98 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Feb. 



the development of the soil, is always slavish. 

 Is there the grand design of agricultural schools, 

 to lead the tiller of the soil to take an intelligent 

 interest in all the wonderful processes of nature 

 which continually pass before his eyes, in order 

 that, v.-ith his powers of observation thus quick- 

 ened, all the better faculties of his mind aroused 

 and exercised, he may make every hour of labor 

 attractive, and add new grace, refinement and 

 happiness to his home? 



The nation must look for true wisdom and 

 strength to the education whicli controls and 

 shapes the home policy of the family circle. Let 

 us then define patriotism, true patriotism, to con- 

 sist in love of home. There can be no love of 

 home ; and on the contrary, show me a man who 

 loves to adorn his home with those peaceful and 

 refined charms which God designed it should 

 possess, and I can show you a good citizen, an 

 honest patriot, and a true man." — Gov. Wright's 

 Letter from Germany to Ohio Farmer. 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF KAIN. 



To understand the philosophy of this beautiful 

 and often sublime phenomenon, so often witnessed 

 since the creation of the world, and essential to 

 the very existence of plants and animals, a few 

 facts derived from observation and a long train 

 of experiments must be remembered : 



L Were the atmosphere everywhere, at all 

 times, at a uniform temperature, we should nev- 

 er have rain, or hail, or snow. The water ab- 

 sorbed by it in evaporation from the sea and the 

 earth's surface would descend in an impercepti- 

 ble vapor, or cease to be absorbed by the air when 

 it was once fully saturated. 



2. The absorbing power of the atmosphere, and 

 consequently its capability to retain humidity is 

 proportionably greater in warm than in cold air 



3. The air near the surface of the earth is warm-' 

 er than it is in the region of the clouds. The 

 higher we ascend from the earth, the colder do 

 we find the atmosphere. Hence the perpetual 

 snow on very high mountains in the hotest cli- 

 mate. Now when from continued evaporation, 

 the air is highly saturated with vapor, though it 

 be invisible and the sky cloudless, if its temper- 

 ature is suddenly reduced by cold currents de- 

 scending ^vom above, or rushing from a higher to 

 a lower latitude, its capacity to retain moisture is 

 diminished, clouds are formed, and the result is 

 rain. Air condenses as it cools, and like a sponge 

 filled with water and compressed, pours out the 

 water which its diminished capacity cannot hold. 

 How singular yet how simple, the philosophy of 

 rain ! What but Omniscence could have devised 

 such an admirable arrangement for watering the 

 earth ? — Scientific Journal. 



Steam Sleigh. — A Polish exile in Siberia has 

 invented a means of applying steam povrer to the 

 traction of sleighs, by which journeys can be made 

 with rapidity over the frozen snows and the 

 steppes covered with ice, which abound in the 

 Russian dominions. Such an invention, it seems 

 to us, might be valuable in this country for win- 

 ter traveling over our broad prairies and ice- 

 bound lakes. — Scientific American. 



THERE'S WORK ENOUGH TO DO. 



The black-bird early leaves its rest 



To meet the smiling morn, 

 And gather fragments for its nest 



From upland, wood and lawo. 

 The busy bee that wings its way 



'ilid sweets of varied hue, 

 And every flower would seem to say — 



"There's work enough to do." 



The cowslip and the spreading vine, 



The daisy in the grass, 

 The snowdrop and the eglantine, 



Preach sermons as we pass ; 

 The ant, within its cavern deep. 



Would bid us labor too. 

 And writes upon his tiny heap — 



"There's work enough to do." 



The planets, a,t their Maker's will, 



Move onward iu their cars. 

 For Nature's wheel is never still — 



Progressive as the stars ! 

 The leaves that flutter in the air, 



And summer's breezes woo. 

 One solemn truth to man declare — 



"There's work enough to do." 



Who then can sleep when all around 



Is active, fresh and free I 

 Shall man — creation's lord — be found 



Less busy than the bee .' 

 Our courts and alleys are the field, 



If men would search them through, 

 That best the sweets of labor yield. 



And "work enough to do." 



To have a heart for those who weep, 



The fcottish drunkard win ; 

 To rescue all the children, deep 



In ignorance and sin"; 

 To help the poor, the hungry feed, 



To give him coat and shoe ; 

 To see that all can write and read — 



"Is work enough to do." 



The time is short — the world is wide. 



And much has to be done ; 

 This wond'rous earth, aid all its pride. 



Will vanish with the sun ! 

 The moments fly on lightning's wings, 



And life's uncertain too ; 

 We've none to waste on foolish things — 



"There's work enough to do." 



Christian Jf'itness. 



For the New En^'land Farmer. 

 INVERTED POSTS. 



Having noticed an article on this subject writ- 

 ten bv Zina Round, of Nevada, Wis., and insert- 

 ed in the N. E. Farmer, Aug. 21st, 1858, and 

 being of the same opinion in regard to the mat- 

 ter, 1 would give a few reasons why inverted posts 

 and stakes will last longer than those set in an 

 upright manner, and why wood w^ill season bet- 

 ter set up top end down, than in any other way. 



In order to come at this, we must understand 

 a little of the nature of the growth of plants, 

 trees, &c. The plant or tree consists of roots, 

 which are located in the soil, leaves which are 

 spread in the air, and a stem or trunk and limbs 

 which connects the roots and leaves. • This stem 

 is intercepted with sap vessels or tubes which 

 extend from the end of the roots to the surface 

 of the leaves, thus affording a passage for the 

 sap, a circulation of the moisture taken in by the 



