CLIMATE OF ENGLAND. 33 



from October to April. In parts of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, 

 Delaware, and the states south, the farmers enjoy similar advan 

 tages of a mild temperature j but north of these, the despotism 

 of frost and snow commences, and holds undisputed sway for 

 four months in the year. Yet, notwithstanding this, our seasons 

 are quite long enough for the perfect ripening of all the crops 

 grown among us; and, with a little extra labor, even the valua 

 ble green crops, which here play so important a part in the feed 

 ing of stock and the enriching of the land, might, if deemed 

 expedient, be raised and used among us. Of this, however, I 

 shall speak hereafter. These remarks apply only to what has 

 come under my own personal observation ; and I can be said to 

 have seen, as yet, only a small part of England. The winter 

 management of farms here is a matter of as much importance as 

 the summer husbandry, and will claim my particular attention. 

 The disposal of the produce, the fattening of animals, the breeds 

 or kinds of live stock most likely to make a good return to the 

 farmer, and the whole management of the manure yards, are 

 subjects in relation to which much useful instruction is to be 

 obtained. 



It would seem as though a country with so rough and severe 

 a climate as New England, and with such long winters as prevail 

 there, which, for more than a third part of the year, interrupt 

 entirely all the out-door operations of husbandry, must be ex 

 ceedingly unfriendly to agriculture, compared with one where 

 the winters are open and field-labor is practicable through the 

 whole of the year. This is, indeed, the case ; yet there are 

 some compensations for these privations and disadvantages, 

 which in New England are duly appreciated, as the winter, when 

 labor is to a great degree suspended, is the special season for the 

 education of the young ; for reading and mental improvement, 

 and for the most friendly and social intercourse. If these cir 

 cumstances may be thought to have no connection with agricul 

 ture, strictly so called, yet they are certainly to be considered in 

 reference to the condition of the agricultural population ; and in 

 every circumstance which renders their condition more comfort 

 able and happy, and, above all, which advances their intelli 

 gence, we may ordinarily look for a corresponding improvement 

 in their cultivation and rural husbandry. A New England village 

 resembles, to a great degree, a united and happy family, where 

 perfect equality prevails ; where a friendly sympathy is every 



