m V.5 ^^VVE^S,^^. T1^ m 4 V.5 ,5$|Hso-p Digitized by the Internet Arciiive in 2009 witii funding from Lyrasis IVIembers and Sloan Foundation http://www.archive.org/details/ploughloomanvil05phil IV £: "K' - 1: o R K > PUBLISHED BY MYRON FINCH, 9 SPRUCE ^TREET. Philadelphia : R. C. THOMSON, 21 South Sixth Street. 1852. JOHN A. GEAY, PBINTSB, 97 Cliff.cor. Frankfort Street, New-York. INDEX TO PART I., VOL. V. Adaptation of Crops to Market, 240. Address of Hon. Horace Greeley, 279. Agriculture in Virginia, 56, 89, 298. '• English, 16, 8U, 233. i ■' German, 96, 2-11. ^f a 4 Hawaiian, 294. Q\ W •; Egyptian, 287. JT^ /T^ Scientific, 107. ^^ H-, Fixed Pacts in, 245. " in France, 307. Agricultural Convention, National, 51, 109. '; Fairs, what they should tench, 13. Science, Limits of, 40. Ammonia and Guano, 367. Anthracite Coal, in Pa. and E. J 75 Apple, The Stump, 309. " Analysis of, 94. Artesian Wells in Alabama, 116. Ashes as Manure, 352. Bacon in the South, Good, 301. Bark Silk, 185. Bones, BoUed and Unboiled, 371. Birds, Use of, 26. Breeding, Principles oi; 41. British Free Trade in Ireland, li,'9. Butter, Remarkable Yield of, 336. Calhoun, Clay, and Webster, 357. Carrots for Milch Cows, 11. Cattle Sale, Mr. Tail's, 312. Cauliflowers, Culture oi, 21 Chicory, 248. Chinese Trade in the United btatfF, 92. Church Rate in England, 372. Cleanliness in Cellars, 37-^ Coal Ashes, 297. Corn Culture, 50, 181. Cottage Designs, 13, 79, 147 Cotton in Aftica, 210. " Culture of, 177, 229. " Topping, 223. How to Stimulate the Produoiiuu ol', 149. ' Lands, Treatment of, 108. Cranberries, Culture of, 306. Crops in Ohio, 302. Cultivation of Wheat, Com, and Barley, 36?. Curcuho, Remedy for the, 252 Culture of Indian Corn, 57. Currants and Gooseberries, 358. Debts, Is it Wise to Incur, for the Improvement ol Land, 137. Deep Ploughing, 344. Duty, Who pays the, 219. East Tennessean, Extract from Journal of an, 222, Enghsh Agriculture, 16, 80, 23:5 Evergreens, Economy of, 339 Fact for the Friends of Reciprocity, 98. I air at Castie Garden, 310. Farmers' ^Vork for December, 3S0. Farming, Primary Facts in, 22, 111. feeding the Starving MiUions of Europe, 295. I lax Cotton, 96. " Culture, 244. Floriculture, 40, 93, 248. Flowers in December, Treacuieiit of, rM. Fowls, Cure for Lice on, 103. " Remarks on Rearing, 235. troming's Patent Forge Hammer, 44. frozen Fish, Hesuscitation of, 291. Fruit Trees, 20. i' and Wood, Growth of, 162. Ripening and Preserving, 36. ^ Efficacy of Cotton in PfMcrvin:;, 221 . Culture in the South, 85. Gardening, Ladies' Household, 308. Grafting Evergreens, 339. Grains in Hampshire Co., Ms., Average Coat 0^-^90. Guano with Plaster, 299. Harvesting Machines, 165. Hay-making, 37. Honey Bees, 275. Horses, Breed of Vermont, 99. Horticulture, 115, 183, 252, 278. Horticultural Exhibition in New York, 32. " " Mass. Society, 293. Hot-house, 88. How Virginia Buys in the Dearest and Sells in the Cheapest Market, 65. How to Enrich the Few and Impoverish the Many, 161. How to make a Surplus of Food, &c , 220. How to Increase Competition, &c., 257. How Increasing Population gives Value to Land, 345. Hygiene, Laws of, 225, 276, 349. Influence of Foreigners, 254. Ireland, Turkey, and Russia, 106. Irish Potatoes from Slips, 367. Lamoille County, Vt., Topography oi; &e. 20. " Minerals of, 176, 363. Land in New-England— Feldspar, 178. Laws of Hygiene, 349. Letter to a Farmer in Ohio, 193. " to the Hon. R. M. T. Hunter, 321. '• of Inquiry to Editors, 373. Lime and its Compounds, 209. Ijquid Manures, Proper Mode of Applying, 1(«6. Live and Dead Weight of Cattle, 353. Locust, 241. Manure, 304, Manure, How to Preserve, 341. Jlechanism, Ingenious Piece of, SOU. Mechanics of Farm Work, 284, 347. Mechanics— the Great Borer, 342. jMentelys' Bell Foundry at West Troy, 352. Menstruation in Mares, 91. Minerals of LamoUle County, A"t., 176, 363. National Agriculture, 337. North and South, 22? Norton, The late ProK -or J. P., 296. Nutrition, Fat and Tissue-making Food, 86. Oui'selves, 254. Practical Benevolence, 254. Progress of Mechanics, 54. I'arautoptic Bank Lock, 113. Peach Trees, Cultivation of, fcc, 145, 282. 292, 346, 370. Peach Trees, Beat Lo:alion for, 104. Peat Composts, 283. Ploughing, Philosophy of, 373. •• Match at Brockport, 3u. Ploughs should pulverize the Soil, 355. Poisons, Mineral aud Vegetable, 31. Population and Industry, 169. Prrtrait of S. P. Chapman's Short-Horn Prise Heifers, 341. Potato Slips, Irish, 50. Postage Law, 238. Poultry, Facts about, 25, 338. Progress of Agriculture in Virginia, 11. Pruning, 293, 364. Quakers and Church Rates in England, 3S3 liice and Rice.Culture, 49. Rale of Cattle, by L. G. Morris, Esri., 47. « " « by Mr. Vail, 312. Salomon, Carbcn Enpne of Prof., 211. Season, Work for the (November, &r..> 315. S3bA^ IT Index. flfied Corn, Saving of, 290. SewinK Machine, 546. Sheep, 'J3 1,350. ShinglcH, Mode of Preseiviriy; Vi. riilex and Feldspar, 84. Soiling Cattle in i^ummcr, 24. Soils, How to ImproTc i)Oor, ^40. " for rotting, Prppara'ion of, 147 '■ Management of, 70. '• Physical Condition of, 170. •' Quality of, 100. .Son-el, How to Extirpate, 232. State Fiiir.^i, ^'17, 288. Strawberry, Soxual Cbiiractor Corn and Oil of Vltiiol, 3Wi. Sweet Potatoes, 368. The Thornv Wulborrv, iol. Toads Usel"ul, IS-.'. Typographical Krrors, C'orrcctit)u oi, 300. Topics of the Press, 02, 125, 191. Vegetable Substance, Speedy Slodc of lieccmijio- Mng, 301. Vegetation, Effects of Extreme Cold on, 3G1. " of the Frozen Rpffions, 3C6. Virginia, Land Crops and Market in, lOj. Water, How it boiled away from the Potsloe.'^. 173. Wes', Inprovoments in the, 17i». Western Tourist, Notes of a, 150. ^Vheat Crop in Michigan. Result of Dec;) Plough- in,;, 354. UHieat Harvesting, CO. " ' Manures for, 307. '• Plaster on, 295. " Raising of. 14, 170. Woollen Manufacture in Great Britain. 102. Wool and Stock Interest of Illinois, 175. Woman, 171. Wonders of the .\^'e— Electric Fire Alarm, -SI. Working of British Free Trade, I. Worn-out I-ands, Renovation of, 7C. EDITORS' JOTTINGS. Agriouituro at the Seat of Government, Vl-Z .\mber, 190. .Vmerican Pomoiogical Congress, 1852, 122. Annual Fairs, &c , 59. Beet Sugar in Mormondom, 124. IHake's Fire-proof Paint. GO. Bone-dust vs. Leached Ashe?. 1S9. British Iron Trade, 190. Browu'.^ Patent Fumigator, CI. Bruising Apples, 190. Bugs on Vines, 01. California Potatopp, oO. Camden and Ainl)oy liailroad, SJt'. Camphene, New Lam]) for, 379. Caoutchouc, 121 . Cen.susof 1850, Gl. " of Chicago, .iiO. Chapped Teats iu Cows, 25G. Connecticut Agricultural Socif'ty, j-ja. Cost of Legislatures, 190. " of Manure. 124. Crops, 123. Cubic Measure, 378, Cure for Hydrophobia, 124. Devonshire Cream, 124. Downing, A. J., 188. Excellent Yeast, 02. Eyelid of Tree Toad, 320. Fallowing, &<■., 121. Fall River Route to Boston, .and I'-Asitjni Railroad, 380. Fattening Cattle, 189. Fine Omelette, 01. Food for Milch Cows. 02. Oold and Silver. Gl, Gold Pens, 379.' Gov. Hammond, 124, Great Cattle Sale, (Vail's,') 1^2. Griddle Cakes of Unbolted Wheat, (ii. l^ripp."! in Horses, ftl. Growing Root Crops, 190. Growth of Chicago, 180. Hams, how protected from Flies and Bng^, S2. Harlem P.ailroad, 120, 380. Hat Finishers' Union, 189. Insane Asylums, 122, liWgo Strawberries, 59. Liberia, 123. Linen (Joods, 124. Milk, 124. Musical, ,90, 25.=i, 2.30, 318, 377. New Confectioneiy, 60. New- York Historical Society, 255. Observ.ations during a Short Tour, 123. Pie Plant, 124, Plough, Loom and Anvil, The, 121, Poisons and their Antidotes, 122, Post-Office .System and Postages, 189. Progress in Massachusett.-i, 124, ( Railroads in the United t^tates, 60, ■ Sale of Cattle, 122. Sale, of Oats, 190. Seventeen-Year Locusts, 124. Shaded Flowers last longest, Gl. Southern Fairs, 250. Strawberries, 124. Successful Cultivator, 32<>. Succession of Wheat Crops in Urcguu, iiob. Timber Trade of Quebec, 124, Trip to the White Mountains, 58, Useful Calculations, 320-. Wheat Crop, 60, Wool Crop, 61. Working Cows, 319. ^rorld's Fair at New-York, 190 NEW BOOKS NOTJCliD. Academy A'ocalist, i64. Adventures of Tclemachus, 317. America as 1 found it. 118. Arithmetical Tables, 119. Bryan on the Human Ear, 253. Cantica liaudis, 264. .Consumptive's Guide to Health, 04. Cyclopncdia of Anecdotes of Literature an i the Fine Arts, 117. Do Bow's Indu.strial Resources, fcc, 1'7. Descriptive Catalogue of Ralph & Co., 05, j Eagle Pass, 370. Eclipse of Faiih, 374. Elcment.s of Philosophy, 2G1. First Book on Physiology. &c., '-^SS Glee Hive, 204. Harpers' Magazine, 187. History of Palestine, 1 iti. The Conspiracy of Pontiac, 375. llydropa'.hic Management of Children, 118. Hudson River and Hudson River Railroad. 119. Ives' Musical Scries, 376, Landscape Drawing Book, 370, Lessons on iModcrn Farming, U9. Little Sllverstring, 317. .Manual of Astronomy, 119. " of <.'omroon Council of N, V., 185"-, 119. Mechanics' Assistant, 317. Meyer's Universum, 1S",2.'>4, oM. Moore's Irish iMclodies, 376. Natural History of Maii, 187. New .Music, 2-53, 370, New-York and the While Mouiitaiu:-, .:..>. Notes on North America, 375. Paper Hangers' Companion, 5."i. Pili,rimagc to Egypt. 54. Plantation and Farm lubtructiou,5r.. Practicul System of Rhetoric, 119. Reflections on Flowers, 37C. I Roughing it in the Bu.'Jb, 310. I Series ol Geographies for Schools, 374. j Stories of the Lord's Pi'ayer, 55. Summer Time in the Countiy, 375. Up Country Letters, 253. V, alks and Talks of nn American banner in Kng- land, 317. ^V^a7g'8 Flute Preceptor. ^ ^ A .^ d^7- ^' \L ^^ Clje ipiotigl), il)t loom, mxtr t\)t ^nuil. Vol. V. JULY, 1852. No. 1. WORKING OF BRITISH FREE TRADE- (CONTINUBD.) In a former number* it was promised that the review of Mr. Rantoul's speech should be continued. We desired to show to our readers that the knowledge of political economy displayed therein was on a par with the accuracy of the facts, each and every one of which had been shown to have no foundation but in the fertile imaginations of those who had made the hon. gentleman the conduit through which to convey to the world a greater mass of misstatements than we had ever before seen compressed into so small a space. It is proposed now to redeem that promise. The hon. gentleman is, as our readers have seen, a great advocate of railroads, which he regards as " the greatest invention that science has yet given us for increasing the value of land." Had he read Adam Smith, he would have found, as we have before suggested to him, a greater one, for he would there have found that the natural place for the artisan is by the side of the producer of food and wool, the first to be eaten while the latter was being converted into cloth and fitted for cheap transportation to distant countries — and that the more fully the consumer and the producer could thus be brought together, the greater must be the increase in the value of land. In a piece of cloth, according to that highest of real free-trade autho- rities, there are many hundredweights of food and wool, the transportation of which, in their original forms, would be highly burdensome to the farmer, who is therefore greatly benefited by having them reduced into the com.pact form of cloth ; and that he is so, we have the admission of the hon. gen- tleman himself. " Diminish," says he, '•' the time and expense of reaching a market from a section of land in Missouri, and you raise the price of that land instantly and largely the moment you do so," an assertion the truth of which cannot, even for a moment, be questioned. The object of the tariff of 1842 was that of enabling the farmer to send his products to market in the most compact form, and thus to diminish both the time and expense of reaching the market. Under it the corn and other raw products of Missouri were converted into lead, and to so great an extent that the export of that commodity from the West rose from year to year, until in 1847 it had attained the amount of nearly 800,000 pigs, with every reason to believe that by this time it would reach 1,600,000, and thus were the time and expense of sending to market the products of Missouri and Illinois greatly diminished, a process which, according to the reasoning of the hon. gen- tleman, should have added largely to the value of land. Under it the corn of Ohio and Indiana was being fed to the great manvfacAurer of manure, the hog, and the hay and other descriptions of food were being fed to those other manufacturers of manure, the ox and the sheep, and to so great an extent ♦ See No. for April. Vol v.— 1 I WORKING OF BllITISU FREE TRADE. that the export by the New York Canal of the product of animals, doubled in six years, and thus did the fanner find a great decrease in '.'the time and expense of reaching a market." Under it, the corn and the pork of Ken- tucky and the neighbouring States were fed to that other manufacturer of manure, the labourer, to so great an extent that the quantity of hemp re- ceived at New Orleans rose from one thousand two hundred and eleven bales, in 1841-2, to sixtij thoiisand bales in 1840-7, and thus did the planter find a great decrease in " the time and expense of I'eaching a market." Under the tarifi" of 1846, we find the export of lead diminishing from year to year, until in the last one it had fallen to 325,000 tons, and is likely in the present one to fall below even 250,000. Under it, we find the pro- duct of animals passing through the New York Canal diminishing from 3'ear to year, and likely to fall in the present one to little above the point at which it stood nine years since, within which time the population of the West must have almost doubled. Under it, we find the quantity of the same commodi- ties received at New Orleans diminishing from year to year, and with a rapidity beyond all example. Under it, we find the export of food in the form of hemp gradually falling, until it has almost reached the point at which it stood in 1842-3. Under it, the export of food in the form of bagging is steadily and regularly diminishing ; biit under it, the export of Indian corn, the rudest form in which food can be exported, is steadily increasing, and thus it is that the policy advocated by the hon. gentleman is profiting the farmer and the planter in increasing instead of diminishing the time and exijcnse of going to market. Diminish the export of food in the form of lead, of pork and of beef, of butter and of cheese, of hemp and of bagging, and send to market fen ions of Indian corn where before you sent a single ion of butter or of cheese, of hemp or of bagging, and you will thus, according to our orator, diminish the ''time and expense of reaching a market," and thus will you give value to your land. Such is the political economy of the Manchester school, in wliich the hon. member is so distin- guished a professor ! It has been in vain that we have looked through this speech for any reference to the fact that the more distant the market the greater is the difficulty of restoring to the land that most important portion of the farmer's crop, the manure. When corn is converted, on the farm on which it is produced, into pork, and hay into beef, the refuse of the food goes back upon the land, which becomes enriched instead of being exhausted, whereas when the farmer kills his hogs and sells his corn, his land is speedily worn out, and then he runs away himself. Under the tariff of 1842, there was a steady increase in the manufacture of manure, as is shown by the fact that the export of the product of animals doubled in six years, whereas since the tariff of 1846 became finrly operative, the number of hogs and of cattle has steadily and rapidly declined, and with it the pov/er of the farmer to maintain the productive power of his land. The railroad is truly a great invention, for it enables the farmer to send his corn to market, but it is forgotten by the hon. gentleman that the farmer needs a market in which to obtain manure as well as one in which to sell his corn. When he feeds the food on the ground, he obtains the manure altogether free of cost. When he carries his corn and his pork to his neighbours engaged in producing iron, coal, lead, hemp, or cloth, he has the manure at small cost for trans- portation ; but when the hogs and the cattle disappear, and the corn has to go to a distant market, he pays freight on a large bulk instead of a small WORKING OF BRITISH FREE TRADE. one, and the cost of bringing back manure is so great that it is altogether lost to him. "Diminish," says the hon. gentleman, "the time and expense of reaching market, and you increase the value of land." Such was the object of the tariflf of 1842, because it tended to make a market on or near the land for all the products of the land, thus economizing transportation out and home. Such is not the object of that of 1846, because it tends to separate the consumer from the producer, and therefore to diminish the value of land. We should be glad if Mr. Rantoul would explain how it is that that law tends to add to the value of either land or laboui-, when its operation is directly the reverse of that which he assures us tends to give value to land. If his political economy is sound, he can have no difficulty in doing this. The hon. gentleman informs the manufacturers that they thrive as their customers thrive, and that they must perish "if the West ceases to be a good purchaser," facts that cannot be gainsaid, and it is because that such are the facts that we advocate protection. The farmer prospers as the market is brought near to him, and the nearer the market the more rapid is the increase in the value of labour and land, as was shown in the fact that the ability of the farmers and planters of the Union to purchase and pay for iron trebled, and that their consumption of cotton and woollen cloth doubled, in the brief period of the existence of the tariff of 1842. Why they did so is explained by the fact that our farmers were steadily improving the quality of their products, and thus diminishing the cost of transportation, sending lead, and wool, and hemp, in the place of corn. The farmer suffers as the market is driven from him, as is shown in the fact that under the tariff of 1846, notwithstanding the accumulation of foreign debt to a frightful extent, the consumption of iron and of cloth is steadily diminishing as the West is ceasing to send lead, wool, hemp, and pork, and sending in its place the rude Indian corn. The manufacturers knov^^ ivell that " they thrive as their customers thrive," — they hnow well that there is between them and their customers a perfect harmony of interests, — and they feel sensibly that while they themselves are affected by the policy advocated by Mr. Rantoul, which diminishes their own power to obtain food, it diminishes in a still more rapid degree the power of the farmer and the planter to obtain machinery of cultivation and of manufacture, as is shown in the wonderful diminution in the quantity of iron that is consumed, and in the almost equally wonderful diminution in the quantity of cotton goods, foreign and domestic, consumed throughout the Union. "The manufacturing people have," says the hon. gentleman, " every thing to hope for from the West, who cire their best customers." So they were, and so will they be again, whenever we shall again adopt a policy that will enable the people of tlie West to remain at home and improve their land, as was the case to so vast an extent under the tariff' of 1842. Let them be again protected in the conversion of food into iron and lead, hemp and wool, and we shall again see the production of pork, beef, butter, and cheese go ahead as it did five years since, and then the demand for cotton and woollen goods, and for iron, will go ahead as it did then. At present, the course of things throughout the West is precisely the same that we see it to have been in Ireland, which but lately was a large exporter of pork and beef, butter and cheese. Under British free trade, the number of hogs and cattle in that country has steadily diminished, as it is now doing here. There, the export of animal products has steadily diminished, as it is now doing here. There, the land has been impoverished for want of the manure tbat would have WORKING OP BRITISH FREE TRADE. been yielded by the hogs and cattle that have been killed, as is now being the case here. There, the people now export oats, instead of pork, butter, and beef, as the people of the West now export corn instead of pork, and with each step of this process, they both become poorer customers to those who produce cloth and iron, as is the case with each and every exclusively agricultural country in the world. Well do the manufacturers know that the greatest and best of their customers should be found in the West, and greatly do they regret to find that under the policy advocated by the hon. gentleman, the domestic consumption declines so rapidly that they are daily more and more compelled to look abroad for a market for even the diminished quantity of cloth that is now made — and all that they would desire would be that the speaker should examine for himself the effects of the policy of 1842 and of 1846, with a determination in future to advocate that one under which the farmers and planters were proved to have advanced most rapidly in the power to purchase machinery for the production of food and wool, and clothing for themselves, their wives, and their children. We pray the hon. gentleman to enter upon this inquiry. We desire that he should satisfy himself that under the system of American free trade — under that system which enables the farmer to exchange at the nearest market, and which diminishes to the greatest extent " the time and expense of going to market," — the consumption of all articles used by our farmers and our planters, our artisans and our labourers, increased with wonderful rapidity. We desire, too, that he should satisfy himself that under the system of Manchester free trade — under that system which compels the farmer to exchange in the most distant market — the power of consumption diminishes with a rapidity equally won- derful. That done, wc would have him exert himself for the release of his countrymen from the control of the men of Manchester and Birmingham, who accumulate princely fortunes by acting in the capacity of middlemen — standing between the farmers and planters and their customers — and by so doing have ruined Ireland, Portugal, India, the West Indies, and every other country connected with them ; or, if he will still persist in his advocacy of the system which has thus exhausted and ruined all the countries subject to it, we desire that he shall do it with his eyes open, and with a full know- ledge that whatever greatness he may achieve will bo at the cost of the power of his country and the happiness and prosperity of his countrymen. If he will continue to sin, we desire that he shall do so with his eyes open. "The danger to the manufacturers is," says the hon. gentleman, *'not from abroad." " By what tenure," ho continues — " Does New England, docs New York, docs PennsylTania hold the manufactiu-es which they now monopolize ? Why do they manufacture for the West, and how long will they do so ? Not for ever. My friends must be aware of tliat fact. It is not in the natui-e of things, if we look at them as they really are, and do not try to impose upon ourselves by any fancies in the matter. New England will not for ever make cotton goods, and Pennsylvania iron, for the valley of the Mississippi. Not at all — it cannot be so. The man who thinks that it is to endure for centuries, expects to war against the laws of nature, and overcome them — a result that never happens. Why, sir, can any one tell mo Avhy cotton goods should be made in Lowell, or in Massachusetts anywhere, for the valley of the South-west, when Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, and Tennessee are close upon the region that produces the raw material ? Why should not cotton goods, at least for their own consumption, bo made there ? Why shoixld not they be made in Alabama, or in Georgia ? For my part, I can see no reason ; and therefore I believe ultimately they will be made there. Well, can any man tell me why woollen goods, to supply the West, are to be made in WORKING OF BRITISH FREE TRADE. New England for ever, -when Wisconsin can raise wool at half the price that we can — when Iowa and Michigan are increasing their production of wool as rapidly as the returns in the newspapers tell us they are? Where wool grows cheaply, in a good climate for manufacture — where there is good water-power, and an activa and thrifty population — there ultimately will be the seat of the woollen manufac- tory." Why should not Georgia make cotton goods, not only for her own cou- eumption, but why should she not export almost all her cotton in the forms of yarn and cloth ? Why should not Alabama do it ? Why should it not be done by the Carolinas and Tennessee? Water-powers are everywhere running to waste. Fuel is everywhere cheap, and the labour-power of men and women, boys and girls, is everywhere wasted for want of a market for it — and yet the Carolinas and Georgia, Tennessee and Alabama, Louisiana and Florida, export their products in the rudest forms, and paying the heaviest cost of transportation, although so well knowing that whatever tends " to diminish the time and expense of reaching a market" increases the value of land. If the hon. gentleman desires to understand why they do this, we would recommend to him to study Adam Smith, in whose great book he will find a description of the British system of his day and of our day, and a denunciation of it as being " a manifest violation of the most sacred rights of mankind,^' because it tended to destroy everywhere the value of both labour and land. " How long,'' says the hon. gentleman, " will New England, New York, and Pennsylvania hold the manufactures they now monopolize ?" We will tell him. They will continue to hold them so long as the policy of 1846 shall continue — so long as it shall continue to be the policy of the country to continue in the hands of Birmingham and IManchester the control of the commerce of the world. Under absolute free trade, in the Manchester acceptation of the term, there would be no manufactures outside of England. Under the present system, there will still be manufactures in this country, because certain descriptions are now so firmly established in the Middle and Eastern States, that they cannot be broken down ; but under this system they cannot and will not be extended. However cheaply wool may grow in the West, and cotton may grow in the South, they will still have to go North and East to be converted into cloth. So long as Mr. Rantoul and his friends shall continue to. direct the policy of the Union— so long as it shall be deemed the perfection of modern political economy to keep the producer and the consumer asunder — so long as prosperity shall be measured by the amount of foreign trade without regard to the domestic one — so long as the imposture of Manchester free trade shall be deemed preferable to the real free trade of honest old Adam Smith — so long as Say and Wayland shall continue to supersede the Wealth of Nations — so long will the South and the West continue to be dependent upon the North and the East. Should the hon. gentleman undertake to deny this, we would beg him to explain why it is that Illinois and Wisconsin are ceasing to make lead, for which they have every advantage — why it is that Kentucky is ceasing to make hemp — why it is that the whole West is gradually ceasing to grow wool — and why it is that Ohio is ceasing to manufacture pork and beef, exporting her products in the rude form of corn instead of the more compact forms of hams, butter, and cheese ? Let him look at the tables of exports from the West, and he will find a steady tendency to the substitution of the ruder forms for the more compact ones, with steady increase in the cost of WOKKINO OF BRITISH FREE TRADE. transportation, and equally steady increase in the tendency toward the exhaustion of the land, and its abandonment. " Penus3'lvania," the hon. gentleman is of opinion, ''has something else to fear than importations from the other side of the Atlantic." " The region around Lake Superior," he continues — " Has better iron ore than most of that of Peuusylvauia, aud a great abundance of it. I have here before me the calculation of a single deposite of iron ore there — a mountain of iron ore, three-quarters of a mile in length, and half a mile wide, and from fifty to two hundred and fifty feet deep — to be within bounds, I choose to take seventy-five feet only, as the average depth. Take those dimensions, and you have 145,000,000 tons of ore, reckoning five tons to the cubic yard. That single spur of ii'on — 70 per cent, iron to the ore, of 145,000,000 of tons of ore, is less than one- thirtieth part of the deposite upon the shore of Lake Superior — you have there 2,200,000,000 of tons of iron in a single deposite, reckoning two tons of ore to one ton of blooms. Well, at a million of tons a year, it will last you 2,200 years. And that is what Lake Superior alone has of the finest iron in the world. You can manufacture it already cheaper than you can make it anywhere in Pennsylvania. Will the North-west be supplied from Pennsylvania, when she has the iron there within her own limits?" Such being the case, he asks — "Is St. Louis to be the seat of the great iron manufactory of the centre of the Mississippi valley, or is it not ? Is Missouri to bring iron from Pennsylvania ? Has not she ore enough to supply the whole civilized world, thousands of years, and coal, too, not very far off? A very short railroad runs down to a bed of coal that is suitable for the jjurpose of working her metals. "In East Tennessee there in a quantity, inexhaustible, which makes good, strong, malleable, tenacious iron, very different from the largest part of the iron manufac- tured upon the Atlantic slope. But is the West to look for ever East for its supply? Most assuredly it will not. It seems to me the man is mad who imagines it can be so. Here, then, for the purpose of illustrating my idea, I have taken three branches of manufacture — the iron, the woollen, and cotton. Sooner or later the three, each of them, will depart from their present locations in New England, New York, and Pennsylvania. And when it is for the interests of the people of the United States for them to do so, in God's name, let them go. You cannot expect, against the interests of a great people, to hold any branch of industry in any particular location. It must follow its own laws. It must go where it can thrive best. It must go where it is best suited, and leave others to whom it is not suited by nature, to seek out new modes of industry, and to exert their enterprise in other ways. For my own part, I believe that the people of New England and New York will find out other ways in which they can exert their enterprise and industry to quite as great advan- tage ; and I say to the people of the North-east, cotton, woollen, and iron must some day or other be generally manufactured a great many hundred miles west of where they are now. When will that happen ? The answer is an easy one. You cannot give the precise year, but the West will cease to buy these things from the North- east, and they will produce these articles themselves, just when it ceases to be more profitable to the West to produce agi-icultural products." Such are the events that, in the estimation of the hou. member, are inevi- tably to happen, yet what is now the tendency of things ? Is it not to the centralization of manufactures at Lowell, and of the iron manufacture in Pennsylvania ? Undoubtedly it is so. The consumption of cotton in the South and "West had already in the last year fallen to one-half, while the reduction at the North was under twenty per cent. Throughout the country south of , New England, cotton and woollen factories are everywhere closed, and yet Lowell, Lawrence, and Providence keep in motion, ready at any moment to work full time, while their southern and western neighbours are rapidly becoming bankrupt, and their mills are passing through the hands AVORKING OF BKITISU FREE TllADE. 7 of the sheriff — ^and while their machinery is decayiug, and their hands, whom it had cost them so much to collect and to instruct, are being scattered throughout the land. So too with iron. The furnaces of New England and New York, of Ohio and of Virginia, are closed, and yet Penns3'lvauia continues to make iron, and the result of the next five years will probably be to establish the centralization of the domestic iron trade within that State more perfectly than it has ever before existed, the cause of which is found in the fact that the present democratic tariff crushes all attempts on the part of the farmers of Ohio and Tennessee, Maryland and ^^irginia, to bring the maker of iron to the side of the producer of food. Under the tariff of 1842, the manufac- tures of cotton and woollen cloth and of iron were rapidly diffusing them- selves over the Union, whereas under that of 184G they are as rapidly centralizing themselvcB, ;ind will eoutimio so to do, although the West possesses advantages so immense for the production of iron, altliough it is so close to the cotton-growing region, although it grows so much wool, and although it has food in such abundance, for which it has now almost literally no market. We invite the hon. member to study the facts now everywhere transpiring, and see if they do not bear us out in the assertion that the policy he advocates tends to make the fiirmers and planters of the country mere hewers of wood and drawers of water for distant manufacturers, and to render it absolutely impossible that the people of the West should profit by their vast natural advantages for the production of all the commodities needed for their comfort and their enjoyment. We invite him to satisfy himself that it diminishes hy one-half the value of both labour and land. That done, we would recommend him to re-read his own speech, and deter- mine for himself if we were not right in saying that his knowledge of political economy was on a level with the accuracy of his facts. " The only safety for the manufacturing States,^' says our orator — *' To continue such, is to do all they can — nature lias done the greater part, but they can help a little — to make agriculture highly profitable in the West and the South-west. If a man can make better wages by raising corn or pork, he will not set himself to work to manufacture woollen or cotton cloth ; when he cannot make so much by raising corn or pork, he will make iron, and you cannot prevent him. All the legislation in the Avorld cannot say to the West, You shall not manufacture ; but legislation may do a great deal to say to the West, Here is something more profitable for you than manufacturing ; and the seats of maniifacturing may remain for a great many years longer than they otherwise would, in the North-east." The misfortune of the hon. member appears to us to consist in this, that being a disciple of the Manchester school of political economy, he can see no advantage resulting from any thing short of a monopoly such as it is the object of British free trade to establish in favour of the people of England. He supposes that the States which are now engaged in manufactures can be benefited only by saying to the West, " Do not manufacture," and yet the object of the protective policy which they support is to bring the spindle and the loom, the hammer and the anvil, in every part of the Union, to take their natural places by the side of the plough and the harrow. So fully is it understood that protection tends to produce domestic competition, that the unenlightened portion of the Eastern manufacturers deprecate the establish- ment of thorough protection, because it will be certain to establish manufac- turers throughout the West and South. Let the hon. gentleman deny this if he can. The more enlightened of the manufacturers know that the more common cotton goods made in the South and West, the more fine ones they 8 WORKING OF BRITISH FREE TRADE. will be able to buy and pay for — aucl not iu bonds — in the East. The more iron ore they smelt in Ohio and Tennessee, the more machinery will they need from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, and New England. The more lead ore they mine and smelt, the more books and newspapers they will require. The more hemp and wool they raise, the more silks and teas they v/ill purchase. The more of all these things they do, the larger will be the quantity of exchanges they will have to make, and the greater will be the business of the shopkeeper and the merchant. The more of these they do, the greater will be the power to make roads and the greater the demand for ships. Between the various sections of the Union there is a perfect harmony of interests ; and it argues a littleness of mind quite unworthy of the station at which the hon. member has arrived, to preach such doctrines as those to which we now refer. With a view to maintain the monopoly of manufacture, deemed so desirable by our free trade orator, the people of the East and North-east are admo- nished that they must " Favour in all ways possible the development of the western agriculture. First, by opening the roads to the North-east, to the East, and to the South-east, and to the -whole Atlantic slope, by connecting them with the valley of the Mississippi in the cheapest and most practicable manner. And next by developing, as far as possible, the foreign commerce ; for that, by taking off the surplus of agricultural products, tends to keep up the prices. See how the prices of cotton, tobacco, rice, flour, and corn, have kept up, notwithstanding what is said in the Report of the Secretary of the Ti'easury, and in the President's Message. See how they have kept up for the last five years, compared with the previous four. " I do not mean to trouble the House at the present time with columns of statistics. I will give the total here of a few great articles, as I have them before me. Take wheat. The wheat exported from this country for the four years previous to the adoption of the tariff of 1846, averaged 96| cents per bushel. For the last five years it has averaged $1.26J — 30 cents higher." The foreign commerce is to be developed, that it may take off the surplus of our agricultural products, and thus keep up prices, but unfortunatel}' the European market for food has almost entirely disappeared. To the continent of Europe, our whole export of food, the products of the grain-growing States, is so insignificant as not to amount to even ticenty thousand dollars in a year. England is now an exporter of grain ; and although famine at this moment exists in a large portion of the continent, wheat and flour are at prices almost as low as we have ever seen, and without any pros- pect of a change. Why they are so, is easily seen. The tariff of 1846 has closed the furnaces, mines, and mills, at which were produced almost a hundred millions of dollars' worth of cloth and of iron, to be given in ex- change for food, and the people who were in them have been driven from being customers to the farmer to become rivals to him. The more producers of food, the lower must be the prices at which it sells. The more consumers of food, the higher must be prices. Nevertheless, the hon. member gives a statement of prices with a view to show that those of the tariff of 1846 have been higher than those of the tariff of 1842, and how is this result obtained? By a process exactly similar to that usually resorted to by the advocates of the British system, which tends to render the farmers and planters of the world mere slaves to the owners of the spindle and the loom — by fraud. We do not, however, desire to charge the hon. member with having himself knowingly and willingly perpetrated the fraud contained in his statements. We believe, as has before been said, that he has been made the instrument WORKIKG OF BRITISH FREE TRADE. of others better informed than himself; and we do wish that, for the sake of his own reputation, he had followed the advice offered him on a former occasion, and publicly disclaimed all responsibility for the enormous mis- statements exposed in our review of his facts and figures. It seems to us quite clear that the person who prepared the tables used by the hon. member knew what was the truth, hovrever little disposed he might be to proclaim it to the world. Had he done so, the speech would now read as follows : — '' In 1842, under our strictly revenue tariff, our manufacturers were every- where ruined. The home demand for food had been destroyed, and the farmers were forced to look abroad for a market, the consequence of which was, that although our export was greater m quantity than it had been for years before, by seventy -five per cent., the value had increased but thirty per cent. Under the tariff passed in that year, the home market grew rapidly, and in 1846 it absorbed of food one hundred millions of dollars more than it had done five years before, and yet the productiveness of agricultural labour had so greatly increased that we had seventy-five per cent, more to export, and obtained higher prices for the larger quantity than before we had for the smaller one. In the midst of the fiscal year 1847, the tariff of 1846 went into operation. A famine abroad produced demand for food, and the large crop of 1846 enabled us to supply it at high prices, thus swelling largely the export of this year, durm(/ nmrly one-half of which the tariff ^ 1842 icas in force, and during the whole of which that of 1846 was inope- rative, because the great speculation in Europe maintained prices, and our mills and furnaces were prosperous, and created a great demand for food. In 1848, the effects of the famine were still felt because of tlie exhaustion of the usual stocks, and there still continued a large demand for food for Europe. In the last three years, however, the effects of the famine having passed away, the foreign market has gradually declined, and is now at a lower point than that at which it stood five years since, and prices have fallen here to a point even lower than those which prevailed in the calamitous period of 1841-2, and all our hopes of revival are centred in the idea that in this year or the next, or in some future one, the people of England may be cursed with a deficient harvest, and may be forced to take our food in pay for iron, and thus relieve us from the necessity for paying in bonds, bearing interest. Under the tariff of 1842, our farmers and planters were from day to day becoming more and more masters of their own actions. Under that of 1846, they are becoming from day to day more and more slaves of the spindles and the looms of Manchester, and the hammers and anvils of Bir- mingham." Such would have been the words of the hon. member, had his assistants furnished him with a true statement of facts. Instead of this, they clubbed to- gether the unhappy year 1842, when the home market was destroyed, and the prosperous year 1845-6, when protection had given the farmers a vast home demand, and thus produced a loio average of prices. Next, they took the year 1846-7 as belonging to the period of the tariff of 1846, which it did not. Next, they took the famine prices of 1847-8. Lastly, they suppressed the year 1850-1, because the export of food was small and prices were low, and thus did they cover up the small trade and low prices of the years in which the tariff of 1846 was really operative, and having by these falsifica- tions of facts obtained a high average of trade, both as regarded quantity and price, they palmed it off upon the hon. member, and through him upon the world, as a fair and honest exhibit of the disadvantages of protection, and 10 . WORKING OF BRITISH FREE TRADE. the advantages of British free trade. We confess we pity our orator for having permitted himself to be placed in a situation so disagreeable, but trust it will be a lesson to him not again to furnish the world with statements for which he is not willing to be held accountable in a court of honour, which he certainly would not in the present case desire to be. Our readers have had before them the facts that the prices of nearly all our products rose under the tariff of 1842, notwithstanding an increase in the quantity exported, while prices have in all cases fallen below the point at which they stood sis years since, except where the quantities to be ex- ported have greatly fallen. Such being the case, we pray them to i-ead and judge of the assertion contuinod in the following sentence : — " Almost all have risen uiulev ilie hiBt tariff, just as all fell under the tariff of 1842." The reason for this is, as he says, \ery plain : — " You cannot carry ou a trade but shall have two parts. Every exchange must consist of a sale and a purchase. Stop your purchases, and you stop your sales ; so if you will buy nothing on the other side of the Atlantic, you cannot sell any thing. Let commerce move freely, and you increase it vastly, and increase the prices of whatever j'ou have to sell, because you increase the power of the other party to buy of you." This is quite true. The Uiore you have tu sell, the more you can buy, and the more competitors for the purchase of your commodities, the higher will be the prices you will realize for what you sell. In 1846, the quantity of iron to be exchanged against food and clothing, was three times as great as it had been four years before — and the cotton and woollen cloth to be exchanged against food and iron, was almost double what it had been five years before, and the consequence of this was that farmers had higher prices. In 1850-51, notwithstanding a vast increase of agricultural population, the quantity of iron, foreign and domestic, and of cotton and woollen cloth, foreign and domestic, to be exchanged against food, is less by twenty or twenty-five per cent, than it was four years before, and the consequence is, that the farmer has low prices for his wheat and his corn. Commerce moved freely in 1846, because there was large competition for the purchase of food. Under the tariff of 1846, commerce has fallen imder the control of the Manchester and Birmingham monopoly, and the competition for the purchase of food has regularly and steadily diminished, and prices have fallen, except where production has enormously diminished, as is the case with all the most valuable productions of the farm — pork, beef, lard, cheese, butter, &c. Free trade, in the estimation of the hon. member, consists in allowing the farmer but one market in which to sell, and that one beyond the Atlantic. Ileal free trade consists in having numerous markets, and those close to the farmer's door, enabling him to return to his land the manure yielded by the products of the land. The farmer and the planter who desire to have numerous markets and high prices, should awake to the fact, that protection against the Manchester and Birmingham monopoly is the pleasant, the profitable, the short, and indeed the only road by which to attain real freedom of trade. PROGRESS OF AGRICULTURE IN VIRGINIA. 11 CARROTS FOR MILOH COWS. The following very satisfactory experiment was made by J. W. Lincoln, Esq., of Worcester, Mass., and can leave no doubt on the mind of the reader of the value of feeding this root to cows. He had long been accustomed to this practice, but was induced to test its correctness, by a communication in the New-England Farmer^ declaring them of use only " to tickle the palate of a pet cow." He says : " I was desirous of further evidence ; I read the communication to Mr. Hawes, who has the immediate supervision of my farm, and requested him to take two cows then giving milk, as much alike as he could find them, ascertain what quantity of hay they were then eating, continue to them the same quantity of hay, but add to one of them a peck of carrots per day ; and after a trial of a week to change the carrots to the other cow, to watch the effect carefully, and to report to me the result. He informs me that th« milk of the cow eating carrots was increased one quart or more each day, on no day less than a quart, and on some days a little more ; that the cow having hay alone constantly ate up her whole allowance, and the one having carrots uniformly failed to do so, and this was the case with both cows while having the carrots ; that each cow, when deprived of the carrots, at the close of each trial, fell off in her milk below the quantity given at the commencement, occasioned probably by their becoming dry preparatory to having their calf, which is expected with both about the first days of June next." It will be remembered by many of our readers, that in the last number of the previous volume we published a short article on this subject ; and for the benefit of numerous new subscribers we repeat here that it was stated, in an article from the Physo-Medical and Surgical Journal, that " two bushels of oats and one of carrots is better food for a horse than three bushels of oats ; that it assists in digesting hay, so that the dung of a horse, thus fed, will contain no undigested hay or oats ;" and that it very greatly improves tho quality of milk, when fed to cows ; while in a soil suited to the crop, 1100 bushels of white Belgian carrots may be raised per acre. We would refer our readers to the article, on the '750th page in the June number. PROGRESS OF AGRICULTURE IN VIRGINIA. A Convention of Farmers has been held in Eichmond, at which a new State Agricultural Society was formed, and Mr. Edmund Ruffin chosen it» President. The Southern Cultivator well says, that the name and zeal of this gentleman are well known, and there is good reason to hope that the Old Dominion has obtained at last an Agricultural organization that will com- mand the sympathy and cordial support of the whole farming interest. If so, no time should be lost in establishing an Agricultural Society in every county, auxiliary to that of the State. Local clubs and county societies constitute the strength and life of all larger associations, whether State or National. Our Virginia friends will do well not to overlook this fact, and extend their cooperative societies wherever the soil is cultivated within the Common- wealth. At the Convention that adopted the new Constitution, an excellent address was delivered by Mr. Frank G. Ruffin, editor of the Southern Planter. WHAT SHOULD AGRICULTURAL FAIRS TEACH? 13 COTTAGE DESIGNS.— No. VII. Good taste in architecture, like good taste in all other things, is the result of education and refinement, and must, of course, be progressive. The gradual improvement made in the construction of dwellings, both in regard to internal convenience and external appearance, from its first origin in the rude hut to the jjresent state of advancement in architectural science, has been slow but constantly progressive; and we look upon the present as a time when this science is being more rapidly developed, and more generally under- stood, than at any former period in the history of our country. This is as it should be. Neat and beautiful cottages are taking the place of the awkward and inconvenient structures of a former generation, and the refinements and sweets of domestic enjoyment are strikingly exhibited in the tastefully deco- rated " embowered cot," or the graceful proportions of the " retired villa," surrounded by the " verdant lawn," and unobtrusively conspicuous amid the foliage of the beautiful shrubbery, enlivened by clustering flowers, and deepened by the extending shadows of ornamental shade trees. The engraving on the opposite page is a view of a Grecian cottage, on the banks of the Passaic river, in New- Jersey, which was constructed with a design to combine all the arrangements that could be conducive to do- mestic convenience in a small dwelling. Its style is the Grecian, which, although generally supposed to be adapted only to more stately or public buildings, does not, as will be seen, deprive it of its domestic character. It very beautifully harmonizes with the scene in which it is placed. It is con- structed of wood, after the Ionic order of architecture, and occupies an elevated position, having a rising, hilly background, and being surrounded by fruit trees of various kinds, with highly cultivated grounds in its vicinity. The main body of the house has two full stories, the first of eleven and the second of nine feet in the clear. The principal floor contains a hall ten feet wide, two drawing-rooms, each seventeen by twenty feet ; a dining-room and parlor, each seventeen by sixteen feet in size, with a pantry, and ante-hall containing the principal stairway. In the second story there are four chambers and two bed-rooms ; in the basement are a kitchen, two bed-rooms, a store- room, two pantries, dairy, cellar, scullery, and fuel-room. The cottage is an ornament to the neighborhood, the pride and comfort of its occupant, and the admiration of his friends, and cost no more in its erection than hundreds of others, with less than half its pretensions to elegance and convenience. WHAT SHOULD AGRICULTURAL FAIRS TEACH f Much is to be learned, as yet, in respect to the mode of conducting our annual fail's. The mere list of premiums awarded is of very little benefit. It operates as a stimulus to many minds, who are ambitious of such distinctions, and therefore benefits them, and in this way, indirectly, the community gains. But this is aiming quite too low. It is to impart information upon all sorts of farming operations. It is to satisfy the large majority of farmers that they ary not doing what is for their pecuniary interest, either in the selection and management of stock, or in their modes of cultivation. Mr. Dodge has some very sensible remarks (and he always has such when 14 RAISING WHEAT. he has any) in the Journal of Agriculture, and we fortify our own opinions already expressed by citing from him the following pjissage : "Their reports tell us who has raised the best corn, and who the best wheat and rye ; who has exhibited the best cow, and who the best oxen. This is well, but it is not enough. A large part of the premium, given to a com- petitor, is given for diffusing the knowledge which will aid another person in producing another specimen like it. But this seems to be forgotten. The ' what kind was it V and ' how was it produced V are left out. The unsuc- cessful competitor and all the rest of the world, are sent back to their farms, to feel their way with such light as their own observation and experience have given them ; whereas they are entitled to all the light the recipient of the Society's bounty can give. If a premium is offered for an essay, not only must the successful production be given up and become the property of others, but it must be published to the world. We would not take the farmer's wheat and distribute it among others, but we would take the knowledge by which it was raised, and scatter it broadcast through the land ; if he would keep his knowledge, we would keep the silver." RAISING WHEAT. The question of the profit of raising wheat in the Eastern, when compared with the Western States, is one of great interest to all. A very carefully written article in the Hampshire and Franklin Express embodies much infor- mation, and we have made from it the following abstract. Our farmers are very apt to find out what crops are profitable in their style of farming, but the masses are very slow to make important changes, even though money might be made by so doing. This writer supposes that we pay, at the East, about fifty per cent, of what we expend for Western flour in freights and profits, so that every time we eat a pound of bread each, from this source, we draw $20,000 from our pockets, half of which goes to the Western producer, and half is distributed on the way. Though this money is not lost, he thinks this view of the subject worth examination. We give a portion of these statements a place here, because the subject is very important, and we should duly consider it in all its aspects. The writer says : From statements copied into our last number from the New-England Far- mer, professing to be the result of very patient and long-continued investiga- tion, it appears that the average value of the Avheat and straw on an acre, from 1840 to 1850, was, in Massachusetts, - - - - - $29 12 New-Hampshire, - - - - - 31 80 Vermont, - - - - - - 30 80 Ohio, ------- 18 60 Indiana, - - 16 00 Illinois, 16 00 It appears further that the net profits in the wheat cultivation, after de- ducting the cost and interest on the value of land, was, in Massachusetts, - - - - - $11 12 New-Hampshire, - - - . . g go Vermont, - - - - - - 10 80 Ohio, 10 60 Indiana, - - - - - - 8 GO Illinois, 8 00 RAISING WHEAT. 15 If these statistics are accurate, the net profits per acre in ■wheat-growing in Massachusetts were greater for these ten years than in any of the States compared. It pertains not to the argument to say that the cost of cultiva- tion is greater in the East than in the West, for the extra cost is taken into the account. And again : Suppose a farmer in our State to have a family that re- quires twenty bushels of wheat per year. It will require thirty dollars to buy it. Now can he raise those twenty bushels of wheat for his own use, at so good a profit as he can raise something else, which will bring him thirty dollars with which to pay for the wheat ? That is the question. It is a question for every farmer to settle for himself. The settlement of it will depend on the nature of his farm. I have very little doubt that a majority of farmers in this State would do well to say at once : We cannot grow wheat ; our land is not adapted to it ; we must substitute other grains for wheat, as far as possible, and raise such products as will turn for cash, with which to buy wheat so far as we find it necessary. With many, probably a majority, this decision would be correct, beyond a doubt. On cold, rocky farms in our hill- towns there is no doubt that thirty dollars' worth of beef, or thirty dollars' worth of butter and cheese, can be produced more easily than twenty bushels of wheat. On many of our light, plain lands, I suppose it is easier to produce thirty dollars' worth of rye than twenty bushels of wheat. But on some of our lauds, especially those in the valley of the Connecticut, is it not easier to raise twenty bushels of wheat than to raise any thing else that will bring thirty dollars ? I believe it is ;" and I believe that the same is true of other and somewhat extensive portions of the State. I do not believe that Massachusetts will ever become a wheat-exporting State, or that she will ever fully supply her own population ; but that she should continue to export cash to the tune of some $20,000 for every pound of wheaten bread which her citizens consume each, on an average, is certainly bad policy, if, as I suppose, extensive portions of her territory would grow wheat, at as good a profit as Western lands, and as good as can be realized from other productions on our own soil. Now, in order to see whether this last proposition is true, let us compare the profits of wheat-growing with those of other productions, as exhibited in the Transactions of the Hampden Agricultural Society for 1851. Mr. Horace Smith cultivated 7-A- acres of wheat, at an expense, including 6 per cent, on the value of the land, of $128.81 ; value of crop, $307.60 ; net gain, $178.79. Mr. Justus Bagg cultivated 7^ acres of land, at a cost, including interest as above, of $159.74; value of crop, $290.30; net gain, $130.56. Mr. Walter Cooley cultivated one acre, at an expense of $23.50 ; value of crop, $53.80 ; net gain, $30.30. Mr. John Stiles cultivated one acre, at an expense of $11.00 ; value of crop, $56.88 ; net gain, $45.88. Mr. R. H. Barlow cultivated one acre and fifty rods at an expense of $24.00 ; value of crop, $60.00 ; net gain, $36.00. Mr. Silas Root cultivated three acres at a cost of $42.50 ; value of crop, $137.08 ; net gain, $94.58. These statements embrace an aggregate of 21 acres and 50 rods; and they show an aggregate profit of $516.11, or a fraction less than $25 an acre. Now, by taking the statements of these and other gentlemen concerning their rye crop, we find the average profit per acre less than $14. Taking the statements at the same meeting for the oat crop, we find an average profit per acre of a little less than $27. The average profit on the corn crops reported at this meeting was a little over $29 an acre. 46 ENGLISH AGRICULTURE. These statements taken together show that the profits on the wheat crops there reported were quite as good as the average in rye, oats, and corn. Land will produce more, and be in a better condition at the end of five years, if five different crops are grown upon it in that time, than with a less number. Now, then, by putting wheat on land once in five years, you will get more than four fifths as much of the other crops with which you choose to rotate, than if you plant two years out of the five with the same crop, making but four different crops in five years. This is an important consider- ation. The capabilities of the land are increased by variety of production. The conclusions at which I arrive are, 1. That many of our lands, probably one eighth of the State at least, which would be some 600,000 acres, are capable of growing wheat advan- tageously. 2. That the cultivation of wheat in these portions of the State may be made quite as profitable as at the West. 3. That its cultivation is just about as profitable as that of other crops which now receive a more general attention, 4. That the value of other crops now cultivated among us would diminish in a ratio much less than that of the increase in the wheat crop, 6. That, consequently, the aggregate value of all our cultivated crops would be increased. VOK TBB FliOUOU, THE LOOM, AND TRB ANVIL. ENGLISH AGRICULTURE. EARLY PLOUGHING. Owing to the early opening of spring in England, the work among farmers is not often driven up to a heap as with us. Sometimes the ploughing is commenced as early as the latter part of January, and beans and peas have been then planted, as these are the first crops put into the soil. These are put into the ground by dibbling. The ploughing of an acre of land is con- sidered a day's work ; and this part of agriculture is particularly attended to, so that not one foot of the soil may be left unmoved. The advantage of deep ploughing is acknowledged by every one, and the spade, wherever used, always increases the crop. Many farmers, when there is a surplus of hands, will employ them in digging several acres, where potatoes and other esculents are to be raised, and the increase of the produce generally repays this outlay of labor. CULTURE OF THE POTATO. The potato in England is an immense crop, although not so great, perhaps, as in Ireland. Upon a large scale, the plough is used, and they are planted in rows; the manure is generally put in with the potatoes, or if spread upon the land, it is turned in upon the seed by the plough. It is thought best not to leave more than three eyes upon every division into which the potato is cut, except the small ones, which of course are planted whole. Growing them in hills is not practised. The rows are ploughed but one way ; they are hoed twice, and then moulded up by a double-breasted plough. From four to five hundred bushels per acre is reckoned an exceedingly good yield. The quality of this vegetable here, I think, is quite equal to those imported. The im- proved varieties of this plant are almost endless, as every seed raised from the ENGLISH AGRICULTURE. 17 green balls will produce fin original, like the pips of the apple. Sometimes this crop has been left in the ground until the spring, and in many winters it will not be injured; but it is always hazardous. Upon a small scale, the ground is often dug up in the fall in ridges, between which the seed is placed by a narrow spade, at the distance of about one foot. This method is found very productive, particularly upon sod ground. WILD AND CULTIVATED FRUITS. The wild fruits of the mother country are neither so various nor useful as with us. The crab is indigenous, but the fruit is fit for nothing. The stock is excellent for grafting. The hautboy, or wild strawberry, is too small to be of any value, but the blackberry is fine and plentiful. The cranberry and wild raspberry are not found, nor the persimmon, but the cultivated raspberry in gardens is finer and of a richer flavor than those we get here. The large yellow fruit of this species has a quality peculiarly luscious, and is extremely fine. The garden strawberry is also both larger and richer than the fruit raised here. The sloe, a small, useless blue plum, is the produce of the black-thorn, which often claims a sort of brotherhood with the May or white- thorn, but is much inferior for hedge fences, being neither so firm nor durable. The latter is the Cratoegvs oxyacantha of Linnaeus, the former is the prunus spinosa. The produce of the white-thorn is a berry, growing in bunches, about the size of a pea. These berries aflford provision for birds in the winter, and observers prophesy a long, cold season when these are abundant. The apples we get here may vie with those from any part of the world ; but we do not find the same varieties as in the old country. Some of the old stocks, famous once in England, have given place to newer ones. The durable apple called the Nonpareil was formerly one of the most valuable, both for its flavor and the length of time it would keep ; but these trees, from some cause, were very subject to the canker-worm, and from that cause their cultivation was neglected. I have often admired, in England, a beautiful, large, red-streaked apple called the pason, superior to any I have ever seen here coming so early to maturity. The codlin succeeds the pason in being fit for early use, and is excellent for culinarj" purposes, but not so good for the table. The tree is very subjecr. to a disease called the cotton blight, which appears to be occasioned by a worm spinning a sort of web, something similar to cotton, filling the tree with knotty cankers. In gardens, apple-trees are often trained upon stakes, as the vine is in France. They are then called espaliers. This method is economical, as it prevents the trees from overspreading the ground, and the fruit is often finer and more abundant ; but it requires a great deal of pruning to keep down the extra shoots, which, if not taken oft', would impov- erish the fruit. Quinces are not much raised, either because they are not so much in de- mand, or because they are not so congenial to the climate. It is but rarely you meet with them, either in the garden or upon the farm. Pears are cultivated to a great extent, and their varieties, richness, and size are, I think, superior to any I have seen in this country. The plum succeeds in England to the greatest perfection. The green gage, the Orleans, the fine blue, and yellow egg-shaped, are fine, and the trees are exempt from those diseases which here so generally destroy the bcareis, or cause the fruit to fall ofi" before maturity. The peach, in England, is not grown upon standard trees, as the climate is not warm enough to ripen thi* fruit in an open, exposed situation. This lus- 18 ENGLISH AGRICULTURE. cious produce is raised upon trees trained upon a wall, with a southern aspect, and this is the only mode by which it can be properly matured. The necta- rine and apricot are produced in the same manner, and arrive at the greatest perfection. I have never seen these two latter in this country at all equal to what I have eaten in England ; nor do I think the flavor of the peach here is quite equal to what I have found there. GARDENING, dsC. Garden stuflf comes to market early in the mother country. Peas are sown in November, and cabbages are planted at the same time, and will head in the following May. It is usual to sow radishes on new-year's day, upon a warm border in the open ground, and by covering them over by short straw or litter, they are sufficiently protected, and brought early into market. An English gentleman prides himself in the beauty and productions of his garden. The even gravel walks, the ever-verdant box edging, the closely- mown lawn, the weeping fountain, ornamental trees of almost every variety, and a profusion of flowers, are among the first sources of rational pleasure with which he loves to regale himself in his leisure hours, and to entertain his friends in the true style of Enghsh hospitality. Gardening in the mother country is a distinct business, practised by a cer- tain class of laborers who have been trained to it ; and they receive higher wages than workmen upon a farm. There are but few farmers or house- holders who do not employ an individual of this class long enough to keep their gardens in good condition. The grape does not appear to be indigenous in England, but several im- ported varieties of the vine, both the white and the purple, bear well, and the fruit comes to perfection, unless the season should prove to be very late. The Queen has, at one of her palaces, the largest vine in the country, yielding, I believe, some thousands of bunches every season. The white sweet-water grape appears to be most extensively cultivated, as it comes to maturity early, and is adapted to the climate. The cherry is found wild, but the fruit is smaller and more bitter than with us. The large black heart, the white heart, and the early duke, are excellent, both in size and flavor. The last mentioned is a red fruit, and is fit for eating in the month of May. The common red cherry used here for culinary pur- poses is there trained upon walls, and is greatly appreciated for domestic cook- ing. There is a late sort of half-wild cherry, called the mazzard, which matures later than any other, and is something like what grows so generally among us ; and is valued, principally, on account of its being in season when all othei*s have passed away. The gooseberry, in England, is free from those diseases which attack it so often here. It grows immensely large. I have seen none here that begin to compare with it. The red currant here, I think, is fully equal to any elsewhere ; but the white and the black with us are both inferior in size and flavor. These bushes in this country, owing to the quickness of vegetation, are more liable to throw out suckers, and produce too much wood, which requires pruning off", to prevent the fruit from deteriorating. Creeping vines which produce the melon, cucumber, squash, and pumpkin, are more uncertain. The melon can be raised only under a frame. The squash I never saw until in this country ; nor is the pumpkin raised there for cattle. It is sometimes produced in gardens, hke the Indian corn, as a rarity. To sell an old countrymen pumpkin-pies, a dish of squash, a plate of tomatoes, ENGLISH AGRICULTURE. 19 or of buckwheat-cakes, would indeed raise his wonder, and cause him again to think the Yankees truly a queer people. A foreigner riding through the mother country has his attention frequently arrested by the mansions of noblemen and country squires, and the remains of abbeys and ancient castles. These are generally surrounded by parks of great extent. In these beautiful, Eden-like inclosures, deer are preserved ; while, upon the surrounding farms, game, including the partridge and pheasant, are looked after by a person called the game-keeper, who is always an append- age to these domains of land. The park itself is generally studded with horned cattle, grazing at their leisure, while large flocks of sheep are pastured upon the same. The woods of old English oak are the pride of the land- owners ; and an old countryman always regards them with stirred feelings, they are so connected with the national glory of his native soil. These have been the material which have formed the wooden walls of his fatherland. Most of the parks are beautified with clusters and rows of these kings of the forest, which not only add to the grandeur of the scenery, but also to the value of the estate. GAME LAWS, GAME, PARKS, DEER, ENGLISH OAK, AND POACHING. The game laws are viewed as a measure of tyranny and oppression ; but if there were no enactments of this nature, the game throughout the country would soon become extinct. No person can kill game, even upon his own land, without taking out a yearly license, the cost of which may be about nine or ten dollars, and up to fifteen. Partridge shooting commences on the first of September ; that of pheasants in the following month. The partridge is a beautiful bird ; in color very similar to the quail here, but considerably larger. The pheasant is nearly double the size of the partridge, with a bright plumage of blue and other brilliant colors, with a long handsome tail. ] have never seen a bird here to compare with it. What is called the pheasant with us, very much resembles the English partridge. The dog used for hunt- ing these birds is the pointer ; and whenever he gets near the game, he stands still, with his tale elevated, giving his master time to come within sufficient distance to take sure aim when the covey rises. The hare and the fox are two productions of the mother country, which, since the wolf has disappeared, yield a great amount of sport to the rich, the aristocratic, and the idle. The hare is a beautiful but timid creature, much larger than a rabbit, and of a redder color. Naturalists say that it sleeps with its eyes open, but for this I do not pretend to vouch. This animal is either coursed by greyhounds, or hunted like the fox, by a pack of hounds from fifty to a hundred in number. The former method is practised by heating, or walking over a field where the hare is supposed to be in its form or lair. The creature seems to be aware of its danger, and you may sometimes walk over it before it will rise. As the greyhound hunts only by sight, and not by scent, he only begins to run when he SQCs the hare ; but his speed is so much more rapid, puss soon becomes hi? prey. There is an old adage which well describes this sport, where it is said to be " Five hours' sorrow and sadness, Five minutes' raving madness." And, after all, we may well say with the poet, " Poor is the triumph o'er the timid hare." When this creature is hunted by the pack, they are generally followed by a 20 RESOURCES OF LAMOILLE COUNTY, VERMONT. number of persons on horees, who waste most of the day in this sport, as the hare can only be taken by being literally wearied out. It will not often run far from its usual haunts, but will lead the hounds to and fro, sometimes in a circle. I must acknowledge my heart has often misgiven me, when I have witnessed the death and heard the squeal of this timid and beautiful creature. Fox hunting is similar to this, only upon a larger scale, and Reynard is more knowing than Puss. He will sometimes run upon a fence, swim a river, or even, when tired, drive up another fox and aim to put it upon his old track, that the dogs may follow it, while he lurks away and escapes ; for, in the breast of this robber of hen-roosts, like what we Vjehold often in the ways of certain creatures who boast of more honorable kindred, there is but little of what we call brotherly love. Agricola. rOfl THS PLOUGH, THE LOOM; AND THE ANVIL. THE TOPOGRAPHY AND AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS OF LAMOILLE COUNTY, VERMONT. The slopes of our hills and mountains are natural for grass, and very pro- ductive. On them are fed great herds of cattle and flocks of sheep. The grass is sweet and nourishing ; animals that graze on those hill-sides are very thrifty. I am informed by drovers, that the grass-fed beef of Vermont is most sought for in the markets, it being the sweetest and most luscious found in our northern shambles. Great herds of cattle are reared and sold yearly in our county, and more valuable horses are sold from the county of Lamoille than any other section of its extent in Vermont. The attention of our farmers has been tiu-ned to the cultivation of potatoes for several past years, there being some fifteen starch factories in the county. There are manufactured at those establishments annually from four to five hundred tons of starch. The rot or rust, of lato years, has been very detri- mental to this crop. In some localities it has been nearly ruined ; in others half, and others one third. The farmers of late find the potato flourishes best on newly turned-up land, such as old pastures, without manure, or if manure is used, that which is old and will not ferment. New-made or fresh stable manure that will ferment, is sure to cause the tubers to rot. Potatoes are almost indispensable in New-England ; it would be difficult to subsist without them. They are cooked in a variety of dishes, and are healthy. With many of the poor, they constitute a majority of their fare. The food is light, easy of digestion, and proper for convalescents. They are also the main article in fattening pork. A majority of the farmers have in tiieir hog- house a kettle set in an arch, in which to cook potatoes for the swine. With potatoes, is mixed the meal of oats, India wheat, and corn.,. To facilitate the fattening of the swine, many warm the mash each time of feeding. Potatoes in large quantities are fed to our domestic animals without cooking. In the years of 1850 and 1851, there were more than 100,000 bushels of potatoes sent to Boston from this county by railroad. Last season the crop was meagre, some realizing not more than one third the usual amount. Oats are cultivated to a large extent on our light lands ; they flourish well, and are a profitable article. The straw is needed for fodder, as such lands are not proHfic in grass. Many of the oats are sold out of the county, the usual price THE CULTURE OF CAULIFLOWERS. 21 being 25 cents. The wheat raised is not sufficient for home consurnDtion* hence there is a vast quantity of western flour consumed in the county. The summer of 1851 was cooler than usual, particularly the nights, and the farmer realized a more abundant crop of wheat on the low lands than for several previous years ; the price of wheat is from $1 to $1.50. Barley is httle cultivated. Buckwheat is more attended to. India wheat is still more cultivated, and is nearly all fed to swine. There are many fine dairies in the county, and large quantities of butter and cheese are made for foreign markets. The price of butter is now, May 15tb, 15 cents; in summer from 10 to 12 ; mostly sold in Boston. The product of wool is considerable; the price is usually from 25 to 40 cents. It is bought up in July, by speculatoi-s, for the various factories, there being small manufacturing establishments in many of the towns in the county. Much of the wool is worked on shares for domestic use, but little is wrought in families. Hops are quite an item of cultivation, especially in Hyde Park, more being raised in this town than in all the rest of the county. Eight thousand dollars was realized from the sale of hops last fall in Hyde Park, which made money easy among us. Hyde Park, May I5th, 1852. Ariel Hunton. THE CULTURE OF CAULIFLOWERS. "An Old Philadelphia Gardener," in the Western Horticultural Review, giving directions on this subject, says : From the 15th to the 25th of September sow the seed in an open border. Let the plants remain until the 20th of October, when they will be small, having four leaves. Plant them out four inches apart in a pit or frame, where you can protect them from the winter's frost ; let them remain there until the first week in January, then prepare your pit to grow them in. The pit should be eight feet wide, three feet deep in front, and four feet at the back. Get one load of leaves and one load of hot stable manure — I mean in this proportion ; have the leaves and manure well mixed a week or two before you intend to use it, and then fill the pit to what will settle down to twelve or fourteen inches ; take then and get your soil, old sod three parts, and one part manure ; hog manure is the best ; cover your bed over to the depth of at least eighteen inches, dig it nicely, then put on the sashes and keep them close for three days, when the little heat that the manure and leaves have created will be sufi&cient to give the plants a start. This is all that is necessary, for if there be too much heat it will spoil all. Then mark out your bed, two rows to each sash, which should be three feet ten inches, and two inches for the wood-work of the rafters. It will be understood that the plants were pricked out in rows, so that they could be taken up with the trowel without breaking any of the ball ; set them five plants in the row, and two rows to each sash ; you may plant lettuce be- tween each plant in the row, and a drill of short-top turnip radishes between them. After you have all planted, let the sashes remain close for a day or two, when they will begin to show they have taken to the ground. You must then give all the air you possibly can, even taking the sashes entirely off in good weather. They must be covered every night with straw mats and shutters until the first of March, or longer, according to the season. By the 10th of March they will require to be watered twice a week ; leave off the sash every day you can ; by the first of April give plenty of 22 PRIMARY FACTS IN FARMING. water, and by this means you can grow early cauliflowers as good as in any part of the world. I have grown them four, five, and nearly six pounds. For the truth of this statement as to weight, etc., I refer you to the Transactions of the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society from 1833 to 1836, both years included. I took the premium so long as I cultivated the cauhflower. PRIMARY FACTS IN FARMING. " Why do you put ashes on corn ?" is the title of a short article that has lately " gone the rounds" of the agricultural press, and may be regarded as typical of a large number of essays which have appeared in the periodicals of the day. This is a good omen, for it shows that life among agriculturists is not extinct. The cultivators of the soil are inquiring into the principles of their every day's labor, as they have not done heretofore. We verily believe that there is not a trade or profession in the community, in which the princi- ples of their own calling have been so little understood as among farmers. The carpenter may not be able to demonstrate the forty-seventh proposition of Euclid, but he knows that if he would have a brace ten feet long, he may mortise his beams six and eight feet from the joint; and he knows why. So he can estimate the quantity of the various sorts of timber and lumber neces- sary to build a house, of given dimensions, on a given plan. The blacksmith knows that iron implements of a certain sort must be left to cool gradually, while others may be plunged when red-hot into water. If he would ham- mer out a sharp tool that requires the properties of steel, he chooses to heat it with charcoal ; but if he must reduce to a white heat a large mass of iron, he selects " sea-coal ;" and in each instance he tells you the reason. The maker of sponge-blacking knows that rapid and entire evaporation is essen- tial to the success of his manufacture, and hence he is careful to mix it with pure, concentrated alcohol. So of other trades and callings : each has a sys- tem of facts and principles, more or less complete, by which his labor is directed, a knowledge of which he considers essential, though he often may regret that his acquirements are so imperfect. But how is it with the farmer ? He has sandy land, and gravelly land, and clay land ; its minerals are silicious, or slaty, or rich in magnesia, &c., (fee. But he treats them all alike, and that treatment is very much like that often received by a poor, worn-out horse, unable to work and unfit to live. His food is poor in quality and limited in quantity. But, while the aged animal roams abroad, unharnessed, the poor land is ploughed and hoed, and ploughed and hoed, year after year, and compelled to surrender whatever yet remains of vegetation in her weak embrace. The same manures are applied to all soils, and perhaps in equal quantities, and this a fraction of what it needs, because its annual yield is not sufficient to feed a stock of cattle competent to furnish manure to supply its absolute necessities. Hence every year, each harvest is less than the preceding. Constant deterioration is inevitable. Dr. Stewart, one of our best chemists, has recently stated that, " for every fourteen tons of fodder taken from the soil," there are carried away " two casks of potash, two casks of Ume, one cask of soda, a carboy of oil of vitriol, a large demijohn of phosphoric acid, and other essential ingredients." How long can any soil en- dure such fleecing ? It is worse than decimation, by which warriors used to punish their conquered enemies. It is more like " skinning" them ahve^ — a process under which a living animal must soon give up the ghost. We have shown, in a former number of this journal, the utter inability of a PRIMARY FACTS IN FARMING. 23 soil to produce vegetation, unless furnished with all the elements of the required growth. If one is wanting, the case is hopeless ; germination is iin- 2)ossible. Pure lime, or magnesia, or soda, unmixed, can no more grow flax than can a bed of cast iron. This crop requires, among other things, a plen- tiful supply of silex. So do all grains and the grasses. So a pure sand, ex- clusively silicious, has no power to grow grain, for it must have its lime, mag- nesia, soda, &c. It will not only fail to produce the kernel, but even the stalk requires phosphoric, sulphuric, and carbonic acids, iron, the alkahes, J S On j while standing. I commence to cut rather before the period of blossoming, in order that I may get tlirough before the seed becomes fully ripe, or sufficiently ripe to shatter out. In mowing, I would not cut a spear until the dew had left the grass, and then lay down as much as possible before three o'clock ; raking at night (when the grass is thin and will allow of it) only what was cut before eleven o'clock, that cut in the after part of the day being allowed to remain in swath till the morrow, when it should be turned over carefully, but not spread, and be put into grass cock at night. In this condition it may remain till made. In forming grass cocks, care should be had that they are not made too large. Eighty pounds of cured hay is suflScient for a cock, and if no more than this is put up, there never will be any danger of its heating in clear weather, and it will make very rapidly, and without any loss of color or flavor, and be much more palatable than that made in the sun by spreading in the field. In making grass cocks, where the crop is heavy, the fork is a much more convenient instrument than the rake in performing the burden of the work, although the rake must follow to clear up the scatterings, and give shape to the cocks after being thrown together by the fork. If the weather threatens to be dull or stormy, the hay should be put together as compactly as possible, and well capped ; but should it promise to be fair, with no prospect of rain, little care need be exercised, and cocks may be ttirowM together as usual with hay that is made in the ordinary way. Hay that has been ')i-operly cocked will, if the weather be favorable, make suffi- ciently to house in two or three days. The very considerable losses experienced by the tedious and protracted pro- cess of spreading, raking, cocking, opening, shaking out, and putting up, are entirely obviated by this method, and there is no loss of time, or liability to be caught in sudden showers with a dozen tons of hay exposed on the field, to be wet, and perhajis spoiled. When hay in grass cock gets wet, the only course to pursue is to let it stand till it gets dry. A heavy shower or a long storm will scarcely wet down an inch ; and this, when the weather clears, will soon dry, and the inside be as bright and sweet to the smell as when put up. Clover hay, which, from the peculiar character and structure of the leaves, is liable to be deprived of its most valuable parts by the frequent and severe handhngs it receives in making, is so much improved by this process, that no one who once makes trial of it will ever think of renouncing it. If the clover be cut when in full bloom, and allowed to remain in swath till just before night of the same day, and then be carefully turned with a fork, in order to bring the under and unwetted side to encounter the dew, and be allowed to remain in this state till the afternoon of the following day, and then formed into light grass cocks by pitching them together in flakes, the hay will be as green and sweet when carried to the barn as it was when cut, and this without the loss of any portion which is of value as a feed for stock. Even the rich color of the blossom will be retained, as well as the deep, beau- tiful green of the leaves, and the lighter verdure of the stalks. Every one has noticed, doubtless, that green grass made in very hot weather shrivels up, loses its elasticity, and becomes pulverable, or liable to break at HARVESTING WHEAT. 89 tlie slightest toucli. In this condition it is impossible to stir or handle it without severe loss ; nor is it so palatable to cattle of any kind as the same grass cured in the manner I have recommended. Purchasers of hay generally look much to the color of the article, and con- sider this as a sort of criterion for judging of its value. And in this they are correct. Light-colored, yellowish hay is rarely of much value, being either field-dried or washed by rains, in either of which conditions it is almost always refused by cattle when not forced to eat it by severe hunger." Another correspondent in the same paper speaks in a very commendatory manner of " hay caps." It would seem to us that they would be more useful for stooks of grain than for hay, for reasons that may be gathered from the foregoing. He says, however, that there is no necessity of the cloth used for these caps being oiled or painted, or in any other way protected by coating. The tents of our soldiers are made of canvas simply, without any previous or subsequent preparation, and subserve the purposes of protection from rain most admirably. For hay caps, common cotton cloth, such as may be pur- chased for seven cents per yard, is good enough, and about four yards are sufficient for a "cap." They should be made square, and have a stick eighteen inches long at each corner to secure them down. Stooks of grain may be covered with these caps, and as thoroughly protected from the rain by them, even in long storms, as by a roof of shingles. As the cloth gets wet, the fibre of the material swells, and thus keeps out the rain, which flows off without passing through it. A farmer may save enough in a single season with these caps to cover the entire expense, and the caps be still as 2food as new. HARVESTING WHEAT. Dr. Lee gives directions in a late journal on the important subject indicated by our title. According to him, many farmers cut wheat too late, (waiting until it is dead ripe,) and still more permit the grain to remain a long time in the field in small stacks after it is Jiarvesled. Both practices are wrong. Wheat intended for seed ought to be fully ripe before it is cut ; but that which is to be ground into flour .should not stand so long. The proper time to cut it is in the ''doughy state," (out of the milk, but not hard or flinty.) Where one has many acres to harvest, it is difficult to avoid cutting some a little too early, or a great deal too late. So soon a.s the straw is sufficiently cured, the crop shouLi be housed, stored away in a barn, or threshed. Wheat straw is worth half the price of hay, if the grain be cut at the right time, and the straw properly saved from rain, dew, and sunshine. Where good hay is cheap, say four or five dollars a ton, the saving of wheat straw for forage need not command much care. But at the South, where first-rate hay is rarely worth less than seventy-five cents or one dollar per 100 lbs., the stems and leaves of all the cereal grasses should be preserved from damage by exposure to the elements, and used for winter- ing stock. Sheep are kept all winter on straw alone, by the large wheat growers in Western New- York; and so are mares, and colts, and cattle. Good barns, sheds, and stables are not so common as they ought to be, and no farmer who has the means to make these useful buildings should be with- out them. They will pay a high interest on their cost, greatly economize fodder, and operate to improve our live stock. 40 THE LIMITS OF AGRICULTURAL SCIENCE. THE LIMITS OF AGRICULTURAL SCIENCE. Some of our exchanges are arguing very earnestly, and as powerfully, in favor of science in agriculture. We would add our mite, and with all our might, to this array of influence in a noble cause. But there are some ques- tions of great interest for us to know, if practicable, which are set forth by some of these brethren, as points in relation to which we ought to be well informed, which seem to us beyond our reach, under any system of agricul- tural education. One of these points is this : How much feed does it take to make a pound of pork or beef ? No onfe can doubt that human physiology has received the most careful attention. The ablest men, and in successive generations, have devoted to it all their energies, and that, too, uuder the most favorable' circumstances. But they have made no pretensions to the discovery of the amount of meats or vegetables that we must eat to produce a pound of fat, or a given increase in weight ; and though we have been a pretty careful stu- dent of this subject, we are not aware of any peculiarly important facilities for testing such facts with the lower animals, rather than with our own species. We have known some people v?ho were very small eaters, and living upon a comparatively thin diet, who constantly accumulated fat. This, no doubt, is the observation of all men. The brother or sister, the same fiesh and blood, always remained lean, even under a much more liberal diet. We doubt not that there is as much variety in the vital powers of animals of all sorts, as in the human species in their forms, shapes, faces, and the like, and that no two litters from the same mother, and even no two pigs of the same litter, would exactly agree in the results of the most careful experiments. There is something connected with animal life or vitality, beyond the ques- tion of its origin, and apparently much nearer the surface, which the wisest have utterly failed to fathom. We must therefore beg leave to doubt whether ignorance on this subject is evidence of blameworthy neglect. Nor should we hesitate to regard these co-laborers of ours as thorough and accomplished in their profession, because they are unable to decide such matters. Allied to this is another question : How much milk Avill a given amount of certain kinds of feed produce ? Go through all the stalls of the country, and you are but little wiser than now. You get nearly the two extremes, and these we have learned pretty well already. Every journal in the country has given statistics from which such facts may be gathered. The keeping of the animal is described, and the amount of her milk. The total results being known, any given portion may be computed with mathematical preci- sion, so far as those data are concerned. There is a peculiar relation between the capacity to fatten and to produce milk, which no mathematics can accurately determine for an entire species. The elements of the two substances, fat and milk, are so nearly alike, that a peculiar tendency to produce the one would naturally diminish the quantity or quality of the other. Until one of these is a fixed quantity, the other must vary also. Changes in weather, as is well known, will have a material effect upon the rate of fattening. It is almost impossible for an animal to accumulate fat while suSering the effects of cold. One great design of fat is to furnish fuel for sustaining animal heat. These facts are familiar to all, and must care- PRINCIPLES OF BREEDING. 