26 



THE FARMER'S MONTHLY VISITOR. 



liouse iu all that part above tlie basement ; but 

 the new bouse had not been occupied a year be- 

 fore the rooters, which partake of all the bad and 

 none of the good (puilities of the hog, had fouud 

 free access to the cellar. For two or three win- 

 ters they made sad havoc with every .thing eat- 

 able that iell in tlieir way, skimming the cream 

 fioni the set pans, gnawing the meat of the pork 

 barrel when exposed, champing the beets, car- 

 rots, potatoes and other vegetables, eating the 

 best apples, and making sad holes in the cheeses, 

 wlienever opportunity presented one to their 

 greedy tooth. 



luefiectual repeated attempts were made to 

 raise and instruct a kitten iu the work of driving 

 them away ; the young cat ^vas either not teach- 

 able or sickened and died, or quit the j)remises ; 

 till about two years ago a fine puss left by ai fam- 

 ily who had moved away followed home one of 

 the family of an evening, and soon wonted her- 

 self to our premises. She was a beautiful silver 

 grey cat, and very soon kept at bay the lawless 

 invaders so that neither rat nor mouse was to be 

 seen. This fine cat acted well her part in the 

 drama of life for the term she was of our family. 

 About the time an inmate of the family who bad 

 resided with us twenty-two years was confined 

 to her chamber with the insidious disease from 

 whicli she never recovered, the cat discovered 

 symptoms of decline in a regular consumptive 

 cough. At one of our retin-ns from Boston, poor 

 puss was missing, having been either killed by 

 some stranger, or more likely having drawn her 

 last breath under some adjacent building in a 

 sickness where she had no human attendant. 



When puss was away, the rats again had full 

 swing in the cellar: no. edible was there secure 

 from their depredations. The youngest boy of 

 the family, was found at the next return planning 

 tlieir destruction by making box traps and plan- 

 ning Figure Fours such as be had seen under the 

 pict'ircs of Log Cabins set as a warning by those 

 politicians who had no good opinion of the mode 

 of electioneering with that machinery. Aftar a 

 long time one rat only was caught, and the num- 

 bers in the cellar continued constantly to in- 

 crease. 



At length a neighboring lady gave the young- 

 ster of the family who had undertaken tlje war 

 with the rats, information that a common six pail 

 brass kettle half filled with water, with oats or 

 other grain or meal swimming over and cover- 

 ing the surlaco of the water, was the best trap for 

 rats. No sooner said than done — the brass kettle 

 with tlie water and oats was prepared and set ; and 

 next morning three drowned rats were fouud at 

 the bottom. The operation was repeated until 

 tw euty large rats were taken ; and all the rats 

 great "and little, if any remained, left the cel- 

 lar for several weeks. The tnij) omitted for that 

 time, the rats again returned, when a repetition 

 of the saiTie process soon takes the life of the 

 boldest, and scares away the timid. It is reiiiark- 

 able that this animal has the sagacity to retreat 

 from the place where their companions have 

 hern repeatedly caught. 



Ofall the methods of destioying rats besides 

 that of being taken by cats, we think the method 

 of drowning them in the kettle as we have de- 

 ticribed to be the better way — it is very si'uplc, 

 and it destroys the mischievous animal without 

 putting it to unnecessary tortine. The mode of 

 destroying rats by the use of arsenic as pursued 

 by some, is horrdili-. iVoni the iissociations such 

 ii.se Ikis oomitclrd whh several capital trials for 

 iiiiiidcr; and tlu' distruciion of the noxious ani- 

 mals ill that way (reqiiently makes the dead worse 

 thai! the living cursi\ 



Mistake Rectified. 



Under the head of " successful farming" in 

 the last Visitor an article was published extracted 

 lioiu the Farmer's Cabinet of "an old, practical 

 hard working farmer in the neighborhood of Am- 

 herst, N. H. who commenced in the work of a 

 day laborer, and who, notwithstanding be at va- 

 rious times sustained heavy pecuniary losses iu 

 the investment of his funds, is now worth at least 

 one hundred thousand dollars." 



This is a mistake^tlie farmer thus described 

 does not reside near Amherst, N. H. but in the 

 vicinity of Philadolphia; and the mistake origi- 

 nated in the fact that the extract was made from 

 the Farmer's Cuhiiiet, a monthly agricultural pa- 

 per pruned in Philad.dpl ' 



d set down as tak- 



en from the Farmer's Cabinet, printed at Am- 

 herst. 



