2oS 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



June 



ftre justly celebrated for speed, bottom and good 

 tem))er, and are eagerly sought after, command- 

 ing prices from $200 to $2,500, according to age. 



BEAUTIFUL HANDS. 



As a young friend was standing with us notic- 

 ing the pedestrians on the sidewalk, a very styl- 

 ish and elegant girl passed us. "What beautiful 

 hands Miss has !" exclaimed our friend. 



"What makes them beautiful?" 



"Why, they are small, white, soft and exquis- 

 itely shaped. The fingers taper down most deli- 

 cately, and there is a roseate blush on the finger- 

 nails that no artist could imitate." 



"Is that all that constitutes the beauty of the 

 hand? Is not something more to be included in 

 your catalogue of beauty which you have not 

 enumerated to make the hand desirable ?" 



"What more would you have ?" 



"Are they charitahle hands ? Have they ever 

 fed the poor ? Have they ever carried the ne- 

 cessities of life to the widow and the orphan ? 

 Has their soft touch ever soothed the irritation 

 of sickness, and calmed the agonies of pain? 

 Do the poor bless those rosy-tipped fingers as 

 their wants are supplied by them ? 



"Are they useful hands ? Have they been 

 taught that the world is not a plaj-ground, or a 

 theatre of display, or a mere lounging place ? 

 Do those delicate hands ever labor ? Are they 

 ever employed about the domestic duties of life 

 — the homely, ordinary employments of the house- 

 hold ? Or does the owner leave all that to her 

 mother, while she nourishes her delicate hands 

 in idleness ? 



"Are they modest hands ? Will they perform 

 their charities or their duties without vanity ? 

 Or do they pander to the pride of their owner 

 by their delicacy and beauty? Does she think 

 more of their display than of the improvement 

 of her intellect and character ? Had she rather 

 be called 'the girl with the beautiful hands' than 

 to receive any other praise for excellency of con- 

 duct or character ? 



"Are they htt.mhie hands? Will their owner 

 extend them to grasp the hard hand of that old 

 schoolfellow, who sat at the same desk with her 

 and on the same recitation bench, but who now 

 must earn her living by her labor ? Or Mill they 

 remain concealed, in their exclusiveness, in her 

 aristocratic muft', as she sweeps by her former 

 companion ? 



"Arc they religious hands ? Are they ever 

 clasped in prayer or elevated in praise ? Does 

 she remember the God who has made her to dif- 

 fer from so many of her sex, and devote her mind, 

 her heart, her hands, to his service ? Does she 

 try to imitate her Saviour by going about doing 

 good ? Or are her hands too delicate, too beau- 

 tiful to be employed in good works ? 



"These are qualities that make the hand a 

 beautiful one, in my estimation. There is an 

 amaranthine loveliness in such hands superior to 

 the tapering slenderness of the fingers or the ro- 

 seate hue of the nails." 



'•}'oh, poh, you treat this subject too seriously. 

 Besl'ies, you forget the most valuable ])articular 

 ir a » oung man like me. IVill she (■heerj'ulhj give 

 me luat liund to keepT' — Hartford Courant. 



For the New England Farvier. 

 HOW DEEP SHALL "WE PLOW? 



Who can answer this question ? the first that 

 arises on going into the field to cultivate. Shall 

 it be four or twelve inches deep ? or any inter- 

 mediate quantity ? It Avould seem, as all plants 

 that grow make use of twelve inches or more of 

 soil, that it should be stirred to this depth, if 

 practicable. The best cultivators I know, adopt 

 this practice. Those who plow less depth than 

 this have more regard to ease of labor than prof- 

 its of crops. I am quite well assured, that no 

 one can grow a fair crop of Indian corn, wheat 

 or barley, on shallow culture. Some are afraid 

 to start the hard pan or subsoil, through fear of 

 turning up a barren or unproductive substance. 

 This is because they do not understand their 

 business. The best way of guarding against 

 drought, the chief bugbear of New England cul- 

 ture, is to plow deep and fertilize liberally ; tak- 

 ing care to save manure from evaporation, by in- 

 termingling or covering it with soil. I am not 

 unmindful that no general rule can be prescribed 

 that will be suited to all soils and to all crops ; 

 but still I think there are some principles, which 

 are applicable, to some extent, to all crops. — 

 Among these, I believe, complete pulverizations 

 of the soil and complete intermingling of the 

 manure will be found conspicuous. I have never 

 known any crops to be prejudiced by this being 

 done ; but have often known them to suff"er for 

 the want of these operations. If cultivators 

 would be vigilant in thus applying their energies, 

 they would find their reward, in seasons of har- 

 vest. I have personal knowledge of a farm, 

 where the soil was considered very gravelly and 

 unproductive. On this farm, within ten years 

 last past, deep plowing, say from nine to twelve 

 inches, has generally been introduced. The con- 

 sequence has been, crops have been grown equal 

 to those on the best farms around. Whether 

 deep plowing was the cause or not, I will leave 

 for others to say. *»* 



April, 1858. 



Mr. Morrill's Land Bill. — The Washing- 

 ton correspondent of the Philadelphia Enquirer 

 says of the new bill giving lands to the States 

 for agricultural and mechanical j^urposes : 



"The entire amount ■thus given to the States 

 exceeds six millions of acres. Instead of being 

 apportioned according to the various areas in 

 acres or square miles, it is distributed on the ba- 

 sis of Congressional representation, allowing 

 20,000 acres for each Senator and Representative 

 in Congress. The result is that the largest States 

 sometimes gets the smallest quantity of land. 

 The distribution will be as follows : New York, 

 700,000 acres; Pennsylvania, 540,000; Ohio, 

 460,000; Virginia, 300,000; Massachusetts and 

 Indiana, 260,000 each ; Kentucky and Tennessee, 

 240,000 each ; Illinois, 220,000 ; North Carolina 

 and Georgia 200,000 each ; New Jersey and ]\Iis- 

 sissippi, 140,000 each ; Connecticut, Louisiana 

 and Michigan, 120,000 each ; New Hampshire, 

 Vermont and Wisconsin, 100,000 each ; Rhode 

 Island, Arkansas, Texas, Iowa and California, 

 80,000 each ; and Delaware and Florida, 60,000 

 each." 



