238 



XE\Y ENGLAND FARMER. 



Atro. 



On the farm of Mr. Thomas J. Hill, a busi- 1 

 ness man of Providence, I saw some fine exam- j 

 pies of reclaiming, followed by wheat crops that '. 

 will give 40 bushels per acre, and corn, grass, and | 

 other crops in proportion. One field, perhaps of ! 

 20 acres, was partially surrounded by a wall four 

 feet across at the bottom, two feet at the top, faced [ 

 on both sides, and level, the ground being made < 

 nearly so before the wall was built. The founda- ; 

 tion of the wall, I was informed, was three feet 

 deep. The land abounds with flat stones, and 

 some of the cap stones of the wall were sis feet 

 in length. He intends to continue it round the 

 entire field. It is about five feet high. 



On the eleventh, I saw a large party giitliering 

 peas in the field, and numerous clover fields were 

 in full bloom, none of which had I seen at home ' 

 a day or two before. The climate is 10 or 15 days 

 earlier, I think, than that north or west of Boston, , 

 and is greatly affected by the large body of water ; 

 in Narraganset Bay, which sends its humid and \ 

 warm air ashore. 



After seeing this beautiful farming country, in | 

 the midst of markets, schools, churches, and from , 

 any portion of which one can go forth and reach ! 

 some 20 or 30 cities in the course of 24 hours, I 

 cannot conscientiously advise persons who are | 

 seeking to establish homes on farms to go to the ' 

 West, or even into Virginia, when rebel raids have ' 

 ceased, and sweet peace sits serenely again over \ 

 our land. Settling in Rhode Island would not | 

 take one from New England customs and influen- ' 

 ces, while it would give him good markets in the 

 neighboring cities or among the manufacturers, 

 excellent land to cultivate, with rare facilities for 

 securing manures, and a climate superior to that , 

 of a large portion of the rest of New England. ' 

 At some future time I hope to visit the two eastern ' 

 counties, and fish, shoot, and have a good time, ; 

 as I have sometimes had many years since. In ' 

 the meantime, I am, gentlemen, ] 



Very truly yours, Semox Browx. i 

 Messrs. Xouese, Eatox & Tolhas. j 



For the yew En slari'l Farmer. \ 

 A CORM" BAKN— PEESEEVTNG HAMS, j 

 Mr. Editor : — I find in your ever welcome and ! 

 instructive journal, quite a number of plans in re- j 

 gard to a corn barn ; I have not seen any mention | 

 made of a plan adopted by myself, to escape from j 

 rats and mice, which has proved effective for many i 

 years, and is ver\- simple, and of scarce any ex- j 

 pense. Erect the barn, no matter what dimen- ; 

 sions, (which of course will depend upon the 

 amount of crops.) upon posts, leaving a space be- j 

 tween the ground and the floor of four feet. Cover i 

 the tops of the posts with tin, (or zinc is prefera- , 

 ble,) a depth of six inches, and you will never be 

 troubled with rats or mice, unless in a hurry you 

 neglect, in leaving, to shut the door and remove 

 the steps, or ladder, by which you enter. 



I saw the other day, in some journal, a mode 

 for preserving liams. It was to cover the meat 



side of the ham with strong whitewash. Now, 

 that ■«ill keep away vermin sure, but I don't think 

 it will improve, to say the least of it, the flavor of 

 the ham. My method is, to inclose the ham in a 

 bag of canvass, cotton, or old sail cloth, and then 

 thoroughly whitewash the bags with two or three 

 coats, drying between each application, and then 

 suspend in an airy place, with the hock end down. 

 I have taken hams thus prepared on voyages of 

 thirty odd months, to the Pacific and back, and 

 twenty-nine months on the coast of Africa, with- 

 out losing a single one, save in manner and form, 

 duly provided for by the statute in such case made 

 and provided. j. c. R. 



Fort Preble, June, 1863. 



F:-T the Sew England Farmer. 

 GOOfG TO MAHKET. 



"It costs nothing, but it goes a great ways," 

 said some one, referring to the kind civilities of a 

 thoroughly well-bred and polite person. 



Do any of my lady readers remember then- first 

 experiment in "going to market ?" Now, lest 

 some one may misapprehend entirely my meaning 

 by the term "going to market," lest some fair citj- 

 lady may suppose I mean stepping into a city 

 market, and ordering various nice little parcels 



sent to No. — , D Street, for dinner, I will at 



once explain. I mean simply this : 



A country farmer's -wife may decide that, for 

 wise and sufficient reasons, she will go to the 

 town or city with the "horse or wagon" and she 

 will take upon herself the sole responsibility of dis- 

 posing, to the best of her ability, of such articles 

 as may be ready for sale ; the products of the dairy, 

 say. 



"Well, what of that ?" says one. "We know 

 that women do so, but dear me, they are always 

 such a coarse, countrified set, that it is quite shock- 

 ing to be in a store when these market women 

 come in, although I admit they are sometimes quite 

 amusing, quite a study, like the garbage gather- 

 ers and fish women of Paris." 



With becoming ^perseverance we decided one 

 fine day in the month of that the next morn- 

 ing, circumstances permitting, should find us at 

 an early hour on our way to the city of, "go- 

 ing to market," for the first time. If a military 

 general has his misgivings when appi-oaching the 

 enemy to gire battle, is it strange that we should 

 have ours — two women approaching, for the first 

 time, a strange place, on business new and un- 

 tried ? One consolation for us, nobody knows 



us in , and if we are "green," and those who 



patronize us are disposed to be uncivil or rude, 

 because we, instead of our "better half," have 

 come to market, we won't know them ; they won't 

 know us ; "we'll grin and bear it." Is not there 

 a comfortable feeling of independence in knowing 

 no one, no one knowing you in a strange place ? 

 Did you ever feel it ? If you have, you under- 

 stand it. 



With some little timidity, but we hope with be- 

 coming dignity, we inquire of the trader, in the 



first store we enter, if he would like some ? 



A cautious glance assui-ed us that one or two cus- 

 tomers present, regarded us, not with contempt, 

 but perhaps a little curiosity ; of course, we knew 

 we were somewhat verdant, and how could it be 

 otherwise ? But the pleasant face of the trader 

 assured us that we should certainly meet with no 



