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NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



ways some land in a proper condition to be 

 ploughed ; and there is never any necessity, 

 either for delaying the work, or performing it 

 improperly- 



b. " Every means sliould be thought of, to 

 diminish labor, or to increase its power. For 

 instance, by proper arrangement, live horses 

 may do as much labor as six pcrforni, accor- 

 ding to the usual mode of employing lliem. One 

 horse may be employed in carting turnips dur- 

 ing winter, or in other necessary farm work at 

 other seasons, without the necessity of reducing 

 the number of ploughs. In a hurried season, 

 when driving dang from the farm yard, three 

 carls may be used, one always filling in (he yard, 

 another goini to the field, and a third return- 

 ing ; the leading horse of the emjity cart ought 

 then to be unyoked, and put to the full one. In 

 the same manner, while one pair of horses are 

 drilling for turnips, the other three horses may 

 be employed in puiting the dung upon tiie land, 

 either with t^vo or three carts, as the situation 

 of the ground shall require. By extending the 

 ?ame management to other farm operations, a 

 considerable saving of labor might be effected. 



(i. " .\ farmer ought never to engage in a 

 work, whether of ordinary practice, or of in- 

 tended improvement, except after the most care- 

 ful inquiries ; but when begun he ought to pro- 

 ceed in it with much attention and persever- 

 ance, until he has given it a fair trial. 



7. " It is a main object in management, not 

 to attempt too much, and never to begin a work, 

 without a probability of being able to linish it in 

 due season. 



C. " Every farmer should have a book, for 

 inserting all those useful hints, which are so 

 trequently occurring in conversation, in books, 

 or in the practical management of a farm. Loose 

 pieces of paper are apt to be mislaid or lost, and 

 when a man wishes to avail himself of Ihem, for 

 examining a subject previously investigated and 

 discussed, he looses more time in searching for 

 the memorandum, than would be sufficient for 

 making half a dozen new ones. But ifsuch mat- 

 ters are entered into a book, and if that book 

 has an index, he can always tind what he wants, 

 and his knowledge will be in a progressive state 

 of improvement, as he will thus be enabled to 

 derive advantage from his former ideas and ex- 

 perience. 



'• By the adoption of these rules, every farm- 

 er will be master of his time, so that every thing 

 required to be done, will be performed at the 

 l>roper moment ; and not delayed till the season 

 and opportunity have been lost. The impedi- 

 ments arising from bad weather, sick servants, 

 or the occasional and necessary absence of the 

 master, will in that case, be of little conse- 

 quence, nor embarrass the operations to be car- 

 ried on; and the occupier will not be prevented 

 I'rom attending to even the smallest concerns 

 connected with his business, on the aggregate 

 i>f ivhicli his prosperity depends. 



" Besides, an arrangement for carrying on 

 operations without, a settled plan for the man- 

 agement of the family within, ougiit not to be 

 neglected. In regard to house-keeping, the 

 safest plan is not to suffer it to exceed a certain 

 avmi weekly, stating the value of every article 

 from the farm. An annual sum should be allot- 

 ted for dress, and the personal expenses of the 

 farmer, his wife and children, which ought not] 

 to be exceeded. The whole allotted expense] 



should be considerably within the probable re- 

 ceipts ; and at least one-eighth of the income 

 actually received, should be laid up for contin- 

 gencies, or expended in cxlni improvements on 

 the farm, if it belongs to the I'armcr in property, 

 or is held for a term of years." 



T<1 THF. EDITnn OF THE .NFW F.VC.I.AXD FARMER. 



I desire through the medium of thy useful 

 paper, the ailvice and direction of some expe- 

 rienced gentlemen of the Eastern ^*tates wheth- 

 er there is not a better mode of boiling the sap 

 of the sugar maple than in iron kettles over a 

 tire ? I am led to these inquiries by the circum- 

 stance of a young man, lately from an eastern 

 ■State, having erected in this neighborhood a 

 wooden distillery that is boiled by steam con- 

 veyed into the bottom of the cistern by wooden 

 pipes from a small iron kettle, set in an arch 

 some thirty feet distant. 



Having had upwards of thirty years experi- 

 ence and observations in mannfarturing maple 

 sugar in the same orchard, i h;id thoughts of 

 publishing some directions tor public beri'tit, 

 and wish to know if there hath been any late 

 improvements in boiling down ilie sap by steam. 

 S.\MUEL PKEStON. 



Stockport, Pa. Dec. 23, 18-22. 



THE FARMER. 



BOSTO.Y .—SATURDJIY, ,K1.\'. 4, 1823. 



Alter tendering the compliments of the season to our 

 patiOTis, subscribers and well-wishers, we shall pre- 

 sume on the privilege, which custom sanctions, on sim- 

 ilar occasions, to make a few observations on such 

 events of the past year as will probably stand the most 

 prominent in the annals of the times. Our retrospect, 

 however, will consist merely of a few transient glances, 

 not of a regular survey. We do not profess to be io 

 voluminous a chronicler of weekly novelties as most of 

 our brethren, whose papers are not, like ours, devoted 

 to some specific purpose. A less minute recapitulation 

 of recent incidents will be expected from us, than from 

 those wholesale dealers in diurnal occurrences, who 

 print daily papers ; or even from the conductors of 

 tho.ie weekly vehicles of all sorts of intelligence, whose 

 columns are almost exclusively occupied by such mar- 

 vellous matters of fact as are technically called ntus. 



