52 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Jan. 



the largest size Michigan plow is needed, and must 

 be drawn liy tliroe yoke of oxen. 



For a given dipth, we are satisfied the Michigan 

 plow requires tlie least draught in consequence of 

 the inverted slice being composed of two distinv.t 

 portions, which are more easily turned and thrown 

 where they are to lie, than one thick, stiff, and 

 unmanageable sod. At the same time the work is 

 donein a far better manner, especially when the 

 plowing is quite deep, and quite so to do the work 

 well with a single mouldboard. — Country Gentle- 

 man. 



THE OLD WASHERWOMAN. 



FROM THE GEtlMAN CHAMISEO. 



Behold her busy with her linen. 



Yon ancient dame, with silver hair, 

 The briskest of ihe washerwomen. 



Though six-iiiui-seventy years are there ; 

 So she has followed, year by year, 



The honest toil at which yon find her. 

 Filling with diligence the sphere 



Of useful labor God assigned her. 



In her young days, (for she is human,) 



She loreil, and hoped, and wedded too ; 

 Well has she known the lot of woman. 



Seen cares and sorrows not a few. 

 Her dear sick man she sought to save, 



(Three cliildren faithfully she bore him,) 

 Nor did she bury in fhegiave 



Her faith and hope, when earth closed o'er him. 



The precious charge now laid upon her 



With cheerful energy she bore ; 

 She trained them up in fear and honor, 



Virtue and jirudence all her store. 

 At length, to seek their livelihood. 



They took her blessing and depaited ; 

 A lone old woman now she stood, 



Yet cheerful, hopeful and stout-hearted. 



She spared, and scraped, and saved each penny. 



And spun by night the flax ehe bought. 

 And of fine iImx thread yards full many 



At last she to the weaver brought. 

 He wove her linen white as snow ; 



Her needle and her scissors plying, 

 A spotless burial dress she so 



Prepared against her day of dying. 



Her dress — herlurial dress— with pleasure 



And sacred pride she lays away ; 

 It is her first, and last, her treasure — 



The frnil of mmy a toilsome day. 

 She puts it on God's Word to hear, 



When Sabbath bells sound holy waruirg, 

 Then lays it up a^ain, to wear 



The night before the eternal morning. 



And would that I, when night shall find me, 



Might read, in life's last sinking sun, 

 That I had wrouglit the work assigned me. 



As this good d:irne her task has done ; 

 That I had learned life's joys to drink 



In such full and even tneasure, 

 And could upon my grave-clothes think. 



At last with such a heart felt pleasure. 



Agriculture and the "Message." — We cannot 

 but express our surprise, and sincere regret, that 

 the President, in his recent Message, entirely over- 

 looked the most important interest of the nation 

 — that of Agriculture. Tliis great pursuit un- 

 derlies andjsustains all others, and yet, inthisdocu- 

 mentj deliberately written and pretending to touch 



upon all the leading interests of the people, no 

 allusion whatever is made to it. We find it stated, 

 that, " taking the last census as the basis of cal- 

 culation, there are at this time about sLv hundred 

 millions dollars worth of live stock in the United 

 States. Their value exceeds th&t of all the man- 

 ufacluring eslaUishmenls in the country, and also, 

 exceeds the capital employed in commerce, both inland 

 and foreign. And yet Agriculture is not ac- 

 knowledged as having existence in our pursuits. 



WHEN SHOULD TIMBER BE OUT. 



Editor Ohio Farmer: — What is the proper sea- 

 son for cutting timber, to ensure its greatest dura- 

 bility, is a question of considerable importance to 

 the farmer, in a country where it is an object to 

 sa^e timber and avoid unnecessary labor, as it 

 makes a great difference in the profits of a farmer 

 if his fences have to be renewed once in five years, 

 when by cutting his timber in a proper season they 

 would last ten. 



The time settled on by tradition appears to be 

 the month of February. Perhaps the reason is, the 

 winter in the most convenient season for doing 

 such work, there being more leisure time then than 

 in summer ; and because it has been generally 

 done at that time, it is sujiposed to be the right 

 one. But if any one will be at the trouble of cut- 

 ting a tree in the winter or spring, and one in June 

 or July, and making them into rails, and then see 

 which will last longest, he will not need any other 

 argument to convince him that tradition is at fault 

 in this case at least. 



Perhaps the case may be different with some 

 kinds of timber; but hickory, ash, basswood, 

 beech, and maple, and some other kinds, cut in 

 the winter, when the bark is tight to the wood, 

 and the sap in the heart of the tree, becomes sap- 

 rotten and worm-eaten before they have time to 

 season, and fall to pieces in a short time; while 

 that which is cut in summer, the bark being loose, 

 and the s'ap near the surface, can easily be peeled; 

 when it dries immediately, and becomes as hard as 

 a bone, and will no doubt last from one-third to 

 one-half longer tlian the former. Trees can be cut 

 down in summer, and left with the tops on, to be 

 worked up at leisure with very good advantage. 



Bedford, O., 1853. E. J. Young. 



— Ohio Farmer. 



MR. GaEELEY'S ADDRESS. 



-We have received from the publishers, Messrs. 

 Fowlers & Wells, New York, a neat pamphlet of 

 33 pages, containing the address of Horace Gree- 

 ley, before the Indiana State Agricultural Society, 

 at its annual fair, Oct. 13, 1853. 



The address is entitled, "What the Sister Arts 

 teach as to Farming," and its object is "to set 

 forth some of the principles which underlie the 

 whole fabric of productive art and industry, and 

 to show their application to the farmer's vocation 

 as well as others." This it docs in a clear, forcible 

 and consistent manner, showing that farming, like 

 all other productive arts, is not independent of 

 general rules, and that the princijiles which it is 



