December, 1842. 



THE FARMER'S MONTHLY VISITOR 



1^9 



fold. Instead, too, of winter bpinjj the season of 

 starvation to cattle — when existence was all that 

 cnnid he hoped for — it is now essentially the sea- 

 son for fat and plenty ; lor if the tnrnip cultiva- 

 tion has piven to the grazier the power of in- 

 creasing the (piantity, the skill of the lireeder has 

 equally increased the (|iialiiy of his stock, ami 

 this is'seen in the wei^'ht of catlle ami sheep ex- 

 hibited at Sniithfield market, ut three ditierent 

 periods, viz : 

 I810,avera;;e weinhtof cattle. 26 st.C lbs.— sheep 



and lambs,2st. each. 

 1830, averaire weight of cattle, 39 St. 4 lbs.— sheep 



and land.s, 3st. 8 lbs. 

 1840, average wei-ht of cattle, 40 St. V2 lbs.— 

 sheep and lambs, G st. (J lbs. 



Such, then, is a brief •ilance at the [irogress of 

 this brancli of agriculture.— //oinium. 



Importance of Picking and Packing Fruit 

 Carefully. 



We mentioned Inst week havin[i received from Mr. Jo- 

 seph W. Tuttle. of Acton, some large oiid fine flavored 

 apples. We hnve since received the following commu- 

 nication frnm Mr. T.. civin:^ an account of his mode of 

 picking and packing fruit, to which we invite the altcn- 

 tiuii of larniLTs. M r. 'I'uttle's statcmenis may be safely 

 reheil upon, and will show the proHlahJe result which fol- 



rela 



tion to his fiuit. — Concont Fretman. 



IVlr. EniTOR — I herewith submit a few facts 

 which I wish you to coiiiinunic.itc to yom- risid- 

 ers ill regard to the kind of apples which 1 left 

 you a few days since. I raised in my uk hard 

 this season, about twenty barrels of apples called 

 " Hnhhardston Nonesuch." 1 picketl some two 

 or three barrels oft' the trees early, for the pin- 

 pose of letting the others grow larger ; these and 

 those which ti;ll before picking lime, I sold for 

 about $2 per bbl. Wlien 1 picked in the (idl, I 

 had about 1.5 barrels, and these 1 place<l in a cold 

 chandler on the floor mull I ilmu-lit them fit to 

 eat; then I selected the l.irgest ami best, say 

 enough lo fill one barrel — 2fi3 apples — carried 

 them' to Boston and sold iliem for .$,5: th.'y were 

 all papered with thin shoe paper. Next J select- 

 ed lour barrels (and papered as belbre) of the 

 large.-t which were left, which 1 sohl for $16. 

 Then I packed up nine barnd.s of the third size, 

 which I sold at Boston for $26 50, being about 

 $3 per bbl. 



1 do not send you this information, thinking 

 that I have belter frnit than some of iiiy neigh- 

 bors', but merely to call the attenlion of smiie of 

 my townsmen "to the importance of picking and 

 packing Iheir fruit atrtfuJhi. Some people think 

 if they pick the apple oft' the tree with the hand, 

 it is sufficient — perhajis throw or <lrop it in a 

 half bushel or pail, and bruise it as much as if it 

 fell to the ground, whereas they should handle 

 them as carefully as a grocer does egi;.<. And 



pies for market, that as they will bring but some 

 two or three dollars a barrel, they must not lose 



about a peck of small frnir, which in fact does 

 not fill up but little, and injures the sale about 

 fifty or seventy-five cents on the barrel. Most 

 people if they believed they could get (ifry cents 

 l)er barrel more hycarelnlly picking- and packijig 

 their fruit, would do it. 'fiiis UDuid he Ihe cise. 



In regard to this kind of fruii,(ih(' ilnbbards- 

 toil Nonesuch,) the trees need a high stale of 

 cultivation, as they are great bearers and bear 

 very young; and my opinion is that they will 

 eoitmiand as good prices as any frnit which is 

 carried to Boston at this season of this 3 ear. 

 Yours, with much respect, 



JOSEPH W. TUTTLE. 



Adon, Oct. 19, 1842. 



■Value of Plaster and Ashes. — .Mr. 

