AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
29 
RURAL SURROUNDINGS. 
the air, and back through other tubes, and 
down through the outside of the stalk to the 
eaith again. In its course it deposits the 
particles brought from the leaves, a little 
here, and a little there. We say it goes 
down through the outside or bark of the 
stem. It will be remembered that all plants 
increase their bulk by additions to the out¬ 
side portion. The rings on the trunk of a 
tree show the annual additions to the bulk. 
The same thing takes place on the outside 
of a wheat or grass stem ; there is not a suc¬ 
cession of visible rings, as there is but one 
season’s growth. [This circulation of sap 
in plants is similar to the circulation of the 
blood in the body, from the heart through 
the (inner) arteries to the surface of the 
skin, and back through the (outer) veins to 
the heart again. The blood in the arteries, 
however, gets the food, not from the sur¬ 
face, but in its outward passage it takes it 
from a tube coming up from the intestines, 
where it has been collected from the digest¬ 
ed food passing through them.] 
From the above, it will be seen that in 
order to the rapid growth of a plant, there 
must be a jree and full circulation of sap, to 
gather the food from the leaves, and carry it 
to the required points. But to supply sap in 
due quantity, there must be a sufficiency of 
vigorous healthy roots, growing in appro¬ 
priate soil, which contains at all times the 
right kind of fluid or sap. Here lies the 
whole power of the cultivator. Over the air 
he has little or no power. It is vain to talk 
of tempering or modifying the atmosphere, 
or of adding to the usual quantity of food 
contained in it, except on a limited scale for 
experiment alone. 
The whole scheme of cultivation consists 
in preparing a right kind of soil for the roots 
to grow in, and in supplying them with such 
stimulants or food as may be found to con¬ 
duce to their health or increased vigor, and 
in seeing that there is always present a due 
supply of appropriate moisture for sap. 
Our subject must here be divided into two 
distinct series of articles. 
1st. Mechanical preparation of the soil, 
which includes the various processes of 
pulverizing, such as plowing, harrowing, 
&c., to fit it as a medium for the growth 
of plants, including, also, the discussion 
of Draining. 
2nd. Manuring, or feeding the roots of plants, 
which will embrace a discussion of the 
kinds of manures adapted to the wants of 
the plants ; also the practical preparation, 
husbanding and application of manures. 
The first division will be taken up in our 
next, in a separate series of articles. 
These chapters will continue with the 
second question, on manures. 
“ What's the Matter, Uncle Jerry ?” said 
Mr. M-, as old Jeremiah K., was passing 
by, growling most ferociously. “ Matter !” 
said the old man ; “I’ve been luggin’ water 
all the mornin’ for Dr. C.’s wife to wash 
with, and what d’ye s’pose I got for it?” 
“ About ninepence.” “ Ninepence ! She 
told me the doctor would pull a tooth for me 
some time !” 
NUMBER I. 
We have a large number of subscribers— 
thousands in the aggregate—who live in and 
about the neighborhood of New-York, and 
other large cities, towns and villages, who 
are part farmers, and part something else : 
that is to say, they are merchants, bankers, 
ship-owners, mechanics, professional men, 
&c., by occupation, but who have farms, 
large or small, on which they either reside 
with their families, or on which they spend 
more or less of their time, and cultivate 
their land for a partial support, or for amuse¬ 
ment, recreation, convenience, or their own 
good health. To this class of our sub¬ 
scribers we propose to have a chapter or 
two of familiar talk about some matters 
which the farmer proper, or he who lives 
solely by husbandry, may not consider 
exactly addressed to him, but which, by the 
way, he may as well listen to, and possibly 
profit thereby. 
In the first place, every city or town man 
who turns farmer without giving up his reg¬ 
ular business or profession, does so because 
he has a decided taste for the country, loves 
“ out of doors,” and likes the smell of the 
ground. He is, also, a man of good taste. 
