414 



NEW ENGLAND FARxMER, 



.TTTIVE 30, 1841. 



• A.NP HORTICULTURAL RKGI3TER. 



Boston, Wednesday, June SO, 1841. 



DRINKING IN HOT WEATHER. 



Mb Editor — In your number fur June 23ci, is nn ex 

 cclU'nt article on Hiiymakinf. I rejoice to see so many 

 of tlicKe plair), practtcnj ntticles in your pnper ; and 

 hope iher will lie reBde»tcn»ively, and be*s exlensiie- 

 Jy useful. 



There are one or Iwo ihnuglits, ln.wever, in tlie con- 

 eluding pnragr.iphs of the nilicle to wliich I allude, which 

 do not seem to me so much in arrordance with general 

 eiperience as I wish they were. V ou say — and I know 

 others have also said it — " None but the intemperate 

 are injured by -drinlcing cold water." 



Now, unless you mean that the exce»sivo drinking of 

 cold water is ilpelf intenipm'ance, I am cctnfident this 

 stntement c:innot bo ti ue. That internpi>rale men are 

 injured most readily by cold water, I h.ive no doubt : — 

 but that any man, who is at ones ot-er-heated and orer- 

 faligued, may lie injured by drinking cold water in large 

 quantities, is at least equally certain. Indeed, it is cer- 

 tain that he who is either over-heated or over-fatigue. f, 

 may be injured in this way. Cases of injury from the 

 forme'r cause are of almost every day occurrence. 



I know what is the main thing intended by the wri- 

 ter of tbo articlf^ in question, in the remarks to which I 

 have here alluded j and I rejoice at ihe effort. To put 

 down the use of bad or even doubtful drinks, and put up 

 cold water, is noble — and may God spned him who does 

 it, or assists in doing it. Nevertheless, we must avoid 

 doing evil, if W8 can, in our efForls to do good. And 

 insti>ad of saying, " There ii no danjrer from frequent 

 drini'.ing in the haileat we.Ttlur; — take cold waier as of- 

 ten and as frei ly as you please — there is no danger 

 from it, if yotJ have not been loo long without drink," 

 Sic; instead of this advic», I wi«h with all my heart 

 you had said something; like the following — that is, had 

 you believed it :^— " There is nn special danger from fre- 

 quent drinkiiip, in the hottest weather, provided you 

 use the f(dlowiiig cautions : — I. To drink very slowly. 

 2. To drink boi little at a lime. 3. To have your 

 drink, though cool, not «xcei^ively cold. 4. To use 

 but little drink with or near your mealx. 5. To drink 

 but little, very little, when over fatigued and over-heat- 

 ed. 



» With theB« restrictions, yoa might have said, ns you 

 have — " Cold water is the best of all drinks for slakinjr 

 thirst; there is no danger from it (with the rejtriclions 

 above,) if you have not be»n loo long without drink," 

 &c. 



You 8:iy, " The haymaker must have a full supply of 

 drink; perspiration will bo free, and he must have 

 something to support it " Tet I can point you to a la- 

 borer now over 80, and healthy anil strong, who has 

 diank almost nothing at all between his meals all his 

 life long, though lie h.na perspired very freely, and no 

 man has enjoyud his life morn. Yet, observe, his tneals 

 are better (Inn those of the average of men. 1 can toll 

 you of another individual, whose employmenis are part- 

 ly agriculluial, and whoie labors Br» very severe — cal- 

 culnteil to elicit thirst, in the common way of thinking 

 — who can labor through the summer and drink nothing 

 at all, and who, for nearly ten months, beginning with 

 August fi, 18)0, did so And not only »o, but he suffer- 

 ed less from thirst during the lime, than ho ever did be- 

 fore in any of the months of his life. But then ke lived 

 ji^ht otheririse. 



These facts are not mentioned, Mr Editor, to induce 

 your readers to go without drinking at all, for I cannot 

 advi^.ea person in the world to do tiiat — at least as long 

 as he retains his present habits in other respects. My 

 object was simply to show that we need far less drink 

 than is usually supposed, if we only exercise, eat, sleep 

 and think as we ought. 



But I am extending these remarks loo f.ti (lerhaps. 

 Excuse the freedom — well meant, I am sure — which I 

 liare taken. I was brought up a farmer — and, thank 

 God, an intelligent one for the time— and I still love 

 fanning and the farming interests, and the welfare and 

 happiness of the farmer. Would that I had the means 

 of bi'iiig a New England farmer now, ou a small, but 

 truly rational sca'e and system. 



Yours, &c. VVM, A. ALCOTT. 



Dedham, June 2'>, 1841. 



Ij" We thank Dr. Alcott f ir his strictures upon the 

 remarks we made last week. His longcontinued atten- 

 tion to matters pertaining to health, entitles his opinions 

 to much weight. We most cheerfully make them pub- 

 lic. But at the saino time we are far from receding an 

 inch from the ground we took last week. Will the 

 over-heat and overfatigue occur, if cold water is taken 

 with .sufficient frequency ? It is possible that the over- 

 fatigue may ; but if it should, we question whether cold 

 water, to any extent which the appetite craved, would 

 be instantly and excessively injurious ; (for the injury 

 dreaded in these cases is the violent pain which often 

 proves fatal in a short time.) Our belief is, that if cold 

 watorls taken so frequently as to prevent the over-heal, 

 there is no danger from its freest use. We refer, of 

 course, to danger of severe attacks of pain. Whether it 

 would not be permanently better for our laboring people 

 generally to use less drink, is a question to which we 

 had no reference. 



ing, may amount to an important item in Ihe course of a 

 year. 