41 fully be taken into the account, ere we can tell how much pork a hogshead of corn will make. If to these considerations we add the degree of comfort, or rather of free- dom from annoyance by other animals or by insects, the extent of territory over which they ramble, &c., gir' omy than the power-driven hammers Fig.]. hitherto in use, and that it is suited for forging many smaller articles, such as edge-tools, files, knives, &c., which are now entirely forged by manual power applied directly to the shaft of the hammer. Fig. 1 is a perspective view, Fig. 2 a front elevation, and Fig. 3 a side FROMINGS PATENT FORGE-HAMMER. 45 elevation of this hammer. A A is a basement-plate mounted upon large ashlar stones, under which oak beams are laid, the whole being fixed together by holding-down bolts ; B B are standards, forming a general framework by being bolted at their lower eads to a cross-head or rail C ; D is the anvil- block, which is fixed on a block of wood ; E the anvil ; and F the hammer, fixed to the hammer-head G. H is an upright guide-rod, to the lower end of which the hammer-head is securely keyed ; the upper end of the guide-rod H works through a brass in the top rail C. I is a cross-head, which is securely Fig. 2. Fig. 3. fixed to the guide-rod H, and works freely up and down in slots formed in the side-frames, through which it passes, and beyond which it projects a short distance on both sides. K is a driving-shaft, which has its bearings in brasses mounted in the framework. L L are cams aflBxed to the driving-shaft, which, when the shaft is made to revolve, come against the projecting ends of the cross-head I, and raise it, together with the hammer-head and the hammer. As soon as the cams pass the cross-head, the hammer drops. The cams are represented in the engravings with two rises or arms upon them, but it will be evident that they may have any number of rises, or be even reduced to a single rise, dependent upon the speed at which the hammer is to be worked and the amount of power at disposal for working it. When the hammer is to be driven very fast, a helical spring should be at- tached to the cross-rail C and around the guide-rod H. When the hammer is raised, the spring is compressed between the cross-head I and the rail C ; and on the cross-head being released from the cams, the spring assists in ac- celerating the descent of the hammer, and materially increases the force of the blow. The power employed to work this hammer is applied to the driving- shaft K, by means of any suitable mechanical contrivance, and may be derived from any prime mover, as steam, water, or even manual labor. 46 FLORICULTURE. FLORICULTURE. [We liavo given but little attention to flowers, hitherto, iu these pages, partly because other topics seemed for the time more important, and partly because we were iu doubt what course to pursue in the expectation of meet- ing the wants of a majority of our readers. We suppose, however, that with a large proportion of them, a small plat of ground is all that their economical husbands or fathers are willing to allow them for such purposes, and that they would be glad to learn how to select their seeds and lay out their ground, with the best promise of a handsome show. We purpose to do this, some- what extensively ; and though the selection of plants and the arrangement of the garden depend very much on the size, shape, surface, &c., of each little parcel of land thus devoted, we may hope to be of some service in these matters. A personal friend, thoruughly skilled in this department, has favored us with a list of choice annuals, which will be followed by a list of biennials and perennials. We are familiar with those here named, with two or three excep- tions, and are assured that they are worthy of the place assigned them. — Ens.] Editors of the Plough, the Loom, and the Anvil : The following is a list of some of the annuals which are worthy of cultiva- tion in the flower garden. The seed may be sown iu drills, and when the plants are about four inches high, transplanted, or in beds liroadcast, and covered over with fine sifted loam : JVemojyhila insignis grandijlora. — A beautiful trailing plant, with light- green foliage, and covered with, thousands of azure-blue salver-shaped flowers. Clarkia elegans alba. — An erect and compact branching annual, from twelve to sixteen inches high, with small foliage and dense masses of snow- white flowers. Lupinus namus. — An exceedingly pretty species, with small hand-shaped leaves, and numerous long, terminal, erect spikes of elegant blue and white pea-shaped flowers. Reseda odorata (Mignonette). — A beautiful annual for borders, growing about ten to twelve inches high ; leaves of a light green, flowers in long spikes, and of the most beautiful fragrance. Iberis U7nbellata (Candy-tuft). — A beautiful annual, growing tweh'e inches high, and producing an abundance of snow-white heads. Malope (irandijiora. — A highly ornamental annual, two to three feet high, with mallow- like leaves, producing numerous rich crimson flowers. Lathyrus odoratus (Sweet Pea). — There are seven varieties of this beauti- ful climbing annual, growing (in common soil) from six to ten feet high, and bearing an abundance of flowers which are very fragrant. Delphinium consolida (Branching Larkspur). — A late-flowering annual, growing from two to three feet high, of erect branching habit, with numerous racemes of variously shaded blue blossoms, finely adapted for bedding with shrubbery, Dianthus annuus (Chinese annual Pink). — A beautiful plant foi' bedding out, flowering in profusion nearly all the season. Convolvulus minor. — A spreading plant, growing from nine to twelve inches high, and ornamented with a profusion of large, rich, purplish-blue flowei's. EschschoUzia caUfornica. — A highly ornamental annual, growing from ANNUAL CATTLE SALE OF LEWIS Q. MORRIS. 47 twelve to sixteen inches high, with a profusion of large and brilliant orange- yellow flowers, very showy. Sweet Sultan. — An upright-growiug annual, from eighteen inches to two feet high, producing numerous large white and yellow thistle-like flowers. Aster. — An upright, growing about eighteen inches high, with an abun- dance of large, variously colored, rose-shaped flowers. • Tropwoluin 'peregrinum (Canary Bird flower). — A beautiful climbing annual, producing a profusion of bright orange flowers ; one of the most orna- mental plants for the garden. Portuloca splendens. — A low-growing annual, finely adapted for bedding, jtroducing a dense mass of bright crimson, poppy-shaped flowers. Larffe-fowered Zinnia. — An upright-growing annual, from two to two and a half feet high, producing large single flowers of various colors. Coreopsis Tinctoria. — An upright-growing annual, about two feet high, pro- ducing an abundance of showy orange-colored flowers. ScJiizanthus. — An upright-growing plant, about two feet high, with an abundance of lilac or pink-colored flowers, of dift'erent shades ; very showy. Collinsia. — A beautiful, erect-growing annual, producing long spikes of variously colored flowers, and quite hardy. Ageratimi mexicanum. — A beautiful, upright-growing annual, about two feet high ; fine to cut for bouquets. ANNUAL CATTLE SALE OF LEWIS G. MORRIS, ESQ. The third annual sale of Mr. Morris occurred on his farm at Mount Ford- ham, Westchester county, on the 9th ult. At about half-past twelve o'clock the company, numbering not less than five hundred persons, partook of a very excellent collation prepared under direction of Mr. Morris, and served up in a style not often surpassed. After the collation came the sale. An inclosure in circular form of about eighty feet in diameter was constructed of a strong board fence, around which the company was gathered. Two gates on opposite sides of the inclosure furnished easy means of ingress and egress for the animals. Within this ring all the animals, when sold or hired, were placed, except the swine. As soon as the animal was " knocked down" by the auctioneer, it was led out of the inclosure, and another immediately took its place. The auctioneer's stand was on one side of the ring, and sufliciently elevated to give him a fair view of the bidders. The bidding was done by means of a second-glass, the sands of which were fourteen seconds in passing from one end of the glass to the other. The bidding was made in sums of |2.50 and $5.00 each, and when it became rather slow, the glass was inverted, and if no bid was made before the sand had passed into the lower end of tlie glass, the bidding was declared closed, and the animal led from the ring. Below we give the breed, age, price brought, name of purchaser, «fec., ', of Mas- sachusetts, and Mr. Johnson, of New-York, on the subject of agricultural societies and agricultural literature. Mr. Elwvn, of Pennsylvania, from the committee, reported a Constitution, which was read. A discussion was had upon the question whether the meetings of the So- ciety should be held exclusively in Washington, or should be "ambulatory" in its character. The Constitution was then adopted as follows : — The undersigned, in order to improve the agriculture of the country, by attracting the attention, eliciting the views, and combining the efforts of that great class composing the agricultural community, and to secure the advantages of a better organization, and more extended usefulness among all State, county, and other agricultural societies, do hereby form ourselves into a society, and, for its government, adopt the following CONSTITUTION. Sec 1. — The name of this association shall be " The United States Agricultural So- ciety." MEMBERS DUES. Sec. 2. — The Society shall consist of all such persons as shall signify to any officer of the Society a wish to become a member, and who shall pay two dollars to the Treasurer 52 NATIONAL AGRICULTURAL CONVENTION. of the Society, and a like sum annually hereafter ; of delegates from the State agricultu- ral Bocieties in the States and Territories and District of Columbia, who may be appointed to attend the annual and other meetings of the Society, and who shall pay the like sum, and also of such honorary members as the Society may see fit to elect. Each member shall be entitled to receive a journal or publication of said Society, containing an account of its proceedings and such additional matter as shall be deemed worthy of publication, free from any expense except postage. Twenty-five dollars shall entitle one to the privileges of life membership, and exempt him from any annual taxation. Sec. 3. — The officers of this Society shall be a President, a Vice-President from each State and Territory in the Union, and from the District of Columbia, a Treasurer, a Cor- responding Secretary, a Recording Secretary, and a Board of Agriculture, to consist of three members from each State, Territory, and the District of Columbia, to be appointed by the Executive Committee of the societies of such States, Territories, Bugs. — Grind some black pepper fine, and put in a box, and as soon as the hams are thoroughly smoked, take them down and sprinkle the pepper over the raw part, and hang tliem again in the smoke-house. No fly or bug will toucli them. An Excellent Yeast. — Boil a pound of fine flour, (add a pound of brown sugar and a little salt,) in two. gallons of clear water, for an hour. Allow it to stand afterwards till it becomes cool, or about milk-warm, then bottle and cork it close. Griddle Cakes of Unbolted "Wheat. — One quart of unbolted wheat, and a tea- spoonful of saleratus, wet with water or sweet milk, in which has been dissolved one teaspoonful saleratus. Add throe spoonfuls of good molasses, or an equivalent of brown sugar. Cook in the usual way. Some pre- fer sour milk and saleratus, and prefer yeast to the latter. Foou Foa Milch Cows. — The experi- ments of Hon. John Brooks of Princeton, Mass., during the last winter, led to the following results : That 2 lbs. of Indian meal are very nearly equal to one half per cent, of live weight of hay ; or that one pound of meal is nearly equal to 4 lbs. of good hay. That 2 lbs. of oat straw is not equal to one pound of hay- That hay, straw and meal are improved by wetting them. That cut hay is better than uncut. That 3 lbs. Indian meal are equal to 12 lbs. of English hay, or 50 lbs. of flat turnips, for milk. That 33 lbs. carrots are not quite equal, for milk, to 50 lbs. flat turnips, or 3 lbs. of Indian meal. On consuming 869 lbs. hay, the manure dropped weighed 2,122 lbs., giving 2.44 lbs. manure to a pound oi lia)'. The manm-e weighed 50 lbs. per cubic foot. TOPICS OF THE PRESS, Stowell Sweet Corn. — This is a new sort, and is every way superior to any other we have seen ; for after being pulled from the ground, the stalks may be placed in a dry, cool place, free from moisture, frost, or violent currents of air, (to prevent drying.) and the grains will lemain full and milky for many months. Or tlie ears may be pulled in August, aud, by tying a string loosely around the small end, to prevent the husks from drying from the ears, they may be laid on shelves and kept moist and suit- able for boiling, a year or more. This corn is hybrid, between the Menomoney soft corn and the Northern sugar corn, and was first grown by Nathan Stowell of Burlington, New-Jersey. We purchased from Mr. S. a small number of ears dried for seed, and he presented us with a few ears surrounded by the husks grown the previous summer ; tlie inner leaves of the husks were in as green a state as when pulled the previous August. Near the close of the late Fair of the American Institute, we presented the managers with two ears pulled in August, 1849, and twelve ears pulled in August, 1860. They were boiled and served up to- gether, and appeared to be alike, and equal to corn fresh from the garden. The ears are longer than the usual sweet corn, and contain twelve rows. To save the seed, it is necessary to place them in strong currents of air, freed from most of the husks, and assisted slightly by fire lieat when nearly dry. In damp places, this corn soon moulds and becomes worthless. The seed, when dry, is but little thicker than writing paper, but is a sure grower. The stalks are very sweet and valuable as fod- der.— Workinff Fanner. Proper Food, at the Proper Time. — Our friend, Mr. C. C. Coffin, writes thus in the Journal of Agriculture. He has thought of something besides telegraphs. He says : Why do the livery-stable keeper aud the circus rider give their horses oats, in preference to corn ? Because they contain the very things that give life and energy. Think you the same agility would be seen in the arena after a feed of meal ? Not at all. The favorite steed would be as lazy as an alderman after dinner. Why does the farmer withhold fattening food from TOPICS OF THE PRESS. 63 the young animal ? Because it is necessary to develop the system in all its parts first. A judicious farmer will not give the youug pig much meal ; he will give it milk and other food that will contribute to growth rather than obesity. The different periods of life require different qualities of food. The infant needs milk ; solid food cannot be used until the system has become strong. Stimulants are hurtful to the young, and they are not necessary to the system in its prime. It is only when the blood begins to be sluggish and thick, that they are neces- sary. \Vine, for the young man, is fuel for the fire ; and just in proportion as that fuel is heaped on, so much fiercer will it blaze, and so much quicker will come ashes. Judicious farmers understand this principle, and hence do not give the young colt oats and meal in abundance. It is often the case that the owner ot a well- formed colt, anxious to bring him out before his time, and exhibit him as some- thing extraordinary, introduces the forcing system — gives high feed, and makes the animal a hot-house plant, as it were. Before long the consequences are manifest in ten- der feet, swelled limbs, and overgrown joints. It is clearly a pernicious practice to give colts meal or oats in large quantities. Culture of Tom.\toes. — A. correspond- ent of the Genesee Farmer says, that his plan is, to plant the seed in good, rich ground, and allow them to grow until they have made two, three or four shoots from the stalk ; after which, prune all the side shoots that come out, and follow this plan all through the season, every three or four days, and let the vines grow the full length, never pinching off the ends. In this way 1 can raise earlier and better tomatoes than by any other plan, also a great many more of them. It is necessarj' to stake the vines up to keep them off the ground, and they will then grow from seven to nine feet long, with large bunches of tomatoes at the ends of the vines. Some of my neighbors have tried this plan and pronounce it far superior to every other. Useful Recipes. — The Germantown Tel- egraph endorses the following. The thing certainly appears very promising : "Albany Breakfast Cakes. — Ten eggs, three pints of milk, quarter of a pound of butter, two teaspoonfuls of salt, half a tea- spoonful of saleratus, and white Indian meal to make a thick batter ; butter scal- loped oval tins, fill them two thirds full, (they should hold about a pint,) bake for a full hour in a quick oven." Then comes another which does not seem so conclusive. But we suppose if tried and the breakfast is lost, the Telegraph man must be held I'esponsible. But he is veiy good authority on all subjects : " Rice Batter Cakes. — Mix two cups of cold boiled rice with one cup of flour, and one cup of corn meal, and cold milk enough to form all into a stiff batter ; to which add a little saleratus. Bake on a hot griddle. Nothing in the shape of hot cakes for break- fast can excel this dish." DiSE.vsE IN Hogs — " Black TooTn." — A writer in the Ohio Cultivator says he has a large sow which he has bred from, about four years ; she occupied a comfortable pen, and was in good condition ; she dropped her pigs, February 10th, and they appeared well, but in a few days they manifested symptoms of disease, by breathing hard, and their throats appeared affected, and some died. He recollected hearing of a dis- ease in pigs called the " Black Tooth," and that by breaking out such teeth, they would recover. On examining his pigs, he found that all of them had one or more black teeth on each side, about where the tusks grow ; which he broke off at the gum. One of the pigs was so far gone, that he made no resistance in the operation ; that one died. The remainder are alive and doing well. Wool Trade.— The Albany Evening Journal says : " We were shown, a few days since, a circular from Philadelphia, signed by a large number of dealers, pledg- ing themselves not to send into the West- ern States any agent to buy wool for them ; provided, however, dealers in the Eastern States would come into the arrangement. This would in a measure check speculation ; but whether it will be carried out or not, a few weeks will determine. "At Troy, for the week ending May 8th, sales amount to 5t,000 lbs. as follows: 20,000 full blood and Saxony, 42|c. ; 2,500 three fourth and full blood, 40c. ; 28,000 half and three fourth do., 39c. ; 4,000 quarter and native do., 33.ic.; 3,000 extra pulled, 39c. " Receipts of the week have been about equal to the sales, leaving stock on hand same as last week, 400,000." The Vegetable Crop of Lower Vir- ginia.—The N'orfolk Argus contains the following statistics of the export of vege- tables from that city and its vicinity : A Brisk Business. — The steamship Roan- oke, on her trip yesterday to New-York, carried from our market fit'ty-seven barrels of strawberries, nicely put up in quart bas- kets, ten barrels of cherries, and two hun- dred and thirty-eight barrels of green peas. The Baltimore boats, for a week past, have averaged each trip two hundred barrels of peas, besides quantities of fresh fish, crabs. 64 TOPICS OF THE PRESS. (fee. One huckster alone, in our market, con- sumes fifty dollars' -worth of ice per "week in the way of preserving fish sent to the northern cities. In a fortnight the potato and cucumber crops will commence, and in about four weeks tomatoes will be ripe, when our farmers will reap a rich harvest. It is estimated that not less than a half million of money will be realized the pre- sent season by the shipment abroad of early vegetables from this port. One lady horti- culturist alone is cultivating thirty acres of land in strawberries, by way of experiment, and employs fifty pickers. It is a pleasure to ride through the farms in the neighbor- hood, and see the number of persons of both sexes, and of all sizes and complexions, busily engaged in gathering peas. They earn liberal wages, and not a loafer is at present to be found in our streets. So much for Virginia industry. This is as it should be, and as it might be, with our present facilities of communi- cation, over a large portion of the country We should accustom ourselves to use more of our own raising, and less of the import- ed, if our own was offered to us as freely as it might be. Strawberries and cream form one of the most delicious luxuries, and might be afforded, as a matter of economy, at paying prices, by the mass of the com- munity. So of other products now very limited in their use. Dedication of a Cotton Mill ! — On the 22d ult. the Shaker cotton mill at Shirley village was dedicated to its legitimate use by a series of Shaker religious services. Nearly 200 people were present. A dedi- cation hymn, composed by Elder \Vm. H. Wetherbee, was sung ; prayer was offered ; the regular Shaker form of movement was performed ; and a poem, composed by L. D. Grosvenor, was read. This Shaker mill is about three fourths of a mile from the village. It is capable of running 5,000 spin- dles, and is substantially built of brick. The Shakers seem to be growing in wealth. — Worcester {Mass.) Sjyy. Time for cutting Grain. — Professor Norton gives the following advice on this subject : The time of cutting grain very sensibly affects the proportion of fine flour and bran yielded by samples of it. Careful experi- ments have shown, with regard to wheat, that when cut from ten to fourteen days before it is fully ripe, the grain not only weighs heavier, but measures more; it is positively better in quality, producing a larger proportion of fine flour to the bushel. When the grain is in the milk, there is but little woody fibre; nearly every thing is starch, gluten, mgar, etc., with a large per- centage of water. If cut ten or twelve days before /m.'^ ripeness, the proportion of woody fibre is still small ; but as the grain ripens, the thickness of the skin rapidly increases, woody fibre being formed at the expense of the starch and sugar ; these must ob- viously diminish in a coiresponding degiee, the quality of the grain being of course in- jured. The same thing is true as to all tlie other grains. Adulteration of Guano. — Prof. Norton says : " The most barefaced impositions are practised in England, certain parties having ."old a species of loam resembling Peruvian guano at a high price, the bags having been dusted, both inside and out, with some of the real article, to counterfeit the true smell." Purchasers of this valuable fertil- izer on this side of the water will therefore look out for impositions, as Brother Jonathan is generally "not slow" in following such examples. New Enemy to the Pear. — The Salem (Mass.) Gazette — which, by the way, says many excellent things, and is worthy of all confidence — states that a friend of his lately showed him a number of pear leaves, with small green worms upon theai, some so small as to be almost invisible, and the largest three quarters of an inch in length. They are very ravenous, and some trees have been entirely stripped by them. The whale oil soap (about a pound to three gallons of water) kills them instantly. They commence by eating a small circular hole in the leaf, but .soon demolish the whole, including the stem. Flower Beds. — Mr. Downing advises a lady subscriber to discard all her miscel- laneous flowers, and fill her flower beds with Verbenas, Scarlet Geraniums, Salvias and Petunias. They will stand the sun and dry weather, and make the garden gay at all times. Rhubarb Sauce. — If the rhubarb stalk has a green spotted surface, it is a kind that may be cut up without peeling ; if the red sort, the peel must be torn off before it is cut up. Cut the stalk into the stew-pan in pieces about an inch long, and add about half its weight of sugar with a little water and spicing if liked. Set it over a sharp fire, occasionally shaking the saucepan round, and when quite tender, pour it into a bowl to cool. Political Economy. — Punch says it has been proposed to tax stays, but was ob- jected to, on the ground that it would di- minish consumption. ®f)e ipiongi), i\]t loom, anir t\)t ^mil Vol. V. AUGUST, 1852. No. 2. HOW VIRGINIA SELLS IN THE CHEAPEST MARKET AND BUYS IN THE DEAREST ONE. •• If the farmer would only see his real standing, his true relation to society, ha would be equally amazed at his own thoughtlessness and the temerity of other classes who would exalt themselves above him. The farmer is the head and front of the community : he is the foundation of all prosperity, either in the commercial, or mechanical, or the literary world. Without him, the wings of the navy and the sails of the merchantman would cease to expand themselves to the winds of heaven. Without him, the busy hum of the factory and the machine-shop would be hushed in the silence of the grave ; without him, the sparkling wit would grow dull ; genius turn to stupidity ; the pen of the historian would drop from his nerveless hand ; the tongue of the orator stammer ; literary men would cease to write, and lawyers to plead. The farmer sustains the same relation to the community that the sun in the heavens sustains to him ; and as well might the community attempt to move without the farmer as the farmer attempt to grow his grain without the influence of the sun. He is emphatically the sun of their prosperity ; without him, all would be wrapped in one rayless, starless, cheerless night. "And yet, Mr. Editor, this is the man who toils for the people, drudges for the community; more patient of labour than the mule, more uncomplaining than the ox. He must be scorched by the sun, pelted by the storm, endure the heat of summer, the cold blasts of winter; rise early, toil the livelong day, and then — then feel himself happy to commit the effects of his hard labour to the non-producer, to send many, many miles to find a market, instead of making a market at home; and then, as the other part of this system, to send for those things he needs, and which ought to be produced in his own neighbourhood. This is, as you and we all feel, the sad state of things at present ; but the dawning of a brighter day begins to streak the distant hills, all radiant with the hope of a better time, not for the farmer only, but for every part of the community. No mistake can be greater or more fatal to the hope of all mankind, than to think that the different callings in life — to think that the plough, the loom, and the anvil clash in their respective interests." We take the above from the letter of a Virginia correspondent, given in full in our May number ; and do so because we deem it scarcely possible that any one can read it without being induced at least to reflect upon the fact that the cultivator of the earth, the man to whose labours we are in- debted for all we eat and all we wear, is everywhere little better than the slave of his necessities — everywhere little better than the mere hewer of wood and drawer of water for the men who stand between him and his customers, enriching themselves at the expense of both. In saying this, we beg not to be understood as desiring in the slightest degree to undervalue the services rendered by men who convert the wheat into flour or the cotton into cloth, or by those who perform the works of transportation and exchange. All are useful and all necessary ; but it is neither necessary nor useful that the farmer should be compelled to exhaust his land and himself to obtain a mere subsistence, while millions are being accumulated by the men who add nothing to the quantity of commodities to be consumed, and who render to the people of the world no service but that of changing the form of those commodities, or changing the place at which they may be consumed; and yet, look where we may, we find that such is the fact. The traders are Vol. v.— 6 65 QQ HOW VIRGINIA SELLS IN THE CHEAPEST MARKET everywhere masters of the producers ; and it is with a view to the extension and perpetuation of the system, that Manchester and Birmingham teach that species of free trade so emphatically reprobated by Adam Smith as " a manifest violation of the most sacred rights of mankind." It is that species of free trade which has sunk the value of the cotton of India to two or three cents per pound, one-half of which is taken from its poor producer for the purpose of paying judges whose salaries are fifty thousand dollars a year, and governors who receive from fifty to a hundred and twenty thousand dollars, a year, for maintaining order among a wretched people who feel themselves rich if they can earn two dollars a month. It is that species of free trade which has exhausted Ireland, and has starved or expelled its popu- lation, until it now but little exceeds the amount at which it stood forty years since, while the traders of London and Liverpool, Manchester and Birmingham, were accumulating fortunes that counted by millions of pounds sterling. It is that species of free trade which has ruined the people of Por- tugal and Turkey, and has sunk those countries to their present condition of miserable dependence. It is the same species of free trade that now seeks to reduce this country to a similar one, and is fast accomplishing its object. We are all of us foes to political centralization. We have limited the power of the Greneral Government within the narrowest bounds. We have insisted on State rights, and have passed various bodies of resolutions having for their object the declaration of those rights and their maintenance. Never- theless, while all are opposed to political centralization, we have everywhere among us advocates of the commercial centralization of Manchester and Birmingham — the system which looks everywhere to compelling the farmers and planters of the world to do as do the slaves of the South — sell all their products in one market, and buy in that same market all they require to consume. The law requires that the slave shall yield up to his master all that he produces, leaving to that master the power to determine what he will give in exchange for it. Manchester and Birmingham require that their slaves shall have but one market at which they can exchange their wool and their food for cloth and iron, paper or silks, reserving to themselves the power of determining the price at which they will receive the corn or the cotton, and also the price at which they will give the cloth or the iron. The consequence of this is, that of all the slaves in the world, the poorest and most wretched are those who find themselves compelled to submit to this system of oppression — as witness the people of Ireland and of India, of Portugal and of Turkey, and of all the countries of the world that have with Great Britain that species of intercourse known, in the vocabulary of Man- chester, by the name of free trade. Among the opponents of political centralization Virginia has always occu- pied a distinguished position. To her we are indebted for the resolutions of '98. Among the advocates of commercial centralization she has likewise "been distinguished. To her we are largely indebted for the tariiF of '46, and to her we shall probably be indebted for the continuance of the existing system, until it shall result in another convulsion similar to that we wit- nessed ten years since. Abounding in coal and iron ore, she is determined .that she will not make her own iron. Abounding in water-power, she permits it all to run to waste, and goes abroad for her cloth. Abounding in food, she prefers the distant market to the near one, although every farmer within the State knows that he it is that must pay the cost of going to market, and that the greater the distance the greater must be the cost of transportation. Abounding in land, her people are perpetually seeking in AND BUYS IN THE DEAREST ONE. 67 other States the subsistence denied to them at home. First among the States at the formation of the Constitution, she now stands fourth, with every prospect that at no distant day she will rank as the tenth ; and yet her people cannot awake to the fact that this retrogradation is due to the main- tenance of the system of commercial slavery fastened upon the world by Great Britain. That they should so long have continued blind to the fact that it is slavery, appears to us most wonderful ; for to some of her citizens we have been indebted for most accurate descriptions of the depressed state of her agriculture resulting from a continued dependence on foreign markets, of one of which we have been reminded by the receipt of this letter from our Virginia correspondent, and from which we propose now to make some extracts, by which our readers cannot, as we think, fail to profit. The paper to which we refer, is an Address delivered by the Hon. Andrew Stevenson, before the Agricultural Society of Albemarle. Its author having always been a consistent opponent of the system which looks to bringing the loom and the anvil to the side of the plough and the harrow, no objection can be made to the statements which we shall now submit, on the ground of their having been coloured with a view to prove the destructive effects that have here, as everywhere, resulted from want of that diversification of labour and combination of action so necessary to every advance in the prosperity of man, or in the power of nations. Its chief object was that of bringing before the Society '' the present state and condi- tion of agriculture in Virginia," the " depressed and wretched condition" of which the speaker regarded as being quite too familiar to his hearers to render it necessary that he should attempt to impress it more fully upon their minds. He thought it expedient, nevertheless, to call their attention to a paper then recently published by Mr. Skinner, late editor of this journal, describing the agriculture of the State in a manner that he regarded as being " not less true than appalling" — as " calculated to make every Virginian, who reads it, feel that in agriculture, as in most other human affairs," there is " In the lowest deep, a lower deep, ''till tlireatening to devour;" and as establishing " the solemn but painful truth tnat Virginia is wofully deficient in her agriculture, and far behind her sister States." Looking next to what is the " real situation" of things, the speaker asks. " Is there an intelligent and impartial man who can cast his eyes over the State and not be impressed with the truth, deplorable as it is afflicting, that the produce of most of our lands is not only small in proportion to the extent in cultivation, but that the lands themselves have been gradually sinking and becoming worse, under a most defective and ruinous system of cultivation?" "The truth is," he continues, '-we must all feel and know that the spirit of agricultural improvement has been suffered to languish too long in Virginia, and that it is now reaching a point, in the descending scale, from which, if it is not revived, and that very speedily, our State must continue not only third or fourth in population, as she now is, but consent to take her station among her smaller sisters of the Union." The cause of this unhappy state of things he regards as being to be found in " a disregard of scientific knowledge" and " a deep-rooted attachment to old habits of cultivation," together with the " practice of hard cropping and injudicious rotation of crops, leading them to cultivate more land than they can manure, or than they have the means of improving;" and the conse- 68 HOW VIRGINIA SELLS IN THE CHEAPEST MARKET quences arc found in the fact that in all the country east of the Blue Ridge, the average product of wheat " does not come up to seven bushels to the acre," four of which are required to restore the seed and defray the cost of cultivation, leaving to the land-owner for his own services and those of a hundred acres of land, three hundred bushels, worth, at present prices, probably two hundred and forty dollars ! Even this, however, is not as bad an exhibit as is produced in reference to another populous district of more than a hundred miles in length — that between Lynchburg and Richmond — in which the product is estimated at not exceeding six bushels to the acre ! Under such circumstances, we can scarcely be surprised to learn from the speaker that the people of his great State, where meadows abound and marl oxists in unlimited quantity, import potatoes from the poor States of the North, and are compelled to be dependent upon them for hay and butter, the importers of which realize fortunes, while the farmers around them are everywhere exhausting their land and obtaining smaller crops in each suc- cessive year. Why is this so ? Why should Virginia import potatoes and hay, beef and butter ? An acre of potatoes may be made to yield four hundred bushels, and the meadow yield hay by tons, and yet her people raise wheat, of which they obtain six or seven bushels to the acre, and corn, of which they obtain fifteen or twenty, and with the produce of these they buy butter and cheese, pork and potatoes, which yield to the producer five dollars where they get one — and import many of these things, too, from States in which manu- facturing populations abound, and in which all these commodities should, in the natural course of things, be higher in price than in Virginia, where all, when employed at all, are engaged in the cultivation of the soil. The answer to these questions is to be found in the fact that the farmers and planters of the State make no manure. They raise wheat and corn, which they send elsewhere to be consumed ; and the people among whom it is con- sumed put the refuse on their own lands, and thus are enabled to raise crops that count by tons, which they then exchange with the producers of the wheat produced on land that yields six bushels to the acre. Virginia buys hay, which is therefore dear, because it pays not only the cost of cultivation, but also the cost of transportation, and the profits of the merchants who accumulate fortunes ; she sells wheat, out of the price of which must be paid not only the cost of cultivation but that of transporta- tion, and merchants' profits; and thus is she always selling in the cheapest market while buying in the dearest one. ' The necessary consequence of this is the exhaustion of the land, followed by the exhaustion of its owner, and that in turn followed by the abandonment of the land, and the weakening of the State, and its gradual decline from the high position it once occupied to that of the fourth State in the Union. Such a state of things is well calcu- lated to call forth the regrets of every man who feels a pride in his native State ; and it is therefore no matter of surprise that we find in this address the strongest expression of the '^ mortification and pain" of the author when called upon to present to his readers the fact, that there is a constant " stream of emigration from the middle and lowland regions" of the "beloved common- wealth," calculated, as he thinks, to excite in their minds feelings of "bitter anguish." *f How many of our population," continues the speaker — "Po we see disposing of their lands at ruinous prices, and relinquishing their birthplaces and friends, to settle themselves in the West ; and many not so much from choice as from actual inability to support their families and rear and educat* AND BUYS IN THE DEAREST ONE. 69 their children, out of the produce of their exhausted lands — once fertile, but rendered barren and unproductive by a ruinous system of cultivation. "And how greatly is this distress heightened, in witnessing, as we often do, the successions and reverses of this struggle between going and staying, on the part of many emigrants. And how many are there, who after removing, remain only a few years, and then return to seize again upon a portion of their native land, and die where they were born. How strongly does it remind us of the poor shipwrecked mariner, who, touching in the midst of the storm the shore, lays hold of it but is borne seaward by the receding wave ; but struggling back, torn and lacerated, ho grasps again the rock, with bleeding hands, and still clings to it, as a last and forlorn hope. Nor is this to be wondered at. Perhaps it was the home of his child- hood— the habitation of his fathers, for past generations— the soil upon which had been expended the savings and nourishment, the energies and virtues, of a long life — 'the sweat of the living, and the ashes of the dead.' "Oh! how hard to break such ties as those. "This is no gloomy picture of the imagination; but a faithful representation of what most of us know and feel to be true. Who is it that has not had some ac- quaintance or neighbour — some friend, perhaps some relative, forced into this current of emigration, and obliged from necessity, in the evening, probably, of a long life, to abandon his State and friends, and the home of his fathers and child- hood, to seek a precarious subsistence in the supposed El Dorados of the West?" This is a terrible picture, and yet it is but the index to the worse one that must follow in its train. Well does the hon. speaker say that — "There is another evil attending this continual drain of our population to the West, next in importance to the actual loss of the population itself, and that is, its tendency to continue and enlarge our wretched systems of cultivation. "The moment some persons feel assured that for present gain, they can exhaust the fertility of their lands, in the old States, and then abandon them for those in the West, which being rich require neither the aid of science nor art, the natural tendency is at once to give over all efforts at improvement themselves, and kill their land as quickly as possible, then sell it for what it will bring, or abandon it as a waste. And such will be found to be the case with too many of the emigrants from the lowlands of Virginia." The more men separate from each other, the poorer they grow. From the moment a man makes up his mind that he must go, his every thought is given to extracting from the land all that can be gotten out of it. His stock is killed and turned into money, to enable him to pay the expenses of transporting himself and his family ; and the effect of this process in the West and North-west, as well as in Virginia, is shown in the tables recently published in this journal. Our readers have there seen, that the export by the New York canals, of food yielded by those manufacturers of manure, the hog and the ox, which in the three years prior to the passage of the tariff act of 1842, was nearly stationary in the neighbourhood of 35,000 tons, rose gradually, after the passage of that act, until in 1848 it reached 70,000 tons, and has since gradually declined, until in the last year it amounted to only 54,000 tons, with every prospect that in the present year it will not exceed 45,000, being precisely the quantity that passed in the year 1843 ; and yet in the intermediate period the population of the West must have doubled, and trade has been gradually abandoning the route through New Orleans to seek the northern one. The manufacturer of manure disappears everywhere with the disappearance of the manufacturers of iron and of cloth, as is proved by the experience of every country of the world. Hence it is that the productiveness of agriculture diminishes as the loom and the anvil recede from the neighbourhood of the plough and the harrow. Where men have to remain at home, they raise stock and sell pork and beef, butter and cheese, and then the value of labour and land increases, 70 HOW VIRGINIA SELLS IN THE CHEAPEST MARKET with daily increasing tendency to remain at home and improve their modes and means of cultivation, their modes of thought, and their power to purchase cloth and iron. The greatest period of dispersion we have yet known was that which followed the adoption of the system of 1832, which looked to the gradual abolition of all protection to the farmer and planter in his efforts to bring the loom and the anvil to take their natural places by the side of the plough and the harrow, and the effect of this was seen in the fact that in ten years the population of Virginia increased only 28,000. The greatest period of concentration that the country has yet seen, was that between 1840 and 1850. From 1840 to 1842, there existed no inducements to go West. The new States were bankrupt, and road-making was at an end. In 1842, the farmers obtained efficient protection ; and although the tariff then passed was nominally repealed at the close of 1846, the great speculation then existing in England, and the famine which accompanied its close, prevented us from experiencing the evil effects of the change until 1848-9, and dui-ing all that period manufactures flourished in Virginia and in her sister States. Coal and iron mines were opened, and furnaces were built, the consequence of which is now seen in the fact that in that decennial period her population increased 185,000; and had the system of 1842 remained unchanged, it would have reached 250,000, with a certainty that in the present one it would reach 400,000. Unfortunately, however, the people of the State have not yet opened their eyes to the facts that the man who must go to market, must pay the cost of transportation — that the thing most difficult to take to marlcet is labour, which, for want of demand, is wasted annually to the amount of hundreds of millions of dollars — and that the commodity most difficult to hring from market is manure, all of which they waste on the road and in distant markets, and then buy in those distant markets the hay and the butter that should have been made, and the potatoes that should have been grown, at home. She sells her products in their rudest and most bulky form, and she buys the products of other communities in their rudest and most bulky form, paying the cost of transportation both ways; and thus is she always selling in the cheapest and buying in the dearest market. Such is Virginia free trade; and such it is because she is strong in her advocacy of the system that looks to enslaving the farmers and planters of the Avorld by compelling them to look to but one market in which to buy, and but one in which to sell. Foremost in her opposition to political centralization, she stands also foremost in her advocacy of commercial centralization; although the oppressions of the latter, as now exhibited in the countries subject to it, are greater than have been exhibited in any case of \h.e former that the world has yet seen. England seeks to compel all the world to send to her the products of the earth in their rudest form, that her people may eat the food while converting the cotton, the silk, and the wool into cloth, and the ore into iron. The manure thus obtained goes on her own land, and makes it, as described by the speaker, ''truly a garden spot." ''And to what," continues the hon. gentleman, "may this be ascribed?" Not, as he truly says — "To soil and climate, certainly, because there are few countries with a less pro- pitious climate, less cheering sun or natural exuberance of soil, than England can boast. "I will tell you, gentlemen, what it is. It is to be found in the fact that no country on earth is cultivated like England. It has been done hy practical science — by establishing agricultural societies and schools, in every part of the kingdom, and by rousing the whole nation up to regard agriculture in its proper and legitimate character. AND BUYS IN THE DEAREST ONE. 71 "It is because agriculture has there asserted its claims and become the road to wealth, power, and respectability. It is because men of the highest connections, and most distinguished talents, feel honoured, now, instead of being degraded, by a regular and assiduous application to the cultivation of the soil ; establishing their sons in situations in which they may look to it as the means of maintaining their families, accumulating property, and doing honour and service to their country. Well has it been said to be the ' nerve of her power, and the source of her wealth,' enabling her to gather to herself, as it were, a command over the labour and wealth of the world. " It was left for England to conquer climate and soil, and, bringing to her aid the lights of science, and the Briarean arms of the arts, to fix this noble science on its true and lofty basis." It is quite true that much of this is due to " practical science ;" but how is it that agi'iculture should have been enabled so much to command the aid of science, when here it so entirely fails to do it ? Had the honourable gentle- man asked himself that question, he would have found the reply in the word MANURE. England makes a market on her land for all the produce of the land, and she imports from every part of the earth produce in its rudest form, and all the refuse of the foreign corn, the oats, the wheat, the pork, the beef, the butter, and the cheese eaten by her people, and all the refuse of the wool, the silk, and the cotton wrought by them, goes on her own land ; and thus it is that England is made a garden-spot at the cost, and by the taxa- tion, of the farmers and planters of the world. Not content with this, she imports in a single year 250,000 tons of guano, at a cost of ten or twelve pounds sterling per ton, or from twelve to fifteen millions of dollars, and her farmers put on their lands, lime and dung, and artificial manures, at a cost of four, five, six, eight, and even nine pounds per acre ; and thus it is that they are enabled to make of the whole land one great garden. The animal manure produced in England alone, in the year 1846, is estimated by Pro- fessor Thompson, at one hundred and three millions of pounds sterling, or almost Jive hundred millions of dollars ; and to this is to be added all the vast amount of guano, lime, marl, and artificial manures of various kinds, making a sum far exceeding double the value of all the cotton, rice, tobacco, and wheat produced throughout this country, with its twenty-five millions of people. How, it will be asked, can the farmers of England afibrd to expend such enormous sums upon manure ? The answer is easy — The^ pay for it out of the taxation imposed up>on the farmers and pilanters of the rest of the world. The rule of English policy is that of buying in the cheapest and selling in the dearest market. By inducing all the farmers and planters of the world to bring their produce there to sell, the people of England are enabled to fix the price for the crops of the world. Mark-Lane fixes the world's prices, and the object of British free trade is that of making the fortunes of the farmers and planters of the world dependent upon the casualties of English climate and the fluctuations of English policy. Its effect is that of rendering our farmers and our planters mere slaves to the descendants of the men whose oppressions roused their forefathers to the resistance which led to the Revolution of 1776. The policy of the men of England of this day is now, as it was then, that of compelling all the world, outside of England, to raise raw produce. They know well that the more numerous the sellers, and the fewer the purchasers, the lower must be the prices abroad, and the more place there must be for high freights and high commissions. They fix prices for the world, and they buy in the cheap markets whose prices they fix; and thus it is that they accumulate fortunes, while the farmer and 72 HOW VIRGINIA SELLS IN THE CHEAPEST MARKET planter are everywhere being ruined. By maintaining a monopoly of the machinery for converting the raw produce into cloth and iron, and other commodities, they are enabled to compel the farmers and planters of the world to make their purchases there, and thus it is that they are enabled to sell in the dearest market. The price of wheat throughout the world is fixed by the price in England, and the English farmer sells at that price, always the highest in the world, and he obtains his manure back again, at slight cost for transportation. The farmer of Virginia sells his grain at the price in England, minus the cost of transportation, minus the commissions on both sides of the Atlantic, and, worst of all, minus the manure, which is lost to him for ever, and this is the picture presented by the whole farming interests of the Union. Under the tariff of 1842, the domestic market for food to be lonsumed by the builders of mills and furnaces, steam-engines and other machinery, by the workers in mills and furnaces and mines, and by the producers of hemp and other raw materials of manufacture, grew in five years far more than a hundred millions of dollars, and all the manure that was made by this vast domestic consumption remained to go back on the land. Had that tariff remained in force, the growth of the domestic consumption of food, as com- pared with that of 1842, would now exceed two hundred millions of dollars; but instead of doubling, as it should have done, it has already diminished one-half, with every reason to expect that it will still further diminish. The farmers were promised a market in Europe for food to the extent of hun- dreds of millions of dollars, instead of which the total export of last year was but eight millions of dollars ; and this year it is likely to be less, for there exists abroad no market for the produce of our farms. By the late quotations, Western, Canal, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Canadian flour stood at 20s. to 20s. Qd. per barrel, if sound, and that which is sour and heated at 17s. to 18.S. Qd. The average of these prices may be taken at 19s. 6c?., or ^.68, from which are to be deducted freights, commissions, and charges of all kinds, while the land which produces the food loses all the manure; and thus it is that Virginia and her associates in the maintenance of British centralization, impoverish their people and compel them to seek in the West that subsistence denied to them at home. Arrived in the West, they have new difiiculties to encounter. Land is nominally cheap but really dear, for its cultivator has no market. Every thing that is taken from the soil is sent away, and then he finds hig crops gradually diminishing, until at length he flies from Ohio or Illinois to lose his life on the road to California; and thus is it that British centralization tends to make of the farmers and planters of the country mere hewers of wood and drawers of water, for the maintenance of British power. Bad as prospects now are for the farmers, they must be worse. The population of Great Britain and Ireland diminishes, while land-owners are forced to make increased efforts for the improvement of the land, that their tenants may be enabled by means of increased product to continue to pay their rents. The effect of these two causes is now seen in the fact that England has become a considerable exporter of food; and notwithstanding the existence of famine in Germany, prices are now almost as low in England as they have ever been known. The state of things over a considerable portion of the continent of Europe is described in the following paragraph, which we recommend to the consideration of such of our readers as may still ASfD BUYS IN THE DEAREST ONE. 73 continue in the belief that we are to look to Europe for a market for our food : — ■ " The condition of the peasantry in many parts of Germany," says a correspondent of the Loudon Times, "has, chiefly tiirough the failure of the potato crop, last year, at length become one of such fearful and indescribable distress, that I feel sure a few particulars respecting it -will prove a subject of painful interest to many of your readers. Poor Southern and Central Germany, still suffering from the baneful effects of the late political convulsions, have now, in addition, been visited by dearth, disease, and famine. Truly heart-rending accounts continue to arrive from many parts well known to and much frequented by English tourists for the beauty of their Bcenery ; so from AVurtemburg, Bavaria, the Grand-duchy of Baden, Nassau, and more especially from the Vogelsberg and the Odenwald, rough mountainous districts — the one situated in the north-eastern part of the Grand-duchy of Hesse, the other to the north, and forming part of the ' Bergstrasse,' a road extending from Darmstadt to Heidelberg, within thirty-eight hours' reach from London, and traversed generally by excursionists on their way to Switzerland. In these localities whole villages are being deserted for want of food. Their unfortunate inhabitants, who, in times of comparative prosperity, eke out but a scanty and miserable existence, have been wanting their staple food — potatoes. In other parts, trade is standing still ; of 18,000 looms, in a single province of Bavaria, almost exclusively inhabited by weavers, not half are at full work. The people are deprived alike of the productions of nature and the fruits of industry ; and, to consummate wretchedness and despair, and an extreme dearth of provisions, whole herds of cattle and sheep are killed by a rapidly spreading disease." But five years since, we were told that we needed a market abroad for four hundred millions of bushels of human food. Since then we have largely diminished the domestic market, and have added more than four millions to our agricultural population, with no increase in the foreign market. Five years hence our agricultural population will be gi-eater than it is now by at least five millions more, and long before that time England will have provided for the supply of her whole population. What then will be the situation of the farmers of this country ? Will they then be enabled to improve their modes of cultivation ? Will they not have added five more years to the exhaustion of their land and themselves ? Assuredly they will have done so, and then will they again hold meetings with a view to inquire why it is that agricultui-e goes backward instead of forward, and then again will the orator of the day close with an exhortation to farmers and planters to bestir themselves, similar to that we now copy from the address to which we have called the attention of our readers : — "And is it at such a time, that Virginia, proud and lofty Virginia, is to falter and give back ? Will she alone of all the States in this Union, suffer the paramount interest of agriculture to be dangled at the heels of every other great interest, playing a secondary and inferior part ? Is this great interest to be dragged at the wheels of party, or faction, instead of asserting its rights and maintaining a chariot of its own, leading this glorious and renowned Old Commonwealth to prosperity and happiness, peace and honour ? There is a redeeming spixit in her people which forbids it. " I feel, then, my beloved fellow-citizens, that I have some right to address and admonish you. I have come to pitch my tent for life in your county ; to identify myself with your interests, for weal or wo, and to lay my ashes in your soil. I call upon you, then, as Virginians, and as members of this Society — as the friends and champions and guardians of agriculture, to advocate its great cause, at home and abroad, in public and private. And, above all, I admonish you that we are letting the agricultural ship drive under bare poles, and that it will need all our power and skill to steer her before the wind, and bring her safe into port. I come this day to enlist as one oi the crew, and may this right arm wither if I ever desert the ship. Never ! never !" 74 HOW VIKGINIA SELLS IN THE CHEAPEST MARKET. These questions have heen repeated time and again, and they will continue to be repeated until Virginia shall come to occupy the tenth position in tho Union instead of the first, unless Virginians can open their eyes to the fact that they it is who constitute the chief supporters of a system of commercial centralization under which they are taxed ft) an extent that is scarcely to be estimated, and that the only remedy is to be found iu bringing the loom and the anvil to take their natural places by the side of the plough and the harrow. It will be said, however, that a market caunot be made at home for all our food. For an answer to this we beg our readers to look to the fact that the total export to all the manufacturing countries of the world amounted in the last year to only eight millions of dollars, and that the domestic consumption had then declined at least fifty millions, when it should have increased a hundred millions. Every mill that is closed drives people to the raising of food, and tends to lower the prices of the farmer. Every mill and every furnace that is opened, makes customers to the farmer, and tends to raise the prices of his produce. It is now twenty years since General Jackson wrote to his friend that the true interests of the country required that we should not force all our people into agriculture — that by pei'mitting a portion of them to become artisans we should have more consumers of food and fewer producers, and that by that mode of operation we should be relieved from the tyranny of British merchants ; and yet, from that day to this, with the exception of the period from 1843 to 1847, we have continued the policy he then denounced. No- thing would be easier than to make a market on the land for all the products of the land ; and the consequence would be that the farmers would then cease to be the mere hewers of wood and drawers of water for the middle- men who stand between them and their customers. The price of wool is now higher here than elsewhere in the world. Why is it so ? Because the home demand is greater than the home supply. The price of pork and beef is now likely to be higher than elsewhere in the world, and for the same reason. We now make so little that the time appears to be at hand when we shall need it all at home. So long as there exists a necessity for sending abroad a single million of bushels of wheat, the price of that million sent to the distant market must fix the price of the whole crop ; and so long as that shall continue to be the case, the farmers of Virginia and of Pennsylvania, of Ohio and of Indiana, Illinois and Wisconsin, must continue to sell in the cheapest market, as now do sell the producers of cotton. Let them once determine to create for themselves the jjower to have the produce consumed at home, and they will thereafter sell in the dearest market, as now do sell the producers of wool. To obtain that power they must open mines and build furnaces and mills, and when they shall do so we shall cease to hear of the appalling condition of Virginia agriculture, or of her declining power in the Union. If Virginia would improve her agriculture, she must make a market at home, and enable herself to restore to the soil the manure yielded by what she takes from the soil. If she would regain her position in the Union, she mtist open her mines and avail herself of her vast water-power ; but these things she cannot do while she shall continue to be the chief supporter of that commercial centralization by aid of which Great Britain seeks to establish for the farmers and planters of the world the same system which now exists on the plantation, the labourer on which is deemed and held to be a slave, because he is allowed BUT ONE MARKET IN WHICH TO PUY, AND ONE IN WHICH TO SELL, ANTHRACITE COAL. 76 ANTHRACITE COAL.— PENNSYLVANIA AND RHODE ISLAND. The anthracite coal of Pennsylvania has been for many years the chief dependence of all our large towns on the seaboard and our cities, for all sorts of uses, from that of the parlor grate to the hugest furnace. Were the supplies received from this source suddenly cut oflF, we should be, for a time, almost as helpless, in the matter of obtaining substitutes, as the veriest beggar in the street. And for aught we see, this dependence must continue substantially, for all future time. Hitherto the demand for this article has increased nearly at an average rate of 50 per cent, in each five years. An article on this subject is published in the H. R. Journal, in which the following statement is made of the amount sold, from the regions named, and at the periods specified : In 1820, 365 tons. In 1840, 841,584 tons. 1825, 34,893 " 1845, 1,975,163 " 'J 1830, 174,734 " 1851, 4,383,667 " 1835, 560,758 " The coal included in this table is from the Lehigh, Schuylkill, Lackawana, and the Susquehanna, and was conveyed to market by the Lehigh Canal, the Schuylkill Canal, the Reading Railroad, the Delaware and Hudson Canal, and by the Susquehanna River. We have, however, a good prospect of finding a partial supply of this article, for certain purposes, at least, from Rhode Island. Efforts were made some years ago, in that State, to mine coal which had been discovered at Mansfield, but the enterprise was soon abandoned. Recently certain gentlemen have again taken up the subject, and their efibrts meet with much more en- couragement. The following is a short history of this business : The old Aquidneck mine was first opened in 1808, and abandoned in two or three years as unprofitable, after an expenditure of some $200,000. The shaft then had a perpendicular depth of only seventy-five feet. Two years ao-o, another company renewed the working of this mine, and sank the shaft much deeper with " important and very satisfactory results." It is still in operation. The whole depth of the shaft is now 625 feet, making a perpendicular depth of about 275 feet. Two forty-horse engines are at work, and seventy-five to one hundred tons of coal are mined daily. It is a red ash variety, about equal in value to the Pennsylvania red ash. Dr. Hayes has tested it, and recommends it as " adapted to the production of steam and to smelting purposes generally." It is difficult to ignite, says Dr. Hayes, " but when kindled, and protected from cooling influences, it burns with great uniformity, dropping its ashes, without forming any clinkers." 2. The Bristol Mine is owned by a Boston company. It lies four miles North of the New-England or Aquidneck. The mine was recently discovered in sinking a well. A shaft has been sunk forty-five feet, and the work is said to proiiise well. 3. The old Case, or Mount Hope Mine. — This is on the east shore of the island, opposite the New-England, which is on the west, about one and a half miles distant. This was opened also in 1808, and some thousands more expended upon the works, which were afterwards abandoned. Recently, full examinations have been had, and three beds of coal have been opened. The old works have been extended about one hundred and fifty feet horizontally, and theft a sh^t run down about twentjr feet, and seventy or eighty ton» of 76 RENOVATION OP WORN-OUT LANDS. coal .taken out, " much of it fit for u?e." Dr. C, T. Jackson has examined tliis and the other mines, as also Dr. Hayes, and both these gentlemen report that the mines are valuable, and " that reasonable profits may be derived from mining coal at this place." For the Eastern market, and for forges and furnaces, and for mixture with the more expensive coal of Pennsylvania, if for no other uses, we should judge these mines must prove profiable both to their owners and consumers. Itis sold at lower prices than the coal from Pennsylvania. RENOVATION OF WORN-OUT LANDS. This is a subject which is justly eliciting much attention in various portions of the country, and particularly at the South, where the continued system of " cropping " has exhausted even large districts, and which the proprietors have turned out as " waste lands," although, by proper attention and good management, much may be done effectually to reclaim and renovate and render them productive. In North Carolina and Eastern and Middle Virginia, large bodies of laod may be found so reduced and exhausted by tobacco, and cotton, and oats, that it will no longer pay the cost of cult'vation, and conse- quently is abandoned as useless. These lands, notwithstanding, possess a good share of fertility, and may by a moderate expenditure of labor, and a proper degree of attention to the principles of agriculture, be made productive, and the crop increased from 100 to 200 per cent., rendering the lands them- selves truly valuable. Waste lands at the South are always grown over with " broom straw." If this is in a green state, let it be turned under as deeply as possible with a plough of the largest size, which should be followed with a good subsoil plough, loosening the earth to the depth of eight inches further, completely cov- ering the grass, and leaving it to rot beneath the porous soil. By this process, the stiff clay which nearly every where underlies the surface soil is rendered more open to the genial influences of the sun and air, and permits the escape of the surplus water in winter, and heavy rains in other seasons of the year. Should the grass be dry, instead of abounding in sap, it may be burned off, and the same process of ploughing, &c., performed as above described. This being done, about the middle of June, or the first of July following, when the weeds are about half grown, and before their seeds are matured, sow the land broadcast with any of the numerous kinds of peas which are cultivated, excepting, perhaps, the small " black-eyed " variety, (which has too little vine,) at the rate of about a bushel to the acre. Turn these under with the plough to the depth of about three inches, and harrow both ways, jfirst lengthwise and then across the furrows. It is better to soak the peas five or six hours and rub them in plaster before sowing. This will prepare them to get the start of the weeds and stimulate the future growth of the crop. When the peas are beginning to ripen, let hogs into the field, to trample down and cut up the vines and better adapt them to being turned underneath the soil, after which the whole crop should be ploughed in, to the depth of five or six inches, leaving a complete " pea-ley " ready for a crop of wheat and clover, which should follow the fonner crop. Sow the field thus prepared with a bushel and a half of wheat to the acre, and six to eight quarts of clover seed. Harrow these in very thoroughly, RENOVATION OF WORN-OUT LANDS. 77 and let all this be finished by the middle of October. The result in nearly every case will amply repay all outlay and labor, and give the proprietor an abundant return in the increased fertility and productiveness of his lands. The use of lime and clover as a fertilizer is generally known and appreci- ated by our agriculturists, and its benefits well understood. In regard to this method, Mr. H. K. Burgwynn, of Jackson, N. C, remarks : " I am familiar with the great increase of crops from the use of lime and clover. But when lime cannot be procured, as is the case in many of the interior districts, there is no application that can compare for a moment, on land, with plaster, peas, and deep tillage." Mr. B. further remarks, " After the wheat comes oflf in June following, the clover, if sown early in October, will have grown so as to shade the land pretty well, even on the waste I speak of. It should not be grazed the first year at all : in the Frebruary after, top-dress it with all the manure to be had, not forgetting to apply all the old ashes within reach. This time of the year (winter) is best for applying manure in our country, where the hot sun acts so injuriously on the bare surface. The roots of the young clover being pro- tected from the hard frosts and sudden changes by the manure, it shoots forward with the earliest warmth of spring, and smothers all weeds. When the weeds mature their seeds, they draw upon the fertility of land equal to most crops. Clover gives a crop equal to any other, and is all returned to the land in droppings of the stock while grazing upon it. As proof of its profit, for three years I have never fed my working horses on grain or fodder but once a day, from the middle of May till the clover fails. They are turned on the clover field after the day's work is over, and taken up in the morning in good condition for service. I have never lost one by this management : in fact, they improve from the time they are thus treated, and work better." After the land has been in clover two summers, during which time it will have supplied three crops of leaves and stalks for the enriching of the soil, either turn the crop under for sowing wheat in September or early in October, or leave it until later in the fall, and plough it in for corn the ensuing year. In the former case, the clover will be found as abundant as before, and after the second crop of wheat comes oflf, the land may be used for pasture dui'ing the summer. If corn instead of wheat is grown, peas should be sown broadcast among the corn at the last ploughing, soaking the seed and rolling them in plaster as before. After the corn crop, do not permit the land to remain fal- low or " lie out." It is a vital error, and one opposed to every principle of good farming to assume that land improves by " lying out," and having a crop of weeds mature upon it. The idea is preposterous, and we can hardly account for the fact that any good farmer should ever have entertained it for a moment. With due reflection this error would have long since been appa- rent, in the continued quantity of thousands of acres lying waste, not a whit improved by " lying outy "After the soil has once been brought up by peas, subsoiling, or deep ploughing and clover — all within reach of the farmer even in the interior — it will not again relapse, unless the former barbarous and senseless practice of exhaustion and negligence be again adopted. If lime can be had, even at a cost of twenty cents a bushel, I would in all cases spread it on the land, after the fii-st crop of i>eas had been turned under, to the amount of fifteen or twenty bushels per acre. This quantity will greatly benefit the land, and enable the owner shortly to repeat the application of a like quantity." By the above method we are fully persuaded that large tracts of land, now " waste " and useless, might be renovated and made productive and valuable to their ownera. ;jt; ?. ■^^ av-J MANAGEMENT OF SOILS. 79 COTTAGE DESIGNS. — No. VIII. The present warm season, during which so many of our city friends are vis- iting temporarily the thronged hotels at New-Brighton, Long Branch, Newport, &c., (fee, either for recreation or health, suggests to our mind the comforts and conveniences of private summer residences at the various beautiful and com- manding sites which border the bays, rivers, and inlets of New-Jersey and Long Island, and stud the shores of the Sound, Staten Island, and other delightful locations of the vicinity, presenting inducements to all who have the means to erect tasteful and ornamental cottages, adapted to every domes- tic and rural comfort, and all the advantages of healthful recreation and real enjoyment. As a single specimen of a marine cottage of this description, we present our readers with a view of the summer residence of Augustus W. Clason, Esq., recently erected after one of Mr. Ranlett's^' designs, at Clason's Point, Westchester. This point is about twelve miles from the city, and juts out into the Sound between two beautiful bays, commanding a very extensive prospect. The house is situated on a gentle eminence, rising gradually from the water, and affords one of the finest water views conceivable. The bay windows on the east command a view of the Sound to Whitestown ; while on the south, the front catches, through trees, glimpses of the water; on the west, an old wood of oaks and elms partially hides the cottage ; while on the north, a lovely village, with its irregular roofs and church spire at a few miles' distance, bounds the view of the observer. The creek near by, gradually narrowing from the bay,^creeps slowly and sinuously through the meadows, dotted at intervals with tree-crowned hillocks, and at last loses itself amid their verdure. The grounds contain fifteen acres, of which about five are wooded with a very old growth, and the remainder are in grass. Walks are cut through the lawn, adorned with borders which are beautifully variegated with flowers and shrubbery. This cottage combines many of the most desirable qualities of a summer residence, while it is sufficiently compact and well adapted to the exigencies of our climate in winter, if it should be desirable to occupy it during this season. It is of that character which meets the wants of the greater part of those who build houses in the suburbs of our cities, and is capable of being enlarged or reduced without destroying the harmony of its parts. The ma- terial used in this building is wood, but the style is well adapted either to brick or stoTie. The bold projection of the roof saves the necessity of a verandah, which, on a small house, has not a pleasing effect. As a conve- nient, pleasant and commodious dwelling for a moderately sized family, it is decidedly preferable to a large majority of houses constructed at nearly double the cost. MANAGEMENT OF SOILS; We find a short article bearing the above title in the Cottage Gardenei: The suggestions which it contains are important. The writer says : "A soil would never get exhausted if managed with skill, but would continue to improve in depth and fertility in proportion to the industry bestowed upon it. The food of plants, it is true, may be exhausted from the soil by a repe- tition of cropping with any one family of plants, if we neglect the applica- * Ranlitt's Architecture, 2 vols, quarto. Dewitt & Davenport, piiblishers. 80 ENGLISH AGRICULTURE. tion of such fertilizers as may have been taken from the soil by that family ; but no part of the growing season is required for the soil to rest, or be fallow, if judiciously managed by a successive varying of the crops, or by supplying to them such food as may be a compensation for what has been taken off by the previous crop. The first object to be attained for securing a certain and profitable return of produce from the soil must be thorough drainage; the next object is breaking into the subsoil to the desired depth — not without first considering whether it is proper and profitable to shift or turn up the subsoil at once to the influence of the atmosphere, or whether it be best to break into it well first, by shifting the surface soil and allowing the subsoil to remain and receive first the beneficial influence of the atmosphere, and then, at the trenching, a portion of the subsoil may be safely stirred up and mixed with the surface soil ; this practice, continued for every succeeding crop, will establish a healthy, fertilizing surface soil to any desired depth. By constantly scarifying, hoeing and forking the surface soil, not only ob- noxious insects and their larvse are expelled, but weeds would never make their appearance, much less have a chance of committing their accustomed robbery of the soil and crops. Besides, by such repeated stirring, the soil is always prepared for succeeding crops. The application of manure is most essential, and may be applied roost beneficially when the soil is established in a healthy condition, and maintained thus by a constant attention to surface stirring. Yet the application of manure is a secondary consideration ; for though it may be very liberally ap- plied, and with considerable expense, yet, without first insuring the healthi- ness of the soil, much property and labor will be sacrificed. FOR TUB PLOUGH, THE LOOM, AND THE ANVIL. ENGLISH AGRICULTURE. METHOD OF TREATING WHEAT AND OTHER GRAIN IN THE SPRING. In the month of March, in England, a great deal of labor is bestowed upon the young plants of wheat. When the ground has become hard and bound, it is harrowed over by a light harrow, which, by loosening the soil, causes the roots to extend themselves. If the soil is light and porous, a roller is drawn over it which presses the loose soil around the roots of the plants. The hoe also is used to a great extent. This may appear strange to an American, but a great deal of the grain being put in by dibbling, it leaves room suflScient to use a narrow hoe without cutting out the rising plants. From four to five shillings per acre is paid for this work. At this same season barley and oats are committed to the ground. In sowing, the people of this country are apt to be too sparing in the quantity of seed, and nothing surprised the writer more than when he first heard of the scanty measure the farmers allowed here per acre for seed. HARVESTING. In harvesting grain, I never saw the cradle used, but always the scythe, except in the cutting of wheat, which is done by a sickle or reaping-hook. The first has teeth like a fine saw, while the latter has a smooth edge. A man is expected to cut by these instruments about half an acre, or something more, a day ; he binds his sheaves as he proceeds, and sets them up in ENGLISH AGRICULTURE. 81 shooks, where they remain until they become dry and hard, and fit to be car- ried into the barn or stacked. In carrying grain no rigging is used, but large wagons like those for the road, but lighter, which carry immense loads. The oats and barley are not bound in sheaves, left upon the swath to dry, then turned over, and when sufficiently cured, and the grain hardened, carried to the barn, or stacked in the yard. What renders the barley straw BO valuable for fodder is, that there is always a great deal of young clover hay mixed with it, as this seed is almost invariably sown with this grain, to be mown or fed off in the following year. The harvest month in England is one of the greatest diligence and hila- rity. Every workman has double wages, labors extra hours, has allowed him per day so many pints of strong beer, and often as much small as he chooses to drink. Every body seems to be in good humor. The master is kind, and the man is contented and full of mirth. Often when a farmer fixes upon the day when he intends carrying his grain, tradesmen and others offer their ser- vices gratis, except being boarded, and think it a treat to turn from their more monotonous callings to enjoy the manly exercise of a day out-doors in the harvest season. When a field of wheat is cleared, as the last load moves away, hundreds of gleaners rush into it, and are rapidly spread over it, picking up the loose ears of grain ; which custom is as ancient, our readers will recollect, as the days of Ruth. A group of gleaners in England is, of all other assemblies, a fit subject upon which the philosopher may well moralize. Old men, widows, wives, young females and children make up the company. Mothers with their babes, little ones by the side of their parents, all in a hurry, scramb- linof, talkinof, bawlina:, running:, and sinmnff ; and all are full of fun and glee. At such season, you would hardly suppose there could be such things as want and misery in the country. There are three seasons which, to the poor in England, arc great blessings, as they insure them for a time a certainty of employment. These are the haying, the harvesting, and the hop-picking. This last closes the gatherings of the summer crops. A hop garden, when the vines are covered with this fruit, is an enchanting spot, while the pleasant and refreshing odor which perfumes the air adds to the enjoyment. When the picking season commences, the company is di- vided into groups of about a dozen each, sitting around a large skip or basket, upon which the pole with the vine around it is laid across, and all hands are busy plucking off the hops amidst the jocund conversation, the merry laugh, and the wild song, which tend to pass off the hours of labor with cheerfulness. The harvest ending, when a rich supper was formerly provided, used to be an evening of great festivity ; but of late, that custom is becoming obsolete. Then, as the poet sang, " Here once a year distinction lowers its crest The master, servant, and the merry guest Are equal all." At the close of the feast, the men generally go out, and in the stillness of the night, a few of them who have the strongest lungs place themselves in couples back to back, and halloo the word, Largess, which is heard for miles around ; and this gives the community notice that they may expect to be waited upon to bestow their anuual present to these hardy sons of 82 ENGLISH AGRICULTURE. the soil, who have gathered in the bounty of a kind and beneficent Provi- dence. INFLUENCE OF RURAL POETRY. The writings of several of the British poets have contributed not a little to elevate the science of agriculture, as well as to interest the community in its pursuits. Among them we might mention Bloomfiekl, Thomson, and Cowper, the reading of whose works throws great light upon the climate, the seasons, and the manners of the rural population. Bloomfield was but a poor farmer's boy, who felt his muse inspired by the scenes of the country, while plodding about the fields in his teens. Thomson's writings are of a superior order, but highly descriptive, while Cowper's strains are of a rnore serious turn ; but he is a great admirer of nature, and paints the various changes of the year with the hand of a master. When Augustus Csesar became the master of the world, the plains of Italy had become neglected owing to the long civil wars, and ngriculture was at a very low ebb. "Virgil was requested to write something that should be an incentive to improve the farming interest. He then penned the Georgics, in four books, treating of agriculture in all its branches, including the varied pro- duce of the soil, cattle, vegetables, trees, and bees. The appearance of this work gave an extraordinary impetus to husbandry, and Italy soon became a garden long celebrated for its richness of soil and exuberance of produce. TURNIPS STUBBLE WEEDS. During the harvest weeks in England, the hoeing of turnips is a species of labor which has then to be performed. These plants are always hoed twice ; and in looking over the country at this season of the year, the numerous fiields of these green vegetables make a beautiful contiast with the other por- tions of standing corn, arable land, and fields that have been cleaned of the grain. The haulm, or stubble, left after the wheat is reaped, is often mowed after- wards, or if left until the winter, is raked off as it becomes tender enough to be broken and collected together then by that instrument, to be thi'own down in the yard for manure ; sometimes it is ploughed in when a fall crop is put into the ground, when it aids in some degree to mend the soil. The OxeyedJyahy, ckrysanthemti7n leucanthemum, which has become such a pest here, is an evil I never heard complained of in England. I think here it is too often mixed with the timothy seed, .to which it has some re- semblance, and is sown with it. But we have there the charlock, bearing a blossom something like the wild mustard. This plant often appears among the growing oats and barley, rising above them, and covering the whole crop beneath them with a flood of yellow blossoms. This plant is checked in its growth by taking a scythe and cutting off the tops with the flowers, without injury to the rising grain. PLOUGHS AND HARROW'S. There are two sorts of ploughs used in the mother country : the one rests upon wheels, and these were used very extensively, but are now, I believe, giving place to the common plough without wheels. Where sod ground is turned over, a small wheel with a sharp edge is put where the coulter is usually fixed, and this by its motion cuts the grass and weeds beautifully, and thus enables the ploughman to lay his furrows neatly. The harrow ENGLISH AGRICULTURE. 83 generally consists of four or six light wooden frames, -with iron teeth, coupled together by chains, so that you may use any number, or the whole of them at a time. The heavy crab harrow is never wanted at seed-time, but is merely kept for rough lands to break the clods. Stones there are not allowed to be left upon the land, as with us, as the surplus hands are often employed to pick them off, when they are bought by the overseer of the roads to mend the same. HEDGES. The subject of fences is one of great interest in this country, particularly where timber is becoming less abundant. Wire fences are used by some farmers, but they need to be heightened, and the posts to be rectified every spring. The wire I have seen used is not so large and stiff as it should be. I do not think this article will ever come into general use for fencing. The same method was formerly adopted in England as is now, I believe, practised in some isolated parts, viz., the post and rail. How long since the white thorn, crategus oxyacantha, has been introduced into the mother coun- try I know not. I am disposed to think it is not natural to the soil, as we do not often find it except where it has been planted. It is there plentifully and easily raised from the seed, which is a red berry about the size of a pea. One method of propagation is by collecting the seed when ripe, and put- ting any quantity into a hole in the ground as are peach stones. In the spring, when vegetation will have commenced, they are sown in drills, and in the following year they are fit to plant for hedge-rows. In setting a new hedge, a ditch or trench is always an appendage, and this is the first thing to be done. It is sunk about four or five feet in depth, and perhaps about the same width at the top, but becoming narrower as you descend. The earth thrown out from this ditch forms the bank by its side, which, of course, rises about as high as the trench is deep. The young thorns are not planted perpendicularly upon the top of the bank, but laid horizontally upon the bank, about six inches apart, when this is about one foot high ; and the rest of the mould coming from the ditch is then thrown upon it, leaving the ends of the thorn just projecting out from the bank. As the spring advances, they soon bud and throw their shoots upwards. When this is completed, what is termed a dead hedge, which consists of bushes cut from some other overgrown fence, is put upon the top of the bank and se- cured by short stakes. This preserves the young thorn while growing, and prevents cattle from leaping over until the growing plants rise high enough to form of itself a fence of sufficient strength and height. When these hedges are of a certain growth they are cut off, and the bushes are of essential use for mending other fences. They are always a marketable article, and are used frequently for heating ovens. I have never known this thorn injured either by a severe winter or a hot summer. It ap- pears to be a hardy perennial, suited to almost any climate, and is certainly a desirable fence. It improves by age, as the oftener it is cut the thicker it shoots out, and forms a fence yet more impervious to cattle. It is usual to plant young trees, such as the oak, elm, and maple, among these young thorns, which, as they rear their heads, increase the value of the property, and add greatly to the beauty of English rural scenery. CLIMATE. The climate of the mother country is foolishly thought to be one of con- tinual wetness, a foggy atmosphere, and dark dismal days. An American 84 SILBX AND FELDSPAR. happens to arrive in London on a wet hazy day, and, from prejudice and re- port, goes off with the idea that such is the usual weather. In New- York I have seen gas burning all day in many of the stores, and have witnessed fogs as dense here as ever I have witnessed across the Atlantic. A French- man having crossed the straits of Dover, and spent a few days in the country when the weather happened to be exceedingly fine, succeeded by a thunder- storm, and then followed by a cloudy cool atmosphere, goes back to Paris and reports that the English summer consists of three fine days and a hurri- cane; and the wiseacres believe him because he has been there. That there is a greater proportion of rain in the British islands than upon the Continent, is the natural result of their being surrounded by the sea ; but I have witnessed as fine seed-times and harvests there as I have ever seen here, and the complaints of late springs and wet summers are made about upon the same ratio in these Northern States as in the mother country. Trav- ellers in a foreign country are too apt to be led astray by first impressions and hasty conclusions, often riding almost post-haste upon a tour, and then giving the results of their observations as a true account of the appearance and condition of the country. But if, instead of such a hasty visit, they were to reside there a few years, study the society more closely, get rid of precon- ceived prejudices, and let the excitement of novelties pass off, they would be far better able to give a correct account of the land whose history, climate, and manners they profess to describe. Agricola. Madison, If. J., July 5th, 1852. &ILEX AND FELDS;PAR. In an article on soils, to be found in our pages for this month, we have described one of these minerals ; but our readers will be interested in a more extended account from the pen of Mr. Holbrook, of the Neio- England Farm- er. He says : " Rocks are the oxides of metals. Silex, the most abundant ingredient in rocks, mountains, and soils, is the oxide of silicum. This oxide constitutes nearly one half of the solid matter of our globe. It is the principal element of quartz, in all its varieties, which are exceedingly numer- ous, and some of them very beautiful. Quartz is the only mineral found every where. Sand is pulverized quartz. Pepples are fragments of quartz rounded by attrition. Gun-flint is quartz breaking with a conchoidal (shell- like) fracture. Amethyst is purple quartz, frequently found in six-sided crystals, which is the common shape of quartz crystal in its different varieties. Agate is clouded quartz in numerous varieties, some of which are much used for watch-seals, finger-rings, breast-pins, and other ornaments. Cornelian is quartz of a fine texture and of a yellowish red color. Chalcedony, blood- stone, catseye, and many other gems, are varieties of quartz. Most, perhaps all the gems used in the breastplate of Aaron the high priest were quartz of different textures, colors and hues. The precious stones presented by the Queen of Sheba to the King of Israel were probably quartz. The stones mentioned in the Book of Revelations as forming the streets of New Jerusalem, with all the gems referred to, were but varieties of the stones used for paving our streets, and of the earth moved by the plough and the hoe of the farmer, and of the dirt carted for filling our docks. The coloring matter giving most of the beautiful hues to gems, and an FRUIT CULTURE IN THE SOUTH. 