98 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Feb. 



The parlor should have a lighter, more cheerful 

 tone than the other apartments. The wood-work 

 painted some pleasing tint or tints ; the paper a 

 small, lively figure on a light ground ; and the 

 carpet a small mosaic figure on a darker ground ; 

 all, with the window and table drapery, to har- 

 moniz3 in color, and as far as possible in the style 

 of the figures. 



A table or two in convenient places, that one 

 may not be afraid to lean upon ; a few wholesome 

 chairs that one may sit in, aye, and tip back in, 

 Yankee fashion, if he choose, without fear of 

 finding himself all of a sudden in closer proxim- 

 ity to the floor than he might wish ; a bookcase 

 filled with good books in substantial bindings — 

 books for use, and not for show ; and finally, a 

 few good pictures hung against the walls. This 

 is the treatment we would suggest for the parlor. 



The kitchen may be perfectly plain ; the wood- 

 work as before specified, oiled and varnished, and 

 the walls tinted, or papered with a cheap paper, 

 and varnished. 



Each chamber may have its own peculiar style. 

 Whole sets of chamber furniture may be procured 

 in every variety of tint and finish, and by select- 

 ing the carpets, paper and drapery to correspond, 

 we may have the blue chamber, the pink cham- 

 ber, the drab chamber, the lilac chamber, and so 

 on ; or by selecting them with reference to some 

 prominent figures on the paper, carpet and fur- 

 niture, we may have the landscape chamber, the 

 rose chamber, or if clusters of flowers, the bou- 

 quet, or the floral chamber, and so on through an 

 almost infinite variety of changes, paying espe- 

 cial attention all the while to the harmony of the 

 colors throughout, keeping that entire, at the ex- 

 pense of everything else, if need be. 



Construction and Cost. — Built of wood, and 

 covered with clapboards or sheathing, the cost of 

 this cottage in the neighborhood of Boston 

 would be about $1100. 



Raising Calves. — Mr. J. A. Edwards, of 

 Skaneateles, N.Y., gives in the Rural New-Yorker 

 his process, as follows : 



"Remove the calf from the cow at the age of 

 two or three days, give it new milk for two or 

 three weeks — four or five quarts at each meal — 

 twice a day. At the end of that period com- 

 mence giving milk skimmed after twelve hours, 

 once a day, — in one week, omit the new milk and 

 give only skimmed milk. As they advance in age, 

 the milk may be allowed to stand a longer time 

 before skimming, instead of giving meal and 

 turning out to pasture, as is usually practiced, I 

 prefer keeping them in a large stable, allowing 

 them to run, and feeding all the fine rowen or 

 nice clover hay they will eat, with skimmed milk, 

 or whey, for drink, until they are five months old. 

 If the stock is good, my word for it, you will 

 have calves worth showing:." 



FLAX COTTON AGAINST KJNG 

 COTTON. 



A private letter from Boston thus speaks of the 



recent invention for "flaxing out" king cotton : 



"There are now in operation in this city expe- 

 rimental works for the manufacture of flax fibre 

 into a material called fibrilia, or flax cotton. 

 This can be produced it amj quantity at between 

 seven and eight cents per pound, and the cloth 

 made from it is belter in every respect and will 

 take and preserve colors better than cloth made 

 from cotton. The raw material, flax wild or cul- 

 tivated, can be produced and is produced in Can- 

 ada and all the Northern States in vast quantities. 

 Colonel Lander, in one of his recent reports speaks 

 of coming to plains covered with immense quan- 

 tities of this plant growing wild. Now here is an 

 article which even now can be had in quantities, 

 so that its material can be produced at from two 

 to three cents per pound less than cotton, which 

 makes a better cloth, and which is destined to 

 supersede cotton. Slowly but surely the })arties 

 owning the patents for the process for manufac- 

 turing this article are working it into the atten- 

 tion of our people. 



The first mill started to manufacture cloth from 

 this material will be the most dangerous anti-sla- 

 very society in the world. 



With this I send you some of the article and 

 some of the cloth made from it ; also a pamphlet 

 describing it. Some people are looking to this 

 matter as offering a solution of the slavery ques- 

 tion. Napoleon L offered one million francs to 

 any one who would invent machinery to manu- 

 facture flax by spinning it into cloth." — N. Y. 

 Post. 



Massachusetts Horticultural Society. — 

 The Society held a meeting on Saturday, at 

 which the President, Joseph Breck, Esq., made 

 a brief address, which is to be printed in the reg- 

 ular transactions. The report of the Committee 

 on Finance was then made and accepted, show- 

 ing a balance in the treasury of $940 83, and 

 that the property of the Society amounts to $89,- 

 540 83. An appropriation of $500 was then 

 voted for the library during the coming year, and 

 a further appropriation of $75 was voted to be 

 applied by special committee to the purchase of 

 a suitable testimonial to be presented to Mr. R. 

 M. Copeland, as an acknowledgment of his long 

 and faithful services as Librarian, 



After considerable discussion, a vote was passed 

 to petition the Legislature for a grant of one sec- 

 tion of the public lands at the foot of the Com- 

 mon, whereon to erect an edifice for the purposes 

 of the Society. 



Mowing Machines. — Mrs. Elizabeth M. 



Smith, of Burlington, N. J., has invented a con- 

 trivance for making the mowing machine more 

 safe than heretofore. It consists in a method of 

 throwing the knives ont of gear the moment the 

 driver's weight is removed from his seat. When 

 he resumes his seat, the machine is thrown into 

 gear again. 



