588 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Oct. 



quake had burst from its pent up prison in the 

 side of tlie mountain. Thousaiuls of tons of 

 rook were loosened bv this blast. Two sta- 

 tionary engines furnish the motive power for 

 working the derricks and drilling. The debris 

 is loaded on to cars and dumped from the 

 grade some luO rods each way. 



Farm of Messrs. Johnson & Cogswell. 



After partaking of a lunch on the shore of 

 the lake, we turned our steps towards a farm 

 some three miles farther on, situated high 

 up the side of the mountain in Newbury. 

 Messrs. Johnson & Cogswell, the owners, may 

 well be called the nioderu pioneers of Merri- 

 mac County. They connnenced here about 

 ten years ago, to clear up a farm in the heart 

 of a dense forest on tfte north side of Suna- 

 pee ]\luuntain. By indomitable persever- 

 ance, and suiFering many hardships, they have 

 hewed out a home for themselves that they 

 may well be proud of? They own 400 acres 

 of land, and have cleared loO; the rest is a 

 primeval forest of s[)ruce, hemlock and hard 

 wood. They have cleared one large field of 

 rocks and stumps, making it suitable for the 

 mower. Their pasturage is the richest in the 

 county. They have built a barn 70 by 40 

 feet, with a cellar under the whole. Their 

 crops consist of four acres of potatoes, — and 

 stouter ones I never saw, — three acres of ex- 

 cellent wheat, and twenty-five tans of early 

 cut hay in the barn. The stock consists of six 

 cows, and four large oxen for lumbering, and 

 a few mutton sheep. 



They have not spent much on their dwelling 

 house as yet, but told me they had plans ma- 

 tured for a new and commodious house, to be 

 100 by 50 feet, and three stories high, with wing 

 t^ match. They intend to fit up a first class 

 sinnmer boarding house. From the hill above 

 the house is one of the lovliest prospects we 

 have ever seen, embracing the whole of the 

 lake, with numerous islands ; New London vil- 

 lage, about 8 miles away ; I'vearsarge to the 

 right ; old Ascutney and the Green Mountains 

 at the left ; and, in the far distance, the whole 

 range of the Franconia and White Mountains ; 

 while close behind, almost within a stone's 

 throw, are the Sunapees, with their dense, 

 sonil)re spruces and hemlocks. 



The farm is rich in all the elements of plant 

 food, both mineral and vegetable, and we saw 

 evidences about the premises which establish 

 the fact that it will not deteriorate under the 

 management of the present owners. The cat- 

 tle hovel was well supjjlied with dry earth, and 

 the cattle are all stabled nights through the 

 year. The hogs are kept in the barn cel- 

 lar, and a large quantity of manure is made. 

 IVlr. Johnson says his neighbors laugh at him 

 for sjiending so nnich time bothering with 

 manure, on his new rich farm, but he thinks 

 the laugh will come out the other side of the 

 mouth by-and-by. 



We were invited into the bouse and partook 



of some delicious raspberry shrub, which Mrs. 

 Johnson knows how to make ; also some ma- 

 l)]e syrup, the clearest, purest, and best fla- 

 vored we ever saw er tasted. We asked Mr. 

 Johnson the secret of making it. He said he 

 used onu of the patent evaporators ; the rest 

 of till! secret is contained in a nutshell — he 

 let pure sap run into one end of the evapora- 

 tor and jiiire syntp run out at the other end. 

 This is the whole secret. The syrup we tasted 

 was just as it came from the evapiirator, put 

 into bottles while hot, and hermetically sealed. 

 They have also put up 150 quart, and ;^6 two- 

 quart cans of field strawberries, this summer. 

 Probably a hundred busliels of strawberries 

 could have been picked on the farm the past 

 season. 



Now, Messrs. Editors, I write this letter to 

 show what can be done in New Hampshire by 

 energetic, persevering young men. Messrs. 

 Johnson & Cogswell commenced with little 

 else than clear heads and willing hands, and 

 tlieir property has quadrupled within the past 

 five years, and we predict that It will more 

 than quadruple for the next five. They have 

 millions of feet of lumber within two miles of 

 the railroad now building, with a good saw- 

 mill on the place. Thus they are bound to 

 chop and saw themselves out a fortune. What 

 need of going to the far west, when there are 

 thousands of as good chances in the New 

 England States waiting for young men who 

 are willing to work out their own fortunes ? 

 S. C. Pattee. 



Warner, N. H., Aug. 22, 1811. 



PlJESEUVIXG THE FlAVOR OF BuTTER. 



The (ierman Agriadturist says that a great 

 portion of the fine flavor of fresh butter is 

 destroyed by the usual mode of washing, and 

 he recommends a thorough kneading for the 

 removal of the buttermilk, and a subsequent 

 pressing in a linen cloth. Butter thus pre- 

 pared, according to our authority, is preemi- 

 nent for its sweetness of taste and flavor, 

 (jualities which are retained a long time. To 

 improve manufactured butter we are advised 

 by tlie same authority to work it thoroughly 

 with fresh <'old milk, and then to w\ish it in 

 clear water ; and it is said that even old ran- 

 cid butter may be rendered palatable by w^v^h- 

 ing it in water to which a few drops of V so- 

 lution of chloride of lime have been added. — 

 Ag. Depart III ent Jieport. 



Tall Hkhusokass. — Thouj^'h the average crop 

 of hay may be less this year tlian usual, it is evi- 

 dent that grass has not lost its ability to grow. 

 Wc liavc received a parcel of heads of hcrdsgrass, 

 from 6i to 8 inches in length, cut from stalks 

 5 feet and 11 inches high, which grew on a field of 

 new land in Coaticook, Canada East, owned by 

 G. W. Kinney, Esq. The grass on the whole field 

 came nearly to a level with a man's head. 



