354 



NEW ENGLAND F.AJl^IER. 



Aug. 



JOE PICKLE. 

 A correspondent sends us a "true narra- 

 tive" in verse of this young man. who, having 

 finished his season's engagement with a far- 

 mer who did not keep a hired man during the 

 winter season, fell into the following soliloquy : 



The winter's come; my time is out; 



The man wants me uo more; 

 I have not where to lay my head; 



It's hard to leave his door. 



This naturally excites our compassion for 

 the poor outcast, and we feel relieved when 

 informed that 



There is a man not fir away, 

 That hires men by the year ; 

 I'll go and see what I can do — 

 He may think me sincere I 



But most unfortunately for our hero this 

 man happened to know just what a Fickle Joe 

 was — we may as well, you know, out-run our 

 shadow as our character — and told him plainly 

 that he could not trust him ; he wanted a man 

 that would not leave him after "being wintered 

 out," which he thought was all that Joe "cared 

 about." But Mr. Fickle was not to be bluffed : 



Once, twice, and thrice, I went, and more ; 



1 promised to be true, 

 With many a fair and honest word, — 



He took me for true blue. 



But the Fickle blood was in his veins : 



When summer came, when grass grew fast, 



And haying was near by, 

 When wages, too, were coming up, 



For more, sure I did try. 



I knew 'twas wrong to go away, 



For I was treated well, 

 And f jr some reasons I did look, 



To make it fair to tell. 



And in some six or eight stanzas he gives 

 the result of his attempts to find these reasons 

 in the treatment he received from his employer 

 and his family, which were quite unsatisfac- 

 tory, until he happened to remember : 



The girls they laugh at me about 



The young and fair-ficed Lu, 

 I will not stay another day ' 



Where I am treated bo 1 



And he did'nt. 



A WORD TO THE BOYS. 



It is now liavinfi time, a season of the year when 

 all hands nuist be lively. You will be culled upon 

 to drive the horses for the mowing machine and 

 rake. Don't iic too ra.«h with them. Let cvcry- 

 thmg move along steadily and smoothly. No ma- 

 chinery can fio hy jerks without heinR destroyed. 

 Be upearlv in the morning so us to work as nmch 

 as possiljle in the cool of tlie day, and go to bed as 

 early as possible and secure all "the sleep you can. 



If you are learning to use a hand scythe don't 

 whet it over your shoulder bnt under it. A slip of 

 the snath may spoil your shoulder. Take good 

 care of the hand rakes and fVjrks. Learn to ^tow 

 a load of hay well, so it shall look in good shape 

 and ride over rough ground without 1) ing thrown 

 off with you beneath it. Learn to do your light 

 work nimbly, your heavy work slowly. Whatever 

 you have to do, try and do it as well a*! anybody 

 else, if you cannot do as much. Rapidity of nu- 

 tion is secured by first careluily watching the mo- 

 tions of things. Keep an eye on the garden and 

 pull up the weeds and gi.-e them to the pigs. 

 It promotes their health and growth. Lastly, re- 

 member that you are now laying the foundations 

 for a solid manhood. A boy that works well 

 through haying will be likely to thrive anysvhere. 

 — Maine Farmer. 



Remarks. — And permit the New England 

 Farmer to add, that while doing all you are 

 here exhorted to do, remember that you are 

 learning a great trade, and studying the most 

 important of all professions. 



, For the New England Farmer, 



THE GARDEN IN AUGUST. 



After a long, cold and backward spring, the 

 later heat of summer hurries vegetation for- 

 ward with a rush ; and August brings us our 

 usual garden harvest. Although we may have 

 been almost discouraged in the earlier part of 

 the season, yet all was necessary to lead us up 

 to the present appreciation and realization of 

 fresh vegetables every day from the garden, 

 crisp and tender ; a blessing which the dwellers 

 in cities seldom if ever enjoy. How many, 

 suppose you, "Billy Styx," of the dwellers in 

 such cities as Boston, New York, &c., ever 

 tasted green peas ? or, as to that, fresh, green, 

 vegetables or fruits of any kind, such as you 

 have, or may have the privilege of doing every 

 day through the hot season ? Just try the ex- 

 periment of taking any favorite product of the 

 garden and handle it, not very carefully, six 

 or eight times from basket to box, and box to 

 basket, and expose it to the sun several hours 

 before cooking and being brought to the table, 

 and you may, in part, realize what fresh ve- 

 getables mean in cities. Compare such with 

 those right from the garden, while yet they 

 are fresh, crisp, and sliining with the dews of 

 an August morning, and you will soon learn 

 to appreciate the real thing. 



All who started with the early spring to have 

 a good garden are now enjoying the fruit of 

 their labor. lie who has a well kept garden 

 may not only rejoice in the ni.e fresh products 

 which supply his table daily, but he often has 

 a surplus to sell to the less provident, or give 

 to the feeble, or decrepid who cannot provide 

 for themselves with ecjual facility. Farmers 

 who live within easy distance of cities or villa- 

 ges, may add considerable to their income by 

 enlarging the garden and producing vegeta- 

 bles, small fruits, &c. for marketing ; and 

 leave the production, in part, of large graia 



