1855. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



313 



obtained a situation, not at $10, $15 or $20 per 

 week, but at the sum of one dollar per day, and 

 pay my own reckoning. Tiiis, thought I, at any 

 rate, is better than digging on a farm for notli- 

 ing, and besides, I am my own master. I formed 

 a resolution to save my wages, ])e temperate, and 

 show my relatives that in spite of their per- 

 suasions 1 could live and gain independence in 

 the city. Well, at the end of one year, 1 found 

 my gains to be a!)0ut 0, having lost all of my 

 wage^ by my employer becoming bankrupt. 1 

 had taken up barely enough of my earnings to 

 pay my board and pui-chase a few clothes, &c. 

 This did not exactly agree with my notions of 

 city independence, for I had worked harder than 

 ever before, spent no money needlessly, and was 

 not so independent after all, but what if taken 

 sick I should find some embarrassments. 



I began my second lesson by resolving to col- 

 lect my wages as I went along, and continued to 

 labor hard, and fare hard, at wages averaging 

 about thirty dollars per month, for four years, 

 occasionally changing places as I thought for my 

 advantage. At the end of this time I found my 

 fortune to consist of about 0, after accommodat- 

 ing a friend with $140 which he absquatulated 

 with, and paying doctors' bills, &c. All of thes* 

 expenses I found higher than such usually ai-e in 

 the country among one's friends. This ends les- 

 son second — two rather costly lessons, for me, at 

 least. This 1 found brought independence and 

 myself farther apart than when I left home and 

 the/a;7/i. At the end of seven years, I found 

 myself hobbling about the streets on crutches, 

 having had the misfortune to have one of my 

 legs broken, about fifty dollars in debt and no 

 means to pay, with a wife and child dependent 

 on me for support. Here was a nut for me to 

 crack, which seven years before I had not thought 

 of. 



With tlie heljj of my friends I now obtained a 

 situation upon the city night watch, where by 

 watching when a hard-laboring man needs rest, 

 and doing a hard day's work every day, I man- 

 aged to earn sometimes as high as tlie $15 or 

 $20 per week, spoken of in your paper as one of 

 the rare chances which are seldom met with in 

 the city. I lived in this way for three years, do- 

 ing two days' work every twenty-four hours, 

 with occasionally a fit of sickness, and some of 

 my family sick much of the time. Tlie doctors 

 informed me that if I wanted to save my wife or 

 children I must remove th6m to thecountry. Here 

 I was in a fix ! \Vhat ! go into the country and 

 work on a flxrm ! 15ut the welfare of my family 

 was at stake, and something must be done. I 

 had managed to lay hj $5r>(), and with that 1 

 came to the country, purchased a farm of 140 

 acres for $1000, witli good substantial l)uildings, 

 mostly new, paying $500 down, and experiment- 

 ing upon the mortgage system for the l)alance. 

 Here I took my family in ISoo, hired a man, and 

 returned to the city myself, where by incessant 

 labor night and day, and a little speculation for 

 one year, I managed to use myself about up, and 

 earn $G(I(», with which f purchased young stock 

 and farming tools, paid $300 more towards my 

 farm, took up the mortgage and gave my note 

 for the $200 remaining. I then went to M'ork 

 upon my farm, completely satisfied with strivin 

 for independence in Boston. Although it was 



mostly new work for me, still with the advice of 

 my neighbors, and occasional hints from your pa- 

 per, and a few books which 1 read eagerly, I get 

 along very well. If I have occasionally a hard 

 lift, or a Jiard day's work here, I can remember 

 hundreds such during my indrpendcnt city life. 



All that I have to say in conclusion is, that I 

 have at last overtaken independence, not in Bos- 

 ton or any other city, but in tlie blessed country, 

 in the most honorable, healthy and natural occu- 

 pation of man. 1 have now paid my debts, and 

 am at last a free man. 



Benjamin F. Mitchell. 



Mt. Vernonville, Me. 



THE APPLE TREE BORER. 



We heard many complaints last year of the 

 ravages of the apple tree borer. In some eases 

 the injury inflicted was said to be very extensive, 

 and as no remedy appeared to be effectual, the 

 only course seemed to be to let the enemy have its 

 own way. The borer is, indeed, a difficult foe to 

 contend with, as its ravages are committed out 

 of sight. Its eggs are deposited in the bark of 

 the tree, generally, but a short distance from the 

 ground, and there produce a whitish grub, or 

 maggot-shaped progeny, which begins immediate- 

 ly to perforate the tree, pursuing its course along 

 between the bark and the sap wood, or in the sap 

 wood itself, and often passing up so many times 

 as to weaken and finally destroy the tree. In a 

 long article on the subject in the Ohio Farmer, 

 we find the following paragraphs : 



What is the Borer ? The Borer is the larva, 

 or grub which is hatched from the egg, of a bee- 

 tle, belonging to tlie family of Buprestidie, or, 

 Buprcstians. The beetle itself is abotit half an 

 inch long, with brown and white stripes, and flics 

 at night. » 



When does it lag its Eggs ? In the latter part 

 of May, and first part of June, it pierces the bark 

 of the tree with its spear, and deposits its eggs 

 under the bark. Tliis it does near the root of 

 the tree, in perhaps the greater number of cases, 

 especially in small trees. Indeed some writers, 

 whose observations seem to have been confined to 



