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THE GOLDEN SUNSET.
THE golden sea its mirror spreads
Beneath the golden skies,
And but a narrow strip between
Of land and shadow lies.

The cloud-like rocks, the rock-like clouds,

Dissolved in glory float,

And, midway of the radiant flood,
Hangs silently the boat.

The sea is but another sky,

The sky a sea as well,

DEBT.

Do not accustom yourself to consider debt only as an inconvenience; you will find it a calamity. Poverty takes away so many means of doing good, and produces so much inability to resist evil, both natural and moral, that it is by all virtuous means to be avoided.

Let it be your first care, then, not to be in any man's debt. Resolve not to be poor; whatever you have, spend less. Poverty is a great enemy to human happiness; it certainly destroys

And which is earth, and which the liberty, and it makes some virtues im

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SHOW those qualities which are altogether in thy power sincerity, gravity, endurance of labor, contentment with thy portion and with few things, benevolence, frankness, no love of superfluity, freedom from trifling, magnanimity.

MARCUS ANTONINUS.

EVERY lot is happy to a person who bears it with tranquillity. BOETHIUS. DIFFICULTIES are things that show what men are. For the future, on any difficulty, remember that God, like a master of exercise, has engaged you with a rough antagonist. EPICTETUS.

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And in short measures life may per

practicable and others extremely difficult. Frugality is not only the basis of quiet, but of beneficence. No man can help others that wants help himself: we must have enough before we have to spare. DR. JOHNSON.

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O'er the dreadfulness of eternal things.
But could I see,

The glories of Heaven that encompass
As in truth they be,
[me,
I should lightly hold
The tissued fold

[gold. Of that marvellous curtain of blue and Soon the whole,

Like a parched scroll, Shall before my amazed sight uproll; And without a screen,

At one burst be seen The Presence wherein I have ever been.

T. WHYTEHEAD.

CRYSTALS.

EDUCATION is a better safeguard of liberty than a standing army. -Everett. A QUIET mind, like other blessings, is -Anon. more easily lost than gained. WHEN a man has no design but to speak the truth, he may say a great deal in a very narrow compass. Steel.

The Arabs, who have many good proverbs, have one which is found truer and truer the more experience we have of life. "While the word is yet unspoken," they say, "you are master of it; when once it is spoken, it is master

WIT AND HUMOR.

"WHAT have you got that's good?" said a hungry traveller, seating himself at a dinner-table in Salt Lake City. "O, we've got roast beef, corned beef, roast mutton, broiled and fried ham, and fried curlews." " What is curlew?" said the stranger. "Curlew! why, curlew is a bird something like a snipe." "Could it fly?" "Yes." "Did it have wings?" "Yes." "Then I don't want any curlew. Anything that had wings and could fly, and didn't leave this blessed country, I don't want for din

ner."

A POLITICIAN'S SENTIMENTS. "Gentlemen, them ere's my sentiments, the principles of an honest man, and a fervent politician; but, gentlemen and fellar citizens, if they don't suit you, they can be altered!"

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STRIKING AT THE ROOT OF IT. "Doctor," said a wealthy patient to his physician, "I want you to be thorough. Strike at the root of the disease!" "Well, I will," said the doctor, as he lifted his cane and brought it down hard enough to break into pieces a bottle and glass that stood upon the sideboard. They didn't send for that doctor after that.

VERY POOR. One of the unfortunate juveniles who visit hotels to beg pennies was asked, "Where is your mother?" She answered diffidently, "She is dead." "Have you no father?" "Yes, sir; but he is sick." "What ails him?" "He has got a sore finger, sir." "Indeed!" "Yes, sir." Why don't he cut it off, then?""Please, sir, replied the little maid, "he hain't got any money to buy a knife."

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THERE is one thing about a hen that looks like wisdom-they don't cackle much till they have laid their eggs. Sum pholks are alwus a bragging and cackling what they are going tew do beforehand. JOSH BILLINGS.

ANSWERS TO CHARADES, ENIGMAS, &C., IN LAST YEAR'S ALMANAC.

ANSWERS TO CHARADES. 1. Highwayman. 2. Herring. ANSWER TO ENIGMA.

A ring.

ANSWER TO LOGOGRIPH.

Wheel, heel, eel.

ANSWER TO DISTICH.

"Do unto others as you would be done by."

ANSWER TO ARITHMETICAL PROBLEM.—55-56—(4×4)+40.

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Our Dairy Cows.

Or the pure-bred cattle to be found upon the farms of New England, the Ayrshires and the Jerseys are the only ones to be named as strictly dairy breeds. To be sure, the Dutch, the Brittanies, and the Kerries have been imported and bred to a limited extent, but not so as perceptibly to affect our dairy stock. We are, therefore, compelled to select the best of our common cows, or grades produced by crosses with some of our dairy breeds, or else to resort to the Ayrshire or the Jersey.

