icy peaks, the sight of which I had all my life coveted more than the seeing of any other natural object in the wide world, would not for a moment entertain the sordid question of provender. "Would I not dine?" No, I would At the village of Le Houches, and for some thought of actually standing upon that very distance on either side, I fell in with multi-Mer de Glace (sea of ice), in the midst of those tudes of people making their way to the church, the echo of whose compelling bell filled the valley and mountins with its religious chimes. Old men in sober black, young men in particolored garments and women and maidens in plain but neat gowns-without hoops!-and not until my feet had first touched the everwith white, ruffled caps, old and young, swarm-lasting ice of Mt. Blanc! My excellent host ed forth from every dwelling by the road-side of the Hotel de Saussure saw I was in earnest, and from every cleft in the mountains, until it and so placing before me a flask of wine proseemed that all Faucigny had turned out for posed to find me a guide and mules. "I some grand centennial observance. If Amer- want neither a guide, nor yet mules, sir; I'm ican Protestants were as faithful to their con- obliged to you." This he would not believe, victions of religious duty as these mountain but before the mules were at the door or alpinCatholics they would certainly be a much stocks* were forced upon me, I had myself found more christian people than now. the upward winding path and was climbing the rocky ribs of the mountain, empty handed, on foot, and alone. Up, up I went as it had been on eagle's wings; now following the narrow, stony path, now dashing across the angles made by the zigzag course of the beaten way, and several times startling returning trains of more aristocratic-or, perhaps, only less enthusiastic-travelers on slow-footed mules with as many guides. There were places where the only possible path was along the narrow brink of the most fearful precipice, down which to have fallen would have been as sure destruction as to have fallen clean off the earth into the moon. It was not surprising, therefore, that the ladies in the several parties I met should now and then scream out in such a manner as to almost stop the beating of the heart, lest some one had actually gone over and been irretrievably lost. A few miles further I came suddenly upon Bossons the first glacier my eyes had ever seen. Its appearance was as if the ice on the summits of two contiguous mountains, made half fluid, had slid down into the gorge between, and while in the act of plunging into the plain below had been fixed there as forever by a sudden congelation. And there it was, an incalculable body of ice, with deep chasms and irregularities, reminding one of a collossal ruffled shirt-bosom, stiffly starched, melting and melting at the base all the summer months, and yet ever undiminished in its sublime proportions. From it flowed a brook of ashy-grey water, cold as its own frozen bosom-so cold that when from its shady brink I dipped my bare feet into it, I as involuntarily jumped and cried ouch as though they had been dropped into a cauldron of molten iron. At noon I reached the lovely vale of Chamouny, where, filled with ecstacy and awe, I stood, at last, under the very shadow of the Great Mountain. The time required to reach Montanvert, a traveler's rest at the extreme end of the winding mule path, and from which one may for the first time look out upon the Mer de Glace, down down upon the distant, shadowy vale of Chamouny, and off upon the snow-covered moun The valley itself is more than three thousand feet above the level of the sea, and yet so rich is the verdure of the fields, so perfect and pro-tains beyond—is two hours and a half. I found fuse the flowers which usually grow in warmer myself standing upon its threshhold within one altitudes that one finds it not difficult to fancy hour and forty minutes after beginning the ashimself in the very bosom of sunniest France. It was well I had breakfasted heartily at Servoz, for the enthusiasm that seized me at cent. The Alpin-stock is simply a staff five or six feet in length, shod with a steel point, and furnished with an iron hook on the top-useful in climbing rocky and icy steeps. a man. white with eternal snow! Beauty in the lap of Sublimity! Could there be a more striking display of the Creator's infinitude? From the further side of the Mer de Glace the view of the giant peak of Mont Blancthe mountain embraces a long range of peaks, some miles in extent-is the finest that can be had. You are already so far above the vale that the houses of Chamouny look like chil dren's toys, and yet, there is the summit of Mt. Blanc, nearly two miles higher still, and, in time, seventeen hours above you, and quite beyond the clouds. "Did you go to the very pinnacle?" No: it was perilous and expensive, and she who is to be my companion when the summit is climbed was then in the lesser mountains of Virginia, five thousand miles away. Very few persors have ever ventured to the top. One must have six guides, unfailing muscles, an unlimited