271 



NEW EXGLAXD FARINIER. 



JUXB 



deficient in good material for makin!^ durable 

 roads. Blue gravel, the next most important 

 article, so alMuulant in many of the neighbor- 

 ing towns, is hardly known here, and we must 

 therefore ra^lce the most of what we have. It 

 is selilom a gravel bank can be fjund in town, 

 of uniform (juality, although th(ye are some 

 that answer a fair purpose, but generally at 

 rather long distances from the work, creating 

 a heavy expense for transportation. Survej'- 

 ors bhoiild not be allowed to put on the road 

 such material as will be of no earthly use, but 

 be required to cart the best that can be ob- 

 tained, and none other, and do the work thor- 

 oughly and well, as far as they go, keeping 

 constantly in mind the old adage that "once 

 "well done, is twice done." 



The preservation of a road depends on the 

 description of teams passing over it, and the 

 first object is to keep it dry and free from wa- 

 ter and mud. Repairs should commence im- 

 mediately on the opening of spring, by filling 

 up the ruts and hollows, repairing bars, taking 

 out loose stones and correcting any other de- 

 fects. When the road is much rutted, it not 

 only retains the water, but the rubbing and 

 jolting of the wheels into them wears out the 

 road, the iron of the wheels, and the harness, 

 and also wearies the team. The best service 

 of the surs'eyor is, then, to keep the road sur- 

 face smooth and a little crowning, so that wa- 

 ter may find a free and easy passage to its 

 proper drain, by scraping or carting just 

 enough gravel, and nothing more, as over-fill- 

 ing creates unevenness, and is labor lost. 

 Much expense of material is thereby saved, 

 and the great end of road-making fully at- 

 tained, viz : that of rendering it in all sea- 

 sons, easy, safe, and pleasant to the traveller. 

 It is a credit to any town, and a recommenda- 

 tion to any fai'm, that the roads through it are 

 neat and in good order. 



For the I'urtherance of this object, I will 

 close with a few suggestions to the Club, 

 •which have occurred to my mind while writ- 

 ing, viz : — 



1. That the town purchase for each highway 

 district, a scraper of the most approved plan, 

 •which the Surveyor be required to use in early 

 spring over iiis entire road, to level it, and 

 that he be made responsible for the care of 

 the same as long as he holds his oflace. 



2. That a committee be appointed by the 

 town every year, to advise with the Surveyor, 

 directing when, in their best judgment, ihe 

 ■work should be done, and to what amount, &c. 



3. That no land-owner be allowed to enclose 

 one rod of the public road without the consent 

 of proper authorities : neither shall he be al- 

 lowed to dig material from the road, without 

 filling the same immediately with sand, to its 

 original graile. 



4. That the town direct the Surveyor to fill 

 all places on the road side, where loam has 

 been taken out, so that in future time trees 

 may be planted and other improvements made. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 ■WHERE WE ARE. 



The papers inform me, if I nad them aright, 

 that the completion of the Pacific Railroad will 

 place our Re])ublic about midway between Eu- 

 rope and Africa on the one side, anil the 

 Asiatic continent on the other. 1 sometimes 

 incline to the belief that we are somewhere in 

 that vicinity already ; and I am beginning to 

 realize the truth of the statement, — made from 

 time to time in our National Legi.-latuie, — 

 that the whole world lies at our door. For if 

 I were to advertise to-morrow for a Stormy 

 Petrel, not forty-eight hours would elapse be- 

 fore the postman would bring me a letter from 

 some enterprising in'lividual, offering to send 

 me a "trio" of Mother Gary's chickens for 

 twenty-five dollars ! And if I were to inquire 

 for a decoy duck, it would surely come to 

 hand, — guaranteed to be "a non-titter, and an 

 everlasting layer," — and in all probability a 

 ten dollar bill would just settle the score ! I 

 have a very decided liking for the feathered 

 race. A few weeks ago I tried to purchase 

 some Brahma fowls ; and straightway came 

 the assurance from an Eastern ibwl-dealer that 

 he would "spare" me a dozen pullets out of 

 his Hock, provided I would pay him ten dollars 

 apiece for them ! Now, would this accommo- 

 dating gentleman have fulfilled his promise ? 

 I think he would ; I believe that at that price 

 he would have spared me a hundred. And 

 the eggs of this variety were offered me for 

 two dollars a dozen ! 



Yes, the politicians are right in their asser- 

 tions as to the centrality of our location ; for 

 dwellers in out-of-the-way places have no such 

 chances presented to them. 



The planting season is close at hand, and 

 the seedsmen hereabouts are doing a heavy 

 business. These gentlemen do their best to 

 gratify the wishes of their patrons, and their 

 endeavors are generally successful. Wanting 

 some seed-potatoes, the other day, I stopped 

 at an out-of-town grocery, and asked for Oro- 

 nos. The salesman directed me to a bin 

 containing red potatoes. I objected to their 

 color. " Very well," said he, "then you can 

 have the ichite variety, for I had as lief sell 

 you the one as the otlier." I congratulated 

 myself on having fallen into the hands of such 

 an agreeable personage, but at the same time 

 I was forced to admit that he was lacking in 

 particularity ; and I was compelled to exercise 

 my own judgment, after all. 



Potatoes are bringing a high price, this 

 spring, in this vicinity, although there is an 

 abundance of them in the market. Yorks, 

 Canadas, and other good varieties are being 

 sold for about two dollars a bushel. Ihe 

 Early Goodrichcs are said to be somewhat 

 scarce ; and in view of this assertion, it is ex- 

 ceedingly gratifying to me to learn, — as I do 

 from tlie advertising colunms of the agricultu- 

 ral press, — that there are scores of good peo- 

 ple not far away who will sell me a lew bush- 



