158 MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURE. 



forever. But where the soil-skinner is found, alas ! they 

 together soon pass away. 



But, with the storehouse of Providence open to all, with 

 its rich stores of clays and marl and muck and lime and 

 plaster and marine exuvia, and its rich treasures from the 

 animal and vegetable kingdoms, the high calling of the farmer 

 is to restore this pristine beauty, this Canaan type of a goodly 

 heritage, as a beauty and joy forever; a joy of health and 

 long life ; a joy of delight in fields of beauty surpassing 

 Solomon in his glory, and in the robust beauty of the family 

 and the herds ; a joy of the rich harvest of milk and honey 

 and the jubilant joy of harvest home, of his luxuriant fields 

 of the choicest quality of seed-wheat. 



Rye, so long as brown bread is held as a luxury, and the 

 straw is held so valuable, will commend itself to the attention 

 of the farmer. 



Oats are one of the most exhilarating and muscle-developing 

 of grains. They should be sowed early, and in no case 

 should grass-seed be sown with them. Oats draw from the 

 soil the same quality that grass feeds upon, and in most cases 

 they will starve and smother the young grasses to death. 

 Harvest the oats and immediately plough in the stubble and ' 

 seed to grass. Lime or ashes, or even a coating of manure, 

 well mixed with the soil, will not injure the crop of grass. 

 The sample of hulless oats we cannot speak advisedly upon. 

 We awarded a premium, the rather to call the attention of the 

 farmers to it that they might test it for themselves. 



Barley seems to have been known in the days of Gideon. 

 One of the host of Midian and Amalek, encamped against 

 Israel, dreamed that a loaf of barley bread tumbled into their 

 camp and smote a tent that it fell. The dream was interpreted 

 to mean the sword of Gideon, and that the Lord had delivered 

 their ho'st into his hands. Now we are at a loss to know why 

 this interpretation of the dream, unless they had kept captive 

 Israel on barley bread, and, knowing its virtues, they knew 

 that the men who were rising under Gideon to regain their 

 liberty, men who had been fed on barley-cake and could lap 

 water as dogs, would endure well and fight well. If barley 

 retains its virtue as an article of food, it is well worth while 

 for farmers to raise it and give it a fair trial. Remember, it 



