570 



NEW ENGLAjST) FARMEE. 



Dec. 



Fur the Nete England Farmer. 

 AWCIEIM? vs. MODBBlSr TIMES. 



I was very much surprised, upon reading an 

 idea produced by "Old Spinster," tliat "our 

 grandmothers were educated as they should be." 

 Why, dear "Old Spinster," do you live in the 

 present age or not ? Our grandmothers' education 

 of work was all right, I admit, but they possessed 

 an intellect and powers which God had bestowed 

 upon them for cultivation which were left to 

 slumber in rude ignorance. I venture to assert 

 that not one-fourth of our grandmothers could 

 read or write, and would you have modern ladies 

 about you thus unprepared to understand the 

 true relations and responsibilities of life ? You say 

 that woman's labor is less severe now than in the 

 good old times. Botli man's and woman's hard- 

 ships are lessened, through the aid of mechanical 

 knowledge and machinery. I would ask what has 

 brought about these means, and this great revo- 

 lution ? Is it not the cultivation of our noblest 

 faculties and the advancement of knowledge ? 

 This is an age of progress, and we should thank 

 Heaven that it is. If our modern wives and 

 daughters must know nothing but to "bake and 

 brew, make and mend," whit, think you, will be 

 the condition of our glorious country in the fu- 

 ture. Woman's influence is mighty and untold ; 

 leave her in heathenish ignorance, and in one 

 century you leave your whole country there also. 

 Sheridan said : "women govern us ; the more 

 they arc enlightened, so much tlie more shall we 

 be. On the cultivation of the mind of women, 

 depends the wisdom of men." 



Not that she is to be lieard in the forum or the 

 political world, but her mission is silent, in the 

 sanctum of home. From her teachings in that 

 spot, there will emanate a glory to brighten the 

 world and glitter far hence when she is sleeping 

 in yonder valley. 



The farm is truly the place for woman to exer- 

 cise her powers most beneficially, when not de- 

 voted exclusively to care and labor. 



While we reverence the memory of our grand- 

 mothers, and sigh for their hardships and unim- 

 proved minds, let us appreciate the effects of ed- 

 ucation upon this our modern age, and endeavor 

 to the utmost to keep the ball of progress in mo- 

 tion. Polly. 



Enjield Centre, N. ff., 1860, 



Vulcanite Tools. — The manufacture of abrad- 

 ing tools of vulcanized rubber and emery is one 

 of the most recent novelties in practical mechan- 

 ics. These tools, in consequence of their perfect 

 evenness and great keenness, are found to be of 

 peculiar utility to machinists, particularly in finish- 

 ing, cutting or grinding the best quality of work. 

 The process of manufacture is as follows : The 

 emery is incorporated with vulcanite, or a compo- 

 sition of India rubber and sulphur. The com- 

 pou7id is kept in a plastic state by heat, and is 

 moulded with suitable pressure in moulds of met- 

 al, &c., like clay, or teri'a cotta work, and from 

 the m.ould receives any shape desired. The tools 

 made of this material can, it is stated, be used dry 

 or with water, or with oil. When water is used, 

 it gives a grindstone or ruffled finish. When nil 

 is used, it presents a dead finish ; and when used 



dry, a beautiful polish is obtained. The wheels 

 are formed with a hole in the centre, which can 

 be enlarged when necessary by burning it out 

 with hot iron. If a wheel gets out of true, or be- 

 comes uneven, it can be turned true and even in 

 a lathe, as if made of iron. — Exchange. 



For the New Ew^land Farmer. 

 THE BIRDS OS' NEW EK"GLAWD— Wo. 6. 

 OWLS. 

 Hawk Owl — Snowy Owl — Acadian Owl — Richardson's Owl. 



The Nocturnal Birds of Prey, the Owls, consti- 

 tuting the family Strir/idcxi of naturalists, from 

 their recluse and nocturnal habits, noiseless 

 flight, grotesque appearance and hideous cries, 

 have ever been objects of suspicion and awe with 

 the ignorant and superstitious ; and the "boding 

 Owl," delighting in scenes of desolation, has al- 

 ways been regarded as a bird of ill omen. They 

 have been represented as armed assassins, invad- 

 ing the stillness of the solemn hours of night with 

 their dismal cries, relentlessly pursuing their 

 murderous avocation in the dimness of twilight, 

 and in the darker hours of the night, approaching 

 their innocent, reposing and unsuspicious prey 

 with a stealthy, spectral flight and deadly aim ; 

 or, as dismal, defective beings, necessarily lead- 

 ing a life of gloomy monotony, because incapable 

 of enjoying the splendors of day ; while in reality 

 they are as perfectly adapted to the sphere allot- 

 ted them in the admirable plan of Nature as their 

 diurnal relatives of plunder, or any other tribe of 

 animals to the life they lead • nor are they found 

 to be half worthy of the proscription they receive 

 at the hand of man, but on the contrary, most of 

 the species are highly beneficial to the agricultur- 

 ist, from their preying in a great measure upon the 

 nocturnal vermin that ravage their fields. Poets, 

 taking advantage of these popular superstitions, 

 are prone to introduce the Owl, to heighten the 

 eff"ect of their descriptions of midnight storms, or 

 scenes of melancholy desolation. 



The Owl'i seem to hold the same rank among 

 the birds, that the Fclince, or Cats, do among the 

 quadrupeds. From their solitary habits, cliiefly 

 exhibiting their activity and peculiar characteris- 

 tics in the night time, still less is known of their 

 interesting history than of the diurnal accip- 

 itrine birds. The species are not very numerous, 

 but are wid.ly distributed, some being found in 

 all parts of the world, and sometimes the same 

 species is met with over very extensive regions. 

 But twelve species were known to Linna-us ; we 

 now reckon that number as common to New Eng- 

 land ; forty are found on this continent, and one 

 hundred and forty species are at present known 

 to naturalists. Their large, sensitive eyes inca- 

 pacitate most of them for distant vision in the 

 hours of bright daylight, though a few are ob- 

 served to be quite diurnal, particularly those in- 

 habiting the extreme northern regions. Their 

 plumage is remarkably soft and downy, fitting 

 them for a noiseless flight through the still night 

 air, while their extremely sensitive auditory or- 

 gans take cognizance of the least commotion 

 around them. In fine, one need but contemplate 

 their forms and organs to be at once struck with 

 wonder at the nice adaptation of these birds to 



