38 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Jan. 



consumption of wool at different periods may 



be gathered from the following statement, with 



the qualification that the wool importation of 



1865 was less than the consumption of foreign 



wool for that year, while that of 1866 was far 



more than that year''s consumption. There 



was also, in round numV)ers, four millions of 



pounds of shoddy in the former, and seven 



millions in the latter year, not counted in the 



statement : — 



U. 8. Product, tt>8. Imports, tbs. Total, flbs. 



1810 . . 35,802,114 15,(86,410 60,808,524 



1850 . . 52,51fi,969 18,669,794 71,186,763 



1860 . . 60,011,3-13 34,5S6,657 95,098,000 



1865 . . 105 OUO.OliO 40,372,075 1-15,372,075 



1866 . . 115,000,000 67,917,031 182,917,031 



It is not that woolen importations are so much 

 heavier than formerly, in proportion to popu- 

 lation. As shown above, the average for forty 

 years, when we manufactured comparatively 

 little, was $15,680,618. With population 

 doubled and foreign prices at least fifty per 

 cent, greater than twenty-five years ago, $45,- 

 000,000 would not be a larger proportionate 

 importation. Then we manufactured scarcely 

 half the annual consumption; now we manu- 

 facture three-fourths, and of most goods can 

 easily manufacture for the entire demand, so 

 that any importation tends to drug the market. 

 This is the literal fact, and the future will 

 show how sensitive a full market is to the 

 slightest surplus — ^justas a few drops will over- 

 flow a brimming glass. All the' woolens im- 

 ported in four years of war amounted to but 

 $87,782,918, or $21,9-15,726 annually; actu- 

 ally a less quantity of goods than was bought 

 for $15,680,618 annuall)' for forty j-ears, com- 

 mencing in 1821 ; but in the mean time the 

 products of our mills had grown from four 

 millions of dollars in 1820, to one hundred 

 and fifty or sixty millions in 1864 ! 



For the New England Farmer. 

 PRA-CTICE vs. PEN AND INK 



Messrs. R. P. Eaton & Co. : — I enclose 

 three dollars to pay you for your paper from 

 June 10th, 1866, to June 10th, 1867. Please 

 continue to send it. More farmers by prac- 

 tice, and a less number by pen and ink. 



Onions and Pahsnits. — Plant just before 

 the ground freezes in the fall. The maggot 

 does not injure the onion. 



Corn. — Use the plough instead of the cul- 

 tivator; it warms the land, and throws it to 

 the atmosphere, and the rays of the sun. 

 Plant your corn five feet apart each way. 

 Four kernels in a hill are enough. Iloe twice 

 before the com begins to tassel. 



Manure. — Keep a year's stock of manure 

 on hand ; it is far better for all kinds of plants. 



Potatoes. — Use straw, leaves, or old hay, 

 in the hill ; never put in strong manure, by 

 which they become diseased. Spread the 

 manure on the land and plough it in, and then 

 plant } our potatoes without manure in the hill, 

 and they will be good ! 



Grass. — Never mow your grass until the 

 seed begins to shell, and the salmon color ap- 

 pears ; then your cattle and horses will thrive, 

 and have strength to work. 



Barns. — Have the roof tight. On the sides 

 and ends, where your hay and grain are kept, 

 let there be a space between each board, equal 

 to the thickness of your hand. Then your 

 hay and grain will be sweet and good, and 

 your animals will have good lung food and be 

 healthy. Tight barns, and tight rooms, and 

 air-tight stoves produce avast deal of sickness 

 among animals, and the human race! The 

 above hints are common sense, which is most- 

 ly needed in this age ! 



Luther S. Bancroft. 



Pepperell, Mass., Nov. 4, 1867. 



Remarks. — Are the above common sense 

 and valuable hints any less common sense 

 and valuable because they find utterance by 

 "pen and ink?" Some editors and some cor- 

 respondents, friend Bancroft, may well heed 

 your caution ; but there are a great many 

 farmers who need a very different admonition 

 — men of large and extensive experience who 

 hide their light under a bushel, and whose 

 dear-bought knowledge is likely to die with 

 them. To such the appeal of the younger 

 and the less experienced comes with great ur- 

 gency for more "pen and ink." 



THE "WEEDEB. 



"The morn is past, and yet the weeds are thick, 

 And the fierce August sun pours on me burningly; 



"O God," she cried, "send down that shadow quick 

 Which I desire so yearningly. 



"jPor me the heat and burden of the day. 

 And a stern master who doth show no lenity; 



For him rich pleasure lands stretch far away 

 Wii h groves of cool serenity. 



"Above his meadows, into golden air. 



The rounded knoll uplifts its green protuberance, 

 And ripening harvests wave and toss their hair 



In golden-tressed exuberance. 



"There arfe cool woodlands, in whose dusk arcades 

 The very noon-day seems of twilight emulous ; 



No heart wins there, hut in the silent glades 

 The silent dews hang tremulous. 



"Thro' the thick leaves the tempered sunbeams fall. 

 And pleasant shades are o'er the sward distributed; 



There thistle-down m.iy drift, there worms may crawl- 

 And I, I am prohibited. 



I faint, with toil, yet keep my faith with all, 

 Tho' none save Ood regardeth me observantly; 



Father," she cried, "when will that shadow fall 

 For which I pine so fervently ?" 



Then came a shadow ; but 'twas icy cold. 



As of some swart, dread angel o'er her hovering, 



Wreathed around I er in voluminous fold, 

 And wrapped her in its covering. 



Chill tho' it was, she hailed it with a smile, 

 And, worn by gri( f and years and long infirmity. 



Lay down bi-niath it, slept a little while, 

 And wakened in eternity. 



