1867. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



551 



horse farmers, who do not "despise the day 

 of small things," and who cannot afford to 

 hire some wild Irishman to do what they can 

 60 much better do themselves. 



With me it is not simply a matter of neces- 

 sity, but a source of real pleasure, to feed 

 and tend my stock through the inclement season . 

 And while they thrive better, it is wonderful 

 how much less hay and grain are consumed 

 under this arrangement. Put Tom, Dick or 

 Patrick in charge of the stock, and as with 

 Molly or Bridget in the kitchen, they use lav- 

 ishly and waste needlest^ly, what they have no 

 personal interest to save. There are, indeed, 

 worthy exceptions to this statement. And 

 here and there you may find a hireling who, 

 for a wonder, makes his master's interests his 

 own, and really loves the animals that are con- 

 fided to his care. He shares their owner's 

 pride in their sleek looks and good condition, 

 and sometimes proves to be the best judge of 

 their merits and capacities. And the tender- 

 ness with which he cares for those least able 

 to care for themselves, and caresses the pet 

 yearlings and sucklings, proves him well wor- 

 thy of the confidence reposed in him. But as 

 an offset to these rare cases of tenderness and 

 fidelity on the part of servants and hirelings, 

 think of the instances of neglect and cruelty 

 to the dumb brutes that are left to the tender 

 mercies of an irresponsible hired man, or boy, 

 who tends them through the winter in what 

 time he can spare from his meals and school. 

 Think, too, how many inconvenient, vicious 

 tricks have been taught from this source, and 

 and how many a horse and cow have been 

 spoiled for life from not being tended and 

 ti'ained under the eye of the master. 



Then, again, we have only to reiterate the 

 old adage, "a merciful man is merciful to his 

 beast." It is merciful and noble in any man 

 to care tenderly for those who next to his own 

 household, claim his fostering care. If he can 

 accomplish this through a more efficient instru- 

 mentality than his own hands, very well. If 

 physical infirmity or disease disable him from 

 giving that personal attention, which his per- 

 sonal interest would prompt, he may justly 

 plead, "the spirit is willing, but the flesh is 

 weak." And perhaps it is the most trying 

 thought connected with his sickness, that the 

 care of his stock must be left in other hands. 



Of course there is some inconvenience and 

 unpleasantness involved in this personal care 

 of stock. And the idea of one's doing his 

 own chores is not to be entertained for a mo- 

 ment by certain so-called gentlemen farmers. 

 He would lose caste at once and forfeit in-evo- 

 cably his title to gentility, were he seen with a 

 swill-pail, or caught in the act of milking, or 

 cleaning the stable. 



And here another serious objection to the 

 personal performance of these duties occurs to 

 my mind. The good lady of the house dis- 

 likes very naturally the odor of the stable, and 

 60 IS averse to having her liege lord go and 



stay where he will be sure to get its taint, and 

 bring it back into the house with his clothes 

 and boots and beard. Possibly she may be 

 one of those fastidious daughters of Eve that 

 never meant to marry a farmer, and chafes 

 daily under the yoke. But let us more chari- 

 tably suppose her to be, like every true woman 

 and wife, heartily in sympathy with the hus- 

 band of her choice, and resolved to make the 

 most and the best of their natural lot in life, — 

 only she must have home, sweet hoiii'", and not 

 smelling like an Irish shanty. Well this is 

 certainly a reasonable wish, and the writer 

 would not throw a straw in the way of its ful- 

 filment. Let the good woman only see to it 

 that her good man is duly equipped from head 

 to foot for his chores, so that wlien he throws 

 of}' this stable outfit, he frees himself from 

 those unpleasant odors. A little forethought 

 and painstaking will easily remove this difficul- 

 ty. Or suppose he does carry about in his 

 garments something that associates him with 

 the faithful horse, and indispensable cow ? This 

 smell of the stable is, after all, but a mild re- 

 mmder of those "salts of ammonia," which 

 every lady has at hand to revive her fainting 

 spirit. And what true woman would not pre- 

 fer a man with no worse taint than this, to one 

 whose breath was fetid with liquor and to- 

 bacco? Yet "good society" often discard the 

 former, and fi'eely admit and tolerate the 

 latter. w. E. b. 



Massacliuseits, Nov. 1867. 



STOVES AlfD PUKNACES. 



The season of the year has arrived when 

 the most danger is to be apprehended from the 

 escape of deleterious gases into dwellings, 

 from stoves and furnaces. Let all our readers 

 carefully examine their stoves and flues, and 

 remove the accumulations of waste material, 

 that the smoke and gases may have free exit 

 into the outside atmosphere. The health of 

 thousands is seriously impared every year by 

 breathing the gases escaping from stoves, and 

 many have lost their lives from this source. 

 The saddest sight we ever looked upon waa 

 one quiet Sunday morning in March, a few 

 years ago, when we were called to the house 

 of a neighbor, to view the lifeless bodies of 

 the father and mother of a family, lying in bed 

 precisely as they sunk into repose tlie night 

 before. During the night coal gas escaped 

 from a furnace in the cellar, and from thence 

 into the chambers, and the whole family nar- 

 rowly escaped from passing to that sleep 

 which knows no waking. As it was, the fath- 

 er and mother lost their lives. 



Several of the products of combustion are 

 of a deleterious nature, particularly carbonic 

 oxide and carbonic acid. Anthracite and bitu- 

 minous coals contain considerable sulphur, 

 which partially oxidizes during combustion and 

 forms sulphurous acid gas, and this is very suffo- 

 cating and injurious when breathed into the 



