18C9. 



NEW ENGLAOT) FAEMER. 



559 



avail himself of any peculiar advantage of his 

 soil or location and select the kind of crop he 

 chooses. Thus the farmers in the interior of 

 New York, in the Seneca Lake country, and 

 on the shores and islands of Lake Erie have 

 special advantages both of soil and tempera- 

 ture for the culture of grapes. The farmers 

 fifty or one hundred miles from the city, in the 

 towns nestled in the sunny nooks on the banks 

 of the North river, ship their thousands of bas- 

 kets of raspberries and bbckberries daily to 

 market. They are no longer confined to staple 

 crops, but may consult the capabilities of their 

 soil or their ta'stes. They can command the 

 use of artiiicial manures of various kinds, 

 adapted to the crops they cultivate. 



The facilities of steam transportation are rap- 

 idly extending the use of agricultural machin- 

 ery. Improvements in agriculture within the 

 few years past have been greatly due to the 

 use of machinery. Machines are generally 

 bulky and heavy, and their cheap transporta- 

 tion has greatly increased their use. Compe- 

 tition and steam are placing them within the 

 reach of small fiirmers in every part of the 

 country. 



There are many other respects in wi ich the 

 use of steam is influencing tlse operations of 

 farming, but we have already so extended our 

 remarks that we will mention but one, and that 

 is the extension of improved stock of all kinds 



since it required weeks of time, and much ex- 

 pense, to drive a few animals to a State Exhi- 

 bition or to a distant section of the country. 

 Now the annual sales of the breeders of pure 

 blooded Short-horns or Alderneys are attended 

 by breeders from distant States, and theii pur- 

 chases are rapidly and safely transported to 

 their homes. Horses and sheep from Ver- 

 mont are conveyed to the prairies of the West, 

 and to the plains of Texas, and animals with 

 irreproachable pedigrees are found beyond the 

 Mississippi, and the whole stock of the coun- 

 try is undergoing a rapid amelioration. Suf- 

 folks and Chester Whites are sent from Mas- 

 sachuset's to Mississippi. Thus, whatever 

 good qualities are possessed by any variety of 

 stock imported or raised in the country are 

 soon shared by all, and the facilities for trans- 

 porting beef, mutton, pork and veal to market 

 enable the breeders to realize a profit from 



tages to agriculture, the internaticnal com- 

 merce thus produced, serves to unite the peo- 

 ple of distant secti- ns, and to nationalize their 

 interests and feelings. 



AMERICAN IKSTlTaTE PAIR. 

 The managers of the American Ins-titute 

 (New York) exhibition, it will he remembered, 

 made provision for a show of the wool from 

 the sheep of the farmers of the whole country, 

 and invited them to send in samples of fine 

 and coarse, of light and heavj% of short and 

 long wool. We have seen but few notices of 

 this part of the show, and do not know how 

 generally wool growers have exhibited their 

 productions. We fear, however, that the dis- 

 play is not very creditable to this important in- 

 dustry. The Em-al New Yorker has a notice 

 of the exhibition, which occupies over a 

 column, without a single reference to the 

 wool department. In relation to manufac- 

 tured goods it says : — 



Walk along these pyramids of woolen, cotton 

 and silk goods. Feel their texture. Listen to 

 those who talk of them. What do you hear? 

 "This sample is very nice." And ti-.at is all ! 

 They thank no one that our own wool, grown 

 upon our own sheep, the product of our own 

 grass and corn, is spun, colored and woven in our 

 own mills, by machinery mnde from our own iron 

 and steel by Americans who invented it! And 

 yet it is just the Jcs.-on this exhibition is intended 

 to teach, rnd these the fa'^ts it is fle^icned to em- 

 phasize ! Import goods! No, sir! Import men 



and skill, rather, to consume in skilful manipula- 

 ^, I i. .1 i. " T^ ■ 1 ■ r lion what our farms, flocks, herds, mines, forests 



throughout the country. It is but a tew years , and quarries produce, and prepare the same for our 



consumption, thus keeping our own wealth circu- 

 lating in our own country, and f xp Tting only ar- 

 ticles upon which no more of our own well com- 

 pensated labor can be expended. 



DIVERSIFIED AGHICtTIiTURdJ. 



At the north, farmers have long practiced a 

 system of mixed husbandry, believing that as 

 f;ir as possible the productions of the farm 

 should supply the wants of the family cf the 

 owner. Hence stock and grain, butter and 

 cheese, fruit and vegetables are among the 

 products of nearly every New England farm, 

 whether embracing fifty acres or several hun- 

 dred. But of late some of our agticultural 

 teachers recommend more attention to special- 

 ties. At the Sou h, however, where special 

 crops have long been the rule, and diversified 

 farming the exception, public opinion is set- 

 ting strongly against the old practice. Not- 



withstanding that in several kinds of crops, 

 their sale. In addition to these direct advan- j farmers there have enjoyed the advantages of 



