290 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



lay up something handsome to begin business with. 

 There are some men who yet stick to the old meth- 

 od of managing a farm (but their number is year- 

 ly decreasing) who, instead of plowing their land 

 in a proper manner with a good plow, will murder 

 it witli an instrument that in former days would 

 have been called a plow, and apply their manure 

 in a manner corresponding with the plowing. 



Seeding, and cultivating is done in the same man- 

 ner, and at harvesting they complain that their 

 crops are poor, and they cannot make anything at 

 farming ! They cannot do anything more than 

 make the two ends of the year meet. My reply to 

 such men is, if they will let me take a farm, stock 

 and tools, and if I cannot do something more than 

 make a living, taking one year with another, I will 

 not lay it to the farm as being in the fault, but at- 

 tribute it to some other cause. 



Another person, who is in possession of a good 

 farm, well stocked, with a supply of tools to man 

 age the same, will say, only give me a capital, or 

 money enough, and I can manage my farm to suit 

 me. My opinion upon this is, that if such men 

 would only manage their affairs according to their 

 circumstances, and adopt the old maxim of cutting 

 the garment according to the cloth, they might 

 make a good living, improve their farm, and realize 

 a handsome profit in the end. I have been of the 

 opinion for many years that no man has yet ar- 

 rived at anything like perfection in this business ; 

 and after so many years of experience as I have 

 had, I consider myself as scarcely out of my ap- 

 prenticeship at it, and consider it as differing 

 greatly from the employment of the mechanic. If 

 the blacksmith does not get his iron in the right 

 shape to fit the place, he can heat it and shape it 

 till it will fit ; so it is with the joiner, if he has not 

 got a good joint the first time trying, with his saw, 

 plane, or chisel, he can alter it until he makes a 

 good joint. Now it is not so with the farmer; if 

 he has not his manure in the right condition, or 

 does not apply it to the right kind of soil, or has 

 not put his seed in at the right time, or put in the 

 right quantity, he cannot alter it, but must abide 

 the issue. As I have spoken mostly upon the sub- 

 ject of my own occupation, I would not wish to be 

 understood to be of the opinion that there are no 

 other branches of business of importance to man- 

 kind, for all occupations that are honest are ne- 

 cessary, and we are but fellow-laborers and co-help- 

 ers to each other. 



I subscribe myself yours with respect, 



Bedford, N. H., 1852. e. n. 



ing no breath to blow the bellows of aspiring poli- 

 ticians, have substituted the scissors for the pen. 

 If those editors who are hurling their big words of 

 defiance and reproach at each other, would just 

 take the 'shovel and the hoe,' and go out into 

 the golden sunlight and the pure air of heaven, 

 we think they would forget their angry feelings, 

 and possibly acknowledge that their opponents 

 were no greater rogues than themselves. Envy 

 and malice can never exist in the presence of burst- 

 ing buds and springing grass, and no man can sow 

 his seed in anger, because the implied trust in the 

 bounty and care of Providence of the act itself pre- 

 cludes any such wicked emotion. With the songs 

 of the birds, cheerfulness, and may be the dim-re- 

 membered hopes and aspirations of our now dis- 

 tant childhood, come thronging back on our hack- 

 neyed hearts; and, if the freshness and luxury of 

 these new feelings, thus aroused, moisten the eye, 

 we need not be ashamed. Go out, then, ye swel- 

 tering denizens of grim and cobwebbed offices, in- 

 to God's glorious sunlight, that your sluggish 

 blood may be quickened in its flow, and your 

 hearts refreshed by a communion with nature ; if 

 you blister up your hands and get a kick in your 

 back by a few hours of manual labor, so much 

 the better for you. We have set the example, and 

 can speak advisedly." 



For the Neiv England Farmer. 

 PLANTING TREES. 



Mr. Brown : — Dear Sir, — In Col. Wilder's very 

 valuable remarks at one of the agricultural meet- 

 ings this winter, respecting the'cultivation of the 

 dwarf pear, he instances three "indispensable con- 

 ditions of success." And one of these conditions 

 is, that the tree shall be planted deep enough to 

 bury the quince stock entirely below the surface of 

 the ground. 



Now one of the prime rules of arboriculture is, 

 that a tree is not to be set too deep. Better far 

 too shallow, than too deep. Whoever has had any 

 experience, or exercised any observation, knows 

 well, that more young trees are killed from too 

 deep setting than anything else. Well, our pear 

 trees come to us from the nurseries, worked, very 

 often, six and eight inches up from the root, on 

 the quince stock. Then are we to sink the root all 

 that distance into the ground 1 I shrink from do- 

 ing so — others are equally perplexed. And we sum- 

 mon you or Col. Wilder to solve the problem. 



Yours truly, n. f. h. 



Lawrence, May 13, 1852. 



AN EDITOR IN THE GARDEN! 



The Hoe and the Pex ! Glorious implements ! 

 they move mind and matter, and embellish both. 

 No wonder our brother in Wisconsin was inspired ! 

 He had escaped to the garden ; Heaven's sunlight 

 and breezes were upon his brow ; he stood in the 

 midst of springing plants, of opening, fragrant 

 flowers and cheerful songs. A cask of Byron's 

 gin could nut have kindled such a flame as he felt 

 glowing in bis heart. Hear what he says, kind 

 reader ; it will touch your heart, and perhaps 

 urge you to the garden to catch a fit of inspiration 

 like his : — 



"We have been gardening this week, ami, hav- 



Remarks. — We have no doubt that Col. Wild- 

 er will reply with as much satisfaction to " H. F. 

 II.," as with pleasure to himself. 



Extracts. — "I see in your paper the history of 

 some remarkable cows. I have one which is 12 

 years old next August; she has had 17 calves, and 

 raised all but one, and she is a No. 1 milker. 



VermilUbn, III." 



A correspondent in Haverhill, N. II, states that 

 the "Messrs. Chandler, of that town, have a bull 

 calf of the Ayrshire, Durham and Devon breeds, 

 that weighed at three hours old 130 lbs." 



Mr. George Carpenter, of Orange, has a lamb 



