164 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



RULES OF HEALTH. 



Various and almost innumerable systems of regi- 

 men and dietetics have been devised to keep the body 

 in order ; and manifold are the causes alleged as 

 originating disease. A very simple medical phi- 

 losophy was that of the celebrated and able, but 

 eccentric Dr. Abernethy, who maintained that all 

 diseases are originally produced by one of two 

 causes — Fretting and Stuffing ! 



This is not very choice phraseology we are 

 aware; but Dr. A. was not remarkable for refine- 

 ment. He was singularly rude and uncouth in his 

 manners, and felt a sovereign contempt for effemi- 

 nacy, which he was so far from attempting to con- 

 ceal, that he delighted to parade and to exaggerate 

 it. On one occasion he was visited by a North 

 County Squire,, from whom he extracted a circum- 

 stantial account of his daily round of feeding, be- 

 traying the unsuspecting man, by an ill assumed 

 blandness, into admissions of all his gastronomic and 

 Bacchanalian enormities. When the cross-exami- 

 nation was finished, and the patient looked for a 

 prescription, he was astonished by a most furious 

 denunciation. Dr. Abernethy told him he was, by 

 his own confession, a glutton and a drunkard, and 

 ordered him to go home and live like a rational be- 

 ing; and not expect to repair by drugs the effect of 

 inordinate indulgence. 



The doctor was right. But next comes the ques- 

 tion, what is inordinate indulgence? Tried by 

 strict rules, we fear very few could escape, even 

 those who consider themselves temperate. A coarse 

 but practical method of illustration has been sug- 

 gested, in the putting into a vessel, bit for bit, and 

 piece for piece, and drop for drop, a duplicate of 

 every thing that one eats and drinks in twenty-four 

 hours. The medley would not only astonish, but 

 disgust; and we are inclined to suspect that there 

 are few of us who do not err in this way; even 

 among those who are considered temperate, their 

 sin is palpable, and their punishment evident. 



Now for the fretting. Nothing is better under- 

 stood, or more readily acknowledged, than that sor- 

 row, care and uneasiness impair digestion. We 

 cannot escape sorrow, or avoid disappointment. 

 But we can be resigned or patient under either. 

 And we must, in this working-day world, eat the 

 bread of carefulness — else in the jostle of competi- 

 tion we should soon have no bread left to eat at all. 

 Care, however, in a reasonable and proper degree, 

 is not incompatible with cheerfulness ; but reason- 

 ably directed, may be made to minister to it. Pru- 

 dent forecaste saves the occurrence of harrassing 

 anxiety, by preparing us for exigencies. Fretful- 

 ness usually finds a vent more in complaint against 

 others, than in acknowledging our own short com- 

 ings. Those who impair their digestion by mourn- 

 ing over their sins are far the fewer number. 



Since, then, temperance and cheerfulness form 

 the Panacea which, if it will not cure, will at least 

 alleviate all diseases, we must set these in our list 

 of remedies, and in our selection of preventives 

 above all other. The first can only be followed in 

 a life of reasonable activity and wholesome excite- 

 ment, as otherwise we may be tempted to try ano- 

 dynes and stimulants. And the last can only be 

 enjoyed by the man with a large heart and open 

 charity; for if we think ill of our kind, we cannot 

 have cheerfulness. Suspicion and fretfulness go 

 together. And finally, as the homilist would say, 

 we can only be temperate and cheerful by putting 



a true value upon things and events, neither mag- 

 nifying trifles which concern ourselves, or under- 

 valuing things and interests which affect others. — 

 Arthur'' s Home Gazette. 



NEW METHOD OF PLANTING POTA- 

 TOES. 



Mr. Editor : — The opinion has generally pre- 

 vailed, that the potato cannot be successfully grown 

 without the assistance of large applications of en- 

 ergetic and strong manure. My experience, how- 

 ever, with this crop, since the prevalence of the 

 "rot," has induced me to adopt a different opinion. 

 Finding that in every instance where green, unfer- 

 mented manure was applied, and even where gyp- 

 sum w^as used as a substitute both on old lands and 

 on those recently broken up, the rot, or "murrain" 

 as it is denominated in Europe, prevailed to a most 

 fearful extent, I have, for the last two years, plant- 

 ed my crop on green sward, turned over early and 

 deeply in the spring, without any other stimulus 

 than that contained in the soil itself, and with com- 

 plete success, so far as regards immunity from the 

 rot. Plaster, or gypsum, I consider the very worst 

 application that can be made, even in dry seasons. 

 Indeed, I have never known an instance of its being 

 applied, where the tubers were not most injurious- 

 ly if not fatally afilected. Why it is so is a point 

 equally as obscure to my comprehension as the 

 cause of the disease itself It is true that a less 

 yield results from this system of non-manuring, but 

 then there is this important advantage attending 

 it, — the product we do obtain is sound. My meth- 

 od of planting, is as follows : — 



Early in the spring I break up my sward land — 

 choosing for this purpose such portions of my mow- 

 ing lands as are not very rich, roll and harrow. I 

 spare no pains to bring the surface to a fine and 

 even tilth, as by so doing I in a measure obviate the 

 necessity of manure. Having accomplished this 

 important preliminary part of the performance, I 

 next draw my furrows three and a half feet apart, 

 and drop my tubers, which I select from the small- 

 est or medium sized portions of the previous crop, 

 as they produce earlier potatoes — placing them two 

 feet apart in the rows, a closer stand having a ten- 

 dency to induce a stagnation of air, and thereby 

 induce disease. Before planting, I expose the seed 

 for a week or so on the sunny side of a fence or 

 out-building, covering them carefully at night to 

 prevent their being frosted, and plant them whole. 

 I cover with a "CO Dcrer." This is a very simple 

 implement, and is made thus: Two pieces of 

 plank, two inches thick, six wide and three and a 

 half feet long, are attached at one end by an iron 

 hinge so as to admit of the instrument being con- 

 tracted or expanded at pleasure. At the narrow 

 end, a portion of the wood is cut out, say from one- 

 fourth of the distance forward, to the extremity, 

 leaving just enough at the point to hold the hinge. 

 The wide end is the forward part, and is kept ex- 

 panded by a cross-bar to which the horse gear and 

 handles are attached. This, when drawn longi- 

 tudinally of the furrows, draws on the dirt, and the 

 scarfed opening behind, leaves a ridge over the po- 

 tatoes, of uniform width and depth. The inner 

 sides of the main pieces ought to be protected by 

 thin plates of iron, extending half an inch below 

 the edges, and running the entire length. One of 

 these "coverers" will save its cost in a single day. 

 — Germantow7i Telegraph. 



