THE 



FARMER'S MONTHLY VISITOR. 



Simply, because its entire Kiirfaec was niltivated 

 upon ]iriiiciples, wliicli ^verc brougiit to the test 

 of tlie most rigid anrl severe cxiicriiiient ; because 

 agriculture wiis scieutiti* lly ami pliilosopliicully 

 piirsued, and because slie ii'ad sucli excellent far- 

 mers. (Cheers.) It was indeed delightful to 

 witness the system of iiirming and rural econo- 

 my throughout tlie land. It' a Ibreiguer wishes 

 10 kno-iv wJiat England really \\as, he must go 

 into the country and mi.\ \vitli the farmers and 

 yeomanry. It had been said he believed, by one 

 ofthe princes of the reigning family, that the 

 pride ot England \\ as in lier yeomanry. He re- 

 echoed the sentiment, and was liajjpy to belong, 

 when at home, to that class. iXe.M, lie said, to 

 the proud dislinclion of being an Amcrictm citi- 

 zen, was that of I)eing a iiirmer. (Cheers.) Who 

 could look'upoii such an assemlilvas this witiiout 

 Icelmg himself elevated and gratified .'^Cheers. 



121 



studying and the acquisition of useful knowledge 

 in afterlife. ° 



This early taste for reading is the onlv sure 

 source for future advancement— it is one' of the 

 best preparations for school that the Aoung schol- 

 ar can be in possession of Give nic, said an 

 eininent teacher, a child with this habit, ,uul I 

 will assme you a good schotar, ivhereas, if you 

 give me one without this liabit, it will reciuire 

 months; often years, before I can qualify him to 

 stud)'. 



The (picstioii naturally presents itself— How 

 can tliis taste be created and cherished ? We 

 answer as the result of our experience let 

 every father of a family provide a suita- 

 lile collection of useful books for his children. 

 VVith a httle care in k^election, and adding occa- 

 sionally a new one, an e.\<-ellent family librarv 



iiy be collected fbr a small sum of monev 



i\r I ------■-— ... „.....».,.,. . ^^,i,^,_i!,. ,,,,iy ,ju coiiectea for a sma 1 sum of ninnnv 



'nit> wi -eTnd' ''"'''f ",';'""' "r"''"^ «T\ ""°''^- '^'''^ '""»'y "»'« ""-^'«1 " yVe s ved ,e i^ J 

 Ifie wise and the cood; the nub he aiu t be nr - ;., .1,0 .,.!„„„,: .,■. .1. ■._•' „, , "^"'"i" 



1 he wise and the good; the public and the pri- 

 vate man, those who fill high places, mixingwith 

 the farmeis and cultivators of the soil upon pey- 

 fect equality, :md the spiiit of peace and cliarity 

 shedding around their holv calm,refreshhig alike 

 to the feelings and intellect. (Cheers.) it was, 

 he said, upon this Society and its wide spreading 

 and fitr extending purposes, that the eyes ol 

 Eiu-ope and America were now fixed with a 

 steady gaze. He hoped there \\ ould be no disap- 

 pointment. Viewed hi relation to their o\\n 

 country, there w-s every moti^'c for supporting 

 it, but viewed in relation to its eficcts upon other 

 nations, as had been justly said, the motive rose 

 into a much higher and nobler sentiment. It be- 

 came then the cause, not of their country or his, 

 but that of miiukiiid ; and \vlio so jioor or sordid 

 in spirit, as to think only of himself or his coun- 

 try \\ hen the great question was whether the 

 eaith should be inhabited anrl cultivated by en- 

 lightened viilDous and religious men, o'r by 

 debased and ignorant human beings and hoides 

 of savages ? (Cheers.) In conclusion, he could 

 only lepent his thanks for the kindness and hon- 

 or done him, and bis best w islies for the success 

 of their glorious association. He trusted in God, 

 that it might fulfil its highest purposes, do honor 

 to its tbimders, and benefit mankind. Mr. S. then 

 said that the most pleasing part of liis duty re- 

 mained to be perlbnned. It was to projiose to 

 Iht in a toa.sl « hicli would be hailed, he was quite 

 sure, with the greatest enthusiasm. It \\ould be 

 presumjition in him to do more than to name the 

 distinguishcrl individual wIk.sc licalth he was 

 about to pro]>ose. One, who in evei-y thing con- 

 nected with the honor and glory of his country 

 stood jiroiidly preeminent, and of whom it might 

 justly be said, both in war and in j'eace, was wi'th- 

 out reprocjch. He i)rojiosed to them the health 

 of their noble president, the Duke of Richmond, 

 with three times three. He set down amid the 

 most enthusiastic cheering." 



I>oin the Practical I-'armcr. 

 Habits of Headins in C'liildren. 