These two breeds differ essentially in their characteristics. The one is noted for the large quantity it yields in proportion to the food consumed, or for converting the herbage of rather poor and exposed soils, such as abound in its native districts, into milk, good for butter and cheese, or for sale in its natural form; the other for its butter qualities, or especially for the high and rich color of the butter, which always secures a quick and ready sale. For the milk dairy or for the milkman's cow, the Ayrshire or some of its grades is unsurpassed, and it must be regarded as the type of the New England cow, the kind of cow that will be sought for in the future, as most completely satisfying our want of a hardy, thrifty, and profitable cow, adapted to our pastures, to our climate, and to our leading farm industry.

Though brown and white spots in patches-what is sometimes known as strawberry-was formerly regarded as the orthodox color of the Ayrshire, pure white is sometimes found, even among prize cows in Ayr, while others are almost pure black. In other words, the color is not yet absolutely fixed, but varies through a somewhat wide range of shades, red or brown and white prevailing. But the points that are essential are, a short head, a wide forehead, a nose fine between the muzzle and the eyes, the muzzle moderately large, an eye full and lively, horns widely set on, inclining upwards and often curving slightly inwards, a neck long and straight from the head to the shoulder, free from loose skin on the under side, fine near the head, thin shoulders, especially at the top, forequarters thin and light in front, increasing in depth and width backwards, a back short and straight, and a capacious milk-vessel extending well forward The legs are short and fine, the skin soft and elastic. These are not points that exactly satisfy the eye of the grazier. The tendency of late years has been to lower the breed in size, but it is nevertheless true that as a general rule the larger cows yield more milk in proportion than the smaller ones. We ought to breed for larger size.

The Jersey is the leading Channel Islands breed, though the cattle of Guernsey are larger and a little coarser. The Jersey and the Alderney are identical, but the Guernseys are now usually classed by themselves by the Royal Agricultural Society, though in color and other general characteristics they resemble the Jerseys. The utmost pains have been taken for many years to maintain the purity of the Jerseys, the importation of breeding cattle being strictly prohibited by an act of the insular legislature as early as 1789, still in force.

The quantity of milk of the Jersey is not usually large, but it is rich in cream which separates more readily and completely from the watery portions than that of any other breed of cows. The butter, too, is of a deep golden color almost invariably, and that commands not only the highest price in the market, but secures a ready sale, a prime requisite of success in the butter dairy. The cows are remarkably docile, but the bulls are very apt to become troublesome after they are two years old. As a breed the Jerseys possess few points which adapt them to the grazier, and they lack size. They are exclusively a dairy breed, and the butter dairy at that. The color is usually fawn mixed with white, but they are sometimes cream-colored, and sometimes black, with a mixture of white and dun.

Keep up the Flow of Milk.

EVERY farmer knows that there is a natural tendency in dairy cows to fall off in milk after the first flush of spring grasses, or about midsummer. This is due partly to the increasing length of time after calving, from which source a gradual diminution of the product is to be expected, and partly to the drying up of the natural grasses, and the consequent decrease in nutrition in the supply of food. It is this latter source of loss in the yield that the dairyman is called upon to prevent, so far as he can; and if he does not, if he allows the product to fall off, a diminished yield may be looked for throughout the balance of the

season, especially if the cow is in calf again, as she will usually be in the month of August. No amount of feeding will bring up the product to where it would have been maintained with the requisite care to prevent the falling off. High feeding then will be more likely to run to flesh and to the growth and development of the foetus.

To meet this difficulty, resort is generally had to some soiling crop with which to supplement the feed in the pastures when the drought appears, and this crop has most frequently been rye sown the previous fall, or green oats, clover, orchard grass, or cornfodder sown early in the spring, so as to be cut by the time the grass falls off. Soiling, or the feeding of some green crop, is thus united with pasturage; and if it is amply provided for and judiciously managed, it is effective to prevent the diminution of the milk product from any but the natural and inevitable causes, till late into the fall.

We allude to this subject, to suggest that millet, the variety commonly known as Hungarian grass, is among the most valuable of all our soiling crops for this purpose, and that it is worthy of a far more prominent place in our farm economy than it has heretofore held. It grows rapidly, is tender and succulent, full of milk, easily grown, and productive. It cannot, to be sure, be sown so early as oats and clover, but it has the advantage from this very fact, that it can be sown after the general character of the season as to drought or moisture can be determined with some degree of certainty, and that it admits of frequent tillage previous to sowing, which amounts to a partial fallowing, by which the land is kept clean and free from weeds. It may be fed green in great abundance without risk of injury; and it must be regarded as a great acquisition to our staple

crops.

Bran or Middlings for Milk.

As we approach the fall, the milk of the cow will be apt to fall off, unless great pains are taken to keep it up. When the fall feed is abundant, and the season favorable for grass, this falling off may not be very marked; but the change from green and succulent food to the winter feeding will be likely to bring it about. Pumpkins are very convenient to feed, and root-crops and apples will all help; but in addition to these a little bran from wheat or rye is an excellent and not an expensive feed. If wet down a little, and mixed with coarse fodder, a pound of bran will produce a pound of milk, fed to the extent of five or six pounds a day. At this rate it certainly pays the outlay, and is decidedly better than meal, and more economical for the summer and fall feeding than any other ground food. It will enable us to maintain the flow of milk, and at the same time bring the cow up to the barn in good condition. It is a fatal mistake to let her go into the winter half used up. She ought to yield profitably till within two months of coming in.