86 eudless variety of colors to quartz, is the oxide of iron. The oxide of sili- cum and the oxide of iron are hence united in this same most abundant mineral in the world. Next to quartz, feldspar, or clay formed by the decomposition of feldspar, is the most abundant element of soils. This, too, is composed of several oxides of metals in chemical combination. Feldspar is also very extensively united with quartz in the formation of rocks, not by chemical combination, but mechanical mixture. The feldspar and quartz can be separated by the hammer. Not so with the oxygen and silicum, forming silex. Chemical agency alone can separate chemical combinations. Such combinations in rocks, soils, and other mineral bodies, are exceedingly numerous, complicated, and delicate. The most common stone that meets the eye in any part of the world is composed of two oxides. The oxygen and the metals are each united by chemical affinity, and then the two oxides are again combined bv the same agency to form a ^^ common stone,'''' evidently worthy of more respect than it commonly receives. FRUIT CULTURE IN THE SOUTH A WRITER in the Alabama Planter thus expresses himself on this subject, and we believe his views correct. We see not why the South should not export apples and pears, and other fruits, at a great profit. Difference of climate and soil would modify the peculiarities of many species, perhaps, but some inferior kinds might thereby become excellent fruit. The writer says : "A few years ago the successful culture of all fruits generally termed north- ern, such as pears, apples, plums, &c., was deemed impossible here. This false opinion is fast giving way, but the idea is gaining ground that we must discard all northern varieties and confine ourselves to southern ones entirely. This view I deem incorrect, and will as briefly as I can give mine and my reasons. It is a well-known fact that certain varieties of pears, apples, &c., prove of first-rate quality only in particular locaUties. Others, however, succeed equally well in various soils and climates. Thus the Mela Carle, the best apple of Italy, and the Calville, celebrated in France, do not hold a high rank in this country. The Esopus Spitzenberg is better in the Middle than in the New-England States. On the other hand, the Gravenstein from Germany, and the red Astrachan from Sweden, have proven excellent in this country wherever tried. It is not pretended that all the varieties which are consid- ered excellent at the North would prove so at the South ; but I am confident that many of the best will succeed with us, and even that some will prove of the first quality here which hold but the second rank farther north. The ill success which has heretofore attended the cultivation of fruit trees here has arisen not from our soil and climate, nor from cultivating northern varieties, but from the planting of northern-raised trees. Three years ago I set out a number of trees of northern growth — apples, peaches, and apricots. The latter all did well. Of fifty peach trees, one grew moderately well, and last year bore fruit. Some fifteen or twenty lingered until now, and a portion of them begin to show a httle vigor, but will never , jaake good trees. Of a dozen apple trees, seven survived. One mada 86 NUTRITION FAT AND TISSUE-MAKING FOOD. scarcely any growth of wood, but formed fruit buds. Year before last it bore two magnificent apples ; last year six, of which I got one, and that one not quite ripe ; the rest were stolen. That one, though immature, proved of excellent flavor. This year it will probably bear more. P'our lingered until last year, when they made a pretty fair growth of wood and may thrive well yet, though they will never make fair trees. No. 6 stands as when set out, three years older in age- and a dozen in hard looks. No. 7 was about six feet high when planted; it is about two feet high now — the body having died; but a small shoot remains, which grew out from the base of the trunk. Thus much for northern-raised trees. Per contra: In the fall and winter of 1820 I purchased of Mr. Robert Harwell a number of fruit trees raised by him — pear, apple, apricot, plum, peach, nectarine, almond, and cherry trees. Most of the apple and peach trees were northern varieties, a few southern. The other fruits all northern. Of the whole lot I lost very few indeed : most of them did very well. The thriftiest trees among the apples are northern sorts. Among the peaches the northern do as well as the natives. Such is my experience so far, and such doubtless is the experience of all who have tried trees of northern and southern propagation. NUTRITION— FAT AND TISSUE-MAKING FOOD. Much is written on the subject of nutrition, and few subjects are more worthy of general attention. But the truth uttered on this topic is sometimes not appreciated, and the idea conveyed to the mind of the reader is even sub- stantially erroneous. This is owing, in our opinion, to the fact that, very often, no distinction is made between the two kinds of necessary food, mnscle- making and fat or heat-producing food. We have seen many tables show- ing the quantity of " nourishment" in various grains, vegetables, &c., in which a large portion of the substances named consisted entirely of the latter kind ; and in a table now before us, from Mr. Johnston, is a list of cultivated crops, with figures specifying the " nutritive matter of different kinds," &c., with one column for gluten, another for starch, another for oil or fat, &c., while gluten is the only one of all these that can produce, unaided, a particle of organized flesh. Another essay which we have lately seen denominates the "gluten" as the source of all the nourishment in corn, grains, &c. Whatever of truth there is in these various and conflicting statements — and there is a sense in which they all are true — that truth leads to error from its want of exactness in the use of terms. It would not become us to object to the use of technical terms by such high authority as we have just named, but we could wish that we had some short and convenient word to distinguish that food which contains nutriment for the living tissue from that whose only or chief object it is to make fat. The facts which form the basis of this branch of physiology are well estab- lished, and, so far as we are aware, are not controverted. These are as fol- lows : The living organism of all animals consists of at least four elements: carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, and nitrogen. All these must be combined, in order to form a single particle of organic matter. "Animal life," activity, or action, one or the other, or aU of these, consume NUTRITION FAT AND TISSUE -MAKING FOOD. 87 this organized matter. With every motion of the body, or of its hmbs or or- gans, waste is produced. That waste must be supplied. No food, of course, can answer this demand, unless it contains a due amount of all the wasted elements ; or in other words, none can supply the waste of a muscle, unless it contain nitrogen. And yet a considerable part of our vegetable food con- tains no trace of this element. The inquiry then presents itself, of what service is this carbonaceous food, that is, food abounding in carbon, but containing no nitrogen ? Besides these tissues, or organisms, there are fats, both liquid, semi-liquid, and solid. The former serve for softening all the living tissues, and for lubri- cating the joints. The solid fat is deposited in various parts of the body, and sometimes serves the purpose of a pillow for the living organs. Fat is no part of the living organism. It has no life, no sensation. If access could be had to it, it might be cut, or torn, or scraped out, without any pain to the subject, so long as the process was exclusively confined to this deposit. It is a mere deposit. Its whole office, so far as it is known, is comprised in the description of it already given. It may be a curious discovery to some of our readers, that human fat and hog's lard are almost identical. Liebig gives the following analysis of these two substances : Human Fat, Hog's Lard. Carbon, 79.000 79.098 Hydrogen, 11.416 11.146 Oxygen, 9.584 9.756 It is also true that there is nearly as close a resemblance between all cor- responding organisms of the various species of living animals. While all living animal tissues contain nitrogen, many plants are entirely destitute of this element. This is one of the distinctive differences of animal and vegetable organisms. In the former, nitrogen is always present ; in the atter, it is often absent. Hence, to sustain the former, food rich in nitrogen is important, while many vegetables require none. We cannot understand our friend of the New-England Farmer, therefore, when he says, in consecutive sentences, "Carbonic acid and water are the chief sources of growth. Nitrogen is the principal element constituting the nutri- tive quality," inasmuch as this assertion is applied to " vegetables." His title is, "Source of the Nutritious Property of Vegetables^ The fact is, that a very large proportion of vegetables contain no nitrogen. If the writer referred to means, by " nutritive quality," their power to nourish animals, we admit his accuracy. But there is here no allusion to animals, by name or by implica- tion, in any other phrase in the paragraph ; and as he elsewhere speaks of the ammonia of the air (which supplies the nitrogen) being "sufficient for their existence," that is, for the existence of vegetables, we think he has been very unfortunate in his language, if he does not intend to represent the case in a light varying essentially from that in which it is generally regarded. The presence or absence of nitrogen, then, is the basis on which the various kinds of food are arranged either as flesh-making or fat-producing. Corn, the grains, peas, beans, meats, &c., contain much nitrogen, and, therefore, will form muscle. Sugar, starch, butter, many fruits, &c,, are fat and heat-producing food. So of various crops fed to animals. Some abound in sugar or starch, and hence are good for fattening, while they would be very insufficient food for a growing animal, in which the muscle is to be essentially developed and increased. The carbonized food will secure a round, plump form ; the azotized 88 NUTRITION ^FAT AND TISSUE-MAKING FOOD. food {azote being the old name for nitrogen) will allow it to grow and in- crease, while it may or may not produce either the reality or the appearance of fat. Fat-producing food, then, is food producing animal heat. The fat serves as a reservoir of fuel with which to keep the body warm. This seems to be, par eminence, its service. All other uses yield to this. Hence its combus- tion in the system is essential, and hence, too, in cold weather, it is impossible, almost, to fatten any animal ; all the elements of the fat are consumed, at once, to keep the animal warm. Thus, too, it is, that an animal in good con- dition will endure the cold better than one in " thin flesh," which means often, one having but a limited deposit of fat. In the latter, this fuel is less abun- dant, and the combustion necessary for the preservation of life is a tax upon the living tissue. Lord Ducie performed some experiments highly illustrative of these prin- ciples, and which also indicated what might be expected from their applica- tion to the practice of grazing. 1st Experiment. Five sheep were fed in the open air between the 21st Nov. and the 1st Dec; they consumed 90 lbs. of food per day, the temperature of the atmosphere being about 44 deg. At the end of this time they weighed 2 lbs. less than when first exposed. 2c? Experiment. Five sheep were placed under a shed and allowed to run about, at a temperature of 49 degrees; they consumed, at first, 82 lbs. of food per day, then 70 lbs., and at the end of the time had increased in weight 23 lbs. 3c? Experiment. Five sheep were placed in the same shed as in the last experiment, but not allowed to take any exercise ; they ate at first 64 lbs. of food per day, then 58 lbs., and increased in weight 30 lbs. Ath Experi- ment. Five sheep were kept quiet and covered, and in the dark ; they ate 35 lbs. a day, and were increased 8 lbs. These experiments prove very satisfac- torily the influence of warmth and motion on the fattening of cattle. Thus, also, when from sickness, or otherwise, we are unable to eat, life is sustained, first, by consuming the fat; then the muscles yield themselves up to this demand of nature, or rather of vitality, and they too waste away. These principles being well established, it is not difficult for our readers to classify the various growths of the field and of the stall, for themselves and for their animals, if they will but turn to some analytic table which gives the elements of those growths. The more carbon food contains, the greater are its fattening qualities. The greater the supply of nitrogen, the better is it adapted to the growth of young animals, or to give increased muscular strength to the animal of maturer years, which is employed in labor. This distinction should be observed with regard to all kinds of domestic animals. Thus, young chickens, which need to grow, should be fed with grains, in some form. Those which are already grown, and need to be fat- tened, should be fed with food rich in starch. 1 Hot-House. — Admit air freely during every mild day, but exclude gradually towards evening. Stir bark beds occasionally, and water and ven- tilate freely. Thin grapes, and keep up heat as required ; give liquid manure and syringe; shade in very hot days. Attend to piopagation by seeds, suckers, layers, aud offsets; fumigate with tobacco occasicnully ; mulch around the roots of vines, and stop the laterals ; apply water in the momiiig early, and in greater quantities than in the preceding months. AGUICtTLTURi:' IN VIRGINIA. S9 AGRICULTURE IN VIRGINIA. We have elsewhere alluded to the excellent address of the newly elected President of the State Society, and have marked portions of it for our columns. lie first makes a comparison as to the amount of labor, the value of agricultural implements, live stock, &c. He says: "At the head of these Southern States, in production, in extent of territory, in climate, in soil, and in population, stands the Commonwealth of Virginia. She is a nation of farmers. Eight tenths of her industry is expended upon the soil;, but less than one third of her domain is in pasturage, or under the plough. Out of somewhat more than thirty-nine millions of acres, she tills but little over ten millions of acres, or about twenty-six and a quarter per cent., whilst New- York has sijljdued about forty-one per cent., or twelve and a quarter out of her twenty-nine and a half millions of acres; and Massachusetts, with her sterile soil and inhospitable climate, has reclaimed from the forest, the quarry, and the marsh, about forty-two and a half per cent., or two and one eighth out of her little territory of five millions of acres. Yet, according to the census of 1840, only six tenths of the labor of New- York, and four tenths of that of Massachusetts, or relatively, one fifth and two fifths less than our own, is expended upon agriculture. The agricultural impletpents and machinery of Virginia are worth but sixty-nine cents for every arable acre ; in New- York they are worth one dollar and eighty cents ; and in Massachusetts one dollar and forty-nine cents for every arable acre ; but as, in those States, the breadth of mowing and pasture lands is much greater than with us, the difference in value of agricultural imple- ments, to every acre tilled, is still greater against us. The live stock of Virginia are worth only three dollars and thirty-one cents for every arable acre ; but in New- York they are worth six dollars and sevea cents, and in Massachusetts four dollars and fifty-two cents. The proportion of hay to the same quantity of land is, for Virginia, eio-hty- one pounds ; for New- York, six hundred and seventy-nine pounds ; for Ma.ssachusetts, six hundred and eighty-four pounds." He then speaks thus of manures. We wish that every farmer in the United States would hear him. But while there is a diflerence in different States, in the amount of manure applied to the soil, as there is with individuals of the same State, no State and but few individuals are at all just to their own interest in this respect. But hear the orator : "Judging from the history of agriculture in all other countries, we may safely say, that farming can never attain to continued perfection where manure is not put on with an unsparing hand. By far the larger part of this can only be made by stock, which should at the same time be made the source of profit, at least sufficient to pay the cost of their keep; so that, other things being equal, it is a safe rule to estimate the condition of a farming dis- trict by the amount of live stock it may possess, and the provision made for their sustenance. Applied in this instance, we see that the New- York farmer has invested in live stock two dollars and seventy-six cents, and the Massa- chusetts farmer one dollar and twenty-one cents per acre more than the Vir- ginian farmer. In pasturage we cannot tell the diflference. But in hay. New- York has five hundred and ninety-eight pounds, and Massachusetts six hundred and three pounds more per acre than we have. And we shall appre- ciate still more highly the skill of the Northern farmer, if we reflect tlxat a vou V. 6 90 AGRICULTURE IN VIRGINIA. readier market for every, the most trivial product of his farm, operates as a consistent temptation to break up his rotation and diminish his stock." The following .is a most powerful statement of what is essentially true of many portions both of the South and the North : *' Two courses are before you — either to neglect the new duties which claim performance at your hands, thereby to sink below the depths of party spirit into the foul abyss of partisanship, and see yourselves degraded to a nation of tools and dupes ; to surrender the whole direction of public aflf;^irs to those who make a trade of politics and pander to the worst passions of the people ■whom they corrupt and abuse and betray — either this, or to take that control which rightly belongs to you, the natural rulers of the State and representa- tives of its conservatism, to foster public spirit and private enterpise, to instruct, enlighten, defend, and provide for the people, to give a right direction to the public mind, and to protect it from that bondage which the demagogue would impose, and which is riveted by an uninformed and selfish and narrow spirit. T'hese are the alternatives : choose ye between the two ! You must con- quer by action, or submit by inaction ! Why not conquer ? It is not diflS- cult. Men instinctively worship law and order, because it is necessary to self-preservation. The true strength and excellence of government never did lie, God forbid it ever shall lie, in mere numbers. Moral influences control its operations, as certainly as gravity controls our steps. But unlike gravity, these influences are inert and require to be put in motion. It were invidious to particularize, but we may point in general terms to States north and "west of us, in which, as one or the other of these alternatives pre- dominates, we see steadiness, loyalty and virtue, or the germs of restlessness, anarchy, grossness, and debasement. But how shall this provision be made ? By agricultural improvement, in the first place ; by so developing the resources of the State as to keep all our citizens at work. By this means, we have every confidence that in a few years we shall regain the ground we have lost, and go as far ahead of other States as they are now ahead of us. This is no idle boast. In spite of the comparative bad management which we have proved to prevail in Virginia, it appears from the census of 1810 that the total value of agricultural pro- duce, including, of course, what was consumed on the farm and otherwise applied to agricultural uses, was in round numbers, in Virginia, New- York, and Massachusetts, fifty-eight, one hundred and eight, and nine and a half millions of dollars respectively; being to each person employed in agriculture in these States, $186.60, $240, and $108 ; showing an excess in favor of Vir- ginia over Massachusets of forty-two and a half per cent., and of New- York over Virginia of twenty-two and a half per cent. Thus we find that in 1840 Massachusetts produced upwards of five millions of bushels of potatoes, or sixty bushels to each integer of her agricultural industry, whilst we made less than three millions of bushels, or 8.30. But of wheat and corn we made upwards of thirty-five millions of bushels, and Massachusetts a fraction under two milUons. On the other hand we find, ■when compared with New- York, that we made of wheat $31.50, of corn $54 B=s $86.50 per hand; and she of wheat $27, of corn $15 = $42, or more than one hundred per cent, deficit. But in value of live stock and dairy products and hay, we made $102, $4, $8.30, respectively = $114.30 ; and she $121, $23, $61.70 ==$205.70; or nearly one hundred per cent, excess. The excess of value of her oat and orchard crop, about ofisete the value of our tobacco crop, Cmd leaves the difference in favor of New- York mainly dependent on wool. The last question we shall discuss, is that of the finances necessary to start MENSTRUATION IN MARES. 91 and sustain such a Society. We must have money. It has been decided to introduce a bill into the General Assembly asking for an appropriation of State money, conditioned on an equal individual contribution, and the enactment of such provisions as shall secure to the State Society the certain collection and full fruition of their funds. To those who object to the tax thus proposed to be laid, we beg leave simply to say, that there are '76,10^ farms in Virginia, and that, should the whole tax amount to $10,000, a sura we cannot hope to realize, it would make just thirteen cents for each farm ; if they quarrel with that amount, we reduce it forty per cent, for the independ- ent appropriation of $4,000 already made, for the employment of an Agricul- tural Commissioner and Chemist, which leaves '7.8 cents. If this does not quiet their fears, we can tell them that about one half of it will be con- tributed by othera than farmers." MENSTRUATION IN MARES. A LATE number of the American Veterinary Journal contains the follow- ing, written by C. H. Cleaveland, M.D., of Waterbury, Vt. We publish it in the hope not only of doing a good service by circulating valuable informa- tion, but also to save many noble animals from abuse : "Probably all know that all mares of the proper age, and at certain seasons of the year, menstruate, or, in other words, have uneasy turns, get * foolish,^ as they say in Illinois ; and that, at such times, they seem unwilling to perform their usual task, either as travellers or as draught horses ; that they seem fretful and often ill-tempered, vicious, spiteful, and frequently get a most thorough whipping, because their masters also get 'foolish.' Now, the simple fact is, that the mare knows more than her master in regard to her then condition, and she is trying to drive into his foolish noddle that, on such days, she should be left quiet, and be subject to no labor beyond the most gentle exercise. If the reason why this course should be pursued, in preference to the hard work and the whipping which your mare has had bestowed upon her at such times, is not now plain and satisfactory to you, most sapient reader, just inquire of any old matron within the circle of your acquaintance, and she will tell you that I am correct, but perhaps * without a why or wherefore.' The reproductive organs, in all animals, are intimately connected with the nervous system, and of course exert a vast influence over not only the nerves, but also the entire body, mind, and disposition ; and when those organs are deranged or diseased, the entire animal economy must suffer, and be rendered in a greater or less degree unfitted to perform its usual labors. In the female these organs exercise a still more powerful influence upon the other parts of the system than in the male ; and as they are liable to periodical derange- ments or excitements, it becomes obviously necessary to be strictly cautious not to tax the animal's powers of endurance at those periods. Mares that have been ridden under the saddle, or driven in harness, during their periods of heat, and have performed no more than their usual amount of labor, are frequently discovered to be covered with perspiration across the loins, while all other parts of the surface are cool and dry ; and the hostlers will say that they have been unable to rub those moist spots dry, even after the lapse of many hours ; and the next day the mare is observed to drag her hind legs after her, almost as though her back were broken. Indeed, her 92 THE CHEESE TRADE OP THE UNITED STATES. back is lame, weak, and painful. She urinates with difficulty, and there is evident inflammation of the kidneys, the ovaries, and the uterus. From slight injuries of this class mares will readily recover; but if they are of too frequent repetition, or the injury be of too grave a character, the chances are, that the animal will be unable ever after to perform well, and will soon become nervous, irritable, and weak, and will be passed from jockey to jockey until she dies — a martyr not to her own ^foolishness,^ for her way- wardnesses at those times are wise admonitions to her master, but to the folly of those wh6 will not learn to undei*stand nature, because ' they know all about their horses,' and do not wish to be instructed by any book doctor^ THE CHEESE TRADE OF THE UNITED STATE& The Cincinnati Price Current gives a brief review of the cheese trade for the season of 1851-52, from which we derive the following statements. The monthly average price for good merchantable Western Reserve cheeee in the months of each year, from 1848 to 1852, was as follows : — '48-9. '49-50. '50-1. '51-2. '48-9. '49-60. '50-1. '51-2, April cts. Si 6| 6i 6|- November 6^ 5f 6.i 6^ May &i 6i 51 6J December 6i 6 6^ 6.i June 6 6 6 6 January 6| 6^ 6| 6i July 5| 6 6 6^ February 6 6| 7 Cf August 5| 6| 6 6^- March 6| 7i H f September 5| 6^ 6 Cf Yeaily av 6i &i 61 6 October 6 6J 6 6^ The amount of cheese produced by each State during the year ending June 30, 1850, was as follows: — Maine lbs. 2,201,195 Alabama lbs, 30,423 New-Hampshire 3,196,568 Mississippi , 20,314 Vermont 6,755,006 Louisiana 1,148 Massachusetts 7,124,461 Texas 92,018 Rhode Island 296,748 Arkansas 28,440 Connecticut 4,513,019 Tennessee 179,677 New- York 49,785,905 Kentucky 228,744 New-Jersey 500,819 Michigan 1,042,651 Pennsylvania 2,-395,279 Ohio 21,350,478 Delaware 8,187 Indiana ...vi^H.. 666,986 Maryland 3,925 Illinois.... ....-..•..■... 1,283,858 District of Columbia none Missouri 201,597 Virginia 434,850 Iowa 198,444 North Carolina 95,043 Wisconsin 440,961 South Carolina 4,810 Florida ' 18.324 Total 25,766,689 Georgia .i.J..i. . 46,391 Total ♦. . 77,375,527 Thus, it is seen, the States containing a population of about twelve millions produce over seventy-seven million pounds of cheese annually, while the Western and Southern States, with a free population of eight millions, pro- duce only twenty-five million pounds. Of the former, New-York produces forty-nine million, and of the latter, Ohio produces twenty-one million. The Southern States produce a very small quantity in proportion to their popula- tion. I FLOWER CULTURE. 93 F L 0 W ER CULTURE. SoMB of our readers may remember the advice of Mr. Downing, given to some female friend, which we published in a late number, recommending it to her not to rely too much on annuals. The advice appears sensible. There are numerous perplexities connected with the growth of annual plants which we may easily avoid by giving our time and labor to other species. Sometimes our seed is misnamed ; sometimes it is barren, though this, in most cases, is the result of mistreatment in planting; and mishaps may occur in the early growth of the young plant. Considering these circumstances, and the greater amount of labor required for the successful growth of annuals, it may be admitted that the prudent wife or daughter who has but little time to devote to a garden, should obtain a liberal supply of more enduring plants. We give below some advice, taken from BuisCs Flower Garden Directory^ of the proper manner of cultivating that prince among all the flower families of the world capable of enduring our cUmate unprotected, THE CARNATION AND PINKS. In order to make the former flower well, if the weather is dry, give them frequent waterings at the root, and tie them up neatly to the rods. The criterion of a fine Carnation is : — The stem strong and straight, from thirty to forty inches high, the corolla three inches in diameter, consisting of large, round, well-formed petals, but not so many as to crowd it, nor so few as to make it appear thin or empty; the outside petals should rise above the calyx about half an inch, and then turn ofl" in a horizontal direction, to support the interior petals, they forming nearly a hemispherical corolla. The interior petals should decline in size towards the centre, regularly disposed on every side ; they should have a small degree of concavity at the lamina or broad end, the edges perfectly entire. The calyx above one inch in length, with strong, broad points, in a close and circular body. The colors must be per- fectly distinct, disposed in regular long stripes, broadest at the edge of the lamina, and gradually becoming narrower as they approach the unguis or base of the petal, there terminating in a fine point. Those that contain two colors upon a white ground are esteemed the finest. « The criterion of a Double Fink: — The stem about twelve inches, the calyx smaller but similar to a carnation ; the flower two inches and a half in diam- eter; petal rose edges; color white and pure purple, or rich crimson ; the neai'er it approaches to black the more it is esteemed ; proportions equal as in carnation. Those that are very tasteful in these flowers are attentive to the manner of their opening. When the calyx is deficient in regular expansion to display the petals, that is, where there is a tendency to burst open on one side more than the other, the opposite side in two or three diflerent indenta- tions should be slit a little at several times with the point of a small sharp knife, taking care not to cut the petals, and about the centre of the calyx tie a thread three or four times around to prevent any further irregularity. Some florists and connoisseurs place cards on them. This is done when the calyx is small. Take a piece of thin pasteboard about the size of a dollar, cut a small aperture ia its centre to admit the bud to pass through. When on, tie it tight to the rod, to prevent the wind from blowing it about, and when the flower is expanded, draw up the card to about the middle of the calyx and 94 ANALYSIS OP THE APPLE. spread the petals one over the other regularly upon it. When these plants are in flower, their beauty may be prolonged by giving them a little shade from the mid-day sun by an awning of a very simple description. When they are in pots, they can be removed to a cool, shady situation, but not directly under trees. Of Laying Carnations and Pinks. — This is a necessary and yearly opera- tion to keep a supply of plants, and likewise to have them always in perfection. As the process of laying, though simple, may not be known to all who are desirous of cultivating these plants, we will give an outline of the mode of operation. Provide first a quantity of small hooked twigs (pieces of asparagus stems are very suitable) about three inches long, for pegging the layei-s down in the earth. Select the outward, strongest and lowest shoots that are around the plant ; trim off a few of the under-leaves, and shorten the top ones even with a knife, and then, applying it at a joint about the middle of the under side of the shoot, cut about half through in a slanting direction, making an upward slit toward the next joint, near an inch in extent ; and, loosening the earth, make a small, oblong cavity one or two inches deep, putting a little fresh, light earth therein. Lay the stem part where the slit is made into the earth, keeping the cut part open, and the head of the layer upright one or two inches out of the earth, and in that position peg down the layer with one of the hooked twigs, and cover the inserted part, to the depth of one inch, with some of the fresh earth, pressing it gently down. In this manner pro- ceed to lay all the proper shoots of each plant. Keep the earth a little full around the plant, to retain longer the water that may be applied. Give im- mediately a moderate watering with a rose watering-pot, and in dry weather give light watering every evening. Choose a cloudy day for the above opera- tion. In about two months they will be well rooted. ANALYSIS OF THE APPLE. An interesting paper on the analysis of apples, by Dr. Salisbury, is found in the Transactions of the N. Y. Society, and furnishes some facts worthy of notice. Owing to the lateness of the season (in spring) before the analysis was commenced, the following sorts only were examined, viz, : Swaar, Kilham Hill, Rhode Island Greening, English Russet, Roxbury Russet, and Talman Sweeting. From the numerous tables of results the following facts are drawn : The English Russet contains less water and more dry matter than many of the other sorts. This is doubtless the reason why this vaiiety is so hard to freeze. The Talman Sweeting contains more, the Greening still more, and the Kilham Hill most of all ; ranging in all these from 78 to 86 per cent. A fresh potato contains about as much water as the Russet. These results show the reason that apples, when manufactured into cider, produce nearly their own bulk of juice, a fact which has often puzzled many who merely regarded the solid nature of the fruit. A striking difference in the composition of the apple and potato, is the entire absence of starch in the former, while in the latter it constitutes about one half of the solid part. The apple, according to this analysis, is rather superior to the potato in the fat-producing qualities, and which accords with GERMAN AGRICULTURE. 95 the experience of some accurate farmers. The apple contains about twice as much of the compounds of nitrogen as the potato. The Russets were found to contain a larger portion of tannic and gallic acids than other sorts. These acids impart astringency, and are indicated by the black color given to a knife of iron or steel used in cutting this fruit. The apple is rich in phosphoric and sulphuric acids, and potash and soda. Hence we may infer that bone dust, ashes, salt, and plaster, would be likely to prove useful as portions of the manure applied to a bearing tree, in addition to what is already contained in yard manure. GERMAN AGRICULTURE. The account given by Mr. Howitt of German agriculture cannot fail to interest our readers. He says : Each German has his house, his orchard, his roadside trees, so laden with fruit that if he did not carefully prop up and tie together, and in many places hold the boughs together with wooden clamps, they would be torn asunder by their own weight. He has his coin-plot, his plot of mangel-wurtzel, or a hay, for potatoes, for hemp, &c. He is his own master, and he, therefore, and every branch of his family, have the strongest motive for constant exertion. You see the effect of this in his industry and his economy. In Germany nothing is lost. The produce of the trees and the cows is car- ried to market; much fruit is dried for winter use. You see it lying in the sun to dry. You see strings of them hanging from their chamber windows in the sun. The cows are kept up for the greater part of the year, and every green thing is collected for them. Every little nook where the grass grows, by roadside, and river, and brook, is carefully cut with the sickle, and carried home on the heads of the women and children in baskets, or tied in large cloths. Nothing of any kind that can possibly be made of any use is lost ; weeds, nettles, nay, the very goose grass which covers waste places, is cut and taken for the cows. You see the Httle children standing in the streets of the villages, in the streams which generally run down them, busy washing these weeds before they are given to the cattle. They carefully collect the leaves of the marsh grass, carefully cut their potato tops for them, and even if other things fail, gather green leaves from the woodlands. One cannot help thinking continually of the enormous waste of such things in England — of the vast quantities of grass on banks, by road- sides, in the openings of plantations, in lanes, in church-yards, where grass from year to year springs and dies, but which, if carefully cut, would main- tain many thousand cows for the poor. To pursue still further this subject of German economy. The very cuttings of the vines are dried and preserved for winter fodder. The tops and refuse of hemp serve as bedding fdr the cows ; nay, even the rough stalks of the pop- pies, after the heads have been gathered for oil, are saved, and all these are converted into manure for the land. When these are not sufficient, the chil- dren are sent into the woods to gather moss, and all our readers familiar with Germany will remember to have seen them coming homeward with large bundles of this on their heads. In autumn, the falling leaves are gathered and stacked for the same purpose. The fir cones, which with us lie and rot in the woods, are carefully collected and sold for lighting fires. In short, the economy and care of the German peasants is an example to 96 FLAX COTTON CLAUSSEN's IMPROVEMENT. all Europe. They have for years, nay ages, been doing that, as regards agri- cultural management, to which the British public is but just now beginning to open its eyes. Time, also, is as carefully economized as every thing else. They are early risers, as may well be conceived, when the childien, many of whom come from a consideraljle distance, are in school at six in the morning. As they tend their cattle or their swine, the knitting never ceases, and hence the quantities of stockings and other household things which they accumulate are a&toiikhiDg. FLAX COTTON-CLAUSSEN'S IMPROVEMENT. The very great and increasing interest in this valuable improvement in the preparation and manufacture of theflax fibre will, we doubt not, render a descrip- tion of the process both acceptable and gratifying to the readers of the Plouyh, the Loom, and the Anvil, particularly as every discovery and improvement tending to the advancement of the manufacturing interest and the prosperity of the farmer cannot fail greatly to benefit the entire community. In regard to the certainty of the operation, and the great improvement effected in the manufacture, there can be no doubt ; and we look forward to the time when the linen manufacture of this country shall become of very gseat importance to its wealth and prospei'ity. The fiax plant, as is well known, is composed of three distinct parts, the wood, the fibre, and the gum resin, which causes the fibres to adhere together. To remove the wood is the first object ; and this, under the old system, was performed by a machine little better than a flail. Here commences the first improvement, which consists in boiling the material in a wej\k alkaline solu- tion for about four hours, after which it is washed first in a slightly acidified liquor, and then in plain water. It is then dried, and in a fit state for the various pi-ocesses of scutching, heckling, &c, necessary to render it fit for the linen manufacture. In order to "cottonize" the flax, according to M. Claus- seu's patent, " the fibres are taken from the washing vats direct to a series of other vats, ranged side by side ; and it is in these that the magic of chemistry XJ so brought to bear as to transmute a heavy mass of dark, harsh straw, in the cjur.se of some minutes, to a light, silky, snow-white wool." " la the first of these vats is a weak solution of carbonate of soda : here the previously boiled and washed fibres are steeped for about fifteen minutes, during which time they become completely saturated with the soda liquid. To explain the chemical action which follows, it is necessary to point out the structure of the flax fibre. These fibres, minute though they be, are cellular, and e imposed of a number of smaller cylinders, united closely at their side. It is t le separation of these finer fibres, and the consequent addition to the length and surface of the whole mass, that has now to be accomplished ; a process t'.iat may well be likened to hair splitting. These cellular fibres, being tho- roughly saturated with the soda in most minute quantities, are removed from the first vat, and placed in vat number two, containing water slightly acidu- lated with one part in five hundred of sulphuric acid. The change which now takes place is instantaneous. A rapid frothing and ebullition of the liquor may be observed, and the heavy mass of flax which, in the first liquor, sank far below the surface, is now seen floating lightly on the surface of the water. It is no longer flax, it is British cotton. And how has this haj^pened? The acid in this liquid, finding its way into the liquid cylinders already saturated with the soda, immediately effects a chemical change ; the sulphuric acid com- FLAX COTTON — CLAUSSEN's IMPROVEMENT. 97 bines with the alkali, and forms sulphate of soda, giving out the carbonic acid (THS from the carbonate of soda, which, seeking its liberation, expands and bursts open the cellular tubes. The cottonized tlax is next placed in a weak solution of soda, in order to free it from any remaining acid, and thence trans- ferred to the bleaching vat, which contains a mixture of solution of chloiide of lime and sulphate of magnesia. Here it remains during two hours, at the end of which time it wears a perfectly snow-white appearance. The process is then completed by washing, first in a' weak acid liquor, and afterward in pure water. It then only remains to dry the flax cotton, in order to fit it for the after processes, preparatory to spinning." By the process above described the value of the flax fibre is not only greatly enhanced by being rendered capable of being spun at the low " cost of ordi- nary cotton goods, but the yield of marketable fibre is much increased, and at a much less cost of time and labor than was needed under the old method. The new fibre is so completely assimilated in character to cotton, that it readily receives the rich dyes imparted to the latter, and is, in short, capable of being printed or dyed in a precisely similar manner." An intelligent writer, who has seen the process at the " Stepney Model Factory" in England, states that " the same method can be made available for converting the refuse tow from the flax establishments into a fine white article, admirably adapted for paper making, and at a less price than he pays for linen rags. The value of this latter preparation may be estimated when it is known that one manufacturer of linen in the north of Ireland throws aside ' refuse tow' to the yearly value of five thousand pounds sterling; all of which, at present, is utterly useless." He further adds : " We examined specimens of flannel, felt, and woollen cloth manufactured of equal parts of British cotton and wool ; also, a felt that was composed entirely of the former material. All of these goods had a remarkably stout feel, and appeared to be strong in their body. " Combined with silk, ' cottonized ' flax may be worked up with great ease on the existing silk machinery, and when so wrought, is capable of receiving the same colors in dyeing, and materially adding to the strength of the fabric manufactured. " We saw two other substances, which, it appears, are quite as susceptible of being ' cottonized ' as flax. One was a coarse species of China silk, at present of little value ; the other was ' Jute,' or Indian hemp. Both of these fibres were materially improved in appearance and feel, and are, no doubt, in their new form, adapted to purposes for which they were not at all available pre- viously." This improvement in the manufacture of flax will offer strong inducements for our farmers to enter into its profitable cultivation. Estimates, based upon several years of actual experience in England, go to show that, by the flax culture, the farmer may realize a yearly profit of from fifteen to eighteen pounds per acre, and that, too, upon land which has just been heavily crop- ped in cereals. Many thousands of acres which hitherto have yielded but indifferent and uncertain crops, or which have scarcely been worth cultiva- tion, may be brought under flax, without any fear of the result. Hitherto the absence of linen manufactures, and the consequent want of markets, in so many parts of England and Scotland, have proved a serious obstacle to any attempts at extending flax culture. But if every grower, by the purchase of an inexpensive and simply constructed machine which has been invented for the purpose, can convert the flax-straw into a fit condition for economical and convenient transport to a market, and now that conveyance is so much les- 6* 98 A FACT FOR THE FRIENDS OF RECIPROCITY. sened in cost, it may be expected that a widely extended cultivation of this article may take place, affording active employment to a vast number of per- sons of all ages. Hitherto the opinion has been prevalent to a great extent that flax crops were exceedingly exhaustive in their effect upon the soil. Experiments fairly carried out have shown this to be a fallacy. Chemical analysis of the plant, and a series of flax crops taken from the same land, have proved, beyond a doubt that not only does this cultivation not weaken the soil, but tends to keep it in a state of great productiveness. An examination of the structure of the plant demonstrates that those por- tions of it which absorb the alkalies and the nutritive properties of the soil are those which are not required for the purpose of manufacture ; namely, the wooden part, the resinous matter, and the seed. The fibres derive their ele- ments almost entirely from the atmosphere, one hundred parts containing not more than two parts of mineral matters. Under the old process of steep- incr the nutritive portions contained in the wood and gum, as well as the whole of the seed, were lost in the fermentation during steeping ; so that notbino- whatever was restored to the land. By the new method, these prop- erties are capable of being returned whence they were taken. The seed may be either employed in feeding cattle, or crushed for oil ; the oil-cake being in that case returned to the cattle-yard. For the greater convenience of the grower, the apparatus for removing the wood-fibre should be used on their farms, by which means they reduce the bulk by one half, and at the same time retain the portion most useful for manure. In this state it will be brought to market for sale to the manufac- turers, who will then have only to free it, in the first instance, from the gum resin, previous to the process of preparation above described. Already the patent has been taken in hand in Scotland ; arrangements are in progress for a similar undertaking in Ireland ; and, should the like activity be manifested in this country, there can be little doubt that two most impor- tant results will have been attained — the providing a great portion of our pop- ulation with profitable employment, and rendering ourselves less dependent upon other countries for the supply of our linen fabrics. A FACT FOR THE FRIENDS OF RECIPROCITY. " By referring to the great volume of annual reports from the colonies laid before the Imperial Parliament, entitled " The Past and Present State of Her Majesty's Colonial Possessions," for 1851, now lying before me, I find that Canada imported from Great Britain, in 1850, goods to the value of £2,407,980 ; from the United States, £1,648,715. Now, any wholesale importer will tell you that the articles taken from Great Britain are chiefly manufactures, whilst those from the States are conlposed mostly of such things as Canada can neither produce nor make ; such as sugar, tea, coffee, tobacco, and a long list of others of less importance. It must, therefore, be against the English manufacturer that you want protection, and not against the American." The above, from the London correspondence of the Hamilton (Canada West) Spectator, is strongly confirmatory of the views we have endeavored VERMONT HORSES THEIR BREED, ETC. ^^ to impress upon our readers ia relation to the so-called question of reciprocity with Canada. The fact mentioned by the writer shows the insignificance of our interest in the Canadian market as compared with the interest of the English manufacturers, and with the importance of the surrender which we are called upon to make. The thorough-going free-trader, who persists in a policy depressing to every branch of American industry for the enrichment of a foreign power, may with perfect consistency seek to carry a measure that would enlarge the area of competition, and tend more rapidly to destroy the small remainder of domestic trade. But we are at a loss to comprehend the philosophy of politicians generally sound on the protectionist question, who propose to make our commercial intercourse with Canada exceptional, for the supposed benefit of circumscribed localities. The statement has another bearing. It reveals the error of those Cana- dians who, while seeking protection, hmit their efforts to the exclusion of the lesser imports, while the greater are to be permitted to flow in as now. Canada needs protection as much as any section of the Union, but she needs it most of all against England. VERMONT HORSES— THEIR BREED, &c. A WRITER from Stowe, Vt., in an article on horses, in the Albany Culti- ator, says : The reason why so many good horses are generally sent to market from Vermont, is found in the fact that stallions are treated as common farm horses, except during the season for mares. Their muscular system is fully developed by work, not mere exercise, but hard work, during the fall and winter, and the spring finds them robust, hearty, and full of muscular power and vital energy. In " Mason's Farrier and Stud Book," edited by Skinner, is a short essay ^on the condition of a stallion," worth, practically/, more than all the rest of the work. It concludes in these words : " Trainers find their endeavors to produce the highest state of strength in an animal greatly impeded by any excitement of the sexual appetite. It is then the more necessary to keep the horse in a state of training throughout the year, impressing most forcibly a tone of health and strength upon his system, at a time when his nerves are liable to the least distraction, never allowing such excess of service, or of the excitement of sexual appetite, as to induce a disturbance of spirit or temper, or a relapse from the most thoroughly strong, healthy, and regular tone of the system." Such has been the course generally pursued with " Morgan " stallions ; their docility and tractableness, caused by constant use, rendering them fit for ordinary labor, and more pleasant in the harness than most stallions. The blood of the Morgans at this time amounts to but little ; strictly speaking, they are not entitled to a distinct family name. For, from Mexico to Maine, I can show you " Morgans " in form, size, color, and action, whose progeni- tors never saw Vermont ; and if you will pay a visit with me some day to Queen'jVictoria's stables, I will show^you there a stallion, thorough-bred, yet a "Morgan, every inch of him." Some persons are inclined to believe that every thing of the horse kind in Vemiont, of any value, is " Morgan." It is true that the Morgan name^ias great weight in some quarters, and is, I am ready to admit, entitled to a cer- tain quantum of respect. But the old Morgan is not the only stone in tho 100 QUALITIES OF SOILS. foundation. AVithin the past forty or fifty years, there have stood in Ver- mont, among other stock horses, a colt of imported "Magnum Bonum," a get of "Cock of the Rock," a get of " Ilamiltonian," one of "Post Boy's" colts, one got by "American Eclipse," "Long's Henry," now living, and owned in the State, and several descendants of "Messenger," and other thorough-bred horses. These all liave been more or less subjected to the same tieatment, and have left stock worthy of their illustrious names. It is from a promiscuous mingling of such strains of blood, amid the pure waters, the sweet pastures, and the salubrious atmosphere of Vermont, that she has been enabled to furnish so many good (not to say " Morgan ") horses. QUALITIES OF SOILS. All soils may be arranged under four heads : 1. Silicious or sandy ; 2. Argillaceous or clayey ; 3. Calcareous or limy ; and 4. Peaty. Various subdivisions- of these may be important, arising either from a com- bination of two or more of these, one or the other kind being in excess, or from a difference in the condition of the soil. Thus the silex of "silicious" soil may be in the form of sand, gravel, slate, (of certain kinds,) or of rocks. Silex is composed of the metal silicium, in combination with oxygen. Pure tiint is the most perfect form of silex ordinarily found. Sea sand abounds in silex. It has been considered insoluble in water, and soluble only in flu- oric or phosphoric acid. Recent statements, however, by one of the most thorough chemists of the country. Dr. Chester Dewey, show that silex is sparingly soluble in water. When this mineral predominates in a soil, it is much exposed to drought. Silex in excess is unfavorable to vegetation, be- cause it does not readily combine with manures, which filtrate through the subsoil, or are washed out by rains into the streams. But when not in excess, it is beneficial to the soil, rendering it lighter and more easily worked. A silicious soil may be easily recognized by mixing it with water: if the silex is considerably in excess, it will not form a paste. Sandy soils are not adapted to the growth of the cereals, unless we except rye. Crops raised upon them come early to maturity, but sometimes at the expense of their quantity and quality. Clav is composed of silica and alumina. Alumina, or alumine, is a whit- ish powder. It is an oxide of the mineral aluminum, is insoluble in water, but has a strong affinity for it, that is, it powerfully attracts and absorbs water from the atmosphere and other surrounding bodies, and retains it for a long period. Thus combined, it dissolves freely in acids, even when much diluted. Common alum is a compound of sulphuric acid, aluminum, and potassa, or potash. Clayey soils are colored by various substances. The oxide of iron gives a reddish hue. Uumus,* when present in large quantities, communicates a dark color. The adhesiveness of clay soils, and their smooth, almost greasy texture, are * Humns results from the decomposition of vegetables. Gardeners call it mould, tlinmjh the latter term i-i sometimes applied to certain thoroughly decomposed composts. Peat is an impenVct form of humus, much of the vegetable matter remaiuing in an organic form. Hence tliis is the very essence of a fertile soil, while its elements must be nearly tLose of a iiviug plaut. QUALITIES OF SOILS. 101 properties by which they are readily recognized. Their qualities vary with their depth and their combinations, the poorer- being very poor, while the better kinds produce heavy crops of wheat and of the grasses, ind other herb- age plants, but are not so well fitted for the growth of tuberous roots. A clay-loam is their most perfect form. Calcareous or Limy Soils. — Calcium is the mineral basis of all the combi- nations of the acids with lime, forming chalk, limestone, marble, gypsum or plaster of Paris, &c. In one or more of these combinations, it abounds in oyster-shells, in the bones of animals, corals, &c. All soils containing the carbonate of lime (lime combined with carbonic acid) are calcareous. When this is in excess, it is unfavorable to vegetation, as the plants " fire." But in clayey lands, the carbonate of lime is serviceable in loosening the soil. Cal- careous soils are well adapted to potatoes, turnips, beets, cabbages, tobacco, pea'', corn, barley, ■ ■ • . • 1.20 2.38 . • • • • • . • 0.08 2.15 4.10 1.01 «... • • • • • > • • 2.31 0.46 • • • • .... 2.31 6.17 .... THE PARAUTOPTIC BANK LOCK. 113 THE PARAUTOPTIC BANK LOCK— ANOTHER WONDER. This lock, familiar]}' known at the great London Fair as Hobbs's Lock, is the pi-operty and the invention of our neighbors, Messrs. Day & Newell. Its name is composed of two Greek words, signifying, in a liberal rendering, defi/- ing discovery, (rtapa and ortT'o^at.) It is the most wonderful lock ever invented. Its grand principle may be described without a diagram, perhaps, while some of the details of its machinery are too complicate to be understood by mere description. Suppose, then, that ten or fifteen thin plates of steel, technically called tuvi- blers, lie side by side, parallel to the bolt and above the key-hole, each of which admits both of a vertical and horizontal movement. If no obstacle intervene, it is obvious that an ordinary key inserted into the lock, and turned upwards, would raise all these tumblers alike, until the key stands in a vertical position. Turning the key still further, these tumblers will descend to their first posi- tion. If the end of the key was notched, or filed into sections of different lengths, each corresponding in thickness to the thickness of the tumblers, the plates would rise unequally. If these sections of the key were separated, and the bits fastened together by a screw running through them, it is obvious that their order or arrangement might be changed at pleasure, and these changes would produce a corresponding variety in the j^osition of the tum- blers. Such is the arrangement of this lock ; and now for the advantage gained by it. Each of these tumblers must be raised before the bolt moves ; and when this movement takes place, the tumblers move with it ; and as they move, they fasten themselves into certain teeth or notches made to receive them in the exact position in which the key leaves them ; and besides this, a " dog," placed in the other end of the lock, also follows the tumblers and effectually prevents any force from moving either or all of them until itself is disposed of. Next, suppose that the bolt is thrown out, and the door of the Safe on which it is fastened is secured. The same key that locked can unlock with the greatest ease. But if these bits are taken apart, and the key is made up again in a different order, the bolt cannot be started. The position of each tumbler was controlled by its own bit, and is in a position to be governed by t. If any other bit comes in contact with either of them, it will be unfitted to it, and the key is thus brought in contact with an obstacle that cannot, by any means, be got rid of. The progress of the key is arrested before it can move the dog behind the tumblers, and the other end is secure, each tumbler in its own notch, from which the key has no power to remove them. These two fastenings at each end of the tumblers are in separate chambers, and both are distinct from the chamber of the key-hole. A blast of powder in the key-hole cannot affect the lock, because it is in a separate chamber, one end of which is formed of a piece of brass, well fitted, but not fastened to it, and only a moderate force is required to throw it out. It is as if the breech-pin of a gun were a mere plug, made to adhere to the barrel by wax, for example, producing less adhesion between it and the cylinder in which it is placed than there is between the barrel and the wad- ding when forcibly driven home by the ramrod, or the bullet when tightly fitted into the bore of a rifle. The breech-pin will be forced out, while the wadding or the bullet is unmoved. If access should be had to the lock, by boring or otherwise, no advantage VOL. Y. 7 114 THE PARAUTOPTIC BANK LOCK. would be gained ; for the tumblers are fastened at both ends of the lock ; and if they were not, there are no means of knowing which tumbler to alter, nor how many of them, nor how much to alter one or another ; and thus these three groups of insurmountable ditiiculties must be overcome ere the bolt can be moved. And if the bolt is thrown out, and the bits of the key are sepa- rated, it is obvious that, as a matter of safety, a memorandum of the order in which they were placed must be made, for the owner or maker has no advantage, in opening the door thus fastened, over an entire stranger. Each bit is numbered for this purpose. But suppose we sit down and place the bits at random, hoping to hit the right combination. This is our only chance for getting at the treasure we covet ; and this is, in fact, what several have undertaken to do, both in England and on the Continent, The reason why all have failed, as they have hitherto, will be obvious, when we observe that a series of ten tumblers, the number generally used in locks for banks, &c., admits of 3,628,800 changes. How long would you expect to try, ere you would hit the right one ? But the largest locks have fifteen tumblers, and of course fifteen bits in the key. Such a series admits of 1, 307, 674,468,000 changes. Are you inchned to undertake the trial? A key with twelve bits admits only of 479,001,600 changes. Probably this is sufficiently formidable for you to make the experi- ment with. When the lock is constructed with ten tumblers and ten bits to the key, there is only one chance in 3,628,800 of getting the right one. To all practical purposes, this, in all conscience, is enough. The burglar's chance is worthless ; for, leaving out of the question the cost, the labor, and the risk, it would hardly pay for grinding his tools — it being worth but one dollar, provided success would secure to him the round sum of three and a half millions of dollars. But, according to our ideas of the " doctrine of probabihties," or " the science of chances," the numbers given above, and stated also in the pamph- let of the proprietors of the lock, do not tell the whole story. This is not all that is required of an actual burglar, but is only the rule when an experi- mentist, having the key and the lock at his own exclusive control, can operate at his leisure. An actual burglar has other difficulties to encounter. He knows not even the number of tumblers to be moved. He knows not the position of any one of them. He knows not the length of bit necessary to reach any one of them. All these must be known ere he can succeed. But this is not all. While he is beginning to make trial of his keys, the lock, by daily use, is changing its position from day to day, and perhaps several times a day. The combination that suits at twelve o'clock to-day will probably never suit thereafter. Hence the problem the burglar has to solve is, not to throw a given number of dice till the upper faces all correspond with the upward faces of another stationary set, which is the chance above calculated ; but it is rather to throw tzvo sets of dice, each set consisting of the numbers above given, until both exactly correspond. This is the most accurate form of stating the case according to any fixed principle ; although, to be strictly applicable, the lock should be changed as often as the burglar experiments. But if this is so, or any thing Mke it, he might well despair ; for, with the smallest lock mentioned, he has only one chance for success out of 13, 168,189,- 440,000. This " chance" or "probability," calculated mathematically, — pro- vided nothing is allowed for time, labor, expense or risk, and provided, also, that success rewards him with a million of dollars, — is worth a trifle more than .00007 of a mill. Wherein, then, consists the security and excellence of this lock ? HORTICULTURAL. 115 1. In its huge dimensions, giving it strength, and forbidding all hope of breaking by violence. 2. lu the simplicity of its complexity, presenting a task to any burglar in which the most ingenious must expect only defeat, and at the same time an ease of motion which places it in the power of the youngest child. 3, In the practical impossibility (possible in theory) of so arranging the bits of the key that they will be adapted to the then condition of the tumblers, and be able to find a passage among them to those contrivances which hold the bolt fast in spite of any conceivable force that can be applied to it. The order of the tumblers may be changed every time the bolt is drawn back, so that knowing the condition of the key now afibrds no indication of the position in which the lock may be left an hour hence. There are other important contrivances, both inside and outside the main walls of the lock, which cannot be explained without a diagram. One of these either covers or exposes the key-hole ; another guides and confines the tumblers, while still another acts directly upon the " dog." Suffice it to say, further, that we can hardly conceive it possible to carry the security of bolts farther ; and yet Mr. Newell informs us that he is about to make some im- provements even upon this wonderful invention. As it stands now, it has acquired for him an honorable fame, at the very head of his profession, wide as the world. We wish that multitudes of other eminent men were as worthy of honor as he. HORTICULTURAL. We give below sundry suggestions in relation to various departments of garden culture. Compost for Green-House Plants. — The best and safest compost for all plants is two thirds leaf-mould, (entirely decayed leaves, to be found in the woods,) and one third fine sand. Any thing will grow in this, and a great many things will not grow without it. Specific Manure for the Pear.— Coal cinders, iron fihngs, charcoal dust, &c., such as is usually found about a blacksmith's shop, are excellent for pear trees. Turn under the surfixce about three or four inches deep. Liquid Fertilizer. — Mr. Downing recommends the following for straw- berries, early peas, fuchsias, dahlias, &c. : Dissolve half an ounce of sulphate of ammonia in a gallon of water, and apply it to the roots of green-house or hardy plants with a watering-pot every sixth time — the other five times use plain water. Plants should not be watered with it daily, or they will die — "just as certainly as a man will who drinks nothing but pure brandy." It should be mixed several hours before it is used. Rose Slugs. — A decoction of tobacco, about the color of weak black tea, thrown on the under side of the leave? of roses, will destroy the slugs. Re- peat it twice, about sunset, and you will get rid of them. Pruning Evergreens. — In pruning evergreen trees, the lowest branches should, in all cases, be the longest, whatever the shape of the head may be. This style of pruning is in accordance with the natural growth and habit of nearly all evergreens, and produces that beautiful park-like appearance, so 116 ARTESIAN WELLS IN ALABAMA. much admired in English landscape gardening, where the lowest branches seem to spring directly from the turf, and form a continuation of the grassy lawns of crisp and close-shaven verdure. FuMiGATOR. — The following method of fumigating plants, houses, &c., will be found cft'ectual. Place some red-hot cinders in a flower pot, elevated upon bricks, so as to allow a current of air through it, throw in tobacco, and keep the house shut 12 hours. The addition of a little milk of sulphur will make the smoke more pungent and destructive. ARTESIAN WELLS IN ALABAMA. De Bow's Review describes a well of this description, bored by Mr. N. B. Kead, for Joel Matthews, Esq., at the site of his cotton factory in Cahaba. The writer says : The first bore was about three inches in diameter, and the discharge is GOO gallons per minute, or 864,000 gallons in 24 hours, exceeding, probably, any well in America. Mr. Read is now engaged in rimming out to a di- ameter of six inches. The force of the water greatly facilitates this operation, as it throws out at the top all the material which the auger detaches. This I believe to be the first well in Alabama which has been sunk be- low the water which, rising to the surface in abundance for ordinary pur- poses, is found beneath the first stratum of soft limestone. In this locality, this stratum was perforated to a depth of 363 feet from the surface, when a stratum of sandstone was reached five feet in depth. In this formation marine fossils were found in great abundance, shells, star-fish^ &c. Below this, in a stratum of gray sand, three feet thick, water was found, which rose to the surface in a bold stream. This is the point, ranging from 200 to 600 feet below the surface, at which it is customary to cease operations in boring Artesian wells in this country;, but in this instance, Mr. Matthews discarded the fear of losing the water, which has hitherto deterred penetration to a greater depth, and allowed Mr. Read, at liis solicitation, to extend his operations downwards in search of a more abundant supply. Immediately below the water was found a for- mation of very hard sandstone, one foot three inches thick. Then a formation, which Mr. Read describes as a "dark-blue, sticky sand," nine feet three inches thick; then blue soft limestone, seven feet; bluish gray sand, nineteen feet ; green sand, three feet. Below this last stratum, water was again found in a gray sand, or fine debris of mica, quartz, and feldspar, probably disinte- grated granite, being 40 feet 6 in. below the first water, and 411 feet 6 in. below the surface. This stratum continued unchanged for 125 feet in depth, and the water obtained from it greatly augmented the supply. Below this, a hard gray sandstone 11 feet thick was encountered, where water was again found in sand, generally similar to that above the sandstone, except that it was traversed with occasional thin strata of soapstone. This formation, with water, constantly augmenting the discharge of the well as the depth was in- creased, continued for 299 feet, or 710 feet 10 in. from the surface, where the boring terminates for the present. It is Mr. Matthews' intention, after he has rimmed out the well to the diameter of six inches, for the whole depth, to continue boring so long as the water continues to increase in quantity. It is the design to tube the well, so far at least as to shut off" the water found beneath the first stratum of lime- NEW BOOKS. 117 stone. It is thought that tliis will greatly increase the force of the discharge from the lower fountain, which is the main source of the supply. Many wagon-loads of sand have been thrown out from below by the force of the water. The water, however, is perfectly clear and limpid, and pleasant to the taste. Pieces of stone the size of an egg, or larger, or a silver half dollar, if thrown into the well, are immediately ejected. NEW BOOKS. De Bows Tiiduatrial Resources and Progress of the Southern and Western States. This work is now nearly ready for the press ; havings been prepared to supply the large and increasing demand for the complete scries of De Bow's Review, in twelve vol- umes, the back numbers of which are nearly exhausted, and which it would require a very large outlay to reprint. As a substitute for these, the editor proposes to make a selection of all the important and valuable papers contained in them from the beginning, condensing, re-arranging, and completing to date, and throwing the subjects, after the manner of the encyclopaedias, into alphabetical order. In this manner every thing of in- terest and importance will be preserved ma. convenient form for reference ; and the vol- umes will constitute the only repositoiy for the shelves of the library of such information, which by means of the monthly numbers hereafter will always be brought down to date. The volumes will embrace the gist of every thing that has appeared in the Review relating to the Southern and Western States, to wit: Their History, Population, Ge- ography, Statistics ; Agricultural Products of Cotton, Sugar, Tobacco, Hemp, Grains, Na- val Stores, etc., etc. Manufactures: detailed accounts, statistics and history of .all, branches. Internal Improvements: complete statistics of Railroads, results, profits, expenses, costs, advantages, miles in projection, constructed, completed, etc. ; Plank-roads. Canals, Navigation, etc. Laws and Statistics : management and amelioration of slavery ; Commerce of the South and West in all of its minute particulars, etc., together with an historical and statistical sketch of each of the States and cities. The domestic and foreign trade, resources, manufactures, etc., of the United States. The Census returns from 1790, with the complete statistics of the Census of 1850. The volumes will be issued in September, October, and November next, at $10 for the set, the publisher receiving orders in advance, payable on delivery of the volumes, either to merchants through whom the orders are received, or to the parties themselves. De Bow's Review, of which this is a condensation, is pubhshed monthly in New-Orleans, and other Southern and Western cities, 112 to 140 pages, small print, fine paper and en- gravings, and treats of all the great industrial matters i-elating to the Southern and Western States, and incidentally of the North and the Union. Tenns $5 per annum. The Cyclopadia of Anecdotes of Literature and the Fine Arts ; containing a copioxts and choice selection of Anecdotes of the various forms of Literature, of the Arts, of Architecture, Engraving, Music, Poetry, Painting, and Sculpture, and of the most celebrated Literary Characters and Artists of different countries and ages, etc. By Kazlett Arvine, A.m., author of the " Cyclopsedia of Anecdotes." With numerous illustrations. 8vo, pp. 698. Boston : Published by Gould & Lincoln, 59 Washington street. 1852. We have examined the above beautiful volume with more than usual interest, and never lay it aside but with feelings of regret. The editor has justly compared this interesting collection of Anecdotes of Literature and the Fine Arts to " precious metal fi"om olden mines, and newly-discovered placers," for which " all climes and countries have been explored." Some of them are "gems from their native rocks," but "many more from tlie decaying caskets and coffers in which they were previously storeil by others ;" but here collected, newly polished, and set in forms of order and beauty for use. It is truly a choice collection — a valua1)le and interesting embodiment of curious and rare articles, relating to Architecture, Authors, the Drama, Engraving, Fiction, His- tory, Music, Painting, Poetry, Printing, Sculpture, iiantown Telegraph describes a novel method of doing this work, which may be worth the experiment, for that portion of the crop which is not thor- oughly covered will of course be lost to the farmer. This writer says : " I take a piece of chain of the size of a common trace chain, and of about 22 inches in length, (more or less according to the height of the beam of the plough,) having a swivel in the middle, and, fastening one end of this by means of a hook or leather strap to the underside of the beam of the plough, and about six inches forward of the post of the mould-board, I attach to the other end an iron bail of an oval shape and about three pounds' weight to drag in the furrow imme- diately before the turning land. By means of this contrivance, the growing crop is pros trated and turned in ; and the turning land Mliug upon it, it is completely buried in the furrow." The American Farmer recommends that, when buckwheat is to be ploughed in, the seed be sown at the rate of a bushel to the acre. He also remarks that " if you have a field that you would like to get in wheat, and clover after it, but which you fear is too poor for the purpose, plough it up, after manuring, sow a bushel of buck- wheat per acre on it, and when the buck- wheat comes into bloom, plough it in, pul- verize it, and you may seed it to wheat with the certainty of its yielding a profitable crop, and of being seeded to clover next spring." "The Plough, Loom, anp Anvil. — The June number is well filled with interesting and profitable reading for tiie farmer and working man ; though we think the space the editor still pertinaciously occupies with the discussion of a topic tliat belongs prop- erly to tlic arena of party politics, might be appropriated to something much better adapted to the tastes and wants of his readers." — Gax. and I)em. We earnestly desire to secure the ap- proval of our friend of the Gazette and Dem- ocrat, and would do mucli that was incon- venient and even laborious to obtain it. But we would humbly ask if we are under obligation to observe silence upon all sub- jects that are or may be the occasion of political or even of partj^ action ? Suppose the Reciprocity Bill, as it is called, will double or quadruple the number of compe- titors in the home market, in some great section of our country — are our mouths to be shut, and must we acquiesce in silence without a single protest, because dema- gogues choose to make a party question of it ? Shall we be forbidden to inform the millions of producers in our country how and where to find consumers who will buy at remunerating prices, lest we shall offend some party tactitian ? Must we withhold our honest convictions, and do hypocritical homage to that policy which throws thou- sands out of employment, and binds them down to inevitable poverty and want, for fear we may deprive some noisy politician of a seat in Congress or of an office ? Such are not our notions, and we can consent to no such restrictions upon our pens. The substantial interests of the country ought to be above party pohcy, and beyond the reach of party machinery ; and we will do our best in opposition to any other rule of action. Caoutchouc — A New Application. — It is said that Mr. Hodges, an Eng- lishman, proposes to employ this enor- mous elastic power in the raising of heavy masses. Short pieces of caoutchouc, called by the inventor povicr-purchases, are successively stretched and attached to the burden to be raised; when a sufficient num- ber of these power-purchases is fixed to the weight, their combined elastic force lifts it from the ground. Ten of these apparatus, having individually a power capable of twenty -five kilogrammes, raise together two hundred and fifty kilogrammes. Each bearer is fifteen centimetres long, and weighs about forty grammes of vulcanized caoutchouc. If these ten bearers were stretched to the limit of their elasticity, (which is not that of their power of cohesion,) they would hft three hundred and twenty kilogrammes. This power, though obedient to the common law of mechanical forces, yet differs suffi- ciently from known forces to be distinguish- ed as a new power. The same principle is applicable to the towing of vessels; it can equally be made use of for raising the an- chor, (fee. By an inverse principle, the power-pur- chases may be employed as a power for projection. Thus a certain number of these agents might be attached to a cannon-tube constructed for throwing harpoons. This application would render important services in the whale fishing. The employment of a cannon charged with powder is imprac. 122 editors' jottings. ticable ; because tlie noise frightens these creatures and|makes them fly from it, and the seamen, to throw the harpoon by hand, are obhged, as is known, to proceed in liLcht boats, exposed to great danger. This new process has been tried willi success. An eighty-pounder thus charged has thrown a ball one hundred and twenty metres ; other balls have been tlirown two hundred metres and more. A bow, constructed on the same principle, and the cord of which only was elastic, threw an arrow of seventy-six centi- metres to a- distance of one hundred and seventy metres. American Pomological Congress. — In compliance with a resolution passed by the American Pomological Congress, during its session at Cincinnati in October, 1860, it becomes my duty publicly to announce that the next session will be held in the city of Philadelphia, on Monday, the 13th of Sep- tember, 1852. The Congress -will assemble at 10 o'clock A.M., in the Chinese Museum Building, South Ninth street, below Chest- nut. The Pomological, Horticultural, and Agri- cultural Societies, throughout the United States and Canada, are invited to send such number of Delegates as they may deem ex- pedient. And the Delegates are requested to bring with them specimens of the fruits of their respective districts. Packages and boxes of fruit for the Con- gress may be directed to the care of Thomas P. James, Esq., No. 212 Market street, Phil- adelphia, should the owners be unable to give their personal attendance. The various State Fruit Committees will, on or before the day of meeting, transmit their several reports to A. J. Downing, Esq., general Chahman of the whole. The Chair- mau of each State Committee is authorized, ■where vacancies occur, to fill up the number of his Committee to five members. W. D. BpaNCKLE, M.D., President. Philadelphia, May 1, 1852. Great Cattle Sale.— George Vail, Esq., of Troy, N. Y., has sent us a circular of his annual cattle sale, which occurs on the 13th of October next on his farm. The cattle to be sold are Short- Horns, and are sup- posed to be the best herd of that breed ever offered for sale in America. There are about fourteen head of imported ani- mals and their immediate descendants, bred by Mr. Vail, all possessing the blood in a high degree of the justly famed herd of the late Thomas Bates, Esq., of England. Few sales, probably, of this highly ap- proved br«ed of cattle are made in Eng- land which excel this herd in high blood and quality. We take great pleasure in calling atten- tion to this sale, and doubt not that many of our readers will avail themselves of the opportunity offered by it to improve the breed of their stock. Agriculture at the Seat of Govern- ment.— Four fifths of the active population of the United States are employed in the cultivation of the soil. Yet in a recent speech in Congress by Hon. E. Nc'n'ton of Ohio, he says the Agricultural Department of the United States is '^pcnl up in the cellar of the Patent Office, and tannot be found at mid-day without a candle" while despotic Russia boasts an Agricultural Institution with forty college buildings, occupying three thousand acres of land, and attended by several thousand students. Insane Asylums. — State Lunatie Hos- pital, Worcester, Mass. — The expenditures of this noble institution for the last year were f)5 2,662.48, with a balance in the treasury of .?1 3,9 10.20. The Superintend ant has a corps of 67 assistants engaged in the various duties of the hospital, more than 30 of whom are employed wholly as nurse.?. or constant companions of the insane. Of the admissions during the year, 123 were males, 140 females. The whole number of admissions has been 3861. The whole number in the hospital in course of the year was 704. The number discharged during the year " recovered" is 111, "improved," 38. Occupation. — Of the above 263, 24 were farmers, 22 laborers, 10 shoemakers. No other occupation was so fully represented. Of the females, 39 were accustomed to active employment, and 6 to sedentary em- ployment. A document before us contains the fol-^. lowing : The number of lunatics in 8 asy- lums, at the commencement of the year was 1991 ; at the close of the year, 2046, Received, 1263; discharged, 1208; recover-; ed, 594; improved, 190 ; unimproved, 198 ;,. died, 223 ; eloped, 3. Total expenditures,, §220,597. These asylums are at Brattle- , boro, Vt., "Worcester and S. Boston, Mass.. ) ] Providence, R. I., Utica, N. Y., Philadel-^j phia and Frankford, Penn., Stanton, Va. New-England has accommodations for 1 620 lunatics, New- York, with the same popu- lation, for 964 lunatics, and the other States, with a population of about 16,000,000, for 1694. A new State Asylum has just been oc- cupied in Hairisburg, Penn, Another is in editors' jottings. 123 progress in IS'orth Carolina, and another in There are more than 2,000 communicants Alabama. T^o are in contemplation in in the Christian churches, and more than Ohio, in addition to that at Columbus, and 1,500 children in the Sabbath schools, and other in Western ISTew-York. more than 1,200 in the day schools. Poisons and their Antidotes. — Arse- nic.— The most valuable antidote for this deadly poison is to take, immediately, hy- drated peroxide of iron. If this cannot be obtained, emetics should be employed at once, followed by the whites often or twelve eggs, taken in new milk, or copious draughts of warm water and sugar. The juice of the .sugar-cane, when it can be obtained, is eaid to be one of th» best antidotes to this poison, Corrosive Suhlimate. — The most effectual remedy for this poison is the whites of eggs taken in milk very plentifully. As many as a dozen should be used at once, and the quantity repeated every hour. If vomiting is induced, it is so much the better. When eggs cannot be obtained, use as a substi- tute flour and lukewarm water in copious draughts. In all cases let the patient take the above in large doses, as the favorable operation is more certain and effectual. Sulphate of Copper. — This salt is most likely to be taken into the stomach from the careless use of untinned copper vessels in cooking. In this way whole families are sometimes poisoned by it. The antidote is the same as for arsenic — whites of eggs and warm new milk, or warm milk and sugar or molasses. Sulphate of Zinc. — This very closely re- sembles magncsia,jixid. as such, through mis- take, is sometimes taken into the stomach as a medicine. For this poison, use very large quantities of milk to decompose the sul- phate in the stomach. Connecticut State Agricultural So- ciety.— A State Agricultural Society was lately organized at New-Haven, Ct. The following • are the names of the offi- cers : President — Samuel D. Hubbard, of Middletown. Vice -Presidents — Charles H. Pond, President New-Haven Co. Ag- ricultural Society; Norman Porter, Presi- dent Hartford Co. Society ; William Alex- ander, President Windham Co. Society, P. T. Barnum, President Fairfield Co. So- ciety; D. C. Whittlesey, President Litch- field Co. Society ; Charles B. Phelps, Green- woods Society ; Charles Hubbard, Middle- sex Co. Society. Corr. Secretary — Henry A. Dyer, of Brooklyn. Secretary — C. W. Elliot, of New -Haven. Treasurer — George Brinley, Jr., of Hartford. Liberia. — The Republic of Liberia com- prises some 300,000 inhabitants, of whom about 7,000 may be regarded as civiliaed. Observations during a Short Tour. — A short ride into the country a few days since, in the counties of Westchester, Put- nam, and Dutchess, gave us an opportunity of noticing the crops in the localities through which we passed. The late severe drought has left its impress very visibly upon grass, corn, oats, and other crops like- ly to be affected by a want of rain. We should think the crops of grain would fall short of an average, while the hay crop will be very light. As the counties named are mostly devoted to grazing, the inhabitants will feel very sensibly the influences of the drought for the remainder of the season. The Crops. — It is to us very gratifying to hear, from all sections of the country, the most hopeful and cheering accounts of the growing crops. After two years of unex- ampled drouth, the return of favorable " seasons" should be a cause of joy and thankfulness to our entire population ; and should give us renewed faith and confidence in Him "who doeth all things well." — Southern Cultivator. Cure for Hydrophobia. — The following is said to be an effectual remedy for this dreadful malady ; and although wet cannot vouch for its efficacy in all cases, it is cer- tainly worth the trial, either as a cure for hydrophobia or poison from the bite of a reptile, particularly as its virtues are so well attested by one who has so signally expe- rienced its benefits. It consists in the sim- ple decoction of the bark of the root of the common upland ash, generally called black ash, boiled down strong, and drank freely by the sufferer for several days. Mr. James A. Hubbard, in a letter to the St. Louis Republican, speaking of its virtues, remarks : " Eighteen years ago my brother and my- self were bitten by a mad dog. A sheep was also bitten at the same time. A friend suggested the above remedy, which, he said, would cure the bite of a rattlesnake, and while my father was preparing it the sheep spoken of began to be afliicted with hydro- phobia. When it had become so fatigued from its distracted state as to be no longer able to stand, my father drenched it with a pint of the ash-root dose, to ascertain whe- ther he could depend upon it as a cure for his son». Four hours after the drench had 124 EpiTORS JOTTINGS. been given, to the astonishment of all, the animal got up, and went quietly with the flock to grazing. My brother and myself continued to take the medicine for eight or ten days — one gill three times a day. No effects of the dreadful poison were ever •discovered on either of us. It has been used very successfully in snake bites to my know- ledge." Cost of Manure.— It is said that the amount of guano annually used in Great Britain, for the last five years, has cost two rnillion pounds sterling, or about ten mil- lions of dollars— more than equal, yearly, to the cost of the Erie Canal till its first completion. Beet Sugar in Mormondom. — An Eng- lish comjiany has taken out a full equip- ment of machinery for the manufacture of beet sugar in Utah. It is said the country is well adapted to the growth of the sugar beet, and large quantities of seed had been sent previously. The Pie Plant. — A correspondent of the Indiana Farmer expresses the opinion,based upon experiment, that the use of ashes for the pie plant produces a more delicious plant than any mode of culture — not being sour, but just containing enough acidity to make them pleasant. Gov. Hammond, of South Carolina, esti- mates the present capacity of the slave- holding States as equal to the support of 200,000,000 of inhabitants. To give Vir- ginia as dense a population as Belgium has, (which exports far more of human food than Virginia does,) would require all the people now in the United States to reside in the " Ancient Dominion." ^ Seventeen Year Locusts. — As was pre- dicted last year, the seventeen year locusts have made their appearance in Connecticut. In 1818, and in 1835, their presence on a lot of land about 50 rods square, some three miles from the North Glastenbury post- office, is chronicled. The woods on that spot are now alive with their music. Strawberries. — Jason Heritage, of Bur- lington county, New-Jersey, says an acre and a half of ground, planted witli straw berries, will this year yield him, clear, $1000. Five hundired quarts were taken from the vines at one picking, on a little less than a quarter of an acre of laud, which, at 50 cents a quart, yield $250. Devonshire Cream. — The clouted cream of Devonshire is prepared by straining the new milk into a shallow dish, into which a little warm water has been previously put ; and after allowing it to stand from 6 to 12 hours, it is carefully heated over a slow fire or hot plate till the milk approaches to the boiling point; but it must not actually boil, or the skin of cream will be broken. The dish is then removed to the dairy, and the cream allowed to cool, when it may be used as cream or made into bvjtter. Milk varies so much in richness, that while a pound of butter has been made from seven quarts of the richest milk, it takes uineteeu or twenty quarts of the poorest tc make a pound of butter. There is a farm in Standish, Maine, con- sisting of eight acres, including yards, build- ings, Ac.,from which were gathered, last fall, 1 ,750 bushels of apples. Progress in Massachusetts. — Legislative documents exhibit the following as the " val- uation of the property and polls" within the- State at the times specified : 1820, ... - $163,694,26'7 1830, - - - 208,360,408 1840, ... - 299,818,329 1850, about - - 598,000,000 Timber Trade of Quebec. — The amotrat of timber exported from Quebec to Great Britain, in 1850, was 22,128,203 cubic feet; in 1851, it was 23,951,393. Three-fourth* of all received at Quebec is White Pine. The balance is Red Pine, Oak, Elm, Tam- arac and Spruce. Linen Goods. — We learn that N. B. Bor- den, Esq., of Fall River, and others, are erecting, in that busy village, a mill for the manufacture of linen fabrics. It will be the first of the kind built in the United States, In Yarmouth, a pig has been detected sucking a cow. It is suggested that this must be of the family of the learned pigs. TOPICS OF THE PRESS. 125 TOPICS OF THE PRESS, Fruits and Flowers ajioxg the French. — An exchange paper says, the culture of roses in France affords a branch of trade by no means unimportant. As early as 1770 the number of rose stocks exported was large, and the trade has increased, until now the income of the Department of the Seine alone from this source is estimated at a mil- lion of francs. The exportation to England, Germany, Russia, and North America is large and important. At least 100,000 stocks are annually sold in the Paris flower market, and ungrafted plants to the num- ber of 150,000, and an annual average of grafted plants for exportation of 800,000. Besides the roses, flowers to the amount of 4,000,000 of francs are annually sold in these markets, besides those which are used in public and private festivals. Paris con- sumes annually strawberries to the amount of 5,000, OOOf, to the raising of which fruit 1,250 acres of land are devoted in the De- partment of the Seine alone. Epinay, near St. Denis, sends daily, during the season, 500 francs' worth of asparagus to England . and Meudon, plums to the like amount; Harfleur exported, last year, 100,000 francs, worth of muskmelons to London. Melons throughout France are very profitably cul- tivated. French muskmelons are sent even to the Senegal, and to the United States. Longevity of the Horse. — The edi- tor of the America7i Veterinary Journal says, that it has long been the impression that the ordinary duration of a horse's life is much shorter than it ought to be, and that the excess of mortality is the result of carelessness or ignorant manage- ment. The great error consists in regard- ing the temperament and general constitu- tion of a horse as altogether different from those of a human being, whereas they are precisely the same in all important respects. Disease arising from excessive fatigue, over- heating, and exposure to air, want of exer- cise, improper diet both as respects qual- ity and quantity, and from many other causes, affects the- horse and his master alike, and neglect in either case must ter- minate fatally. Indeed, when a man or horse has acquired, by a course of training, a high degree of liealth and vigor, the skin of each is an infallible index of the fact. It has been often remarked in England, that the skin of the pugilist, who has under- gone a severe course of training, when he prepares himself for the fight, exhibits a degree of beauty and exceeding fairness that excites the admiration as well as the wonder of the spectators. So with the horse : his skin is the clearest evidence of the general state of his health. Even the common disease of foundering is not pecu- liar to the horse, but is a muscular affection, to which many men, who have overstrained themselves at any period, are subject. lu fact, the medical treatment of the horse and his rider ought to be the same ; and we confidently believe that if this principle was acted upon with a moderate share of attention and resolution, the average life of this useful animal would be much longer, and the profit derived from his labors pro- portionately greater. Wash for Apple Trees. — The Mass. Ploughman says, that all the orchardists who applied for premiums last year in Mid- dlesex Co., who washed with ley, state that the borer has not troubled them. One of them, Caleb Wight of Westford, does not wash with ley. He says, " I wash my trees with lime, clay, salt, and green ma- nure, luhich I think is better than potash." Now mark how Mr. Wight gets rid of the borer. He says, " The insect that most troubles me is the borer, and what I use to get rid of them is the mallet and gouge !" We pity the man who is forced to resort to this antiquated method to cut out worms that would never be found in the tree that is washed with ley. We should much prefer to let the borer remain in the trees rather than trust to the nicest gouger to dig for them. They come out of then- own accord the third year, turn to flies and die, as silk- worms do. By washing the trees the flies are kept away and lay no eggs there. And when they have laid their eggs at the root of the tree, the ley destroys them. It ought to be applied in June before the flies begin to lay their eggs. But July will answer, when you intend to kill the eggs that have been laid. We have never known this fly to lay her eggs in any month but July. One pound of potasli will make one gallon of ley strong enough for trees./ Iron. — The People's Advocate, of Read ing. Pa., says : " 1 1 appears to be not gener- ally known to what an immense extent the manufacture of this metal is carried on in this State. Pennsylvania now produces as much iron as was manufactured in all Great Britain thirty years ago. Compai-ed to the 126 TOPICS OP THE PRESS. present manufacture of the article in France, that of Pennsylvania is at least equal ; it is more than Hussia and Sweden united; and exceeds that of all Germany. Penn- sylvania may well be called the Iron State of the Union ; and from these mineral trea- sures she must build up a prosperity more splendid and permanent than if wrought from gold, for gold is the ultimate product of her iron." Agricultural Fairs. — We publish be- low a table of the times of holding sundry Agricultural Fairs, in the different States and counties, which includes all we have noticed, not already published : NATIONAL. American Institute, New- York. — Ex- hibition opens at Castle Garden, Oct. 5. Cattle Show, Oct. 19, 20, 21. American Pomolo- gical Congress, at Philadelphia, Oct. 13 state fairs. New-York, at Utica, Ohio, at Cleveland, Michigan, at Detroit, Canada West, at Toronto, Vermont, at Rut- land, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, at Mil- waukee, Georgia, Maryland, at Balti- more, Indiana, at , Wisconson, at Mil- ■waukee, Rhode Island So- ciety of Improve- ment, at Provi- dence, New-England So- ciety for Improve- ment of Poultry, at Boston, New-Hampshire, at Kentucky Agricul- tural and Mecha- nical Association, at Lexington, Texas, at Corpus Christ!, Sept. 7, 8, 9, 10 15, 16, 17 22, 23, 24 " 21, 22, 23, 24 1, 2, 3 Oct. 20, 21, 22 6, 1, 8 18 to 23 " 26, 27, 28, 29 Oct. 19 6, 7, 8 Sept. 15, 16, 17 " 7, 8, 9, 10 Oct. 6, 7. 