J76 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER 



NOV. ao. is.in. 



the Iianilinoi-k of our fair dairywonien to the lovers 

 of good living and to the community generally. 



BulUr. 



They have awarded the 1st prciniiiin to Mrs Geo. 

 W. Bates, of l!ridg-ewater, .$4. 



2d do to Mrs Rosanna T. Fohcs, ,)f Jo, g;^. 



;jd do to Dyer Rohinson, of do, fil. 



To Mrs Hannah Crooker, of do, 1 volume N. E. 

 Fanner. 



To Mrs Lydia Dean, of iMiddlfhoro', 1 vol. Yan- 

 kee Farmer. 



Cheese. 



1st premium to George Thompson, of Middle- 

 boro', S'"). 



2d do to ,\irs Bethiah IJates, of Bridgewater, .$3. 



3d do to Ezra Phillips, of Hanson, $-2. 



To Mrs Lydia Thompson, of Middlcboro', 1 vol. 

 N. E. vc.r.rer. 



To Dexter Pratt, of East Bridgewater, 1 vol. 

 Yankee Farmer. 



Although the majority of your com;v.itte<> htrye 

 passed the meridian and are in the downhill of life, 

 and have no occasion themselves to speculate in 

 fancy stocks, yot they woull rccommenil to the 

 young men just coming upon the stage of action, 

 who are employed in the useful and honorable oc- 

 cupation of tilling the earth, to keep a good look 

 out for the best dairies, and tosecnrcfor their co;n- 

 panions, graduates from those most useful .'femina- 

 ries. For the Committee, 



HOLMES SPRAGUE, Chnirmrm. 



BERKSHIRE PIGS. 



To the Editor of the CuIIival^^r : 



Sir — I see a statement made in a late number of 

 the New England Farmer, by Caleb N. Bement, of 

 Albany, in which he denies having ever sold 

 any Berkshire pigs to me or to any other person in 

 Fratningham. 



.^ly advertisement itiyour pap^r cf June last, runs 

 thus— 



" W. S. Turner has just received 14 pigs from 

 Albany, male and female, of che Berkshire breed. 

 Thtjse pigs were procured of Bement & Glauson." 



Now Mr B. denies that he sold them to me or to 

 any person in Fratningham. Who says he did? 

 My statetnent was that these pigs ware procured of 

 Bement Si Glauson. Were they not .' Mr B. does 

 not say they were not. But to prove that they were 

 procured of thetn, t send you my voucher, which is 

 a bill of sale signed by Thomas Heed, Jr. and is in 

 the following words — 



" Fratningham, June 1.3, 1639. I hereby certify 

 that I have this day sold Mr Wtn. S. Tnrner J4 

 full blooded Berkshire pigs, which I had of Messrs 

 Bement & Glauson, of Albany, N. V., and from 

 their recommendations. Thomas Reed, Jr." 



Mr Reed is of East Kingston. 



W.M. S. TURNER. 



Framh^ham, Oct. 30. 



Butter. — Perhaps there is no article .af general 

 use produced by farmers, of which the quality, as a 

 whole, is so inferior as that of butter. The grand 

 fault is, not freeing it frotn the buttermilk. Unless 

 this is done, sweetness is impossible. Butter freed 

 from all extraneous matters, is as little liable to 

 spoil or grow rancid as lard or tallow ; but butter- 

 milk soon becomes intolerably offensive, and when 

 left in the butter renders it most unpalatable. Dai- 

 ry-women, remember this. — Genesee Far. 



For the New England Farmer. 



Ma Brkck — The following detached thoughts, 

 written rather for amusement than for the edification 

 of yon or your readers, may serve to ' fill out' space 

 in your colutnns fur whi( li you lack )riore valuable 

 ' matter.' 



THE FAR.MER'S HAPPY LOT, 



The condition of the tltrifty husbandman of this 

 country, is a condilion conferring innre of the real 

 blessings of life than any other human lot: — it is 

 conducive to tlie greatest hral'li — to the strictest 

 independence, and to the purest happitiess; espe- 

 cially with him who can ippreciate the beautiful in 

 nature — who can loarn lessons of virtue from the 

 humblest plant of his fields, and trace in tli'.; mean- 

 est herb the hand of an Altnighty Power. Such 

 are nearer than other men allied to God : 



" The men 

 Whom n.Tture's works <an charm, with Go'.l himself 

 Hold converse ; grow familiar day liy day 

 With his eonceptinits — act ti|)OM his plans, 

 .And form lo his the relish of their souls." 



