04 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Feb. 



length. Wlien green pine limbs are cut two 

 inches long and spread upon a floor not more 

 than ten inches in depth, they will dry so as to 

 I)urn well in a week. " 



Col. Stanley says he can cut limbs and brush 

 to the above degree of fineness fixster than a smart 

 man, with a good yoke of o.xen, can haul and 

 dump them from one-fourth of a mile distant. 

 The advantage of cutting it so fine is, tliat it 

 brings much scraggy and otlierwise wortliless 

 I)rush, up to more tlian the value of its weight 

 in solid Avood, whieli, in these times of scarcity 

 and high prices of fuel, is an object of too mucli 

 importance to be overlooked. Colonel Stanley's 

 neighbors bring brusli to him to be cut on equal 

 shares. As near as I could judge, this machine 

 V(ill do the work of forty men. 



The reason that the chips dry so quick, is, that 

 they are not cut square off, but obliquely, one 

 side being concave and the other convex ; conse- 

 (][uently tliey are shattered to such a degree, that 

 tlie air is admitted entirely through them, and 

 the drying jjrocess immediately commences 



Danvers, Jan. 16, 1855. 



#**#*#* 



"IDLEWILD." 



From an interesting letter which appeared in 

 the columns of the Rochester Adrtrliser, we con- 

 dense a brief description of Idlewild, the garden 

 home of N. P. Willis. It is situated on the west- 

 ern bank of the Hudson river, a few miles south 

 of the town of Newburgh. In its immediate vi- 

 cinity are many beautiful coun.try seats, including 

 among otliers those of J. T. Headley, the artist 

 Durand, and the late lamented Downing, all of 

 which are adorned by the rarest embellishments of 

 art. But Idlewild, situated amid the most lively 

 scenery of the valley of the Hudson river, is the 

 most beautiful country seat in the region. Th 

 domain comprises al)out one hundi'cd acres of 

 land, which, when they came into the possession of 

 Willis, were clothed in a dense black forest of ce- 

 dars, firs and pines, and other UKumtain trees, as 

 wild and thick as when the Indian war-hoop 

 echoed tlu'ough their shades. The grounds pos- 

 sess a great variety of surface, scene and prospect, 

 and the fine taste of AVillis has seized upon every 

 opportunity to enliance the charms which nature 

 has grouped in such harmonious contrast. 



lluuniug diagonally through the estate is a 

 broad, deep glen, over whose rocky l)ottom flows 

 a clear colri stream of water. Willis, by means 

 of jutting rocks and artificial dams, lias broken 

 this stream into singing cascades and murmuring 

 waterfalls. In one place he has lured a portion 

 of the waters frum tlieir channel, to fill a pond for 

 his gold fish. In another he has taken half the 

 stream to form the shooting jets of a fountain ; 

 and still farther down the glen he has eliecked its 

 flow and swollen it into a miniature lake for his 

 little boat. At several points along the stream he 

 has thrown rustic bridges from l)ank to bank. 

 The view from th(! lower extremity of the glen 

 upward, through the deep vista of trees joining 

 their branches over my head, is said to be very 

 beiiutiful. it resjmljles a vaulted cathedral ; and 

 the imaginative eye may behold in the large 

 brown st(jnes, with tlieir mossy sides, wiiich are 

 scattered in picturesque confusion tiiroughout the 

 scene, gray, cowled monks, counting their beads 



for vesper prayers. The ground is intersected in 

 almost every practicable direction by carriage 

 roads, and narrow footpaths wind around the 

 sides of the steep cliffs, amid thickets of cedars 

 and pines, clumps of fir and weeping larches, and 

 solitary' old oaks, the majestic monarchs of the 

 forest. 



The house is situated on a high point, com- 

 manding a view of the noble Hudson on the east, 

 the magnificent scenery of the Highlands on the 

 south, and on the north and west a thick mass of 

 trees, streams, and ruined hamlet cottages. It is 

 built in the English villa style, with piazzas and 

 deep bay windows facing the river, and abounds 

 in gable roofs, with oriole and dormer windows 

 jutting out, and clustering chimneys terminating 

 the pinnacles. The interior is adorned with rare 

 curiosities, collected in Europe and America — 

 paintings of distinguished personages, landscapes 

 of beautiful scenery, marbles, bronzes, medals, 

 statuary, and engravings in rich profusion. 



This is Idlewild. 



SERF LABOR IN POLAND. 



In every village is an overseer, whose duty it is 

 to call in the evening at each hut, and notify the 

 inmates as to the part of the plantation where 

 they are to meet the following morning, and be 

 ready to start for work. Men, women and chil- 

 dren are included in this order, of course ; they 

 assemble as directed, and are then driven like so 

 many oxen to their labor. Of whatever kind the 

 work may be, the tvomen are obliged to toil as 

 the men ; the children are assigned lighter tasks, 

 such as picking stones, &c. Over each division is 

 placed an overseer, having in his hand a whip of 

 braided strips of leather, and should any one pre- 

 sume to stop even for a moment, the lash is uu- 

 mercifully applied ; children are not exempt from 

 this infliction, and whoever may be the object of 

 punishment, he or she, is obliged to kiss the 

 hand or foot of the inflictor. Sliould any one re- 

 fuse to do so,' as is sometimes the case, the poor 

 creature is laid upon the ground, and receives 

 fbi*ty additional stripes, then with blood trick- 

 ling from his back returns again to work. In 

 some instances (the overseer being in an unusual 

 passion,) children, perhaps a son or a daugh- 

 ter, are required to hold down a parent, whilst 

 another member of the same family is made to 

 administer the lash with his utmost strength. 

 These things seem heart-sickening to relate, nev- 

 ertheless they are true, and not a day passes 

 without many individuals being subjected to such 

 treatment. When they leave their miserable 

 homes in the morning, each peasant carries upon 

 his back a coarse cloth sack, containing the din- 

 ner of its bearer ; this consists of a loaf of brown 

 bread, having the appearance of baked sawdust ; 

 and if the bearer has been so fortunate as to have 

 recently killed a pig, he takes with his bread a ' ■ 

 piece of raw pork. Before commencing work, ■ 

 these sacks are deposited in heajjs upon the 

 ground, and at noon, wlien ihe signal is given, 

 they rush with the speed of half-starved animals, 

 every one for his bag, and then commences a de- 

 vouring of bread and salt in the most ravenous 

 manner. Each gang is allowed a mug of water, 

 and this is passed from on« to another until all 

 have been served. Such is the manner in which 



