AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
Designed to improve all Classes interested in Soil Culture 
AGRICULTURE IS THE MOST HEALTHFUL, THE MOST USEFUL, AND THE MOST NOBLE EMPLOYMENT OF MAN —Washington 
ORANGE JUDD, A. M., 
EDITOR AND PROPRIETOR. 
mfmumrn m m%. 
< $1.00 PER ANNUM, IN ADVANCE. 
I SINGLE NUMBERS lO GENTS. 
VOL.XVH.-No.il ] NE\Y-YOl^K, NOVEMBER, 1858. [NEW SERIES-No. 142 . 
(^“Office at J 89 Watcr-st., (Near Fulton-st.) 
^For Contents, Terms, &c. see paffc 352. 
[copy RIGHT SECURED.] 
Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1858, 
Dy Orange Judd, in the Clerk’s Office of the District 
Court of the United States for the Southern District of 
New-York. 
BT N. B.— Every Journal is invited freely to copy 
any and all desirable articles, and no use or advantage 
will be taken of the Copy-Right, wherever each article 
or illustration is duly accredited to the American Agri¬ 
culturist. ORANGE JUDD, Proprietor. 
American Agricultural in (German. 
The AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST is published in 
both the English and German Languages. Both 
Editions are of Uniform size, and contain as 
nearly as possible the same Articles and Hlustra- 
tions. The German Edition is furnished at the 
same rates as the English- 
November. 
“ And Is there found a wretch so base of mind, 
That woman’s powerful beauty dares condemn, 
Exactest work of Heaven ? He ill deserves 
Or love, or pity ; friendless let him see 
Uneasy, tedious days, despised, forlorn, 
As stain of human race ; but may the man 
That cheerfully recounts the females’ praise, 
Find equal love, and love’s untainted sweets 
Enjoy with honor.” Philips. 
We are far from supposing with the poet, that 
woman’s position upon the farm, as described last 
month, is owing to any special depravity devel¬ 
oped by rural life. Facts warrant the belief, that 
the tone of mojals is higher in the country than 
in the city. It is as much the result of inatten¬ 
tion and ignorance as of any rural cause, and 
woman is oftentimes as culpable as man for her 
position. It can hardly be expected that the 
young husband, after the romance of courtship 
and the honeymoon is over, will be more thought¬ 
ful of her welfare than she is herself; or, that he 
will assign her a place in the household that she 
has no conception of, and that she is not prepared 
to fill. 
In a new country, like our own, where the 
great majority are intent upon the struggle to live, 
it is not strange, that many grave errors are com¬ 
mitted. Woman is oftentimes as much concerned 
in this struggle as her husband, and is quite as 
ambitious of bearing her full share in the burden 
of achieving a pecuniary independence. In the 
great majority of cases, the young farmer and his 
wife begin life poor. They have not capital 
enough to purchase and stock the land they culti¬ 
vate. They must incur debt for a part of both 
these objects, and the farm is mortgaged to give 
security to the capitalist who accommodates 
them. The most they can hope for, with the 
blessng of Providence, is, to raise this mortgage 
by the time they reach middle age. They have 
stout hands and strong hearts, and with a pros¬ 
pect of enjoying a competence at no distant day, 
they are willing to work. 
The young wife and mother knows, that suc¬ 
cess in life depends quite as much upon her good 
management in the house, as upon her husband's 
on the farm. She is willing to assume great 
responsibilities, to overtask her powers for the at¬ 
tainment of the common object—a home free from 
debt. This willingness to peril health and life, 
social cultivation and enjoyment for wealth, is 
common to all pursuits in our country. We do not 
regard it, then, as any indication of want of affec¬ 
tion on the part of the farmer, that the wife and 
mother in his home is overtasked with the drudg¬ 
ery of procuring a living; that her energies go 
more for the development of muscle than to the 
cultivation of the higher graces that adorn the 
female character. If she is too much a mere 
servant, so is he. If she uses her mind too little 
in the great work of life, so does he. They both 
have imperfect views of economy, and need a 
stronger faith in their capacity to direct labor, and 
make it pay. 
