1857. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



205 



One of the cows was dried up and fatted in Oc- 

 tober, and there were also two heifers in the dairy. 

 I presume many of your readers could show much 

 larger figures, though 1 think the average would 

 fall somewhat below it. As far as my observations 

 extend, the larger the dairy, the smaller the profit 

 per cow, though with the same care and feed, olher 

 things being equal, I believe there would be no 

 diftercnce. I have come to the conclusion that 

 farming is a pleasant, independent and profitable 

 business if rightly pursued, and that we need agri- 

 cultural schools where we can learn to analyze 

 soils in order to know what elements are wanting 

 to insure good crops, I have often thought that if 

 the farmer could analyze his soil he would possess 

 the key to unlock the door of sure success. I have 

 for one determined to be a farmer. Maple. 



March 4, 1857. 



Remarks. — Our correspondent's favors are very 

 acceptable ; these matter-of-fact things are what all 

 farmers need. Thank you, sir. 



For ika New England Farmer. 



PLANTIHG PEAR SEEDS. 



Mr. Brown : — I noticed in your valuable journal 

 some remarks on planting apple seeds. I will give 

 you a fact in relation to planting pear or apple 

 seeds. I have for several years taken seeds from 

 the pulp, when the fruit is eaten, and dried free 

 from the core, and put in a dry room. I usually 

 select seeds from fruit that was taken from trees 

 that were free growers, such as the Beurre Bosc, 

 Die], and others that make strong wood. Also in 

 apples, Baldwin, English Sweet, Swarr,Gravenstien, 

 and Codlin, or any great growers. I plant in the 

 fall or spring, in the same way that I would flower 

 seeds, in a row about two inches deep, taking care 

 to have the soil rich and well pulverized, and rolled 

 with a hand roller, cr made smooth with a hoe. 

 When the seeds are up, before they put out any 

 leaves, excepting a seed leaf, I take them up and 

 plant them out in a row about six inches apart, in 

 good rich soil, not too dry or wet, and keep them 

 free from weeds, during the summ.er ; they will 

 grow from four to six inches the first season. In 

 the fall I take them all from the ground, and put 

 them down in some safe place, and cover them 

 with earth, and over that a board or leaves, so as 

 to protect them from harm. The next spring, I 

 prepare a plat of ground, suitable for a nursery, 

 and plant them out about fifteen inches apart, and 

 treat them as we should a well-conducted nurserv, 

 and in about four years my trees will be fit to ])ut 

 out in an orchard, and many of them will fruit in 

 two or three years, or they may be grafted if it is 

 desired. Yours most truly, E. A. SiiUUTLEFF. 



Brookline, March, 1857. 



but a very short lime, for it has been demonstrated 

 by a correspondent of the Homestead that a decoc- 

 tion of veritable earwax is more immediately fatal 

 to this Insect than a bath in pure alcohol. 



The Earwig. — Many a housewife who has often 

 felt her ears "crawl" on seeing "Forty-legs" hurry 

 off, as she has taken up her mop, or some other 

 household utensil, from a moist place, will be glad 

 to be assured that this insect is not the earwig at 

 all ; and if it were, that it would not enter her ear if 

 it could, and could not if it would ; and even if it 

 did actually get into the ear, it could exist there 



Fw Che New England Fanifr. 



¥/OMAN ON THE FARM. 



Messrs. Editors :— Having a high esteem for 

 your valuable paper, I have been pleased to see sev- 

 eral contributions in it, recently, from ladies. It 

 will not be denied, I presume, that the "ladies" 

 exert not a little influence in the world, by words, 

 as well as actions ; and perhaps nowhere have they 

 used their influence more to bless or to blight, to 

 encourage or discourage, to help or to hinder, 

 than in agriculture. 



That sickly sentimentality, so often a characteris- 

 tic trait of some would-he ladies, causing them to 

 speak so disparagingly of farmers and their wives, 

 of farmers' sons and daughters, has driven many 

 a young man from the old homestead, to seek a 

 fortune where it is not to be found. Thus may 

 womans influence be exerted to blight, to mar, to 

 deface the beauty of that employment to which her 

 own attention should oftener be turned, and where 

 she may, by her own efforts, help to "make the wil- 

 derness blossom as the rose." 



The early institution of raan-iage is often quoted ; 

 let it also be remembered, that the place was a gar- 

 den where it was instituted. It was there that she 

 was appointed to be his "help-meet," while assist- 

 ing him to "keep the garden, and to dress It." 



Essential as is good husbandry to the success of 

 the farmer, good wifery is not less. To cultivate 

 the beautiful' is woman's peculiar province ; and 

 where can she better display her taste than in train- 

 ing the roses to the trellis, and arranging flowers 

 of every tint and hue in such contrast, as to best 

 please the observer ? Yes, it is her highest prerog- 

 ative to please ; and where can she find an ampler 

 field for her ambition, than the farm and rural oc- 

 cupations afford."* 



Is she young, and desirous of personal attractions ? 

 Whose cheeks can vie with the farmer's daughters 

 for their rosy tints ? whose complexion so fair as 

 her's who bathes in the early morning dew ? Who, 

 so happy and light-hearted as she who witnesses 

 tlie morning dawn ushered in with songs of sweet- 

 est symphony ? What wife so cheerful and happy 

 as she, who oflers to her husband, when he returns 

 from toil, some luxury, the product of the farm, 

 prepared bj' her own hands ? 



I know that we are called rustics, to whom "the 

 lines have fallen in pleasant places;" and that our 

 goodly heritage is thought by many to be semi-bir- 

 barous at least ; but if the country is unsightly and 

 destitute of beauty to some and the dwellers on 

 the soil partake of its deformity, not so its flowers 

 and fruits. 



Where shall we find flowers in their beauty, fruits 

 in their perfection, birds singing their merry songs 

 of freedom, if not in the country ? Our icecreams, 

 too, are no city invention, for v;here but in the coun- 

 try will you find the ingredients, In their freshness, 

 their sweetness, and their richness ? 



It was not my intention in this article to draw 

 comparisons unfavorable to the city ; its elegance I 

 would not aflect to despise. But I do love the coun- 

 try ; I love the farm, I love the motley groups of 



