178 



NEW EXGLAXD FARMER. 



JUJTE 



The objection which A. makes in his communi- 

 cation to agricultural addresses being delivered 

 by professional men, -who, perhaps, have had no 

 experience themselves iu farming, probably will 

 not be made a few years hence, as the ministers, 

 doctors and lawyers of the coming generation 

 will have acquired in their boyhood, at our "com- 

 mon schools," a thorough and practical knowledge 

 of the science of "agriculture." 



Much more might be said upon the subject of 

 farmers' fairs, but I will close with a single (and 

 perchance some will say, singular) suggestion. 

 The farmers of a State, county, or even town, 

 combine together and contribute more or less 

 money for the purpose of forming a common fund, 

 a portion of which is paid to those who raise the 

 best cattle and horses, pigs and poultry. 



Now, Mr. Editor, would it not be well for them 

 to offer premiums for the finest babies, the best 

 boys and girls, and thus not only add a new fea- 

 ture to their exhibitions, but also encourage the 

 production of more perfect specimens of humanity ? 



Leominste); Dec., 1862. a. c. w. 



F'jt the yete England Farmer, 

 IiESSOISrS AWAY FKOM THE BOOKS, 

 Messrs. Editors : — In my communication of 

 Feb. 16, I proposed giving you a statement of my 

 attempts to instruct my pupils, in Agricultural 

 pursuits, icithout books. My school was large, 

 and studies various, of course, but still, I found 

 hours, every week, for miscellaneous instruction, 

 such as I thought adapted for preparing my pupils 

 the better to comprehend their prospective course i 

 of school lessons. This instruction was given in ; 

 the form of conversations on various topics — as, 

 for instance, the habits and customs of different | 

 nations and ti-ibes of men, their different institu- , 

 tions, laws,religions and governments. History of 

 discoveries of new continents and countries ; — Out- 

 lines of our own history, — Biography, Whale-fish- ' 

 eiy, &c., &c. But whatever topic was introduced, : 

 whether the oil wells of Pennsylvania and Kanawha, 

 — the great coal fields of the Western States, — the I 

 copper regions of Lake Superior, — the great Red i 

 River of the Xorth, or the gold diggings of Call- 1 

 fomia, we always had attentive listeners. " But 

 by doing so," inquires my anxiously-concerned 

 fellow-educator, " did you not take off the minds ; 

 of your pupils from their regular daily exercises f \ 

 To he sure I did, and that was the verj- thing I : 

 wished to do. Tired with enthusiasm, their mental i 

 energies on the stretch so many hours in the recita- 

 tion room they should have the string cut, the j 

 bow relaxed, and all the better it would carry for 

 it the next day. 



I now had the attention of my pupils, and the 

 moment the season would permit, we were abroad 

 in the open fields for knowledge. Here we learn- 

 ed the names and characters of the simple miner- 

 als which enter into the composition of the com- 

 mon rocks. Here we observed the characteristics 

 of the great Granitic and Gneiss formations, 

 which appear to constitute the foundation on 

 which all the other masses of rocks and soUs rest. 

 Here we tried to comprehend something of the 

 wonderful theory of the earth, by examining the 

 evidences which have led to the belief of a great 

 central mass of melted matter which has forced 

 up mountain ranges, and which gives action to 

 the volcanic fires. Here, too, we learned that the 



soil on which we tread, and which sustains the 

 growth of the vast forests, — the shrubs, plants, 

 grains and grasses which clothe and beautify the 

 earth, consists mainly of the minute particles of 

 pulverized rock. The book which we were study- 

 ing was the great, full volume, in fair type, which 

 lay along every pathway we trod, — and although 

 we returned from our rambles pretty heavily 

 weighed down by our full haversacks of mineral 

 specimens from the mountain crags, and often 

 weary, if it did not give us all the greatest amount 

 of good, it surely did us no harm. We were pre- 

 paring for a full, systematic course of training in 

 some subsequent terms. 



Now, without presuming to dictate with refer- 

 ence to the teacher's duties, 1 will say that who- 

 e.er will try some such course with his pupils in 

 the open fields, two or three times a week, or 

 once, even, will be amply paid for his efibrts — in 

 health, in happiness, in invigorated energies, of 

 both his inner and his outer self, to say nothing 

 of the consciousness he has of adopting a culture 

 that will ultimately yield, not simply forty or 

 sixty, but a good round hundred fold ! In my 

 next, I will endeavor to give you the sum and 

 substance of just one single out of door lesson. 

 A Teacher abroad. 



Northampton, March 16, 1863. 



Remarks. — We shall look for it with interest. 



Fi>r the Netr Ena^and Farmer. 

 HOW TO MAKE AN" AQUEDUCT. 



Mr. Editor : — In the Farmer of the 14th iust. 

 Mr. S. Stanford, of Irasburg, Vt., wishes for advice 

 as to constructing an aqueduct for conveying wa- 

 ter of seventy-five feet head. He wishes to know 

 whether it would be better to use logs, (and if so, 

 of what kinds of timber,) or mortar made of hy- 

 draulic cement and sand. I think it would be 

 better to make it of logs, as the pressure of the 

 water would be so great, — over 32 lbs. to the 

 square inch,-^or for a bore of one, two and three 

 inches, respectivelv, in diameter, the outward pres- 

 sure would be more than 1200, 2400 and 3600 lbs. 

 to each foot of length. 



As to the kind of timber, I think pine one of 

 the best. Spruce or hemlock would answer. 

 They should be unseasoned, and the bark taken 

 off. To cause them to be more durable, lay them 

 deep in the ground. — say five or six feet, and pud- 

 dle around them with clay. As to connecting 

 such logs, I think a good way is to saw the ends 

 square across ; then, to prevent the ends from 

 splitting, in coupling, use bars made of thin iron, 

 and drive them into the end of the log — one of 

 its edges sharp, and in diameter about one-half 

 that of the log. For coupling the ends of the 

 logs, use cast iron tubes, — the bore the same as 

 that of the logs, and in length a little more than 

 three times the diameter of the bore, — the out- 

 side tapering from near the middle to their ends, 

 with a screw thread cast on the outside of each 

 end, — one right handed, the other left handed; 

 the thread to lean towards the ends of the tube 

 like the screw of a twisted augur, that is made to 

 bore lengthwise of wood. When the logs are 

 placed lengthwise in the ditch, end near to end, 

 these connecting tubes can be screwed in with 

 "pinch-tongs," clasping these tubes around at the 

 middle of their length. Amos Fish. 



Bethlehem, N. P., 1863. 



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