236 



THE farmers' cabinet. 



VOL. I, 



until the seed is perfectly ripe ; and should 

 then be g:ithered and cleaned in clear weath- 

 er. If any moisture remains, they should be 

 exposed to the rays of the sun until they are 

 perfectly dry, and then be put up in bags or 

 boxes and secured from the depredations of 

 rats, mice and insects, and the action of se- 

 vere cold. As a general rule, new seeds is 

 to be preferred to old, on account of its ger- 

 minating quicker and producinga more vigor- 

 ous growth; but good seeds, gathered and 

 preserved in the foregoing manner, will re- 

 tain their vitality as follows: — 



YEARS. YEARS. 



Asparagus, 4 Marjoram, 4 



Balm, 2 Melon, 8 or 10 



Basil, 2 or 3 Mustard, 3 or 4 



Beans, 1 or 2 Nasturtium, 2 or 3 



Beets, 8 or 10 Onion, 3 



Borage, 2 Parsley, 5 or 6 



Cabbage, 6 or 8 Parsnip, 1 



Carrot, 1 or 2 Pea, 2 or 3 



Celery, 6 or 8 Pumpkin, 8 or 10 



Corn, 2 or 3 Pepper, 5 or 6 



Cress, 2 Raddish, 6 or 8 



Cucumber, 8 or 10 Rue, 3 



Caraway. 4 Ruta Baga, 4 



Fennel, 5 Salsafy, 2 



Garlic, 3 Savory, 3 or 4 



Leek, 3 or 4 Spinage, 3 or 4 



Lettuce, 3 or 4 Squash, 8 or 10 



Mangel VVurtzel,8 or 10 Turnep, 3 or 4 

 Some gardeners prefer old seeds of cucum- 

 bers, melons, squashes, &c. &c. to new, on 

 account of their running less to vines and pro- 

 ducing larger crops of fruit; but on this point 

 we cannot speak experimentally. The vital- 

 ity of seeds is easily tested, and they ought 

 never to be sown, in any considerable quanti- 

 ty, without it. When divested of their cov- 

 ering, such as will germinate will sink in 

 luke-warm water, while such as have lost 

 their vitality will float on the surface. 



Retiring from Business. — It is very com- 

 mon to hear persons who are engaged in ac- 

 tive concerns of life, express a desire to be- 

 come speedily rich, so that they may retire 

 from business. This appears to be almost 

 universally the object of the business of man's 

 toil. But we venture to say that in no re- 

 spect were people ever more generally de- 

 luded than in this. They expect to find noth- 

 ing but happiness upon leaving what they 

 have been accustomed to regard as the 

 harassing cares of business — they actually 

 find notiiing but misery. In nine cases out 

 of ten the man wiio has retired from business 

 and laid aside his, active iiabits, finds cause 

 daily to regret the step he lias taken, and to 

 wish himself back again. Happiness is not 

 to be found in idleness, but in a faithful dis- 



charge of the active duties of life. Man was 

 not intended as an idle being, and it was a 

 wise ordinance that by the sweat of his brow 

 he should eat bread. The necessity of activ- 

 ity and labor imposed upon tiie human race 

 tends to the promotion of virtue and of 

 substantial enjoyment. It is a true remark 

 of Miss Sedgwick that 'one cannot be very 

 unhappy while there is enough to do.' 



Good Advice to a Farmer r—" Many 

 years ago," said a quaker friend who told us 

 the following anecdote, "many years ago, a 

 brother of the celebrated Benjamin West, 

 who had been a cooper in this city, a man of 

 sterling sense and integrity, purcliased a farm 

 some miles out of the city which had been 

 suffered to be overrun with briars and bush- 

 es. He was for a short time considered by 

 his neighbor farmers as very far from being 

 as wise as Solomon or even as themselves, 

 but in a few years, his was the best and most 

 productive farm within fifty miles around 

 him ; his fame as a farmer spread far and 

 wide. One day a man came to iiim who was 

 desirous of improving his farm, and asked him 

 how he should do it. Go home, said Mr. 

 West, and make five or ten acres as rich as 

 thee wants, and come to me and I will tell 

 thee what to do next. But, said the farmer, I 

 have not manure enough to do that. Very 

 well, then, go and prepare thee three 

 acres, two acres, or one acre in the same 

 way, but what thee undertakes, do well. 

 The farmer, said our friend, perfectly 

 comprehended the advice, and what is 

 unusual, practised upon and benefited by it, 

 leaving at his death, one of the best farms in 

 the country." Go and do likewise. — Fhila. 

 Herald. 



Buckwheat Straw. — A correspondent, 

 who signs himself " a young farmer," asks us 

 whether any use can be made of his Buck- 

 wheat straw] 



Our reply is, that it is better for milch cows 

 than the best timothy hay — that his cows will 

 eat it with equal avidity — tiiat if it has not 

 been exposed too long to tlie vicissitudes of 

 the weather it will prove equally nutritious 

 to them — that so far as the secretion of milk 

 is concerned it is infinitely preferable to any 

 hay or fodder within our knowledge, and that 

 when cut and boiled, or steamed, it makes a 

 most acceptable slop for the cows. We will 

 say further, that the "old plan" of throwing' 

 this wholesome and nutritious provender upon 

 the dung heap, or the barn yard, to be 

 trampled under foot, should be abandoned, and 

 that henceforth it should be permitted to as- 

 sume its proper rank among the choicest hay 

 for neat cattle. — Farmer and Gardener. 



