16 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Jan. 



cherries, currants, gooseberries, huckleberries, 

 peaches, plums, grapes, &c., any better by cook- 

 ing? For my own part, I can hardly avoid looking 

 v/ith contempt on an immortal being spending her 

 precious hours in half spoiling the Creator's choic- 

 est blessings by con^erting them mto pies, pud- 

 dings, &c. It is an old adage that "God sends 

 meats, but the devil sends cooks." How the say- 

 ing originated, I could better understand, if for the 

 word meats, fruits were substituted. But if the 

 cooks are to blame, are those who encourage them 

 in their folly and guilt less so ? 



These remarks are not made to discourage the 

 use of fruits, but only to discourage the abomina- 

 tion of pie-making. Ap])les and berries are better 

 pies as they come from the hand of the Creator, 

 than when metamorphosed by a wicked waste of 

 time and money into a disagreeable compound of 

 flour, sugar, grease, &.C., ycleped pie. 



There is nothing more gratifying to an unper- 

 verted appetite, such as we may fairly suppose was 

 once known in Eden, than good bread and apples, 

 pears, peaches, berries, &c., or even the rich boiled 

 marrow squash. "When our gay people, on laying 

 aside their fat meats, as some say they are doing, 

 use such food as this, instead of pies, cakes, pre- 

 eerves, sweetmeats, and puddings, we shall not be 

 under the necessity of refering the dreadful mor- 

 tality from consumption to the disuse of grease, for 

 this disease will diminish from generation to genera- 

 lion as rapidly as it now increases. 



W. A. Alcott. 



Dietetic Imtihde, 20 La Grange Place, Boston. 



THE CONCORD GHAPE. 



SWIFT'S LAWN GRASS MACHINE. 



Mr. HoA'EY, Editor of the Horticultural Maga- 

 zine, recently made a visit to Pine Bank, in Brook- 

 line, the residence of E. N. Perkixs, Esq., and 

 among many other pleasant things says : 



Our recent visit here by-invitation of Mr. Per- 

 kins, was to see the operation of Swift's Lawn Grass 

 machine, which was described in our volume of last 

 year. It is an improvement upon the English pat- 

 terns, which have been in use for some years, saving 

 a vast deal of labor, and performing the work as 

 well as the scythe, and better, unless in very skilful 

 hands. The improvements, according to Mr. Swift, 

 consist mainly in making the knives so adjustable, 

 as to allow them to be ground and worn three- 

 fourths of an inch ; and so altering the form and 

 construction, that stones will do no material injury 

 where the English knife would be rendered useless. 



Mr, Perkins's machine, which is one of the largest 

 size, was put in operation on his beautiful lawn. 

 The grass was very damp after a shower the prece- 

 ding evening, and did not cut as well as when dry- 

 er ; for, unlike ordinary cutting with the scythe, 

 when the sward should be moist, the machine works 

 better when dry, as it does not clog up so readily, 

 and the grass is thrown into the gathering-box bet- 

 ter. A pony harnessed in, and taking the handles, 

 we took a turn round the lawn, cutting the griiss as 

 smooth as a carpet, and cleaning it up as neatly as 

 if it had been swept. It works with the greatest 

 ease, though a little practice enables one to manage 

 it better, and cut with greater rapidity, especially 

 where there are trees or shrubs. With care grass 

 may be cut within a few inches of any tree or plant. 



This excellent machine will save a great amount 



