892 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Aug. 



LETTER FROM THE FARM. 



Concord, July 3, 1867. 



Gents : — In a hurried journey through a 

 portion of some twenty towns in this State and 

 New Hampshire, I have been greatly gratified 

 with the appearance of the crops. As I trav- 

 elled by horse-power, I had opportunity to ob- 

 serve, make calls and inquiries as I went along ; 

 and, by the way, this is the manner in which 

 farmers should travel, unless abroad on mere 

 business matters. A life that gains little or 

 nothing by observation, is a monotonous and 

 dull one. I scarcely ever travel a day among 

 farmers, or pass over a well conducted farm 

 without seeing some example which I intend 

 to copy, or hearing some opinion or sugges- 

 tion which I mean to adopt. And now our 

 homestead bears evidence on nearly every part 

 of it, of the opinions and practices of other 

 minds. 



The bountiful rains with which we have been 

 favored, seem at last to have overcome the 

 blighting effects of a three years' drought, and 

 to have enriched and stimulated the power of 

 the soil into new action. Everywhere it has 

 "blossomed as a rose." The delightful fra- 

 grance of wild grape and clover blossoms 

 make the air redolent with sweets. It is the 

 greatest clover year perhaps ever known. The 

 pastures are delightfully green and inviting, 

 60 that brimming pails and sweet butter are 

 no longer myths. The "cattle upon a thou- 

 sand hills" rejoice, and it was not difficult to 

 imagine that the hills themselves might clap 

 their hands in joy. 



I had just been reading a book describing 

 the customs and conditions of life in Asia 

 Minor and Syria. Its descriptions were fresh 

 in my recollection, and laid out before me 

 as a map, as I journeyed along; and the 

 contrasts between that life and this which I 

 heard, felt and saw before me, filled my mind 

 with the most profound gratitude. In the 

 midst of ?«^ glowing world, I contrasted our 

 condition with theirs, — our laws, general edu- 

 cation, the blessings flowing from science and 

 art, and their wonderful march onward, the 

 comfort and elegance of our dwellings, the 

 intelligence and refinement of women, the tol- 

 eration of opinion in politics and religion, 

 prevalence of books, and all that dignifies and 

 ennobles our natures. 



Tiiere is, indeed, a great gulf between our 

 condition and theirs, which -.vould require cen- 



turies of progress to level up. And yet, they 

 have a land of unsurpassed beauty and fertil- m 

 ity, and had the "gospel preached unto them" ^ 

 ages before we did. No substantial progress 

 can be secured so long as women are consid- 

 ered inferior to man and treated as such, — so 

 long as the harem and polygamy exist. With 

 these contrasts in my mind, was it strange 

 that the birds and the brooks sang cheerfully 

 to my ear, that the air was fragrant with the 

 perfume of flowers, and that our rough New 

 England valleys and hills were easily trans- 

 formed into a paradise ? 



With the exception of the apple and pear, 

 all the crops appear well. These seem to 

 have disappeared as by magic. The trees 

 blossomed well, the fruit set as usual, but soon 

 fell off, so that there is comparatively little 

 left of either of these fine fruits. Still, there 

 are some left, and being few they will be likely 

 to be large, and I hope fair. 



Peach trees are well filled. Even those 

 with only here and there a straggling living 

 branch, with a few sickly looking leaves, have 

 a few fruit peaches on them. Thanks for the 

 promise once more of a crop of this dehcious 

 and wholesome fruit. 



Corn, potatoes, rye, barley and oats, look 

 finely. I do not recollect of seeing a field of 

 wheat. 



Strawberries are more abundant, I believe, 

 than ever before. I regaled myself on a dish 

 of perfectly-ripened wild ones, which brought 

 back childhood days vividly. 



Monday morning, July 1st, the haymakers 

 were abroad early. The merry click of the 

 mowing machine, the graceful and athletic 

 swing of the hand mower, and the Avhite shirts 

 that dotted the fields, were attractive and 

 pleasant. On fair land, I found the grass 

 everywhere good — more than an average 

 crop 1 should think. And yet, with these fair 

 prospects, farmers told me that good hay will 

 be worth $20 per ton in the barn, as soon as 

 it is placed there, where the whole community 

 is made up of farmers ! They say there is no 

 old hay left — scarcely five tons in a town. 

 The Use of Hay Caps. 



But for the high price of cotton cloth, hay 

 caps would be in common use. The opinion 

 now is (juite general that their use is highly 

 economical. I believe that if we knew the 

 weather would be fair, it would be economy 



