1868. 



NEW ENGLAND FARRIER. 



35 



choicest beets, turnips, carrots, cabbages, &c., 

 to raise seed from next summer. 



Wm. H. White. 



South Wmdsor, Conn , Nov. 20, 1867. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 DOMESTIC TRAINING.— WO. 2. 



Perbaps, Mr. Editor, jou would not have 

 wished the former essay ''to be continued," 

 had you known that it was written under the 

 influence of sad experience. But I am not in 

 the confessional, and as the subject is far from 

 being exhausted, lam quite willing to proceed. 



Mothers, are you giving your daughters a 

 domestic education as thorough and systematic 

 as the instruction which they are receiving at 

 school ? Are you leading them step by step 

 from the simplest to the most difficult tasks, 

 even as they are trained in mathematics or 

 music ? If not, then you so far fall short of 

 your duty. It is not enough, to permit them 

 occasionally to fabricate delicate pies and pud- 

 dings, or perform some light labor which will 

 not compromise their gentility. They should 

 understand the duties that pertain to each day 

 of the week, and to stated seasons of the 

 year. They should be familiar with the har- 

 mony of the household, so that in the absence 

 of the leader there need be no jarring or dis- 

 cordant notes. 



The best time to lay the foundation for a 

 domestic education is in early childhood. 

 There is then a willingness to learn, which the 

 circumstances of later years too often eradi- 

 cate. Every one knows how anxious little 

 girls are, as soon as they can go alone, to 

 "help," and how troublesome their officious- 

 ness sometimes appears. Yet it should not be 

 so accounted, even though they do hinder 

 much more than they help. Their willingness 

 to assist should be appreciated and encouraged, 

 and their little mistakes kindly corrected. 

 Such speeches as, "Do get out of the way !" 

 "You bother me to death !" must fall rather 

 harshly on the mind of a child who is trying to 

 the best of her knowledge, to do some good in 

 the world. Can we wonder that there is so 

 much idleness and selfishness, such a distaste 

 for housework, among those who should be 

 able to lighten the cares of their mother, and 

 cheer her declining years ? 



Let it not be supposed that learning to work 

 will be an obstacle to their intellectual advance- 

 ment. On the contrary it will tend to promote 

 it, unless one should go to the pernicious ex- 

 treme of placing heavy burdens on young 

 shoulders, inadequate to bear them. Habits 

 of industry and usefulness, formed at home, 

 ■will be carried into the school duties, and 

 greatly assist in their worthy performance. 



There are too many idle, and, as a direct 

 'ionsequence, sullen, obstinate and mischievous 

 onildrcn in the world. If their first attempts 

 at assisting are harshly repelled, the golden 

 opportunity is lost. 



There are little tasks which they can perform 

 easily, and they .^hould be allowed to do so, 

 even if the amount of assistance have to be 

 expressed by the sign — minus. Their training 

 is the mother's most important duty, and should 

 be attended to, whatever else may be neglected. 



IMattie. 



Marlboro', Mass., Nov. 18, 1867. 



Grapes in Geoiigia. — IVlr. J. Van Buren, 

 of Clarksville, Geo., wriies to the Country 

 Gentleman: "My Scuppeinong grapes were 

 very fine ; vines six } ears tian^planted bore an 

 average of three bushels clean grapes each, 

 eome of the berries measuring one and a quar- 

 ter inches in diameter, and the clu-tcrs rang- 

 ing from two to twenty L-erries C;uh ; and I 

 would here remark that this grape diflers from 

 all others, in that the beriies alone are picked 

 or shaken from the vine and not' the clusters. 

 It is a very distinct variety, entirely unlike any 

 other grape in vine, leaf and fruit. The 

 Mustang grape of Texas resembles it some- 

 what in vine and leaf, but not in fruit. The 

 Scuppernong is the sweetest of all grapes, 

 while the Mustang is the most acid. The vines 

 which produced three bushels the present year 

 will probably produce six bushels each next 

 year, and thus go on doubling annually for 

 several years to come, as it is a variety not 

 subject to any disease in vine, leaf or fruit. 

 It blooms from the middle to the last of June, 

 and ripens the first of October. 



The Berkshire County Premiums. — The 

 Berkshire, Mass., Agricultural Society always 

 pay their premiums in silver ware, with the 

 privilege of exchanging any article for another in 

 order to complete the sets. Nearly all the old 

 families have obtained silver spoons enough in 

 this way to sto' k themselves and set up their 

 children. All those who have married Berk- 

 shire girls within the last half century will tes- 

 tify to the abundant supply. The result is that 

 the Berkshire Society has a powerful hold on 

 the hearts and purses of the people. At the 

 exhibition just closed, a plow that took the first 

 premium 54 years ago here, was shown ; it is 

 still in the possession of Henry Colt, who pro- 

 poses to present it to the Society. _ It was im- 

 ported from Scotland, and is all iron except 

 the handles. — Western Sural. 



Massachusetts Fruit House. — Hovey's 

 Magazine of Horticulture says that Bartlett 

 pears, placed in the Fruit House, September 

 1, are now, October 15, in precisely the same 

 condition as when put in, thus enabling dealers 

 to furnish this favorite pear for three or four 

 months. We doubt not that pears of all kinds 

 will now be furnished at reasonable prices the 

 whole winter. Heretofore they have been too 

 dear for any except the wealthy to purchase. 



