AND H O U T I C U L T U K A F. II E (i I S T K K . 



PUDLISHBD BV JOSEPH BRBCK tc CO., NO. M NO«TH M.VltKET STRKKT, (Aoricultubal WAii«Hou.«.)-ALLIiN PUTNAM, EDITOR. 



vol,. XT.] 



BOSTON, WEDNRSDAY KVKNINO, JULY 28, 1811. 



CNO. 4. 



N. E. FARMER. 



For Ihe New England Firmer. 



E.^RLY SUPPERS. 



By late suppers I do nut mean a fourlli meal, 

 luch as IS ot\cii taken in taslii»nablc life, tor I have 

 leldoiii kiionn onr plain a(;ricultural families ad- 

 lictcj 10 litis practice. Tlioy lea»e it cliiefly to 

 ihe inliabitants of largo towns and cities, to go to 

 ihe closet at 1' or 10 o'clock in the evening, iihen 

 Ihcy ought to go to bed, and take a meal uf cold 

 tarn or tonpue, and bread and butter, or somcthin" 

 Use quite as difficult uf digestion. 



But by late suppers among our farmers, I mean 

 he usual third meal, deferred to an unreasonable 

 lOut — to 7 or 8 o'clock, or even later. I have 

 .Down many a fanner who made it his constant 

 •ractice at all seasons, lo work as long as he could 

 lee, and not to take supper till his work was finish- 

 d ; consequently his hour of supper, during a part 

 if the season, would be from 8 tu 9 o'clock — never 

 arlier than t<, and often when the fields were but 

 little distance from the house, as late as 9. 



The best and most thriving farmers I have ever 

 nown, however, take supper at precisely (5 o'clock, 

 ven in liaying and harvesting. I know that a 

 lousand objections may be brought to such an 

 arly hour, especially in the months of June, July 

 nd .-Vugust; but I know, too, that they can be 

 let 



Some years since, having finished our haying, 

 ( resided then In New Coventry, Conn.,) I took 

 ly scythe and went into the employ, for a short 

 ime, of David II. Warner, in Litchfield county, 

 'hose grass was rather Inter than ours, and con- 

 equently was not yet all cut. At that time I had 

 ot known of any other way tlian lo work till dark 

 nd eat supper when we could. 



But .Mr Warner had supper, uniformly, at six 

 'clock. Whatever the weather might be, and 

 owevcr pressing the work miglit seem to be, he 

 equired us all, at six, to suspend work and "come 

 3 tea," as it was called. This consisted of a light 

 epast; wholesome and perhaps rather too solid, or 

 might say heavy, but not luxurious. When this 

 leal was finished, which occupied, including a lit- j 

 le conversation, about half an hour, we were per- 

 litted to go to work again if we chose. In gene- 

 al, however, all we did was to grind our scythes 

 nd get ready for the next day. j 



I do not say that wlien, by some unforeseen oc- 1 

 urrencc— an accident or a .«hower — a very press- ' 

 ng necessity seemed to exist of deferring supper j 

 alf an hour to get in another load of hay or oatf>, ' 

 t was never done : for I believe it was so ; though 

 saw nothing of the kind while T wos there. It ' 

 ikes no longer time to grind scythes at evening 

 ban it does in the morning ; and Mr W.'s work- ' 

 tien were ready to go to mowing in the morning, in ; 

 he cool of the day, and while the grass ciit^ easi- ' 

 y, iislcid of being compelled to spend a part of 

 he best of the morning in making preparations i 

 »hich ought to have been made the night before, i 



I And having began betimes and got ahead of their 

 I day's work, ihcy were not obliged to mow so late 

 j in the forenoon in the great heat. .As soon as the 

 [ ground and swath wore dry enough to pprcud, their 

 mowing was finished for the <lay, and tiny were 

 I ready to atlenil to it. .\nd thus liy being nn hour 

 j or two earlier in the morning, and by keeping be- 

 'fort their work, they found it as easy to get through 

 nt si.ic, as others nt ci;;ht. 



I lint there are other and numerous advintngos 

 which are enjoyed by those who take supper ntsix. 

 1. They arc not quite so opt as others are to 

 t over-eat. Our farmers — especially those who do 

 not take any luncheon in the afternoon — and there 

 are some who do not — and who do not get ready 

 to sit down lo'suppiT till 8 or o'clock, arc very 

 apt to eat too much. Some, it is true, lose their 

 appetite, instead of having it increased, hut these 

 cases arc not very numerous, and are diminished 

 somewhat by the custom of tnkwg somelhins; to 

 give nn appetite. My old friend, Levi Atkins, used 

 to defend the practice of taking a littlf* spirit be- 

 fore supper, to give nn appetite — but this tons be- 

 fore Ihe temperance reform commenced. 



