NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



&f 



If any of voiir patrons have suffered as miicli 

 from (lull razors as myself, they will be ohli^^- 

 ed to vou for insertinp: this statement. 



CHEM. 



From the Mto Monthly Magazine. 



WHAT LIFE TO CHOOSE. 



Down to the minutest division of human occsi- 

 palion, it u'ill be found that the men whose pur- 

 suits brin;:? them in cotil.iCt with intimate nature, 

 enjoy their avocations much more llian ihoso 

 wlio are conversant with humanity, and all the 

 mndfications of the social and moral system. — 

 Cliampforl observes, that the writers on physics, 

 natural history, physiolocry, chemistry, have 

 been s^enerally men of mild, even and happy 

 temperaments; while, on the contrary, the wri- 

 ters on ptdilics, legislation, and even morals, 

 commonly exhibit a melancholy and fretful spir- 

 it. Nothing more simple ; the former studied 

 nature, the others society. One class contem- 

 plates the work of the Great Being, and the 

 other (ixes his observations on the work of man : 

 the results must be different. The nymphs of 

 Calypso, as they caressed and fondled the 

 infant Cupid, became unconsciously penetrated 

 with his flame, and if the power of love be 

 thus subtle, that of hatred is, unfortunately, not 

 less pervading. We cannot handle passions, 

 even to play with them, without imbibing some 

 portion of their acrimony, any more than we 

 can gather flowers amid the nettles without be- 

 ing stung. Into every thing human, a spirit of 

 party becomes insinuated, and self-love is per- j 

 petually forcmg us to taste of its bitterness : — ! 

 but there is no rivalry with nature ; our pride [ 

 does not revolt at her superiority, naj', we find ; 

 a pure and holy calm in contemplating her ma-; 

 jesty, before which we bow down with minified ' 

 feelings of delight and reverence. Contrast' 

 this with Ihe effects produced upon us by hu- ' 

 man wrandeur and elevation. Hence the charm ^ 

 of Solitude; it places us in communication with 

 things, whereas society fixes our regards upon 

 men. 



The age of Ascetics and Hermits is, howev- 

 er, passed away; intercourse with our kind is' 

 not to be interdicted, but regulated. " These ^ 

 things,'' as Milton says in his Areopagitica, 

 " will be, and must be ; but how shall they be i 

 least hurtful, how least enticing, — herein con-' 

 gists the great and governing wisdom. To se- 

 quester out of the world into Atlantic and Eu- 

 ropean jiolitics, which never can be drawn into 

 use, will not mend our condition, but to ordain 

 wisely in this world of evil, in the midst where- 

 of God has placed us unavoidably." Love of 

 the country, and even of a partial seclusion, is 

 by no means misanthropy. "■ I love not man the 

 less, but nature more," when I recommend all 

 those who have the privilege of a choice, to fly 

 from the fermenting passions of crowds and 

 capitals, whose acrid influence gnaws into the 

 heart, and to appeal to the peaceful, balmy 

 ministerings of rural life. Farming, the prim- 

 itive and natural business of man, is probably 

 the most healthful, both for boily and mind; it 

 places us, as it were, in daily contact with the 

 Deity, by our unceasing experience of his su- 

 perintending love, connects earth with heaven, 

 and brings religion home to our business and 

 bosoms. Cinciunatus felt this when he made 

 sucU haste to beat the Volscians, that he might 



hurry hack to his plough. 1 cnvv him the 

 turning up of the first furrow; and I may say, 

 ill imitation of .Alexander's speech to Diogenes, 

 thai if 1 were not a \vriler for the New Month- 

 ly Magazine, I should wish to be a farmer ! ! ! 



From the Agricultural Almanac. 



CHEAP METHOD OF I'"ATTENI.\G CATTLE. 



Communicated hy Mr. A'o(/mn Lnndon, o/Lilch- 

 field. 

 There is a wav to fftlten cattle, in the ab- 

 sence of the common m^ans, scarcely inleriour 

 to th« best, as the following instances will 

 prove. I fatted an ox and a three year old hei- 

 fer, the winter past, without either corn or po- 

 tatoes, for less expense than even that of com- 

 mon keeping, by a preparation of cut slravv, 

 &.C. as follows : I boiled about two quarts of 

 flax:-eed and sprinkled on to cut straw, which 

 had been jireviously scalded and seasoned with 

 salt, together with some oil-cake and oat-meal, 

 working them together in a tub with a short 

 pitchfork, till the whole became an oily mush. 



