1849. 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
281 
thers and of better quality. It is Very hardy, and rears 
its young wi'h much certainty. It is believed to be 
quite as profitable as the common kind 5 and consider-* 
ing its beauty and usefulness, it would seem desirable 
that it should be multiplied in a domestic state. 
The Canada goose will breed with the common, and 
also with the Chinese goose,™but the hybrid offspring 
are in all cases, incapable of procreation. Some poul¬ 
try-men, however, make it an object to breed mongrels^ 
as they are called. They grow rapidly, and acquire a 
larger size than either of their parents, and their flesh 
is of so fine a flavor, and so highly prized, that it rea¬ 
dily commands a higher price in the market. The fin¬ 
est mongrels are produced 1 between the wild and the 
Bremen, and the wild and the Chinese geese. 
It is stated on the authority of Buffon, that the Ca¬ 
nadian goose, kept in a domestic state in France, was 
found to interbreed familiarly with the swans. Have any 
attempts been made to cause this goose to breed with 
the American swan, and with what success ? 
It may be remarked that the wild goose (^. palus- 
tris ) of Europe, is the parent of our common domestic 
goose, and of course a distinct species from the Cana¬ 
dian goose. 
&!)c .farmers Jfote-JJock. 
The Farmer’s Wife. 
Eds. Cultivator —Be good enough to insert the 
following article from the Springfield Republican , and 
the remarks I have thereto appended, in your pages. 
4 The life of the farmer is so often made the subject of 
complimentary remark, so often praised for its peace¬ 
fulness and independence, that the farmer’s wife might 
very rationally be supposed to be the happiest woman in 
the world. From her relation to the 44 lords of the 
soil,’’ she should be the lady of the soil, a peaceful, 
healthy, independent woman. That the reverse of this 
is the general fact, will be universally conceded by the 
wives of the farmers. 
4 A young farmer arrives at an age when he thinks it 
time for him to get married and 44 settle down.” He 
has had a respectable education, and wants a woman 
who is his equal. He looks about him, and makes his 
choice. She is a girl bred beside him in the country, 
has been well educated ; reared by careful parents, and 
is in the truest sense, a lady. She loves books, posses¬ 
ses skill and taste in music, and is in ail points fitted to 
reign the queen of a happy home. She becomes the 
wife of the farmer, is ambitious to do as much as her 
neighbors, and her husband is soon avaricious enough 
to allow the woman of his love to become his most de¬ 
voted drudge. From thenceforth her life is one of the 
most unremitting toil. It is nothing but mend and botch, 
cook and bake, wash and iron, churn and make cheese, 
pick up chips and draw water, bear children and nurse 
them. The family enlarges, the husband grows weal¬ 
thy, becomes important in community, rides to town 
every day, takes his ease when he choosesbut the 
cares of his faded and broken down wife know no re¬ 
laxation. She may outlive her husband ; but rarely does, 
and not unfrequently a second wife comes in to share 
in the money that should have been enjoyed by her pre¬ 
decessor, through a quiet old age of rest. 
1 This is no fancy sketch. It is drawn from lifle, and 
in every country-town and neighborhood, its truthful¬ 
ness will be recognized. Now we despise the good-for- 
nothings of fashionable life as much as any one, and 
have no affection for drones in any hive. We are aware 
that circumstances sometimes demand exlreme labor of 
the farmer’s wife, but in New England those circum¬ 
stances do not prevail, and while we would leave no 
woman to eat the bread of idleness, we would see the 
class of which we are speaking released from that cir- 
cle of everlasting drudgery which deprives them of the 
privilege of relaxation for a day, and the time which 
they would gladly devote to the maternal education of 
their children. 
‘ From this life. the girls of our day are learning to 
shrink; not because they are lazy, but because they 
know that they are to be sacrificed. Not because the 
calling of the farmer is not respectable, but because 
they do not wish to become his mistress, maid-of-all- 
work, nurse and boot-jack. Now the foundation of all 
this wrong is in that avaricious spirit, handed down 
from father to son, which makes the dollar the standard 
of respectability, and land the only fountain of hap¬ 
piness. We hope to see the day when the farmer’s wife 
shall share in the peacefulness and independence of the 
farmer’s lot, and we call upon the ladies to engage in 
the reform themselves, and to teach the lords of the 
soil that there is something to live for besides potatoes, 
and that life can be enjoyed more truly by a proper pre¬ 
servation of the health, beauty, accomplishments and 
good spiiits of their companions.’ 
The writer of the above, pronounces it “ no fancy 
sketch.” I will not undertake to say how far the 
“fancy” was drawn on for the ground-work of the 
44 sketch';” like many of the “ tales” of the present 
day. it may be 44 founded on fact but at the same 
time, I am confident is not a fair representation of the 
condition of the people to whom it ostensibly refers. 
It is not, to be sure, improbable that a New-England 
girl may have had the misfortune to be united to a man 
who is 4! avaricious enough to allow her to become his 
most devoted drudge,”—he may have grown wealthy, 
and become 44 important in the community,”-—-may 
44 ride to town every day, and take his ease when he 
chooses while she, broken down by toil and care, may 
have met a premature death—-a calamity by which 44 a 
second wife comes in to share the money that should 
have been enjoyed by her predecessor ! ” 
Such eases should, certainly, excite commiseration 
for the wife and censure for the husband, though it is 
most likely his culpability has arisen rather • from 
thoughtlessness than 44 avarieiousness.” But the pre¬ 
servation of his wife’s health, the alleviation of her 
burdens, and the advancement of her happiness, should 
have been bis constant aim; and if he has neglected or 
overlooked these, he has not duly regarded the injunc¬ 
tion of the Apostle — 44 So ought men to love their 
wives, as their own bodies.” 
But it would be wrong to suppose that farming in 
New England is so lucrative a business that those who 
follow it generally get rich, or that the most thrifty 
among them spend much time in riding to town and ta¬ 
king their ease; and it would be an unjust imputation 
on the character of our farmers, to suppose that, as a 
class, they cherish the boorish disposition that would 
degrade a wife to 44 maid-of-all-work, nurse and boot- 
jadk,” or that they are generally influenced by 44 that 
avaricious spirit which makes the dollar the standard 
of respectability, and land the only fountain of happi¬ 
ness.” Hence the 44 sketch,” except, perhaps, as an 
individual description, is untruthful. 
That the wives of Nevv England farmers have their 
trials, ( 44 hardships,” if you please,) in common with wo¬ 
man in general, is admitted ; but that their lot is compara¬ 
tively hard, I think is disproved by a careful survey of 
rural life in general. In support of this position, I 
might institute parallels in reference to different sec¬ 
tions or countries, but remembering that comparisons 
are sometimes 44 odious,” I forbear. 
The circumstances in which New England women 
are placed, are in some respects peculiar. It is often 
remarked that the greatest trouble experienced in eon- 
