44 



THE NEW GENESEE FARMER, 



Vol. 2. 





menis,'' and bis remarks on Silk Culture. — Eds. 

 Falmeb. ) 



comforts of a 5ew e.1gland wi^ter. 



The long winters of New England are often com- 

 plained of. Bullet us look at tbis. Tlie season of 

 culiivalion ia long enough for the maturing and per- 

 fection of oil the vegetable products which the cliinnie 

 and soil are capable of producing: and these embraece 

 an abundance and prolusion of the mobt valuable 

 grams, graj^sea, vegetables, and fruits, for the whole 

 year. The temperature is favorable to labor. The 

 long winters bring with them opportunities of social 

 intercourse of the most delightful character. While 

 the bracing air of winter gives elasticity to the mus- 

 cles and vigor to the min(l,iiatTord8, in its leisure from 

 out-door liibor, the most favorable opportunities lor in- 

 tellectual iinprovenient. The larnicr, in this rcepeet, 

 has advantages which fall to the lot of few other con- 

 d tions in lile. Happy is it for him, when an enlarged 

 education and a taste lor books and scientific inquiries 

 enable him to improve them to the greatest advantage. 

 Under these circumstances, no condition in life, to a 

 man of reasonable desires, whose heart is not poisoned 

 by avarice orambition, stems more privileged or more 

 enviable. 



I have said that agricnltnre as an art, is as yet im- 

 perf' cily understood. But it is encouraging to con- 

 template the improvements which have been made in it 

 within the last hall or even quarter of a century, and 

 lire rapidity which it is still advancing. 



HORTICULTURE AND FI.ORTICULTURZ. 



Among the interesting exhibitions of this occasion, 

 Horticulture and Florticultiire have presented their 

 liberal contributions. In the variety and perfection 

 of Indian corn, esculent vegetables, and the most val- 

 Bshlc fruits, we see every reason to be fatisfied with 

 our local eondilioru If peculiar obstacles to their cul- 

 tivation prcsetvt themselves in the soil or climate of 

 New England, we may with an honest ])ride congrat- 

 ulate ourselves upon that industry and skill, which in 

 deriance of such obstacles successfully produces them 

 in abundance and perfection. 



Flora, likewise, on this charming occasion, holds 

 her court among you, adorned with more than orien- 

 tol splendor. In the two great fiorial kingdoms of 

 nature, the botanical and the human, if we must yield 

 the palm to that which is alike transcendant in the 

 beouty of form and motion, and in the higher attri- 

 butes of intelligerice, inivocence and moral perfeetion, 

 jrct it can be no derogation to admire, with » rapture 

 bordering upon enthusiasm, the splendid products of 

 the garden; and especially when their beauties are 

 combined and arranged as on this occasion, with an 

 exquisite and refined taste. What is the heart made 

 of whidi can find no sentiment in flowers T In some 

 of the most striking displays of this occasion, in the 

 dahlias for e:«amplc, we sec what can be done by hu- 

 man skill and art in educating and training a simple 

 • nd despised plant, scarcely thought woclhy of culti- 

 \ation, to the highest rank in gayety and glory and 

 ever varying perfection in the aristocracy of flowers. 

 We may learn from such sutxess, a lesson of encou- 

 ragement in the education and training of flowers of 

 an infinitely higher vnlue and iK-rfeclion. 



The vast cre.ition of God, the centre and source ol 

 good, is every where rttdiant with beauty. From the 

 shell that lies buried at the deptlisof the ocean to the 

 twinkling star that floats in the still more profound 

 depths of the firmament, through all the formsof ma- 

 terial and anin>ated existence, beauty, beauty,, beauty 

 prevails. In the floral kingdom it appears in an infi- 

 nite variety, in an unstinted and even rich profusion 

 than in other deparunents of nature. While these 

 contributions are thrown out so lavishly at our feet, 

 and a taste for flowers seems almost an instinct of na- 

 ture, and is one of tiie most innocent and refined sen- 

 timents which we can cultivate, let us indulge and 

 gratify it to ihe utmost extent, whereever leisure, op- 

 portunity, and fortune give us the means. There is 

 no dangpr of an excess under these reasonable restric- 

 tions, which all our sentiments demand. ** But," 

 sayi^ some cynical objector,. ^^ flowers are only to please 

 the eye." And whyshonvld not the eye be picaseii ? 

