NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



251 



jde as lo leave the moving organs of the bo(I_y 

 rfectly free, so as to permit the sfreat fuuc- 

 ins of health to go on without the least inter- 

 ption from pressure or conlinement. A dress 

 at wants any of these properties cannot be 

 nformable to reason or the conditions of health. 

 )w is it that a dress like this, so simple in the- 

 y, so easy in execution, and so salutary in its 

 ects, has been so little esteemed and adopted ? 

 Fashion has been the great opponent. This 

 pere arbitress will not bear a division of au- 

 )rily, nor an cq\ial in display. Whoever is 

 t for her, .she is against. Unconditional sub- 

 ssion is the only term of favor ; and before 

 s can be given, health and good taste must 

 renounced. But who shall be found of suffi- 

 ^nt nerve to brave the sneers and contempt 

 the votaries of fashion? 

 We call ourselves a free people, but no man 

 itrictly free who docs not in every thing, feel 

 nself at liberty to obey the dictates of his 

 n head and heart, in promoting his own phy- 

 al and moral health and happiness. I make 

 se remarks on the fi'eedora of action, because 

 hout a consciousness of possessing it, men 

 inot be elevated to any thing great or good, 

 n should believe that power and responsibi- 

 ■ are equal ; neither reason nor revelation 

 ognizcs any accountability beyond this.^ 

 re men liberty and power, and then you can 

 uence them by motives ; they may be per- 

 ded that knowledge is good, and be incited 

 icquire it. 



knowledge will teach them that reason is a 

 !er guide than prejudice, that liberty is bet- 



than slavery, health than sickness, temper- 

 e than excess, &c. Now if this is true, I 

 dt it follows, that when health and fashion 



opposed to each other, we should do well 

 irefer the former. 



lany facts might be mentioned to show the 

 jence of too much or too little clothing, in 

 ducing or increasing disea.?es of every kind, 

 scially those which affect the lungs. The 

 lity of the clothing should be suited to the 

 ither. Mr. B. told me that he twice had a 

 irn of cough and spitting of blood, by wear- 



his summer clothes a week after the weath- 

 became cool in September. But it is not 

 icient to vary the weight or quality of dress 

 b the seasons only ; it is also necessary to 

 nge it daily with the varying temperature 

 he air, even in summer, in middle latitudes. 

 en the animal powers are languid, it is dilli- 

 I to keep the extremities warm; whence 



women in Holland have recourse to a par- 

 ilar apparatus for warming their feet. But 



this purpose, after suitable clothing and 

 Mng, the great expedient is bodily exercise. 

 ["here is, however, no comparison between 



ad of clothes in cool rooms, and a light dress 

 hot ones, where these circumstances only 



to be taken into the account. Those who 

 ow the former usage will escape numberless 

 esses, to which the followers of the latter 

 I be subject. 



The inhabitants of Holland, and the English 

 9 have resided long among them, are forci- 



struck with the coughs, both catarrhal and 

 sumptive, so universally prevalent in Eng- 

 i, at almost every season of the year. At 

 irch and at the theatre, devotion and pleas- 

 are alike interrupted, and sometimes totally 

 troyed by incessant coughing and expectora- 



tion ; while in the largest assemblies in llollaiul, 

 in.stances of a similar kind are hardly known. 

 This striking difference may be ascribed to the 

 contrast observable between the two countries 

 in the construction of their habitations, and in 

 the iicculiarities of their dress. The Dutch 

 apartments are cool, and their clothing warm. 

 A Dutch woman feels herself insufferably op- 

 pressed in a room which an American or Eng- 

 lish woman would deem but moderately warm. 

 It seems to be a fair inference that a formidable 

 portion of the unhealthfulness and mortality in 

 England and America depends precisely on the 

 effect of our opposite customs in regard to cloth- 

 ing and lodging. How far the following des- 

 cri])tion of a fashionable dress, from an English 

 physician, may be applicable to the females in 

 the larger towns and cities of our own country, 

 1 leave every one to decide for himseU'. 



" Many women in the morning muffle them- 

 selves up to the chin and ears, and go about 

 half naked all the evening, braving disease and 

 death. The cold of our climate is sufficient 

 annually to cut down thousands of females, who 

 having been tenderly brought up, will not guard 

 themselves by adequate covering against it. — 

 But the ladies are not content with the havoc 

 committed in this manner. Among death-bed 

 confessions I have sometimes heard of a prac- 

 tice of damping the cobweb garments, which 

 would otherwise hang about the limbs too loose- 

 ly. By this means the killing rigor of an in- 

 clement atmosphere, is most materially assisted. 