supply of courage, extraordinary fortitude, and about one thousand francs in money. any of these prerequisites are lacking, he had better do as I did-postpone the attempt. In childhood, and often since, I had read, with wonder, accounts of Mont Blanc and the Mer de Glace, nntil I half feared I might be disappointed when I should come to look upon them with my own eyes. But there they were, before and above me, even grander than I had dreamed, aud peerless in their eternal sublimity! For a half hour I stood almost breathless, and silently worshipped; then with a bound and a shout of inarticulate joy, went down from the hights of Montanvert to the Mer de Glace, a distance of a few hundred feet, and dashed out upon the billowy ice, clambering over its huge, piled-up blocks, and leaping its deep, yawning fissures as if I were a chamois and not The guides, thinking me a mad man, came hallooing after me, and offering for sums unprecedentedly small, to conduct me across the sea. More from a feeling of pity for them than from any felt need of aid, I engaged a couple of them and pursued my way, coming, however, in a very short time to gaps so fearfully wide and of such unknown depth, that to have attempted to have made my way over them without the forerunners with pick and ladder, would have justified their conviction of my insanity, and doubtless made me a martyr to my own ungoverned zeal. Half way over was an immense block of granite, which had fallen from the lofty aguille or needle-like peak which rises almost perpendicularly to the hight of probably half a mile, just the other side. This mass of rock was as large as an ordinary dwelling house, and must have been lying there for years, as by the disintegration of the granite a little soil had been formed on one side; and there, within a few inches of the ice, were nestled some half a dozen or more varieties of most beautiful flowers-Butter Cups, Forget-me-nots, Violets, Andromedas, Coronillas, Potentillas, and others. This little natural garden was so delightful a surprise and so touched my heart with the evidence it brought of the infinite tenderness of the beauty-der and study of man. loving soul of the All-Father, that I named it, improptu, Le Jardin de Dieu (the Garden of God.) Butter-Cups, Violets and Forget-menots blossoming in the very bosom of this frozen sea, and in the midst of mountain peaks If The Mer de Glace, so often mentioned, is, as the name indicates, a literal sea of ice, appearing upon the surface as though it had been suddenly frozen while lashed into fury by a storm. It is one-fourth to a half mile in breadth and some miles in length, sloping gradually toward the plain, until it reaches Montanvert, where it drops off like Niagara and becomes a frozen cataract, known as Glacier des Bois. It was formerly supposed to be stationary forever, but investigations have shown that the particles of ice have a slow, imperceptible motion among themselves, so that the whole body of the sea, as if semi-fluid, is gradually moving towards the valley. Altogether it presents some of the most interesting phenomena in the natural world, and, while the Alps endure, will be an object for the won It was my desire to spend the night at Le Jardin, a mile or more above Montanvert, on the Mer de Glace, where dwells a family in cozy icy quarters, from year to year, but my self-prescribed limit of time would not allow, and so about five o'clock I shook hands with a hospitable Switzer, his wife and some fifteen my guides and made a rapid descent to Cham-children, plenty of good bread and milk and ouny, narrowly escaping an avalanche, the re- a clean, comfortable bed. May Providence port of whose thundering crash behind may be ever deal as kindly with you, my dear friends supposed to have quickened my steps yet more. of the great FARMER family, as He has this Somehow the strawberry girls, who are ac-day dealt with me. customed to refresh travelers on their way up and down, had not anticipated my coming and Mrs. Hoyt returned with us from Ohio in were not in their places, so that a bottle of December, with health improved and still slowwine and a little bread were not at all distaste-ly gaining. In the next number she may be ful when I reached the hotel. But my day's induced to make a report of herself for the work was not yet done. Martigny, at which year 1862. point I am to take the cars for the head of Lake Geneva, was yet twenty-five miles further on, the crest of the Alps was to be crossed before Shall it follow the Example of other Agriit was reached, and the only train of to-mor-cultural Journals ?