78 



THE NEW GENESEE FARM ER,P^ 



Vol. 1. 



Razors, Shaving, and Improving Cutting 

 Instrnmcnts. 



Tliere nre but few fnrmere who are not more or lees 

 Interested in the operation of cutting the beard. This, 

 we hope, will be a Eufficient apology for introducing 

 an abstract of a communication, which appeared some 

 time ago in the Farmers' Register, from the pen of 

 Dr. Robert R. Harden; believing that tome of the 

 poeitions advanced deserve further investigation. The 

 fact that a warm razor cuts better than a cold one, is 

 commonly known; and the reason is supposed to be 

 the same as that a hot knife cuts butter more easily 

 than a cold one. It is also a very common opinion 

 among mechanics that an old tool cuts better than a 

 newly made one. But the improvement of the temper 

 by magnetizing is entirely new to us. If such is the 

 case, may it not be owing to the improved tenacity of 

 the edge ? 



Dr. Harden lays that the loadstone improves a ra- 

 zor to an astonishing degree, and that therefore the 

 fjtat step towards taking off the beard etisily, is to 

 magnetize the edge. With regard to its shaving more 

 easy when dipped in hot water, he says, "It cannot be 

 from Its softening effect on the beard; for after the 

 beard has been well lathered with soap and warm wa- 

 ter, it is hardly presumable that the heat of the razor 

 would soften it much more. Besides, the razor will 

 not shave so well if it is too hot ; to shave easy, it 

 must be dipped in hot water, and then getting cool be- 

 fore it :s applied to the face. Two reasons should be 

 given; first, because when the razor is used cold, the 

 temper is so high and the edge so fine, or thin, that it 

 will fly and become full of little gaps; whereas by dip- 

 ping it in warm water, the heat gives it a little tough- 

 ness, and takes away that extreme britdenesa which 

 makes it break. Shavn with a razor that ia hot and 

 one that is cold, and examine them with a powerful 

 microscope, and the difference will be very plain. 

 In dissecting out large tumors, and other surgical op- 

 erations, where very sharp knives are requiied, I have 

 always kept the knives in a bowl of hot water, and 

 changed them as they became cool." 



Dr. Harden relates a number of interesting experi- 

 ments, rather accidental, showing how the temper of 

 steel is improved by age. He says newly tempered 

 steel ia always defective — that it is the common belief 

 among surgeons, that old London instruments were 

 better made than they were in thiscountry; "that they 

 are better is certain; but it is age that has improved 

 them." He relates, among others, the following oc- 

 currences: — "More than 25 years ago, I had a set of 

 dis-:ecting knives, made by Brown, of Philadelphia.— 

 He was directed to make them as good as they could 

 be made, and to charge double price for them. They 

 were found, upon trial, to be good for nothing, were 

 thrown aside, and after remaining for many years ne- 

 glected, I had the rust cleaned off and sharpened. — 

 They are now as good as the best I ever used. About 

 twenty years ago, I had a couching needle made of a 

 Bingidar form, by a blacksmith. The operation of 

 couching for blindness requires a well tempered in- 

 strument; the point must bo perfect. After having it 

 several times tempered over, I found it impossible to 

 bring it to a perfect point It was thrown aside as use- 

 leas; not leas than half a dozen times I sent to the 

 north ami had new needles made, directing two or 

 three prices to be offered for them, so that they might 

 be made of the best kind; none of them were as good 

 as I wished them to be. As I frequently practice this 

 operation on dead eyes, as well as on brute's eyes, to 

 save my new instruments, this old needle was cleaned 

 of rust and sharpened again; and upon trial, it waa 

 found to be the best instrument I have." • * * "|i 

 may be laid down as a fact, that a newly made razor 

 ill seldom shave well, and that the older the better. 



Time or age, has an elTect on the edge of a razor, that 



no art can p'^oduce. * * Therefore, when we buy a 



new razor, (for this new razor may have been made 



' years,) we should select a sharp one, for we my never 



I get as good an edge on it again; this edge shoiUd be 



[saved as long as possible, never putting it on a strap 



while it will do without. By only strapping it on a 



clean silk handkerchief, or the palm of the hand, if 



the razor is a good one, it will keep its edge a long 



time." 



