1867. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



301 



I think they would be as bad or worse off, than 

 the man I met the other day, on the south side of 

 Quincy Market, who had a grape-vine nicely 

 coiled up on his arm, which he had just bought of 

 a dealer in trees. I asked him what he had got 

 there, and he replied, "that it was a Concord 

 grape-vine." I really could not help smiling at his 

 verdancy, for I knew it was nothing but a wild vine 

 from the forest or road-side, with the outer bark 

 stripped off to make it look nice, and the roots 

 nicely done up in hay, so that they might not 

 show from whence they were taken. You may 

 suppose my friend was not long in taking back the 

 vine and getting his money. I will venture to give 

 a few words of advice to those who are not posted 

 in these matters. Never buy a fruit tree, grape- 

 vine, or anything else of the kind, simply because 

 eome one whom you don't know, and nobody else 

 knows, in his advertisement, or in any other way, 

 says it is good. Consult some reliable fruit book, 

 or what is better, go to some friend who is well 

 posted, and let him make you out a list of good 

 sorts, and then procure them of the most reliable 

 grower you know. Middlesex. 



MY OWN SWEET WIFE. 



There is a word of common sound, 



That's oft pronounced by high and low ; 



Few liquids make it soft or round ; 



And yet there comes a sudden glow, 



As starting from a dreaming mood 



Of careless, uneventful life, 



I hear a voice, best understood, 



Call the charmed name — my own sweet wife. 



What spell weaves joy around that word. 

 Brightening the dullest, darkest hour, 

 That when, or where, or how 'tis heard, 

 It wields such witching, wondrous power .' 

 If Eve, when exiled from lost Eden, 

 Vept the soft ease of that charmed life. 

 What need of other gift of heaven 

 Than to be Adam's own sweet wife ? 



And so my prayers I make to thee — 



In joy or sadness, grief or pain — 



That always you bestow on me 



The name my love would still retain — 



No sting can sorrow leave behind, 



No fear of anger nor of strife. 



Nor harsh replies, nor thoughts unkind 



Can mingle with the term — sweet wife. 



Boston Post. 



For the New England Farmer. 



BUTTEE MAKING, 



AND IMPROVEMENTS IN GENERAL. 



Mr. Editor : — I noticed in the Farmer of April 

 25, that a man in Ludlow, Vt., with the old Pal- 

 mer churn, beat Holmes' Fyler butter-making churn 

 all to smash. Now I know a farmer in V^ermont 

 that has a good meadow farm, and uses the old 

 Dutch plow, and says he has tried the Eagle, and 

 many other modern plows, but the old Dutch turns 

 his ground much smoother, and is drawn with 

 greater ease with the same team ; and that same 

 farmer uses the old iron pitchfork because it is so 

 much lighter than the steel fork ; he says his fool- 

 ish boy will take the Farmer, and it costs two dol- 

 lars, besides the postag.^, and he has heard his folks 

 read enough in it to satisfy him that the farmers in 

 Vermont are all going to smash, it costs them so 



much for new tools, and those costly papers, but 

 although his neighbors on poorer farms, get better 

 crops, educate their children, improve their farms, 

 and pay twice as much to support society, and save 

 more money, our old friend still says the old Dutch 

 plow turns the smoothest and with less team, and 

 the old iron pitchfork is better than steel. 



Rockingham, VL, 1857. IMPROVEMENT. 



BREEDING ANIMALS. 



The great aim with breeders of stock is, or should 

 be, a selection of animals that shall exhibit beauti- 

 ful symmetry, possess robust constitutions, and a 

 disposition to attain early maturity, in order that 

 good health, firm quality of flesh and sufficiency of 

 fat may be insured. 



By symmetry, I mean that figure that may be 

 proportionally beautiful, and at the same time con- 

 tain a large capacity of contents within small dimen- 

 sions. The conclusion we should draw with refer- 

 ence to the ox, is, that the length of the body to 

 the shoulder point should be twice its breadth and 

 twice its depth. The height of the shoulder top 

 should be about one inch more than the rump. 



The contour of the sheep should very nearly re- 

 semble that of the ox. 



The draught-horse maintains a similar form. — 

 The length of the body should be twice its depth, 

 the void space below the belly to the ground equal 

 to the depth of the body from the withers, the dis- 

 tance from the elbow to the fetlock-joint equal to 

 that of the withers. 



Robustness of constitution is indicated by strong, 

 broad, flat bones in the legs, with the sinews thick 

 and round, and distinctly developed, the whole be- 

 ing closely covered with skin. This condition of 

 the legs is what is termed clean. The eye should 

 be full and clear. The skin of the nose, in the case 

 of cattle, sheep and pigs, should be bedewed with 

 moisture, the skin covered closely with long, fine 

 hail'. The surface of the horn on the feet and 

 head, oily and shining, and the junction of the hair 

 and horn growthy. The hair of the tail of the ox 

 and horse, long, shining and growthy. The wool 

 of the sheep wavy, greasy, interlaced and of fine 

 quality. The animal spirits lively, the senses acute, 

 and the instinct sagacious, the appetite ready, and 

 digestion good. These conditions can be maintained 

 by kind treatment, comfortable lodging and abun- 

 dance of food. 



In contradistinction from the outline and gener- 

 al appearance I have just given, I will only add, 

 that a very small bone, however clean, is always 

 accompanied with a reduced size of carcass. Thick 

 and round bones give a clumsiness to the limbs and 

 head, and are invariably accompanied with dulness 

 of spirit and want of action. A thin skinned and 

 thick boned animal is hard to keep in good condi- 

 tion, besides, it is almost invariably the case, that 

 they never seem to relisli their food, and are indif- 

 ferent to everything that concerns them, besides 

 being dull feeders. A flat-ribbed, thin boned ani- 

 mal is more delicate than a round ribbed one. 



The disposition to attain early maturity, is a loose, 

 thick, mellow skin, as if floating upon a stratum of 

 fat below ; and is invariably covered with long, soft, 

 mossy-feeling hair, bearing a decided color. A 

 firmness of texture over the whole body is essen- 

 tial to a disposition to fatten j no fat encumbers 

 bones of the legs or of the head. The forehead is 



