1853. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



erect a house and barn near the highway, to save 

 travel in going from home. Such a location of 

 buildings tor farming purposcs.wonld be a decided 

 error. It would involve much travel and labor, 

 that would be saved by setting the buildings near- 

 ly in the centre, and laying out a path from the 

 highway to the same, which path should be de- 

 fined and made beautiful by a hedge on either 

 side, which in half a dozen years, would so grow 

 as to be a security and an ornament to the adjoin- 

 ing fields. About the buildings let there be so 

 much land fenced off for yards and garden, as 

 may be necessary for all flxraiing purposes ; always 

 providing ample accommodations for the prepara- 

 tion and preservation of manures, — it being under- 

 stood that the shore on which the farm borders, or 

 the meadows and swamps in the vicinity, will al- 

 ways afford an abundance of material to be used 

 for this purpose. I would have a permanent fence 

 as the farm borders on the highway and against ad- 

 joining owners — but no other permanent fence on 

 the farm. The division of lands into small lots, 

 with permanent fences Detween,is a waste of labor, 

 and a cause of great embai'rassments in cultiva- 

 tion. All the subdivision into lots can be made by 

 temporary and moveable fences, that need remain 

 in the same position only a few years. The suppo- 

 sition is, that the entire GO acres will be used for 

 orcharding or the cultivation ef crops — and when 

 used for the feeding of stock, that such use will 

 only be occasional, as may be convenient. 



The kind of divisional fence, will depend upon 

 circumstances — if in a situation where material of 

 wood, can conveniently and reasonably be com- 

 manded, — such fences will be most economical. 

 It can never be good economy to lay out more mon- 

 ey in the subdivision of lands into lots by heavy 

 and expensive walls, (as I have sometimes known 

 to be done) than the lots will be worth when the 

 walls are built. Take for instance, land purchased 

 at $50 per acre, and fence it into lots of two acres 

 each ; this will require at least, 80 rods fencing ex- 

 tra to each lot, which cannot be permanently 

 built at a cost less than the cost of the land. Can 

 such an expenditure be deemed good economy — 

 where all the benefits to be derived from fencing, 

 can be had at one-quarter of this expense ? 

 I speak of that mode of farm management, which 

 will sustain itself where the proprietor starts in the 

 world at the age of 21, with nothing but his own 

 labor to secure his farm as do most of the yeoman- 

 ry of New England. For, if the father has any 

 surplus means, after educating his sons, and teach- 

 ing them how to get a living, he had better lay it 

 away for aivet day — or appropriate it to fitting out 

 his daughters, so that they may be comfortable, 

 without being dependent ; and let the sons run for 

 luck on their own responsibility. 



Contrast the benefits to accrue in the manage- 

 ment of a farm, situate as we have supposed, 

 where the barns and manure yards are in the cen- 

 tre, and the average distance of conveyance of the 

 fertilizing materials, and the produce will not ex- 

 ceed 40 rods, or one eighth of a mile ; and com- 

 pare it with those farms where it will be four 

 times as much, or at least, one-half a mile. Sup- 

 pose 300 loads of manure,to be distributed annually 

 on the land ; (and cultivation cannot be advanta- 

 geously carried on with less than this,) here, tak- 

 ing into view, the collecting of the materials for 

 the manure, one half of the whole labor will be 



saved — which cannot be estimated less than 25 

 cents a load, amounting to $75. In gathering the 

 produce, there will be saved also $25. In going to 

 and from their labor, each laborer will save half an 

 hour each day — which will amount to $50 more — 

 so that in this way alone, it is easy to show a sav- 

 ing oa the farm of $150 annually. These supposi- 

 tions are not entirely imaginary. On the farms on 

 which I labored while young, half-a-dozen years, 

 were the disadvantages last described. On the 

 farm of Erastus Ware, of Marblehead, are the ad- 

 vantages first described. When Mr. Ware, about 

 20 years since, erected his buildings in the centre 

 of his land, away from the road, I was astonished 

 at his taste — it being so different from what was 

 generally practised. But subsequent observation 

 and reflection have confirmed the wisdom of his 

 movement. I am now convinced that many a far- 

 mer loses, at least one-half of the nett income he 

 might command, by want of good judgment, and 

 proper calculation m the division and fencing of 

 his lands. I intended to have added a fewremarks 

 upon the economy in the use of portable ivire fences 

 in the subdivision of fields — but must defer to a 

 more convenient season. j. w. p. 



i\W.,1853. 



WORTH KNOWING— BURNS. 



Some of the papers have had a paragraph re- 

 commending the use of tvheat four in the case of 

 scalds or burns. A gentleman at Dayton writes 

 that he tested it to his satisfaction. He says : — 



While at the supper table, a little child which 

 was seated in its mother's lap, suddenly grasped 

 hold of a cup of hot tea, severely scalding its left 

 hand and arm. I immediately brought a pan of 

 flour and plunged the arm into it, covering en- 

 tirely the parts scalded with the flour. The effect 

 was truly remarkable — the pain was gone instant- 

 ly. I then bandaged the arm loosely, applying 

 plenty of flour next to the skin, and on the follow- 

 ing morning there was not the least sign that the 

 arm had been scalded-»-neither did the child suffer 

 the least pain after the application of the flour. 



Reader, do you bear this little fact in mind, if a 

 similar occasion offers. 



Remarks. — We have ourselves experienced the 

 soothing effects of wheat flour years since. A 

 watery rash broke out under the arm, the effect 

 of heat and sweat in the field, and having nothing 

 else at hand we rubbed on some dry flour. It al- 

 leviated the pain at once, and as we think was the 

 cause of its healing, as it did speedily. We can 

 readily perceive after this persnal trial of its vir- 

 tues that the above statehient of the Dayton gen- 

 tleman is not an exaggeration. — Ohio Farmer. 



To Propagate Red Cedar and Spruce. — The 

 berries of the red cedar, when gathered, must be 

 buried in light earth. If sown the same season 

 they are gathered, they lie a whole year in the 

 ground before vegetating. The spruce seeds grows 

 the first season. Dry the cones until the seed 

 comes out ; sow early in the spring in a dry bor- 

 der of light soil, or in boxes ; shade in the middle 

 of the day, when the plants are coming through 

 the ground, and until they begin to make a sec- 

 ond growth, when they will be hard enough neith- 

 er to burn or damp off easily. So directs the 

 Horticulturist, 



