DEVOTED TO AGRICULTURE AND ITS KINDRED ARTS AND SCIENCES. 



VOL. III. 



SATURDAY, JANUARY 4, 1851, 



NO. 1, 



RAYNOLDS & NOURSE, 

 Proprietors. 



OFFICE, aUINCY HALL, BOSTON. 



S. W. COLE, Editor. 



NEIW YE3AR. 



A happy New Year to all our readers. This is 

 our ardent wish; and should we be blessed with 

 life and health, we shall labor diligently and zeal- 

 ously to accomplish our purpose, and not deal in 

 mere words, as custom and fashion may dictate. 

 Among the great means of happiness are intelli- 

 gence and benevolence. We should labor for our 

 own advancement in useful knowledge, and at the 

 same time endeavor to elevate also all others with- 

 in the circle of our influence. 



A good fund of knowledge on the practical pur- 

 poses of life affords advantages in every branch ol 

 business, and it is a never-failing source of enjoy- 

 ment at our leisure, and in the social circle. But 

 to have the true enjoyment from a fund of useful 

 knowledge, the fountain should overflow, and the 

 possessor feel his expanding soul warmed up with 

 the genial glow of benevolence. The man of in- 

 telligence, as he disseminates information to bene- 

 fit his brother man, finds that his own stock is in- 

 creasing by the operation. His mind becomes en- 

 larged and capable of receiving and enjoying wis- 

 dom in proportion to his liberality in dispensing it. 

 Those who put their light under a bushel, or hide 

 their talent in the earth, act upon a narrow princi- 

 ple of misguided selfishness. 



Of all classes, the cultivators of the soil are the 

 most benevolent, in regard to valuable information 

 which they gain by experience and observation. 

 In.stead of taking out a patent for it, in order to 

 secure to themselves the sole advantage of their 

 discovery, they most cheerfully disseminate it over 

 the land, that others may also reap a profit from 

 their improvement. This distinguishing char- 

 acteristic of the farmer and gardener is what ffives 

 interest and value to agricultural journals. 



For more than fifteen years we have conducted 

 agricultural papers, and we have not yet seen a cul- 

 tivator of the earth, who would not most cheerfullv 

 cpmmunicate his best modes of management, and 

 allow them to bo disseminated for the benefit of 

 others. We never have seen at the most produc 



live and beautiful fields, the repugnant words, "No 

 Admittance!" On the contrary we have received 

 a cheerful welcome, and every thing appertaining 

 to superior practice has been at our disposal. 



Yet we would say that too often we find farmers 

 reluctant in reporting their doings from a diffidence 

 in appearing before the public, and apparently dic- 

 tating or suggesting to others what they should do. 

 This responsibility they often evade, when with 

 less modesty they might be more useful. 



As we shall labor to make this a happy New 

 Year to our patrons, we hope that they will make 

 a cordial return, cheerfully aid us, and in mutual 

 instruction, benefit themselves and others tog-ether. 

 There are many of our best farmers who are sufl5- 

 ciently benevolent to freely communicate valuable 

 information, but their large share of diflidence holds 

 them back. This shows that one may have too 

 much of one virtue to allow others full play. Let 

 every one who can, freely furnish useful matter for 

 the common good. 



WOODIiAND. 



Wood, both for fuel and timber, is becoming an 

 important subject throughout all parts of the coun- 

 try that have been long settled. Railroads have 

 become common in many sections, and the shrill 

 whistle of the steam engine reminds us of the vast 

 amount of fuel, consumed by these voracious fiery 

 steeds. 



In many places, in farming regions, all the fiiel 

 as well as timber is brought from distant places, 

 and at great expense. At the same time, in such 

 places, there are waste lands sufficient to produce 

 all the wood that is needed. A part of these lands 

 would produce a good crop of wood before the oth- 

 er lands will be all improved, so that for the use of 

 lands, in such way, there would be no outlay, but 

 on the contrary, they would be greatly improved 

 by raising a crop of trees on them. 



This, at first view, may appear strange. That a 

 piece of poor land should produce thirty cords of 

 wood in twenty years, and the land become ei>- 



