1858. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



239 



THE PHILOSOPHY OF BATHING. 



Once a week is ofien enough for a decent white 

 man to wash himself all over ; and whether jn 

 summer or winter, that ought to be done with 

 soap, warm water and a hog's-hair brush, in a 

 room showing at least 70'^ Fahrenheit. 



Baths should be taken early in the mornin 

 for it is then that the system possesses the power 

 of re-action in the highest degree. Any kind of 

 bath is dangerous soon after a meal, or soon after 

 fatiguing exercise. No man or woman should 

 take a bath at the close of the day, unless by the 

 advice of the family physician. Many a man, in 

 attempting to cheat his doctor out of a fee, has 

 cheated himself out of his life ; aye, it is heed- 

 less and carelessly done every day. 



The best, safest, cheapest and most universally 

 accessible mode of keeping the surface of the 

 '"ody clean, besides the once a week washing with 

 soap and warm water, is as follows : 



As soon as you get out of bed in the morning, 

 wash your fiice, hands, neck and breast ; then, in 

 the same basin of Avater, init your feet at once 

 for about a minute, rubbing them briskly all the 

 time ; then with the towel which has been damp- 

 ened by wiping the face, etc., wipe the entire body 

 well, fast and hard — the mouth shut, lungs in- 

 flated, breast projecting. Let the Avhole thing be 

 done quick — say within five minutes. 



At night, when you go to bed, and if you get 

 out of bed during the night, or Avhen you find 

 yourself wakeful or restless, spend from two to 

 five minutes in rubbing your whole body with 

 your hands, as far as you can reach in every di- 

 rection. This has a tendency to preserve that 

 softness and mobility of skin which is essential 

 to health, and which too frequent washings will 

 destroy. 



That precautions are necessary In connexion 

 with the bath-room, is impressively signified in 

 the death of an American lady of refinement and 

 position, lately, after taking a bath soon after 

 dinner ; of Surgeon Hume, while alone, in a warm 

 bath, and of an eminent New Yorker, under sim- 

 ilar circumstances, all within a year. — Hall's 

 Journal of Health. 



For the New England Farmer. 



SPUING AND THE BIRDS. 



How many grand intentions had the Supreme 

 Author of nature in vicM' when He created the 

 creatures and things that people and comprise 

 the great universe. Among the many things 

 given to cheer the heart of man, let us notice the 

 birds whose language is for the most part ex- 

 ceedingly musical ; tranquillizing, rather than 

 disturbing, our feelings, and I might add, spirit- 

 ualizing them, as we behold the return of pleas- 

 ure and plenteousness that surround us. In the 

 spring-season of praise what harmony and con- 

 sistency there is in the general order of nature ; 

 at its first return, some fearless little songster 

 announces it as the morning of the year, and as 

 it advances, what feelings of inspiring pleasure it 

 excites. The woods put forth their green leaves, 

 the orchards their fragrant blossoms, and the 

 earth its flowers, while one by one, or pair by 

 pair, or in flocks, the birds arrive, filling the 

 great orchestra — arranging themselves in the 



groves, the thickets and the fields, as their habits 

 of life require ; everything appears beautiful, and 

 as the morning of each day breaks, the beauty of 

 the scene is heightened ; the lark rises in the first 

 feeble beams of morning twilight, and soars to 

 meet the coming sun, when, with o])en beak, he 

 proclaims the advent of a new-born day ; a thou- 

 sand warblers listen to the strain, and ere the 

 sun has made his appearance, every bush and 

 tree is vocal with the sweetest music, while the 

 vigorous song of the bob-o-link, the measured 

 and varied notes of the robin and cat-bird, ac- 

 company us through the day. 



Spring passes, — and summer begins with 

 scenes as strikingly illustrative. In this season 

 there is no want of the beautiful, the gentle, or 

 the lovely; the gaiety of forest, field and moun- 

 tain ; the mild sky without a cloud of storm, 

 breathes its soft winds, while the sun, with its 

 warm beams, puts the earth in its gayest attire ; 

 there is perfect consistency also in which nature 

 has directed the birds of song ; now, as though 

 it Avas contrived, the thrush takes the lead, whose 

 plaintive, mellow notes more sweetly accord with 

 the stillness of the morning and evening hour, 

 while the martin and the swallow, with their easy 

 flight and peculiarly delicate notes, cheer us 

 through the day. A. F. 



Danvers-port, April 5, 1858. 



For the Netc England Farmer. 

 PUMPKIN-SQUASHES ! 



Yf'ur correspondent "Essex," in the January 

 number of the Farmer, speaks of the vexed ques- 

 tion, "Will seeds taken from squashes yield pump- 

 kins, or vice versa ?" ]My opinion is they will 

 not. But seeds taken from either may produce 

 what are called in these j^arts Fumjjkin- Squash- 

 es! 



In the year 1856, I raised two of the finest 

 pumpkins I ever saAV, of the old-fashioned corn- 

 field variety, from a vine which sprung up near, 

 and partly between my summer and winter 

 squashes, and also in the vicinity of some custard 

 squashes. I kept one of the pumpkins until the 

 20th of April, and on cutting it I found it so 

 firm, sweet and fine, that I saved all the seeds, 

 and last year planted them, and no others. From 

 those seeds I raised long-necked summer squash- 

 es, and custard squashes, apparently almost pure, 

 and nearly everything else in the shape of pump- 

 kin-squashes that can be imagined, but only two 

 pumpkins that would ever have been suspected 

 of having grown from the planted seeds, and 

 those, although they resembled the parent pump- 

 kin very closely, on being cut were found to be 

 almost too poor to feed to the catt'le, as was the 

 product of all those seeds wVJiout regard to its 

 outward appearance. 



I would like to ask you or any of your corres- 

 pondents to explain why mixing a good squash 

 and good pumpkin is sure to spoil both ? Who 

 ever saw a good pumpkin-squash? A. M. P. 



Elmioood, Cranston, March 1, 1858. 



Woodlands. — The careful attention of the 

 reader is called to the article on Woodlands, in 

 another column. 



