10 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Jan. 



and referred to in future years with readiness 

 and ease. 



The family, for instance, wishes to avail itself 

 of some appliance that operates well and saves 

 the strength of women, already overtasked. 

 The notice of such appliance comes when the 

 attention is engrossed with present and oppres- 

 sive cares, and little notice is taken of it. By- 

 and-by a more favorable moment occurs, and 

 the mind reverts to the subject, but the paper 

 containing it is gone, and with it all the neces- 

 sary details. The montlily issue, however, 

 being in the form of a book, is preserved with- 

 out trouble, and on referring to it the complete 

 index which it contains leads at once to the 

 subject desired. Such a work increases in 

 value as it increases in age. Indeed, a gen- 

 tleman who has the entire volumes of the old 

 series, informs us that his copies go about his 

 town much as does a winnowing mill where 

 there is but one in a neighborhood ! If a well 

 is to be dug, a cistern buUt, a field drained, 

 bam or house erected, garden or grounds laid 

 out, horses trained or shod, or any other work 

 to be done, he says some information may 

 readily be found in the Monthly New Eng- 

 land Farjieu in relation to it. 



Such 15 the fact, — and this information is 

 drawn from a large number of the most practi- 

 cal and intelligent persons — men and women — 

 in the community. 



The Monthly Farmer for the year 1860, 

 has Jive hundred and seventy-six broad and 

 beautiful pages, printed in large, clear letters, 

 and treating at greater or less length, upon 

 between two and three thousand subjects, or 

 illustrating or elucidating the same topics in 

 different ways and by different persons. There 

 is scarcely a subject of interest to the farmer, 

 gardener, horticulturist, mechanic, housewife, 

 philanthropist, or teacher, but is noticed in 

 these pages, and may readily be referred to by 

 the aid of the ample index given at the opening 

 of the volume ! 



In addition to this mass of matter and infor- 

 mation, there are also nearly one hundred 

 illustrations, not pictures picked up here and 

 there, merely to please the eye and fill a page ; 

 but engravings that truly ilhistrat(! flic suljject 

 in hand, made expressly for the work, and at 

 a very considerable outlay of money, as the 

 designs of fruits, cattle and buildings will at 

 once show. It is intended to make every suc- 



ceeding volume as good as the volume for 1860, 

 and better if possible. 



The old series of the Monthly Farmer 

 con.ia.ins fifteen volimies. These have been so 

 popular that not a single entire set can be 

 found for sale. The new series will come suf- 

 ficiently near them in size to preserve unifor- 

 mity and a good appearance upon the shelf, and 

 together will make the most valuable libraiy 

 the farmer can possess. They will be worth 

 more as books of reference, than they will be 

 as mere current reading. We suggest, there- 

 fore, that every copy taken be carefully laid 

 aside for binding, and preserved as a record of 

 agricultural practice and progress at the time 

 at which they were written and printed. 



FAKM "WORK FOK JANUAKY, 

 Accounts. — The first work in the opening 

 of the New Year should be to close all accounts, 

 if, it were not done in December. Nothing 

 tends to prosperity and harmony among neigh- 

 bors more than a perfect understanding between 

 them in matters of business. When these all 

 go smoothly, there will usually be good feelings 

 and reciprocal kindness in the neighborhood. 

 Delays are dangerous. 



The Stock. — Allow no sloven to have care 

 of the stock. Fodder is too valuable this year 

 to be wasted. Feed a little at a time, begin- 

 ning with the poorest fodder in the morning, 

 and end with it at night. Let the sheep have 

 a choice of remaining under cover or going out, 

 as they please. If the weather is cold and 

 damp, they will generally prefer to be under 

 cover. If clear and cold, even if the thermom- 

 eter is below zero, they usually prefer the open 

 air. Do not crowd them anywhere, either in 

 pen or yard. They love freedom. Give them 

 a variety of food, if possible. No animals like 

 it better. They wiU thrive more on a variety, 

 if a portion of it be less nutritious, than on one 

 kind of rich food. Let them have access to 

 pure water. They like to drink very slowly 

 and be a considerable time about it. Be friend- 

 ly with them, using no harsh gestures or lan- 

 guage, and they will like you all the better for 

 it, and bring you heavier lambs and more wool. 

 Let the colts have a roomy and sunny yard 

 to ramble and loU in, and warm quarters for 

 stormy weather. Have no ditches, old fences, 

 or cast-off wheels, carts, sleds or rubbish of 

 any kind for them to tumble over and scar their 



