56 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Jan. 



agbicultd'RAIj mass meetings 

 Now is the time for mental action and investi- 

 gation. Let not this be a "winter of discontent," 

 but one of earnest, profitable progress. Let us 

 come together in council and discuss our personal 

 interests. The merchants have their "Chamber 

 of Commerce" and "Corn Exchange," — the Banks 

 their "Associations," and the brokers their 

 "Board," the mechanics their "Institute," and the 

 lawyers, doctors, clergymen and politicians their 

 "Conventions" and "Resolutions." Let us profit 

 by their examples, meet in council in various 

 parts of the State and do something to promote 

 the noble Art of Agriculture, and at the same 

 time increase the products of the soil and elevate 

 the homes of our land. 



Who will take the initiatory steps in Old Con- 

 cord ? Will Dr. Bartlett, with his well known 

 ability and zeal, sound the tocsin in Chelmsford, 

 and Gov. Boutwell and Mr. Bancroft in Gro- 

 ton ? Will Mr. Peters and Dr. Burnett see that 

 old Worcester is aroused ? Gov. Cushman and 

 Mr. Grennell, of Greenfield, kindle a flame in 

 Franklin ? Mr. Davis, of Plymouth, in his coun- 

 ty, and so on throughout the State ? What say 

 you, brother farmers ? Let us have a response, 

 and see what can be done. 



Points of Merit in a Farm-Horse. — Mr. 



Strawn, the well known stock-farmer of Illinois, 

 states the points of a horse to be — a large eye, 

 bay color, with heavy black mane and tail, round 

 body, large ham-string, short back, long belly, 

 fifteen or sixteen hands in height, and weighing 

 about 1200 pounds. 



LADIES' DEPARTMENT. 



PEESERVATIOH" OF THE HAIK. 



It is a melancholy fact, that not one lady in a 

 hundred, in the United States, has fine or luxuri- 

 ant hair. Everybody is complaining of the loss 

 of "woman's chief glory," and wondering why on 

 earth pomatums and hair-washes, oils and restor- 

 atives, fail to bring it back, "as per advertise- 

 ment." We suspect there would be a general ex- 

 clamation of incredulity among the gentlemen, 

 did they but know what an immense proportion 

 of the tastefully arranged tresses they behold on 

 fair heads, grew on somebody else's pate. Almost 

 every one wears a "roll" or "braid," which comes 

 from the hair-dresser's, and costs from five to 

 twenty dollars. It is disposed with consummate 

 skill — you cannot distinguish the sly hair-pins 

 that fasten on the false decoration, yet there it is, 

 a tacit confession that nature gives Avay to art. 



"My hairM.'(7Z keep coming out, although I take 

 the greatest pains with it," sighs the fashionable 

 belle. "I don't see what the trouble is." 



There are several "troubles ;" first and fore- 

 most among which is the expensive "roll" itself. 



Any hair-dresser will tell you that the weight and 

 pressure of this heavy mass of false hair with the 

 heat it induces around the head, is highly preju- 

 dicial to the growth and welfare of the real hair. 

 Ifjou must wear a roll, let it be as seldom as 

 possible. Whenever you can dispense with it, 

 do so. Let its place be supplied as often as prac- 

 ticable with a lifjht head-dress, secured with as 

 few hair-pins as will support it. These last are 

 fearfully destructive to the hair, cutting and wear- 

 ing it to an incredible degree. Gutta-])crclia hair 

 pins are the best, and even these should be limited 

 in numlier. 



All sorts of pomatums, oils and preparations 

 had better be let alone. There is no use in soak- 

 ing the skin of the head in grease, as is often 

 done. If the hair is harsh and dry, castor oil per- 

 fumed is the best application, but the scalp itself 

 should not be saturated. Washing the head thor- 

 oughly in fair water, once a week, will be found 

 very beneficial. 



Bodily health is almost essential to the natural 

 growth of the hair. Nothing indicates the pro- 

 gress of sickness so plainly as the dry, dead look 

 of the hair, and if our American ladies want love- 

 ly, luxuriant tresses, they must avoid heated 

 rooms, late hours and fashionable dissipation. 

 There is no help for it — nature will avenge any 

 infringement on her laws, and the sooner we be- 

 come thoroughly convinced of this fact, the better 

 for us. 



There is no ornament half so becoming to a fe- 

 male face, as thick, beautiful hair. It needs no 

 decoration beyond a natural flower or two. Nets, 

 diamond sprays, tiaras of pearl, are useless — it is 

 like "painting the lily" to v/ear them. Remember 

 this, girls, and take every precaution to preserve 

 this exquisite ornament of nature's manufacture. 

 Once gone, it is hard to coax back again. — Life 

 Illustrated. 



Furs on Beautiful Women. — There is noth- 

 ing that looks so rich, easy and comfortal:)le as a 

 beautiful piece of fur wrapped around a beautiful 

 piece of womanhood. Furs, like gold and silver, 

 have alv;ays been highly estimated by the human 

 family and "the rest of mankind." Rich furs 

 were for many ages used as gifts from one prince 

 to another — nobody less than a prince being al- 

 lowed to wear them. The sumptuary laws which 

 once existed with regard to the wearing of fars, 

 were at once numerous and stringent. In the 

 days of Henry VII. it was two years' imprison- 

 ment for any person below a baronet to wear a 

 piece of ermine "as large as your hand." Those 

 absurd laws, however, have all been repealed, so 

 that a person at the present time can go his length 

 on furs — the only limit to his taste being his 

 pocket-book and creditors. 



Woman's Hopes. — In early youth, perhaps 

 they said to themselves, "I shall be hajipy when 

 I have a husband to love me best of all ;" then 

 when the husband is too careless, "My child will 

 comfort me ;" then through the mother's watch- 

 ing and toil, "My child will repay me when it 

 grows up." And at last, after the long journey 

 of years has been wearily travelled thi-ough, the 

 mother's heart is weighed down by a heavier bur- 

 den, and no hope remains but the grave. 