-In what respect? Not row leaves at mid-day. A few miles-probably in regard to its general conduct, of course. six, which would take me to Argentieres- That is a matter in which it will follow the excould yet be made ere the close of day; and ample of no other journal in the world. It has so, after a reluctant adieu to Chamouny, an individuality of its own whether more or started for my ultra-Alpine destination via less worthy than that of some other, it is not our business to enquire. We prefer to have it what it is, or we would make it something else. Tete Noire. But four miles had been made, however, when night found me on the side of a mountain, steep, and dark with cedar, pine and larch, and upon the brink of the Arve, whose foam-white waters dashed with loud roar over a cataract far below. On the other side the mountain was black with evergreens and perpendicular for more than a thousand feet, thus deepening the grandeur of the scene and almost compelling me to stop and meditate upon the almightiness of the God of the mountains. Fatigue lent another inducement and I did pause for almost an hour, resting upon the generous face of a great flat rock with the soft side of a boulder for my pillow, and gazing, possibly for the last time, upon the star-illum ined face of Mt. Blanc. At first, the soft, fleecy clouds, like etherial drapery, enveloped The Farmer for 1863. : But there is one thing in which we have been half tempted to imitate many of our worthy cotemporaries. We refer to an increase in the price of subscription! There is one strong argument in its favor; we cannot afford to publish at the present rate. We have been so many years working for nothing and boarding ourselves," that we begin to wonder whether it is not our duty to change the programme a little. This on general principles. But there are new and special reasons why the question of price should come up at this time. 1. The price of printing material is almost double what it has been for years past. That of paper is actually double; and the paper used in publishing a paper is by far the most important item. 2. The price of labor has gone up, also, and his shoulders only, his jeweled coronet of cen- it costs more to get the work done than ever turies unnumbered glittering as with the radi-before. ance of heaven. But soon this drapery of cloud was drawn as a curtain before the face of his majesty and he graciously bade the world and me "Cood-Night." Another mile brought me to this humble dwelling, where I find a cordial welcome from 3. All the expenses of living, travel, &c., have greatly increased. What then shall be done? Six diverse ways lie before us to increase the price; to diminish the number of pages; to use a less expensive material; to double the circulation; to mensurate with its merits. If even one half of the 80,000 farmers of Wisconsin could be induced to take it-and they ought, every one of them, to do so-we could afford to make it a better Agricultural Journal, in every respect, than is now published in the world. stop the publication of the paper; or, lastly, Doing Well-It is a source of high gratgo ahead as though nothing in the world hadification to editor and publishers, that the happened until all our resources are exhausted, FARMER is growing in favor with that best and then smash up! Of these alternatives class of its friends, the substantial, sterling some publishers have chosen one and some an- farmers of the Northwest, who have been its other. Each has been accepted here or there. consistent and appreciative supporters for To increase the price is difficult for the very years, and that such friends and a host of more reason that seems to make it necessary. We recent subscribers are working as never bedon't like to diminish the volume of the Farmer fore, to give it a circulation more nearly combecause with is present liberal proportions we can't get into it more than half that needs to be said. To use a cheaper material lets down the higher style of the periodical, and puts it upon a level with many whose poor appearance we have only tolerated because we knew they were half starved. To stop the publication would be a severe mortification of our pride in the large class of readers for whose benefit it is published. and a disgrace to the State. While to break up is quite too common and popular in the commercial world to find favor with plain agriculturists, such as we are. There is, therefore, nothing left to us but to multiply our subscriptions until the receipts shall exceed the inevitable expenditures, and this is the secret of our offering such extraordinary inducements. Will not every friend of a sound agricultural literature and of a healthy magazine, such as every member of the family may read with interest and profit, renew and redouble his efforts to insure this result? Appropriations to Co. Agr'l Socs.We are informed by the Secretary of State, that the law making annual appropriations of $100 to Co. Agrl Societies that shall have held Fairs and duly reported their proceedings for the year, was not repealed at the late extrastupid session of the Legislature. Glad of it. But how in the world did they escape? Clubbing with other Papers -Changes in Terms. Since the publication of our last number, a number of our clubbing exchanges have so increased their rates that we can no longer furnish them in connection with the FARMER on the old terms. Our readers will therefore refer again to our Prospectus, and in sending money observe the rates. We most heartily thank you, friends, for what you are doing, and will reward you, in part, by continuing to expect of you even bet ter efforts in the time to come. Our Premium Melodeon.