144 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



March 



subject as to be competent to judge, and whose 

 judgment is of value, because it is unprejudiced 

 and honest. The man who has devoted a good 

 deal of study and thought to the subject, will de- 

 tect nothing new in it. but he will find the results 

 of his own investigations and convictions much 

 better expressed, probably, than he could express 

 them himself. 



The cli pter on the "Dairy Husbandry of Hol- 

 land," which is an elegant and finished translation 

 from the German, and Mr. Horsfall's statement 

 in the appendix, give increased value to the work. 

 No farmer whose money does not yield him more 

 than 100 per cent, interest, can invest the amount 

 of its cost half so well, as in the purchase of this 

 little book. Unus. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 WHAT SHA.LL WE EAT? 



Truly this is a question which deeply concerns 

 every individual, notwithstanding a person may 

 subsist for a time, at least, on a meagre diet to 

 all appearances, as well as on the most sumptu- 

 ous living. Physiologists and reformers, from 

 time immemorial, have expended much brain and 

 eloquence to prove that one article of food is 

 wholesome, another pernicious, until even at this! 

 late day and generation, the question. What shall j 

 we eat? is as perplexing and difficult to answer j 

 as it would have been to the sons of Noah, the 

 day when the Ark first rested on Mount Ararat. 

 In view of these facts the celebrated Dr. Graham 

 labored with a zeal worthy a reformer, to prove 

 that mankind were not carnivorous, and there- 

 fore animal food was the slow poison that brought 

 on our infirmities, and consequently shortened 

 human life. Many were his proselytes, who ab- 

 stained from animal food, at his suggestion, be- 

 lieving that they might attain to the age of Me- 

 thuselah, by adhering to his physiology, when, 

 lo ! the Doctor died in early manhood, perhaps 

 a victim to his own delusion, not having arrived 

 at the scriptural age of three score years and 

 ten. 



Other reformers have advocated different views. 

 Vegetarians have not been wanting, who main- 

 tained that a vegetable diet was the proper food 

 for man, or that he was graminivei'ous, and should 

 subsist on roots and herbs ; in fine, that man, 

 like the ox, should eat grass and ruminate. So 

 even at this day we may use the language of the 

 poet : 



"Who shall decide when doctors disagree?" 



Now it is evident that mankind are so differ- 

 ently constituted, that no rule on dietetics will 

 apply in all cases ; what is poison for one, is an 

 antidote for another, and vice versa. The truth 

 's, people of limited means should consult econ- 

 omy, and if upon trial it is found that six dol- 

 lars in flour will support life as long as ten dol- 

 lars in meats, and with it good health besides, 

 then, certainly, animal food is not economical. 

 Nevertheless, it may be that the staff of life 

 would not be sufficient nutriment in all exposures 

 and at all seasons of the year. The Esquimaux 

 Indian of Northern Greenland, throughout the 

 long, dark winter, subsists chiefly on walrus beef 

 and seal ; Dr. ICane, in the same inhospitable 

 region, found the greasy Esquimaux's diet far 

 preferable to the variety usually carried on ship- 



board, which goes far to prove the assertion of 

 physiologists, that the fat of animals when taken 

 into the stomach becomes fuel for the body, and 

 shows conclusively, why the Esquimaux is so in- 

 different to the cold, and M'hy Dr. Kane and his 

 party could endure an Arctic winter in latitude 

 eighty degrees. Now it is almost certain that 

 such a diet in the tropics Avould be fatal in a 

 short time. In this latitude, we, in a measure, 

 experience the Arctic winters, and reasoning from 

 analogy, should in some degree adopt an Arctic 

 diet. Fat meat to warm the body when the ther- 

 mometer is at zero, will not be amiss ; but in sum- 

 mer, when the south winds blow and the tropical 

 season comes, and with it ti'opical diseases, the 

 diet should be very diff"erent. 



In summer we plant shade trees around our 

 dwellings, open the windows, dress in cottons 

 and muslins, and fan ourselves, in order if possi- 

 ble to keep cool ; now patronizing the butcher 

 at this season of the year is like dressing in furs 

 in dog-days. Am I wrong then ? Why has Na- 

 ture so abundantly supplied our wants, and scat- 

 tered her blessings in such profusion ? Why has 

 she so generously supplied the inhabitants of the 

 Arctic Circle with the whale, the seal and the 

 walrus, whereby he may obtain that fuel for the 

 body, so essential to enable him to endure the se- 

 verity of that climate ? Or why in more' genial 

 climes has she planted the date, the cocoa-nut, the 

 banana and the plantain? Is it not evident that 

 whatever food is necessary to give health to the 

 body taay be found in our very midst, planted 

 and nurtured by the hand of Nature, ever wise 

 in its dispensations, ever beneficent in its designs? 



Stow, Jan. 1, 1859. H. Fowler. 



Remarks. — A sensible, practical view of the 

 case. The reader will please remember that we 

 have admitted into these columns several articles 

 commenting with considerable severity upon our 

 habits of eating and drinking — not because we 

 adopted as truths all that was said, but because 

 we thought such articles would not fail to attract 

 attention, and prepare the way for investigation, 

 and perhaps, reformation, in some particulars. 



Farmers' Clubs. — We gladly acknowledge the 

 receipt of valuable suggestions with regard to the 

 best modes of bringing the subject of agriculture 

 more directly home to the people, and shall consid- 

 er it a favor to receive the opinions of our friends 

 in this matter, in and out of the State. There is 

 evidently a new desire awakened in New England 

 to conduct the business of farming with more 

 system and intelligence, and this desire should 

 be met with a corresponding interest on the part 

 of the agricultural press, and by the active men 

 of agricultural associations. The Massachuseits 

 State Board of Agricidture has taken an impor- 

 tant step in this direction, which they will soon 

 place before the public. The views of others, 

 communicated to us, may aid in this new move- 

 ment. 