Teachers and parents, esjiecially the latter, 

 should feel deeply interested to create a taste in 

 children for usefiil reading — lio pains on the ])art 

 of parents and teachers should be spared to in- 

 fuse in the yoinig generally, a love of reading. 



It is owing to the neglect of this, that schools 

 and books are hated by so many children ; and 

 even many who have attained the age of liberty 

 or manhood, and hence too it is that the "r«»i- 

 /lo/es," and " ni/stcr-shops" of our country are so 

 well " stocked.'' 



Fiomour limited ol sei\alion we have l.^ecn 

 long convinced that the hal'lt of reading cannot 

 be too early fbrtned in the young. Wc have 

 seen those m horn we kiiei\- in their infancy — the 

 one a reading child : the othera hook-hating-ckitd ; 

 this oue very fond of mischief; and of dissolute 

 habits; that one always outstripi)ed h.is fellows in 

 class — he stood higher than all his school mates 

 who had a fondness for leading. 



These we see daily, one a sot, the other rc- 

 s])ectable and happy. 



The cause of this contrast is readily imagined. 

 The one had, almost in his infancy, acquired a 

 fondness for reading, the ether had not. The 

 habit of reading informs, and consequently ex- 

 pands the mind, and confers gradually the pow- 

 er of abstracting the mind li'om the external 

 world and its alhn-ements to vice ; a power which 

 is iudisirensable to the succt^.~fid piotccution of 



m the education of a fiimilv. We have nevei 

 known a family of children' grow up ignorant 

 when they had access to useftd books ; but there 

 are Iiimdreds who ha\e grown up ianorant and 

 acqmrcd vicious habits, who had no access to a 

 janiily library. The very presence of books will 

 induce children, if encouraged by their iiarents 

 to read. 



We have been engaged occasionally as teach- 

 ers for fifteen years, atid we have alwa\ s fbimd 

 that Avherever children had been stiimilated by 

 the example cf leading pareuts, the children 

 of such parents, made more progress in three 

 months in the acquisition of useful knol^ ledge, 

 than others of different habits did in nine moiiti'is! 

 Hence the great ditrerence bca\een children 

 ofthe same school and the same neighborhood. 

 In this is the great secret why some childien 

 make more progress than in our commou schools. 



We \\oidd, iherefcjie, urge it upon parents 

 whose children have no access to a villaee or 

 Sunday lihrarj— to ])rovide small, well selected 

 family libraries, rest assured, you «ill never re- 

 gret it. The perstuisive language of self-interest 

 should induce you to do souicfliing in this way 

 for those who call you by t!ieeudcariuga|)[)ellalioii 

 of parentis. Their etiucation, Mitliout reading 

 niu.st be defective— purchase them uselid and 

 valuable books and you will confix- a lasting ben- 

 efit ui>on yours and the community. 



Hints for Wool growers and homespun cloth 

 makers. 



A friend in the County of Merrimack, who 

 has had both the experience of a Farmer and of 

 the business of Carding and Cloth Dressing for 

 twenty-five years, tVnuishes us witii the Ibllowing 

 useful hints: — 



For profitable rearing of sheep I would select 

 those of the large kind prodnciug heavy fleeces, 

 i mi.\ture of Merino with Irish or South Down, 

 ■laving not ever h.alf blood Merino. 



For common wear, I would hat the sheep 

 washed clean before shearing; let the sheep bo 

 sheared as soon a,s they arc ({t\ — say witliin two 

 or three days; for if the sheep are suffered to 

 run longer after washing, tlic wool is not fit to 

 card without further cleansing'. 



Sort, examine and pick the v.ool before it is 

 sent to the carder. Do this work so thoroughly, 

 that there shall not remain a beachiiut bur, bur- 

 dock bur, thistle head, nor any other .-ulherin;,' 

 substance : nuik,- it as perlt-ctly clean as if it ivas 

 to lie carded at lioiiie in coitoii cards. 



All ti.^lted vrool should he sheared so rs to take 

 the felt off in preparing to card it, as no jiicker 

 can entirely destroy the fih ; and it iiijmes the 

 c.-ird and causes the rolls to have small niibs in 

 them. 



When wool is prepored for coloring, let it be 

 washed or well cleansed before it shall be put in 

 the dye. Let it also b-j well cleansed after being 

 taken out of the Aye. 



\{ the woo! is intended to be mixed, it had 

 belter be mixed before it shall be sent to the mill. 

 It ought not to go \vith the blue dye in it, as 

 s'omc good ladies sometimes send itto'be carded ; 

 for it is verj- oflensive to card, to sj)i]i or to keep 

 any where about the house in that state. 



