470 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Oct. 



peculiar characteristics from an approved model, 

 and manufacture a palace, costing millions, into 

 a pine house costing $3,500; or transfer a chapel 

 or pinnacle of an abbey to the end of a New 

 Eno-land meeting-house architecture, white pine 

 church. 



Wiiat they should do is, to understand the 

 mind and s^jirit of the old designer, that they can 

 see, with him, why he did each thing, and in 

 their turn what they propose, not because he 

 did it, but because the principle of guidance and 

 action is the same to both. 



But to return to ourselves. We ought to fol- 

 low the same irdtlt^ English Landscape Garden- 

 ers wished to make a home, and they endeavored 

 to understand the home spirit of the age, and 

 adapt their improvements to it, and their works 

 are really a monument of it. In England it was 

 natural, free and unartificial — therefore in their 

 improvements they got as near the spirit as they 

 might. In France it was the contrary. There 

 was no homo spirit; all was stiff, formal and arti- 

 ficial, and the improvements on the earth's surface 

 were the same. 



In England and France, all things are done, 

 regardless of cost, so that the end, or desired ef- 

 fect is gained. A gentleman in England, thinks 

 nothing of projecting improvements to cost 5, 10, 

 20, or $50,000; no man here can conceive of giv- 

 ing over $5,000. The evil of English reprints is 

 very great; the scale is entirely different, the spirit 

 is ditibrent, and above all, the ability to spend 

 money is diametrically opposite, and when our 

 would-be improvers read the English books, they 

 fill tlicir hea'ls with fair pictures that they would 

 fain make plain to all ; they want all they read 

 about, only that they are unwilling to spend the 

 tithe of tbe money necessary to acquire it. No, 

 we do not want English books, or men who make 

 it one of their recommendations that they know 

 how things are done abroad. 



Sucli men, even if they do know one-half of 

 what they pretend, are too dangerous to be en- 

 trusted with the reins, coming from a country 

 where thorough is the word, to one where cheap 

 is. They sink more money in cutting, filling and 

 grading surfaces, that should have been left un- 

 touched, than the wliole improvements ought to 

 cost, and will spend more to drain one acre than 

 we need, from difference of climate, to drain three. 

 As I have said before, what we want in our coun- 

 try seats is a liomc; we want the home spirit 

 plainly carried out. Wliat do we care al)out the 

 Duke of A., or Lord B. ? They never lived in 

 our houses, or spent our in,;omes; and we want 

 imiirovements suited to our circumstances, not 

 theirs. 



Read Sir Uvodala Price, and as many more 

 books as you wish; get fully imbued with a full 

 apprciiation of the beautiful, and then purchase 

 land of good capacities. Having this start, make 

 your iiiipri)vcnients such as the true theory teach- 

 es they should be, whether the lines of country 

 near you are geometric or regular, or wiiether 

 they would .>-uit tlie ideas of any Englishman the 

 world lias produced. 



Let us learn to think that America is a pretty 

 good place. 



Lexington, September, 1854. 



BLESS GOD FOR RAIN. 



"Bless God for rain," the good man said, 



And wiped away a grateful tear ; 

 That we may have our daily bread, 



lie drops a shower upon us here. 

 Our Father, thou who dwelst in Ilearen, 



We tkank thee for the pearly shower ; 

 The blessed present thou hast given, 



To man and beast, and bird and flower. 



The dusty earth, with lips apart, 



Looked up where rolled an orb of flame, 

 As though a prayer came from his heart, 



For rain to come ; and lo ! it came. 

 The Indian corn with silken plume. 



And flowers with tiny pitchers filled, 

 Send up their praise of sweet perfume, 



For precious drops the clouds distilled. 



The modest grass is fresh and green. 



The brooklet swells its songs again ; 

 Methinks an Angel wing is seen 



In every cloud that brings us rain. 

 There is a rainbow in the sky, 



Upon the arch where tempests trod ; 

 God wrote it ere the world was dry, 



It is the autograph of God. 



Up where the heavy thunders rolled. 

 And clouds on fire were swept along, 



The sun rides in a car of gold, 



And soaring larks dissolved in song. 



For the New England Farmer. 



ANOTHER SPECIMEN OF FARMING. 



Mr. N. E. Farmer; — J. D.'s letter of inquiry 

 to Mr. French may receive a further practical an- 

 swer from the experience of a farmer, who has 

 about average success, or a little less. I bought 

 my farm of 100 acres in Sterling, Mass., about ten 

 years ago, for a little more than $2000 — it is now 

 worth $2500. [f he stock and tools may be worth 

 $500, making the present investment about $3000. 

 [ keep one man in the summer, and a little boy 

 in haying. I can do but little work on the farm 

 myself, say 30 or 40 half days in a summer. I 

 pay in wages, exclusive of l)oard, about $150 a 

 season. 1 generally keep 7 or 8 cows, mostly 

 pretty good ; but one or two heifers are farrow, so 

 that the lot is no more than an average one. One 

 yoke of oxen and a cheap horse serve for a team. 

 I cut about IG tonsof 5iay (or 29 in a good sea- 

 son) from 25 acres of mowing, and this with my 

 corn stover, strjiw, &c., keeps my stock. 



From the above description, you can conceive 

 that my profits cannot be immense — yet on sum- 

 ming them up, I see no reason to complain ; and 

 my inference is that farming must be good busi- 

 ness when well conducted, since I am able to livo 

 by it with ratlier poor management. 



Recollect the investment is about $3000 — tb« 

 interest of which is $180. 



From my 7 cows I sell 700 lb. at 23 cts (in firkins) $161 



I cun raise 200 bushels of com, and from that, and the 



dairy, &c., can sell pigs and pork 150 



I sell a))out $-10 worth of Apples 40 



Potatoes, 60 



Beef 30 



I'oultry and eggs 76 



Total 603 



Wages, Taxes and Insurance, 170 



Profit, $336 



Besides this should be reckoned the support of 

 my family from the farm, for we'buy little except 



