1871. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



837 



a short work dress, and they are refined and intel- 

 ligent ladies for a' that. In washing, chuming, 

 scrubbing floors, and in going up and down stairs 

 with both hands full, such dresses are much easier 

 to get round in. There is no dragging in the slops, 

 and the extra weight of dress and skirt thus taken 

 off allows much" greater freedom in walking. 

 While giirdcning, don't ever put on a long dress to 

 work among your ilowers. With good stout high 

 shoes and a dress which lacks nine inches of reach- 

 ing the ground, and a broad brimmed hat, it is a 

 pleasure to work in the garden. 



I am aware that very few, perhaps none, will 

 ever give this matter a second thought; but no lady 

 can know till she tries it how much weariness it 

 will save her. e. 



May 15, 1871. 



REM.\RKS.-rAnd we know of one editor who has 

 had a pretty "broad hint;" but you must not class 

 him with those who will "never give the matter a 

 second thought." He will remember it as long as 

 he lives. Why, he. is so ashamed of himself that 

 he will make any sort of apology that may be 

 demanded that would not compromise his veracity. 

 Think of a lady's offer-'ma, being pigeon-holed a 

 year and a quarter! — a sensible, well written, 

 pointed one at that! "It was sent full two j'cars 

 ago." That would bring it right into the editorial 

 harvest of articles written during the long even- 

 ings of the previous winter. Some of these must 

 be reserved for the editorial drought of summer 

 and fall. Those that are appropriate to any season 

 are laid aside, and seasonable ones, those that will 

 not keep, are "given out." But this apology is not 

 good for a whole year. Your communication, then, 

 must have got into some sly comer, — don't things 

 in your work basket or draw sometimes do so ? — 

 and was overlooked. But you say your article 

 came to light in October. It was printed in the 

 Weekly Farmer of September 3. So please give 

 us credit for one month. Every little helps in such 

 a desperate case ! 



THE HORSE RACE AND THE FARMERS* FAIR. 



I am moved to duty by reading the able article 

 of Brother Comings, (I say brother) because both 

 are interested in tile same cause. 



Who are to blame for our fairs being managed 

 by dishonest and immoral men ? No one but our- 

 selves. We have been negligent and idle, and have 

 allowed the fust men to take the reins out of our 

 hands and drive off with our o^vn team. Brother 

 farmers, let us awake and take care of our inter- 

 ests in the future, by managing them ourselves or 

 hy employing those who sympathize with us. As 

 the ofhcers of our societies have heretofore been 

 constituted, it has too often been the case that if 

 you spoke to one of them about a change of pre- 

 miums from fast horses to horses of usefulness, 

 and to the best cattle, sheep, hogs and poultry, or 

 farm produce, his answer has been, "We cannot 

 raise the monej'^ to pay the expenses of our society 

 without these attractions." 



But are not the necessary expenses of a farmers' 

 fair greatly over-estimated ? Dissolve partnership 

 with the whole fast-horse influence, let them pro- 

 vide their own race course, judges' stand, specta- 

 tors' seats, police officers, &c., &c., and the neces- 

 sary cost of providing for an old-fashioned cattle 

 show and farmers' fair would be very small. We 

 could have things in our style at comparatively 

 small expense, while our fast friends could expend 



as much as they pleased, enjoy their old-fashioned 

 horse race, with its gambling, betting and other 

 "attractions" as they ever have been enjoyed on 

 all race courses. 



Now, brother farmers, we must do something 

 more than talk and scold; we must act. Let us 

 turn out at the next meeting of our society, feeling 

 that we have not only rights but duties to dis- 

 charge, — let us realize that on us rests the rcspon- 

 siliility of deciding the character of our annual 

 fair, — of determining whether it shall be an agri- 

 cultural exhibition or a mere horse race. 



I would suggest that no money be expended for 

 a track, as we need none. If we have not enough 

 cash to fence the gi-ounds this year, the exhibition 

 may be free. Let the premiums, however small, 

 be arranged so as to enlist the interest of boys and 

 girls as well as men and women. With the races 

 omitted there would be time to notice the boy with 

 his trained steers, and for his older brother to show 

 his skill in ploughing, and the proficiency of girls 

 and ladies in driving the family horse, and for a 

 more careful examination of the products of the 

 field and fireside — of the fixrmer's home industry 

 and ingenuity. f. n. 



Plymouth, A\ II., May, 1871. 



COLORADO TEN-LINED POTATO-BL'G. 



I planted some Early Rose potatoes April 6. 

 They started finely, and up to yesterday they grew 

 finely and were looking first rate ; indeed, 1 never 

 saw any looking better. Yesterday I found hun- 

 dreds of bugs upon the vines threatening their de- 

 struction. I enclose specimens. What are they, 

 and what shall I do to destroy them ? 



Joseph Barber. 



South Bend, Ind., May 13, 1871. 



Remarks. — Though somewhat bruised, and bro- 

 ken in the mail-bags we have no doubt that the 

 Colorado Ten-lined Potato-bug ,has reached your 

 farm, in its grand eastern march. Sprinkling the 

 vines with white hellebore, brushing them from 

 the vines to be immediately covered by a furrow, 

 are among the remedies that have been tested, but 

 we do not know how far successful any remedy 

 has proved in actual practice and on large fields. 



SHOEING HORSES. 



One of the modem improvements we do not ap- 

 prove of is "the paring and buming process" as 

 applied to horses' hoofs. 



FURNISHING TOOLS. 



A correspondent of the Farmer, in recently 

 commending farmers to a careful housing and pro-- 

 viding of good tools, takes occasion to observe that 

 when help is two dollars a day,— or something to 

 that effect,— it is important to provide good tools. 

 When we pay a man that price for an ordinary 

 day's work, we look out that he provides himself 

 the needful shovels, hoes or other tools. 



Blue Hills, Mass., 1871. Americus. 



AYRSHIRE STOCK. 



Some of the reasons why this breed are the best 

 for most New England farmers are the following : 

 They are a hardy race, able to withstand the vicis- 

 itudes of our climate and readily accommodate 

 themselves to a warm, well littered stable, or to the 

 bleak, northwest corner of a rickety old barn. 

 They will keep sleek and fat as otters on low land, 

 wire and meadow grass and rushes, where a Dur- 

 ham would get stuck in the mud and pine away iu 

 disgust ; they rapidly fit themselves for the sham- 

 l)los on hills so steep and high that a Durham 

 would faint away from exhaustion, before getting. 



