1856. 



NEW ENGLAND FAEMER. 



269 



THE GARDEN. 



Every farmer, every mechanic, in short, every in- 

 dividual of whatever standing or profession, should 

 have a gai'den. There are few who are so circum- 

 stanced as not to be able to procure land for this 

 purpose. If a farmer, owning your hundred or two 

 hundred acres of land, you can of course devote as 

 much of your premises to the cultivation of vege- 

 tables, fruits and flowers, as your preferences may 

 suggest, or you can have your front garden, your 

 flower garden, and your garden for the cultivation 

 of the more substantial productions ; and you can 

 have each so arranged and managed as to subserve 

 the purposes of both ornament and use. There is 

 nothing derogatory in this business, even to the 

 loftiest intellect. Let those who ca^^l at this asser- 

 tion, and look upon gardening as a plebeian voca- 

 tion, look at Domitian pointing exultingly to the 

 cabbage he had cultivated, — at the immortal Cin- 

 cinnatus, called from the peaceful cultivation of his 

 three juger-a of soil, to command the armies of im- 

 perial Rome ; at Washington and Jefferson, Cal- 

 houn, Webster, Clay and Van Buren, as well as 

 many other illustrious warriors, philosojjhers and 

 statesmen, both of the past and present day. 



The mechanic who is tied down to his seat or 

 bench during the long and wearisome day, and 

 whose sedentary avocation renders a certain degree 

 of active exercise essential to health, will find the 

 garden an excellent theatre for the relaxation both 

 of mind and nerves. Here pleasure and the pur- 

 suit of health may be combined with profit, and the 

 increase of blessings rendered equal, or nearly so, 

 to that of his "working hours." 



To every sedentary person, whether mechanic or 

 lawyer, minister or "man of pleasure," we would 

 say, unhesitatingly, plant a garden. Have some 

 vegetable growing upon which you can bestow your 

 hours of unoccupied time, your periods of leisure 

 and lassitude, and thus escape that terrible ennui 

 wliich is ever the cause of the idle and unoccupied. 

 No man can be happy or healthy without some em- 

 ployment — something to stir his blood and send it 

 in healthful currents through his veins. The more 

 open and regular this exercise, the more healthy 

 and happy he will be. 



"Ye fostering breezes, blow ! 



Te softening dews, ye tender showers, descend ! 

 And temper all, thou world-reviving sun. 

 Into the perfect year ! Nor ye who live 

 In luxury and ease, in pomp and pride, 

 Think these last theme i unworthy of your ear; 

 Such themes as these the rural Maro sung 

 To wide-imperial Rome, in the full height 

 Of elegance and taste by Greece refined. 

 In ancient times the sacred plow employed 

 The kings and awful fathers of mankind." 



Randall & Jones' Hand Corn Planter. — The 

 reader will find an advertisement concerning this 

 implement in another column. We first heard of 

 it, standing in the midst of the most beautiful 

 field of corn that we saw, in the autumn of 1854. 



It was on the farm of Solon Carter, Esq., of 

 Leominster, who said the field was planted Avitli 

 this machine, and that he considered corn dropt 

 close, better than to have the kernels spread apart. 

 The doctrine sounded strange to us, but on inquirv 

 we found many people agreeing with Mr. Carter. 

 Last year we dropt our corn close, and shall con- 

 tinue to do so, liking the plan better than the old 

 practice. 



We find the following letter from Mr. Carter, 

 among other testimonials of the implement. 



Leominster, Jan. 24, 1856. 

 I used one of Randall & Jones' Corn Planting 

 Machines, for dropping the corn on two acres of 

 land, newly broken up, covering it with the hoe. I 

 think it would have covered it sufficiently without 

 the hoe, as I used it to plant half an acre, on which 

 the hoe was not used. This came up well, and 

 more even as to number of stalks in the hill, than 

 common hand dropping. The general objection 

 made to the machine, that it leaves the corn too 

 close together, is not, in my opinion, an objection-, 

 but an advantage, as the rows can be cultivated 

 nearer together than otherwise ; it is also less 

 work to hoe with the corn planted close than with 

 it spread, especially where the land is weedy. 



Solon Carter. 



For the New England Farmer. 



DOUBTS AND DIFFICULTIES. 



Mr. Editor : — I have read with much interest the 

 report of your Legislative Agricultural Meetings, as 

 published in the Farmer,hut as yet with more amuse- 

 ment than edification. Why is it there is such a 

 diversity of opinion entertained by those of equally 

 high agricultural attainments on almost every sub- 

 ject under discussion ? Their opinions, whether cor- 

 rect or otherwise, are widespread, and thousands 

 here in N. H. read the weekly reports of their do- 

 ings in quest of information. But who can know 

 the truth when doctors disagree ? One says that 

 peat or meadow muck is the only substance to be 

 depended on to renovate our farms and bring them, 

 back to their primitive productiveness. Another 

 says it is valueless, oj: not worth the trouble of draw- 

 ing — compost, stable-manure, lime, plaster of paris, 

 guano, &c., &c., all have their advocates and oppo- 

 nents relative to their comparative value. 



Now, Sir, in charity, 1 believe all are right, or 

 nearly so, and the whole difference arises from the 

 diversity of soil they cultivate or the different meth- 

 ods of applying the manure. Unlike the broad prai- 

 ries of the West, our N. E. farms, and even fields 

 of the same farm, differ materially in soil, and re- 

 quire different cultivation. We are told by some, 

 that we should bury manure as deep as possible 

 with the plow, and by others that we should spread 

 it on the surface, to produce the best results. Now 

 we know that both cannot be right, relative to the 

 same piece of land, and yet they may be as to dif- 

 ferent soils. The different kinds of soil even in N. 

 E. are not so numerous that there may not be some 

 established method for the cultivation of each, or at 

 least some undeniable facts as starting points from 

 which we may improve, and without which we seem 

 to be groping in the dark, or sailing without chart 

 or compass. 