If tliCrc is one thing more pccitliarly calculated 

 than anohor to impress the farmer with a sense of 

 the independence and happinto.' "bich it is hts 

 high privilege to enjoy as a cultivator of the eartli, 

 it is such times of depression in the business world 

 as the present — when the merchant, the mechanic 

 and themanufacturer, deprived of tiie facilities U[ion 

 which, principally, they rely forthe successful pros- 

 ecution of their business, are subjected to suffer- 

 ings and expedients to which the husbandman is a 

 stranger. With hint, the refusal of banks to dis- 

 count, the fluctuations in stocks and exchanges, and 

 the numerous vicissitudes in business afl^airs which 

 so disastrously affect other men of other professions, 

 need cause no concern. The facilities he requires 

 for prosperity in his pursuit, are supplied chiefly by 

 Him who has protnised 'seed time and harvest,' and 

 whose promise is good. Calm in the consciousness 

 of his independence of human aid, with his grana- 

 ries filled to overflowing and every thing around 

 him conspiring to his comfort, how signally blessed 

 is the farmer over other men in 'hard times' like 

 the present, which drive hundreds to bankruptcy 

 and ruin and bring distress upon thousands. The 

 earth is the bank he deals with, and, favored by 

 Heaven, .she never refuses to the hand of industry 

 whatever in reason it solicits. Happy, thrice hapny 

 tnan, in being so independent of his kind, and so 

 dependejit upon God. 



Could the farmer who murmurs at his lot and is 

 anxious to enter on some more money-making pur- 

 suit, but be made acquainted with the suffering ex- 

 perienced by business men in a crisis like the pres- 

 ent, his murmurings would soon cease, and he 

 would readily perceive that in 'striving to better' 

 he would 'mar what's well.' 



Speaking of farmers murmuring at their condi- 

 tion, it has ever been a matter of surprise to me 

 that discontent should ever enter the breast of an 

 industrious husbandman, because it is difticult to 

 reconcile it with common wisdom and common sa- 

 gacity. Does it not arise from the lack of a due 

 observation of men and things? which deficiency 

 is to be ascribed to the secluded situation of the ! 

 yeomanry, insulated as tliey are from the busy world j 

 and deprived of those sources of instruction so easi- 

 ly accessible to those of large communities. 



This discontented spirit operates disadvantage- 

 ously to agricultural improvement, and it is there- 

 fore desirable that it should be extirpated from the 



breasts of the cultivators. How may this be ef- 

 j fected ? How may the husbandmen he supplied 

 I with that information which will enable them tol 

 perceive wlieriMn as cultivators of the earth they 

 are 'better oiT' than other men of other professious 

 — wherein they arc more happy — wherein they :\rf 

 more independent — wherein they are more seciiro 

 in their property ? We answer, through agricultu- 

 ral publications as one and the chief means, irid 

 through conventions of farmers at cattle shows inul 

 ^ on other occasions, in addresses and conversatio;i, 

 I as another means. 



In a former communication I spoke of the gi(:it 

 efficacw of agricultural papers in benefiting the cul- 

 tivator in his profession and of exalting that pro- 

 fession in the public estimation ; and so deeply am 

 I impressed with their importance as a means to 

 promote this end, that 1 would again allude to them. 

 j The season is at hand when the farmer has irtuch 

 Itime to devote to reading; and it would seem that 

 agricultural papers contain the very kind of reading 

 wh. ri should engross the chief part of his attention. 

 It is needless to advise those who are subscribers 

 on this point: it is those who are not subscribers, 

 and wtio (it is a mpch to be regretted fact,) compose 

 by far the greater part of the yeom.inry — it is this 

 \.]— : of farmers that w'e would have read these pa- 



peTs'aud profit trom 'J::'"" .""""'''• ^X" "^^^ '=""- 

 ceive of a plan to effect tliis groat nti\CZ^ ^° ^°"^^ 

 extent if not generally. Let some noble souls in 

 each village form themselves into a reading club 

 and subscribe for the agricultural journals of the 

 middle and eastern States for a term of six months 

 in each year; — let these papers be kept at the 

 dwelling-house, of one of the c'ub or other conve- 

 nient place — then invite, nay urge, the non reading 

 portion of their brother farmers to ineet and peruse 

 them whenever they saw fit, and contribute their 

 mite towards defraying the expenses attending the 

 cointnendable enterprise : might not some perma- 

 nent good arise from this step ? might not the far- 

 mers who do not now take a paper devoted to their 

 interests, be induced thereby to become subscri- 

 bers, and, as a consequent, better farmers and more 

 valuable neighbors ? We are disposed to think 

 much of good would result from this project: it 

 commends itself to every one — and let him who 

 has a disposition to benefit his kind, move in this 

 matter — yes, let one move, and a nucleus will be 

 formed around which sufficient soul will gather to 

 accomplish the object. 



You will remember, i\Ir Breck, that in reply to 

 the suggestion of a correspondent pi:blished some 

 months since, you informed him you were willing 

 to receive in pay (or the Farmer, from those who 

 would like to become subscribers but who thought 

 they could not pay money, most any articles of 

 farm produce. I introduce your offer here for the 

 purpose of asking a small favor of your subscribers, 

 which is, that each will inform his neighbors who 

 are not subscribers, of the accommodating terms on 

 which you offer the Farmer, and represent to them 

 the advantages to be derived from its perusal. Are 

 there not some who will act upon this request ? I 

 trust th«re are many, and that you, sir, will have 

 proof of it in accessions to your subscription list; — 

 not that my aim is to benefit you solely or particu- 

 larly — no, it is the yeomanry I would particularly 

 benefit ; benefit by persuading them of the impor- 

 tance of their profession, and teaching them so t» 

 pursue it as to render it a source of greater content- 

 ment and greater wealth ; — benefit by dilfusing 

 among them the light respecting their art which it 