The communication contains minute directions for 

 sharpening razors after they have lost their edge. The 

 hone must of course bo good; a very fine oil atone is 

 said to be best, and castor oil better than olive od. — 

 We are told that a good razor can never be well shar- 

 pened while cold, from brittleness; that it should be 

 dipped in boiling water, and laid on the hone with lit- 

 tle more than its own weight, and in^ead of having a 

 rough, broken, and irregular wire edge, it will have a 

 fine, uniform wire edge. To attempt to strap this off, 

 breaks it irregularly, and sticks the strap full of frag- 

 ments which spoil it; nibbing it acroES the thumb 

 nail, breaks it off in some places, and turns it up and 

 mal;es it worse ino'.hcrs. Time, is the only remedy. 

 Therefore after honing it, wipe it perfectly dry, not 

 ouching the edge with any thing, and above all things 

 not touching it by a strap; and put it away. After 

 remaining at least three months, the longer the bet- 

 ter, strop it some time on a stretched silk handker- 

 chief, then on the palm of the hand. This should be 

 done cold. "Now dip it in boiling hot water, and ap- 

 ply it to the smooth side of one of Mechis' magic 

 straps, lathering the face, and dipping the razor in hot 

 water as ueuol; and the beard may be mowed off, not 

 only so easily that it cannot be felt, but the razor will 

 shave so perfectly easy and smooth, that it will shave 

 the beard lower than the surface of the skin. It is ab 

 solutely necessary to dip the razor in boiling water 

 while strapping as while honing it." There are anum- 

 ber of theoretical, or ra;her hypothetical remarks, 

 which we omit. 



Should any think we have devoted too much time 

 to this subject, we can only say, that ihe aggregate 

 time which many farmers spend in shaving their faces 

 during life, is about one entire year; and that the 

 amount of time consumed annually at this business by 

 all the farmers of the State of New- York, cannot be 

 lees than one thousand years, or three hundred thou- 

 sand dollars worth of time. This we hope is some 

 apology. 



From the Farmers^ Oaiimt, 



Farm Accounts, and Farm Profits. 



Mr. Editor — I was much pleased with the com- 

 muniention in your last number, from A. E. T. , of 

 Philadelphia county; and I am glad that an article eo 

 plain, interesting, and calculated to place the profits of 

 agriculture in a fair tight, is to be followed up, as I in- 

 fer from the heading of the article, which is No. 1. — 

 Now, 1 do hope that this writer, who, it appears, can 

 hoUl the pen as well as the plough, will continue his 

 essays for the benefit of his brother faimers. There 

 are many subjects of great interest to Uic farmer, that 

 hove as yei received little or no attention from agricul- 

 tural writers. The subject of Varin Accoimts is one 

 of great importance, and 1 trust that A. E. T. will fur- 

 nish H9 with a "bird's eye view" of his system, which 

 I presume is a good one. 



The system or practice of farming with us in Mont- 

 gomery county, is not essentially different from that 

 in the more immediate neighborhood of Philadelphia 

 — but our great error has consisted in not farming iCtW 

 enough; we have been too an.xious to have large 

 farms, even if partially cultivated, in preference to 

 smali ones in a high state of fertility. The desire to 

 obtain many acres, has been the ruin of hundreds, and 

 was the rock on which I was nearly shipwrecked. — 

 Some years since, when money was cheap and every 

 thini; tnleable dear, I was induced to believe that my 

 farm of ninety-live acres was too small. True, I had 

 lived above board, was entirely free of debt, and had 

 abundance of employment; but still my farm was 



small, very small, indeed almost insignificant in com- 

 parison with some of my neighbors. Instead of being 

 contented with what I had, and by still greater atten- 

 tion causing it to produce more abundantly than it had 

 previously, the spirit of grasping after more, aiiibition, 

 speculation, or whatever you may please to call it, took 

 full possession of my luind — of course my days of 

 tranquility were ended. 