This, we imagine, is to be the beginning of the 
improvement of woman’s condition upon* the 
farm. She must understand her position in the 
family, and define the limits of her own peculiar 
work. One woman can not do everything that 
needs to be done in the household. Beside the 
ordinary duties of housekeeping, the farmer’s wife, 
oftentimes, has superadded the dairy, which is le¬ 
gitimately a part of farm business, and ought to 
be made to pay for its own labor. It will, if pro¬ 
perly managed, and the woman who has upon 
her mind the cares of a growing family should 
be relieved from this drudgery, as much as from 
the labors of the hay-field—at least, in a great 
majority of cases. If it is economy to have all 
the help that is needed in the field, it will pay 
quite as well to have help in the milk and in the 
cheese rooms. No course, in the end, is found to 
be so expensive as the overtasking of the physical 
powers. Whatever needs to be done in the 
house or the field, will pay for all the labor re¬ 
quired to accomplish it. Labor bills never impair 
a man’s fortune so seriously as doctors’ bills. 
As upon the farm, so in the house, every ad¬ 
vantage should be taken of labor-saving expe¬ 
dients. These are already numerous, and con¬ 
stantly multiplying. The corn-sheller, in a brief 
time, will do up the work which once required a 
whole week of Winter evenings. The thresher 
accomplishes, in a day, the labor of weeks. The 
mower and reaper is equal to a half dozen men 
in the field, in the busiest season of the year 
The husbandman who attemps to do without these 
improved implements, will find himself distanced 
by his neighbors. They will grow their crops 
cheaper than he can, and crowd him out of the 
market. 
In the single invention of the sewing machine, 
mechanical skill has probably done as much for 
the relief of household toil, as it has done for the 
labors of the field, in all its inventions combined 
The drudgery of the needle is painfully felt, foi 
it comes after other exhausting toils, and is al¬ 
ways present to fill up any moment that might 
otherwise be taken for the recreation of body or 
mind. The sewing in a family is always a great 
burden, and presses its thousands into the grave, 
every year The want has long been felt, and 
has occupied the inventive genius of the country 
for a score of years. The amount of inventive tal¬ 
ent concentrated upon this object may be judged 
of by the fact, that some two hundred patents 
for sewing machines have been issued within the 
last few years. Some of them fulfill all they 
promise, do the work of twenty sewing girls, and 
cost nothing for board and clothing. They never 
tell tales out of the family, are always modest 
and well-behaved, and bear any amount of hard 
work without breaking down. Such an institu¬ 
tion is a godsend in any family, and, without 
doubt, is destined to do a great work for the ele¬ 
vation of woman upon the farm, as elsewhere. 
It would immediately relieve one of her greatest 
burdens, and give her opportunities for that recre¬ 
ation, and social cultivation, which, alas ! to mul¬ 
titudes never come. This friend in need is now 
within reach of almost every thriving farmer in 
the community, and while he is availing himself 
of everything that saves labor in the field, he 
should tenderly consider the wants of his help¬ 
meet in the house. A small expenditure here will 
give her fresher health, more cheerful spirits, 
brighter children, a happier home, and a longer 
lease of life. We are sad to think that this 
friend will come too late to multitudes who are 
sinking under the burden of life. 
There are other improvements in the wash¬ 
room and kitchen, important in their places, that 
should have the farmer’s consideration. If he 
would practice a true economy, he must think 
more of his wife, as the mother of his children, and 
as a member of society, and must so plan her 
household industries that her great life-work shall 
not be sacrificed. “ A wise woman buildeth her 
house,” says Solomon. The materials for that 
superstructure are to be gathered, in part, from 
abroad. She has a social life to be fostered, for 
herself and for her children, and her skill as an 
architect in the home structure will very much 
depend upon the freedom and fulness of this so¬ 
cial life. She must have the command of her time 
to do her work in the best manner, and to throw 
around her fireside those charms which shall make 
husband and child home-sick for her society, 
wherever they go. 
We are glad to know that this work is more 
and more appreciated in the rural homes of our 
happy country. We hail with joy, every inven¬ 
tion that relieves her burdens and ameliorates her 
condition. Let the husbandman avail himself, tc 
the fullest extent, of everything that contributes 
to the happiness and elevation of his social life. 
We offer these suggestions as appropriate to the 
return of our only social holiday—Thanksgiving. 
