26 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



AUGUST 5, 1835. 



with the general principles of all the sciences, that 

 he can be guided by tliem when it becomes nec- 

 essary to be more particular : and to know when 

 he employs a man devoted particularly to any one 

 branch, whether he is competent to the task, and 

 will discharge his duty to him with fidelity and 

 precision. — Maine Farmer. 



[Fertile New England Farmer.] 

 NOTES BY THE WAT— NO. 3. 



In addition to the obstacles to the culture of 

 good fruit mentioned in my last communication, I 

 found that the Temperance Reformation, was also 

 adding a mite to the common mass of destruction. 

 [1.] I was informed by many where I saw fine 

 looking fruit trees lying in the fields, which had 

 fallen before the axe of the farmer, that .they had 

 cut these trees down because the cider which they 

 formerly made from the apples was not saleable, 

 owing to the prevailing idea that this ciderdrinking 

 was a species of intemperance. [2.] I was ex- 

 treinelv happy to witness such a progress in the 

 onward march of so good a cause ; but I must 

 confess this seems to me rather a refinement in 

 temperance. I cannot believe that our farmers, 

 who are used to their mug of cider at morning, 

 noon and evening, degenerate in many cases into 

 drunkards, and if any do become tipplers, I think 

 the reason may be traced to some other source 

 beside cider drinking. What say you, Mr Editor ; 

 are we farmers likely to become tipplers from 

 using cider — I have read sundry sage monitions 

 from thy prolific pen on this high and holy cause 

 of Temperance, but I do not recollect that you 

 told us to beware of cider. Thy address to sun- 

 dry soldiers in the war against intemperance at 

 Charlestown, delivered "lang syne," surely said 

 naught about cider, to say nothing of the many by- 

 way thrusts thou hast given the monster. — Has 

 the grave and watchful Dr Caustic been derelict 

 in duty, or can we still drink cider with a good 

 conscience .' (3.) I will, however, in the absence 

 of thy advice and counsel remark that it is an es- 

 tablished point that in those countries where light 

 native wines are most abundant there is the least 

 intemperance. — Can we not consider cider as at 

 present standing in the same relation to our farm- 

 ers that " light native wines" do to the inhabitants 

 of the vine clad fields of Europe.'^ — (4.) 



While speaking of Temperance, |)ermit me to 

 enter my protest against a sentiment contained in 

 No. 1, of the current volume of the Farmer, 

 copied from the Vermont State Journal. 1 can 

 not vouch for the " Green Mountain Boys," hav- 

 ing no personal acquaintance with them — but so 

 far as the farmers of Maine, Massachusetts, and 

 New Hampshire are concerned, I can safely say 

 the assertion is unfounded. In describing a good 

 and bad farmer, the writer says, "JVineiy nine 

 times in a hundred the difference is oicing to intem- 

 perance and the evils which follow in its train." 



I do not believe that this accusation will hold 

 good with any class of men — I know it will not 

 with the farmer. It is an old maxim, " to give 

 even old Nick his due ;" let us farmers have no 

 more put on us than is our due, and we can trudge 

 on very well. I dislike these wholesale assertions 

 — they never did good to any cause, and such a 

 good cause as Temperance needs not false asser- 

 tions for its support. I thank heaven, that the far- 

 mer, however guilty he may be in many cases of 

 negligence and carelessness, to the detriment of 

 his own true interests, is more generally than any 



other class, guiltless of the charge of making him- 

 self worse than the brute. He may be guilty in 

 many cases of the sins of omission, but is to a 

 greater degree than most classes of society, inno- 

 cent of those of commission. 



In my conversations with the farmers in this 

 part of the state, I find the difficulty of transpor- 

 tation, to be a general subject of complaint and an 

 obstacle to the prosperity of the cultivator. It 

 appears to me, however, this is more imaginary 

 than real ; there are many articles which would 

 command a market at their doors, and many oth- 

 ers which might be introduced, which would cost 

 but a trifle for their transportation to market. — 

 Will you, Mr Fessenden, or some of your practi- 

 cal correspondents, give us of the Granite State, a 

 word of advice as to what would be the most 

 profitable culture for our soil, climate, &c. ? Why 

 would not the mulberry grow well on our rocky, 

 but strong soils — if we can raise the mulberries, 

 we have little hands enough for the tending the 

 worms. Perhaps Mr Kenrick or Mr Cobb, or 

 somebody who has tried this business, will give us 

 their advice and instruction in this matter. Or 

 perhaps you can tell us how we may make our 

 lands more profitable still. They say " up coun- 

 try," the Editor of the Farmer has studied so 

 long at farming, that he raises his cabbages and 

 corn on a sheet of paper, in one corner of his 

 study — and his com and wheat on his house top, 

 merely for experiment's sake. (5.) Be this as it may, 

 wilt thou, respected sir, please to inform us if you 

 can how we may "bring our" produce " to a fine 

 market," or what we shall raise to bring to market 

 at the least expense for transportation. 



