486 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Oct. 



AGBICULTUKAL BHYMES. 

 "When books and papers were scarce, people 

 read to remember, and rhyme was a great as- 

 sistance to the memory. Thus many of the 

 sayings of Franklin's Poor Richard have been 

 handed down from father to son, and are still 

 household words among us. The following 

 collection was made by Dr. J. C. V. Smith, 

 formerly of Boston, and published in the New 

 York Tribune: — 



If butter churned in morning air 

 Is kept in a cool place with care. 



The taate is nice ; 

 But that which shows the buttermilk 

 Don't sell to those who dress in silk— 



For any price. 



To be in debt 

 Briiigs out the sweat. 

 . No half- cooked meat 



Is lit to eat. 



A woman who sneezes 

 Ought not to make cheeses ; 

 Put her hands in a muff. 

 Or ever take snuff. 



When the wind is east and turkles gobble, 

 It is no time a horse to hobble; 

 But let him range to catch the breeze — 

 Should he be troubled with the heaves, 



An ox with broad horns and short glossy hair, 

 Is good for a team, the market, or fair. 



One white foot is bad, and two are too many, 

 Thit horse is best that does not have any. 



A farmer w'tbout hogs. 

 But an army of dogs, 



Will have more puppies than pork; 

 For the swill will be lost, 

 To the husbandman's cost, — 



Dogs good for nottiing to work. 



The slackest farmer, strange to say. 

 Is known for being out of bay. 



It does not pay in any way. 



To mils a cow three times a day. 



When cbiokens roost above the mow, 

 It spoils the hay tor horse or cow. 



The well-bred daughter for a farmer, 

 A prudent helpmeet and a charmer. 



It is no place to set poles. 



Where moles or mice have dug their holes. 



Cobs make no food for kine to eat. 

 But they are good fur smoking meat. 



Pork and beans make muscles strong — 



Somethiog farmers seek ; 

 It is a difh to make life long, 



When cooked but once a week. 



A slovpnly dress, a shabby pate, 

 The fences down, a broken gate. 

 Pigs in the g Tden, weeds very high. 

 Children unwashed — no bacon to Iry — 

 Lots of groat dogs and yawling torn cats, 

 Windows repnin d with a dozen old hat«, 

 An empty barn — not a spear of hay. 

 Cows In the clover, horse run away, 

 Things sold by guess without being weighed, 

 Bills coming in and taxes unpaid — 

 Pipes and tobacco — whisky — neglect. 

 Drag in th- Ir \raln, as all might expect, 

 All sorts of trouble to fret away life — 

 But worst of the whole, an unhappy wife. 



Many estates are lost In the getting, 



Since men have forsaken hewing and splitting. 



And woman their sewing and knitting. 



A mackerel sky — 

 The wind will be high. 

 Then bring in the grain, 

 Close by there is rain. 



A smoky chimney may be cured, 

 A scolding woman not endured, 

 A farmer's wife, libc cream or curd — 

 Is to be seen but seldom heard. 



If you would thrive. 

 Be up by five; 

 For there is health 

 And certain wealth. 

 When at the plough. 

 Or milking cow. 



A farmer at home should be found. 

 And of I en looking at his ground — 

 Isnpecting fields, repairing fence— 

 For dollars come by saving pence. 



Clear the soil from moles and slugs. 

 Prune the trees — keep off the bugs. 

 Then fruits and melons, rich and fair. 

 Will recompense for all your care. 



Rutabaga, carrots, and beets, 

 Improve the character of meats; 

 They make good beef, and quicker too, 

 Than any other feed will do. 



At the farmer's cost 

 Is an early frost. 

 Exercise reason — 

 Harvest in season. 



Of all the crops a farmer raises. 



Or capital employs, 

 None brings such comforts and such praises, 



As a crop of girls and boys. 



For the New England Farmer, 

 MANURES. 



My attention was early directed to the im- 

 portance of composting and sheltering manure 

 by two circumstances^ First, by hearing old 

 Revolutionary soldiers tell of making saltpeter 

 by leaching the earth taken from under old 

 stables. If such dirt held the strength of ma- 

 nure in this way, why should not all manure 

 be treated in a similar manner? In the sec- 

 ond place, while residing in Woodstock, Vt., 

 in 1825, when farming was at a low ebb, a 

 Mr. Bingham removed into that town from 

 Bethel, and purchased a badly run down farm. 

 I remember of hearing him remark, in conver- 

 sation with a neighbor, that he was going to 

 raise wheat. This neighbor replied, you can- 

 not raise wheat in Woodstock, if you did in 

 Bethel. But Mr. B. did raise wheat in Wood- 

 stock, as did also his neighbors who adopted 

 his mode of cultivation and management of 

 manure. He saved not only the solids, but 

 the liquids, and composted and cured it care- 

 fully in a dry «ellar, and thus not only raised 

 wheat, but more than tripled the other pro- 

 ducts of the farm in a few years. 



Two-headed Calf — Com Cobs. 



Since writing the foregoing, I have been 

 called to assist a neighbor to remove a two- 

 headed calf from one of his cows, which had 

 been down since the day before. The calf 

 had two distinct nostrils, four eyes, two skulls 

 and three ears. The cow was left wry weak 

 and low. One of the assisstants recommended 



