86 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Feb. 



will hold together. Nothing that I ever saw in 

 New Hampshire, except the Gipsey basket-makers, 

 deserves to be exhibited in the same museum, or 

 anywhere else, on the same day. But this is 

 only a partial view. Look again, and you may 

 see as splendid a team of draft horses as Boston 

 affords, with a huge block of marble on a low 

 car. The animals are fat and well groomed, 

 large, and fitted with fine harnesses, and every 

 thing indicates thrift and energy. That is a team 

 owned by a contractor upon the public works, or 

 perhaps one of U^ucle Sam's own teams, Avhich, 

 like everybody else fed at the public crib, are in 

 good condition. 



Roaminrr about the broad streets, shiverina; in 

 the cold and mist, are numerous poor, pitiful 

 objects, in the shape somewhat of cows. They 

 are not so poor, now, as they will be next spring ; 

 but to us, who live where cattle are not suffered 

 to go at large, and where the idea prevails that 

 milk cannot bo manufactured even by a cow out 

 of a north-east wind alone, to us they present a 

 hopeless picture. JNIost of them have no horns, 

 and this fact seems to render them still more ob- 

 jects of compassion. The cattle here are a mix- 

 ture of the short-horn Durham, and the Buffalo 

 or hornless breed. They are of fair size, and if 

 well fed, would doubtless prove good milkers. 

 There are no enclosed pastures about this city, 

 but the cows, in summer, run upon the extensive 

 commons, and in winter are about half fed at 

 home, and then turned loose to find what they 

 can in the streets. Various plans are devised to 

 induce them to return home at night. Starva- 

 tion compels them to it in winter, and in summer 

 the calf is kept, a great part of the season, as ad- 

 ditional security. As a consequence of this mode 

 of taking care of the cows, milk is sold for eight 

 or ten cents a quart, wine measure, and butter 

 for from thirty-one to forty cents a pound. 



As to swine, they are in the streets, upon the 

 sidewalks, and everywhere else. "What the Irish- 

 man said of Cincinnati might l)e said with equal 

 truth of Washington, that every third man one 

 meets is a hog ! 



But enough for this time. After I have taken, 

 another walk through the market, I shall, per- 

 haps, give your readers a pen and ink sketch ofj 

 such features of it as are not familiar to tlie eyes 

 of Northern farmers. 



Truly yours, ii. f. f. 



Washin(/ton, D. C, Dec. 27, 1855. 



be a most valuable compost by the time manure 

 is wanted, in the spring. It will bo valuable as 

 a manure, if only haided out and spread in shal- 

 low piles to l)e operated upon by the frosts of 

 winter. It is better to place it in the yard or 

 stye. It is altogether preferable, hoAvever, to let 

 muck hauled out so late, remain over the follow- 

 ing season, being occasionally hoed or shovelled 

 over in the yard. It thus becomes thorbughly 

 worked over and saturated and mixed with tlie 

 droppings of the yard. However, it juatters not 

 so much where you put it, or how long you keep 

 it, as that you get the muck out. — Granite Farmer. 



Swamp Muck. — There are some localities where 

 muck of good quality is found that cannot be 

 reached by wheeling. It can be done by sledding, 

 and now is the time to get it out. Sledded out 

 in this and the next month, and strewed around 

 the stable yard or thrown into the pig-stye, it will 



SEHSITIVEKESS OF EIEBS. 



A Buffalo paper relates the following anec- 

 dote : — 



"A friend of ours has had for a long time a 

 very superior canary bird, which has been cele- 

 brated for its excellence as a songster, and for 

 which he has been ofiered large sums of money. 

 About three weeks ago our friend being awaken- 

 ed from a "nap" by its voice, rose and hastily 

 exclaimed, "D — n that bird." The bird, then 

 at the height of its song, suddenly ceased its note, 

 and," from that time to the present, has never 

 warbled or even chirped, but has maintained an 

 unbroken silence. What philosophy of instinct 

 or of mutual affection between man and his peta 

 account for this?" 



We have licard instances of a similar charac- 

 ter, and therefore are inclined to place full faith 

 in the above, extraordinary as it seems. A gen- 

 tleman devoted to the study of natural history, 

 and whose practical acquaintance with birds is 

 very great, once told us the following of a pet 

 of his. He said he was given one time to the 

 fx)lly of flying into a furious fit of passion upon 

 any small provocation, and that the effect of this 

 manifestation of bad temper upon the bird was 

 vei'y singular, seeming to produce in it a some- 

 what similar disposition. Whether his anger 

 were manifested toward the bird, or toward some 

 one else in the I'oom, no sooner Avould his eyes 

 begin to kindle, than his bird would made a sud- 

 den dart at them. Upon several occasions he 

 came very near losing the sight of one of his eyes, 

 in consequence. And he became therefore ex- 

 ceedingly cautious how he gave way to fits of an- 

 ger in the presence of his little pet. To this cir- 

 cumstance, he attributed, we know not how tru- 

 ly, a very great improvement in his power of self- 

 government. 



The same gentleman also informed us, that his 

 wife had chosen one among his birds as an espe- 

 cial favorite ; and had cherished it so much that 

 the little creature seemed to be positively unhappy 

 when she was not present. It was thought best 

 therefore to try to wean the bird a little from 

 her, and she was desired to take no notice of it for 

 a time. His wife did as requested, and the next 

 morning, when she entered the room where the 

 birds were, repulsed the little creature as it flew 

 towards her ; and when it flew back again to its 

 perch, began to fondle another. A few minutes 

 elapsed, and hearing a slight noise, she turned 

 again towards her former pet — the discarded fa- 

 vorite had fallen to the floor, dead. 



Other anecdotes of a similar character have 

 been related to us, going to prove the extreme 



