1860. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



231 



farm, make a clear advance in property of $50 per 

 year, he may soon become an independent farmer. 

 If he can make a clear advance of $2j yearly, he 

 has no reason for discouragement. He will have 

 no reason to v?ant to turn shoemaker, and have to 

 "strike" at his boss. Meagre indeed must be that 

 house, and limited that family, where strict order 

 will not be worth more than S-5 yearly. In a 

 house where notliing knows its positive place, 

 ■where you can find nothing without hauling every- 

 thing over, where every matter is without defi- 

 nite regulations, where arrangements are not a 

 part of a j^ositive system, the waste of time, the 

 waste of substance, the unnecessary wear and 

 tear, with the frettings and frustrations conse- 

 quent, will soon measiu'e a dead loss of $100. 

 And all such loss is positively worse than so much 

 money thrown away. 



The loss of only ten minutes of time per day, in 

 312 days, amounts to more than five full days, of 

 ten hours each. At $1,50 per diem, it would 

 amount to S7,80. A large portion of laboring men 

 are losers of more than five times ten minutes per 

 day, in time, for want of strict "order about the 

 house." Add to this, the other evils and losses 

 consequent upon a want of strict order, and it will 

 be quite sufficient to keep a ])oor man poor. Far- 

 mers's wives, if not some other men's wives, may 

 be the mothers of prosperity- or poverty, to their 

 households. 



Order is economy, at the barn, and all over the 

 farm. 



^Ir. Editor, I perceive that I have got hold of a 

 6tump which has a great many roots that might 

 be pulled : and I am not sure but they would be 

 dry roots to your readers ; and so, that I be not 

 further tedious to j'ou and them, I will finish this, 

 with a wish that some one who is capable of doing 

 good service on a dry topic, will examine the sub- 

 ject, item by item. Comings. 



Lee, N. H., 1860. 



miji.es nsr cbntkal amebica. 



One of the most striking characteristics of the 

 mule is his aversion to the ass, and the pride he 

 takes in his relationship to the horse ; which in- 

 stincts-are met by obtrusiveness in the ass, and 

 by indiff"erence in the horse. If an ass at any time 

 — urged by the vanity peculiar to its race as re- 

 lated to the mule — ha])pens to fall in with a drove 

 of mules, he will, in all probability, be kicked and 

 lamed by his proud relatives. A horse, on the 

 contrary, takes a distinguished position in a drove 

 of the mules. The latter crowd around him, and 

 follow his movements, exhibiting a violent jeal- 

 ousy, each trying to stand nearest to their high- 

 bred relative. The instinct is employed to keep 

 together the droves of mules, on a journey or at 

 pasture, by putting a mare to the drove, with a 

 bell round her neck, and called the bell-mare. 

 This animal is led day and night by a cord, and 

 the whole drove is thus kept under control, and 

 will not leave their queen. It is, therefore, very 

 difl[icult to separate the drove. The man who leads 

 the mare is instructed, in case of an attack from 

 the Indians, to leap upon the back of the animal, 

 and take refuge in the wagon encampment, whith- 

 er the drove is sure to follow him. Even if the 

 Indians succeed in separating any from the drove, 



they find it difficult to carry them off". The ani- 

 mals incessantly attempt to turn back, and the 

 travellers are thus enabled to overtake the rob- 

 bers, and recover the stolen animals. The Indi- 

 ans, in consequence, use every means to get pos- 

 session of the mare ; and if they succeed in this, 

 the whole drove is lost to the owners. If several 

 horses are in a drove of mules, the danger is that 

 the latter becomes dispersed ; and this is the rea- 

 son that, in these journeys, saddle-horses are not 

 allowed to go loose, but are led by a cord. — Froe- 

 htl. 



TRANSACTIONS OF THE MASS. SOCIETY 

 FOR PROMOTING AGRICULTURE. 



The Second Part of Volume I. of the new se- 

 ries of publications of this society is issued in the 

 form of a pamphlet, which, together with the first 

 Part, make oOO pages. The first impressions of 

 the word "Transactions," as connected with a So- 

 ciety, might not suggest to all minds the charac- 

 ter of the contents of this publication, which in- 

 stead of being a Journal of Proceedings, are three 

 Essays : The first, some sixty-four pages, is en- 

 titled, "Agricultural Survey of Middlesex County, 

 by Joseph Reynolds, M. D.," of Concord ; the 

 second, some forty-two pages, is entitled "Agri- 

 cultural Education, by Henry F. French ;" and 

 the third, some thirty pages, is entitled "Agricul- 

 tural Miscellany, by R. S. Fay," the Secretary of 

 the society, the main topic of which is "Grass and 

 Pasture Land ;" and specifications of an offer of 

 "Premiums for experiments with Manures," 

 amounting to $225. The experiments to be re- 

 warded by this liberal appropriation are the 

 same as those required by the Board of Agricul- 

 ture of the County Societies of the State, accord- 

 ing to the document from the Board, published in 

 the January number of the monthly Farmer for 

 1860, p. 10. 



AGRICULTURAL SURVEY OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY. 



This paper, by Dr. Joseph Reynolds, is illus- 

 trated by a Geological Township Map of the coun- 

 ty, and discusses its Geography, Geology, Meteor- 

 olog)- ; Changes that have taken place in the 

 Husbandry of the county, Present Staple Pro- 

 ducts of the county, and methods of culture, with 

 remarks on the Breeds and Management of Cows ; 

 Marketing Milk ; on Grass Culture, and Restor- 

 ing Pasture Land ; on the culture of Indian Corn, 

 Potatoes and Grains ; Fruit, Root Crops, Market 

 Gardening, &c. To those acquainted with the in- 

 dustry and judgment of Dr. Reynolds, the fore- 

 going statement of topics will suggest a good idea 

 of the value and interest of this essay. The wtI- 

 ter says, that he believes this is the first attempt 

 to present in a connected vicAv an account of the 

 agriculture of an entire county in the State. If 

 the Society shall be able to publish a similar 

 "Agricultural Survey" of each county in the State, 



