GO 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
THE RURAL HOME. 
Few spots are happier, or more cosy, at 
this season of the year than the rural fireside. 
He who forms his views of it from the re¬ 
collections of fifty years ago, or even of 
twenty, has very poor conceptions of the 
place. There is really no class that has 
shared more largely in the general prosperi¬ 
ty of the country, or that has been more 
benefitted by the investigations and discov¬ 
eries of science. The old-style farm-house, 
with its broad-mouthed fireplace, its pine 
table, bench, wooden-bottom chairs with 
high backs, is superseded in many parts of 
the country, and well-built, substantial 
houses in modern style have taken their 
places. The old kitchen, which formerly 
served almost all purposes, except that of a 
dormitory, has been succeeded by a well- 
furnished parlor and dining-room, and by a 
kitchen that boasts more comforts than the 
whole of the old house afforded. The cook¬ 
ing apparatus is complete, from gridiron to 
tea-kettle, and the various processes of the 
culinary art are now conveniently done and 
regulated by the clock that ticks on the 
mantel-piece. 
And when the meals are over, and the 
labors of the day are done, a clean, carpeted 
sitting-room, well warmed and ventilated, 
invites the farmer’s family to the enjoy¬ 
ments of the fireside. There is light enough 
upon the centre table, no longer dispensed 
from a single tallow candle, with wick of 
spun tow, that only served to make the 
darkness visible. The farmer, and the 
farmer’s wife and children, have a taste for 
reading, and the religious, miscellaneous, 
and agricultural papers are fast becoming 
the necessities of farm life. No class digest 
more thoroughly what they read. There is 
no fierce competition in their business over¬ 
taxing the brain. At this season of the 
year there is comparative leisure, and the 
suggestions of agricultural papers are turned 
to good account >n forming plans for the 
coming season. These plans pertain to all 
the depart ments of husbandry, and are eager¬ 
ly participated in by the female part of the 
household. It is cheering to see the pro¬ 
gress of floriculture, and to notice how the 
flower border gains upon other parts of the 
garden as the younger members of the fami¬ 
ly come upon the stage. The agricultural 
matter that is now sown broadcast over the 
land, through the columns of the religious 
and political, as well as agricultural jour¬ 
nals, is bearing fruit. There is a change for 
the better coming over the rural districts. 
New attractions are thrown around farm 
life, and many more of the sons and daugh¬ 
ters of farmers will be induced to abide by 
the old homestead. 
THE TWO PICTURES. 
In looking over our portfolio, we chanced 
upon a pencil sketch, made a year since, of 
one of the homesteads in ‘ our neighbor¬ 
hood.’ Knowing that an energetic person 
took possession of the premises last sum¬ 
mer, we despatched ‘ our artist’ to procure a 
;present sketch. The two are given above, 
and tell their story. It is scarcely necessary 
to call the attention of the reader to the 
dead lambs in the trees, the woman walk¬ 
ing in the mud ‘ ankle deep,’ and the other 
walking high and dry upon a simple plank or 
board laid down, the respective conditions 
of the animals, the crow after the carrion, 
the tools, the grindstone, the manure and 
compost heaps, the fences, the yard, &c., 
&c. The two pictures will bear studying. 
DEAD LAMBS-HOGS. 
To the Editor of the American Agriculturist. 
I have found it! The mystery is solved ! You 
asked me “ why farmers so often have that delect¬ 
able ornament near their sheep pens, of a tree 
hung with dead lambs 1” It. had puzzled my 
brains to account for it, so I just called on neigh¬ 
bor Thomas, of whose opinion I have a high re¬ 
gard, as you already know. 
He says “ they hang them upon the trees to be 
out of the way of hogs, for if on the ground, in 
reach of the swine, they being carnivorous, espe¬ 
cially the “ land-pike ” breed, would soon “ devour 
them.” “ Ail right,” I said, - let them do it.” I 
“But,” said he, “ they would soon acquire a rel¬ 
ish for the dead ones, and commence a wholesale 
slaughter on the living—that’s the reason they 
are hung out of their reach on trees and stakes, 
an eyesore and a puzzle to many a passer-by. 
“ Why,” I queried, “ do they not bury them 
around grape-vines and fruit trees'? -They are 
very rich manure.” “ In the first place,” he re¬ 
replied, “ the ground is generally frozen, and then 
again, I doubt if the farmer who displays so much 
of poor management as to have dead lambs at all, 
has a grape-vine or fruit tree near by to put them 
around.” “ I think,” he continued, “ if sheep are 
properly sheltered, and fed with grain a little time 
before they have lambs, very few will need to be 
‘treed.’ And again, hogs have no business to be 
running at large Winters, if at any season. They 
should be kept up; there is no grass they can 
get, and the manure is wasted, besides all the in¬ 
convenience and trouble they occasion.” S. 
North Hempstead. 
EARLY POTATOES-HOW TO RAISE. 
Take a box or barrel (a broad box is best), 
and cover the bottom with equal parts of 
stable manure and earth, upon which place 
the potatoes two or three inches apart, and 
cover with six inches of the compost.. Pro¬ 
ceed in this manner until the box or barrel 
is filled. Next dig out a space in the side oi 
your manure or compost heap which is fer¬ 
menting with a moderate heat, and insert 
the box and cover with the manure. The 
warmth will be sufficient to start the pota¬ 
toes, and it is possible too much so, in which 
case remove the manure from the top, and 
water if too dry. They will send out a mass 
of roots which will so adhere to the compost 
in which they are planted, that when the 
land is prepared, and the temperature will 
warrant putting in the open ground, they 
may then be taken out singly and trans¬ 
planted with ease and safety, especially if 
the whole mass is previously wet. Potatoes 
started by this method will be from two to 
three weeks earlier than those planted in 
the ordinary manner. 
Patience is a tree whose roots are bitter, 
but the fruit is very sweet. 
