AND II O II T I (' U L T U R A L REGIS T E R . 



PUULISHKD BY JOSEPH BRECK 4 CO., NO. M NOUTll MAllKKT STllEKT, ( Ao.icoitubai \Va««hoc»e.)-ALLEN PUTNAM, EDITOB. 



OL. XZ.] 



BOSTON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 8, 1841. 



rso. sa. 



N. E. FARMER. 



For the N. E. Fnrmor. 



GRICOL.\ rPOX TflE LETTER OF EUSE- 

 »IUS. 



Mr Editor — I wus amused by reading in your 

 per of the 17tli ull. the letters which passed be- 



ccn Euscbius and his friend, on liis leaving his 

 rmcr occupation and "turning farmer." The 

 tiers are written in a happy style, and manifest 

 e learned leisure and playful imagination of their 

 ithor. Such learned leisure and hippy fancy I 

 innot boast, for I am a farmer, and farmers are 

 •ouder of raising good crops and turning hand- 

 me furrows, than of making apt similes and turn- 

 g handsome periods. 



The former business of this amateur farmer, 

 ust bo matter of conjecture. The plain-spoken 

 OBebius does not mention it, but speaks of his 

 helpless incapacity." Such incapacity would 

 ive insured a failure in any business. George 

 artoon, too, was unsuccessful in his attempt at 

 rming, though according to Eusebius, he gratified 

 taste and satisfied his longing without a pecu- 

 «ry loss, (which is more than other schemers can 



i«t,) but George Cartoon and Raphael Guido, 



ve no vocation for farming, nor for any other 

 isiness of sober, every-day life. 



Eusebius' friend, in the outset of his farming 

 leculation, bought a score of sheep, and because 



was so green that he did not know a wether 



im an ewe, he herates all farmers who sell sheep. 



is uats and hay are spoiled in a storm, and he 



arrels with the seasons because liis year is not 



e eternal sunshine, and 

 _" Forgets Ihougli horrors round his cottage reign, 

 That spring will come and naluro 6mile again.'' 



Mr Editor, I can see nothing in this correspon- 

 DCC which should deter a sober, discreet man, 

 10 has the requisite means and corainon energy, 

 d common atiiae, from commencing farmer. But 

 » of so much refinement [?] that he cannot asso- 

 ite with the honest yeom-inry and so much deli- 

 «y that he will not puil liis gloves olT; a man 

 lose friends accuse him of helpless incnpncili/, has 

 little prospect of success in farming as he has 

 any other laborious or painstaking occupation. 

 jt to be a successful farmer, in my judgment, it 

 not necessary that a man should have been born 

 '0^ a farm or educated especially for the busi- 

 ss. There are difBculties and occasional dis- 

 uragements on the farm as well as in other 

 ipliiVments. The seasons are sometimes unfa- 

 rable ; tho markets bad ; the horse may get 

 roe ; the cattle or *hcep be breachy, and worse 

 m all, the black hen will sometimes persist in 

 tting on the white hen's nest. And what station 

 condition of man has not its disappointments ? 

 you ask the capitalist, he will tell you that when 

 [flattered himself that his mjuntain stood strong- 

 t, his riches have taken wings. If you ask the 

 erchant, he will tell you that the same winds and 

 ves which have wafted his ships laden with 

 salth in safety to their harbor at one time, have 



at another, when lashed into fury, dnslicd them up- 

 on « rocky shore or buried them dcopcr than plum- 

 met can fathom. Tho manufacturer will loll you 

 of fluctuating prices, absconding or bankrupt debt- 

 ors, of a ruinous foreign competition, and of de- 

 vouring elements. Professional men will tell you 

 of health, and strength, and talents wasted, and tho 

 burden of every reply will bo vexation, and disap- 

 pointment, and sorrow. I do not mean that men 

 do not meet with success, and sometimes splendid 

 success, in the various occupations which busy 

 them, but I do mean that the instances are compara- 

 tively very few where men relinquish an employ- 

 ment which has become familiar to them and engage 

 in n new speculation, or trade, or profession, and 

 find the golden treasures which their dreamy imagi- 

 nations have promised ; and they as seldom improve 

 their condition as Iheir fortunes. 



I would not advise every man of every possible 

 temperament and habit, to " turn farmer," because 

 every one has not sufficient capital, strength and 

 perseverance. But I would counsel every one 

 who is sick of the languor and tediousness of doing 

 nothing — every gentleman loafer who sits moping 

 in a " too easy chair," or lies dor.ing on o too downy 

 bed, to arouse from his sloth, and to begin to live, 

 and move, and act upon his farm, if he has the 

 means of buying, upon another's, if he has only 

 means and credit enough to hire it. The dirty 

 acres cannot burn, nor sink, nor run away. Farm- 

 ing is a safe f>nd honorable employment; it is the 

 most suitable and natural to unsophisticated man. 



