VOL. XII. NO. 41. 



AND HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 



323 



anil resides in one of the principal cities on the 

 Ohio, anil who has heen more successful in liis 

 pursuits than most of his fellow emigrants, says 

 he would Dot advise any one to go into the west- 

 ern valley who is comfortably situated as to busi- 

 ness or property here. A long life scarcely serves 

 to wean a person of common sensibility from the 

 fares of his friends and the tombs of his ances- 

 tors. To tl sands who have gone out from 



among us, New England will still be their "home" 

 and tin- western valley their place of exile. 



It is true my friends, that you might go where 

 you would find a deeper soil, and a milder climate, 

 or you may command a wider extent of territory, 

 and live with less labor — but who of you would 

 exchange your sloping hills and your granite fen- 

 ces, for the vast prairies and wooden fences of the 

 west. 



Who of you would leave your warm barns and 

 well till flocks, that you might see your cattle 

 picking a precarious existence through the winter, 

 in marshes and feus, or shivering with wet and 

 cold around an uncovered hay-stack ? 



Who, to avoid the drifting snow and driving 

 sleet, would leave the land of pleasant sleigh-rides, 

 and happy winter evenings, to breathe the sirocco 

 which sweeps from the Gulf of Mexico for weeks 

 together, up the boundless valley, loaded with the 

 fetid exhalations of a thousand bayous and 



swamps .- 



(To be concluded in our next.) 



MASS. HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY 



Saturday, April 19, 1834. 



Seeds of the Chizimoya, Kneesberry, Ciruella, 

 and the Peruvian Squash, received from a gentle- 

 man in Lima, were presented by B. F. Hallett, Esq. 



Scions of the Winter Catherine, and a fine Seed- 

 ling Pear, presented by Edward S. Rand, Esq. of 

 Newburyport, for distribution. E. Vose. 



From the Genesee Farmer. 

 WOOD SNAPPING ON THE FIRE. 



I believe we have no wood in this country, 

 that is more worthless for fuel than the Butternut. 

 A few cuts of this kind, however, about ten inches 

 in diameter, had been split in two, left some weeks 

 to dry, and then carried into my chamber. On 

 placing one stick on the fire, it began to snap most 

 remarkably ; sometimes there were not less than 

 fifteen or twenty sparks on the carpet at once ; 

 and the inconvenience was serious. What was to 

 be done ? I happened to recollect a paragraph in 

 your 2d volume, taken from some eastern paper, 

 stating that wood snaps on the fire from the side 

 nearest to the heart. It was so in this case. I just 

 turned the log over, and at once the difficulty was 

 at an cud ; for though it continued to snap for 

 some time against the back plate, yet no more 

 sparks came into the room. 



When I put on the next log, I was particular to 

 turn the heart backwards, and J have had no trouble 

 from snapping since. Now the knowledge of this 

 thing is but a trifle indeed, but it may be worth 

 knowing, for I have often seen the guests round a 

 parlor fire, starting up to put out the sparks, when 

 I presume nothing more was wanting than to turn 

 over a stick. A Farmer. 



Receipt for Scarlet Fever. A very simple remedy, 

 says a correspondent, for this dreadful disorder, is 

 now using in this city with good effect. It is mere- 

 ly a mixture of cayenne pepper, salt and vinegar, 

 used as a gargle. — JV. 1'. Com. 



HINTS TO FARMERS. 



If you neglected your farming utensils last fall, 

 bring them forward now and see if they are in 

 good order. Apply a coat of paint to the wood ; 

