544 



NEW ENGLAND FAEMER. 



Dec. 



ted, when the general sj'stem of dieting is taken 

 into account. There are but who few know the 

 real original flavor of food, it is so "rendered 

 palatable," as it is termed, by condiments ; and a 

 ' frightful source of what has become the most pre- 

 vailing disease in this country — Dyspepsia. If a^ked 

 how bread tasted without butter, they would be 

 like the man that boasted, he could cc.ll any bev- 

 erage by its right name by tasting with his eyes 

 shut, which he readily did until water vi^as present- 

 ed when he had to own that it was something be- 

 yond his comprehensions. Jt would certainly be 

 for our intejest to keep our husbands' stomachs in 

 a healthy state, but really, I would not dare guar- 

 antee that if I were to furnish him such delicious 

 food as those pates. When we take into account the 

 manner of "fattening" these geeses' livers, we shall 

 conclude there would not be much difference in 

 the size between a sheep's liver, and a goose's liver. 

 The usual practice is to confine them in a warm 

 place, by fastening their feet to a board, so that it 

 is impossible for them to move at all, then they 

 are literally stuffed with food, until they are obliged 

 to kill them to save their livers, and of course the 

 liver becomes enormously enlarged by receiving a 

 great amount of waste and effete matter that would 

 have been thrown off by exercise, so that it is noth- 

 ing more or less than a diseased mass. 



Very few persons understand, or ever dream of 

 the effect of diet upon health ; phj sical and mental. 

 It has much to do wiih our morality even. Is any 

 one in a condition to think clearly and act judicious- 

 ly, after dining upon at least a dozen articles, and 

 each one composed of as many more, to say noth- 

 ing of the beverages that are drank in place of that 

 which is furnished by nature, and the only one that 

 will effectually allay thirst. The time is coming 

 when we shall all see the necessity of adopting a 

 natural unconcentrated diet, if instead of the puny, 

 half-made, and short-lived race, we would have no- 

 ble men and women. — Homestead. 



For the NewnEngland Farmsr. 



THE PIPE OF WAE. 



The ciluraet, or pipe of peace, was emblematical, 

 perhaps, of the burning of enmity and hostile feuds, 

 and puffing the dark vapors thereof to the winds. 

 But the tobacco-pipe is ever at war with the life of 

 the smoker. The fumes of the pipe dis])erse through 

 — pervade every part of the body. Every organ of 

 our system is affected by this poisonous vapor, that 

 we inhale from the pipe. In the process of smok- 

 ing we breathe no pleasant atmosphere. For the 

 time, we cease to breathe the pure air of heaven. 



God has made an atmosphere most suitable for our 

 breath or respiration. By this atmosphere, through 

 the agency or operation of the lungs, our blood is 

 purified. He that mixes with this jmrifying ele- 

 ment the fumes of the pipe, must doubt the effica- 

 cy of God's purifying element — must doubt the wis- 

 dom and providence of God — or he smokes in igno- 

 rance and contempt of His physical laws. I think 

 this natural element which God has abundantly 

 supplied for us cannot be improved upon by man. 



"Tobacco is narcotic and deadly in its effects. Al- 

 though thi'; smoking, or chewing, or snuffing of to- 

 bacco, seldom, if ever, produces immediate death, 

 it so deranges the organs of life, so poisons the 

 blood, that death comes on apace. Every organ — 



nay, the whole system — has to battle with the ef- 

 fects of the tobacco vapor. Our digestive organiza- 

 tion and circulating system are spread and coated 

 with very delicate and highly sensitive nerves, de- 

 signed, doubtless, to be operated upon by the stim- 

 ulus of wholesome, suitable food ; they are injured 

 by any unnatural irritation. 



Whence cometh this sinful practice ? — this sin 

 against God's laws of health and life. It comes, 

 alas, of the folly of the irrational desire of being 

 fashionable — of doing as others do, notwithstand- 

 ing the pernicious consequences to one's self. 



It is injurious to the complexion, teeth and per- 

 sonal appearance, as well as the internal organiza- 

 tion, to indulge in the pipe. The lungs, the most 

 delicate of our organs, are the most immediately 

 affected by this habit. One has no reason to feel 

 proud, though seemingly so, that he can smoke. 

 Wisdom or talent is not necessary therefor, but fol- 

 ly simply. A fool can smoke a pipe or a cigar. 



P. 



For the New England Farmer. 



CUTTISTQ POTATOES. 



The days for painting and varnishing trees have 

 past away. Men have found that it is a wrong way 

 to improve the growth of trees to besmear the pores 

 of the bark with pitch, paint or whitewash. If such 

 a coating had been best, the God of Nature would 

 have provided a similar coating by some natural 

 process, we believe. 



Men may be wise enough to let seed potatoes! 

 be as the God of Nature has made them, we 

 think, ere long. The juice and nutriment of the 

 seed is necessary to give the natural and best sup- 

 port to the young sprout. It has peculiar natural 

 properties and nutriment for the plant in its first 

 and most tender state. With the same propriety 

 we might crack the kernel of corn and save all but 

 the chit or sprout portion for bread. When a po- 

 tato is cut, the juice soon exudes, and the pieces 

 perish and give no support to the plant or sprout, 

 and the sprout is thus forced to draw its support 

 entirely from the earth and air. 



To wean animals immediately from the nutriment 

 prepared by nature for their support and growth 

 while young and of tender age, would injure the 

 stock, though they would grow by other food pre- 

 pared for them by man from their births. 



Girdling trees injures the trees, though it may 

 retain for the season the sap, for the forced growth 

 of the fruit and tops. 



Cutting the potato separates the sprouts over 

 more ground ; the yield may be greater on a poor 

 soil, but the potatoes must lack vigorous seeds. It 

 may be the cause of the rot, after a long continu- 

 ance of the practice of cutting the seed. It is in- 

 jurious to the size of the potato to overseed the 

 hill. In old times, one large or two small potatoes 

 was the rule for the hill of seed. The small pota- 

 toes have as many sprouts as large ones, and con- 

 sequently, the potatoes would again be small. The 

 better way is to put one whole potato in a hill, and 

 manu;e enough to give them a good growth, not 

 too large, and thereby occupy less land. P. 



Erratum. — In the article giving an account of 

 Mr. Lovering's crop of wheat, it was stated that it 

 was sowed on the fourth of August — it should have 

 read fourth of September. 



