1862. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



549 



smile and kiss of welcome, backed by a nice din-* 

 ner or tea all ready and waitina^, believe me, un- 

 less he is love-proof, he will come down from his 

 lofty pinnacle of sternness, and mef-t you with an 

 answering smile, and the meal will pass ofl' pleas- 

 antly. 



Learn, then, to have everything done in season, 

 and the only way to do so is to commence what- 

 ever you have to do, early. Don't sit and read, 

 or even sew, till you feel the time is passing where- 

 in you know you ought to be getting dinner. No, 

 no ! gee the dinner, and then improve the remain- 

 ing time in reading, writing, playing or sewing, 

 just as suits you best, and do so with an easy con- 

 science. 



If you attend to this little point, believe me, 

 you will save many sighs and tears, many lament- 

 ings and repinings, and will live a far happier life, 

 than in indulging in a dilatory process of living. 



It is woman's duty to make home as happy as 

 possible, to remove all just cause of complaint, 

 and to be the bearer, rather than the doer of 

 wrong, and no one thing will tend more to pro- 

 mote domestic harmony than strict ])unctuality in 

 everything appertaining to household affairs. 



Try it, and see if my words are not true. 



West Amesbunj, Oct., 1862. Sarah. 



For the New England Farmer, 

 AGRICULTURE IN" COMMON SCHOOLS. 



Mr Editor : — Your learned and respected cor- 

 respondent, "More Anon," seems to be sadly af- 

 flicted in the use of language without accomplish- 

 ing any precise or definite object, or casting one 

 ray of light on the question at issue. It is not my 

 province to dictate to him how he shall write upon 

 this, or upon any other subject ; but it is my right 

 to suggest to him, that, if he expects me to re- 

 ply to him, he must say something bearing on the 

 merits of the question ; in other words, he must 

 answer the objections which I have already made, 

 and those which I may hereafter make, to the 

 study of agriculture in our common schools. 



It is in vain for him to pretend, as he does, that 

 he has answered my objections already "in the 

 Farmer of August 30th." And he adds, "To this 

 refutation of the objections of Mi". G. in the Farm- 

 er of August 30th, iie has not yet seen fit to reply." 

 In the article of August oOth, there is no answer 

 to the three objections which I had made. I 

 need not repeat these objections here, because in 

 my reply I stated them at length ; but this I will 

 saV, he has not answered them, because he cannot 

 answer them, and moreover, I have reason to be- 

 lieve, he will not make the attempt. 



It is vastly easier for him to deliver a long and 

 leai'ned lecture on agricultural text-books, and tell 

 us, poor ignorant souls, what Prof. J. A. Nash has 

 said and done upon the subject, and what the 

 learned gentleman himself has said and done about 

 it, and what several other wiseacres have said and 

 done, who have had "axes to grind" for their own 

 private use and benefit ; it is vastly easier, I say, 

 for him to fill up a long communication in this 

 way, than to meet and grapple with the real rug- 

 ged question, "Can agriculture be successfully 

 taught in our common schools, without doing more 

 harm than good ?" The gentleman is called upon 

 to meet and answer this question — to meet and 



answer my three objections fairly and fully, and 

 to the satisfaction of the public — to meet and an- 

 swer each objection separately, so that the ques- 

 tion may stand on its own merits, and not on the 

 ^'ipae dixit" of any one. When he does this, or 

 attempts to do it, he will be sure to receive a re- 

 spectful reply from me. I insist upon it, that the 

 gentleman shall show, or attempt to show ; 1, that 

 agriculture, in all its multifarious branches and 

 departments, can be successfully taught in our 

 common schools, without detriment to the schools ; 

 2, that all our teachers, male and female, both in 

 summer and in winter, are amply qualified, and 

 have all the means and appliances to teach it the- 

 oretically and practically ; and 3, that all our com- 

 mon scliool scholars are capable of understanding 

 and reducing it to practice. 



Let "More Anon" stand up and face the music, 

 and not back down from what he has undertaken. 

 John Goldsbury. 



WarioicJc, October 14, 1862. 



PREPARE FOR WINTER. 

 Many farmers too long delay the necessary 

 preparations for winter. In this cold and change- 

 able climate, it shows a great want of propei- fore- 

 sight and economy to neglect such repairs and 

 preventives as will secure shelter and warmth 

 for themselves and their stock, and tend to the 

 preservation of the harvests of every kind which 

 have been secured. A board off, or a pane or two 

 of glass gone here and there, may prove the loss 

 of young and tender animals, or of a portion of 

 the potatoes, roots or apples which have been 

 stored away. In such case there is a double loss 

 — a loss of the property itself and of the labor 

 which produced it, and to which is to be added the 

 inconvenience of supplying a like amount, if it be 

 absolutely required for wintering out the stock. 



But this is not all. If the places where animals 

 are kept are windy and damp, a large amount of 

 the food that would otherwise go to increase the 

 bulk of the carcass is consumed in making good 

 the waste induced in meeting the large demand 

 for animal heat. It is said by those who have given 

 special attention to this matter, that from one- 

 fourth to one-third more food is required to keep 

 up the proper amount of animal heat, for an ani- 

 mal exposed to the cold, than is required for one 

 that is protected from the elements by proper 

 shelter. 



So with regard to the house. A day or two 

 spent in making all tight about the underpinning, 

 in supplying whole, for broken glass, and in mak- 

 ing the ledges about the windows so close as to 

 prevent them from rattling, or admitting the wind 

 — and similar attention given to the doors — will 

 save considerable expense in the amount of fuel 

 required during the winter, and greatly promote 

 the comfort and happiness of the family. No barn 

 or house can be kept warm at a moderate cost, 

 where the wind is allowed to pass freely under the 