 The desire of obtaining a celebrity, equal to 

 that of some monuments of ancient art, which 

 have lately been transferred to Paris, appears 

 to me quite as good a reason, for risking life, 

 as many of those which have conferred mortal- 

 ity on the adventurers. But the beautiful fol 

 lowers of the attitude or statue fashion unfortu 

 nately do not stiffen into figures, like the Venus 

 de Medicis, or like what they themselves would 

 be in good health. The state to which they 

 are often reduced, is one from which every 

 body turns away with horror, except the stealer 

 of dead bodies and the dissector." 



I will close with one word on the use of flan- 

 nel. This article should never be worn so long 

 as linen or cotton is sufficient for warmth, and 

 when it is put on by day it should be taken off 

 at night. It is useless by night, and in this way 

 it is a far better defence and security by day. 



But is all judgment and taste to be sacrificed 

 to health ? No ; there will still be sufficient 

 scope for these, after the provisions for health 

 are made. Colors may be suited to the com- 

 plexion, the form of the garment to the shape 

 of the wearer, expense to revenue, and the 

 whole style of dress to the character and con- 

 dition of individuals. 



for every twenty weight, I add one ounce of 

 good double refined salt pefre, and half a pint of 

 molasses; scald and skim that in the brin'j, put 

 it by, and let it cool, then pour it on the legs 

 sufficient to co\ or them. When they are im- 

 pregnated with the pickle, then smoke or dry 

 as suits the taste. 1 dry the legs, and smoke the 

 meat tub with cobs. When there is danger of 

 flies, I put my meat back into the tub, and scald 

 and skim the pickle, cool and [)Ut it on the ba- 

 con legs. They will keep sweet and fresh 

 without rust, or tasting rancid or strong at a 

 year old. The same pickle is good for pork, 

 and will preserve the lean part good. It is al- 

 so excellent lor beef, but it should be put on 

 that boiling hot. I have used the same pickle 

 for about thirty years for all my meat, which 

 I boil and skim, and make the additions of salt 

 petre and molasses. WALLIS LITTLE.^ 



Toicnsaul, Feb. 22, 1823. 



to the editor op the kew englakd farmer. 

 Dear Sir, 



I received your paper, and am greatly pleas- 

 ed and amused wi;h the spirit of improve- 

 ment that seems to have awakened the Amer- 

 ican farmers, &c. I find that several have 

 written on the mode of preserving Bacon. I 

 have my way which I will offer. It is to rub 

 the legs over with a small quantity of salt and 

 salt petre the night after the hogs are killed 

 (if I can.) Then 1 make a pickle sufficient to 

 cover all the legs, and boil and skim it till it is 

 cleansed of all the scum that will rise. Then 



From the Americau Farmer. 



THE HAMPTON DAIRY— A'cor Bahimorc. 

 We have been kindly permitted to take from 

 the farm register the following account of sales 

 of butter from Gen. Fiidgely's dairy, at Hamp- 

 ton, in the year 1822. 



4296i lbs. sold, average 



'4! els. per. lb. gl763 83 

 8601 x^so.d in this year. 

 56i given to Mrs. Onion. 



521. "4 lbs. made this j'ear. 

 Sold ton veal calves for gS 



00 



A'ativc Race nf Cattle— 'Mr. Asa Rice, jr. of 

 Shrewsbury, in W^orcester county, has brought 

 to the Brighton Market the following Cattle, all 

 of his own raising and fatting, weighing after 

 being slaughtered, as follows : 



A Steer, t years old, Feb. 10, 1821, slaugh- 

 tered on the llth Oct. same year, 1519 lbs.; 

 Slaughtered Feb. 2, 1823, a Steer, 4 years old, 

 the 12th April, 1581 lbs.; Feb. 2, 1823 a Cow, 

 13 years old last Spring, 1091 lbs. ; Feb. 2, 1823, 

 a Heifer, 3 years old the 14th May, 911 lbs. 



These cattle were wholly of native breed. 

 The Steers were weaned at 12 weeks old, and 

 fed with nothing but hay and grass until they 

 entered their fifth year. The Cow brought a 

 calf at two years old, and every year since but the 

 last. — She was milked last winter, turned out in 

 ;he spring, thin in flesh, and began mealing the 

 1st of October last. The Heifer brought a calf 

 at two years old, and another last spring; and 

 was dried the last of July, and turned out, as 

 thin as any other cow ; and was fatted on ac- 

 count of a blemish which would eventually have 

 spoiled her. 



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