566 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Dec. 



crop, being light and late, and somewhat frost- 

 bitten, so that the yield will be small and of poor 

 quality. Grass was our next lightest crop, yet 

 it was of excellent quality and well secured. In- 

 tervale meadows yielded nearly an average crop, 

 but upland was unusually light. Wheat was 

 good, yet there was but little sowed. Oats were 

 a first rate crop — perhaps were never better. 

 Potatoes are a full average crop, and entirely 

 free from rot, and are tolerably plenty. Buck- 

 whe at was destroyed by the frost and was mostly 

 lost. Apples are quite plenty, although of poor 

 quality. Plums are an entire failure, as well as 

 fruits of the drupe kind generally. 



Shall we hear similar reports of the season 

 and the crops from other parts of the country ? 



Brandon, Vt , Oct. 24, 1859. D. Buckland. 



HEVP" PUBLICATIONS. 



Wells' Pkinciples and Applications op Chemistry; for the 

 use of Academies, Hiah Sclicoli and Colleges. Introducing 

 the latest results of Sciectific Discovery acd Research, and 

 arraneed with special reference to the Practical Application of 

 Chemistry to the Arts and Employments of Common Life. 

 With Two Hundred and Forty Iliustrations. By David A. 

 Wells, A. II. • New York : Ivison & Phinney. 1859. 



This book is especially prepared for the use of 

 academies, seminaries and colleges, and will un- 

 doubtedly prove of great utility in that direction ; 

 but it is not there, after all, where its usefulness 

 ought to be mainly felt. There are other places, 

 vastly more numerous and none the less appro- 

 priate, where it would charm the mind, give it 

 mental strength, and prepare it better to under- 

 stand the principles which govern everything we 

 do. For every employment, however simple and 

 humble, requires something of the aid of art and 

 science. In cooking the breakfast, both are in- 

 dispensable, and so in sewing the patch upon the 

 knee of the pantaloons, in cutting the dress, or 

 any of the most common and ever-recurring em- 

 ployments of life. The moment the Indian be- 

 gins to construct his wigwam of bark or boughs, 

 or the Esquimaux to construct his snow-hut, he 

 calls to his aid something of the arts and scien- 

 ces, and civilizes and enlarges all his powers by 

 the operation. And this is the effect upon us all 

 in opening, as it were, and investigating natural 

 laws. 



The com.mon mind needs more of this knowl- 

 edge ; a better understanding of what gravity is, 

 for instance, or cohesion, attraction and crystalli- 

 zation. It knows that the sun is warm, and yet 

 is told that it is nearer in the winter when the 

 thermometer is at zero, than during the fervent 

 heat of midsummer ! How perplexing this must 

 be, and how refreshing and gratifying to learn in 

 an easy and familiar way, the reasons for these 

 seemingly contradictory assertions. 



Let this book, then, become the companion of 

 the fireside, the quiet, unassuming and intelligent 

 friend for every leisure hour ; let it be remem- 

 bered during the engagements of the day, and 



perplexing questions that arise during working 

 hours be noted, so that reference may be had to 

 the work on precise points, and a store of inval- 

 uable knowledge may be acquired that shall give 

 the labors of life a new value. The book is a li- 

 brary in itself. It contains the kind of informa- 

 tion most needed by the young of both sexes. 



Wells' Science op Common Things ; a Familiar Explanation 

 of the First Principles of Physical Science. For Schools, 

 Families and young Sturients. Illustrated with numerous 

 Engravings. By David A. Wells, A. M. New i''ork : Ivison 

 & Phinney. 1859. 



Wliat do we know of matter, and liow do we 

 know it ? There may be a sensible, and in some 

 degree, satisfactory answer to these questions — 

 but who will give it ? Can you, young man ? We 

 observe that you are studious and inquisitive, 

 but these questions, and a thousand others, puz- 

 zle you daily. This book will help and interest 

 you, and in seeking instruction from its pages 

 your life will be a happier and more useful one. 

 Let us illustrate it, — or, rather, let it illustrate 

 itself, in an agricultural point of view. 



Why does dew fall more ahtindanily on cultivat- 

 ed soils than on barren lands ? 



Because cultivated soils (being loose and^o- 

 rous) very freely radiate by night the heat which 

 they absorb by day ; in consequence of which 

 they are much cooled down, and plentifully con- 

 dense the vapor of the passing air into dew. 



Pause, my brother laborer, a moment, and 

 look at the wisdom and beauty of this arrange- 

 ment, and it will nerve the arm which guides the 

 plow and hoe, and cheer the heart that hopes for 

 abundant harvests. We are all too ignorant of 

 the common things of life, — the things we see, 

 upon which we work and depend for comfort and 

 subsistence. Let us devote more leisure hours 

 to their investigation, so that we may better un- 

 derstand nature's laws, and thus shield ourselves 

 against those losses which spring from a want of 

 knowledge of nature's changes around us. But 

 we will let the book give another familiar illus- 

 tration of itself. 



7s tlie air of our rooms alivays in motion'^ 



Yes ; there are always two currents of air in 

 the room we occupy ; one of hot air flowing out 

 of the room, and another of cold air flowing into 

 the room. 



How do you hnoio that there are these tioo cur- 

 rents of air in every occupied room ? 



If I hold a lighted candle near the crevice at 

 the top of the door, the flame will be blown out- 

 wards (towards the hall ;) but if I hold the can- 

 dle at the bottom of the door, the flame will be 

 blown inioards (into the room.) 



This book contains two thousand and fifteen 

 questions, of a character similar U the above. If 

 a person is building a house, and does not under- 

 stand how to construct chimneys so as to afford 