8 Sept. 14 first week in May. Sept. Oct. Sept. Oct. Sept. Clinton, at Keese- ville, Chemung, at Horse- heads, Columbia, at Chat- ham 4 Corners, Cayuga, at Auburn, Dutchess, at Wash- ington Hollow, Essex, at , Genesee, at Batavia, Greene, at Cairo, Herkimer, at Her- kimer, '• Jefferson, at Water- town, " Madison, at Eaton, " Monroe, at Roches- ter, " Otsego, at Morris, " Orleans, at Albion, " Ontario, at Canandai- gua, Putnam, at Carmel, Oct. Rensselaer, at Troy, Sept. Saratoga, at Mecha- nicsville, " Suffolk, at Hunting- ton, " Seneca, at Waterloo, Oct. Wayne — this coun- ty holds two fairs ; one at Wol- cot, Sept. The other at Pal- myra, '■ Wyoming, at War- saw, Sept. NEW-HAMPSHIRE. Hillsboro', N. H, at Nashua & Nash- ville, Sept. MASSACHUSETTS. Berkshire, Pittsfield, Oct. CONNECTICUT. Middlesex, Middle- town, Oct. Windham, Sept. VERMONT. Franklin, St. Al- bans, Sept. Windham, Fayette- ville, " 22, 23, 24 29, 30 29, 30 6, 7 5, 6 20, 21, 23 6, 7 21, 22 •28, 29 16, 17 22, 23 29, 30 22, 23 23, 24 29, 30 5, 6 22, 23, 24 15, 16, 17 22 14, 15 21, 22 28, 29 22, 23 29, 30 6, 1 6, 7, 8 16, le COUNTY SHOWS. — NEW-YORK. Cortland, at land, Cort- Sept, 15, 16 Burlington, HoUy, NEW-JERSET. Mount Oct. TOPICS OF THE PRESS. 127 PENNSYLVANIA. Alleghany, at , Oct. 6 Berks, Reading, " 1 Bucks, Newtovrn, '• 7, 8 Montgomery, Nor- ristown. Pbiladelpliia, near Philadelphia, Sept. 30 and Oct. 1 Susquehanna, Mont- rose, Oct. 6 Northumberland, at Northumberland, " 7, 8 OHIO. Mahoning, Ohio, at Cuyahoga, Cleve- land, MICHIGAN. Lenawee, Adrian, Oct, 5, 6 6, 1 6, 1 Teicks of Animals. — In breaking or managing a horse, however intractable or Btubborn his temper may be, preserve your own. Almost every fault the brute has, arises from ignorance. Be patient with him ; teach and coax him, and success in time is certain. There are tricks, however, which are the result of confirmed habit or vicious- uess, and these sometimes requu'e a differ- ent treatment. A horse accustomed to starting and running away may be effectu- ally cured by putting him to the top of his speed on such occasions, and running till pretty thoroughly exhausted. A horse that had a trick of pulling his bridle and breaking it, was at last reduced to better habits by tying him tightly to a stake driven on the bank of a steep stream, with his tail pointing to the water ; he coua- menced pulling at the halter, which sud- denly parted ; over the bank he tumbled, and, after a somerset or two, and flounder- ing awhile in the water, he was satisfied to remain at his post in future, and break no more bridles. A ram has been cured of butting at every thing and every body, by placing au unre- sbting effigy in a similar position ; the sud- den assault on a wintry day then resulted in tumbling his ramship into a cold bath, which his improved manner took good care to avoid in future. A sheep-killing dog has been made too much ashamed ever again to look a sheep in the ilice, by tying his hind leg to a stout ram on ihe brow of a hill, while the flock were quietly feeding at the bottom. The ram being free, and in haste to rejoin his friends, tumbled and thumped Master Ti-ay so sadly over the stones and gullies, that he was quite satisfied to confine himself to cooked mutton thereafter. — American Agri- culturist. How TO MAKE Bacon Plenty. — A writer in the Southern Cultivator says : " In the first place, every planter should raise a suf- ficient quantity of corn, and never be under the necessity of buying ; then, if possible, inclose enough land to keep his hogs in, and not permit them to run at large, to become wild, or be killed up by his neighbors' ne- groes. In the next place, make a boiler as follows : Get two planks, each ten feet long, two and a half feet wide, and two inches thick; then make the bottom and ends of sheet iron, by nailing it on the planks ; set this boiler on two rows of bricks, about one foot high from the ground, with a chimney for a flue. This boiler can be heated with a very small quantity of wood. Into this boiler put your corn, cotton seed, pumpkins, peas, cabbage leaves, turnips, potatoes, kit- chen slop.and every thing that a hog will eat, and boil them together, every day, oc- casionally throwing in a little salt and ashes, and have several troughs close by the boiler, and feed your hogs every night with this food ; and my word for it, we sliall soon be able to be exporters, instead of importers, of bacon and pork. " The same quantity of food given to hogs cooked as above will raise and keep fat three times as many as when given to them in the ordinary raw state." The Rutabaga. — Among the many root crops that can be cultivated with profit at the South, scarcely one sm-passes the Ruta- baga; and yet, strange to say, it is as yet but little known or appreciated. It is alto- gether richer than the common turnip, con- taining considerable saccharine matter, and is considered in England (from whence we get the seed) the ne plus ultra of all the turnip tribe. Its perfect adaptation to the South is now placed beyond all dispute, although it is not inclined to seed in this climate ; consequently, the only safe means to secure a good crop is annually to provide fresh seed. The seed may be sown through all this and the next month. One of the greatest difficulties in raising rutabagas ia in cultivating them too thick. They should be sown in drills, two feet apart, and thinned out to twelve inches in the drill. Cultivated in this manner, their tops will form one vast, dense mass of foliage. The top yields as much aa the same amount of land in col- 128 TOPICS OP THE PRESS. lards, and the bottom will out-yield any thriftily, and are thicker, and are less liable crop that we are acquainted with in this to be split down. By cutting wood ofteft, country ; and very few surpass it for nutri- you insure not only the greatest growth of ment iu sustaining animal life. Look to it wood, but tlie greatest growth of money. in season, that you get a good patch. — Soil Cattle should never be sutfered to run on a of the South. wood lot while the trees are small. Moisture by Deep Ploughino. — P. Mor- ris says, iu the Farm Journal, that he broke up a stiff sod for corn with a heavy plough drawn by four oxen. A subsoil plough fol- lowed, running down six or seven inches deeper. The whole work was so thorough- ly ])erformed, that a stick could be thrust down into the loose earth, in almost any part of the field, to a depth of fifteen inches. The summer was excessively dry, pastures were burnt and bare, and tillage crops suf- fered severely. But the corn on the sub- soiled land continued green and luxuriant throughout the season. Great Yield of Hay. — One of the hand- somest residences, with one of the best, if not the best mowing lot in this State con- nected with it, is owned by H. W. Clapp, Esq., of this town. It is at the east end of Main street, fronting on Main, Franklin, Church, and High streets. It was accurately surveyed in 1845 by Csias Roberts, Esq., and found to contain eight acres and one hundred and fourteen rods. The buildings, pleasure grounds, and garden occupy one acre and fourteen rods, leaving in the mow- ing lot seven acres and one hundred rods. On Monday last Mr. Clapp, with a large number of men, commenced cutting the grass on the mowing lot, and cut and housed it all last week, in beautiful order. On weighing the hay, the product of the seven acres and one hundred rods was found to be twenty-nine tons, four hundred and twejiti/- seven pounds ; or over four tons to the acre. If there is another lot in the State that will produce this amount of hay, we should like to hea lof it. The hay was all of the best quality. — Corrector {Long Island.) Growth of Wood. — An exchange pa- per says : — The season of the year in which forests are cut off is believed to have an influence ou the succeeding growth. To give some test of this matter, the Plymouth County (Mass.) Agricultural Society offered several premiums. A report was made last year, which set forth the conclusion that the nearer the season of the ascending sap (spring) wood is cut, the more flourish- ing will be its succeediug growth. The person who received the premium for this experiment, states that he is satisfied the nearer the ground the wood is cut, the better; the shoots will start and grow more Good Bread. — Mr. Weed writes to the Albany Evening Journal : " We could learn one lesson from Austria with great advantage to our people. This is the art of making good bread, which, being as it is here universal, is really a great national blessing. We were struck first at Trieste with the fine quality of bread at our hotel. At all the eating- houses between Trieste and Vienna we re- marked the excellence of the bread. Here we enjoy the same luxury. Nor is it a luxury for the rich alone. The same light, sweet bread isiu all the bake-shops at prices which enable all classes to purchase. Eng- land has contrived, humanely, to give 'cheap bread ' to her people, but Austria affords it still cheaper, and of an excellent quality. I do not know that this secret for making good bread can be communicated. Perhaps it is owing to some peculiarity in the flour, or in the water ; but I do know that the art of making for the American people such bread as is eaten throughout Austria Avould be an acquisition of incalculable value. A Vienna baker who should go to the city of New- York and vend such bread ^s we get here, would be able to ride in his coach and reside on the Fifth Avenue in two years ; that is, providing the Yankee bakers did not find out his secret." An Experiment with Guano. — The 3Iid- dlesex Farmer says that Mr. Nathaniel Hol- den, of Sliirley, states that he had on his farm some land, good for nothing as he sup- Eosed but to hold the world together, but earing of the good effects of guano, he determined to try the experiment with the article ou it. He added guano and plaster of Paris in equal quantities, and put one spoonful iu each hill of corn, mixing it well with the loam. The result was 70 bushels of shelled corn to two acres of the land. So well encouraged is he with his first experi- ment, that he will continue to use the article. The census returns of the Territory of New-Mexico give 61,574 inhabitants, 6,715 farms, 1,157 deaths in a year, 20 manufac- turing establishments built subsequent to General Kearney's invasion. One f\imily consisted of father, mother, and 24 children, all living together. The principal diseases are fever and erysipelas. ®l)c piougl), tl)c Coom, antr tl)c Slnuil, Vol. V. SEPTEMBER, 1852. No. 3. BRITISH FREE TRADE IN IRELAND. " I REMEMBER, when I saw the poor Lettes in Livonia, I used to pity them for hav- ing to live in huts built of the unhewn logs of trees, the crevices being stopped up with moss. I pitied them on account of their low doors, and their diminutive win- dows; and gladly would I have arranged their chimneys for them in a more suitable manner. Well, Heaven pardon my ignorance. I knew not that I should ever see a people on whom Almighty God had imposed yet heavier privations. Now that I have seen Ireland, it seems to me that the Lettes, the Esthonians, and the Finlanders, lead a life of comparative comfort, and poor Paddy would feel like a king with their houses, their habiliments, and their daily fare. " A wooden house, with moss to stop up its crevices, would be a palace in the wild regions of Ireland. Paddy's cabin is built of earth, one shovelful over the other, with a few stones mingled here and there, till the wall is high enough. But perhaps you will say, the roof is thatched or covered with bark. Ay, indeed ! A few sods of grass, cut from a neighboring bog, are his only thatch. Well, but a window or two at least, if it be only a pane of glass fixed in the wall, or the bladder of some animal, or a piece of talc, as may often be seen in a Wallachian hut? What idle luxury were this ! There are thousands of cabins in which not a trace of a window is to be seen; nothing but a little square hole in front, which doubles the duty of door, win- dow, and chimney ; light, smoke, pigs, and children, all must pass in and out of the same aperture! "A French author, Beaumont, who had seen the Irish peasant in his cabin, and the North American Indian in his wigwam, has assured us that the savage is better provided for than the poor man in Ireland. Indeed, the question may be raised, whether in the whole world a nation is to be found that is subjected to such physical privations as the peasantry in some parts of Ireland. This fact cannot be placed in too strong a light; for if it can once be shown that the wretchedness of the Irish population is without a parallel example on the globe, surely every friend of hu- manity will feel himself called on to reflect whether means may not be found for remedying an evil of so astounding a magnitude ! " A Russian peasant, no doubt, is the slave of a harder master, but still he is fed and housed to his content, and no trace of mendicancy is to be seen in him. The HungarRins are certainly not among the best used people in the world; still, what fine wheaten bread, and what wine, has even the humblest among them for his daily fare! The Hungarian would scarcely believe it, if he were to be told there was a country in which the inhabitants must content themselves with potatoes every alter- nate day in the year. " Scrvia and Bosnia are reckoned among the most wretched countries of Europe, and certainly the appear.ance of one of their villages has little that is attractive about it : hnt at least the people, if badly housed, are well clad. We look not for much luxury or comfort among the Tartars of the Crimea ; we call them poor and barbarous, but, good heavens I they look at least like human creatures. They have a national costume, their houses are habitable, their orchards are carefully tended, and their gaily-harnessed ponies are mostly in good condition. An Irishman has nothing national about him but his rags, — his habitation is without a plan, his do- mestic economy without rule or law. We have beggars and paupers among us, but they form at least an exception : whereas, in Ireland, beggary or abject poverty is the prevailing rule. The nation is one of beggars, and they who are above beggary seem to form the exception. '• The African negroes go naked, but then they have a tropical sun to warm them. The Irish are little removed from a state of nakedness ; and their climate, though not Cdld, is cool, and extremely humid. '• The Indians in America live wretchedly enough at times, but they have no know- VOL.V.— 9 J e. 129 130 BRITISH FREE TRADE IN IRELAND. ledge of a better condition, and, as they are hunters, they have every now and then, a productive chase, and are able to make a number of feast-days in the year. Many Irishmen have but one day on which they eat flesh, namely, on Christmas-day. Every other day they feed on potatoes, and nothing but potatoes. Now this is inhu- man; fur the appetite and stomach of man claim variety in food, and nowhere else do we find human beings gnawing from year's end to year's end, at the same root, berry, or weed. There are animals that do so, but human beings nowhere except in Ireland. " There are nations of slaves, but they have, by long custom, been made uncem- scious of the yoke of slavery. This is not the case with the Irish, who have a strong feeling of liberty within them, and are fully sensible of the weight of the yoke they have to bear. They are intelligent enough to know the injustice done them by the distorted laws of their country; and while they are themselves enduring the extreme of poverty, they have frequently before them, in the manner of life of their English landlords, a spectacle of the most refined luxury that human ingenuity ever in- vented. " Vv'hat awakens t^he most painful feelings in travelling through one of these rocky, boggy districts, rich in nothing but ruins, is this: — Whether you look back into the past, or forward to the future, no prospect more cheering presents itself. There is not the least trace left to show that the country has ever been better cultivated, or that a happier race ever dwelt in it. It seems ae if wretchedness had prevailed there from time immemorial — as if rags had succeeded rags, bog had formed over bog, ruins had given birth to ruins, and beggars had begotten beggars, for a long series of centuries. Nor does the future present a more cheering view. Even for the poor Greeks under Turkish domination, there was more hope than for the Irish under the English." — Kohl's Travels in Ireland. Tl)e picture here given is from the pen of an accomplished German travel- ler, who had visited and described most of the countries of Europe; but who had nowhere found the squalor and wretchedness that prevailed among the people of that important portion of the British Empire, called Ireland. And yet he travelled eight or ten years since, before the ravages of famine and pisstilence had been so fully experienced as not only to have arrested the progress of population, but actually to have diminished it to a point lower than that at which it stood thirty years since. The numbers of the last four censuses have been as follows : — 1821 6,801,827 18yl 7,767,401 1841 8,175,124 1851 6,515,794 To what causes may this extraordinary course of events be attributed ? Certainly not to any deficiency of land, for nearly one-third of the whole surface, including millions of acres of the richest soils of the kingdom, re- main in a state of nature. Not to original inferiority of the soil in cul- tivation, for it has been confessedly among the richest in the empire. Not to a deficiency of mineral ores or fuel, for coal abounds, and iron ores of the richest kind, as well as those of other metals, exist in vast profusion. Not to any deficiency in the physical qualities of the Irishman, for it is an estab- lished fact that he is capable of performing far more labour than the English- man, the Frenchman, or the Belgian. Not to a deficiency of intellectual ability, for Ireland has given to England her most distinguished soldiers and states- men ; and we have in this country everywhere evidence that the Irishman is capable of the highest degree of intellectual improvement. Nevertheless, while poseessed of every advantage that nature could give him, we find the Irishman at home a slave to the severest taskmasters, and reduced to a con- dition of poverty and distress such as is exhibited in no other portion of the civilized world. No choice is now left him but between expatriation and BRITISH FREE TRADE IN IRELAND. 131 starvation, and therefore it is that we see him now everywhere abandoning the home of his fathers, to seek elsewhere that subsistence which Irehind, rich as she is in soil and in her minerals, in her navigable rivers, and in her facilities of communication with the world, can no longer afford him. To enable us to understand the causes of this extraordinary state of things, we must study the colonial system of England ; that system which has for its object the conversion of all the people of the rest of the world into farmers and planters, dependant upon Manchester and Birmingham, Leeds and Sheffield, for a market for their products, and for a market in which to purchase the machinery of cultivation, and the clothing of the cultivator, his wife and his children. The government which followed the completion of the Revolution of 1688, pledged itself to discountenance the woollen manufacture of Ireland, with a view to compel the export of raw wool to England, whence its exportation to foreign countries was prohibited ; the effect of which was, of course, to enable the English manufacturer to purchase it at his own price. From that period forward we find numerous regulations as to the ports from which alone woollen yarn or cloth might go to England, and the ports of the latter through which it might come ; while no effort was spared to induce the peo- ple of Ireland to abandon woollens and take to flax. Laws were passed prohi- biting the export of Irish cloth and glass to the colonies. By other laws Irish ships were deprived of the benefit of the navigation laws. The fisheries were closed against them. No sugar could be imported from any place but Great Britain, and no drawback was allowed on its exportation to Ireland; and thus was the latter compelled to pay a tax for the support of the British govern- ment, while maintaining its own. All other colonial produce was required to be carried first to England, after which it might be shipped to Ireland ; and as Irish shipping was excluded from the advantages of the navigation laws, it followed that the voyage of importation was to be made in British ships, manned by British seamen, and owned by British merchants, who were thus authorized to tax the people of Ireland for doing their work, while a large portion of the Irish people were themselves unemployed. While thus prohibiting the growth of manufactures or of trade, every inducement was held out to them to confine themselves to the production of commodities required by the English manufacturers, and wool, hemp, and flax were admitted into England free of duty ; and thus we see that the system of that day in reference to Ireland was almost precisely what it is now in reference to the world at large. During our War of the Revolution, freedom of trade was claimed for Ireland J and as the demand was made at a time when a large portion of her people were under arms as volunteers, the merchants and manufacturers of England, who had so long forced themselves into the situation of middlemen for the people of the sister kingdom, found themselves compelled to remove some of the restrictions under which the latter had so long remained. Step by step changes were made, until at length, in 1783, Ireland was declared independent. Thenceforward we find manufactures and trade making progress; and such continued to be the case, until, by the Act of Union, the country was reduced to the condition of a mere colony, without the enjoyment of any single right for which these colonies had contended. The Copyright Laws of England were extended to Ireland, and at once the large and growing manufacture of books was prostrated.* The Patent Laws were * Perhaps the most striking illustration of the changed circumstances of Ireland 132 BRITISH FREE TRADE IN IRELAND. extended to Ireland ; and as England had so long monopolized to herself the manufacturing machinery then in use, it was clear that it was there the improvements would be made, and that thenceforth the manufactures of Ireland must retrograde. Manchester had the home market, the foreign market, and, to no small extent, that of Ireland open to her; while the manu- facturers of the latter were forced to contend for existence, and under the most disadvantageous circumstances, on their own soil, as is now the case with the manufacturers of cloth and iron in this country. The one could afford to purchase expensive machinery, and to adopt whatever improvements might be made, while the other could not. The natural consequence was, that Irish manufactures gradually disappeared as the Act of Union came into eifect. By virtue of its provisions, the duties established by the Irish Parliament for the purpose of protecting the farmers of Ireland in their efforts to bring the loom and the anval into close proximity with the plough and the harrow, were gradually to diminish, and British free-trade was to be fully established ; or, in other words, Manchester and Birmingham were to have a monopoly of supplying Ireland with cloth and iron. The duty on English woollens was to continue twenty years. The almost prohibitory duties on English calicoes and muslins were to continue until 1808 ; after which they were to be gradually diminished, until in 1821 they were to cease. Those on cotton yarn were to cease in 1810. The effect of this in diminishing the demand for Irish labour, is seen in the following comparative view of manu- factures at the date of the Union, and at different periods in the ensuing forty years, here given : Dublin, 1800, Master woollen manufacturers,.... 91 ... 1840, 12 " Hands employed, 4918 ... " 602- " Master wool-combers, 30 ... 1834, 5 " Hands employed 230 ... " 66 '• Carpet manufacturers, 13 ... 1841, 1 " Hands employed, 720 ... " none. Kilkenny, 1800, Blanket manufacturers 56 ... 1822, 42 " Hands employed, 3000 ... « 925 Dublin, 1800, Silk-loom weavers at work, 2500 ... 1840, 250 Balbriggan, 1799, Calico looms at work, 2000 ... 1841, 226 "Wicklow, 1800, Hand-looms at work, 1000 ... 1841, none. Cork, 1800, Braid weavers, 1000 ... 1834, 40 " Worsted weavers, 2000 ... " 90 " Hosiers, 300 ... " 28 " Wool-combers, 700 ... " 110 " Cotton weavers 2000 ... " 200 " Linen check weavers 600 ... " none. Cotton spinners, bleachers, Kj^^^g^^^^g ^_ ,, ^^^^^ calico printers, J " For nearly half a century Ireland has had perfectly free trade with the richest country in the world ; and what" says the author of a recent work of great ability, " has that free trade done for her? She has even now," he continues, " no employment for her teeming population except upon the land. She ought to have had, and might easily have had," other and various since the Union, is to be found in the diminished consumption of books. Prior to 18U0, a large portion of the valuable books published in England, were reprinted across the channel ; and evidence of this may especially be found on an examination of any of our old law libraries, where almost all the reporters of that period, as well as many of the most valuable treatises, will be found to be of Irish editions. It :i ay be doubted if thj whole quantity of books sold in Ireland at this time is equal to that which before the Union was published by a single house. BRITISH FREE TRADE IN IRELAND. 133 employments, and plenty of it. Are we to believe," says he, " the calumny that the Irish are lazy and won't work ? Is Irish human nature different from other human nature ? Are not the most laborious of all labourers in London and Ne\» York, Irishmen ? Are Irishmen inferior in understanding? We Englishmen who have personally known Irishmen in the army, at the bar, and in the church, kuow that there is no better head than a disciplined Irish one. But in ail these cases, that master of industry, the stomach, has been well satisfied. Let an Englishman exchange his bread and beer, and beef and mutton, for no breakfast, for a lukewarm lumper at dinner, and no supper. With such a diet, how much better is he tlian an Irishman — a CeJt, as he calls him? No, the truth is, that the misery of Ireland is not from the human nature that grows there — it is from England's perverse legislation, past and present."* Deprived of all employment, except in the labour of agriculture, land became, of course, the great object of pursuit. '' Land is life," said, most emphatically. Chief Justice Blackburn; " and the people had before them the choice between the occupation of laud, at anij rent, or starvation. The lord of the land was thus enabled to dictate his own terms, and therefore it has been that we have heard of the payment of five, six, eight, and even as much as ten pounds per acre." ''Enormous rents, low wages, farms of an enormous extent, let by rapacious and indolent proprietors to monopolizing land-jobbers, to be relet by intermediate oppressors, fur five times their value, among the wretched starvers on potatoes and water," led to a constant suc- cession of outrages, followed by Insurrection Acts, Arms Acts, and Coercion Acts, when the real remedy was to be found in the adoption of a system that would emancipate the country from the tyranny of the spindle and the loom, and permit the labour of Ireland to find employment at home. That employment could not be had. With the suppression of Irish manu- factures the demand for labour had disappeared. We have now before us the work of a highly intelligent traveller, describing the state of Ireland in 1834, thirteen years after the free-trade provisions of the Act of Union had come fully into operation, frum which we shall now give some extracts, showing that they were compelled to remain idle, although willing to work at the lowest wages — such wages as could not by any possibility enable them to do more than merely sustain life, and perhaps not even that. Cashel. — " Wages here only eightpence a day, and numbers altogether without employment." Oahir. — "I noticed, on Sunday, on coming from church, the streets crowded with labourers, with spades and other implements in their hands, standing to be hired ; and I ascertained that any number of these men might have been engaged, on constant employment, at sixpence per daij without diet." AViclilow. — "The husband of this woman was a labourer, at sixpence a day, eighty of which sixpences — that is, eighty days' labour — were absorbed in the rent of the cabin." "in another cabin was a decently dressed woman with live children, and her husband was also a labourer at sixpence a day. The pig had been taken for rent a few days befoi-e." " I found some labourers receiving on\y fourpence per day." Kilkenny. — •' Upwards of 200U persons totally without employment." "I visited the factoiies that used to support -OU men with their families, and how many men did I find at work? Onk man ! In place of finding men occupied, I saw them in scores, like spectres, walking about, and lying about the mill. 1 saw immense piles of goods completed, but for wliicli there was no sale. 1 saw heaps of blankets, and I saw every loom idle. As fur tiie carpets wliich had excited the jealousy and tlie fears of Kidderminster, not one had been made for seven months. To convey an idea of the destitution of these people, I mention, that when an order recently arrived for * Sophisms of Free Trade, by J. Barnard Byles, Esq. 134 BRITISH FREE TRADE IN IRELAND. the manufacture of as many blankets for tlie police as would have kept the men at work for a few days, bonfires were lighted about the country — not bonfires to com- municate insurrection, but to evince joy that a few starving men were about to earn bread to support their families. Nevertheless, we are told that Irishmen will not work at home." Callen. — "In this town, cont.aining between four and five thousand inhabitants, at least 1000 are without regular employment, six or seven hundred entirely destitute, and there are upwards of 200 mendicants in the town — persons incapable of work."— . Ingliss Ireland in 1834. Such was the picture everywhere presented to the eye of this intelligent traveller. Go where he might, he found hundreds anxious for en)pli»yi)ient, yet no employment could be had, unless they could travel to England, there to spend tceekam travelling round the country in quest of days of etnploy- ment, the wages for which might enable them to pay their rent at home. " The Celt," says the Times, " is the hewer of wood and the drawer of water to the Saxon. The great works of this country," it continues, •■' depend on clw.ap labour." Such being the case, the lower the price at which the Celt could be made to work, the better for the Saxon; and no better mode could be f(mnd of cheapening labour than the sacrifice of Irish manufactures, brought about by the adoption of British free trade, the inevitable effect of which must be that of placing the whole population at home in the power of the few owners of land, and abroad in that of the projectors of the great works of England, requiring for their accomplishment a large supply of those '' hewers of wood and drawers of water." It might be th<:>Ught, however, that Ireland was deficient in the capital required for obtaining machinery of miinufacture to enable her people to maintain competition with her powerful neighbour. In reply to this we have to say that before the Union she had that machinery ; and from the date of that arrangement, so fraudulently brought about, by which was settled conclu- sively the destructiim of Irish manufactures, the annual waste of labour was greater than the whole amount of capital then employed in the cotton and woollen manufactures of England. From that date the people of Ireland were thrown, from year to year, more in the hands of middlemen, who ac- cumulated fortunes that they would not invest in the improvement of land, and could not, under the system which prostrated manufactures, invest in machinery of any kind calculated to render labour productive ; and all their accumulationa were sent therefore to Eiajland for i/tves/meiit. We have now before us an oflficial statement shewing that the transfers of British seeuriries from England to Ireland, that is to say, the investment of Irish capital in Eng- land, in the thirteen years following the final adoption of Biiti>h free trade in 1821, amounted to as many millions of pounds sterling; and thus w.is Ire- land forced to contribute cheap labour and cheap capital to building up " the great M'orks of Britain." Further, it was provided by law that wheUf vei- the poor people of a neighbourhood C(nitiibuted to a saving fund the iiniount should not be applied in any manner calculated to furnish local employment, but should bo transferred for investment in the British funds. The iiuid- lords fled to England, and their rent followed them. The middlemen sent their capital to England. The trader or the labourer that could accumulate a little capital saw it sent to England; and he wa.s then conijjelled to follow it. Such is the history of the origin of the present abandonment of Iit-laud by its inhabitants. The form in which rents, profits, and savings, as well as taxes, went to England, was that of raw products of the sod, to be consumed abroad, BRITISH FREE TRADE IN IRELAND. 135 yiel(Hnlum-iiudding stone, from its resemblance to a raisin pudding ; the nodules are black mica, some round, from one half to one inch in diameter, others in the shape and of the size of a butternut. Drift furrows or scratches are abundant on all the rocks in place that have been recently uncovered, and they all have a southerly direction. I have recently examined some fair specimens traversing south, 15° east, some more east, while others more westerly, as the elevations would direct the diluvial current to the right or left. Our nights are cool, and English grain is of good quality. Potatoes are not as yet affected with the rust ; the crop looks more promising than for the past six years. Corn is backward, but looks well ; grass about two thirds of a crop, the quality excellent. The early drought injured vegetation much, but it appears there will be a sufficiency for man and beast, oats being abun- dant. Ariel Hunton'. Hi/de Park, Lamoille County, Vt. rOK. THE TLODOH, THE LOOM, AND THE ANVIL. CULTURE OF COTTON. Messrs. Editors: — Your letter of the 13th ult. came duly to hand, ac- companied with the July number of your interesting and valuable periodical. Pressing engagements and bad health have prevented an earlier reply. I will endeavor to send you a few numbers " on the culture of cotton, &c., which may be of use to the inexperienced, or to those who may be disposed to profit by the experience of others." The seed come first in order, and will form the subject of our first number. Of these there are many varieties, more or less approved according to the circumstances of soil, seasons, and climate. Most of them are derived from the Petit Gulf, as that was a derivation of the old Mexican, which last was substituted for the green seed some twenty-five or more years ao^o. These varieties are known as -the Banana, the Pomegranate, the Sugar-loaf, the Tavoo, Helen, Hunt, Multibole, and Vicks hundred seed. Besides these, there is the Prout, Ellison, and Harris or royal cluster, which are said to be descended from the green seed, and which are all probably the same seed under diflferent names. When the lands were fresh, the climate less variable, and the boll-worm less destructive than at present, the Petit Gulf seed did remarkably well. Bat for the last ten years it has been found too weedy, leaves and limbs too large, spaces between joints or bolls too long, and re- quiring too much space and time for its growth. Hence, in selecting new varieties of seed, the great objects have been and still are to get plants which will mature early and bear crowding in the drill, or produce the largest num- ber of bolls in the smallest space. Fortunately, these two valuable properties are generally united, as the qualities favorable to early maturity, such as short limbs and joints, small leaves, short stem, adapt it also to close plant- ing. The spaces between drills on good soils were formerly five and six feet, and between the stalks and the drills eighteen and twenty-four inches. The former is now reduced to three and a half to four feet, and the latter to from VOL. V. 11 178 LAND IN NEW-ENGLAND FELDSPAR. nine to twelve inches. The great importance of early maturity arises from the fact that whenever the weather is favorable for the boll-worm, it attacks the forms, blooms and small bolls from the 1st to the 20Lh August; and if there is not then a good supply of grown bolls, the chance for a crop is a slim one. Two years out of three the cotton crop is subject to this disaster, to a greater or less extent. The boll-worm is emphatically the great enemy to the crop, and is more destructive than all other causes combined. The Helen, Sugar-loaf, Pomegranate, and Hunt, are all very popular seed, and for ordinary upland soils may do as well as any other. But for deep, rich soils, my experience and observation are decidedly in favor of the Harris or royal cluster. It has a small weed, limbs numerous and short, joints the same, leaves small, and is a prolific bearer. There are several moles of improving seed, and keeping up a pure stock. One is to make trusty hands go in advance of the other pickers, and select choice bolls from choice stalks, or stalks having desirable peculiarities. Another mode is to select favoi'ite seed from the seed-pile. These are both very practicable. It is believed that the best time to save seed is in October, when the middle crop of bolls is matured. I have made it an object the present year to plant two years old seed by way of experiment, believing that they might run more to fruit by age, as some other vegetables do. I have also planted a new variety of seed, procured last spring from Texas, and commended very highly in the Galveston and New-Orleans papers. It is called the Dean cotton. From its present appearance I suspect it to be too nearly akin to the Mastodon, now obsolete ; if not the same, to prove valu- able. I was assured, however, a few days ago, by a gentleman of discern- ment from Texas, that he knew the Dean cotton to be a diflerent variety from the Mastodon. Greensboro, Ala., Aug. 11, 1851. FOR THE PLOUGH, THE LOOM, AND THB ANVIL. LAND IN NEW-ENGLAND — FELDSPAR. Messrs. Editors : — New-England, you are well aware, has a hard and sterile soil, and yet we profess to be somewhat a fjirming people. If we can- not boast of so rich a soil as they have at the 'West, yet we can boast of our energy and perseverance. Read the statistics of the Agricultural Convention at Washington, and there you find us ready for any improvement, and all improvements, in agriculture. The soils and production of New-England are various. Take, for instance, the Connecticut Valley, embracing a large extent. of country in four of the New-England States. This valley has a deep, rich soil, adapted to the culture cf Broom Corn, Tobacco, Potatoes, and Grass. Then there are the high lands, with a different soil, adapted to Indian Corn, Rye, Buckwheat, Grass, &c. This land is constantly enriching itself by the decomposition of Feldsjorir and other mineral substances. We have large quantities of Fehhpar distributed all over New- England, and the time is not far distant, in my humble opinion, when it will be used as a manure, like plaster. But though thus hard and sterile, by patience, perseverance, and industry, many portions of New-England have been converted into a garden, beautiful and luxuriant. Our rocks have been considered, in times past, a great incon- venience to farmers ; but what could we do without them ? We want them for walls, cellars, factories, bridges, &c. ; and when our timber is gone, then we IMPROVEMENTS IN THE WEST. 179 shall find them a great blessinir. Farmers are beginning to awake to the subject of agriculture in New-England, and a mighty revolution has com- menced that must result in great good to all in the East and West, North and South. Science, tliat great boon to man, must work this mighty revolution, and when our legislators shall appoint scientific men to investigate our soils, we may expect a new era in the department of scientific agriculture. New-Bedford, Juhj 19, 1852. J. E.OBINSON. FOR THB PLOUGH, THE LOOM, AND THE ANVIL. IMPROVEMENTS IN THE WEST. Independence, Missouri, July 5th, 1852. Being now at leisure, I send you sonr.e remarks, drawn from my notes by the way, on the character cf the Missouri, which if you think worthy of inser- tion in your miscellany, they are at your service. This great river is unequalled in the world in extent and volume of water, being upwards of three thousand miles long, (I except the Amazon,) excessively crooked, muddy, sweet to drink, indeed delicious. It is used as drinking water on the Illinois, the upper and lower Mississippi, in St. Louis, and other river towns, in preference to well water, when ice can be obtained, and is exceedingly wholesome. In its healthy qualities and muddiness, it resembles the Jordan of Palestine. Its channel and margin, and numerous bluffs, are perfectly monotonous. It is continually running near to one bluff, sweeping the sandy soil away to its base, and lodg- ing it on the other side ; anon, the next freshet the current shifts, and throws it back again to the side from which it originally had taken the same alluvion. He who is a good pilot this season cannot judge where the channel will be the next. It follows that its navigation cannot be improved by any possible means within the power of man ; it must ever be dangerous. I do not believe that it is more than a mile between the bluff banks on an average, for the five hundred miles next above St. Louis. Did this river run in a straight channel, its rapidity would be such that no boat could stem it. As it is, the crooked places are very much like wing-dams. They occur so frequently, that the current is much retarded, and the boat has, in most cases, to cross from one side to the other. It is also important frequently to use the lead ; but this is of little avail in descending the river. There are not three towns on the river to this place from St. Louis that are visible ; they are ail on the bluflfs, which are highest next the river, and conceal them. There are hamlets, or landing-places, for the convenience of wooding, and for taking in and putting off passengers and freight. I am veiy much inclined to believe that when the railroads recently authorized by law shall be in operation, (one of which is to run from St. Louis to this city, and the other from Hannibal on the Mississippi to St. Joseph on the Missouri, north of the river, and both nearly parallel with it,) the navigation of the river will be very trifling. In going up, the greatest speed cannot average over "7 miles per hour, which would require 72 hours; or, if they lie by at night, which they often do, we put it at 96 hours, or four days. Coming down, they should always lie by at night. The down-trip we put at 14 miks per hour, which would be 36 hours' day- light, or three days. Now, I will estimate the southern road at 300 miles. I am credibly informed that from Toledo on Lake Erie, to Chicago on Michi- gan, is 350 miles. This is run in 16 hour.*, that is, 22 miles per hour, about one third of the time of the up-trip on the river-boat, taking the shortest time, 180 IMPROVEMENTS IN THE WEST. Y2 hours, and as three to two of the titno of the down-trip, 36 hours. I travelled on one of the best steamboats (the Banner State) on the river ; it sailed well and safely, its uniform speed being G miles per hour. I have been informed that already some New-York capitalists have proposed to build and finish the South railroad from St. Louis to Independence in three years. Men of capital do not expend it often without an object in view, which will return a handsome dividend upon that capital. The features of the country on both sides of the river through which those roads shall run are as rich as any part of the State ; and, as the State will be nearly divided into three equal parts, every part of the State will be brought nearer to market ; and I do not see why it might not become a great manufacturing State. Iron and lead are found in it sufBcient to supply the world. There is a solid mountain of iron ore, of what dimensions I know not, near the line of the Southern railroad, and yet Ave loill import our rails from Wales. ■ I have a few remarks to make on the Nebraska region, and that west to the Rocky Mountains, This region, embracing a territory about equal in extent to the State of Missouri, say 60,000 square miles, more or less, has passing throuo'h it a strip of arid land, longitudinally from north to south, which is in breadth 30 miles and in length 150 miles, or 4,500 square miles. This arid plain is not sand, nor is it rocky. My information is from a gentleman of veracity who has crossed it at various points, (Col. William Gilpin,) who says it is crossed by the Kansas, the Platte or Nebraska, and their branches, which are rapid waters, rising in the Rocky Mountains ; and when they reach the great plateau, they spread out from one to three or four miles wide, runnino- directly east across the plains into the Missouri river. There seems to be an evaporation from the waters of those rivers, Avhich produces abund- ance of pasture on the great plains to feed millions of buffaloes. Even on the arid plain spoken of, there is a grass which grows about three or four inches long, and which curls down in a kind of mat, like wool, that retains its nourishing qualities during the winter season. The great destitution of tim- ber in Nebraska is the greatest objection to this territory. Another subject of great importance I wish to advert to briefly, with a wish to induce discussion on it. Every day opens up Avith more and more grandeur the great resources of the West. The subject has occupied my mind since I read the law of Congress granting lands to Missouri, to enable her to make tAvo railroads through the State from east to west, one on each side of the river. The engineers are already at work on the west end of the South road. Four thousand rails have already arrived at New-Orleans, for the Pacific road, from Wales ! Our calculation is, that these roads Avill be made in three years. Their united length Avill be about 500 miles. Noav, Messrs. Editors, what is to be the next step west ? It Avill be to converge to a point, some fifty or a hundred miles within the limits of Nebraska, those Missouri railroads, and from that point, directly to the South Pass, continue them, Avhich is a little west of north-west, and in a direct line almost to the mouth of Columbia river. Ten years will not pass, if the United States be true to her own interests, before this route will be a railroad ; and through this road Avill the East India, and China, and Japan trade pass to these United States. From NcAV-York to Oregon City would perhaps be 3,000 miles on a railroad. Allowing for mishaps, the trip might be made in ten days out and ten days in, that is, in twenty days. Tlie voyage from Oregon to the East could be made perhaps uniformly in thirty days. As the trade noio goes from our Eastern cities to the East Indies and China, it is thus twenty times the CORN CULTURE. 181 whole time westward by Oregon would be. Now, if all these things are so, then why not obtain an appropriation of $1,000,000 from the Government annually to make the railroad east from the moutli of Columbia to the South Pass, meeting the road of which we have spoken above ? Do you think the project of this railroad from St. Louis to the Pacific is more improbable than was De Witt Clinton's project for connecting the navigation of the lakes with that of tide-water in the North River ? Mr. J efier- son thought he was a hundred years ahead of the age, but afterwards acknow- ledged that it was he /imseZ/" that was a hundred years behind the times, when the same De Witt Clinton informed him that the canal was completed. I have described the above project Avith so much brevity, that I fear you will not willingly give it an insertion in your excellent work. One more idea. This State of Missouri is, I believe, the largest State in area in the Union, except Texas and California. It is unquestionably the richest in soil and minerals. St. Louis ranks sixth in commerce, and of course in amount of customs col- lected, in these United States, though upwards of a thousand miles from tide-water. The voyage from New-York, by the way of St. Louis and Oregon, to China, is about 10,000 miles. It could be performed ordinarily in ten months. From New- York, around Cape of Good Hope or Cape Horn, costs between two and three years. I must stop for obvious reasons. J. C. R. CORN CULTURE. BY L. DURAND. To the Editors of the Ploua-h, the Loom, and the Anvil : In the -July number of The Flouyh, the Loom, and the Anvil, is an inquiry by Mr. Bagby, of Marshall county. Miss., as to my mode of cutting up and curing corn. As to the time of cutting, much depends on the season, weather, &c. Should the corn begin to suffer from drought, or if there is an indication of an early frost, it may be cut up and stacked as soon as the kernel begins to glaze in the centre ; but in other cases it may stand till the corn is mostly hardened, if the stalks continue green. As to " pulling fodder," we presume Mr. Bagby means the stripping off the corn blades or leaves, and tying them up in bundles for v.inter fodder. This plan is not practised in any of the Northern States by farmers, to my knowledge ; and I think not in any of the States bordering on Mason and Dixon's line. But in the more Southern States this plan is practised to a large extent by the farmers and planters. Where the corn is cut up and stacked, we would not advise the " pulling of the blades " at all, but cut all up together, and put it in stacks. Take five rows through your corn-field, making your stack on the middle row, leaving one hill standing, around which to form the stack, then cut and gather to the stack, never laying the corn down at all to bind mto bundles. In forming the stack, be careful to set the corn on all sides, so that when the stack is done, it will form as nearly a "sugar-loaf as you can make it. After the stack is made of suflScient size, take a band of straw, turn down the tops, and bind around it, and it is done. Some put an extra band around the centre of the stack, but this is not necessary when the corn is well set up, as we have directed. After a week's time, the stacks will have become set together, and then no storm short of a tornado will 182 TOADS USEFUL. upset them. As to tlie time of cutting up, all depends on location, climate^ circumstances, and corn-meal from $3 to $3.20 ; while wheat, which had almost doubled in quantity in this brief period, fell from ^1.12 to $1.04; and flour from $6 to $5,09. As yet, however, the country was but beginning to recover from the cala- mities of the period of 1841-2. It had required a long period to get into operation the old mills, furnaces, and mines, closed in 1842, and still more time was needed to bring about the state of things required to promote the building or opening of new ones ; and if we desired to ascertain the real effect of the tariff of 1842, we should seek it in 1847, or even 1848, for up to this latter year the tariff of 1846 remained almost entirely inoperative. Side by side with the last year of the tariff of 1842, I now place the last year of the tariff of 1846, under which the demand for food to "feed the hungry" of Europe was to rise to hundreds of millions of dollars, with great augmentation of prices : — 1845-6. 1850-51. Export of Quantity. Value. Quantity. Value. Beef and pork, tons 71,500 $6,358,092 63,350 $6,057,973 Butter and cheese, tons 6,050 1,063,087 9,627 1,124,652 Wheat, bushels 1,013,795 1,681,975 1,026,725 1,025,732 Flour, barrels 2,289,476 11,668,669 2,202,335 10,524,331 Corn, bushels 1,826,068 1,186,663 3,426,811 1,762,519 Com-meal, barrels 298,790 945,081 203,622 622,886 Rye-meal, barrels 38,530 138,110 44,152 120,670 Horses, mules, biscuit, &c 1,556,781 728,896 §24,-598,458 $21,967,189 Beef and pork here have decreased in quantity, with a trivial increase of price ; butter and cheese have increased sixty per cent, in quantity, while the total value has grown six per cent. ; wheat has diminished in both quantit}'^ and price; flour has fallen off in quantity, and price has fallen to $4.75. The yet more valuable articles of export have declined more than one-half; while corn — the corn that should have been manufactured into porlc — has almost doubled, with large diminution of price ; and this has happened under a sys- tem that was to give us a demand for food to the extent of hundreds of QiiUions of dollars. Recollect now, if you please, that from 1842 to 1847 we quadrupled our ilomestic production of iron, trebled that of coal, doubled that of cotton 200 LETTER TO A FARMER OF OHIO. clotli, and added at least one-half to that of woollen cloth, to say nothing of vast increase in the production of wool, hemp, lead, and the thousand other commodities that before we had imported, and then remark that although we had then made a domestic market amounting to more than a hundred millions of dollars, we exported in 1845-6 about twice as much food as we had done in 1841-2, when our mills and furnaces were closed. Next I would beg you to remark, that for the last four years we have built neither furnaces nor mills, but that we have closed hundreds of old ones ; and that a large proportion of them has been sold out by the sheriff, a specimen of whose operations for the present year is given in the following paragraph, which meets my eye while engaged in writing this letter : — Free Trade in Pennsylvania. — The Clarion County Register advertises seven columns of sheriff's sales again. Among the properties to be sold under the hammer will be nine iron-furnaces, Tvith furnace property, making in all about twenty-three furnaces sold in that county by the sheriff within a year. The whole industry of Clarion county is affected by these disasters, as is shown by the fact that nearly all the rest of the property to be sold at this sheriff's sale which is advertised in the Eegister consists of grist-mills, saw-mills, and fulling and other mills. We have reduced the production of iron to less than half a million of tons, and the consumption of cotton and of wool has greatly fallen off, while the lead received at New Orleans has fallen from 800,000 to 300,000 pigs, and the hemp from Kentucky has fallen from 60,000 to 19,000 bales ; and thus have we diminished the amount of the domestic market for food at least fifty millions of dollars, while adding four or five millions to our population; and the foreign market, instead of growing, has largely diminished. Having studied these facts, you can, as I think, have little difficulty in determining for yourself the cause of the low price of wheat. "Whenever we open a mine, or build a mill or a furnace, we add to the number of those who arc only consumers of food, and every addition to the number of consumers tends to raise prices. Whenever we stop the building of mills, or furnaces, or close old ones, we compel men to become producers of food, and every addition to the number of producers tends to reduce prices. Here are plain, simple propositions, of the truth of which you are as competent to judge as I am, and if you deem them true, as I think you must, it would seem scarcely pos- sible that you should fail to arrive to a correct understanding of the true causes of the diflSeulty of which you and other farmers complain. It will be said, however, that the farmer should have the choice of markets, and not feel himself compelled to sell either at home or abroad. Undoubtedly he should, and ilie object ctf protection is to secure to Mm that choice. The Bri- tish system looks to compelling all the farmers and planters of the world to bring their surplus produce to British ports, that it may be eaten by British workmen, and the people of Manchester and Birmingham have succeeded in accomplishing that object in reference to all the countries with which they have what they call free trade. Ireland has perfect freedom of trade, as it is called ; she has, consequently, no consumers, and her farmers have no choice but to send every thing to the one market of England ; whereas, if she made largely of iron and of cloth, her people would have two markets, the home and the foreign, and they could sell in the one or the other, as they might deem it most to their advantage. India has seen her manufactures pass gra- dually away as British free trade has obtained the control of her movements, and with each step in that direction she has become more and more depend- ent oc the single market of England. So too with Portugal and Turkey, both of which have subjected themselves to Manchester free trade, which consists in allowing them but one market in which to sell, and one in which LETTER TO A FARMER OF OHIO. 201 to buy. The West Indies were not allowed even to refine their own sugar, lest they might have two markets in which to sell or to buy. So too with Canada and Nova Scotia ; they have no home market, because, under British free trade, the consumer cannot take his place by the side of the producer. Wherever British free trade prevails the agriculturist has no choice of markets. The near market is the great one, and the distant one is the small one. If you desire evidence that such is the case, I would beg you only to look to the fact, that the consumption of food among the domestic manufacturers of iron and cloth, and the domestic miners of lead and coal, and the domestic producers of machinery for mining and manufactures, increased in four or five years, under the tariff of 1842, more than a hundred millions of dollars, and would certainly, in the last five years, have increased as much more ; whereas, under the tariff of 1846, it has diminished at least fifty millions of dollars, and yet the foreign market is scarcely greater in amount than it was twelve or twenty years since, as is here shown : — The export of food, rice included, in 1830 was $17,538,227 in 1840 19,067,535 in 1846 27,701,121 in 1851 24,013.000 The first waa a period of high protection, when the domestic market was rapidly increasing; the second was that of the strictly revenue tariff of twenty per cent, duties, when the domestic market had almost disappeared; the third was one of high protection, when mills and furnaces were every- where being built ; and the last is one of British free trade, when mills and furnaces are being sold by the sheriff. In this period the population had nearly doubled, and yet the export of food is, as we see, but about a third more than it was twent}^ years since. Again, admitting the possibility that the foreign market could be in- creased, the question would arise, which is the best one ? In reply to this, I would beg you to remark, that every farmer understands that he it is that pays the cost of transportation, and therefore it is that he is so anxious to have a railroad. You know well that, in former times, when roads were bad, you sold your wheat at twenty cents a bushel, although it was then worth eighty or ninety cents, or perhaps even a dollar, in Philadelphia or New York. Since then the modes of transportation have been improved, and the price in Ohio is now but twelve or fifteen cents less than in Philadelphia or New York. You paid the cost of transportation then, and now yoxi profit by the saving in the cost. That admitted, let us see why it is that it ia higher now in New York than in Ohio. Clearly, because you have paid for carrying it to market. Again, why is it that it is higher in Liverpool than in New York ? As clearly because you have paid for carrying it there. If it could be transported to Liverpool without cost, you would obtain the whole of the price at which it sold, minus commission ; but as it cannot, you pay the cost of transportation. That understood, I would now ask you what it is that regulates the price in New Yoi'k? Is it not the price that can be obtained for the trivial quantity that tiuist go to Liverpool — "the surjilus," as it is called? Do not prices go up in New York and Boston, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, Ohio and Illinois, just as the markets of England rise or fall ? Is it not boasted in that country that " Mark-Lane governs the world's prices," and is it not true that such is the case ? Certainly it is ; and yet the whole quantity of our food that is absorbed by English demand does not amount to one per cent, of the quantity that is raised in the countrv ; and it is for the sake of finding a 202 LETTER TO A FARMEll OF OHIO. market for that one per cent, that you close the coal and iron mines of Penn- sylvania, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, and make yourselves dependent on a foreign market for all your supplies of cloth and iron. Be assured it xcoiild he more advantageous to hum that food than to permit it to fix the price of the crop as noio it dors. That such is the fact, you can, I think, convince yourself, if you examine how it is that prices are affected by a necessity for going to a distance either to Luy or to sell. In some parts of the country the farmers have been selling their potatoes for more than a dollar a bushel, for the reason that the local demand was greater than the local supply, and thus a necessity for going abroad' to purchase five or ten per cent, of the quantity required for con- sumption has raised the price of the whole to the level of the cost of the small quantity needed from a distance. In other quarters, potatoes quite as good might be purchased for forty or fifty cents, for the reason that the local supply was greater than the local demand; and thus a necessity for going abroad to sell a small jji'oportion of the quantity produced, diminishes the price of the whole crop to the level of that which can be obtained for " the surplus" that must go to the distant market; and this state of things must continue with all these potato-growers, so long as they must rely on two markets — the near and the distant. So is it with the producers of food throughout the Union : so long as they must depend on the distant market for the sale of however small a quantity of their products — so long as they have not the power to choose between the near and the distant marJcct — so long the price they can obtain in that distant market for a " surplus" that is most insignificant in amount, and that does not equal one per cent, of the whole crop, must govern the price of the whole. Make a market on the land for its products, acquire power to determine between the distant and the near markets, and prices will rise to a level with those of English markets. In- crease the power of consumption, and thus make a market for a trifling quantity more than is raised, and prices Avill rise to that degree v/hich is required for importing the food of Canada, or of Russia. If you desire to see this proved in practice, let me beg of you to look to what is nov/ going on with regard to beef and pork, the production of which diminishes as your people are more and riiore forsaking your State and the adjoining ones, and flying to Oregon and California. Ohio has not nov/ as many hogs or cattle as it had three years since, and the consequence is, that the home production of pork and beef has fallen to a level with the home demand, and you have high prices, because you are onuch less dqjendent on the distant market. Diminish the supply and increase the demand, and prices will rise, because your dependence on the distant market will still further diminish. The object of the tariff of 1842 was that of producing power over our own actions, and diminishing our dependence on those of others; the object of that of 1846 is that of diminish- ing our power and increasing our dependence. The one tended to bring consumption up to a level with production, with constant tendency to im- provement in the condition of the farmer ; the other tends to convert all our consumers into producers, with constant tendency to deterioration of the condition of farmer, planter, labourer, and mechanic ; and that it does pro- duce that effect, is seen by the fact, that although we have added four or five millions to our population, we now consume a far less quantity of iron and far less quantities of cotton and woollen goods than we did five years since; and yet we then paid in our products for all we consumed, and now we go in debt for cotton and woollen goods, silks and iron, at the rate probably of o hundred thousand dollars j^er day. LETTER TO A FAKMER OF OHIO. 203 Tlic object of British free trade is to prevent the people of any part of the world from cxchangiug with each other except through the ships and the warehouses, the mills and the furnaces of England. The people of India cannot exchange with each other rice for cotton, without first sending both to Manchester ; the consequence of which is, that the producer of rice goes naked, and the producer of cotton perishes of famine — almost the whole of their products being eaten up in the cost of transportation. The producer TMist support the middlemen, and the more of them that there are to be paid, the poorer he must be. The planter of Tennessee cannot exchange his cotton with his neighbour of Ohio or Illinois, for corn or pork, without first sending both to Manchester; and the consequence is, that he obtains but one bale of coarse cloth in exchange for five bales of cotton, when he should have one bale for two. He has too many middlemen to pay. You cannot ex- change your products for cloth, until after both the cotton and the corn shall have travelled thousands of miles, that the latter may be passed through the stomach of an English artizan, who would do twice as much work for the same quantity of food if he were brought to the neighbourhood of your farm. You receive little cloth for your corn because you have too many middlemen to pay. The British system is fairly represented by the following diagram, to which I would ask your careful examination : — Producers of food and cotton throughout the world. Consumers of food, cloth, and u-on, throughout the world. The object of the system is that of driving the whole world into agri- culture, that the products may be made to go through this narrow passage ; and the people who advocate the system know well, that the larger the quan- tity that seeks to pass, the greater will be the friction, and the greater tho charge for the privilege of getting through. Therefore it ia that England is always prosperous when a large crop of cotton has to pass, and always the reverse when the crop is small; and yet it is in the latter case that the planters are enriched, while the large crop always impoverishes them. The whole tendency of the policy of England is toward the subjugation of the farmers and planters of the world. She desires to buy cotton cheap and to sell cloth dear — to buy food cheap and to sell iron dear; and she accom- plishes her object wherever she has power, as is seen in the utter ruin of Ire- land, India, Turkey, the West Indies, and Portugal — the favoured lands of Manchester free trade. Having examined the condition of these countries, I would next beg you to look to the fact, that Russia, which is daily increasing in strength, is a country in which the farmer is protected in his efforts to bring the loom and the spade to the side of the plough and the harrov*^ ; and that there we find a most rapid increase in the consumption of cotton and other of the raw products of 204 LETTER TO A FARMER OF OHIO. distant countries — that Belgium, the very paradise of protection, is advancing in strength and wealth with great rapidity — and that Germany, since the adoption of protection in 1835, has increased her consumption of cotton more than three hundred per cent., and that her people consume more than twice as much iron per head as they did when they had what was called free trade. Fifteen years since, it was supposed that Germany must always have a large " surplus" of wool to go to England ; and yet so rapidly has the domestic manufacture increased, that the export has almost ceased, and she is now a large importer of other wools to mix with her own. Formerly, most of her wool and her food had to pass through the ships and mills of England, because there was no power to choose between the near market and the distant one, and the price of the whole crop was fixed by that which could be obtained for the quantity sent to the market of Leeds, minus the cost of transportation. Now she imports foreign wools, and the price at home of the tohole crop is determined by the cost of obtaining the small quantity needed from abroad; and she now has direct trade tcith all the tvorld, because she combines her food and her wool in the form of cloth, in accordance with the views of Adam Smith, the father of real free trade, and the opponent of what is now known as Manchester free trade. Having given a diagram represent- ing the trade in food and wool according to the latter, I will now give you one according to German free trade : — Food and wool of Germany. Consumers of German food and wool, in the form of cloth, throughout Europe, Asia, Africa, and America The nation that desires to have free trade must place itself in a position to finish its commodities so as to fit them for consumption. It can then have a thousand outlets, whereas, when it does not so finish them, it must trade through the medium of the owners of the mills and steam-engines. Had you no grist-mills in the West, you would be compelled to make all your exchanges with consumers at home and abroad through the mills of the East. Ireland and India, Portugal and Turkey have little or no machinery, and they are forced to perform all their exchanges through England ; and such was the case with ourselves until protection was adopted in 1828. At that time it would have been deemed the height of absurdity to suppose that we could ever supply other people than ourselves with cotton and food compressed into the form of cotton cloth ; and yet we are now large exporters of cottons, and our exports of manufactured goods have risen to a level with our exports of vegetable food of all descriptions to all parts of the world.* We see, thus, that protection has produced with us the same effect that it has produced in Germany — that -» Exports of cottons, 1850-51 $7,241,205 Exports of manufactures, 1850-51 16,834,000 Exports «f vegetable food. " 16,877,844 LETTER TO A FARMER OF OHIO. 205 is, it has reduced the price of manufactured goods so far as to enable us to send them into foreign markets. Seventeen years since, Germany sold her •wool and bought cloth, and the producers of the first obtained low prices for the one, and gave high prices for the other. Now she buys wool and sells cloth, and her domestic producers of wool obtain high prices for the one, while they obtain the other at low ones. Seventeen years since, the people of Germany obtained their hardware from Birmingham, for which they paid, of course, British prices phis the cost of importation : now they manufacture hardware, and they themselves are so cheaply supplied, that they are enabled to sell it even in Birmingham. Protection has therefore produced competition for the purchase of the raw products of the earth, and for the sale of manufactured ones, thus raising the prices of the one, and lowering those of the other; and it has done this in France, Belgium, Germany, and Russia, precisely as it did in this country under the tariff of 1842 ; and therefore it has been, and now is, that the protected countries of the world increase in strength. British free trade tends to destroy competition for the purchase of raw produce, and to lower its prices, and equally to destroy competition for the sale of manufactured articles, raising their prices, as we now see to be the case with iron as our furnaces are being closed; and therefore it is that we see that all the free trade countries of the world diminish daily in strength and the power of self-protection. To determine what we should do ourselves, it may not be amiss to look around and see what it is that we should desire others to do. Russia now makes a market at home for vast quantities of food consumed by the peoj)le en- gaged in a vast variety of pursuits that are protected against British competition. Were she to abolish protection, her fectories would be closed, and there would be more food to go to England, and the price of food would fall, and you would suffer. You therefore would wish Russia to continue protection. Were Germany to abolish protection, she would have more food and wool to sell, and prices would tall, to your disadvantage. If, then, it is desirable to you that Russia and Germany should continue protection, is it not at least probable that you would be benefited by the adoption of a system that would altogether relieve you from the necessity for contending with the Russian or Polish serf for the constantly diminishing market of England ? Having answered to yourself that question, I would then beg you to remark that the whole tendency of the Manchester system is that of comp>elling you and all brother agriculturists of the world, to compete icith each other for the sup- plying of the one market that is left open to you. You need competition for the purchase of your products, and until you can have it, prices must continue low. It will, however, be said that protection tends to compel you to sell at Lowell and Providence, even if it relieves you from the necessity for going to Manchester. Not so. Real and efficient protection tends to enable you to convert your food into iron made in your own neighbourhood. It tends to enable your neighbour of Indiana to mine his coal, and apply it to the driving of spindles and looms employed in converting into cloth the cotton of Tennessee and Mississippi, received in exchange for your pork and your beef. It tends to enable Illinois to mine her coal, and apply it to the work- ing of her lead-mines, that should yield twenty pounds where now they yield but one. It tends to enable the people of Wisconsin and Michigan to find a market in the vast copper and iron region of Lake Superior. It tends to enable people to raise flax and hemp, who now raise food ; and everywhere to make a heed market for food, and thus to relieve the farmer from the neces- 206 LETTER TO A FARMER OF OHIO. sity for going to cither Lowell or Manchester. The j)resent state of things tends to destroy all the small manufacturers throughout the TJnion, and to render you more dependent on New England and other of the Atlantic States. Already the manufacture of cotton, South and "West of New England, haa greatly decreased. The iron manufacture of your State is almost at an end, us is that of New York and New England ; and you are becoming daily more and more dependent on Pennsylvania for that commodity, as you are becom- ing dependent on Massachusetts for your cloth. The system tends to make the rich richer and the poor poorer. The rich man meets the storm, but the poor one is crushed, and then the rich man makes his profit, as is at this moment being done by the few rich iron-makers that have survived until the destruction of home competition has been followed by a rise in the foreign price of iron greater than tcould have hcen needed in the tariff, not only to have maintained hut to have largelij increased domestic production. Next, the closing of your lead-mines, and your coal and iron mines, compels you to send all your food to the East, and thus you ruin the farmers of Penn- sylvania, Connecticut, and Massachusetts, who find a perpetual stream of food passing over their heads, the price of all of which is fixed by that which can be obtained for the trivial quantity that goes to England. It is time that you farmers of the West should understand that your interests are all identical with those of the farmers of the East, and that both they and you profit by every measure that tends to make a market on the land, while both you and they sufier by every one that tends to produce dependence on distant markets. Had the tarifi" of 1842 continued to the present time, there would have been far less necessity for abandoning the old States, and you would have less competition to meet from the occupants of the new ones, while the markets that would have grown up around you would be absorbing a vast pro- portion of the food with which you now deluge the markets of the East. So far does protection tend to diminish your dependence on the East, that it is a well-known fact that many manufacturers deprecate the adoption of measures of efficient and complete protection, under the impression that they would produce domestic competition ; and such men would prefer even the present state of things, aa tending to compel you to send all your wool to Lowell or Providence, and to limit the planters to Lowell, Lawrence, and Manchester. These men retain the erroneous monopoly views of the Manches- ter school. That views like these are entertained no one can doubt, but they are not entertained by men of enlarged ideas ; for such men know well that if the South would determine to adopt measures tending to enable themselves to furnish the world with coarse cottons, they would at once be enabled to turn their machinery to finer ones; that if the West would deter- mine to make negro and other coarse cloths, they themselves would be ena- bled to sell ten times the quantity of shawls and carpets ; and that if Ohio and Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, and Tennessee would enable themselves to make all their stoves and other castings, they would be enabled to purchase more railroad bars, steam-engines, and locomotives, and that the only effect of such measures would be to increase the reward of labour and of capital in every part of the Union. There is perfect harmony of true interests between the North and the South, the East and the West; between the labourer and the capitalist, the farmer and the manufacturer. Manchester free trade teaches the reverse, and the prolongation of its existence to this time is due to the fact that it everywhere teaches discord, and everywhere produces such discord as now exists between the Northern and Southern por- tions of the Union, due solely and exclusively to the British monopoly system. LETTER TO A FARMER OF OHIO. 207 That it sliould produce discord is the natural consequence of the poverty that everywhere accompanies its existence. It destroys the local demand for food, and, as a necessary consequence, impoverishes the land and its owner, who is deprived of the power to manure his land or to improve his machinery of cultivation, and is thus compelled to abandon his property and fly to the West. It everywhere destroys the local demand for laboui", and men starve in Ireland because unable to find employment at even sixpence a day.. Look around your own neighbourhood, and see if there is not more labour wasted every year than would suffice to build a mill or a fui'naee, and more every year than would suffice for the production of all the iron and all the cloth that are consumed. It destroys the power to vary the products of the earth, because every man is compelled to cultivate those articles alone of which the earth yields little in reward of labour, and that will therefore bear transporta- tion to distant markets ; and a necessary consequence of this is, that unfavour- able weather for a few weeks is followed by an almost total failure of return to labour. How different would it be if there existed a local demand for all the various commodities that are produced from the land of Belgium and of England ! The nearer the market, the greater are the powers of the land and of its owner ', the more distant the market, the poorer the land and its owner, and the less the power of the latter to determine for himself what shall be his coui'se of action. It is to this absence of power over their own actions that we owe the fact that our people are constantly scattering them- selves over the earth, when every man knows that his labour is doubly pro- ductive when he works in concert with his fellow-men. When men come together, they have better schools and better teachers ; their morals and theii- intellect both improve, and their labour becomes more productive. British free trade looks to the dispersion, demoralization, and impoverishment of man, and therefore it is that it is everywhere accompanied by discord. Gold becomes more abundant, and yet the price of wheat declines when it should rise, and would rise were it not that all the world is now engaged in raising food for a diminishing market. The total population of the British empire in Europe is scarcely more than it was a dozen years since, and it is gradually but certainly declining, as the emigration is more, cmd coimderahly more, than the excess of births over deaths. It is adults, too, that fly, and their places are supplied by infants, among whom deaths are three times more numerous than among men and women who emigrate.* It is impossible to study the facts now occurring in England without being satisfied — 1. That the numbers of the only manufacturing population of the world that buys food will be less ten years hence than they are now ; and, 2. That the power to supply themselves with home-grown food vrill be far greater than now. At the moment of writing this, I meet with an account of the discovery of a species of wheat that promises to give returns thrice as large as any now cultivated ; and if such should prove to be the case, you will, I think, see that the day is at hand when England will cease altogether to import wheat. On the other hand, our population in the next ten years will grow at the rate of more than a million per annum ; and if all become farmers, as they must, what, I would ask you, will be our condition ? Is it not clear that we shall have abundance of food for which we shall have no market, and that such a state of things must be ruinous to the farjuer? * "As 330,000 emigrants leave tlic British shores every year, thekk is an annual DECREASE UPON THE WHOLE OF 100,000 SOULS ; and that not of infants or worn-out old persons, but chiefly young men and women in the prime of life." — Blackwood. 208 LETTER TO A FARMER OF OHIO. Even now, we are running in debt for cloth, iron, and silk that we should manufacture at home, to the extent of twenty, thirty, or forty millions per annum, and our foreign debt requires almost twenty millions of dollars for the payment of interest. Should we continue much longer in this course ? Can the result be any thing but bankruptcy and ruin ? That it cannot, you will, I think, agree with me. We are now devoting our whole energies to the making of roads, and are making them with borrowed money ; but the day of payment must come, and then must come a crash like that of 1842, after which your farmers will feel and understand the effect of a system that is multiplying their competitors and diminishing their customers. In conclusion, let me ask you what it is that you desire ? Is it not higher prices for your wheat and your corn ? Undoubtedly it is. What then is it that Manchester desires ? Is it not lower prices for wheat and corn ? Un- doubtedly it is so. The object, then, of British free traders is precisely the reverse of yours ; and yet when you desire to ascertain how you may secure the attainment of your object, you go to Manchester free traders for advice. They are opposed to protection in liussia, and yet the abolition of protection in that country would cause a vast quantity of grain to be thrown on the always diminishing market of England, with great reduction of price. They are opposed to protection in Germany and Belgium, yet protection makes a steadily increasing market for the staples of those countries, and causes a vast domestic absorption of food. They are opposed to protection here, and yet under protection our annual consumption of food by people engaged in the va- rious departments of mining and manufacture, increased, in five years, a hun- dred millions of dollars. They advocate free trade in Canada, which is paralyzed for want of a market, and has been for years struggling to gain access to our markets, the surplus in which was but recently stated at four hundred millions of bushels. They advocate fx'ee trade here, and yet under what they call free trade we see the domestic market steadily diminishing as we close our mills and furnaces, while as steadily is it seen driving our whole people into agriculture with a view to increase the " surplus." They advo- cate the policy that looks to giving you but one market in which to sell, and one in which to buy, and you desire a choice of markets. The objects you and they have in view are thus directly the opposite of each othei", and as much opposed are the measures which tend to secure the attainment of those objects; and yet you and your friends throw up your caps and rejoice when you are told by the London Times, the London Daily News, the London Morning Chronicle, and the London Economist, of the success of British free trade policy in chcajjening food — precisely the object that you desire not to see accomplished. You asked me, '' What are the prospects of the farmer ?" They are, as I think, very gloomy. Our population grows, and our domestic market dimi- nishes, and will continue to diminish, while the foreign one must inevitably diminish still more rapidly. Whether or not the people will insist upon a change of policy — whether or not the farmers and planters will awake to the fact that they it is that need protection, is a question yet to be decided. If they do not, both farmers and planters are, as I think, destined to see harder times than they have seen for many years. Having now answered your question to the best of my ability, I remain, With great regard. Yours very truly, Henry C. Carey. Burlinglon, August 20, 1862. LIME AND ITS COMPOUNDS. 209 LIME AND ITS CO INI POUNDS. Lime, in some of its combinations, is found in all our crops. Those named- below contain it in the following proportions : 25 lbs. of wheat contain 8^ lbs.; 38 bush, of barley, 15 lbs. ; 50 bush, of oats, 8 lbs. ; 2 tons of clover, 126 lbs.; 9 tons of potatoes, 266 lbs. The presence of lime in the soil may be recognized by bringing it in con- tact with an acid ; an effervescence will be produced. Some reliance may also be placed upon the nature of the weeds or the spontaneous growth of a soil. Lime will be found wanting in those which produce red sheep-sorrel, the chestnut, and resinous trees. The application of lime is one of the surest modes of eradicating those plants. It neutralizes the acids, which abound in them. It should not be understood, however, that a successful experiment of this sort (the destruction of such growths) is all that is required ; the farmer has then but just rid himself of some of the hindrances in the way of successful cultivation. He must now provide, generously, those fertilizers which will secure him a rich harvest. To some extent lime acts as a fertilizer, and perhaps this is owing to its attraction of carbon from the atmosphere ; for it is well known that the effect of carbonate of lime and of pure hme is essentially the same. Pure lime becomes a carbonate whenever it is exposed to the air ; but pure hme has a superiority over the carbonate in its ability to decompose vegetable or any other organic matter. Hence it is always useful when green crops are ploughed in, or new grounds are broken up. Most fruit trees also consume large quantities of lime. Quicklime has the power of setting free the ammonia from guano and from fermenting manures. Hence its use in connection with such fertilizers, that is, when they are first ajoplied^ should generally be avoided. Recent analyses of soils in Ohio, Iowa, and Wisconsin, by Dr. Wells and Dr. Owen, lead to the conclusion that those soils are not derived from the disintegration of underlying rocks, but from materials brought from a distance. For notwithstanding those rocks are chiefly carbonate of lime, not the slight- est trace of carbonic acid was found in the soils. Hence the presence of lime- stone in the rocks of a given territory must not be held as conclusive evidence that these elements exist in the soil. Actual analysis alone can demonstrate the fact. Lime is useful in clay soils, by diminishing its adhesiveness, and by setting free its alkalies. Slacked lime acts most speedily, but the effects of the car- bonate are more permanent. Sulphate of lime, or gypsum, is serviceable in various ways. It retains useful elements that would otherwise be lost, as ammonia ; it acts as a stimu- lant upon loams and peaty soils ; it is also a fertilizer, furnishing the neces- sary food for the growth of the crop. But if humic acid is abundant, it will decompose the gypsum, and the sulphuric acid being set free, will prove inju- rious to the roots of the growth. On soils very rich with humus, gypsum should therefore be used very sparingly. Gypsum may be used either in a powder, in the raw state, or roasted, that is, calcined. It is especially beneficial when applied to the growth of clover, beans, peas, and sundry grasses ; but less serviceable to grains, turnips, and other green crops. It may be applied to the surface, scattering it broadcast, or placed in the hills, at the time of planting, or applied at later periods. It VOL. T, 14 210 COTTON IN AFRICA. may also be used on the compost heap. On grass land it should be sown in the spring. But if sown in the fall, it will be chiefly beneficial to the next year's crop. When applied to grain, 200 or 300 lbs. per acre is generally used, and on grass lands five or six bushels to the ac;"e. The phosphate of lime is one of the most essential kinds of manure, which must be applied, in some form, on all lands from which crops are taken. One of its elements at least, tlie phosphorus, is often exhausted sooner than any other of the constituents of the growth. But so much has been said of it elsewhere, we need not enlarge here, in these elementary suggestions. Our readers will find frequent allusions to it, both in the past and in the future numbers of our journal. COTTON IN AFRICA. We commend the following article to the careful perusal of such of our planting readers as yet continue under the delusion that they are to be en- riched by placing themselves from year to year more and more under the control of the Manchester manufacturers, whose great object is that of having cheap cotton, when by a single united effort they could so easily bring the cotton machinery to their own cotton fields : Cape Coast Castle Cotton Fields. — The Manchester Commercial Association has received intelhgeuce of the successful result of some experiments in cotton cultivation at Cape Coast Castle, in Africa. A year and a half ago some of the members of this association subscribed upwards of £1,5U0 towards an experiment of this kind. The money was sent to agents (merchants generally) at Cape Coast Castle. A site was selected, about five miles inland, on the banks of a small stream, and the process of planting the indigenous cotton shrub was commenced. The plant is perennial, and grows to a considerable size, the stalk being in many cases several inches in diameter. The seeds are kidney-shaped, and they lie matted together in the pod, very much like the Brazilian species. From time to time the most favorable accounts have come to hand ; and so long since as October last, it was announced that tliu-ty acres of ground had been cleared, and then bore 19,600 " trees," all of which were " fresh and healthy, and seem to be growing fast. They are almost covered -with unripe pods, blossoms or buds ; and in two or three weeks, after having had the benefit of the October rains, they will look better than they do now. In two or three months many of those first planted will realize a good crop." So wrote the agent ; and as earnest of the truth of his expectations, there were received in Manchester, last week, five bags or bales of cotton, each -weighing l>j cwt., and a sample parcel weighing 30 or 40 lbs., nil the pro- duce of the one farm mentioned. The cotton has been examined jvnd found very closely to resemble Brazilian, or rather Egyptian ; it is of extremely good color and tair short staple, has been well cleaned (without injury) by saw gin, and is worth fully 6d. per lb. The cost of its production and transit to Slanchester is said to have exceeded 3d. per lb.; a result strongly confirmatory of the assertion that cotton cultivation in Africa may be rendered remunerative. As to the disposition of the native Africans, they have been found in this instance to accept work on tlie farm with absolute avidity, not only on ac- count of the readiness with which the wages asked were paid, but apparently with an intense desire to imitate or assist Europeans, and they evinced pride in being brought into connection with the whites. Men, as many as were required in the clearing and preparatory operations, worked diligently and regularly for two dollars a month ; women for a dollar and a half ; and stout lads for half a dollar, without rations in any case. According to the last accounts respecting the farm, men have rarely been em- ployed since the " trees " have been planted ; the labor of women and children being found quite suflacient for all ordinary purposes. The hands worked eight hom's a day, and seemed thoroughly contented with themselves and their masters. The example became contagious soon alter the experimental farm was cleared ; for so long smce as October last, several European residents had started plantations on their own account, and on one lot alone there were 20,000 flourishing trees. The average yield has been PROFESSOR SALOMON AND HIS CARBON ENGINE. 