THE GENESEE FARMER. 



98 



methods are as good as can be produced; or, at 

 least after careful experiments in different ways, 

 they have proved so to the writer. b. b. 



Pharsalia, 2f. T., Jan'y, 1S58. 



WATERMELONS. 



Select a dry soil ; dig holes three feet in diameter, 

 eighteen inches deep, and twelve feet apart. Fill 

 half full with any rich compost — the combined de- 

 posits of the horse, cow, and pig, well composted 

 with garden rubbish will do, in the absence of any 



of the " patent" hum manures. Pour in a pail 



of water ; fill Avith any good rich garden soil. Cover 

 the latter with about an inch of well rotted manure. 

 Plant seeds in the manure ; and remember in plant- 

 ing that you want three plants. The cut-worms 

 will icant three orfour^ and the yellow or striped 

 bugs twice as many as the cut worms. 



'Cover the manure with an inch of fine sand. 

 "When the plants have made from four to six rough 

 leaves, scrape away the sand and replace with good 

 garden soil. Also, at this time, pinch off the centre 

 slioot, which will cause the vine to spur, and bear 

 fi-uit earlier. Allow but three or four mollons to 

 each plant ; and if you wish to grow one weighing 

 from twenty -five to thirty pounds, give it the benefit 

 of the entire plant. Choice seed sliould be started 

 within a small frame, say six to eight inches high 

 and a foot square, set over the hill above describ- 

 ed. If covered with a light of glass, all the better. 

 By this means, and ordinary care, nearly every seed 

 ■V^ill produce a plant, and they will be from a week 

 to ten days in advance of those grown in the open 

 air. w. c. p. 



Ei-ie Co., K Y., JarCy, 1S58. 



stowed away, one upon another, in some dark closet 

 or back chamber, there to lie uncared for and un- 

 aired until cold weather calls them again into use. 

 If you have good beds, nice and clean, as every good 

 farmer should have, you had far better suffer the 

 inconvenience of having them lie singly upon the 

 carpet in tha front chamber, where you can air and 

 turn them over occasionally, and have them improv- 

 ing in condition instead of growing worse. 



Beds that are partly worn and are becoming lank, 

 may be restored to nearly their first value, or be 

 made to answer to the name of full beds by the ad- 

 dition of a few pounds of new feathers. Wliat w« 

 call full beds are those weighing from twenty-fiv» 

 to thirty pounds. 



Feather beds made and takfen care of in this way 

 will be nice and new for many years. 



A farmer's DAUGnTEE. 

 Madison, Lake Co., 0., Jan'y, 1S58. 



DOMESTIC DUTIES. 



MAKING AND PRESESVING FEATHER BEDS. 



■When feathers are picked from the geese, they 

 should immediately be put into sacks made of com- 

 mon sheeting, of suflicient dimensions to allow them 

 room to dry if they are not entirely ripe, and aired 

 occasionally between pickings by being laid out in 

 a warm sun. When about twenty pounds are col- 

 lected, (which will malie a very good bed when the 

 feathers are new,) make a tick of the best ticking 

 tliat can be obtained. If it is very thick, so as to 

 exclude the air too much, a goose-quill an inch and 

 a half long and open at each end may be served in 

 each corner to let in more air; then put the feathers 

 in and sew it up. 



If the bed is designed for immediate and constant 

 use it should be well shook and aired every day ; if 

 for an "extra" or "spare bed," it should be slept 

 upon occasionally and aired frequently, until that 

 *'goosy odor" which always arises from new feath- 

 ers has entirely evaporated. Feather beds should 

 never be suffered to lie any length of time under 

 heavy clothing when not in use, as they will exclude 

 the air from the feathers, which is as necessary to 

 their life as it is to the lungs of the fowl that pro- 

 duced them. A pair of sheets and a thin spread or 

 counterpaine, (always of cotton or linen,) or enough 

 to secure the tick from being soiled by dust, is all 

 tliat should be used as a constant covering. They 

 ghould always be kept in dry rooms, and have the 

 windows frequently opened on dry windy days. 



When feather beds are laid aside for the summer, 

 as is usual in many families, they should never be 



« now can Mothers best instil into the minds of their DBdgMli»> 

 a love for Domestic Duties ? " ; . . ' f 



The education of girls in domestic aftairs may' he 

 commenced at a very tender age. They shonW be 

 allowed to do little chores about the house as soon 

 as they are capable of doing them. We sa.v &WtW' 

 ed to do them, because every mother knows tto* 

 little girls feel quite important when they < an ua^ 

 in settuig the table by i)utting aroiuid the knivcsaiil 

 forks, wiping some of the dishes, picking up thing? 

 about the kitchen, jiutting the chairs in then- prope- . 

 places, etc. If propoi-ly taught and encouraged they 

 will very soon do tlieir little work neatly and expe- 

 ditiouslv, and make the inquiry, "What shall 1 do 

 now, Ma ? " But we must not overdo the matter by 

 asking too much of them while very young, or what 

 was considered a pastime Avill be thouglit of witli 

 dread and performed with reluctance. ^. ; 



In the meantime we should attend to the cultiva- 

 tion of the intellect; for we may as reasonably ex- 

 pect to train up a vine without the support winch 

 its nature requires, as to teach a girl whose mmd has 

 been neglected, to love the duties she should be ex- 

 pected to perform. Mothers should ever bear in 

 mind that there is a material difference between 

 teaching a daughter to perform domestic duties and 

 teaching her to love those duties. The former Is 

 the kind of teaching adapted to animals low m the 

 scale of intellect. It requires a mere physical per- 

 formance, without the aid or the exercise ot mental 

 faculties. The latter is a higher order of teaclnng, 

 and brings into action some of the noblest attributes 

 of the human mind. It appeals to the tenderest of 

 feeliu'^s— love. What daughter or sister who loves 

 her father and her brothers will not take delight m 

 performing her part well, knowing that thereby she 

 is contribiiting to their comfort and raismg herseli 

 in their esteem. , , , ,. i 



Girls should early be taught that there can be no 

 true greatness without labor, and that physical labor 

 is necessary to the proper development ot both mmd 

 and body; also that they will be esteemed in society 

 not according to the number of sliowy dresses they 

 possess, nor the manner in which they pcrtorm on 

 the piano or chatter French; but according to the 

 manner in which they perform those duties which 

 naturally and necessarily devolve upon their sex, 

 Schoharie, N. Y., Jan^y, 1S58. A FAEMEK'S WITB 



