29 
REVIEW OF THE NOVEMBER AND DECEMBER NUMBERS OF THE AGRICULTURIST. 
dren. “ Which, says he, “I would not give for 
the whole tentful of long-legged monstrosities, 
like these ugly brutes. What if they do weigh 
12 or 15 lbs. a piece ? They cost more than tur¬ 
keys of the same weight, and are not half so 
good. Look into the Boston markets, Sir ! Do 
you see any good poultry ? If }mu do, you will 
find such prices, that none but the wealthy can 
afford to buy; for of all this great show, not a 
single owner is engaged in the business of rais¬ 
ing poultry to supply the market. And the rea¬ 
son is very plain—it wont pay. Poultry can 
only be raised in a small way, as I raise it upon 
my farm, where the cost is not felt. When kept 
up and fed, every hen costs a dollar a year; 
and the eggs will just about pay for the trouble 
of taking care of them and not much more. So 
you see, just as soon as these humbug specula¬ 
ting prices go down, down goes the hen busi¬ 
ness about Boston, in spite of all this crowing 
and cackling of a parcel of old cocks and young 
biddies.” 
I was gratified to find that the long rough¬ 
looking homespun check woolen frock, which 
had perhaps deceived the rooster man into the 
idea that the owner was a flat, was not a cloak 
to hide a mutitude of faults, but that it covered a 
form possessed of sound judgment and good 
sense; such as are often met with in similar 
working garbs in New England. 
I find I cannot get through this great show in 
one letter, so good night. Solon Robinson. 
Boston , November 13 th, 1850. 
REVIEW OF THE NOVEMBER AND DECEMBER 
NUMBERS OF THE AGRICULTURIST. 
Owing to a pressure of occupations, such as 
every farmer feels at this busy season, gather¬ 
ing in the late crops and preparing for winter, I 
neglected to furnish you a review of the No¬ 
vember number; and so I have taken both 
months in connection, (the latter of which came 
to hand by this day’s mail), and as I am in a 
terrible hurry, only glance at some of the arti¬ 
cles which strike me as most worthy of com¬ 
ment, beginning with November; the first arti¬ 
cle of which treats of 
Espaliers .—Truth every word of it, as I know 
by my own experience. The sooner gentlemen 
give them up for standard trees, the better it will 
be for their pockets and taste. Fruit grown upon 
espaliers, is like the Indian gun—“cost more 
than he comes to.” 
Cemetery of the Evergreens—Greenwood Ceme¬ 
tery. —I have put both of these articles under one 
head, though you have placed them wide apart 
in your pages. Some may think they are not 
appropriate to a farmer’s journal, but with all 
such hypercritics, I beg leave to differ; as they 
afford fine study for landscape gardening, if 
nothing else. But I hold that such model burial 
places will exert a great and highly beneficial 
influence over our rural population. The 
tendency will be to refine and elevate their taste 
and feelings. I always felt holier and happier, 
after a visit to Greenwood, than I did before, and 
I believe every farmer in the land would; and 
what is more, return to his home, determined 
henceforth to pay more attention and respect to 
the resting place of the dead of his own neigh¬ 
borhood. 
Jefferson-County Dairy Farming. —And so Mr. 
Eames’ cows nearly pay for themselves in milk, 
butter, and cheese, every year, do they friend 
Robinson? Well, the public ought to thank 
you for reporting it, if this is a fact. I am not 
inclined to dispute it; for I know a few cows 
here in my own happy valley, which do the 
same. It goes to show that a good cow is far 
more profitable than a poor one. I advise my 
brother farmers to pay more attention to quali¬ 
ty hereafter, than they have been in the habit of 
doing. 
Farm of Mr. Buckalew .—This is certainly a 
most surprising statement, and a few years ago, 
it would not have been believed that such re¬ 
sults could have been brought about on such 
poor land. I can well recollect travelling over 
this part of the state before the days of rail¬ 
roads, and then I would not have thanked you 
for a fee simple of a thousand acres of such 
land ; and the more a person had of it the poor¬ 
er I should have considered him. But, see now, 
what intelligent enterprise can do. I shall be 
tempted next year to happen in on Mr. B., during 
peach time. I suppose out of his fifty-thousand- 
bushel crop, he would not mind my eating up a 
basket or two [Not in the least. He would 
give you a hearty welcome. We never made a 
visit where we felt more so. No doubt he would 
be delighted to see you. Captain, give us a 
call and we will go over with you next peach 
time. And you may as well bring one or two 
of the girls with you, by wa)^ of making the 
jaunt more agreeable.— Eds.] 
Garden and Fire Engines. —Every farmer should 
have one of these valuable machines. With the 
one I got at your agricultural warehouse, the 
last time I was in New York, two men can 
throw water clear over my old gambrel-roofed 
house. They would be very useful in putting 
out a fire just commenced, as well as to water 
lawns and gardens, and wash the windows, for 
which purposes we use ours. 