About Cabbages.

THE farmer is often puzzled to know what kind of seed to buy and to raise. We have numerous varieties, and each has its peculiarities. The Stone-Mason was for a long time the leading favorite among our market gardeners, and they are generally very good judges of what will be likely to take in the market, the final tribunal where all our crops must stand or fall according to their merits. Of late years, however, the Fotler has begun to supplant the Stone-Mason, even on its own ground, the famous market-gardens of Marblehead. It is rather from its meretricious advantages than from its real superiority, however. The Stone-Mason shows for less than it is worth, and the Fotler shows for more. Like Jersey butter, it will sell for more than it is worth, simply from its looks. Both these cabbages head very well, and both are excellent in quality. The Stone-Mason is apt to grow very solid or hard-headed, and if not pulled and sent to market just in the nick of time, it will split open, and that injures it for sale, and is very apt to spoil it. To avoid this, it should be pulled slightly from the ground, and then allowed to stand. That will check its growth a little, and prevent the splitting open. For family use, the Savoy is preferable to either of the others. The stump is small, and the head hard and solid. Like the others, is sure to head; and, as it does not grow so large, it may be grown thicker than the others. It is a very desirable variety.

Indian Corn.

To produce corn cheaply, the land should be manured to give 60 to 75 bushels per acre; to do this upon poor, run-out grass land will require twenty to twenty-five loads of manure of thirty bushels each. The manure should be spread late in the fall; November is the best time, but even later, in December or January, will be more beneficial than to spread in spring. The rains of winter and early spring will dissolve the valuable parts of the manure and diffuse them through the soil so as to be ready for the spreading roots of the corn. Repeated experiments by reliable farmers show that the effect upon the next year's corn crop of manure spread in November is nearly double that of the same amount of manure applied in spring.

The land should be ploughed early in May about six inches deep, and the surface worked up fine with the harrow. For this purpose the two-horse Randall harrow is best. If manure is not to be had in sufficient quantity, a good substitute is at hand in genuine fertilizers. Professor Stock bridge has told us how much of various chemicals should be applied to the poor lands of New England to produce a given quantity of corn. He says, for 50 bushels of corn we ought to apply 64 pounds of nitrogen, 77 pounds of actual potash, 31 pounds of soluble phosphoric acid to an acre of land. The yield from an acre thus manured and properly cultivated should be 50 to 70 bushels of shelled corn. Now the laws of Massachusetts require of every manufacturer of fertilizers that each package be marked with a statement of the quantity of nitrogen, soluble phosphoric acid, and potash contained in it; so that it is not a hard matter for the farmer to compare the prices and the strength of various fertilizers offered in the market, and select such a one, or such a mixture, as will give the required amount of plant food at the cheapest price.

The application of fertilizers according to the above proportions, but in larger quantities per acre, costing thirty-three dollars per acre, has been known to produce 80 bushels of shelled corn per acre; and many cases are known where corn has been raised on fertilizers at a cost of only forty cents per bushel, allowing the stover to be worth eight dollars per ton. To produce the most economical results, the corn should be worked by horse-power, and not hand-hoed. For this purpose several tools and machines will be needed when the work is done upon a scale of ten acres or more in a field. The fertilizer can be spread by hand well enough, and a machine will hardly be needed for this purpose, unless on large farms. A machine for planting the corn, however, will be found very useful and economical in fields of much size; they are made to plant one or two rows at a time, and put in the seed with great accuracy, making the rows so straight and even that the cultivators will work close up to the corn. The Thomas smoothing-harrow is a most essential implement in growing large fields cheaply; it is drawn by two horses, and sweeps nine feet wide. A smaller size, for one horse, works five feet. It has a large number of small sharp steel teeth slanting backwards. It should be drawn over the field every five days from planting till the corn is eight inches high; it will kill the small weeds just as they break ground, and will not injure the corn to any extent worth naming. The cultivator and double mouldboard plough will finish the cultivation without any hand-hoeing at all.

Corn raised in this way need not cost over 40 cents a bushel; and as it almost always commands 70 cents or more in our market, there is a better margin for profit here than in the West, on account of the value of the stover, which there is considered worthless, but here is usually estimated as worth about S dollars per ton, or about 25 dollars per acre. With corn at 40 cents a bushel, the farmer could afford to keep more stock and feed a few hogs, and thus increase his manure pile.

The exhausted land of New England must have something done to improve it, and the best way to begin the improvement will be found, in most cases, by raising corn upon fertilizers. The crop may be depended upon to pay expenses, with a moderate profit, and the land will be improved enough after a year or two of corn on fertilizers to raise clover. With a fair proportion of land once in clover there will be little trouble in increasing the stock and keeping up the supply of manure.

Manufactured fertilizers, unlike manure, are applied with best results in spring. They should not be applied in the hill or drill, except in very small quantities and well mixed with the soil. The chemicals are so strong that where they come in contact with the young corn in any quantity, the roots are injured.

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