 What sense may be more innoce»tIy gratified ? They 

 are among the most simple, and at the some time a- 

 mong the cheapest luxuries in which we can indidge. 



Tue tasle for flowers, every where incTea.>ing a- 

 mong us, is an omen for good. Ld as adorn our 

 parlors, dnorways, yardr, and roadsides^ with trees, 

 and (-hrub^', and flowers. What a delight do they give 

 to the passer by ? What fovorable impressions do 

 they at once excite towards those who cultivate their 

 own gratification, and find, after all, their chief plea- 

 t^ttf in (ho i^aiiiicatiun they aflord to athors. What 



on afTcciiiig charm, associoted as it is with some of the 

 best fentinicniB of our nature, do they give to the sad 

 dvseihiig places of the departed and beloved. 



The moral influences of such embellishments de- 

 mands our consideration. I do not mean merely the 

 siibstiiniion of such refined tostes and pursuits in 

 place of the gratification of the lower appetites. This 

 IS no small matter. But another influeitce should not 

 be overlooked. 



Every one familiar with human life must be sensible 

 that mere personal neatness and order are themselve 

 securities of virtue. As we cultivate these habits and 

 in respect to our residences and the things and objects 

 ornuiid us, make a study of rendering them or^ierly 

 and beautiful, and of adding to them the highest cm- 

 bellishmcmsof art, our own self respect is greatly in- 

 creased. Next to religions principle nothing operates 

 more than self-respect, as a safeguard to virtue and a 

 stimulant to excellence. 



" HOME, SVTKET BOUE." 



The direct tendency of all such embellishments in 

 our grounds and habitations is to multiply the attrac- 

 tions of home, and to strengthen the domestic ties. It 

 IS the glory of IS'ew England that these precious ties 

 are no where stronger or more sacred. I would 

 bind her children if possible, by chains a thjusand 

 times more end oring. In all my journey ings into oth- 

 er lands, favored as ihey may be by the highest ad- 

 vantages of climate and soil, I come back to New Eng- 

 land with all the enthusiasm of a first love, mid a filial 

 tifljciion which, if possible, has only gained new 

 strength from absence. Indeed there is every thing 

 in her to love and honor. Let us seek to render eve- 

 ry spot of her rude territory beautiful, I'o the emi- 

 nent picturesqueness of her natural scenery, adding 

 the triumphs of an industrious, skilful, and tasteful 

 cultivation, every substantial want of our nature will 

 be supplied, every refined sentiment of the mind grat- 

 ified; and the true New England heart will seek no 

 other Eden this side of that better country where flow- 

 ers bloom with a radiance which never fades, and "one 

 unbounded and eteriuil spring encircles all" 



A Correction-^Feeding Berkshires. 



Messrs. Editors — I wish to correct a small mis- 

 take that appeared in the published rejjort o( the com- 

 mittee on Swine, appoirtetl by the Tompkins County 

 Agricultural and Horticultural Society to report at its 

 lost annual fair. It is contained in the extract you 

 have made from that report (on page 24, last month.) 



It reads "Fat, 83 C| 9." It should be 



Feci. The error is a small one, but is somewhat im- 

 portant, as it shows the diflerence in the coarseness 

 of the three animals. I made another experiment the 

 past fall in cutting np two three-quarter blood Berk- 

 shire hogs, and found the result to correspond very 

 nearly with the table yon have published^ although 

 the hogs were heavier, weighing 360 each. 



The readiag of T. C. I'eters' valuable letter on the 

 .ulijcct of "Piggery and Pork Making," induces me to 

 give you short account of my method of wintering 

 store swine, consisting of ten full blood Berkshire 

 breeding sows, three full blood Berkshire boars, and 

 shoats of different ages, to make in all twenty-two. 

 Those I have shut up in lots of from two to four each, 

 and feed them twice a day, say morning and evening, 

 with one cent's worth of boiled corn each — com at 

 3s. Gd. per bushel — or I lb. 4oz. each, before it is boil- 

 ed. I boil the corn about tvs'clve hours by putting it 

 over the stove in the morning in a copper boiler, and 

 let it cook through the day — let it cool in the night, 

 and feed it the next day. I fiisd that twenty-eight 

 pounds of corn, when boiled will weigh sixty-eight 

 pounds, ond it increases se much in bulk as in weight. 

