Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB

C. B Rogers & Co., Philadelphia; Thomas Meehan, Germantown, Penna; Wm. Hacker, Philadelphia, all old familiar names to our readers, and of first class standing.

Of Portable Steam Engines, Saw Mills, Sorgho Mills, &c., we have

E. B. Duvall & Co., of long experience in the Southwest, with their factory at Laurel, and their place of business, 24 S. Howard street, a firm as full of energy as their own engines. No one should fail to call on them, who is interested in the matters they advertise.

Poole & Hunt are long established, and of well known character, in somewhat the same line.

Of Nurseries we name, first,

Cromwell's Patapsco Nurseries, where all sorts of the best things in the way of Fruits, Flowers, Ornamental and Evergreen Trees grow; and we may say in further commendation, our friend Cromwell grew there himself, and his father before him.

Edward J. Evans & Co., at York, Pa., have built up in a few years comparatively, a very flourishing business and present very attractive catalogues.

Horse Stables.

It is a fault with most stables that they are built for men rather than for horses. We wish to point out two common errors into which not a few builders are liable to fall in constructing stables, especially those upon farms. The first is in having the doors and upper floor so low as On account of these low they generally are. doors horses instinctively learn to fear them, and they shy, rear or prance whenever led toward them. They are, also, among the most frequent causes of poll-evil. The horse, when passing through them, is either surprised by something it beholds outside the building, or checked by the voice or gesture of the person leading him, when up goes the head and crash comes the poll against the beam of the doorway. A violent bruise often results therefrom, and a deep-seated abscess follows. Low hay-floors also produce the same trouble. The sudden elevation of the head is, in the horse, expressive of very unexpected emotion. This effect is always noticed whenever you enter the stable rapidly or at an

unusual hour. A sudden noise will also cause the same upward motion of the head. With low stables an injury to the horse is almost invariably sure to follow.

Ellwanger and Barry are of world-wide fame, Again, the easiest position in which the horse and the many hundreds of acres in Nurseries near Rochester, are the wonder of those acquaint-portion of the body, or when the flooring of the can stand, is when the hind feet are the highest

ed with them.

Hightstown Nurseries, New Jersey. Our old friend Pullen, among numerous things remarkable and otherwise, has any quantity of Peach trees that ripen their fruit two weeks earlier than anybody's else.

John Saul, near Washington, presents also an attractive list, of very reliable character.

Of Pianos, Mr. Benteen offers the celebrated Steinway, and others, with piano and organs.

Otto Wilkens is manufacturing his own pianos,

and his own fame at the same time. He makes a first rate instrument.

Samuel Hunt makes the best Saddles, Harness and Trunks in Baltimore, so far as we know, and knows best where to advertise them.

S. S. Stevens & Son, are great manufacturers of a great deal of good furniture for houses.

Hamilton Easter & Co. have a long time stood at the head of Baltimore dry goods dealers, because, perhaps, they have a long time advertised in the Farmer.

Oakley & Keating. New York. The Nonpareil Washing Machine, thought to be one of the best of its kind. Richard Cromwell, agent in Balti

more.

stall slants in exactly the opposite direction from what it does in most stables. This is the other error in constructing stables, to which we alluded. Horses at liberty in a pasture invariably stand, when at ease, with their hind feet elevated somewhat, and it is almost a wonder that builders of stables have not improved upon this fact before, and adapted floors to the wants of the horse. The moisture from the horse, if the floor slanted toward the forward feet, would help to keep the forward feet moist, cool and healthy, whereas they are now generally hot, full of fever, and require washing with cool soap suds at least once a day, in order to be kept in a healthy condition. This is not all. Where the floor slants back, the horse not unfrequently attempts to ease the heavy strain upon the flexor tendons of the hind legs by hanging back upon the halter. The pressure upon the seat of the poll stops natural circulation, and in time it develops itself into a deep-seated abscess. We would like to see a stable in which the two errors in building we have pointed out did not occur. If the builder was not satisfied with it, we are sure the occupant would be, and would repay him by long years of good service with unstrained limbs and a healthy system.-Maine Farmer.

A Maine Farm.

