1860. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



485 



supported at college. The parents, now in the 

 decline of life, must buffet its stern realities alone. 

 With their own hands, or the aid of hired help, 

 they are trying to secure the annual croj)s. All 

 plans for "improvement were long since given up. 

 Thoy have no aid from their children, and little 

 of their society. The clerk, perfumed with musk, 

 occasionally comes home to rusticate; the shop- 

 boys, in their liberal patronage of the livery-sta- 

 ble, may sometime, especially M'hen the fruit and 

 other farm luxuries are in perfection, ride over 

 and see "the old folks," and the student also 

 comes home at vacation for a fresh supply of mo- 

 ney, and to tax anew the physical energies of his 

 mother in replenishing his wardrobe. 



The farm is now for sale, and these parents will 

 soon, no doubt, break the life-long ties of farm 

 and neighborhood, and spend the evening of their 

 days elsewhere. Such, Mr. Editor, is a process 

 which is largely going on in many of our country 

 towns ; can nothing be done to stay it ? 



Boyulston, Sept. 6, 1860. J. Wood. 



Remarks. — We hope so. Your article is a 

 good pioneer. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 "MARRYING A FARMER." 



I see that your "Farmer's Daughter" has been 

 answered by some abler pen than mine. When I 

 read the article from the New Hampshire young 

 lady, I felt a strong desire to answer her through 

 your columns, but this has been so well done, that 

 I only wish the privilege of adding a few words. 



There is too much shrinking from what is 

 called hard work — the household duties of a farm- 

 house. I doubt whether such labor kills as many 

 as the late hours, waltzing, high living, and other 

 excesses of fashionable life. 



It is not labor, the exercise of the muscles, that 

 makes us grow old so fast ; it is the constant 

 worry and fretting at the real or fancied disagree- 

 ables of our daily life. We desire to dress beyond 

 our means, to have a piano, and rich parlor furni- 

 ture, or a carriage, forgetting that the real happi- 

 ness of life does not lie in these things. No, nor 

 in getting a rich husband either. I say, my dear 

 "Mountain Sister," don't trouble your head about 

 this last matter at all. Do your duty as a farmer's 

 daughter, take some of the care and labor from 

 that toil-worn mother, who has perhaps had more 

 than her share. It is no strange thing now-a-days 

 for farmers' daughters to sit in the parlor with 

 needle work, wishing they had a piano or richer 

 clothing, or that some wealthy gentleman would 

 happen along and bear them off to a city life; 

 while their mothers are making cheese or butter in 

 the kitchen. Now, a far better way would be, to 

 enter at once with energy and will into all the 

 minutiae of farmer-life — interest yourself in your 

 father's labors out of doors ; in the crops, in the 

 cattle, in fruit-growing. You may suggest im- 

 provements, but at any rate, you will make home 

 nleasanter to those who toil for you. 



If you really desire an education, you can ob- 

 tain it. There are more ways than one. Remem- 

 ber Miss Lyon. If you want more money, you 

 can have it. If you really don't know how to ob- 

 tain it, I will some day give you a bit of personal 

 experience. 



If you want a husband who will love, cherish 

 and esteem you till death, you can have one. 

 "How ?" do you say ? Ay ! that's a secret, which 

 I will reveal, if you'll promise never again to re- 

 fuse a farmer, because you will have to work so 

 hard. a. e. p. 



STATE FARM AT TE\?VKSBURY. 



On Tuesday, Sept. 4, we made a visit to the 

 State Aims-House at Tewksbury, to look at it as 

 a whole, but more particularly to look at the farm, 

 having heard that some striking imjn'ovemcnts 

 had been made upon it. Before visiting at the 

 barns, stock and fields, we passed through nearly 

 all the rooms of the buildings, and found them in 

 admirable condition. They were clean, sweet, and 

 orderly. The bedding, everywhere, would be in- 

 viting to a tired person of any class. It was white 

 and whole, and the floors, furniture, and walls of 

 the rooms, were all bright, notwithstanding the 

 average number of the family is seven hundred 

 persons! In the kitchen, the cooking is chiefly 

 done in four large kettles, heated by steam. Two 

 of these contained soup in preparation for din- 

 ner, and another potatoes. In one corner of the 

 kitchen was a grist-mill at Avork, capable, wc 

 should think, of grinding ten or fifteen bushels of 

 corn per hour, and propelled by a small engine 

 in the boiler house. Adjoining the kitchen is the 

 bakery, where Jive barrels of flour are made into 

 dough for one baking, A batch had just been 

 drawn from the oven as we entered the room ; it 

 was light, sweet, and of a fine color. We visited, 

 leisurely, every part of the establishment, and 

 found each department testifying to the neatness 

 and systematic management of the Institution. 



The Superintendent, Capt. T. J. Marsh, in- 

 formed us, that when he entered upon his duties 

 there, only two cows were kept upon the farm, 

 which consists of one hundred and thirty acres ; 

 that the bills annually paid for milk amounted to 

 about $3,500, and that the supposition of the 

 managers of the House had been, that milk could 

 be purchased cheaper than it could be made on 

 the farm. This, however, was not his opinion, 

 and the consent of the Inspectors being obtained, 

 he has purchased cows from time to time, until 

 he has thirty-hoo In the stancheons, and as a 

 whole, it is as fine a herd as we have seen during 

 the year. They are not fancy cows, and of no par- 

 ticular breed, but have been selected with regard 

 to age, size, and good milking qualities. 



About one-half the farm is made up of light 

 plain land, such as often receives the name of 

 "pine barrens," and the other half is of granite 

 formation, a little elevated, springy, rocky, and 

 covered with bushes, nearly as repulsive as any 

 lands we have in the State. The sandy lands had 

 not been improved so as to produce permanent 



