NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



5J 



more suited to undergo the necessary secretions of 

 the body. • 



The art of preserving health and obtaining long 

 life, consists in the use of a moderate quantity of 

 such diet, as shall neither increase the salts and oils 

 so as to produce tliscase, nor diminish them, so as to 

 suffer the solids to become relaxed. 



It is very difficult, almost impossible, to ascertain 

 what arc the predominant qualities either in our 

 bodies or in the food we eat. In practice, therefore, 

 we can have no other rule but observing by expe- 

 rience what it is that hurts or does us good, and what 

 it is our stomachs can digest with facility, or the 

 contrary. 



The eating too little is hurtful, as well as eating 

 too much. Neither excess, nor any thing else that 

 jiasses the bounds of nature, can be good to man. 



By loading the stomach, fermentation is checked, 

 and of course digestion impeded; for the natural 

 juice of the stomach has not room to exert itself, and 

 it therefore nauseates its contents, is troubled with 

 eructations, the spirits are opjjressed, obstructions 

 ensue, and fever is the consequence. Eesides that, 

 when thus overfilled, the stomach presses on the 

 diaphragm, prevents the pi'opcr play of the lungs, 

 and occasions uneasiness in our breathing. Ilcnce 

 arise various ill symptoms and depraved effects, 

 enervating the strength, decajing the senses, hasten- 

 ing old age, and shortening life. Though those 

 effects are not immediately perceived, yet they are 

 certain effects of intemperance ; for it has been 

 generally observed in great eaters, that though from 

 custom, a state of youth, and a strong constitution, 

 thej- have no present inconvenience, but have digested 

 their food, suffered surfeit, and borne their iniuiod- 

 crate diet well, if they have not been unexpectedly 

 cut off, they have found the symptoms of old age 

 come on early in hie, attended with pains and innu- 

 nierable disorders. 



If we value our health, we must ever make it a 

 rule not to eat to satiety or fulness, but desist while 

 the stomach feels quite easy. Thus we shall be 

 refreshed, light, and cheerful ; not dull, heavy, or 

 indisposed. Should we be tempted to eat too much 

 at one time, we should eat the less at another. Thus, 

 if our dinner has been larger than usual, let our 

 supper be less, or rather, (juite omitted ; for there is 

 no man, however careful of his health, who does not 

 occasionally transgress in tliis way. — Svlcctud, 



itlcdjauics' Pcpiirtmcnt, ^rts, $^c. 



Purifying Feathers. — The London Journal gives 

 the following process by which feathers may be puri- 

 fied:— 



The feathers are first placed in what is tenned a 

 steam-cistern — a chamber of iron, having its floor 

 formed of perforated metal, through which a current 

 of air is made to enter with considerable force, to fill 

 every portion of the cistern, and thoroughly saturate 

 the mass which it contains. This continues for some 

 time, the effect upon the feathers being analogous to 

 that produced on metallic substances when exposed 

 to the red heat of a furnace. Every particle of animal 

 matter they contain is fused and driven off, being carried 

 away by the steam as it rushes through the mass and 

 escapes by an aperture for the jnirpose in the roof of the 

 cistern. The feathers, now of course in a damp state, 

 arc next placed in a large, hollow cylinder of iron, into 

 which, by means of a blowing machine, is carried a 

 rapid current of air, heatcil by a furnace to a temperature 

 of three hundred degrees. This, like the first cylin- 

 der, contains a revolving instrument of iron, but 

 having arnw, or bars of iron ; and thc-ic, driven at a 



great velocity, passing through and through the mass, 

 thoroughly separate it, and keep the feathers con- 

 stantly in motion ; thus allowing the current of hot 

 and dr\-ing air to penetrate them freely, and effectu- 

 ally separating every fibre of them, while through 

 a floor of wire work passes away a large quantity of 

 dust and refuse, which must be disengaged. Lastly, 

 the feathers are placed in a hollow cylinder of per- 

 forated metal, in which revolves a " fan," composed 

 of four plates of inctul, fixed at equal distances from 

 each other, into a horizontal bar. This is driven with 

 immense velocity, making about nine hundred revo- 

 lutions in a minute, and carrying round the feathers 

 with it, the dust not already removed in the drying 

 eyUnder is separated by the powerful current of air 

 which is driven through them, and passing the per- 

 forations of the cylinder, is carried away by a drain 

 beneath. By this means the feathers are rendered 

 perfectly sweet, pure, and dry. 



Cast Iron Furniture. — Our exchange papers arc 

 continually bringing to our notice some new article 

 of furniture, or implement used in husbandry, or in 

 the arts, which is now made of ca$t iron. Hat racks, 

 an indispensable requisite for the halls of genteel 

 residences, have been, until lately, constructed en- 

 tirely of wood ; elegant ones are now made of east 

 iron. Wood has heretofore been the only material 

 used in the construction of bedsteads ; elegant ones, 

 and cheap ones too, are now made of cast iron. 

 Fence posts and the connecting rails are cast almost 

 or quite as cheap as they can be spht from tke tree ; 

 and sheet iron will make the slats for a picket fence ! 

 Good cast iron bedsteads are furnished in our eastern 

 cities for $15 to $20 each. 



From the Transactions of the Essex Agricultural Society. 

 DAIRY MANAGEMENT. 



[concluded from page 39.] 

 A neighbor's statement. 



The following letter, from a son of Essex, whoso 

 dairy products, the present season, have commanded 

 the first premium in a neighboring county, will com- 

 mend itself to favor — although the diifidence of the 

 author will not suffer his name to be used : — 



My dil,\.r Sir : I have twelve cows, mostly of the 

 common native stock. There are among them, how- 

 ever, twins, said by the late Elias Phimiey, Esq., to 

 be of the Swinlcy, Ayrshire breed, and one of the 

 North Devon breed. Three are old cows, two are 

 heifers, one of which is just three years old, and has 

 raised one calf last )car, and one tliis ; the other is 

 two years old, and made, the second week in Septem- 

 ber, five and a half i)ounds of butter. These heifers 

 were raised upon my own farm. The fiz'st was taken 

 from the cow when five weeks old, and fed imme- 

 diately upon hay and water, without ever being 

 taught to drink milk, or in any way changing her 

 food, except by the addition of roots occasionally, 

 nntU. the next summer, when she was sent to pasture. 

 Her first calf was dropped when she was twenty-two 

 months old. The other heifer was taken from the 

 cow when five weeks old, and sent immediately to 

 pasture. The calves of both are now in pasture, and 

 promise well under similar treatment. 



From the 20th of May to the 10th of August, six 

 cows were pastured at home and millied. One of 

 these calved early in December, and one in January 

 last. Since that time, three more have been added 

 to the number kept at home, and three remain dry, 

 at pasture, away from home. They all have good 

 pasture, and an ami>lc supply of running water. 