 it costs but little and will ■ preserve them from 

 warping and decay. See if there is a peg or a nail 

 lacking, and be sure to replace it. Look to your 

 fences and see that they are in good order. A 

 stone wall looks much neater than a brush fence, 

 or a crazy, ricketty rail fence, that a poor old 

 sheep can't rest his bones against without endan- 

 gering bis neck. A bad fence is a fruitful source 

 id' quarrels between neighbors. Scrape up the 

 chips about your door yard, let them decay in 

 heaps; they make excellent manure. Don't work 

 jour boys loo hard ; but be sure to keep them dili- 

 gent. Don't keep them a digging and driving that 

 you may have the better chance to lean over the 

 fence and wrangle about politics, or loiter at " the 

 corner," about the stores or tavern. Set them an 

 example of industry and promptitude yourself and 

 they will be very likely to follow it. Let them 

 pick up the stones about your farm, and pile them 

 in heaps, to make a wall, repair the roads, or at 

 least to be out of the way of your scythe', hoe and 

 ploughshare. Don't let them work with great 

 heavy implements requiring the strength of a man 

 lo wield them; if you are able, furnish them with 

 those of a light hand make, and they will work 

 with greater alacrity. Give them a piece of ground 

 of their own to cultivate; it will incite them to 

 prudence and activity. But don't neglect their 

 education, let what will come. Employ a good 

 teacher and be sure that your children go regularly 

 to school. Don't keep them at home to do work 

 you might just as well do yourself. Don't let 

 them go a courting till they have a thorough 

 know ledge of grammar, geography, arithmetic, and 

 practical farming. You had belter examine the 

 first love letter they write, and if it is misspelt, 

 don't let them " go ahead." While looking after 

 yourself and the boys, don't forget your wife and 

 daughters. It is hard work to scour up the floors, 

 and the expense of a coat of yellow ochre is a 

 mere trifle. You better put it on — it will save the 

 girls from fretting and your wife from growing 

 old. — Don't keep them a borrowing swift and reels, 

 tubs and wheels: if you are a common manager 

 you can do so easily. If they ask for a new gown 

 or a pair of shoes don't scold, and rate them about 

 extravagance, when perhaps those they have are 

 as old as the hills, but buy them if you are able ; 

 if not, tell them so kindly and frankly, and if they 

 are as reasonable as our farmers' wives and daugh- 

 ters generally are, they will say no more about it. 

 Don't let them ape city dress and fashions ; a plain 

 simple attire is always more becoming than a taw- 

 dry imitation of the prevailing mode. 



Girls must know something more than merely 

 to read and write ; they can't have too much arith- 

 metic ; and a knowledge of all the English branches 

 of education will make them contented at home, 

 prevent gadding, tattling and romping. Finally, 

 don't borrow, but take at least one newspaper; you 

 will find your account in the superior intelligence, 

 capacity and capability of your family: your barn, 

 your fields, your house and family will show it. — 

 Portland Courier. 



From the Genesee Farmer. 

 A VEGETABLE STOREHOUSE. 



Mr. L. Tucker — I write not to adorn the pa- 

 ges of the Fanner, but to increase its usefulness; 

 and confer a favor upon my countrymen. Last 

 autumn I built a cellar in the following manner — 

 by making a bo'e 18 feet in length, 8 feet in width, 

 3 feet in depth, — placing over it seven pairs of raf- 

 ters, the pitch being a right angle. I then cover- 

 ed it with boards, straw, coarse bay and dirt. The 

 following is an estimate of the cost: 



Boards and scantling, 400 feet, - $2,00 



Shoveling out, 1 day, - - 75 



Making roof and door-way, 1 1-2 days 1,50 

 Covering 1 day, - - 75 



$5,00 

 Thus I have stored nearly 300 bushels of pota- 

 toes — they have kept warm and dry. I have fed 

 of them to hogs, cows, and beef cattle every day 

 through the season wilh very little trouble. For 

 apples or cider, for turnips or any other roots, it is 

 the best within my knowledge. In my opinion 

 every considerable farmer should have two or 

 more of this form, which will hold 1000 bushels 

 each, with a shed over the door-way of one, and 

 a steaming apparatus at the side of the door — 

 the whole placed near the pig stye and barn. 

 Then, my brother farmers, we could raise turnips, 

 mangel wurtzel and carrots, feed them with our 

 corn and rye, make more and better pork — more 

 and equally as good beef; and solve the question 

 about surplus grain and alcohol. It may be said 

 that this cellar will rot down in a few years ; then 

 will I rebuild it by placing over it straw and tan 

 bark ; then cover the whole with boards and it 

 will be as durable as most out-buildings. 



Now I would ask if ice secured in the above 

 manner would not be useful for keeping early but- 

 ter, cooling cream, and tempering milk rooms, 

 <\:c. through the summer ? If corn meal, wet up 

 and steamed in the form of dumplings with pota- 

 toes, would not be an improvement ? I would 

 ask also, if a crop of beets thinned out for fatten- 

 ing hogs in summer, fed to store hogs in winter, 

 would not be valuable, and answer the place of 

 peas and corn ? I would inquire for a simple and 

 useful plan for steaming vegetables, that will cook 

 ten or fifteen bushels at one time ; and last, 

 though not least, I would ask if farmers generally 

 cannot consume their corn and rye at home with 

 greater profit than to sell it to the distiller at pres- 

 ent prices ? 



INDELIBLE INK FOR LINEN, &c. 



Put half a drachm of lunar caustic (nitrate of sil- 

 ver) into a small vial of water ; and a piece of 

 gum arabic of the size of a pea, and a Utile of the 

 paint called sap green, to make it more legible 

 while writing. When the whole is dissolved it is 

 fit for use. That part of the cloth to be written 

 on, must be previously wet with a mixture com- 

 posed of a small quantity of pearlaeh and gum 

 arabic dissolved in water, and pressed smooth with 

 a hot iron. The writing should be exposed to the 

 sun, which will cause it to dry darker than in the 

 shade. — Mechanic s J\Ia<razine. 



The Rev. Mr. Madden of Kildenny, died in 

 consequence of taking the glanders from a favor- 

 ite poney he was treating for this complaint. — Gen- 

 esee Farmer. 



Wheat when cut green, shrivels more than bar- 

 ley, and the latter more than oats. Oats will re- 

 tain their plumpness when cut quite green. — Gen. 

 Farmer. 



