44 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Jan. 



so little attention, from the present generation of 

 feminines ? There are probably twenty embroid- 

 ered skirts and collars exhibited to one pair of 

 stockings. We need to refoi'm, as well as retrench. 

 Ornament can never take the place of use, much 

 less with safety precede it. 



At 2 P. M. I listened to an address from M. 

 B. Whitney, Esq., in the old Congregational 

 church. His subject was, "The progress and de- 

 mands of Agriculture." He traced the progress 

 of this art, from Eden to Massachusetts, and 

 from the days of Adam, down to that of the Fow- 

 lers and Taylors, oi fat cattle notoriety in West- 

 field. He affirmed agriculture to be the pioneer 

 of civilization, and the farmer to be the equal of 

 any class in the Avorld. He ridiculed the idea 

 that there was any "dignity in labor." Mind dig- 

 nifies labor. Physical strength, said he, is not 

 the only requisite of a farmer. Agriculture can 

 make no progress without science. Agricultural 

 schools are as neccessary for girls as boys. Be- 

 cause there are no fixed rules in farming, rigid, 

 systematic experiment should be the basis of all 

 advice. Few farmers can tell the cost of raising 

 stock, grain, &c. Such ignorance Avould bankrupt 

 any other profession in the world, and yet far- 

 mers are little harmed by the present financial 

 storm. 



In concluding, he exhorted the farmers to rise 

 to higher efforts, and to awake to their rights and 

 duties. The whole address was replete with pas- 

 sages of beauty and sound common sense. It was 

 well delivered, and listened to, and the youthful 

 orator must have won golden opinions from most 

 of his audience. We came away, with a higher 

 regard for the farmer's vocation, and an inward 

 resolve to do something for the great cause of 

 agriculture. J, N. Bagg. 



West Springfield, Nov. 14, 1857. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 MANAGEMENT OF YOUNG COLTS. 



Mr. Editor : — I have not raised a great many 

 colts, but think I know how they should be man- 

 aged, while young and growing. I will say to 

 Mr. Gray, of Brattleboro', Vt., that if I had a 

 colt one year old that bid fair to make a horse 

 ■worth one, two or five hundred dollars, I would 

 give him a stable at night ten feet square, by 

 himself, keep it well littered with sawdust, fine 

 shavings or straw. I would not have him stand 

 on anything wet, and would feed him all the hay, 

 (good clean_ hay.) that he would cat, and feed 

 him something besides every day ; say carrots 

 cut up fine, with a little Indian meal mixed with 

 them, or a quart or two of oats, well soaked. If 

 carrots are not at hand, potatoes will do. If I 

 intended to keep him for my own use, I would 

 teach him to eat almost everything, such as som- 

 milk, good hog swill aud pumpkins. I would 

 not break him to do all these ; but I would teach 

 him, caress him, make him think, if possible, 

 that I was his \>es,t friend. 



Colts want exercise, and should have a warm 

 yard to run in all the pleasant days, but not in 

 the mud, or with horned cattle. A blanket is sel- 

 dom necessary. 



Mr. Gray inquires : "when should he be broke ?" 

 I say never, never ! Teach him as much as you 



can, but don't break him ! that is all out of fash- 

 ion. Teach him to do as you tell him, to come 

 and go at your will ; make a particular friend of 

 him, and you may use him at any age you please, 

 but be careful not to use him hard or badly. Cat- 

 tle may be used at the age of two years, as well as 

 boys at seven or eight ; and when he is two, three or 

 four years old, a few days before you wish to use him, 

 put on the hamcs, put him in the thills, and let him 

 stand several hours ; stay by him, fondle him all 

 over, lead him about and call him some name. 

 Do this for a few days, and the first time you 

 hitch him to a buggy, he will go as you tell him. 

 When he will go well before a carriage, then put 

 on the martingales, and a check, if he does not 

 carry his head to please ; by degress draw his 

 head as you wish to have him carry it, and in a 

 short time it will become a habit that can easily 

 be retained. The time was, and is now, in some 

 places, when every one thought a colt must be 

 bitted ; that is, put a great strong bit in his mouth, 

 and draw his head into the breast, and have him 

 throw himself down, while a cart whip was lace- 

 rating his sides, all of which is just the thing to 

 spoil a colt. I say never bit or break a colt, nor 

 burn the hampers. G. V. 



Plainfield, Mass., 1857. 



For the New England Farmer. 



SWITZERLAND. 

 LETTER FROM MR. FRENCH. 



My Dear Brown: — From Lucerne, where 

 you last had accounts of me, we went by rail 

 and diligence to Berne, about one hundred miles. 

 Berne is said to mean bear, in some language or 

 other, and a bear forms the armorial hearings, 

 (excuse the pun, unperceived until the word was 

 written,) of the city; and to keep up the idea, sis 

 live bears are kept at the city's expense in a stone 

 den, built at considerable cost outside the gates, 

 and figures of bears, carved in wood, formed in 

 plaster and cast in iron, abound in all the shops. 

 At one of the numerous fountains which embel- 

 lish the city, a huge iron bear reposes at each 

 corner, and as I passed in the morning, some lit- 

 tle girls were amusing themselves by washing the 

 bears' feet. The town clock is reckoned a great 

 curiosity. We went to see it strike, and saw the 

 figures of bears which decorate it, wag their 

 heads. There is also a figure of a King, who 

 opens his mouth, and a cock that crows when the 

 clock strikes twelve. 



The city is built in a manner quite peculiar, the 

 sidewalks being under arches, the houses project- 

 ing overhead, so that you may go over the whole 

 city in any weather unexposed to rain or sun, ex- 

 cept in crossing the streets. Seeing a notice of 

 an "Exposition of Industry," we embraced the 

 opportunity to see something of the mechanical 

 skill of the Swiss. We found the exhibition ar- 

 ranged with much taste, and of a character to do 

 credit to any country. There were iron castings 