The fact is true, nevertheless, that there is a 

 "practical, hard working farmer, living in the 

 neighborhood of Amherst, N. H." in the town of 

 Merrimack and upon the banks of that rivei', who 

 was known to the editor of the Visitor while he 

 was an apprentice boy thirty-five years ago in 

 the office of the Farmer' ; Cabinet in Amherst, 

 N. H. who is worth his hundred thousand dol- 

 lars. To his industry as a farmer and a noted 

 taverner he has for fitly years added the pursuit 

 of pigeon catching, tens and hundreds of thou- 

 sands of which he has carried to the markets at 

 Portsmouth, Newburyport, &c. 



His good fortune, although he was by no 

 means less industrious than the successful Phila- 

 delphia farmer, did not all come by his hard la- 

 bor ; much of it has been derived from owning 

 and keeping large tracts of land which it was 

 deemed a burden to own on account of the taxes. 



The first time for several years we met the old 

 gentleman a few days since. Seeing tlie fine 

 tracts of wood and timber land in his neighbor- 

 hood, we made inquiry as to its value. "This is 

 the land, (said be,) that the Vermont farmers who 

 put up with me on the way to market used to 

 joke me about, and ask what I would give to 

 have some man to lake it as a gift. It was at this 

 time valued at only halfa dollar an acre : it is now 

 worth, with the growth upon it forty and fifty dol- 

 lars the acre. But the other day I sold thirteen 

 acres of this land for a thousand dollars." 



The steril plains and gravelly knolls up and 

 downMerrimack river have been rising in value for 

 the last five years full twenty-five per cent, per 

 annum. There is no mistake about tlie value ; 

 for we know bow much wood an acre will give, 

 and how much the wood is worth standing; ami 

 this is generally more than the estimated price of 

 the land. 



Suitable Dress. 



The laboi s of the farmer are nearly all such as 

 require a free use of the limbs, especially tin; 

 arms ; cast oft', then, those useless inconvenient 

 bands of the shoulders — those braces ; let the 

 lower garments be made short, so as to button 

 close above the hips ; lengthen the vest — a coat 

 to meet them — the expense of the latter being 

 nearly or quite saved in the former; and when 

 you go forth to labor, lay aside the outer gar- 

 ment, and nothing restrains the free use of the 

 armp, save the loose shirt. In mowing, raking, 

 or pitching hay : in cradling, reai>ing, binding or 

 haiidliiii: ^riain tn the l>arn ; in shovelling, chop- 

 ping, thivshiiig, fencing, draining, iiloiighiiig — in 

 short, ill almost any labor the farmer has to per- 

 form, such an arrangement of his dress would 

 aid him much — how much, ho can not know un- 

 til he has tried it. I have long proved it by ex- 

 periment, and, although out of fashion, shall still 

 continue it. 



Again — it is thought because the farmer shov- 

 els manure, holds the jilough, drives the team, 

 and does a hundred other things, that llierefore 

 he must, of course, be constantly dirty, not fit to 

 be seen ; but it is not so : a shovel is made to han- 

 dle the manure with, and following the jilough or 

 driving the team, may be done without getting 

 dirty, if one is suitably dressed. Every farmer 

 should have a frock — a sort of over-all, to put 

 on outside his vest or coat, as the weather may 

 require, coming just below the knees, and but- 

 toning in front, with a belt around the waist, two 

 pockets, in wliich to rest his bauds, when not 

 immediately engaged — a great luxury — to l)e 

 made of cotton for summer, and woolen for win- 

 ter. Such a frock is put on or oft" without troub- 

 le ; there is no putting over the head, and it 

 cr.'ches all the flying dust that comes from rub- 

 bing against the team and elsewhere, and leaves 

 the clothes at the end of the week as clean al- 

 most as they were on Monday morning. It saves 

 much in a cleanly man's feeling ; more in the wear 

 and tear of garments, and most of all in the labor 

 and patience of the women, who of course, de- 

 serve, and that righteously, to be consulted in 

 such matters. — Yankee Far. 



For the Farmer's Monthly Visitor. 



HoAv can we assure a good crop of Wheat t 



Mr. Editor : The writer of this article has no 



idea of becoming a contributor to the interesting 



and instructive miscellany of your paper. lie 



oiily hojies to ofi'er something that may chime 

 with articles of similar tendency that have often 

 appeared. 



