No, 11. 



A Day at a Farmer's. 



331 



loamy spots of Long Island, and other parts 

 of the country, and doubtless, in time, their 

 owners will derive a handsome profit. 



Soil and Situation. — The quince prefers 

 a moist but free soil, near water, and a situ- 

 ation rather open, but sheltered. In dry 

 soils, neither the tree' nor the fruit will at- 

 tain a large size; and in situations exposed 

 to high winds, the fruit is liable to fall before 

 mature. The finest specimens of quince 

 trees in Britain, are said to be found in old 

 orchards adjoining ponds ; it being custom- 

 ary, formerly, to plant a quince tree in every 

 apple orchard. If the soil be too dry or 

 meagre, an artificial one may be prepared, 

 OP a hole may be excavated for each tree to 

 a depth of ten or twelve feet, and then fill- 

 ing it with loose stones to within two or 

 three feet of the surface, and the remainder 

 with rich loamy earth or mould. Such a 

 preparation is well worthy of the expense in 

 every garden where this tree will not other- 

 wise grow. 



Propagation and Culture. — The quince 

 may be as readily propagated from seeds as 

 the apple and pear; but the quickest mode 

 of raising plants is by layers. It will also 

 grow by cuttings, planted in autumn in a 

 moist, sandy loam. The trees, when plant- 

 ed as standards, should be situated about ten 

 feet apart, and once set out, require but little 

 attention, beyond that of removing the suck- 

 ers from the roots, and the side shoots from 

 the main stems. To have the fruit of a 

 large size, the head of the tree should be 

 kept open by thinning out the shoots; and 

 the fruit ought also to be thinned out, leav- 

 ing no more on the tree than it can well 

 mature. The tree is of moderately rapid 

 growth, when young, acquiring, in four or 

 five years, a height of six or eight feet; and 

 in ten or twelve years, it attains an eleva- 

 tion of fifteen feet, alter which, it continues 

 to increase chiefly in the width of its head. 

 — Browne's Trees of America. 



A Day at a Farmer's, 



OR MENTAL CULTIVATION AND REFINEMENT CONSIST- 

 ENT WITH MANUAL LABOUR. 



It is the high privilege of every American 

 woman to aid in the advancement of our na- 

 tion to the highest attainable point of per- 

 fection, but we can never be more than we 

 now are in moral and intellectual greatness, 

 unless our minds are cultivated and our 

 hearts' best affections centered on something 

 higher than fashion and folly. To the wives 

 and daughters of our farmers, we must look 

 for that weight of influence, that shall tell 

 most eflectually upon the destinies of our 



republic. And while we are compelled to 

 admit that there is, at present, a great lack 

 of intelligence, and consequently of true re- 

 finement, among the class to which we al- 

 lude, we still believe that they have both 

 the time and the means to become all that 

 is noble and elevated. 



Example is all powerful, since the infer- 

 ence drawn is, "what has been done can be 

 done." With the multitude, facts are more 

 than principles. Appealing to this charac- 

 teristic of the human mind, I am induced to 

 lay before you, and if you think them wor- 

 thy, before your readers, the incidents of a 

 day spent in the well ordered house of an 

 Ohio farmer. 



It was a bright spring morning, when na- 

 ture was putting off her winter gear, and 

 coming out in russets and greens, bedecked 

 with flowers, and redolent with perfumes. 

 Her bonnet was trimmed with pale green 

 ribbons, intertwined with peach blossoms, 

 and the lining, of the most approved shaded 

 brown, was relieved by wreaths of the blue 

 violet, the snow drop, and hyacinth, all got 

 up in a style superior to Parisian artificials, 

 you may be sure. It was a morning to make 

 one's heart expand with love and gratitude, 

 and of course a happily chosen opportunity 

 for visiting friends, and still further extend- 

 ing the golden chain that binds the world 

 together, making the good of one the true 

 interest of all. 



Mrs. Smith met us at the door of her neat 

 home, and gave us the most frank, cordial 

 welcome imaginable. She was a person of 

 decidedly plain exterior, claiming no preten- 

 sion to beauty, except the expression of in- 

 telligence and kindness that illumined her 

 face, and made the beholder imagine that 

 she was really a lovely woman, while if he 

 had analyzed her features, he would not 

 have found one that was really faultless,, 

 save the well expanded forehead and finely, 

 arched brow. Mrs. Smith was her own 

 housekeeper, and as it was morning, and 

 her domestic arrangements demanded her 

 attendance, we were invited to her neat 

 kitchen, that we might not feel the embar- 

 rassment of visiting without our hostess. In 

 that kitchen, there were true order and con- 

 venience, without the restraint that we some- 

 times feel where neatness is the end of life, 

 not simply the means of domestic comfort. 



With the unembarrassed air of one who 

 knew that labour detracted nothing from 

 true dignity, Mrs. Smith pursued her morn- 

 ing labours, and entertained us at the same 

 time with the most animated and refined 

 discourse, now dwelling with the fervor of 

 an enthusiast upon the production of some 

 master poet, and again discoursing with calm 



