1862. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



145 



crust answers well) of three or four inches in 

 length, and hold it in the flame of a lamp ; not a 

 drop of water will fall from the snow, but the wa- 

 ter, as fast as formed, will penetrate or be drawn 

 up into the mass of snow l)y capillary attraction. 

 It is by virtue of this attraction that the snow pu- 

 rifies the atmosphere by absorbing and retaining 

 its noxious and noisome gases and odors. — Ex- 

 change. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 "WOOL GROWUNTG. 



Dear Sir : — A party of young gentlemen of the 

 writer's acquaintance are proposing to emigrate to 

 CaHfornia, for the purpose of embarking in the 

 wool-growing business. If the accompanying semi- 

 playfid, semi-serious lines, suggested by the sim- 

 ple fact above stated, have, in your estimation, 

 vigor enough in them to r/o alone outside the lit- 

 tle circle in which the circumstances of the case 

 are known, you arc at liberty to print them. 



Respectfully yours, The Author. 



Boston, January 30, 18G2. 



ACADIA. 

 Away with all the Babel-war of trade, 1 



With all the din by strong-limbed labor made, — 

 The smoke and rush which business loves to make 



Where'er sharp Jonathan drives down his stake, 



The train's shrill whistle ushering from afar 



The panting engine, and the clattering car, 



The dashing craft that scorns th' opposing wind, 

 Her streamers trailing like a cloud behind ; 



Away with all that hints of toils and cares, 



Bills, bonds, stocks, interest, merchandise and wares 



Which tell the texture of the age is one 

 Of gold and iron, intricately spun ! 



Time's wheels reverse, and down the travelled track 



Roll back the j-ears— by centuries roll them back ! 



Till earth again shall joyfully behold 



Her childhood days — her age entirely gold ! 



What time the shepherds drove their flocks along 



The silver streams, and meditated song : 



Or stretched at noon beneath the greenwood shades, 



Rehearsed the beauties of their sylvan maids ; 



When simple pleasures discontent defied. 



And wants were few, and those with ease supplied ; 



Fair girls were "nymphs," and every youth a "swain,' = 



All speech was song— when Pan himself did reign ! 



Roll back the years till men again shall view 



That age of joyance — live it o'er anew ! 



But, nay ! there needs no rolling back of time— 

 Kought save the transit to one genial clime ; 

 And that same onward circling of the spheres 

 Which hatli aforetime swelled the months to years I 



In that famed region of the West, whose soil 

 Yields mainly gold to glad the sons of toil, 

 There lies a vale, through which a winding stream 



Doth like a thread of burnished silver gleam 



Where pastoral life— believe the JIuse !— displays 

 To modern eyes the scenes of ancient days ; 

 Where dwells a colony of gentle swains 

 Wliose lungs the atmosphere of cities pains ; 

 A group of people who, on history's page. 

 Will doubtless shine th' Acadian's of the age ; 

 On whom the country will depend, to keep 

 The art of rearing and improving sheep • 



When Spring again shall don her robes of green. 

 And bees and butterflies once more be seen • 

 When primrose blooms shall star the dales anew, 

 And violets lift their lips to sip the dew, 



And yellow crocuses flaunt forth their gold ;— 

 'Twould give mirth's eye a twinkle, to behold 

 These "shepherds" grasp their crooks and lead along 

 Their milk-white flocks— throng slowly after throng. ° 

 'Twould brighten languor into smiles, to hear 

 Those gentle shepherds' "songs of lofty oheer"— 

 Or lays expressive of their ardent loves- 

 Float down the vales, and echo through the groves ! 

 O, well will they the artless strain prolong— 

 Their thoughts prove idyls bubbling into song ! 



For them propitious seasons we invoke 



Upon their lambkins fall no l)lasting stroke ! 

 The calm delights of pastoral life be theirs ; 

 Its blest exemption from financial cares ; 

 Its sheer disdain of Fashion's starch and paints j 

 Its glorious freedom from the town's restraints •' 

 May robust health that flow of spirits bring 

 Which makes life's prime as joyous as its spring; 

 Theirs be the heaven of sweet domestic bliss— 

 The luxury theirs of tasting childhood's kiss ' 

 May the new race to goodly stature grow. 

 Without the wisdom which the marts bestow ; 



Delight in Nature with her bosom bare 



The pathless hills— uncarbonated air ; 

 Wearing no mask made up of wretched shams, 

 Scorning the cheatery of cant and flams ; 

 With scarce a cloud between them and the power 

 That gilds each star, and speaks in every flower ; 

 Walk through the years-let worldlings, sneering, smile- 

 As little children ignorant of guile 

 Until they reach— why may they not ?— at last 

 To something of the ancient patriarch cast ; 

 And like those men who lived in Time's far youth. 

 Through goodness' paths attain high heights of trJth ! 

 And if the world in after times once more 

 Shall need, like Sodom in the days of yore, 

 To save it from destruction's fiery rain. 

 Its men whose lives appear without a stain ; 

 Then shall that vale, through which a winding stream 

 Doth like a thread of Ijurnished silver gleam, ^ 

 Send forth its "fives," its "fifties" o'er the earth. 

 And save the nations with its leaven of worth ! ' * * * 



Ft)r the Nezv En'jland Farmer. 



THE BRAHMA FOWL. 



Havnig recommended to the readers of the Far- 

 mer of March 2, 1861, the Brahma fowl above 

 all other varieties, I was pleased to find in a recent 

 number of the Genesee Farmer an account of the 

 experimental trial in France, at the Zoological 

 Cardens, last year, testing the laving qualities of a 

 large number of different breeds of fowls, result- 

 ing in favor of this breed. The Brahma Pootra 

 stootl first in the trial as the most proHfic laj-er, 

 which corresponds with my experience, as stated 

 Jefore. I have kept nearly every breed of fowls, 

 but nevei found one to come up to tlie Brahma, 

 not only in laying, but every other desirable qual- 

 ity requisite to a perfect breed of domestic fowl. 

 A neighbor of mine has 17 Brahmas in one coop 

 and 20 common barnvard fowls in another, fed 

 and cared for alike ; he tells me that he is i^etting 

 from ten to twelve eggs per day from the Brahmas, 

 and from the others he has not had an as^g for the 

 past month. Another gentleman informs me that 

 he has always been obliged to purchase eggs for 

 his family until this winter. He has tried many 

 breeds of fancy fowls, and was almost discouraged, 

 until induced to try the Brahmas, and this winter 

 his fowls have been an income instead of an out- 

 set, as heretofore. John S. Ives. 

 Salem, Jan. olst, 1SG2, 



