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NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Fw the NeiB England Farmer. 

 BOMMER MANURE. 



Mr. Editou : In the Farmer of August 18th, under 

 the caption of " Profit of Patent Rights, &c., Papers," 

 alias Bomnier Manure, your correspondent R. M. 

 •wishes "to know all that can be brought against it," 

 from " actual experience," or, by " weighing facts 

 honestly." We infer from this last sentence that 

 the idea which the author wished to convey was 

 simply this, viz., that as truth on all occasions should 

 be spoken, he demands truth, the whole truth, and 

 nothing but the truth, which we propose to do on 

 this "all-important" subject. 



About Bommer's method for making manure much 

 has been written both in regard to its value and the 

 validity of the patent right, and we presume much 

 more will be written before it is set at nought. The 

 subject, we believe, to which this correspondent 

 wishes to "draw the attention of contributors" is 

 the value of the manure and not the validity of the 

 patent right. Having formerly given our opinion 

 in the columns of a respectable journal on this method 

 of composting manure, we again take up our pen, 

 and shall endeavor to defend it ; for, being a member 

 of a company formed in this place little more than 

 a year ago, who accordingly purchased the patent 

 right for the town for one half of the amount men- 

 tioned by your correspondent, we do not discard it. 

 Although we cannot speak from " actual experience," 

 having not fairly tested the experiment, yet, as far 

 as observation is concerned, we are able to affirm that 

 a member, soon after purchasing the right, made a 

 heap of what is called Bommer Manure, on which 

 he last season raised a good crop of corn. 



We believe this kind of manure is profitable to the 

 farmer notwithstanding all that has been "brought 

 against it," because the ingredients of which it is 

 composed are of a fertilizing nature ; secondly, be- 

 cause much of the filth and drainings from cow-yards, 

 and other resources on farms, can be profitably made 

 into manure by this method, without which the 

 farmer would receive but little benefit ; thirdly, be- 

 cause farmers living a great distance from places 

 where manure ma)^ be purchased, and in hilly sec- 

 tions of towns, can make their own manure, and thus 

 save the expense of buying and teaming. 



We hope farmers will " look at this subject with- 

 out partiality," for we believe it to be of interest, and 

 from current reports we should judge that no farmer 

 need to be without this method of making compost 

 manure, for it is thought by some to be quite gen- 

 erally known. As we have not seen any thing in 

 an agricultural paper that would give the intelligent 

 farmer a full and clear conception of the method ac- 

 cording to Bommer's record, we are not assured of 

 the cheapness and ready access of the mode. 



N. B. We believe the reason why some of those 

 who have become acquainted with Bommer's method 

 meet with disappointments or "failures," as it is 

 called, arises from this one thing, viz., they do not 

 carry out the principle strictly in accordance with 

 the method. J. 



WoBURN, Auff, 1849. 



For the Neto England Farmer. 



COTTAGE ARCHITECTURE-LANDSCAPE 

 GARDENING. 



Mr. Editor : Perhaps there is nothing in which 

 more taste can be displayed than in cottage archi- 

 tecture and landscape gardening. And yet, how 

 little we see in the country, compared with the 

 number who have the means to gratify this kind of 

 taste, did they really possess it ! Men of property 



will thoughtlessly build a plain, square house in the 

 dust of the road-side, with only a rod of groimd in 

 front, covered with weeds and mullein, and congrat- 

 iilate themselves on the pleasant site, and its prox- 

 imity to "passing." Such men have no taste, and 

 not a few of tliem deride it. They claim to be utili- 

 tarians, republican in their notions ; and while they 

 have no cxi)enses to incur for " other people's eyes," 

 they seem to be insensible to the fact that a degree 

 of neatness and taste would soon become a new 

 source of pleasure to themselves, and much enhance 

 the value of their property. 



The objects of taste in rural affairs are generally 

 things permanent; not transitory, passing away in 

 a month or a year, but objects which will endure for 

 many generations with most of their beauties, to the 

 praise of him who unites refinement with utility. 

 Hence its importance. 



I know that practical farmers are inclined to turn 

 a deaf ear to such suggestions ; but I do not perceive 

 that a house handsomely located, neatly built, and 

 a garden neatly laid out and planted, would be any 

 more annual expense, than one built or laid out 

 without tasteful considerations. Besides, who has 

 not felt, that a beautiful object is an incentive to 

 and lightens labor, and will so engage the attention, 

 that moments otherwise uselessly spent will now be 

 usefully employed ? How can a person labor for that 

 which he does not cherish ? or toil in a garden, with 

 satisfaction, that has been planned in defiance of the 

 rules of good order and taste ? Let the farmer's or 

 gardener's (as well as every other person's) motto be 

 " Perpetual Improvement." 



Respecting cottage architecture, a number of beau- 

 tiful plans have of late years been presented by 

 architects, and adopted by builders. Look at Rox- 

 bury, which is unrivalled for its beautiful new cot- 

 tages — erected upon rocks in the midst of brambles 

 — and one will be astonished at what taste and head- 

 work have accomplished, assisted by the hands. 

 Here are found every variety and color which in- 

 genuity can invent. 



Not many years ago, the most open sites were 

 chosen for building ; but now the most sequestered 

 and woody, if not too far from a principal road. The 

 choice of such situations gives a greater opportunity 

 for a display of taste, as handsome shady forest-trees 

 are suff'ered to remain, Avhile the ground is interlaced 

 with walks and shaded with cultivated flowers and 

 shrubbery — thus preserving the beauty of nature's 

 wildness and the products of floriculture. And it is 

 remarkable how a road cut through a piece of woods, 

 with here and there a cluster of flowers, will redeem 

 the wildness of nature. 



Dift'erent situations of cottages seem to require, I 

 think, different forms of architecture. The English 

 style, with bay or semi-octagon windows, strikes us 

 as best fitted for a level piece of ground near the 

 street, and will bear more shelter than most any 

 other kind. But a prominent site, at some distance 

 from the street, would seem to reqviire a more stately 

 architecture, embracing lofty turrets, spacious and 

 elevated piazzas, &c. Where streets pass a house on 

 different sides, piazzas looking towards them are 

 quite essential. 



The color of a cottage is next in importance to its 

 architecture. As a general rule, I think dark colors 

 (chocolate, for instance) are not in good taste, as in 

 most seasons of the year they are gloomy, and not 

 calculated long to please. For stables and out-houses 

 they are more tolerable. There is enough in the 

 country when the trees aire not in foliage, to excite 

 melancholy, without sombre houses or dead-pole 

 fences and summer-houses. Every thing in and 

 around a cottage ought to look gay and cheerful ; 

 and hence brilliant colors for buildings, such as 

 white, straw, light pink, &c., are far more preferable, 

 to my taste, as they never encourage a feeling of 



