122 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



March 



Let this practice be imitated in our country, and to^vn contained but two dwelling-houses, situated 

 the weary wanderer will be blest, and will bless the upon opposite sides of the creek, and each sufR- 

 hand that ministered to his comfort and joy, We'ciently large to accommodate over six hundred 



are bound to leave the world as good, or better 

 than we found it, and he is a selfish churl, who 

 basks under the shadow, and eats the fruit of trees 

 which other hands have planted, if he will not also 

 plant trees which shall yield fruit to coming gener- 

 ations. — Home Circle. 



For tlie New England Farmer. 



VENTILATION— PEOPLE OF TAOS. 



Fkiend Brown : — Occasionally I receive your 

 Monthly Farmer. The January No. came yester 



people. They are built of adobes, or sun-dried 

 bricks; each covers an area of about two acres at 

 the foundation, and are five stories high, with but 

 one entrance through the external walls and but one 

 window, and both of these open into the Chief's or 

 Governor's room. After ascending to the height of 

 one story, there is an offset in the walls, and the 

 size of the house is lessened around its entire cir- 

 cumference to the depth of the external tier of 

 rooms, about fifteen feet, and this continues to be 

 the case at the top of each story, until the summit 

 is reached. The tops of these houses are fiat, and 



day; soon as time to light up for evening,'! took j the oftset m the walls at the top of the first story 

 the paper and "put her throigh by candle-light," j affords a fine terrace or walk, about fifteen feet 

 before going to rest. ^vide, extending entirely around the building which 



The reacUng of Judge French's "How to keep, would make it, say four hundred yards in length, 

 your House Warm," in memory, carried me back | and the residents of each story have a similar prom- 

 with a rush, to the "days of auld Lang Syne," andjenade or walk, though lessened m length as you as- 

 faithfully daguerreotyped to the mind's eye the cend nearer the top. The entrance of these hous- 

 old kitchen ffre, with its massive andirons, to bear'es is from the top, which is eff-ected by ladders 

 up the fore-stick of the size of a good mill-log, of; resting on the ground in the first instance; but at- 

 the heavy shovel and tongs, and stout wooden hand-|ter ascending to the top ot the first story, the lad- 

 spike that always, when not in use, occupied their ders intended for the accommodation of those re- 

 plce in the corner by the oven. Then there was siding m the second story are placed upon the roof 

 the huge rock maple back-log, four feet long, and of the one below. Each tamuy has its room or 

 in girth, the size of a forty gallon whiskey-barrel, 'rooms partitioned oft by wa Is, of sufRcient strength 

 that required the strength ofihe "hired hand" and and thickness to sustam the accumulated weight 

 all the boys of the family to drag in at night on the 1 above, and through these partition walls are doors 

 stout hand-sled. Then there was the high-backed of communication with each mom of the house, but 

 settle he has so grapliically described. How many ,<^ere is no other meaiis of ventilation except through. 

 long winter evenings, when a freckled-faced boy, 1, small trap-doors in the roof. Ihese strange buUd- 

 haN^e sat upon that dear old settle, in poring overjings form perfect^ labyrinths, and as the interior 

 Shakspear,Hume,Brissot and Smollet's— (I am not 'apartments are quite dark, it might be difhcutt tor 

 sure I've got the names right end foremost)-Histo- 1 a stranger to find his way out ; but notwithstandr 

 ry of England, Gibbon's Rome, the Spectator, andli«ff t^ ivant of veMation, the inmates appear to 

 other standard works. These things, "mind me M quite healthy and vigorous, and the_ number of 

 of departed joys ne'er to return." They, like high- , children swarming around was astonishing. 

 heeled shoes, and hoo-by jingo, I liked to have ! And now, Judge, can you tell us where these six 

 written "hooped petticoats"— but they have come I hundred human beings, burrowed m these hives 

 back again, but no matter, the high-heeled shoes .(like so many woodchucks in their winter quarters) 

 have had their day, and so have the old-fashioned | obtain their fifty-seven hogsheads of pure air each, 

 kitchen fire-places. Peace to their ashes ! 



The Judge has much to say on ventilation ; theo- 

 retically, we suppose, all very correct. He says "a 

 healthy man requires about Jijlij-seven hogsheads of 

 air in twenty-four hours ;" and for the man to re- 

 tain his health, we suppose he would have us un- 

 derstand, the fifty-seven hogsheads of air must be 

 pure. 



Now, Mr. Editor, I am not going to have any 

 controversy with jny good friend Henry, but I want 

 to tell him a bit of a story, and then ask him a 

 question or two. 



The story, I copy from Governor Merriwether's 

 last year's Report to the Commissioner of Indian 

 Affairs. Merriwether is Governor and Superinten- 

 dent of Indian Affairs in New Mexico, U. S. 



The Governor says in his report, "Having visi- 

 ted several pueblos, or villages, and believing that 

 these people differ in some respects from any other 

 Indians to be found on this continent, I beg to be 

 excused for giving a minute description of the pue- 

 blo of Taos, which I visited in the month of March 

 last. This pueblo is situated in the valley of Taos, 

 on a small stream which supplies water for irriga- 

 tion and other purposes, and the number of inhabi- 

 tants may be set down as something over twelve 

 hundred. 



every twenty-four hours, and how it is that in these 

 close, unveiitilated quarters, there are such aston- 

 ishing numbers of healthy, robust children! 



Yours truly, Levi Bartlett. 



TVarner, A". H., Jan. 22, 1856. 



Remarks.— The Monthly Farmer is regularly 

 sent to your address, and has been, for a long time, 

 Who appropriates it ? Please inquire. 



^ _ my 



On my arrival I found that this Indian sensible impression for several days. 



Fur the New England Farmer. 



THE WEATHER. 



That distinguished personage, the oldest inhabi- 

 tant, scarcely remembers the time when the earth 

 was covered with a body of snow so hard and im- 

 penetrable. And so it is all along the coast, from 

 Maine to Carolina. Not only snow, but cold of a 

 respectable character, say from ten to twenty de- 

 grees below zero. I remember the famous cold Fri- 

 day in the winter of 1810-11— when the mercury 

 was down only to seven degrees, and the wind from 

 the north quite piercing— it was thought almost un- 

 endurable. Going home from school on that day, 

 cheeks were so whitened with frost as to make a 



