21G 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[August, 
and partly on their own account, visited the ori¬ 
ginal plot, there seems to be no doubt that the 
plants are strong and prolific, and the berries av¬ 
erage large in size. It is much later than 
other varieties, and on this account it will be use¬ 
ful to prolong the strawberry season. Of l\\e fla¬ 
vor we can not speak so confidently. The speci¬ 
mens we have examined have all been carried 8 
miles in a wagon, and 150 miles by railroad, and not 
received until at least the second day after pick¬ 
ing. They do not appear to bear this carriage as 
well as some other varieties, and the flavor is 
hardly A, No. 1. Still those who have visited the 
grounds, and eaten the fruit from the vines, speak 
well of it. The original bed is covered with a 
thick mass of vines and leaves, which doubtless 
affects the size and flavor. We shall not dis¬ 
courage its introduction and trial by all who can 
afford to do so. 
——---—a©«—--- 
Cauliflowers. 
Cabbages are good, but cauliflowers are better. 
They are sweeter, more delicate and suited to a 
refined taste. Not a few persons like the flavor 
of cabbage well enough, but find it hard of diges¬ 
tion. Let all dyspeptics eschew cabbage, and 
take to cauliflower. 
In raising this esculent for Fall and early Win¬ 
ter use, sow the seed the last week in April in a 
cold frame, or spent hot-bed. Take pains in 
selecting seed; for much home-grown seed is 
defective, owing to the excessive heat of our 
Summers—that raised in the milder climate of 
Europe is more reliable. It is said that the Eng¬ 
lish prefer Dutch seed, and the Dutch prefer Eng¬ 
lish ; but let us make sure of good seed, whatev¬ 
er its nationality. After the plants are up, give 
them plenty of air to make them strong and 
stocky. Don’t be in a hurry to hasten their 
growth, otherwise they will head too soon, and 
split into numerous sprouts, instead of forming 
one large, compact, tender, and brittle globe. 
Transplant about the first of June, two feet apart 
each way, setting the plants pretty deep, so as to 
prevent their being threshed about by the winds. 
The situation should be open and sunny. Keep 
them away from trees, fences, or buildings. Give 
them a rich, porous and well worked soil. Prob¬ 
ably the very best ground is new land, well ma¬ 
nured from the barn yard, seasoned also with a 
dressing of burnt sods and other vegetable refuse. 
We question somewhat the practice of heap¬ 
ing up the earth around the stock during summer, 
for if the season is damp and hot, the stem is apt 
to decay from its over succulence. The whole 
surface, however, should he frequently hoed. If 
the Summer is quite dry, mulch the ground with 
a coating of long manure, and dash upon this, 
once a week, the wash from the sink and cham¬ 
ber. If the leaves droop at all, it is a sure sign 
that more moisture is needed at the roots. Very 
fair growths can he got without this trouble, but 
superior heads come from this management— 
heads fifteen inches in diameter, tender and crisp, 
and nearly as white as snow. 
If any plants do not complete their heading be¬ 
fore hard frosts, they may be lifted and set in 
earth in the cellar, where they will continue to 
improve in size until past mid-winter. 
To cook the cauliflower well, put the heads in¬ 
to a dish of hot water, in which a tablespoonful 
of salt has been dissolved. Let them simmer 
slowly for an hour, then drain them in a colan¬ 
der; have ready a few pieces of toast to lay them 
on, and pour over the whole some melted butter. 
Among the best sorts for early use is the Ear- 
hj Paris ; for late use, the Lc Normand. 
For the American Agriculturist. 
Refinement Among Farmers. 
[We trust the suggestions of the following communica¬ 
tion will not be read carelessly—they should be ponder¬ 
ed over.—E d.] 
If Agriculture has ever seemed, in the eyes of 
the superficial, an occupation inconsistent with 
refinement of taste, it is because the farmer him¬ 
self generally thinks he has no time for any thing 
of the kind. But it is a mistake ; a little atten¬ 
tion to the civilities and amenities of life, will not 
make him the loser of an hour in the course of 
the year—for he will reap a large interest for a 
small expenditure of time. What is so often en¬ 
larged upon, need not be repeated here, that a 
constant field is opened for observation and ex¬ 
periment in the culture of the land ; but it is to 
be desired that among so many intelligent farm¬ 
ers as abound in our country, there were more 
who cultivated the refinements of life, and made 
their calling less repulsive to observers. There 
are farmers who can blend profitable labor with 
refinement, not mere city conventional forms, 
which are oft’times burdensome, and from which 
it is sometimes delightful to be freed amid the 
liberty of the country, but those little courtesies 
which make home attractive. There are very 
many farmers—men too who are kind husbands 
in the main, who would like, when possible, to aid 
their wives in their most arduous business—who 
yet think it effeminate, or wasteful of time, or an 
evidence of pride, to put on for their families, 
the appearance of neatness and cleanliness, when 
assembled around the table or the hearth. They 
wash their faces and hands, but the copious 
streams which their honest occupation has caused 
to moisten their garments, soiled as they must 
be by their business, need a little attention, and it 
is not necessary that they should render the meal 
distasteful, by appearing coatless, collarless, or 
cravatless—or bring with them the perfumery of 
the stable on their shoes. 