211 found to be most eatisfactorj^ Now, those who have hitherto conducted the experiment so nobly originated by a few gentlemen in Manchester, are desirous that regularly-trained persons should be sent out to superintend the several plantations which must ere this be in existence ; the originators are most desirous to see the resources of the Cape Coast Castle district more fully developed ; and we think we have stated enough to show that wjiile extended operations could not fail to be highly advantageous to the trade of this district, they would certainly return remunerative profits for any investments. — Liverpool Times. FOK THE PLOUGH, THE LOOM, AND THE ANVIL. PROFESSOR SALOMON AND HIS CARBON ENGINK. BY JOHN E, NEWMAN, M.D. An advertisement wliicli I lately read in one of tlie Washington pajjers, by the attorney of Professor Salomon, ofteriug for sale rights for his inven- tions, among which was the celebrated Carbon Engine, recalled the old man and the story of his life very vividly to my mind, and determined me to answer the inquiries of many persons who wished to know something of the inventor, and of the rise and progress of an invention that the papers promised should supersede steam, by the introduction of a new motor out of all pro- portion more powerful and more economical, and at the same time perfectly safe. The information desired, I purpose to give in this article ; behcAang that a short sketch of his life will furnish another instance of the truth of the saying, that real life is stranger than any thing fiction can invent. On "the 2 2d day of March, 1830, there landed from the New- York, Capt. Bennel, one of the packets of the Liverpool line, an individual, a Prussian by birth, who, jumping upon the dock, kissed the soil of the United States, and inquiring his way to the Marine Court, immediately proceeded there to foi-swear allegiance to foreign potentates and powers, and declare his in- tention of becoming a citizen of this free country. This man was Charles J. C. Fr. Salomon. His grandfather had been a celebrated general under Frederick the Great. His father was a wealthy gentleman of Silesia, the owner and manager of several foundries, whose business he carried on, in connection with the cultivation of his own estate. Priessnitz, of Graefenberg, was a neighbor, whose histoiy is well known to the subject of this sketch. Charles was born April Gth, 1793, and is now consequently nearly sixty years old. The o-overnment of Prussia reipiires every child, between the ages of six and fourteen, to attend school. Charles was accordingly sent until the age of ten, when he was removed, and placed in charge of the Protestant Bishop Reiber. After remaining with him three years, he entered the col- lege at Breslau, graduated in due time, and then entered the Seminary for Teachers located in the same place. At the age of eighteen, the prescribed course was completed, and, in accordance with the custom of his country, he volunteered in the army of General York, who commanded the army Napo- leon obliged Prussia to send him on his Russian expedition. On the return of the army after that disastrous campaign, York was superseded by Kliest ; and Salomon, with many others, indignant at the change, returned home. Frederick William, then a mere vassal under Napoleon, perceiving some chance of throwing off the chains under which he writhed, in consequence of the weakened power of his conqueror, offered his people a free constitu- tion if they would take up arms against France. The proffer was accepted with a burst of enthusiasm, and the nation rose to a man. Salomon, again 212 PROFESSOR SALOMON AND HIS CARBON ENGINE. in arms, served with his countrymen under Bkicher at the battle of Water- loo. On the return of the Allied Armies from Paris, the volunteers were disbanded, and Salomon became Professor at Berlin, in the institute of Pla- mau, which was conducted after the manner of Pestalozzi, whose system the Professor had learnt from himself in his own school. Soon after this he received the command of government to take charge of the Seminary for Teachers at Erfurt, (the place Luther commenced the Reformation ;) and at the same time, was appointed one of the directors of the Orphan Asylum there. He Avas now in a position Avhere his talents, aided by his family in- fluence, seemed to promise the sure and speedy attainment of fame and for- tune. The great foundation of despotic power is laid in the idea of the divine right of kings. That idea had lately received a death-blow on the continent of Europe, from which it could never recover. The people had seen God's elect and anointed ones holding the stirrup for a Corsi can cadet; and the sight taught them a lesson of equal rights and the natural freedom of man. A dim notion pervaded Europe that the poor peasant had as much divine right as the royal prince to the enjoyment of freedom and the pursuit of happiness. A general conspiracy, whose object was to sec;u'e these privileges, was the result ; and it included among its members great numbers of per- sons in almost every country in Europe. The people of Prussia, tired of waiting the generosity of Frederick William in fulfilling his promise, or rather compact, of a free constitution, and reigning as citizen king, at last joined it. Salomon and Follen were among the prominent leaders. By some means the various governments had obtained information of what was going on ; and the presentation of a petition, signed by thousands in Prus- sia, was the signal of arrest not only to the signers but thousands of the suspected in other countries. Follen escaped to the United States, where he became Professor of Languages in Harvard University ; but Salomon was taken, his property confiscated, and his wife and children sent to her father's house, which was attached to the government. He was imprisoned in the dungeons of Coepnich, Berlin, and Stettin. Despite every eftbrt, the King failed to extort the details of the conspiracy, so that, although his vigilance rendered every attempt at rebellion nngatory, no sentence could be passed on the supposed leaders, who were, however, treated with the extreme of cruelty and rigor, Salomon, of course, used every effort to escape ; was re- taken on the first attempt, but succeeded on the second in leaving Stettin, reaching London, and thence the United States. He owed his deliverance to the assistance of Henry Brachman, now a wealthy citizen of Cincinnati. Salomon had taken advantage of the times when he visited his father to learn working with metal, had become an expert workman, and was noted from boyhood for his many improvements and inventions in machinery. It was this talent, contrary to his expectations, that was to make him eminent in the United States. On his return to the vessel the day he landed, a steamboat lying near collapsed her boilei. He went on board to examine the matter, and noticed particularly that the boiler had collapsed into the form of inverted arches. He thought he could account for this form, and that a valuable hint could be derived from it, whereby all future explosions might be prevented. Following the example of his countrymen, he lost no time in starting for the West ; and soon after reaching Cincinnati was ap- pointed to take charge of a large German school. This allowed him leisure to perfect his plans, and put the result of his meditations on the collapse into a metallic form. He went to Washington, patented the Inverted Arch PROFESSOR SALOMON AND HIS CARBON ENGINE. 213 Steam-boiler, and sold it to an English company, whose failure soon after left him nothing but the first payment (£1,000) as compensation. The Great Western had boilers of this pattern. Soon after this, while travelling in Pennsylvania, he improved the tanning processes, by the substitution of dilute muriatic acid for the nauseous mix- ture gathered from the stable-yard and similar sources, to neutralize the lime used in removing hair from skins. His method enabled the process to be performed in minutes instead of weeks, and by its superior cleanliness did away with th^ most disagreeable part of the labor. It seems destined that inventors should rarely'become wealthy, and Salomon was not an ex- ception to the rule. Something always happened to divide the profit from the honor in his case, and the latter not being suflficient to afford subsistence, he returned West. The accomplishments, as they are called, always pay the teacher better than the useful branches of education ; and Salomon determined to take advantage of this fact in affording him the means of living in his after career. Discarding literature, he located himself in Shelbyville, Ky., and began teaching music, vocal and instrumental. In Prussia, music is an indispen- sable part of education, and the children learn the notes with their letters. Salomon understood the theory and practice thoroughly, was withal a good composer, and unusually apt as a teacher. He had in his favor a prejudice, imiversal in the West, that none but a German can teach music ; and, alto- gether, did exceedingly well. He had now a fortune again at his command ; but he chanced to hit on two new inventions : one for supplying ships with fresh water at sea, by distilling salt water, and the other an improvement in saw-mills. From his inland location he could only experiment with the former ; but it was different with the latter : to put it in practice he gave up teaching, entered into business, and, need I say, failed. From Shelbyville he removed to Harrodsburg, the geographical centre of Kentucky. It was there I became personally acquainted with him. He had been sedulously attending to his business some seven or eight years, and his reputation as a professor of music was unequalled in the Southwest. He had charge of the music department in the Female College of which I was President; and this, together with his receipts for private pupils, gave him an income of $2,500. He occupied a large house built after his own de- sign ; had a fine farm ; kept his carriage ; and was living like the most wealthy people of the town. Some two years before this he had perfected the Grasshopper Saddle, modelled after the insect whose name it bears ; a most ingenious invention, equalizing the weight on the back of the horse, and securing perfect ease and safety to the rider. About the time I first saw him, his thoughts Avere much bent on European politics ; and he was wont to give many eloquent expositions of that doctrine which Kossuth has since spread over the country, known as Intervention for Non-intervention. If, as has been often said, it is the prerogative of genius to carry the feel- ings of childhood throughtout life into old age, Salomon is certainly entitled to the appellation. A child-like simplicity and honest enthusiasm pervaded his whole discourse and demeanor. I often accompanied him home after the labors of the day were over, and would listen with increasing interest to his music and conversation. I saw at his house and examined the model for distilling fresh water from salt, and the Grasshopper Saddle, and the In- verted Arch Steam-boiler ; which last he bad been improving, so that only pure water could enter it, thus dispensing with the cleansing necessary when 214 PROFESSOR SALOMON AND HIS CARBON ENGINE. salt water was employed : lie was doing this in the expectation of taking out a patent for the improvement, as the first patent would expire in 1852, One day, while he was showing me his house, I noticed in a corner of a room through which I was passing, some globes of thin sheet copper, and asked him what they were intended for. "They are a part," said he, " of my Carbon Engine, the details of which I have been perfecting in my own mind since 1831." " Have you mentally completed it yet ?" " Yes, for several years back ; but I have not the money to put it into execution. All the models I have were made by myself in spare hours, but this is an undertaking that would require money, and T have none, as I fully live up to my income," There are few persons well versed in chemistry and mechanics who have not, at some period of their experience, devoted considerable thought to the use of carbonic acid as a motor. Brevier and others have been killed by the explosion of their cylinders while experimenting for this object. Brunei, who succeeded in tunnelling the Thames river, failed in this. Among the rest, I had narrowly escaped in early life, and for years had forgotten the sub- ject ; but this conversation revived all my former interest, and it may be easily imagined I did not let the discourse drop here. Before giving the information which I received from him, it is Avell to tell something of the properties of the gas, and the method of obtaining it, and will be assisted in doing so by a highly-flowered description, which relates the same story in a metaphorical guise, from the Story of the Fisherman in the Arabian Nights' Entertainments : "And the fisherman opened his net and found in it a bottle of brass, filled with something, and having its mouth closed with a stopper of lead. And his heart rejoiced ; and he shook it and found it very heavy, and said, T must open and see what is in it, and store it in my bag ; then I will sell the bottle in the copper market. So he took a knife and picked at the lead until he extracted it from the bottle. He then laid the bottle on the ground and shook it, that its contents might pour out ; but there came forth from it nothing but smoke, which ascended towards the sky, and spread over the face of the earth; at which he wondered excessively. And after a little while, the smoke collected together, and was condensed, and then became agitated, and was converted into an Afrite, whose head was in the clouds, and his feet rested upon the ground. When the fisherman beheld him. the muscles of his sides quivered, his teeth were locked together, his spittle dried up, and he saw not his way. The Afrite said to him, Receive news, O fish- erman ! Of what, said the fisherman, dost thou give me news ? He an- swered, Of thy being instantly put to a cruel death. So he said to the Afrite, Hast thou determined to kill me ? He answered. Yes. Then, said he, by the Most Great Name engraved upon the seal of Solomon, I will ask thee one question ; and wilt thou answer me truly ? On hearing the men- tion of the Most Great Name, the Afrite was agitated and trembled, and replied, Yes ; ask, and be brief The fisherman then said,^How wast thou'in this bottle ? it will not contain thy hand or thy foot ; how, then, can it con- tain thy whole body ? Dost thou not believe that I was in it ? said the Af- rite. The fisherman answered, I will never believe thee until I see thee in it. Upon this the Afrite shook and became con\erted again into smoke, which rose to the sky, and then became condensed, and entered the bottle by li and little until it was all inclosed ; when the fisherman hastily snatched PROFESSOR SALOMON AND HIS CARBON ENGINE. 215 sealed leaden stopper, aud having replaced it iu the mouth of the bottle, called out to the Afrite that he would throw him into the sea again." Without dwelling further on the story, it is sufficient to state that the Afrite bound himself not to injure the fisherman if released, and still more, to make him one of the fortunate ones of the earth ; and performed both promises. In the last century, some students in the University of Jena invoked the Afrite by bm-ning a pan of charcoal in a close room, for the purpose of "raising the devil," after the plan of the most approved formula for that purpose. All but two were killed. Let us more sately imitate the example of the fisherman, not by casting a net into the sea, but by pouring some sul- phuric acid on a little common chalk or whiting in a saucer, immediately placing over the saucer a glass receiver. An immense amount of gas is at once evolved, which if breathed is as destructive to life as the Afrite could be to the fisherman. Having succeeded in setting it free, our next best plan will be to invoke a spell to bind it once more ; and this we can do by intro- ducing under the receiver a cup containing quicklime or lime-water ; the gas rapidly unites with it, and as a part of chalk is harmless and even useful. Many fishermen have drawn up the bottle and let out the giant, but those who could escape were only too glad to do so with life ; and it remained for Professor Salomon, like his namesake of old, who had credit for power over spirits, to extort the promise of fortune, and have that promise realized by making the Afrite work in harness. The chemical formula of carbonic acid is CO^ ; that is, two atoms of oxy- gen to one of carbon ; wliich two atoms of vital air, Avhen joined to the one atom of charcoal, enables the latter to take wings and fly away. Encircling every atom of matter are two forces or atmospheres — one an attractive, which is the most interior, and the other a repulsive, which is exterior to the first. If the attractive force predominates, so that the particles approach closely, the substance assumes the form of a solid ; if the forces are exactly balanced, the form of a liquid ; and if the repulsive force predominates, the form of a gas. Now, between the particles of this compound of oxygen and carbon, the repulsive force is in a state of very great and preponderating activity, and the atoms must remain naturally at great distances apart, in, of course, the gaseous form, exerting immense force to assume it when any obstacle intervenes. When generated in a proper vessel, at zero the carbonic acid assumes the liquid form ; its power in this state may be judged from the fact that it exerts then a pressure of thirty-six atmospheres, or five hundred and fort}' pounds to the square inch ! As carbonic acid is a dangerous agent, and consequently not safe to be suffered to go at large. Nature has appointed a series of constables to seize it whenever found. The green leaves of the entire vegetable kingdom perforai this ofiice when they find it in the air. Nor is it safe on the ground or in caverns; many mineral agents seize it, among which water and lime hold a prominent rank. All these various jailors make it useful to man : the leaves of vegetables decompose it, throwing off the oxygen and retaining the car- bon, to perfect the sai>, from which is made wood for fuel, and grains and fruits for nutriment. The soda-water of the shops is nothing more tluin this gas dissolved in water. Strange to say, that Avhich, if respired and acting on the lungs, would prove instantly fatal, if swallowed and acting on the coats of the stomach, serves as a pleasent tonic ; one among the many wondei-s of physiology, showing that what often is poisonous to one part of the body is healthful to another part; as illustrative of which, the poisonous secretions 216 PROFESSOR SALOxMON AND HIS CARBON ENGINE. of snakes may be cited : introduced under the skin they are fatal, but taken in the stomach, perfectly harmless. The relations of carbonic acid to lime render it more especially interesting in this connection. Take a glass of clear lime-water and breathe slowly into it through a tube, whose end is under the water and near the bottom of the glass. The carbonic acid thrown off from the lungs is seized in its passage through the water, and the resulting compound, in the form of chalk, (car- bonate of lime,) floats in fine powder upon the surface. Remove the chalk, and add to it some suli^huric acid, the bribe proves effectual ; the lime in- stantly leaves the carbonic acid and unites with the sulphuric, forming sul- phate of lime or plaster of Paris. The same kind of process is observed "whenever we make a glass of soda-water ; the blue paper contains carbon- ate of soda, the white, tartaric acid : dissolve each separately in one third of a glass of water, and pour one solution into the other ; the soda unites with the tartaric acid, forming tartrate of soda, while the gas set free bubbles simultaneously to the surface, and flies off. The violence with which it escapes may help to give an idea of its real power and capability as a motor. We have now arrived at a point where we can perceive the advantages of carbonic acid over steam as a motor, and the manner in which both work to effect their object. Steam is used to drive a piston, with greater or less force, backwards and forwards along the inside of a cylinder ; the connection of the piston with other parts of the machinery eflfects all the requisite mo- tions desired. Carbonic acid acts precisely in the same manner, and thus far there is no advantage. Steam is made from water, and as the latter exists naturally as a liquid, the attractive and rej^ulsive forces around the atoms are in equilibrium. To cause it to assume the gaseous form, the repulsive force must be made greatly superior. Gravity is supposed to be a synonym for the attractive force, and caloric, or the agent producing heat, for the repulsive. The application of heat, then, will cause the particles to diverge to the required extent; but as water requires 212 degrees of heat to become steam, an immense amount of fuel is necessary. When the requi- site quantity of steam is formed, a potion is conducted to the cylinder, which opens near the piston. Not having room enough for expansion, it drives the piston before it to a certain distance, when suddenly a valve opens communicating with a vacuum, produced by the constant action of an air- pump, and the steam is instantly withdrawn ; at this moment a valve opens on the opposite side of the cylinder, behind the piston, which has been driven there, and a fresh portion of steam drives it back again from whence it started ; this steam is removed by the opening of a valve connecting with the vacuum, and thus an incessant play is kept up. By a series of ingenious contrivances, the engine itself is made to regulate the amount of steam introduced to drive the piston, and the exact moment of its withdrawal. Low-pressure engines save much of the steam which enters the vacuum, and use it over again ; but the high-pressure allow it to escape in a succession of pufts, the presence or absence of which pufis easily distinguishing the two kinds when in action. It may be easily observed from this analysis that it is the repulsive force alone which is the real motor. If the steam had room enough to expand between the piston and end of the cylinder, no motion would result ; but as it must have this space, it violently urges the piston before it the proper dis- tance. The repulsive force can only be conquered by something supeiior to itself. An idea of the power necessary for such an object may be obtained by witnessing the mode by which masses of rock are sometimes split. A few PROFESSOR SALOMON AND HIS CARBON ENGINE. 217 grooves are made in the upper part of the rock in the desired line, and small wedges of wood hammered in the grooves, and these wedges saturated with water. The repulsive force between the particles of water, thus constrained, acts so powerfully to overcome the obstruction, that the entire line of rock is fractured. Some years since, I saw a large block of granite, intended for a public building, split in this manner, and rendered useless for its destined pur- pose : it had a small cavity in the upper part which the rain filled, and this water freezing during the night split the block into two portions. Water, then, is a mere vehicle for the repulsive force in the form of heat, and the more intense the fire, the greater the power ; hence the amount of highly combustible matters thrown into furnaces under the boilers of steam- boats when racing, and the great danger thereby incurred. Ericsson per- ceived this fact, and saw that if he could contrive the right kind of appara- tus, he could make air serve a better purpose than water ; and there is little doubt his Caloric Engine will eventually succeed. Take a small iron cylinder whose pieces screw together in the middle so as to be hermetically tight, and having filled it with water, suspend it over the fire ; in a certain time the expulsive force will have gained power enough from the heat to burst it into pieces ; but it need harm no one, as there is time sufiicient to get out of the way. Take the same kind of cylinder and place in it a quantity of chalk and of sulphuric acid, so fixed that by turn- ing a screw they will mix together ; make the cyHnder tight, and cause the materials to unite ; in an instant there is a violent explosion, and the room is filled with a deadly poison. These experiments show somewhat the rela- tive danger of the two agents, and excite our interest to know how Salomon could overcome the obstacles in his way. His maxim was to " divide and conquer," and in this lay much of the excellence of his invention. The spherical form is the strongest, and so in a cast-iron globe, two inches in thickness, he purposed to generate his gas. The globes, tubes, and all that the sulphuric acid could gain access to, were, of course, to be lined with lead. From the generator the gas was to be received into a second globe, termed the reservoir, and from this last conducted to the cylinder. After leaving the reservoir, and just before entering the cylinder, heat was to be applied still further to increase its elastic force. Thus prepared, it was to enter the cylinder and enlarge its space by driving the piston before it. At a certain point, as in the steam-engine, the valve communicating with an exhausted receiver was to open, and the gas to be instantly withdrawn ; the same series of actions to take place on the other side of the piston, the whole causing it to be constantly driven backwards and forwards. The next point was to ^save the gas for re-use, and this to be accomplished by means of hydrostatic pressure with the force-pump, condensing it into a third globe which communicated with the reservoir. The machinery connectiug with the piston for the various mechanical purposes is alike in the steam and carbon engines; and with the exception of the furnaces and boilers, which are unnecessary, the apparatus of one could be readily adapted to the other. The advantages of the invention as thus stated were obvious at once. Its perfect safety and easy management were invaluable desiderata of them- selves. Add to this its economy ; the cost of the engine itself much less ; a mere trifle for the ingredients for working, and the same quantity capable of constant re-use. No time wasted in' steaming up; no need of fuel; no danger from fire, and the space and weight of the machine no longer a mat- ter of moment. Anticipating a little in the story, it may be mentioned that the one made of twenty-five horse power worked witliout noise or jar ; was 218 PROFESSOR SALOMON AND HIS CARBON ENGINE. only fourteen feet long, two and a half wide, and, with the manometer, three feet high. A larger size affording in proportion to power still gi'eater economy of room. Salomon had taken the models down into his sitting-room, where they remained, and were often referred to in our conversations as we canvassed the details of the invention. Some time afterwards, James F. Mason, of Danville, Ky., brother of the representative in Congress from that district, stopped at the house of the Professor to pay his daughter's music bill. A thunder-storm coming up prevented his lea\ang, and he passed the night there. Observing the models, he inquired in relation to them, and was told their object, together with the general history of the invention. At the conclusion of the story his interest was so much excited that he offered to become a partner and advance the capital necessary to get up the machines. Salomon at once accepted the proposal, resigned his situation, and raising all the money he could himself, went to Cincinnati, unhesitatingly exchanging the piano for the forge. That such enterprises were among the most costly, all concerned soon found out. Large sums of money weve spent, and the most unlooked-for events constantly occurred to retard success. Instead of cast-iron globes, as Salomon had first projected, he was persuaded to sub- stitute bronze ; and when all was ready, and the machine confidently ex- pected to work, no sooner was the generating globe charged, than the water of the sulphuric acid was sent in all directions through its pores, as if it had been made of tissue papei. This rendered necessary a delay of several Aveelis, and entailed much additional expense. So frequent were the disap- pointments and so onerous the charges for carrying on the work, that after an expenditure of several thousand dollars, his first partner retired, to be succeeded by others, who in turn gave way. Still, while all around him were completely disheartened, he worked on with the most undaunted perse- verance and assurance of success. At last, all was ready again, and a large number of spectators waited as before to witness his discomfiture. After the machine was charged, he remained in breathless anxiety for the result, and when the piston did actually Avork and the fly-wheel revolve, burst into tears of joy. The following account of the experiment is taken from the Cincinnati Chronicle and Atlas, and will fitly conclude the story. I have not seen or heard from the Professor for some two years, and so can give nothing direct. I therefore conclude, sincerely wishing that he may succeed as he deserves to do, and be more fortunate, in a pecuniary sense, with this than his many other inventions : " The motive power is obtained by the generation and expansion, by heat, of carbonic acid gas. Common whiting, sulphuric acid, and water, are used in generating this gas, and the ' boiler ' in which these components are held is similar in shape and size to a common bomb-shell. A small furnace, about the size of one of Dodd's Parodi hats, with a handful of igliited char- coal, furnishes the requisite heat for propelling this engine of twenty- five horse power. The relative power of steam and carbonic acid gas is thus stated : "Water at the boiling point gives a pressure of fifteen pounds to the square inch. With the addition of thirty degi'ees of heat, the power is dou- ble, giving thirty pounds ; and so on, doubling with every additional thirty degrees of heat, till we have 3,840 pounds, under a heat of 452 degrees — a heat which no engine can endure. But with the carbon, twenty degrees of heat above the boiling point give 1,080; forty degrees gjve 2,160 WHO PAYS THE DUTY? 219 pounds; eighty degrees give 4,320 pounds; that is, four hundred and eio-hty pounds greater power with this gas than four Imndred and fifty-two degrees of heat give by converting water into steam. " Not only does this invention multiply power almost indefinitely, but it reduces the expense to a mere nominal amount. The item of fuel for a fii-st- class steamer, between Cincinnati and New-Orleans, going and returning, is between $1,000 and $1,200 ; whereas $5 will furnish the material for pro- pelling the boat the same distance by carbon. Attached to the new engine is also an apparatus for condensing the gas after it has passed through the cylinders, and returning it again to the starting-place, thus using it over and over, and allowing none to escape. " While the engine was in operation, on Monday, it hfted a weight of 12,000 pounds up the distance of five feet perpendicular, five times every minute. The weight was put on by way of experiment, and does by no means indicate the full power of the engine. " Mr. Salomon will immediately commence the construction of another engine on the same principle, of three hundred and fifty horse power. We expect to see steam entirely superseded by carbon in the course of a few years, for locomotive and mechanical purposes." WHO PAYS THE DUTY? Mr. Weed, of the Albany Eveninr/ Journal, in one of his last letters from Europe, oifers the following reflections : " Speaking of iron, by the way, let us extract an expensive moral from the existing state of things. The tariff of 1846, aided by ' cheap iron' from England, having broken down our own manufacturers, we are now, with all sorts of enterprises in hand, wholly dependent upon the English manufacturers. They understand and are taking advantage of this folly. The price of rails has risen, and will continue to advance. Iron is twenty- five and thirty per cent, liigher now than it was a year ago. Rails could haye been rolled, if our tariff had not been broken down at home, twenty-five per cent, cheaper than their cost here." The tarifi" of 1842 produced competition for the production and sale of iron, and under it the quantity made at home grew from 200,000 to 850,000 tons. The tariff of 1840 has to a great extent destroyed competition for the sale of this important commodity, and it is daily more and more producing that efiect by closing our furnaces and our rolling mills ; and the consequence is now seen in the rise of price of foreign iron. We have already seen an advance in the foreign price equal to that which was asked to be made in the duty, but to that application turned a deaf ear ; and the result is now seen in the fact that we pay the duty to foreign iron masters instead of pay- ing it into our own Treasury, Great Britain must seek the foreign market at whatever price, and the man who must go to a distant market must pay the cost of going to it, as our farmers and planters so well know. It is a part of the system of British free trade to destroy competition for the sale of cloth and iron, that she may have a monopoly and fix her own prices ; and the object of the tariff of 1846 is that of enabling her to carry out her favorite policy of taxing the farmers and planters of the world, by allowing them but one market in which to sell, and one in which to buy, that she may fix the prices of all they have to sell and all they need to buy, as she in regard to iron. A dutj' on foreign iron equal to the duty .220 SURPLUS OF FOOD RECIPROCITY. by the great monopoly of England, would by this time have carried up the domestic production to a million and a half of tons, making a domestic mar- ket for one hundred millions of dollars of the fruits of the earth, to the vast advantage of the fsu-mers, who would then have seen the advantage resulting from an increase of their customers, whereas they are now reaping the dis- advantage resulting from an increase in the number of their competitors, and they would have had iron as cheap as they now can have it. HOW TO MAKE A SURPLUS OF FOOD, AND TO INCREASE IT BY RECIPROCITY. Our agricultural readers will find matter for much profitable reflection in the latest news from the " great grain market of the world." They have per- haps been relying upon famine in Germany to bring their breadstuffs up to a remunerating price. The famine is well established there and elsewhere ; but, famine or no famine, the factors of the corn market confidently anticipate that there will be a surplus, which must find its way from the northern ports of Europe to Mark Lane. They know that there is always a surplus, no mat- ter how hungry men are, or how little the supply of food is, when they have not the means of purchasing it. There is always surplus food for exportation in countries which permit their people to be pauperized by submission to the policy by which Great Britain aims to maintain the monopoly of manufac- turing for the world, and to be the great workshop to which all men must come to sell bread and buy fabrics ; in every country which, instead of build- ing up domestic markets by diversifying the industry of its people, is wheedled into depending w^on foreign markets, and seeking to extend them by encour- aging importations. Thus Ireland had surplus grain, by the million of bushels, in 1822 and in 1847, when her people were perishing for lack of food, too poor to purchase even diseased potatoes. In the latter year cargoes of Irish wheat were actually emptied into the docks of London by speculators, rather than to depress the market by landing them. Mark Lane understands verj well that surplus food means, not more food than a given number of hungry- mouths require to maintain life, but simply more food than their wilUng hands can find work to pay for it with. Mark Lane understands perfectly Daniel Webster's axiom, " Where there's work for the hands there's always work for the teeth," and that where there's not work for the hands, teeth and the good things they ache to grind are altogether surplus. Only make men poor enough, and they have plenty of surplus. There is not a large city in the trading world where you cannot immediately discover the precise stage of poverty by watching the variations in the surplus clothing, &c., in the pawnbroker's shop. At the sign of the three golden balls you may always find the barometer of destitution. Thus sui'plus begets surplus, until the poor victim who found first one comfort and then another superfluous, becomes superfluous himself and dies ; and then the little food that he contrived to obtain before he perished is no longer needed for home consumption, and goes to swell the surplus for exportation. So it is that the corn-jobbers of Mark Lane grow fat on Continental famine. It brings grist to their mill ; while, instead of being serviceable to the farmer of the United States, his prices are beaten down by the competition of the wretches who cannot eat their own grain, because their governments do not protect them against the delusive theory which Mark Lane preaches under the name of Free Trade. Just at the time when our farmers are told, as the result of recent ship- EFFICACY OF COTTON IN PRESERVING FRUIT. 221 ments to England, that " most of the flour having cost nearly as much on the other (American) side of the Atlantic as it will realize here, freight and charges have been lost^'' they are complacently silent while the class whose business it is to grind and transport wheat ask Congress to grant free admission to that of Canada. The Canadians tell them, " It makes no sort of difference whether we compete with you in your own markets, at the mills of the Merrimac River, for instance, or in the English market, for your market after all is governed by Mark Lane, and its prices rise and fall as the price current of the great grain market dictates." If this be so as a general rule, the more's the pity, and the greater the necessity that our farmers should go to work to produce such action on the part of Congress as that our market for agricultural pro- ducts shall be no longer regulated by English prices. But even under such a general rule it would be a sufficient answer to the Canadian application to reply : " If it's all the same to us, why it must be the same to you. We are not quite certain about it ; therefore we will keep the duties, and you may go to England to compete with us there." It is quite apparent, however, that the Canadians seek access to our market because it is a better one than the English, and therefore that it is the interest of our farmers to reserve this market for themselves. Under the present advices, it is very clear that if we go to England with our grain, we do it at the loss of freight and charges. If the Canadians go, they lose the freight and charges. Every barrel of Cana- dian grain admitted for our domestic consumption makes a barrel of Ameri- can grain surplus, and drives it to England, to sustain the loss which the Cana- dian grower would evade. A time when "American flour has been ofiered on easier terms, but buyers appear to expect a further decline, and refuse to pur- chase freely," is evidently not the time to increase the stock of American flour that must go to England. There is matter for special notice by the farmers of the Western States, in the fact that Dantzic and Rostock wheat is held with firmness and " main- tain their previous value," but their flour (for it is Western, not Genesee flour that goes to England) declines. They are the chief supporters of free trade, and they it was who were allured by the glittering rewards which the authors of the tariff" of '46 promised them in the English market. The prize, such as it is, is carried off" by the serfs and their masters who raise the wheat of Dantzic and Rostock ; the blanks, the loss of freight and charges, with the expectation of a further decline, by our friends at the West, who send advocates of the British monopoly to Congress. Efficacv of Cotton in Preserving Fruit. — We have been informed, (says an exchange,) by a gentleman who has had practical proof of its suc- cess, of a new mode of keeping fruit fresh for the table, as grapes, plums, &c., a long time after they have been gathered. It is simply to alternate them in layers with cotton batting in clean stone jars, and to place them in a chamber secure from frost. A servant in the family of William Morey, Union Village, Washington county, about to visit her friends, secured a quantity of plums in this way, to preserve them until her return. They were found to have kept in excellent condition, long after the fruit had disappeared from the garden. From the hint thus afforded, Mr. Morey, Mr. Holmes, and one or two others, laid down grapes in this manner last fall, and they enjoyed the luxury of fresh, fine fruit during the winter, until the early part of March. 222 JOURNAL OF AN EAST TENNESSEAN. roil THE PLOnCII, THE LOOM, AND THE ANVIL. EXTRACTS FROM THE JOURNAL OF AN EAST TENNESSEAN. Ox the lOtli of May, 1844, 1 took leave of my friends in St. Louis, stepped aboard the stearaboot Mary TonvpMns, bound up the Missouri. The scenery upon this river defies the point of my pencil. First a broad sweepina^ current, with low, level banks ; then a point of rocks formed into a bluff jutting out into the stream at right angles with the shore. Two days bring me to Jefferson City, a village rather, covering a ravine, in which stand'^ the capital city of the Slate of Missouri. The Capitol building is of hewn stone, (lime- stone,) but has a strong resemblance to marble — a square building, with stone jutting cornices, around which I walked, and on which I scribbled, thought- lessly, my name, address, and date. The bell rung. " All aboard " was sung out ; pow ! pow ! pow ! The mad steamer seizes the bone in her mouth, and proudly dashes the wild current, and in twelve hours hauls in at Lexington, a beautiful village on the west bank, on a high bluff" overlooking on the oppo- site shore the low, level bottom farm of Colonel Moore, formerly of Chucky Bend, Jefferson county, Tennessee. From here, in company with two other gentlemen travellers, I crossed the mad stream, with satchel on my shoulder, and took the track to Richmond, in Ray county ; thence striking a course north, 15 deg. west, to Gallatin, on the west fork of Grand river. Crossing this deep, muddy stream, we mounted the green bluffs, pursuing our course over an almost level prairie, without a tree or a bush in sight to relieve the painful monotony ; without a road, coursing by a pocket-compass for the Peery settlement, near the north line of Missouri, on the head waters of Grand river, filling our canteens at the occasional little scups we passed ; and when fatigued or overtaken by night, after making a meal of cold bread and meat from our wallets, would stretch our weary limbs on the green sod to rest. We were six or seven days performing this march, and nearly every mile of it was over a continuous prairie, with a verdant turf of wild grass, of ten or fifteen inches in height, and most of the way enamelled with wild flowers and a profusion of strawberries. For two or three of the first days the scenery was monotonous, and became painful, from the feet that we were, to use a phrase of the country, " out of sight of land ;" to wit, out of sight of any thing rising above the horizon, which was a perfect straight line around us like that of the blue and boundless ocean. The pedestrian over such a dis- couraging sea of green, without a landmark before or behind him, without a beacon to lead him on or define his progress ; weary, weak, and desponding ; and when night ftills, and he stretches his exhausted limbs apparently on the same spot where he slept the night before, with the same prospect before and behind him, the same grass and the same wild flowers beneath and about him, the same canopy over his head, and the same cheerless sea of green to start upon in the morning. It is difficult to describe the simple beauty and serenity of these scenes of solitude, or the feelings of feeble man whose limbs are toiling to carry him through them. On the sixth day we saw in the dis- tance to the naked eye a speck upon the green, a glass defining it a " teut- cloth," having seen deer, wolves, gophers, hens, and hogs, (a few wild,) till we scarcely paid more attention to them than cattle in the field at home. At noon, still nearing our white object, stopped for repose, and fed on the most dehcious wild plums I ever tasted, upon the bank of a small creek, which we named Plum creek. About 3 o'clock P. M., raising a handkerchief on a staff, TOPPING COTTON. 223 we fired our guns to the number of twenty, and presently saw a man with a cap and pony making towards us in a gallop. x\n hour elapsed ere we spoke. He guided tis to the tent of a friend on the border of the settlement alluded to. This settlement was made up of Peerys, and friends fi-om Tazewell county, Virginia. Our first friend I said lived in a tent, and so he did. His wao-on-sheet was spread for a lodging-room ; his wagon-bed a store-house and pantry ; his crop of oats and corn growing in open space, without a panel of fence, hedge, or ditch, to protect it. Here we feasted on v/arm cakes, (the flour being ground by hand,) honey, milk, butter, cheese, &c., until next day afternoon, when one by one we visited the settlement. Some had built houses; others were making brick, &c. One citizen had erected a frame house ; the boards, plank, and other lumber he had entirely shaped out with his axe, and wedge, and draw-knife. Here I saw a house covered with slate- stone, in the wild forest. I saw the great western prairie plough, to which were attached a pair of trucks and twelve yoke of oxen, overturning the maiden soil, which is a black loam, of fertile appearance ; though to me the corn was rather low in height, but of a deep-green, healthy color. This settlement is upon the east fork of Grand river. About ten miles below the northern line of Missouri, on this river, is the " Grand River Raft," which I visited — a raft of loo-s and trees, completely bridging the stream for three miles, over which wagons and passengers may go safely. Here a huge tree upturned, with root on the surfiice of the water, its boughs perhaps one hundred feet in mud and water, in which position it has been for ages ; another, perhaps a cotton- wood, two hundred feet in length, one end bored into the bank, the other spiked out like chevaux-de-frise ; with a third horizontal. Through the aper- tures of this raft, which has no doubt existed for hundreds of years, the water sifts its way, and, making a fall sufficient for any machinery, foaming and muddy, glides away. This country is, beyond expectation, now pretty densely settled. After staying several days with these friends, we were con- ducted to Trenton, in Grundy county, at which place we dug us a canoe, put- ting our baggage aboard, and explored Grand river to its mouth, where stands the level little town of Brunswick, which carries on a brisk business in tobacco trade and manufacture. Here, at the house of our good friend Keyte, of Keytesville, we stayed till taken by the steamboat White Cloud back to St. Louis, arriving at Nashville, Tennessee, the 4th day of July, the day of American jubilee. A. L. B. Mile Bend, Tennessee, 30<7i ■hdy, 1852. TOPPING COTTON. A. WKiTER in the Southern Cultivator says : It is not the largest weeds or plants that always yield the most lint ; and how to augment the growth of the staple, relatively, as compared \>'ith the other parts of the plant, is the knowledge which all planters should aim to develop. If we had a field of growing cotton, we should not only experiment in topping a portion of it, but apply aslies (caustic or undipped) to about one or two hundred hills of plants in June. A gill to a plant scattered about over a foot or eighteen inches square, and dug into the soil, might aid much in developing forms and fiUing them with seed and lint. Guano, and urine, ought to be tried in a similar manner ; and hme, plaster, and salt, as well as manure, may be worked in about the stems and needy roots of cotton and corn, when tilled in June. The art of feeding cultivated plants on scientific principles is in its infancy. 224 SEXUAL CHARACTER OF THE STRAWBERRY. Experiments are rnuch needed to verify or falsify the suggestions of agricul- tural chemists. All want more liglit, and all should lend a helping hand to increase or diffuse it. We are not to expect miracles in behalf of improve- ments in agi-iculture. Progress is wholly impossible without effort. The pursuit of the farmer has remained in some nations without material change for thousands of years. Cultivators of the soil did not try to improve either themselves or their paternal acres, and therefore no improvement in either was attained. Let our friends be admonished, in a spirit of national progress, that if they stand still the world will not. Indeed, there is some reason to fear that if one refuses to advance with this advancing age, he will be trodden under foot and crushed into the earth as a " ciimberer of the around." SEXUAL CHARACTER OF THE STRAWBERRY. Cincinnati, Aug. 12th, 1852. To the Editors of the Plough, the Loom, and the Anvil f^' The people in Burlington county, New-Jersey, must be behind the age in the cultivation of the strawberry. You say, " Jason Heritage sold 500 quarts, which formed one picking, and were sold at $250 — fifty cents per quart." The same thing was done in these backwoods twenty-five years ago. One individual now brings 4,000 quarts a day, and is satisfied if he gets seven or eight cents per quart ; often for less. Twenty-five years ago we were learned botanists, and held all strawberry plants that bore blossoms perfect in both male and female organs, and raised a quarter of a crop. We now hold a different doctrine, and plant one Hermaphrodite to twenty Pistillate plants. We have a new seedling, surpassing all plants that I have ever seen, and one I never expected to see — a plant perfect in both male and female organs, that has for five years produced a full crop of large, perfect, well- flavorod fruit. I have never seen one of the celebrated English ones that would average one third of a crop of perfect fruit. I was recently at Newark^ New- Jersey, and was at gardens where the strawberry was cultivated exten- sively for market. They were not informed of the sexual character of plants. I saw several beds of Burns's new Pistillate Pine, with not one perfect berry to fifty blossoms, and the gardener deemed it an imposition. He had no other variety within forty feet. In his principal beds he fortunately, among his Hovey and other Pistillates, had a new seedling Hermaphrodite, raised by my sister in Newark, of which more than one half of the blossoms bore perfect fruit, and the blossoms were so abundant that the quantity of fruit was as large as the roots could render perfect. Strange as it may appear, even in England the true sexual character of the plant was unknown. Mr. Keen, the origin- ator of the celebrated Hermaphrodite that bears his name, discovered that one of his seedlings perfected no fruit. Seeing no stamens in the blossoms, he set one with stamens near it, and the vine bore a full crop. He reported the case to the Horticultural Society, but no further notice was taken of it. In raising from seed, one half are generally wholly defective in female organs, and not one blossom in one thousand will bear a peifect fruit. All require artificial impregnation. It is done by insects. Put one hundred plants in a forcing department of plants, perfect in both male and female organs, and if there be no insects, not one blossom in fifty will bear fruit. In such cases, the impregnation may be made by a brush. Where the air is stirring, it may impregnate a few. Thirty years since, adjacent to our city, an ignorant Ger- THE LAWS OF HYGIENE. 225 mau made a fortune by raising strawberries for market. They were the largest and finest in market, and brought from twenty-five to fifty cents per quart. The same quantity of ground produced five times as much fruit as was raised by his neighboi-s. I had one eighth of an acre in vines, and went to the German to buy fruit. His neighbors picked up the plants he threw on the road, when thinning out his plants, and they proved barren. A chance observation of the German's son led me to suspect the cause. I discovered the sexual difference ; made it known. Strawberries went as low as five and six cents per quart, and the German ceased to cultivate them, and raised veg- etables; abusing his son, and heaping "c?omier und hlitzen^^ on my head. Hailing from what was once the land of rye flour, I am anxious to see the price of strawberries reduced in that State. U. Longworth. FOR THE PLOUGH, THB LOOM, AND THE ANVIL. THE LAWS OF HYGIENE. — No. I. BY JOHN B. NEWMAN, M. D. There is one subject much spoken of, and whose importance is generally allowed, and yet as generally neglected. This subject is Physiology. A& necessary, and in many instances more so, than the three R's (Reading, Eiting, and Rithmetic) taught in our common schools, it is hardly ever thought of in connection with the minor seminaries of learning. It is only the top and upper portions of the hill of Science that are permitted to be cbeered by the rays of the new sun. The colleges and higher academies do teach something about Physiology, but only the few in such cases can be benefited, and these few often learn the laws of Hygiene to find that they have been engaged in habitually violating them, and must pay the penalty. The great mass in our land whose future education, after leaving the common school, must be pursued in colleges bearing the armorial ensigns of the Plough, the Loom, and the Anvil, never perhaps iiear of these laws, so neces- sary to health and fortune, and yet must pay the forfeit of ignorance. I was last w^eek conversing with a friend, a superior mechanic, and who, working by the piece, is paid according ^o the amount he performs. He was remarking that his income varied from twelve to twenty-five dollars per week, although he always labored the same number of hours every day. I inquired if the kind of work did not ditfer. He said no, it was nearly all alike ; and yet, strive as hard as he could, it would often take him an entire day to com- plete what, at a more hicky spell, he could finish by noon. For this differ- ence he was utterly unable to account, and the fact seemed to him very mys- terious. " Has to-day been one of your lucky days, as you call them V said 1. " No ; I ate too much breakfast, had some headache and uncomfortable feelings about my stomach, and was besides very cross and fretful. It never rains but it pours, and disagreeable things always come in a heap." " When was your last lucky day ?" " On Saturday. I did more than usual, and was in fine spu-its ; in fact, for the whole week was much better, and did more than com- monly." " What time did you go to bed last night ?" " Past twelve o'clock." " During the week past, what time V " Never after half-past nine, as I had to get up early in the morning to go with George and take a bath before break- fast. He went in the country this week, and I did not feel like going alone." YOL, V. 15 2S6 THE LAWS OF HYGIENE. " I suppose by this time you know the purpose of my questions ?" " I do, but I never thought of that before." He now saw plainly enough that hicky days followed early going to bed, early rising, and bathing, and unlucky days the reverse ; and that in a great measure his fortune as well as his tem- per was in his own power. By a little attention to Hygiene he could increase the amount of his income at least two hundred dollars per year, besides sav- ing the extra expenses that late hours are always sure to entail. Some years since I made an agreement with a painter about a job of work, and it not having been commenced at the appointed time, went to see him. He said he was behindhand with all his jobs, as two of his men had been attacked with colic, and a third, on whom he relied most, had become palsied ; that such things were of course common occurrences with painters, and were always taken into consideration in contracting ; the men could only do their best, and colic and palsy seemed unavoidable. The boss was a stoutj well- formed man, and, except a very marked paleness of countenance, apparently in the enjoyment of good health. Aware that he had always been a hard worker at his own business, I asked if he himself was not often attacked. " Never but once, and that some twelve years since, when I went up in the country to finish a job of inside work, and staid a week, sleeping in the house. There was no company, it was very lonely, and so I had an attack of colic brought on by low spirits. I always tell the men that the mind has a good deal to do with the body, and that cheerfulness and pleasant company will ward off any attacks." On inquiring more minutely into his reasons about cheerfulness, he told me that soon after he commenced as an appren- tice he began attending evening school, and when there was no school, went out visiting. The smell of paint would cling to his person so that he had to wash himself all over every evening before dressing, and of course entirely change his clothes. When the period of schooling was over, habit made the •hange and washing necessary, and he continued the practice, ascribing his exemption, however, entirely to the keeping up of his spirits ; remarking, that whenever one of his men became fretful and drooping, it was a sure sign •olic was coming on. I pointed out to this man that he had pursued, unknowingly, the best means of safety in his dangerous trade, as a mere preparation for something else, and how a slight knowledge of the laws of Hygiene would have enabled him to save his men as well as Kiraself, by teaching them the really valuable part of his practice, and that the low spirits and drooping he so much blamed in the poor fellows were symptoms of l\i*} disease itself which they could not ayoid. Instances of a similar kind will find their appropriate place in other parts of the present series, the two mentioned showing sufficiently that this kind of " knowledge is power," rendering its possessor capable of realizing the maxim that " time is money." Very few ever think of asking the doctor's advice in regard to the mode of life best adapted to their respective kinds of business. It is time enough to see him, they think, when confined to bed, and even then the most are too strong-minded to beheve in medicine or medical treat- ment. He must come only because the family and friends insist upon it, and for the sake of these the patient, martyr-like, bleeds in body and pocket. After all, no man can hardly be blamed for wanting confidence in the med- ical profession ; there are so many different systems, and each at war with all the rest, that, take at any time the votes of the majority of physicians, and the opinion would be given that if there " were fewer doctors there would be loss deaths." Besides this, many believe that the study of medicine leads men THE LAWS OF HYGIENE. 227 to infidelity, and so there must be something radically wrong about the whole science, which of course would be undeniably true, if when properly pursued such was its tendency. And thus every class and every grade, in turn, weigh the science in the balance and find it w'anting. Does the inquirer turn to the common books on Physiology for information on this subject, he finds himself at once bewildered by countless affinities, and suctions, and catalytic forces, and the whole subject inextricably mixed up with Chemistry and Natural Philosophy. Most of the books are receptacles for disseminating the vagaries of the French and German schools. Physi- ology in itself is simple, as all truth is, and carries its own conviction with it. It is, to say the least, as certain a science, and has as little mystery in it, as has Chemistry, from which it is utterly distinct. Avoiding these objections, it will be the object of these papers to give a simple common-sense view of the outlines of Physiology, and their practical applications in Hj'giene, together with the reasons of these applications ; commencing with an account of the True Hippocratic Physician, in the hope that confidence enough will be given thereby to cause attention to be paid to his advice. And it is given the more freely, that the writer has long been out of the arena of the profes- sion, and is in no sense pecuniarily interested in its progress. Never was name more appropriately chosen than that which designated the Healer of Disease by the title of Physician. The term is synonymous with Naturalist, one who studies or governs nature ; the latter word being used in its most extended application. The chemist busies himself in his laboratory with finding out the affinities of the atomic particles ; the astrono- mer, from his tower, cons the stars and discovers the laws which regulate their motions ; the botanist collects plants and tells their names and habits ; the metaphysician, in his closet, studies the mental faculties and their modes of operation : so in like manner the enumeration might be carried out to a great length, showing the confinement of each to his own sphere. But the physi- cian is greater than all, both singly and collectively ; for not only must he know what pertains to the business of others, but must make that very know- ledge the rudiments of his own art to use for higher purposes. Lest such assertions might seem to border on extravagance, the reader may call to mind, on the one hand, the knowledge of mechanics requisite to the surgeon for the perfect adjustment of a limb after suflfering a compound fracture ; and on the other hand, the equally necessary lore of the metaphysician, in treating cases of insanity. Though he does not, like the minister, officiate in the pulpit, yet opportu- nities are not wanting of emulating the example of his divine exemplar. He must not confine his ministrations of good to the body alone ; his work is not fully performed, unless he attends to the soul also. How many times does the man of the world turn from the advice and warning of his pastor, reiter- _ ating the old excuse, " I am busy now, but will attend to these things at an- other time," and there is no help for it ? But he cannot thus treat his phy- sician. " Nature points out by unerring indications that death is at hand, and the things thou now vainest will soon be thine no longer. Man, thy soul is required of thee ; take heed, and while it is time make thy calling and election sure." No matter what his natural hardihood may be, he must tremble at words like these, and on the awful realities of another world direct, however unwilling, his anxious gaze. It is the office of the physician to usher into this breathing world the young scion of immortality, and to hear the cry that betokens its first inspiration; and it is equally his office to listen to the last moan of humanity, as h« stands 228 THE NORTH AND THE SOUTH. by the bedside while the same spirit, now departing, leaves the dust in which it has abode so many years. From the cradle to the grave his ministration extends, and throughout that long period his presence is imperative in every hour of peril and affliction. It is a part of his daily business to expose his own life, in order that he may render assistance imto others. Infectious and contagious diseases, from which others may shrink without reproof, must be approached and combated by this "friend that sticketh closer than a brother," as a matter of necessity. He may be truly said to carry his life in his hand, trusting in the Lord. The late cholera annals tell how many of this noble band remained at their posts, when to remain and discharge their duties insured almost certain death ; and yet with the most unflinching courage one after another stood and fell. It should not be forgotten, too, that such posi- tions are more dangerous and require more courage than the centre of the deadliest carnage on the battle-field ; bullets may and do miss, but the un- seen arrows of contagion always strike. In the one case, also, there is every thing that can excite and encourage the natural man ; in the other, every thing that can depress and restrain. The love of gain cannot be the inducement to make these sacrifices. No profession is less lucrative, and in none is the work so arduous and unremit- ting. How often has it been observed that the physician does not begin to earn his bread until he has no longer teeth to eat it? In view of these facts, it has become a maxim of consolation to the profession, that the poor are the best paymasters, for God is their surety. Prov. xix. l*?; xiv. Y. Of what other employment can it be said that the bad debts are the only sure property? Liable to be interrupted at all hours of the day and night, necessarily irregu- lar in meals and sleep, the physician cannot practise the Hygiene he teaches ; if permitted to escape the effects of contagion, he risks life by exhaustion, and is really like the guide-post, which, pointing the road to others, is debarred from the course itself. THE NORTH AND THE SOUTH. Under the tariff of 1846, the North and the South are contending for the possession of a constantly-diminishing market for cotton goods, and the result thus far has been that the North has triumphed, and has closed a large por- tion of the mills south of New-England. Competition to sell is the order of the day. Under a proper tariff there would be a growing demand, because the farmers and planters and laborers would produce more and have more to sell, and they would have better prices for what they sold. There would then be more competition for the purchase of the commodities they needed, the effect of which would be, that more labor would be given to the produc-. tion of them, and the North would gradually find that it could employ itself better in producing commodities requiring more labor than is now re- quired for the production of coarse cotton and woollen cloths, and the North and South would find themselves gradually making a market at home for their food and their wool. As a specimen of the quantity of labor that may be absorbed in the production of things that appear to be trifling, we give the following account of the manufactures of Waterbury, Mass, : — " Has your father or grandfather got a paii- of old gilded epaulettes not marked •"Waterbury?" Open your jack-knife, and see if 'Waterbury' is not cut into the blade. Turn over a large ancient, or small modem gilded, or even yellow button, aad THOUGHTS- ON THE CULTURE OF COTTON. 229 '^Waterbuiy ' can be spelled around its margin. Look at your 'wife's — I mean — no matter — hooks and eyes, and see them grin ' "Waterbury,' as they pull hard at each other. There's the end of your cane, the bits iu your horse's mouth, the tool you curry him with, the metal trimmings of your umbrella, the lock of your trunk, and all the un- tiinkable little bits of metallic civilization, comfort, and ornament, that ever were used or seen, hailing from ' Waterbmy.' Only think of a five-story brick building, covering more ground than Greenfield Common, all full of heavy and light machinery, costing anywhere from twenty to fifty thousand dollars, with fifty men and boys making sus- pender buckles ! Go to another, where steam puffs off from a thirty-horse engine, and you hear a roaring and crashing, as if fifty thousand trip-hammers were pounding the Rocky Mountains, and you find stout men very busy in getting out those sixpenny pieces of iron that tip the ends of the handles of cheap knives and forks. There is another concern hissing and snapping, with its $5,000 worth of machines that pull in long coils of wire, and turn out the eyes used in the wood and horn buttons — nothing else. And so you may go from one great shop to another, till you break down in utter amazement at the millions so profitably invested in manufacturing just nothing at all." THOUGHTS ON THE CULTURE OF COTTON. Perhaps we cannot do a better service to our Southern readers, than to give the substance of an article entitled as above, by Mr. A. W. Dillon, Sum- ter county, Alabama, in the Southern Cultivator. The writer says : Experience proves beyond cavil the folly of adhering to the old system of culture, when it has lost its adaptation to the seasons. It is a historical fact, that countries become colder as the primeval forests are cleared up and the land put in cultivation. This is true of the seasons in the cotton States. Our climate is annually changing, and approximating to that of North Ala- bama. Planters are now exposed to mishaps which were unknown to them ten years ago. This spring may be regarded as a type of future seasons, and as showing the numerous trials and drawbacks to which farmers will hereafter be subjected ; yet I by no means design to be understood as saying that it will be exactly similar in all respects. There is diversity in all animate and inanimate things ; and there is a marked diversity apparent, when we compare two seasons together. The past winter was remarkably cold, but about the middle of February the weather became serene and mild; vegetation was rapidly developed, and planters pushed forward their preparations with emu- lous eagerness. They planted corn in defiance of the experience of the last few years, and until the l7th of March they seemed to have adopted the wisest course, as the weather was balmy, and the corn thrifty and growing. But the wind shifted round to the north, the weather became bitingly cold, and the ground was completely frozen. Since that time we have had an oc- casional spell of good weather, whose influence on the crop was neutralized by heavy rains, accompanied with both wind and hail. Is it not strange that men, whose success is so much dependent on the seasons, should be content to plod on without any effort to note the changes of the seasons ? Were they to note the period when vegetation developed itself, mark the various drawbacks that occurred from seed-time to harvest, and contrast one year with another, it does seem to me that they might escape many vexatious disasters, and raise larger crops. We would pronounce a farmer who should plant corn in Virginia in February a fit subject for Bed- lam ; yet, notwithstanding the seasons have been so materially changed even since 1840, there are those among us who conceive that they would be irrep- arably ruined, were they not to plant corn before the first of March. Is there any more rationality in their course than that of the Virginia farmer? Let 2J30 THOUGHTS ON THE CULTURE OF COTTON. the repeated destruction of their crops by frost decLire the folly of such a system. I assume, as a fair deduction from the previous observations, that cotton ought not, even where the land is prepared, to be planted prior to the 5th or 6th of April. As a general thing, the spring rains are over by this time, the ground becomes warm enough to make the seed sprout in a few days, and the weather balmy enough to make it grow off just as soon as it comes up. I hail it as a favorable omen, that this opinion, once so much scouted, is gaining ground, as year after year shov.'s that late planting is more certain to secure a good stand of cotton, and that the cotton is less liable to be stinted by bad weather, or destroyed by insects. Nor should the ground be prepared too soon where there is abundance of team, as it then becomes weedy, and is covered with a hard incrustation, before the cotton gets up. In such a case, the land has to be thoroughly broken up anew, before the cotton can grow off, or the land be worked to advantage. For verification of this fact, if any were necessary, I might appeal to the personal experience of every observant farmer. Just as soon as the cotton is well up, the harrow should be run close to the drill, and a sweep put behind it to reopen the water-furrow. Harrows are preferable, because they are not half as apt to cover up cotton as sweeps ; they sift the dirt among it better, drag the clods and stalks from the cotton, and leave the ground in admirable order for subsequent working. Deep plough- ing in light and porous soils is too exhaustive of the nutrition which feeds the plant, and on that account should never be attempted, unless in very wet seasons. In weedy land, or where a hard crust is apt to be formed on the bed, it is best to run the bar of a turning-plough close to the cotton, and throw the dirt into the water-furrow. This mode of ploughing greatly facilitates " chopping out," and renders the land loose and pleasant to cultivate during the rest of the season. We rarely bring cotton to a perfect stand the first working, unless the weather is peculiarly mild and serene ; but from the 1st of April to the 5th of May we thin it in accordance with the fertility of the land. It is generally agreed that late ploughing makes cotton " shed off" the bulk of the squares and blooms which it may have on it. All schemes for regulating the price of cotton are idle and visionary, and in all probability would produce a reaction as distressing as the evils which ■were designed to be cured. Liberal sentiments, moderate duties, and a fair interchange of commodities, will be found more conducive to the maintenance of remunerative prices than all the wild schemes that have been suggested. The only feasible way of preventing a depression in the price of cotton is, to diminish the amount of the crop ; yet the certain success of such a diminu- tion of the crop by no means helps us in the solution of the original difficulty ; inasmuch as neither eloquence nor self-interest can induce men to forego pres- ent gain for a remote, prospective increase of their incomes. Their minds, have so long been taught to look upon " a bird in the hand as worth two in the bush," that they seldom look beyond the present. Exhausted nature will necessitate a curtailment of the cotton crop, and force farmers to seek out new channels of profit. The prurient itching of many farmers to be rich, has blinded them to the ruinous effects of their careless mode of cultivation, and left them neither in- clination nor leisure to restore their worn-out lands. If this mode of culture is persisted in, lands which now yield a h\r crop of cotton will be hopelessly exhausted ; the country will be prematurely worn out ; our population will rush to new States, in search of richer land ; and every branch of trade will SHEEP. 231 decline and languish. The reflection is melanchol}' ; but we are assured that it is well founded, whenever we pass a field which has been exhausted beyond resuscitation. " What shall we do ?" is now the engrossing question with planters. How are our impoverished lands to be restored ? These are ques- tions of vast import to farmers, and need no gew-gaws of rhetoric to commend them to attention. If they would not bequeath to their children barren, worthless lands, it is full time for them to begin the work of restoring them. We must alternate our crops, sow small grain on worn-out lands, husband barn-yard and stable manure, and apply it to a small lot of land every year until all is manured, and be always on the watch for gullies and stop them in season. We need agricultural papers to disseminate correct principles ; explain the utility of new improvements ; explode hoary fallacies ; to snatch agricul- ture from the slough into which it has fallen, and elevate it, in spite of clogs, to its legitimate position in society. We need county societies, to beget em- ulation among us, by bestowing encouragement on skill and management in all the branches of agriculture, and to familiarize us with each other's mode of culture. SHEEP. We find good counsel in the Culturist and Gazette, in relation to sheep. The writer says: The profits from wool are small enough to demand the best care and the most careful management on the part of those who are thus engaged. Some points in sheep management are yet in question among good shepherds. Others we suppose are settled. Among the latter we would mention a few : First, sheep should never be permitted to grow poor in the fall. As the feed begins to be short and frost-bitten, sheep need great care. The farmer finds himself in trouble. lie wishes to spare his hay mow as long as he can, and, indeed, so long as the ground is bare, his sheep will not eat hay well, unless shut up and kept from the grass. Sheep often lose an amount of flesh in two or three weeks between grass and hay, which is not restored during the winter. But what shall be done ? Give them the best feed you can, and if consistent with your concerns, put them in the yard at night, if at all cold or stormy, and in the morning give them a little of the best hay you have, or a few oats, and after they have eaten turn them out again. Just remem- ber at this season they need care and attention, and your own good judgment will probably suggest the way. After the winter is fairly upon you, we suppose it settled policy to separate your flock into smaller parcels, according to their kinds. Lambs and yearlings require about equal care ; the yearlings certainly not less. Their teeth are often loose so as to trouble them about eating. These two grades may be put together, or if the number of both kinds amounts to some seventy-five or a hundred, they should be separated, putting the stronger of each age into one parcel and the remainder into another. Strong, heavy sheep should also be separated from the ewes. Another axiom in reference to sheep is, never let a sheep grow poor in winter : of all the animals we ever attempted to recruit, where there was not actual disease, the poor sheep, as the weather grows warmer in the last half of March, is the worst. If you do not feed grain, they will probably go down. If you feed grain, it seems to relax and make them weaker, rather than stronger. The best remedy is to keep them from getting t)oor. If your hav will not do it, add grain enough, and a T«rj 232 TO EXTIRPATE SORREL. little, you -will find, if you begin in season, will be enough to accomplish the object. You will get your pay iu wool, in flesh, and in the saving of care and labor. If you find poor sheep on your hands in the middle of February, go about their improvement. Do not expect you are about to make them fat and lively. That you cannot do until the grass grows again. But by a few oats every day, and good care, you may hold them where they are, and per- haps gain a little each week ; but if you crowd grain, with a view of recruit- ing them rapidly, the crows will fat faster than your sheep. The size and strength of the fibre of the fleece varies in exact ratio ^vith the condition and keeping of sheep. Starve a flock for a month, and the fibre is weak and worthless, and no improvement in the keeping of the sheep after- wards will be of any avail in improving that growth. But with each change in the amount of care bestowed on the flock, there is a record incorporated into the fibre of the wool, which no art can correct or conceal. TO EXTIRPATE SORREL. An exchange gives the following directions : The presence of sorrel indicates an acid soil. It is a sour plant, and thrives only on such lands as are destitute of calcareous matters ; consequently, the application of the latter in sufficient quantities to correct the acidity suggests itself as the most effectual method of getting rid of it, and rendering the soil fit for profitable cultivation in other and more desirable crops. Yet the quan- tity of soil of which this plant is naturally produced precludes the hope that it will ever be entirely eradicated, and it hence becomes a part of farming to know in what manner it can be most successfully economizad, and rendered valuable as an article of animal sustenance or food. There are, indeed, but few vegetables, however mean and valueless they may be considered, which do not possess some quality capable of redeeming them from the hasty yet common charge of utter worthlessness, and of this order we regard sorrel. As a food for horses and sheep it not only possesses considerable value, but if chaffed and mixed with meal, it will fatten them as readily, perhaps, as English hay prepared in the same manner. Fed to these animals in its natural state, and without any accompaniment, it is found to retain them in health and heart, and the seed ground and made into "mush" is said by those who have had experience in feeding it to be equal to Indian corn. Yet no farmer will ever cultivate sorrel as a farm product. It is ex- hausting in the extreme, and it is only when it obtrudes itself on him, sponta- neously, that he should endeavor to render it of any account. The only effectual method of extirpating it is to sweeten the soil by liming, or to increase the staple to a degree which will promote the development of a more valuable herbage, and cleanse the soil thoroughly by succession of manured crops, such as corn, potatoes, or some other vegetable which is cul- tivated exclusively with the hoe. The seed of the sorrel is not abundant, but it is invested in an integument, or horny involucre, which possesses the power of preserving the vital power unimpaired for years, when placed by circumstances so deep in the soil as to be beyond the influence of those vital- izing principles upon which germination is found mainly to depend. This peculiarity of the seed explains why sorrel so often appears after long pasturage, and the disappearance of the plant from the surface of the soil where it has previously grown. ENGLISH AGRICULTURE. 333 FOR THE PLOUGH, THE LOOM, AND THE ANVlt. ENGLISH AGRICULTURE. PREPARIKG WHEAT FOR SOWING, AND THE VARIOUS KINDS RAISED. There is no labor in resj^ect to whicli an Englisli farmer is more careful than in the preparation of wheat for sowing. It is a prevailing opinion that, without the usual method there adopted, smut is generated ; and from ob- servations I have made, I am disposed to think there is some foundation for that idea. Salt, hme, or ashes, with strong ley, are articles generally used. These are mixed with the grain the evening before, that the wheat may be well saturated with them by the next day, when taken into the field. In selecting grain for sowing, great attention is paid to the cleanliness and quality of it, and it is not often that a farmer will sow the same stock above two or three years. White wheat is considerably grown, which is a beautiful, thin-skinned, delicate berry, and much prized by millers, but it is a most difficidt thing to keep it from becoming mixed with other grain. Bearded wheat, called rivet wheat, is considered much inferior to other grain. It is generally grown on poor soils, or upon lands that have lain fallow during the summer season, and always brings a lower price at market. The flour is of a darker color, and the berry larger than that of other wheat. There is a species of black oat grown there, and to preserve it free from a mixture of white great pains are taken. I have known a farmer have his seed picked over by hand, that he might have it pure. BIRDS DESTRUCTIVE TO CROPS. In seed-time some birds injure the springing crop, when it first appears above ground, especially the rook ; and boys with a pair of wooden clap- pers are constantly employed about the fields to prevent their depredations. The rook is similar in color to the crow, but not so large. These birds are encouraged by some of the farmers to build their nests and breed near the house, or farm buildings. Such a collection is called a rookery, and some- times a thousand and upwards of these birds thus congregate and form a large colony. Whether the good they do in destroying grubs and other things injurious to crops counterbalances the destruction these creatures would effect, is a problem yet to be solved. Certain it is, that if not watched at seed-time and harvest, the rook would make terrible havoc among the grain. There are two species of the sparrow in England, the house and the hedge sparrow. The latter is rather a scarce bird, and not so injurious to the farmer as the other. The former congregate in large flocks upon the hedges, towards the fall of the year, and are very destructive to fruit and other products. VARIETIES OF SINGING AND OTHER BIRDS. Among the feathered tribes in the mother country there is almost every variety of color, although perhaps not so splendid as with us, but their melody is much superior. The music of birds in a grove, of a summer's dayin Eng- land, has no parallel here. The sorts that are trained for singing in cages are the goldfinch, the bullfinch, and the gray linnet: A cross-breed of these with the canary makes most excellent songsters. The robin is about the size of the sparrow, and sings early in the spring, late in the fall, and often in mid-^ winter. When young, the breast is speckled, but becomes red when it moults. 234 ENGLISH AGRICULTURE. The blackbird and the thrush have a most delightful note, which is heard very early in the spring, even sometimes in the month of February. The night- ingale is a small brown bird, very difficult to be seen, and heard mostly in the woods by night, which circumstance has rendered it so noticeable by poets and bird-faociers. This songstress is never heard in the southwestern coun- ties. The cuckoo is a species of hawk, and its note, although monotonous, adds greatly to the interest of rural scenery. There is a mystery about this bird which naturalists as yet have been unable to solve. It builds no nest of its own, and is supposed to lay its eggs in that of some other bird, and is thus thought to be hatched and nourished by a foster-parent. It is about the size of the sparrow-hawk, its feathers speckled and rather pretty. Where it goes in July, or whether it remains on the island, is also unknown. Certain it is, in that month it ceases altogether to be heard. Wild pigeons are not plentiful, but tame ones, in dove-houses, are reared by the farmers much more plentifully than among us. RABBITS, WOODS, POACHERS, AKD THE MOLE, The rabbit, in England, is now brought under the game-laws, and people are subject to the same penalty for killing it without a license, as they are for a partridge or a hare. Rabbit warrens are preserves for this creature, where it can burrow and breed for the pleasure and gain of the land-owner. Poach- ers destroy more of these animals than any other game, in consequence of their being more easily ensnared, or hunted out of their holes by ferrets, or tracked in the snow. A poacher is one who makes it his business to take game without a license. Many of them are laz}'-, degraded beings ; while oth- ers are of a revengeful, violent temper, and not unfrequently conflicts by night take place between them and the preservers of game, which end in blood, and sometimes even in death. The woods of England abound principally with oak, some of them im- mensely large, but it is a wood of a very firm and durable nature. There ara also the elm, ash, beech, and maple. Timber there, of course, is extremely dear, compared to what it is with us. Tops of trees are never suffered to li« and rot away upon the ground, and the smaller parts are always bound up in fagots and sold, from four to eight English pence each. Bark, perhaps, is worth double what it is here, and is a commodity that the farmer greatly prizes, as it is always marketable. Great attention is paid to the raising and preserving of timber trees in England, which add greatly to the wealth and beauty of the country. The white walnut, a different tree from that which grows here, thrives well there, but it is not found wild. It has a thick green shell, not a hard inner one, and is completely filled with a delicious white meat. The common hazelnut is found wild, and the filbert grows well, and bears a fine large fruit. The mole is an enemy the farmer has to contend with, and he is at con- siderable expense sometimes to keep them from increasing. There are regu- lar mole-catchers, who take them by traps, and are paid either so much per head, or by the year. The music of frogs, of which we hear so much in the spring, is not heard in England, as those creatures are not so numerous. The tree-toad, as well as the harvest-fly, are unknown. FLOWERS — FARM-HOUSES. Perhaps the flora of the mother country is not quite so splendid as with us ; but owinar to the mildness of the winter and the coolness of the summer REMARKS ON REARING FOWLS. 235 montlis, flowers bloom earlier, and last longer. In February the primrose ap- pears ; and even before then, sometimes the wild coltsfoot opens its yellow portals. Evergreens, and several species of the pine, have been imported into the country, and are seen to ornament not only the mansion of the aristocrat, but also to adorn the premises of the farmer. There is a nicety and neatness about the dwelling of the English farmer which we look for in vain here. The grass in the front yard is never allowed to grow long; while the path is neatly gravelled, and beautiful flowers, with roses or jessamine, overhang the doorway. The bee-hives are neatly made of straw, and a neat wooden shed in a snug corner is erected to preserve them from the weather. The farm-yard is generally inclosed by buildings, or a brick wall ; but among these you find neither the corn-crib nor the smoke- house. There is always a cistern sunk and well cemented, to preserve all the wash for hogs, and into which is always put a certain quantity of grains brought from the brewers. GRADES OF FARMERS. Farmers in England may be divided into two classes — the gentleman farmer, and the working. The former are generally the higher class of society, never inured to hardship or labor. They are men of education and refinement, and from these are chosen the magistrates, jurymen, and parish officers. They do but little manual labor, except in the very busy seasons of the year. They belong to the refined part of the community, and may be called the yeomen of the country. The other class are individuals who cultivate perhaps the paternal lot, or one that is hired, with their own hands. These are a hardy race, and often have to struggle through a long coarse of toil and hardship to retain their possessions. This class of farmers have not much chance to rise in society, except they take their chance in some city, or elevate themselves through the favor of some friend or relative. The various grades of society in the mother country are separated by a caste, one being excluded from another, and every man is supposed to know and to keep his own place. Servants generally remain servants, and are born and brought up with that idea, and are generally contented. Agricola. Madison, N. J., Aug. 23, 1852. FOR 1HE PLOUGH, TUE LOOM, AKD THE ANVIL. REMARKS ON REARING FOWLS. BY CHAUNCEY GOODRICH, VAN BUREN, N. Y. Dear Sirs : — It affords me much pleasure to be able to give you, though but imperfectly, the result of my observations on the subject of raising fowls. My opportunities have extended over a wide field, and I have endeavored to improve them by a minute and critical examination of all the circumstances connected with the j^rocess of raising poultry, as practised in this vicinity ; and although I have no where seen any thing like an approximation to a proper system, I am yet of opinion that, dispersed throughout the whole, I have seen, and had suggested to my mind, nearly all the facts necessary to the maturation of a practical and successful plan for rendering the business of fowl-growing a source of certain and satisfactory profit. For the sake of communicating what I wish to with the least possible cost of time and space, I have endeavored to classify the several fiicts, giving only a brief outline of the things necessary to constitute a good " Hen-ParJc.^'' 236 REMARKS ON REARING FOWLS. 1st. Soil. — The variety of soil included in a " Hen-Dairy''^ should be such as would afford the best varieties of vegetable and animal food in abundance, •which implies the necessity for a considerable variety of soil. Such localities should be, therefore, selected so as to embrace suitable proportions of rolling, flat, swampy, and shaded grounds. If possible, have a living spring or brook included, with suitable extent of shrubbery on both wet and dry parts of the park. See diagram. DiAGEAM, No. 1. NORTH. Description of Diagram. — A is intended to be high and level on the outer boundaries, descending easterly, and is sand and gravel. B is high and level, a black loam. C is low, and descends towards the east ; mould and gravelly soil. D is rolling, and descends towards the east. E is low and flat, and is clayey. F is high, and descends towards the north and east ; a sandy knoll. G is low and flat ; a rich mould. H is low and flat, descend- ing towards the northwest. /, the dotted portion on the eastern side, is high at the outer boundaries, descending towards the west; a tract of spongy muck. 2d. Form and Position. — The best form is that which approaches nearest to a square, in order that departments suflScient for difterent occasions and emergencies may be conveniently provided. Position, especially that which relates to surface as presented to the sun, and to give facility to movement or retention of waters, is of the highest importance. The principles involved in the matter of the position of a park, are such as relate to proper temperature REMARKS ON REARING FOWLS. 2S7 and degrees of dryness and moisture. Such lands, therefore, as afford a great variety of high, low, and medium conditions, and such as embrace a suitable variety of northern and southern, eastern and western aspects, are to be pre- ferred. 3d. Arrangement of Departments. — ^The essential circumstances to be re- garded in the arrangement of the divisions are such as will secure the best facilities for operating such changes as the habits of the particular varieties of fowls require, and for meeting the contingencies of the weather, and the changes of the season. In hot and dry weather they would require cool and moist situations ; and in wet and cold, or dry and cold, such opposite situa- tions as would best counteract the influence of those extremes — wet and cold requiring high but sheltered places ; dry and cold, low and sheltered ones, &c. The general ground upon which different apartments may be required rests upon the nature and habits of fowls. Frequent change is well known to con- duce to their prosperity. In addition to this fact, change is absolutely neces- sary, in order to counteract particular habits ; such as predisposition to incu- bation, and likewise for the sake of promoting such excitements as arise from change of companionship, and variety of food, and for securing a healthy and vigorous condition, &c. The main apartments may be equal in size, and should not be less than four in number. Minor divisions will be spoken of under the head of fixtures. The four main apartments may be obtained by dividing the entire park into that number of equal divisions. 4th. Manner of Inclosure. — Inclosures subserve two fundamental princi- ples— for restraint and protection. The methods of inclosure should there- fore correspond to these purposes. High and tight walls should be adopted for those departments designed for security against cold and bleak seasons ; and as a general rule, humanity towards the brute creation is promotive of economy and profit. 5th. Fixtures. — Fixtures, whether many or few, should be such as tend to aid in the promotion of the several particulars referred to under the foregoing heads. A great variety of minute details, not enumerated above, may be also worthy of attention in the supply and arrangement of fixtures, including as I do, under this head, all the necessary buildings. See diagrom No. 2. DiAGEAM, Fo. 2. NOftTH. m 0 a . ■OUTA XP)J idi 238 THE NEW POSTAGE LAW. Explanations. — a. Main barn, with an underground story. &, c. Wallow- ing baths, with underground basements and glass domes, d, e. Scudding- houses, with turf sides and roofs, and latticed ends. /. Basement for roosting, g. Lane to back lots, h, L Covered lanes to wallowing baths. _;. Spring and small yard, secured from frost in winter, k. Entrance to the main barn. I. Covered way to the spring, for winter. THE NEW POSTAGE LAW. The subjoined Postage Tables have been prepared at the Post Office De- partment, and are believed to be correct. It is expected the United States and Prussian Postal Treaty will be returned executed in the course of a few days, when a general Postage Circular, with more full instructions, will be prepared and sent to Postmasters. POSTAGE ON FEINTED MATTER. Hatea of Postage to be charged upon Newspapers, Periodicals, Books, unsealed Cu'cu- lars, and every other description of Printed Matter, transient or otherwise, from and after the oOth September, 1852. Newspapers, periodicals, unseal- ed circulars, or other articles of printed matter, (except books,) when sent to any part of the United States Newspapers and periodicals, when circulated in the State where published Small newspapers, published monthly or oftener, and pam- phlets not containing more than sixteen octavo pages, when sent in single packages to one address and prepaid by postage-stamps Books bound or unbound, not weighing over 4 lbs., for any distance under 3,000 miles, prepaid For any distance over 3,000 miles, prepaid Transient newspapers, periodi- cals, (fee, sent to any part of the United States, not pre paid cls^cts cts cts^cts 5 10 6 I cts I cts 6 .. 