THE GENESEE FARMEll. 



89- 



may be spi-ead by the circulation of well managed 

 agriculturii] papers, and every man who desires im- 

 provement iu this respect, should lend his influence 

 i-n circulating such works, especially among the rising 

 generation ; children should he early led to notice 

 and admire the beautiful, and also to accjuire a taste 

 for gardening. Impressions niay be made in child- 

 hood, that will be lasting as life, and that cannot be 

 easily counteracted by habits and dispositions acquir- 

 ed in later years. A taste may thus be formed that 

 will lead to practical results, and prove a blessing to 

 community. Hubert. 



ON DEYING APPLES, PEACHES, PLUMS AND OTHER 

 FKUIT. 



Among the good things which can not be consid- 

 ered merely as luxuries, but which our habits, if not 

 our natures, have rendered necessary to a high degree 

 of health, fruit is not unimportant. The art of pre- 

 serving it by drying, may to some persons appear too 

 simple to require the explanation of any process ; 

 nevertheless few housekeepers are so well skilled in 

 these matters, that they may not learn something of 

 value and interest^ by the experience and practiees of 

 others. 



Fruit, of different kinds, evidently requires difier- 

 ent treatment. Apples should be pared, and those of 

 medium size cut in eight or ten pieces, and dried quick- 

 ly, by the fire; cutting them finer makes more surface 

 to be rinsed, and the more water that is used for this 

 purpose, the more is the flavor washed away. 



Peaches may be dried in a similar manner. Pears 

 send gooseberries, (the latter before they are very ripe,) 

 are better stewed tender in one fifth their weight of 

 sugar and a little water, and dried after the liquor is 

 boiled thick and poured over them. Cherries should 

 be stoned and scalded in their own juice, without 

 Bugar, and dried slowly. The method of drying plums 

 in the sun after opening and stoning them, without 

 scalding or sugar, probably cannot be surpassed. — 

 Strawberries, raspberries and currants, retain most of 

 their original flavor when mashed with one-fourth or 

 one-fifth their weight of sugar, and dried as quickly as 

 possible without scalding them. Pumpkin should 

 be stewed till quite dry, sifted and spread on buttered 

 plates, and when partially dried, broken fine, that it 

 may soak quickly in milk when wanted for use. 



Gansevoorts, Saratoga Co., JV. Y. H, M. D. 



WHAT CAN MOTHEKS-AND DAUGHTEES DO TO MAKE 

 EAEM LUE ATTRACTIVE TO THEIR SONS AND 

 BROTHERS, AND PREVENT THEM FROM 

 LEAVING THE FARM TO ENGAGE 

 IN MERCANTILE OR PROFES- 

 SIONAL PURSUITS] 



Labor is not exactly like virtue, "its own re- 

 Ward ;" and where can a farmer enjoy the fruits of 

 his labors except in a happy, well ordered home. — 

 There he should find himself surrounded by those 

 best of all ornaments, cheerful human faces. There 

 is seldom a farm so small and poor, but these may 

 be cultivated with great .-success, if woman could 

 only be made to feel the great necessity and duty of 

 it. In order to attach young men to farm life, moth- 

 ers and si;>ters should first of all love it themselves ; 

 as it is always impossible to inculcate a sentiment 

 we do not ourselves feel. If a young man sees his 



mother and sisters pining for city or village life, 

 lamenting the want of oi)])()rtunitie8 for disiday, 

 despairing, instead of develojiing the recources with- 

 in their reach, he will certainly feel the spirit to be 

 very infectious. 



Cheerfulness, order, and cleanliness, go far to- 

 wards making home happy, and let there be added 

 to these a well sjiread table. Mr. Gkeely was more 

 than half right lately in his severe comments on 

 country cooking; 1 hojje it has })roToked an agitation 

 of the subject which will be useful. The stereotyp- 

 ed dish of baked beans is well enough, also the 

 boiled dinner, but variety is not studied ; day after 

 day brings the same dishes upon the table, till the 

 appetite is cloyed ; an agreeable surprise is never 

 thouglit of, and any thing new seldom attemjtted. 

 Many young ladies seem to think inditTerance in re- 

 gard to food is a mark of refinement ; I shall caution 

 my boys to avoid such young ladies. Farmers' 

 daughters, I have generally observed, have greater 

 advantages for improvement, and are apt to possess 

 more refined tastes than their brothers. (Let niebeg 

 of them to exert their influence in elevating the 

 character and manners of the young farmers. " ! 

 don't come into the parlor boys, with your dirty 

 boots ! you have been among the horses, don't come 

 so near 1" I have heard such things said ; and seen 

 young men actually driven from tlie companionship 

 of their sisters, and made to feel that their occupa- 

 tion rendered them disgusting to them and their 

 young friends. It is easy to imagine the conse- 

 quences likely to arise. I know young farmers, 

 whose slippers are always at hand when their work 

 is done, whose cotton overalls and frocks are easily 

 slipped off, and they are in as fit condition to enjoy 

 a book or pleasant conversation, as a lawyer from 

 his office. Personal appearance has a very great 

 influence upon manners ; when a young man feels 

 conscious that he looks like a gentleman, he is much 

 more likely to endeavor to merit the name of 

 one The work of a farm is fatiguing, vrhile the 

 mind is in a measure unemployed ; consequently, 

 the appliances for finding relaxation, and mental ac- 

 tivity should alway? be at hand. A well lighted 

 table, with books and papers, ])resents an agreeable 

 inducement to spend an evening profitably. There 

 is perhaps no class of men, to whom a love of read- 

 ing is more essential than to farmers. Vacuity of 

 mind is an intolerable evil ; it is frequently the en- 

 emy from which men fly when they rush into dis- 

 sipation. The uneasiness it engenders, is frequent- 

 ly mistaken by farmers' boys for a taste of other 

 pursuits, and the true comforts and independence of 

 a farmer's life is forsaken for all the uncertainties 

 of a profession. 



Mothers and sisters can do much in forming a 

 love of reading, by reading aloud to boys before 

 they have sntiicient scholarship to enjoy a book by 

 themselves. Time would be much better spent in 

 this manner than in embroidery and crochet work, 

 which adds nothing to the comfort of the family. 

 They are pursuits eminently selfish, and there are 

 few farmers' girls who can afford the time for 

 them. Rural life loses half its attractions when 

 there are no out of door embelishments, no shrub- 

 bery, no flowers, and only the coarser vegetables 

 in the gardens. The apology is often made for the 

 lack of every thing beautiful about the house, that 

 " our boys don't care for such things, they wont do 

 anything about the yard and garden." Now, the 



