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NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Nov, 



FACTS FOR FARMERS. 



The foUowinij hints, for a wonder, appear to be, 

 without exce]5tion, good : 



"Never keej) your cattle short ; few formers can 

 afford it. If you starve them they will starve you. 



It will not do to hoe a great field for a little 

 crop, or to mow twenty acres for five loads of hay. 

 Em"ich the land and it will pay you for it. Better 

 farm thirty acres well, than fifty acres by halves. 



In dry ])astures, dig for water on the brow of a 

 hill. S])rings are more frequently at the surface 

 on a height, than in a vale. 



The foot of the owner is the best manure for his 

 land. 



Cut bushes that you wish to destroy in summer, 

 and with a sharp instrument ; they will then bleed 

 fi-eely and die. 



When an implement is no longer wanted for the 

 season, if you carefully lay it aside, you will have it 

 in good order for use next season. 



Cultivate your heart aright, as well as your soil, 

 remembering that 'whatsoever a man soweth, that 

 shall he also reap.' 



Build a spacious barn when you have learned to 

 raise a crop to fill it, — and not before. 



Keep notes of remarkable events on the farm. — 

 To record your errors even will be of benefit. 



Good fences make good neighbors. 



The better animals can be fed, and the more 

 comfortable they can be kej^t, the more profitable 

 they are. 



Clover sowed deep, is secured against a drought — 

 cows fed well in winter give more milli in summer, 

 and what ought to be done should be done to-day, 

 for to-morrow it may rain. 



You may laugh at this advice if you think 

 proper." 



OAT MEAL ANB THE INTELLECT. 



At the annual meeting of the American Associa- 

 tion for the Advancement of Education, recently 

 held in this city, Prof. Haldeman advocated the use 

 of high phosphorized food for teachers, they hav- 

 ing much expenditure of brain. He said " the 

 reason why the Scotch were so intellectually acute 

 and active must be attributed to the use of oatmeal 

 in their youth. Oats contain more phosphorus 

 than any other vegetable." He also recommended 

 eggs as excellent food for teachers, in order to in- 

 crease their intellectual capacities. But the mental 

 acuteness and general intellectual strength which 

 characterize the pcojjle of the above-named country 

 cannot be due to the ])hosphorus of their oatmeal, 

 which is their common breakfost food, for It so hap- 

 jjens that wheat contains more of it than oats. The 

 quantity of soluble phosphates in wheat, according 

 to Prof. Johnston — himself a Scotchman — is more 

 than one per cent, greater than in oats. In his 

 work on Agricultural Chemistry, pages 503 and 

 510, the composition of wheat and oats is given in 

 tables. Oatmeal is, no doubt, very excellent food 

 for man and beast, and so is Indian corn meal, but 

 neither of them will confer intellectual acuteness 

 upon any man. Dull teachers or dull men cannot 

 be made philosojjhers either by the use of eggs or 

 oats. We must look to some other cause than oat- 

 meal for the meta])hysical mind of the North Bri- 

 tons. That cause is, no doubt, to be found in their 

 education. Common schools have been in existence 

 in that countr}' for two centuries, and the strict 



family training of children by catechisms being 

 similar to that which used to prevail in New Eng- 

 land, and various other parts of our country. The 

 Welsh, the Norwegians and Irish use oatmeal ex- 

 tensively for food. — Scientific American. 



ATTACK BY CATTLE UPOK A RED 

 WAGON. 



The following extract is from one of Col. Clai- 

 bourne's letters from the pine woods of Mississippi, 

 published in the JVew Orleans Delta : — 

 ' " I set out for Augusta, bowling merrily along in 

 a blood-red buggy. The road is beautiful, roofed 

 over with trees and vines, and the air fragrant with 

 the breath of flowers. There was only one draw- 

 back — the myriads of flies, of every sjiecies, that 

 swarmed around, and ravenously cupped the blood 

 from the ears, neck and flanks of my horse. It is 

 what is ap])ropriately termed here ' fly-time ' — that 

 is to say, the period when this numerous family of 

 scourges have it all their own way, and neither man 

 nor beast can venture into the woods with impunity. 

 Now the cattle from a thousand hills, and even the 

 wild deer, seek the abodes of men, and huddle 

 around some smoking pine, or stand in some open 

 field to escape their periodical tormentors. On a 

 sudden curve of the road, I foimd myself in one of 

 these ' stami)ing grounds,' and a simultaneous roar 

 from five hundred animals gave notice of my dan- 

 ger. It is well known that the Spanish matadores 

 provoke the wounded bulls of the arena by flaunt- 

 ing the moleta or blood-red flag before them. It 

 was the color of my equipage that excited this bel- 

 lowing herd. They snuffed the air, planted their 

 heads near the ground, tore up the earth with their 

 hoofs and horns, and glared at me with savage ey««. 

 The fierce phalanx blocked the road, and they 

 jilunged on every side, crushing down everything 

 in their course, goring and tuml)ling over each oth- 

 er, filling the woods with their dreadful cries, and 

 gathering nearer and nearer in the fearful chase. 

 The contest noAv became desperate. In five min- 

 utes we should have been overturned and trampled 

 to death ; but at this juncture I threw out my over- 

 coat, and, with an awful clamor, they ])aused to 

 fight over it and tear it into shreds. Thriving at 

 full s])eed, I tossed out a cushion ; the infuriated 

 devils trampled it into atoms, and came rushing on , 

 their horns clashing against the buggy, and ripping 

 up the ribs of my horse. At this fearful moment 

 we were providentially saved. A monstrous oak, 

 with a forked top, had fallen near the road, and into 

 this I plunged my horse breast high, and he was 

 safe, the back of the buggy being then the only 

 assailing point. At this time the whole column 

 made a dash, but I met the foremost with six dis- 

 charges from a revolver; two bottles of Sewell 

 Taylor's best were shivered in their faces ; next a 

 cold tui'key, and finally a bottle of Scotch snuff — 

 the last shot in the locker. This did the business. 

 Such a sneezing and bellowing was never heard be- 

 fore ; and the one that got it put out with the whole 

 troop at his heels, circling round, scenting the blood 

 that had been spilled, and shaking the earth with 

 their thundering tramp. I was fairly in for it, and 

 made up my mind to remain until sunset, when 

 they would disperse, as in ' fly time ' cattle graze at 

 night. I was relieved, however, by the approach of 

 some cattle drivers, Avho, gallo])ing up on shaggy 

 but muscular horses, and with whips twenty feet 



