NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



12: 



laccuracies in this record is to be expected as 



jng as error is one of the attributes of hutnan- 



y. But we believe that we shall be able to 



ive in this work more valuable information 



Dlating to the most useful and imijortant of the 



rts, as well as the most extensive and noble of 



le sciences, than can possibly be obtained at 



3 cheap a rate from any other source of agri- 



ultural knowledge. In making this assertion 



fe hope not to be accused of arrogance. The 



Iditor claims no merit but that which arises 



■om industry and good intentions. But if we 



lithfully avail ourselves of the sources of in- 



Drmation within our reach, and make a good 



sc of the local advantages which Boston affords 



or obtaining the publications of dilTerent socie- 



ies and individuals both in Europe and the U, 



itates, our paper cannot fail to prove an acqui- 



Jilion to any person who is engaged in agricul- 



~ lire or its kindred arts. Indeed the recipes, 



- conomical processes, &c. must make it a valu- 



Mc family book, and it not exactly a '■ Cook's 



)raclc," it would be at least a good Housc- 



,. ( per"s Companion, and in some instances it 



,av aspire to the honor of being a " Young 



armer's Guide." 



The New England Farmer, it should be rc- 



ollected, is not an advertising paper, and as it 



- often necessary to give engravings, which 



re expensive, prompt payment, and a pretty 



ii'i^e list of subscribers are indispensable requi- 



.1' s to its existence. It is moreover a very 



"•'.ip paper. We give a subscriber, for two 



1 an half dollars, more matter than he could 



; I'.n in almost any other recently printed 



1; [the New England Farmer may be con- 



li-red a book, printed in weekly numbers] for 



,11 or twelve dollars. 



We not only give a great quantity of matter, 



a proportion to the price of our paper, but the 



inality is ex.ictly that which must prove of the 



greatest utility to a farmer and his family. — 



iVith regard to the mode in which it has hith- 



rto been conducted it behoves us to say but 



,, ittlc. If we should speak favorably of our own 



!(, abors we should be guilty of boasting ; and if 



j]j ive should lament our deiiciencies we might 



m^siblv be accused of affecting a degree of hu- 



iility which we do not feel. We have been 



, o fortunate as to procure the approbation of 



he Oihcers of the Massachusetts Agricultural 



ciety, which we consider as the best reward 



iiur p.ast exertions, and the highest stimulus 



to give articles from the most approved authors j land Farmer, i< not only derived from high au- 

 relatin"- to the diseases of cattle, horses, swine, thority, but is applicable in every case desig- 



sheep, SiC. We may thus enable '^T subscri- 

 bers, no doubt, in many instances, to save valu- 

 able animals, when attacked by disease. This 

 may be the more advisable on account of our 

 country's containing very few Farriers, or Ve- 

 terinary Surgeons by profession. Every farmer 

 must, in many parts of New England, be his 

 own cattle-doctor, and it is hoped no farmer will 

 take amiss some directions relative tn a science 

 of such indisputable, and almost indispensable 

 utility. We hope in the present volume to in- 

 corporate some complete treatise on this sub- 

 ject, and shall take the advice of some scientific 

 friends, as well as exercise our own judgment 

 in selecting for republication, some work which 

 will be plain, practical, and have no tendency 

 to mislead, or to sanction dangerous or errone- 

 ous practice. 



Some of our friends have solicited from us, 

 information relative to various topics, connected 

 with agricultural improvement. Amongst others 

 we are requested to give articles relating to the 

 best mode of laying dozi-n ploughed lands to gi-ass — 

 the best manner of reclaiming salt marshes, and 

 converting them into tillage land — the latest im- 

 provements in the manner of cultivating hops, cur- 

 ing and preparing them for market — the best, least 

 expensive, and most expeditions mode of clearing 

 next) land, covered with timber, and reducing it to 

 its most profitable state of cultivation, ^-c. S,~c. — 

 We shall give our own ideas on some of these 

 subjects, and should be happy in being favored 

 with the opinions of our correspondents on these 

 topics. Perhaps our friend from Stockport, Pa. 

 will give us his ideas relating to some or all of 

 them. We court his correspondence, and ^ct 

 the higher value on his communications because 

 the}' appear to be derived principally from per- 

 sonal observation — are the result of much expe- 

 rience combined with good sense. They are 

 likewise written in that plain and perspicuous 

 style which always ought to be the vehicle of 

 science, although literature may perhaps some- 

 times require something more ornate and arti- 

 ficial. 