The "Monthly Visitor" cannot fail to give in- 

 struction to its readers; though few only of 

 those who read, can be said to write well. Farm- 

 ing is a science, made from other sciences, of 

 which chemistry and natural fihilosophy lie at 

 the bottom ; and no man can be said to " carry 

 on his farm well" who does not in some degree 

 proceed on the principles of those sciences. 



Many men, it is acceded, bring a farm from 

 disorder and strictly into a state of conveniency, 

 taste and fertility, who can neither read or write, 

 and with some, wealth is their only power. 



But, with a little of that knowledge furnished 

 by books, or a periodical, like the Visitor, their 

 first efibrts would be made comparatively easy, 

 and with an abatement of liability to loss. Farm- 

 ing, by experience, is attended with expense. 

 Tuition is high. A large field of fit soil may lie 

 barren by one mis step. The writer of this arti- 

 cle, although he once in his life blundered right, 

 has in almost every other instance, in agricultu- 

 ral labors, blundered wrong. 



We agree, that with an eflicient farmer his la- 

 bor lies in bis bands; yet we say he is more ef- 

 ficient with correct theory in his head. As in 

 the medical profession, theory and practice must 

 be united, or the rewards of quackery will most 

 extensively be gathered. 



In the valley of the Connecticut, where the 

 writer resides, the wheat crop is most desirable. 

 No seed is siaiiin d wiili so much ease and so- 

 licitude, and so liiilr lliiih, nor harvested, when 

 abundant, with sn hhhIi joy. In every respect a 

 wheat harvest is duiilitliil. " The fly, the weavel, 

 the rust and fiost seem iu a general conspiracy 

 against it. The inquiry, once common and ap- 

 propriate, with farmers along the river, "how 

 does your wheat look.'" has become obsolete; 

 while the more galling .one "how is wheat com- 

 ing in at the west" takes its place. How differ- 

 ent the countenance of a man, who, in the full 

 hope of a full harvest at home, answers to the 

 former question by a brother farmer, from his, 

 who in discouragement and despair asks the lat- 

 ter .' Once wheat was raised in profiision here: 

 now scarce a man reaps a supply. Once a staple 

 article for sale : but now, though a staple article, 

 there is a reversion in the sale. 



Virtually we purchase a barrel of flour at Roch- 

 ester, and there Avith a traiu of exactions, fees 

 and extortions, follow it around Cape Cod : nor 

 does expense stop there : two dollars is the com- 

 mon price for freighting a barrel from Boston to 

 Hanover, and then, with occasional deductions 

 and abatements in quality on the score of white 

 corn flour or plaster intermingled therewith, the 

 purchaser has the jirivilege of eating himself in- 

 to poverty by eating wheat; and who, save a 

 genuine Scotsman, will desire wealth if denied 

 the pleasure of eating wlicaten cakes? 



Mr. Editor, 'tis my ih-sire that your next paper 

 may contain one eiitlro ariirle on the means of 

 rai.siiiL' wlioat. 'I'lr- tii;;e (or sowing is at hand. 

 The soil of t I ■ .M. iThiiick is inncli like ours of 

 the ConiKTiiM, ilu)i,-h w.- think more sandy 

 and rutlicr ('.v , ;uid M'l your harvests of wheat, 

 of late yiMis i;av(^ been enviable. With us, ex- 

 periment ijj llie go. Theory is dead, and exper- 

 iment, piovcd successful ono year, proves abor- 

 tive the next. 



Of seed, there are many sorts. Two of the 

 Black Sea ; the Tea, and the common or old 

 wheat. On the river flats, our only hope lies in 

 the culture of the ]5lack Sea : as it gave a good 

 harvest the last summer by the side of common 

 wheat, which entirely failed. Tho best Black 

 Sea, raised in this vicinity last summer, grew 

 from seed raised in Boscawen the preceding 

 year, and yielded from fifteen to twenty fold. 



A few words on this subject will be servicea- 

 ble to those who still hope to reap wheat ; and in 

 particular to those who think of the Black Sea. 



Thetford, Vermont. II. B. 



For the Farmers' IWonthly Visittr. 

 A New Tea ! 

 Tea is au article much in use, and some think 

 it indispensable. The Chinese War makes it 

 come high at present, and at all times the foreign 

 tea trade is drawing large sums of specie from 

 our country ; therefore a substitute seems desira- 

 ble. There is a ])lnnt of natural {riowth here. 