J. E. TESCHEMA(UiERS ADDRESS, 



Delivered at the Annual Meeting of tho lioston Natu- 

 ral History Society, May 5. — This is a rich and chasto 

 production ; indicating an uncommon acquaintance with 

 the numerous departments of Natural History and sci- 

 ence. 



WORK ON THE HIGHWAYS. 

 We never knew a good farmer and a worthy man, 

 who would not cheerfully do a good day's work on the 

 road when squaring off his tax account. A man's char- 

 acter is seen in the dispositions with which he pays the 

 public. If he is not faithful in working out his high- 

 way taxes, lie deserves neither csnfidence nor respect. 

 His own ways need mending. 



MILKING. 



The opinion is doubtless well founded thfit the quan- 

 tity of milk given by a cow is determined in part by the 

 mode of milking. Some persons will obtain a larger 

 quantity than othars. The rule is, that the more gently 

 and quickly one does the work, the greater will be the 

 quantity obtained. And from this rule we are authori- 

 zed to make the inference that generally, women can 

 perform this labor better than men. There is scarcely 

 room for doubt thai a dozen cows would give more 

 milk in the course of the season if milked by women 

 than if milked by men. But whether ihe greater econo- 

 my of appropriating female labor to this business, will 

 be nufficienl to stay that current of fashion which calls 

 upon the firmer's wife and daughters to cut all acquaint- 

 ance with the cowB and other animals, is exceedingly 

 doubtful. We wish that it might. 



Some evidence of the effects of different milking was 

 obtained a year or two since on the farm of one of my 

 neighbors. As Jonathan was rather old and stiff, he 

 was set ti» do the milking. This continued for weeks ; 

 but the quantity of milk obtained being less than the 

 owner thought his cows ought to yield, he was induced 

 to seek for the cause ; and upon setting the other young- 

 er men to do the milking, he very soon obtained a quart 

 per day more from each cow than before. I am not 

 aware that there \»as any accurate measurement in this 

 instance; and 1 intend only to say that the difference 

 in the quantity of milk obtained was such that the milk- 

 ing was taken out of tlic stiff fingeri of Jonathan and 

 assigned Iri soma that were more nimble. 



This ."ubjoct seems lo relalo to a trifling matter; but 

 it being one of those labors which come round twice in 

 a day, the trifle added to the tnSe each night and inorn- 



Masaacliuaotta Horticultural Society. 



EXHIBITION or rLOWERS. 



Saturday, June 26. .. 



From the President of the Society — a splendid dis- 

 play of beautiful Roses. 



From John A. Kenrick — 75 varieties of Roses, 4 va- 

 l rieties of Peeonies and several bouquers. 



Fi om Messrs Winship — a great display of Roses, Peo- 

 nies and other flowers, and a fine specimen of Dentzis 

 Bcabra. 



From A. Bowditch — fine Ruses and other flowers. 



From O. Johnson — a fine specimen of Antirrhinum ! 

 specroBum, 



Iroin S. Walker — an elegant lot of Pinks, including 

 some line seedlings. 



From S. R. Johnson — a great variety of hardy Roses, 

 and a rich display of Chinese rosri. 



From W. Meller — a good show of Pinks, Geraniums 

 and Roses. 



From W. E. Carter — bouquets and other flowers. 



From John Hovcy — bouquets and roses. 



From VV. Kenrick — loses aud bouquets. 



From J. L. L, F. Warren— bouquets of roses, dahlias, 

 &c. 



Fiom Hovey & Co., a few fine roses and bouquets. 



From B. E. Cotling — native plants. 



The exhibition ofRoses and Pinks for premium took 

 place today, and Ihe following is the report of tlie judges : 



Roses. 

 The committee appointed to award the Society'.i pre- 

 miums on the best specimens and display of Roses, as- 

 sign the prizes for the best dissimil.ir blooms, viz: 

 Tlie first prize to John A. Kenrick ; 

 The second jirlze to Messrs Winship; 

 The third prize to S R. Johnson. 

 For the best display of Chinese and other tender roses, 

 to S. R. Johnson. 



The committee would make mention Ihat the Presi- 

 dent of the Society exhibited many' fine specimens of 

 roses. S. Wat.ker, 



Boston, June 26ih, ie41. P. B. Huvkt, Jr. 



Pi .IKS. 

 The committee for awarding the premiums for Pinks, 

 report that they award the firize for 



The best display of flowers to W. Meller; 

 The best six dissimilar flowers to S. Walker ; 

 The best seedling to S. Walker. 

 Mr Walker's pinks were mostly seedlings, and gave 

 him much credit fiir his successful cultivation. 



C. M. lloTET, 



June 26, 1641. W. McLeknab. 



IXIIIBITIOH or rtlDITS. 



Saturday June 26, 1841. 



By Messrs Hovey <fe Co. — Hovey 's Seedling Slraw- 

 berrir-s — (very splendid.) 



By John C. Gray, Esq. — Strawberries — Pine Apple 

 and Royal Scarlet. 



By J. L. L F. Warren — Warren's Seedling, Haul- 

 bnis, Molhven Scarlet and Early Virginia Strawberries. 



