NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



69 



felting, which we shnll Hl'tprivanls tiesrrihe. — 

 By tliif process, ihft til re« ln-cinnfi mallod to- 

 gether, nnd the texture rendcreil more com|)nct. 



Lon? or conihins^ wool may vary in length 

 from three to eight or ten inches; it is prepar- 

 ed on a comb or instrument, with rows of long: 

 steel teeth, which open the filires, and arrange 

 them longitudiiKilly ; in the thread spnn from 

 combed wool, the fibres or tilamenls oflhe wool 

 are arranged in the same manner, or similar to 

 those of flax, and the pieces when woven are 

 not subjected to the process of felling. 



The shorter comlmig wools are principally 

 used for hi>se, and are spun softer than the 

 longer combing wo(ds ; the former being made 

 inti) what is called haid worsted 3'arn, and the 

 latter into sol'l worsted varn. 



[7o be continued.] 



Frnm CobbelCi American Gardener. 



SEA KALE. 

 This is a capital article. Inferiour in point 

 of quality to no vegetable but the Asparagus, 

 superionr to that in the merit ot'carliness ; and, 

 th'iigli ol the easiest jiossible propagation and 

 cultivation, I have never seen any of it in A- 

 ni,.|ica. — It is progagateil by seed, and also by 

 off^i'ts. The seed may be sown, or the young 

 plants (a year old) planted, or the offsets (or 

 little shoots tVoni the sides of the stems) plant- 

 ed, on the spot where the crop is to be produc- 

 ed. The mode of cultivation is in beds, pre- 

 cisely the same in all respects as Asparagus ; 

 except, that the Cale may be begun upon the 

 second year. Cover the beds thick with litter 

 in winter; so that the frost may not enter very 

 deep ; and in April (Long Island) you willhave 

 plenty. — The moment it peeps out, cut it, and 

 you have a white stalk seven or eight inches 

 long, which is cooked just as asparagus is, and 

 is all eaten from top to bottom. This plant is 

 a native of the sea beach; and is as hardy as 

 any weed that grows. Instead of earth, you 

 may, if convenient, lay sand (and especially 

 sea sand) for it to shoot up through. It may 

 be moved at any age of the plant. Any old 

 stump of it will grow. After you leave off cut- 

 ting it in the spring, it goes shooting on, and, 

 during the summer it bears seed. In the fall 

 the stalks are cut down, and you proceed with 

 the beds as with those of asparagus. — This is, 

 unquestionably (after the asparagus) the very 

 best garden vegetable that grows. Sea Kale 

 may be had at any time in winter, as easily as 

 asparagus, and with less care. The roots may 

 be dug up in the fall and thrown under a shed 

 with litter, or straw, over them, till you want 

 them. The earth in the hot bed must be deeper 

 than for asparagus : that is all the riifierence. — 

 The seed is saved as easily as that of asparagus. 



THE AMERICAN FARMER. 



I thank God that my lot is to be an American 

 farmer, instead of a Russian boor or an Hunga- 

 rian peasant. It is strange, that misery, when 

 viewed in others should become a sort oC real 

 good. The hardships of those people are cer- 

 tainly greater than those which our negroes 

 experience. 



When young, I thought of selling my farm 

 because it afforded but a dull repetition of the 

 same labours and pleasures. But when I con- 

 sidered myself as divested of my farm, I imag- 



ined the world .so wide, and every habitable 

 place so full that I began to fear le<t there 

 woulil be no room for me. My farm, mv house, 

 in\ barn, presented objects from which I adduc- 

 ed (piite new ideas; ideas more forcible than 

 ibel'oro. Why should 1 not find myself happy, 

 I said 1, where my father lived and died in pros 

 iperity. Thougli he gave me no other educa- 

 i tion than the art of reading and writing, bo 

 j lelt me a good farm — and his experience ; IVce 

 ; from didjts and difficulties. 1 married ; and this 

 .perteclly reconciled me to my situation; my 

 I wile rendered my house at once cheerful and 

 I pleasing; it no longer appeared gloomy and 

 solitary as before. When I went to work in 

 the fields, I worked with more alacrity; 1 felt 

 that I did not work for myself alone, and this 

 encouraged me niuch. 



My wife would often come with her knitting 

 in her hand, and sit under the shady trees prai^ 

 ing the straightness of my furrows, and the do 

 cility of my horses. This swelle<l my heart 

 and 1 regretted that I had not been married be- 

 lore. I know no other landlord than the Lord 

 of all land, to whom I owe the most sincere 

 gratitude. 



My father left me three hundred and seventy 

 one acres of land, forty of which are good tim 

 othy meadow, an excellent orchard, u good 

 |h'iuse, and a substantial barn. How happy am I 

 that he lived to build and to pay for all these 

 improvements? As my difficulties are less 

 than his, I have but to tread his path*, to 

 beas good as he was. I know enough ol 

 the law to regulate my concerns with pro- 

 priety; nor do I dread its power. 



