AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[July, 
"268 
other sections, but will, in fact, soon disap¬ 
pear. We might say that the same remedies 
that apply to the army worm apply to this 
cut worm. It will be well to bum over the 
fields in which they occur, so that the new 
grass will not be infested by subsequent gen¬ 
erations. The many who have sent inquiries 
and specimens will accept this together with 
the article on p. 283, as sufficient answers. 
Lawn Mowers-With and Without Col¬ 
lectors. 
The first Lawn Mowers used in this coun¬ 
try were English. A few were imported, 
and being adapted to English requirements, 
each had an attachment for collecting the 
grass as it was cut, and removing it from the 
lawn. When our inventors began to produce 
Lawn Mowers, they all agreed in giving a 
machine which cut the grass, but left the 
clippings scattered where they fell. It was 
found that in our hot climate, the clippings 
soon shrivelled and were not visible, while 
being left, they did good service as a mulch, 
A LAWN MOWER WITH A COLLECTOR. 
sheltering the roots of the grass from the in¬ 
tense heat of our sun in summer. While as 
a general rule it is better to leave the clip¬ 
pings as they are cut by the Lawn Mower, 
this, like all rules, has its exceptions. A 
lawn may be so closely stocked with grass 
that there is no room for the clippings, the 
sward is so dense ; or there may be a pro¬ 
longed season of rains, or of dampness, in 
which the grass will grow rapidly and must 
be cut, while, if the cut grass were left upon 
the ground, instead of shrivelling, would de¬ 
cay. In such cases it would be vastly pref¬ 
erable to collect the grass and remove it 
from the lawn altogether, than to let it re¬ 
main. To meet similar requirements, Messrs. 
Graham, Emlen & Passmore, makers of the 
celebrated “Philadelphia Lawn Mower,” 
have added to one size of their mowers a 
Collector, as in the engraving. This is not, 
as in the English machines, a heavy metal 
collecting box, but a canvas attachment that 
will hold all the grass that may be cut, on the 
average in about 15 minutes, and is so con¬ 
trived that by pulling a cord the grass may 
be emptied at once where it may be desired. 
This Collector is so arranged that it, with its 
double handles, may be readily removed, and 
the single handle, used when the grass is not 
collected, may be at once substituted. We 
regard this as an important addition to the 
lawn mower, as it allows the lawn to be 
treated according to its condition, or the re¬ 
quirements of the season. 
Hookertown Views on Raising Tobacco. 
Mr. Editor : I received, a few days back, 
the following letter from a man up the Val¬ 
ley, who seems to have heard of Hookertown 
and Seth Twiggs. He wants light on a finan¬ 
cial and moral question, and some of your 
readers may be in the same condition : 
Whetstone , Ct., May 5,1881. 
Timothy Bunker, Esq.— Dear Sir: I have just 
come to this town, and purchased a farm of about 
100 acres, and from 12 to 15 acres of it is said to be 
as good tobacco land as there is in the Connecticut 
Valley, and the former owner has raised it for a 
number of years. The soil is a clay loam, and level. 
The crops, last year, were oats and grass, both of 
which were very heavy. About 15 acres lays 15 feet 
lower than the above, with a brook running through 
it, and never was plowed, but cuts a good crop of 
hay, and is mowed with a machine. Both of the 
above pieces are entirely free from stone. I have 
also about six acres sloping to the south and east, 
that is in grass, and is some stony when plowed, 
but nothing to trouble the plow. On this I have 
an excellent apple orchard, of about 75 trees, some 
15 quince trees, a few cherry trees, grapes, and cur¬ 
rants. I have also a pasture, sufficient to keep 8 
cows. There is also sufficient wood and 
timber for the place. The farm cuts 
about 35 tons of hay. The buildings 
are good and in good repair. The farm 
cost me $4,000, and I paid $1,000 down, 
and mortgaged it for $3,000. I have 7 
cows and some young stock, that I have 
paid for, also 3 hogs, 12 sheep, and a 
horse.—This is my situation, and now I 
propose to pay the interest and taxes 
and get a living without raising tobacco, 
or lose the $1,000 1 have paid. I have 
just commenced work this spring ; came 
on to the place last January. I have 
two sons, one 7 years old, the other 17. 
The youngest is in school, the other 
always has been until this winter. The 
farmers here say it is impossible to get 
along without raising tobacco. I pro¬ 
pose to try it and see. There is one 
other man in town who is going to get 
into the same boat, situated very much 
as I am. Now if you can give us any encourage¬ 
ment, or any information, that will be for our in¬ 
terest, it will be very thankfully received. 
