1863. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



281 



EXTRACTS AND REPLIES. 



ABOUT KAI8ING WATBR. 



■Will you or some correspondent of yonr valuable 

 magazine, the Xeio Enqland Farmer, pive me infor- 

 mi»r:on with regard to the best means of raising water 

 from a well 28 feet deep ? It furnishes water for the 

 kitchen and also enough for the barn, and I would 

 like a pump that would throw water the fastest and 

 easiest way, and one that would be cheap and durable. 

 Advice with regard to it will l)c gratefully received by 

 an old subscriber, in the August number. 



Lowell, July 22, 1863. A Subscriber. 



WEIGHT OF SEEDS, &C., SENT BY MAIL. 



"We have received the following notice of an impor- 

 tant modification of the new postage law : 



The fifth subdivision of the 42d instruction under 

 the new Post-ofilce law is hereby amended by striking 

 out the word txcelre and inserting thirty-tico before the 

 word ounces, so that it shall read as follows : The 

 weight of packages of seeds, cuttings, roots and scions 

 to be franked, i-: limited to thirty-two ounces. 



By order of the Postmaster-General, 



Alexander W. Randall, 

 First Assistant Postmaster-General. 



For the \etr Eni;land Farmer. 

 METEOROLOGICAL RECORD. 



May. — These observations are taken for and un- 

 der the direction of the Smithsonian Institution. 



The average temperature of May was 59° ; 

 average midday temperature, 67°. The corres- 

 ponding figures for May, 1862, were 59° and 69°. 

 AYarmest day, the 22d, averaging 77° ; coldest 

 day, the 7th, averaging 38°. Highest tempera- 

 ture, 90° ; lowest do., 37°. 



Average height of mercury in the barometer, 

 29.23 inches ; do. for May, 1862, 29.21 inches. 

 Highest daily average, 29.41 inches, on the 27th; 

 lowest do., 28.74 inches, on the 2d. Range of 

 mercury from 28.69 inches to 29.44 inches. Rain 

 fell on "ten days ; snow on one day. Amount of 

 rain and melted snow, 8.02 inches ; do. of snow, 

 2 inches. Corresponding figures for May, 1862, 

 rain, 1.74 inches — no snow. There were five en- 

 tirely clear days, on four days the sky was en- 

 tirely overcast. 



A snow storm occurred on the 6th. The winds 

 during the month were rather stronger than usual. 



June. — The average temperature of June was 

 65° ; average midday temperature, 72°. The cor- 

 responding figures for June, 1862, were 62° and 

 70°. Wannest day, the 28th, averaging 77° ; cold- 

 est day, the 17th, averaging 56°. Highest tem- 

 perature, 88° ; lowest do., 50°. 



Average iieight of mercury in the barometer, 

 29.18 inches; do. for June, "l862, 29.18 inches. 

 Highest daily average, 29.44 inches, on the 25th ; 

 lowest do., 28.75 inches, on the 1st. Range of 

 mercury from 28.70 inches to 29.48 inches. Rain 

 fell on nine days; amount of rain, 1.45 inches; 

 thirteen rainy days and 5.14 inches of rain during 

 June, 1862. 



There were no entirely clear days ; there was no 

 day during which the sky was entirely overcast. 

 During June, 1862, there was no clear day, but 

 there were six entirely overcast. 



Amoiuit of rain, March, April, May and June, 

 11.11 inches; do. same months, 1862, 12.85 inch- 

 es. The early drought of this year will be re- 

 membered. 'I'he total fidl of rain this year and 

 last do not differ much ; while the diff'erence be- 

 tween the iiinuunt in the month of June this year 

 and 1 -t i>^ '•'■•ii ;rk-'ble. 



The barometrical comparison above will be not- 

 ed with interest. 



Every crop, except hay and fruit, promises un- 

 usually well in this vicinity. The hay crop, if 

 well secured, will fall but little below the average 

 in intrinsic value. There will be no fruit of con- 

 sequence. A. c. 



Claremont, N. E., July 16, 1863. 



Fur the New England Farmer. 

 DEVELOFTiIElS'T OF RESOURCES THE 

 PARENT OP CIVILIZATION. 



Unlike the lower animals, man is a progressive 

 being. The first bird's nest or beaver's dam was 

 undoubtedly constructed with as much skill as any 

 at the present day, and the faculties of mind which 

 these creatures bring to bear in their mechanical 

 operations are merely instinctive, and are just as 

 much a part of themselves as any part of their 

 physical organization. Consequently, they and 

 their habits remain alike unchanged, age after age. 

 Not so with man. Born into the world the most 

 helpless and least instinctive of all God's crea- 

 tures, he requires paternal care to lead him on, 

 until his faculties become developed to a degree 

 such as to enable him to clothe, feed and shelter 

 himself He is then enabled to meet the trials of 

 life, and beginning where his predecessors left off, 

 progress upward and onward in that endless ca- 

 reer of human iiDprovement which makes the civ- 

 ilization of one age, the barbarism of the future. 



The materials of which the earth is composed, 

 with all its productions and surroundings, are one 

 grand mass of raw materials, and out of this mass 

 man develops those resources of which every ele- 

 ment of human civilization is composed, and the 

 state of society of any people is determined by 

 the extent to which this development is carried. 

 This mass comprises everything, from the immor- 

 tal mind of man, the crowning work of infinite 

 wisdom and power, down to the minutest particle 

 of inert matter, which, after undergoing all the 

 changes incident to unbounded epochs of geolog- 

 ical transformation, may now lie near the surface 

 of the earth, preparing to enter into some plant 

 to help give it that nourishment which causes it 

 to yield itself, or its fruits, to the benefit of man, 

 or perhaps awaits the chances of being brought 

 into some useful position, in coming time. The 

 development of resources being the great means 

 by which all human advancement is made, either 

 in the acquisition of knowledge, wealth or power 

 — in the advancement of humanity in mental or 

 material greatness — in everything worth aspiring 

 for by man, beyond the mere gratification of the 

 present moment, it becomes us, in whatever sphere 

 of life we may be placed, to use every legitimate 

 means for this purpose, to the best possible ad- 

 vantage. 



It is interesting to trace, step by step, the birth 

 and growth of the arts, sciences and literature a;- 

 far as the date which imperfect history gives u.- 

 will permit, and to note the humble and unpre 

 tending origin, of what, at the i)resent day, an 

 among the most important of these. For exam 

 pie, take agriculture. In Eden, the tilhng ami 

 dressing of the garden were the commencement o' 

 this art. Here, the resources of the vogetabh 

 kingdom were first developed by human labor, 

 and whatever, in the degree of perfection to whicl 

 this, the erpntpst of human arts, has no" • <• -nori 



