1858. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



in 



pretty wife languishes, and finally dies, from too 

 much care and labor ? 



You wish to know if I would advise one to re- 

 main u])on a farm where household duties tax the 

 female strength beyond its powers of endurance ? 

 No ! unless you are able yourself to alleviate 

 them of their taxation, and make your home to 

 "bud and blossom as the rose," as it will be your 

 duty to do, wherever you do locate. If it is im- 

 possible to remain upon the old farm, and with 

 the "old man," j-emaiii on some farm. Perhaps 

 you have more "momoits" and better '^ineans" 

 for study on the farm than you would have in 

 many sedentary occupations. You have a life- 

 time before you, and if you are on the farm you 

 have hows and days that you might occupy,which, 

 perhaps, are devoted to pleasure or idleness. 



Young men generally wish to be something 

 that they cannot. They want to get a "finished 

 education," in a very short period ; they want to 



fet married before the "colt" is old enough to 

 rive, they want to get rich, and be elected to 

 Congress,,before they leave the common district 

 school. In fact, in the present age, they are 

 born, live, and die, in a hurry. They cannot wait 

 for nature's developments. 



You have difficulties, no doubt, and so have I, 

 and so has each one of us. Perhaps you and I 

 have much more serious obstacles to overcome 

 than do many others. 



In conclusion, I must say, that the fai'm is the 

 place, in general, for youth ; and for the "old 

 man," if possible. F. V. Powers. 



Waterford, Vt. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 VEGETATION IN CALIFORNIA. 



I see many accounts of the enormous size of 

 vegetables grown in California, which would 

 seem almost incredible were they not authentica- 

 ted by many witnesses beyond all doubt. A few 

 specimens may be given for comparison with the 

 same species raised in this region. 



At a meeting of the Farmer's Club at the rooms 

 of the American Institute, New York, several 

 years since, two gentlemen who had recently re- 

 turned, made some statements in regard to the 

 size of vegetables grown there; for instance, 

 an onion weighing twenty-one pounds ; a tur- 

 nip one hundred pounds; a beet sixty-three; 

 carrot, forty ; a cabbage, seven feet in circumfer- 

 ence, weight fifty-six pounds ; and bunches of 

 grapes weighing from seven to ten pounds each. 

 These, it is true, are extraordinary specimens, 

 but the average size of vegetables far exceeds 

 any thing of the kind with which we are acquaint- 

 ed in this section. Every one is familiar with 

 the description of the groves of gigantic trees 

 found there, in comparison with which our larg- 

 est ones are mere walking sticks ; one called the 

 "father pine," which is dead and fallen, measures 

 four hundred feet in length, and one hundred 

 and ten in circumference ; two hundred and fifty 

 feet from the roots it is twelve feet in diameter ! 



There appears to be something peculiar to the 

 soil or climate of California which favors this 

 enormous growth of vegetation. An analysis of 

 the soil would, perhaps, reveal the secret ; some 

 powerful fertilizer might be discovered beneath 

 the surface which produces these astonishing re- 



sults. We have as rich soil in the Mississippi 

 Valley as can be found in the known world ; the 

 climate is also genial, and in some parts of It, 

 very warm, yet we have here none of these mon- 

 strous vegetables products which will compare 

 with the above-mentioned. We have gardens in 

 the vicinity of our Atlantic cities where all kinds 

 of fertilizers are employed, and the soil rendered 

 as rich as possible, yet vegetables never attain 

 these enormous proportions. It appears desira- 

 ble to ascertain the cause of the extraordinaiy 

 growth of plants on the Pacific slope, and it is 

 hoped some one competent to investigate the sub- 

 ject will enlighten the public in regard to it. 

 Leominster, Mass., 1858. O. V. Hill. 



For tlie Neic England Farmer. 



ORANGE COUNTY, N. Y., AND ITS 

 PRODUCTS. 



Mr. Editor : — Y''et among the Yorkers, (Dec. 

 23d,) I will again pick up the pen to put a few 

 thoughts on paper, for your use or disposal. In 

 the midst of so" many circumstances, both new 

 and novel, time has hurried along at an alarming 

 rate ; and I look with surprise at certain symp- 

 toms of the very near dying-day of our valuable 

 friend, the year 1857. With farmers and their 

 families, the seasons are more closely observed, 

 in their changes, than with other portions of our 

 common family. With them, festive seasons 

 come naturally, and each opening season is a new 

 play opened ; sometimes somewhat tragic ; never 

 greatly comic ; always, rightly received, interest- 

 ing and instructive. 



About a mile to the southwest of where I am 

 now writing, stands a large, white farm-house, 

 occupied by a Mr. Strong ; where the grandfa- 

 ther of the present occupant, "Capt. Strong," 

 was murdered by a band of Tories in time of the 

 Revolution. Capt. Strong was an active advo- 

 cate of the colonial cause ; and for this was mur- 

 dered in his own house. The one who, among 

 the band of Tories, was the positive slayer of 

 Capt. Strong, was a man by the name of Smith. 

 From all I can learn I suppose he was one of a 

 noted band of infidels and outlaws, who had 

 their head-quarters near the Hudson, and rejoiced 

 in acts of blasphemy, licentiousness and crime. 

 He, with others of the same sort, came to a short 

 corner in their career, by being legally elected 

 to "stretch hemp" from a scaffold ; Avhich office 

 they were obliged to fill. This was their refor- 

 mation, if they ever experienced any. We re- 

 joice not at the doom of the dead ; but it is law- 

 ful to rejoice for the safety and peace Avhich is 

 secured to the living. 



The farmers in this region are mostly what we 

 Yankees would be inclined to call large fanners. 

 It seems to be no great wonder for a man to have 

 six or seven hundred acres of land. There are 

 some small farms. The population is by no 

 means dense, although it is more so along the 

 line of railroads. 



The people are mostly church-goers, and even 

 their horses want to "go to meeting." A circum- 

 stance was told me a day or two since, of an aged 

 man by the name of Decker, — who had long been 

 a constant attendant at the Presbyterian church of 

 Blooming Grove, — and his horse. Mr. Decker 

 became old, and being too unwell to attend church 



