3yo 



NEW EN G'L AND FARMER, 



'_.ii;ne la, 1939. 



AMD HORTICILTURAI, RKGISTER. 



Boston, Wedkesdav, June 12, 1839. 



The Nkw Enohni) Gazetteer, conlaining de.-crip- 

 tioiis of nil the SiaieM, counties, and towns in New 

 England, itlso descnpt.onx oftiii- prinr-ipal mountains, 

 livers, l:ikes, capes, t)ays, harbors, iiilanH>3, imil fa-h- 

 ion;ible resorts mihin thai li-rrilory, alphnhetiually ar- 

 ranji'il. Bv John llavwanl, author ofthe Ciiluinhiin 

 Traveller, lliilipions Cn-eds, Ac. &c. Boston, IS'i'J. 



This isu very convenient boolc nf reti'renfp, and con- 

 tains a great amount of useful infurmaiion. To one of 

 lier maids of honor, soliciini; the loan iif a bonk to read. 

 Queen l^lizabetli presented a dictionary. Tin: lady re- 

 turned it in due time to the queen, saying that she had 

 read it ihrough with great interest and pleasure. We 

 can lay no claims to the intense spirit (jf inquiry, which 

 ■distinguished this maid of honor, and have not read this 

 "Gazetteer through; but we have examined it suiKcienlly 

 to say that it abounds in useful facta of a geographical 

 and statistical character ; that its accounts are accurate, 

 and, as far as wp have examined, to he relied upon. — 

 Th^ information is presented in a condensed and per- 



.spiciious form, and tlie book, for the amount of matter 

 it contains, is furnished at a very rea-oniilile expense. It 

 is to be followed by a register lull of other local facls of 

 general interest, which it was impossible to comprise in 



■ this volume. We wish the author a success commensu- 

 rate with his industry and research. 



With the exception of the New Hampshire granite 

 leJge, the culs in the volume would disfigure a school- 

 primer ; and the irrelevant mntler introduced under 

 .some of the notices, such as •' Deacon Marvin's Court- 

 ship" and '• Tlic Kiirtunate Stagenian," &a. &c. are in 

 very bad taste: and ought to give place lo appropriate 

 and useful matter. J-], C. 



TO CORRESPONDENTS. 



To our Westboro' friend '■ T" wo feel under particu- 

 lar obligations. The matter for this week's Farmer was 

 " made up" before we received his cominunicalion ; hut 

 it shall have a place in our nexi, Such accounts confer 

 a substantial benefaction on the agricultural community ; 

 and do honor to liieir author by the exactness of his ar- 

 rangements and details. We wish that the example of 

 himself and our respected liiend Anthony, of North 

 Providence, might provoke a spiriied imitation amciug 

 other of our friends. 



Wc have received from J. Ilolbrook, Esq, his wrillcn 

 ■cominuninalioii ; but llie Cleveland Herald, to which lie 

 refers us for the printed det;iils ol Ins [dans fiir improve- 

 ment, has not reached us. We beg him lo send anoth- 

 ■er. The subject of his communication is of the hijhest 

 .importnncR— the education of the farmers; and we shall 

 most heartily rheer on his plans for this ohject. He 

 must be consiilercd as the founder of lyceunis and pop- 

 ular lectures Ihrnughont the countrv ; and by this dis- 

 tinguished benefaction lew men liave stroii.>pr claims 

 upon public respect and gratitude. 



We thank " C. S." for Ins cnminunication until we 

 can take a more particular notice oCit. His grain needs 

 a little winnowing, but it is •' pretty clean afier all," and 

 will make very good bread. We shall serve it up' pres- 

 ently. We synipatliise cordially in his views in regard 

 t I tlie distaste foragricultuial labor prevalent with many- 

 and the corrupting influences ot liisiiion, luxury, indo- 

 tcncB and avarice ; but it is dillicult to devise or apply 

 a remedy. 



We are sorry he should deem any apology necessary 



fur his style of writing. This diffidence often deters 

 men from conununicaling to the public facts within their 

 ' own knowleilj/c or experience, whiili would be of great 

 service. This distrii.st of their own powers is misplaced. 

 I We do not expect farmers to be accomplished writers; 

 I and in case of any false grammar rir wrong spelling, wo 

 I should certainly correct it as well as we know how be- 

 [ fore wc printed it; but it is a fact which must be adniit- 

 ; ted, and which is constantly occurring under our own 

 I ob.servalion.lliat plain, inlelliirent, practical men, though 

 1 without the advantages of a liberal education, generally 

 I expiess themselves with much more perspicuity, sim- 

 I plicity and directness, than men who are writersby pro- 

 fession, and wlmse lives have been devoted to books; 

 who are very apt to acquire a verbose and involved 

 style. Gen. Washingtim and Dr Franklin among innu- 

 merable other self educated and practical men, are ex- 

 amples of a clearness, directness, and force nfslyle scarce, 

 ly surpassed in ihe language. Few men have any diffi- 

 I culty in communicaiing their thoughts or knowledge in 

 conversation. Let a man then undertake to write as he 

 talks, and he will soon acquire a fluency of writing ; and 

 a little coriection will give his vvri;ing exactness and 

 force. Most practical men refuse 10 communicate their 

 experience because, they say, they have nothing new or 

 worth communicating. If we must not write unless we 

 have something new to communicate, writing must soon 

 cease. The common results of common operations 

 drawn out with exactness and in detail, are what we 

 want ; aiid though many things from long familiarity 

 have ceased to be new lo those acciistoihed to them 

 they are not the less tidapted to be useful, and eoiiibinc 

 the precise information most wanted by others, who are 

 ignorantand inexperienced. ||, C. 



get almost as much milk from them as we now get 



We wish some intelligent and respectnble farmer would 

 make a fair experiment in this matter. But with . 

 isling prejudices, which we know it would be very dif- 

 ficult 10 overcome, a man would almost as soon be seen 

 driving a team of women in harness as a team »f cows. 1 

 We 1:111st beg I ardon for the homely analogy or lor even 

 so much as hinting the possibility of, not to say the want 

 of gallantry in the thought of driving women in or outj 

 of harness. It may sometimes be po.ssible 10 lead them 

 after rhe Havana fashion, with a silken cord Wc pro- 

 some til liav.ard no advice on the subject however. 



