1858. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



395 



The Michigan or Double Eagle Plow, with its 

 skim sward mould-hoard and the large mould- 

 board, buries it so deep, leaving the furrow pul- 

 verized even, and in fit condition to plant corn — 

 is far ahead of the other good plows tliat turn a 

 solid slice furrow. Your readers will have ob- 

 served how quick twitch grass will start up be- 

 tween the furrows of the common plow, (yet I 

 should use it to bury Avhite weed if the other 

 could not be obtained,) but with the Double Ea- 

 gle, as I have seen it work, I can scarcely con- 

 ceive that even twitch grass could find its way 

 out, it is so thoroughly rolled over and packed 

 deep in the bottom of the furrow by the large 

 mould-board. 



Plowing, Mr. Editor, is a most significant 

 word, and is not strictly confined to the farmer, 

 nor to this first best implement of husbandry. 

 Politicians plow — the clergy plow — government 

 plows — (comment is unnecessary,) but the far- 

 mer knows the genuine plow, and its legitimate, 

 proper uses. All mankind should know it bet- 

 ter. It opens the way to seed time,and has pre- 

 pared us with refreshing harvest. 



I would say, plow deep on all soils. You may 

 not agree with me, but the roots of vegetable life 

 are always sinking and seeking for nourishment 

 and will surely find it. The deep-buried mould 

 in shallow lands would be more retentive of mois- 

 ture, less liable to be driven by fierce winds, less 

 acted upon by the scorching sun, and by continu- 

 ous plowing becomes a well incorporated depth 

 of soil. 



When a boy, my father cautioned me "not to 

 plow up the yellow dirt." I am now convinced 

 the "yellow dirt" should come vp and the soil go 

 doum with the manure. Evaporation is rapid on 

 such soil, and vegetable contact would make in- 

 creased growth and a more abundant harvest. 

 The farmer can easily test the principle. A little 

 more team will be required to plow eight to ten 

 inches deep than five to six inches. Surely, there 

 can be no danger in making the experiment. 

 Now is the time to sow grass seed. 



Brooklyn, Aug., 1858. H. Poor. 



HOW DBIVING AFFECTS THE MEAT OP 

 NEAT CATTLE. 



There is some excuse for the Western grazier's 

 preference for the Durhams, as they drove them 

 over the mountains. The fat of all cattle is the 

 first to run oif, ^the fine particles mixed through 

 the flesh of the first — the kidney being coated 

 over and more solid, holding out longer, and the 

 red meat being the last to fall. One accustomed 

 to driving, fattening and slaughtering, could de- 

 tect a drove of "drifted" cattle from those taken 

 fresh from the pastures, by seeing them pass on 

 yonder road, as well as the skilful butcher could 

 by handling them, and although the "drift" cat- 

 tle might have much more kidney tallow, the 

 meat would be as poor as wood ; and, instead of 

 being red, would be as blue as a whet-stone; 

 Avhilst those taken fresh from the pasture or stall, 

 if not so fat, would make more juicy, tender and 

 sweeter beef. If you see a lot of cattle in the 

 field or elsewhere, with good shoulders, or rath- 

 er what a butcher would term showing his shoul- 

 der to the ear, without any flank, rest assured 

 that they have been "drifted," or in some way in- 



judiciously handled for slaughtering ; for if there 

 is no flank, there is not much fat. A poor bul- 

 lock does not wear a, good shoulder longer thar. 

 to get rid of his fat, and the tenderest parts of 

 his flesh, and the neck and round would be the 

 only parts of such a bullock left for a steak. — 

 Major Didxiiisoii's Pen- Tan Address. 



THE FALLACY OF PBEMATUBB EDU- 

 CATION. 



When we are considering the health of children 

 it is imperative not to omit the importance of 

 keeping their brains fallow, as it were, for several 

 of tlie first years of their existence. The mischief 

 perpetrated by a contrary course, in the shape of 

 had health, peevish temper and develojjed vanity, is 

 incalculable. Some infant prodigy, which is a 

 standard of mischief throughout its neighbor- 

 hood, misleads them. But parents may be as- 

 sured that this early work is not by any means 

 all gain, even in the way of work. I suspect it 

 is a loss ; and that children who begin their edu- 

 cation late, as it would be called, will rapidly 

 overtake those who have been in harness long 

 before them. 



And what advantage can it be that a child 

 knows more at six years old than its compeers, 

 especially if this is to be gained by a sacrifice of 

 health, which may never be regained? There 

 may be some excuse for this early book-work in 

 the case of those children who are to live by 

 manual labor. It is worth while, perhaps, to run 

 the risk of some physical injury to them, having 

 only their early years in which we can teach them 

 book-knowledge. The chance of mischief, too, 

 will be less, being more likely to be counteracted 

 by their after life. But for a child who is to be 

 at book-work for the first twenty-one years of its 

 life, what folly it is to exhaust in the least its 

 mental energy, which, after all, is its surest im- 

 plement. 



A similar course of argument applies to taking 

 children early to church, and to over-developing 

 their minds in any way. There is no knowing, 

 moreover, the disgust and weariness that may 

 grow up in the minds of young persons from 

 their attention being prematurely claimed. 



Correct Speaking. — We advise all young 

 people to acquire in early life the habit of using 

 good language, both in speaking and writing, and 

 to abandon as early as possibly any use of slang 

 words and phrases. The longer they live, the 

 more diflScult the acquisition of good language 

 will be ; and if the golden age of youth, the 

 proper season for the acquisition of language, be 

 passed in its abuse, the unfortunate victim of ne- 

 glected education is, very probably, doomed to 

 talk slang for life. Money is not necessary to 

 procure this education. Every man has it in his 

 power. He has merely to use the language which 

 he reads, instead of the slang which he hears ; to 

 form his taste from the best speakers and poets 

 of the country ; to treasure up choice phrases in 

 his memory, and habituate himself to their use — 

 avoiding, at the same time, that pedantic pre- 

 cision and bombast which show rather the weak- 

 ness of a vain ambition than the polish of an 

 educated mind. — Star. 