No one at all interested in farming can spend an hour upon a well appointed and well tilled farm (even though it be no better than others that may have been visited) without receiving some benefit from viewing the arrangement of the buildings, the plan of the several enclosures, and conversing with the owner about the general management of his farm. So in the hour or two spent upon the farm and about the buildings of Major Davis, a week or two since, one mile west of this city, (Augusta,) on the old road to Winthrop, we saw much to approve in his system of management, and much that might

be imitated by other farmers to good advantage

The farm consists of one hundred acres, is well divided into mowing, tillage, pasturages and wood land; has some of the best soil in the country; is completely fenced, and provided with good buildings that are well arranged and contain all the necessary fixtures for convenience and the saving of labor; is provided with an abundant supply of good water, and has upon it a young orchard of one hundred trees.-Last year Mr. Davis cut one hundred tons of hay, mowing over about forty acres to obtain it. His general course of husbandry is to break up in the fall what land is wanted for planting the next spring, usually from six to eight acres, plant it with corn, potatoes, beans, turnips, &c., and the next spring sow it to barley and oats, and seed it down. No land is kept up longer than two years, is liberally manured, and much of his permanent grass land receives a top-dressing of old, well rotted manure, (about ten cords to the acre,) immediately after haying. The farm stock consists of six cows, two horses and two mules, besides from three to six hogs. The chief part of the bay is sold, and manure from our city stables used to make up for that which would otherwise be made upon the farm. The cows are stabled every night, loam being placed in their stalls to absorb, save and add to the manure, which, with manure from the horse stalls and leam from the road side-which Major Davis regards as better than muck-is handed over to the working of three store hogs, who convert it into a superior article of dressing.

From a field of grass of six acres that we visited, and which was cut for the first time after being seeded last summer, seventeen tons of hay were obtained. The tools and implements are all housed when not in use. A cistern holding over one hundred hogsheads receives the water from the barns, thus furnishing an abundance for stock during the winter, and the premises are neat and in good order. For a farm team Major

Davis uses a pair of mules, and regards them as better than either oxen or horses. They are tough and strong, cheaply kept, and will perform a larger given amount of work, at less expense, than any other team. He believes that farmers might make a more general use of them to good advantage. All the crops upon the farm look promising, and betokened a high degree of cultivation and good management - Maine Farmer.

Boiling Food for Hogs.

At a meeting of the New York Farmers' Club, Prof. Mapes made the following remarks in regard to boiling food for hogs:

At the end of six

"The proof of the saving of food by boiling has been given here; we may as well have it. Mr. Mason was a watchmaker in Camden, N. J., and among other fancies he liked to keep hogs. He had his hog pen built just back of his shop, so that he could sit at his window and watch his hogs. Every spring he bougnt some pigs and fed them through the season. Just opposite to Mr. Mason was the store of Mr. Van Arsdale, and every pound of food that Mr. Mason gave to his pigs he bought at this store. months he got his bill from Mr. Van Arsdale, and he always slaughtered his hogs at the same time, so that he knew exactly how much his pork cost. For several years it figured up at 13 cents per pound. At length some one advised him to boil his corn. He accordingly got a large kettle and cooked all the food which he fed to his pigs — Then his pork cost him 44 cents per pound. We also had the experience of Mr. Campbell, which was about the same as Mr. Mason's. Henry Ellsworth made some extensive experiments in the same thing, and his statement is that thirty pounds of raw corn make as much pork as thirteen pounds of boiled corn."

Bone Charcoal.

Bone charcoal is made by heating bones in closed vessels, called retorts. The gases which pass off during the heating, contain carbonate of ammonia; these are condensed in water. The liquid is then mingled with fine ground plaster. This contains sulphate of ammonia and carbonate of lime. The liquid is then drawn off from the chalky carbonate of lime, and the ammonia salt is obtained by evaporation. The bones are now heated again to drive off the volatile substances. They are then broken down and pulverized, and they may now be used as a fertilizer.

Never insult misery, deride infirmity, nor despise deformity.

White Thorn Hedge.

In parts of Virginia, fences and the material for constructing them having been destroyed, it occurs to me that a statement of a simple fact may prove beneficial to many, even to some whose fencing material is abundant.

The common white thorn, well known in this region, forms a most effective fence, is very ornamental, and more beautiful than even the celebrated hawthorn hedges of England.

I first became acquainted with the value of the white thorn for fencing purposes at Natchez, Mississippi, where a friend had introduced it on his own place with very beneficial and satisfactory results.

This variety of the thorn may be better known and more extensively used in Virginia than I am aware of, but never having seen it under cultivation in this State, either for ornament or for field protection, and finding it growing abundantly here, I have determined not only to inclose my yard and garden with it, but to put it wherever a permanent fence is required.

