AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
163 
thus, and more showy Pirethrum. The two 
last will keep well in the cellar, and even out 
of doors in some circumstances, but their 
superior blossoming qualities mitigated the 
half spoken sentence and saved them from a 
gloomy incarceration, and fully have they 
repaid me for extra care. A [thrifty cactus 
was consigned relentlessly to the cellar, be¬ 
cause I knew from former experience that it 
would in no wise pay for care and nursing, 
whereas the winter’s sleep would but invig¬ 
orate it for the summers campaign. 
My “ modus operandi,” is very simple, and 
one which any person may practice. In the 
fall I selected for the windows, those plants 
which gave promise of bloom, and trans¬ 
ferred the remainder to the cellar. With 
daily watering they prospered well enough, 
till the cold nights came on, when it was no 
longer safe to have them by the win¬ 
dow, for Jack Frost would be sure to 
come along and pinch them with his cold 
fingers. I accordingly procured a plank of 
sufficient size, with a hole in each corner to 
admit sticks which should be long enough to 
reach the hight of the highest plant. This 
after being thoroughly warmed before com¬ 
mencing operations, is supported about two 
feet from the floor, near the stove, and the 
pots all placed upon it. Whatever covering 
is deemed requisite is then thrown over the 
top, being prevented from breaking down the 
plants, by the sticks before mentioned. In 
the morning they are removed to the win¬ 
dows. By this method I have preserved 
my plants through the past severe winter, 
and am now reaping my reward. I often heard 
complaints of inability to keep plants in win¬ 
ter on account of freezing, and have taken 
the liberty to relate my experience, hoping 
it may be of service to some lovers of flow¬ 
ers. Libbie. 
St. Johnsville, N. Y., 1856. 
For the American Agriculturist. 
TO MY SISTERS UPON THE FARM. 
HINTS ABOUT WORK FOR THE SEASON AND OTHER 
MATTERS.—BY ELIZA. 
While winter still lingers with us, and be¬ 
fore the labors of the dairy and the plow 
have fairly commenced, is the time for farm¬ 
er’s wives and daughters to attend to many 
little conveniences both within doors and 
without, which the severity of the season 
has hitherto prevented from receiving due 
attention. Now, while you can have the as¬ 
sistance of a stronger arm than either your 
own, or that of the “ female help,” is the 
time for clearing out your cellars, white¬ 
washing hen-roosts, and preparing nests for 
the poultry, who will commence laying and 
setting sooner or later, according to the care 
you have bestowed upon them during the 
winter. 
If you intend beautifying the exterior of 
your dwelling, and think the time and ex¬ 
pense given to trees and vines is well repaid 
by the air of elegance and taste it imparts to 
your homes, now is the time to make a se¬ 
lection. A late number of the Agricultur¬ 
ist contained a list of an agreeable variety of 
roses, and among them are many well worth 
their cost. Choose hardy plants, of any kind 
you may like, as but few farmer’s daughters 
have much time to spend upon exotics, which 
are costly in the first place, and require a 
more even temperature in winter than can 
always be commanded in an ordinary farm¬ 
house. A few dollars spent every spring in 
the purchase of shade trees and shrubbery 
would give a very different aspect to the 
farm houses throughout our land ; and, if 
in this country we must reckon the value of 
everything according to the amount of money 
it would bring if brought into market, noth-* 
ing more enhances that value than a little 
attention to exterior effect. 
This is a matter which comes almost en¬ 
tirely under the active superintendence of 
the females. The head of the family is apt 
to express his opinion “ that one green leaf 
is as good as another to look at,” and a few 
cherry trees around the door might satisfy 
“ the womenforgetting, or not caring to 
notice that cherry trees near the house are 
a great nuisance in “ fly time,” and that the 
falling of the leaves so soon after the fruit, 
destroys both their beauty and utility as 
shade trees. But I have no expectation that 
I shall be able to overcome these prejudices, 
or that I can persuade them of the necessi¬ 
ty of outward adornment; it is to their wives 
and daughters I must look for all those little 
home attractions which add so much insensi¬ 
bly to the cheerfulness and happiness of 
themselves and their children. 
