the number one will all be of the same size, free from all broken ones or spurious seed, and appearing as though they had been through some polishing operation, which they quite likely have. We have seen his machines and found his sifting processes really wonderful. He has brought them to such perfection, and will furnish the means of doing the same so cheaply, that there is no necessity for the farmer, any longer, to sow foul seeds, and thus entail upon himself and posterity a perpetual plague and loss.

For the New England Farmer.

HINTS ON AGRICULTURE.

situations of fertility, is to expend on it two-thirds The rule of every farm, unless in extraordinary of whatever is grown; such a farm cannot be worn out, but, with decent management, is constantly growing better.

where agriculture is thoroughly practiced, grow more and more productive. Belgium is the most thickly settled country in Europe; it has been cultivated like a garden, for centuries, and its yearly produce is constantly increasing.

Countries which have the largest population,

What struck us as the most surprising in Mr. Adams' apparatus, is the great simplicity with duction of a farm, but we doubt if it was ever There is, doubtless, a limit to the possible prowhich he accomplishes so much. He not only sep-reached; we think sixty bushels of wheat to an arates products of different sizes and shapes, but by the application of screens to fan mills, he does so by their specific gravity.

For the New England Farmer. PREMIUMS ON STOCK. MR. EDITOR :-As the "Middlesex Agricultural Society" is an old Society, having been established a long time, must we not expect younger societies of the same kind to look to us for an example ? As it respects premiums for stock, have we not been too much like the horse in the cider mill, going the same round, year after year? Should we not accomplish more good, if we should leave the old track, and offer three premiums, first, second and third, for the best milch cow, without distinction of breed? Then offer premiums, for the best herd of cattle, not less than six in number. Also, others for not less than four cows and a bull. And still another premium for a herd of cattle, not less than seven in number, of the owner's raising.

In order to make this acceptable to the farmers, suppose we pay to all those who offer a herd, worthy of exhibition, whether successful competitors or not, and who live at a greater distance than five miles from the fair, a travelling fee of two cents per mile, for each one of the cattle offered, for every mile exceeding five from the place

of the fair?

eye

I think this would bring a better show of stock to our fair, than we ever yet have had. I make these suggestions, hoping they may meet the of the Trustees, before their meeting, that they may have time to think of it, and be ready to adopt, amend, or reject, as they may think best. ASA G. SHELDON, Wilmington, Nov. 25, 1861.

acre a great yield, and so it is, compared with our average harvests of ten or fifteen, but it is quite possible, by high culture, to raise one hundred bushels on an acre.

Drilling saves two-thirds of the seed alone, and often increases by one-third the crop; the saving of the seed alone, in one year on a good-sized farm, would pay for the machine.

In broadcast sowing some of the seed is buried too deeply; some lies upon the surface; here it is crowded together; there it is separated too widely. The drill places the seed where it is wanted; the proper depth for wheat is one to two inches.

The time will come when wheat drilled in rows will be cultivated as carefully as corn-with an immense increase in its productiveness.

Wherever land needs manuring, it pays to manure well. Suppose ten dollars' worth of manure on an acre of land gives you a crop worth thirty dollars, and twenty dollars' worth gives you a crop worth only forty dollars, you are still the gainer, and will be for years to come.

A tree planted over the grave of Roger Williams enveloped his skeleton with its roots so completely as to preserve the form of the bones. In some parts of Connecticut there are little family-burying grounds in the orchards, and the trees nearest the graves flourish with a remarkable fertility. We may have scruples about consuming or selling our ancestors in the form of apples and cider, but it is certain that every bone is worth its weight in gold, as a manure. A few bones at the roots of a fruit tree or grape vine will supply it for a dozen years with just the nutriment it requires. The best wheat fields in Europe are its old battle-fields. No man who has a farm or garden should ever sell bones or ashes. Straw is worth more for manure than it ever brings when sold in market.

Our farmers think they do very well to get ten dollars net profit from an acre of land, but it would be a poor acre of garden that did not pay a hundred, and we have orchards that pay a thousand. WOODEN THINGS.-If Connecticut is not care- There are pear trees that have paid a hundred dolful, she will lose the palm for inventing and mak-lars a year for several successive years. ing "wooden things." A farmer in Canada recently Every dollar of manure on a farm is better than lost a fine sow which had twelve sucking pigs, and five dollars in any bank, or stock, that we know of. not caring to lose the pigs, too, he set to work It is a good stock that pays ten per cent. It must and formed a rough model of a sow in wood, be- be a badly managed farm where a deposit of maing hollow in the centre, the abdomen being fur- nure will not pay three hundred per cent. nished with twelve teats, cleverly formed of rawhide. The interior of the model is kept filled with milk, and the whole of the young pigs suck from the teats of this singular looking wooden sow, and all are thriving well.