As if nature intended it to facilitate man's labors, the white thorn grows very readily from cuttings, as readily as the grapevine, and also yields abundantly small, red, cherry-like seeds, from which a nursery of the thorn may be established while the farmer is deciding where to have his permanent live fences, and by this means complete his hedge sooner than from cuttings.

forth a thrifty shoot, even in all its disadvantages, instead of properly trimming and training the long switch-like branches, and forming an effective hedge, they send a careless negro to cut them down, perhaps with a dull axe, and when they again grow up, this process is repeated, and then the osage orange is pronounced a failure; and so it will be with many who try the white thorn. They will plant it out carelessly, then neglect it, and finally pronounce it a humbug. Those who do not intend to do the work so as to benefit by it, ought not to attempt it.

If this benefits only one farmer, or enables only only one lady to adorn her home with this beautiful hedge, I shall be fully repaid for my labor in writing this.-THOS. J. FINNIE, in Virginia Farmer.

The London Dairies.

Mr. Morton has lately read before the Society of Arts a very interesting paper on this subject. Contrary to expectation he found such a state of affairs in the London Cow-houses, as to lead him decidedly to the following conclusions: 1. That the establishments themselves need not be, and often are not, nuisances; 2. That the milk made in them is better than that delivered by railway from the country; 3. That it is wiser and better to carry the roots, grass and hay from the country into town, than one-sixth their weight in milk itself; 4. That cows in London are, and may be healthy, and comfortably kept, and that they are no more liable to disease that when at large in country pastures; 5. That, in fact, London is "better supplied with milk than most south-country villages." The very thorough The flower is white and very odoriferous, and examination of the Dairies in the city which he the hedge, when well trimmed and in full bloom has been conducting, gives great weight to the and foliage, is only second in beauty to the cof- opinions expressed. Mr. M. refers to the circumfee plantations in bloom in the island of Ceylon. stances which lead London cow-keepers to adopt The following directions are offered for setting the best systems of management, and has "no a hedge of white thorn, or, as it is called in Mis-doubt that the milk yielded by a London cow is sissippi, "Virginia thorn," namely:

The cuttings which I planted out a few weeks ago are now growing, and the plants which I found growing from the seeds, probably two years old, being from two to three feet high, on being transplanted grew off at once.

better than that which the same cow would produce under ordinary Gloucestershire or Cheshire management." Mr. Morton, it should be remembered, is not a city man, and is quite famil

Dig a trench six inches wide and eight or ten inches deep. If the ground is not rich, make it so by mixing good manure with the dirt from the trench, fix the trench with the earth and ma-iar with the dairies of England and Scotland. nure, and while loose, stick the cuttings in six inches apart, in two rows, thus: '. ... and press the dirt well around them. Keep the hedge free from grass and weeds, and in four or five years you will have a beautiful hedge or very effective fence, if properly pruned and cultivated.mented A. J. Downing, first editor of the Horti

I have observed often that people go to the expense and trouble of sowing the osage orange seed, and then leaving them to grow among grass and weeds, and when the seed has sent

To secure a license as cow-keeper, the cow houses must contain at least 1,000 cubic feet per head, in order to prevent too great crowding.

PROGRESS OF VINEYARDS.-In 1840, the la

culturist, estimated the vineyards of the States at 3,000 acres. May we not now estimate them at 100,000 acres? What say our grape men?— Horticulturist.

Sunday Reading.

It is observable what the Rabbins have delivered, that at the morning sacrifice, the priests, under the law, did bless the people with the solemn form of Benediction, but at the evening sacrifice they blessed them not; to show that in the evening of the world, the last days, which are the days of the Messias, the benediction of the law should cease, and the blessing of Christ take place. When Zachariah the priest, the father of John Baptist, the forerunner of Christ, executed his office before God in the order of his course, and the whole multitude of the people waited for him, to receive his benediction, he could not speak to them, for he was dumb; showing the power of benediction was now passing to another and far greater Priest, even to Jesus, whose doctrine in the mount begins with "Blessed," and who, when he left his disciples, "lift up his hands and blessed

them."

Till now, human nature was less than that of the angels; but by the Incarnation of the Word, was to be exalted above the cherubims; yet the Archangel Gabriel, being despatched in embassy, to represent the joy and exaltation of his inferior, instantly trims his wings with love and obedience, and hastens with this narrative to the Holy Virgin; and if we should reduce our prayers to action, and do God's will on earth, as the angels in heaven do it, we should promptly execute every part of the Divine will, though it were to be instrumental to the exaltation of a brother above ourselves; knowing no end but conformity to the Divine will, and making simplicity of intention to be the fringes and exterior borders of our garments.