Speaking of what " they say" up here in New 

 Hampsihre, they tell a story about the " great 

 man" of one of the towns about here, which 

 " they say" is literally true. A traveller was 

 riding along through one of the villages, not re- 

 markable for its thriftiness ; he came at length to 

 a part which looked thrifty and flourishing. He 



found on inquiry this was the town of B . 



And every one seemed duly impressed with the 

 grandeur and rickes of the owner of many of the 

 most extensive and fine farms, and they thought he 

 was " a little the greatest man they ever did see." 

 As our traveller was riding along, he accosted a 

 man with, " Friend, whose fine farm is this ?" 

 " Oh, that's Judge H.'s," replied he of the plough. 

 The next fine thing he saw was a beautiful or- 

 chard, and he asked a lad whose orchard tliat 

 was. "That? oh, that's Judge H.'s !" A splen- 

 did house, with outbuildings, &c. in the same 

 style next struck his attention, and he inquired 

 who lived there. "Judge H." was the reply. 

 His next interruption was nonr a school-house, 

 where the boys " all in a row," pulled off their 

 hats, and the girls dropped their curtsey as regu- 

 larly as if it had been done by machinery. Hav- 

 ing the organ of philoprogenitiveness well devel- 

 oped, he entered into a confab with them. " Who 

 owns the school-house?" asked he. "Judge H." 

 "Who hires tiie school-ma'am?" "Judge H." 

 (He was a school-committee man.) By and by lie 

 asked the very common question, " Who made 

 you, my little man?" "Judge H. ! !" was the 

 serious reply. 



G , JCJNE 19. 



I stopped today at the hospitable mansion of 



Mr P , about two miles from the delightful 



village at Meredith Bridge, after a ride through a 

 succession of fine scenery. On each side of us 



were hills, over which, the air being light, and a I - 

 rain-storm threatening, the clouds rolled in all It' 

 their still and magnificent grandeur. The brijilit' 

 and beautiful sky above and beyond the low fly 

 iug clouds, seemed like glimpses of a brigliii r 

 world beyond and above this dull earth of our; 

 It is in such scenes as these, the lover of the gr.iiiu 

 and beautiful in nature reaps a full reward for tin 

 "peltings of the pitiless storms" to which he may 

 be ey[)Osed in his pilgrimage. To those who hiivr 

 breathed the pure air of the mountain, or sporli il 

 amid the green vales of the country, in youth, i( 

 brings up to remembrance all their childish de- ' 

 light in these scenes, and many a sigh is cast for' 

 past joys, and the wish half uttered that, for a : 

 while, the cold cares of manhood might be forgot- 

 ten, and their hearts might be as liglit and careli ^s 

 as when "their nights and days were full of joy." > 

 " Yes, when thy heart in its pride would stray 

 From the pure first loves of its youth away ; 

 When (he sullying breath of the world would come 

 O'er the flowers it brought from its childhood's home- 

 Think thou again of the woody glade, 

 And the sound bj the rustling ivy made ; 

 Think of the tree at thy father's door, 

 And the kindly spell shall have power once more." 



But I am wandering, as usual, from my suhjcrt 



I found Mr P 's farm one of the best I had 



seen in my journey. His barns large and com- 

 modious — his tools in fine order, and of the best''' 

 kind — out-houses and fences neat and in good"; 

 repair — his orchard, except that it was rather too'* 

 thick set, very fine. It was the residence of one ■' 

 who takes a pride in being a farmer, and who '| 

 thinks a thing is not "well enough," so long as il "- 



can be made better. Mr P raises apples ol 'f- 



all kinds, so that he can have a continued succes- |f 

 sion, from the earliest to the latest, and this pan T' 

 of his farm is a good source of income. In my "(' 

 walk about his farm, in the evening, I missed s 'f 

 fine looking lot of cattle I had seen driven intc 'f- 

 the yard ; and on inquiring, I found he drovt " ' 

 them every night on to about an acre of land !f ' 

 previously fenced in, where he folded them, ir "^ 

 order to manure the ground for raising corn th« i 

 next season. This mode of manuring struck me '" 

 as a good one, and he assured me he had found i '" 

 the best way to manage his corn lands. I shal! 'r 

 not now enter into any details as to his mode c " 

 proceeding, his success, &c., as I hope he wil 

 give us, through your columns, his experience ii 

 this process of manuring, its results, &c. Fron; "'' 

 his known interest in the welfare of his brothel "; 

 farmers, I have no doubt he will feel willing to I* 

 send you a full account of his mode of raising 

 corn, and also of his many improvements on hili 

 farm, and thus insure the thanks of many of tb* I, 

 inexperienced. U' 



Your friend, Rcsticus in Urbe. , 



NOTES Br THE EDITOR. 



1. The principles of temperance, rightly under- 

 stood, tend to the introduction and culture, instead 

 of the destruction of fruit trees. They would lead 

 us, however, to the exclusive |>ropagation of those 

 fruits which are best for the table and culinary 

 purposes. It has often, and we believe justly, 

 been observed by the celebrated Mr Knight, and 

 others, in substance, that good fruit is not only a 

 substitute for, and an antidote against ardent spirit, 

 but a taste for fruit is incompatible and cannot co- 

 exist with an appetite for intoxicating liquors. 