 Enoch Hoit, a farmer upon Horse hill in this 

 town, inlbrms us that in the summer of 1841 foiu' 

 acres of pasture land upon his farm were plough- 

 ed for potatoes — two acres for himself and two 

 by one of his neighbors. Both parts were plant- 

 ed without manure. At the time of phmiing his 

 own, a very small quantity of gromid plaster was 

 thrown iii each hill ; and after planting, less than 

 a gill of ashes was thrown upon the hill as the 

 potatoes CHine out of the ground. His neighbor 

 made use of neither plaster or ashes. In all oth- 

 er respects the two parts were treated .-dike. Iti 

 the eniM'se of the season the diff'erence in the po- 

 tato tops was very plain upon opposite high 

 grouMl taof* theu half a mile UktauU Two row* 



of each part, side by side, weie dug at the sanie 

 time ; when the hills where the plaster andiislies 

 were used produced two bushels tor one of the 

 ground where neither was used. 



Intemperance. 



We extract the Itdlowing eloquent passage 

 from a letter written by the Hon. Win. Wirt in 

 1831 : 



Intemperance paralyses the arm, the brain, the 

 heart. All (he best afi'ecii. ins, idl the energies of 

 the mind witlier under its inflnence. The man 

 liecomes a maniac and is locked up in the hospi- 

 tal, or imbrues his hands in the blood of his wife 

 ami children, and is sent to the gallows or doom- 

 ed to the Peiiitcmiary, or, if he escapes these 

 consequences, he becomes a walking pestilence 

 on the earth, miserable in hijiisidf and loathsome 

 10 all who behold liim. How often do we see, 

 too, whole lamilics contaminated by the vicious 

 example of the pai cuts — hnshaiids, u ives, daugh- 

 ters and sons all drunkards and liuies ; some- 

 limes wives murdering husbands, at others, hus- 

 bands their wives, and worst of all, if worse can 

 be in such a group of horrors, children murdering 

 their parents. But below this gra<le of crime, 

 how much is there of unseen and untold misery 

 throughout our otherwise happy land, proceeding 

 from this liital cause alone. I am persuaded that 

 if we coidii have a statistical survey and report of 

 the affairs of unhappy liimilies and individuals, 

 with the causes of their misery annexed, we 

 should find in nine ca.ses out of leu, if not a still 

 greater proportion, resiihing from llic use of ar- 

 dent s|)irils alone. With this conviction, wliich 

 seems to have become universal aiiioug reflecting 

 men, the apathy shown to the continuance of the 

 evil can only be ascribed to the circumstance 

 that the mischief though verbally admitted, is 

 not seen and felt in all its enormity. If some fa- 

 tal plague, of a contagious character, were im- 

 porled into our c(ainlry and had coiumenced its 

 ravages in onr cities, we should see the most 

 proiiqit and vigorous measures at once adopted 

 to repress and extinguish it; but what are the 

 most fearful plagues that ever cariied death and 

 havoc in their train througli the eastern countries, 

 compared with this.' They are only occasional, 

 this is perennial. They are confiued by climate 

 or ))lace ; this malady is of all clim.ites and all 

 times and places. Tliey kill the body at once, 

 this consumes both body ami soul by a lingering 

 and dieadfid death, involving the dearest connex- 

 ions in the vortex of ruin. What parent, how- 

 ever exemplary himself, can ever feel that his 

 son is safe while this living'' fomiiain of poison is 

 within his reach. God grant iliat it may .soon 

 become a li)unlain sealed, in om" country at least. 

 What a relief, how delightful would it he to turn 

 from the awiid and horrid past to the pure, 

 peaceful .-md happy future! to see ihe springs of 

 life and feeling and intelligence rcjiewed on eve- 

 ry hand; health, iii<lirstryand prosperity glowing 

 aronmi us; the altars of domestii- peace and love 

 rekindled in every (iimily; and the religion of 

 the Saviour presented with a liiir field for its ce- 

 lestial action. 



From the Boston Cultivator. 

 The Farmer. 



' These icho luhor iit fin- rnrtft ore the efiosev People of God 



Monarch3\villi rohi*y i 





Go on, thou sturdy farmer. 

 Tread proudly on the sod. 



Thy proud and goodly heritage, 

 Thou chosen man of God. 



To MAKE 



given to the Coi 



. — \ house- keeper ha> 

 ?cipe liir making n' 



fiiven 10 lot- ^.•iMii ici a recrpe lot iii. 



bread. A friend assmes us he li.is tried it and 

 likes it. Will you all give it a trial ? 

