42 



NEW ENG],AND FARMER. 



jAPf. 



teeth-makers, druggists and apothecaries^ &c., as 

 contributing to health. 



City and State officers of all ranks, and even 

 "19 balance-makers," rank with lawyers and 

 judges, as contributing to justice. 



While in the "literature and fine art" line there 

 are SO female and 258 male printers ; 116 female 

 and 142 male book-binders, with any quantity of 

 newsmen, instrument makers, stamp-cutters, type- 

 makers, engravers, sculptors, &c. t^'C. 



Hereafter, who will charge Boston "literature" 

 with cxclusiveness, or Boston "justice" with illib- 

 erality ! Yet such Avere the means necessary, in 

 1845, to swell the list of the "literary class" in 

 the Athens of America to the sum total of 2388, 

 in a population of 114,366 — a fraction over two 

 of such literaii for each one hundred of the whole 

 population ! 



to severe storms, and many times in winter sur- 

 rounded with snow and ice. 



Having seen these things so many times, we 

 were recently much pleased to have an oppor- 

 tunity of going over the stable of Messrs. Page, 

 NoYES & Co., of Boston, for truck horses, and 

 as we consider it as near perfect in its ar- 

 rangements as it could well be, we will en- 

 deavor to give the reader a description of it. — 

 It is in South Street, near the Old Colony de- 

 pot, on a lot of land which affords them room 

 for a large yard on each side of it. It is three 

 stories high, and is seventy-two feet long by for- 

 ty-one wide ; the entrance from the street is by 

 two large doors which slide up by means of 



With proper deductions, then, for those in the weights and chains. The lower floor is devoted to 



above classes, whose labor is physical rather than 

 intellectual, the result in Boston is very similar 

 to that in the Avhole country — only one in a 

 hundred can hope for "the enjoyment of a culti- 

 vated mind," unless such cultivation is possible 

 with daily physical toil. 



In another article we may have something to 

 say of the opportunities for intellectual develop- 

 ment which "E. H. S." and the women folks of 

 "A Farmer's Son" will be likely to find'in leaving 

 the farm for some other vocation. 



A City Mechanic. 



Boston, December, 1857. 



STABLES—HOBSES. 



In the early autumn, when the soft sunlight 

 was on the hills, and the valleys were teeming 

 with the rich products of the harvest season, we 

 indulged oursclf somewhat in country rambles, 

 in looking in upon the homes of the farmers, in 

 storing up valuable opinions as they fell from 



the trucks and wagons which are all kept under 

 cover, and, in order to occupy the space to the 

 best advantage, lines of timber are laid down, 

 which are plated with iron on the inside, and 

 which are just wide enough to allow the wagons 

 to stand between them, thus obliging the team- 

 sters to arrange their teams in regular lines, and 

 using every inch of space. On one side of the 

 lower floor, is the scuttle through which the ma- 

 nure is put down, and which is boxed in perfect- 

 ly tight, and ends at the roof in a large ventilator 

 to carry off the steam from it. Over head we 

 noticed long gutters to carry off the liquid ma- 

 nure, which is all conducted by these into the 

 common sewer. The second floor, which is occu- 

 pied by the horsps, is worthy of attention. We 

 ascended to it by means of a large inclined plane 

 with an ascent quite easy for the horses. The 

 floor is a curiosity in itself ; it is made, first of a 

 layer of boards, then two thicknesses of tarred 

 felt, such as is used for ships' bottoms, then a 



their lips, and which they had formed by experi 



ment or observation, during the active period of j thickness of a composition made for roofing, and 

 farm operations. But after the leaves had fallen, next plank put on Avhile the composition was hot, 

 and wintry frost had laid its icy hand upon the and then an upper covering of board. The stalls 

 flowers and herbage, we turned our rambles in are arranged on each side of the building, fifteen 



another direction, and looked about Boston and 

 vicinity to find matters Avhich might be interest- 

 ing and instructive to our readers. 



Among other observations, we have often been 

 struck Avith the abuse and want of proper treat- 

 ment of that noble animal, the horse ; Ave have vis- 

 ited stal)lcs in all sorts of out of the Avay corners, 

 some built on made land, Avhere, under the floor, 

 was soft black mud, filled Avith all kinds of noxious 

 exhalations, and abounding Avith vermin. Again 

 we have seen forty or fifty horses croAvded into a 

 space that one of our farmers Avould think not 

 large enough for ten ; with no means of ventila- 

 tion, and with the hot steam from the manure, 

 &c„ making the atmosphere entirely unfit for any 

 animal to breathe ; in other places, Ave have seen 

 valuable horses kept in little sheds or out-build- 

 ings which aff'orded little warmth, and exposed 



on one side, each of AA'hich is four feet six inches 

 wide by nine feet deep, and thirteen stalls on the 

 other side, four feet wide by nine feet deep, Avith 

 one stall for sick or lame horses , six feet wide ; 

 all of them are floored with thick plank above the 

 other flooring. Behind the stalls is a groove cut 

 in the floor, Avhich receives all ths liquids, and 

 conveys them through holes to the gutters beloAv. 

 The open space or floor betAveen the backs of the 

 stalls is tAventy-thrce feet wide, by seventy-one 

 feet long, Avith Avindows at each end ; in the mid- 

 dle of the floor overhead, is a scuttle about tAvelve 

 feet wide, through which the light descends from 

 a windoAV in the roof of the same size. Along the 

 whole centre of this story is a large beam Avhich 

 has hooks on it close to the ceiling, Avhere each 

 harness is hung directly behind the horse to 

 which it belongs, and is high up as to be out 



