340 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



a large and very showy peach, though not of the 

 most choice and tasty kind, will become a very im- 

 portant article to cultivate. 



Others undoubtedly possess the same powers of 

 resistance to the predisposing cause ; and the observ- 

 ing and noticing those varieties will become ex- 

 tremely important in peach-growing districts. 



Tliis disease — if disease it may be called — has not 

 extended to the Jersey and Delaware orchards ; for 

 peaches are said to be so plenty in New York and 

 other seaboard towns, as not to bring the price of 

 cartage from the country to the city. 



Plums are almost a total failure, from the extreme 

 east to the west, in this latitude ; and we predict a 

 great crop next year, so far as the ravages of the cur- 

 culio will affect it, as they have not been able to 

 propagate their species, from the want of the proper 

 nidus for their eggs. — Rural New- Yorker. 



Remarks. — The above article, referring to West- 

 ern New York, shows very clearly that salt spray is 

 not a cause of the curl on the peach ; yet trees may 

 be more liable to injury from being near the sea, or 

 large bodies of fresh water, as from them storms may 

 bo more frequent and severe. It appears that the 

 Early Crawford peach escaped the curl in New York, 

 as M'cU as in this region, which confirms our views 

 as to its being hardy against this affection. — Ed. 



FRESH AIR. 



Man acts strangely. Although a current of fresh 

 air is the very life of his lungs, he seems inde- 

 fatigable in the exercise of his inventive powers to 

 deprive himself of this heavenly blessing. Thus he 

 carefully closes every cranny of his bed-chamber 

 against its entrance, and he prefers that his lungs 

 should receive the mixed effluvium from his cellar 

 and larder, and from a patent little modern aquarius 

 in lieu of it. Why should man be so terrified at the 

 admission of the night air into any of his apart- 

 ments ? It is nature's overflowing current, and 

 never carries the destroying angel with it. See how 

 Boundly the delicate wren and the tender little robin 

 sleep under its full and immediate influence ; and 

 how fresh, and vigorous, and joyous they rise amid 

 the surrounding dewdrops of the morning. Al- 

 though exposed all night long to the air of heaven, 

 their lungs are never out of order ; and this we know 

 by the daily repetition of their song. Look at the 

 newly-born bear, without any nest to go to. It lives 

 and thrives, and becomes strong and playful, under 

 the unmitigated inclemency of the falling dews of 

 the night. I have here a fine male turkey, full eight 

 years old, and he has not passed a single night in 

 shelter. lie roosts in a cherry-tree, and is always 

 in the priinest health the year throughout. Three 

 dunghill fowls, preferring this cherry-tree to the 

 warm ])erches in the hen-house, took up their airy 

 quarters with him early in October, and have never 

 since gone to any other roosting-place. 



The cow and the horse sleep safely on the cold, 

 damp ground, and the roebuck lies down to rest in 

 the heather, on the dewy mountain top. I myself 

 can sleep all night long, bareheaded, under the full 

 moon's watery beam, without any fear of danger, 

 and pass the day in wet shoes, -without catching cold. 

 Coughs and colds are generally caught in the transi- 

 tion from an overheated room to a cold apartment ; 

 but there would be no danger in this movement if 

 ventilation were attended to — a precaution little 

 thought of now-a-days. — Watterton's Essays on Nat- 

 wai Historij. 



RURAL ARCHITECTURE. 



"WTiat the farmer requires in erecting a domicile 

 which shall be the home of his future years, the 

 homestead around whose altar his affections shall 

 cling, and where he can retire after the busy, bus- 

 tling scenes of the world shall have been succeeded 

 by the calm, holy tranquillity of rjuiet eve, are, — 



First. Cheapness. Many opinions are entertained 

 by different architects as to which mode is cheap- 

 est. Some prefer frame houses, while others are 

 equally in favor of plank buildings, which require 

 less work to frame ; others differ as to the form of 

 building. While some prefer the winged story-and- 

 a-half cottage style, others show their preference in 

 building houses small on the ground, and of greater 

 height, say two or three stories ; others are equally 

 in love with the " octagon " form of building. How 

 much each of these forms deserves to be copied, we 

 proceed now to consider. 



The winged form of building is perhaps the most 

 in vogue at present, and perhaps no form can be 

 less deserving of imitation at the same time. Al- 

 though to eyes which profess to be tasty in this respect 

 the winged form may appear beautiful and conve- 

 nient, yet, upon consideration, no form appears more 

 absurd, or more at variance with the common law of 

 nature. Winged houses indeed look better than 

 winged apples or pumpkins probably would ; yet 

 when we consider that the form which will contain 

 the most room, at the same time that it occupies the 

 least outside space, is better in this respect, we must 

 acknowledge that square houses are preferable to 

 winged ones, and, on the same principle, that octa- 

 gons are preferable to squares. Mathematics teaches 

 us that a spherical surface encloses more than any 

 other shape in proportion, and evcry-day experience 

 likewise teaches us that this is one great end secured 

 by nature in the rounding shapes of fruits, grains, &c. 



Second. Durability is another great object to be 

 desired. Now, the form which will best withstand 

 the storms and tempests of winter, and best ward off 

 the merciless peltings of our northern rains, is the 

 most durable, as it will prevent houses from going 

 into premature decay. Here nature again is our 

 monitor, and teaches us that the spherical form ex- 

 ceeds every other for warding ofi' the extremes of 

 boisterous weather. 



Third. Convenience. Too many of our farmers, 

 in building, set aside their own better judgment, and 

 listen to the advice of self-interested architects, whose 

 main object in recommending .such and such plans is 

 to replenish their own purses at the expense of tneir 

 employers. Now, in presenting this hasty sketch to 

 the public, we do it with the desire of obtaining 

 information on the subject of building. Should any 

 of your correspondents or readers feel a desire to en- 

 lighten me on the subject, the information will be 

 thankfully received. They cannot fail to perceive 

 that I incline favorably to the octagon form ; and 

 now, who knows any thing in regard to it ? Let some 

 one speak (through the medium of the newspaper) 

 who has tried the plan, and tell us how he likes it ; 

 its cheapness, durability, convenience, &c. 



MERRITT. 

 — Dollar Newspaper. 



STRENGTH OF WIRE. 



As the subject of wire fences is now receiving con- 

 siderable attention, and as inquiry has been made in 

 regard to the strength of diflerent kinds of wire, we 

 give the following table, from an essay which lately 

 received a prize from the Highland and Agricultural 

 Society of Scotland. It shows the number of pounds 

 each of the sizes of various kinds su.stained before 