Only let the farmer express the wish, and his tidy 
wife will have all that is convenient in readiness, 
with a clean pair of slippers kept close at hand, 
so that they may be slipped on in a minute. Let 
his men know his example must be followed, and 
the farmer’s table will be very different from 
what we often see it. The gathering of the fam¬ 
ily around the board, however frugal that may 
be, may either be a scene of great discomfort, or 
it may be a sweet blending of the finei feelings of 
our nature. Hurriedly, without any regard to 
courtesy, the meal may be dispatched, little talked 
of but business, and the rough and uncouth ap¬ 
pearance of the male part of the family rendering 
the repast almost repugnant to the neater mem¬ 
bers of it. Another, who knows how to arrange 
his business so as to feel calm and quiet at his 
table—takes a minute or two to adjust his dress, 
and by his cleanliness shows he respects the feel¬ 
ings of his family, and in the love of order thus 
expressed, finds his reward in a well-ordered 
dinner by those who will not be behind the hus¬ 
band or father in neatness. 
They have paid respect to each other, and are 
prepared to make the meal more than a feeding— 
it is a social pleasure. Such farmers we have 
known, and they were prosperous, losing no time 
by attention to these little courtesies ; but they 
were systematic, and received the summons to 
their meals a few minutes before the time, and 
they promptly attended to it. “ Ridiculous ;” says 
some readers, perhaps, “it is only pride. Can 
not my wife love me, when I dine in my soiled 
shirt sleeves and bare throat, if I get this soiling in 
working for her?” Yes, my friend ; but remem¬ 
ber she toils too, perhaps harder, for her strength, 
than her husband does—and after her late labors 
are over, she sews for him and the children ; and 
yet she may retain a portion of her early love ,- 
but depend upon it, she would value her husband 
more, if he took a little pains to make himself 
more agreeable. Now, we do not suppose this 
farmer to have a slatternly spouse, she deserves 
nothing but to sit opposite a coatless, collarless 
clown. This harsh term is not designed for all 
who are negligent as we have described, because, 
without doubt, there are farmers of delicate feel¬ 
ings, and sensitive minds who only need to have 
attention called to the subject. But the young 
woman of whom we are speaking, we think of as 
nice and tidy. She was won by a spruce young 
man, who, when he went to see her, had his coat 
brushed, his collar spotless, and his shoes fault¬ 
less, and in her simplicity, she thought he would 
always seem as he did then. Perhaps she had 
seen her father and brothers look as unwashed, 
and she may have sooner become reconciled, but 
she felt a p-ang of disappointment the first time he 
who hitherto paid her the respect of regarding 
personal appearance, shewed her that these deli¬ 
cate attentions were ended. It has been our lot 
to see a young bride taken from a home of refine¬ 
ment, subjected to this trial. She thought in shar¬ 
ing the toil of her chosen one, he would share her 
feelings, and pay deference to her tastes. But 
the too prevalent notions that work and refine¬ 
ment of manners are incompatible, has made her 
a domestic slave and she has yielded to her fate. 
She, of course, loses in such companionship. 
“As the husband is, the wife is; thou art mated to a clown, 
And the grossness of his nature, will have weight to drag 
thee down.” 
It is no trifle to study the tastes of our families; 
by so doing we are repaid sevenfold. By the one 
course we have described, farming life is rendered 
repulsive to many, particularly to females, who 
are often more ready to accept the offers ofthose 
who are engaged in other business. By the oth¬ 
er course, agriculture takes its right position as a 
high, refined, and independent pursuit, capable of 
calling forth man’s best energies, rendering do¬ 
mestic life a scene of comfort and happiness. 
Martha. 
- —«<»B--— - 
A Note from the Doctor. 
Mr. Editor.— I did not intend to say anything 
more about overwork , but I find in “the Profes¬ 
sor’s Story ” (which is written you know by an 
eminent physician) a passage so much to the 
point concerning it, that I can not refrain from 
quoting it. So here it is. 
“An overworked woman is always a sad sight 
sadder a great deal than an overworked man, 
because she is so much more fertile in capacities 
of suffering than a man. She has so many vari¬ 
eties of headache—sometimes as if Jael were 
dViving the nail that killed Sisera into her tem¬ 
ples—sometimes letting her work with half her 
brain while the other half throbs as if it would 
go to pieces—sometimes tightening round the 
brows as if her cap band were Luke’s iron crown— 
and then her neuralgias, and her back-aches, and 
her fits of depression, in which she thinks she is 
nothing, and less than nothing, and those parox¬ 
ysms which men speak slightingly of as hysteri¬ 
cal-convulsions, that is all, only not commonly 
fatal ones—so many trials which belong to her 
fine and mobile structure, that she is always 
entitled to pity, when she is placed in condi¬ 
tions which develop her nervous tendencies.’’ 
I shall let this quotation stand by itself] only 
commending it to the thoughtful consideration 
of your readers. P. H. E. 