The year past has not been signalized with any 

 transactions or productions which can make much dis- 

 play in the records of ages, Some nations are strug- 

 gling for liberty, some looking on with apathy, and 

 others apparently with interest ; and if their good wish- 

 es were as prevalent as those of Fortunatus, would 

 be sure to break the yoke of the oppressor, and set the 

 captive free. The Greeks are maintaining an unequal 

 and sanguinary warfare with a ferocious foe. The U. 

 States assist them with newspaper expressions of sym- 

 pathy, sentimental toasts, and town-meeting resolu- 

 tions. These, should they ever reach the ears of the 

 belligerents, may encourage the hearts, if not strength- 

 en the hands of the descendants of Leonidas. Great 

 Britain, who might be the emancipator of Greece, has 

 hitherto evinced a degree of coolness towards her cause 

 which seems hardly compatible with that regard for 

 the welfare of t^htistcndom which is due from a nation 

 wliosc kings have ever borne the title of " Defender of 

 the Faith." The Emperor of Russia, although at the 

 head of the Greek Church, appears to care but little 

 about the Greek nation. It is possible, howevi r, that 

 those powers are actuated altogether by lliat p.acilic 

 policy, which has of late, (at least ostensibly) been tl.e , 



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order of the day in Europe ; and it may be that 

 Congress at Verona will yet take measures to aid 

 cause of men, whose unassisted efforts and suffer 

 reflect disgrace on civilized maakind. 



The Spaniards do not appear to know verj' well 1 

 to manage the little liberty which they have acqui 

 The king and constitution (to use a farmer's phr; 

 work as awkwardly together as a couple of off-oi 

 The king is at the head of the constitutional, aliai 

 publican party, and the rebels are royalists, who r 

 against the king round his own standard, and ui 

 his own banner I They oppose the king in the n; 

 and in behalf of his majesty, and would, proba 

 shoot or behead him for his own benefit, if their 

 was the law of the land. Whether the element! 

 political contention will subside without settling I 

 the calm of despotism, is a problem which time c 

 can resolve. 



France seems settled on her lees. Political cl 

 vescence has occasionally been manifested by fro 

 I biillitions in her legislative bodies. But nothing ni 

 formidable than bubbles and fumes has originated fi 

 the boiling of the political caldron ; although it 

 often seemed on the point oi exploding like the bo 

 nfahigh temperature steam engine. We are apj 

 h'-nsive that the French nation would not make 

 best possible use of freedom if they had it in possessic 

 ?n3. their apprenticeship to liberty under Bonap; 

 does not appear to have taught them how to be tl 

 own masters. 



England of late has presented nothing novel or 

 traordinary, except the travels of Majesty ; the loy; 

 .if his Scotch subjects ; the decease of lord CastUrca! 

 ibe liberation of Hunt, the main spring of radical mo 

 nicnts ; and the accession of .Mr. Canning to the oi 

 of Prime Minister. This last event it is thought is 

 inauspicious to the cause of freedom in Spain ; am 

 is hoped that the Greeks have at least nothing to ( 

 from his counsels. The season in England has b 

 uncommonly productive, and Wheat so low that c 

 siderable quantities have been shipped to advanlagt 

 Xew York. 



South America still remains a theatre of content! 

 Freedom is a plant which does not appear to fin 

 congenial soil in that part of the torrid zone. Th 

 can be no doubt but Spain has lost the sceptre of I 

 dominion in S. America. But whether the South .\c 

 ricans will succeed in establishing free and stable g 

 ernments on correct republican principles is somcwl 

 problematical. 



With regard to our own " happy land," we h; 

 every blessing bestowed which can lead us to be gra 

 ful to the Source of all benefits. IS'otwithstandi 

 some unfavorable appearances, in consequence of ea 

 drought, the fruits of the earth were, pirhaps, nei 

 more abundant. The rancor of political animos 

 seems to be nearly annihilated. The mists of pai 

 can now neither magnify nor conceal the merits or c 

 merits of candidates for office, and he who deseri 

 best of his country, in general way, has the fain 

 prospect of succeeding to its honors and emoluments.' 

 After these brief sketches of " things in general 

 this passing peep at the great Babel, called The Worl 

 we hope to be indulged in a word or two relating 

 our own concerns. It is now about five months siin 

 \\<: commenced the publication of the New Ijiglai 

 Farmer. Our subscribers are not so many as we wis 

 nor so few as we have feared. We have had less a 

 sistance from correspondents than our hopes had li 

 us to anticipate ; but we have receivtd some vaUiab 

 commiuiicHtions, and take it for granted that there aV 

 others in the germe, which will, in due season, be d' 

 velojied. 



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