1863. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



109 



described by Mr. Allex, corresponds to that up- 

 on other animals, and ever}* farmer who is observ- 

 ing will soon make the discovery for himself. The 

 superior quality of the sea island cotton proba- 

 bly arises from the peculiar circumstances under 

 which it grows, — that is, having a rich soil in 

 which to stand, and a icann but humid atmosphere 

 during nearly the whole period of its growth. 

 The saline vapors from the sea may have an in- 

 fluence upon the plant, as they are said to have 

 upon the sheep. Its culture has been attempted 

 in various countries and localities, but never, we 

 believe, with such success as attends it on the 

 coast of South Carolina and Georgia. 



It is said that the fleece of a fine-wooled sheep 

 may be changed into that of coarse wool, and then 

 hair, by a change of feed and locality — from high- 

 ly nutritious food and a warm or temperate cli- 

 mate, to coarse and non-nutritious food and a 

 rigid climate, — that is, nature tries to accommo- 

 date the animal to the new condition in which it 

 finds itself placed. 



If these are facts, they should be guides to the 

 farmer in the management of his flocks. He 

 should learn, by comparison, whether his locality 

 and the quality of his feed will bring as much 

 mutton and wool as those flocks kept in other lo- 

 calities \\'ithin his knowledge. If not, then he 

 should change his position, or abandon sheep for 

 the culture of some other crop better adapted to 

 his circumstances. 



For the !\'eic England Farmer. 

 LETTEK FKOM MH. FKENCH. 



Washinyton, I). C, Feb. 6, 1863. 



My Dear Mr. Browx : — My old habit of re- 

 porting progress to the N. E. Farmer, in my wan- 

 derings, prompts me to say something to you of 

 what I see and hear in this central position of po- 

 litical affairs, although I have no idea of occupying 

 any of your open space with politics. Do not in- 

 fer, however, that I join in the silly, common-place 

 cry against politics and politicians. The great 

 mistake of the country is, that we have not given 

 attention enough to education in political aff'airs ; 

 but still, my belief is, that our country is as well 

 governed, and its affairs as honestly administered, 

 as "the lot of humanity wll admit." If each of 

 us wiU do his best, instead of grumbling at the 

 rest, all will yet go well. 



THE SOLDIERS. 



Most of my time here has been devoted to look- 

 ing after the welfare of the soldiers. The officers 

 of the Sanitary Commission and of the Massachu- 

 setts and New Hampshire Relief Associations, 

 have given me every faciUty for observing their 

 operations, and I will say, in general, that I am 

 surprised to find how perfect and thorough their 

 systems have become, in affording relief to the 

 suffering soldiers. 



THE UNITED STATES SANITARY COMMISSION. 



It may be a satisfaction to your readers, all of 

 whom have friends in this war, to understand 

 clearly the scope of the operations of the various 



institutions for the comfort of our brave defend- 

 ers. The Sanitary Commission operates widely 

 over the whole country, not limiting its benefits 

 to any class or section. In general, its immenbe 

 stores, collected from every loyal part of the Union, 

 are distributed, upon requisitions from the vari- 

 ous hospitals. Whenever a battle occurs, this com- 

 mission is foremost on the field, with supplies of 

 all kinds for the rehef of the wounded and suffer- 

 ing. In Washington I have had opportunity to 

 observe more particularly its operations, and when 

 I tell you that Mr. Olmstead, author of "Walks 

 and Talks," of "Seaboard and Slave States," and 

 chief engineer of the New York Central Park, is 

 general Secretary, you may be sure that its affairs 

 are fiiithfully and energetically administered. 



I should "like, had we space, to give vou a full 

 .sketch of a day with Mr. Knapp, the agent of the 

 Commission for special relief. Among the rest, 

 we visited some of the Lodges, which are indeed 

 homos for the soldiers, where every deserving 

 man, who wears his country's uniform, is welcomed 

 to food and lodgings. Some two hundred soldiers 

 are daily discharged from the armies in this neigh- 

 borhood, many of them from the convalescent 

 camp, which is about four m;l<^s from Washington. 

 Most of these are sick or wounded, and nearly all 

 of them came directly here. 



In general they have no money nor friends, and 

 would wander, suffering, in the streets, without 

 some assistance. To these the Sanitary Commit- 

 tee brings instant aid ; every soldier who is dis- 

 charged is directed to its rooms. The police of 

 the city, and other agents, ai-e constantly on the 

 watch to report every case of a soldier who needs 

 assistance, so that it is hardly possible that any 

 should escape notice. At the lodges, usually, two 

 or three hundred, every night, find comfortable 

 beds, and twice that number are daily furnished 

 with a good dinner, and sent on their- way. I 

 helped one day to distribute dinner tickets to 

 about two hundred and fifty poor fellows, who had 

 been discharged, and were waiting, most of them, 

 for their pay, before going to their homes ; and a 

 more truly thankful set of men I never saw. 



I conversed with many from New York, Penn- 

 sylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan and all New Eng- 

 land. They were all good, manly fellows, intelli- 

 gent and thoughtful, and all full of pleasant anti- 

 cipations of home. The Sanitary Commission as- 

 sists them to get their proper discharges, and to 

 receive their pay, procures their tickets homeward 

 at reduced prices, keeps them safely at the 

 "Home," near the railroad station, till the train is 

 ready, protects them from the sharpers and 

 thieves, who are constantly hunting them down, 

 and sees them fiiirly on board the cars. You may 

 thus get some idea of the usefulness of this com- 

 mission, in some details, though of its vast system 

 of aid to the hospitals throughout the couutrv-, I 

 have not time to write. K the Sanitary Commis- 

 sion had funds enough, and its system could be 

 carried out, no other society would be necessary 

 to the care of the soldiers, but with all that it can 

 do, there is yet room for more laborers, and among 

 the agencies for good to the soldier, no one is 

 more efficient than 



THE MASSACHUSETTS SOLDIERS' RELIEF AS- 

 SOCIATION, 



The special duties of this society are towards 

 Massachusetts soldiefs. Its rooms here are sup- 