'2. They do not so often go to bed with a load 

 on their stomachs. He who eats at six, besides 

 eating less in quantity, is not apt to go to bed till 

 nine, by which hour the digestion is partly through. 

 Whereas he who takes his supper at eight or nin«, 

 and goes immediately to bed, is apt to have a mass 

 of food in his stomach either undigested or but 

 half digested, for a considerable time; and is apt 

 to loss in bed and dream a good deal, or else sleep 

 too soundly. 



3. .\nd what is a natural consequeni;e of this 

 overloading the stomach, he who sups late, gets up 

 with a bad laste in the mouth, bad feelings in the 

 head and stomach, if not with diseased eyes; out 

 of which feelings, or rather upon them, comes in 

 no small degree the habit of taking a morning 

 dram. How much clearer the head is, and how 

 much better the feelingf are, generally, after taking 

 an early, light supper at six o'clock, they best 

 know who have tried it. 



4. There is one more advantage which I must 

 not pass over, wliich is worthy of consideration, 

 and which is highly in favor of early S'lppers. Ft 

 is, that by taking our repast at six o'clock, we may 

 have the society of the female portion of . the fami- 

 ly. They will not wait tor their supper till eight 

 or nine o'clock, or at least many will not, and none 

 of them ought. But they toiW wait till six. Need 

 I eay that such a custom would be as favorable to 

 good manners as it would be lo true enjoyment.' 

 Besides, we are apt to reproach them now-a-days, 



with retaining their tea, to excite their nerves 



while they demand of ns to surrender our cider ; 

 but how do we know that they would not, for the 

 sake of our society nt six, dispense with the tea.' 

 Is not the experiment >vorlh trying ? 



I have not exhausted the subject, Mr Editor, but 

 my sheet is full, and I may have exhausted the 

 patience of your readi-rs. 



Yours, &c. W. A. ALCOTT. 



Dedham, July V>, 1841. 



We hnvo no doubt that our readers will bo pleas- 

 ed and benefited by a continuation of Dr. Alcoll'i 

 remarks upon the subject uf the foregoing cunimu- 

 nication Kn. 



MR TURNER'S ADDRESS. 



Wo are indebted to the kindness of Wm. H. 

 Richardson, E.-^q., for a copy of an Address beforn 

 the H'-nrico .'Agricultural and Horticultural Socie- 

 ty, Va., by Jkssk H. Ti'H!«er, President of the 

 Society. 



It is seldom that we meet an address so spirited 

 and so rich in good practical matter as this. We 

 ore disposed to contradict the author when he aavs 

 " I rnnnot write ;" but upon reflection we find this 

 needles.^), for his own net has already done it. He 

 has written — and what is more — has written point- 

 edly and well. — We extract the following para- 

 graphs : 



" Perhaps I ought, in courtesy, to return mv 

 grateful acknowledgements for the distinguished 

 honor of having been appointed to make the ad- 

 dress on the present occasion. But reallv, gen- 

 tlemen, I must in candor say, that I regard it [all 

 tilings considered) rather as a task than as an hon- 

 or. If, however, you can use me lo be of any 

 benefit to this infant institution, I hereby tender 

 my services to be employed in any manner you 

 may think proper, provided you do not set me to 

 writing essays. J cannot write ; for, unfortunate- 

 ly, 1 labor under an insuperable inability, both men- 

 tal and physical, in this respect. 



Having premised this, I will observe that in the 

 course of my reading, I have met with a picture 

 so beautiful, and at the same time so appropriate 

 to the present scene, that I cannot, without vio- 

 lence to my feelings, refrain from introducing it 

 here. It is in these words — " That our sons may 

 be as plants grown up in their youth ; that our 

 daughters may be as corner-stones polished after 

 the similitude of a palace ; that our garners rnay 

 be full, affording all manner of store; that our 

 sheep may bring forth thousands and tens of thou- 

 sands in our streets; that our oxen may be strong 

 to labor; that there be no breaking in nor going 

 out; that there be no complaining in our streets. 

 Happy is that people that is in such a case." If 

 this beautiful picture could be realized, then should 

 we obtain what we all so devoutly wish for — peace 

 and plenty. 



I will not disguise. the fact, gentlemen, that this 

 lovely picture is take:i from the Bible ; nor is this 

 the only passage, by many thousands, in which the 

 loveliness of rural scenery is depicted, in the same 

 good old book. But from the fact that 1 have quo- 

 ted from the Bible, and especially as I wear a. 

 black coat,* perhaps some of you may think that I 

 intend to preach a sermon. But be not alarmed, 

 gentlemen. I intend no sermon, nor any other 

 theological lecture of any kind, but a simple, plain 

 address, adapted to this first meeting of our Agri- 

 cultural and Horticultural Society. Indeed, wore 

 I to take a text, there is another that would suit 



•The orator is a clergyman. 



