1861. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



453 



Mrs. B. said, "she had made up her mind that 

 rather than take her New York cousin to the 

 minister's tea-table again, before they got his 

 wife the silver tea-service, she'd go out of the 

 parish begging, or get it on the credit of the cir- 

 cle." 



So our hesitating farmer's wife takes the dollar 

 she had laid one side, to pay to one who had as- 

 sisted her in sewing, and drags her tired and 

 weary self to the "circle," and works only the 

 harder at home the next day. At last the gold 

 watch and chain, and the silver tea-service, are 

 presented, by more than one who knew, but dared 

 not say, "they couldn't afford it." 



Now this vacillation is not only untruthful, but 

 it is a sign of weakness. How many of the re- 

 verses of life may be fairly charged to this hesita- 

 tion and weakness. 



There are a few things that farmers and farm- 

 ers' wives cannot afford : 



A farmer cannot afford to sign notes for a man 

 in trade. 



A farmer cannot afford to purchase articles of 

 luxury because a city or village friend "no better 

 off^' than himself, has done the same. 



A farmer cannot afford to contract debts, unless 

 he has reasonable expectations of having ample 

 means to defray the same. 



A farmer cannot afford to purchase "what he 

 doesn't exactly want." 



A farmer cannot afford to subscribe for more 

 periodicals and newspapers than he is able to 

 read or pay for in advance. 



A farmer cannot afford, because he has disre- 

 garded all of these directions, and consequently 

 met with reverses and losses, to "give up," but 

 he can afford to rise above circumstances, and 

 show to the world that there is something far no- 

 bler than a man's surroundings. 



A farmer's wife cannot afford, because she often 

 has to be "the maid of all work," to consider her- 

 self thereby the loser of a particle of self respect, 

 or one whit beneath the wife of the millionaire. 



A farmer's wife cannot afford to be ignorant of 

 the out-of-door affairs upon the farm. 



A farmer's wife cannot afford to be ignorant, if 

 she does not "wear the breeches," of how they 

 ought to be worn. 



A farmer's wife cannot afford to be ignorant of 

 the exact state of her husband's financial affairs. 



Lastly, a farmer and a farmer's wife can never 

 afford to fear to say, upon necessary occasions, 

 truthfully and firmly, "I cannot afford it." 



J. K. L. 



Ventilation of the Apple Barrel. — By 

 this we mean the boring of holes in the head of 

 staves of the barrels that will allow the escape or 

 the moisture that is constantly passing off from 

 the newly gathered fruit. We hazard nothing in 

 the statement that one-half the fruit sent to this 

 market this season, so far, has been materially 

 injured from this cause. The effect of confined 

 vapor upon the apple is not at once apparent. 

 The fruit appears uncommonly bright on the first 

 opening — but as the surface dries off the apple 

 begins to grow dull looking, and if a light skinned 

 apple, in a day or two will present the appearance 

 of half-baked fruit. 



But this steaming from confinement not only 

 injures the sale of the fruit, but to the great dis- 



appointment of the consumer, his fruit does not 

 keep as he supposed it would, and as the variety 

 of apple he purchased led him to suppose it 

 would. Premature decay is sure to follow as a 

 consequence of this want of ventilation. — Chicago 

 Fruit Dealer. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 DOO VERSUS CUR. 



Mr. Editor : — The correspondence in your 

 paper is generally so rational and moderate in its 

 tone, that I was somewhat surprised to read "C.'s" 

 bigoted and illiberal war cry, or rather "snarl," 

 at the faithful animals of which he evidently 

 knows nothing, and whose virtues I fear he is un- 

 able to appreciate. "C.'s" assumptions are too 

 groundless, his arguments too flimsy, and his prop- 

 ositions too intolerant to enlist many in his val- 

 iant crusade against our affectionate and defence- 

 less defendant. I have yet to learn — for I cannot 

 take "C.'s" assertion for proof — that you have 

 declared war upon dogs, that New England loses 

 millions annually by dogs, or that the presence 

 of dogs, in a district, is at all incompatible with 

 the raising or keeping of sheep. The latter as- 

 sumption is entirely contrary to my own experi- 

 ence of facts ; as I know many districts where 

 sheep are largely and successfully raised, and 

 where, at the same time, dogs are far more nu- 

 merous than they are in the neighborhood of Bos- 

 ton ; and "C." will have some difficulty in per- 

 suading the public that cows indiscriminately al- 

 lowed on the highway would occasion less incon- 

 venience to passengers than dogs do. The law 

 proposed, or rather commended, by "C," will 

 never be enacted in a country where the people 

 are their own law-makers ; and even a despot 

 would hesitate before issuing a decree so certain 

 to arouse the indignation of a large proportion of 

 the community. 



So much for "C.'s" indiscriminate attack ; but, 

 in defending the respectable portion of the canine 

 community, I would not be understood to justify 

 the keeping of ill-bred, ill-fed and uncared for 

 curs. These are the animals which bring dishon- 

 or on their race, through no fault of their nature, 

 but because they are expected to maintain a char- 

 acter for honesty, while their only alternative is 

 to steal or starve. I think it probable, to hear 

 C. talk, he would dispose of the other affairs of 

 the country quite as summarily as he does of the 

 dog question ; but, fortunately for us all, in this 

 land of liberty, no man can enact laws to bind 

 his fellow without their co-operation and consent, 

 and I certainly prefer the law enacted by the 

 chosen sages of Massachusetts, in council assem- 

 bled, to the measure so modestly suggested by 

 your correspondent. It is not the intelligent, re- 

 spectable looking dog, licensed, collared, and 

 whose name and residence are duly registered, 



"Man's firmest frieDd, 

 The first to welcome, foremost to defend ; 

 Whose honest heart is still his master's own. 

 Who labors, fights, lives, breathes for him alone," 



— it is not this dog, I contend, who should be 

 called "the worthless beast," and hunted like a 

 wolf or a wild cat ; indeed, I can scarcely sympa- 

 thize with your correspondent in his bitterness 

 against any of a race whose virtues are all their 

 own, while their vices are the result of their edu- 

 cation and necessity. 



