1855. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



45 



thing is contributing daily to increase it, and eyery 

 plant sucks in a part of it. The great Creator has 

 provided it, and it is open and free to every man 

 who will accept the gifr. "I don't believe in this 

 idea that this vegetable matter ever goes down into 

 the plant ," says Grandfather Fogy ; "I believe it 

 all goes upwards in the plant, to the very extrem- 

 ities." 



Well, now, just follow down that pine root, if 

 you please, fifteen or twenty feet below where 

 there is any other carbonaceous matetr. There it 

 is, the same substance of those spreading limbs. 

 The carbon has gone down there, and there it is, 

 in the little fibres, creeping out this waj — creeping 

 out that way — creeping in every direction ; and 

 not a single soul in all the realm of reasonable ex- 

 istence, wise man or wizard, fanatic or fool, can 

 screw his credulity up to the point of believing 

 that those roots began to grow at the outer end, 

 and then grew bigger and bigger, until they bit 

 hold of each other and found a tree ready to be 

 fathered by the fraternity. A. G. CoMiXGS. 



A'ew Hampshire. 



FOE WHAT? 



" Pa, did God make oysters ?"' 



" Yes, mv son." 



" What lor ?" 



" For us to eat." 



" "Well — but then, why do they have shells ?" 



This was a riddle to the little fellow — that oys- 

 ters are made to be eaten, and yet were made with 

 shells to prevent their being eaten. The same 

 question of the intention of God in the creation of 

 things, meet the student of Nature at almost every 

 spot. 



Every plant has been given some way of resist- 

 ing injury. The blades of grass have saw-like 

 margin. The leaves of corn are sharply edged 

 with Hint. The heads of grass are bearded. The 

 kernels of all nuts are cased in by a shell to pre- 

 vent their being destroyed. And yet there have 

 been animals made for the destruction of all these. 

 Cows with rough tongues for drawing grass into 

 their mouths; horses with front teeth like shears, 

 for cutting it ofi'; and sheep that chop it off with 

 their under teeth against their upper gum, as a 

 hatchet chops on a block. The teeth of squirrels are 

 softest on the inside that they may wear sharp, and 

 grow continually that they may not become too 

 short. In this way, they are kept keen enough to 

 go through the shell ofa dried butternut, though it 

 turns the edge ofa knife. These self-sharpening teeth 

 were surely made for chiselling the shells of nuts. 



Every animal also has been given some means 

 of defence. Horses have their teeth, and their 

 hoofs and their speed. Oxen have their heels and 

 their horns. P^ven sheep have their wool, and 

 some speed, and can butt. Oysters and turtles 

 their shells, and hedge-bogs their quills. 



liut for the destruction of these, there are the 

 carniverous races, with claws to catch them, with 

 tusks to transfix them, and with intestines that 

 can be used for no other purpose than to digest 

 their Hesh. 



Fish have been given an instinct of fear, and the 

 use of fins with which to escape from the fish-hawk, 

 and yet this bird was given a beak and talons, and 

 must live by their destruction. It seems as though 

 everything has been arranjzed to prevent death on 

 the one hand, and yet to eflect [it on the other.— 

 Country Gentleman. 



I HOME-MADE FURNITTTEE. 



In the present pecuniary troubles many a wife 

 finds an unusual necessity for practicing the strict- 

 est economy in household matters. Perhaps house- 

 keeping is just to be commenced, and the great 

 problem is, how much furniture and how many con- 

 veniences can we afford to procure. A little money 

 must go as far as possible. Such would perhaps 

 like to be initiated into the art of making cheap 

 articles of furniture, both useful and ornamental. 

 Many a neat and comfortable sofa or lounge, chair, 

 stand, bed, book-shelves, &c., &c., have we seen, 

 that cost its owners almost nothing. 



A few boards, a little stuffing, and a few yards of 

 shilling calico, put together with ingenuity, will 

 give a tasteful and even elegant air to an otherwise 

 bare and comfortless room. Most of the work we 

 shall describe can be done by the females of the 

 household, and we are sure will afford them more 

 pleasure and comfort than the so-called " ornamen- 

 tal" worsted-work, bed-quilt piecing, &c. And in 

 almost every family there is enough mechanical 

 ingenuity among the boys, if not among the girls, 

 to do the sawing and nailing. 



A simple jLjunge can be made by taking a 

 broad, thick plank, strengthening it by nailing on 

 cross pieces underneath and inserting four short 

 legs; add a cushion filled with any material you 

 wish, and add a valance of the same to conceal the 

 legs. A back and either one or two ends may be 

 added, if desired, by nailing on boards and cushion- 

 ing them like the seat. 



A Cot Bedstead many of you know how to 

 make. Take four sticks about four feet long and 

 three inches square, bore an inch hole through the 

 middle of each, and put a round stick, six feet long, 

 through, and pins through the ends ; arrange these 

 like the four legs of a saw horse ; then, to form the 

 sides, connect the head and foot posts by nailing a 

 rod or strip of board on to their tops ; take a piece 

 of bagging 6 feet by 4, stretch it across and nail it 

 firmly on to the side pieces. To strengthen this, 

 make a narrow head board, nail on a small rod at 

 each end, and bore holes in the side-pieces to re- 

 ceive them. By lifting this head-board out, the 

 bedstead can at any time can be folded together 

 and laid aside, if not wanted. 



A convenient Stat for children, or for the garden, 

 is made like the cot bedstead, with the head board 

 omitted. The sticks for the seat should be one 

 foot long; those for the legs, one foot six inches 

 long. IJind a bit of carpeting for the seat. These 

 are so light, and so easily folded and carried 

 about with one hand as to be very convenient. 



Hanging Book Shelves are another article o< fur- 

 niture easily made, and very convenient. For a 

 small size, take three planed boards one-fourth of 

 an inch thick, let the largest shelf be about 30 

 inches long by 8 wide, the others each one inch 

 narrower and two inches shorter than the one below 

 it. If convenient, paint, or oil and varnish them. 

 Bore a gimlet hole in each of the four corners, take 

 a stout cord and pass it down through one hole in 

 each shelf, taking care that it is at the same corner 

 of each, then pass it up through the remaining 

 holes in the same end, makmg a knot in the coid 

 under each shelf for it to rest upon. Pass a coid 

 through tlie other end in the same manner, and lie 

 the four ends of the cord together a foot and a half 

 above the upper shelf, and hang it up. — Ohio Ciil- 

 tivator. 



