42 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Feb. 



joy more of life's blessings, than fall to the lot of 

 those engaged in most other pursuits. 



No man should enter the ranks of agriculture, 

 lured hither by the sole desire of amassing dollars. 

 It is a remark of our own great nation's father, 

 that "Agriculture is the most noble, healthy and 

 useful employment of man," and it is certainly 

 the part of wisdom and prudence not to give up 

 wisdom and happiness for power, A sound mind 

 in a sound body, is more to be prized than deeds, 

 bonds and mortgages, and the crust of bread and 

 the pearly draught in the maple bowl of the stu- 

 dent of nature, more salutary and refreshing than 

 the luxuries that burden the table of the epicure. 



If content to restrict his wants within the lim- 

 its of judicious expenditures, the same qualities 

 of mind and heart that secure success in other 

 professions, will enable the husbandman to obtain, 

 if not wealth and luxury, at least a competency, 

 and cause him to feel that he has not been mere- 

 ly a cumberer of the ground. One of the results 

 of a more liberal dissemination of ideas opposed 

 to the old notions that have so long hampered the 

 spirit of improvement, and a pleasant indication 

 of progress, is to be seen in the superior style of 

 our farm buildings. The new house is generally 

 better than its predecessor, indicating that the 

 owner, or his architect, has studied Downing, or 

 consulted some other competent author in the 

 construction of his home. And while the true 

 man is mindful of his own comfort and conve- 

 nience, he will also be mindful of the comfort and 

 ■well-being of the animals committed to his charge. 

 "A merciful man is merciful to his beast." Con- 

 siderations of economy, as well as of common 

 humanity, should lead to the protection and ef- 

 ficient shelter, during cold weather, of every ani- 

 mal on the farm. The barns and stables should 

 be warm and comfortable at all seasons, and es- 

 pecially in winter. An ox or cow, properly pro- 

 tected from the cold, will require much less food 

 to sustain it in a healthy and thriving condition, 

 than will be required when the animal is exposed. 



"The vital heat must be kept up to a certain 

 point — about 100 degrees — and this is done by 

 the food consumed — one use of which has been 

 compared to fuel burned in the animal organism 

 to sustain the required temperature. A sheltered 

 position tends to keep up the animal heat, while 

 exposure reduces it, or rather renders moi-e food 

 or luel requisite for its support. 



For the New England Farmer. 



CULTURE OF FLAX. 



You recommend the raising of flax, Mr. Edi- 

 tor. Will you please to give us some light upon 

 this subject? In the first place, where can we 

 get the seed, and at what expense ? What kind 

 of soil and in what condition is best adapted to it ? 

 How much seed to the acre, and at what time to 



be sown? What shall be done with it when 

 gx'own ? Shall it be peeled by the hand, 

 spread and dried upon the ground, bound like 

 oats, stowed away in the barn, to be subsequently 

 threshed, and then spread upon the grass to rot, 

 by exposure to alternate sun and rain ? Or shall it 

 be cut with a scythe or cradle, and when dried, 

 the seed threshed out and pressed for oil ? This 

 is the process in Ohio, where much of il is raised. 

 Of the stalk no account is made. It iit almost as 

 useless as tobacco stalks, which poise n the soil 

 that has nurtured them, while the stems and leaves 

 are doing a like mischievous office in human 

 stomachs. 



But as the flax, the fibrous covering of the stalk, 

 is what is now most needed, and modern inven- 

 tion claims to teach how to make it useful, I sup- 

 pose the producer is either to be taught how to 

 reduce the crude material to "flax cotton," or to 

 be furnished with a market at remunerative prices. 



Fifty years ago, flax was thought to be indis- 

 pensable in the domestic economy of every New 

 England family. Our fathers knew how to grow, 

 pull, thresh, "rot," break, hatchel and swingle flax ; 

 and our mothers knew equally well how to card, 

 and spin and weave the precious article, manufac- 

 turing therefrom bed and table linen, and a great 

 variety of needful and ornamental articles, upon 

 which good and prudent housewives were wont to 

 pride themselves. 



Now, if you can give such information as is 

 needed upon this subject through the Farmer, you 

 will confer a favor upon some who would like to 

 try the experiment, and may promote the public 

 weal. K. B. H. 



Amherst, Jan., 1863. 



Remarks. — We have recently written an arti- 

 cle on the subject of flax, which, with one from a 

 correspondent, will fully answer your questions. 



A LOOK AT SOME FINE STOCK. 



We had a call, the other day, from an old ac- 

 quaintance, P. M. Jones, Esq., of Amherst, N. 

 H., who invited us to go and look at a "Icetle pig," 

 which he sold to a gentleman in this city about 

 one year ago. We went with him, and found his 

 pigship taking a nap after a hearty dinner of sweet 

 corn meal and water. He did not seem to relish 

 the gentle pokings of his keeper to get him upon 

 his legs, so that we might have a better view of 

 his comely proportions. Aroused at length, how- 

 ever, and upon his feet, in size he was about 

 equal to a whole drove of common porkers kneaded 

 into one ! In shape, he is very symmetrical ; small 

 head, short snout, ears small, thin, and lopped ; 

 legs slender, skin soft, and eyes bright and small, 

 and altogether one of the most splendid candidates 

 for the bean-pot and a dish of ham and eggs that 

 we ever heard grunt ! 



Mr. Jones came into possession of the breed in 

 1849. He went on board a ship in New York 

 harbor to look at a freight of railroad iron, and 

 while there saw a sow pig which one of the sailors 

 told him he had brought from England, for a per- 