H. C. 



SPANISH OXEN-WORKING COWS, 

 A gentleman temporarily resident in the Havana, who 

 is a very competent judge, states that the oxen in ih.it 

 country are ofa superior character. They draw entire- 

 ly by the horns, and are, properly speaking, not driven 

 hut led by a boy, who precedes them, bedding a rope 

 fastened to a ling, which is passed through the carlilaje 

 of the nose; and they are trained to walk with as much 

 speed as horses. 



Every one who lias seen an ox trot or run, must be 

 satisfied that they were never formed fur racers. Yet 

 undoubtedly they might be trained, and with advautai'e 

 lo move much f..sler than at their ordinary gait among 

 us, which is proverbially slow. It is worth cunsideriu" 

 whether the habits of thought and .action anioni' a ru- 

 ral population bear any correspondence to the habits of 

 the domestic animals with whom they associate ; and 

 whether the habits of people accustomed u> the quick 

 movement of horses in working and riding, are fiot more 

 active, spirited, and enterprising than ofa peoj>le accus- 

 tomed only to the slow movements of oxen, who as they 

 aie often tr;(ined and driven, do little more than creep. 

 It would seem to be lime to get over the absurd pre- 

 judice which prevails among us, against working cows. 

 On small farms especially, where the expense ot keep- 

 ing an ox team is always heavy, it would be a great 

 gain to use them in this way. In many parts of Kii- 

 rope they are so used, and certainly may be so used 

 with as much propriety as we use mares ; who, with the 

 exception of certain seasons, are as useful as horses— 

 indeed more active and spirited, and quite as endurinir. 

 In respect to cows, all that would be leqiiired would be 

 extraordinary care and kindness when faradviniced with 

 calf, and entire release from work for a short time be- 

 fore and after.calving. The extraordinary feed which 

 we could then nfFoid to give them, would enable us to 



Ci MMKi.v Sugar. — It is stated on good authority that 

 an im|ortant revolution is about occurring in Erance in 

 ri'gaidtothe manufacture of .sugar; and lli.il a large 

 capitalist is about erecting an extensive estaldishiiient 

 fiir the manufacture of sugar from pumpkins, experi- 

 inenia having shown conclusively that it may be obtain, 

 ed from this vegetable in Koundance, and of a superior 

 quality. H. C. 



CcBA, — A correspondent of a Baltimore paper writ- 

 ing from Havana, states that the island of Cuba, which 

 has heretofore iound ready di.'inand fur its sugar in the 

 Russian market, has been superseded in the trade bv the 

 native cultivators of Russia. 



The manufacture of beet sugar has increased to such 

 an extent in the southern and central provinces of the 

 Russian empire, that inslead of one hundred thousand 

 boxes of while sugar which were, annually shipped from 

 Cuba to St. Peter>l)urg, (orly thousand boxes now sup- 

 ply the demand. 



The canker worm is making great ravages among live 

 (ruit trees in some parts of Ihis and oilier States. In 

 some instances whole orchards have been desolated. 



Alassiicliiisetts Horticultural ^nciefy. 



EXHIBITION OF FLOWEns. 



Saturday, June 8th, I83'.l. 

 Splendid Bouquets were exhibited from the gaidens 

 ol Messrs Winsliip, Howe, Hovey, and Walker. 



jVwure Plants by Ezra West, n, jr., Esq. and Francis 

 P-.rker; Arethusa bulbosa, Kalmia angustilolia, Sarra- 

 cenia purpurea, Iris versicolor. Rebus trivialis, Nuphar 

 advtiia llypoxis erecta, Eriophorune augnstilolirum, 

 Gcuin Rivali:, Trifolium Pratense, Vaccinium rcsino- 

 sum, Lnthyrus Paiustris, Potentilla anserina 



The report ot the Jurlgus on the Viola graiidiflora is 

 herewith submitted. 



For the Committee. 



S WALKER, Chairman. 

 " The txliibilinn of Violas for premium, was held to- 

 day (June 8) at the Sociely's room. S. Walker, Esq. 

 was the only competitor. The number of specimeiK 

 was large and flowers beautiful. 



The Jommiltee award to Sam'l Walker, Esq. the 1st 

 and '2d premium for best display of Violas ; and they al- 

 so award to liim lliu premium for the best seedlinff Vio- 

 la, Graudilloia. 



JAMES I,. L. F. WARREN, 

 EM RICHARDS." 

 June 8, 1839. 



f!-ui7» exhibited at ihe I,, ill of the Society. S.itnrday, 

 June 8, \83'J—Slrau:ljcrrics; a box of large strawbernes 

 of the variety called lloyal Scarlet, from James L. L, 

 F, Warren, Brighton. 



For the Committee, 



E. M. RICHARDS. 



Vegetables— fi\r G. VV. Stearns, of Cambridge, exhib- 

 ited fine specimens of the long green Cucumber — fruit 

 very large. Specimens of the long Soutligate Cucum- 

 ber were also exhilsited by James L. L. F. Warren, of 

 Brighton. 



For the Committee, 



JAMES L. L, F. WARREN. 



