ISGO.l 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
11 
neces&aty and nut degriuliiig tu tlie employee. I nni 
nnxious theiefoie lo employ some 10 to 20 Connecticut 
Valley laborers, who have been accustomed to the culture 
of tobacco, to general farm work and care of stock, and 
also an intelligent manof good cliaracter, experienced in 
the direction of otlieisand who understands the principles 
and piactice of successful farndng. I am willing to jiay 
sncli employees matket prices, oi' give them^fimtin^ and 
a share of the crops. 
"Tile advantages of soil, climate, healthy location, com- 
fortable buildings, stock and improvements aie unsurpas- 
sed. We Iiuve daily mails by tlie R. R., which passes 
through the estate ; rpa^ly access to market by this source 
and by the river. Wills, a connti-'y strjre. blacksmith and 
carpenter shop on the estate, and schools and churches 
in the immediate vicinity. 
"All this section of country raises fine manuf.icturing 
tobacco, which commands a high price ; the season is 
much longer and the climate much more favorable for lis 
culture than in Connecticut. Theie is a strong desire 
among many heie to see good Northern fanners and 
laborers come in and settle among us. and if they come, 
I am convinced that they will soon be mucli more wel- 
rome than the Swedes, Germans and Scotch now being 
Imported. You will much oblige me and I believe much 
benefit many others. North and South, by calling atten- 
iion to this part of Virginia. Many/cr/i/r tracts — cleared, 
fenced, stockeil, and with good residences and out-build- 
ings, could be bought ciieap, or rented for a small sum or 
part of the ciop. Many old owners are unable to conform 
to the new order of tiungs, have little money and will 
readily rent 11 to Northern men, who will have little 
trouble in getting the freedmen to work." 
The South offers few inducements to men of small 
means, who are not good practical farmers, and pretty 
well read also in the principles of agriculture ; for such 
llie West is belter. Neither is the South the place for 
men wlio do not like to work. Work is lo be the order of 
the day at the South now, and it vvill be its salvation. 
Agricultural Education. 
THE FARMER-BOT'S SCHOOL IN THE FAillLY. 
In nu article on Agricultural Eilucation in 
the December number (p. 374) we promised to 
continue the subject there introduced. The 
farmer-boy'3 first teachers are his parents, and 
his first lessons are from those by wliom he 
is surrounded. Up to the time of his birth, the 
little fellow usually has less intelligent thought 
bestowed upon him than would have been given 
to a thorough-bred animal of any kind. Never- 
theless, his physical being is subject to almost 
identically the same laws, and his constitution 
and quality as a man are often determined long 
before any proper educational influences are 
brought to bear upon his unfolding mind. AVe 
believe, also, that his mind and heart are, equally 
with his ithysical nature, affected by prenatal 
conditions. Children know a great deal more 
than we give tliem credit for ; especially do 
they perceive our emotions, attempts to deceive 
them, Lack of trust in them, lack of truth, not in 
words only, but in tlioughts. So a child towards 
whom angry feelings are exercised, who is 
struck or punislied in anger, soon becomes 
passionate, provoking, " ugly " as we s.ay, and 
the reverse is equally true — love begets love. 
The love of nature, fondness for flowers, for 
plants whose use is beauty, or whose Ijeauty is 
their usefulness, kindness to animals, etc., if ex- 
hibited by those about the cliild, find in it an 
immediate response. So, also, may habits of 
helpfulness and industry be almost in-bred, if 
with his earliest efforts to do anylliing lie is 
given to understand that his little powers may 
be exerted to some use. The love of approbation, 
■if gratified and properl)' met !))• expressed ap- 
proval for all those little attempts to work some 
good, no matter how little is really wrought, 
effectual!}' establish the tendency to do witli tlie 
might what the hands find to do, almost before 
the little fellow is out of leading strings. Too 
often this is neglected, and tlien boys liave to 
he made to work and kept ai it Ity tlie hardest. 
Nevertheless often they do work well, but it is 
for the sake of approbation, or as selling an ex- 
ample to hired men, etc., or to see tlie work get 
ahead, and without thought and reason, and so it 
is not relished and enjoyed as if the mind as well 
as the bod}' was earnest in tlie work. Tlie love 
of nature and all natural things, the habit of 
carefully observing birds, animals, insects and 
plants, of watching them in all stages of growth 
and development, of reasoning upon .and discus- 
sing intelligently, the questions th.at continual- 
ly come up about all these things, if encouraged 
by books .and intelligent interest on the part of 
the parents, will develop into a love for farm- 
ing, and for farm work even. 
Meanwhile, of course, the boy progresses with 
his schooling. Any father interested with his 
son's development will read witli him, and get 
him interested in the subjects which we have 
.already alluded to as coming up on tlie farm, 
and so not only teach him about his work, but 
give him time daily to read, not working him so 
hard that he will be unfit for mental application. 
