1864. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



213 



mand for that class of wool ; but the tariff of 

 1846 closed up that business, and coarse wooled 

 sheep shared the same fate as the fine wooled 

 ones — and 1859 found us with scarcely a decent 

 flock of sheep in the State. Yet the manufacture 

 of mousseline delaine continued ; but for a num- 

 ber of years the filling was a fine woollen thread, 

 and not worsted, and required a medium wool 

 with a medium length of staple. *But on the in- 

 vention of machinery in England for combing 

 wool, which before had been performed by manual 

 labor, and at a great cost, these machines were 

 introduced into this country, and the United States 

 have now the control of their own market for 

 mousseline delaines ; and remember this is but 

 the alphabet of the worsted manufactures. A 

 wide field is yet open. We are paying Great 

 Britain an enormous sum of money every year 

 for this class of goods, to say nothing about al- 

 pacas, fine worsteds and fine woollens, the raw 

 material for which she has to import. Her capi- 

 tal is cheap, and we are every year doing all in 

 our power to make it cheaper by increasing it. 

 In no way can the interests of the farmer be so 

 permanently benefited as by doing our own man- 

 ufacturing. The artisans of Europe we can ob- 

 tain at any time. We have always had their sym- 

 pathy ; and now that circumstances are doing 

 what a sound policy has always recommended — 

 developing our own resources — we may expect 

 their aid. The farmer need have no fears that 

 the policy of 1846 will again prevail, and blast 

 his hopes just when they are ripening into frui- 

 tion. A heavy national debt will require a large 

 tariff, and a revenue tariff sufficient to meet the 

 requirements of such a debt will afford sufficient 

 protection to infant enterprises ; and the people 

 now realize more than ever the necessity of keep- 

 ing their money at home, lest it should be used 

 in affording material aid to the enemies of a true 

 republic. Tyro. 



For the New England Farmer. 



A WORD FOR, THE BOYS. 



Old Times and New Customs — the Dead Bird — A Timely Ser- 

 mon — Orchard Plowing — Saving Life — Sparrows' Nests — 

 Birds are our Friends — Caterpillars— Result of Honest Indus- 

 try. 



I very much regret it was not the custom when 

 I was a-boy, as it now is, for boys, and girls, too, 

 to have a little pocket diary in which to note im- 

 portant facts or transactions as they occur. I 

 have forgotten a thousand things that would have 

 been useful to me had I noted them at the time. 

 I well remember, that, nearly forty years ago, 

 when I was quite young, the robins never failed 

 to come and build their nests and hatch their 

 young among the branches of two noble elms that 

 stood near my father's house. We were never 

 allowed to molest them ; indeed we had no dispo- 

 sition to do so, for they seemed almost as belong- 

 ing to the family, — but one day there came along 

 a cruel man with his gun (they said he was in 

 drink) and shot one of the old robins, while quiet- 

 ly sitting upon its nest. The poor bird remained 

 in the same position, with its bleeding head hang- 

 ing over the nest, dead. As you may well con- 

 ceive, I needed no diary to imprint the sad spec- 

 tacle on my memory. My father, who was ex- 

 tremely fond of birds, felt very indignant at the 

 wicked act. He procured some little poles, and 



by splicing them together, succeeded in removing 

 the dead bird. He was an excellent minister of 

 the gospel, and improved every opportunity to 

 fasten good moral lessons on the minds of old and 

 young, and he preached to his boys a short but 

 instructive sermon on the sad and cruel death of 

 that poor robin. 



I have now lived to have boys of my own, trees 

 of my own, and a great variety of birds that come 

 annually to build their nests among the branches 

 of those trees and upon the ground beneath them. 

 I have been ploughing to-day and for several days 

 past in my orchard, with one yoke of oxen and one 

 of my boys for a driver. It is tiresome work to 

 plough an orchard well, without injuring the roots 

 and limbs of the trees, and requires much pa- 

 tience, both in the holder and driver ; but as the 

 fruit yields more cash income than all the rest of 

 farm produce sold, I feel inclined to cultivate it 

 every year, notwithstanding many disapprove the 

 practice. I am almost too tired, after ploughing 

 all dav, to write at all, but I wanted to relate two 

 little incidents that occurred, trifling in them- 

 selves, but in striking contrast with the one al- 

 ready mentioned. 



One of them was, that John, as he was driving, 

 stopped two or three times while the oxen were 

 moving along, and with his goad stick drove away 

 a toad that barely escaped being crushed beneath 

 the oxen's hoofs, remarking as he came up, "I 

 saved that toad's life." The other was his taking 

 with him a spade, and removing several ground 

 sparrow's nests, as we approached them with the 

 plough. • I noticed that he took them up very care- 

 fully, with the little tuft of grass by which they 

 were made, and moved them but a short distance 

 at a time, so that, the furrow being long, the bird 

 always returned while we were passing round. In 

 this way, by degrees, he carefully secured them 

 in a safe place, where they could hatch their young 

 unmolested. This was done without any sugges- 

 tion of mine, and the first intimation he has of my 

 approval will be from reading this article, — for 

 our boys never fail to read the Farmer. 



Now it may seem a very small matter to some, 

 to trouble one's self about a toad or a sparrow's 

 nest, even, but I think quite otherwise. One of 

 the old poet's remarked, (Young, I believe,) [Cow- 

 per. Editor,] that he • 



"Would not rank upon his list of friends 



The man who needlessly sets foot upon a worm." 



Birds not only add much to the charms of life, 

 bnt they are very useful, also, in destroying mul- 

 titudes of troublesome insects and worms ; and 

 in this latter respect, the toad, perhaps, is quite 

 their equal. But the birds and toads cannot de- 

 stroy' all the worms and caterpillars and insects 

 that infest our orchards. The men and the boys 

 must do their part. I take it for granted that 

 good, neat farmers, have already heeded the sug- 

 gestions of the editor and others, and removed the 

 unsightly caterpillars, while small and easily done ; 

 but if any still remain, just ask your fathers, from 

 me, to give you a trifle for every nest you will re- 

 move — not as pay, for all they have will be the 

 children's by-and-by — but as a present for per- 

 forming an unpleasant but necessary task, and my 

 word for it, they will soon disappear. 



Now, boys, one word of advice. Never dis- 

 charge a gun, or throw a stone, even, at one of 

 those lovely birds that come regularly to spend 



