1862. 



NEAV ENGLAND FARMER. 



565 



elements too familiarly known to need further re- 

 mark. 



The facts, then, thus far seem to be : 

 1st. That fatty substances are the great source 

 of animal heat. 



2d. They are, properly speaking, fuel rather 

 than food. 



3d. The demand being suspended in summer, 

 their presence in the system can only be detri- 

 mental, either from over heat, if the combustion 

 necessary to their elimination goes on, or from 

 debility of the surcharged organs, if it does not. 



These deductions of science are fully coi'robo- 

 rated by the indications of nature. 



1st. As a general law, fat accumulated in ani- 

 mals in the fall, is consumed in winter, leaving 

 them thin or lean on the approach of warm 

 weather. 



2d. The time of man's laying in his store of 

 winter subsistence is precisely that of the fatness 

 of animals. 



3d. The appetite or relish for animal food in- 

 creases in the fall, continues during winter, and 

 passes away on the approach of summer. 



4th. Milk and butter are most abundant, and 

 of best quality, in the fall, the butter of spring 

 being distasteful, and the milk mostly needed to 

 supply the young of the animals. 



From these considerations we conclude : 

 1st. That in cold weather fat is not only a prop- 

 er but a necessary article of food. 



2d. That lean meat and vegetables having a 

 much inferior heat-sustaining power, a due amount 

 of fat is the cheapest food for winter, especially 

 for those much exposed to cold. 



3d. On the return of summer its use should be 

 discontinued, as being both needless and injuri- 

 ous. 



4th. In all inflammatory diseases, milk, butter, 

 cakes and pastry made with butter or lard, and 

 fat meats, having, from their heating powers, a 

 tendency to increase the inflammation, should be 

 entirely discarded. 



Having examined the requirements of food ne- 

 cessary to enable the system to meet the increas- 

 ing cold, we are the better prepared to understand 

 what may be necessary to prepare the system to 

 meet the alternation of heat. 



Whenever the temperature daily increases or 

 decreases, so that the system is more and more 

 taxed to maintain its exact equilibrium, addition- 

 al material will be required, of one kind or other, 

 as the case may be, to sustain this new expendi- 

 ture of vital force. In the autumn we found a 

 special supply and a correspondent appetite. In 

 spring we may justly look for similar indications 

 in both external nature and ourselves. As the 

 one was food of calorific properties, so the other 

 should be food of a cooling nature. 



The productions of spring and summer are sal- 

 ads, fruits, vegetables, and the cereals, of which 

 the two latter classes ripen so late as to bring 

 their consumption in the cool rather than the 

 warm season, leaving as the productions of the 

 early summer only the salads and fruits. 



Salads can hardly be considered as nutritious 

 productions, but as they are the first departure 

 from winter food, and are, therefore, the precurs- 

 or of the more general change to follow, they 

 cannot be omitted. We shall include under this 



well as salads proper, both being the early shoots 

 or foliage of any innoxious vegetable — eaten raw, 

 if tender and tasteless ; otherwise, boiled, to soft- 

 en its texture and remove its unpalatable juices. 



Salads consist of little more than uncorapacted 

 cellulose, the various oils and acids peculiar to 

 each plant not yet having been to any extent elab- 

 orated. The first thing to be remarked of the 

 whole class of salads is, that they are seldom eat- 

 en without vinegar. Indeed, it is questionable 

 whether the vinegar is not essential to a salad — 

 whether most salads without the vinegar would 

 not be rejected by the taste. At all events, tak- 

 ing salads as universal taste constitutes them, acid 

 must be considered as a constituent. We have, 

 then, cellulose, acid, and not unfrequently a little 

 sugar added — a compound so nearly resembling 

 fruit as to lead to its examination before proceed- 

 ing further. 



PLOWEB-GARDEIT IN NOVEMBER. 



In November, in our latitude, the flower-garden 

 is not very attractive. Flowers are few in num- 

 ber, and those few look pinched and cold. The 

 pleasure of cultivating them is over for the season, 

 unless, as every lover of flowers will do, a few of 

 the favorite plants have been selected for in-door 

 culture during the winter. Many persons, partic- 

 ularly those somewhat advanced in years, find 

 more actual enjoyment with their plants in winter 

 than in summer ; for in winter they are cultivated 

 in comfortable rooms, with no damp ground under 

 foot to suggest unpleasant thoughts of colds and 

 rheumatism. 



The work out of doors this month will consist 

 in planting spring bulbs Avhere this has not been 

 performed sooner ; in preparing the borders for 

 another season by digging and manuring, being 

 careful to leave the earth rough and loose for the 

 frost to operate upon during the winter ; in trans- 

 planting hardy shnibs and perennials ; in taking 

 up and potting tender roses, and attending to 

 multitudes of little odds and ends, which will al- 

 Avays present themselves at this season. 



Plants in the house will need but little care at 

 this season. Most of them are in a state of rest, 

 not yet having commenced their growth to any 

 great degree. At such times, water must be spar- 

 ingly given them. While in this state they should 

 also be kept as cool as possible, waiting until they 

 have made some progress in growth before bring- 

 ing them into a warmer atmosphere. 



I have generally observed that where ladies 

 have the exclusive care of plants, they are not 

 usually cut back sufficiently when potted, many 

 being left exactly as they were in the ground. I 

 presume this is on account of their tender-heart- 

 edness, which will not allow them to hurt the poor 

 things by so severe a process. But whatever may 

 be the reason, whether this, or because they wish 

 to save a few flowers, it is a mistake in every re- 

 spect, for the plants will grow better, bloom bet- 

 ter, and be more healthy where vigorous pruning 

 is adopted, than when the shoots are left long and 

 straggling. 



Sticks which have been used for tymg plants 

 to in the garden should be gathered up, tied in 

 bundles, and laid away for another season. Dahlia 

 roots should be labelled, packed in sand, and kept 