 I feed no water nor slop of any kind to my hogs; 

 they have nothing but the boiled corn, and they come 

 out in ilip spring in as good condition as they were irt 

 the fall This is the secoml winter that I have pursu- 

 ed this practice. I have also tried the plan of boiling 

 potatoes and ruta baga, and mixing bran, shorts, &e. 

 with them, to make swill; but it costs more that way 

 than on boiled coiiu 



I wish to inquire of Col. Sawyer whether the por- 

 traits that yon gave »f his Berkshire swine ore cor- 



rect in their proportions. If they are not they have a i ' 

 tendency to mislead the public; but il they are correct 1 

 they add value to your journal. It is a subject that I [ 

 hope gentlemen giving portraits of animals will be 

 careful about, — that the beauty of the portraits may 

 depend on the excellence of the animal and not on th« ' 

 skill and fancy of the artist. ,j p 



Yours respeetfnily, 



E. CORNELL. 

 hliaca, Tompkins Co.. Feb., 1S41. 



Remark — The Portraits are pronounced ccri; eoMpl.i 

 rect. — Eds. fftiri 



'if 



Maple Sugar. u 



The following communication contains excellent 

 hints on the subject of making maple sugar. Th« 

 two leading requisites for success, we believe to be^ 

 boiling the sap as fresh from the tree as possible, and 

 the most punctillioug cleanliness in all the different 

 operations. As the season for this work will sjon 1 

 commence, we recommend the remaits of our cor- 

 respondent to those iyerested, as well as those of A. 

 S. Chew, from the Ohio Farmer, published last year 

 on page 4.5 of this journal. We believe it to be aa 

 easy and economical, by proper management, to make 

 beautifuj, white, crystalized maple sugar, as the eom- I 

 mon, dirty looking, brown substance, which is- not I 

 generally in faet, the very cleanest produciioa of the I 

 materia! world. * 



Messrs. Editors — Having seen I'n yeur paper an 



inquiry for making a vat or box for boiling sop, and 

 having long wondered that sohitle attention was given 

 to making maple stigar, I give some of my own expe. 

 rienee in relation to it. I have been surprised to se* 

 so little disposition to improve the usual mode of 

 catching the sap in troughs, and boiling it in kettles 

 hung on a pole, by which it is filled with all manner 

 of filth, and the article of maple sugar, (the purest of 

 all sweets,) rendered unwholesome and forbidding as 

 it comes into market. 



From twenty years' experience and observation, 

 using kettles in various ways, I have adopted sheet- 

 iron pans, which are here coming into common use, 

 and have been ustd for ten or tv\elve years with good 

 success. Pans with sheet-iron bjttoms and wooded 

 sides did not succeed well. The pans are simply a 

 sheet of Russia iron turned up irt tlic sides and end* 

 about three inches, and will hold about three pails 

 while boiling. A rim of band iron is rivetted round, 

 about one inch wide, with rings as handles. The 

 cost of a pan is about $4. Two or three are set 

 lengthwise on an arch, built of stone; from one and a 

 half to two feet in depth, and about twenty inches ra 

 breadth, the pan being about twenty-two inches. 

 The arch should be even on top, ond a wide bar of 

 wrought or cast iron across the arch between and un- 

 der the pans to prevent the heat from the fire reaching 

 the sides. The pons are slid ofl" when emptied. One 

 of these wdl boil about as much as a caiddron kettle. 



I have for some years past used six, set three on an 

 arch, side by side, and have about six hundred trees willi 

 buckets for the same, and average about twelve hun- 

 dred pounds per year of sugar, which fetches eleven 

 cents per pound, and the profits are fiom $80 to ^100. 

 This is done at a season of the year when little else 

 can be done on a £»rm. 



The sugar boiled in poms, I believe to he ten per 

 cent better than in kettles, other things being equal. 

 To make maple sugar as it should be, much care is 

 needed to keep every thing used about it clean and 

 sweet, and the sap should be boiled as soon as it can 

 be to prevent fei mentation. Maple sap of itself has no 

 color, and if it could be crystalized without stain, 

 would be while and transparent, and the sweet of the 

 pnreet kind. Much is said about cieensing sugar, bat 