He buys a farm in a pleasant locality, in an 
agreeable neighborhood. He puts it in good 
repair, does all things well, and provides 
himself with all the tools, implements, &c., 
which will do up his farm work In the best 
style. He takes our paper, of course, and 
perhaps another agricultural or horticultural 
paper or two, and keeps well “ posted” in 
the rural economy of the day. He puts his 
farm under good fence to start with, has a 
comfortable house, or an elegant—even a 
splendid one, as his tastes or circumstances 
may admit, with good out-buildings, and all 
the et ceteras which belong to a good rural 
homestead. He has orchards of different 
fruits, and the smaller garden fruits, choice 
vegeables and flowers, and shade trees and 
shrubbery—every thing, in fact, of the vege¬ 
table kind which can give repose, and shade 
and ornament and comfort to his home. 
These are as they should be. 
There are other things, however, equally 
belonging to a country home, which in a 
great many cases are not as they should be, 
and in most cases, we apprehend, more from 
want of a cultivated taste in animal physi¬ 
ology, than indisposition to make their 
acquaintance, if our friends would but turn 
their attention to them. These are, farm 
animals. Next to seeing the farm properly 
represented in good fences and buildings, 
with garden, orchard trees and shrubbery 
about them, clean fields and good crops, 
there is nothing which lends them such a 
charm as to see them stocked with an appro¬ 
priate population of birds, beasts and fishes. 
The latter, but comparatively few can have, 
but of those who can, scarce one in a hun¬ 
dred avails himself of the opportunity, and 
as that is rather a specialty in our animal 
calendar, we will postpone its discussion to 
the last. 
Now, we lay it down as an axiom, that if 
any thing of rhe animal kind is worth keep¬ 
ing at all, a good one is better than a poor 
one. It costs no more to keep the good 
thing than the poor, and usually not so 
much. The good thing may cost more at 
first, but in the long run, it is the cheapest ; 
and between the pleasure of tending and 
looking at it, the one gives us positive plea¬ 
sure and delight, while the other is tolerated 
only for its necessity to our use or conveni¬ 
ence. One is our companion, in whose soci¬ 
ety we take a pleasure ; the other is a 
drudge, which we endure as we do a poor 
servant, and get it out of our sight and 
memory as soon as possible. Having said 
thus much by way of preface—for it is an 
important subject, dear reader—we shall 
come to the marrow of the discussion all the 
better for a due deliberation over the prem¬ 
ises. First and foremost, then, for we will 
take them in the order of their indispensible 
use, is 
THE HORSE. 
This is a creature about which everybody 
knows, or thinks he knows so much—or if 
he does not, is sure to have a particular 
friend who does—that we shall not go much 
into particulars, and will talk in general. 
And first, we will say : ascertain just what 
you want your horse or horses for, and then 
get such as will answer your purpose as 
near as may be. Remember always, first 
and last, that horses are the most uncertain, 
contingent property you can have, and on 
their selection first, and treatment, after¬ 
ward, will depend very much of the happi¬ 
ness of yourself and family, as well as the 
balance sheet on the right or wrong side of 
your ledger. We know' some men whose 
horse bills amount to thousands of dollars 
a year, and never have a satisfactory one to 
ride or to drive. They either get cheated, 
or cheat themselves in the purchase ; or, if 
neither, their animals become bad by im¬ 
proper treatment in feeding, driving, or 
otherwise, and the horse department is a 
perpetual vexation and nuisance. This 
should not be so, and with discretion and 
judgment, the horses need be no more trou¬ 
ble in their management than the pigs or 
chickens. If you want a good steady horse 
tern for farm work, and that is to be their 
main occupation, get good stout, substantial 
work-horses, fifteen and a half to sixteen 
hands high, heavy-bodied, strong-limbed, 
good walkers, true in draught, and free from 
tricks ; that will work single or double, in 
hills, or on the tongue; at plow, harrow, 
wagon or cart; stand without hitching, and of 
no particular ambition beyond honest labor, 
and a good appetite for their food. These 
are your work-horses. 
If you do not need a pair of these, and 
have enough farm work for one horse, get 
that one, and let him be large enough to do 
light plowing and harrowing alone—to draw 
a horse cart, or single wagon with your 
farm crops in it—a steady, serviceable beast. 
If you have only occasional farm work to 
be done by horses, you may adopt the 
“ Rorse of all work”—that is, a good steady 
pair of carriage horses, that will go their 
six or eight miles an hour on the road, fif¬ 
teen and a half to sixteen hands high, gentle, 
honest, and sound in their work, worth say 
