1859. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



555 



and cross-plowed with a sharp steel plow, turn- 

 ing the manure under four to five inches deep. 

 The field was then harrowed, furrowed out in 

 rows each way, a table-spoonful of superphos- 

 phate put in each hill, and the piece planted with 

 corn. It yielded about seventy bushels of shelled 

 corn per acre, and the next year a good crop of 

 oats, and is now well set in grass, for a mowing- 

 field. Other portions of the condemned old plain 

 are now undergoing a similar process of deep 

 plowing and high culture, with good results ; 

 and this desert will doubtless soon blossom as 

 the rose. 



Where land is of a loose, sandy or gravelly na- 

 ture, with a feeble subsoil, and has never been 

 plowed deeply, it v/ill not be advisable to plow 

 so deep at once as nine or ten inches, unless 

 there is a large amount of manure applied. But 

 even such S'iis may be gradually deepened, with- 

 out the necessity of extra large dressing of ma- 

 nure, by bringing up an inch or two of the sub- 

 soil at each rotation of crops ; and thus, in time, 

 a good depth of active soil may be obtained. 

 The best general rule, however, in farming, is 

 deep plowing and high manuring. 



F. HOLBROOK. 



Brattleboro' , Oct. 26, 1859. 



MAKE PAEM LABOB FASHIONABLE. 



At the base of the prosperity of any people 

 lies this great principle — make farm labor fash- 

 ionable at home. Educate, instruct, encourage ; 

 and ofl'er all the incentives you can offer, to give 

 interest and dignity to labor at home. Enlist the 

 heart and the intellect of the family in the sup- 

 port of a domestic system that will make labor 

 attractive at the homestead. By means of the 

 powerful influences of early home education, en- 

 deavor to invest practical labor with an interest 

 that will cheer the heart of each member of the 

 family, and thereby you will give to your house- 

 hold the grace, peace, refinement and attraction 

 which God designed a hotne should possess. 



The truth is, Ave must talk more, think more, 

 ivork more, and act more, in reference to ques- 

 tions relating to home. 



The training and improvement of the physical, 

 intellectual, social and moral powers and senti- 

 ments of the youth of our country, require some- 

 thing more than the school-house, academy, col- 

 lege and university. The young mind should re- 

 ceive judicious training in the field, in the gar- 

 den, in the barn, in the workshop, in the parlor, 

 in the kitchen — in a word, around the hearth- 

 stone at home. 



Whatever intellectual attainments your son 

 may have acquired, he is unfit to go forth into 

 society if he has not had thrown around him the 

 genial and purifying influences of parents, sis- 

 ters, brotliers, and the mnn-saving influence of 

 the family government. The nation must look 

 for virtue, wisdom and strength, to the education 

 that controls and shapes the home policy of the 

 family circle. There can be no love of country 

 where there is no love of home. Patriotism, true 

 and genuine, the only kind worthy of the name, 

 derives its mighty strength from fountains that 

 gush out around the hearthstone ; and those who 

 forget to cherish the household interests, will 



soon learn to look with indifference upon the in- 

 terests of their common country. 



We must cultivate roots — not the tops. We 

 must make the famihj government, the school, 

 the farm, the church, the shop, the agricultural 

 fairs, the laboratories of our future greatness. 

 We must educate our sons to be farmers, arti- 

 zans, architects, engineers, geologists, botanists, 

 chemists — in a word, practical men. Their eyes 

 must be turned from Washington to their states, 

 counties, townships, districts, homes. This is true 

 patriotism ; and the only patriotism that will 

 perpetually preserve the nation. — Gov. Wright. 



For the New England Farmer. 



FARMING IN NORTHEKN NEW HAMP- 

 SHIRE. 



Mr. Editor : — Farm-house architecture was 

 mentioned in my last. The interior of our dwel- 

 ling is somewhat deficient. First — a small apart- 

 ment often serves as wash, cook, eating, library 

 and living room. Here are assembled a steam- 

 ing wash-tub, seething cook-stove, cupboard, ta- 

 bles, chairs, sink and wood box. Various arti- 

 cles of clothing, files of newspapers, almanacs 

 and shelves of books, are hanging on the wall — 

 dried apple and pumpkin depending from the 

 ceiling. Here the family take their meals and 

 pass their leisure time. 



Second — the larger and more pleasant portion 

 of the dwelling is divided into two or three well 

 papered, painted, carpeted and curtained rooms. 

 Here are costly mirrors, paintings, tables, chairs, 

 gifts, gilt-covered books, artificial flowers, an or- 

 namented stove, polished shovel and tongs and 

 the family ambrotypes. But, alas, these rooms 

 are Holy of Holies, to the family. The mother 

 alone, as high priest, enters there semi-annually 

 to overturn and then re-adjust their contents. 



Now here are two great evils — first, confining 

 the family to so small an apartment, and allowing 

 papers, books and clothing to become injured 

 by steam and smoke ; second, expending so much 

 time, labor and money in furnishing those spa- 

 cious but useless apartments — the parlors. 



The remedy is simple and inexpensive. C( n- 

 vert the most spacious of these rooms iiito a well 

 lighted, ventilated and warmed living apartment 

 — render it free from vapor and smoke, and ex- 

 change that costly but useless furniture for a 

 globe, maps, a variety of engravings, scientific 

 and other works. Have these tastefully and con- 

 veniently arranged. 



Such a reformation in our dwellings would be 

 of incalculable value. If farmer's workmen and 

 sons could assemble in such a room after the 

 day's labor ; there would be less murmuring — 

 thought would be awakened, and youth be pro- 

 tected from the fatal allurements of idleness. 



Who shall begin this reformation ? None so 

 competent as the wives of farmers. If parents 

 desire honorable men and noble women for sons 

 and daughters, they must remember that youth 

 must have an acquaintance with facts — with the 

 true, beautiful and useful things of nature. Then 

 make home attractive, and let that attraction con- 

 sist of something profitable. 



This is a ])ractical question. Fashion is the 

 great obstacle. All are pecuniarily able to have 



