1860. 



KEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



497 



GAKDEN CHAMOMILE. 



In our boyhood we enjoyea the great privilege 

 of running at will thi-ough a well-kept garden, 

 stored, in their season, with fruits, flowers and 

 vegetables. Sometimes we were pressed into ser- 

 vice there, so that we got lessons in right angles 

 as well as straight lines, and became skilful in 

 weeding, thinning, &c. The impressions made 

 in that garden upon our ductile mind, and the 

 knowledge gained in that miniature world, have 

 never been forgotten, and never Avill be effaced 

 from our memory, so long as reason remains. Wc 

 would not part with those early impressions for a 

 kingdom. They well up, fresh as yesterday, in- 

 troducing anew a troop of loving brothers and 

 sisters, respected parents, or friendly neighbors, 

 "walking in the garden," tasting this or plucking 

 that, or mingling in sweet converse under the 

 friendly shade of trees bending with fruit ! Not 

 one is missing in the group that the remembrances 

 renew, though some have ascended to the garden 

 in Paradise above. 



In one of the angles of this garden was a large 

 chamomile bed, as thick as a mat, as green as a 

 leek, and the spot we ran to and rolled upon 

 when our rows were weeded out. There was fun 

 in it, and there was fragrance, too ; for like some 



good persons, it did not show its virtues until 

 trodden upon or pressed in some other way. Pos- 

 sibly, kind reader, you, too, may have frolicked 

 with brothers and sisters on a chamomile bed in 

 childhood, and that figuring and speaking of it 

 here, may revive in you some pleasant recollec- 

 tions of those early days. Darlington, in his 

 charming book on "American Weeds and Useful 

 Plants," says : 



"The whole plant, (and particularly the heads 

 of flowers,) is a fine aromatic bitter, and deser- 

 vedly popular as a tonic medicine, — for which 

 purpose it is generally cultivated. It is an old 

 and still prevalent opinion, that this plant thrives 

 better for being trampled upon or kept prostrate, 

 whence it was popularly called Hhe Whig Plant' 

 during the revolutionary contest in the United 

 States. The notion is thus incidentally alluded 

 to by Shakespeare, in the first part of "his King 

 Ilcnnj IV. 'For though the Camomile, the more 

 it is trodden on the faster it grows — yet youth, 

 the more it is wasted the sooner it wears.' This 

 is said to be naturalized in Delaware ; another 

 species is quite common about New York, A. ar- 

 vensis, L., which has the leaves less divided and 

 the chaff" of the recentacle pointed." 



For the New England Fanner. 

 PIANO vs. ■WASH-TUB. 



Mr. Editor: — The farmers' wives and far- 

 mers' daughters have been patiently heard through 

 the columns of your valuable paper, and now will 

 you be so kind as to grant an old spinster a simi- 

 lar favor ? 



I am not a farmer's wife or a farmer's daughter, 

 but nothwithstanding this, I profess to know some- 

 thing about indoors farming, and do know that 

 where there is a will there is a way. As far as work 

 is concerned, I do not think the farmer's wife has, 

 as a general thing, a great many over-tasks to 

 perform ; there may be some exceptions, no doubt 

 there are, but generally the husband has much the 

 heaviest burden to bear ; he has, in addition to 

 the management of his farm, to provide for every 

 necessity, both in doors and out, and his evenings 

 are usually spent (if he is industrious, as all good 

 farmers are,) in a manner alike useful to himself 

 and family. At this season of the year, you will 

 find him at work, and often until a late hour, at 

 night, either husking corn or paring apples, and 

 very often of a rainy day, while his wife "bakes 

 and brews," you will find him busy at the churn, 

 and he performs his tasks cheerfully. He does 

 not desire to squander his time by the side of 

 some musical instrument, while others jierform 

 the tasks which of right belong to him. Let the 

 wife exercise an equal amount of patience, and 

 domestic squalls would be less frequent. 



Why, my dear good ladies, just compare your 

 lot, if you please, with that of your grandmoth- 

 ers' ; compare the old fire-place with its big crane 

 and pot hooks, and the old brick oven, Mith your 

 stoves of the present day, so convenient and han- 

 dy ; and your churns, with the old upright bung- 

 ling thing of a half a century ago ; and then you 

 may go on comparing ancient with modern, until 

 you can but come to the conclusion that you bear 



