farmers' miscellany. 77' 



forms a site for mills at every half mile, from its source to the 

 Inal. The lake is a body of water twelve miles long ; it is a 

 eat reservoir, not liable to fluctuations during the year, and it has 

 ,e advantage of a comparatively high temperature during the 

 'inter. In addition to the above, good quarries of limestone have 

 •en opened, which furnish excellent stone for building. The 



. ' <saries of life, too, must be comparatively cheap ; what may 

 . imed the common elegancies of life, are free to all. The 

 I'Untry itself, though not romantic, or marked by bold and striking 

 ;itures, is yet sufficiently diversified with hill and dale, cultivated 

 fids, with tasteful farm-houses and noble woodlands, to make it 

 ;1 that can be desired for a country residence. All the fruits of 

 ; temperate clime grow here, or may be grown, in perfection. 

 .3ple, pear, peach, plumb, are sure to thrive if they but receive 

 immon attention, as is proved by their abundance in all ordinary 

 iiasons. 



jIn my rambles about the country, I was quite fortunate in being 

 i|rown into the company of Mr. Ira Hopkins, a successful and 

 i|telligent farmer, who kindly showed me his farm and gardens, 

 ijd introduced me to his son in Mentz, who also holds the 

 jjough and sows his fields and conducts his farming on scientific 

 ]|inciples. He has been eminently successful in the cultivation 

 ( the teasel^ and in my next, I will give you an account of his 

 lode of raising and curing it for market. 



But to return to my new friend, Mr. Hopkins, senior. He first 

 icompanied me to his farm three miles north of Auburn. On 

 (r way, he called my attention to a large field of wheat, which 

 Id been very badly managed by the owner. There was certainly 

 ^ry striking evidence of a want of intelligence and practical 

 fill in its management, which I suspect is not uncommon in difFe- 

 mt degrees. The field in question, when taken in hand, was in 

 ij full strength, as appears from the fact that it bore a heavy crop 

 (| timothy when first ploughed. It was broken up last spring and 

 sjsved to oats ; but, contrary to advice, it was ploughed when wet, 

 j|d so wet, that the water followed the plough in the furrow ; the 

 tnsequence was a return to its original compact state ; or rather, 

 £>tate worse than compact — a hard, lumpy condition. The crop 

 c oats, as had been foretold, was less than one-half the ordinary 

 )M. After the oats were removed, it was again ploughed and 



