1867. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



179 



of light in the cvfnin^ and on daik nights. 

 Thcv arc; also f-allffl glow worms. It belongs 

 to the order ('oUajdara, family Lampyrdf£. 

 <^)ijr .spf<-ir;s of glow-worm, or firc-fly, is a 

 beetle; about a tliird of an ineh long, wings of 

 a Ijrown black eolor margined with pale yellow 

 and thorax light erimson. The outer wings 

 are of a softc^r eonsistency than is found in 

 most beetles. The larva; is a soft blaek flat 

 grub snppo'-fid to live in tlie ground in low 

 swampy plaees. Those that w*- have observed 

 emit the light at will from the top of the abdo- 

 men, on raising their wing.s. The females of 

 some species which are wingless, are also said 

 to possr-ss the same power. This peculiarity 

 of emitting light is probably done by the in- 

 sect to attract its mate. 'Jhose of the South- 

 ern States are more luminoMs, and it is said 

 one of them will emit sufficient light to enable 

 a traveller to tell the hour of night by holding 

 his watch near the insect. — Me. Former. 



EXTRACTS AND REPLIES. 

 SiiAix I I'UHCHAsr; a fakm ? 



Advice is wanted in the following case. Your 

 opinion will decide it with mc. 



I live in tlic city, and desire to remove into the 

 country, and cnpigc in agricultural pursuits. I 

 have enough to buy a fann, pay for it, and stock 

 it, and not owe a dollar in the world, and have 

 910,000 at interest. Can I do it and get a living 

 from any farm, with the interest from my §10,000, 

 and not Ik- ol;ligcd to draw upon my principal r 

 Your opinion is sought for, as it will decide the 

 question for mc, and perhaps for many others. 



The farm I projKjse to buy is within 20 miles of 

 Boston, upon the railroad; there are 73 acres, 

 buildings good. It keeps 11 cows, 1 yoke of oxen, 

 3 horses, 4 jjigs, and the pres-cnt owner appears to 

 get along, though lie don't hurt himself with v.ork. 

 There is a good bed of muck v.hidi has not been 

 used much. The soil is good, and good judges 

 say that the farm is well worth what it can be 

 bought for. 



Let me have your oninion, if you please, in the 

 Fakmke. I am a weekly reader of your paper. 



Boston, Jan. 29, 1867. a. b. 



Remarks. — We have had many letters of a char- 

 acter similar to that of the above, and we can an- 

 swer just as intelligently as our querist could an- 

 swer us, if we should say — "We have §10,000 to in- 

 vest in a dry goods store in Boston, and have 

 910,000 more as a working capital"— <;an we get a 

 living from it, and not trench upon the principal ? 

 The farm you describe will support any family j 

 which has health and industrj-, and will practice a ] 

 moderate fnigality. There can be no doubt of it. 1 

 If it were not so, the earth would not produce j 

 enough to sustain even a sparse population. l 



You do not state how much taste you have for \ 

 agricidtural employments, how much capital you ; 

 have invested in your own skill for reclaiming the | 

 soil, and increasing its fertility when reclaimed; 

 how much for cultivating fruits, increasing and 

 composting manure heaps, selecting breeds, and 

 purchasing and selling stock, and when the crops 



arc produced, in getting them to market and se- 

 curing profitafdc returns. 



The points of more importance to you, and your 

 family, than any you have mentioned in your let- 

 ter, you have not touched up)on. 



Few persons, in any of the walks of life, make 

 sadder business mistakes than those who have 

 been occupied in, and led a city life. Many of 

 them receive the fx^mmon opinion that "any body 

 can be a fanner," and this error, with a sanguine 

 temperament, often leads them into unfortunate 

 circumstances which are irretrievable, and cloud 

 all their future life. 



Farming is just as much a business that requires 

 the prompt application of the powers of tjoth mind 

 and body, skill, industry and perseverance, as any 

 other avocation in which men engage. Indeed, 

 there is no other business, in our opinion, that re- 

 quires HOTfi'dliivfj of all the hnowlnrj^c taught among 

 men, so much as that of agriculture and its kin- 

 dred branches. Unlike other arts, it has few un- 

 varying ndes to govern its devotees, even in the 

 manipulations of the soil. The same course that 

 the farmer pursued last spring in getting his crops 

 into the ground, may be inapplicable, in mrmy re- 

 spects, this spring. He is always sunounded, trx), 

 by hosts of depredators, (so he thinks,) who devote 

 their lives to destroying the fniits of his labor. 

 Frosts cut down his crops ; droughts pinch them ; 

 how can he protect himself against those efTects ? 

 Drenching rains, mildew, and blight, not only vis- 

 it his fields but disease is there, too, and also cuta 

 off his cattle in their stalls ! How are all these to 

 be prevented ? Only by the extension of his knowl- 

 edge, and to acquire this, every kind of informal- 

 tion that is useful to any class, will be useful to 

 him. 



There are many other points that ought ftrnt to 

 be considered, before dwelling upon the main in- 

 quiries of our correspondent. They are of a more 

 personal and private nature. We conld recite in- 

 stances, and the circumstances attending them, 

 enough to fill a page, where city gentlemen have 

 sought our a^lvicc, but did not heed it, and heavy 

 losses, disappointment and discouragement was the 

 result. In one instance, more than §'20,000 was 

 sacrificed, and that loss was not so great as the 

 loss of health and comfort which was attendant 

 upon it. In other instances the losses have varied 

 from §1000 to §10,000. The advice was too cheap. 

 It seemed to have no value because it cost noHiing. 

 These errors are committed every week, and the 

 money losses attendant upon them are little in 

 comparison with the wounded pride, (laudable, 

 perhaps,) blasted prospects, and the new and un- 

 congenial mode of life that must for the future be 

 pursued. 



Some of the best farmers in New England are 

 those who have spent most of their lives in the 

 city. Men who spent their chilhood and youth on 

 the farm, who had decided tastes for rural employ- 

 ments, and who saw, heard and tr«»sured up in 



