286 
RURAL PASTIMES BY SOCIAL LABOR.— NO. 4, 
This, to a mail who has but one life to live, is ex¬ 
ceedingly discouraging and vexatious. 
The apple trees, which are only three years from 
the seed, and four years from the bud (seven years 
in all), are now mostly loaded with beautiful fair 
fruit. Friend R. says that no one ever need lose a 
tree, if properly removed. As he has promised to 
write an article for the Agriculturist, I will men¬ 
tion only one of his methods, which is this : Some 
years ago, he discovered, that after leaving some 
trees, through the carelessness of his men, by expo¬ 
sure to the sun several days, they not only wilted, 
but had become partially dry. He then put their 
roots into a pool of water near by, w T ent from home, 
and thought no more of them for some time, when, 
on his return, he found that the buds had swollen, 
and the leaves had begun to put out. These trees 
he planted out, and none, he said, ever did better. 
He showed me a large number of trees which he 
transplanted, budded, and grafted, last spring, and 
scarcely one died in the whole lot. 
There is also another source of profit, in this 
county, which is not enumerated in the proceed¬ 
ings referred to above. Friend Reeve overflows a 
meadow every winter, from which he obtains a 
large amount of ice, and sells, not only to the in¬ 
habitants of Salem, but sends it, by steamboats, to 
Baltimore and elsewhere. He lives four miles from 
the town; but letters will reach him if addressed to 
Salem, Salem county, N. J. Should this notice 
meet his eye. I hope his modesty will not be of¬ 
fended ,for 1 might in justice have added much more. 
I deem thus much due for the kind attention 
bestowed on me by his lady as well as by him¬ 
self. 
Along the winding and serpentine banks of Sa¬ 
lem Creek, there are large tracts of meadowy which 
have been reclaimed from the tide, by dyking and 
ditching, that produce excellent crops of grass; but 
as I expect a particular account of the manner in 
which these lands have been drained by Colonel 
Johnson, 1 forbear to say anything further, than that 
they are worth $100 per acre, notwithstanding 
their liability to be inundated by the breaking of 
the dykes. Two large tracts are now 1 ' being repaired, 
from this cause, one at an expense of $16, and the 
other at $21 per acre. Samuel Allen. 
Salem. N. J.. July , 17th. 1848. 
Cooked Food for Fattening Cattle.— Boiled 
turnips, or steamed potatoes, w r ere found, by some 
experiments made by Mr. Thomas Harkness, of 
Dumfries, in Scotland, not to fatten cattle so w r ell as 
those roots given raw. Even the advantage de¬ 
rived from oil cake did not compensate for the ex¬ 
pense of cooking those roots. Linseed, however, 
when crushed and boiled to jelly, and mixed warm 
with boiled turnips and chopped straw, has recently 
been found to fatten cattle, and other stock, profi¬ 
tably and very fast. 
Oil and Honey Productive of Health and 
Long Life. —An old Roman, in his hundredth 
year, being asked by the Emperor Augustus, how 
he contrived to attain so great an age, replied, 
“ By nourishing my inside with honey and my out¬ 
side with oil.” 
RURAL PASTIMES BY SOCIAL LABOR.—iSo. 4, 
Corn-Husking Frolic .—In every state in the 
Union where Indian corn is grown, there is no ru¬ 
ral pastime that is looked forward to with more 
certainty of its regular occurrence, or is enjoyed 
with a keener relish, than a true “ corn-husking 
frolic.” In the northern and eastern states, and, in 
fact, wherever free labor is universal, the farmers 
eagerly join in the sport; or, when among the 
more opulent, they decline the amusement for ther*y- 
selves, there are none, I believe, who do not en¬ 
courage it among their working men, with liberty 
to invite their friends to help husk the corn, and 
partake of the good cheer that always follows. 
In the newly-settled districts, where “ working 
bees” form part of the system of rural economy, 
these social labors are necessary, owing to the dif¬ 
ficulty of obtaining hired help. These, the mem¬ 
bers of each little community agree “to take 
around ;” that is, they will work for, and with, each, 
other, till the hay is got in, the harvesting over, and 
the corn housed, or what-else-soever must be fin¬ 
ished speedily, requiring many hands to work to¬ 
gether. In these cases, corn husking assumes a 
different form from that of a simple country frolic; 
though the main features are the same, the charac¬ 
ter is essentially changed ; for a community of in¬ 
terest, as well as brotherly feeling, actuates them, 
and while they work with a right good will to-day, 
they expect the same kind turn will be done for 
them on the morrow. The women, too, often make 
part of these companies (in some districts, always), 
which gives additional interest, while it softens the 
rougher features of the scene ; for what man will 
give way to, or permit in others, warm, or improper 
conversation and manners, in the presence of his 
wife or sisters'? Or who does not conduct himself 
with more gentleness “ when cheered by a smile 
from the girl of his heart'?” At least, so it is in 
this happy country, where the respect universally 
paid to the female sex, is often cited as a nat.\al 
characteristic, which I trust will last as long as our 
national prosperity. 
The time for husking the com necessarily varies 
in different places, being earlier in the south, and 
later as we advance to the north ; and it is generally 
delayed, or a little hurried, to take advantage of a 
full moon in our delicious autumnal weather. 
When the corn is brought in, the wagon loads are 
hauled to some convenient spot near the barn, 
and the corn deposited in two long heaps. If the 
weather is unpleasant, and the crop not too large, 
it is put on the threshing floor in the barn. This 
arrangement accommodates the workers by making 
one large receiving place between the heaps, equally 
convenient to all, as the company seat themselves 
on the outer sides of the heaps, all facing the space 
in the middle, into which the ears of corn are tossed 
when freed from the husk, which, at the same 
moment, are adroitly thrown behind. The opera¬ 
tion is very simple, being nothing more than pulling 
off the covering, by holding the ear of corn firmly 
in one hand, stripping it down with the other, and 
snapping it off with the end of the stalk, close to 
the cob. A little practice gives great dexterity, 
and one of the best-relished parts of the amusement 
is to watch the awkward motions of beginners, who 
often exert as much strength as need be used to fell 
