1858. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



267 



For the New England Farmer. 

 HOW TO PREVENT HARD TIMES. 



In the year 1832, when the cholera first reached 

 Boston, many were alarmed, and suddenly cried 

 out, as in days of old, "What shall we do to be 

 saved" from the jaws of this monster disease ? 

 My reply usually was, "You should have asked 

 this question many years ago." So with regard to 

 the present wide-spread and increasingly alarm- 

 ing pecuniary distress. To those who cry out in 

 the intensest mental agony, "What shall we do ?" 

 I usually reply, "You ought to have asked this 

 question, with solicitude, many years ago." 

 Young men, above all others, at their first set- 

 ting out on the journej' of life, should both ask, 

 and find a reply to this question. 



It may not be useless to present a list of cases 

 of young men who early pursued an anti-hard- 

 times course, and lived to reap the full benefit of 

 it. Although I suppress their names and place 

 of residence, the reader may be well assured they 

 are real cases, and not only 7-eal, but living ones. 



S D., of N., in Mass., when, at the age 



of twenty-one, he was fairly released from the pa- 

 ternal farm, hired out to a neighboring farmer 

 two years, at twelve dollars a month and board, 

 of which he saved, besides clothing himself, two 

 hundred dollars. His wages, under a new em- 

 ployer, were now raised to fifteen dollars a month 

 or one hundred and eighty dollars a year, of 

 which he laid up one hundred and fifty. 



A. G. L., of W., in Conn., after reaching the 

 age of twenty-one, labored a long time for sev- 

 entj^-five dollars a year and his board ; of which 

 he laid up fifty. It must, however, be admitted 

 that he had some mending done for him by his 

 friends, gratuitously. 



Mr. T., of L., in Mass., after the age of 



six years, wholly sustained himself by the avails 

 of his own labor, with the exception of twenty 

 dollars. It may also be added that from the age 

 of six to fifteen, he subsisted on brown bread 

 and milk. 



W. A. W., of W., in Conn., at the age of twen- 

 ty-two, had remunerated his parents for all the 

 expense to which, in the progress of his bringing 

 up, both early and late, he had been subjected. 



All these individuals are, at present, men of 

 decent property, good standing, and respectable 

 character, and in most respects beyond the reach 

 of hard times. Thousands of young men among 

 us may learn a lesson from them and "go and 

 do likewise." It may not, kideed, be necessary 

 or even practicable for young men to clothe them- 

 selves for twenty-five or thirty dollars a year ; 

 but with their increased wages they may econo- 

 mize in the same proportion. If with one hun- 

 dred and forty-four dollars a year, Mr. Y>. could 

 lay up one hundred dollars, he who now receives 

 two hundred and sixteen can lay up one hund- 

 red and fifty. And the yovmg man who will do 

 this, will be wise and economical in other mat- 

 ters ; and will be duly fortified against hard 

 times. AV. A. A. 



Will Underdraixing Pay ? — This depends 

 on circumstances. If good naturally underdrain- 

 ed land can be obtained in your neighborhood for 

 from $15 to $20 per acre, it would not pay, in all 

 probability, to expend $30 per acre in under- 



draining low, wet or springy land ; but in all dis- 

 tricts where land is worth $50 per acre, nothing 

 can pay better than to expend from $20 to $30 

 per acre injudicious underdraining. The labor 

 of cultivation is much reduced, while the produce 

 is generally increased one-half, and is not unfre- 

 quently doubled ; and it must he remembered that 

 the increase is net jirofit. If we get $15 worth of 

 wheat from one acre and $20 Avorth from the oth- 

 er, and the expense of cultivation is $10 in both 

 cases, the profit from the one is twice as much as 

 from the other. That judicious underdraining 

 will increase the crops one-third cannot be doubted 

 by any one who has witnessed its effects. If it 

 should double the crops, as it often does, the 

 profit Avould be four-fold. — Genesee Farmer. 



EXTKACTS AND REPLIES. 



A BUTTER COW — 100 POUNDS PER MONTH ! 



A reliable gentleman, residing in Dedhani, 

 Mass, informs me that he is owner of an import- 

 ed Alderney cow, from which he can make one 

 hundred pounds of butter per month, for three 

 months — May, June and Julj\ Is it possible ? 

 — and what is the fair product of what is styled 

 a good cow? 



The above cow cost $400. G. M. L. 



Boston, April, 1858. 



Remarks. — About twenty-one pounds pei 

 week ! Yes, it is possible, but without ocular 

 demonstration, the statement would be hard to 

 believe. A cow that will yield ten pounds of but- 

 ter a week Is a "good cow ;" one that yields j^f- 

 tan pounds a week is an extraordinary cow, — 

 and one that yields twenty-one pounds per week, 

 for thirteen weeks in succession, is such a cow as 

 few people have yet seen. 



DORKING EGGS. 



Will you inform me where I can obtain the 

 eggs of the pure White Dorking fowl ? and also 

 if the latter will mix if allowed to run with hens, 

 (hens only) of another breed ? G. 



Auburn, N. II., April 14. 



Remarks. — The eggs may be procured at 

 Mann's, Court Square, Boston, at 50 cts. per doz- 

 en. There can be no mixture under the circum- 

 stances you describe. 



THE QUICKEST TIME SHQEING HORSES EVER 

 KNOWN. 



Mr. H. J. Batchelder, of this town, set two 

 shoes, after the feet were fitted, drove eight nails 

 in each shoe, and finished them up in two minutes, 

 fifty-five seconds ! Also, he took off two shoes 

 and pared the foot, set on the shoes and finished 

 them up in a workmanlike manner, in six min- 

 utes ! 



Mr. Bachelder served his apprenticeship in 

 this State and Massachusetts, spent the last two 

 years in West Fairlee, Vt., and is now employed 

 by Amos Morrill, of this town, where any person 

 who will favor him with a call can get as good 

 shoeing done as can be found in the world. 



Strafford, Vt., 1858. Sound Foot. 



