No. 11. 



Domestic Economy. 



339 



cart passes round the entire distance, and 

 wlioii the iiay is disclnr^ed, (jocs out at tlio 

 Fame door at which it entered. Ail the hay 

 is deposited in the centre. Several loaded 

 wagons may stand on the floor, and be shel- 

 tered and unloaded at the same time. 



The roof is a beautiCii! and curious speci- 

 men of carpentry ; and appears to be most 

 securely supported. In tiie centre oftiie floor, 

 there rises to the apex of the roof a single 

 column as large as an admiral's mast, around 

 which a hollow frame of slats is fixed and 

 which serves as a ventilator or chimney to dis- 

 charge the steam of the hay. It is open at the 

 top,and protected by a small cupola againstthe 

 rain. At the same time the hay is raised 

 from the ground, about a foot by an open floor 

 of slats, so that there is, while the hay is new, 

 a constant circulation of air up this chimney; 

 and one of the friends inflirmed me, that tlie 

 Bteam passing from the hay in this mode wasof- 

 tentimes so dense, that, to use his own expres- 

 sion, " you could wash your hands in it." The 

 arrangements for the cattle ire in the lower sto- 

 ry, where every animal has its place and num- 

 ber, and where every cow is designated by a la- 

 bel on the post as in milk or other vv'ise. In this 

 circular form, there is of course a considerable 

 loss of room; yet the method of feeding is 

 easy; the place is kept clean ; the whole ar- 

 rangements are convenient ; and the kindly 

 treated animals standing around this huge 

 mass of hay, have at least the pleasure of see- 

 ing the good things in store for them. These 

 friends have singular advantages, in the 

 amount of labor which they are able at any 

 1'D.e to command and apply to any object 

 which they have in view ; and their establish- 

 ment presents a beautiful illustration of the 

 advantages of well directed industry, neat- 

 ness and order. The great rule of domestic 

 economy "a place for everything, and every 

 thing in its place," is nowhere more strikingly 

 exemplified; and though they make no pre- 

 tensions to the fine arts, and have little of 

 what is called taste, yet all their arrange- 

 ments, and the products of their labor, exhibit 

 the proofs of thoroughness, permanency, utili- 

 ty, and substantial comfort. 



Their dairy is exfjuisitely neat in every 

 part of it. Their piggery is the exclusive 

 concern of a single individual ; and illustrates 

 the utility in a larfe concern of a division of 

 labor and of individual responsibility. They 

 have attempted an improvement of their neat 

 stock, by the introduction of some of the im- 

 proved breeds, and the young stock which 

 they were raising from this cross, promised 

 extremely well, tiiough no opportunity had 

 been had to test its qualities for milk. Their 

 land is considered in a great measure unfa- 

 vorable to the production of Lorain : and a lartre 

 portion of their bread stuff" therefore is pur-; 



chased. They have likewise occasionally 

 hired extensive tracts of meadow on the Mo- 

 hawk river in the state of New York, which 

 they have cultivated by colonies, in order to 

 obtain brush tor the manufacture of brooms, 

 a branch of business which heretofore they 

 have caried on to a considerable extent. They 

 keep a large flock of sheep; and all their 

 woollen fabricsare manufactured amongthem- 

 selvcs. They likewise are very extensively 

 engaged in the raising of garden seeds, 

 which are put up in a very neat manner, as 

 is well known, and distributed over the 

 country. 



A three story brick building or college, 

 erected for one of their families, is most re- 

 markable for its neatness and the excellence 

 of the materials and workmanship. What, b}' 

 the " world's people," is called taste, that is a 

 study of symmetry and beauty in the forma 

 of objects, is studiously abjured by this re- 

 markable community. Yet in the perfection 

 of finish, which they bestow upon every pro- 

 duction of their mechanical industry, they 

 show that native perception of fitness, order, 

 and harmony, which constitute the elements 

 of the most cultivated and refined taste. The 

 same amount of expense and labor, of which 

 they are never sparing, already devoted to the 

 construction of their buildings and the arrange- 

 ment of their grounds, had they indulged 

 themselves even in a slight degree in tasteful 

 ornament and embellishment, without impair- 

 ing at all the convenience, utility, or perma- 

 nence of their works, might have rendered 

 them extremely beautiful. In so doing they 

 would have found in them a new and prolific 

 source of pleasure, may I not add also of im- 

 provement. I know their candor will pardon 

 these suEfgostions which have no unkind ori- 

 gin; and which have their foundation in the 

 universal beauty of the natural world, as seen 

 every where and always even in the perisha- 

 ble crystals of the frost, and the fading tints of 

 the sky, in the plumage of the birds, in the un- 

 rivalled splendors of the vegetable world ; in a 

 word in every production of the divine power 

 and goodness from an atom floating in the 

 sunbeam to a planet, wheeling its course in 

 the glittering arches of the skies. 



Domestic Economy. 



In looking over nny returns, I was struck 

 with the remark of a man of much practical 

 wisdom and one of the best farmers in the 

 Commonwealth. He says "that a farmer 

 should produce upon his tlirm all those sup- 

 plies for liis family, which the farm can be 

 made to yield." In his case this is done 

 within dw)rs and without; for there the spin- 

 ning-wheel has not flirgotten to turn round, 

 nor the shuttle to speed its flight. In this cot- 



