TO A CONNECTICUT FARMER, ETC. 
95 
Engineer's wages, $300 
Repairs of machinery and oil, 200 
Iron, lumber, staves, and hoop poles, . . 300 
Sundiy items, 200 
This, of course, does not include anything for 
ordinary family expenses, which are no small 
item in a house, where, besides all the world of 
acquaintances, every respectable stranger finds 
a home and a most hearty welcome, from a most 
noble gentleman and lovely lady. 
During my exceedingly pleasant visit here, I 
had the satisfaction of making the acquaintance 
of nearly all the gentlemen in the neighborhood. 
Upon the opposite side of the river, from Dean 
Hall, is the plantation of J. Withers Read, who 
has ponds of fresh water covering 100 acres of 
upland, which are held in reserve to water the 
rice fields when the river is too salt. He threshes 
his crop by horse power, and sends the grain to 
Charleston to be hulled, where there are several 
very large steam mills, though more perfect, yet 
upon the same principle as Col. Carson's. The 
toll is 1\ per cent., and the mill keep the offal. 
TO GUARD THE LUNGS WHILE THRESHING. 
The following may be depended upon as a 
perfectly safe and convenient mode of guarding 
the lungs, while threshing, as I have tested it for 
several years, and never knew it to fail : — Take 
a piece of fine sponge, about two inches thick 
in the centre, and about four inches broad ; cut 
out a little in the centre, so that it will fit the 
nose and mouth, leaving it about three fourths 
of an inch thick over the end of the nose and 
mouth ; moisten it well and squeeze it out, so as 
to prevent its dripping; fasten a string to the 
outer edge of the sponge, on each side of the 
face, and tie it back of the head, and one can 
work in a perfect smother for hours, I might 
say days, without any of those disagreeable 
sensations that are always experienced without 
such precaution. This will not obstruct the 
breath one tenth part so much as a piece of 
gauze Avill when drawn over the face. I would 
rather give one dollar per day, for a good 
sponge, than to tend a threshing machine 
without it. An Experienced Thresher. 
Receipt for Sausages. — To 30 lbs. of meat, 
add 10 oz. of fine salt, 3 oz. of sage, 2 oz. of 
good, black pepper, and mix them well together. 
The sage should be well rubbed between the 
hands, or through a seive, before using. After 
the ingredients are thoroughly incorporated, 
apply them to all parts of the meat, before 
chopping. If you have not a good sausage cut- 
ter, go and get one. Then you may depend 
upon having good sausages. 
A Lover of Good Sausages. 
To Cure the Scratches in Horses. — Wash the 
affected parts thoroughly with warm soap suds; 
rub them severely with a cob ; and then apply 
beef brine. One application will usually effect 
a cure. If you will well rub the parts that are 
usually affected, every day, with a cob, you will 
seldom need do anything more. A Farmer. 
TO A CONNECTICUT FARMER. 
Your article in the January number of the 
Agriculturist, has just met my eye. I cannot 
turn to the article that has been the cause of 
your animadversions, for I am upon a small 
island, on the coast of South Carolina, and my 
trunks and books are in Charleston. But I sup- 
pose that I drew a picture, in my " flight," of 
some spots that you would prefer to keep hidden 
from the world. That was not my object. You 
seem yourself to think, that my pictures were 
fictitious. But I assure you that they are true 
ones. It is equally true, that I might have given 
"a different complexion" to them ; and I knew 
the "right source" to inquire; and was "able to 
compare the past with the present ;" for I was 
born among the rocks, in the most rocky part 
of Connecticut. But I did not design to show 
the bright side of the picture, nor did I show its 
darkest side. There is, and has been, ever since 
I knew the state, a miserable system of farming 
carried on there, that is wholly unworthy of the 
present age of improvement. There is a larger 
proportion of readers in this state, than, perhaps, 
in any other ; but how many of them read agri- 
cultural books or papers ? Do you teach agri- 
cultural chemistry in your common schools? 
Have you a state geologist, chemist, or public 
lecturer? Do you generally subsoil your clay 
soil, or underdrain your thousands of acres of 
cold, spongy side hills ? Are there not thousands 
of "old-pond meadows" and swamps, yet un- 
drained ? Do not Connecticut farmers continue 
to barely scratch the surface with the plow? 
And do they practise the most improved scientific 
methods of making and using manure ? Do 
they not still mow over five acres of ground for 
a ton of hay ? And are there not hundreds of 
just such farms as the one I drew a picture of? 
Then wherein have I " done you injustice ?" or 
made an " unwarranted attack upon you ?" 
You little knew me, if you supposed that I 
would make such an attack upon any portion 
of my country. I intended to tell my native 
state that she was asleep, and in my flight over 
my native hills, I endeavored to stir her up. 
Since writing that article, I have seen a whole 
county aroused to attend an agricultural fair, 
in one of the richest sections in the state. What 
aroused it? Was it to make a great show of 
stock, improved implements, &c, or to compete 
for premiums for the best systems of draining 
and cultivating the soil ? Was it to witness a 
great plowing match and trial of skill, and to 
determine which was the best kind of plow? 
If so, it is wonderful that there were but four 
plows — and one of them furnished by the pro- 
prietor of the land, "just to help out." But 
there was a great crowd attending the fair. What 
brought them there ? Why, to see Gen. Tom 
Thumb ! ! It was not the spirit of agricultural 
improvement. If that prevails in Farmington, 
I am glad to hear it ; it does not prevail univer- 
sally. The people of the state need arousing ; 
and could I succeed in awakening them, I should 
be willing to be called a few hard names, while 
they were rubbing their eyes ; but when they 
get them open, so as to see that I am a son of 
