536 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Nov. 



•were equal to any I have ever seen. The show 



of vegetables, particularly corn, potatoes and cau- 

 liflowers, was excellent. This part of the exhi- 

 bition was very creditable to persons in the north 

 part of the county. 



Among the fancy articles, I was struck with 

 the paintings of autumnal leaves, so true to na- 

 ture, executed by Annie B. Ashby. Two land- 1 

 scapes in oil, by Bricher. The mcirine aquarium,, 

 or ocean world in miniature, and a collection of 

 insects, from W. H. Merrill, and the fine hair 

 work of li. E. Mosely, were much admired. — 

 There were upwards of twenty contributors of 

 wines, from rhubarb, currants, grapes and black- 

 berries. The above, with the market day and 

 the trial of fire engines in the afternoon, brought 

 together a large company to the city. I. 



FoT the New England Farmer. 

 HUSKING COBN. 



Mr. Editor : — Will you allow a subscriber 

 to suggest to those who have stocked their corn 

 this fall, to try the plan of brealiing off the ears 

 before they husk them. Let one hand, (or the 

 thumb and fingers,) be pressed tightly against 

 the butt ; take hold near the top of the ear with 

 the other, and bend over, and break off. A lit- 

 tle skill and practice will enable one to break off 

 many of the ears, so that very few, if any, of the 

 husks will remain. 



To do the thing easily, lay the stook upon the 

 floor, (a platform made of a door or boards, and 

 high enough to get your feet and legs under, is 

 better,) the butts to the right, and tops to the 

 left. Begin on one side, and take the ears "clean 

 as you go." The stook need not be untied, but 

 may be put away when all the ears are off. Just 

 try the plan, fellow-farmer ; we doubt whether 

 you will be willing to go back to the old method 

 of stripping down the husks of stooked corn, 

 first, especially if they stick close. 



October, 1859. Coknhill. 



LADIES' DEPARTMENT. 



CARVIUQ AT DINNER. 



This extract from the recently published vol- 

 ume entitled "Dinner, Breakfast and Tea," fur- 

 nishes some very interesting facts touching that 

 most oppressive and laborious accomplishment, 

 carving, and how burdensome it was made in 

 olden time : 



Carving was anciently taught as an art, and it 

 was performed to the sound of music. In later 

 times, we read in the life of Lady Mary W. Mon- 

 tague, that her father, the Duke of Kingston, 

 "having no wife to do the honors of his table at 

 Thoresby, imposed that task upon his eldest 

 daughter, as soon as she had bodily strength 

 for the office, which, in those days, required no 

 small share ; for the mistress of a country man- 

 sion was not only to invite — that is, to urge and 

 tease her company to eat more than human 

 throats could conveniently swallow, but to carve 

 every dish when chosen, with her own hands. 

 The greater the lady, the more indispensable the 

 duty. Each joint was carried up in its turn to 

 be operated on by htr, and her alone ; since the 

 peers and knights on either hand were so far 

 from being bound to offer their assistance, that 

 the very master of the house, posted opposite to 

 her, might not act as her croupier ; his depart- 

 ment was to push the bottle after dinner. As 

 for the crowd of guests, the most inconsiderable 

 among them, if suffered through her neglect to 

 help himself to a slice of the mutton placed before 

 him, would have chewed it in bitterness , and gone 

 home an affi<jnted man. There were at this time 

 professed carving masters, who taught young la- 

 dies the art scientifically, from one of whom La- 

 dy Mary took lessons three times a week, that 

 she might be perfect on her father's public days, 

 — when, in order to perform her functions with- 

 out interruption, she was forced to eat her own 

 dinner alone, an hour or two beforehand. 



TR.4NSPLANTING Trees. — We have but a mo- 

 ment to call attention to this important item of 

 autumnal work. As soon as the leaves have fall- 

 en, it is a good time to transplant apple, pear, 

 or shade trees. Some think the fall a better time 

 than the spring, saying that the small roots start 

 a little, and get a hold that helps them very 

 much the first summer. But the trees should 

 be well banked up with earth, to keep them in a 

 steady position. Business is not usually so press- 

 ing in the fall as in the spring, and the trees 

 will, for this reason, stand a better chance of be- 

 ing icell transplanted. 



Thanks. — Friend Stanley, of South Attle- 

 boro', will please accept our thanks for the po- 

 lite invitation extended to us. Engagements for 

 some time to come, will prevent us from availing 

 ourselves of the pleasure and profit we might re- 

 ceive by the proposed visit. But, at some future 

 time, we shall be glad to make it. 



Disinterested Love. — Yes ! man has a strong 

 yearning for disinterested love ; much more so 

 than woman. Once convince a man that you love 

 him, truly for himself — for his own self — inde- 

 pendently of riches, rank, station, position, or any 

 of the thousand and one advantages that he 

 may be possessed of— only, I say, make him feel 

 that and you need not be very nice about the mode 

 in which you go to work. Men are as voracious 

 as boa- constrictors, they will swallow almost any 

 quantity of flattery, provided always that it be of- 

 fered at the right time. It won't do to flatter 

 one man in the presence of another. Be careful 

 of that ; but let a woman take the lucky moment, 

 seize upon the right opportunity, and she may 

 make a man — ay, in spite of all his wondrous 

 sense and reason — her slave for life. — Millicent 

 Neville. 



Gloves. — In the early ages of Christianity, 

 gloves were a part of monastic custom, and, in 

 4ater periods, formed a part of the Episcopal 

 habit. The glove was employed by princes as a 

 token of investure ; and to deprive a person of 

 his cloves was a mark of divesting him of oflice. 



