184 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



XOV. 37, 1839, 



season ; to go sometimes to the school house in 

 the coldest weather, and not find a handful of fire , 

 or a stick to make it of; to wait and shiver and 

 rub the icy fingers of the smaller children, till the 

 Inrgcr boys could go and borrow an axe, and dig 

 out and cut an armful, and thaw off" the ice, or as 

 the case might be, finding no wood to disinter, to 

 dismiss the school till somebody could be put up to 

 bring on his load. All this and more I have seen 

 and experienced myself; and in districts too, which 

 prided themselves in being rather in the fore-ground 

 than behind Ihe times. That, however, was a 

 great while ago ; and school houses, perhaps, may 

 be better now ; wood may be belter, and there 

 may be more of it. But how much better .' If 

 any body will agree to pay me a generous premi- 

 um for every school house I can find answering lo 

 the above description, I will make a short excursion 

 during the next vacation ; and in case of failure, I 

 will "own beat," and bear my own expenses. 



It is certain, at any rate, that our school houses 

 in the country are for the most part fitted up with 

 less regard to health, convenience, and attractive- 

 ness, than any other class of buildings. While 

 every man of good judgment, in building his own 

 house spends a great deal of time and thought in 

 planning otiier conveniences, he has regard also to 

 the health and comfort of his children in the size 

 and arrangement of their sleeping rooms. The re- 

 flection that it will cost him a few dollars more, to 

 give them good than poor accommodations, weighs 

 very little with such a father. "What is property 

 good for," he asks, " if it is not to make ourselves 

 and our families comfortable ? My children will 

 never thank me for thrusting them into some bye 

 corner, in their tender years, for the sake of leaving 

 them a little more to spend after I am gone." 



Nor is the care of our men of thrift and enter- 

 prise confined to their children. It extends to all 

 their domestic animals. The farmer will not only 

 invite you to look at the good condition of his cat- 

 tle and horses, but will show you what pains and 

 expense he has been at in the fitting up of sheds, 

 racks and stables. The swine, even, proverbially 

 bristling and contrary, though they be, must hav-e 

 spacious accommodations and warm beds as a mat- 

 ter of taste and economy. But when these same 

 indulgent fathers and thrifty husbandmen come to 

 the matter of their children's education, they guess 

 tlie old school will do another year. It will want 

 a few shingles and some other patching, to be sure, 

 but then it looks about as well as it did ten years 

 ago, when every body was satisfied. Bes^ides the 

 times are hard, and they have just been laying 

 out so much money in building or buying land, 

 that they have nothing to spare. Some dissent and 

 remonstrate ; but this is the voice of the majority, 

 and it prevails. 



Thus the children of the district, (from thirty to 

 seventy or eighty in number,) arc compelled to take 

 up with accommodations, in pursuing their studies 

 through the long and cold winter, which no one 

 would think tolerable any where but in the com- 

 mon school— the place of all others, I was going 

 to say, which should be made neat, roomy, warm 

 and in all. respects attractive. There must be new 

 stables and netv pla.us and experiments to fatten the 

 full-blooded Berkshires, but the old dilapidated 

 school-house, is almost too good to bo pulled down 

 at present. 



Nay more ; I am not afraid to hazard the predic- 

 tion, that as the schools open this very season, 

 many a master will find that the repairs are not 



completed when he is ready to begin. The stove 

 is not up, or the glass is not set, or the benches are 

 not mended, or the wood is so green and wet that 

 you might as well undertake to burn salamanders ; 

 and that many a teacher will also in the course of 

 tlie winter, be liberally frozen out, for two or three 

 days at a time, through the neglect of those to 

 whom he is obliged to look for the necessary sup- 

 plies of fuel. Now if I am not entirely mistaken 

 in these impressions, is it any wonder that the 

 children in so many of our common schools do not 

 make half the proficiency which njight, under bet- 

 ter advantages, be reasonably expected .' How 

 can they do much, when they have to burn off the 

 iee before they can get af the wood, and it takes 

 half the forenoon to warm a space ten feet square, 

 nearest to the fire, and the ink freezes in their pens, 

 and their feet ache with the cold, and every thing 

 in short, is so ciieerless and forbidding. 



I do not think myself competent, if I had time, 

 to propose the best model for common district 

 school houses : and easy as the task may seem, I 

 suspect that but very few professed builders have 

 studied this simple branch of architecture with very 

 much interest or success. Perhaps the reason is, 

 tliat it has hitherto been regarded as of little im- 

 portance. But really, I do not know how a man 

 of ingenuity and practical good sense, could ren- 

 der himself more useful in very considerable sec- 

 tions of the country, than by turning his attention 

 to the subject, and inducing the friends of common 

 schools to build upon such improved plans as would 

 commend themselves at once to every eye. In 

 this way a great and most beneficial change might 

 soon be effected — fori will not believe that the 

 majority of parents anywhere, would rest content- 

 ed with such unsightly and ill-contrived school 

 houses as are now common, even in many parts of 

 New England, if there were better models which 

 they could be invited to examine. 



