92 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



JBomcstic iDtpartmcnt. 



Pure Air for Bread. — Bread undergoes a great 

 « change for twenty-four hours after it is baked, and 

 chemists have made estimates that during this time 

 it absorbs nutriment from the atmosphere equal 

 to twenty per cent, of its value. Whether these 

 chemical calculations are correct or not, it is evident 

 that a great change takes place in bread immediately 

 after it is baked, and this change is doubtless eifectcd 

 by absorption. 



From these remarks it is evident that as soon as 

 bread is taken from the oven, it should be set in 

 pure air. It should not be placed in a cellar, nor in 

 the passage to the cellar, nor in a closet opening 

 into a room much used by the family, as from fires, 

 and from perspiration and transpiration of persons, 

 the air becomes measurably impure. 



Education of Farmers' Daughters. — In the 

 families of many farmers there are far too many un- 

 productive hands. In the changes, which, since the 

 introduction of extensive manufactories of cotton and 

 "woollen among us, have taken place in our habits of 

 domestic labor, some of the internal resources of the 

 fanner have been dried up, and new occasions of ex- 

 penditure introduced. I cannot better illustrate this 

 matter than by a recurrence to a conversation which 

 I had with one of the most respectable farmers in the 

 country. " Sir," said he to me, " I am a widower, 

 and have only one daughter at home. I have gone 

 to the utmost extent of my limited means for her 

 education. She is a good scholar, and has every 

 where stood high in her classes, and acquitted her- 

 self to the satisfaction of her instructors. She is ex- 

 pert in all the common branches of education. She 

 reads Latin and French ; she understands mineralogy 

 and botany ; and I can show you with pleasure some 

 of her fine needlework, embroidery, and drawings. 

 In the loss of her mother she is my whole depend- 

 ence ; but instead of waiting upon me, I am obliged 

 to hire a servant to wait upon her. I Avant her to 

 take charge of my dairy, but she cannot think of 

 milking ; and as her mother was anxious that her 

 child should be saved from all hardship, — for she 

 used to say the poor girl woiild have enough of that 

 by and by, — she never allowed her to share in her 

 labor ; and therefore she knows no more of the care 

 of the dairy, or indeed of housekeeping, than any 

 city milliner ; so that, in fact, I have sold all my cows 

 but one. This cow supplies us with what milk we 

 want, but I buy my butter and cheese. I told her a 

 few days since that my stockings were y,-OYn out, and 

 that I had a good deal of wool in the chamber, which 

 I wished she would card and spin. Her replj'^ was, 

 in a tone of unaffected surprise, " Why, father, no 

 young lady does that ; and besides, it is so much easier 

 to send it to the mill, and have it carded there." 

 " Well," I continued, " you will knit the stockings if 

 I get the wool spun?" "WTiy, no, father; mother 

 never taught me hoAV to knit, because she said it 

 ■would interfere with my lessons ; and then, if I knew 

 how, it would take a great deal of time, and be much 

 cheaper to buy the stockings at the store." 



This incident illustrates perfectly the condition of 

 many a farmer's family, and exhibits a serious draw- 

 back upon his property, and a great impediment to 

 nis success. The false notions which prevail among 

 us in regard to labor, create a distate for it ; and the 

 fact that, if the time required to be employed in 

 many articles of household manufacture be reckoned 



at its ordinary value, the cost of making many arti- 

 cles of clothing would exceed that for which they 

 could be purchased at the store, is deemed a sufficient 

 reason for abandoning their production at home. In 

 many cases, however, the time is turned to no ac- 

 count, but absolutely squandered. But the clothing, 

 if not made, must be bought ; and they who might 

 produce it must be sustained at an equal expense, 

 whether they work or are idle. — Ile^iott of the Amer- 

 ican Board of Education. 



I3ot30' JUcpartment. 



BoTs SHOULD BE MECHANICS. — Bovs should have 

 tools for their own use, and they should be taught 

 to use them, and keep them in order. In this way 

 every boy may learn the use of common tools ; and 

 then, in case ho is a farmer, he can attend to various 

 mechanical affairs, and not have to spend a few 

 hours' time to procure a mechanic to do an hour's 

 work, as is often the case with the farmer, especially 

 in sections sparsely settled. 



Some boys know so little about the use of tools, 

 that their fathers pay a considerable bill annually to 

 furnish them with playthings, when they are big 

 enough to make all carriages, &c., that they need 

 for amusement, if they Avere furnished with tools, 

 and had but very little instruction. 



When a boy is big enough to haul a sled up hill 

 and slide down, he should be capable of making his 

 own sled, and not depend on another. Every boy 

 can do far more than he or his parents are a%vare of, 

 if he is placed under favorable circumstances for try- 

 ing, and for developing his mechanical powers. 



A farmer once remarked to us that he was in want 

 of a drag at a busy season, and after spending more 

 time in trying to get some one to make it, than 

 would have been i"equu"ed to construct it, he was 

 under the necessity of attempting the job himself; 

 and he succeeded well. Had that farmer been 

 trained to the use of tools in his boyhood, he would 

 have known his ability, and would not have wasted 

 his time in the vain endeavor to procure another to 

 do what he could do himself ; and that was doubtless 

 only one among many instances of his depending on 

 others for Avhat he might have accomplished himself 

 at much less expense. 



Syjipathy. — It is a pure stream that swells the 

 tide of sjTnpathy — it is an excellent heart that 

 interests itself in the feelings of others — it is a 

 heaven-like disposition that engages the affections, 

 and extorts the sympathetic tear for the misfortunes 

 of a friend. Mankind are ever subject to ills, infir- 

 mities, and disappointments. Every breast, at some 

 particular period, experiences sorrow and distress. 

 Pains and perplexities are long-lived plagues of 

 human existence ; but sj-mpathy is the balm that 

 heals these wounds. If a person, who has lost a 

 precious friend, can find another Avho will feelingly 

 participate in his misfortune, he is well nigh compen- 

 sated for his loss. And delightful is the task, to a 

 feeling heart, of softening the painful pillow of 

 disease, of amusing the unfortunate, and alleviating 

 the tortui-es of the afflicted. 



