1857. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



199 



DO YOUR BEST. 



The times are hard, ai.' fortune shy, 



Haslang been ilka grummler's story, 

 But work aye on, an' aim aye high. 



The harder work— the greater glory. 

 The honest mind, the sterling man. 



The chains o' poortith canna fetter; 

 So strive, an' do the best you can, 



An' take my word, ye'li sune be better. 



Although ye toil for little gear — 



Tho' wiles your labor may be sliehtcd. 

 The darkest sky is sure to clear. 



An' virtue's wrangs wi' aye be richted. 

 Ne'er deem yoursel' an ill-used man. 



Nor ca' th« world a heartless debtor j 

 But strive, and do the best ye can, 



An' take my word, ye'll sune be better. 



0, sweet is freedom's caller air, 



An' sweet is bread o' ane's ain winning ! 

 To work and win be aye your care. 



Great things hae aft a sma' beginning. 

 Let nought e'er ding ye frae your plan ; 



Stick to your creed in ilka letter; 

 But strive to do the best ye can, 



An' take my word, ye'll sune be better. 

 'Poems of James Ballantyne. 



For the New England Farmer. 



CLEAR TJP ! CLEAR TIP ! 



To how many farmers will the departure of the 

 snow reveal an unsightly array of refuse wood, bro- 

 ken carts and wagons, that are thought to be "too 

 good to cut up," and yet are too poor to be of any 

 further service. There are, also, old stumps, that 

 evidently were disturbed long before Mr. Willis's 

 machine was invented ; and logs, that when drawn 

 there were designed for wood, when that conve- 

 nient time, "when there is nothing else to do," should 

 arrive, that they might be reduced to proper di- 

 mensions for that purpose. But alas ! such ugly 

 proportions have effectually warded off the attack, 

 and consequently, they are suffered to lie against 

 the wall, until decay has accomplished its work. 



The farmer thinks little, and perhaps nothing, 

 about it, as he is accustomed to see them from year 

 to year, and is not aware how much such rubbish 

 detracts from the beauty of his premises. His 

 family are not sensible of the enjoyment or luxury 

 of a clean door-yard and surroundings, for they 

 have never tasted it. 



The farm-buildings, yards, &c., are like the in- 

 dex to a book, and the stranger, as he passes, dis- 

 covers the character of the farmer by what he thus 

 beholds, as readily as he learns the contents of a 

 book by glancing at the index. Who shall say 

 that the judgment thus based is not correct? If 

 we find the gate blown down, and suffered to lie 

 month after month, or rendered useless because it 

 hangs by one hinge, may we not expect to find the 

 wall down in his fields, or rods of fence propped up 

 temporarily, and only waiting the first touch of the 

 cattle to afford access to the field of grain ? If he 

 allow his door-yard to be thus encumbered, shall 

 we not find clumps of bushes growing around stone 

 heaps in his mowing fields, the walls hedged with 

 noxious brambles ? 



If the two shade trees that stand before his house 

 have not clean trunks and well sjiread branches, 

 shall we not find his apple trees surrounded by an 

 arn^.y of pirate sprouts, that rob the tree of the 



nourishment the roots afford, and thus cause the 

 top to decay ? On the contrary, how different is 

 the effect of a neat, white cottage, with its plain 

 but substantial fence, also painted or whitewashed, 

 enclosing a clean plat of ground for a front yard, 

 covered with a rich carpet of green, or ornamented 

 with shrubs and flowers, as the taste of the family 

 may dictate. 



How spontaneous the remark as we pass such a 

 situation, "Here is a farmer of thrift, and a family 

 of taste ;" and we are half inclined to tarry a mo- 

 ment to participate in their enjoyment, and thank 

 them for their worthy example. We rarely ride 

 many miles into the country without seeing these 

 extremes ; and if the eye of one of the former class 

 should meet these lines, we hope he will resolve 

 to clear up. Y. C. G. 



JVashua, February, 1857. 



Remakes. — Carry out these ideas, and what a 

 change would come over the rural homesteads of 

 New England. But improvement is going on ; 

 there is less rotten wood and fewer broken vehicles 

 in the door-yards, and not so many cast-off panta- 

 loons and old hats in the windows, as there were 

 ten years ago, — while there are a good many more 

 books in the house, and more money in the 

 drawer ! 



GET IN ROOT CROPS. 



We write under the settled conviction, that the 

 profits of the general farmer may be more rapidly 

 increased under a judicious cultivation of the vari- 

 ous roots, than in any other way, that more than 

 double the value, per acre, may be obtained from 

 them than from hay crops, and more, even, than 

 from the small grains, or Indian corn. 



The cultivators of England have long understood 

 this secret, and have become prosjierous under its 

 teachings. No man, probably, from this country 

 ever gave the subject so much attention as did Mr. 

 Webster, during his mission in England. And few 

 men, in our judgment, have done their country so 

 signal a service as he did by his investigations of this 

 subject, and by a promulgation of the facts which 

 he learned. They awakened attention, and the fruits 

 of his suggestions are now manifest all through 

 New England, at least. 



Of the turnip, there is a great variety, and their 

 cultivation is too well understood to need any ex- 

 planation of ours. For winter and spring use, ma- 

 ny persons prefer not to put in their root crops un- 

 til the third week in June. We prefer© little earli- 

 er date. 



We are gratified to notice that the cultivation of 

 the sugar beet is beginning to enlist the attention 

 of farmers. Those who have made trial of it, speak 

 of it in terms of approbation. It is not only very 

 productive, but one of the best roots that can be fed 

 to milch cows and young cattle — causing a rich 

 flow of milk in the former, and great vigor, spright- 

 lincs'} and hardihood in the latter. There is proba- 



