82 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Feb. 



their profanity. This is a valid objection to 

 any man. Profane language is a wicked and 

 contemptible habit, unworthy of everyone who 

 claims the name of man ; and I am sorry to 

 admit that a great many foreigners use profane 

 lanii;uage. But are sons of American farmers 

 guiltless of this debasing sin ? From my ob- 

 servation in P^urope and America I am com- 

 pelled to affirm that young Americans are 

 more addicted to gro^s profanity than any peo- 

 ple with whom I have ever conversed. Not 

 four hours since, I was in a blacksmith's shop 

 where a few farmers' sons v/ere talking to- 

 gether. I do not think that cither of them 

 spoke a sentence without using some grossly 

 profane word. 



Another objection of Mr. J. to foreigners 

 is drinking or intemperance. Well, here 

 again I admit that the German has a liking 

 for his lager beer, and the Irishman for his 

 whiskey, but are Americans the people to cast 

 the first stone at those caught in the very act 

 of "drinking?" 



The last objection to foreigners, urged by 

 Mr. Jameson, is the destruction of the happi- 

 ness of the family in consequence of their 

 gluttony — "ravenous boarders" as he calls 

 them. If this objection was made consider- 

 ately, I must pass it with silent contempt. If 

 it was a thoughtless remark, it deserves no 

 notice. 



Let me say, in conclusion, to Mr. Bullion, 

 that his best course will be to hire the best 

 men he c^n 6nd without much regard to the 

 fact whether the Almighty fixed their birth- 

 place on th^ east or the west side of the Atlan- 

 tic Oceaa. d. m. h. 



East Canaan, N. H., 1869. 



ENGLISH FARM HORSES. 



As Americans are aware, the English farm 

 horse is called the "cart-horse," being totally 

 different from the trotting affinities used on 

 this continent. These cart horses are treated 

 in about the same comparative way in respect 

 to the nags as the laborer lives in comparison 

 to the more independent class. The cart horse 

 is made to eat up all the chaff blown from the 

 grain when winnowed, and as every farm in 

 England grows more than t ree times the 

 quantity of grain ever produced on American 

 farms, this chaO' is the main support, for it is 

 sifted through selves for the purpose, the 

 coarse portion given instead of hay, and the' 

 short, fine portion fed with very small quanti- 

 ties of grain (oats and split beans) in baits 

 given by the "carter," whose duties consist of 

 making his teams look fat and sleek on the 

 greatest quantity of rough (bod mixed with the 

 least grain possible. The horses, from eating 

 so much ciiaff, drop in their carcass and are 

 always very deep and round, the geldings hav- 

 ing the appearance of mares in foal when 

 viewed from a litile distance, and the great 

 objection by the carter to going out of a walk 



with English farm teams is that it destroys this 

 round barrel look, while the farmer dislikes to 

 see them trot, especially on the road, because 

 their great weight, shakes their feet and legs 

 and brings on side bones, puffs, &c. Four 

 horses go to a wagon in a general way, about 

 three tons besides the wagon being a load on 

 fair roads, a small boy accompanying the 

 carter. No reins are used excepting when 

 ploughing "G. O," for the carter walks by 

 the side of the horses, and in meeting on the 

 roads the teams turn out for each other en the 

 opposite side to the one customary here, that 

 the carters should not be between the horses 

 or vehicles. 



The cost of keeping cart horses in England 

 is not much more than ha'f what it is to keep 

 the nags ; "but will they do as much work?'*' 

 says the American farmer. They (the Eng- 

 lish) plough somewhat deeper than the Amer- 

 icans, and though the teams are not out so 

 many hours, they keep pulling away all the 

 time they are out, very seldom sweating, as 

 their iaimense bodies draw along whatever is 

 behind them with little effort ; in fact it is not 

 much for one of these animals to walk away 

 with what would make two of the undersized 

 ones here scratch a good deal to start with. — 

 Country Oentleman. 



PHYSIOLOGY OF EGGS. 



Every fowl has two small organs near the 

 extremity of the body, called the ovaria. It 

 is filled with elastic tissue, and feels under the 

 finger like sponge. The eggs are started here, 

 and those which will mature a year or two or 

 three years hence are in embryo. One is 

 forced up, is seized by the stroma, which is 

 seventeen inches long, and passed rapidly 

 through. AVhen the egg leaves the ovary it 

 consists of yolk only, but in its passage through 

 that short canal, the yolk is surrounded by 

 enough albumen to perfect the chick. The 

 white of the egg has in it all that nature re- 

 quires for making bones, muscles, blood-ves- 

 sels, connecting tissue, skin, and feathers. 

 Just before the egg leaves the body, this canal 

 has the power of secreting lime for the shell. 

 This shows how valuable the egg is as nutri- 

 ment, and it also shows what demands are 

 made for rich food by a hen that lays an egg 

 daily. Besides what she requires for her sus- 

 tenance, she is called upon to secrete the ma- 

 terial for the body of an entire chick, and also 

 retains for the little creature sufficient to last 

 many hours after it leaves the shell. It shows 

 also that a hen cannot make albumen so rap- 

 idly, except out of albuminous food, such as 

 wheat, meat, and small animals. It is not true 

 that there is a certain number of eggs, and 

 that, this number exhausted, no more can be 

 expected ; but it is true that the secretions les- 

 sen as old age comes on, and latterly the hen 

 fails to have sufficient force to carry forward 

 the process. The practical bearing of this is 