1 fattened the beiler first. She was of the com- 

 mon size, and in good order, to winter. 1 gave 

 her about three pecks, which she ate voracious- 

 ly, and in the course of four days, when the 

 seed was gone, she was visibly altered. I fed 

 her regularly in this way about two months, in 

 which time she had eaten about one hundred 

 bushels of boiled flax seed with other ingredi- 

 ents in proportion, when she was butchered. — 

 .She weighed ,'j84 poimds, 84 lbs. of which \vas 

 tallow. She would not have sold, before tal- 

 tening, for more than 16 dollars — I sold two 

 quarters of her for ^18 13. She cost nie not 

 more than ^1(1, exclusive of the hay she ate, 

 which was chieflv scalded as above. On the 

 first of February I began with the ox. I ted 

 him about 3 months, but not altogether as well 

 as I did the heifer. He digested about one pint 

 of boiled flaxseed a day, prepared as above,! 

 which 1 suppose formed half the fat in these 

 two cattle. The ox was short, measured 7 feet| 



2 inches, and when killed weighed 1082 lbs. 

 had 180 lbs. of tallow. He cost me while fat- 

 tening 25 cents a day. — He had previously cost 

 me 35. My net gain in fattening these two cat- 

 tle was more than all 1 have cleared before in 

 fattening oxen, and cows, in 15 years, and this 

 is owing, I think, chiefly to the use of flax 

 seed. I never fattened cattle that appeared 

 so calm, so hearty, and digested all their fare 

 with so much natural ease and regularity as 

 these. I would therefore recommend the above 

 preparation to the attention of farmers as a 

 good substitute for corn. 1 kept my cons on 

 itaione in the month of March for one third 

 the expense of hay. It makes rich milk and 

 excellent butter. Farmers ! by a proper atten- 

 tion to economy, one half of your corn may he 

 saved, to produce abundance in the land, and 

 your garners shall overflow with oil and fatness. 

 i shall pursue this method of feedins-, and on- 

 di'avour to improve it, and I trust 1 shall be en- 

 abled lo say, the half has not been told. 



Lilclifield, Con. 



Extract from Dr. Amhrson'^s Rtcrealions. 



Every attentive observer will remark nmon"- 

 the plants of almost every kind of crops, sonio 

 individual stalks which are distinguishahle from 

 the others by a greater degree of healih, 

 luxrianco, productiveness, earliness, or some 

 other peculiarity. A friend of mine remarked 

 some yeais ago a particular stem of peas among 

 his earliest crop, which came into flower and 

 ripened lonef before ihe others, lie marked 

 this stem and saved the whole of its produce 

 for seed. 'I'hese came as much earlier as they 

 had originally done. This produce was also 

 .«aved for seed; and thus he obtained a particu- 

 lar kind of early peas, (|i;it came at least a week 

 before the best sort he could buy in the shops, 

 if sown at the same time with them. The doc- 

 tor relates fads similar to this respecting wheat 

 and beans. The general idea he means lo in- 

 culcate is obvious, and citremely worthy atten- 

 tion. 



PICKLED BEETS. 

 The following method of preparing pickled 

 beets has been so highly recommended to us, 

 that we think it our duly to ofler it to the ladies. 

 Parboil some of the finest red beet roots in 

 water; then cut them into a sauce-pan with 

 some sliced h orse-raddish, onions, shallots 

 leaves, pounded ginger, beaten mace, while 

 pepper, cloves, nll-spice, and salt ; and boil the 

 whole in siifilcient vinegar lo cover it for at 

 least a quarter of an hour. Strain the liquor 

 from Ihe inijredienls, put the slices into a jar, 

 pour the strained liquor over them, and if high- 

 er colour be wanled, aild a litlle powdereil co- 

 chineal when the pickle is quite cold, and keep 

 it closely covered with bladder or leather. A 

 little oil may he poured on the top of this pickle 

 which will assist the better to preserve it with- 

 out prejudice to the beet root, which is com- 

 monly served up in oil, its own liquor, and a 

 small quantity of powdered loaf sugar poured 

 over i(. Some also add mustard, but this is hy 

 no means necessary, and certainly does not im- 

 prove the colour of this fine pickle. — Lit. Cab. 



Two English turnips were taken from the 

 garden of Mr. Lewis Bartlett, of Westhampton, 

 a few days since, one weighing eight, the other 

 eleven pounds. — Hampshire Gazelle. 



Canal Revenue. — The amount of toll collect- 

 ed on the Erie and Champlain Canals, since the 

 navigation opened last spring, up to the first of 

 August, inst. exceeds the calculation of the most 

 confident. By comparing the tolls of this, with 

 the same month last year, it is pretty satisfacto- 

 rily shown, that the canal revenue derived 

 alone from toll, and Ihe premium on the two 

 late loans, will more than pay the interest on 

 the whole canal debt for 1824; leaving the salt 

 and auction duties for other objects. It will 

 not be extravagant to estimate the revenue on 

 salt this year at one hundred thousand dollars. 



Utica Sentinel. 



A rising Cow. — A few evenings since a large Covr 

 found tier way into Hie fourth story of Yale Collegp, 

 to ttie great amazement of many students. On the 

 following nioming-, the cow at one window and the 

 boys on all sides, appeared to be eagperly engaged in 

 surveying the sceuciy of the surrounding country. 

 At about noon the cow graduated, and without linow- 

 ing exactly how she entered college, those who saw 

 her exit readily concluded that her salutatory could 

 not have equalled her vahdictory performance. 



A'. H. Reg. 



