322 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



July 



Fur the New England Farmer. 

 BIVALRY IN FARMING. 

 Why is it that we see no more competition and 

 rivalry among farmers ? The mechanic, manufac- 

 turer, and in short those of every profession, are 

 always in a strife to outdo their competitors, while 

 the farmer goes listlessly on, not seeming to care 

 if his neighI)or does raise as much ag'ain as he 

 does on the same land, or that of better quality. 

 If there chance to be two mechanics in the same 

 village, pursuing the same branch of the trade, 

 they are always on the alert to see who shall do 

 the best work, so as to secure the most custom, 

 which is all right and sensible. Is it not equally 

 sensible for two farmers living side by side, to en- 

 gage in such laudable competition ? If there were 

 half the zeal manifested among farmers that there 

 is in other classes, the products of the soil would 

 be doubled in a short time. Agricultural editors 

 and societies are doing their best to bring out this 

 spirit, but as yet with but little success. The 

 manner in which premiums are ofl'ered for field 

 crops is, in my opinion, poorly calculated to bring 

 out much competition in their production. Most 

 of the societies now offer a premium for the larg- 

 est yield from an acre and half acre of ground, re- 

 gardless of the expense in producing it. Premi- 

 ums should be offered on not less than five acres 

 of ground, and for the greatest yield at the least 

 cost, taking the condition of the land before and 

 after the crop is taken off, into consideration. 

 This would give all a better chance for competi- 

 tion, and be productive of far greater benefits to 

 the farming community, than as at present con- 

 ducted. It would cause a greater portion of the 

 farm to be enriched, and also cause greater quan- 

 tities of grain to be raised, thereby benefiting all 

 classes, wliich is the professed aim of agricultural 

 societies. As now conducted, not more than one 

 farmer in one thousand competes for a premium, 

 and those who do, select some little piece of an 

 acre, or less, and put on all the manure they have, 

 and thus raise a great crop, costing as much again 

 as it is worth ! But they get a premium, and a 

 great name for raising the largest crop in the 

 County or State, as the case may be. Cannot the 

 managers of our agricultural societies, editors of 

 agricultural journals, or some of their readers, de- 

 vise some plan by which all farmers may be in- 

 duced to compete for premiums, and let the pre- 

 miums be offered in a manner having reference to 

 the permanent fertility of the soil, as well as the 

 production of large crops. If such a scheme can 

 be brought out, we may look for increased com- 

 petition among the formers, increased productions, 

 and the original design of the societies will be in 

 part accomplished. Brother farmers, let us hear 

 your sentiments on the subject, and see if we can- 

 not wake uj) the managers to the necessity of 

 some reform in this matter. li. 



Western New York, 1862. 



Influence ov Hot Weather upon North- 

 ern AND SotiTHEUN SoLUlERS. — In the medical 

 statistics of the army from 1837 to 1854, trans- 

 mitted to Hon. J. I). Bright, President of the 

 Senate, by Jeff. Davis, Secretary of War, July 28, 

 1856, on pages 609 and 621, will be found a state- 

 ment showing the power of endurance of a South 

 Cai'olina and a New York regiment, respectively. 



South Carolina 1st, 1,034 men, campaign of 1847, 

 eighteen and a half months' service, loss by dis- 

 ease, 509 ; New York 2d, 1,063 men, seventeen 

 and a half months' service, loss by disease, 276. 

 From this comparison of a Northern regiment 

 with a Southern one, in a hot country campaign, 

 it appears that the Southern regiment lost by dis- 

 ease very nearly twice as many as the New York 

 regiment in about the same length of time, and 

 the loss from all other causes was one-third less 

 to the Northern than to the Southern regiment. 



For tlte New England Fanner. 

 LOVE AND THE HOSE. 



BY EDWARD BRINLET. 



Hidden away in a wild-wood nook, 

 Where woodbines and blue balls were twining, 



A rose, by the side of a murmuring brook, 

 Was gracefully o'er it inclining. 



The brook sang on in its happy play. 



But the rose drooped sadly above her ; 

 Unseen she had blushed from day to day. 



With no eye but the brook's to love her ! 



A wanderer came to that wild-wood dell 

 And the rose looked up with gladness ; 



But the limpid brook knew 'twas Love too well, 

 And she rippled along in sadness. 



The god sprang up to the rose's look, 



Down deep in her lap he hurried ; 

 She turned in disdain from her faithful brook, 



Whilst Love in her bosom was buried ! 



Hidden away in her fragi-ant folds, 



On his rose couch Love reposes ; 

 But short is the spell that the lone flower holds. 



Love leaves her — for other roses ! 



Deep— deep in that wild-wood's nook. 



The neglected rose is pining ; 

 Still the murmurs of Love gurgle on in that brook. 

 Where the woodbine and blue bells are twining ! 

 Oak Hill, 1S62. 



THE POWER OP STYLE. 



Human language may be polite and powerless 

 in itself, uplifted M'ith difficulty into the expres- 

 sion of the high thoughts it utters, or it may in 

 itself become so saturated Avith warm life and de- 

 licious association that every sentence shall jxilpi- 

 tate and thrill with the mere fascination of the 

 syllables. The statue is not more surely included 

 in the block of marble than is all conceivable 

 splendor of utterance in Worcester's Unabridged. 

 And as Ruskin says of painting that it is in the 

 perfection and precision of the instantaneous line 

 that the claim to immortality is made, so it is easy 

 to see that a phrase may outweigh a library. Keats 

 heads the catalogue of things real with "sun, moon, 

 and ])assagcs of Shakspeare ;" and Keats himself 

 has left behind him winged wonders of expression 

 that are not surpassed by Shakspeare, or by any 

 one else who ever dared touch the English tongue. 

 There may be phrases which shall be palaces to 

 dwell in, treasure-houses to explore ; a single 

 word may be a window Irom which one may per- 

 ceive all the kingdoms of the world and the glory 

 of them. Oftentimes a word shall speak what ac- 

 cumulated volumes have labored in vain to utter ; 

 there may be years of crowded passion in a word, 

 and half a life in a sentence. — 1'. W. Higginson. 