Yours, respectfully, John U. Butts. 
I read Mr. Butts’ letter to my wife, and 
asked Sally what she thought on’t. 
“ Think on’t,” said she, stopping her knit¬ 
ting, and running one of her needles over 
her ear, ‘ ‘ why that man has got a conscience 
and a level head, both rather rare articles, in 
the tobacco, districts, according to my notion. 
I have never seen a man or woman that 
chewed, smoked, or snuffed, that I thought 
was any better for using the weed—I have 
seen hundreds that were broken down in 
health, and came to early graves by the use 
of it. It often leads to drinking habits, 
and to drunkenness. The doctors all say it 
is a poison, even those who use it. The 
ministers generally have quit using on’t, and 
the women don’t like pastoral visits from 
ministers who are saturated with tobacco, 
and stain their floors and carpets with the 
nasty juice. It is a great evil in society, and 
the man who raises the weed, invests his 
capital, skill, and labor, in perpetuating this 
evil. The distillery, brewery, and the to¬ 
bacco barns, all stand on the same platform, 
and are doing the same kind of work. I am 
glad one man has his eyes open.” 
You are getting radical, wife, I said, and 
started out, when I met Mr. Spooner at the 
door, and told him what we were talking about. 
Mr. Spooner said, “A good many people 
are getting light on the use of tobacco, and 
the folly of turning the fatness of our fields 
into a vegetable poison, ruinous to body and 
soul, where wholesome fruits, vegetables and 
meats might be raised, for the sustenance of 
the race. I have never been called to attend 
the funeral of a man who died for want of 
raising tobaco, to support himself and family. 
I have attended the funerals of a good many 
men cut off in early manhood, or middle life, 
by smoking, and chewing tobacco. Of course 
their names did not go into the death lists, as 
killed from this cause. Vital statistics do 
not tell how many are killed by alcohol, 
opium, or tobacco, or by the indulgence of 
any of those fleshly lusts that war against 
the soul. The grave yard has a bad reputa¬ 
tion for truth telling, and all the lying is not 
done on tomb stones. Too much plainness 
of speech might disturb the consciences of 
men who own distilleries, breweries, and 
grog-shops, and others who turn the fertility 
of the soil into Plug, Fine-cut, Solace, Cigars, 
Cigarettes, and Snuff. It is a great evil, and 
the churches are only just beginning to wake 
up to their responsibility in perpetuating it.” 
Well, I said, that is the pulpit view of the 
matter. What have you to say on the finan¬ 
cial part of the question ? Are the Whetstone 
folks right, in saying that a farmer cannot 
make the ends of the year meet, unless he 
raises tobacco ? Will Mr. Butts succeed or fail 
in eschewing tobacco as a farm crop? “These 
are fair questions,” said Pastor Spooner, “ and 
I think Providence is answering them for us. 
A few years ago they told us, the planter 
could not raise cotton profitably without 
slave labor, but slavery was abolished and 
the cotton crop was raised more economically 
by free labor. The largest cotton crop ever 
grown in the country was raised last year. 
Fifty years ago they told us, farmers could 
not gather the hay and grain harvests with¬ 
out intoxicating drinks. Most of our farmers 
dispensed with them, years ago, as a liinder- 
ance rather than a help. In the long run, I 
do not believe any business pays that works 
more evil than good to society. I fully be¬ 
lieve that ‘ Love thy neighbor as thyself,’ 
is a sound principle in finance.” 
There is more sense in what Mr. Spooner 
says, than tobacco raisers would generally 
admit, and if they will put these views, 
where they put their weed, and smoke them, 
it may lead to wholesome results. Leaving 
the morals of the question for the clergy 
and the women to discuss, I have to say for 
the encouragement of Mr. Butts, and all 
others that are of like mind: 
1.—Full three-fourths of the farmers of the 
country, not only find it possible, but succeed 
in living, paying for their farms, and getting 
ahead, without raising tobacco. Failure in 
farming is much oftener the result of wrong 
habits than of wrong crops. In a region, 
where variety farming is the rule, it cannot 
be possible that a man’s success is staked upon 
the raising of any one crop. Mr. Butts will 
not be smart at all, if he does not win with 
any wholesome crop or crops that suit his near¬ 
est available market. 2.—In deciding what 
leading crops he will raise, he should study 
his markets, local and more distant, and 
raise, what will bring the best returns, in the 
long run, for his skill and capital. He is 
close by a depot, and within an hour or two 
of Springfield, Hartford, and other large 
manufacturing towns, and within three or 
four hours of Boston and Providence. If he 
