144 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



May 



for interment, and the little dog following, the 

 only mourner at that funeral, as the hero's com- 

 rades had been called to some other point. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 THE "WICKED TYPE-SETTEKS. 



Mr. Editor : — Is it not at least as bad to make 

 other people tell a fib as to tell it right out square- 

 ly one's self? If it is, the modern type-setters 

 have much to answer for — even yours are not 

 without fault. And perhaps this habit of theirs 

 may show the appropriateness of the customary 

 application to the youngest apprentice, of the name 

 of the "devil," who is "the father of lies." For 

 instance, in the last numl)er of the Fanner, J. S. 

 Ives is made to say that he dug from a lot meas- 

 uring three-fourths of a square rod, 14i bushels of 

 sweet potatoes. This would be more than 18 

 bushels to the square rod, and 2880 bushels, or 

 over 86 tons (ac 60 pounds to the bushel,) per 

 aci'e. Of course Mr. Ives never could have writ- 

 ten such a — story. In the South, 400 or uOO bush- 

 els to the acre "is often raised ;" in Ohio, from 

 100 to 150 bushels is the "usual" crop. In this 

 section, jirobably not so much as that can be relied 

 on. Please caution your type-setters so that we, 

 who want to depend on what the papers tell us, 

 may not be misled into new schemes by extrava- 

 gant stories. 



Again, in the Transactions of the Middlesex 

 Agricultui-al Society for 1862, I perceive that oth- 

 er type-setters have made the respected Chairman 

 of the committee on "Milch Cows — Blood Stock," 

 say, in comparing two cows, that "the value of 

 the milk of Mr. Wheeler's cow, at 3 cents a quart, 

 for thirty days, would exceed that of Mr. Barrett's 

 by $25,20." The difference is said to have been 

 4 quarts a day ; and this, by my arithmetic, at 3 

 cents a quart, for 30 days, comes a good deal short 

 of $25,20. Indeed, the whole milk, given by the 

 best of the cows named, would not, at that price, 

 come to near that sum. Now, friend Lawson never 

 could have made such a mistake ; it must be the 

 fault of the wicked printers, who seem bound to 

 tell big stories. 



Hoping for a reformation among the printers, I 

 remain Yours for the truth, 



JONATUAN DOOLITTLE. 



Elm Lodge, Feb. 16, 1863. 



Remarks. — Neither of the "errors" which our 

 correspondent so facetiously describes, are attribu- 

 table to the "wicked type-setters." On reference 

 to Mr. Ives' letter we find that it was printed "ac- 

 cording to copy." 



By the following note, received since the above 

 was in type, our corresi)ondent will perceive where 

 and what was the mistake he refers to : 



Correction. — In the communication from me 

 on the culture of the sweet potato, I find that the 

 printers or myself have made a slight, but very 

 important mistake. The land measured It rods, 

 instead of | of a rod, as printed. 



Salem, March, 1863. John S. Ives. 



Raspberries. — The Albany Country Qcntleman 

 advertises 500,000 Dool'dUe Raspberries for sale. 

 We think, from the name, that we must have had 

 some of this kind in our own garden. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 OUR UOKTHERN FAKMERS. 



The present state of the country deeply involves 

 the interest of the New England Farmer. The 

 broken circle of many of our homes, by an un- 

 just and outrageous war, and the broken hearts 

 that bleed at the fireside for many of our noble 

 sons, slain in battle, not only tell a tale of woe, 

 but a loss of labor, that will tell in almost every 

 farm home in New England, 



The great corn and wheat States, are decimated 

 in a like ratio. Their bone and muscle, their vig- 

 orous young men, too, are in hospitals, ui camp, 

 or slain, or in the battle field manfully striving and 

 fighting for the salvation of our common country. 

 Here, too, is an immense loss of labor, and the 

 grand question arises, how are we to make up these 

 deficiencies ? The grain growing slave States of 

 Texas, Arkansas, Kentucky, Missouri, North Car- 

 olina, Tennessee and Virginia, must be reduced to 

 straits which they so justly deserve. Their able- 

 bodied white men are in the war. Their slaves 

 will be laggard, sullen and lazy in the field. Their 

 crops must come short. 



The foregoing hints would seem to form a ground 

 work, and teach a lesson to all who till the soil in 

 the New England State, that products of prime 

 necessity must be lessened to an alarming extent 

 by this immense loss of labor, not forgetting that 

 millions are consumers, but not producers ! This 

 terrible lesson of war that we are learning, will not 

 be confined to the high prices of sugar, wool, cot- 

 ton and woolen cloth, tea and coft'ee — but beef, 

 pork, flour, corn and labor are sure to take the 

 upward march in the scale of prices. We shall 

 hear no more of burning ears of corn for fuel, or 

 wheat rotting in the stack in consequence of low 

 prices in the West. 



Wherever the New England Farmer circulates, 

 let it propound questions to its readers — ask the 

 father how many boys are left to till tlie farm ? 

 Laborers will be scarce, the old men and boys 

 must do the work, and, if need be, the generous 

 hand of female labor would be volunteered in some 

 instances, with honor to the sex. In Scotland, 

 last April, I saw some 15 to 20 rollicking young 

 girls spreading manure and planting seed. (A 

 queer sight for a New England eye.) I thought it a 

 praiseworthy occupation in that country, one which 

 is universal in the old world. So in our own great 

 West, females perform a larjje amount of farm la- 

 bor. Dire necessity would only lead me to advo- 

 cate the doctrine of female labor in the field. 



The next question is, the breadth of land, the 

 manure, the cro])s — how much can be worked 

 comfortably ? His manure heap is large as usual, 

 he must plough a less number of acres, perhaps 

 two in place of four ; time is gained in plowing 

 and must be aj)plicd in hauling out the manure, 

 and the happy result will be, larger crops will be 

 gathered from half the number of acres, which a])- 

 plies to every crop ; his land is |)ut in "good heart," 

 and, to his surprise, he has been compelled to learn 

 the first best lesson of his life. Instead of plough- 

 ing, hociug, digging and spreading manure over 

 four or five acres, he has realized tlie same pro- 

 duct from two acres. Mr. Editor, can you endorse 

 this statement ? 



The coming season beckons to the slothful far- 

 mer witli more than usual meaning. His gates 

 may be off the hinges, bars down, the old hat with- 