We shall conclude this article with a word or 

 two by way of answer to an objection which we 

 have heard stated acfainst some of the matter in 

 the New England Farmer, and indeed against 

 any precise or definite rules relating to hus 

 bandry. It is said that every man must be gov- 



nated in the articles. For instance, cattle in 

 Great Britain or Pennsylvania ha\e generally 

 the same or similar disca,ses v.ith those of New 

 England — .steeps to prevent smut in wheat may 

 be the same — ham- may be cured and eggs pre- 

 served by the samj processes, making perhaps 

 a little allowance for a difference in the tem- 

 perature of climates. .\nd if horses will eat 

 mangel wurfzel or sweet apples in England cr 

 Pennsylvania, they will not refuse them in 

 Ma.ssachusetts. 



ur future efforts. We have no doubt but erned io/e/^ by his own judgment and discretion, 

 itf that, according to the old adage, ■• practice because circumstances so alter cases, soils are 

 J , makes perfect," we shall be able to improve as so different, &,c. that no two farms can be pro- 

 ,1 !we advance in our editorial career, and hope fitably cultivated in the same manner. General 



rules, however, are useful, although exceptions 

 often occur, and every cultivator is expected to 

 exercise his own judgment, to determine whe- 

 ther a particular case comes within a rule, or 

 forms an exception to that rule. Besides, a 

 great part of the matter found io the New Eng- 



that our future numbers may better deserve the 

 favor of the public than those which have al- 

 ready been well received by competent judges. 

 We have in contemplation some arrangements 

 relative to our paper, which we conceive may 

 enhance its value. Among others we propose 



Plumbago, or Black Ltad discovered. — Mr. Cl'.arlcs 

 ,1. Dunbar, of Concord, Mass. has discovered a mine or 

 quarry of Black Liad, in the town of Bristol, N. II. 

 He has exhibited specimens of this substance to I'ro- 

 fessor Dana, of Dartmouth College, Professor Gorham, 

 of Harvard University, and other gentlemen who are 

 versed in the science of KiQeralos:y. They all speak 

 favorably of the specimens. Professor Dana slates that 

 those which were exhibited to him " are of the rerv 

 first qualilu, anil will make excellent pencils, and oth- 

 er articles for which tliis substance is employed. The 

 specimens are far superior to the black lead found in 

 Sutton, or in any other part of the United States, so 

 far as I know — and equal, in every respect, to the cel- 

 ebrated ore of this substance fouud in Burrowdale, ia 

 England." 



Plumbago, Black Lead, or the Carburet of Iron, has 

 various uses, besides that of making pencils. It is used 

 to rub over wooden machinery to prevent friction — for 

 making crucibles and portable furnaces — it protects 

 iron from rust, and on that account is rubbed on stoves, 

 and various o.mamental cast iron works, such as the 

 fronts of grates, tc. 



.Murder. — On Saturday morning early, the body 0!' 

 Anthony Kogan, a young man, about 'i7 years of age, 

 was fouud dead in Court-st. hy the city watch ; and 

 the verdict of the inquest on it was, tbiit he came to 

 his death by wounds inflicted by some person unknown. 

 One of the stabs entirely separated the jugular artery, 

 and must have occasioned immediate d< atli. He was 

 a native of Ireland, and in the employ of Dr. JolmsoT), 

 veterinary surgeon. He left his lodgings, in Bangs' 

 alley, about ten oVlock in the evening; and undoubt- 

 edly repaired to the Hill, where he bad a quarrel about 

 three weeks before ; and where he told a person on 

 Friday he intended to go that night, and expected to 

 be attacked by persons he named. 



Three hundred dcrilars — one hundred by the city, 

 one hundred by Dr. Johnson, and the ether hundred 

 by Mr. Thomas Kennedy — are offered for the detection 

 of the murderer. — Ctntincl. 



■\Ve learn with regret, tlu^t the Cotton Mill, in Sut- 

 ton, .Mass. belonging to Mr. Asa Waters and improved 

 by Messrs. Leland, Morse & Co. with the grist mill at- 

 tached thereto, was eiitiri ly destroyed by lire, on the 

 5th inst. With the buildings a conjiJernble quantity 

 of yarn and cloth was also destroyed. '1 he fire origin- 

 ated in the picking room ; probably from the passinfj 

 of some hard substance through the picker. Loss es- 

 timated at §14,000. — Providence Journal. 



The Cabinet Factory of Mr. Bradley of Alexandria, 

 has been consumed by fire. Loss 13,000 dollars. 



Benj. Bussey, Esq. and Amasa Stetson, Esq. have 

 presented 50 dollars each, to the Penobscot Agricultur- 

 al Society, to be expended in Premiums. 



Harvard Cullege. — The trustees of this institution 

 have appointed Mr. Nvtali, curator of their Botanick 

 Garden and lecturer on Botany in the University. This 

 situation was vacated by the death of Profes.-or Peck. 



Mr. Nathan Flecher, of Bradford, made, in one day^ 

 working about 24 hours, lu'tlve cider barrels. 



