168 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Apkil 



■when cut and stiffened, as it usually is, by the 

 hand of civilized and humane man, the flies tor- 

 ment him unharmed. It is more graceful, unop- 

 erated upon, and is less in the way of the reins, 

 ■when one is riding. It may affect the animal's 

 strength to cut off these cords. The tail that has 

 been set up, often trembles very much after he 

 has been driven or ■worked hard. 



The fetlock should not be shorn. God has seen 

 fit to have the hair grow long there. There is 

 ra]iid movement of the joint, chords and skin here, 

 ■when the animal is travelling rapidly. Such 

 length of hair is probably necessary for protection 

 of this exposed part of the leg. 



G. O. Betton. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 TAXES AGAIN. 



Mr. Editor : — I notice in the Farmer of to- 

 day an article signed P., in reply to the few lines 

 I sent you which appeared in your paper of Jan. 

 14. He says he "does not understand me to say 

 that property should not be taxed equally and pro- 

 portionately wherever it is found." Mr. P. is 

 right. The object of my communication was to 

 call your attention and that of your readers to the 

 inequality of taxation, and your correspondent 

 does not attempt to show that my position, in re- 

 gard to the inequality, injustice and oppressive 

 character of our laws, is not right ; indeed, he ad- 

 mits, when he says that the "inequality Avouldnot 

 be relieved by shifting the burden of taxation 

 from the mortgager to the mortgagee, because all 

 this would be guarded against by the mortgagee 

 when he received his mortgage." If I understand 

 him, his argument is simply this : the law is just 

 as you represented it — unjust, unequal and op- 

 pressive, but there is no help for it, because the 

 lender will take advantage of the necessity of the 

 borrower, and secure a good bargain at all events. 

 In answer, I would say, if you would have the jjeo- 

 ple honest, if you would restrain the gi-asping, if 

 you would prevent the miser grinding the faces 

 of the ])oor, mal^e your laws rigid — ])ase them on 

 principles of justice and equality. Laws have much 

 to do with the consciences of men. A people 

 never will be better than their laws, not often so 

 good. The fact that some men will steal, murder, 

 and do a thousand other wicked things, is no rea- 

 son why we should by law tolerate such wrong 

 doings. The suggestion of ]Mr. P., to secure a 

 "full disclosure of property," it seems to me, is 

 needless. The punishments for a dishonest in- 

 voice, as the law now is, provided the assessors 

 do their duty, arc the pains and penalties of per- 

 jury. I have no objection to a homestead bill, 

 but I should much prefer some action to encourage 

 voung men to have a homestead. R. M. 



Westhoro\ Jan. 28, 1860. 



The Otter or Creeper Sheep. — Our excel- 

 lent brother Holmes, of the Maine Farmer, says 

 some account of this breed of sheep may be found 

 in "Dwight's Travels." It appears that they orig- 

 inated in the town of Mendon, Mass. He adds, 

 "We used to have them in Maine, but have not 

 seen^^any for some years, probably they have be- 



come extinct. They were a good bodied, medium 

 sieed sheep, and very quiet. They were unable to 

 run over stone walls or leap fences." Perhaps 

 some person in ]Mendon, or its neighborhood, can 

 give us some interesting facts in relation to these 

 sheep. 



"WETHEBSFIELD SEED S0\V:ER. 



Among the many implements ■which have been 

 invented within a few years to lighten the labors 

 and expedite the operations of farming, those are 

 particularly important which come in use at the 

 busy seasons of seed-time and harvest. While 

 many of the heavier labors of the farm — the 

 stump-pulling, the rock-lifting, the ditching, &c., 

 can remain to a more convenient season, it is often 

 essential to the growth of the plant or to the val- 

 ue of the crop, that the seed should be planted at 

 just such a time, or the harvest gathered in under 

 just the right circumstances. It is claimed that 

 the little implement above figured Avill secure the 

 proper and speedy planting of the seed. Operat- 

 ing as fast as a man can walk, it deposits at regular 

 intervals, the proper amount of seed, covers and 

 gently presses the earth around it, securing all 

 the conditions in planting necessary to a quick and 

 healthy germination. No other preparation is 

 necessary for it than to see that the soil is prop- 

 erly pulverized and levelled, and that the ordinary 

 conditions of seeding, which no judicious seeds- 

 man will neglect, are observed. 



It sows garden seeds of all kinds, adapting it- 

 self readily to all sizes, from the mustard seed to 

 the kernel of corn, and all shapes between the 

 round, plump pea, and the flat, scaly parsnip. 



It comes from a town better known than per- 

 haps any other in New England, as a seed-raising 

 town, and having the endorsement of many of 

 the farmers and seed-growers of that town, we 

 can safely recommend it to the careful notice of 

 our readers. It is advertised in our columns this 

 week. 



