346 



NEW ENGLAND FAEMER. 



Aug. 



ly find a solitary specimen any where. In their 

 places are elms, maples, horse-chestnuts, &c. 

 People say the poplar is not a graceful tree. 

 True, it has a firmness of aspect not in accor- 

 dance with modern ideas of expansive luxuriance, 

 but how perfectly it seems adapted to the early 

 days of New England, when little children were 

 duly washed, whipped, and catechised every Sat- 

 urday night — were taught to make courtesies to 

 passers-by, and, tradition says, to say "yes sir," 

 and "no sir," to their elders ! Then ladies wore 

 skirts without gather or plail;^ and bonnets that 

 actually covered their heads. But a time of great- 

 er latitude in dress, manners and morals came 

 about, and the old tree fell out of place, and 

 quietly stepped out, with the good old grand- 

 mothers who used to sit under its branches. It 

 may be a precise, puritanical tree, but there are 

 some in whose eyes it will always be beautiful — 

 to whom it will tell more tales than the fabled 

 leaves of the Sybil. South of us, on some of the 

 old estates of Virginia, the poplar may still be 

 seen, broken and decayed, fitting monuments of 

 the old aristocratic families who planted them. 



Doubtless, the march of improvement is on- 

 ward, but it is not without a pang that one sees 

 the ancient land-marks removed. It is astonish- 

 ing how quickly, now-a-days, customs are trans- 

 ferred from the heart of life and business to the 

 extremities of the great body of humanity. We 

 have in our mind a certain village away up among 

 the hills of New Hampshire. The nearest rail- 

 way station is six miles distant, and the steam 

 •whistle comes softened and modified through 

 the forests, till it loses its harsh, business-like 

 sound — here the very birds are suffered to sing 

 nothing newer than "Old Hundred" or "St. Mar- 

 tin's," and from time immemorial the same white 

 houses with green blinds have gleamed pic- 

 turesquely among the abundant foliage ; but this 

 summer we took a look at this conservative spot, 

 and behold, the old tavern-stand, which had 

 stood a hundred years, looking meekly out of its 

 dormer-windows upon the world below, has come 

 ©ut in a new fawn-color suit with dark trim- 

 mings ! Should the ghost of its builder, who lies 

 near by, come out to view his possessions, some 

 moonlight night, what a surprise awaits him ! 



"O ! tempora, O ! Mores," won't they leave us a 

 spot anywhere "sacred to the memory" of old as 

 sociations ! Must civilization go ruthlessly strid- 

 ing over our hills and valleys, building up and 

 levelling down till the world is all made after one 

 pattern ? 



Bayard Taylor says — "Piano? in Lapland, Pa- 

 risian dresses among the Lofodens, billiard-ta- 

 bles in Hammerfest — whither shall we turn to 

 find the romance of the North !" Already the 

 "glowing fireside" has become a tradition, and 



the "chimney corner" and the "old arm-chair" 

 only pleasant figures of speech. 



With the loss of some things which seem poet- 

 ic and picturesque, however, we have, undoubted- 

 ly, many comforts of which our fathers never 

 dreamed. There is a greater attention to the 

 beautiful in-doors and out, and with increased 

 facilities for performing mechanical labor, we 

 must find more time for its cultivation. 



It is not wise to hamper one generation too 

 much with the notions of the preceding — for, to 

 close in the same spirit with which we com- 

 menced, "Every dog must have its day." 



For the Nere England Farmer. 

 IRON OK METALLIC BARBELS. 



A few nights since, while nearly all the people 

 were in their deepest slumbers, fire was discov- 

 ered in an eating-saloon. No. 25 Ann St., New 

 York, 'caused by ashes put into a wooden barrel, 

 the day or evening previous. My attention of 

 late has been called to several instances of the 

 same kind. To my mind, many subjects of less 

 importance are brought before the public, while 

 this is left unnoticed, although of the utmost 

 consequence to the safety of our lives and prop- 

 erty. Why should we sufi'er such a devouring 

 enemy as fire to moulder and feed among the 

 ashes contained in a vessel suited to its element, 

 ready to break out in the stillness of the night, 

 and threaten such fearful consequences? Have 

 we not learned to confine the lions and tigers in 

 iron cages, and with iron chains, where they can- 

 not gnaw and break away ? Should we not then 

 do so with that monster who serves us well when 

 controlled, and is so destructive when allowed to 

 reign ? 



I have often noticed, when walking through 

 the streets of New York and Boston, good coal 

 and ashes together, set out for the city carts, in 

 wooden barrels and vessels of a combustible na- 

 ture, with now and then an iron barrel, made so 

 thin and weak, without being guarded and 

 strapped, that it will not sustain its own weight, 

 while being emptied over the rave of the cart. 

 In such a city as this, subject every moment to 

 conflagration, we ought to have every means of 

 safety and good order preserved. Suppose ev- 

 ery person be provided with a good iron barrel, 

 with name and number printed on it, and they 

 keep their ashes in nothing else, how long would 

 it be before a handsome dividend would be re- 

 mitted from their insurance policies ? Please 

 inform us where such are made, and the best 

 kind of sifters suited to them. 



A Friend to Saving Life and Property. 



Melons, Cucumbers, etc. — These are mate- 

 rially improved by pinching off the runner bud 

 after the third rough leaf has been formed. This 

 practice will always insure a number of young 

 shoots instead of a few, and the fruit sets early 

 and near the centre of the hill so as to perfect it- 

 self, instead of giving small results at the ends 

 of straggling long vines. — Working Farmer. 



