18 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



.Tt;LY 30,' 1«34. 



From tlie Boston Courier. 

 HAYMAKirtG. 



(iooD hay-weather is a joyful s.;a.snn for the 

 farmer, for it calls ii|. nil those eiierj;ics that are 

 apt to sh.i.iher over a winter's fire wliile the earth 

 is eovered with snow. The days are the hiiifiest 

 in the year, hut they are too short for liis laiiors. 

 If he hail the power of Joshua, he would in a {.'ooil 

 hay-day couijuatid the suu to stand still. Is there 

 ii sightin creation morally and physically so heau- 

 tifufas a wide meadow spotted with white shirts, 

 (a mower in all of tiiem) as the ocean is jjemmed 

 with sails— or an expanse of hay-cocUs, like scat- 

 tered Hindoo dwellings; each one raked and 

 thatched so that the rain cannot enter. 



There is no prettier implement than a scythe, 

 and there is no hetter employment tjian to swing 

 it. 



It is creditahle even to " rake after." Then 



js a moral suhlimity in cuttinf^ down tall grass,— it 

 partakes of the task of A/.rael— it is a good he- 

 ginning for a soldier, a general, a hero— hut it 

 would he a hetter end. 



History is silent as to the implements of Cincin- 

 natus, except his idough, which no douht turned 

 K respectahle furrow ; hut there is no douht that 

 the " Old Roman," had a scythe like Time's, that 

 would cut a glorious swath, and a rake that 

 vvouhl turn up a winnow like a range of hills. 

 His pitchfork must have heen a model. But the 

 liomans had nonewspapers, and therefore \\:\w of 

 their advertisements or other familiar matters have 



readied us. 



The shepherds of Chaldea never watched the 

 skies, as our farmers scrutinize them in hny-tiine. 

 Hay-day is to them pay-day. This is the only 

 time in the year when they have to do the work 

 of thirty days in three. It is the nearest approach 

 their good genius permits them, to the three days 

 of grace, (so hard in fact, though so smooth in 

 sound) of their city hrcthren. Do all these city 

 relatives understand the worth of a dollar? Do 

 they know how much lahor and trust in Provi- 

 dence go to the raising of a hushel of corn ? Do 

 they understand that a farmer gives for a cord of 

 wood, " standing," a matter of two dollars; that 

 he cuts it, carries it to the city, twenty miles with 

 " four cattle," supports them and himself two days 

 upon the road, and sells his merchandize, with his 

 lahor and that of his cattle for eight dollars? 



Are they iiil'ormed that a son of the soil sur- 

 renders himself, soul and hody, with all the "thews 

 and sinews of a man," to cut down an acre of 

 grass, toss it ahout with a fork, gather it with 

 a rake, and load it with a iiitchfork — and all this 

 from the rising to the setting of the sun — for the 

 consideration of six shillings, — one dollar ; why the 

 very fatted calf, that seldom hleeds for hospitality 

 on the prodigal's nlurii, hrings in the market hut 

 ahout eight dDllars, exclusive of his head which is 

 his host part like a philosopher's — and yet hoiise- 

 holdois in the city, who never drove the cows to 

 jiasture, or milked them at home — who never 

 churned an hour in their ill-spent lives, will higgle 

 in the market for a cent in a pound of hiitter or a 

 (juarter of veal ! 



We have had the two kinds of fortune, and 

 something too much of one. We have stuck type 

 and made hay — hreathiMl the smoky air of an of- 

 fice, and inhaled the clear exhilarating gas of the 

 meadows. We have lieard the town crier and the 

 bohalink — and in spito of the hell we prefer the 

 bird. 



If any wight less fettered cau get away, let him 



flee from the city to the country. If he cany 

 away the dyspepsia, he will not bring it back, it 

 he visit the haymakers. If he lack appetite let 

 him carry at noon (the fashionable hour of dining) 

 the dinner to the mowers. He will find half a 

 dozen of them expectant, and recumbent mider a 

 maple tree. They will welcome his approach with 

 a sincere but compound fervor. Thciy will honor 

 him while they investigate the contents of his bas- 

 ket, and a huge one it is. If we should be called 

 upon to do this tomorrow, it wouhl ho a welcome 

 summons, and according to Byron, 



" Wc should but do as we have done." 

 O rfiira mcssorum illia. O for the appetite of 

 the mowers — that immense pan of hake<l lieans 

 vanishes before it — and the bones of the (piailer of 

 lamb are so polished that Towser declines them. 

 There is nothing left though much was provided. 

 A haymaker is thrifty and wastes nothing, for he 

 considers it not waste to apply things bountifully 

 to their uses, and provisions were made to be con- 

 sumed, as much as he was born to consume them. 



ORDER. 



A QUAKER, named Benjamin Lay, (who was a 

 little cracked in the heail though sound at heart,) 

 look one of his compositions to Benjamin Frank- 

 lin to havS it printed and published in bis paper. 

