256 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



June 



Thomas J. Field, of Northfield. We learn that 

 the requisite guarantee fund has already been sub- 

 scribed, and that the "Agricultural Grounds" pre- 

 pared for the late National Exhibition have been 

 secured for the proposed fair. 



For the New England Farmer. 



FARMERS' DAUGHTERS. 



Mr. Editor : — I take my pen in hand, and with 

 my hat under my elbow, (making my manners, of 

 course,) attempt a feeble answer to some of the 

 questions of your fair correspondent who asks, 

 "What shall the farmers' daughters do?" It is not 

 my purpose to touch individual cases, but simply 

 to offer some general remarks which will apply to 

 farmers' daughters and inaij apply to others. In 

 reply, then, I would say, there is a field of labor 

 open for all the daughters, as well as the sons of 

 mankind. It is evident you should do something, 

 no matter whether of mental or physical labor — 

 drones make no honey — but you say the occupa- 

 tions proper for females to engage in are few; true 

 — but they are, nevertheless, remunerative. 



Suppose you learn a trade, say that of dress- 

 making or tailoring ; after serving a few months, 

 you will find ready employment and good wages. 

 After becoming weary with stitching, with the sur- 

 plus picayunes in your pocket, go home and assist 

 your mother in the dairy-room, while your sister 

 goes to take your place in the stitching department. 

 By this change, with proper care, you will avoid 

 the evil consequences of habitual sitting, so fatal to 

 seamstresses. Another consideration is, your trade 

 will be no disadvantage to you in after life, wheth- 

 er your lot be cast among the lonely inhabitants of 

 the mountains, or should you figure among the 

 fashionables of Broadway. 



Another branch of industry is now open and is 

 nearly monopolized by females ; I meao school- 

 teaching; the wages of female teachers are now 

 nearly the same as those of males were fifteen years 

 ago. It is no insurmountable undertaking to qual- 

 ify yourself for teaching a district school, the ac- 

 complishment of which will afford you not only 

 the surplus funds, which is no inconsiderable con- 

 sideration, but you will have the 



•'Delightful task to rear the tender thought. 

 And teach the young idea how to shoot." 



It is too common for farmers' daughters to grow 

 up young ladies, play the piano a little, spin more 

 street yarn, spend their fathers' surplus funds for 

 fine clothing, while the mother acts the part of a 

 Carolina slave, and becomes waiter for all. I do 

 not recommend your correspondent to pursue the 

 latter course. n. F. 



§tow, March, 1857. 



SUGAR BEET. 



We cannot too often or too confidently recom- 

 mend the cultivation of this excellent firld crop. 

 It is a great yielder, hardy, easily raised, and is su- 

 perior, we think, to any vegetable grown for milch 

 cows and fattening cattle, especially when fed raw. 

 We have grown large quantities for our own use 

 the past seventeen years, and can therefore speak of 

 it practically and experimentall)-. One of our 

 neighbors — a lady farmer — informs us that she 

 made thirty pounds of butter per week from six 

 cows in December, fed upon hay and sugar beet. 

 She adds, that the butter was fully equal to the 

 best made in September and October on rich pas- 

 ture. 



The Sugar Beet does best in moderately rich, 

 loamy soil, but will grow where any other root does. 

 The seed should be soaked two to four days m tepid 

 water previous to ])lanting, so as to insure its ger- 

 mination. If planted without first soaking, its shell 

 is so hard it is a long time germinating. Hence 

 the ill success of many who do not take this into 

 consideration. 



For field cultivation the rows should be three 

 feet apart, so as to admit working easily with the 

 cultivator among the rows. The plants, when fin- 

 ally thinned out, should not stand nearer to each 

 other than six inches in the row. It can be pulled 

 and secured in the fall the same as turnips. 



The best variety is the White Silesian, though 

 the French Yellow has been so much improved 

 lately, we are informed it has become nearly as 

 good as the latter. We have never found it to keep 

 so well. 



The beet requires about four pounds of seed per 

 acre, and can be jjlanted very rapidly in drills with 



seed-sower, costing about eight dollars. — Ameri- 

 can As-riculturist. 



'The Atmospheric Hajimer. — The atmosphe- 

 ric hammer is an ingenious and useful invention. 

 The blow is struck prependicularly, the handle of 

 the hammer forming a piston rod, playing into an 

 atmos])heric cylinder above. By a simple mechan- 

 ism of valves, pressure of air may be applied to the 

 Hammer, which will strike a blow with the force of 

 four hundred tons, or with a force only sufficient 

 to divide a pin. The blows may be struck at various 

 distances above the anvil, and with varying degrees 

 of rapidity. 



For the New England Farmer, 



MURIATE OF LIME. 



Seeing in your valuable journal, some time since, 

 an article written by a gentleman from West Med- 

 ford on the Muriate of Lime, and having conversed 

 with many persons who have used it to great ad- 

 vantage, also having examined the report made by 

 the Board of Agriculture, Senate Document No. 4, 

 and observing from that report, pp. 268 and 269, 

 the high stand this composition or fertilizer has ob- 

 ained, I have been induced to add my own experi- 

 ence in its use, believing that the public may be 

 benefited by using this cheap and valuable fer- 

 tilizer. 



In the first place, I used it upon a bank around 

 my house which had become sod-bound and the grass 

 very thin. The Muriate produced a wonderful ef- 

 fect, giviiTg a rich and close crop of white clover ; 

 it had the same effect on a lawn in front of my 

 house; it had also a marked effect where it was 

 put on a part of my pear trees, causing a growth of 

 about three feet in one season, and showing dis- 

 tinctly the effect in contrast with those trees where 

 the article was not used. I have already ordered 

 a lot for the present season, and if it proves as 

 good as that which was used the past season, shall 

 consider it the best manure that can be used on the 

 farm. James P. Flint. 



Medford, April, 1857. 