There are many indoor comforts of which 
this dreary winter has made us feel the need, 
but to which the intense cold has prevented 
us from attending. If your imagination has 
become excited or your ambition stirred by 
the descriptions of home-made furniture, with 
which you have been occasionally favored 
in the columns of the Agriculturist, from 
several writers, there is no time better than 
the present for selecting boxes, and prepar¬ 
ing materials for stuffing and covering them. 
Cut-straw, chaff, or sawdust will do for the 
former ; for the latter pieces of carpeting, 
shilling-chintzes, and moreen are suitable. 
Nailing and sawing boards is laborious work 
for females, and you may be glad of a little 
assistance from a stouter hand. And as it 
must be confessed that chaff and sawdust 
are not cleanly things within doors, it is bet¬ 
ter to adjourn to the barn to perform the up¬ 
holstery, which at this season may safely be 
done. 
I wonder frequently that the children of 
intelligent farmers spend so little of the win¬ 
ter season over books. The boys, to be 
sure, go to school or to trades, but the girls, 
occupied with their interminable patch- 
work, seem to consider that time lost which 
is not spent in joining together pieces of 
calico the size of a shilling, and watching 
it gradually growing into the orthodox three 
yards square—forming at least something 
more expensive and far less useful and pret¬ 
ty than a white counterpane which can be 
purchased at one-fourth the cost. But I 
am heterodox on the subject of patch-work, 
and like most prophets am considered of no 
authority in my own country, and the matter 
having been touched upon by an able hand 
in the Agriculturist, I will not indulge in the 
invectives which crowd my pen, but pass on 
to a pleasanter theme. 
In most parts of New-Jersey, good schools 
abound both for males and females, and our 
farmers’ daughters possess advantages for 
mental cultivation not possible in less thick¬ 
ly settled or newer States. But I know of 
very few instances in which they have 
availed themselves of their opportunities to 
their full extent. And it is the more re¬ 
markable as they eagerly seek after and copy 
many of the meretricious accomplishments 
of the day, which tend neither to the eleva¬ 
tion of the heart, the mind or the character. 
That the manual labor expected of a farmer’s 
wife is not incompatible with rigid discipline 
of the intellect and a systematic pursuit of 
knowledge, can be better illustrated by a 
case in point. 
There resided not far from this vicinity, 
within the memory of the “ oldest inhabitant,” 
a lady whose early educational advantages 
had been those ordinarily enjoyed by country 
girls some fifty years ago. Married at an 
early age to a thriving farmer, whose hun¬ 
dreds of acres demanded all the care, atten¬ 
tion and industry, of which both were capa¬ 
ble, she found a large family of children 
growing up around her, deprived of the same 
opportunities which she had coveted lor her¬ 
self. At that time schools were less numer¬ 
ous and more expensive than now, and few 
farmers could afford to educate all Ins chil¬ 
dren well. But the same energy of purpose 
that governed her in the performance of more 
homely duties, was now with characteristic 
determination brought to bear upon those of 
a holier nature. She determined that her 
children should be educated and that she 
herself would become their teacher. She 
marked out a course of conduct which she 
rigidly followed for many years. Allowing 
herself but four hours for sleep, she devoted 
the time thus redeemed to a careful analysis 
of the ordinary English branches, pursuing 
her studies gradually until she mastered 
many of the Natural sciences, and eventu¬ 
ally became capable of instructing her chil¬ 
dren in the classics. This you will tell me 
is an extreme case ; but one-fourth of the 
energy thus expended would accomplish 
one-fourth of the results, and how vast those 
results may be, eternity alone can tell. In 
this case they w r ere of the most gratifying 
description. Among her immediate descend¬ 
ants are those who occupy, both judicially 
and clerically, the most responsible situa¬ 
tions in their native State, and even to the 
third generation they bless, and venerate the 
memory of this mother, ascribing to her 
Christian influence and indomitable perse¬ 
verance, whatever is great, good or estima¬ 
ble in their circumstances and character. 
[The lady referred to above was the moth¬ 
er of Hon. Henry W. Green, Chief Justice 
of New-Jersey, and the grand-mother of 
Rev. Wm. H. Green, professor of Oriental 
and Biblical Literature in Princeton Theo¬ 
logical Seminary.—E d.J 
Those who touch vermillion become red, 
and those who touch ink become black; so 
people take their character from their com¬ 
panions. 
/ 
