484 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Oct. 



The Garden. — This should be plowed or spad- 

 ed and manured in the fall, and the mind gener- 

 ally made up as to where the early corn and cu- 

 cumbers, the peas and asparagus, the beans, let- 

 tuce, early potatoes and squashes shall be plant- 

 ed, so that in the spring there is no engineering 

 to be done ; nothing but this : "Here are the 

 seeds for this square and that ;" and they are 

 quickly deposited in the rich, mellow soil, made 

 light and seasoned by the fermentative power of 

 the crude manures dug or plowed under in the 

 fall. 



We have suggested only a few things — there 

 are many more that these few may suggest to the 

 mind of the systematic farmer. It is pleasant 

 and encouraging to go forth in the spring and 

 find so much of the new year's work commenced; 

 it is inspiring, and gives one a start that he feels 

 all through the season.' So let us take time by 

 the forelock, and do all things at the right mo- 

 ment, and do them well. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 SLATES AND LIGHTNING. 



In your issue of August 25, 1860, I find "Prac- 

 tical Slater's" theory so much at variance with 

 my experience, I am tempted to give a little of 

 that. 



Six years ago I was building an addition to the 

 house I then occupied, and had covered the new 



f)art with slate ; soon after it was struck with 

 ightning, near the end next the old part of the 

 house, breaking only two or thi'ce slates, and 

 passing down the corner part, shivering to atoms 

 an umbrella which I, but a moment before, put 

 there, and prostrating my wife and myself. Had 

 it not been for the timely assistance rendered by 

 my hired man, (and the blessing of Providence,) 

 who ^up])osed life to be extinct with me, I proba- 

 bly would not have been here to answer now. 



Scon after the above occurrence, we had two 

 lightning rods put up, and I think that they were 

 struck with lightning in the month of June last. 

 All of which, and a vast amount of shocks by 

 electricity, have ha])pened within ten or twelve 

 miles of very extensive slate quarries in this coun- 

 ty, that have been constantly worked for a num- 

 ber of years previous to the above occurrences. 

 E. G. Chatterton. 

 West Rutland, Vt., Aug. 31, 186U. 



Aconite a Remedy for Massachusetts Cat- 

 tle Disease. — Hon. Adam Ferguson, of C. W., 

 writes Col. B. P. Johnson, of New York : "A 

 friend of mine in Scotland, an amateur veterinari- 

 an, told me he attended Prof Dick, in his rounds, 

 when the disease, some years ago, was raging in 

 Scotland, especially in large dairy establishments. 

 My friend, D. Henderson, is Professor of Path- 

 ology in the University of Edinburgh, and is in 

 high medical practice. He assured me that Acon- 

 ite was used as a specific, if given in time, before 

 the lungs were seriously aifected, and had saved 

 scores of valuable cows." 



For tite New England Farmer. 

 IS THERE PROFIT IN FARMING? 



Many thanks, Mr. Editor, to your Chelmsford 

 correspondent, T. J. Pinkham, for his article, 

 some months ago, on the profits of farming. I 

 think it has been productive of much good in the 

 many able and conclusive answers it has elicited. 

 And yet there is one phase of the question which 

 has hardly been touched upon by those who have 

 undertaken to answer that article. 



What is profit in farming or any other occupa- 

 tion ? Is it truly estimated by the number of 

 dollars above expenses which it brings into the 

 pocket ? To be sure, it was only in regard to 

 money profit that Mr. P. argued the case, and 

 those who have attacked his arguments have met 

 him mainly on that issue ; but as, in reading the 

 Farmer, since that article appeared, my attention 

 has so frequently been called to the question, "is 

 there profit in farming," your readers have natu- 

 rally been led to look at the question in its full 

 and literal meaning. 



I suppose that no one will object to the posi- 

 tion that the greatest good is the greatest profit, 

 and that one occupation or calling is more profi- 

 table than another, inasmuch as it is productive, 

 in all its bearings, of the greatest amount of hap- 

 piness. I will not assume that every one may 

 find in agriculture the greatest profit ; far from it ; 

 all cannot be farmers ; and fortunately, in the di- 

 vine arrangement, the tastes and capacities of 

 men are widely varied ; but let any one who has 

 been familiar with the residents of almost any of 

 our farming towns, for the last twenty years, look 

 up the history and circumstances of those who 

 have wandered from their farms for other occupa- 

 tions, or encouraged their sons to do so, and I 

 think the result will show that while a few may 

 have bettered their condition, the great majority 

 ha.\e flatted out, and are now mere dependants, 

 instead of substantial yeomen, as formerly. 



A man Avith a snug farm, though saddled, per- 

 haps, with a debt of a few hundred dollars, yet in 

 the prime of life, in good health, with a family 

 of boys beginning to assist him, and promising 

 substantial aid in the future labors of the farm, it 

 would seem, might congratulate himself on the 

 prospect of enjoying, in a large measure, the real 

 blessings of life. His own sons can now gradu- 

 ally take the place of hired help, and he can plan 

 and execute improvements on the farm. 



With room enough to keep all the family prof- 

 itably employed, he can keep them with him, and 

 they can have a home and common school edu- 

 cation, chiefly under the eye and influence of their 

 parents. Is there not profit here which dollars 

 and cents cannot estimate ? Let parents, thus 

 happily situated, as I have described, experience, 

 for one short month, the trials, anxiety and grief 

 of some, whose business, though yielding them a 

 large return of moneyed profits, yet brings their 

 children into temptations which open up to them 

 the flood-gates of ruin, and they will realize more 

 fully the profits of a country farm. 



It is sad to notice the change which has come 

 over families. And the process by which it has 

 been wrought is plain. The boys had no relisn 

 for farm work. One must be a merchant's clerk ; 

 others find employment in shops or factories ; and 

 one, loving his book more than work, must be 



