20 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Jan. 



in a concentrated form — all that seems necessary 

 for developing bodily proportions and hereditary 

 traits — therefore, when ■\veaned, the colt must be 

 furnished with the same equivalents in the form of 

 fodder, ground oats, wheat bran, and meal. 



It is the young and growing animal that requires 

 our greatest attention. If our readers desire to 

 raise colts that shall remunerate them for the trou- 

 ble and expense incurred, they must feed the same, 

 during their minority, with a liberal hand. Any 

 neglect at this period can never be made up in af- 

 ter life ; the subjects will always remain lank and 

 lean — living monuments of their master's folly, or 

 ignorance, as the case may be. In addition to the 

 food required for the colt's growth, we must also 

 furnish enough to supply the waste incurred by ex- 

 penditure of muscular power. We all know that 

 the young are very active and playful. Every 

 muscular movement involves an expenditure of vi- 

 tal force, and thus exhausts the system ; therefore, 

 in view of developing their full proportions, and 

 promoting the integrity of the living mechanism, 

 they must have nutritious food, and plenty of it. — 

 They are not, however, to have a large quantity 

 at a time, but little and often ; the stomach is small, 

 not larger than that of a man. Should it be ever 

 distended with coarse and innutritioivs food, the or- 

 gans of respiration and circulation become embar- 

 rassed, and the blood loaded with carbon. They 

 require food often, because the digestive organs are 

 very active, and soon dispose of an ordinary meal ; 

 then comes the sensation of hunger, which every 

 one knows is hard to bear. — „lintrican Vel?rinarij 

 Journal. 



^ For the New England Farmer. 



■ SHALL I STICK TO TEE FARM? 



Messes. Editors :— I shall take the above in- 

 terrogatory for a subject, and express my ideas to 

 all young men who have not decided upon an oc- 

 cupation to live by. Good advice is frequently giv- 

 en and lost from not knowing the feelings and in- 

 clinations of those to whom it is given. Shall I 



losophy ; they cannot help becoming botanists, in a 

 degree, whether they read or not. Observation does 

 practically what reading does theoretically, they 

 have the knowledge, if not the technical phrases, 

 which those have who read more. 



Many of our most celebrated men were poor 

 when boys, and had to study their books and get 

 their education while working at farming or some 

 mechanical trade. I have known young men, my- 

 self among others, at their "noonings" and oth- 

 er leisure hours, instead of pitching quoits or "run- 

 ning into the store," take up their grammars and 

 learn a good lesson while resting, even in haying- 

 time, in defiance of that terrible fatigue which de- 

 stroys all interest in study. Reading and acquiring 

 literary knowledge depends very much on taste and 

 inclination. There are many men of different oc- 

 cupations, who would not read to inform them- 

 selves upon any subject or science had they six 

 hours of leisure time every day in the year ; they 

 have no natural desire or inclination to gain know- 

 ledge in a way which disciplines the mind with such 

 rigor; but had rather go to public places of re- 

 sort, race and trot horses, and discuss all sorts of 

 subjects freely without discommoding the brain 

 with dry study. As to the profit of farming, I ful- 

 ly believe the man who is able to labor and will 

 give his mind to his business, can support his fami- 

 ly in a more respectable manner on a rented farm, 

 than a mechanic or trader can in the city on a sala- 

 ry of ten dollars a week. I can quote two of my 

 neighbors who commenced on rented farms, with- 

 out capital, and who are now independent farmers, 

 with families of children, living in good style. 



The young farmer must decide for himself 

 whether he will be a mean ignoramus, or a respec- 

 table man. A man is known by the company he 

 keeps. If a young man respects himself, he will 

 not demean himself by associating with unprinci- 

 pled persons, but will try to elevate himself by 

 choosing respectable, intelligent and moral compan- 

 ions. Tie that worships the true God, or that prin- 

 ciple which creates and impresses life into all ani- 

 mated nature, into growing plants and flowers as 