These are the grand outlines of my situa- 

 tion ; but I can feel much more than I am a- 

 ble to express, I hardly know how to proceed 

 When my first son was born, the whole train 

 of my ideas was suddenly altered ; never was 

 there a charm that acted so quickly and pow- 

 erfully ; I ceased to ramble in imagination 

 through the wide world; my excursions since 

 have not exceeded the bounds of my farm, and 

 all my principal pleasures are now centered 

 within its scanty limits ; but at the same time 

 there is no operation belonging to it in which 

 I do not tind some food for useful reflections. 

 This is the reason I suppose that when you 

 was here, you used, in your refined style, to 

 term me. The farmer of feeling : but how rude 

 must those feelings be in him who daily holds 

 the axe or the plough ! Those feelings, how- 

 ever, 1 will delineate as well as I am able, 

 agreeably to your earnest request. 



When 1 contemplate my wife by my fire-side, 

 while she either spins, knits, darns, or suckles 

 our child, 1 cannot describe the various emotions 

 of love, of gratitude, ol' conscious pride, which 

 thrill in my heart, and often overflows in invol- 

 untary tears. It is true these pleasing images 

 vanish with the smoke of my pipe ; but though 

 they disappear from my mind, the impression 

 they had made on my heart is indelible. When 

 1 play with my child, my warm imagination runs 

 forward, and eagerly anticipates his future tem- 

 ioer and constiiution. Whenever I go abroad, it 

 is always involuntary; I never return home, 

 'without feeling some pleasing emotion, which I 

 ; often suppress as useless and foolish. The mo- 

 I ment 1 ent r on my own land, the bright idea of 

 j properly — 01 exclusive righi — <ii indepfiilence, 

 ' exalt my mind. Precious soul! 1 say to myself, I 



by what singular custom of law is it, that tho 

 wast made to constitute the riches of the free 

 holder ! 



Often, when 1 plough my low ground, I place 

 my little boy on a chair with screws lo the beam 

 of Ihe i)lougli ; its motion and that of the horses 

 please him ; ho is perfectly happy and he be- 

 gins to chat. As I lean over the handle, vari- 

 ous are the tboughls which crowd into my 

 mind. I am now doing lor him, 1 say, what my 

 father formerly did for me ; may God enable 

 him to live that he may perform the same ope- 

 rations, for the same purposes, when I am worn 

 out and old ! 1 relieve his mother ofsome trou- 

 ble while 1 have him with me; the odoriferous 

 furrow exhilirates bis spirits, and seems to do 

 the chilli a great deal of good, for he looks 

 more blooming since 1 have adopted that prac- 

 tice. 



Can more pleasure, more dignity, be added 

 lo that primary occupation ? The father thus 

 ploughing with his child, and to feed his family, 

 is inferiour only to the Emperor of China, 

 ploughing as an example to his kingdom. 



POTATOES. 



In 1807. IMrs. Morris, of Union-street, near 

 Ihe Middlesex hospital, London, discovered that 

 the liquor obtained in the process of making 

 potatoe .'larch, would clean silk, woolen or 

 cotton goods, without damage to the texliKe or 

 colour. It is also good for cleaning painted 

 wainscots ; and the whiteyecu/a, the substance 

 of which potatoe starch is made, she says, will 

 answer the purpose of tapioca, and will make 

 a useful nourishing food with soup or milk. 

 It is known to make the best souffles, and has 

 within these last few months been introduced 

 at the foreign oil shops as a new article, under 

 the name of Fecule de Pomme de Tcrre, for 

 which they modestly charge four shillings per 

 pound. 



Potatoes boiled down to a pulp, and passed 

 through a sieve, form a strong nutricious gruel, 

 that may be given to calves as well as pigs, 

 with great advantage and saving of milk. 



A iice is made from potatoes, which has great 

 advantage over the common size, for the pur- 

 pose of white-washing, as it does not smell, and 

 it has also a more durable whiteness. 



The most simple, and perhaps the most whol- 

 fome way of boiling potatoes, is in an untinned 

 iron pot or sauce-pan ; when boiled, pour off the 

 water, and let them continue over a gentle fire ; 

 Ihe heat of the iron will cause the moisture to 

 evaporate, and dry the potatoe fit for the table. 



Poisoning by Copper. A young man nearly 

 lost his life on Thursday last, by eating honey 

 which had been standing in a copper vessel. — • 

 Two children have also been in great danger 

 in consequence of eating cranberry sauce stewed 

 in a copper basin. They vomitted, occasionally, 

 for eight hours, and were finally relieved by the 

 administration of soda water. 



Boston Medical Intelligencer. 



Jl fat Sheep.— On the 28th of May last, was 

 killed at Alcester, Warwickshire, a fat sheep, 

 bred and fed by Mr. Large, of Broadwell, Ox- 

 on, the carcase of which weighed 275 lbs. sup- 

 posed to be the best ever seen, tor symetry and 

 sraallness of bone. — Fanners^ Journal. 



