322 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



drive it into the»blood, which is worse than to have 

 it on the surface. 



The above recipe I give from personal experi- 

 ence, as I have been cured by it repeatedly from 

 poison extending over my whole body. I have al 

 so known others to be cured by the same remedy 

 The Plantain grows plentifully about most houses 

 and barns. c. b. 



New Hampton, N. H., 1852. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 POTATOES AND MSN. 



Be it as they will have it, that man is but a mere 

 potato. It is a matter of no little importance to 

 know what men are made of. Yesterday it was 

 said of a thoughtless multitude, who do not read 

 the papers, "They are small potatoes." If so, 

 they have one sign of popularity, — there are many 

 of them. 



A potato lives but a short season. So it is with 

 man. Each has its spring-time^cach has its time 

 to be harvested ; each, uncultivated and wild, lives 

 without any important end. 



The hidden life of the potato is that which de- 

 fines its true value. The hidden life in man, a 

 well-stored mind, is something more than potato- 

 tops. 



What is that man made of, who toils in the field 

 yonder? What is he? He is made of the same 

 that a potato is made of, the elements of the earth. 

 He was taken out of the ground, and a good part 

 of his walking body was last year growing in the 

 potato field. As the woodman who felled the for- 

 est was preparing to build houses for men's bodies 

 to live in, so the man of the hoe, as he digs open 

 the potato-hills, prepares to build up the house in 

 which the inner man holds his courtly abode. — 

 "What can the world do without potatoes? Almost 

 as well might we now ask, what would the world 

 be without inhabitants? 



Potatoes cannot live without food. They must 

 have something to eat, and the kind of food which 

 suits their nature, just like human beings, or they 

 cannot be healthy, — they cannot grow. It is not 

 enough to know that human beings require food. 

 The cook should know what food is suited to the 

 health and life of man. If man is compelled to 

 feed upon matter which is unsuited to his constitu- 

 tion and nature, the consequence is, he dies. There 

 could be no poison, were it not that certain pro- 

 perties cannot live together. So poison kills ; and 

 yet, what is deadly poison to one animal body is 

 nutritious food to another, or, at least, it is harm- 

 less. 



It is no more necessary that the farmer's wife 

 should know how to feed her children, and the far- 

 mer how to feed his cattle, than it is that he who 

 puts a potato to work to raise other potatoes should 

 know how to feed that growing potato. 



A farmer feeds salt to his cattle ; but will he 

 therefore feed his hens with salt? He has perhaps 

 learned how to feed a hill of corn; does he there- 

 fore know how to feed a hill of potatoes, or a hill 

 of beans? "All flesh is not the same flesh," and 

 all vegetables have not the same properties. It 

 may be admitted that all men are potatoes, and 

 that some fields have produced quite a large sup- 

 ply of "small potatoes," which scarcely have eyes 

 enough so that they can see to read ; and worse 

 than that, some of their heads are those so like 



the heads of a potato, that there can be no ques- 

 tion about it, they are "tops." 



Every ton of grown potatoes necessarily takes 

 from the soil several pounds of potash, and no 

 small quantity of the properties of common salt. 

 It takes up also the properties of Epsom salts, 

 plaster of Paris and animal bones, in less quanti- 

 ties. It takes up the elements of water, and of de- 

 cayed vegetable matter to some extent. From this 

 we may see at a glance what must be given as food 

 to the growing potato. The dry matter of the tops 

 is nearly one-half lime, but there is a much smaller 

 proportion of lime in the tubers. 



Men breathe, and potatoes may be said to 

 breathe also, for they take much substance from 

 the air. They cannot grow with the tops cut off, 

 much more than a man can live with his head cut 

 off, because they must take a part of their growth 

 from the air, as man by breathing lives. So much 

 for potatoes. c. 



Mason, N. H., March, 1852. 



WOOL. 



This great staple is one of much importance to 

 many of our readers, who will read with interest 

 the following remarks from the Conmurcial Jour- 

 nal of Pittsburg, written by a correspondent who 

 thoroughly understands the wool trade : — 



Very little, as yet, has been done in this impor- 

 tant staple of our country. Cold weather, and an 

 exceedingly late spring, have kept the growers from 

 clipping their sheep, consequently very little will 

 be done till June. This time last year, eastern 

 manufacturers had their agents in the country, 

 speculators and dealers were in the market, and a 

 general anxiety to purchase. This year, matters 

 present entirely a different aspect ; no orders have 

 been sent out, and very few, if any, agencies have 

 been made. Our city dealers talk of the extremes 

 of 20 to 33 cents for common to full blood, and 

 35 cents for strictly prime, wdiich is a decline of 

 fully 10 cents per pound, from the opening prices 

 of last year. 



It is generally conceded the clip will be heavier 

 than usual. Very few sheep were killed the past 

 winter for the pelts and tallow, and as a natural 

 result, as we have been informed by those experi- 

 enced in matters, an increase in the weight of the 

 fleeces, from the severity of the winter. One 

 thing is very certain, woollen goods are unusually 

 low ; and in the face of an easy money market in 

 the east, still declining. The manufacturer says 

 lie must get wool lower than last year or stop. 

 They cannot expect any protection from our gov- 

 ernment, and their only hopes are to get their 

 wool at such prices that they can compete with 

 foreign cheap capital and cheap labor. Our west- 

 ern farmers and wool growers now can begin to 

 see who have to hold the bag. We trust and 

 hope better things. We like to see our products 

 bringing good remunerating prices. When the 

 farmers flourish, we all flourish; when they are 

 doing well, every department of trade feels the 

 beneficial effects. 



(32T We are glad to hear that Henry F. Pbjench, 

 Esq., of Exeter, has consented to give the address 

 before the members of the Hillsborough Agricultu- 

 ral Society, at their next annual Fair, next au- 

 tumn.— Granite Farmer. 