-The Melodeons manufactured by Prince & Co. are the We have tried them, and best in the world. therefore speak understandingly. For all the qualities which render a Melodeon desirable, these instruments are not only not excelled, but positively unequalled. Their tone is pure instrument lasts; they respond readily to the and full; they will keep in tune as long as the touch, and are beautifully made. Be sure to examine these before purchasing elsewhere. -Home Journal, New York. Missing Numbers of the Farmer.-Subscribers who have only a PART of the Nos. for 1862, can be supplied with the remainder at 5 cents per No. This will make the volume complete for binding, which is done in neat, substantial cloth covers at 40 cents. Send and get the additional Nos., and send immediately, as they are fast running out. HOYT & CAMPBELL. Bound Volumes.-We will furnish back volumes neatly bound in black cloth, with handsome gilt-letter backs for $1,12. Send in your orders-those of you who are new subscribers-and so increase your agricultural libraries by the addition of the most valuable book, for the price, that the farmer can buy. But, that our readers may know the address of such of them as we are willing to endorse, we publish the following list, with place of publication: The Great Knitting Machine.-Since be said in each number is omitted, that our our offer of Aiken's Knitting Machine as a brethren and often ourselves are crowded out. prize, the question has been often asked, Can you give us evidence that it is really a practical and valuable machine. To this question we reply: We have seen it operate to the great satisfaction of those who were cempetent to judge; but that our readers may have the testimony of those who have used it for sometime, we shall publish from time to time voluntary letters addressed to the proprietors from different parts of the country. Here is one of these testimonials: EATON, OHIO, December 15, 1860. I have used one of your machines about ten months, and would not part with it for many times its cost, if unable to get another. Besides the care of a large family, it is no uncommon thing for me to make with it a dollar and a dollar and a half a day, and it is no exaggeration to say, that with no other cares, I could easily make two dollars a day. I have knit upon it all kinds of cotton and woolen hosiery, and for fancy work it can't be beat. I have knit shawls, nubias, opera capes, sontags, undersleeves, children's sacks, comforts, and other articles too numerous to mention. I can cheerfully recommend any woman desiring pleasant and profitable employment, to buy one of your machines. If necessary, borrow the money, and with industry it can soon be replaced with interest MRS. D. A. DICK. Our Brethren of the Agr'l Press.There is certainly nothing in our feelings which is illiberal towards the many excellent agricultural publications that come to our table from week to week or from month to month. Many of the gentlemen who conduct them are personal friends in high esteem, and all are our brethren, laboring in the same great field for the advancement of the material and social interests of a common country. As a class, they are excelled by no other profession in their devotion to the furtherance of what is good and ennobling among men, and we are confident that no equal number of public workers have done so much for the progress of America in all the great arts of civilization. Now and ever, they have our right hand of fellowship and most cordial sympathy. Maine Farmer, (weekly,) Augusta, Maine. Hovey's Magazine of Horticulture, (monthly,) Boston, Mass. American Agriculturist, (monthly,) New Horticulturist, (monthly,) New York, N. Y. 66 Rural New Yorker, (weekly,) 66 66 Rochester, 66 New Jersey Farmer, Trenton, N. J. 44 66 66 San Francisco, Cal. Of the changes which have taken place during the past year, we may mention the discontinuance of the good old Homestead, published at Hartford; of the Ohio Valley Farmer, published at Cincinnati; and of the Field Notes, at Columbus, Ohio. We are glad to learn, however, that the Ohio Farmer and Field Notes have united their fortunes, and are to be pub lished at Cleveland, by our old friend and longtried knight of the quill, Col. Harris, former conductor of the Field Notes and Ohio Cultivator, The Northwstern Farmer, published until lately by Frank Miller, Esq., has been transformed during our absence, into a weekly newspaper, and gives promise of doing well. The Michigan Farmer, after a temporary suspension, is again ont in good dress, aud under the able direction of its former Prop. and Editor R. F. Johnston, Esq., Secretary of the Nor is it seldom that we feel prompted to say a generous word of them, and lend our influence on behalf of an increased circula-Michigan State Agricultural Society. tion among the supporters of our own paper. But somehow, in the multiplicity of our official and editorial duties, so much of what should SOME OF OUR NON-AGRICULTURAL BX CHANGES. The Scientific American, published by Munn |