About this time it so happened that an adjoining 

 neighbor had become a victim to the spirit of emigra- 

 tion, and having settled on locating in the west, offer- 

 ed his farm for sale. He had been revolving in bis 

 mind the propriety of this step for several years, and 

 as it worked upon him, his farm became more and 

 more neglected, until, in some measure, he lost the 

 character ot a clean farmer. The buildings on the 

 place were so old and decayed, that thej- were consid- 

 ered of no value. The farm consisted of two hundred 

 and twenty-eight acres, subject to a mortgage of six 

 thousand dollars, at six per cent., payable half yearly. 

 This was no obstacle in my mind, "as the mortgage 

 may remain for years." The day of sale came, and I 

 was the fortunate purchaser; it being knocked down 

 at eight thousand one hundred and twenty dollars, sub- 

 ject to the aforesaid mortgage. My farm of ninety- 

 five acres, had, in the nine years that I tilled it poorly, 

 yielded me about two hundred dollars profit per an- 

 num so I had about eighteen hundred dollars at com- 

 mand, but was compelled to borrow, a thing I never 

 did before, about four hundred dollars. 



I had now attained apparently the Eummit of my 

 wishes — I was now a large landed proprietor ( At 

 first, I little thought of the collar on my neck, in the 

 shape of a mortgage, and sundry small obligaliona 

 shortly to be met. I enjoyed myself finely indeed, 

 but only for a short time, as the "bubble burst," and 

 I awoke to the cold and sober realities of my situation. 

 True, I was a large proprietor, but that did not give 

 sleep to my eyelids. My six months' interest came 

 round, and was paid after many days' vexation. My 

 coming crops, which fortunately were pretty fair, ena- 

 bled me to keep along for that time, to support my 

 family and pay off the four hundred dollars; but it 

 took all, and when that was gone I was in a deplora- 

 ble condition. A large plantation, mostly in a bad 

 state of cultivation, with poor fences, going rapidly to 

 decay — the soil requiring a liberal application of en- 

 riching manures to give it life, and no money to pur- 

 chase it, or to pay for sufficient help. But I resolved 

 not to be discouraged, and though, by going into debt 

 for various articles where I had credit, I was compel- 

 led to pay an enlarged price, yet I pushed on, resolved 

 to do my best to weather the storm, and improve the 

 purchase, at least in appearance, such as fences, &c. 

 But instead of cultivating but a part, I very foolishly 

 — as I fear is the case with too many of my brother 

 farmers who occupy too much land — undertook to cul- 

 tivate the whole — the consequence was that my crops 

 were generally light, especially on the new purchase, 

 and not so good, by odds, on the homestead. I saw 

 my error, and determined, if possible, to retrieve it. — 

 By perseverance I was enabled to continue and make 

 both ends meet, but as to laying up a dollar, I did not 

 and coidd not, and I had almost become reconciled to 

 my toilsome and care-worn life, when I waa started on 

 a new track. 



In li?3G a yoimg man, a stranger, who was solicit- 

 ing subscriptions for an agricultural paper, called at 

 my house about evening. I bid him stop for the 

 night, which he did. In the course of the evening, 

 our conversations-confined as it was to agriculture- 

 turned upon my emborassmenls. Why, said he, it !• 

 the easiest thing in the world for you not only to slip 

 the collar, but to do it to some purpose. I inquired 

 how; he replied, sell enough not only to pay your 

 mortgage, hut to enahle you to lay in a noble stock of 

 manvrr, and derate tlic same cost, labor, and attention 

 on what you hare left as you did on the ichoh, and I 

 will guarantee you success. But I can't sell — I have 

 tried the neighbors for years, to no effect. But that 

 is not the way — advertise, yes, advertise Tery extcn- 

 sirely, not only in your country papeis, but in those of 

 the city, and the surrounding country; make your 

 farm known every where. Sell off the first chance. 

 He read me several articles about the profits of small 

 farms well managed— of the great improvements in 

 agriculture, Ac. 



In the morning I subscribed for his paper. He 

 went his way, and I turned my attention to the duties 

 of my farm. But his advice made so great an impres- 

 sion on my mind, that I could not rest until I had 

 •"ado the effort to sell in the manner he proposed. I 

 acc.itlingly encountered the expense; and one of the 

 advertisements fortunately brought me a purchaser, 

 cash in 'land, who took two himdred acres at forty- 



