548 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Dec. 



the air with the sweet melody of their inimitable 

 pipings. 



"Singer of priceless melody ! 



Unguerdoneil chorister of air, 



Who, from the lithe top of a tree, 



Pourest at will thy music rare, 



As if a sudden brook laughed down the hill side there. 



The purple blossomed fields of grass 

 Waved sea-like to the idle wind ; 



Thick daisies, that the stars surpass, 



Being as fair and far more kind ; 



All sweet, uncultured things thy wild notes bring to mind." 



Home and family seemed all the more lovely 

 and precious after our woodland ramble ; and in 

 conclusion, I would advise every one who desires 

 to increase his love of nature, of home and friends, 

 to go forth into the trackless forest, and there 

 strive to receive such deep impressions of the 

 wisdom, love and power of the Supreme Being, 

 as can be received nowhere else, and which can 

 never be effaced from the heart. 



South Groton, Oct., 18G1. S. L. White. 



JFor the New England Farmer. 

 A WEW CAKT BODY. 



Mr. Brown : — I asked a mechanic why he 

 made horse cart bodies so narrow — why he did 

 not bring out the sides quite to the wheel-hubs ? 

 Well, sir, what do you think was his answer ? It 

 was, that "it is the fasJdon.'^ 



A few years ago I was using one of these fash- 

 ionable cart bodies. The longer I used it the 

 more dissatisfied I became. 1 saw no reason why 

 all of the space between the wheels should not be 

 occupied by the cart body. It was plain that a 

 load of dirt would not require to be piled so high 

 if the body were wider. I wanted a cart body, 

 too, that would carry half a cord of cut wood with 

 side boards ; and a good number of barrels of po- 

 tatoes or apples. I accordingly had a body made 

 which nearly touched the hubs, with lower sides 

 than the narrow one, and considerably longer. 

 My fashionable body was a short one, and when 

 "tipped," stood erect. This made it hard to get 

 down again. 



I found my new cart body a great convenience. 

 I wouldn't be without it one year for its cost. Let 

 me tell you why I find it better than the old one. 



As I have said, the sides are lower, and it is 

 filled easier with grsiv^L I have two sets of side 

 boards and can puc "A a big load of light ma- 

 nure, shavings from the pail factory, or four to six 

 feet of dry cut wood, of which I cart a good deal 

 from a circular saw driven by water-power. Then 

 I have made two ladders and cross pieces, and 

 raves outside the wheels, which are quickly ad- 

 justed, and supply one more cart to get hay on, of 

 which one is not likely to have too many in the 

 busy season. 



The cart body is fastened forward by the han- 

 diest "sword" you ever saw. When I go to load 

 a lot of potatoes or apples, I tilt the cart so that 

 the first lift is reduced about one-half. The body 

 will hold nine barrels. Wm. D. Brown. 



Concord, Sept. 26, 18GL 



A Fine Pair of Cattle. — Some two years 

 since we spoke of a pair of cattle owned by Mr. 

 D. Z. Steele, of Sharon, Vt. They were then 

 five years old, and weighed sixty hundred pounds. 



AVe now learn that Mr. Steele still retains these 

 oxen, and that they now weigh seventy-Jive hun- 

 dred jiounds, and girt ten feet each! They have 

 been kept up all summer, but since the first of July 

 have had only about three barrels of corn and 

 cob meal. As the weather grows cooler he will 

 give them more meal. At this rate, Vermont 

 will be hard to beat in oxen as well as horses. 



COTTON" FOB A COLD CLIMATE. 



A new rival to the cotton fields of the South is 

 receiving attention at the hands of the press. It 

 is a new kind of cotton plant or tree which thrives 

 in a cool climate. Mr. R. C. Kendall, of Mary- 

 land, says that he discovered it in the Andes, 

 near the fortieth parallel of latitude, and that the 

 ground around the tree was then covered with 

 snow. It is perennial, and lives many years. It 

 may be propagated either from seed or cuttings. 

 About the third year it begins to yield a crop of 

 bolls without seeds, which are not produced in 

 much perfection until the seventh year. The tree 

 grows to about the size of our peach trees, and 

 the first one observed by Mr. K., about 18 feet 

 in height, bore a crop which he estimated at near- 

 ly one hundred pounds. Mr. K. is confident that 

 this tree can be cultivated wherever Indian corn 

 can. In its general qualities the fibre of this plant* 

 has been pronounced by cotton brokers equal to 

 the best Sea Island variety, and some bales of it 

 have been sold in South America for 16 cents per 

 pound. The yield is great. With favorable soil 

 and situation, 2000 pounds can be raised per acre, 

 while Mr. K. claims that half that amount can be 

 depended upon on an average. Five hundred 

 pounds per acre is held to be a good yield at the 

 South. 



Remarks. — We find the above paragraph in 

 the Boston Journal of the 5th inst. About two 

 months since, we had some correspondence with 

 Mr. Kendall in regard to the plant alluded to, 

 the Gossijpivm Atborium, and had hoped that, 

 before this time, he would have given us an arti- 

 cle or series of articles, in relation to the plant, 

 its habits of growth, hardiness, method of culti- 

 vation, &c. Whether the product of the tree 

 should prove valuable in a commercial point of 

 view or not, under our New England culture, we 

 believe that any information in regard to it which 

 Mr. Kendall might see fit to communicate, would 

 be valuable as an addition to our botanical 

 knowledge, and worth in that sense, if in no other, 

 the trouble of imparting it, if nothing more. 



In his letter to us, Mr. Kendall says that a 

 company was about being formed in the more 

 northern slave States for the purpose of encour- 

 aging the growth of this staple, but that the plan 

 was abandoned by him on the commencement of 

 the secession movement, as he could not "cast 

 his lot in 'Dixie.' " He goes on to say — 



"Now as the Gossypium Arhorium will flourish 

 well in a climate that would freeze an apple tree 



