222 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



improves his leisure hours with the treasures of writ- 

 ten wisdom. So, too, while his fields are sleeping 

 beneath i'ro^t and snow, what profession affords more 

 available opportunities for sclf-cuIturc ? Whore was 

 the Ivric jiootry composed that makes Scotland 

 prouder of her Burns than of all her ancient race of 

 ■warlike kini^s ? Was it not between the handles of 

 the Moss<i;eil plou;^h ? 



Of all the employments that busy men here in this 

 present statu of existence, the cultivation of the earth 

 is distinguished as affording the best opportunities 

 for an extcndi^d range of ir.ental discipline, for ad- 

 vancing in true refinement, for social, rur.al, and 

 religious im]n'ovcment ! 



And now, last of all, agriculture shall put forth 

 her highest claim. Of all men, the farmer alone 

 •walks in the jiath where God himself first took the 

 crcaU\d imige by the hand and led tlic way " to dress 

 and to keep " his garden — the earth ! Confiding in 

 God, the husbandman ploughs his fruitful holds, 

 ■while the birds of spring are singing nraises around 

 him. Buoyant with hope, he scatters the seed upon 

 the ground, and gratefully receives the early and the 

 latter rain, coming down from heaven to give the in- 

 crease. And never did rational man yet apply the 

 sickle to the golden grain without >omc vague idea 

 of gratitude' to God, the Giver of harvests ! 



Indeed, the husb uidman's whole life, rightlj* 

 viewed, is a " walking with God." And though 

 thousands may not often think of this, and but a 

 few, even in any small degree, appreciate it as they 

 ought, nevertheless the assertion claims to be true. 

 GEORGE JAQUES. 



WoiicESTEii, M.vss., Dec. 6, ISIS. 



Djlciuujs Iljriiculturist. 



ORNAMENTAL TREES. 



One of the most popi:lar lady writers, who, judg- 

 ing from what she has wiitten, b"". lived among plain 

 farmers i\ the western country, has said that most 

 settlers in a new country consider a tree as their 

 natural enemy. This is true, wo eonfoss, to some 

 extent. The earlier settlors, in clearing their fields, 

 generally slay every thing before them ; for if a tree 

 shouLl occasionally bo left for shade or ornament, it 

 would be saved with difficulty during the scathing 

 fires that follow afterwards. But when the farmer 

 removes his old log-house to give ]ilace for his new 

 mansion, neatly painted and adorned with bright 

 green sliuttors, then the dock thistle, the briers, and 

 bru^h-hcaos should be routed from his door-yard, 

 and some kind of ornamental shrubbery planted in- 

 stead. E/ery jjortion of our country has some such 

 suitable trees" indigenous to the soil. Thcma Ic and 

 locus, a'-c very har ly trees, and every where obtained 

 in our latitu.le. The lilac is pretty, and doxaus of 

 other kinds procured with little trouble. By way of 

 variety, and to enliven the s^onc a little, a few ever- 

 greens should be i itcrspersed. The balsam fir is one 

 of the ino^t beautiful of this class. Evergreons, if 

 transplanred, are not apt to live unless extra care is 

 taken. The surest way is to dig them with as much 

 earth adhering tf) the roots as possible, and ])laco 

 them immediately in an old tub. half- barrel, or some- 

 thing of the kind, then filling it up with the same 

 earth from which the shrub was take:i, and thus re- 

 moved home and placed tub and all in the holes pre- 

 pared for them. Afterwards the tub or box contain- 

 ing them ca.i be knocked to jjieces, that the rons 

 may spread. I).)n't forget to water the plants occa- 

 sionallv if the weather should be dry. The trees 

 should bo jilacod on the outer margin of shrubberies 

 for their beauty and proteccio.i. E. G. 



Wakemvn, Ohio. 1343. 

 — rhilsululphia Dollar Newspaper. 



SOILING. 



Soiling, in this country, has been adopted only to 

 a limited extent. The " /oarites," however, a reli- M 



gious sect of Germans, located on the banks of the I 

 Muskingum liiver, in the state of Ohio, keep their ■ 



cows almost constantly in their stalls, feeding them 

 on the offal of the dairy, roots, ajiples, and hay. They 

 are said to observe great care and circumspection in 

 the treatment of their animals, and by them are abun- 

 dantly remunerated for their extra care and pains. 

 Their stalls are thoroughly washed daily, and the 

 water used for this purpose is carefully collected in 

 res.'irvoirs constructed expressly for the purpose, and 

 a]>])licd systematically, in the form of liquid manure, 

 to their hothouse and garden products. 



In a late communication to the British Board of 

 Agriculture, it is .stat(!d that thirty cows, one bull, 

 four calves, and five horses, were fed through the 

 summer from fifteen acres of clover, sown the pi'c- 

 ceding year. The labor of two men and two women 

 was sufficient to tend them, and the net produce of 

 the season, in butter, from Juno to October, was 

 nineteen pounds and ten shillings, nearly ninety dol- 

 lars, from each cow. In this country, where, from the 

 greater value of labor, the expense of tending would 

 be considerably increased, the profits of soiling would 

 obviously be less ; but there are nevertheless situa- 

 tions and circumstances of freijuent occurrence, 

 which would render the adoption of this system, on 

 a limited scale, an enterprise that would be attended 

 with the most gratifying results. Sowing corn — 

 the common Indian, or the southern horse-tooth 

 variety — broadcast, and feeding the crop, green, 

 to stock, especially to milch cows, during a part 

 of the season, is a practice now becoming quite 

 common. Animals in milk, so fed, will, if ])roporly 

 attended in other respects, greatly increase the quan- 

 tity of their milk, while at the same time there is also 

 effected, as a natural consequence, a corresponding 

 improvement in its quality. This subject is, I think, 

 eminently deserving the attention of farmers gen- 



^I'^l^y- AGIUCOLA. 



Lower Dublin, Mfiy 30, 1849. 

 — Genna/Uoiv/i Tclet/rajj/i. 



THE COLOR OF HOUSES. 



The practice of painting white in all cases has been, 

 rapidly giving way for some years ; and a great vari- 

 etv of colors are now used instead. Mr. Itanlclt in 

 his Architect has some remarks on the subject which 

 are of value. 



" The interior of a house should always be painted 

 of a warm, neutral tint. Pure white is too cold and 

 cheerless for a dwelling-room, and is, moreover, so 

 liible to stains, that its ajipearance of jjurity and 

 cleanliness, which is a great recommendation with 

 neat housekeepers, very soon wears off. 



" Tnc purity of our atmosphere, and the absence 

 of coal smoke, admit of houses being painted a pure 

 white; and where lead and oil are alone used in the 

 open air. the color will grow whiter from exposure ; 

 but in the interior of a house it will become a clingy 

 yellow from being deprived of light and air. White 

 lead improves by age, and slumld not be used for 

 wood work unless at least a year old ; linseed oil 

 also becomes purer and better from age, and should 

 be at least two years manufactured before used. 

 Much harm results from the employment of incom- 

 petent workmen in the ]iainting of houses, as from 

 their inexperience in mixing paints, and their inabil- 

 ity to distinguish between good and bad inateriiUs, 

 the employer often throws away his money, and de- 

 faces the apjjcarance of his house in the attempt to 

 beautify it by a coat of paint. 



