20 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Jan. 



ginia soil, and show that free men can live where 

 slaves and their masters starve, and the ballot- 

 box, by-and-by, will peaceably settle the vexed 

 question. 



Such another man was Isaac Hill, of New Hamp- 

 shu-e. No matter how politics boiled and bub- 

 bled, thoup:h he was in the hottest of it, Gov. 

 Hill had a heart and hand for the farmer. These 

 men. Avhercver they are. North or South, are the 

 prophets of agriculture, who have been for a half 

 century telling this generation the things which 

 we begin but just now to believe and practice. If 

 Mr. RufRn will pardon me, I will send a part of 

 his letter, v.-hich is too valuable to be kept private, 

 for publication. 



Old Church P. 0., Va., June 13, 1859. 



Dear Sir: — I return you my thanks for your 

 interesting and instructive volume on "Farm 

 iJrainage." which you were so kind as to send to 

 mc by mail. I have just finished reading it. It 

 ]Hits in a still stronger light than I had before un- 

 derstood and admitted, the great benefits of thor- 

 ough chaining, and especially by means of tile 

 pi])es. The ])lates (showing ])lans of executed 

 drainings,) are illustrations admirable for their 

 clearness. I also find, and greatly apjirove, in 

 your directions, what has seemed to me a great 

 and cul]mble omission in all the elaborate Euro- 

 ])ean directions that I have read ; i. e., sufi[icient 

 warnings of the numerous dangers of failure of 

 operation of covered drains, because of omitting 

 some one or other of the necessary precautions. 

 1 am very sure that if a new beginner were to con- 

 struct drains by following precisely the directions 

 given by Stephens, Thaer, or any of the numerous 

 didactic treatises on this subject, that not one 

 would o])erate well for a year, and probably not j 

 tm'ough the first heavy rain. j 



But while }ou give proofs of greater rewards 

 for such works, when effective, I have also learned | 

 from you to fear more for the imperfection of such | 

 labors, by the inexperienced, even when most care I 

 shall be used. If I could have obtained tile pipes 

 at a reasonable cost. I would gladly have used them 

 years ago. But I am now convinced that if I had 

 done so, every drain would have been a failure, 

 from some imperfection then not fully appreciated. 

 To start the work successfully in a new locality, 

 (or anywhere in Virginia,) two things are needed, 

 neither of which we have. First, The pipes to 

 be bought at fair ])ricos, or to be made on the farm 

 where needed ; and second, a capable, scientific 

 drainer to lay off' the plan of drainage, and to di 

 rect the general constructions. I am no longer a 

 practical farmer, or personally concerned in the 

 o])erations — having transferred my farm, and 

 business, and the bulk of my property, to my 

 children. But for the pu])lic interest, I should be 

 very glad if such skill and knowledge as you have, 

 or can avail yourself of, for these ends, could be 

 brought to our country. 



As soon as I can convey the necessary order 

 to the bookseller. I shall direct to be sent to you 

 by mail a co])y of my "Essays and Notes on Ag- 

 riculture." which I infer has not fallen under your 

 notice. 'It contains an earlier publication on 

 draining than the communications to which you 



refer. These earlier directions were published 

 when I had but a contracted and dim perception 

 of the remarkable natural feature of an underly- 

 ing, water-glutted sand bed, which is the founda- 

 tion of my theory and plan of drainage, and 

 which is both the cause of the gi-eat evil (of ex- 

 cessive wetness) of a vast extent of our country, 

 and the great facility for removing that evil. 

 Wheii the earlier article was written, I had in- 

 deed lately discovered, and ])rofited by that natu- 

 ral feature, in my own operations. But I did 

 not know that the same character extended be- 

 yond the limits of my own farm. But by subse- 

 quent investigations, I found that the same char- 

 acter belonged to a connected region of immense 

 extent — and infen-ed that the like existed also 

 under the bottom lands of many rivers far be- 

 yond the bounds of the region referred to. If I 

 were now to write a second edition of the fii'st 

 piece, it would be very much altered from its pre- 

 sent form, as well as much extended. 



With this, I shall also send to you my last pub- 

 lished pamphlet, on another subject — on one of 

 the many branches of the great subject of negro 

 slavery — on which, (from your locality,) we prob- 

 ably diflfer in o])inion. If so, I beg you to under- 

 stand that nothing therein was designed to offend 

 such readers as yourself, or scarcely expected to 

 meet their eyes. Very respectfully, 



Edmund RuFi' IN. 



"WOMEN" AND FAIIMI]>7G. 



What follows, below, is a portion of the re- 

 marks made by the Rev. A. L. Stone, of Boston, 

 at the annual dinner of the Norfolk County Agri- 

 cultural Society, in September last. No man 

 knows better than Col. Wilder, the President of 

 the society, what kind of men to call around him 

 on such occasions, — and well was his careful at- 

 tention to this point repaid ; for at no similar gatn- 

 ering have we ever known so much said that Avas 

 practical and encouraging, and at the same time 

 so eloquent and beautiful. 



President Wilder introduced his distinguished 

 guest to the multitude before him, and after a few 

 pleasant introductory remarks, Mr. S. said : 



It is a pleasant surprise to me to find the agri- 

 cultural interest represented by so many of the 

 gentle and more domestic sex. And yet their 

 presence on such an occasion I believe to be in 

 every respect legitimate and wholesome. For their 

 proper connection with this interest is intimate 

 and vital. The original description or definition 

 of a wife is that she is a helpmeet to man. Just 

 in what way, or in what variety of ways, this fitting 

 help is to be reiidcrcd, that original document 

 does not set forth. The practical answer exliibits 

 its diversities so varied as never to repeat them- 

 selves. Sometimes this sphere of helpful fellow- 

 ship is very much restricted, and again almost in- 

 definitely broadened. The wife of the German far- 

 mer limits this sphere only with the boundaries 

 of his estate. Her nursery is out of doors in the 

 open field. Its canopy is the leafy shade. Its car- 

 pet the green turf or the soft brown mould. There 

 her little ones roll, and tumble and sleep all day, 

 while she keeps even stroke with her husband in 



