, she bought some white oats, ground, for 7s. 6d. and bran for 1s. 6d. Two hot meals of each, and as much hot potatoes as he would eat, were given every day to the pig, which was killed on December the 23d, and its excellent condition surprized all the neighbours, which Betty Evans attributed to its having been constantly washed and combed, and its sty kept quite clean. Her hens and chickens were fed from the skins of her own potatoes, and at times some of those which were boiled for the pig, chopped fine. In the following calculation of her profit and ex Footman's Directory, &c. 167 pence, the first price of the hens is left out, because they sold for the same price the following year. Thus she had a clear gain of £1 2s. 6d. besides the flitches of bacon and the head and feet, which she kept for winter provision, and the hog's puddings. To do this, it is necessary to have a potatoe ground, and money to buy a cock and two hens. This account is from "The Cottager's Friendly Guide." Whoever is industrious and persevering enough to imitate Betty Evans, will probably be great gainers; though perhaps not exactly according to the calculations which she has given. Take care to keep your pig clean, comb and wash him frequently, and he will become fat much sooner than if dirty. Keep his sty as clean as you can. FOOTMAN'S DIRECTORY, &c. VARIETY of other matter has prevented us, for some time, from laying before our readers the Footman's advice to his friends. The following extract is from the first chapter. "In order for a servant to get through his work well, he should do it at proper times, and in proper order, and should likewise be properly dressed for my friends, is EARLY RISING; by which means you secure an opportunity, before the family is up, of doing the dirtiest part of your work without being liable to interruption. This you will find a very great comfort, as nothing is more disagreeable than to be called off, and be forced to run about with dirty hands and dirty clothes,-which must inevitably be the case if you put off this part of your work till every body is stirring and bustling about. You will always find an hour before the family is up more profitable for business than two hours afterwards. You should have a particular dress on purpose for the dirtiest part of your work, and never do it in the clothes or livery in which you have to wait on the family; as it cannot be supposed that the dress in which we clean boots, shoes, knives and forks, and lamps, can be proper afterwards to attend ladies and gentlemen in. A servant cannot appear clean who has only one suit to do his work in, and to appear in before company.' "There is no class of persons to whom cleanliness of person and attire is of more consequence than to servants in genteel families. I have known several obliged to leave their places solely from negligence in this respect; and I, myself, have refused places where a proper working dress has been refused me; deeming it equally disgraceful to a servant and his master to be obliged to appear in dirty clothes, at a time of day when the dirty work ought to be over. Before going to a new place, therefore, be particular in stating what you may require, and understanding what you are to have; as no servant ought to take a situation unless it is likely to suit him, and he to suit it; otherwise he only involves a lady or gentleman in unnecessary trouble and expense, and risks injuring his own character, by appearing to run about from one place to another. A pair of overalls, with a * We have been informed that the writer of this lived in his last place twenty years. A Letter from a Father to his Son. 169 proper waistcoat and jacket is the best dress for dirty work; but, if you have to attend on a gentleman, you must have white linen aprons for the pur pose. " "Take care to do your work in order. "I know that in this matter a great deal must depend upon the habits of the family you live in, the number of servants that are kept, and whether you have much or little to do. But, in any case, do all you can of your work, especially the dirtiest part of it, before the family is up. If, however, they rise before you can get it finished, then do first that which they are most likely to want by the time they are up; of which you must judge for yourself, as the habits of families differ so much that it is impossible to lay down any particular rules which will apply to all." A LETTER FROM A FATHER TO HIS SON, AN APPRENTICE BOY. MY DEAR Boy, March 14, 1825. WE left off, in my last letter, at the end of the American war. The prosperity of a nation, in the time of peace, is a cause for great thankfulness; but it is accounts of wars and battles that fill our books of history, and perhaps make them the most interesting. There are many things, however, which I remember filled our minds at the time, though you perhaps will not think them worth hearing now. However, I must send you a few of them. In 1784 there was a strong contest about the Westminster election, between Sir Cecil Wray and Mr. Fox. I believe that Sunday-schools were first opened in the same year. The first of these was at Glou |