332 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



JCLT 



They %vill not be laid on the tahlo because no 

 political capital can be made of them. But his 

 voice, when it is heard in tlie pul)lio councils, 

 will be regarded. His intluenee will be felt and 

 will be felt for good, for he has no private inter- 

 ests to advance. His interests are identified Avith 

 the public good and he is ever ready to bear his 

 share of the puljlie burdens. In the puldic pros- 

 perity he prospers, and in the public joy he re- 

 joices. 



THE FEOG. 



Of all the funuy tliin-s that hve, 



In woodland, niursh or bog. 

 That creeps the ground, or fly the air. 



The funniest is the frog. 

 The frog — the scientificest 



Of nature's hamlin-ork — 

 The frog, that neither walks nor runs. 



But goes it with a jerk. 



With pants and coat of hottle-green, 



And yellow fancy vest, 

 He plunges into mud and mire — 



All in his Sunday best ; 

 When he sits down, he's standing up, 



As Paddy O'Kinn once said ; 

 And for convenience sake he wears 



His eyes on top of his head. 



You see him sitting on a log, 



Above the "vasty deep," 

 You feel inclined to say, "old chap — 



Just look before you leap I" 

 You raise your cane to hit him en 



Hig ugly looking mug; 

 But ere j-ou get it half way up, 



Adown he goes, kerchug ; 



He keeps about his native poud, 



And ne'er goes on a spree, 

 Nor gets "how-come-ye-so," for a 



Cold water chap is he; 

 For earthly cares he ne'er gets drunk, 



He's not the silly fool, 

 But when they come he gives a jump, 



And drowns 'em in the pool. 



KEEP FRUIT TREES STRAIGHT. 



Trees in an open exposure often acquire a lean- 

 ing position from the prevailing winds. This 

 should not he suffered beyond a certain stage of 

 the tree. When as large as one's wrist, they 

 should be set up erect, and, indeed, thrown into 

 the wind at an angle of ten or fifteen degrees ; 

 in order to bring tliem ultimately into a straight 

 position. This is best done by obtaining crotchcd 

 limbs from the woods, eight to twelve feet long, 

 and placing the butt end, wdiich should be sharp- 

 ened, oa the ground, and the crotch end either 

 against tlio trunk, immediately beneath the 

 branching point, or against a large outer limb, 

 if more convenient, securing it from chafing in 

 the crotch, by a padding of straw, or litter, and 

 setting the tree at once up to the desired angle of 

 elevation. Loosen, also, the ground on the 

 windward side of the root so that it will not bind, 

 and the work is accomplished. Let this be done 

 when the tree begins to make its summer growth, 

 or soon after leafing out. One season, if the 

 tree is thrifty, will be all that is required. If, 

 however, it be obstinate, repeat the trial another 

 year. The remedy is sure. Even large trees, 

 which have acquired a permanent lean, may be 



thrown into an erect posture, by loosening the 

 earth at the root, and occasionally cutting off an 

 obstinate large root, without injury to its growth, 

 and thus be made sightly. An erect tree will 

 be longer lived and more fruitful than a leaning 

 one, and not half so subject to casualty as if left 

 to its own guidance. — Exchange. 



For the Ifew Engtaiid Farmer. 



RURAL TASTE. 



Dear Sin : — I am one of those who believe in 

 the cultivation of a taste for the beautiful as 

 well as the useful. The value of an estate is 

 always enlianced by some attention paid to the 

 principles of taste. We have in our country few 

 ivy-clad ruins or venerable antiquities, whose as- 

 sociations lend a charm, independent of their in- 

 herent beauty to the landscape ; but we have, 

 nevertheless, the power of increasing greatly tlie 

 attractiveness of our country-seats by the culti- 

 vation of our noble forest trees, and taking ad- 

 vantage of the natural swells and undulations 

 of the ground. It should be borne in mind that 

 it costs no more to erect a building in its appro- 

 priate place, than in an inappropriate one ; yet 

 one-half or three-quarters of our farm buildings 

 are dumped down, with the most jjerverse indiffer- 

 ence apparently to evei'y consideration of taste, 

 in hollows, close to the road, exposed to its dust, 

 and allowing no room for shade trees or shrub- 

 bery. 



Perhaps nowhere are instances of this kind 

 more numerous than in Bristol county, and par- 

 ticularly in the vicinity of New Bedford, a city 

 distinguished by its beautiful residences and 

 abundant shade, its streets over-arched with lux- 

 uriant foliage, and its dwellings, many of them, 

 embosomed in trees. The instant we get into 

 the country, the genius of good taste seems to 

 have fled. The roads are lined with small farm- 

 houses, either unpainted and dirty, or painted 

 painfully -white, with the most vivid of green for 

 blinds, Avith a front yard of from twenty to 

 thirty feet deep, so near to the road that the 

 passing travellers can see clear into the parlors, 

 (if not sealed up by the everlasting pale-green 

 window curtains,) with no shade trees to lessen 

 the glare of the sun, and no lattice, with dim; 

 ing rose or delicate wood-bine, to diminish the 

 bare poverty of their appearance. The barns 

 and out-houses are often placed nearer the road 

 still than the house, so that, on approaching the 

 place, these unsightly buildings greet the eye first. 



Now if, instead of thrusting his farm-house so 

 closely ujion the road, the owner had carried it 

 back some one hundred yards or more, placed it 

 upon a gentle swell, planted some foi-est trees 

 around it on either side, so as to form, in time, a 

 sort of natural arch, and painted it a warm 

 stone color, which would have harmonized the 

 unapproachable tints of nature instead of half 

 neutralizing tliem, disposing shrubbery gracefully 

 around, adapted to the lay of the land, how 

 much more comfortable to his family would he 

 have made it — how much more attractive to the 

 eye, and more valuable in case he should wish to 

 sell it, and how small would bo the additional 

 expense. Agricola. 



Dartmouth, Bristol County. 