 Mix dry witlj uii« quart of flour, two teaspoons 



full of Cream of Tartar; add to a sufficient 

 quantity of sweet milk, two-thirds of a tea-siioon 

 lull of Super Carlionateol Soda. iVlixtlie wt.ole 

 together and bake immediately. Should water 

 be used instead of milk add a little shortening. 



Bread made in this way is light, while and 

 sweet; the trouble of making it is very small. 

 The price to be paid for Cream of Tartar should 

 not be more than 25 cenis per pound; tlie price 

 of Super-Carbonate of Soda not over 16 cents 

 per pound, at retail. 'J'he wholesale prices of 

 these articles are 20 cents per pound, for the 

 Ibriner, and 10 cents for the latter. 



A.x Illinois Court Scene. — We sometimes 

 get rich jokes from Illinois, and the latest is the 

 following. It is a good bit of drollery, cpiite 

 original, we believe, and we must put it on file 



A constable that had lately been inducted into 

 office was in attendance on the court, and was 

 ordered by the judge lo call John Bell and Eliz- 

 abeth Bell. He immediately began at the top of 

 his lungs— 



"John Bell and Elizabeth Bell." 



"One at a time," .said the Judge. 



"One at a time — ont at a time — one at a time," 

 shouted the constable. 



" Now you've done it," exclaimed the Judge 

 out of patience. 



" jV'oic yoiCve done it — now you've done it — now 

 you've done it!" yelled ihc constable. There was 

 no standing this ; iliccoini, bar and bystanders 

 broke inio a heaii\ hiugli, nj ihe perfect surprise 

 and dismay of ihi' .istonislied constable. 



Mr. Hill — Denr Sir :—l Uitve been a constant 

 reader of your valuable paper, the Monthly Vis- 

 itor, ever since its commencemenl, and must say 

 I have become nmre and more interested in it. 

 Alaiiy numbers have eai h contained information 

 worth twice Ihe subscrijition price for the year, 

 and now at the present price it is decidedly the 

 cheapest aiiricullmal p.iper in the Union; and I 

 can most heartily recommend it to every firmer 

 ill the country as worthy his patronage and as a 

 full compensation for his fifty cents. 



A SUBSCRIBER. 



Hanover, Dec. 26, 1842. 



Remarkable Product. — .\ gentleman in- 

 lbrms us that Mrs. .Meshech Weare, of Andover 

 in this county, has made from three cows and a 

 heifer, during the past siinuner, 600 Ih.s. of cheese 

 and 200 lb.*, of butter, besides a sufficient quanti- 

 ty to supply her limiily. For the cheese she re- 

 ceived 7 cents per pound, and 14 cents for the 

 butter — making the whole amount of her re- 

 ceipts $70 ! Very well for a female fanner. 



"Book Farming."— Mr. U. R. Marshall of 

 Bradlonl. Merrimack County, N. H. who has ta- 

 ken the Visitor several years and so far regarded 



ling 



the recomniendalioii of ditching and d 

 lovv swamp lands as to tiy the experiment on 

 ground u hicli had never borne anything, com- 

 menced by hiring the ditching of a lot of about 

 two acres. Some of the lookers-on freely gave 

 the opinion that iiis labor an<l expense would he 

 thrown aw.iy ; but he now says that three dol- 

 lars a day would have been cheap labor 10 him 

 rather than leave the laud unimproved. He 

 sends us a sample of Herdsgrass raised on this 

 land the second \car after the ditching, some of 

 which now it is dry is more than six feet in 

 length. It is the tallest and stoutest Herdsgrass 

 or Timothy we have ever seen. 



The Thames Tunnel. 



The Tunnel has now couqilelely reached across 

 the river — a distance of 1,200 feet — and the pro- 

 jector and engineer had ihe gratification, a short 

 time since, of being the first who walked from 

 bunk to hank, to the shai't on the London side. 

 Those shafts on both sides of the river, which 

 are intended for loot passengers, are really grand 

 ihings. They are a succession of staircases 

 going ronnil a vast circular excavation, helween 

 seventy and eighty feet deep, and when they shall 

 be all lighted with gas, will be among the most 

 extraordinary parts of the whole structure. Even 

 now they strongly realize the poetic conception 

 of the descent into the caverns of the Egyptian 

 mysteries ; and the view of the interior, nearly a 

 quarter of a luiU in ctuent, lighted witli a loag 



