676 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Dec. 



A NEW VOIiUME. 

 Sustained and cheered by the steady patronage 

 of the industrious and intelligent farmers of the 

 country, — but chiefly of New England — and es- 

 sentially aided by the mechanic, inventor, mer- 

 chant and professional man, and especially by 

 clergymen in the latter class, — we shall enter up- 

 on the Sixteenth volume of the Weekly Neiv 

 England Farmer, and the Thirteenth of the 

 Monthly, with a determination that it shall keep 

 pace with the progress of the age, and within the 

 scope of its aims, in whatever will tend to inter- 

 est or be of pecuniary value to its readers. 



It shall be printed upon good paper and a large, 

 fair type, so that it shall not discredit the noble 

 art of printing, and so that it may be read by 

 eyes older than they were last year, and do them 

 no harm. 



It shall be issued promptly, so that it shall be 

 a constant and reliable visitor, not a spasmodic 

 one, coming just as you are sitting down to din- 

 ner, when you least expected it, and when your 

 usual leisure hour has passed that you could have 

 devoted to it. 



It shall contain in a condensed form, notices of 

 all the important general news of the world that 

 shall reach our shores, in the Weekly form, and 

 of the agricultural in the Monthly. 



Each of the forms shall be illustrated with such 

 engravings as will be of practical value to the 

 reader in his business of life, and not introduced 

 merely as embellishments to please the eye. Skil- 

 ful designers and artists have already been en- 

 gaged to furnish them, and they will bo scattered 

 through the pages of the coming volume. 



The attentive reader has already observed that 

 very little has been given in the form of essays, 

 or extended articles upon old practices or new 

 theories, — the editor believing that his readers 

 are mostly engaged in the active business of life, 

 and prefer brief thoughts and words, just as they 

 spring from other active minds, and that the 

 comparatively few who would like to have sub- 

 jects more thoroughly discussed, can readily find 

 all they want in the excellent agricultural books 

 that have now become quite common. 



The favors of correspondents have heretofore 

 been so numerous that our space has been mainly 

 occupied with them, so that we have not availed 

 ourselves of the excellent articles in our exchange 



papers to such an extent as we have often desired 

 to do. Still, every exchange paper is carefully 

 examined, and we believe there is not one upon 

 our list that has not been extracted from, and 

 proper credit given it, during the year now clos- 

 ing. 



We desire to express our thanks and obliga- 

 tions to correspondents for their frequent and val- 

 uable articles, and to ask a continuance of them. 

 The benefits are not ours alone, for whoever writes 

 carefully upon a subject not only impresses what 

 he writes m.ore firmly upon his mind, — but the 

 writing leads to a closer thought and investiga- 

 tion, and, consequently, to a better understanding 

 of the matter under consideration. 



We hope farmers, and especially young men, 

 will write often, and will not wait until they think 

 they can give a finer turn to a period. We want 

 the ideas, and will cheerfully correct any inaccu- 

 racies of expression that may occur through haste, 

 or a want of practice in composing. 



Finally, we mean to be up in the morning, and 

 keep along as closely as possible with whatever 

 seems to be sound progress in the art of cultivat- 

 ing the soil, and lay it before the reader while it 

 is fresh and new. We have no "hobby" or "Ex- 

 press pony" to ride — nothing of the kind : our 

 interest is your interest, and yours are ours, — so 

 let us amble along through the pleasant journey 

 together, and pluck flowers, taste fruits, drink at 

 the crystal brooks, and make the world a happier 

 and better one that we have lived and labored in 

 it in the year Eighteen Hundred Sixty-One ! 



Wish 'twas True of all of Them. — Col. J 

 F. IT. Claiborne closes a letter to the Southern 

 Rural Oentleman, written in New York, with the 

 annexed paragraph, a compliment to which some 

 "northern farmers" we are sure will feel that they 

 are not entitled : 



In farm houses and equipments the northern 

 farmers are far ahead of us. Their work horses 

 are kept like carriage horses, well fed, well cur- 

 ried three times a day, covered with sweat-cloths 

 the moment they stop work, and carefully littered 

 and stalled. Nearly the same care is taken with 

 their oxen and cows. Even their choice hogs are 

 nicely curried down. Their farming implements 

 are kept in bettor order, and always carefully 

 cleaned before being put away. Their rule is, "a 

 place for everything and everything in its place." 



