380 



NEW ENGLA^TD FARMER. 



Aug. 



changed -within the memory of some now living, 

 that of many households, to whom a few years 

 since the description of Solomon would apply, — 

 "Who seeketh wool and flax, and worketh diligent- 

 ly with their hands," it may now with truth be said 

 — "they toil not, neither do they spin." The valu- 

 able selection of agricultural Addresses, which oc- 

 cupy the 130 last pages of the volume, as they dis- 

 cuss "Chemistry and Farming," "The condition of 

 Agriculture," "Farming in New England," "The 

 Farmer's Wants," "The Farmer's Errors," "The 

 Future of Agriculture," "Practical Suggestions on 

 Farming," "Relations of the East and West," 

 "The Farmer," "Chemistry of Agriculture," and 

 "Agricultural Societies," may have set us thinking 

 of Economy. 



What great thoughts these addresses suggest ! 

 What noble fields they open to our view ! How 

 much there is yet to learn, how much yet to do ! 

 Would that we could whisper in the ear of every 

 young farmer in New England, be economical ; 

 save your money, save your strength, save your 

 time ! Save them for your farm — save them for 

 your mind — save them for New England. Let 

 others wear fine coats ; let others enjoy the 



"Midnight dances and the public show," 



let others build large and costly houses for the ad- 

 miration of passers-by, and fill them with expensive 

 furniture because their neighbors do ; let others 

 find themselves obliged to go West, to hide them- 

 selves from the results of their extravagant notions. 

 They will be sorry for it. We fully believe that it 

 is want of economy — a vague hope of getting into 

 some place where their own circumstances and the 

 example of their neighbors shall compel them to 

 be less extravagant — that is driving thousands from 

 New England, and from comforts and conveniences 

 which they find they must have here, but which 

 they, strangely enough, think they can do without, 

 just as well as not, when they but once get to the 

 West ! It is extravagance, and not as the Norfolk 

 committee say, the "superb instruments which have 

 now become objects of attraction, and almost ven- 

 eration, in the crystal palaces of the world," that is 

 driving our people from the "homes of their child- 

 hood." We might enumerate many of the evils 

 of extravagance, but we think it enough to charge 

 that vice with impairing our enjoyment of such pub- 

 lications as this Third Report on the Agriculture of 

 Massachusetts, by reminding us that many have not 

 the means of profiting by its suggestions. 



The great want of New England farmers, is cap- 

 ital — is the money to cultivate as well as they know 

 how, and as well as they can learn how, to do it. 

 And probably in no part of the world have an 

 equal number of farmers so much capital invested 

 in fine clothing, costly houses, expensive furniture, 

 nice carriages, and other luxiirie':, ihot add nothing 



to their resources, as farmers, but draw largely up- 

 on them for repairs. 



Perhaps the drift of this article may be best il- 

 lustrated and closed by an example, which occurs 

 to our mind. Among our acquaintances, are two 

 farmers of nearly equal wealth. Some five years 

 ago the wife of one of them fixed her heart upon 

 a sofa. Most of her friends had one, and her 

 snug little parlor, she said, looked vacant. By 

 saving a little here and there, eighteen dollars were 

 laid aside, and the coveted article was wheeled into 

 place. The other family, in like manner, set their 

 hearts on some nice fruit trees. Fifty trees cost no 

 more money than the sofa ; yet they cost too much 

 to be thrown away, and extra pains were taken to 

 make them grow. They are beginning to bear. 

 Two or three kinds of apples, as many of pears, 

 and a dish full of quinces, were gathered from these 

 thrifty trees last fall, and we have seen the blossoms 

 upon them again, this spring. 



Twenty dollars would buy the sofa to-day ; two 

 hundred might buy the trees, and twice that sum 

 might be refused. But remember! we wish to see 

 a good sofa in every farm house, but not at the ex- 

 pense of those things from which must spring the 

 farmer's chief support. 



For the JSete England Farmer. 



UNMERCIFUL BEATING OF ANIMALS. 



There is no scene in the ordinary walks of life 

 more revolting, or which more keenly stirs up our 

 indignation, than that of a creature calling himself 

 a rational man, in a fury of passion, unmercifully 

 beating, for some real or imagined fault, a dumb 

 animal, as he says, "to break him of it ;" but ])rob- 

 ably, in reality, mostly to gratify his infuriated an- 

 ger. One can hardly look upon a sight more 

 fiendish, or be engaged in an act really more dis- 

 graceful to himself. It is a singular fact that some 

 men never have an animal which is not, every 

 time he is exercised, guilty of some misdemeanor, 

 in their opinion, and which calls for harsh treat- 

 ment. This rash way of dealing with the brutes 

 may gratify a savage or peevish disposition, but it 

 is anything but economical as a remedial agent ; 

 as in nine cases out of ten it aggravates the fault 

 charged upon the animal, and originates others, for 

 which, of course, he must in due time be corrected. 

 He will be apt to partake largely of the fractious 

 nature of his keeper, or become shy and apprehen- 

 sive, whenever he approaches him, and avoid him 

 if he can. His obedience and general service will 

 be that which fear renders in a reluctant manner ; 

 and not that which he renders with cheerfulness. 

 It represents, too, the man engaged in it as pos- 

 sessed of anything but a noble and manly frame of 

 mind. He certainly cannot, in the heat of passion, 

 be in a state of mind to do justice to the animal, 

 and will be in great danger of injuring him, as his 

 better judgment will have but little to do with the 

 matter, or with him, at such a time. In fact, we 

 should not be able to discover at such a moment 

 that he was possessed of any such gift ; and from 

 !;n divelop' ~ • ■ h" r' - es of himsclT, ,v!.lle thus 