We need model farms and agricultural schools; but where these important institutions are wanted it would not be a bad plan to spend a day or two with those eccentric but very benevolent people and admirable farmers, the Shakers.

In a Shaker community, you have the material |ing that he had left Washington five days before below the general average; but made the most of travelling by stage and steamboat-he was lisin certain directions. Agriculture and domestic manufactures, carried out thoroughly, with the most important objects, temperance and frugality, will make them rich.

"Not long ago I spent a few days at Fort Brown, When a fruit tree has exhausted its fruit-form- a small military post on the banks of the Great ing material, it must stop bearing. Try a load of Fish river, where my friend W. was stationed. muck or ashes, bone dust, &c., dug in from six to One evening, as my friend and I were returning twelve feet from the trunk, and you will be satis-home after a somewhat fatiguing day's buckfied.

behind the brow of the opposite bank; but their increased yelling, now stationary behind the hill, told us that the tiger had met his doom, and that their strong arms and jaws were tearing him limb from limb. As the evening was far advanced, and we were still some miles from home, we did not cross the river to be in at the death; but next morning, a few bones and scattered fragments of flesh and skin showed what had been the tiger's fate. On our return home we were told by some Dutch gentlemen that such hunts are not uncommon when a tiger is rash enough to attack the young baboons, which often happens. All these creatures for miles around assemble and pursue their enemy with relentless fury to his death. Sometimes the chase lasts for days; but it invariably closes with the destruction of the tiger-a striking instance that the idea of retributive justice is not confined to man alone."

For the New England Farmer.

IS FARMING PROFITABLE?

This question has been so often asked and answered, that perhaps your readers will turn away from this article in disgust. But I do not think the subject is yet exhausted. Other men than farmers are entitled to have an opinion respecting it. Any man of common intelligence, especially if he is acquainted with the general condition of farmers, and the details of farm life, may form as correct an opinion on the subject as the farmer himself. By the term "profit," perhaps, we are apt to refer too exclusively to pecuniary results. The great pursuit of man is said to be happiness. But is it wise to measure the amount of happiness by the amount of money which men acquire?

He

are ended, he sleeps quietly in his bed, secure from
danger and the inclemencies of the weather.
is not subject, like the traveller and the sailor, to
changes of climate and temperature. He is ac-
customed to the climate in which he lives. His
diet is plain and substantial. It is rare that he is
required to make unusual efforts, or, like the sol-
dier on the march or in battle, to make extraordi-
nary drafts upon his strength and powers of en-
durance. Hence, as might be expected, statistics
show that the farmer lives to a greater age than
most other men.

Farming is safer than any other business. The navigator, the fisherman, the trader pay large sums for insurance. Indeed, so great are their risks that they cannot afford to carry on their business without insurance. But the farmer can afford to be his own underwriter. With reasonable skill and diligence, he is sure of the ordinary results of his business. It has been stated, on good authority, that ninety out of a hundred who engage in trade in our cities fail in their business. On the the other hand, observing farmers have estimated that not more than five per cent. of those engaged in farming ever fail. Many of our young men enter upon the business of farming heavily in debt. If they take the homestead, they have to pay legacies to their brothers and sisters. If they purchase a farm, they pay a part, and take the balance on credit. Yet in most cases they work out of debt, and in a few years own their farms free of incumbrance. Is not here sufficient proof of the safety and certainty of the business of farming?

I am acquainted with a farmer less than forty years old, who is very apt to complain of the unprofitableness of farming. Now let us look at the facts in his case.

