y-22 
PEELING AND BOILING POTATOES, ETC. 
edges, where the ground is a little 
dry, and grass ditto, not worth 
much ; hut let it balance the hay 
poles, 9.60 
Consolation to the owner to think he 
always has hay on hand is worth 
as much as the old shoes and boots 
lost while poling it out, . . 25.00 
Thinking what a nice piece of meadow 
that would be if it was drained, and 
having a "darn'd good mind to try 
it" every year for 50 years, is cer- 
tainly worth four-and-sixpence a 
year, Connecticut currency, and 
cheap at thai, . . , . . 37.00 
Balance in favor of the " Old Pond 
Meadow," ..... 
$322.10 
320.60 
$1.50 
Now let us suppose that this land had been judi- 
ciously drained, and how would the figures look ? 
Why something like this : 
The Old Pond Meadow, Dr. 
To one month's labor in cutting a ditch 
through the centre, and around the 
edges, and about twenty rods to the 
brook, $30 
To cutting and hauling off the bogs 
and burning them, say $5 per acre, 35 
To breaking up and seeding after the 
land becomes dry, say $3 per acre, 21 
To lime, ashes, and manure, average 
for 50 years, say $3 per acre each 
year, 1,050 
$1,136 
Notwithstanding this sum looks so enormous, 
let us see if the per contra will not show a better 
balance than the preceding account. 
Contra. 
For an average of 2 tons per acre of 
Timothy, red-top, and clover hay, 
upon seven acres for 50 years, (a 
low estimate, supposing it is all the 
time in grass, and that is 700 tons,) 
worth $10 a ton, . . . $7,000 
The pasturage is worth 50 cents per 
acre per annum, . . . . 175 
The dirt from the ditches and ashes 
from the bogs, to put upon the old 
gravelly hills around, is worth 
nearly as much as it cost to dig it, 
hut say only .... 25 
$7,200 
The balance then will be $6,064 in favor of the 
improvement. 
In fact, I have seen, during the present trip, a 
hundred just such tracts - of land as the one de- 
scribed above, so far as facility of draining is con- 
cerned, and at present worthless. Now, is it not 
singular, shrewd as these Yankees are, that they 
should continue, generation after generation, to 
pole out the hay from their old bog meadows, and 
plow and plant some of the richest natural soil 
upon their farms, that does not produce half a fair 
crop, for want of a few under drains, and that, too, 
in many places where the surface is covered with 
loose stones, that would serve admirably well for 
materials to build the drains with 1 But these peo- 
ple do not read. Nay, they do not plow. " Do not 
plow ?" Nay, they do not plow. The little 
scratching that they give the land is unworthy of 
name of plowing. They will actually argue, that 
to plow deep will ruin the land, as it turns up the 
poor, unproductive earth. As for subsoil plowing, 
it is to them a sealed volume. We read in books 
and newspapers, daily, of the high state of improve- 
ments in New England. And in all the villages 
and manufacturing towns, and upon a great many 
farms, there is an air of thrift, neatness, and a sort 
of gentility of appearance, that gives character to 
the whole country. Then, again, among those 
who continue generation after generation, to pole 
out the old bog-meadow hay, and scratch over the 
bare surface of the gravel hills, or mow over the 
old fields, " three clips to a handful," there is an 
unceasing, never-tiring industry : and that, upon 
any soil, will make a show of thrift. If well di- 
rected into an improving channel that would con- 
stantly fertilize the soil, what a result would be 
produced ! 
I hope my Connecticut friends will not think 
that I use the lash too freely. I think they need 
it. They are, as a hody, behind the age in agri- 
cultural improvements. Their children are all 
taught to read. But can there be found this day 
in any one of her district school houses, one single 
book calculated to teach their children how to cul- 
tivate the soil ? No ! for they think that it 
would be "book farming." The father thinks no 
one ever knew so much about farming as himself, 
and the son never conceived the idea, that there 
was any art to learn, nor that any other person he- 
sides father could ever teach him anything about 
it. " Learn farming in school ! Ha, ha ! who ever 
heard of such a thing." 
If Connecticut had nothing hut her soil to depend 
upon to insure her prosperity, her citizens would 
have to learn agricultural improvement, or her 
people would themselves deteriorate. But let us 
rest a month, and then, by your leave, I will con- 
tinue my trip to Boston. Solon Robinson. 
July 10th, 1849. 
• 
Peeling and Boiling Potatoes. — A loss of the 
most nutritious portion of the potato is incurred by 
peeling off the rind and parts directly underneath, 
as in these the nitrogenized matters, but no starch, 
chiefly reside, which are dissolved by cold water 
and coagulated by water while boiling. If potatoes, 
therefore, are thrown into cold water, and gradually 
heated, much of their nitrogenized principles will 
be extracted before the water reaches the point of 
ehullition ; whereas, if it be made to boil before 
they are introduced, the coagulation will cause 
these matters to be retained within the tissue of the 
vegetables lying contiguous to the rind. 
-• 
To Green-Tea Drinkers. — Most of the green 
teas consumed in England and the United States, 
are said to be colored by a preparation of indigo 
and plaster of Paris. To every 14£ lbs. of tea, one 
ounce of coloring matter is applied. 
