112 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Sept. 



rs, from a too great reliance on supposed chem- 



jal laws. 

 And finally, an analysis of a soil or of a fertil- 



/,er, to be of any value to the farmer, must indi- 

 t.j,te, not what are the whole elements, but what 

 are those which are in a condition to feed the 

 plants. A granite boulder or a grindstone may 

 contain all the elements of a specific manure, but 

 it would be rather hard fare for a young cucum- 

 ber or a tomato plant to thrive on. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 COAL ASHES AS A DISINFECTANT. 



At this season of the year almost every one 

 is troubled by the noxious vapors arising from 

 vaults, the outlets of sinks and drains. I am not 

 aware of having anywhere read a recommenda- 

 tion of coal ashes for this purpose, but it is a 

 fact, that a very slight covering of coal ashes will 

 prevent almost all noisome odors, and will also 

 prevent the rapid and troublesome increase of 

 flies, from stagnant water or manure heaps, 

 which so much trouble the peace and comfort of 

 neat housewives. Whether the effect is merely 

 mechanical or chemical, I am unable to state, but 

 that it is certain and effectual, I know by repeat- 

 ed experiment. A compost of night-soil and coal 

 ashes makes a very valuable, inodorous and in- 

 offensive application, as dressing to the soil, es- 

 pecially for light lands ; for heavy soils, I am in- 

 clined to think coa^ ashes, except in a very small 

 proportion, are injuiious, making the soil colder 

 and heavier; at any rate, heavily coating the 

 earth with coal ashes about the roots of one or 

 two trees, of the same variety, retarded its blos- 

 soms and leaves, a week or ten days, and snow 

 covered with coal ashes will, for a long time re- 

 main unmelted. 



A very striking instance of the value of coal 

 ashes as a disinfectant was seen last year in the 

 filling below the Public Garden with coal ashes 

 by ihe city; through that coatins no odor of 

 marsh mud or decaying vegetable matter was 

 able to make its way. The cheapness and readi- 

 ness with which this material can everywhere 

 ne had, the comparatively small quantity neces- 

 sary, and its being more effectual than any sub- 

 stance known, has led me to make this use of it 

 more generally known, by the aid of your col- 

 umns, r. 



Boston, July 12, 1859. 



Remarks. — Coal ashes is a good disinfectant 

 — not so powerful as dry, pulverized clay, char- 

 coal or meadow muck, but can be obtained with' 

 more facility than either of the first-named arti- I 

 cles. We can endorse the statement of our cor- 

 respondent, as we have long used it, and found 

 it valuable for the purposes of which he speaks. 



|^*An experienced writer on propagation 

 says : — "Never increase climbers or plants from 

 suckers. The like never produced the like more 

 to the letter than do these plants from suckers. 

 Destroy all suckers, is my maxim." 



For the New England Farmer. 

 A PEW NOTES ON DWELIilNQ-HOUSES. 

 BY WILSON FLAGG. 



A great deal of advice has been proffered to 

 the public for the last ten years, on the advan- 

 tage of possessing "beautiful dwelling-houses," 

 until our people are almost persuaded that the 

 rudeness, or the refinement of a man's character, 

 is created by the style of the house he occupies. 

 It is maintained that taste cannot long survive 

 in a homely house ; and it would seem that an 

 illiterate boor needs but to quit his hovel, and 

 become the proprietor and occupant of an ornate 

 villa, to be transformed into a gentleman and 

 a scholar. It is also supposed that domestic hap- 

 piness is greatly increased by the tasteful embel- 

 lishments which are appended to the outside of 

 one's roof. 1 believe this idea has produced more 

 mischief than good ; it has led men into extrav- 

 agant expenditures upon the style of their build- 

 ings ; it has caused them to overlook that com- 

 bination of utility and convenience, which is the 

 chief end of home-architecture, and to seek after 

 embellishments at the expense of that charming 

 simplicity, which renders so many old houses 

 and their surroundings, objects both of afi'ection 

 and delight. 



It is not true that a man is made more con- 

 tented or happy, by living in an elegant, ornate, 

 or beautiful house ; and no man was ever im- 

 proved in character or manners, by adding ar- 

 chitectural ornaments to the outside of his dwel- 

 ling. There are certain requisites demanded by 

 comfort and convenience, which seriously affect 

 the happiness of a family, and ought never to be 

 neglected ; but neatness, rather than ornament, 

 should be the aim of those who are seeking after 

 home-embellishments. A large proportion of the 

 most virtuous and liberal men in the land, are 

 found among those who live in homely houses ; 

 for the plainness of the exterior of one's dwelling 

 inspires contentment, while the opposite style 

 fosters vanity, and creates a kind of necessity for 

 costly pretences, which are incompatible with a 

 generous hospitality. 



There is a mean between an ornate and an ugly 

 style ; and the houses which are usually called 

 plain or homely, occupy this mean. Many of 

 these homely dwellings are really beautiful, in 

 the best sense of this term, where we perceive in 

 them a perfect adaptedness to the wants and 

 habits of an honest and benevolent family. Their 

 moderate, but sufficient accommodations for all 

 private and hospitable purposes ; their cpen en- 

 closures shaded by one or two large trees, and 

 not crowded with a profusion of needless shrub- 

 bery ; and on all sides appearances, more easily 

 perceived than described, indicate that the fami- 

 ly live for happiness and not for pretence, for 

 friendship and not for fashion. 



Ugliness is any quality in a building that ex- 

 cites disagreeable emotions from its want of out- 

 ward evidence of comfort and convenience ; and 

 it may exist in connection with an excessive 

 amount of ornament. A building is ugly, when 

 it is unsupplied with those mouldings which are 

 required to relieve the abrupt, naked and angu- 

 lar look of its exterior ; it is ugly, when it has a 

 large projecting roof, that gives it a toppling and 

 dangerous appearance. This is the fault of many 