16 81012 .. i-H e< so ■* us our of other countries, and the effect of this is seen in the destruction of the value of the labour of the people of the rest of the world. The object of the whole system is that of underworking the world, and its effects are seen in the ruin of all the countries which permit the British sys- tem to be carried out, and of this Ireland affords the most remarkable exam- ple. Up to 1801, the date of the Act of Uuion, by which it was provided that free trade with England should gradually be established, that country had extensive manufactures of iron, and of cotton and woollen cloth ; but these gradually disappeared as free trade was more and more established, and the consequence of this has been the gradual depreciation in the value of labour, because of the total absence of a market for it; and, as has been seen, men have been compelled to remain idle when they were willing to labour for even fourpence a day. Of these poor people vast numbers sought employ- ment in England, and the effect was that of reducing the value of English agricultui'al labour to such extent that English labourers were forced to con- tent themselves with six shillings a week for the support of themselves, their wives, and their families. How men could live upon six shillings, ($1.44) we leave to our readers to imagine for themselves, after having read the fol- lowing statement of the mode of disposing of even the larger wages of eight shillings per week. Rent Is. Cd. Tea 0 6 Bacon 0 5 Bread 5 0 Soda, soap, &c..... 0 5 Fuel 0 8 8 0 Here are ten cents per week for meat, sixteen cents per week for fuel, and one dollar and twenty cents for bread for a family, and yet the condition of these poor people is comfortable compared with that of tens of thousands of hand-loom weavers, always receiving low wages, even when employed, and often deprived altogether of employment. It is comfortable compared with that of the hundreds of thousands who fill the cellars, or occupy the lanes and alleys of London and Liverpool, Manchester and Grlasgow ; all of tvhom are competitors for the sale of labour, \ea\'mg the buyers of labour to fix the price. Such having been the result of the determination to underwork the world, it became necessary to establish a new system of philosophy, by aid of which to relieve those who sought to buy labour cheap and sell its products dear, from all responsibility for the existence of such a state of things. And accord- ingly it came to be discovered that the Almighty had not prepared a place HOW TO RAISE THE WAGES OF LABOUR. 267 at his table for all mankind, and that if men loould marry and have children, without having first accumulated a capital for their support, it was incumbent upon the rest of the community to permit them unassisted to suffer every pri- vation, and every calamity "short of absolute death," as a lesson to those who were to follow them. The labourer had, it was said, no right to have work found for him. He had no right to claim that if willing to work he was en- titled to be fed. His claims, in this respect, were precisely similar to those of the men who had cloths to sell. If the " labour markets" were full he must starve; and any claim to the contrary was "a clear absurdity." " How many hundreds of Manchester cotton-spinners, or Leeds clothiers," it was triumphantly asked, " have their warehouses crammed with goods which they desire only to sell at the most paltry profit, or even at prime cost ? But do iliey ever stultify themselves by requiring the State to compel unwilling customers to purchase from them articles which they do not want ?" If they do not, has then the labourer any claim upon the community for even the food required to keep him and his family from starvation ? Assuredly not ! The answer to be made is, that the labour market is full, and you must die ofi' until the supply shall be brought down to the demand. Such is the political philosophy of the Edi-nburgh Review, one of the most consistent advocates of that British free trade system which teaches that the true in- terests of all other nations are to be promoted by confining themselves ex- clusively to agriculture, in order that there may be but one set of employers, and that there may nowhere be any competition for the purchase of labour. We beg our readers now to remark that " the labour market is full," and full to overflowing, in all those countries that have free trade with England. Of this Ireland and India, Turkey, Portugal, and the West Indies are exam- ples. In none of them is there any competition for the purchase of labour. Neither was there any here in the free-trade times of 1841 and 1842, as they must well recollect. " The labour market" was then full, because we then built no mills or furnaces, nor did we open mines ; and as a necessary consequence, people were too poor to purchase shoes or hats, books or news- papers. The tariff of 1842 led to the reopening of old mills and furnaces, and the building of new ones ; and thus cleared " the labour market." Manchester free trade paralyzes trade everywhere, and the great sufferer by this paralysis is the man who has labour to sell. The whole tendency of the system is to keep " the labour market" everywhere full, and to enable the purchaser of labour to fix the price of it. The object of the American free trade, which was established by the tariff of 1842, is to pi-otect the labourer from being compelled to compete with men who furnish " the cheap labour" upon which are based all "the great works of Britain" that have, as the Times assures us, contributed so largely to the comfort of " those tvho have money to spend." Seven years since, Mr. Cobden told the people of England that for many years previously there had been two labourers seeking one master, whereas, when they should have repealed the corn-laws, there would speedily be seen two masters seeking one labourer. How far this prophecy has been realized in Ireland may be seen in the fact that famine, pestilence, and emigration have since that time diminished the population at least two millions, and that the tendency to the extirpation of the Celtic race is greater now than it has at any time been. How far it is the case in Scotland may be seen from the following statement of facts in relation to the people of the Highlands, whose ancestors have probably been for centuries in possession of the landl ■Srom which they themselves are now being expelled. 268 HOW TO RAISE THE WAGES OF LABOUR. "A Colonel Gordon, the owner of estates in South Uist and Barra, in the highlands of Scotland, has sent otf over 1100 destitute tenants and cotters under the most cruel and delusive temptations ; assuring them that they would be taken care of imme- diately on their arrival at Quebec by the emigrant agent, receive a free passage to Upper Canada, -where they would be provided with work by the government agents, and receive grants of land on certain imaginary conditions. Seventy-one of the last cargo of four hundred and fifty have signed a statement that some of them fled to the mountains when an attempt was made to force them to emigrate. ' Whereupon,' they add, ' Mr. Fleming gave orders to a policeman, who was accompanied by the ground officer of the estate in Barra, and some constables, to pursue the people who had run away among the mountains, which they did, and succeeded in capturing about twenty from the mou?iiains and from other islands in the neighbourhood; but only came with the officers on an attempt being made to handcujf them, and that some who ran away were not brought back ; in consequence of which four families, at least, have been divided, some having come in the ships to Quebec, while other members of the same families are left in the highlands," How it Las been in England is seen in the fact that at no period has emi- gration been so great, nor has there been at any time more evidence of dis- tress among the labouring population than since the date of Mr. Cobden's prophecy. We have now before us a letter from London, dated on the 21st of last July, and addressed to the editor of a journal that supports the British free-trade policy, from which we take the following extract : " The very dull state of trade in the manufacturing districts is causing great dis- tress among the operatives, many of whom do not earn viore than one dollar per week ! I frequently hear of cases where poor operatives are oppressed by persons who have trusted them for small sums. A Carlisle tradesman recently sued a hand-loom weaver in the county court. The weaver was poor, but honest; he admitted that he owed the debt, and oifered to pay a small sum weekly to reduce it. It appeared from the evidence that the weaver had a ivife and three children, and that his wages were from 43. Cd. to 4s. 9d. per week, and that himdreds of weavers could not earn more xvages. The judge who heard this case was so affected by the man's story, that he made an order for a small amount to be paid monthly, llie condition of 7!iost of ike operative classes of the manufacturing disi7-icls is little better than that of the poor Carlisle weaver. It is not strange that such men should wish to leave their native land for the United States or Australia, where labour has its reward." Why is it that labour has here its reward ? If the labourer of this country were not protected against the competition of the man who finds himself compelled to work in England a whole week for little more than a dollar, could he now have more than a dollar here ? Certainly not. But for pro- tection, such even as it is, we should be all farmers, as they are in Ireland, and competition for the purchase of labour would be here no greater than it is there. Every man who reads this paper knows that when two men desire to sell labour, and only one to hiT/ it, as it is in all countries in which manufac- tures do not exist, wages must be low ; and every man must equally well know that the way to bring about an increase of wages is to increase the number of competitors for the purchase of labour. How, we may be asked, is this to be done ? The answer is, build mills, and make demand for quarry men, masons, and carpenters. Build furnaces, and make demand for miners and labourers. Build machine-shops, and make demand for mechanics. Build steam-engines, and make spinning-jennies, and power-looms, and make demand for men and women to attend them. The more of these things that are done, the larger will be the competition for the purchase of labour, the greater will be the reward of labour, and the better will be the condition of the labourer and the mechanic j while the increased production of cloths and of machinery, will enable the farmer to clothe himself more cheaply, the increased facility of obtaining ploughs and harrows will enable him to cultivate his land more HOW TO RAISE THE WAGES OF LABOUR. 269 advantageously, and the increased ability to make his exchanges in his imme- diate neighbourhood, will enable him to manure his land and obtain large crops ; and thus will all parties benefit by the system which looks to compe- tition for the purchase of labour. It is, as we have said, to prevent the existence of this competition that England desires to have what she calls free trade. She desires to be the sole " workshop of the world," and that she may be so it is indispensable to her to underivorJc iJie loorld, that is, she must have that " cheap labour" to which, as we are told by the Times, she owes the existence of her "great works." She must buy labour and its products in the cheap market, and sell in the dear one ; that is, she must buy the labour of Ireland, India, and this coun- try cheap, and she must sell to us as dearly as she can ; and the more she can make herself the exclusive " workshop of the world," the more will her manufacturers be able to buy cheaply and sell dearly. Their system, as it affects the labourers of England herself, and of those of other countries, has been so well described in a speech recently delivered at Bradford, on the occasion of the election of representatives in the new Parliament, that wo are tempted to furnish our readers with the following long extract. Describ- ing the IManchester system, the speaker says, that " pauperism" lies at its roots — " It is," says he, "its root. That system is based on foreign competition. Now I assert, that under the hmj cheap and sell dear principle, brought to bear on foreign compe- tition, the ruin of the icorking and small trading classes must go on. Why ? Labour is the creator of all wealth. A man must woi'k before a grain is grown, or a yard is woven. But there is no self-employment for the working-man in this country. Labour is a hired commodity — labour is a thing in the market that is bought and sold ; consequently, as labour creates all wealth, labour is the first thing bought — •Buy cheap! buy cheap!' Labour is bought in the cheapest market. But now comes the next: 'Sell dear! sell dear!' Sell what? Labour's produce. To whom? To the foreigner — ay ! and to the labourer himself — for labour, not being self-em- ployed, the labourer is not the partaker of the first-fruits of his toil. ' Buy cheap, sell dear.' How do you like it ? ' Buy cheap, sell dear.' Buy the working-man's laboiir cheaply, and sell back to that very working-man the pi'oduce of his own labour dear ! The principle of inherent loss is in the bargain. The employer buys the labour cheap — he sells, and on the sale he must make a profit : he sells to the Avorking-man himself — and thus every bargain between employer and employed is a deliberate cheat on the part of the employer. Thus labour has to sink through eternal loss, that capital may rise through lasting fraud. But the system stops not here. This is brought to beau on foreign competition — which means, we musT RUIN the trade of OTHER COUNTRIES, AS WE HAVE RUINED THE LABOUR OF OUR OWN. How does it work ? The high-taxed country has to undersell the low-taxed. Com- petition abroad is constantly increasing, consequently clieapriess must increase also. There- fore, wages in England must keep constantly falling. And how do they eflfect the fall ? By surplus labour. How do they obtain the surplus labour ? By monopoly of the land, which drives more hands than are wanted into the factory. By mono- poly of machinery, which drives those hands into the street ; by woman labour, which drives the man from the shuttle ; by child labour, which drives the woman from the loom. Then planting their foot upon that living base of surplus, they press its aching heart beneath their heel, and cry ' Starvation ! Who'll work ? A half loaf is better than no bread at all;' and the writhing mass grasps greedily at their terms. [Loud cries of ' Hear, hear.'] Such is the system for the workingman. But, electors, how does it operate on you ? how does it afiect home trade, the shop- keeper, poor's rate, and taxation ? For every increase of competition abroad, there must be an increase of cheapness at home. Every increase of cheapness in labour is based on increase of labour surplus, and this surplus is obtained by an increase of ma- chinery. I repeat, how does this operate on you ? The Manchester Liberal on my left establishes a new patent, and throws three hundred men as a surplus in the streets. Shopkeepers ! Three hundred customers less. Bate payers ! Three hun- dred paupers more. [Loud cheers.] But, mark me! The evil stops not there. Theee three hundred men operate first to bring down the waget of thote who remain at work 270 HOW TO RAISE THE WAGES OF LABOUR. in their own trade. The employer says, 'Now I reduce your wages.' The men demur. Then he adds : ' Do you see those three hundred men who have just walked out ? you may change places if you like, they're sighing to come in on any terms, for they're starving.' The men feel it, and are crushed. Ah! you Manchester Liberal! Pharisee of politics ! those men are listening — have I got you now ? But the evil stops not yet. Those men, driven from their own trade, seek employment in others, when they swell the surplus, and bring wages down." Strong as is all this, it is nevertheless true. England is engaged in a war of extermination waged against the labour of all other countries employed in any pursuit except that of raising raw produce to be sent to her own mar- ket, there to be exchanged for the cloth and the iron produced at the mills and furnaces of her millionaires, who have accumulated their vast fortunes at the expense of Ireland, India, Portugal, Turkey, and the other countries that have been ruined by the system which she denominates free trade. In the effort to crush them she has been crushing her own people, and the more rapid the spread of pauperism at home the greater have been her efforts to produce the surplus labour which causes a fall of wages at home and abroad. Throughout this country workmen object to the employment of convict labour. The tendency is, say they, to reduce the rate of wages, because the labour of convicts cannot be sold except at reduced prices ; and every attempt at rendering penitentiaries self-supporting must, as they say, fail, unless the convict underwork the freeman. There cannot be two prices in one market, at one and the same time, for the same commodity. That admitted, we would beg our readers now to reperuse the extract just given, and see if the system established in Great Britain is not precisely the same against which they protest when attempted to be established among ourselves. If they can- not compete with convicts here, can they compete with the men abroad who are compelled to cry, " Grive me work ; make your own terms ! my wife and family are starving !" Ireland abounds with men who cannot obtain em- ployment, even at twelve cents per day. Scotland has its hundreds of thou- sands of people always at the starvation point, and England has its hundreds of thousands whose whole earnings for the support of themselves, their wives, and their families, are but six or seven shillings a week. The whole kingdom is being converted into one vast prison-house, filled with men who cry, ''Give me work; make your own terms!" And it is with these men that England invites the competition of the world. Her system tends to the destruction of the labourer at home and abroad. It is to be carried out by aid of what she calls free trade, and its working is so well described in a recent work of great ability,* in regard to one branch of trade, (the tailors',) that we are tempted to give the extracts which follow : — "His son succeeded to the business, determined, like Rehoboam of old, to go ahead with the times. * * * Why should he not get rich as fast as he could? Why should he stick to the old, slow-going, honourable trade? * * * Ridiculous scruples ! The government knew none such. Were not the army clothes, the post-office clothes, the policemen's clothes, furnished by contractors and sweaters, who hired the work at low prices, and let it out again to journeymen at still lower ones ? Why should he pay his men two shillings where the government paid only one ? Were there not cheap houses at the West-end, [London,] which had saved several thousand a year by merely reducing their men's wages ? And if the Avorkmen chose to take lower wages, he was not bound actually to make them a present of more than they asked for." Such being the views of the employer, we may now examine those of the employed. "Every working tailor must come to this at last, on the present system: and we * Alton Locke, tailor and poet. HOW TO RAISE THE WAGES OF LABOUR. 271 are only lucky in having been spared so long. You all know where this will end — in the same misery as 15,000 out of 20,000 of our class are enduring now. We shall become the slaves, often the bodily prisoners, of Jews, middlemen, and sweaters, who draw their livelihood out of our starvation. We shall have to face, as the rest have, ever decreasing prices of labour, ever increasing profits made out of that labour by the contractors who will employ us — arbitrary fines inflicted at the caprice of hirelings — the competition of women, and children, and starving Irish — our hours of work will increase one-third, our actual pay decrease to less than one-half; and in all this we shall have no hope, no chance of improvement in wages, biit ever more penury, slavery, misery, as we are pressed on by those who are sacked by fifties — almost by hundreds — yearly, out of the honourable trade in which we were brought up, into the infernal system of contract work, which is devouring our trade and many others, body and soul. Our wives will be forced to sit up night and day to help us — our children must labour from the cradle, without chance of going to school, hardly of breathing the fresh air of Heaven ; our boys, as they grow up, must turn beggars or paupers — our daughters, as thousands do, must eke out their miserable earnings by prostitution. And, after all, a whole family will not gain what one of us has been doing, as yet, single-handed." The speaker, aud some of his friends, resisted the attempt to reduce their wages, and, as a matter of course, were discharged, and nest we find them in THE sweater's DEN, described in one of the chapters of this powerful work, to which we refer such of our readers as may desire to find the perfect realization of the picture of the sufiferings of the English workmen given in the above most striking paragraph — all of them the result of an insane attempt to underwork the world, at the head of which we find the present free-trade government, whose work is — " Contracted for on the same infernal plan, by sweaters and sweaters' sweaters, and sweaters' sweaters' sweaters, till government work is just the very last, lowest resource to which a poor starved-out wretch betakes himself to keep body and soul together. Why, the government prices, in almost every department, are half, and less than half, the very lowest living price." The government, however, is not to blame; it is only carrying out the system which teaches that the true mode of enriching England is to buy labour, at home and abroad, in the cheapest market, and to sell it in the dearest one. The London Times assures its readers that " the great works of England are based on the cheap labour of Ireland," but it might have added that of India, of Turkey, and of all the other unprotected nations of the world. Our own half-protected nation has contributed to them most largely, and our contributions increase as the reward of labour diminishes under the action of the tariff of 1846. There cannot be two prices in the world at the same time for the same commodity. If cotton is low in Calcutta it cannot be high in New Orleans, nor can sugar be low in New Orleans if high in New York. So is it with labour. The destruction of the value of labour in Ireland has tended much to the destruction of the value of that of England, noio going on and hound to continne; and the destruction of the value of English labour tends to the destruction of the value of that of this country, as we shall now show. Our readers have seen the condition of the tailors in England — occupants of the sweater's den — of whom from fifteen to twenty thousand have recently been said to be " surplus" in England. Admitting now that we had perfect free trade with that country, is it not clear that, instead of having our markets filled with cloth, they would be filled with cloaks and coats, vests and panta- loons ? That being the case, is it not equally clear that hundreds of tailors would be thrown out of employment, and would there not be a great glut in " the labour market," and would not tailors' wages greatly fall ? Assuredly they would, and the next effect would be that the tailor's trade would cease 272 now TO raise tub wages op labour. to take up its usual quantity of the hundreds of thousands of young met entering life, — that more would seek to be shoemakers or bricklayers, printers and bookbinders, — and that wages would fall in all those pursuits. Under free trade, however, we should find our markets filled also with cheap French shoes, and fewer shoemakers would be needed ; and the shops of the book- sellers would be filled with the cheap bibles of England or Germany, much of the work of which is now done, as we learn, by women who earn about a dollar a week, and fewer printers would be needed ; and every diminution in the demand for tailors, shoemakers, printers, or bookbinders, would pro- duce increased pressure in the labour market, with steady tendency to decline in all icagcs, until those of the two sides of the Atlantic would be nearly on a level with each other. Much of this is already seen in a great variety of trades. There is steadily increasing competition for the sale of labour, as, under the tarifi" of 1846, we are gradually substituting low-priced foreign labour for the high-priced labour of our own people, not only in the manu- facture of iron and lead, cotton and woollen cloth, and paper, but in that of ready-made clothing, shoes, books, and a vast variety of things that, under the tariff of 1842, were made at home. As yet, the American labourer has some protection, but the cry is now " Free trade and direct taxation," and when that comes it will be found that the competition for the sale of labour will be great, while competition for its purchase will have no existence. Abolish protection on iron, and from that day not a ton of iron will be made in this country, and the men who now mine iron and coal, and those who smelt the ore, will be compelled to seek employment elsewhere, the consequence of which must be a general fall of wages. Abolish protection on cottons and woollens, and the yet remaining mills must be closed, and the people in them must seek employment in other pursuits ; and the com- petition for the sale of labour must be increased. Repeal the tariff, and Germany and England will supply us with all our cotton and woollen cloths, as France now supplies us with millions of dollars worth of silks that we might, and should, make at home. England will supply us with all our iron and all our manufactures of iron; Russia will supply us with hemp and cordage ; Spain will supply us with our lead ; and our own workmen in all these departments of employment will be compelled to raise food for themselves, in competition with the starving Irishman, and the Polish and Russian serf. Increase the tariff, make it tlwroughlt/ and completely protective, and the competition for the sale of labour will be diminished in every department of employment, for we shall then need to build mills and furnaces, and to open mines ; and all the women aod children of the country, not otherwise better employed, may, if they will, find employment in the tending of spinning-jennies and power-looms, the manufacture of buttons and pins, and in the thousands of other employments in which we now employ the wretched and starving women and children of England and of Europe. Our readers desire that their labour should be better paid. Manchester and Birmingham, however, desire to have it cheaper, and that it may be so they desire to destroy all competition for its purchase. Nevertheless, when our workingmen desire to know how they may obtain good prices for their labour, they consult British free-trade journals, and then they vote for representatives in Congress who favour the system of trade that is built, as the Times assures us, on cheap labour. Let them determine to PROTECT THEMSELVES in their effort to obtain diversification of labour — let them determine on the re-enactment of the Whig tariff of 1842 — and they wiU find daily increasing competition for its purchase, attended with daily increasi of its reward. PHILOSOPHY OP PLOUGHING. 273 PHILOSOPHY OF PLOUGHING. DEEP PLOUGHING — FREQUENT PLOUGHING. Much is said of deep ploughing and frequent ploughing, and the farmer who neglects the free use of this implement is considered unworthy to stand in the list of scientific agriculturists. There is, we think, under different cir- cumstances, some truth, and some little fiction in all this. As a matter of fact, we have no doubt that farmers generally fail by using the plough too sparingly, or still oftener by using it too superficially. What are the objects sought for by ploughing ? 1. To overcome the adhesion of the soil, thereby rendering it of easy cul- tivation. 2. To give opportunity for the extension of the roots of the growing crop, 3. To improve the granular condition of the soil. 4. To give more ready access to the air and the gases mixed in it, and to increase the amount of gases thus consumed. 5. To mingle as thoroughly as possible the fertilizers which are thrown upon it, in the form of animal, mineral or vegetable manures. Other results are incidentally accomplished, which may or may not be de- sirable. Among these are — 6. An efficient influence upon the dryness of the soil, whether by affecting the evaporation of its own moisture, the absorption of rains or fogs, or of water underlying it ; and Y. The drainage of land. The object first named is secured by shallow ploughing, while the extent of the gain is in direct proportion to the frequency of the operation. On this point there can be no doubt. Neither the hoe nor the cultivator is ever used beyond the depth of the most shallow ploughing we have observed. So far as this point is concerned, then, we find a plea for frequent ploughing, but look in vain for an argument for deep ploughing. And presently wo shall see that the gain here confessed may prove a loss in another way. As to the second point, the nature of the crop must be taken into view. We doubt whether the grains and grasses, and the whole list of fibrous rooted plants, ;ire disposed to extend more than five or six inches from the surface, and many of them are seldom found so deep. And yet, by the growth of successive years, the roots of the grasses may reach greater depths. Under favorable circumstances, the farmer may find, on turning up his sward, that his plough leaves a portion of these roots on the bottom of his deepest fur- row. If these descending roots can obtain their share of fertility from the atmosphere, through all the difficulties of their position, and throw up strong and sweet shoots, this state of things is desirable ; and it seems obvious that a soil pervious to the gases, and to the influence of the sun, may secure these results. But if the stems of such roots are likely to be stinted in their growth, or to lack any of the elements which make them palatable to animals, the gain must be at least doubtful. But thorough and minute pulverization enables these fibres to extend in all directions. Generally, roots project themselves in lines parallel to the surface. The instinct displayed in this respect is wonderful. But it is or ought to be known, however, that the edible parts of beets, carrots, &c., are not roots, but are underground stems, and are disposed always to a perpendicular extension. 274 PHILOSOPHY OP PLOUGHING. If they depart from this course, it is from compulsion ; and if they do not penetrate to a considerable depth, it is because the ground is not prepared for them. Potatoes, too, which are tuberous appendages to the true root, which is fibrous like the root of grasses, need a mellow soil in which they can nes- tle at pleasure, and grow without undue pressure, which must operate like a cincture around a limb, preventing the free circulation of its nourishing fluids. If the ground were properly pulverized and moistened and enriched to a great depth, the gases necessary for the most extensive growths would obtain ready access to the lowest depths, and the frequent turning up of the soil, by suitable implements, would actually mix, to some extent, the surface soil and the por- tions beneath it in which the roots would penetrate. In regard to " edible roots," therefore, there can be no question. Deep ploughing, and very deep ploughing, is highly important. Beets, parsnips, &c., when the ground is properly prepared, extend themselves to a degree that astonishes a novice. At some of our exhibitions, we have seen these vegetables regularly tapering, and free from troublesome roots on their sur- faces, perhaps a yard in length. Whether the lower end of these roots is as palatable as the upper portions, we never had the opportunity to determine. If there is no lack here, or if the lack is but trifling, the gain is immense. The crop is more than doubled, and hence half the land is saved. But to enrich some land to the depth of two or three feet would be very costly, the result of the peculiarity of the soil. If any portion of our land is peculiarly retentive of manures, it must be desirable to select this portion for such crops, cultivating the ground to any desired depth, rather than to expend labor or money where the effects will last but a short time. If a sandy surface rests upon clay, the mixture of the two is essential for such growths. And hence subsoil ploughing, and turning up both furrows, will be a most economical mode of cultivation. Facts on this subject are too familiar to need an especial notice. But we would refer also, under this head, to the fineness of the grain of which soils are composed. Our readers are here reminded of a short article of ours in the last number of our journal, in which allusion is made to the soils of Ohio, &c., in connection with the ex- periments of Doctors Dana and Wells. The finer the grain, the more soluble. This point is very important. Try to dissolve large pieces of glue, or lumps of soda or lime ; then pulverize similar portions, and note the increased ra- pidity of the process. Nor is this all. The finer the grain, the more retentive of moisture, and hence less liable to excessive drought. But frequent attrition, as well as expo- sure to frosts generally, promotes fineness of texture. The effect of the pro- cess is more rapid in some soils than in others, but, with very limited excep- tions, the remark always holds good to some extent. " Rains wear away even the rocks." To appreciate the importance of this point, as a security against drought, notice the different amount of water retained, by adhesion merely, by a glass full of bullets, compared with that retained thus by a glass full of small shot. Note also the length of time consumed in drying the contents of the glass in each of the two experiments. If water finds a more ready en- trance and a more permanent resting-place in the finer grains, so also do other gases equally necessary, and still more difficult to retain. As to the 5th point, to secure the greatest benefit from fertilizing applica- tions, other than liquid, deep and frequent ploughings are obviously of great importance. As to the influence of deep or of frequent ploughings, facts require diverse HONEY BEES. 275 forms of statement, inasmuch as under peculiar circumstances acknowledged effects may be either good or bad in their results. Much discussion has been had on this subject, without securing unanimity of opinion. So far as fre- quent j^Ioughing is concerned, we believe that the opinion of farmers is under- going a change, and that they are now inclined to believe that frequent shal- low ploughing has a tendency to dry the soil, and to dissij^ato whatever gaseous elements might have been previously absorbed. But with a change of circumstances, this result may become' either favora- ble or otherwise. If the soil is naturally dry, the practice must be injurious ; but if too wet, no harm may ensue. An excessive amount of moisture, al- most as destructive to the growth of the crop as a standing pool, may some- times be confined near the surface by a hard " pan," and if this solid bottom were broken up by a subsoil plough, this excess of water would immediately disappear. And if not utterly scattered, the wet layer of earth may possibly be sunk below the roots of the crop, and be made to serve as a useful reser- voir in a time of drought. But suppose the subsoil consists of dry sand, we do not see that deep plough- ing would increase the tendency to drought. With a shallow furrow in such a soil, we have in the rich mould on the surface a thin layer of earth, com- petent in itself to retain the rain and the dew, &c., but acted upon, powerfully on both sides ; above by a dry and warm atmosphere, and below by dry sand always hungry and thirsty. The result must be favorable if the thickness of this layer is essentially increased. Were the rich mould ten feet in depth it would matter but very little what is below it. And if this fertile soil, or this pulverized earth, is extended to a proper depth, it may reach a moist soil be- neath it, from which a constant supply of moisture may be obtained. And still further, if by deep ploughing you open a communication between a very dry surface and a wet soil beneath, you have provided a security against drought which is of great value. In all such cases there seems no room to doubt the benefit of deep ploughing. Nor is there less doubt, when you thereby furnish a drainage for lands excessively wet, whatever may be the subsoil. This of course can only be secured by lands favorably situated in respect to high and low. HONEY BEES. The Albany Cultivator has an interesting article on honey bees, from the pen of a distinguished professor, from which we quote the following para- graph : " Many— nearly everybody— suppose that the bee culls honey from the nectar of the flowei-s, and simply carries it to its cell in the hive. This is not correct. The nectar it collects from the flower is a portion of its food or drink ; the honey it deposits in its cell is a secretion from its mellific or honey- secreting glands, (analogous to the milk-secreting gland of the cow and other animals.) If they were the mere collectors and transporters of honey from the flowers to the honey-comb, then we would have the comb frequently filled with molasses, and whenever the bees have fed at the molasses hogshead. \ The honey bag in the bee. performs the same functions as the cow's\ag or \ udder, merely receiving the honey from the secreting glands, and retaining it « until a proper opportunity presents for its being deposited in its appropriate ' storehouse, the honeycomb. Another error is, that the bee collects pollen •' from the flowers accidentally, while it is in search of honey. Quite the con- ■ 276 THE LAWS OP HYGIENE. trary is the fact. The bee, while in search of nectar, or honey, as it is improp- erly called, does not collect pollen. It goes in search of pollen specially, and also for nectar. When the pollen of the flower is ripe, and fit for the use of the bee, there is no nectar ; when there is nectar, there is no pollen fit for its use in the flower. It is generally supposed, also, that the bee collects the wax from which it constructs its comb from some vegetable substance. This i s also an error. The wax is a secretion from its body, as the honey is ; and it makes its appearance in small scales or flakes, or under the rings of the belly, and is taken thence by other bees, rendered plastic by mixture with the saliva of the bees' mouths, and laid on the walls of the cell with the tongue, very much in the way a plasterer uses his trowel." rOB VHB FLOUOH, THB LOOM, AND TBB XNVII., THE LAWS OF HYGIENE.— NO. II. BY JOHN B. NEWMAN, M. D. While many of the professions pride themselves on an antiquity of a cen- tury or two. Medicine with honest exultation dates back thousands of years, and claims to have had its foundations laid at the earliest period of Philoso- phy. What is meant by this antiquity, and what is the estimate of its real value, I will now proceed to explain. When God made man, he breathed into him the breath of lives, (Gen. ii. *?. See context for plural rendering.) One of these lives (soul) is similar to that possessed by the lower animals, combining with the agencies of nutrition, ap- petites, passions, and reasoning powers, identical in kind with theirs. The other life (spirit) endowed with will, consciousness, and pure reason, the like- ness of his Creator as imaged in man, distinguishing him from the rest of the lower animated world, and making him its fitting lord. (This distinction can be seen in the Union Bible Dictionary, article Soul, and can be fully studied in the Natural History of Man, by the author.) Pure reason is the verification to us of all absolute truth. It manifests its operation and existence in two aspects, according to the subjects to which it is applied, whether these are practical or speculative ; the practical rea- BON relating to morals, and the speculativk reason to science and higher art. The philosophy of history teaches us, that to different nations was con- fided the elimination of the different parts of the nature of man. The prac- tical reason, as relating to morals, was intrusted to the Hebrews ; the specu- lative reason, as relating to science and higher art, to the Greeks ; and the practical application of the latter through the sensuous understanding, to the Romans. The manner in which Christianity coinbines, reconciles, and purifies the whole, it is not necessary to state here, the object being merely to refer to the origin of Medicine as a department of philosophy, and the medium through which it becomes a science. Not only may Greece boast of her lawgivers, as Solon and Lycurgus ; of her wisdom-mongers, as Socrates and Plato ; of her poets, as Homer and Pindar ; of her historians, painters, sculptors, and the long array of illus- trious characters which history records ; she has also equal if not higher names in jEsculapius and Hippocrates. " Kings were the physicians of the ancients, and their teachers in medicine ; THE LAWS OF HYGIENE. 277 and of such importance in olden times was a knowledge of the human body regarded, that it formed the last and holiest rite of the magic taught in the Egyptian temples. The people of those days, not satisfied with giving their eminent doctors the highest places on earth, went so far as to deify them, as they thought, by worship after death ; and it was in this manner that ^Escila- pius, a surgeon of exceeding eminence, became the god of medicine for the Greeks, His princely descendants, for many generations, pursued the profes- sion of their ancestor, and were held in almost equal reverence. That they deserved much of this honor is evident from the pains they took in acquiring information ; they had a record containing all that was known of the science up to their day, to which each prince in turn added an account of his own observations and experience, together with the thoughts valuable in the prac- tice of others ; these books were treasured with jealous care, and, far beyond all their other possessions, were looked upon as the most precious heir-loom of the royal family. "Hippocrates, the twelfth, or as some say, the eighteenth in descent from jE^culapius, stands next to that god in history ; statues and altars were erected to his memory, incense was regularly burned before his image, and we are told that he shared with Plato the title of Divine. So great was his fome that Xerxes, the monarch of Persia, sent for him during the plague, and of- fered him honors and magnificent rewards for his services ; but 'the wise old man of Cos' (the island in which he lived) refused, returning for answer that his country had the right to his services, and that he would not leave it in times of danger. Xerxes was so enraged that he vowed vengeance ao-ainst him. He is called the Father of Medicine, because he laid the foundation of the science, and opened its avenues to all, by publishing the records of his family, after carefully revising and adding his own experience to them. It is said that there were seventy-two books in all, but many of these are now lost. The remnants that have come down to us cannot be too highly estimated; they give the results of careful study of the system in health and disease, by the greatest minds of antiquity, and, as they accord with similar observation at the present day, show that the constitution of man and the laws of cure were the same then as now. With the exception of some few errors, they dis- play an extensive and surprising knowledge of anatomy. " For many succeeding ages this immense store of valuable learning was neglected by the majority of medical men, who chose rather to speculate than observe nature. Imagination filled the place of reason in the mind, and the schools, in consequence, taught a collection of absurd and confused hy- potheses. In proportion as the teachers wandered from the writings of Hippo- crates, they deviated from truth, and thus system after system was presented to the world, to flourish for a little time, and then make way for another to pursue the same course. The physiology current in those days was justly stigmatized by those competent to examine it, as a mass of ingenious guess- work— totally without foundation, and utterly unworthy of the time and trouble spent in acquiring it ; hence the neglect into which it fell for many centuries. " At the revival of literature, when every branch of science was prosecuted with the most eager desire, the study of man was not forgotten. A host of mighty names labored earnestly in this department, and astonished mankind by their brilliant discoveries. For a long time, however, the facts thus pre- sented, although very important in themselves, were isolated and needed con- nection ; but at length the period arrived when they were numerous enough for generalization. It was about the beginning of the eighteenth century that 278 HORTICULTURAL. physiologists began to perceive that hfe was governed by laws peculiar to it- self, and that some other principles besides those of chemistry and mechanics must be resorted to in the explanation of its phenomena. The true princi- ples were then deduced ; the cement of theory united the stones of facts ; the temple, whose modern foundations had been so long in laying, had its super- structure rapidly erected, and its glorious proportions gladdened the eyes of beholders from its acknowledged location on the hill of science. Regarding the opportunity as favorable, the students of Hippocrates presented the claims of their master, whose wiitings were then attentively perused, and the phi- losophers found to their surprise that, to a great extent, they had been merely engaged in verifying the truths proclaimed thousands of years before. Thus doubly fortified, physiology at the present day takes a lofty and assured posi- tion, boldly rears its standard on the accumulated experience of ages, pro- claiming that the old and the true are one, and that there is both safety and certainty in Medicine." — From the " Principles of Physiology," by the author, pp. 11 to 14. HORTICULTURAL New Fruits Tested at Boston. — Every cultivator knows the importance of selecting the best sorts, and this selection is greatly facilitated by knowing the experience of others. With this \dew, we give a list of those which were more particularly commended by the committee of the Massachusetts Horti- cultural Society in their report the past winter, with the remarks of the com- mittee : Straivberries — New Pine, and Burr's New Pine, of high flavor and very fine. Early Virginia, Hovey's Seedling, and Jenny's Seedling, the most prof- itable and best for general cultivation near Boston. Cherries — Monstreuse de Mezel, resembling Black Tartarian. Melon — Christiana — " not yet equalled," raised by Capt. Lovett, from a green Malta, impregnated by a very early variety, and for which the Society awarded fifty dollars. Blackberry — Cultivated High Bush — well worthy of cultivation — remark- able for size and beauty. Ras2oherries — Knevett's Giant, Franconia, and perhaps Fastolff — worthy of a place in every garden. English Strawberries. — A writer in the Gardener's Chronicle gives his views in relation to some new and highly lauded strawberries. The British Queen, which has long since established its own reputation as the head of the list, he regards as the best sort in cultivation, being equal to any in size, supe- rior to all large kinds in flavor, productive ''^ if liberally treated,^'' and the fruit of which every body must take two bites. The Black Prince he has rejected ; the Gohah, "acid, insipid, coarse, very large, shy bearer;" the Bicton White, " only valuable for its color." MyatCs Eleanor is pronounced disagreeably acid for the dessert, and only useful on account of its lateness ; Myatt's Globe, good and useful, but not equal to Eliza and British Queen ; Myatt's Mam- moth, only for dis])lay, " magnificent in appearance, but horrible in flavor ;" Prince Arthur, " useful — as hard as a cricket ball, and will bear packing well." The Black Excrescences on the shoots and limbs of plum trees, says a writer in the Genesee Farmer, are now coming, and they sometimes break out on the bodies of small trees in snch a way that it is difficult to re- HON.fHORACE GREELEY's ADDRESS. 279 move them with the knife, without cutting away the whole tree. I have this summer had three such cases, and have cut off most of the tumor and wet the remainder with spirits turpentine. The tumor in each case has ceased to grow and has perished. In the first instance, the turpentine spread a httle around the sore, and destroyed the Hfe of the bark as far as it went. I was after that careful to wet only the tumor. The sores were on trees that I set this spring. None came on trees that I have kept for a few years with the ground well manured and salted. I esteem them a scrofulous disease of the tree. FOR THE PLOUGH, THE LOOM, AND THE ANVI*. HON. HORACE GREELEY'S ADDRESS BEFORE THE ONONDAGA COUNTY AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY, Sept, 1852. Evert boy of intelHgence, from the eastern extremity of Maine to the southern limit of Texas, has heard or read of Horace Greeley, the spirited and working editor of the New-YorJc Tribune, He is not eloquent, but every- body must know who has had the privilege of hearing him, that his thoughts, whether they relate to agriculture or any other topic, are eminently practical, and almost invariably apply forcibly to the subject which he has under dis- cussion. This season, Mr. Greeley favored our Society with an address which, I must confess, was the most practical one that I have ever listened to. It was de- livered in the new " Wheaton Hall^'' in the city of Syracuse. The attendance was very large, and those who made up the audience were chiefly farmers from different parts of the county, who may be set down as the cream of this section. So interesting were Mr. Greeley's remarks, that I commenced taking notes, for I thought that many good ideas might be taken down and reported to the agricultural world. Mr. Greeley began by saying that from seven to fifteen he was a farmer's boy, and then went on to give an outline of what he intended to say before the Society. He said that the best that he could hope to do was to indicate some general principles in relation to agriculture. Economy of means was a great subject with American farmers. In England, farming is conducted on a different plan from what it is in this country. English husbandmen have means to carry out experiments as connected with agriculture, and Yankees were compelled many times to forego the idea of experimenting by reason of the want of the necessary capital to perfect their designs. He thought that American farmers were not economical enough in the tillage of their soil, or, in other words, they run over too much land, and do not cultivate it as well as they ought to. He had found many farmers on a 85,000 farm producing no more than another one produces from one of $3,000. " The farm is a machine, like my press," and, ergo., it requires good management to make it profitable. He (Mr. Greeley) thought that we ought not to till more than 30 acres of land where GO are now negligently worked. Would it not be better to get whole instead of half crops ? He believed it would be more profitable to concentrate one's efforts on 20 acres, tilling the land thoroughly, than to work 40 or 60, and get only half crops, and, besides, impoverish the strength of the soil in the end. He said that he was acquainted more with the agriculture of Westchester county than any other in the State. He had 280 HON. HORACE GREELEy's ADDRESS. visited that county quite frequently, and talked of securing himself a small farm in the county for the purpose of trying his skill in farming. He referred to a farm in that county which ho went to see, and upon examining his neigh- bor's barn-yard, found that it contained large quantities of manure. The excuse which his neighbor oflered for not removing this valuable fertilizing matter was, because he had no time to apply it to his land. This was a bad argument ; and if manure were allowed to remain in yards year after year, the farm to which it should be applied would be enfeebled to such a degree that no crops would be produced. Observation and experience had taught him that land required manure and good training, in order that it might be kept in the right state to yield good and profitable crops. IIow common the remark that farms do not pay more than three per cent. ! Bad farming wa the cause of this. He did not believe in putting a little money in your pocket, and injuring your soil thrice as much as the money would amount to. The whole soil of the United States was estimated to be worth, by some one who had made a calculation in reference to its value, several milHons of dollars less than when Columbus first landed on the islands belonging to this continent. Mr. Greeley spoke of the elements of the soil — those elements which go to make valuable productions, such as wheat, &c. Every farmer should know how to analyze the soil ; he should know the nature of it. The carpenter should acquaint himself with the nature of the wood he works, &c. He asked the question. How often does the farmer know the nature of the soil ? and then went on to answer it, stating that farmers should know whether a piece of land is suitable for raising peach trees or not; whether a certain field is adapted to a certain kind of grain, or to something else. Those who till the soil should have a scientific knowledge. As a body, farmers do not know the essential properties of soil, &c. He spoke of guano, phosphates, am- monia, &c. Lime, he remarked, should not be used ignorantly, for too great an application of it had been known to injure land. Farmers should look into this fact. He alluded to " book-farming," and seemed to be in favor of it, for much might be learned from authorities in regard to agriculture. Mr. Greeley, after speaking of the character of soils, and admonishing his hearers to awaken themselves to the importance of becoming familiar with the nature of the earth, &c., took up the subject of trees. He was in favor of shade trees, and opposed to the destruction of them in this countr}''. He seemed to think that they were good things for cattle. He had learned something of the importance of shade trees in Europe, and recollected of writing very earnestly on the subject of them when in that country, and one of the results of those letters was that a rich old bachelor near Columbus, O., had been moved, from the suggestions he had seen in the Tribune, to preserve a park of 40 acres. In his recent tour in Ohio, the old bachelor showed him the park. '■'■Always he planting trees''' was a Scotch proverb, and a good one. Ravines in Europe were filled with trees. He was in favor of planting rough and rocky land with forests. He thought that, if there was a nucleus of forest trees planted on the Great Sahara Desert, in Africa, it would be the means of reclaiming vast quantities of that now uninhabited region. Irrigation was his next subject. We might irrigate our soil with immense advantage. Our streams could be managed so that they would overflow large tracts of land, and the result would be that much more hay would be produced than there is at present. Double the amount of hay would be taken from an acre if irrigation were rightly carried out. Deep ploughing engaged his attention. The ploughing throughout the country was not more tian one half as deep as our scientific farmers say it HON. HORACE GREELEY's ADDRESS. 281 ouo-ht to be. Oar land was capable of being plougbed from IS to 24 inches deep. The fiirraer should keep ploughing and digging until he got down to this depth. Ncv-York State had lost " udllions and millions of dollars" this year by not ploughing deep enough. He was in favor of the sub-soil plough. Moisture was produced by deep ploughing. Things would not dry up where it was judiciously practised. Fencing was another subject of importance to the farmer. Iron fences had not come into general use, and cattle sometimes run against them, not yet having become acquainted with them. The willow fence might be grown la this country, &c. A gentleman standing in front of Mr. Greeley requested him to give his views on under-draining. He spoke at some length on this subject. Those who are acquainted with agriculture say that under-draining and deep ploughing are the two most important things which the farmer can adopt. He had not had much experience in relation to these things, but thought a system of under-draining, if rightly managed, would be advantageous to the fiu-mer, and would be the means of reclaiming much land which is now worthless. His remarks in reference to fruit were highly entertaining, and were listened to with marked attention. He stated that our fruit was better than that v/hich was raised in England, and that we ought to raise more of it in this country than we do. Some gentleman ta-ound New- York had been annoyed by the boys who stole his fruit, and Mr. Greeley stated that the gentleman gave liim a recipe for preventing them from taking all the fruit a man could raise. The recipe was, to keep setting out trees until you would not miss any fruit, even though the boys take it from your orchard every night! We have not one tenth part fruit enough in this country. It would pay well to export to Europe. Could our fruit only bo knoR-n in the London markets, it would command high prices. He did not eat an apple-pie while in Europe. He said that he was one of the believers in vegetable diet, and therefore went in for raising fruit in abundance. Grapes are very healthy. Dr. Underwood had gone into the business of niising them, and in grape time usually allowed himself lo Qntfourjjouiids per day. Apples should form a large portion of every meal. In his remarks about fruit, Mr. Greeley said that he had inquired at a hundred places in New- York city for dried apples, and could not find a pound, they were so scarce. He put forth the idea that it would he a pro fitable business to propagate apple trees, &c., KENTUCKY. The recent Fair at Cleveland was a display of which every Ohioan may justly be proud. It is adiiiitted that Ohio is the greatest agricultural State in the Union ; and now that our farmers and mechanics arc beginning to wake up on the subject of improvement, it is no more than right that the annual display of their products should excel that of any other State — though we confess that in view of the splendid exhibitions we have seen in New-York, wo did not venture to expect that Oliio would so soon equal if not surpass the Empire State. But we do not intend to boast, for Vf e know that the honors we have gained will soon be lost, unless we earnestly adopt the noble motto of our progressive rivals, " Excelsior." The number in attendance, we think, was greater than at either of the previous Fairs in this Slate, though not greater than at the New- York Fair of last year. The amount received for entries and admissions was $13,230 50 — viz. : for badges $7,553, and for single tickets $5,G11 50. I3esides which, there was received for rents, fines, &c., |G8S, and the citizens of Cleveland contributed $3,000 towards the expense of fitting up the grounds. This makes the total receipts about $5,400 more than last year, and it is believed the expenses will be found considerably less, so that the funds of the Board will be in a much better condition, after the premiums are all paid. The show of Flowers was " meagre ;" of Manufactures, full and varied, both of the useful and ornamental. The iMPLEiiEXTS and Machines were abundant. Toe number of animals exceeded 400, there being 375 entries of cattle. The show of Horses " was never equalled in the State." The num- ber of entries was 175. The Michigan State Fair is represented as being quite successful — the attendance very large, and the show extensive and fine. The Kentucky Fair was also a good one, judging by the reports, but we think the attendance would have been larger if it had not conliicted with the Ohio Fair. We bopo this will be avoided next year, as we would like to be present at both. THE state fair AT UTICA. Wk gather the following statements, in reference to this festival, fi'om the Albany Cultivator : The exhibition of Cattle was large. There were 147 entries and about 550 animals upon the grounds, A distinguishing feature was the large display of Devons, among which there were so many beautiful animals, that it is quite out of the question to point out those which pleased us the best. There were 239 entries for horses. The exhibition of sheep was very good. There was a fine exhibition of long wools, and some, excellent Frencla Meri- nos. A ram of the latter breed, owned by J. D. Patterson of Chautauque county, was a monster. We had the curiosity to measure him, and although a handsome, well-proportioned animal, his head v/as found to be a foot long, his horns each over fom* inches in breadth, and from the tip of his nose to the STATE FAIRS. 989 beginning of his tail, full six feet. The wool was observed to be quite fine, more so than usu^l on animals of this class. He is said to have sheared about thirty pounds, and to require less food for the wool yielded than com- mon sheep. The swine were not numerous, but some of the animals were very fine. The Poultry show was very extensive. Agricultural implements were exhib- ited in great numbers. The exhibition in Dairy Hall was not large. That of Peaches was very meagre, but that of Pears exceeded any thing of the kind in former years. THE VEKMONT STATE FAIR. The second exhibition of the Vermont State Agricultural Society was held at Rutland on the 1st, 2d, and 3d of September. The display of Agricultural Implements and the products of mechanic art was quite limited ; yet on the whole creditable. Manufacturers from other States were well represented. The Endless Chain Horse Power of H. L. Emery, of Albany, IS". Y., and the Mower and Reaper of J. H. Manny, of Illinois, attracted considerable attention. One of the most interesting displays was that of iron ore, manganese, fire clay, (fee, by the Brandon Iron Co., together with specimens of manufactured articles, which reflect credit on the taste and skill of the gentlemen concerned. The same company exhibited a specimen of fossil wood, called lignite, which is at present exciting considerable interest in the scientific world. A bed of this lignite has been discovered, which has been excavated to the depth of eighty feet, without finding its bottom, and running in spurs to the surface of the ground. It is used successfully as fuel in driving an engine, burnino- freely, though leaving a large proportion of ash for its bulk. Fine samples of flint and other ware were shown by the Bennington Co., which, in point of finish, variety, and beauty of form, cannot be outdone. It was easy to see that the farmers prided themselves most on the supe- riority of their horses and sheep. The horses formed the great centre of at- traction, and, we think, fully deserved the praise so freely lavished on them. We have never seen better horses, whether speed, bottom, actio*, or beauty be regarded. As the well-trained and high-spirited animals moved round the track, we were inclined to decide in favor of each successive competitor for the good-will of the admiring crowd. After the speech of Mr. Seward on Thursday, the famous Black Hawk, rode by Mr. David Hill, as vigorous and active as ever, followed by fifty or more of his colts, many of which compare favorably with their sire, and the Green Mountain Morgan, rode by Mr. Silas Hale, also supported by a numer- ous progeny, and other animals of the same breed, passed in procession twice round the course, forming the most splendid display of horses probably ever witnessed in this country. On the afternoon of Friday, the Fair was closed by the ceremony of crowning Black Hawk and the Green Mountain Morgan with wreaths of flowers, which had been provided by the ladies. The show of sheep was large, and fully sustains the high character which Vermont has borne for fine animals and superior wool. Messrs. Jewett, Morse & Co., of Middlebury and Shelburn, and Messrs. A. L. and M. Bingham, of Cornwall, were the principal exhibitors of French Merinos. These gentlemen are deserving of great credit for their eflforts to introduce these excellent sheep, 18» 290 AVERAGE COST OF GRAIN AND ROOT CROPS. and we learn that extensive sales were made at remunerating prices. Silesian sheep were shown by Mr, Campbell of Westminster — certainly a valuable stock, bearing fine wool and in large quantity. Spanish sheep were shown by Mr. Hammond of Middlebury, Mr. Pettibonc of Manchester, and others. The address of Hon. Wm. H. Seward, of New- York, is worthy of special notice, as the prominent ideas embodied in it are such as commend them- selves to the attention of every intelligent farmer. AVERAGE COST OF GRAIN AND ROOT CROPS IN HAMPDEN COUNTY. Mr. Brewer, of Springfield, has carefully collated, from the various reports presented at the fair of the Hampden County Society, a table of the cost, in that county, of the various grain and root crops, which is well worth pre- serving : WHEAT — per bushel. No. of bushels. Entire cost. Cost per bushel. H. Smith,. . 226 . $128 81 . 54 2-10 cts. J. Bagg, . .223 . 169 74 . 70 2-10 W. Cooley, .38 . 23 50 . 62 J. Stiles, . . 291 . 17 00 . 45 5-10 (Add interest on land to this statement.) R. H. Barlow, .44 . 24 00 . 45 5-10 S.Root, . . 91f . 60 50 . 66 Average cost per bushel, . . .58 5-6 CORK — per bushel. H. Smith, . 350 . 203 50 . 58 2-10 W. Cooley, . 82 J . 40 75 . Q6 J. Hooker, . 225" . 122 25 . 54 3-10 Average cost per bushel, . . . 54 2-10 RYE. J. Hooker, .39 . 25 56 . 55| J. M. Merrick, .95 . 41 02 . 43 2-10 F. Brewer, . 23|- . 8 54 . 39 3-10 Average costj^er bushel, . . .48 OATS. N. Clark, . .85^. 12 00 . 15 3-10 J. H. Demond, . 83" . 12 00 .27 2-10 Average cost per bushel, . . . 21 1-4 ■ CARROTS. J. Carlisle, . 538 . 87 50 . 16 2-10 S. Warner, .237 . 31 00 .13 M. Hitchcock, . 240 . 26 78 . 10 4-10 Average cost per bushel, . . .13 2-10 TURNIPS. M. Hitchcock, .160 . 8 31 . 5 3-10 J. Hooker, . ^500 . 22 00 .4 5-10 S.Warner, . 450 . 18 50 .4 1-10 Average cost per bushel, . . .4 2-3 EEStrSClTATION OF FROZEN FISH. 291 EESUSCITATION OF FROZEN FISH. BY PROF, O. r. HUBBAKD. Since my first notice of this subject in the American Journal of Science, and subsequently in the Granite Farmer, and also requesting information of any cases observed by their correspondents, numerous examples have been brought to light ; and the statement that " fish frozen in the extreme cold of our winters were resuscitated when thrown into cold water," and which was generally received with incredulity, seems in a way to be as thoroughly au- thenticated as any other in iN'atural History. Some time ago the Scientific American requested its readers to send it notices of the same ; and I have great satisfaction in sending you the following extract from the Scientific American, Vol. VII., No. 22 : " Quarterman & Son, of New- York, inform us that the fish in the streams of Westchester county, N.Y., are frequently caught, thrown out, left to freeze, and are resuscitated when thawed." Mr. Cummings Martin, of Taftsville, Vt., caught suckers out of White River, Vt., flung them on the ice, allowed them to be there for hours, until they were apparently frozen through, and would rattle in the basket hke pine knots. When thawed out in cold water they would wiggle and move about, as good as new. J. H. Bacon, of Westchester, Mass., says he has taken tom-cod out of the river, allowed them to freeze, carried them to Boston, and has seen them come to life when thawed. William Rummel, of Jersey City, N". J., caught some perch in the Hacken- sack river, in 1836, which froze quickly; he carried them to market, which was very dull ; he then packed them in snow for three weeks, and after this, when applying pump-water to them, every twenty-five in thirty swam about in the tub. He says, if fish be frozen in moderate weather, and take a long time to do so, they will not return to life. Robert Pike, of Wakefield, N. H., says he has caught brook trout in Janu- ary, which froze through in a few minutes, and which, after five hours, when he took them home and put them in a tub of cold water, swam around quite lively. Thomas Power, of Hudson, N. Y., says he has seen fish which wei'e frozen as hard as rock, come to life when thawed in cold water. The fish were yellow perch, found in the Hudson river. D. H. Quail, of Philadelphia, says he has caught fish in New-Jersey, near Fortescue's Beach, in Delaware Bay, in winter, in the following manner, which is very interesting. He says : " Having procured a small boat, we dragged it into the ponds, that were frozen over nearly hard enough to bear the boat ; then commenced the sport : one would stand in the front to break the way, another push the boat along ; the third, with a small crab net, would scoop up the fish, which could be seen upon the bottom, frozen as stifi" as bones ; they were all large perch. I caught half a bushel, which, when taken home and put into a tub of cold water from the well, in a short time were swimming about quite lively." Mr. B. M. Douglass, of East Springfield, Conn., says he has caught perch, pickerel, trout, and carp, in winter, allowed them to freeze, carried them for miles, and, when thawed in well water, not one in six but would come to life. He adds, they can be carried to any distance, if kept frozen ; but, if not 292 PEACH TREES. frozen quickly after beiug caught, " they will not come to;" this he liaa always noticed. By this it appears that if a considerable time elapses between the period ■when the fish is taken out of the river and thawed, they cannot be resusci- tated. Ransom Cook, of Saratoga, 17. Y., a very observing man, adds a new fact to this store of ioformatioa on this subject. Ha says that all fish which have been frozen and resuscitated have their sense of sight destroyed — they all become blind. Mr. Bartlett, your correspondent from Warner, cites Dr. Burnett, of Boston, as saying," that if the brain is frozen, resuscitation is impossible." This opinion can be sustained by facts, if true ; and one who has seen these frozen fish resus- citated will hardly believe that the extreme cold of winter would not solidify the hraiii if it were many times larger than the wliole fish. Here, then, is the point at issue, (as there is no longer any dispute concerning the main point of resuscitation:) "Is the brain frozen or not?" If it is not, then what protects it from freezing in a temperature that would solidify a quarter of beef or a living man, if exposed ? If it is frozen, then we have a very in- teresting fact in physiology. Whether frozen or not, and the possibility of resuscitation if the brain is frozen, can be determined by many of your readers next winter by dissection of the heads of fish, and throwing others of the same catch, and size, and kiad, into cold water. — Granite Farmer. FOE THE PLOtrCH, THE LOOM, AKD THE ANVIL- PEACH TREES. An article appeared in yom- September number on this subject, which is valuable for its facts, but liable to do harm with its generalization on some points. I do not think we are yet ready to say whether budded fruit should be altogether discarded. The subject has been several limes discussed in this State at our Fruit Growers' Convention, and by local societies, but it generally ends where it begins, by eacb party retaining their opinions. The facts are not sufficiently ascertained as yet. The peach, both budded and natural, depends so mucli upon soil, situation and culture, that no one ought to pro- nounce definitely upon any point without a careful induction of facts. The experience here corroborates what your correspondent says of peach buds enduring a greater degree of cold than 32° below zero. The cold here was as low as 20° — 22'^ in places — yet some trees are quite full of peaches. A large proportion, it is true, have no fruit, and some trees were killed, but here some of the thriftiest growing trees escaped. I had about a huudred young trees, two years out, and lost but two or three, although they had made very rapid growth during the summer preceding the severe winter. They were all budded trees. Others lost all their trees. Our experience does not coincide with your correspondent's, in finding that "like produces like in the peach almost as sure as in corn." This is true of the common sorts, which are generally quite small ; but budded fruit Seldom, if ever, produces the like of itself. It may produce a good fruit occasionally, but it is too uncertain a method with us to rely upon. The frequent destruction of this crop by late frosts, and the occasional destruction of the ti'ees tkemselves, are very discouraging to fruit growers; TIME FOR PRIJNING. 293 yet tlio rapidity with which the peach grows, and its unsurpassed delicacy and fl;ivor as a table fruit, will induce fruit growers to persevere. And as statistical tables prove that, although seasons vary with respect to each other, yet in a long course of time they are very similar, we may still trust that as peaches have been abundant in times past, so will they ba in the future. Columbus, 0., Sept. 16, 1852. H. C. H. MASS. HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY'S EXHIBITION. The annual exhibition of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society opened in the Public Garden on Tuesday, and continued till Thursday night. The display took place under Wright's mammoth tent, and was probably the finest exhibition of fruits and vegetables ever witnessed in this country. The collection of pears was one of the most remarkable sights in the pomological line, says the New-England Farmer., we ever beheld. Marshall P. Wilder, of Dorchester, had 260 varieties ; R. Manning, of Salem, 167 ; -'^. Walker, of Roxbury, 137; Hovey & Co., 150 ; 13. V. French, of Brainf .« \60. The last named gentleman also had 180 varieties of apples. Theix .re likewise many noble specimens of peaches, plums, grapes, &c. The display of vege- tables was also very attractive. Mrs. S. W. Cole, of Chelsea, exhibited 50 varieties of seedling potatoes, which attracted much attention. Mammoth squashes, melons, beets, parsnips, potatoes, cabbages, &c., were in abundance. The floral collection was not very extensive, but included many rare and choice flowers ; and the bouquets and flower-pieces with which the tables were decorated, added much to the beauty of the scene. TIME FOR PRUNING. The late Mr. Cole, author of several works on fruit, &c., is excellent authority in this department, and gives his opinion as to the best time for pruning as follows ; Volumes have been written on this subject, a great part of which is mere theory. Many prune in the spring from custom, and others in June because the wound heals quickly, not reflecting that it is of more importance that the wound heal soundly than quickly. We give directions according to our ex- perience for thirty years. Slight pruning, in which very small limbs, or dead limbs of any size, are re- moved, may be performed, when most convenient, in any season. Moderate pruning should be done in June, July, or August, though it will answer very well till December. If trees are pruned in July, August, or September, the wood will become hard, sound, and well seasoned, and commence healing over ; and it is not material, otherwise than for appearance, whether it heals over the first, second, or third year, as it will remain in a healthy state. We should prefer October, November, or even December, to the spring, which is the worst season. The trees then are full of sap, and it oozes out at the wound, v/hich turns black and decays, like a tree cut in the spring, and allowed to retain the bark. But if limbs, ever so large, are cut in August or September, the wood will become hard and remain so, if it never heals over. Thirty- two years ago, in September, we cut a very large branch from an 294 HAWAIIAN AGRICULTURE. apple-tree, on account of injuries by a gale. The tree was old, and it has never healed over ; but it is now sound, and almost as hard as horn, and the tree perfectly sound around it. A few years before and after, large limbs were cut from the same tree in spring ; and where they were cut off the tree has rotted, so that a quart measure may be put into the cavities. HAWAIIAN AGRICULTURE. A CORRESPONDENT of the Ncw-Englaud Farmer, writing to the editor of that paper on Hawaiian agriculture, says : Agriculture is receiving similar attention and honor in England ; and on the continent of Europe the same light is beginning to dawn. But I have been both interested and amused to behold it breaking forth in the isles of the Pacific, as appears by the " Transactions of the Royal Hawaiian Agricultural Society" for 1850 and 1851, which have recently been received in this part of the country. From the preliminary proceedings of this Society, it appears to have originated with the foreign population, our northern Yankees bearing a conspicuous part. How much merit in this good work may be due to the circulation of your excellent paper in those islands I cannot say ; I only know, Messrs. Editors, that your " New-England Farmer'^'' has long since found its way there, and I dare say has had its influence in awakening and promoting the spirit of agriculture. The preliminary meeting was held April 29, 1850, in Honolulu, and re- sulted in the issue of a circular, calling an agricultural convention to be held in the same place on the 12th of August following. This circular address was signed by a committee, consisting of Messrs. Stephen Reynolds, W. New- comb, J. F. B. Marshall, R. W. Wood, and Wra. L. Lee. The latter is Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Hawaiian Islands, and was from western New-York, but received his professional education at the Law School in Cam- bridge. At the general convention thus called, which was held four days, and conducted with great spirit, the Society was formed, with a Constitution ; an able and eloquent address was delivered by Judge Lee, who was elected Pre- sident of the Society ; a memorial to the government was adopted, praying the grant of a fund for premiums ; and very interesting reports were made and acted upon, relative to the progress of agricultural science ; to reminis- cences of Hawaiian agriculture ; the benefits of agricultural associations ; the value of science apphed to agriculture ; the manufacture of sugar ; the culture of the vine and tobacco ; on fences, and on the produce and exports of Maui. The first annual meeting was held in August, 1851, and continued five days; during which an address was delivered by the Hon. Luther Severance, our Commissioner to that government, a public exhibition or show of products and stock was held, and upwards of forty premiums were awarded, for the best specimens of stock, sugar, sugar cane, syrup, coffee, vegetables, and fruits. Among the latter, besides the grain and vegetables common in New-England, we notice pineapples, mangoes, pomegranates, bananas, figs, cocoa, and arrow- root. Several interesting communications and reports were read on various agricultural subjects, and committees were appointed on all the subjects usually receiving attention at a New-England agricultural meeting. To what extent the native population have participated in this movement we are not informed ; but on the committee on swine we observe the names of A. Paki FEEDINGS THE STARVING MILLIONS OP EUROPE. 295 and Z. Kaauwai ; and among the members, J. Ji and G. L. Kapeau. The reports of the various committees evince an amount of zeal and research which would do credit to similar committees in any part of our countr3^ The reflections to which these facts give birth are of the profouudest cha- racter. Fifty years ago those islands were peopled with countless multitudes of naked savages, of the lowest grade ; ignorant alike of the culture of the earth and of the God who made it. The Anglo-Saxon came among them ; and though the native population has dwindled to a comparative handful, it has become Christian ; Christianity has reared her temples ; the heathen tongue has been taught to sing the praises of God ; native nakedness is clothed ; the wilderness has been made to blossom as the rose, and the earth to pour forth of her abundance ; and the nation, having exhausted the powers of native government, and emerged from semi-barbarism into the light and rank of a civilized community, is beginning to seek admission into the family of American republics. PLASTER ON WHEAT IN THE FALL. The Genesee Farmer says, on this subject : "As many farmers in this vicinity are putting plaster on their wheat in the fall instead of the spring, as hereto- fore, I have taken pains to inquire the reason of the change ; and, believing the information obtained important to wheat growers generally, I take this method of giving it to the million, if you think proper to place it in your widely circulated journal. Wheat, when plastered in the fall, obtains more root, anjl is thus enabled to stand the frosts better ; it has the assistance of the plaster at a season of the year when it is almost impossible to go over the fields, and when it is most needed — namely, the very early spring ; it gets its growth and ripens in good time ; whereas, when applied in the spring, the wheat continues to grow late, sometimes to the injury of the crop — a superabundance of straw, falling down, rust, &c., &c., oftentimes being the consequence." FEEDING THE "STARVING MILLIONS" OF EUROPE. Mr. Walker assured the farmers that if they would but consent to admit the fabrics of Europe at low duties, they would be enabled to feed and to clothe " the starving millions " of that portion of the world, who were, by this time, to require from us hundreds of millions of dollars'' worth of food. In the last fiscal year we exported to all Europe, of the food produced north of Carolina, ei^ht millions of dollars' worth, being less than it took from us six years since. In the fiscal year just closed, we have exported to Great Britain and Ireland one million one hundred and for hj- seven thousand barrels of flour, against one million six hundred and ninety-five thousand sent in the last year; and thus the export of food to " the starving millions " seems to grow " Fine by degrees and beautifully less." Thus it is that are being realized the British free-trade promises, by which the people of this country were induced to relinquish a policy under which the domestic consumption of food by the makers of iron, cloth, and other 296 THE LATE PROF. J. P. NORTON. commodities had grown in less than five years more than one hundred mil- hons of dollars, and would by this time have grown more than two hundred millions. It is time that they should begin to understand that the plough never has prospered and never can prosper at a distance from the loom and the anvil. THE LATE PROF, J, P. NORTON. We are again called upon to notice the death of an eminent agriculturist. Prof. Norton was a young man, being but thirty at the time of his decease, but one of the most honored and most deserving of honor. From his youth, says the Albany Cultivator, Mr. Norton had been more or less conversant with the practice of agriculture, and as is naturally the case with an inquiring mind, the apparent lack of system, and ruinous waste often seen, led to thought and investigation. After having pursued the study of chemistry with the ablest professors in this country, he visited Europe, in the summer of 1844, for the purpose of pursuing his studies farther than could be done here, and also to extend his observations. Mr. Norton accom- panied Prof. Johnston on a tour through Scotland, the results of which appeared in his letters, published in this journal. These letters, which were continued regularly during his absence, were his first introduction to the public as a wri- ter, and established his reputation as a careful observer, a close reasoner, and a sound thinker. During his stay in Scotland he enjoyed the closest intimacy with Prof Johnston, and pursued his studies under his direction at the Labor- atory of the Agricultural Chemical Association. The analyses furnished by him from time to time show the accuracy of his mind and his superior indus- try, and his notes on Prof Johnston's lectures are valuable abstracts, forming almost a complete text book of Agricultural Science. In the fall of 1845, he made a tour on the Continent, for the purpose of visiting some of the most celebrated laboratories, and his letters were for a time discontinued. Shortly after, he returned to this country, when he received an appointment to a professorship of chemistry, as applied to agriculture, which had been created at Yale College. Mr. Norton wished to perfect him- self in chemistry before entering upon his duties as Professor, and with this in view he sailed again for Europe in the fall of 1846. Here we notice a prominent characteristic of Prof. Norton. There was nothing of pretension in his nature ; he was unwilling to assume a responsibility till he felt himself fully equal to it. Instead of being vain of the honor thus early bestowed on him, he goes manfully and earnestly to work to lay, deep and strong, the foundations of a science, of which the first rudiments were scarcely known. In the year 1846, a premium of fifty sovereigns ($250) was ottered by the Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland, for the best analysis of the oat. The chemical constituents and the physiology of the growth of this plant were little known, and a scientific analysis had never been attempted. Mr. Norton, still a student in the laboratory, and in competition with several learned chemists, obtained this premium. This is more remarkable from the fact that he was an American, and unknown to the scientific world. The article contains thirty-nine tables, showing the composition of the different parts of the oat, and at several stages of its growth, and displays a vast amount of research and an untiring industry. In the conclusion of the article, Mr. Norton remarks : " I may be permitted to say, that the extent of this inves- COAL ASHES. 297 tigatioii, and the many points which I have been compelled to leave unde- termined or doubtful, alter eighteen months of constant labor, must convince those who entettain lalse ideas of the time and patience necessary for chemi- cal researches of this kind, that they have erred in supposing the chemist able to do in a few days or weeks what can only be eflfected by the labor and study of many successive years." Upon his return to this country in the fall of 1847, he entered upon his duties at Yale. Though attendance on the lectures in his department was voluntary, and comparatively little attention had been paid to Agricultural Chemistry by the young men in our colleges, he soon gathered a class of stu- dents, which was gradually increasing to the time of his death. His labora- tory was, in fact, the only place in this country where the principles of science as applied to agriculture were thoroughly taught. The cares of his professorship v/ere not his exclusive occupation. A trea- tise on Scientific Agriculture, which was written as a Pi'ize Essay, and took a premium of one hundred dollars, offered by the N. Y, State Agricultural So- ciety, and was subsequently published as a text book for schools, was prepared by him in 1850. This little work embodies all the fundamental principles of Agricultural Science, so far as well established, and has been widely circulated. Prof. Norton also wrote an appendix to Stephens' Book of the Farm, to- gether with notes, such as to adapt it to this country. His character was in the highest degree estimable, and his virtues vv'ere of that quiet, unobtrusive nature, which steal so readily into the affections of every one. He was eminently fitted to grace the social circle, and his pleasing, artless maner, winning address, and animated style of conversation, made his society peculiarly desirable. , ,., COAL ASHES. Mr. Stour, formerly Editor of the Farmei-^s Gazette, wi-ites the following to the Neio-England Farmer. He is a judicious man, and his statements are reliable, although they are opposed to the general belief on this subject : Mr. Editor : — In your weekly paper of 12th June, I notice an inquiry from a correspondent, " whether coal ashes can be used with any benefit in agriculture?" And as I have not seen a reply to this qi-stion in any subse- quent number of the i^armer, I will venture to give my own experience in the matter, small though it may be. About the year 1840, while publishing the Farmer's Gazette at New- Haven, I found a heap of anthracite ashes in my garden in the spring — the accumulated siftings from two stoves during the previous winter. Having seen the suggestion in some agricultural paper, that these ashes were of some value as a fertilizing agent, it occurred to me that I might try the experiment without cost. Accordingly, when about to commence the operation of gar- dening, I spread the ashes over the surface of the garden, as evenly as pos- sible. There were some two or throe cart loads of them, and they had lain in a snug heap near the centre of a small garden of not more thau four or five rods square. Across the spot where the heap had lain, I had a bed of com- mon blood beets and a few rows of string beans. The general ofiect of the ashes on all parts of the garden was evidently good ; but on the particular spot which had been occupied by the ash heap, the result was really surpris- ing. The growth of beets and b:ans, in that part of the beds, was nearly double that of the same vegetables beyond the limits of the heap. So marked 298 AGRICULTURE IN VIRGINIA. was the difference, that it was prominently perceptible to the eye as far as the garden could be seen. The soil at New-Haven, as you are probably aware, is a light sand. I have no doubt that coal ashes are worth something as a fertilizer ; and that on farms within two or three miles of any of our New-England cities, they will pay for carting. Generally, I suppose, householders in cities will be glad to give them to any person who will take them away. I think of trying their virtues on a portion of my mowing, by spreading them either this fall or early next spring ; and if they have any material effect, you may possibly hear from me again. "AGRICULTURE IN VIRGINIA." In our August number we gave a comparative view of the condition of Virginia, and of the North, extracted or condensed from the report of an address, delivered by their new President, Edmund Ruffin, Esq. We have lately been informed that the address, which was sent us in a pamphlet, we believe, was not written by that gentleman, but by the chairman of a com- mittee appointed for that purpose, to wit, Frank G. Ruffin, Esq., and that the principal bases of the estimates and arguments, and the deductions there- from, in the way of comparison between Virginia and some of the Northern States, were not deemed sound by the Society, and the address was not finally adopted by the Society, We were silent on this point, as the statements of fact spoke for themselves, and no vote of acceptance or rejection by any Society would essentially affect them. Nor did the copy from which we pre- pared the article referred to make mention of these matters. But we supposed that the gentleman named was its author, and the calculations and arguments his. We learn, however, that it is otherwise, and that the gentleman named is utterly opposed to its reasoning and arguments, and that neither he nor the Society is responsible for its publication. By whose agency the publica- tion is made does not appear to us, and it is comparatively unimportant to the public. But however it may be with some of the details, we are sure the argument commends itself to every reader ; and whether or not all Vir- ginians look at the subject as would an unprejudiced party, they will ere long be convinced of the truth. The address of Mr. Stephenson, of which extracts are given in the leading article of the same number, proves the same general doctrine. This at least is obvious, that under her present system of productive industry, the progress of Virginia has been retrograde. " The average of her great staple crop, wheat, (we quote the language of Colonel Skinner, late editor of this journal, in a published address,) is considerably below the quantity per acre designated by one of her most successful and distinguished agriculturists, Colonel Taylor, as necessary to defray the bare expense of cul- tivation." Whether any change of policy is expedient on this general state- ment, whatever may be thought of given details, will soon be determined beyond controversy. Again, were the originally fertile soils of Virginia covered by a population as dense as that of Massachusetts, but now less than one and a half millions of inhabitants, there would be seven millions ; and were she to feed day by day four times her present population, her markets would be proportionally increased in value, and her cultivators of the soil would find a sufficient motive to tax themselves an amount of labor and of money to enrich the land and improve their crops, that neither the tradi- GUANO WITH PLASTER. 