I will only, in conclusion, throw out some half 

 dozen negatives, leaving the posilives in more skil- 

 ful hands. I. — A school house, then, ought never 

 to be planted down in an unhealthy or an unpleas- 

 ant location. 2. — It ought never to be without a 

 spacious wood-house and dry seasoned wood or 

 coal. .3. — It ought not to be warmed by a close 

 stove. The oxygen and hydrogen are both want- 

 ed for respiration. 4 It ought not to have high 



benches without backs for the martyrdom of abece- 

 darians, whose feet cannot reach the floors by ten 



or twelve good inches : and, 5 The writing desks 



ought not to be so constructed as to disturb the 

 whole school, whenever the scholars open and shut 

 them. 



TRANSPLANTING TREES. 



The planting of trees, either fruit or forest ones, 

 though too much neglected by farmers, is at times 

 practiced by most of them, and should be so con- 

 ducted as to not only preserve the tree and prevcjit 

 the entire loss of the labor, but also to afford it the 

 best means of a rapid and healthy growth. Trees 

 may be transplnnted at any time while the sap does 

 not flow — a period among deciduous trees marked 

 by the fall of the leaf; or from October to April, 

 but the time generally chosen is the spring. Con- 

 venience, however, should be consulted in this mat- 

 ter; Kfe from the full employment of time in the 

 spring months, the operation is very hastily and im- 

 perfectly performed, frequently to the injury or loss 

 of the tree. 



In transplanting trees, as much of the dirt shot 

 be retained on the roots as possible. This iv 

 prevent the drying up of the small fibrous roc 

 which are indispensable for the nourishment oft 

 tree, and will in part prevent that shock which 

 plants experience more or less, when removed 

 to a soil unlike that in which they have grown. 

 The long roots, of cimrse, must be cut off, and 

 fruit trees, those that penetrate directly downwai 

 may be spai-ed without danger ; but in forest tr< 

 the dov/nward shoots should be retained as far 

 they can be. It is the custom with many in sotti 

 out trees, to iig a small hole, hut far deeper tl 

 that in which the tree has formerly stood.. I 

 this deep hole the roots are forced by bendi 

 twisting and treading, the dead earth is shove 

 in upon them, and the trees are left to their fi 

 Instead of its being a wonder that many perish 

 dcr such treatment, the wonder is that any surv; 



When trees are to be transplanted, the hole 

 the reception of the roots should be broad but 

 deep, as no tree when it is removed should be 

 in the earth more than a few inches deeper tha; 

 stood before. The vegetable mould and rich ef 

 of the surface should be retained for placing on 

 roots of the tree, and if there is a sufficient sup 

 of the proper kind, it should be brought for the { 

 pose. The tree should bo removed and placec 

 the spot dug for it with as little disturbance of 

 rootlets as may be, and without any bendin< 

 bruising of the larger ones. If these are too Ic 

 they may he cutoff, but all should be allowec 

 remain that the pit will receive. After being 

 ced, the best earth should be thrown on the r^ 

 and shaken or gently pressed down till the wl 

 are covered, and the hole filled. 



It is necessary that the tree transplanted shi 

 he kept firm in the earth until the roots have 1 1 

 to fix themselves, or it will be liable to be loose" 

 and blown over by the winds. To secure it in 

 respect, some have recommended that a stak 

 stakes should be driven into the ground, the tof 

 dining towards the tree, to which the body is ti 

 tied. Others, and the practice is generally foil 

 ed among European planters, place three sti 

 sticks in a triangle form across the roots of tliet 

 the angles being secured with a stout wood I 

 driven into the ground, and thus all shaking oi 

 jury from winds is averted. McKnight mainta 

 that in transplanting trees, the greatest care sh 

 be taken to give them not only the same kin 

 soil, but the same exposure, and that the side of 

 tree exposed to the sun before planting, shoul 

 so placed as to receive its most direct rays a 

 wards. 



Evergreens require a different treatment, a 

 different time of transplanting from those that 

 their leaves in the fall. The best season for tr 

 planting such is in the fore 'part of June, or 

 part of .May, but without some preliininary measi 

 m.any so removed will perish. Itjias been ret 

 mended, and the method when tried has proved 

 successful, that some two years before remova 

 one year at least, that with a sharp spade all 

 surface, and most of the other roots, be cut of 

 the distance of two or three feot from the tree, 

 that -it then be allov/ed to stand undisturbed 

 wanted for removal. The result will be, thai 

 earth near the tree v/ill be filled wi'h abundanc 

 fine vigorous roots, and if, when taken up, pr 

 precautions are used in lifting it from the be 

 maybe removed without the least danger, or scf 

 ly retardation of its growth Genesee Farmer. 