If the wool to be carded is fine, it ought not to 

 be greased before sending to mill. If the wool 

 be very fine, it should not be greased at all. For 

 white IkTimel it may be oiled with olive oil ; for 

 fuUrd cloth, with good sperm oil. Wool that is 

 uea.rcd and lies in the mill two or three «eeks 



in hot weather must be oiled over, or vou mttb,. 

 iiave bad rolls. 



Every good fenner's liotisewife will learn her- 

 self and teach her daughters to prepare wool for 

 the carding iiiacliine. Thev should be taught to 

 spin and weave, and perform their other domes- 

 tic manufacturing as ^vas done forty years ago. 

 On the knowledge of household maiiufiictures 

 depends our independence. When the art is 

 lost, we must go to the large fiictories for our 

 clothing ; and much of their cloth is hardly worth 

 making up for coinmon A^ear. 



Cloth for every-dav common wear may be 

 made of coarse open wool ; mix the white in 

 equal parts with black or blue. Have this mixed 

 \yool weW carded— .spun coarse as five skeins to 

 the pound— beat up and wove very stout, and 

 dressed by some good old fashioned clothier at 

 eight or ten cents jieryard; and this will be cloth 

 worth making up. 



But the wool grower pcriiaps will sav, it is 

 cheaper to buy cloth when wool sells 'for fifty 

 cents iier ])ound ; for my wool costs me a dollar 

 or more m the yard to make mv cloth, and my 

 girls can earn more at the factbrv, while I can 

 buy cloth at the store at fifty to seven-five cents 

 ])er yard. I say to 3011, alter twenty-five years 

 experience in domestic mauufiicturcs, that in the 

 heart of wool growing I have made from six to 

 nine hundred yards of woolen cloth every year 

 for ten jears from wool of my own raising ; that 

 I have hired and paid females at tlie rate of one 

 dollar fifty cents per week to spin and weave in 

 the old vay and boarded — have made the busi- 

 ness profitable, selling my cloths near Boston for 

 c«sli. 



If you would be independent learn jonr 'laugh- 

 ters to sjiin and w eave ; although they iv.i.x -ct 

 seem to earn so much for a season, it is "mucJi 

 better for them than to be at a fiictory, where 

 they lose or never gain the art of domestic man- 

 ufacturing and hou.«ewiferv, to the great injury 

 of society, and frequently to the loss of their 

 health, and sometimes of "their lives. 



If each fariMcr's wi)(; and groNvn dtuighter will 

 iiiake for themselves a good woolen gown — the 

 finer and more ingeniously spun and wove the 

 more to her credit — lor winter wear, in lieu of 

 buying some foreign manufacture at the store; 

 It will contribute bolli in themakingand wearing 

 to the healdi, comfort and best interest of each. 

 How must every young man prize the "girl 

 Avliich he lo'es best" that she is able to dress 

 herself with the delicate work of her own lin- 

 gers ! 



Salisbury, July I(j, 1840. 



How docs climate aflect the staple of Woolt 



The manner in which our two distinguished 

 .friends. Col. Ja^ites and Mr. Siblev, arrive at 

 the same conclusion iioiii ];rcmises directly op- 

 posite, puzzles lis exceedingly. We have not the 

 ability to exiilain or delijnd 'either position. All 

 we can do is to exprees the hope that our read- 

 ers, who are practical men pursuhig the success- 

 ful busiiie.^s_of weaning lambs and raising sheep, 

 will not be infhirnecd to change a sure course, 

 for any untried exiierimcnt. 



Our fiiend Sible)-, -whose communications on 

 any Hgricultnral siiliject we shall al',va\s prize 

 l.iccause they are the result of expcricncej has ful- 

 ly proved Jiis doctrines in relation to the man- 

 agemeiitofsheephy his works: we should Ibllow 

 his advice very tar on this, as on almost every 

 other jioint of agricultural inlbrmation. Colonel 

 Jaqucs is iicrhaps more a man of fancy and im- 

 agination than the Hopkinlon farmer.' The es- 

 .-a^sand the ideas of both gentlemen will amuse 

 ourrcc'ders; if they do not afford in all cases safe 

 instruction. 



I'oi- tiic farmer's Monthly Visitor. 



Hoph'nlon, jY. H. August 1st, 1840. 

 Hon. Is.\.\<; Hill.— Ill the Visitor of yesterdav, 

 now beliire me, I find a very interesting account 

 of Col. Jaques, his farm, and his stock— but more 

 especially interesting is the accnnnt ofthe man- 

 agement of his stock, and his lheor\ for its im- 

 provement. I will touch onlv upon "his theory re- 

 specting his flock of Soudi Downs. He stiites,"that 

 " to give them the finer, and uniform quality of 

 wool,down to the fetlock,aiid an increased quanti- 

 ty, over the whole body, he had so disjiosed of tlieir 

 breeding, tluit they should present ihiiir lambs in 

 the lall. in.-tcad of (he spring." He founds the 



