396 



NEW ENGLAND FABMER. 



Sept. 



but a very powerftil deodorizer, equal for all out- 

 door purposes, with the article bought under that 

 n ime at the apothecary's, and costing not one- 



(never beyond,) and I would suggest that instead 

 of the forest, he select the various fruit trees to 

 form his pleasant shades. They are as beautiful 



twentieth part as much. This should be kept un- ! and fragrant in bloom, and as lovely to our \'ision, 

 dcr a shed, or some out building. It should be I when their rich fnut combine A^ith their deep green 

 kept moist, and it may be applied wherever offen- ' foliage. And many a blenduig and contrast can 



sive odors are generated, with the assurance that it 

 will be effective to purify the air, and will add to 

 the value of the manure much more than it costs. 

 It would be well for every farmer to prepare a quan- 

 tity of tliis, and have it always on hand. 



Fcr the New England Farmer. 



THE BEAUTIFUL AND USEFUL. 



Mr. EDrroR : — Sir, — It is natm*al to the human 

 mind to love the beautiful, and appreciate true 

 vrorth. A departure from this rule, is perversion 

 of taste, not nature. For instance, let a child grow 

 to maturity, its mind become fully developed, and 

 taught only as Nature would teach ; that mind 

 would become complete in native loveliness. The 

 wood, the lawn, the vale, and meandering stream 

 would lend their magic charms to tranquillize the 

 mind and point through Nature's loveliness to 

 God, the originator, and beautifier of aU. The 

 ocean grand, the mountain bleak, the grotto wild, 

 and deep ravine, with rocks of towering height, and 

 mighty chasms, which exhibit the convulsive throes 

 of Nature, in some momentous period, (a period 

 prior to the knowledge of pmiy mortals, and far 

 too comprehensive for human conception,) evince 

 to that mind a God of power, might and majesty ; 

 and leads to deep adoration, as well as love. 



Nature to me is beautiful in her contrasts as well 

 as harmonies. I love to walk among her scenes, 

 and be taken by surprise at some miexpected freak 

 of her playful wildness. Hov/ tame and common- 

 place would she seem, did she work Avith geometri- 

 cal precision ; or mth rule and compass always in 

 hand. Neither can I perceive the consistency of 

 her swelling each side the road, about one hundred 

 yards therefrom, for the seat of our country resi- 

 dences, even to please so fiistidious a taste as "Agri- 

 cola's." When such is the case, I shall lilvewise 

 expect that the taste of every man will be so 

 changed, as to pamt his house a soft "warm stone 

 color," and flowers be all a "dappled grey," and 

 nature and art one harmonious blending. 



I love to see a taste for the beautiful displayed 

 in the selection of ground, the arrangement of 

 shrubl)ery, and the mtermingling of lovely plats of 

 flowers, surrounding our abodes Avith scenes of gay 

 proftision ; but the useful and the beautifid, it should 

 always be borne in mind, will only give permanent 

 pleasure. Or, in other words, we do not love to 

 see a dwelling of rare loveliness eml)owered in 

 beauty and bloom, with "Sheriff's Sale" written in 

 conspicuous characters thereon ; or to know the 

 owner no longer calls it his. And should some 

 "golden dreams" of \h» modem El Dorado cross 

 his imagination, as the means of retrieving liis 

 shattered fortune, he be obliged to sneak, and 

 crawl to some secluded corner, lest his creditors 

 destroy his golden hopes. 



Far be it from my humble efforts to retard the 

 progress of the beautifid. Let her go hand in 

 hand with usefulness. Let the llirmer or mechanic 

 of moderate means, when he purchases his abode, 

 or erects his cottage home, do so with a just inten- 

 tion of beautifying it according to his means; 



l)e formed by the right arrangement and comming- 

 ling of their lighter and heaner foHage. 



But mankind have different tastes ; they act dif- 

 ferently, and think differently ; and will build 

 houses differently. Nature has different arrange- 

 ments. On some farms she has midulations, and 

 some she has plams ; I would not for myself have 

 all cloud or all sun ; but one thing I would desire, 

 a fliir representation of country residences, if repre- 

 sentation be required ; and truthfulness and hon- 

 esty in all. Flora. 



Fairhaven, 1855. 



For the New England Farmer. 



LETTEH FEOM THE HOMESTEAD. 



BY H. F. FRENCH. 



My Dear Brown : — Of all the days in the year, 

 give me a rainy day in haying time for attending to 

 neglected duties in the way of writing. After days 

 of hurry and heat and hard work and dust, of ris- 

 ing at daybreak and swinging the scjlihe M'hile the 

 dew is on the grass, of raking and jjitching under a 

 buiTiing sun, of stowing away half-smothered under 

 the eaves, comes this quiet, soothing rustle of the 

 rain-drops on the leaves, when we awake in the 

 morning. We give a half-sigh for the hay-cocks, 

 but are easily consoled when we think of the com 

 and potatoes and the pastures ; entirely resigned, 

 when we recollect the scorching drought of last 

 summer, and on further reflection, quite rejoiced 

 that we have not the responsibility of taking care of 

 the weather, which is managed so much better with- 

 out our help. 



AVhen I say loe In these preliminaries, I intend to 

 include a part of "the rest of mankind," for can- 

 dor compels me to admit that as a strictly personal 

 remark, there is a slight figure of speech in that al- 

 lusion to the scythe in the de-wy grass, for though I 

 have mowed a handsome swath in my day, I have 

 found it more consistent with other duties, of late, 

 to see other hands perform that labor. Still, the 

 rain brings leisure from out-door cares, and as dog- 

 day weather is too hot for severe studies, even in 

 the way of agriculture,we will lay aside the abstruser 

 matters of soil analysis, of superphosphates and 

 chemical affinities, and discourse of familiar matters 

 better suited to the weather and the season of haste 

 and heat. 



You see that I date once more at Old Chester, 

 and the Homestead, where we are seeking health 

 and repose for one who has been almost overcome 

 in life's battle ; hoping for strength in the clear 

 sky and pure air of an inland and hilly position. 



A gentleman of much observation, whose wife 

 was suffering for years with some affection of the 

 lungs, who had travelled with her for her health 



