576 



NEW ENGLAND FAKMER. 



Dec. 



be educated for the business which he is to fol- 

 low, as for the merchant, lawyer or physician. 

 That unless he understands something of tne 

 laws of chemical action, of the physiology of an- 

 imals and plants, of the effects of heat and cold, 

 and moisture in his soils, and of the cost and 

 comparative value of his various crops, he can- 

 not reap those benefits from his efforts, that he 

 might if his labors were directed by a greater de- 

 gree of intelligence and skill. The domestic la- 

 bors of the farm, those of the house, are almost 

 materially relieved by various devices, thus giv- 

 ing both sexes more frequent opportunities for 

 leisure, recreation and study, than before, and 

 consequently of adding essentially to the sum of 

 human happiness. 



It has been a year of general prosperity to 

 most of us in an avocation surrounded with 

 more charms, we believe, than most others pos- 

 sess — we hope it has in that higher advance- 

 ment, without which our worldly effects are of 

 little account. For if our labors and aspirations 

 are rightly directed, 



"We cannot toil in rain ; 



Cold, heat, and moist and dry 

 Shall foster and mature the grain 



For garners in the sky." 



Let our hearts rise to Heaven with profound 

 gratitude and thanksgiving, for the blessing that 

 we enjoy in the occupation of the soil, for abun- 

 dant harvests, for association and opportunities 

 of improvement, and for that general advance- 

 ment in education and the arts of peace which 

 tend to elevate and adorn our race. 



And now, while the last sands of the Year are 

 ebbing, we can only pause to say to the tiller of 

 the soil that our earnest sympathies are with him 

 and his household in all the departments of his 

 labor ; that his interests are our care, and that 

 the sympathy and good fellowship which has ex- 

 isted through so many years between reader and 

 writer, shall be sustained on our part by a sin- 

 cere devotion to the cause in which we are mu- 

 tually engaged. 



PBOSPECTS. 



We have very little to say in regard to theyw- 

 ture, in relation to the Farmer Its present pros- 

 pects are fair and encouraging, and it is steadily 

 finding its way into new homes and around new 

 fire-sides, where it has never penetrated before. 

 The efforts of Publisher and Editors will constant- 

 ly be devoted to the same end, viz., to make both 

 the Weekly and Monthly paper, the medium of 

 useful hioicledge, so that the reader shall be ac- 

 tually benefited by its perusal, to a detrree al- 

 tQg<ether dispE.oportionate to its cost. We are 

 enabled to print a cheap paper by distributing 



large numbers, and the larger that number is, 

 the more valuable may the paper be made. 



We propose no material change for the future ; 

 but to improve, if we can, both in matter and 

 style ; shall introduce some new illustrations of 

 houses, barns, fruits, flowers, machines, imple- 

 ments, and stock, and record whatever may come 

 to our knowledge that is new, if it promises to be 

 useful to the reader. 



We believe in progress ; that the world is not 

 yet half as wise as it may be, and as by wisely 

 directed efforts, it certainiij will be. It becomes 

 all to watch, and wait, and hold fast to that 

 which is good, until something is found that is 

 better, and then to hold on to the better. 



We shall try, on our part, to amble along with 

 the reader at an easy gait, by growing fields and 

 plashing waters, or wherever fruits or flowers 

 or forests and cooling shades attract and instruct ; 

 or if the paths of science allure, we shall not fear 

 to travel in their light, and shall find pleasure 

 and profit, both to the reader and ourselves, in 

 ambling along where they may lead. 



In the future we look to make many new ac- 

 quaintances among our readers, as we have dona 

 the past year, and in mingling with them have 

 found new sources of enjoyment, and new means 

 of adding to the value of the Farmer. Our in- 

 terest in the cause of agriculture can scarcely be 

 increased. That love for the farm, and. for rural 

 life which sprang up in our bosom in boyhood, 

 has never been dimmed by circumstances or 

 time, — and the glorious manifestations of Deity 

 which ever surround the farmer in so many va- 

 ried and beautiful forms, still allure us with mild 

 and steady light, to spend as much of life as pos- 

 sible on the farm. 



The liberality, as well as the interest of the 

 Publisher, will prompt him to spare no pains to 

 give the Farmer all that practical value which 

 the cultivator of the soil needs, — while the am- 

 ple means which he has secured by a life of ener- 

 gy and industry, will enable him to secure all the 

 advantages for his publication that any can com- 

 mand. 



So we part with the Old Year without any re- 

 grets that it is gone, and enter upon the New 

 Year, with cheerful hopes of being useful to the 

 world yet a little longer. 



A New Axle-Grease. — We are most kindly 

 disposed to our friends, Messrs. Hucks & Lam- 

 bert, who have made the best axle-grease in the 

 world ; but we only wish to hint that castor-oil 

 is one of the best articles for wheel grease in its 

 pure state ; it will last long and operate most re- 

 markably. Let it be tried, and then raise the 

 castor oil bean and make our own axle-grease. — 

 Cal. Farmer. 