Do observation and experience prove that the He inherited less than $2000, and married a former is necessarily or uniformly in proportion to wife who had about $2000. He purchased a farm the latter? Although a certain amount of wealth for $2000. Built a house which cost, say $1800. undoubtedly contributes to our happiness, yet Built a barn which cost as much more. Here was other elements must be taken into the account. an outlay of $5,600. He has now his house well Health, longevity and independence, certainty, furnished, 16 cows worth $25 each, a yoke of oxfreedom from exhausting care and anxiety, and va- en worth $100, two horses worth $100, a carriage rious other circumstances must be considered in worth $100, a good stock of wagons, carts and estimating the profitableness of any business. other farm implements, worth say $300-making In the first place, I think it will not be doubted his farm stock worth $1000. He has dug ditches, that farmers, as a body, enjoy a greater measure laid walls, reclaimed swamp lands, and in various of health than any other class of men. They are ways improved his farm, until it is now worth, say stronger and more robust, and retain their strength $8000. He has paid his debts and is now free and vigor to a greater age than other men. They from incumbrance. Here is a man who has doulive longer on an average than any other class of bled the value of his property, has an excellent men, which proves not only that their course of wite and four promising children-has maintained life is conducive to health, but that their labor is himself and his family well-has a permanent busiof a less exhausting character. Labor in the ness, knows the capabilities of his farm, and is anopen air is always more healthy than labor in nually increasing his products. He has become the shop, the counting-room or the study. Many skilful in his business, has good health, and the other men who live and labor in the open air, as respect and confidence of his neighbors, and he is the hunter and the sailor, are subject to greater not yet forty years old! Has not this man's busivicissitudes, exposures and dangers than the far-ness been profitable? And when he compares the mer, which often exhaust their health and cut short their lives. The circumstances under which the farmer labors in the spring, the songs of the birds, the fragrance and beauty of the flowers, the vigorous growth of the spring crops, and in the summer and autumn, the consciousness that he is reaping the reward of his labor, all tend to promote cheerfulness, hope and satisfaction.

The farmer's life is more uniform than that of most other men, and when the labors of the day

results he has achieved with those achieved by men in other vocations around him, has he any reason to grumble at his want of success?

The farmer is more independent of fashion than others. He can live and dress as he pleases, while the minister, the doctor, the lawyer and the merchant must dress and live in a more expensive manner, or they will at once lose caste in the community. They must expend more money in visiting and receiving company, in travelling, in sus

hundred acres, with comfortable buildings and a decent stock of cattle, would exchange situations with the employer or employed in manufacturing life?

taining societies, lectures and other institutions of the day, in books, furniture and in various other ways, in obedience to the demands of custom. Let us compare the results of farming with the results of other vocations in our own community. Farming, then, tends to promote health and lonOur town has been settled more than two hundred gevity. It is a safe and certain business when years; upon inquiry, I can hear of but one physi- compared with any other vocation, and its pecucian who became wealthy by his profession during niary results compare favorably with the results that period, and yet we have had many men of of and other business. All these elements should learning and talents who have worked thirty or be taken into estimation in making up the profit forty years harder than any farmer among usand loss account. Should not the farmer, then, be have been more exposed by day and night to the contented with his lot? inclemency of the weather-have lost more sleep Concord, Dec. 17, 1861. and undergone more anxiety. We have now an intelligent physician who has labored more than forty years most indefatigably among us. His labors have been most abundant by day and night, in season and out of season-and he has the confidence of the community to as great a degree as any man in the State.

J. R.

For the New England Farmer. SALTING AND PRESERVING HAMS AND BEEF.

I notice an article in the N. E. Farmer of the Has his business been more profitable to him, in 14th, from the Ohio Farmer, on the subject of a pecuniary view, than that of many of our far- "Curing hams and sides." It appears to me that mers? How is it with physicians of our acquain- hams covered with salt, and in a strong pickle tance in other towns? Have they grown rich by three to five weeks, would be too salt to make their profession? How is it in our cities? A few, good bacon-it would not suit my taste. I have eminent by talent, or peculiarly favored by fortune, followed one method more than thirty years, and have grown wealthy by their professional labors, have never failed to have a good article. I preBut not more than one in ten does more than gain pare a pickle by dissolving in boiling water as a comfortable livelihood. We must judge, not by much salt as will dissolve, and skim off whatever exceptional cases but by average results. Who rises on the top. This purified, strong pickle, I ever heard of a New England clergyman becom- reduce by adding an equal quantity of pure water. ing rich by his salary? In former times, when In this reduced pickle of half full strength, when clergymen were settled for life, many of them cold, I put my hams, and keep them covered in it owned small farms, and labored with their hands till it is convenient to smoke them-five or ten to eke out their salaries. As these farms were gen- weeks will not hurt them. I never use any salterally situated in villages, some of them realized petre. I have sometimes put in a little saleratus profit from the increased value of their lands. to correct any acid there may be in pork or pickle, Some have married wealth. But I have yet to and I think it makes the bacon tender. I use corn hear of a clergyman who has grown even moder-cobs to smoke it. Sometimes when I wanted to ately wealthy, by his profession alone.

