40 



NEW ENGLAND FARIMER. 



Jan 



and dry, and he saldom put dung in the hill for 

 corn. He obtained the most of his grain from the 

 natural strength of the soil. He planted his pota- 

 toes on the damp land, and manured in the hill, 

 and I have helped to dig potatoes there, that pro- 

 duced a peck to the hill, Avhcre novv it will take 

 twenty or thirty hills to fill a bushel. Thus my 

 father went on, he growing richer, while his land 

 was growing poorer, and in a few years he doubled 

 his property, as v;e supposed, and bought other 

 farms for the sons that remained at home. This 

 is a specimen of farming of the last century. 



Many of our city friends, unaccustomed to coun- 

 try life, form erroneous opinions of farmers and 

 farming; they judge according to a]:)pearances, and, 

 therefore, do not judge a righteous judgment. 

 They judge the farmer l)y the cloth he wears, and 

 tlie starch he does not wear, and conclude that 

 farming has rather a degrading tendency. It is 

 true that some clownish characters are engaged at 

 farming, but not more in proportion to the num- 

 ber than we shall find in all other professions and 

 occupations, when we come to look under, per- 

 haps, the better cloth that covers them. Farmers 

 worthy of the name take the "pa]:)ers," and arc 

 well posted up on the interesting affairs of Church 

 and State. The farmer has the whole horizon for 

 his office ; he is not confined by bricks and mor- 

 tar to a narrow compass to the injury of his health 

 and contraction of his mind. Farmers in country 

 towns are generally the rulers of the towns ; they 

 pay the most of the taxes to support the poor, to 

 build school-houses and to pay teachers for in- 

 structing their own children, and the children of 

 those who do little else than help, vote away the 

 farmers' money for their own benefit. 



The most of this piece was v.-ritten on the day 

 that cora])leted my eighty years of experience in 

 this world of sin and sulTering, good and evil, hope 

 and despair. If you find any soft spots in it, ex- 

 ercise that charity which the aged naturally claim. 



Silas Brown. 



North Wilminffton, Mans., Nov. 11, 1859. 



IIemakks. — An exceedingly interesting letter, 

 and a wonderful p3rformance for that age. 



NEW PTJBLICATIOMTS. 



Dado, ou the Natnrtt anrl Treatvnout of the Diseases of 

 Cattle, with Descriptions and Illustrations of the vari- 

 ous Orivaiis and Functions of the Animal Economy. 

 Containing, also, Useful and Praetical hiformation on 

 Breeding-, ventilation, and Diet. By (Joorge II. Dadd, 

 Veterinary Surgeon. Boston: John P. .lewett & Co. 



33r. Dadd thinks the common inquiry among 

 farmers has heretofore been, "Hoav shall we pro- 

 tect om- property [stock] against the ravages of 

 diseases ?" But that the mors important question 

 is, "HoAv shall disease be prevented ?" The lat- 

 ter is, certainly, the view for us all to take. A 

 proper care of stock will prevent most diseases ; 

 asd even v>dien it has invaded the system, nature, 

 left to herself, will ordinarily do more to effect a 

 cure than all the nostrums of the shops. Dixon 

 expresses it ])otter than wc have ; he says — "Na- 

 ture is ever busy, by the silent operation of her 

 own forces, in curing disease ; her medicines are 

 air, food, water and rest." That is, food that tlie 



natural appetite desires, and rest. Warmth and 

 repose, with the recuperative action which the an- 

 imal inherently possesses, Avill usually bring health, 

 unless the system has been grossly abused. 



This work treats of the following subjects: Dis- 

 eas&s of the Organs of Respiration ; and of the Di- 

 gestive Organs ; on the Principle of Breeding ; 

 Parturition, or Labor- T»iseases of the Generative 

 and Urinary Organs ; the Heart — its Functions 

 and Diseases ; Diseases of the Eye and its Mem- 

 branes ; Ruptures ; Diseases of the Bones ; Rheu- 

 matism, Acute and Chronic ; Diseases of the Liver, 

 Brain and Skin, &:c. These topics are treated, 

 generally, in an understandable manner, though 

 we think if there were less of the technicalities of 

 the profession, the book would be more valuable. 

 The Doctor's mode of treatment is moderate and 

 consistent, compared with some of the "fire and 

 brimstone" treatises that have preceded it. The 

 book is finely printed, thus showing a proper re- 

 gard for human ej'es as well as the health of stock, 

 and ought to be owned by every person keeping a 

 dozen head of cattle. 



IlXrSECT LIFE 113" CBYLOU". 



Owing to the combination of heat, moisture, 

 and vegetation, the mpiads of insects in Ceylon 

 form one of the characteristic features of the is- 

 land. In the solitude of the forests, there is a per- 

 petual music fr®m their soothing and melodious 

 hum, which frequently swells to a startling sound 

 as the cicada trills his sonorous drum on the sun- 

 ny bark ef some tall tree. At morning, the dew 

 hangs in diamond drops on the threads and gos- 

 samer which the spiders suspend across every 

 pathway ; and above the pools, dragon-flies, of 

 more than metallic lustre, flash in the early sun- 

 beams. The eai'th teems with countless ants, which 

 emerge from beneath its surface, or make their 

 devious highways t® ascend to their nests in the 

 branches. Lustrous beetles, with their golden ely- 

 tra, bask on the leaves, whilst minuter species 

 dash through the air in circles, which the ear can 

 follow by the booming of their tiny wings. But- 

 terflies of large size and gorgeous coloring, flutter 

 over the endless expanse of flowers ; and frequent- 

 ly the extraordinary sight presents itself of flights 

 of those delicate creatures, generally of a white or 

 pale hue, apparently miles in breadth, and of such 

 jirodigious extension as to occupy hours, and even 

 days, uninterruptedly, in their passage — whence 

 coming, no one knows ; whither going, no one can 

 tell. As day declines, the moths issue from their 

 retreats, the crickets add their shrill voices to swell 

 the din ; and when darkness descends, the eye is 

 charmed with the millions of emerald lamps 

 lighted up by the fire-flies amidst the surrounding 

 gloom. — TaincmVs Ceylon. 



Planting Peach Trees. — A correspondent of 

 the Ohio Vcdley Farmer says, peach trees should 

 be set rather deep, because "the peach cannot, 

 like the pear, apple or quince, put out new roots 

 above the old Mies." 