The witty and classical Eusebius laughs at the 

 idea of a man of taste and refinement " turning 

 farmer." Among my acquaintance are a few far- 

 mers of taste and education at least equal to Euse- 

 bius, and in practical good sense greatly his supe- 

 riors. In Plymouth county, a clergyman is a prince 

 among the farmers ; in Berkshire, a lawyer leads 

 off the premium cattle and swine, and raises the 

 tallest crops ; in Middlesex, a lawyer has made the 

 greatest discoveries in agriculture, and makes heaps 

 of money as well as heaps of manure. One of 

 the most elegant and pleasant farms in Hampshire 

 has been improved in its productiveness and lastc- 

 fulnees by a gentleman who was formerly a mer- 

 chant tailor in Boston, and made coats which would 

 have added now graces to the fastidious and ele- 

 gant Mr Eusebius: I will not say that he would 

 have made a man of him, but he would have con- 

 tributed all that any tailor can towards it 



AGRICOLA. 



I For (lie N. E. Fiinncr. 



j FROZEN POTATOES. 



Mr EniToii — Sir — It has often been recom- 

 mended in several of the agricultural publications 

 of tho day, that potatoes which are frozen, bo soak- 



I ed in cold water, in order to restore them loswoet- 



I ness before cooking. 



Another plan is, when very hardly frozen, "to 



I uisaolvo a quarter of an ounce or so of saltpetre 

 to every peck and add it to the water" in whicft 

 they arc boiled. 



These remedies, for aught I know to the con- 



I trary, may be perfectly elTcclual ; but my plan is, 

 whenever my potatoes get frozen, to lei them re- 

 main 80, and if there be any danger of their thaw. 



I ing before wanted, to place a quantum sitfficit for 

 the supply of the table, in a situation where such 

 n contingency cannot possibly ensue. Potatoes 

 that are frozen ever so hard, if taken in that state 



I and immersed in water heated to the boiling point, 

 (provided they have not previously undergone the 



j operation of freezing and thawing,) arc as good 



I and palatable as if untouched by frost. I learned 



j this lesson, which to me has been a valuable one, 

 many years since, in the camps and logging swamps 

 of Maine. Hi^ving no cellars, and indeed few oth- 

 er conveniences for keeping their potatoes, it is 

 customary for the logging men to preserve them 

 by exposing them constantly to the action of the 

 frost, and whi^h ..= often effectually done by storing 

 them in tl;e"baci» ^art of tlic camp, but more fre- 

 quently by allowing them to remain in the open 



I air. It is not the operation of freezing, simply, 

 that delerioratei 'Jiz potato fur culinary purposes ; 

 but on the Oont-arj the gradual thawing to which 

 they arc subsequently exposed, ere they arc regard- 

 ed by many as being St for food. 



Respectfully, ycurs, H. D. \V. 



ffiudham, Mc, Xov. 29, 1841. 



Use of Toarls. — We make the following extract 

 from the letter of a correspondent at Attakapas, 

 Louisiana: — "A very wealthy neighbor of mine 

 has been suffering for many years fnmi what he 

 calls rheumatic pains, but which is more probably 

 gout. All the watering places nnd the best physi- 

 cians could atl'ord him no relief. An old Indian 

 prescribed for him the oil of toads, to be used by 

 rubbing on the suffering part. From the use of 

 this, he has never (ailed to obtain almost immedi- 

 ate relief, even in the severest paroxysms " — .llba- 

 ny Cult. 



HENS. 



The following extract from a letter addressed to 

 us, contains an inquiry which we hope some of our 

 correspondents will answer : 



"Some of my neighbors are wishing to improve 

 their breed of hens, and they requested me to write 

 you on the subject Can you inform me where 

 the Creole and Booby and some othiTS of the best 

 kind of hens can be bought.'" 



Passumpsia, t't., .Not'. 2*2. L. P. Parks. 



We have no knowledge as to where the kinds 

 named in the inquiry can be obtained, nor do we 

 know any thing of their peculiarities. Tho Os- 

 trich, remarkable for its size, and the Dorking, 

 i which is also larse, and furnished with a superflu- 

 I oils pair of toes, may be had of .Messrs. Brcck & 

 I Co. at the N. E. Afrricultural Warehouse. 



Small miseries, lile small debti, hit us in so 

 many places, nnd meet us at so many turns and 

 corners, that what ihey want in weight they make 

 in number. — Licon. 