A few men of superior talents do most of the legal business. Some of these grow rich by their professional business alone. But is it so with the majority of our lawyers? Are not most of them eager to engage in extra professional business? They become agents of corporations. They seek public offices. They engage in speculations. Some of them even become farmers. Probably not more than ten per cent. of them become wealthy by their profession. Most mechanics work early and late. They generally obtain a comfortable living. Some accumulate property by extraordinary skill or diligence, but I think they do not in general exceed farmers in this respect.

give more flavor to bacon, I have prepared a liquor with brown sugar in it, and such spices as I wished-pounded cloves, spice, pepper, (cayenne,) &c., and after taking the hams from the pickle and draining them, kept them basted in this liquor a week or two before smoking.

I also put down my beef in a similar pickle. I put my beef into a barrel, and then prepare the pickle as for bacon, but pour it on the beef boiling hot. It will keep well till April or May, and then it should be repacked in stronger pickle. I keep the barrel in a cold room above ground. It will be good corned beef till the middle of April, or longer, and as salt as I want to have beef. Saltpetre would give it color and make it harder, but beef is always hard enough for me, and I have an impression that saltpetre does not add to its healthfulness. Some saleratus would not hurt it, but make it tender. I have preserved my beef in this way for at least thirty years, and have never had any injured for want of salt. All who have eaten our beef and bacon call it first rate. Some would prefer to have it a little salter, perhaps not much. RUFUS MCINTIRE.

The manufacturer sometimes acquires wealth for a time with great rapidity. But lo! there comes a change. The kind of goods which he is making goes out of fashion; the raw material rises in value. Some new machine is invented which will produce the same goods at a much cheaper rate, and in order to sustain himself, he must have an entire new set of machinery. The tariff is changed, and foreign goods undersell him. If he did not make money rapidly between the crises that so frequently occur, he could not carry on his business at all. When business is good, he must REMARKS. From our own experience in preput on all his force, and drive day and night. Now serving meats, we believe the process stated by think of the care and anxiety to which he is subject. And the operatives-how often are they Mr. McIntire is an excellent one-and one that thrown out of work, and left in an anxious and will secure juicy, sweet and tender meat in all starving condition? What farmer who owns his cases where the meat itself is good.

Parsonsfield, Me., Dec., 1861.

Cambridgeport, Dec. 20, 1861. MESSRS. NOURSE, EATON & TOLMAN:-Dear scription of the Vandine Seedling Plum. It origSirs, I have received your letter requesting a deinated on my place several years ago. It is about the size of the Diamond Plum, of a black color, with a heavy blue bloom. It ripens about the last of August, and is of an excellent quality when fully ripe. Yours, respectfully, HENRY VANDINE.

Downing says "that the soil and climate of few days since he sent us the following note in rethe Middle States are admirably suited to this lation to it: fruit is sufficiently proved by the almost spontaneous production of such varieties as the Washington, Jefferson, Lawrence's Favorite, &c.; sorts which equal or surpass in beauty or flavor the most celebrated plums of France or England." For several years past the cultivator of the plum has been discouraged by the destruction occasioned by the curculio, and what is still worse, the black knot, caused either by this insect or by some widely-spread disease among the trees. No sufficient remedy has yet been found for either of these pests. The ravages of the curculio may be prevented by a frequent jarring off of the insects upon cloths and killing them, but the labor must be a protracted and tedious one. The plum, however, is a delicious dessert fruit, is excellent for sauces and preserves, and is worthy of considerable effort to bring it to perfection.

RATS AFRAID OF POWDER.-H. H. Ballard,

Owen Co., Ky., writes to the American Agriculturist that with one-quarter of a pound of gunpowder he can keep every rat from his premises for a year. "The powder is not used to drive a bullet or shot through the animal, but is simply burned in small quantities, say a teaspoonful in a place, along their usual paths, and at the holes where they come out, with the proper precaution to prevent accidents from fire." He says he has The cluster of plums which is so beautifully fig- proved its efficacy by repeated trials. The rat ured above, was presented to us by Mr. HENRY has a keen sense of smell, and if he has sense enough to know that he is not wanted, when he VANDINE, of Cambridgeport, Mass., and had a fla- perceives the odor of the burnt powder, the remevor as excellent as the cluster was beautiful. Aldy will be of great value.