Whatever you write, it has no relish for me, unless I read there Jesus. Whatever you say in dispute or conference, it has no relish for me, unless it speak of Jesus. The name of Jesus is medicine to the soul. Nothing so checks the violence of anger, allays the swelling of pride, heals the wounds of envy, restrains the flow of wantonness, extinguishes the fire of lust, slakes the thirst of covetousness, and puts to flight the temptation to every impure affection. For when I name Jesus, I represent to myself the man, "meek and lowly," and of a loving heart, sober, chaste, pitiful; in a word, conspicuous for all purity and holiness, and at the same time Himself the Almighty God, who, while he heals us by his example, strengthens us by his aid. All this speaks to my heart, as soon as the name of Jesus sounds in my ear.

The Providential congruities between the times of the Old and New Testament, as a learned writer of both Testaments. From hence we learn that styles them, do very much confirm the authority the Scriptures comprehend one entire scene of Providence, which reaches from one end of the world to the other; and that God, who is the beginning and end of all things, by various steps and degrees pursues one great design, viz: the setting up the kingdom of His Son, through the several ages of the world, and will still carry it on by such measures, as seem best to His infinite wisdom, till the great day of the consummation wonderful scene of Providence is a new argument of all things. Such a gradual opening of this

of that infinite wisdom which contrived it, and

which so fully justifies this mystical way of propounding it.

Some have observed that such as are born of

parents who have been childless and aged, have proved very famous; for they seem to be sent on purpose by God into the world to do good, and to be scarce begotten by their parents. Such are something like Isaac, who had a great blessing in him, and seem to be intended by God for some great service, and work in the world.

I love to lose myself in a mystery, to pursue my reason to an o altitudo! I can answer all the objections of Satan, and of my rebellious reason, with that odd resolution I learned of Tertullian, certum est, quia impossibile est! I desire to exercise my faith in the difficultest points; for to credit ordinary and visible objects, is not faith, but persuasion.

I am a Christian; what I believe is beyond my understanding.

The belief in the doctrine of the incarnation is necessary-(not only to ensure the original purity of our human nature in the person of our Saviour; for as S. Augustine says, Si esset in Illo peccrtum, auferendum esset Illi, non Ipse auferret, but also)—to teach us whence our own purity and holiness must flow. We are commanded to be holy, and that, even as He is holy. We bring no such purity into the world, nor are we sanctified in the womb; but, as He was sanctified at his conception, so are we at our regeneration.-(St. John, i, 13.) The same overshadowing power which formed His human nature, reformeth ours; and the same spirit assureth us of remission of our sins, which caused in Him an exemption from all sin. He, which is born for us upon His incarnation, is born with us upon our regeneration.

[blocks in formation]

"And pleasant to the sober soul,

The silence of the wintry scene,
When nature shrouds her in her trance
In deep tranquility."

Farm Work for the Month.

The work to be done now, is chiefly that of closing up the fall labours, and only a few points of interest need be noted.

CORN.

Let the corn be got in with all despatch, as there is now continued loss and waste. Be sure that a correct account is kept of the quantity put away, and of every several parcel, if put in different places. Note also the quantities fed to different kinds of fattening stock. See that the fodder is well secured, and fed without waste.

TOBACCO.

Vol. I.-No. 6.

be exposed to rains which wash off the gum on the outside.

PLOUGHING.

The ploughing of stiff lands may be properly continued in any good weather when the ground is in order.

STOCK.

Stock of all sorts, now in the yards, need much more careful looking after by the master than when they take care of themselves in the field. If they come into the yards in good condition, they should be kept so, and not allowed to fall off by degrees in flesh, till spring finds them poor. Good shelter, sound, nutritious food, and a sufficient supply of water above the freezing point, should all be duly provided. Above all keep them from tramping through mud and mire.

HORSES, MULES, AND OXEN.

Those having work to do should have especial care. It is not enough that they are well supplied with food. Ample stable room, clean bedding, and a free use of curry comb and brush, and rubbing dry, and cleaning their feet and legs, always after the day's work. Working oxen must have a feeding apartment to themselves. They would be more valuable workers if more care were bestowed upon them. It is true that they may consume always coarser food than horses, but something of the same care that horses get, especially in the busy, working season, would make them little less valuable for the plough than they now are for slow, heavy draft.

It is sometimes, we find, advised that no tobacco be stripped before January, but every suitable "season" should, we think, be availed of, so as not to have the work run into the spring. Much of the value of the crop depends upon the manner in which it is handled in stripping. The sorting of the qualities, pressing the bundles into the shape they should have in all the after handling, neatness and order in laying the bulks, and watchfulness to prevent heating and discoloring in the bulk, are all points which Keep calves in roomy pens with shelter, and well demand attention. The stalks make valua- let no older cattle have the opportunity of masble manure when well preserved, and should not ❘tering them. Feed them with best hay or corn

CALVES.

« AnteriorContinuar »