166 



Month of January. 



Vol. IV. 



in any great degree, affect his business — he 

 feels a degree of security and of independence 

 unknown to most other classes of society. 



DEPENDENCE USEFUL. 



Could the farmer live wholly within him- 

 self — could he manufacture so as to supply all 

 his wants and not feel under obligation to any 

 for the necessaries or the luxuries of life — did 

 he want no favors from a neighbor — the ten- 

 dency of such a state of things would be to 

 exclusiveness, selfishness, and even to mo- 

 roseness. And Providence has wisely pro- 

 vided that we shall be dependent on each 

 other. There are undoubtedly evils attend- 

 ing on the independence of which we have 

 spoken, and the independent farmer is almost 

 the last man to attempt to make any improve- 

 ment in his condition ; one reason tor this is, lie 

 feels less in need of improvement in his out- 

 ward circumstances than most other people. 

 Independence to a certain extent is a useful 

 trait. It is desirable that every one should be 

 .so independent as to think for himself and to 

 act freely; but a stiff and surly independence 

 is not a virtue. It is too closely allied to self- 

 ishness. 



In our climate we need parlor fires more 

 than half the year, and as our cities and towns 

 multiply and extend we should also multiply 

 the quantity of fuel. Instead of this we are 

 clearing off our forests and converting them 

 into pasture grounds. The forests of New 

 England have supplied us with the principal 

 portion of our fuel, but they would soon prove 

 inadequate if we had no other sources. Our 

 improved methods of cutting will serve greatly 

 to increase the supply, as a great revolution in 

 opinion has taken place within thirty 3-ear3. 

 Now the practice of cutting the large and small 

 wood clean is almost universal, though we 

 sometimes find a veteran who adlieres to the 

 old mode of singling out the oldest and the 

 decayed trees of his forest and trampling 

 down a hundred young ones in hauling it out. 

 We now cut every tree small and great, and 

 find that the small stumps very generally send 

 out new shoots, and often ten for one. 



PIT COAL. 



This is an article which is now very gen- 

 erally used in our cities in cold weather in 

 preference to wood. We remember when 

 none was used exct^pt the English Liverpool 

 coal, and this was brought here as ballast for 

 vessels and could t'lus be afforded at a price 

 which was not thought exiravagant. Wn 

 have not yet di^c-overed any native coal so full 

 of bitumen and aflbniingso nuicli blaze astlie 

 English coal — or spa coal — as it was railed. 

 The mines now discovered in Pennsylvania 

 vnd in manv of the western states seem in- 



exhaustible; and it is probable that pit coal 

 will be the principal fuel of our cities. Some 

 mines have lately been opened in IMassachu- 

 setts and in Rhode Island, and it is hoped we 

 shall at length discover those of the first qual- 

 ity. 



PEAT. 



This substance has been used in many parts 

 of New England, as fuel, for some years past. 

 Not much of it is brought into the cities and 

 towns, but it is found a very cheap and useful 

 fuel in the country, when it is mixed with 

 wood. When burnt alone it makes a slow 

 and very lasting fire, and it is excellent to 

 preserve a moderate heat for a great length 

 of time. It is much used to preserve fire 

 through the night — one lump as large as a 

 couple of bricks having been known to retain 

 fire for at least three days. Many cords of 

 this may be dug up on one square rod of 

 groimd, as we can often go several feet deep. 

 This substance is formed principally of the 

 vegetable growth of low lands. Grasses and 

 bushes growing to the surface of the water 

 in a small pond have been known, in a few 

 years to make such encroachment from the 

 banks as to usurp entirely the site of the 

 pond. A perfectly level surface is thus 

 formed, and such meadows are now often made 

 to produce the best of English hay. 



CHESTNUT W^OOD. 



The chestnut is found an exceedingly use- 

 ful tree in New England, though it is not the 

 best of wood for fuel, but as its price is more 

 than half that of walnut or of rock maple, and 

 as six cords of chestnut may be grown sooner 

 than one cord of walnut, a chestnut lot is much 

 more valuable even for fuel than is a lot of 

 walnut. 



But the durability of this timber, and the 

 easft with which it is cloven into posts, rails, 

 stakes, &c., constitute it one of the very best 

 articles for wooden fence. A chestnut rail 

 kept up from the ground, but exposed to the 

 weather, will often remain sound for seventy- 

 five years. Sprouts from the stumps of these 

 trees spring up with great rapidity, and often 

 attain to the height of ten feet the first sea- 

 son. 



FODDERING CATTLE. 



Various modes of managing cattle in win- 

 ter are adopted by farmers. In some of our 

 coldest states, Vermont, New Hampshire, and 

 Maine, cattle are often allowed to be out dur- 

 ing the night, or are barely sheltered by an 

 open shed. And it is believed that young 

 cattle are better wintered in this way than 

 when tied fast to a standsbal, and shut up 

 close in a stable. When habituated to it, they 

 do Jiot a]>pear to suffer from the cold, provided 

 they arc sheltered and protected from the 



