202 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



seems not to be fully appreciated yet — that an ap- 

 ple tree needs cultivation just as much as a hill of 

 corn and will not flourish well without it. 



The Garden. — We feel hound constantly to urge 

 upon the attention of our readers the importance 

 of a good garden. Its influence is good every way. 

 It spreads the table with palatable and nutrient 

 food, and fills the dessert dishes with luxuries, and 

 thus saves the cash which must otherwise be paid 

 for beef, ham, veal and lamb; beside promoting 

 health and spirits more than the meat would. 

 Then a good garden is a civilizer. Whoever medi- 

 tated crime in the midst of luxuriant vegetables 

 and fragrant flowers 1 Its moral tendency is ap- 

 parent — and so is that of the orchard. Read 

 Hawthorne'sreflectionsin the orchard, as described 

 in "Mosses from an Old Manse." They beautify 

 the home wonderfully and kindle emotions which 

 never die out of the heart. 



But we had almost forgotten the individual 

 plants, and must hasten to say a word or two of 



Asparagus. — This is a delicious and easily culti- 

 vated vegetable, and Mr. Cutter, of Pelham, has 

 recently given you the best mode of growing it. 

 What the old bed requires now is to cut off the 

 last years stalks just below the ground and burn 

 them ; loosen the earth about the roots and clean 

 up the whole bed. As the sweetness and tender- 

 ness of this plant depends upon its rapidity of 

 growth the soil should be made very rich. 



Beans — Should be planted as soon as you feel 

 secure from frost. They are ornamental planted 

 in hills two or more feet across with birch sticks 

 stuck about the edge and tied together at the top. 



Then there are peas, and beets of two or three 

 kinds, parsnips, carrots, lettuce, radishes, cucum- 

 bers, rhubarb, pepper-grass, spinage, salsify, pars- 

 ly, tomato, turnips, celery, early corn, melons, 

 onions, early potatoes, summer squash, and cab- 

 bages, all affording the proper summer nutriment 

 and requiring a similar soil for their production. 

 Sow and cultivate well a few of each, and you will 

 find your account in it. 



Small Fruits. — Set red and white raspberries, 

 thimblebcrries, black and white, also currants and 

 gooseberries ; they are cheap and wholesome food 

 and as easily raised as potatoes. Any home will 

 have charms for children where these are plenti- 

 fully growing. 



Ornamental. — Do not allow the lusty teams and 

 and the broad acres, the grass, the grain and the 

 trees, to occupy all your time, but give a thought 

 and an eye occasionally to the beautiful. Spread 

 out a sunny space for the daughters, where the 

 boys will cheerfully assist them with the spade. 

 What a charming spot ! Here, are the mixed bal- 

 sams and carnations ; the mignionctte, mournino- 

 bride and columbine ; there, love lies bleeding and 

 in the corner, love in a mist, the candytuft and 

 cantohury bell. Why, you resume your youth 



here — Time almost ceases to make his mark. Old 

 scenes come thronging to the soul, such as when 

 you sat on the rustic seat in the garden, and dis- 

 sected flowers with her who is now the mother of 

 these beautiful and happy daughters. Such are 

 the influences of the flower garden. ■ We need not 

 go to the books for poetry, it is in nature every 

 where, but especially in such a group as this, 



'There's beauty all around our paths, if but our watchful eyes, 

 Can trace it midst familiar things, and thro' their lowly guise.' 



We insist upon it, that there is time with all to 

 be given to the ornamental ; it will make you rich- 

 er, better, happier, more cheerful, and to die easi- 

 er, and will have the same influences upon your 

 family, by creating something of the beautiful, 

 around you; and we aver that this is a portion of the 

 proper and fitting farm work for the merry month 

 of May. 



BOOKS. 



The Hive. — This is a beautiful little volume con- 

 taining all the plain, general directions for the 

 management of bees, with an account of their 

 diseases, the remedies, &c, with numerous illus- 

 trations. 



Horses, their varieties, breeding, and manage- 

 ment in health and disease, and enriched with 

 illustrations. 



Domestic Fowl, and ornamental poultry — full 

 of biddies, birds and their dwellings, with differ- 

 ent modes of feeding, &c. 



The IIoG,its origin and varieties, and treatment 

 under disease. 



These four books are prepared by II. D. Rich- 

 ardson, Esq., and are written in a plain, concise 

 style, rejecting speculations and theories almost 

 entirely. They are printed and covered elegantly, 

 and sold for 25 cents each. Here, then, for one 

 dollar, you get about all the knowledge that can 

 be derived from the books, of the hog, the horse, 

 the honey bee and domestic poultry. They are 

 published at New York by the farmer's publisher, 

 0. M. Saxton, and sold in this city by Messrs. 

 Tappan <%• Whittemore. 



§ST We have one or two suggestions to make in 

 relation to these books. The first, and really an 

 important improvement in them, would be to add 

 to each an analytical index. If a book is worth 

 printing, it is worth having an index — a table of 

 contents is not sufficient. The second suggestion 

 is, to print the title on the back of the book. 

 This may run lengthwise, and add nothing to the 

 cost, and will not only be convenient, but orna- 

 mental. 



|gT The Scientific American, in our judgment, 

 is among the most useful publications in the coun- 

 try. Its articles are of a most practical character, 

 and written with conciseness and force. There is 

 a "wouldn't flatter Neptune for his trident" air 

 about it which we admire. We read it constantly, 

 with profit and pleasure. 