299 tions of their fathers as to modes of farming, nor their own hoiTor of change, would be effectually disposed to resist. De Bow's Review indirectly urges the same point. Speaking on the sub- ject of railroads, in the July number, it says: "Her present position is critical, no time is to be lost." Hence we conclude that although the newly-elected President of the State Agricultural Society disclaims the logic of this address to the people of the State which he read, and though the Society refused to adopt it, there is an influence operating but too powerfully to induce them to place the loom and the anvil by the side of the plough, and create a market which will irresisti- bly lead them to improve their system of agriculture aud the net value of their crops. SAVING- SEED CORN. Mr. Holbrook, one of the editors of the New- England Farmer, and a very successful farmer of Brattleboro, Vt., in an article on the cultivation of corn, says : While upon my present subject, I will say a word about saving seed corn. All experienced farmers are aware that the productiveness and early ripening of any kind of corn depend very much upon the manner of select- ing the seed. I have a long-earned variety, which I have been planticg and improving for some ten or twelve years ; and although during that time I have tried, I presume, a dozen other sorts, I give the preference to the first- named sort. Whatever may be said in favor of a change of seed, as regards other crops, there is no need of changing seed corn, provided proper care is used in the yearly selection of that for planting. By proper attention to this matter, a variety may be perfectly adapted in its habits to a given climate and soil, and changed much for the better as to productiveness. The difference in product, between careful selection in the field, and taking seed at random from the crib, will, in a very few years, be much in favor of the former mode — the soil and cultivation being in both cases alike. As soon as the earliest ears are thoroughly glazed, I go over the field myself, selecting from those stalks that are " stocky" and vigorous, aud that produce two good ears. The selected ears are taken immediately home, braided, and hung up in a dry, airy place. When I commenced with my favorite variety, it was difficult to find twin ears ; but now they are abundant. My crops also ripen ten days earlier than at first. I will not mention the length of the ears that might be found in my fields, but will say to you, Mr. Editor, come and see for yourself. GUANO WITH PLASTER. Mr. Stabler, of Montgomery Co., Ind., publishes in the American Farmer the following experiments which he tried upon his land, which is " a red loam with but Httle clay or sand, but with a large proportion of isinglass." EXPERIMENTS. Lands 83 by 6 yards — 498 square yards. The guano and plaster mixed 9th mo. 20th, '51, and that, as well as the guano by itself, moistened as we 300 I^r6ENI0Us piece op mechanism. usually do it for sowing; 10th rao. 1st, each pfircel shovelled over on a plank floor, so as to thoroughly incorporate them, and then returned to the barrels ; 10th mo. lOtb, (20 days after mixing,) sowed the wheat with the different parcels of manure, shovelled them in, and rolled the ground. lbs. Wheat. Per acre. No. 1. No manure, 69^ 11 bus. 35 lbs. No. 2. o bus. Guano, 113 18bus. 18lbs. No. 3. I " Guano, 1 bus. Plaster, 147 23 bus. 28 lbs. No. 4. I " Guano, i " Plaster, 154 24 bus. 56 lbs. No. 5. i " Guano, i " Plaster, 151 24 bus. 27 lbs. QUANTITIES OF MANURE PER ACRE. No. 1. No manure. No. 2. 250 lbs. Guano. No. 3. 250 lbs. Guano and 2^ bushels Plaster. No. 4. 250 lbs. Guano and 5 bushels -Plaster. No. 5. 250 lbs. Guano and 10 bushels Plaster. Note. — As the ground is laid down to grass, in order to place each strip on an equality as it regards the Plaster, Nos. 1, 2, 3, and 4 have had sown on them since harvest as much plaster as would bring them up to No. 5 ; to wit, one bushel to the strip, or 10 bushels per acre. The effect to be ob- served. INGEN'IOUS PIECE OF MECHANISM. A SMALL machine of recent invention has been lately i;ut in operation in this city, for the manufacture of wire chain, such as is used on fluid lamps, to fasten the extinguishers to the tubes. There have been, heretofore, machines for cutting and forming the links, and the merit of this invention consists in uniting these machines so as to work in connection, and in the addition of an entirely new and original contrivance for locking and setting the links together, thus forming a continuous chain within the machine. This latter process was formerly performed by hand. The machinery is exceedingly complicated, and the casual observer would perceive nothing in the collection of gears, cams, wheels, &c., before him that indicated an adaptation of parts or unanimity of purpose. "When in motion, it is even more dithcult to form the slightest conception of the object of its con- struction. It appears like a mass of springs, knives, rollers and followers, all flying with utmost rapidity, and so intricately arranged that even an expe- rienced eye is somewhat baflBed to detect any concert in the action of the parts. The wire enters, and then we see the accuracy and precision of the inventor's calculations. It is clipped the requisite length, it is then passed on and formed ; one end is set up closely, the other remaining open like a hook, then passing on it is hooked on the end of the chain, closely followed by another, and another, with such rapidity as to astonish the observer and make him doubt the reality of the scene before him. This highly ingenious machine is so compact as to be contained in a case no larger than a lady's work-box, w-hich case has two apertures, one for the admission of the wire, the other for the passage of the chain, which is made, when the machine is at its highest speed, at the rate of a yard per minute, but its ordinary working rate is about thirty yards per hour. There are about 150 links in one yard, and it is easy to conceive of GOOD BACON IN THE SOUTH. 301 the skill and ingenuity of the inventor, and the nicety of adjustment in the machine, when it is stated that the machine -will run for days and weeks with- out malforming one hnk or causing a single break in the machine. As yet the machine is kept secret, none having been allowed to see it but a few friends of the inventor ; and no patent has yet been obtained, though one will doubt- less be taken out at some future day. — Boston Journal. SPEEDY MODE OF DECOMPOSING VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES. The following plan of reducing rough materials into good manure is from Dana. He says that the quantity of materials are intended for manuring one acre : " 3 tons of green straw, ferns, bean-stalks, pea vines, potato tops, weeds, leaves. 90 lbs. of ground Plaster. 2 lbs. of common Salt. 3 lbs. of Saltpetre. 2-^ bushels of Ashes. 2^ bushels of Charcoal powder. 5 bushels of Night Soil. Make the pile of vegetable matter near a puddle of stagnant w-nev, if pos- sible ; if this is not convenient, sink a pit near the edge of the pile, fill it with common water, then throw into it the night soil, mix it well by stirring, add the ashes, then the charcoal, lastly the salts. With a bucket furnished with a long pole handle, like a tanner's scoop, water the pile several times daily with the above mixture, taking care tliat the drainage runs into the pit to be again returned upon the pile. In two or three weeks in warm weather the heap is sufficiently converted for use. The yeast, as it may be termed, in this process, is the night-soil, and the putrescent matter in the stagnant water." FOR THE PLOrOH, TnE LCO», AND THE ANVIL. GOOD BACON IN THE SOUTH. Messrs. Editors: — With your aid and consent I will submit to the readers of your valuable journal a fifteen years' experience in making and keeping good bacon. It is necessary that hogs intended for bacon should be closely confined in a clean pen for at least two months before butchering, and should be fed on wholesome grain food. This is done to impart to the meat a firm- ness and juicy solidity whi,.h other methods of feeding are not apt to produce. Kill as soon as the weather will permit, say early in December. Cut out the meat the day it is killed, trim the back and rib bones with all loose pieces of lard or flesh, taking care to get the pieces of ireat as smooth as possible. Let the meat so cut out lie on the smoke-house floor, or left till next morn- ing, allowing no piece to lie on another. Then take good alum salt, ground fine, or coarse Virginia, and to every 100 lbs. of salt add one pound saltpetre in large troughs. Place the joints used on clean plank over the troughs ; 302 CROPS IN OHIO. salt the sides, using the salt bountifully, for what the meat does not absorb will be left in the trough for stock hereafter. The saltpetre will give the bacon a rich claret color, and is otherwise seasoning. Let the meat now lie undisturbed for about forty days ; if very mild weather, thirty-five days will do. The meat is then to be taken up, and with a brush cleaned of salt, the sides first, and to be hung highest up in the smoke-house, which should be no little squatty affair, but at least eighteen feet high. On the under joists hang the joints ; the day after hanging commence to smoke with green hickory wood, keeping a dense smoke night and day, which may be done without danger by digging a pit in the floor ; this process must be carried on until the bacon becomes dry and firm, and of an orange color, which will be in some twelve days. The hams are now to be taken down, and with a duster of finely pulverized Cayenne pepper, the whole ham, except the part that is covered with rind, is to be well dusted, and, with any coarse cloth or good domestic cotton, the ham is to be closely fitted and sewed up. Smear over this canvas with a brush a whitewash made of lime and water, and hang the hams again. The shoulders may be saved by the same process without the canvas ; let the sides hang all the time undisturbed. The hams must be canvassed by the 25th day of February. In this way hams will keep seven years, and retain all the sweet native juices of fresh bacon. I ought perhaps to add that in very wet weather, I make a smoke under the meat to keep it in a firm dry condition. This plan is simple and easy, and, if followed, will be a perfect guarantee against fly-bugs, skippers, or mould. Mill Bend, Tennesse, Sept., 1852. A. L. B. FOR THE PLOUGH, THE LOOM, AND THE ANVIL. CROPS IN OHIO. Messrs. Editors : — I have not forgotten my promise, though long delayed, for reasons which, if I troubled you with, I presume would be satisfactory. I will not, at this time, give some statistics upon the pork trade, as before promised, but will state a few facts respecting the season. The spring months appeared very unfavorable for farming. They were rainy and cold. We found it very difficult to plough or plant. Corn was generally put in from two to four weeks later than usual. About the first of June the wea- ther became more settled, with an occasional light shower. The months of July and August were very hot and dry. Our grass harvest came first about the 1st of July, for what is termed the tame grass ; the prairie, or wild grass, two weeks later. Both varieties were better than usual, and as good as I have ever seen in the country. '^ Winter wheat came next, of which there was a very light crop, and for • the following reasons : 1st, the fly ; 2d, from freezing and thawing during ^ the winter much of it was killed ; while on flat clay land it was drowned out by the long-continued rains of the spring. The result is that thousands of . ' acres were ploughed up and sown in oats or planted in corn, and thousands more should have been. On dry rolling prairie, where it was not injured by the fly, the crop is good. Spring wheat and oats, more than an average, may be safely put down as fiirst rate. Corn that was planted on dry or rolling land, having fii-st been ploughed deep and afterwards well tended, will give a good crop ; but that which was planted on land that was ploughed shallow QUAKERS AND THE CHURCH RAtE. 303 and tended poorly afterwards, is now firing mucli at the bottom, and the ears are small and few. I have found, by experience, that ground for all crops, but especially corn, should be ploughed not less than five inches, and two or three more added will do no harm. I have now growing about sixty acres of corn thus put in that looks in first-rate condition for the season. One of the greatest difficulties we have here is, that our farmers try to cultivate too much land. The result is poor crops that hardly pay expenses. Our young farm- ers thus begin to get discouraged, and cast longing eyes to Oregon or Cali- fornia ; and many are leaving this truly good land, and, with their families, are encountering the perils of a long journey across our American desert, with the hope of better times in that land of gold ; whereas, if they would but plough deep, and put in no more than they could well tend, their granaries would be full of the choicest of grain and their purses of gold. The potato crop must be very light. We have not had thus far any appearance of blight upon them. The crop of fruit will be fair. Some orchards were in full bloom at the time we had a frost, in the spring, which killed much of the fruit. Considerable attention is being paid to the cultivation of good fruit in this vicinity. Yours truly, Granville, 0., Sept. 2d, 1852. Ralph Warb. FOR THE PLOUGH, THE LOOM, AND THE ANVIL. QUA-KERS AND THE CHURCH RATE IN ENGLAND. Messrs. Editors: — In your number for June, 1852, in an article on the " Peculiarities of English Agriculture," the writer, speaking of church rates, states, " The Quakers resist the church tax to the very letter. When the collector applies for it, he is allowed to set a value upon any article in the house, or on the premises, as much as will cover the amount of his claim, and then the owner redeems it ; thus paying to redeem what the law had taken, rather than to give money for the support of any religious system which he thinks contrary to the law of God." What instance of such a practice the writer of the article above quoted may have seen, I know not ; but I must say that such a course is neither approved by the Society, nor are any who practise it acknowledged as members in unity with them, but testified against as unfaithful, and no longer of them. When such demands are enforced, they peaceably suffer the distraining of their goods, avoiding being in any manner accessory to the payment or discharge of them. Speaking of tithes, the same writer states, " The farmer does not house the tithe. Every tenth cock of hay, and every tenth sheaf of grain, is left out ia the field, of which due notice must be given to the tithe owner by the farmer when he carries his own to the homestead." I believe this is the general practice ; but faithful Friends have never submitted to it, but avoid in any manner acknowledging the right to take tithe under the Christian dispensation. It is within my own knowledge that when the hay and grain stood in the field, and the pei-son claiming the tithe was aware of it, he or his agent came and placed a mark upon every tenth cock or shock, in order that it might be left by the farmer, and collected by himself. Nevertheless, when Friends went to take in their hay or grain, they paid no respect to such marks, but collected all as their own, without any regard to the claims for tithe ;^ in which case the tithe claimer would afterwards procure a warrant of distraint, 304 MANURE. and take such amount of hay, grain, or oilier articles, as he thought proper, but without any assistance or connivance from faithful Friends in any manner whatever. These remarks I have thought due, not more on behalf of those called Quakere, than for the sake of such as are seeking a people who are endeavor- ing to bear a faithful testimony to the truth. Josepu Bancroft. nth mo. ZQth, 1852. FOR THS PLOVGH, THE LOOM, A.SD THB ANVIt. MANURE. " Manure worth more than one hundred millions of dollars is annually thrown away in the United States." "We find the above remark, which appears at first sight extravagant, in the first number of Journal of the United States Agricultural Society, a publica- tion we would commend to all farmers. When we stop a moaient, however, to look at this subject, and call to mind the various ways in which, under our own observation, this essential in the improvement of the soil is allowed, even among farmers, to he lost — actually and effectually lost, thrown away, (jone — without benefiting any body or any thing; when we consider the immense quantities continually accumulating in our cities and large towns, over which the farmer has no control, and from which no benefit can arise, unless it accrues to physicians through the diseases it engenders, we very naturally conclude, though that '• more" makes the quantity very indefinite, that the estimate is in no wise overrated. And the material for all this fertilizing substance, whose benefits are so obvious every where, and the necessity of whose application on most fields is apparent, has, in some way, been taken from iJic soil. What an appalling idea! How ominous of scanty future harvests! More than one hundred millions of dollars taken annually from the fiirras in our country and lost! How great a proportion of the manure thus actually thrown away is lost through the indifference or negligence of farmers themselves we shall not attempt to say. We know not the number of fiirmers in the United States; of course, we cannot make a correct estimate. We may suppose, however, with tolerable safety, that each farmer, from the quantity under his immediate control, loses some, and that the majority lose much. How often farm-yards are allowed to drain into highways, and upon lands where no benefits result from the application of the rich liquids that flow upon them ! How much animal manure in and around yards is allowed to pass off by evaporation, when a little care would enable the farmers to save the gases which would give health, beauty, and strength to their grass and grain fields ! How much decomposable substance in a variety of forms is allowed to assimilate and rot away in secluded corners on a thousand farms, without benefit to any one ! Our great travelled roads accumulate every year quantities of manure, and that usually of a valuable quality, from the animals that pass over them. This by continued travel becomes incorporated with the dust of the road, and the showers float them away together, often into some ditch, where it remains for no better purpose than to be again removed "to repair the road," or else find a reservoir in some quagmire where its loss is final and complete. A few hours' labor in each year would turn this valuable compost on adjoining fields, where great benefits result from its application to the land occupant without injury to any one, and really, in many instances, to the great benefit of the MANURE. 305 public, by diverting the water effectually from the highway, to which it too often regains access, to the annoyance of the travelLr and increase of the highway tax. We have often thought, and are not at present convinced that the idea is a foolish or inconsistent one, that the farmers on great travelled roads could afford almost to keep those roads in repair for the benefit they might receive from the wash. Such are a very few out of the many ways in which most farmers throw away manures and allow them to waste. It cannot be supposed that we have glanced at all or even a tithe of them. They will be found to vary probably in different localities and under different circumstances as they may exist. Now, we will candidly ask of the best agricultural economists in the land, if even in their own class an annual loss of five dollars is not suffered in this way ? Admitting that they say yes, what amount must we put to each indifferent, negligent farmer ? How much to the careless, slothful one ? There must be a great increase in the amount, as we take the downward scale from the very best to the inexcusable worst, so that by comparing all classes of those who call themselves farmers in the United States, we are about ready to adopt the conclusion that over a million of dollars are annually lost among farmers themselves in the United States by neglecting to husband their manures. Then the amount lost in cities and villages constitutes another item, and one that others are as well prepared to judge upon as ourselves. But we will drop all estimates of the kind, and go back to the first suppo- sition that over one hundred millions are annually lost in our country in this way. One hundred millions of dollars! It is a great amount, truly, one which no farmer can ever expect to call his own, yet every farmer contributes his share to its loss. Suppose our government should lay an annual tax of one half this amount upon the whole country; and think further, that government stood pledged to devote this moni^y to the objects nearest the people's wishes — to create better markets ; to open facilities for reaching these markets ; and to render the neces- saries and comforts of life more abundant, and at better rates for the purchaser and consumer. Would not the cry of oppression come up in doleful wailing from every side, and a change of national policy be urged at once as the remedy for such an evil ? " The country will become bankrupt from such oppressive taxation," would resound all over the land, and every method be adopted to avert the dreadful act. Yet farraer3 will dole their lives away, submitting annually to this loss of $100,000,000, without even thinking that they are losing, and of course making no effort to save. One hundred millions of dollars worth of manure annually ! Commence by applying this amount on the shores of the Atlantic, where the settlement of the country commenced, and continue it on, going westward each year, for ten years, and what a territory it would spread over ! How many barren spots it would clothe in verdure, rich in luxuriance, and full in plenty ! Almost every farmer has his desert patch that manure would render fertile. Suppose then that each one should, by new exertion, save what he has hitherto lost, how soon these waste places would become beautiful in the fort lity of nature, and an ample return bo made for all extra exertions to renovate and improve them. W. B. Elmwood, Sept. 21lh, 1852. ▼ OL. T. I» 306 CULTURE OF CRANBERRIES. rOU THIi PLOUGH, THK LOOM AND THE ANVIL. CULTURE OF CRANBERRIES.— MICHIGAN STATE FAIR. Detroit, Oct. 15, 1852. Messrs. Editors : — Having a few acres of ground that is too v.et for cul- tivation, and which cannot be drained without too much expense, because there are three farms to drain through before a sufficient fall can be obtained, and because the owners of these three farms do not feel disposed to improve them by draining, I had thought I would improve it by setting it out to cranberries. The ground is not what is termed swampy. Water is procured by digging about six feet. Three feet of it is a sand, and three feet very like quicksand ; then comes clay. The surface is boggy, with clumps of willows and some white poplars. The ground is quite dry, and has been for four or five months, as the season has been a dry one. Not having had any practical experience in the cultivation of the cranberry, I should be glad to commence the best way. There are cranberries of the common variety now growing in the lowest places upon it. If you or any of your correspondents can give me any reliable information upon the subject, it would be very acceptable. The farmers of Michigan appear to be prosperous this season. The wheat crop is abundant, and of excellent quality. The State Fair was held at Detroit, September 22d, 23d, and 24th. The weather was very favorable, and the Fair very well attended. There is great improvement in sheep. In Oakland county, there are several pure blood French and Spanish merino bucks, and I noticed some grade lambs of very fine qualit}* , There were also about a dozen pure South Down ewes and bucks, which were very handsome. In the swine department I saw nothing extra, but upon the contrary, some of the most prodigiously coarse and shy cutter boars I ever beheld. Why they were taken to the exhibition I cannot conceive, unless to show their hideousness. There was some improvement in cattle, but room for more. I saw but few that were extra, although many that might be termed ffood. The horses were not extra. There was a fine Black Hawk stud, recently purchased from Vermont, for the western part of the State, and I noticed a fine grade horse from Oakland county. The farmers appear to be awake to the importance of improvement in horses, and no doubt a few years will show a decided change in them. I have been informed that some farmers in Oak- land county were about purchasing a Morgan horse for the improvement of the breed in that section. I have not seen him. The exhibition of dairy products was very small; there was some fine butter. The farmers in Michigan, however, have not paid as much attention to this department of agriculture as the profits would warrant. No doubt they would have been richer if they had raised less wheat and made more butter and cheese. The exhibition of fruit was very good ; the quality of it, except a few lots, was inferior to former years. There was great complaint that fruit was wormy. One farmer told me that he could hardly find a specimen free, while in former years his fruit was scarcely touched. He attributes it to mulching, and thinks the habits of the apple-worm are the same as the curculio. (Does not the curculio affect the apple?) This conflicts with Mr. Barry's opinion, "that the grub prepares itself a place in the crevice of the bark, and spins a cocoon, in which it spends the winter," &c. (Page 368, Fruit Garden.) The most decided improvement, in any one department of the exhibition, waa in that of needle-work. No rough and common hands had been here at AGRICULTURE IN PRANCE. 307 work, but fairyliko fingers, with admirable skill, had painted, with the needle, upon the canvas, pictures whicli might vie with the touch of tlie pencil of the most skilful. The department of fowls was well represented. 1 cannot say that the hen fever is up to Boston pitch, nor have I seen any notice of hen conventions ; but there were exhibited quite a number of varieties of very fine fowls. This department was much better represented than usual, showing an introduction of many new and rare varieties. In labor-saving machines, I think Atkins' Reaper, with a raker attached, is without a rival. This rake does the work a great deal more handily than life. It is difficult to describe its operation ; but it is sufficient that it will take the grain from the platform and lay it carefully and completely in bundles in the rear of the machine ; and it is surprising that this improve- ment was invented by an invalid who is confined to his bed, and I believe never saw the machine work. Mr. G. S. Wright, Editor of Prairie Farmer, Chicago, is the proprietor. Very respectfully yours, A. C. LI A N U R E S FOR AV H E A T . The lands of Maryland and Virginia are wonderfully revived by guano. Robert F. Brown states, in the American Farmer, that one of his neighbore sowed seven bushels of blue-stem wheat on eight acres, and harvested over 33 bushels from one, with the application of 150 lbs. of guano per acre. Two other experiments given resulted nearly as favorably. Joseph W. Kay, another correspondent of the same paper, furnishes a statement of the mode in which Dr. E. P. White raised, in ona instance 54|-, and in another 56 bushels per acre, by the application of lime, clover, plaster, and other manures, in connection with deep ploughing. AGRICULTURE IN FRANCE. A LETTER-WRITER for the RepuhUc says : '• A trip of six hundred and fifty miles, from the northern to the southern extremity of France, justifies me in the expression of my opinion that God's sun does not shed its rays on so fair a land, or one so thoroughly cultivated. The whole country is literally a garden. Every square foot, from the mountain-top to the lowest ravine, is made to produce something, if it be susceptible of it. Their mode of planting or sov/ing their crops, whether on plain or hill-side, produces the finest effect on the appearance of the landscape ; the place allotted for each crop is laid out in squares or parallelograms with mathematical precision, and, whether large or small, the best garden could not be divided with greater accuracy. As there are no fences or hedges, and as the different crops are in various stages of maturity, you can imagine the variety of hues that meets the eye, and the magnificence of the panorama that stretches out in every direction ^s far as the vision can penetrate. I am sorry to add in this connection, that seven eighths of the agricultural labor is performed by females, while two or three hundred thousand stalwart men in uniform are idling away their time in the barracks of the cities and villages. In the absence of fences, cattle, secured by ropes, 308 LADIES HOUSEHOLD GARDENING. are driven about their pasturage by females ; and the sheep are confined within the required hraits by boys, assisted by a shepherd's dog. Speaking of cattle, reminds me that, notwitlistauding fresh pork is abundant enough in market, both in England and France, I have not seen a Uve porker in either country." KOR THE PLOUGH, THB LOOM, AND THE AKVIL. LADIES' HOUSEHOLD GARDENING. BY GEORGE C. THORBXJRN, NEWARK, N. J. The months of October and November are important months for the transplanting and housing of many esteemed plants. Among the earliest to be taken up, repotted and placed in vv'arm quarters, is the Heliotropium, of which there are several new and very pleasing varieties, as Salter's Gem, Smith's Reptans, Henderson's Corymbosum and Lilacena. Tiiese are pecu- liarly fine, and of the highest fragrance and compact habit of growth. Heli- otropiums grow much more luxuriant if turned out of the pots in June into a flower bed in the garden — flower abundantly all summer, and if the plant is carefully lifted just before frost, and placed in a warm room or greenhouse, will flower all the winter, and are valuable on that account for the bouquet. Monthly Roses of all sorts may now be transplanted from the garden into pots for winter flowering. Lift them as carefully as possible, so as not to disturb the ball of earth. They need not be put into very large pots — this method being very injurious to plants. The smaller the pot the better, as the plant never thrives well till the new roots fill the pots. After placing them in the shade for a week, attention paid to watering and decayed leaves removed, may be taken into the bouse. Verbenas. — If care is observed, in lifting these from the ground, a large increase may be made by dividing the rooted joints and potting them in small pots — using a mixture of sandy loam enriched with decomposed cow manure. Cuttings may also be taken off", which place thickly in small pots; place in a frame, on a shady exposure, watering moderately. In two weeks they will be rooted, and when rooted, transplant into very small pots, twoi a pot, which will make strong plants for turning out in May. The same directions apply to Petunias and Galardias. Salvias in flower may also be carefully removed into pots to flower in the house all winter. Chrysanthemums in pots should now be neatly tied to stakes and removed in-doors. It is one of the most beautiful of our autumnal flowers, but is too often left exposed to frost and cutting winds, which entirely destroy its beauty. None of our late flowering plants so enliven the autumn as Chrysanthemums. With care, they can be lifted from the ground into pots, and will expand near the light, and be much more delicate in color by this treatment, and continue till Christmas. The present is also the season to plant Hyacinths, Tulips, the Iris, Crown Im- perials, and bulbs generally which come over at this season in large quanti- ties from Holland, and which are much the best roots whether for the garden or the parlor window. If planted in pots, use a compost of light sandy loam, mixed with a little sea sand if convenient to be had, placing the roots at a not much greater depth than to be barely covered ; leave them out of doors until the ground freezes, when bring them in doors ; place near the light, and THE STUMP APPLE. 809 water as occasion may require. Hyacinths, when intended to flower in wa- ter, should be put in the glasses about the 25th October^ and in succession through all November; the base of the bulb should but slightly touch the water, and be placed in a dark closet for a week, when the roots will have struck into the water, after which they may be exposed to the light or placed on the chimney-piece, changing the water about every fortnight. Polyanthus Narcissus will flower in glasses equally well with Hyacinths, and are very pleasing, owing to the delicate beauty of their flowers and rich perfume. Tulips, the Crocus, Jonquilles, and Dutch bulbs generally, should be planted in November in beds out of doors. When not desired in the house, choose a warm exposure and rich sandy loam, planting Hyacinths in rows twelve inches apart, and the bulbs six inches apart, at a depth of four inches, and the smaller bulbs in proportion. Greenhouse plants. Camellias, Roses, Azaleas, &c., should have all the air possible, and be moderately watered twice a week, during fine weather. CORRECTION OF TYPOGRAPICAL ERRORS. Cincinnati, Ohio, Oct. lltb, 1862. To the Editors of the Plough, the Loom, and the Anvil: YotJ have misplaced the word " that '' (or I did it) in the seventh line of my communication published in the October number, page 224. It destroys the sense. It should read, "and held that all strawberry plants." You have brought it in after the word "plants." You have the initial letter of my name U. It is N. There is another, not material : The strawlerry I named was Burr's New Pine ; not Burns's. I am aware that my writing, in general, is difficult to read. We are indebted to Linnaeus for the error we were in, relative to the sexual character of the strawberry plant. One of his disciples discovered the error, and advised him of his seeing plants that bore no fruit, from a defect in the sexual organs. Linnaeus, in reply, told him he was under a mistake — to make no such doctrine known, as the failure to bear in the plants he had seen must have been owing to a late frost. The principle is true that all have both male and female organs. In one, the male organs are defective ; in the other, the female. In all the hermaphrodites I have seen, the male organs are perfect, and the female more or less imperfect in a portion of the blos- soms, with the exception of the seedlings I have named. Yours respectfully, N. Longworth. THE STUMP APPLE. Messrs. Editors : — This morning I forward you, by railroad, a few spe i- mens of the stump apple for your examination. Last fall, a notice of this most beautiful apple appeared in the Rural New-Yorker, published in Ro- chester, which notice embraced a history of both the name and origin of the f.uit. I believe that there are but few apples of this kind in the entire State, the variety being confined to this section- and to Washington county. The 3lO THE FAIR AT CASTLE GARDEN. first sprout, it seems, was found in the hollow of a stump in that couuty hence the name stump apple. The tree is of a thrifty growth, is a fine bearer, has a beautiful top, and produces every year, ihough it yields the mo?t fruit every second year, the case with many excellent varieties of apples. You will have the kindness to describe both its taste and appearance to your numerous readers. It is in my opinion one of the best and most profitable apples that can be raised. It will keep until quite late in the winter, if carefully put away in some good, dry and suitable place. We have, I think, kept them in the cellar as late as the month of February. The drought which has prevailed so excessively in this section this year has produced a perceptible effect upon this as well as other apples. The stump apple grows to the weight of a pound, and some- times weighs more than that, but usually its weight may be set down at from a^half to three fourths of a pound. — Very respectfully, W, Tappan. Baldwi7isville, JV. Y., October, 1852. REMARKS. We have received the apples spoken of from Mr. Tappan, and find them all he describes them to be, whether in appearance or flavor. It is a bright red in color, and a very mild acid. We should think it would be perfect for roasting. They are also of a large size and handsome form, answering in appearance very much to Downing's Spitzenberg Esopus. The color of the meat does not correspond with that description, as it has net the yellow, and but little of the crisp) of that apple. — Editors of the Plough, the Loom, and the Anvil. P. S. — Further examination leads us to a conviction that this fruit is the Bamshorn of the catalogues. THE FAIR AT CASTLE GARDEN. We are as much undecided what to say of this wilderness of artistic skill and handicraft as we have sometimes been to determine our course on entering a beautiful forest, where all directions seemed equally inviting. But we will first begin with finding foult. There ought to be a more systematic arrange- ment of these articles, and with a corresponding catalogue. I'here are diffi- culties, no doubt, in doing this ; but are not the gentlemen of the committee men of great skill and energy in overcoming difficulties? Certainly they are, or they would not be so competent for the important trust committed to them. We have a catalogue of 1,852 entries, embracing all sorts of things, from a gold thimble to steam engines and quartz crushers, with an addendum of 236 numbers in the "Agricultural, Horticultural and Floral Department," which seems confined to the vegetable products of the farm and garden, with the exception of a few " bird cages," " globes with goldfish," " composition model fruits," " one fumigator," " stand rustic vrork," a little " lard," &c. Whoever wishes to find almost any one of these hundreds of specimens can find it by a sufficiently careful examination of the various parts of the buildmg, and the passages leading into o>- out of the principal apartment of the " Garden." In some departments the show is very fine. In others it is quite deficient, both in quantity and quality. We purpose to describe the more commend- able manufactures in full, and as we would avoid hasty and random conjee- THE FAIR AT CASTLE GARDEN. 311 tures, we shall now allude only to a few, for which we have sufficient space left us, and on which we are quite ready to judge. Most of the articles pass entirely unnoticed, not possessing any such merits as to deserve especial atten- tion. Hereafter we shall resume the subject. Meanwhile we invite exhibitors to forward to us such additional information as may be desirable and in their possession, beyond the mere inspection of the article as it stands. We attach no importance to the order in which we introduce them, being governed in this matter only by our own convenience. 1. Spermaceti Candles. — John Sniffen, Jr., & Co., of Brooklyn, corner of Plymouth and Jay streets, have specimens of wax candles, of white and other colors, superior, v/e think, to any we have seen. They certainly promise well, on examination, and will no doubt bear the test of trial. They are also very reasonable in the matter of prices. 2. Boohhinding.—L. S. Ballou, 8 Park Place, and Francis & Loutrel, Maiden Lane, exhibit specimens of excellent binding; S. Raynor, 76 Bowery, a case of books ; Nathan Lane & Co., 69 Wall street, one case of blank books, that do great credit to the skill of the manufacturers. 3. Patent Self-heating Smoothing and Tailors^ Irons. — These are ex- hibited by Mr. N. D. Hunter, of 398 Broadway, one of the agents for the sale of this article. The " Iron" is hollow and to be filled with charcoal, of nut size, which is consumed within the iron, arrangement being made for a draught at its two ends. It is " self-regulating," or rather is easily regulated, in the degree of its heat, both by the closing or opening the draught, and by the addition of more coal. The first effect of the addition of coal is to' diminish the heat. The escape of carbonic acid gas which results from the process of kindling the fresh coal extinguishes the fire to a certain extent, while the addition of the coal also stops the upward radiation of the heat by which the handle might become too hot for comfort. It is said that a cent's worth of charcoal will last through a day's work. 4. Soaps, (fee, for Family Use. — William Johnson, 55 Frankfort street, exhibits a variety of these articles, which are of excellent quality. He manu- factures toilet cakes and bars for family use, and an article of shaving soap. The last we can judge only by its appearance, which is a very unmeaning kind of test. But the family soap Ave have proved, and are confident of its being an improvement upon the kinds with which we have been familiar. We commend a trial of them. He has also a laundry starch polish which we have not tested. 5. " Gardner'' s Gold Washer, irited, and in about one minute she was put down to Mr. Kober, of Ohio, for 8670. The second animal was " Esterville 4th," a two-year heifer — Mr. Eober, $405. 3d. "Kupa 3d," General Cadwallader, Philadelphia, $360. 4th. "Yorkshire Countess," Mr. Ruber, $580. 5th. " Esterville 3d," Mr. Spencer, New- York, $610. This ended the reserved cows and heifers, but not the spirited bid- ding, which was continued throughout the sale, fifty-five animals bringing $9,905. The imported bull, " Earl Derby," (the reserved bull,) was bought by Mr. Rober for $570. "Kirklevington'2d," a Bates yearling bull, sold to Mr. State for $380. There were in this herd sixteen spring calves ; and when this fact is taken into consideration, the prices the animals brought were astonishing, even to "shorthorn" men. On the other hand, when the great excellence of the herd is taken into consideration, and also that most of the animals possessed I^W-YORK CRYSTAL PALACE. 313 more or less of the Bates blood, and many of them pure Bates animals, the prices were far from being extravagant. I regret that I cannot furnish you a full and particular account of this great sale; yet knowing you will be anxious to learn the general result, I hasten to communicate the above. Yours truly, S. P. Chapman. NEW-YORK CRYSTAL PALACE FOR THE EXHIBITION OF THE IN- DUSTRY OF ALL NATIONS. This building, constructed of iron and glass, is erected on Reservoir Square, in the city of New- York, by the Association for the Exhibition of the Industry of all Nations, incorporated under an Act of the Legislature of the State of New- York, the 1 1th day of March, 1852. The use of Reservoir Square is granted by the Municipal Authorities of the city. The ground plan of the building forms an octagon, and is surmounted by a Greek Cross, with a dome over the intersection. The extreme length and breadth of the build- ing are each 365 feet. Height of dome to top of lantern, 148 feet. Entire space on ground floor, 111,000 square feet. Galleries, 62,000 square feet. Whole area, 173,000 square feet, or 4 acres. Reservoir Square, on which it is erected, lies at the northern extremity of the city of New- York, west of the Croton Distributing Reservoir, and be- tween that mighty mass of stone and the Sixth Avenue. The precise dis- tance from the Reservoir to the Sixth Avenue is 445 feet, and the width, north and south, from Fortieth to Forty-second street, is 455 feet. It will be observed that this piece of ground is nearly square. The shape is unfavorable for architectural purposes. In other respects no better spot could be found in the city. The Sixth Avenue Railroad runs directly past it, the Fourth Avenue Railroad runs near it; and it lies immediately in the vicinity of the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Avenues, the main thoroughfares of that part of the city. The architects and designers, whose plan was adopted by the Board, are Messrs. Carstensen and Gildemeister. Mr. Gildemeister ^.is been some time settled among us, and is not only an architect, but an artist. Mr. Carstensen is the designer of the Tivoli and Casino of Copenhagen, the principal public grounds of that city, and has recently established his home under the broad shelter of the Republic. The main features of the building are as follows : It is, with the exception of the floor, entirely constructed of iron and glass. The general idea of the edifice is a Greek cross, surmounted by a dome at the intersection. Each diameter of the cross will be 365 feet 5 inches long. There will be three similar entrances : one on the Sixth Avenue, one on Fortieth, and one on Forty- second street. Each entrance will be 47 feet wide, and that on the Sixth Avenue will be approached by a flight of eight steps ; over each front is a large semi- circular fan-light 41 feet wide and 21 feet high, answering to the arch of the nave. Each arm of the cross is on the ground plan 149 feet broad. This is divided into a central nave and two aisles, one on each side; the nave 41 feet wide, each aisle 54 feet wide. The central portion or nave is carried up to the height of 67 feet, and the semi-circular arch by which it is spanned is 41 feet broad. There are thus in efiect two arched naves crossing each other at right angles, 41 feet broad, 67 feet high to the crown of the arch, and 365 feet long ; and on each side of these naves is an aisle 54 feet broad, and 45 314 NEW- YORK CRYSTAL PALACE. feet high. The exterior of the ridge way of the nave is Yl feet. Each aisle is covered by a gallery of its owu width, and 24 feet from the floor. The cen- tral dome is 100 feet in diameter, 68 feet inside from the floor to the spring of the arch, and 118 feet to the crown ; and on the outside, with the lantern, 149 feet. The exterior angles of the building are ingeniously filled up with a triangular lean-to 24 feet high, which gives the ground plan an octagonal shape, each side or face being 149 feet wide. At each angle is an octagonal tower 8 feet in diameter, and 75 feet high. Four large and eight winding stair-cases connect the principal floor with the gallery, which opens on the three balconies that are situated over the entrance-halls, and afford ample space for flower decorations, statues, vases, &c. The four principal stair-cases consist of two flights of steps with two landing places to each ; the eight winding stair-cases are placed in the octag- onal towers, which lead also to small balconies on the tops of the towers and to the roof of the building. The building contains on the ground floor 111,000 square feet of space, and in its galleries, which are 54 feet wide, 62,000 square feet more, making a total area of 173,000 square feet for the purposes of exhibition. There are thus on the ground floor two acres and a half, or exactly 2 52-100 ; in the galleries one acre and 44-100; total, within an inconsiderable fraction, four acres. There are on the ground floor 190 octagonal cast-iron columns, 21 feet above the floor, and 8 inches diameter, east hollow, of different thicknesses, from half an inch to one inch. These columns receive the cast-iron girders. These are 26 J feet long and 3 feet high, and serve to sustain the galleries and the wrought-iron construction of the roof, as well as to brace the whole structure in every direction. The girders, as well as the second story columns, are fastened to the columns iu the first storj', by connecting pieces, of the same octagonal shape as the columns, 3 feet 4 inches high, having proper flanges and lugs to fasten all pieces together by bolts. The number of lower floor girders is 252, besides 12 wrought-iron girders of the same height, and 41 feet span over a part of the nave. The second story contains 148 columns, of the same shape as those below, and 17 feet 7 inches high. These receive another tier of girders, uumbering 160, for the support of the roofs of the aisles, each nave being covered by 1 0 cast-iron semi-circular arches, each com- posed of 4 pieces. The dome is supported by 24 columns, which go up above the second story to a height of 62 feet above the floor, and support a combination of wrought-iron arches and girders, on which rests a cast-iron bed plate, so con- structed as to receive the 32 ribs of the dome. The light is communicated to the dome through the lantern, as well as from the sides, on which 32 escutcheons in colored glass, representing the Arms of the Union and its several States, or the emblems of the difterent nations, form a part of the decoration. The quantity of iron to be used for the building will amount to about 1,250 tons. The roof will cover an area of 144,000 square feet. The glass for the building will amount to 39,000 square feet, in 9,027 panes, 16 by 34 or 38 inches. On entering this building, the observers eye will be greeted by the vista of an arched nave, 41 feet wide, 67 feet high, and 365 feet long; while on approaching the centre, he will find himself under a dome 100 feet across, and 118 feet high. It is certain, therefore, that the edifice will be larger, and more eftective in its interior view, than any thing in the country. WORK FOR THE SEASON. 315 The aspect of the building will be entirely difterent from that of the London Crystal Palace. Its form affords the requisite scope for a pleasing variety of architectural embellishment, by which all monotony can be avoided, and allows a very economical use of the ground. The rising dome, independent of its effect in the interior arrangement of the edifice, will give height and majesty. The following are the objects which the architects have striven to combine in their plan : 1. The greatest possible interior area. 2. Perfect safety and elegance of construction. 3. A well calculated and pleasing admission of light. 4. A variety of coiqy d'oeil in the interior. Such is the building which will soon salute the eyes of the city of New- York. In asserting that it will be the largest and most beautiful construction in the country, nothing has been said more than it deserves. But this is its least merit. The objects to which the building is destined form its real recom- mendation. There is offered here to the European and domestic producer an unequalled opportunity of displaying the works of his skill, without any charge from the time that they enter the building till withdrawn. The Association have already made public the fact, that their object is Exhibition alone, and that they have no interest whatever, direct or indirect, in the final disposition to be made of articles displayed. They thus avoid coming in conflict with any branch of regular industry. There will be gathered here the choicest products of the luxury of the Old World, and the most cunning devices of the ingenuity of the New. The interests of Manufacture, Commerce, and the Arts, will all find encouragement and protection within these walls, and another guarantee will be given to the permanence of peace. Here will be collected multitudes of all nations ; but the great and crowning feature of the enterprise is, that it will offer amusement and recreation to the working classes, such as they can find no where else ; that it will be a Palace for the People. The Exhibition is already announced to open on the 2d of May, 1853. Theodore Sedgwick, President. William Whetten, Secretarrj and Treasurer. Directors. — Mortimep. Livingston, Alfred Pell, August Belmont, Alexander Hamilton, Jr., George I. Schuyler, Elbert J. Anderson, Philip Burrowfs, Johnston Livingston, Charles W. Foster, Theodore Sedgwick, William W. Stone. George J. B. Carstensen, Charles Gildemeister, Architects. C. E. Detmold, Superintendiny Engineer ; Horatio Allen, Consulting Engineer ; Edmund Hurry, Consulting Architect. WORK FOR THE SEASON. This is a season in which farmers lose by neglect more, perhaps, than at any other season of the year. We refer to small farmers of small means, who " cannot afford " to enrich their lands as they desire. This is the season for gathering large quantities of material for the com- post heap. Leaves may be collected to an indefinite extent, and nothing is better suited to this use. Besides their value in the compost heap, they are 316 NEW BOOKS. of great service for the bedding of horses and cattle, and may be made to do this service ere they are applied to the dung heap. Decayed trees may also be spj.lied to the same purposes in the manure heap. In these products you have the very material on which vegetation depends for its growth, and every pound of either, which is properly taken care of, will help produce a new plant. This is also the season for getting home that peat muck of which we have spoken so often, and whatever other material may be accessible, from the hair, hides, and horns of the currier and tanner, to the shavings of the carpenter; though the latter, like leaves, may properly be made to render a preliminary service ere it is cast upon the dung heap. Tenacious clayey soils should be ploughed in the fall. This exposes them more effectually to the influence of the frost, which improves their texture, as described elsewhere in this and our October number, and. also causes the more extensive absorption of useful gases. Fruit trees may also receive their annual supply of manui'e, applied, not around their trunks, where it will be comparatively useless, but nearly at the outer circle formed by their tops. Here the spongioles, which alone can absorb nutriment, are chiefly to be found. Budding may also be attended to. ; Strawberry and asparagus beds, too, may be dug up, and prepared for an early spring growth. Salt should be applied freely to the latter. Dahlia roots, the stems being cut off near the root, should be carefully dried and laid away in a cool and dry place, though carefully protected from frost. Tender shrubs may be protected by straw mats, brush, or tan, or covered with a barrel, having one head, according to the size, character, or situation of the plant. They may also be dug up, separated and reset, and thus their growth will be materially increased. NEW BOOKS. Roughing it in the Bush. By Mrs. Moodie. In t-vy-o Parts, 25 cents each. G. P. Putnam. These volumes form tLe ienth and eleventh of Mr. Putnam's Semi-monthly Library. The author is au exceedingly hvely writer, givin<; in an uncommon degree reahty and vividness to the scenes which she describes. Her experience in the wilderness of Canada is remarkable. Surrounded by tlie roughest specimens of Yankee refugees, sometimes visited, without any one to defend her, by wandering Indians, her constant exposure, in various ways, invests her story with great interest. Her statements are quite marvel- lous in fact, and so unusually severe were the circumstances of her condition at times, tliat the reader is disposed to inquire whether she Is givinij facts or fictions; and the personal interest which attaches to the story is enhanced by the consideration that si.e was totally unaccustomed to the rougher phases even of cultivated communities. These I volumes will fiud a ready sale and aager readers. Meyers Universum. Edited by Charles A. Dana. H. J. Meyer, 164 William Itreet We have noticed the numbers of this series as they have been received, but have not made them particularly prominent. This was not accidental, but designed. There are so many serials, which prove to be mere catch-pennies, that we were not inclined to say much of tiicm in advance. But seven numbers have been laid on our table, and they are increasing in interest ratlier than diminishing. The last two or three are supe- rior to any of the previous ones. They are well selected, well engraved, and well described, and are certainly a very desirable ornament for the centre table, and worthy NEW BOOKS. 317 a place among collections of engravings of far greater pretensions, "We hope the pub- lisher is receiving the extensive patronage he deserves. The numbers are 25 cents each, containing three or four views of scenery in this or in foreign countries, to each of -which a full description is annexed. Little Silverstrhiff, or Tales and Poems for the Young. By Wm. Oland Bouenb. Chaa. Scnbner, 145 Nassau street. 1853. This book is just what it professes to be. In " Little Nibble, and the Trap," the young mouse tells her mother, (as it was very proper that she should,) that she has found ** A house for U3 both, Full of cheese and of hraad." We doubt not that many a child will let alone her cheese and bread as she sits down to read tl)ese pages. Most autliors of juvenile works write in a sort of namby-pamby style, descending below all propriety and decorum, so as to ome, as they say, witiiln the range of juvenile minds. Our author has done far better than this. The stjle is good, and the wliole frame-woi-k of the book is what it should be, neat, chaste, and dignified. Good principles and good practices are inculcated under the form of a story, in prose or poetry, and in language nut inappropriate to any age or attainments. If tliis book does not sell, we shall lose some of our confidence in the wisdom of our fathers and mothers and aunts; and if it obtain general circulation, it will form another chain, stronger than iron, thrown around the youth of th's country, and will add essentially to the strength of oui* hopes in relation to the coming generation. Zes Aventures de Telemaque, Fils cC Ulysses, par Fenelon. With Grammatical and His- torical References, headed back— which leaves are of great importance for drawing up the ya}). The shoot or stock is then split to the depth of two inches, with a very lliii; knife, between the two pairs of leaves left; the scion is then prepared, Hic. lower part being stripped of its leaves to the length of two inches, and i> then cut to a wedge and inserted in the ordinary mode of cleft grallin.u. The graft is tied with a strip of woollen, and a cap of paper is fastened l<.» si stake, and fiiTnly fixed over the whole graft, to protect it from the sun cii;fl rain. At the end of fifteen days this cap is removed, and the ligature at tLo end of a month." Some evergreens, grafted in this way, make a second growth of five or six inches the first year, but most sorts do not start till the next year. i n HOW TO PRESERVE MANURE. 341 PORTRAIT OF S. P. CHAPMAN'S SHORT-HORN PRIZE HEIFERS— HILPA IV^ RUBY II., DUCHESS. These fine heifers, with three of Mr. Chapman's cows, Ruby, Charlotte, and Daisy III., were exhibited at the show of the New- York State Agricul- tural Society, held at Rochester, in 1851, and Avon the first prize collectively as " the three best cows over three years of age, and the three best heifers under three years of age, owned by one person." The sketches of these heifers were taken soon after that e.x^hibition. The past year, we are as- sured, has much improved the appearance of the animals. At the late State Fair held at Utica, these heifers were again exhibited. Duchess won the second prize for short-horn cows, being herself but three years old, and competing with aged cows. Ruby II. won the first prize for two year short-horn heifers, and Hilpa IV. the first prize for yearling short- horn heifers. At the show of the Madison County Agricultural Society, held in September last, these heifers were awarded the same prizes as at the State Fair at Utica, viz. : Duchess the second for cows, (Mr. Chapman's Ruby winning the first,) Ruby 11. the first, and Hilpa IV. the first, for heifers of their respective ages. Their pedigrees we give below : PEDIGREES. ' Duchess. — White, bred by S. P. Chapman; calved 25th June, 1849; got by the imported bull Duke of Wellington, 55, [3654,] bred by the late Thomas Bates, Esq., of Kirklevington, Yorkshire, Eng. ; dam [Matilda] by White Jacket [5G47] ; g. d. [Hart] bred by, and imported by the late Thomas Hollis, formerly of Blythe, Yorkshire, Eng. Duchess is an excellent milker. Ruby II. — Roan, bred by S. P. Chapman ; calved 27th May, 1850 ; got by Buena Vista, dam [Ruby] by the Bates bull Symmetry, 166, g. d. [Wil- ley III.] by Mars, gr. g. d. [Young Willey] by York, gr. gr. g. d. [Old Willey] imported,-^[^ee Am. Bel. Book, jJ. 238.] Ruby was awarded the first prize at the show of the New- York State Agricultural Society, held at Albany, in 1850, in class of " milch cows." She gave during that season, in eighty successive days, over four thousand pounds of milk ; her feed grass onl}'. Nineteen pounds of her milk gave one of butter. Hilpa IV. — Roan, bred by George Vail, Esq., of Troy, N. Y. ; calved 0th April, 1851 ; got by the imported Bates bull Duke of Wellington, 56, [3654,] dam the imported Bates cow, [Hilpa,] by the Duchess. Bates bull, Cleveland Lad, [3407,] g. d. [Hawkey,] by Red Rose Bull, [2493,] gr. g. d. [Hart] by Rex, [1375,] gr. gr. g. d. bred by Mr. Richardson, of Hart, Dur- ham, Eng., from an old and celebrated milking tribe of short-horns.' HOW TO PRESERVE MANURE. We clip the following from an article copied into the papers from some unknown source. Farmers will do well to heed the advice : Waiving _ remarks on the laws of nature requiring a deeply and finely pulverized soil for another article, we will, in this, consider manures as fur- nishing food for plants. From repeated experiments it is ascertained that 342 MECHANICS THE GREAT BORER. the stale of animals contains a great amount of nutriment, or food, for plants ; that similar cftects are j^roduced by appl^'ing the droppings of poul- try (guano), animal manure (blood and oftal of slaughter-yards), &c., etc. Much of the value of these is liable to bo lost by putrefaction and evaporation. By chemistry we ascertain what this is, and how to retain it. It is well known, that in cleaning horse stables, especially under the floor, there is a very pungent smell. The same is true in opening a heap of stable manure that has been thrown up and heated. This smell is produced by the escape of ammonia, which is the essence and value of the manure. The loss is greater from j)rivies, because their contents are still richer, and more highly charged with fertilizing gases. How to retain these, and to fix them in a state in which they will remain until used by the growing plants, is a question of high importance, which a scientific knowledge of these elements alone can answer. An English writer says : " Before you begin to clean out your stable, dissolve some common salt in water, if a four-horse stable, say four pounds of salt dissolved in two buckets of water, and poured through the nose of a Avater-pot over the stable iioor, an hour or so before you begin to move the manure, and the volatile salts of ammonia will become fixed salts, from their having united with the muriatic acid of the common salt ; and the soda, thus liberated from the salt, will quickly absorb carbonic acid forming carbonate of soda." MEGHAN ICS — THE GREAT BORER. Wk are happy in giving to our readers some information in reference to that giant among machines, the borer, now at work upon the very substance of the Hoosic mountains. We should be glad to present diagrams, to illus- trate, more clearly than is possible otherwise, some of the details of its me- chanism ; but without them, we think it may be pleasing and instructive to show the principles which are involved, and the general plan or mode of its action. In doing this, we shall have occasion, in some instances, to use state- ments made elsewhere, in some of the journals of the day, though correcting them in several very important particulars. AVe need not say that these corrections are made upon the very best authority, for otherwise we should not presume even to afBi'm, and still less to deny, in reference to any of these statements, Avh ether of fects or of opinions. The entire weight of the machine is about ninety tons, and its cost, at the shop where it was made, about *^12,000. An amount nearly equal to this has also been expended in conveying it to the mountain, and preparing it for action. It stands upon four huge wheels, which rest upon rails ten feet apart* A large hollow shaft extends the entire length of the machine, through the centre, in which and around which wheels and levers are ad- justed, by which a proper operation is to be secured ; which shaft, turned by a stationary steam-engine, gives motion to an immense wheel, attached to its extreme end by many bars and arms of iron. The diameter of thi-^ wheel is twenty-four feet, and the rim of it is of immense strength and solidity. The dimension of this wheel is to be the size of the tunnel. Thi.N shaft extending lengthwise between the rails, the face of the wheel, and not its edge, is presented by a front view. The arrangements for cutting into the rock are next to be stated, and are of chief importance. At four diflferent and equally distant places from each MECHANICS THE GREAT BORER. 343 other, there are projections from the outer rim of the great wheel, of solid iron, most firmly attached to the wheel, each four feet in length and six feet in depth. In each of these projections or wings, three revolving cutter.^ are so arranged as to trace lines about one inch apart, or more accurately, the distance between the inner and outer circles traced I)y these cutters is tliirteen inches. When the whole machine is in motion, these circular cutters are pressed •lirectly against the rock, by the action of screws, with an immense power, the whole machine being stayed by lateral props to prevent its retrogression. Each revolution of the shaft or wheel throws the cutters, and the whole mo\- iug part of the machine indeed, from one sixteenth to one half of an inch forward, according to the hardness of the rock to be excavated ; and it is obvious that either the rock must be ground to powder by the action of the cutters thus forced against it, or the machinery itself must be torn to pieces. There is also, at the centre of the shaft, a drill, somewhat of the form of au auger, projecting about five feet from the face of the wheel, cutting into the rock, of course, about a foot further than the cutters before described. By the action of wheels, this drill is made to strike forward with great force into the rock, instantly receding and projecting again some twenty or thirty times at every revolution of the big wheel, while the auger formation, or grooves, on the end of the drill, removes from the hold the pulverized stone. When the cutters and drill have entered four feet, the machine is to be withdiawn, the powder is inserted in the centre, and the blasting succeeds. The rubbish of broken rock being removed, a smooth cylinder of four feet additional depth is made to the tunnel, when another operation is to follow. This machine is an attempt to apply to tunnelling what is known as Wil- son's Patent Stone Cutters, which have been several years in successful opera- tion in the dressing of gi'anite, freestone, &c. It is a ne^v application of an establishes! principle. Under these circimrstances, it would be very unrea- sonable to expect that a new machine could be invented and put to work, Avhich should not require alterations suggested by experience. At least, this has always been anticipated by the parties interested, and the result has shown that their expectations were Avell founded. They commenced under great disadvantages, and these disadvantages have had to be overcome step by step. Among the diflBculties are the fol- lowing : — Several hundred feet of rock and earth excavation have got to be made before entering the mountain. For the purpose of testing the experi- ment, the machine is placed against a portion of this rock, which is not suf- ficiently high to form a strong arch over the machine. It has been found that in blasting out the core, after the rim is cut twenty-four feet in diame- ter, the blast throws off both the core and the arch over it, besides loosening the stone, which falls while the machine is operating. This has caused a good deal of delay. This difficulty will be obviated when they get into the mountain. Another difficulty was that the machine had to start upon an artificial foundation, and had to be braced against wooden timbers fitted for the pur- pose. These could not be made so secure as to prevent oscillation, which prevented the cutters from doing their full work. This difficulty has been obviated in part by the fore wheels of the machine having got on to the rock which it has cut, which affords a solid foundation, and the means of bracing against the rock. Another difficulty to overcome was, that the cutters were 344 DEEP PLOUGHING. set too angling, in consequence of which the oscillation of the machine caused tlie edges to crumble. Various experiments have been tried to learn the best working point in all these matters, and if the progress has been slow, the j)artie3 concerned feel that it has been sure. Various kinds of steel, with different degrees of temper, have had to undergo a thorough test, until the kind which will do the work has been at length found. This is the great point gained. Repeated experiments have been made, when the cutters have progressed at the rate of fifteen to twenty inches per hour, and never less than twelve inches per hour. This fact being established, all other parts are collateral. They can be altered, strengthened, and adapted, as necessity and experience shall suggest. Tliei'c are still alterations to be made which will cause delay. One is, the .stocks attached to the wings which extend from the large wheel and hold the cutters against the rock. The present ones are made of cast iron, and it is proposed to make new ones of wrought iron. Certain bolts require to be changed, which have caused much difficulty on account of the un- screwing of nuts by which they were secured. The machine runs upon bars of railroad iron, and its great weight causes them to bend. New and larger ones, made for the purpose, must also be procured. It must be recollected that this is, to all intents and purposes, a model machine; no smaller one having been built to experiment with and improve upon, as is usual in such cases. There are ten cutters on the machine, and each one has been experimented with separately, until its proper position and temper have been ascertained. The object of the operators, therefore, has not been to see how far or how fast they could advance, but, before doing this, to perfect the various parts. As yet they have seen nothing to discourage, but much to encourage the idea of its accomplishing Avhat they proposed. When it is recollected that the machine shop is in this city, and the ma- chine 125 miles distant, it must be seen that the work of altering and adapting must be slow. These explanations are given, that those interested may know some of the reasons for delay. Yards are being established all over the country for the purpose of intro- ducing " stone-cutting machines." Eight of them are in operation in New- York city, dressing freestone ; and the average work of each machine from the commencement has been 225 square feet per day. A day's work for a man, to dress the same kind of stone, is from ten to twelve square feet per day, each of ten hours. Of Quincy granite, an average day's work for one man is five square feet, while Wilson's cutting machine dresses over lOU square feet in the same time. Facts like these have given rise to the belief that the same principle can be applied to tunnelUng, with the same relative gain over the old mode of hand-drilling. We expect, by and by, not only to give more satisfjictory information concerning the success of this experiment, but to add, also, a more particular account of its structure. The rock thus far encountered is a mica slate, Avith veins of hard quartz ; and this is probably more destructive to the cutters and drill than if it were solid quartz. DEEP PLOUGHING. We find the followinf-, statement in The Country Oenilertiav, It confii-ms what we have written en this subject : " The present season of severe drought has most distinctly illustrated the HOW INCREASING POPULATION GIVES VALUE TO LAMD. 345 benefits of deep ploughiug. We planted a quantity of apple seeds on ground which was last autumn an old pasture, and which was inverted with a double Michigan plough of the largest size, drawn by three yoke of oxen, to the depth of eleven and a half inches actual average measurement. On such soils as this, as commonly ploughed, apple seedlings 'usually suffer by drought; but the present severe season they have contitmed growing, without the least check, through the whole summer, and are now much larger than usual under ordinary treatment. The Granite Farmer states that fields tilled only, to the depth of six or seven inches have suffered severely, while on others side by side the crops do not feel the drought at all. In one place was a field of corn, of a yellowish green, and with leaves rolled by thirst ; wjiile separated only by a single step was. another portion, at least a foot taller, with a deep-green, broad, and uncurled leaf. Yet the" manure was the same, the seed the same, and the culture the same. On asking an explanation, he learned that this was the result of the first experhuent in subsoil ploughing." HOW LYCREASme POPULATION" GIVES VALUE TO LAND. In our last, we asked the attention of om- readers to the fact that, for want of local demand for labor, the waste of it was necessarily very great, as might be seen by any and every of them on a survey of his own neighbor- hood. So enormous is this waste throughout the country, resulting from the absence of power so to combine together, that we feel quite safe in reckoning it at five times more in value than our whole exports to every part of the world ; and yet that constitutes but a part of the loss inflicted on our people by the system kno^vB as British free trade. The manure of England is valued at a hundi-ed millions of pounds sterling, being far more than is yielded by our crops of cotton, tobacco, lice, and naval stores, the products of all that large portion of our population living south of Virginia and Kentucky ; and yet nearly the whole of the vast crop of manure produced throughout the country is wasted. Here is another great loss resulting from the absence of the power to bring the loom and the anvil to the side of the plough and the harrow ; and yet, great as it is, it forms but a small portion of the great total. Our farmers and planters are every where compelled to cultivate only those few articles that can go to distant markets, and throughout a large portion of the Union a proper succession of crops is en- tirely unknown ; whereas, in England, ^^ here a market is made on the land for the products of the land, green and wiiite crops alternate with each other, and the soil is improved instead of being exhausted. Further, thousands of things are wasted that would, under a difierent system, add largely to the farmers returns, and to his power to improve his farm, or to purchase the products of his neighbors. When men come together and combine their efforts, almost every thing that comes from the land acquires a value, and therefore it is that land increases so much in price, and that the land-owner becomes rich where population becomes more dense. In illustration of this, we give the following ciuious article, in which it is seen that science has enabled the people of Europe to obtain the most delightful odors from the most disagreeable substances, that tiil lately were entirely valueless : Sources of Perfumes. — Wliether any perfumed lady would bo discon- certed at learning the sources of her perfumes, each lady must decide for TOL. T, 21 346 PEACH TREES. herself; but it seems that Mr. De la Rue and Dr. Hoffman, in their capaci- ties as jurors of the Great Exhibition, have made terrible havoc among the perfumery. They have found that many of the scents, said to be procured from flowers and fruits, are really produced from any thing but flowery sources ; the perfumers are chemists enough to hnow that similar odor.^ may be often produced from dissimilar substances, and if the half-crown bottle of perfume really has the required odor, the perfumer does not expect to be asked what kind of odor was omitted by the substance whence the perfume was obtained. Now, Di'. Lyon Playfair, in his summary of the jury inves- tio-ation above alluded to, broadly tells us that these primary odors are often most unbearable. "A peculiarly fatid oil, termed fusel oil, is formed in making brandy and whiskey ; this fusel oil, distilled with sulphuric acid and acetate of potash, gives the oil of pears. The oil of apples is made from the same fusel oil, by distillation with sulphuric acid and bichromate of potash. The oil of pine-apples is obtained from a product of the action of putrid cheese on sugar, or by making a soap with butter, and distilling it -with alcohol and sulphuric acid; and is now largely employed in England in making pine-apple ale. Oil of grapes and oil of cognac, used to impart the flavor of French cognac to British brandy, are little else than fusel oil. The artifiQial oil of bitter almonds, now so largely employed iu perfuming soap, and for flavoring confectionery, is prepared by the action of nitric acid on the fcBtid oils of gas-tar. Many a fair forehead is damped with cau de viillejleurs, without knowing that its essential ingredient is derived from the drainao-e of cow-houses." In all such cases as these, the chemical science involved is, really, of a high order, and the perfume produced is a bona fide i^erfumc, not one whit less sterling than if produced from fruits and flov/ers. The only question is one of commercial honesty, in giving a name no longer applicable, and charging too highly for a cheaply produced scent. The mode of saving a penny is chemically right, but commercially wrong. — Dickens's " Household Words^ PEACH TREES. While our correspondents are discussing sundry matters connected with the cultivation of the peach, the following statements from Mr. Downing and Prof. Johnston may be of interest to our readers : " For a hundred years the peach flourished without care, and full of health, from the mouth of the Chesapeake to the Connecticut river, and produced :m apparently exhaustless abundance of fruit. But about 1800, attention was dra-\vn, around Philadelphia, to the sudden decay and death of the orchards, without known cause. The fatality spread through Delaware into New-Jersey, where, in 1814, many of the orchards were entirely destroyed. Some years later, it appeared on the banks of the Hudson, thence spread north into Connecticut, and is now slowly but surely extending along the rich soils of Western New- York, towards the great centre of the peach cul- tivation of the States, on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers." " In the peach orchards," says Johnston, "a thoughtless exhausting culture was carried on, as if the soil would never tire of yielding ; the unpinincd trees were encouraged to yield their annual loads of most abundant fruit ; and whenever it was possible, a constant cropping of the space between the trees hastened the wearing out of the overtasked land. The trees themselves, THE MECHANICS OP FARM WORK. 347 as the land became less rich, diminished in vigor, and an enfeebled progeny arose, which disease, in some form, was sure to attack." There is a great similarity between the progress of the wheat failure, caused by the attacks of the midge, and that of the peach orchards above described. The injuiy, in both cases, is first done to the soil, and a sure return to a better state of things can only be made by renovating the soil itself, and by a more prudent and skilful subsequent cultivation. The yellows the learned Professor describes as ])eculiar not only to the peach, but to North America, which for thirty years has killed off the trees by thousands, while nothing is known of its cause or cure. Where it pre- vails, the trees should be cut down, the land " uuorcharded," and tilled for some years, and then healthy young trees planted in their stead. He thinks the disease contagious, and certainly propagated by budding or grafting from a diseased tree. THE MECHANICS OF FARM WORK, We have illustrated the following principles, in former numbei-s : — 1. That he line of traction should be in the line of motion, and that any departure from this involves a loss of power, in proportion to the angle formed by the lines of motion and of traction ; that large axes are preferable to small ones, 30 far as friction is concerned, while the size is not important in relation to its effect upon the quantity of motion induced by a given power. We have also referred, in a general manner, to the resistance of obstacles, and to the most economical application of power in overcoming them. But a change of the direction of the motive power in such cases is, of course, impracticable ; and we now recur to that subject, for further illustration. In the diagram in the margin we find the combined force of gravity and of horizontal motion pressing in the direc- tion C D, against the obstacle at D. Gravity acts in the direction of C B, and, i by the principles of similar triangles, which we nged not explain here, is measured by the short lever-arm, B D. The power, P, acts in the direction of C P, and is , measured by the lever-arm, C B. The power will balance the weight, when the weight ;< D B equals the power x B C. By enlarging the diameter of the wheel, the line of traction remaininy horizontal, or parallel to the plane, the given power becomes more eftective. This is obvious, from a glance at the diagram ; for C B will increase as the radius of the wheel increases, while B D is comparatively unchanged. The centre of gravity, in a carriage of two wheels, should be near the axle. If elevated far above it, in descending, it will, in effect, be brought forward, and bear heavily upon the thills or the "tongue," as will be evident by suspending a plumb line from it; while, in ascending plains, it will fall behind the wheels, and cause the cart to tip backward, and thus become unmanageable. IN CARKIAGES OF FOrTR WHESLS, other considerations demand attention. If the weight of the load bears chiefly on the hind wheels, the line of traction may become indirect, causing a Iocs 348 THE MECHANICS OF FARM WORK. of power. The pressure of the entire weight ou either pair of wheels, may also result in pressing them into the earth. Experiments on this point were tried by Sir Henry Parnell, which resulted as follows : — 1. Half a ton of stone was placed in the centre, between the axles, and drawn over a platform of timber, perfectly horizontal. To eflfect this, required a tractive power of 505 lbs. 2. A ton of stone was placed, one half over each axletree ; and this required a motive power of 70 lbs. 3. One and a half tons were distributed equally over both axles ; and this required a tractive power of 90 lbs. OF SPRINGS. The adaptation of springs deserves consideration in this connection, it will o-enerally be found true, that whatever arrangement adds to the ease of the rider, promotes also the comfort of the horse. Look, for example, at the effect of springs, when obstacles are encountered. In the diagram just referred to, if an obstacle is encountered at D, the whole load, if it rest on the axle, must be raised a perpendicular distance equal to the height of the obstacle ; and this may require a great amount of power, when applied hori- zontally. But if the load rest on springs, admitting sufficient vibration, all that is required is to lift the ivheeU and axle, and to overcome the power of the spring, without raising the load. Hence, in our pleasure cai'riages, if the wheel encounters a stone, the rider scarcely feels it ; the bending of the spring is substituted for the lifting up the carriage and its contents. On streets paved with round stones, unequal in size and uneven in surface, or where the stones are pressed below their proper level, this is not always a matter of theory merely, but one of practical importance. We doubt not that it would be wise to suspend all our drays and farm carriages on springs. The cost is trifling, and would be more than compensated by a longer wear ; while the inconveniences may be less than they are imagined. OF WHIFFLETREES. What we have already advanced points out the proper position of this mechanism ; but there is another point, of practical value, not generally regarded — its shape. This is often a greater or less arc of a circle. A dia- gram will at once show the mistake involved in this. The two arms become unequal in length, and occasion also an indirect hne of traction. If the arc / 1 \ a c h should swing into the position ^^ p h ah d c e, d c virtually becomes longer than c e ; and both the results just described are necessarily involved. If you draw lines representing the direction of the draft, from the extremities of each arc d and c, with other lines at right angles to these which pass through the pivot or centre of the whiffletrees, the unequal length of the two parts of that which is in an oWique position will be perfectly obvious. This form of the instrument is just as unphilosophical as it would be to construct it origi- nally with its two arms of unequal length. THE LAWS OP HYGIENE. 349 roR THE PLOUOM, THE LOQH, AND THR ANVIL.. THE LAWS OF HYGIENE.— No. HI. BY JOHN C. NEWMAN, M. D. In the two preceding articles, I have endeavored to call attention to the importance of obeying the laws of hygiene, and to show that there are laws that have stood the test of thousands of years, and whose details are con- stantly verified and improving. It is no small object gained, if skepticism is removed in regard to the value of medical science. After-con Bdence then becomes easy and sure. Taking for granted that this has been effected, 1 shall, after giving the formula on which the laws are based, go on directly with their practical applications in the trades and business. The proofs and details of physiology would not be appropriate in this place. In describing the organs, engravings are indispensable, and many of these must be colored to give proper views of the interior structures. For all this I refer to the " Principles or Physiology." As plainly and clearly as I could write, and sufficiently illustrated, the book gives the reasons of the laws of hygiene, and the gi-eat doctrines of life and death. An English writer some years since remarked, that there was " a great difference between believing a thing and being convinced of it." The real truth contained in this seeming paradox comes home to the experience of us all. No sane man will swallow arsenic, inhale carbonic acid gas, immerse his limbs in boiling water, or tie his feet together as a preparative for racing. He not only believes, but is likewise convinced of the pernicious consequences. Vet the same man will indulge in habits pernicious to health, and unhesitat- ingly bind himself in invisible fetters, — believing, to be sure, that such doings are wrong, but, as his conduct shows, not convinced that they are so. Let this same man really study the subject, its proofs and details, and he becomes interested and reformed. Not only are his own habits changed, but, as far as lies in his power, those of his neighbors also. It is conviction that makes the convert, and it makes a zealous one. Going on board of a steamboat lately, a gentleman, who was walking ahead of me and smoking, offered his cigar case to a friend who had just joined him. "Help yourself." "Thank you, but I have given it up." " How so ?" " Jones began reading about tobacco, and not only gave it up, but lectured all his neighbors but one into doing the same. I expect the refractory one will follow suit soon, as his wife is enlisted against him, and he is reading Jones's books." Was as much attention paid to diet, bathing and ventilation, the results would be equally apparent. It is hoped Mr. Jones did not confine his apostleship solely to tobacco. But to return to our formula. Life is a forced state, and can only be sup- ported by constant stimulation. It has been aptly compared to a flame. If the stimulus is too intense, it burns with unpleasant brightness, and soon wears out ; if too weak, it burns dimly, and, without useful result, languidly expires. We must either wear out or rust out. There is no alternative in this world. It is here that the laws of hygiene come in play, and direct how to obtain the true medium, by which the greatest results can be secured at the smallest expense — the most flame with the least fuel. The life-power, or that principle which regulates form, nutrition and develop- ment, is the same, in essence, in plants, the lower animals, and man. The 360 THE LAWS OF HYGIENE. sunlight, pure air, proper food and exercise, are equally indispensable to all. When man has studied the laws that regulate the economy of the lower races, he has obtained much knowledge that he can apply to himself. And the reverse holds true : the more he learns respecting himself, the more able he is to direct that treatment that shall cause the inhabitants of his garden, his stable, and his field to flourish. Nothing in nature is isolated ; a common chain binds the whole. Our first application of hygiene will be to the farmer. He of all the workers among men can command most easily the conditions of health, light, air, food, and exercise. Despite these advantages, the average mortality among farmers is, out of all proportion, greater than it should be, and is utterly inexcusable. This may generally be ascribed to two causes — improper food and neglect of bathing. Farmers, as a class, use too much salt meat, especially pork. This inordi- nate use of swine's flesh is a main cause of the scrofula so prevalent in the country. The term scrofula comes from a word meaning swine; and this shows, of itself, that the matter has been long underetood. Tubercular con- sumption cannot affect a person who is not scrofulous. In this unfortunate peculiarity of constitution, the power of reaction against disease is in a great measure lost. What would be only a slight cold in another, may terminate in consumption with him. More exposed to the action of injurious agents, he has less stamina to resist and recover from their influence ; and hence, even in the most favored positions, rarely enjoys a moderate degree of health. While there is life there is hope, and a chance of obviating, in a great meas- ure, this peculiarity ; and the disuse of swine's flesh, in any form, is a good beginning. Persons can subsist upon much less meat than they often suppose. For the hardest worker, once a day is quite sufficient ; and this, if possible, should be fresh. It is easy enough for the farmer to keep up a good supply of poul- try. A little care bestowed upon rabbits would be richly repaid. Ponds can be stocked with fish at a trifling expense, and these will eat the refuse of the table, which other animals would reject ; and thus variety and economy are both combined. It may be well to remark that, in eating flesh and fish, all the grease should be avoided. Wheat, rye, Indian corn and buckwheat secure all desirable variety in the bread and cake line. Even in these, however, there is much abuse. The habitual use of fine flour insures costiveness. Nature, to guard against this, provides the grains with husks, from which they should not be separated after grinding, but all made into bread and eaten together, as was designed. Here, as in almost every other instance, the economical plan is the most healthy one. The less preparation and so-called refining that is given to vegetable pro- ducts, the better. Brown sugar is more healthy than white, and good molasses or maple sugar more healthy than either. Both white and black children and adults, in the South, grow fat and hearty on the juice of the sugar-cane ; when the same amount of the prepared article would cause sick- ness, and perhaps death. Fruits should always be upon the table at every meal ; and it has been shown that the farmer, by due care, can keep up a good supply all the year round. The orchard should be carefully looked after. Some attention bestowed upon the bushes which bear berries would more than repay ; and nothing is easier than securing an abundance of grapes : the vines shelter the arbors, and greedily and thankfully receive the soap-suds after washing. THE LAWS OF HYGIENE. 351 Ooffeo and tea should never bo drank without a plentiml addition of milk and sugar. Nuts, &c., should never be eaten between meals, or on going to bed : they are best as a dessert, directly after dinner. And now as to.Jjathing. A great part of the farmer's work is very dirty ; he becomes incrusfed with particles of soil all over his body, and yet thinks it sufScient to v,'ash face and hands at meal times, and let the rest of the body go. And this goes on from week to week ', and what wonder that there is trouble ? Early one morning, last, summer, while passing a farmer's house, ho requested me to come in and give him some advice. He complained of headache, variable appetite, costivene-s, and much trouble about the bladder and kidneys. His pulse was fast and irritable, but full, and his tongue slightly furred. I asked if he had not itching sensations about the skin. "1 am always scratching," said he, " and find no relief, even when I draw blood." " That is enough : let us go and look at the bed you slept in last night ; you will find your imprint on the sheets." We both went, and found it was as I stated. I then explained to him tlie danger of keeping his skin in such a filthy state. He had so incrusted it with dirt ps to shut up the pores, and even irritate them : in consequence, the lungs and kidneys were forced to do double duty. He ate much salt meat, and that disordered the stomach, which by sympathy caused the headache. Nature pointed out the means of cure by the itching skin, which sought to be cleansed and relieved. " Now," said I, " order a tub of water to be brought into the barn : pour in boiling water until the whole is lukewarm ; have also a second tub brought in, cold as it comes from the well. Undress, and get into the first, and lather with soap, and wash until you are perfectly clean. Rinse with the water in the second tub, and diy with a coarse towel, rubbing steadily, from head to feet, until in a glow. Then dress in clean clothes, walk a mile in the sun and back again. Wait an hour before eating, and let your breakfast be sweetened Aveak black tea and bread and butter. Work moderatelj', eat a light dinner, bathe again in cold water, and walk before supper. Try this plan for two days, and then come and see me." He followed the advice implicitly, came at the appointed time, and informed me that he felt like another person. At fii-st, the cold water was repugnant ; but, in the course of a few weeks, it became an indispensable luxury. His family and laborers adopted the hygiene diet and bathing, and it has cost them nothing for doctor's bills this summer. Besides cleansing the skin, and keeping its functions in order, another great advantage is secured by the use of the cold bath, in shielding the system from changes of temperature in varying weather. A drenching rain is then merely an additional bath; and the hardened bather laughs at the thought of taking cold. In winter, his morning bath gives him the advantage of an additional overcoat during the day, and he dreads the cold as little as the rain. The effect on the skin, especially the exposed portions, is astonishing; the brown- ing and reddening is much less ; the rude, rough visage is replaced by the robust, manly countenance, indicative of health and energy: so that this practice may commend itself to young m.en, on the score of good looks alone. The farmer's house should be built on rising ground, v/ith a slight slope on every side. The dwelling-house is much better without cellars ; but these, if made, used only for storage, and never finished off as kitchens. It should not be shaded so much but that the sun, in its course during the day, may shine into every part of it. The sunbeam is a powerful preservative against miasma. It has often been noticed that in seasons of plague and cholera, the pestilence visited every house on the shady side of a street, but left those on the sunny 352 MENEELYS' BELL FOUNDRY AT WEST TROY. side unnoticed. The sleeping rooms should never be below the second storj. The sashes of the windows should always be so adjusted as to slide down from the top ; so that, if ventilation is otherwise neglected, a sure means is hereby provided. Don't fear the night air ; it is raucH better than none. A large, open garret, on the old-fashioned plan, adds much to the health and convenience of every house. ASHES AS M A N U K E. Wm. p. Bedell, of Coxsackie, inquires the best way^to apply wood ashes to soils, " and on what kinds of vcgetution it is most beneficial — the quantity necessary — when to be usod, and the value per bushel to the purchaser." We have much theory, and very little accurate experiment, ou the appli- cation of ashes as manure. Theory i-^ of great value, or rather it becomes so when submitted to the test of varied, repeated, and rigidly accurate trial, in connection with weighing and measuring. Guess-work and vague estimate may satisfy the experimenter, but not the public. For these reasons we are unable to give our correspondent much definite information on the subject. Ashes are generally most useful on soils which have long been cultivated ; because, as they are the mineral portion of plants, they supply the deficiency which has been caused by long cropping. vSometiraes, however, new land is much benefited, where the soil is naturally deficient in some of the constitu- ents of ashes. Analysis may assist in pointing out such deficiency ; experi- ment is an excellent mode of determining. Ashes will be beneficial to all crops on soils which lack its ingredients : the inquiry should therefore be, on what soils, rather than for what crops, is it most useful ? The quantity to apply, it is obvious, must also depend on the condition of the soil : it is not usual, however, to give a dressing of more than nfew hun- dred^bushels per acre. ( ? ) An analysis of the soil might exhibit the degree of deficiency, from which a calculation could be made of the amount needed by a growing crop ; but such a calculation could only be regarded as a guide or illumination to experiment — the latter, carefully conducted, being the final test. A good time for the application is in autumn, the moisture dissolving the soluble parts, which become well diffused through the soil before vegetation commences in spring. The time of year is not a matter of great moment, unless very large quantities are used. — £!x. MENEELYS' BELL FOUNDRY AT WEST TROY. Persons haying occasion to pass a little time in the city of Troy, should by all means cross over the river to West Troy, if for no other reason than to visit the extensive bell foundry of Andrew Menegly's Sons, which is here located. The Meneelys are distinguished the world over for the manufacture of bells; and while we arc writing this article, our ears, as w^ell as the eai-s of tens of thousands of others, are listening to their fame, in the deep-toned sounds of the great City Hall bell, which is tolling the departure of the la- mented Daniel Webster. The establishment of the Meneelys employs upwards of thirty men ; and up to January last, they had cast and sold 8,2'74 bells, averaging 634 lbs. LIVE AND DEAD WEIGtHT OP CATTLE. 