1863. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



287 



square foot, we shall see the importance of getting 

 the air in before we can get the stump or rock out. 



I saw in the Cultivator, some time ago, some ob- 

 Bervations of a correspondent who had been seeing 

 things on the farms in Connecticut. Among oth- 

 er things was a machine for pulling rocks. By his 

 description it was Bolles' patent. He went on to 

 say how good it was, but farmers could not get 

 them, because the exorbitant price of $225 was 

 charged for them, when they could be made for 

 $60, and leave a good margin for profit. A man 

 so entirely ignorant of what he was writing, should 

 not have shown it, and make farmers think that 

 he knew, and give the impression that mechanics 

 wei'e asking too much for their work. The fact 

 is, if that man should take three times the amount 

 he named, to build one of tliose machines, he 

 would have "nary a red" or a nickel left when it 

 •was done. No ; we formers get our machines 

 cheap, thanks to the skill of our mechanics, who 

 arrange their shops with such ingenious labor-sav- 

 ing tools, that they can duplicate our implements 

 at a wonderful rate. Add to this, the competition, 

 and we have nothing to complain of. Then, again, 

 farmers ought to know how to calculate the value 

 of labor-saving machines, and designate between 

 the good and worthless. Some farmers plod along 

 and will not use what they call "new-fangled no- 

 tions," when there are implements that save their 

 cost every year for several years. Some men use 

 hand tools, and think they are economical, when, 

 if they had thrown them away long before, it 

 would have shown that they understood economy. 

 I mean those tools that lose their capacity, and 

 which, after a certain amount of wear, should be 

 put aside. It is not economy for a strong man to 

 use a shovel after two inches has been worn off, or 

 any other tool that has lost twenty-five per cent. 

 of its original capacity. Caleb Bates. 



Kingston, July, 1863. 



A^OMEN FABMERS. 



A few weeks since we copied an article written 

 by Miss Delia Roberts, of Pekin, Niagara Co., 

 N. Y., in reply to objections of a correspondent 

 of the Rural New Yorker against women engag- 

 ing in the out-door labor of the farm. A late 

 number of the same journal contains an account, 

 by Mr. Henry Wright, of a visit to the farm of 

 Marvin Roberts, father of Delia from which we 

 copy the following statement of the large amount 

 of labor performed by a fomily of girls : 



From the middle of April to this time (two 

 months) the following work has been done : — One 

 hundred acres of oats have been put in, which now 

 look very promising ; thirty-five acres of flax, and 

 this, at present, bids fair to give a good yield. 

 (There is un establishment for cottoniziufj flax in 

 successful operation at Lockport, ten miles east.) 

 Ten acres of corn ; ten acres of spring wheat ; 

 three acres of potatoes ; four of parsnips and car- 

 rots ; six of beans ; and all the ploughing, har- 

 rowing, sowing, rolling, planting and cultivating 

 necessary to get these crops in and up to their 

 present state, has been done since the middle of 

 April. 



At least one-half of all this labor of getting in 

 these 170 acres of crops has been done by tlie five 

 young daugliters of Mr. and Mrs. Roberts, with 



the help of two hired girls. The eldest of these 

 seven girls is twenty-one, and the youngest twelve 

 years. Meantime, the house- work has been done, 

 mainly, by these girls by turns. They consider it 

 a jirivilege to work out-doors at jjlougliing, and 

 harrowing, and putting in, and tending the crops, 

 rather than work in tlie house. These crops are 

 to be tended and harvested, together with forty 

 acres of hay ; and these girls are expected to do 

 at least one-half of the work. 



Besides all this, 17.3 acres are to be ])loughed 

 this fall, for next year's crops, instead of pluugh- 

 ing in the spring, as they have formerly done ; the 

 largest share of this to be done by these young 

 girls. It is a matter of choice in these Ymikce 

 girls — for Yankee girls they are, by parentage — 

 thus to work on the farm, rather than in factories 

 or at sewing. 



SUNSET AFTEK A SHOWEK. 



Over tlie hill tops, TjI.! upon fold, 



Like blooil-staineii banners within the sWy, 



Braided with crimson, and fringed with gold. 

 In a sea of amber the spent clouds lie. 



Down in the valley the slumb'rous trees 

 Droop, heavily jeweled with fallen rain ; 



And a spicy scented, tremulous breeze 

 In ripples crosses the bending grain. 



The winding river like silver gleams 



Through dreamy vistas that melt and fade ; 



And the sunliglit, filling in slanting beams, 

 Strikes deep in the heart of the forest's shade. 



On distant uplands the lonely pine 



Is ringed with purple and bound with fire ; 



The stones in the church-yard glance and shine ; 

 And the weather-vane is a gilded wire. 



The tapering cedar, like a spear. 



Shoots out of the cliff, where stands revealed 



The rocky ledge ; ami tlie herd appear 

 Like spots of color within the field. 



And the braided banners of cloud are seen 

 To fiercer burn, as with sudden shame ; 



While the vale below and the hills between 

 Are drowned in a yellow mist of flame. 



And the farmer's boy, all aglare with liglit, 

 Looks over the cliff where the cedars grow, 



And shades with his hand his dazzled sight, 

 And calls to his comrades down below. 



Then the brazen woodlands echo and ring, 



And the earlh Ami i^ky seem to shout with him ; 



A pearly arch is the hawk's fleet wing ; 



And the sweltering landiicai>c seems to swim. 



On yonder hill siile a cottage shines — 



The window westward flashes and gloirs— 



It nestles amid its shelter vines 

 Of glistening ivy like a rose. 



And there in the porch two lovers woo— 



Her slender figure his arms enfold ; 

 While two doves in the do'-e-cole kiss and coo. 



And ruffle their necks of green and gold. 



Harjjerfor Augutt. 



^^ During the past year tlie government has 

 lost 11,000 liorses by hattle and disease. Tlif aver- 

 a{?e number daily reci-ivcil at the veterinary lui^pi- 

 tals at Wasliiiiizton alone was over 100, of which 

 not more than ono-lialf are returned for duty. It 

 was claimed that a larjic proportion of lliis mortal- 

 ity might be saved by the einploymcni of n-gularly 

 trained veterinary surgeons in the army. 



Steam was, till the other day, the devil that we 

 dreaded. Every pot made by human potter or 

 brazier had a h'll..' in its cover to let off ihe ene- 

 mv. But the Marquis of Worcester, Watt and 

 p'iilton, bethought themselves that where was 

 power was not devil, l)ut God ; that it must be 

 availed of, and not bv any means let off and wasted. 



