360 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Aug. 



country we probably can never give. That self- 

 asserting, obtrusive independence which so often 

 wounds us, is, if viewed aright, but an outward 

 sign of those good things Avhich a new country 

 has produced for its people. Men and women do 

 not beg in the States ; they do not offend you 

 with tattered rags ; they do not complain to Heav- 

 en of starvation ; they do not crouch to the ground 

 for half-pence. If poor, they are not abject in 

 their poverty. They read and write. They walk 

 like human beings made in God's form. They 

 know that they are men and women, owing it to 

 themselves and to the world that they should earn 

 their bread by their labor, but feeling that when 

 earned it is their own. If this be so — if it be ac- 

 knowledged that it is so — should not such knowl- 

 edge in itself be sufficient testimony of the suc- 

 cess of the country and of her institutions ? — 

 America, by Anthony Trollope. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 LITTLE THIKTQS: 

 Or, a Walk in My Garden, 

 the plum tree, 

 Two essential things are necessary in the suc- 

 cessful cultivation of the plum. The first is, to 

 give them a chance to grow about as thriftily as 

 possible, and then carefully head in the year's 

 growth at least one-half, in order to force out a 

 quantity of fruit spurs. I generally see this ne- 

 glected among farmers, and the consequence is, 

 we have a few long barren limbs, when the whole 

 top should be covered with these spurs. I raised 

 a bushel and a half of plums two years ago from a 

 small tree. It bore just as many as could find a 

 place to hang on the tree. Nurserymen under- 

 stand these things, and so should farmers who buy 

 of them. Plum trees that are highly cultivated, 

 will, in bearing years, blossom profusely, and be 

 more than a match for the curculio to puncture 

 them all, while those which grow in grass plots 

 and receive little cultivation are pretty sure to be 

 destroyed. It is better to depend upon a few 

 crops from a tree at a high rate of cultivation, 

 than to look for a small crop and a long life. So 

 far as my opinion goes, the farmer who only wish- 

 es for a few trees should have only two or three 

 of the most productive and hardy sorts. These 

 are the Lombard, Imperial Gage and Jefferson 

 Plum. These will ensure good crops if anything 

 will. Fancy cultivators may increase the number 

 of varieties indefinitely. But who is that man 

 yonder, just entering the garden gate ? O, it is 

 one whom I have long pictured to myself as 



A CONTENTED MAN. 



I have a friend whom I, for a long time, have 

 looked upon as a contented, and, consequently, a 

 happy man. He is not a wealthy man ; nor has 

 he acquired fame in civil or military life, and fall- 

 en back into a happy retirement. He is a shoe- 

 maker ; and I have looked at him as he worked 

 on his bench with the feeling that there was such 

 a thing as one contented man in this world. He 

 had a good education ; had travelled extensively, 

 and wrote poetry worthy of more than a passing 

 notice. He touched the guitar most delicately, 

 which, with his voice, caused breathless silence to 

 all within hearing. For a change, he would spend 



an hour with the pencil, and transfer to canvas 

 some mountain or cottage scene. Stepping into 

 his shop, I have conversed with him on all these 

 subjects to which allusion has been made, and 

 found in him my teacher, and a man of the finest 

 sensibilities. 



My first thought was that of wonder, that my 

 friend should take up, keep and be satisfied with 

 his occupation, but I soon reasoned myself into 

 the belief that he was a real philosopher, and knew 

 better than I how to be happy. He was an ex- 

 cellent workman, and had the confidence and pa- 

 tronage and good will of everybody. I therefore 

 came to the conclusion that he was a contented 

 man. He was attentive to his religious duties, 

 and recognized the claims upon him, from what- 

 ever source they came. 



Matters went on in this way for some time, 

 when, all of a sudden, I was surprised to hear that 

 my philosophical friend had sold out his stock, 

 and had resolved to enter one of the learned pro- 

 fessions ! I seated myself in a chair and fell into 

 a strange reverie upon the uneasy condition with 

 which mankind is so universally affected. Still I 

 learned one valuable lesson, that in any position 

 in life there may be a cultivated mind and heart, 

 a dignity and honorable character which will com- 

 mand the respect of the public. I cannot say that 

 my friend was wrong in his course ; but he must 

 bid adieu to all personal comfort, and transfer it 

 all for the benefit of others. 



Happy the man that is contented with his lot, 

 and who can pass through the whole year without 

 at any time repining at his condition. Where can 

 such a man be found ? 



P. S. Since writing the foregoing, I learn that 

 he is not intending to change his occupation, but 

 that he is gone out West where he can make more 

 money ! Moreover, he is not married. 



HOMINY ALL THE YEAR ROUND. 



While adjusting a self-shutting gate to my gar- 

 den the other day, a neighbor came along and put 

 the strange question, "Do you love hominy?" 

 "Yes," I replied, "but I don't see it at this time of 

 year." "You can have it as well now as in au- 

 tumn," said he. So he told me how to have hom- 

 iny all the year round. 



Take your corn and put it into water at night 

 just so as to wet it, take it out immediately, and 

 the next day tell your miller to grind you some 

 hominy. That is all. As this may be new to 

 some, 1 give it for the benefit of every lover of 

 hominy. 



While looking over my orchard to-day I have 

 been reflecting on the subject of 



SPRING PRUNING, 



which I have practiced in the same orchard for 

 thirteen years past. My conclusions are these. If 

 a tree is pruned in spring, it will certainly bleed 

 and be of little value. Exceptions to this may 

 sometimes be seen in trees of a vigorous growth 

 when the leaves seem to elaborate all the sap and 

 they do not bleed. But how is it when the 

 wounds are protected ? Formerly I covered the 

 wounds with grafting wax, but the wood is liable 

 to rot beneath in l.\rge trees, and I now paint 

 them with yellow or red ochre and linseed oil, and 

 the wood becomes hard and heals readily. Are 

 there any physiological effects different in their 



