1860. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



439 



pressing solitude of the spot where we stood, and 

 1 asked its possessor how it happened that lands 

 so contiguous should present so diflereut an as- 

 pect ? "They are both of the same nature," said he, 

 "and there formerly stood upon this very spot, 

 small houses, similar to what you see below. I 

 purchased them, but greatly to my loss. Their 

 late inhabitants, indeed, having an abundance of 

 leisure, and but little ground to cultivate, cleared 

 away the mosses and the thistles, manured the 

 soil and had a plentiful crop of grass. If they 

 wished to plant, they dug trenches, and having re- 

 moved the stones, filled them with good mould 

 which they collected from the bottom of the 

 ditches, and along the sides of the highway. Their 

 trees took root and prospered. But these opera- 

 tions would cost me so much time and expense, 

 that I should not be repaid even the common in- 

 terest of my money." This gentleman, it must be 

 observed, wretched steward as he was, but excel- 

 lent in heart, Avas relieving at that very time, by 

 his charity, most of the ancient farmers who had 

 no longer wherewith to live. Here, then, is anoth- 

 er instance of both men and lands rendered use- 

 less by the injudicious extension of property. It 

 is not upon large domains, but in the bosom of 

 industry, that the Father of mankind pours out 

 the precious fruits of the earth. 



LADIES'- DEPARTMENT. 



For the Neto England Farmer. 

 BAISINQ GRAIN— CORN"— PICKLBS. 



Messrs. Editors : — Some of your readers may 

 be interested in the subject of raising grain, and 

 as I have had considerable experience in the mat- 

 ter, I will state a little of it. It is thought that 

 oats sometimes changes to rye or barley, or bar- 

 ley to oats, and your columns have contained some 

 inquiries concerning it. 



My first experiment was with barley. I select- 

 ed the seed from a lot where oats were mixed with 

 it, sowed it in rows in the garden, and had a fine 

 crop of barley, but not an oat appeared. My 

 next experiment was with oats. I sowed a strip 

 about four rods square, and mowed it as directed 

 in an article which I saw in the Farmer. I also 

 sowed clover and herdsgrass seed with the oats, both 

 of which caught well, and finally gave me a fine 

 crop of grass, but not a spear of rye has showed 

 itself. I cropt the oats off several times, suppos- 

 ing that would have an influence to change the 

 crop, according to the theory of those who state 

 that^hese grains change from one to the other. 



My opinion about this matter is, that if grains 

 are sown separately, that like will always produce 

 like. 



I had a small parcel of corn in the spring which 

 was brought from Peru. It has been planted now 

 nine weeks, in a garden without extra manure, 

 and it averages five and a half feet in height. 



I send you a jar of pickles put up last season ; 

 they are not quite as good as they would have 

 been had they not got a little chilled in the cellar 

 last winter ; but I hope they will prove both ac- 

 ceptable and palatable. Henry J. DuRGlN. 



Shaker Village, N. E., 1860. 



Remarks. — The jar was safely received, and its 

 contpnts pronounced "excellent," by all who test- 

 '' edthaii. 



SLEEP. 



There is no fact more clearly established in the 

 physiology of man than this, that the brain ex- 

 pends its energies and itself during the hours of 

 wakefulness, and that these are recuperated dur- 

 ing sleep ; if the recuperation does not equal the 

 expenditure, the brain withers — this is insanity. 

 Thus it is that in early English history, persons 

 who were condemned to death by being prevented 

 from sleeping always died raving maniacs ; thus 

 it is, also, that those who starve to death become 

 insane ; the brain is not nourished, and they can- 

 not sleep. The practical inferences are these : 

 First, Those who think most, who do the most 

 brain-work, require most sleep. Second : That 

 time saved from necessary sleep is infallibly de- 

 structive to mind, body, and estate. Third : Give 

 yourself, your children, your servants — give all 

 that are under you, the fullest amount of sleep 

 they will take, by compelling them to go bed at 

 some regular early hour, and to rise in the morn- 

 ing the moment they awake ; and within a fort- 

 night, nature, with almost the regularity of the 

 rising sun, will unloose the bonds of sleep the 

 moment enough repose has been secured for the 

 wants of the system. This is the only safe and 

 sufficient rule — and as to the question how much 

 any one requires, each must be a rule for himself 

 — great Nature will never fail to write it out to 

 the observer under the regulations just given. — 

 Dr. Spicer. 



A Word to Mothers. — Consider it your re- 

 ligious duty to take out-door exercise, Avithout 

 fail, each day. Sweeping and trotting round the 

 house will not take its place ; the exhilaration of 

 the open air and change of scene are absolutely 

 necessary. O, I know all about "Lucy's gown 

 that is not finished," and "Tommy's jacket," and 

 even his coat, his buttonless coat, thrown in your 

 lap, as if to add the last ounce to the camel's 

 back ; still I say — up — and out ! Is it not more 

 important that your children in their tender years 

 should not be left motherless ? and that they 

 should not be born to that feeble constitution of 

 body which will blight every earthly blessing? 

 Let buttons and strings go ; you will take hold of 

 them with more vigor and patience, when you do 

 return, bright and refreshed, and if every stitch is 

 not finished, at just such a moment, (and it is dis- 

 couraging not to be able to systematize in your 

 labor, even with your best efforts,) still remember 

 that "she who hath done what she could, is enti- 

 tled to no mean praise. Your husband is un- 

 doubtedly the "best of men ;" though there are 

 malicious people who might answer that that is 

 not saying much for him ! Still, he would never 

 to the end of time, dream what you were dying of. 

 So accept my advice and take the matter in hand 

 yourself. — Fanny Fern. 



Camphor is the most powerful agent to drive 

 away mosquitoes. A camphor bag hung up in an 

 open casement will prove an effectual barrier to 

 their entrance. Camphorated spirit applied as a 

 perfume to the face and hands will act as an ef- 

 fectual preventive ; but when bitten by them, ar- 

 omatic vinegar is the best antidote. 