 Franklin having looked over the manuscript,, ob- 

 served that it was deficient in arraligemenl. " No 

 matter" replied the author, " print any part thou 

 pleasest first." Many are the speeches, and the 

 sermons, and the treatises, and the |)oems, and the 

 volumes, which are like Benjamin Lay's book ; 

 the head might serve for the tail, and the tail for 

 the body, and the body for the head, either end 

 for the middle, and the mi. Idle for cither end ; 

 nay, if you could turn them inside out like a jrlove 

 they would be no worse for the operation. When 

 the excellent Hooker was on his death-bed, he 

 expressed his joy at the prospect of entering a 

 world of order. 



COST OP B.\D HABITS. 



A VF.RY young man once got addicted to the 

 use of tobacco, and was entirely cured by a friend 

 who desired him to cast up the sum total of the 

 ex|)ense should he live to the age of seventy, at on- 

 ly one cent a day inehiding the interest annually. 

 The young man fmind it amounted to upwards ot 

 One Tlwusanil JJullars ! He at once threw away 

 his tobacco box. Let those who expend from five 

 to ten cents a day in ardent spirits, sit down and 

 count the cost. Nine tenths of them would have 

 cash on band to purchase good farms, and enough 

 left to slock them handsomely. 



ILLINOIS 1VOOL. 



Wf. have been shown several specimens of Sax- 

 ony and Merino wool, grown by Mr. Flowers, ol 

 Edwards county in this state. The specimens, 

 (we being judges,) are of a superior quality, ecpial 

 in fineness and strength to the best imported. The 

 specimens may be seen by calling on Mr. M'Laugh- 

 lin, of this place. We imdersiand Mr. Flowers 

 has a flock of three or four hundred sheep of tie 

 same species wilh those from which the specimens 

 we examiiieil were taken, which bo will sell at a 

 low price, his object being to encourage and ad- 

 vance the business of " wool growing," rather tliun 

 to make money. The chance is worthy the atten- 

 tion of fanners disposed to engage in this profita- 

 ble branch of agriculture. — T'andalia mig. 



from lilt: Fanutr s Ansistant. 

 CURRANT. CRllJes.) 



There are a variety i>f currants, including those 

 called gooseberries. The black currant, which 

 grows ill the swamps in this country, is greatly 

 miproved by cultivation, and afl'ords a wine equal 

 to I'ort, when it has age. It is also an excellent 

 medicine for a sore month and throat. When 

 bruised and sieepeil in whiskey, or oilier spirits, it 

 is also excellent for colds and for bad coughs aris- 

 ing from pulmonic complaints. They are to be 

 steeped a Ibrinighl or more ; then strain the fniuor, 

 bottle it, and put it away for use. The red and 

 the while currants are most common here, and 

 each makes good wine, though ihe white is thought 

 to make the best. Curiaiit.s are Ihe most useful 

 of all the small kinds of fruit-liees, and for making 

 wines they are very profitable. 



After pressing out the juice for making wine, 

 let the seeds be dried, and sown late in the Fall, 

 or early in the Spring, on fine light earth, anil 

 from these, new varieties maybe had; some of 

 which may be found very fine, and much superior 

 perhaps to those in conunon use. Some may he 

 found to ripen early, others late, which are quali- 

 ties particularly desirable for family uses. 



Curianis are easily propagated from cuttings, 

 which is the usual methoil.or from layers or slips. 

 As soon as vegetation has commenced, take the 

 stnmgest and straigbiest shoots, but not such as 

 are suckers, and set the ends iirelty well hi the 

 ground, in order that they may have sufficient 

 moisture ; and let them he watered, if the weather 

 he very dry, after planting. They will soon take 

 root, and "the next .season will begin to bear. 

 They should then be kept carefully pruned, and 

 should not be sufi'ered to run too high. They 

 should be kept clear of suckers, as these draw 

 much of that nourishment which is reipiisite for 

 ihe fruit. The ground about them should be oc- 

 casionally hoed, to keep it clear of weeds and grass. 

 Currants will do very well even on light sandy 

 soils ; bill, perhaps, the best soil for them is a 

 good mellow sandy loam. Wilh proper culture, 

 however, they will grow pretty well on almost any 

 soil ihat is not too hard m- poor, in this country 

 which appears to be very natural to their growth. 



To make Currant Wine. Take currants fully 

 ripe, at Ihe rate of one gallon for eacli gallon of 

 water; bruise them fine in the water; strain the 

 whole ihioiigh a doth, and add two pounds and 

 three quarters of good brown sugar to every gal- 

 lon of currants and water thus mixed together ; 

 stir it well, and, when the sugar has dissolved, put 

 the whole into a clean cask, filling it full, and 

 lea\ing a good vent-hole open. When the fer- 

 meiilarion is over, stop it up tight, and in six 

 months it will he fit for bottling or for use. Like 

 other wines, however, it improves much by age. 



Probably molasses, well clarified, might be made 

 to answer instead ot sugar; and, probahly, honey, 

 or a due mixture of it, would he hetter than either. 

 An acre planted with currants, and well culti- 

 vated, would probably yield on an average, a quan- 

 tity of fruit suflicieiit to make a thousand gallons 

 of wine yearly. The expense of making this wine 

 does not exceed filty cents a gallon ; and the wine, 

 after having a little age, is worth treble this money. 

 A currant-garden should be set with the bushes 

 in rows, about eight feet between each, and about 

 three feet between each bush, with interTals of 

 proper width and at regular distances for [lassing 

 across the rows. Planting currants on the south 



