1859. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



181 



to shook, is after the ear becomes well glazed, or 

 in other words, after the stalks are fit for top- 

 ping. Corn cured in this way, is not only sweeter 

 for bread, but the fodder is worth one-fourth 

 more, at least, than when left to the exposure of 

 the atmosphere. I agree with "W. B.," that, the 

 idea of raising corn is for the grain, but if I can 

 get the extra grain, (as I think if he would take 

 the pains to inquire of those who grind my corn, 

 they would tell him it was second to none,) and 

 the extra fodder, I have secured a greater amount 

 of good, than he who lets his fodder stand and 

 bleach in the field until it is nearly worthless. 



If friend "B." will try my way, I think he will 

 meet with better success, and be able to have his 

 "old-fashioned golden puddings again under the 

 new innovation." A. W. Putnam. 



Sutton, Jan. 24, 1859. 



l^br the New England Farmer. 



EDUCATION" AWD EMPLOYMENT OF 

 YOUJSTG MEN IN THE COUNTKT. 



Mr. Editor : — The education and employ- 

 ment of young men in the country is closely 

 connected with our agricultural interests. It is 

 evident that our country towns are losing their 

 population for the reason that our young men 

 leave them for the purpose of gaining a popular 

 education, tending to fit them for any other pur- 

 pose than the farm. I do not wish to cast re- 

 proach on the cause of education. But would 

 it not be better if our institutions of learning 

 were so constituted as to turn the minds of some 

 of their pupils to the pursuits of agriculture ? 

 Should not our schools be made manual labor 

 schools ; schools which will fit young men for the 

 farm as well as for a profession ? I think they 

 should. But considering our means of educa- 

 tion as it is, I think our young men may, if they 

 will, furnish themselves with a good practical ag- 

 ricultural education. 



Your readers may say that I desire to make 

 all our young men farmers ; but not so. We 

 must have teachers, competent teachers, and a 

 liberal supply of them. We must have profes- 

 sional men; but one-half of the number which we 

 now have, and those of the right character, would 

 be far better than the present number. More of 

 our people should be practical farmers. I am a 

 farmer's son myself, and I appeal to those of my 

 class in New England, if it would not be better 

 for more of us to obtain an education preparato- 

 ry to a farmer's life, than for so many of us to 

 strive for a profession. There is another thing 

 which tends to decrease the mterest in agricultu- 

 ral pursuits. Too many of our young men, leav- 

 ing the farm in pursuit of more fashionatjle life 

 in cities and large country towns, leave the dis- 

 graceful work of farming, as they call it, and re- 

 pair to a clerkship, and for a year or two work 

 merely for their board, rather than stick to the 

 farm. Let us strive, one and all, to alter this 

 state of things; let us set our hearts and hands 

 to work, and soon our barren fields will be culti- 

 vated, our decaying pastures clothed anew with 

 grass, and New England may look forward for a 

 pleasant and prosperous future. w. M. L. 



Sullivan, N. II., 1859. 



BOTH SIDES. 



A man ia his carriage was riding along, 



A gaily dressed wife by his side ; 

 In satin and laces she looked like the queen. 



And he like a king in his pride. 



A wood-sawyer stood on the street as they passed ; 



The carriage and couple lie eyed ; 

 And said, as he worked with his saw on the log, 



"I wish I was rich and could ride." 



The man in the carriage remarked to his wife, 



"One thing I would give if I could — 

 I'd give my wealtli for the strength and the health 



Of the man who sawed the wood." 



A pretty young maid, with a bundle of work, 

 Whose face, as the morning, was fair, 



Went tripping along with a smile of delight, 

 While humming a love-breathing air. 



She looked on the carriage ; the lady she saw, 



Arriyed in apparel so fine, 

 And said in a wMsper, "I wish from my heart 



Those satins and laces were mine." 



The lady looked out on the maid with her work, 



So fair in her calico dress. 

 And said, 'I'd relinquish position and wealth, 



Her beauty and health to possess." 



Thus it is in the world, whatever our lot. 



Our minds and our time we employ 

 In longing and sighing for what we have not, 



Ungrateful for what we enjoy. 



We welcome the pleasure for which we have sighed, 



The heart has a void in it still, 

 Growing deeper and wider the longer we live, 



That nothing but Heaven can fill. 



l^or the New England Farmer. 

 EXPERIMENT IN HAKVESTING CORN. 



I beg leave to differ from W. Bacon on this 

 subject. I well recollect in my early days that 

 corn, where I then lived, was harvested by first 

 cutting the stalks, and I then knew of no better 

 way, that being some fifty years since, in the town 

 of VVinchester, N. H. Since that time I think I 

 have found a better way. 



As it regards cutting stalks, I think they will 

 no more than pay for the labor ; if the field is 

 large, it is attended with much labor to carry 

 them out of the field to set up to dry. I think I 

 should do quite as well to cut hay at the halves. 

 Should there come a hard frost before the corn 

 gets fairly ripe, it v-ould be much injured. In 

 this vicinity, we usually have a hard frost on 

 or about the 2()lh of September. If the stalks 

 are cut soon after the corn begins to glaze, as 

 has been the practice with some, it lessens the 

 corn one-eleventh part from that of letting them 

 be on till ripe ; it also leaves the corn more tx- 

 posed to cut off" the tops, than it would be with 

 them on, should there be a frost before the corn 

 was ripe. If it stands till it would not shrink in 

 drying, it would be bad policy to first cut the 

 stalks, because it is more work than it is to cut 

 all up together, and you save only about one- 

 fourth of the fodder, and not the best part, for 

 that which comes up at the roots last, called 

 suckers, is much the best, being the greenest and 

 richest. In cutting up the corn and stalks to- 

 gether, there is a great saving both in time and 

 value of both corn and fodder. At the price hay 

 is selling for here now, $13 per ton, and as the 



