80 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



was just as wise, as to treasure up gold and silver 

 which one will never use. 



The farmer regards the minister's salary of six 

 hundred dollars, as a generous support for his fami- 

 ly, but if he would consider, that from his own farm 

 he derives his rent, and fuel, and meat, and milk, 

 and butter, and vegetables, and a thousand minor 

 articles, for which the salary must be paid away — 

 if he would cipher up carefully, the cash value of 

 what ho and his family thus annually consume, he 

 would find, to his surprise, perhaps, that his own 

 family must practice a far more rigid economy than 

 now, to live upon so small a sum ! 



Is Farming profitable in New England? If to be 

 quickly rich in gold and silver, if to live in luxury 

 and indolence, if to gain individual power and dis- 

 tinction among men, — if these alone "profit a 

 man," then the question must be answered in the 

 negative. 



But if to have a homo of quiet and refinement, 

 with abundance of the comforts of life, with advan- 

 tages for social, intellectual and religious cultiva- 

 tion, unequalled elsewhere, with " neither poverty 

 nor riches" to " clog us with weary days and rest- 

 less nights," if to gain our daily bread by health- 

 ful labor, and gain it, too, with the consciousness 

 that our gain is not another's toss, if to occupy a 

 position of comparative exemption from the cares 

 and perplexities which attend professional or mer- 

 cantile life — 



" Our best companions, Innocence and Health, 



And our best riches ignorance of wealth" — 



if this be "profitable," then is the occupation of 

 the Farmer, in the highest degree, to himself, to 

 his household, and to humanity, a profitable em- 

 ployment. H. F. French. 

 Exeter, N. II., Dec. 2Wi, 1851. 



TKS SHEPHERD'S DOG. 

 Without the shepherd's dog the whole of the 

 mountainous land in Scotland would not be worth 

 sixpence. It would require more hands to manage 

 a flock of sheep, gather them from the hills, force 

 them into houses and folds, and drive them to mar- 

 kets, than the profits of the whole stock Avould be 

 capable of maintaining. Well may the shepherd, 

 then, feel an interest in his dog. It is, indeed, he 

 that earns the family bread, of which he is content 

 with the smallest morsel. Neither hunger nor fatigue 

 will drive him from his master's side ; he will fol- 

 low him through fire and water. Another thing 

 very remarkable is, the understanding these crea- 

 tures have of the necessity of being particularly 

 tender over lame and particular sheep. They will 

 drive these a great deal more gently than others, 

 and sometimes a single one is committed to their 

 care to take home. On these occasions they per- 

 form their duties like the most tender nurses. Can 

 it be wondered at, then, that the colley should be 

 so much prized by the shepherd ; that his death 

 should be regarded as a great calamity to a family, 

 of which he forms, to all intents and purposes, an 

 integral part ; or that his exploits of sagacity should 

 be handed down from generation to generation, 

 •and form no small share of the converse by the 

 cozy ingle on long winter nights ? 



(Eif The attention of the reader is particularly 

 called to the communications in this number of the 

 Farmer. That upon the question, "Is Farming in 



New England Profitable V treats upon the mat- 

 ter in so clear and practical a light that many will 

 find sufficient conviction in it to induce them to es- 

 tablish a home where their fathers have lived and 

 died before them. The "History of the Apple 

 Tree" in this country, is to be continued, and will 

 be found highly interesting to all who ever eat an 

 apple. The "Experiment in Poultry" affords that 

 exact knowledge which is precisely what is needed, 

 and which we assure the writer we fully appreci- 

 ate. The tribute he pays the agricultural press 

 we believe to be just, and as the writer is a con- 

 stant reader of the Farmer we take a portion of the 

 praise to ourselves. After all, it is such as himself 

 that gives any agricultural paper a very consider- 

 able portion of its value. We think it not too 

 much to say, that our correspondents as a whole 

 have never been excelled by those of any similar 

 paper in the country. Several of them of high at- 

 tainments in the Sciences and Arts, are yet with 

 others eminently practical and safe advisers. 



POMOLOGICAL. 



Three specimens of apples have been received 

 from Mr. John Page, of Pittsfield, N. H. It is al- 

 ways extremely difficult to decide with satisfaction 

 even to ourselves, upon some of the fruits which 

 are sent us for examination ; and before giving our 

 own opinion we often submit them to the examin- 

 ation of those who are really as competent to de- 

 cide upon them as any persons among us. They, 

 however, almost always disagree among them- 

 selves ; of course we speak of fruits which are sup- 

 posed to be uncommon. "Who shall decide, then, 

 when doctors disagree'?" Neither of the speci- 

 mens are common in this vicinity, nor are they of 

 such size or flavor as would recommend them 

 strongly in the market. The Baldwin, the old 

 English, or Hunt russet, or the Ladies Sweeting 

 are far better than either of them. As the russet 

 and the light green apples — one being slightly acid 

 and the other sweet — are good bearers, they may 

 be profitably raised for cows or swine, and Ave would 

 therefore not recommend changing the trees for 

 any other kind. 



The Ohio Farmer. — A new weekly paper bear- 

 ing this name has been established at Cleveland, 

 Ohio, by F. R. Elliot, as Agricultural Editor, and 

 L. S.Everett, editor of the Mechanical and Litera- 

 ry department. Its whole appearance betokens 

 that its conductors have been in the newspaporial 

 kingdom before. Its agricultural editorials and 

 selections are excellent, smacking strongly of the 

 farm. We extend the editorial G3T to our new 

 neighbor, and call upon all Ohioans and the "rest 

 of mankind" too, who need more light, to "walk 

 up to the captain's office and" subscribe. 



E^" No one learns to think by getting rules for 

 thinking, but by getting materials for thought. 