Above all, the parents should be companions 
for their children, have their confidence and 
affection, and to accomplish this, they must be 
interested in them and what they are taken up 
with, giving them fall time for sports and plays, 
athletic exercises, rambles in woods and moun- 
tains, and cspeeiixU}' encour.aging them to ac- 
quire a minute intimacy with nature in all its 
manifest.atinns, so far as tastes incline them, but 
not to the iuterruptiouof proper prepar.atiou for 
the business of life. A familiarity with the 
mechanical arts ought to be early encouraged, 
fostered by visiting neighboring factories and 
shops, and by instruction in the use of common 
joiners, and iron worker's tools. A boy under 
such home influences, rounds out in his pliysical 
and mental being, and is interested in home and 
the farm to such an extent that he will most 
likely remain, and if he follows forming, will 
almost surely succeed. Such an education also 
is as good a foundation for any subsequent 
business or professional schooling as he can have. 
Top-dressing Meadows in Winter. 
A thin dressing of clay put upon a meadow, 
where the zoil is sand}', or a sandy loam, or for 
the most part muck, and not in a very good 
state of fertility, will sometimes increase the 
growth of grass so largely, that a meadow 
hardly worth mowing will yield three tons of 
excellent hay per acre. Sometimes when 
grading has been done, or a new fence is built, 
the earth is scattered in depressions on the 
sward near by, and the result almost always is a 
large increase in the growth of the grass. We 
have frequently observed bunches, and small 
patches of t.all, heavy grass of a luxuri.ant 
growth, near stakes and posts, that had recently 
been set, a small quantity of the earth having 
been scattered, when the workman w.as digging 
the holes. Taking tlie liint from these, it is easy 
to see how teams and laborers may be employ- 
ed profrtably, when there is snow on the ground, 
or it is too cold to engage in labor that requires 
warm weather. If a man has a sandy meadow 
yielding but a sm.all burden of grass, it will pay 
well to haul cla}', or almost any kind of earth 
half a mile to top-dress such ground. When 
the sleighing is good, a team will haul two tons 
at one lo.ad with ease. If the soil be of a peaty 
character, two tons of cold stiff' clay spread in 
the winter over an area of four square rods, 
will usually produce a maximum result. Should 
the clay be plowed, or spaded up in large clods, 
let them be spread on the snow or ground, and 
the frost and rain will reduce them to a fine .and 
mellow condition before the growing season 
commences, so that a little labor with a shovel 
will cover the entire surface with an excellent 
top-dressing, the good effect of which will be 
perceived for several years, iu the larger quanti- 
ty of grass and hay, and in the better quality. 
An active man with a good team will haul, on 
an aver.age, one ton of earth an hour half ii 
mile, when the traveling is such that the team 
m.ay haul two tons per load. And if half a ton 
be spread on each square rod, it will require 
eighty tons to top-dress on ncro. The expense 
of the teams for hauling need not be computed, 
because they must be kept in winter, whether 
they work or not, and it will be better for 
them to labor than to remain idle. Then allow- 
ing a man one dollar per d.ay, if he hauls only 
four loads per day, nitiking eight tons, it will 
cost ten dollars to top-dress one acre. The 
grass produced by such a dressing over and 
above wliat would have grown in a single sea- 
son, will ordinarily more than pay all this ex- 
pense. But, in the winter, when farmers have 
little to do besides their daily chores, they can 
work a few hours every day at top-dressing in 
this manner, and it will cost them even less 
than we have reckoned, as it will be better for 
both men and teams to labor moderately, than 
to remain idle. When there is a preponderance 
of clay in the soil, sand, or sandy loam, or muck 
may be hauled instead of clay. Tlie frosts and 
rains will almost surely reduce it fine before the 
growing season commences, and it will answer 
the double purpose of a mulch and fertilizer. 
When the snow is off' the ground on a mild day, 
the lumps, if there are many, may be broken up 
and spread by a harrow turned upon its back. 
■ I ■ > ■ — I tt 
Protecting Implements and Machinery. 
It is safe to state that more tools and ma- 
chinery are used up by rust and exposure to the 
weather, than by the actual wear and tear of 
use. Very few tools are thrown aside because 
tliey are iconi out. Harrows are frequently left 
with the teeth in the ground all winter, and 
many people think because the teeth are iron, 
they are not injured. But the scale of rust that 
sometimes forms on harrow-teeth destroys more 
iron during the winter, than is worn off by all 
the harrowing done in one year. The Game is 
true of plows. IIow often do we see good 
plows standing in the furrow all winter ! Water 
not only fills the cracks in the wood, but enters 
every joint, causing tlie grain of tlie timber to 
expand and then shrink in dry weather, and at 
length rot, before the plow is worn out, and the 
formation of a scale of rust on the iron wdiere it 
comes in cont.act with the soil, rapidly uses up 
the iron parts, so that implements, not pro- 
tected, goto destruction witli astonisliing rapidi- 
ty, whether made of wood or niet.al. If the 
surf^ice is well painted, water will still find its 
way into the joints, tenons will decay, and the 
wood about the mortises will often rot in a few 
years. Wagon wheels that are allowed to 
stand in the storms and sunshine, even wlien 
well painted, rust out faster than they wear out. 
Water soaks into joints of the fellies and spokes 
and between the tires and wood, ruslingthe iron 
and destroying the solidity of the structure. 
Tills is why w.agon tires must be re-set so fre- 
quentl}'. Jlore iron will rust off sleigh shoes in 
one season, wlien they rest on the ground, even 
under shelter, than will wear off while running 
all winter in a snow track. The same is equal- 
ly true of liocs, shovels, and many ollu-r tools. 
