1871. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



595 



wonderful powers which some of them possess. 

 Then the moral lessons are of infinite value. 

 We look to mother earth as the agent through 

 which we are to receive all that affords 

 substance and comfort, and that dignifies and 

 ennobles our lives. This seems to lead us 

 nearer to God, whose paternal care controls the 

 seasons and gives the earth its increase. Thus 

 in dark and windy November evenings, we 

 may study and contemplate the works of 

 Him in whom we live, and move, and have our 

 being, and gain new power by cultivating the 

 mind as well as the soil. 



FARM CARES FOR NOVEMBER. 



November brings wide changes in all the 

 rural scenes about us. The merciless frost 

 has checked the growing plants, and in every 

 direction the lifeless leaves are drooping and 

 passing into decay. What a change from the 

 green and vigorous condition which they pre- 

 sented but a few days ago ! 



In their dying hours, the leaves of the trees 

 assume the most charming changes of light 

 and shade, and in the sunlight present a scene 

 of transcendent beauty. 



Some of the hardy plants that are able to 

 resist the power of frost are still arrayed in 

 living green, and afford a pleasing contrast with 

 the sere and yellow leaves of a large portion 

 of others. 



November is a trying month to the domestic 

 animals. The change from a green, succulent 

 food to a harsh, dry one, is very great. They 

 ought now to be treated with especial care. 

 It is their nature to take their food from the 

 face of the earth, and not to receive it through 

 the hands of man. They will resort to the 

 pastures or the fields, therefore, just as long 

 as they are allowed to do so. All day long 

 they will search for a green bite in the hollows 

 or under the walls, and work hard for that 

 which does them little good. 



To allow them to do so is poor economy for 

 farmers. There is no profit in it. The frost- 

 bitten grasses have little or no nutriment, and 

 the close grazing weakens the plants and lays 

 bare their roots, so that they are quite likely 

 to be winter-killed. 



Cattle exposed to the storms and chilling 

 winds of November, and working hard all day 

 to fill themselves with grasses which have passed 

 into a decaying state, are liable to become dis- 



ordered with colds or affections of the bowels, 

 which sometimes last them for months af- 

 terwards. They lose appetite, their eyes are 

 dull, the hair dry and frowzy, the milk small 

 in quantity and poor in quality, and their 

 calves when dropped, weak and puny. It is in 

 ever}' way, poor economy to allow the stock lo 

 range the fields in November. 



The contrast, however, between the open 

 fields and the close lean-to is a wide one. 

 Cattle at first are impatient of the restraint, 

 and should be indulged, two or three times 

 each day, with liberty to stretch themselves in 

 the yard, and lie down or stand up as they 

 please. Bring them to their new condition of 

 confinement gradually. 



If taken from the pasture or fields at a 

 proper time, and gradually fed with both dry 

 and succulent food, they will retain appetite 

 and continue in a thrifty condition through the 

 winter. 



How TO Save Fuel. — It is important to 

 the health and comfort of the family that the 

 whole house shall be kept, as near as is possi- 

 ble, in an even degree of warmth. If it can 

 be afforded, every room in the house should be 

 so ; but as that cannot be the case in all in- 

 stances, every care should be observed to pre- 

 vent the entrance of wind from outside. If 

 crevices are open around a room, as the room 

 is warmed, the air from the outside rushes in 

 with renewed force, and it becomes next to 

 impossible to keep up a comfortable and equal 

 degree of warmth. 



In order to secure something of this equali- 

 ty, the first thing is to make all tight about the 

 foundation of the house. This will prevent 

 the cellar from freezing, and cold currents 

 from rushing up through the floors. In doing 

 this, use the branches of evergreen trees. Do ■ 

 not disfigure your house by piling up earth 

 about the base boards and rotting them out ; . 

 nor incur the cost of carting loads of sand, 

 loam or gravel, and holding it against the 

 house with boards and stakes, and then of 

 carting all away again in the spring. But 

 bring pine, hemlock, or spruce branches from 

 the trees you are intending to cut down for 

 fuel or timber, in the wood-lot, or the young 

 evergreens which are monopolizing too much 

 of the pasture land. Pack these closely about 

 the underpinning, and lay some weight upon 

 them so that they wiU remain in pl^e. You^ 