863 eacli, and making a total of 5,245,716 lbs. of metal. These bells have beeu sold in all parts of the United States, the Canadas, West Indies, four on the island of St. Helena, seven in China, and a number in Mexico. Within a short time past, two have been forwarded to Oregon, two to Minnesota, three to California, six to Canada, one to St. .John's in New-Brunswick, and two to Cuba. The two to Cuba were given away, and hardly a week passes that some liberal-minded person does not give away a bell costing from $100 to $1,200. We have just seen an article from the Albany Journal, stating that the Meneelys are now constructing a peal of ten bells, to cost 14,000, which Joseph S. Fay, Esq., presents to an Episcopal church in Sa- vannah, Georgia. It would be almost impossible to go into any part of the world without hearing the fame of Meneelys' bells proclaimed from some steeple, cupola, plantation, factory, college, academy, school-house, steamboat, ship-yard, court-house, or city hall ; for the sun never sets upon their noise. They are ringing on every side of the globe ! The Meneelys enjoy the reputation of being good mechanics, enterprising and upright citizens ; and in the manu- facture of bells, they are supposed to be without a superior in the wide world. LIVE AND DEAD WEIGHT OF CATTLE. We cut the following from the Wool Groiver and Stock Register : Salesmen commonly calculate that the dead weight is one half of what the animal weighs when alive ; but the butcher Jcnou'S that theproduceis greater : it often approaches to three fifths; and by an extensive stock bailiff of the late Mr. Curwen, it was found that the dead weight amounted to fifty-five per cent, of the live. But the amount differs strangely, as may be seen by the following statement of Mr. Ferguson, of Woodhill, C. W. : Live Weight. Dead Weight. Tallow. St. lbs. St. lbs. St. lbs. Aberdeenshire ox, . . . .. 132 11 84 6 16 5 Short-horned ox, ..132 0 90 1 14 0 Short-horned heifer, . , . 120 4 77 9 15 8 Short-horned steer, . ..120 5 67 7 14 12 The subject of live and dead weight of cattle being one that deeply interests farmers, we again call attention to the subject, in the hope that it may awaken inquiry as to the question, what should be the rule of paying the farmer for the beef he may have grown ? It costs him quite as much to grow hide and tallow as it does muscle or flesh, and we should hke to know why he should not be paid for so doing? — JEJd. Amer. Farmer. In continuation of this subject, we make the following extracts from Col- man's Massachusetts Report : In New- York, only four quarters are made by the slaughterer, and the hide and tallow are not weighed or reckoned in the price : facts which are to be remembered in making comjjarisons of prices in the different markets. The following are some examples of live and dead weights of New-England cattle, killed at home, and after being driven from the Connecticut river to Brighton, the Boston beef market, a distance of 75 or 80 miles : Example 1. — One ox, live weight in market, 2,393 lbs.; quarters weighed 418 lbs., 415 lbs., 324 lbs., 331 lbs.: hide, 150 lbs.; tallow, 173 lbs.=^l,811. Difference, 682 lbs. 21* 354 WHBAT CROP IN MICHIGAN. Example 2. — Two oxen of A. S., killed at home, weighed as follows : Live— one 1,979 lbs. Killed, 1,400 lbs. " 1,910" " 1,341 » About 294. lbs. loss on a hundred of the live weight. Example 3. — An ox owned by A. S., conveyed to Brighton on a sled, weighed at home about 2,630 lbs. ; the precise number of pounds not recollected. On being slaughtered his weight was as follows : — quarters, 480 lbs., 479 lbs., 374 lbs., 383 lbs.; tallow, 250 lbs. Total, 2.120 lbs. Loss, 510 lbs. Example 4. — Ox belonging to R. D. ; when he left Connecticut river, weighed 2,435 lbs. Weight at Brighton when dressed, 1,588 lbs. Loss of weight, 867 lbs. This is a little more than one third, and is a remarkable result. Example 5. — An ox weighing on Connecticut river 2,250 lbs. weighed in mai-ket, 1,472 lbs. Loss, 778 lbs. Example 6. — An ox, weighing as above, 2,255 lbs., weighed in market 1,487 lbs. Loss 768 lbs. Example 7. — A fat bull of D. S., killed at home, weighed alive 1,495 lbs. ; dead, 1,051. Loss, 444 lbs. Example 8. — A fat heifer of E. W., killed at home, weighed alive 1,120 lbs.; dead, 832 lbs. Loss, 288 lbs. Example 9 — An ox belonging to S. C, weighed on Connecticut river, alive, 2,590 lbs.; at Brighton, dressed, as follows: — quartei-s, 394 lbs., 350 lbs., 362 lbs., 358 lbs.; hide, 120 lbs.; tallow, 207 lbs. Total, 1,791 lbs. Difference between live and dead weights, 799 lbs. Example 10. — An ox belonging to S. C, weighed ahve 2,345 lbs.; at Brighton, dressed, as follows : — quarters, 352 lbs., 310 lbs., 364 lbs., 308 lbs.; hide, 115 lbs. ; tallow, 217 lbs. Total, 1,666 lbs. Difference between live and dead weights, 679 lbs. WHEAT CROP IN MICHIGAN— RESULTS OF DEEP PLOUGHING. One of the editors of the Michigan Farmer writes as follows : The wheat crop came in good throughout our State. Corn will be a middling crop ; the seed, owing to carelessness in sowing, failed to vegetate at the first planting last spring, and the crop is backward. Where proper care was taken to gather seed early and keep it diy, no trouble has been experi- enced. Grass and oats are hght — potatoes, also. Such a season as this affords a thorough test of the great advantage of deep and thorough, over shallow culture. The difference in favor of the former practice is truly astonishing. On a recent visit to the farm of Linus Cone, Esq., of Oakland county, who is noted for his practice of deep ploughing and sub- soiling, he took us over a meadow from which he had just taken the hay, and seldom have we seen such a growth of grass. An acre was left standing for seed, and we should judge there was over three tons upon it. He had taken from the five acres cut 30 loads, of usual size, of cured hay. It wasfnot what would be considered in New-England good grass land, lying on the [slope from a high ridge, and is naturally a heavy soil. The great yield was the (result of deep ploughing, thorough culture and drainage. A neighbor's field, much more favorably situated, yielded about a ton to the acre. He uniform ly gets good crops. Since he commenced the practice of deep ploughing and draining, he says the seasons are always good. His wheat is tree from rust and insecte, and he never suffers from drought or flood. ^THE ECONOMY OF EVERGREENS. 355 PLOUGHS SHOULD PULVERIZE THE SOIL. Mr. Petsr Love, aa English farmer of considerable distinction, has written a letter to the Marie Lane Express, in which ho makes the following excellent remarks on the action of ploughs in reference to the purpose alluded to. Ho says : '- If it be the fact that the primary object of cultivation for the production of the various agricultural crops, is ,i well-pulverized soil and porous subsoil, then the farmers ought to draw out the ingenuity of our agricultural mechan- ics, hy giving prizes for t'lose ploughs that will invert without smoothing and smearing the under strata, and most effectually pulverize the greatest quantity of land a given depth with the least amount of power, instead, as the pi'esent practice is by all our agricultural societies, of awarding prizes to those ploughs that cut out a farrow w'ithall three of its cut sides well smoothed and smeared up, and turned over in as unbroken a state as possible, so that it will shine from one end to the other, like a well-moulded piece of concrete, and the bot- tom of the furrow well polished over by the friction of a broad-soled landside and rest; thus rendering the under strata almost impervious to air or water. If we could h.ive a plough so made that it would, in the act of inverting the furrow-slice, break it into pieces, and pass over the bottom of the furrow with- out the friction of any smooth surfoce of iron or other material being drawn over, closing up all the pores and fissures in the under strata, I think there is little doubt but such a plough's cultivation would approach (when performed at equal depths) fork cultivation. There are a great many of the best farmers who are of opinion that it is a great advantage to have the furrows turned as completely over as possible. But tjie great evil is that when the plough is set to turn the furrow so, the solid furrows require so much harrowing to prepare the land for the dibble or the drill ; but such would not be the case if we had ploughs that in the act of turning over the furrow would well crack, rend, and break it, and completely invert it, and cut it up from the under strata without smoothing the bottom of the farrow, closing all the pores and fissures thereof." THE ECONOMY OF EVERGREENS. We have long held the opinon, says the Albany Cultivator, that the character and morals of a rural community are necessarily improved by that most interesting of all kinds of rural embellishment, ornamental planting. But for those who cannot appreciate these advantages, we shall present another view of the subject — the saving in dollars and cents. This the writer has had an opportunity of witnessing the present winter in his own case. Nine years ago, finding a serious inconvenience from the sweep of winter tempests, to which his residence was much exposed, a large portion of evergreens were mingled with the trees and shrubbery, then newly set out. About a dozen white pines, as many American arborvitce, and a few balsams, white spruce, Norway firs, and hemlocks, were placed, so far as practicable, on those sides of the house the most exposed, regard being had at the same time to the ex- clusion of uninteresting points of view. One rule was adopted in removing the young evergreens, which were chiefly procured from the borders of woods, and which in some instances were brought twenty miles. This was, to take up 356 REGULARITY IN FEEDING SHEEP* enough earth on the roots to preserve the tree upright against strong winds, after setting out. By this means not one out of some thhty or forty was lost by removal. A white pine, then about three feet high and an ineh*^in diame- ter, is now eighteen feet high and six inches in diameter, and several others have made nearly an equal growth. Now, for the economy of this plantation, which some of the neighbors thought was entirely useless labor. It has saved, the present winter, by the protection it affords against storm and wind, at least Un dollars in fire-wood, and this amount saved is increasing every year as the trees advance in growth. The cost of procuring the evergreens is about three dollars. What farmer, who goes only for " utility," can show as large a percentage of profit in wheat raising, or making pork ? "Whose children would be most likely to seek the tavern, grog-shop, and theatre, tho.-c wlio enjoy a home made attractive and beautiful, or those whose home is bald, bleak, and repulsive, from a total want of this cheapest and most natural of all means for its embellishment ? REGULARITY IN FEEDING SHEEP. Ak able writer says : " If there is one rule which may be considered more imperative than any other in sheep husbandry, it is that the utmost regu- larity be preserved in feeding. First, there should be regularity as to the times of feeding. However abundantly provided for, when a flock are foddered sometimes at one hour and sometimes at another — sometimes three times a day, and sometimes twice — some days grain and some days none — they can- not he made to thrive. They will do far better on inferior Tceep^ if fed with strict regulai-ity. In a climate where they require hay three times a day, the best times for feeding are about sunrise in the morning, at noon, and an hour hefore darlc at night. Unlike cattle and horses, sheep do not eat well in the darlc^ and therefore they should have time to consume their feed before night sets in. Noon is the common time for feeding grain or roots, and is the best time if but two fodderings of hay are given. If the sheep receive hay three times, it is not a matter of much consequence with which feeding the grain is given, only that the practice be uniform. It is also highly essential that there be regularity preserved in the amou7it fed. The consumption of hay will, it is true, depend much upon the weather. The keener the cold, the more sheep will eat. In the South much would also depend upon the amount of grass obtained. In many places a light daily fod- dering would sufiBce ; in others, a light foddering placed in the depository racks once in two days would answer the purpose. In the steady cold weather of the North, the shepherd readily learns to determine about how much hay will be consumed before the next foddering, time. And this is the amount which should, as near as may be, be regularly fed. In feeding grain or roots there is no difficulty in preserving entire regularity, and it is vastly more important than in feeding hay. Of the latter a sheep will not overeat and surfeit itself; of the former it will. And if not fed grain to the point of surfeiting, but still over-plenteously, it will expect a like amount at the next feeding, and faihng to receive it, will pine for it and manifest uneasiness. The effect of such irregularity on the stomach and system of any animal is bad ; and the sheep suffers more from it than any other animal. I would much rather that my flock receive no grain at all, than that they receive it without regard to regularity in the amount. The shepherd should be required to JOHN C. CALHOUN, HENRY CLAY, DANIEL WEBSTER. 357 measure out tho grain to sheep in all iusfances — instead of guessinrf it out — and to measure it to each separate flock. Until two or three weeks preceding lambing, it is only necessary that breeding ewes, like other store-slieep, be kept in good plump ordinary condi- tion. Nor are any separate arrangements necessary for them, after that pe- riod, in a climate where they obtain sufficient succulent food to provide for a proper secretion of milk. lu backward seasons in the North, where the grass does not start prior to the lambing time, careful flock-masters feed their ewes chopped roots, or roots mixed with oat or pea meal. This is, in my judgment, excellent economy. For the effect of tho various esculents on the quantity and quality of the milk, see Liebig's Animal Chemistry." Unless sheep have access to succulent food or clean snow, water is indis- pensable. Cc/iistant access to a brook or spring is best, but in default of this, they should be watered, at least once a day, in some other way. — Randall. JOHN C. CALHOUN, HENRY CLAY, DANIEL WEBSTER. We scarcely needed " A Sermon delivered in St. Stephen's Church, Balti- more, by Eev. Dr. M'Jilton, on occasion of the death of Henry Clay," which has been sent to us, to remind us of him, or of the other great men whose names stand as our caption. " There were giants in those days," and v,-e are almost incHned to adopt the hyperbolical language of Mr, Hillard, in Faneuil Hall, spoken in reference to the last named of the three : " The shadow of him we have lost is more than the living forms of all who are left." These three men have stood side by side for many years in the highest places, and though differing in opinions, and contending for hostile policies, neither was thereby less great. None have been so high intellectually as to cast a sha- dow over either of them. In reference to the last, we are told by the London Times that we exaggerate his qualities, v>'hieh in Europe would have failed to secure for him any especial preeminence. It matters little what the opin- ion of the Times may be on any subject, if for no other reason than because it may say to-morrow the opposite of what it said yesterday. But light al- ways shines: mighty power judiciously applied always produces results. '■ By their fruits ye shall know them." With this scale of measurement, and going back to the early years in tho public life of Webster, when a Canning, a Brougham, a Peel, a Russell, and the Iron Duke have occupied the high places in England, and point out the page which indicates a mightier intellect than the speech of Webster on the Greek Resolution, his Reply to General Hayne, his addresses on Bunker Hill and in Faneuil Hall, &c., etween the bark and wood, at the place where it was cut from the parent root.-— Vermont Chronicle. GYPSUM. 369 GYPSUM This mineral is of more especial value, from the fact that it, may be ap- plied to 80 many uses. In reading the interesting little volume, "Eagle Pass," noticed among our new books in our last number, we find mention made of it in a manner that well illustrates this value. In visiting the houst- of a neighbor, in those (to us) distant regions, near Fort Duncan, the writer admired the remarkable elegance of the plastering, and on inquiry she found it to be made of gypsum, a mine of which had been discovered in that neighborhood, and its material used, after such preparation only as was in the power of the pioneer in those Avild regions, where the fine arts are not often in great demand. But we see no reason why it should not be exten- sively used for this purpose, wherever it abounds, and especially when dis- tant from a desirable market, it being not only more elegant but more durable than lime. Some mines furnish as handsome specimens as if made from the best marble ; and minute pulverization is the only process neces- sary to prepare it for a manure, or for the use above named. Gypsum, or sulphate of lime, differs from the carbonate of lime (marble) in this respect : when heated, it retains its acid, while the carbonate is de- composed by the process. Gypsum is widely diffused, and, in some localities, is found in immense quantities. Near Windsor, at the mouth of the St. Croix, and on the Avon, these rivers are distinguished by lofty cliffs of this mineral. The undulating appearance of that region of country is attributed, in a great degree, to the numerous swallow holes and sinkings, which have been produced through a gradual solution and removal, by surfece water or by springs, of the gypsum from beneath. So in the Cumberland basin, in some parts of New-Bruns- wick, and along the upper beds of the Onondaga salt group, and the base of the Helderberg limestone in Western New- York. At Cape Desmoiselles, up and down the river, are cliffs of gypsum, eighty and one hundred feet high. In New-Brunswick, on the Salmon river, quarries and swallow pits occur. The surface here is described as abounding in sinks and pits, like round artificial wells, from one to twelve feet deep. " One great hollow rim seems to encircle the area over which were spread these smaller ponds and pits, intermixed with ravines and cliffs, caused by the pits falling or merging mto one another. While portions of the deposit were being dissolved out, in detail, and carried off through the porous wells, the whole area was sink- ing in a mass, destined, no doubt, in time, to become one of those extensive ponds or swallows, such as I had previously seen on the rich land east of the Amherst marshes, and in the country above Windsor in Nova Scotia." In this last-named place, it is the chief article of export, being carried in its rough state into Maine and elsewhere, thereby avoiding the duties laid upon the importation of manufactured articles. Whether gypsum is a, fertilizer, or only a,n ameliorator, seems to be ques- tioned. But the fact is abundantly shown that it tends, when properly ap- plied, to improve the growth of various crops. In New-Brunswick, the farmers do not avail themselves very extensively of this mineral. Some experiments there seem to exhibit no proofs of marked effects, while in other instances, oats and grass have received very decided benefit. In one instance, it is reported to have produced a crop of clover where none had before been seen. In Maryland, the application of a bushel to an acre is said to have produced wonderful effects; and in Pennsylvania and New- 860 SUaAR FROM INDIAN CORN AND OIL OF VITRIOL. York, its application has been productive of good on limestone soils. In New-Brunswick are found, growing upon the pure gypsum, young and healthy trees, as well as large and old cypress trees and white birches, with some firs, of a luxuriant growth. FARMERS' WORK IN DECEMBER. Examine your manure heaps, and if not fermenting, shovel them over in moderate weather, or pour into them hot water, or hot weak lye, through openings made by a crowbar. A little unslacked lime thrown in may also he beneficial. Add water to the heap, if dry. Gather more leaves for tke compost heap, and use them first as bedding for your cattle. Plough clayey lands, if not too much frozen, and thiis expose the soil to the wholesome action of the frost. SUGAR FROM INDIAN CORN AND OIL OF VITRIOL. The New York Sun says : A patent has been granted at Washington for a process of making sugar out of corn, which, though familiar to all chemists, is doubtless novel to most readers, A quantity of corn meal is placed in a boiler, to which is added nearly an equal quantity, by measure, of water, together with a small })ro- portion of common oil of vitriol, or sulphuric acid. The mixture is then boiled at a very high temperature, when common brown sugar is produced, held in solution, of course, with the acid. A quantity of common chalk is now thrown in, which has the effect to remove the vitriol from the sugar, the vitriol uniting v>'ith the chalk, and falling with it as sediment to the bottom of the boiler. The liquid sugar is then drained off into another ves- sel, boiled down to molasses, and finally crystallized and clarified in the usual manner. We imagine that an operating apparatus placed in the World's Fair, and turning out lumps of sugar made of corn and vitriol, would have made the " rest of mankind " conclude that the Yankees had a compact with the witches, or some other superaatural power. The patentee of this process is Mr. George Riley of this city. Sugar may be produced, in the same mannei-, from common starch, com stalks, and other fibrous substances. The process affords a fine example of what chemists call catalysis. Though sugar is produced, yet the nature and strength of the vitriol is not a whit altered, neither is the original quantity diminished. The same vitriol would, therefore, suffice to convert an indefi- nite amount of meal into sugar. We hope the day is not far distant when more attention will be paid to the subject of chemistry, as a branch of education, than it now receives in most of our common schools. Though the process above described seems wonderful, it is no more strange than tlie phenomena presented by the com- bustion of a tallow candle. How few know that a burning candle is, in efifect, a gas-light, the melted tallow, or carbon, being raised by capillary attraction to the centre of the flame, which, being hollow, forms a retort wherein the tallow is subjected to an immense heat, and thus converted into illuminating gas, in precisely the same manner as the carbon in the huge retorts at the gas manufactory is turned into gas. EFFECTS OP 13XTREME COLD ON VEGETATION. 361 EFFECTS OF EXTREME COLD ON VEGETATION. In connection with what we present to our leadeiw elsewhere, upon the eftect of climate on our poach trees, we give below a judicious article from the New-England Farmer, on the effects of extreme cold on vegetation gener- ral!}-. We also invito the attention of correspondents to this subject. It would be a good service to publish the o'>-srvations of farmers, gardeners, D save them. Necessity now forces ns to change our system of agriculture. The original stock of potatoes has become exhausted. We must renew it. Draw from your present crop slips or vines when from eight to ten inches long; plant as before described, in good loose free soil; gather your potato apples or balls, and you will get a fresh start. By draw- ing the slips, you get clear of the parent potato which is diseased. The potato apple will probably produce several kinds of potatoes, and a premium of '"^100 by the Southern Central Agricultural Society would probably bring the energy of our farmers to bear on the subject, and bring to notice new and improved varieties. I am satisfied that our people do not appreciate the value and im- portance of seed raised on our own soil in our own climate. The Cincinnati Society has offered a premium for the best seedling strawberry. I live in a grape-growing, corn-raising and v<3getable and fruit country, in sight of the Catoosa Springs, where my experiments may bo seen by calling. SWEET POTATOES. A correspondent of the Farmer and Planter cultivates this root as follows : Messrs Editors : — Agreeable to your request in the May number of the Farmer and Planter, I now take my pen to give you my small experiment in the planting and culture of the sweet potato. You gave us in that number the experience (or practice) of Mr. James T. Ferguson, which is very good, but it is old-fashioned. The ridge is the present mode here — some very large and some small, and in various ways. I have for the last few years planted the easiest and cheapest way I have ever seen practised, and have succeeded as well as by any other mode. I break my land about eight inches deep in the winter, then manure, broad-cast, just before planting. T plant in the first part of April — laying off my rows four feet vride, then throw up in a bedjvyith a good turn- ing plough, four more furrows, just as T would to plant cotton that distance. I then cut the potatoes in pieces to prevent them from growing, and to plant farther. I chop with a hoe about eighteen inches apart ; if I doubt the po- tatoes coming up well, I put two pieces in each hole, then draw a hoe full of earth on them. I draw no earth with a hoe to make a bed until the last working, which I do when the vines will nearly cover the earth. After planting I plough andhoe justas I do cotton, until the last working, when luse the turning plough again, and draw the earth with the hoe to the roots of the \ines. Potatoes are not more troublesome to tend than cotton when cultivated in this way, and not more than half the labor that is required to plant in hills, which is a great saving in work, not only in cultivation, but also in digging. This operation may be performed with the plough, instead of the hoe, if you desire. I do a part of my digging with the plough. In addition,^I consider the potato crop, if well managed, the most profit- able of any other that I am acquainted with the culture of; and yet its culti- vation is but little practised, or on a very small scale, in proportion to its AMMONIA GUANO. 369 importance, by most persons, myself not excepted — its great value not being properly appreciated. The two past years have not been surpassed under my knowledge for the extreme scarcity by drought. Yet under such extremes, I gathered from about three eighths of an acre of land, at the time of digging and housing potatoes, about sixty bushels each year, which were worth as many dollars ; equal to one hundred and sixty dollars per acre, It is aston- ishing that it should take us so long to learn when our opportunities are so great, yet it has been so. An aged gentleman informed me a few weeks since that he had gathered about three hundred bushels from one acre. A M M O N I A — G U A N 0 . By the process of fermentation sugar is changed to alcohol and carbonic acid, and the alcohol is changed to acetic acid, the mass of the liquid forming vinegar : then comes the last stage, the putrefactive, in which the elements form still other combinations, or arc set free as gases, uncombined. Such is the process carried on within the inteiior of the manure-heap. Chemical changes on the outer surface of the pile are of limited extent. Fermenta- tion requires an atmosphere of at least 00'=', and a due proportion of water. Hence tlie comparatively dry exterior of such a mass is subject to little change except evaporation ; within, chemical agencies are active. Who has not observed the ammonia of a horse-stable ? Ammonia is formed by combining, in certain prc>portion?, hydrogen and nitrogen. It is found in all animal matter, and in the solid and liquid excretion of our domestic animals. It is also evolved from all fermenting animal or vegetable matter. "If a cur- rent of moist air be made to pass over red-hot charcoal, carbonic acid and ammonia are simultaneously formed. 'J'his is, in reality, only a repetition, in another form, of what takes place when vegetable matter decays, or iron rusts, in moist air. The carbon, in one case, and the iron, in the other, decompose the watery vapor in the air, and combine with its oxygen^ while, at the instant of its liberation, the hydrogen of the water combines with the nitrogen of the air, and forms ammonia." Ammonia is essential to the growth of plants. An acre of turnips, radishes, cabbages, &c., according to Mr. Brown, often carries off 100 lbs,, although 30 lbs. will supply an acre of most cultivated crops. It is the presence of ammonia in excess which destroys plants, in the field or in the house, when they are too highly enriched by the Peruvian guano. This may probably be explained by the supposition that, in the decomposi- tion of the guano, an excess of nitric acid, \aqua fortis,) composed of nitro- gen and oxygen, is produced. Another injurious result follows such a use of any fertilizer, inasmuch as feeding either plants or animals to excess occasions repletion, and necessarily tends to disease. The use of guano is becoming very common. It is so jjortable, so perfectly adapted to any soil and to any crop, and so important in compensating for a deficiency of stable manure, that it must soon come into universal use. But how absurd to waste the ammonia of your own stable, and then purchase from abroad the same substance, in the form of imported or prepared manures ! Why are these fertiUzers, guano, &c., so useful? The answer may be made obvious to a mere glance of the eye. It is wonderful to observe how exactly aU food is adapted to noiirish that for which it is provided, whether VOL. V. 22 370 PEACH TREES. for animals or for plants. Thus the blood of the human species is almost precisely the sanae in substance with the flesh of animals, and this with the food nature provides for them. In the following table, we begin with the food of plants, and next follows that of animals, hay, erienced agricultural chemist if he considered it possible that the bone could be so far decomposed without removing to a large extent its fertilizing powers ; indeed, should any one doubt this fact, he would ask how they could account for the very matter that is extracted from the bone in the process of boiling being occasionally used for manure, when from circumstances it has become untit for the purpose for which it was extracted ? Mr. F. called their attention to his sample of No. 1, or superfine bone dust, (which was ground as fine as guano,) and stated that it was his firm opinion that unboiled bones ground so fine would not only act more promptly than boiled bones, but that it would be found fully equal to the best Peruvian guano in that respect, with at least double the durability, and at a reduction on the first cost of over one third. Mr. F. stated that his firm had decided to grind nothing but genuine unboiled bone. 372 CHURCH RATE IN ENGLAND. and that all manure sent from their mills was fully guaranteed as such. Some of their friends had suggested to them to grind both unboiled and boiled bones ; but they had fully determined to have nothing to do witli boiled bones jis it might raise a doubt in the minds of some pei-sons as to the quality of the manure they vended, and they felt in justice to their patrons and themselves, that they should be in such a position as to be above suspi- cion. All he (Mr. F.) would ask of the agricultural community was to give his firm one trial, and he felt fully assured that the manure would give such satisfaction as would insure their future favors. ron TIIK I-LOroH, THK LOOM, AND THK ANVTI,, .CLEANLINESS IN CELLARS. Messrs. Editors ; — (Spending a few days recently in the pleasant village of Winchester, New-Hampshire, I was made acquainted with the following facts, which you may deem of sufficient importance to occupy a place in your valuable journal : The physician was called a number of times to visit the family of a farmer, living out of the village. For more than a month some member of the family, and most of the time two or three, were under the doctor's care. At length one died, leaving three very sick. The physician became con- vinced that there must be some local cause. He communicated his convic- tions to the family. A search was made, but nothing discovered. The doctor still insisted that the siclcness causeless did not come. Another search resulted in the discovery of the true cause. A large quantity of half-eaten potatoes, mixed with the excrement of rats, had fallen through the bottom of a potato-bin, and, by the aid of heat and moisture, was under- going the putrefactive fermentation. The odor from this mass was so ver}' oftensive as to cause vomiting on the part of the roan who attempted to remove it. No doubt is now entertained by the physician or the family that this decaying vegetable matter was the principal, if not the sole cause of the sickness. Ought not farmers and all housekeepers to be extremely cautious to remove vegetable matter from the cellar early in the spring ? Ought not also moi-e caution to be used in abating nuisances, by the application of deodonzing substances to sinks, waste-water spouts, vaults and the like? Ought not every cellar to be thoroughly cleansed at least once a year, and the walls whitewashed ? Quaere : May not cattle be injured by standing over a cellar tilled with decaying vegetables ? R. B. H. FOR TUB PLOUGH, THE LOOM, AND THE ASVIL. CHURCH RATE IN ENGLAND. To Joseph Bancroft : Respected Friend : — In your remarks upon the subject of tithes and church rates in my article headed. Peculiarities of English Agriculture, I wish with candor to make the following statement. The individuals who met the demands of the church rate in the manner I therein stated, were LETTERS OF INQUIRY. 37S for many years well known to the writer, and strictly reckoned among the same society of which you are, I suppose, a member. I thought I had exculpated the Society of Friends from all voluntary sub- mission to pay a tax to which myself, as well as they, conscientiously object, when I stated, The Quakers resist the church rate to the very letter. This they certainly do when they allow the law to take, as a matter of necessity, what they conscientiously object to paying voluntarily. The tithes in the parish where I farmed were generally commuted annually. We had among us one Friend, rather an extensive agriculturist, but his share was always paid in with the rest of the parishioners, to fulfil the contract between the tithe owner and the producer. When I used the term Quakers, I did it not as a word for reproach, for I have had some friends and many acquaintances among your religious com- munity whom I shall never cease to esteem ; and the poetry of Bernard Barton, who lived in the same town with me, greatly interested me in days gone by. Yours respectfully, Robert Sewell. Madison y N. J. rOR tHK PLOUGH. TUB I.OOf, AND THE ANVIL, Livingston, Sumter County, Ala,, ) October let, 1852. f Mr. Editor : — Please inform me through the columns of " The Plough, the Loom, and the Anvil," how to make milk " turn," or sour for churning, during the winter season, if you are acquainted with such a method. Very respectfully, &c. Reply. — We can hardly presume that our correspondent really wishes to turn his cream sour, before churning, " in the winter season," or in hot weather, since all the arrangements of the dairy are intended to guard most effectually against such a condition. But if he has a fancy that way, there is no trouble in effecting it. Omit the scalding of your milk pans, and the I'esult^will no doubt be attained ; and if not, add a small quantity of vinegar or of muriatic acid. But if our friend would have good butter, let him study how to avoid the change of which he speaks, by perfectly clean pans, glass if possible, and by keeping his milk in a place cool, equable, and with good fresh air. — Eds. LnriNGSTON, Sumter County, Ala., / ?ToTember 8th, 1852. ) Bditors of the Plough, t/ie Loom, and the Anvil : Sirs : — My land is for the most part sandy. I have a field of fifty acres of sward which I wish to plant in corn the ensuing year, and wish you to give me some directions about manuring and planting it. It is somewhat rolling, and the most elevated portions are light dry sand, and just under the surface is clay soil. The bottom is what we call black land, and find it most produc- tive. It has been lying out, or resting, for three years. Previous to that time it was sowed in wheat, oats and corn. It produces a very good crop of rye. Please inform me if you know of a preventive of smut in oats and rust in wheat, when grown on sandy land. Very respectfully, &c. Remarks. — The following remedy for smut is highly approved, and has been extensively used : Mix quicklime with boiling water to about the same 374 NBW BOOKS. coDBistency as when used by masons for lime wash ; pour, boiling hot, on the wheat, and turn over the mass rapidly with a shovel, so that each grain may get a slight coating. This should be done three weeks or more before sow- ing, otherwise the application will not be eflfectual. With reference to the management of these lands, we recommend to our correspondent the use of the subsoil plough. The "light dry sand," with clay "just under the surface," is a description of soil which has often been improved very materially by this process. Wo conclude, however, that the true soil is very thin in this instance, and are sure that the application of rich composts, with guano, or phosphate of lime, will be of great benefit The ploughing, we scarcely need to add, should be done this fall, and the ground suffered to lie till spring. — Eds. NEW BOOKS. [The notice of a few volumes we have rocelveil b< necesaarily deferre*! to the next ifisue.j Siries of Geographies for Schools. By Roswkll C. Smith/A. M. First Book in Ge- ography, Quarto Chography, Geography on the Productive System, uith an accompa- nyiTig Atlas, New-Yorli : Daniel Burgess & Co., 60 John street. After a careful examination of this series, we can unhesitatingly recommend it as the " very best on the subject belbre the public," an opinion in which we find the Ward School- Teachers' Association of Kew-York fully agree with us in their report adopting it Eadi book of the series is complete within itself, and has nothing of the abridgment character. The First Book b a perfect Child's Geography, has twenty colored maps and one hun dred and twenty fine engravings, which are of a singularly practical character, and serve the purpose of explanatory matter ; thus making it, -without story-telling, and while con- fined solely to its subject, as attractive as a romance. The Quarto is on a larger scale, combining an Atlas of Maps and Text-Book in one work, and is equally beautifuL The Geography on the Productive System is a more strictly scientific treatise on Element- ary Geography, giving all the desired detail. There is one feature of this series worthy of aJl praise, and that ia its extreme correctness. The maps of the Quarto and of the Atlas are from steel plates, handsomely colored, and drawn on quite a large scale. They contain statistical matter enough to give a good knowledge of Geography, by merely inspecting them without reference to the book. For instance, the lakes have their length, breadth and depth engraved upon them ; the rivers, their length and highest points of navigation for sloops, ships, and steamboats, the principal towns, their popula- tion, ia All the routes of travel can be see7i aiid traced at a glance. The system of emblems, as books, ploughs, crosses, rk : D. Appleton. & Co. 245 pages, 12mo. This little volume is of the same genus with another, thou&u of a very different spe- cies, entitled " Up-Country Letters," which we have noticed within a month or two " Most people are conscious sometimes of strange and beautiful fancies swimming before their eyes," but very few arc conscious of so unbroken a succession of classic compari- sons and poetic suggestions as have passed through the mind of this autJior and been recorded in these pages. He who finds himself always at homo in reading them ha.s been a diligent and careful student of both ancient and modern literatm-e. The author tells us of one whose countenance seemed " a vciy tablet upon which the ten command- ments were written." Himself can be nothing less than a library of choice liter- ature, in elegant binding. We " never saw so many glow-worms together as on this balmy evening," says he on another page ; and we add that he has been remarkably happy in fastening them upon his manuscript ; or we might more justly say that, like trees sometimes in winter, every leaf sparkles ; and again, as he says of Demosthenes, "his lip [is] roughened by no grit of the pebble." We are not sure, however, that he has wiped out all the traces of midnight oil. Our only criticism would be a query whether the work is not too cnrofullv studifd for a countrv rambler in summer time. Hiitory of the Con>ipiracy of Fontiac, and ilic War of the North American, Tribes against the English Colmiics, after the Conquest of Canada. By Franci.'^ Parkman, Jr Boston: Charles C. Little & James Brown. 8vo,'pp. 630. 1851. There was a time when the name of Pontiac spread terror among his foes, while hi lavor was considered a guarantee of personal safety. He was the Najxdeon, the Blucher the SuwaiTow of our Western wilds. Of course he was an object of intense interest to the scattered and tremblmg inhabitants of the then far West. The histoiy of those times, so replete with startling and even terrible events, is given us in this volume bys one abundantly competent to the task. In interest few volumes are equal to this, while, the knowledge of the history here set forth should be part and parcel of the education of every one of our countrymen. It consists of an account of the various Indian tribes e;u>t of the Mississippi, the condition of the French and English colonies in America, with their relations to each other and to the Indians, and unfolds the progress of events in the con- tests between these diverse interests, which resulted in the establishment of the English. and finally in their independence. A vast amount of local information is naturally brought oat, in these connections, of gi'oat interest to all, and especially to the people, of tho Western States. Notes on North America, Agricultural, Economical, and Social. By James F. W. Jon.v ■ STON, M.A., F.R.S., «fcc. '2 vols. Boston : Charles C. Little tfc James Brown. Ee Sea, a veiy pretty song, by E. A. Hosmer. EDITORS' JOT. TINGS Musical. — Madame Sontag. — We look upon the aiTival of this lady upon our shores as one of the important events that make up the destiny of communities. Amid the enthusiasm which she has excited, the thought has not unfrequently come to us, how unlike all this, both in the present and in the future, to the effects produced by a warrior, or a pui^ilist. Thousands are brought together and held in bonds, unre- sisted and almost iiTesistible, while they listen to her beautiful notes. Having heard her in Boston, in a hall admitting scarcely more than half the number which Metro- politan Hall accommodates, we do not won- der that she excited more enthusiasm in Philadelphia than in New- York, and more in Boston than in either. In the Melodeon her power and grace are fully appreciated. Here (in Boston) she has secured the admi- ration of the whole city. Critics can find nothing to censure, or even to improve, while her audiences hang upon her notes, and breathe only as she prompts them. Pozzolini, too, in a hall of these limited dimensions, having regained his health, proves himself a finished artist Rocco is a grand accession to her coi*ps of assistants. while Badiali, as every body knows, has no superior on this continent Little Paul Julien, not yet in his teens, has established his claim as master of his art, without an equal, in our opinion, since the youthful days of Mozart. The Germanians are the only orchestra we know, which cannot be improved by a change of members. They are at the head of the column, and we are astonished that even the live Yankees so easily keep possessson of this rich mine of music, while we cool Dutchmen sleep quietly over our own comparative leanness. Who wonders at the success of such con- certs ? But we purposed to view the moral aspect of the matter chiefly, and must do this by hints rather than illustrations. Fortunately a "scene" at her second re- hearsal in Boston, furnishes nearly all that is necessary for our purpose. She had In- vited, as on a former occasion, the clergy with their families, and the gentlemen of the press. Like all others, they were delighted, and one of their number, between the parts, invited the audience to remain after the close of the performances set down in the bill The venerable Dr. Sharp, bis head -white 378 editors' jottings. with years spent in uubiokea devotion to the cause of uis Master, was requested to act as the representative of the assembly, in the expression of their gratitude for the rich feast to which they had been invited. As Madame Sontag re-appearod on the stage, the Reverend Doctor addressed her, commencing as follows : " Dear Madam, I have had the honor of being requested, by the ministers of all the religious denominations present, autl the gentlemen of the press, and I may also include all others of this audience, most sincerely to thank you in their behalf, for the invitation which permitted us to be pre- sent at this interesting rehearsal, and to assm"e you of the high gratification which has been experienced whilst listening to those sweet and melodious sounds, which touched some of the most tender chords of our hearts, and by which we were delighted and entranced. " The well-attuned voice, giving utterance to refined and noble sentiments — now ex- pressing itself in tones of love, of patriotism, of Christian hope and joy, and now send- ing forth its subdued accents of pity or of grief — cannot fail of exerting a purifying, humanizing and elevating influence over the soul. " I do not wonder that an EngUsh gentle- man of a former generation should have said : ' Let me make your national songs, and I care not who frames your laws.' " The venerable Doctor closed his address as follows : "And now. Madam, we sincerely pray that your sojourn in this young land of promise and of hope may be most happy and successful ; so that when you return to your fatherland — and to your ' Home, sweet home ' — you may not have one un- pleasant recollection connected with your distant visit. "And when your last strains on earth shall have been sung, may you so have used your divine gift, improved by art, that if it be possible, you may for ever, in a nobler and sweeter voice, sing God's power to save." Madame Sontag could not restrain her emotion, but wept freely whilst holding both the venerable Doctor's hands, and could only express her thanks thus gi'ace- fuUy in silence. A Lttle girl from the Wairen street Chapel then advanced and presented her with a bouquet, bearing an inscription, whom , she at once stooped and kissed ; this act at once affording the audi- ence relief, in givuig vent to the applause they had been long anxious to bestow, iladame Sontag, on retiring to the waiting room her emotion continued, and she ob- served, " Oh ! that good clergyman — never has my heart been so touched before. How can I thank him, imd all those kind friends ?" And on his being introduced, she again personally expressed her feelings to him. The Rev. Mr. Barnard announced as the intention of both the Protestant and Cath- olic clergy, to 2>re8ent Madame Sontag with a copy of the Holy Scriptures, in the blank leaves of wliicli should be the auto- graphs of the various pastors present A Bouquet was also presented to little Paul JuUen by the school cliildren, inscribed, " God bless and keep thee." Who could fail to be delighted and pro- fited by such incidents ? The effect of re- fined music is to elevate and to refine others; and when connected with incidents like this, the result cannot fail to be exceedingly efficient in awakening sentiments of human- nity, love, and gratitude. Who will not join in the closing prayer of the good Dr. Sharp ? It commends itself to us, anew, cveiy time we see lier name, or recall to onr remembrauce her delightful notes. Cubic Measuilk, — Veiy few persons have correct notions in regard to this measure, and hence make most erroneous estunates in their computations of size and capacity. Some three years since wc ordered from the cabinet maker a bm'cau for our little girl. It was to contain one half as much as one of the ordinary size, and we agreed to pay him 86.50 forit. About a week after- wards he told us it was all ready, and wished us to ste]> up and see how we liked it. We did so, and were chagrined enough to find it a mere toy, eighteen inches square in front, and nine deep. The man himself looked very discontented, and he inquired what was the matter. " I do not ^ct enough for the bureau by one dollar ; it is just half the size of the large ones wliich sell at ?!15." '"How did you calculate its size?" " By making it half as large each way as the common ones : they are S6 inches square iu front, and 18 inches deep; this is IS inches square in front, and W inches deep," " You assert then that this is just half the size of the lai'ge ones I" " I do." " Will it hold half as much ?" " It don't look as if it would, but I have nothing to do with that ; it is just half the size." " Is that the only reason why you think you do not get enough for it V " It is : I have not other- wise counted its value." " Would it satisfy you to receive the same proportion of $15 that it is in size to the common bureau ?'" He was glad enough to assent, and at our request wrote down the agreement ; which we put in our pocket, immediately after tendering him ^1.8Yi, telling him the bu- reau was just one eighth the size of the other, and the money was just one eighth the price of the other. He was astounded. EDITORS JOTTINGS. 379 and the more 60 wheu we explained and vessels of various proportionate sizes, and exemplified the rule. As he was a poor the j>upil thoroughly exercised in their use, thus making the iuterestinir. studv as easy as it Gold Pens. — The manufacture of gold pens has become a regular branch of Amer- man, we took the bureau and paid the origi- nal price; but it was not worth one half the money. He had learned a valuable lesson, that as large again each way was eight times as large altogether. The affair made some uoise in the little ican industry, and is'coustantly increasini' town, and caused much iuqiury about in extent and importance. A large amount cubic measure. A farmer who understood of the precious metal is annually withdrawn the subject well remarked to lis, in speak- from cuxulation for the pui'pose of furnish- ing of "it, that an almost precisely similar ing substitutes for the " gray goose quill," occurrence happened to himself that fall. The statistics of the business, and descrip- A neighbor falling short of hay, the pre- tion of the processes involved in the manu- vious winter, bon'owcd one of his stacks of focture, would, we think, make a very in- some sixteen feet in diameter at bottom, teresting article for our pages, and this we When he gathered in his own crop, he purpose shortly to give. We have no brought to replace what he had taken two doubt that for this object gold will rapidly similarly shaped stacks, each eight feet di- supersede quill and steel. It is so much ameter at base, and then informed his more economical that no man can afford to friend that he had fully paid the debt. The use any thing else in preference. Wo have other told him that ho had only brought heard some complain that they could not back one fourth of what he had taken find a gold pen to suit them ; but a little away, but for sometime failed to convince iuquiiy soon showed that they had not ob- him, until at last reference was fortunately tained the best article. The pen we are made to the number of loads, and then it now writing with was bought several years was all evident enough. since from Albert G. Bagley, and, as the Both the cabinet maker and the farmer j)rintcrs can testify, has been kept in con- were able to repeat the table for cubic stant use and severely tried, yet it seems to measure with readiness, but yet knew not imps-ove rather than deteriorate with age. its practical applications. As little did a The apparatus for writing seems every friend who called our attention to a twelve- year approaching nearer perfection. First inch cubic block of iron, a few weeks the time-honored gooee-quill, then the steel since, and whom we asked its weight, pen, and lastly the iridium-pointed gold " Some fifty pounds, I suppose." " How pen. The Extension Holder was a valuable much do you think a cubic foot of wa- addition, and now but one thing more seems ter weighs V " About ten pounds." Very desirable, and that is an invention to retain much surprised was he to hear that its true enough ink in the holder to save the endless weight was 62^ lbs., and that this amount dipping so annoying and so indispensable, had to be multiplied by the specific gravity Our faith in American ingenuity assures us of iron, to give the weight of a block of the that this desideratum will ere long be at- metal of the same dimensions. The fault lies with the teacher, who fails in his duty when he encumbers the mind of the child with useless lumber in the form of tables of weights and measures, without teaching their meaning and practical appli- tained, and nothing more be loft to wish for iu convenience in writing. New Lamp kor Cvmpuene and Burning Fluid. — We have been shown and have carefully examined a new Safety Lamp, cation.s. No wonder the school-room is so contrived by Mr. Newell, 8 Winter street, repulsive to the child : it would be equally Boston, intended to guar^l against the ex- so to the man. Hoswell C. Smith, who plosion of these widely used fluids. The has succeeded beyond any man in this coun- contrivance seems to us perfect and entire, try, and perhaps any other, in simplifying Its simplicity leads us to wonder that the school-books for children, seems fully awaie plan did not occur to somebody long ago. of this general fault. In a preface mention- It consists merely of an adaptation of Sir ing his Productive System, he cites from Humphrey Davy's Safety Lamp to the the North American Review : "We have gaseous contents ofthe lamp, instead of those not the least hesitation in saying that two gases which, in mines, are external to it It or three years in the education of almost is cheap, too, and can be applied, at a trifling every individual in this country have been cost, to ordinary oil lamps, thrown away in studying what they did not Mr. Newell has also Safety Cans and Fill- understand." This is as true as it is lament- ers, which may be used without any hazard able. We need practical teaching. For in immediate vicinity to a burning lamp, Cubic Measure and its relations there should being provided, both in its openings at the be in every school-room a .set of blocks and top and side, with the same kind of se- 380 editors' jottings. curity. We have seen several experiments tried, and tried repeatedly, with cans thus secured, and with those not thus secured, and we arc sure that our confidence is not misplaced. It has received the appj-oval of Drs. Jackson, Hayes, and Torrey, atfd Prof. Silliman. "A new aromatic Burning Fluid" has also been prepared by the same gentleman, which burns with a beautiful white flamo, leaving no incrustation on the wick. It is ■' free jfrom grease, smoke, or disagreeable odor, and from camphene, or spirits of tur- pentine." So, at least, says Mr. Xewell, though we have liad no means of testing these statements. There is an agency for the sale of these lamps in New-York. Fall River Route to Boston — Easteu.n Railroad. — We have twice attempted to say something (in Sept. and Oct.) in com- mendation of this route, but after Vieiug in type, read and corrected, the matter pre- pared being too much for our space, these notices were the unfortunate victims which must bide their time. But now we must say that we have passed over this route, and we liave sent ladies of our family, un- attended, and have uniformly found not only excellent boats, skilful ]tilots and com- manders and agents, and gentlemanly clerks, but our friends li a vo received impor- tant aid and very iiolite attention from the gentlemanly captain, when we are sure ihat he did not even guess that he was showing favor to the family of an editor, which might be turned to some account. No lady need apprehend the want of any thing in the matter of personal comfort, which constant regard for those on board can provide. The tables are well provided and handsomely furnished, and the state- rooms, berths, &c., are all that a reasonable man can claim. The Eastern liailroad forms the lower route from Boston to the East, and is well Srovided with easy cars and courteous con- uctors. Passing along the seaboard, through Lynn, Salem, Newburyport, Ports- mouth, and other pleasant and flourishing towns, full of local or historical interest, the ride is unusually agreeable. By stopping over one train only, in several of these towns, access may be had to objects of great interest, which woxild well repay not a little painstaking. A Fine Farm. — The American Farmer contains a description of Shirley estate, on James River, in Virginia, containing 900 acres of cultivated land, divided into five fields, from 175 to 190 acres each. The rotations are corn, wheat, clover, fallow wheat, pasture ; thus affording some 860 acres for wheat. Rather hard cropping — yet so much better than common treatment, that the fallow wheat has been estiraatei-i at 30 bushels per acre, and that on corn land 20 to 25 bushels, where once only 12 to 14 were obtained. The corn, formerly but five to seven barrels, now 10 to 12. One great secret of success is lime, clover and plaster. Tlie wheat drill and reaping machine are used ; and threshing performed by mule power, at the rate of three hun- dred bushels per day, the process of win- nowing being completed in the barn base- ment at the same operation. Comploto system and order prevail, and there is a placeforeverytliing,andeverythingiuitsplaco. Camden and Amboy Railroad. — The affairs of this road are, as they always have been, in the most prosperous condition. The business of the Company has materi- allly increased the past year, which is owing, in a great measure, to its excelleut management. The road passes through a pleasant part of New Jersey from Amboy to Camden ; and the sail down the Buy on the splendid boat " John Potter," from New- York to Amboy, is the most delight- ful in the world. The cars of the Company have long been noted for their beauty and excellence ; and all connected with the road, in whatever capacity, are gentlemanly and obliging. The principal agents, Wsi. H. Gatzmer, Esq., at Philadelphia, and Capt. Ira Bliss at New- York, are gentle- men eminently qualified for their stations ; and it is to their services that the travelling pubUc are chiefly indebted for the excellent management for which the Camden and Amboy road is so universally distinguished. H.VRLEM R.\ilroad. — The business of this excelleut road is constantly increasing, both as regards freight and passengers. The freight trains are heavily laden with produce from the interior, and by an arrangement recently made, this branch of the business of the road cannot fail of being greatly in- creased. In publishing their winter arrangements, the Company have announced that three daily trains will run to and from Albany, and at such hours as cannot fail of accom- modating the travelling pubhc. Two of these are express trains, and make the time between the two cities inside of four hours. The fare has also been reduced to one dol- lar and fifty cents, which is only about one cent a mile. This is a rare combination of economy and speed, which will not be with- out its reward by the public, as the road is under the best of management, and passes through a most delightful region of country ^e Brown, 116. " Cutter, 120. BridgewatL-r Paint, 255. Calculaliug Machine, 59. Calendar Clock, 64, Caloric riliip Kricsson, 64, 123, 126. Car-wheels, Improved, 120. Caille, Plan to Improve, 253. " How to Judge, 63. Circular Saw, 123. Clover-Thresher, 127. Cotton-:5craper and Cultivator, 118. Cravats, 191. Crystal Palace. 257. JJIeclrcal Discovery, 62. Electro- .Vlagneiic Battery, 63. Enamel for Cards, 25 .'. Ericsson Water and Coal Regions, 123. Espiritu Santo, The Flower, 118. Evergreen-, Soil for, 318. Exhibition at Washington, 64. « Exports fr.im New-Vork, 1852, 254. Feed for Animals, 189. Fire Engine, Invention of, 124. First I 'SB of Mahogany in England, 317, First Saw-mill, The, 256. Flax, 189. Fenders, Railway, 122. ' ■ ; Glass, Alanufacture of, 121. " and China, Ornamenting, 121. Glue, Liquid, 252. Gold in V eriuout, 120. Good iJrop, 31S. Grap.^s, Pieservation of, " Special Manure for, 317. Hair Restorative, 64. Impressions of seals, &c., How to take, 252. Iron and Steel, Improvement In the Manufacture of, 1^4. 251. .Joiner's N'^w Vlacjjine, 123. Lamp, A Peculiar, 124. Lenses, Mauutacture of, 18. Liebig Vledal, 123. Life Preservers, 124. Lightning Rods and Iron Ladders, 251. Liiue in \giicuUure, Use of, 187. Loom, Improvements in the, 64. Lover's Syphon, 184. Machine lor Cramping Iron Bars, 184, '' New PriMting, 186. " " Reaping, 187. " McCormick's Keaping, 189. " Plastering, 59. " for Wiudmg Varns and Threads, 187. .Manufacture of Paper, 184. " Writing-Quilte, 61. Meada & Brothers, 255. Mechanism, The Reality and Poetry of, 125. Mineral Macier, Assimilation of, l-il. Music in New- York, I'JU. Pine, New Use for the Leaves of the, 252, Railroads, Benefit of, 60. '' in Vermont, 254. Roofing, New Method of, 68. Roiary Engine, 61. Rhubarb, or Pieplant, 187. Safety Steam-Boiler, 62. Sepvirating certain Metals, 186. Sewing-Machiiies, 186. Shanghai Sheep, 253. Shoes by Macniuery, 63. Stained Woods, 25iS. Statistics of Micliigan, 61. Steamboats and their Tonnage, 255. Steamboat W heel, New, 124. Straw-Cutter, 127. Telegraphs in America, 58. '• between Ciirope and America, 186. Tinning, New Process of, 62. To Thaw out a Pump, 64. Threshing-Machines, 118. Useful Ii.ventions, 64. Umbrella, New, 186. Absorptive Power of the Soil, 211. Agriculture in Canada, 51. '• Use of Lime in, 18. Agricultural Prospects of Georgia, 152. " Societies, 283. American Exhibition of 1853, 1. " Iron, 83. 290. " Laborer, Interesls of the, 52. " Manufartures, 273. Analysis of the Cotton Plant and Seed, 84. " Clam and Oyster Shells, 156. Apple-Peeler, The Patent Premium, 217. Apples, Keeping, 34. Arabian Horse, Tartar, 15. Artificial Horn, or Tanned Gelatine, 166. •' Manures, 97. Atmospheric Railway, 7. Aurora Borealis and the Telegraph, 262. Bees, feeding of, and Phelps' Ilivee, 308. Beets, Culture of, 149. Binocular Microscope, Bread, Good, l67. " How to Toast, 272. « New and Old, 167. Census R-turns, 1850, 44. Central Ohio, Dairy Business in, 240. Charcoal, Properties, 51. Cheese, Milk, and Butter, 112. Chemist, State, 47. Chemistry, Miigic of, 277. Chucking and T'urning, Lathe for, 93. Cinnamon Fields of Ceylon, 227. Cisterns, 81, -IbQ Climate and Temperature, 265. t'lock. Mechanism of a, 168. Coal-Dust for vianure, 54. Coating Zinc, 82. Cochineal Insect, 91. Compost Heap, Formation of the, 215. Corn, Stowell's Evergreen Sweet, 108. Cotton and its Manufacture in Great Britain, 196. " Lime on, 171. " Mode of Planting and Cultivating, 223, 308, 307. CowB and Oxen In Portugal, 222. Index. Crops in N. Wi scon sin, 4G. Culture of tlie Ko>e, 140. Culture of I he liect, 149.; Cultivator-Plouijh, [lii^liardson's, 297. Curious, A Question for tlie, 34. Disease, The Potato, 28. Discoveries, Us.eful, 106. oiscovery in SuRiir-Making, 271. Draining, (Jheap, 90. " When Useful, 280. " Effects of, &.C., 233. Drnwing, Perspective, 8, 198,268. Drill, The tefore and behind us. Far away to the sunset stretches a territory of vast and unbounded resources, capable of sustaining a population of a hundred millions, and inviting us to take possession. It is to be the highway over which the two continents which lie on either hand shall pass and re-pass, and exchange their commodities, when we shall have learned the true secret of reciprocity with the world — or when they shall have learned the true secret of reciprocity with us — the freedom of the millions of the human family. With this labor before us, and the progress of man bidding us onward, let the American worker look forward steadily to the true and lofty purpose of his position, and disregard the attractions of a meretricious refinement and luxury, which poisons and falsifies all pure taste, and adhere simply to the most solid advantages of a practical art. The American mechanic has much to learn, and much may be leained in obedience to the dictates of a sense of duty, and patriotic devotion to the interests of the countiy. We have, no doubt, a too selfish aim in all our pui-suits. The acquisition of wealth is considered the great end of all business. For that end high and noble considerations, which would assuredly lead to wealth, are often sacrificed. The mechanic, the agriculturist, the artisan, the merchant, and the professional man seem to us to be deficient, and lamentably so, in that esjyrit du corps which should lead each man to honor his calling, and seek to dignify it by every honorable means. Personal ends are too much the only end with us, as with all men, and these narrowing, selfish con- siderations stultify art, cripple our progress, and blind reason. A broader and more generous view of the relations of science and the me- THE AMERICAN EXHIBITION OF 1853. chanic arts with all true art, must yet come to be understood and felt by American mechanics, before we can hope to see our productions, our ma- chinery, and our fabrics, compare with those of Europe. Nor, after all, do we care about imitating, except in the practically useful, the things of the Old World. We can, and we should, build up our own schools. We have the mind, the genius, the taste, the material, and the field, broad and magnifi- cent, far surpassing almost all that has been yet produced in that which im- mediately concerns man as a moral and social being, and why should we not do it ? The great idea of our art hitherto, and that which we hope ever to see retained as the distinguishing feature of American art, is, practical uses and advantages. The remains of ancient art, rich, beautiful, matchless as they may be, are witnesses of the aristocracy of art, if we may so speak, and the ex- clusive use of its benefits. The magnificent temples, and palaces, and statues, and triumphal arches, attest the consummate perfection of the artists, but they record at the same time a saddening memorial of the popular degrada- tion. Where such exclusive devotion is paid to Art, and she is made the object of supreme regard, there may be a measure of popular refinement intellectually in the cultivation of taste, but this is far more than compensated for by the corruption of all those sentiments and principles which keep society pure and untainted. If art cannot be cultivated without a sacrifice of the pure and the refined sympathies and influences, which make society lovely and delicious, then it must be left uncultivated. But we believe that this can be done, and that while our art in every department ma.j be brought to the highest perfection, the pure and sacred influences of a holier ideal may dignify and elevate all its labors and its works. An elaborately wrought statue, which seems as if the lips were but waiting to utter the thoughts revolving in the mind, may be an attractive and fitting evidence of the triumph of the sculptor's art ; it may for a moment delight the eye of the beholder ; it may serve as a profitable study for the few who would examine it with an artist's eye. In all this there may be a practical value. But what are all the statues, and frescoes, and paintings which have come from the old masters worth, and what are all the models of architecture of the Old World worth to us, or to man to-day, compared with one highly finished steam-engine ? What are all the fiae arts of the past to us, who have the world in a manner to redeem from the errors, the delusions, and the oppres- sion of the by-gone ages, in which art has only been used as an element in oppression, and made to decorate the scandalous bed and the magnificent tomb of the robbers and despots of old ? May not our own day, and our own land, produce a better school, and a more noble spirit — consecrated to a more generous end ? Is not one steamboat worth more than the temples of He- liopolis and Thebes ? Are not a thousand miles of telegraph wire more in- spiring, as a work of consummate art, than the dead-stone creations of a pyra- mid or a labyrinth? Is not a Hoe printing-press more beautiful,, more finished, more wonderful as a piece of high art, than the Acropolis or the Parthenon ? Look at one of those complicated machines, as the cylinders fly with instantaneous revolutions, and in the mathematical precision of mo- tion, the beautiful construction, and the harmony of all the parts, you will see a glorious work of Art, to us fiir more worthy of admiration than a large portion of that which has received the stereotyped approbation of critics and connoisseurs for the last five centuries, as the legacy of the art of the past to the art of the present. It is well to have an ideal. In our American school of art, bad as the • THE AMERICAN EXHIBITION OF 1353. term may be — or in our school of American art, if it suit the reader better — at any rate, under these western skies, where broad rivers flow, and star-spangled banners wave from the Atlantic to the Pacific — in our land, we say, where liberty is the atmosjihere we breathe, and light our pathway, we hojje to see a nobler ideal than we have been able to perceive in much of the art of the past age, if in any of it. With the press as the distributing power, we desire to see, on a radiant pedestal, Art and Humanity, sister graces, with arms inter- twined, as the presiding presences in all our schools. Offerings brought to their shrine, finished as specimens of Art, shall be dignified as gifts to Humanity. In an unselfish consecration of intellect and labor and science to the wants of man, as the inspiring motive, so shall our triumphs be more illustrious than all that have reached us from the centres of civilization and art in the Old World. We contend, therefore, that American mechanics have before them a noble and inviting destiny. Under the influences of free institutions, with the shackles of the past broken, and the power of old and crushing primo- genitures in every department defied by the assertion of individual right, the American mechanic is free. We require only a true and universal apprecia- tion of our advantages, to place ourselves in a position most honorable and most commanding. To do this, a more general sense of individual responsi- bility, and a higher ambition, are necessary. An outgrowth of this sense would be a more earnest spirit of scientific inquiry, and a more thorough education of the working-man. We are too apt to skim the surface. We want to get over too much ground. Broad acres, rather than deep soil, seem to be the aim of the people. Expansion, instead of deep ploughing and subsoiling, is apparently easier. Instead of this, we want scientific mechanics and working- men. Is not the mechanic, studying out his problem, and constructing his new apparatus or engine, which shall by its artistic and scientific beauty and excellences bless and elevate man, as true an artist as though he were delineating the Bacchanalian revels of the old and grossly descriptive fables of the word- painters of all time ? Is not the apprentice-boy, calculating his tables, and planning his irfetruments, and modelling his machinery, as noble an artist as he who with chisel and mallet strikes off the corners of the marble block, and brings out the life-like but ineffective statue ? Does not the value of both depend upon the success with which the harmony of proportions, of adaptations, of designs, and of ideals, are realized ? Is one an artist because he produces colors on the canvas, or shapes the stone, and the other not an artist because he gives a valuable aid to man in the economies of the world, and supplies something new to meet the wants of man? We shall not pretend now to discuss the questions of art, and wherein the artist consists. But we simply contend that the scientific and intelligent mechanic is a true artist, in all that makes art noble or worthy of admiration and culture. We hope to see, or at all events we hope the time will come, when such a spirit shall animate the American mechanic. We do not despair of seeing many of our factories and workshops with their libraries, their lyceums, and their debating societies and evening schools. We do not despair of knowing that our mechanics hold the first rank in the scale, and that while World's Fairs shall be held, they may go into them, with the accumulated trophies of successive triumphs, in the race of competition with all the hitherto more favored sons of fortune and of patronage in the Old World. American mechanics have much of which to be proud. From the printer-boy who caught the fire from heaven, to the inventor of the Hoe press, which always causes our heart to beat quick with pride and enthusiasm and hope whenever THE AMERICAN EXHIBITION OF 1863. we see it, our list of honorable names is long and brilliant. Fulton and Fitch, Ritteuhouse, Whitney, Morse, and their compeers, to say nothing of those who lend a lustre to the professional and artistic walks of life, are but evidences of what a cultivated and self-educated body of mechanics may do when they will. We therefore heartily encourage our mechanics to be prepared for the coming art festival, resolved that it shall be a way-mark in the history and progress of their respective pursuits. Let the spirit of a nobler purpose and a higher end animate our hopes, and nerve our arms, and sharpen our in- telligence, until triumph — the triumph of Art and Humanity — shall crown our labors with an indefeasible title to the rank of the true artists of the world. One grand element in the progress of art in the Old World has been patron- age. The governments have lavished immense sums upon national works, and have often liberally patronized individual artists ; titles and patents of nobility have often been bestowed upon the sons of genius, as well as upon the mere court favorites of hereditary dignitaries ; nobles and millionaires have expended large sums in the gratification of their taste or their pride; while the Church has borrowed an external lustre and a .material prosperity from the adornment of its cathedrals and edifices. Architecture and paint- ing, sculpture and music have been taxed to their utmost resources to furnish their attractions, while the artist has been patronized for the creations of his genius. In our country, however, patronage must come from a different source. It must depend in a great degree upon the material prosperity of the people. Prosperity must depend upon the just rewards of labor. Just as the arts have declined in those countries which have been their ancient cradle, with the declension of material prosperity, so the obstacles to this prosperity must act as a formidable if not . insurmountable obstacle to the advancement of the arts in our country where and while they exist. The more labor we perform, and the more of our labor we sell to foreign nations or in our domestic markets, the greater will be the rewards of labor. 'Hence, what- ever will stimulate production in every department, agricultural, mechanical, artistic, and intellectual, must have a beneficent influence upon the refinement of the people. This will, as a matter of necessity, react upon its source, and thus there will be a contemporaneous advance in social and civil prosperity, refinemement, an<] culture. We believe that these ends will be more truly reached by regarding our country and its interests, our own citizens and their interests, as of first im- portance. We have no more moral right to squander our national resources, because a benignant Providence has placed them in our hands, than we have to be reckless of our individual resources. The jjrodigal learns too late that he has been unwise, and it may be true of a nation as well. The legacy received by the squandering heir will not always last, though his children after- wards may make their own fortunes. So one generation may squander boun- teous gifts, which the next may gather again, and find itself at its close where it would have been at its beginning, had its predecessor been wise. A national disaster and a general commercial levulsion throw back prosperity ten or fifteen years. Blood flows quick in fever, but the system is always the weaker for the attack. So a false and temporary prosperity of speculation and excitement leaves the nation weaker than before. The true development, therefore, of our interests and resources, by a well-remunerated and progress- ively advancing production, depending upon the harmonious and reciprocal ATMOSPHERIC RAILWAY. action of all our citizens, is the surest means for securing the culture of the arts in the United States. Patronage will not come from the few of large means, but will follow from the general and popular distribution of the rewards of labor. Whoever desires to see the arts advance in our country, must expect to see that result spring out of the pros))erity of the people. ATMOSPHERIC RAILWAY. Wk have recently alluded to a iie\\ railway of this description now in operation in Frauce. It will be acceptable to our readers, no doubt, to know not only of its succes^^, but of the manner of its action ; and we have con- densed the following account from the letters of a correspondent of one of our exoiianges, the Ohio Journal : One of the greatest curiosities in a mechanical way which I have met with in my travels, is that of the Atmospheric Railway at St. Germain, about fifteen miles from Pari.'^. Atmospheric pressure has here been adopted to propel trains of cars for a distance of five miles and nearly a half — the last half of which has an ascent of three and a half per cent. This ascent was too great to be overcome in all weathers by n locomotive, and indeed only one locomotive has been found sufliciently powerful to draw a train up at any time. The system in use in the United States on inclined planes, of drawing- trains up and letting them down by means of a rope, has been found here, as elsewhere, too troublesome, too slow, and attended with too many acci- dents, to be found available on suburban roads where the travel is so gTeat. An iron tube is laid down in the centre of the track, which is .-unk about one third of its diameter in the bed of the road. For a distance of about 5,500 yards the tube has a diameter of only If feet, the ascent hero being so slight as not to require the same amount of force as is required on the steep grade ascending to St. Germain, where the pipe for a rlistance of 3,800 yards is 2 feet 1 inch in diameter. The manner of applying the atmospheric pressure to the propulsion of the train is exceedingly simple. The air is exhausted from the entire length of the tube, so as to produce a perfect vacuum, just before the arrival of each train, (which is every half hour,) by means of powerful and beautiful engines, somewhat resembling those at Fairmount. These engines are placed — two of two hundred horse-power at St. Germain, and one ^ach at the towns of' Neuterre and Chaton, in the valley towards Paris. To each engine is adapted two large cylinders, which exhaii.-t fourteen cubic feet of air per second. The pressure in the large air caldron (chau- diere) attached to the exhausting machines is equal to six absolute atmos- pheres. It will be readily understood that when this long tube is completely exhausted of air, if a piston so nicely adjusted to the size of the tube as to render it air-tight is allowed to go loose at one end, it will rush through to the other end to fill up the vacuum. To apply the motive power, therefore, to the propulsion of the train, it is only necessary that this piston be attached to the train of cars in such a way as to drag them along after it. This was the great diflBculty to encounter ; but so admirably and so simply was this overcome, that the engineer assured us that an accident of any kind seldom ever occurred. Tliroughout the entire length of the tube, a section 8 PERSPECTIVE DRAWING. is made in the top, leaving an open space of about five inches. In each cut edge of the section there is an offset to catch the edges of a valve v?hich fits down upon it. The valve is made of a piece of sole leather half an inch thick, having plates of iron attached to it on both the upper and corresponding under side, to give it strength to resist the suction of the vacuum, which are perhaps one fourth of an inch in thickness. They are not quite as wide as the leather, but wide enough to touch the offset in the suction. The plates are about nine inches long, and their ends, above and below, are placed three quarters of an inch apart, forming joints, so as to give the leather valve pliability, and at the same time firmness to resist the powerful atmospheric pressure which is brought to bear on it when the air is exhausted. The entire length of the \ alve, from one end of the tube to the other, is at- tached to one side, like a cellar door, for example. From the back side of the piston, a strong iron rod passes up through the aperture which is made by raising up the edge of the valve, and is attached to the bottom of the foremost car. As fast as the piston passes along, the valve is released from the "pressure behind it, the loose edge is liberated, and the bar of iron which is attached to the car a foot or more behind the piston, meets with no obstruction to its passage. The pressure of the atmosphere on the valve in front of the piston, where the vacuum still exists, is so great that there is no danger of the bar of iron exerting pressure so far forward as to loosen the pliable valve ; but to render the matter more certain, and to obviate all doubt, a slide on the bottom of the car slips along on the iron plate of the valve over and in advance of the piston, and presses firmly down. Every part of the tube is kept well oiled. The rate at Avhich trains ascend varies from fifteen to twenty miles the hour, according to the load. When we went up, there were six cars very well filled with passengers. After the ascent commences, two bridges across the Seine, and one viaduct of twenty feet high, and wide arches, are crossed, and one long tunnel through the brow of the hill and under the King's Terrace is passed, where the road is parabolically curved. The road has now been in operation five years ; and so safely and so well has it worked, that the experiment is regarded as entirely successful. The cost of the entire machinery was eleven millions of francs. The cost of work- ing it, or the dividends which the road pays, I did not ascertain. PERSPECTIVE DRAWING. Who is there who never tried to draw the figure of a house ? Who that has not often wished to place on paper views which excited intense pleasure, while the thought, " I cannot draw," put an end, instantly, to all such " fool- ish fancies" ? There are many occasions in which one may wish to present a plan for the consideration of others ; it may be a house, or a block, or a street ; but he " can't draw." He desires to give to the public a representation of some of the contrivances about his farm ; as a barn, a pen for swine, a hen-house, (fee. But can he draw ? There is now lying on our table a representation of a row of stalls, for cattle, by an editor of no small pretensions, which no one would guess to be what they are intended to represent. The witty draftsman PERSPECTIVE DRAWING. declares himself as skilled only in drawing babies in a willow basket, and thus passes off his failure with a jest. The joke is in truth far better than the drawing, and perhaps makes amends for the lack of artistic skill. But we should rather appear respectable in both, if quite convenient. A week devoted to the acquisition of this art would give all necessary facility for the representation of common rectilinear objects. Curves require much prac- tice ere they can be drawn accurately. But even these are not insurmountable for those of only ordinary tact. And we promise even such, if they will devote an hour or two to each of our short articles on this subject, carried on as we now propose to do, that they shall, at the last, have acquired all that is necessary for the purposes described. We do not mean that they will exhaust even that department of the subject. To draw well, in the highest sense of the term, is a study of years. But the power of giving fac-simile representations of an indefinite variety of rectilinear objects is thus attainable. And we invite all our readers, yet unskilled in this department, fathers, mothers and chil- dren, to sit down together at their table, these long evenings, and practise together in the manner we may point out. Certain principles lie at the foundation of this art, \a hich are easily under- stood and applied. The technical terms employed are few in number, aiid almost explain themselves. There often are complexities involved in a crowded picture which occasion much trouble to one not thoroughly versed in the art ; pictures presenting circles, ellipses, arches, &c., in perspective and other kinds of lines, which, after a practice of years, will require great care. But fac-similes of an indefinite variety may be drawn on paper, with comparatively but little previous study or practice. We shall present the subject after a plan of our own, having reference, of course, to the supposed circumstances of the reader, who is often limited in the time he can devote to it, and limited also in his facilities for obtaining explanations oi- elucidations of the various principles of the art, which might be otherwise more concisely treated. But we shall generally suppose that all know how to draw perpendicular and parallel lines, and the like, for these problems are found in almost all our manuals of arith- metic, and are always accessible. Sometimes, however, we shall give direc- tions even on these familiar problems. Among the more obvious principles and assumptions connected with this art, are the following : 1. The lowest horizontal line of a picture is called the Ground Line. 2. Somewhere above this ground line, and parallel to it, is the Line of THE HoKizoN. The position of this line must depend upon circumstances, as will more fully appear hereafter. It is obvious, however, that the higher your own position above the plane of the picture, the higher, that is the more distant from the ground line, is the horizon. A man at mast-head can see further than a man on deck. 3. Again, notice a phenomenon which our readers must often have wit- nessed. In looking down a long, lighted street, in the evening, the lamps on the oppposite sides of the street seem to approach each other, as their dis- tance from you increases. If the street were long enough, and straight, they would appear to meet. What is true of points, represented by these lamps, is also true of lines. The further they are extended from you towards the horizon, the less is their apparent distance from each other. Standing in a car, if you look along the track, and notice the appearance of the rails, you will fully appreciate our assertion. 30 PERSPECTIVE DRAWING. Surfaces are subject to the same law. Thu** the buildings on the side of the lighted street decrease in apparent size, as their distance from you increases. As the width of the street decreases, so does Die heiiiht of the buildings, and both in the same ratio. Notice the figure in Diag. 1. the margin. This di- agram may represent ._ a simple structure ex- tended a considerable | j distance. The perpeu- ; \ dicular lines plainly L denote equal d i visions, although they are drawn, in tact, on pa- per, at constantly de- creasing intervals. A glance at its proportions indicates that in height, breadth, and depth, it is gradually decreasing as its length increases. You may call these surfaces the boundaries of a street, which has a roof upon it. Other streets may be laid out parallel to it, or branching from it; and ail these, of coui-se, as to their several dimensions, must be governed by the same law. Trees, rivers, and all animated objects, seen along these lines, are alike subject to it. Hence it follows, that all landscapes must be drawn in accordance with this universal truth, or they will not appear as in nature. Were the oblique lines bounding the sides of this building continued to a given distance, they and the surfaces which they bound would all seem to vanish in one point; and that point is the Vanisiiing Point. It is obvious also that these lines do in fact meet, on paper, at a given point, usually within the picture, as in the second diagram, and this point on the pichire plane is called the Point of Sight. It is the point where a line from the vanishing point on the actual horizon to your eye cuts the picture plane, and is the point where the dotted lines meet on the second diagram. All horizontal lines meet, on the picture plane, at the point of sight. Apply a straight edge to those of our first diagram, and you will find this law verified. Now let us all apply our hands to another practical test of this principle. Get your slates and pencils, or paper, &c.) and see what we can produce. Go, step by step, just as we direct. First, then, Diag. 2. draw a square, all of its sides being about four inches long. Secondly, make a very small dot or a point with your dividers, if you have them near, but a little above the centre of this square. Ne.xt draw hnes from the two lower angles, towards this point near the centre, about 1^ inches long, (which here we have con- tinued to the centre point, merely to show their true position,) and unite the extremities of these lines 'by another, which must, of course, be parallel to the bottom of the square. On this line, as a base line or bottom line, complete an inner square. That is, draw two perpendicular lines for sides, which must bo continued (extended) till each TRUE AND FALSE SCIENCE- 11 euts another line drawn from the upper angle-* of the square, towards the aame point near the centre, and then unite these two perpendiadar lines by a line parallel to the upper side of the square. You now have two squares, one within the other, united by lines which join the angles of one to those of the other, and all these last or connecting lines, if continued, would meet at the same central point. If you then draw three or four or more lines along the two sides of these squares, joining them still more frequently, all of which must run as if radiating from this same centre, you will have a more obvious representation of a room, with its walls, ceiling and floor, into which you are looking from without, through an open side. That central point will either disappear, or seem to be some object seen at a distance, beyond that which you have been calling into being. You can add windows, &c., by and by, to make the representation still more closely represent^ some original. 4. While all oblique lines (that is, lines not drawn parallel to the ground line, nor perpendicular to it) must meet on the horizon at the vanishing point, sometimes there will be two vanishing points on the same horizon. Thus, each of the faces of the cube in Diag. 3. the margin are bounded by two oblique lines, which come to a point on the ho- rizon, and two which are perpendicular. But the obhque lines meet on the oppo- site sides of the figure. A mere glance will show, in all cases, whether the prob- lem before you requires one or more vanishing points. By drawing a series of squares, or triangles, or other forms, and selecting different points behind, above, or oblique to each, as vanishing points,* you can represent objects with a variety of forms at pleasure. TRUE AND FALSE SCIENCE. It is popular in certain quartei-s to decry learning of every form. With this class nothing is admitted authority but " experience ;" and this " experi- ence" is generally and almost exclusively the experience of the uneducated. These place themselves in circumstances where it is next to impossible for them ever to make useful progress. But there is another class who would decide every thing by the symbols of the mathematician, or at least in the study of the learned. We think these quite as far out of the way as the other class. No man shall claim a higher respect for science or scientific men than do ourselves. In its proper sphere its utterings are beyond controversy. The demonstrations of geometry and algebra, the results of all mathematical calculations, right! / conducted, and having immediate relation only to their own symbols and mci.les of expression, are to give place to nothing short of the undeniable voice iVom heaven ; and these two never can be opposed to each other. So, in all matters of taste, cul- tivation gives actual superiority, and should secure respect. But when theory puts off her robes, and mixes in the dust and turmoil of practical life ; when she comes into our fields, our workshops, or our kitchens, or undertakes to run on our railroads, we would rather have one experiment resulting in actual success than a dozen plausible theories. Jn other words, all 12 TRUE AND FALSE SCIENCE. 2)ractical sciences demaud the endorsemeut of actual experiment before their dicta are at all reliable. Let us illustrate our meaning. The mere physiologist or anatomist tells us that the muscles of the chest are larger and stronger than those of the neck or the arms, and hence all burdens should be carried on the shoulders, rather than on the head or on the arms. But go out into the street, and we have the demonstration of the senses, that many burdens can be carried on the head, all things considered, better than in any other manner. Again, some nations attach the weight to be drawn to the head of the ox, rather than to his shoulders. AVe are sometimes doubtful whether this is always bad policy. What tremendous power there is in the head and horns of a mad bull ! How- strong and thick is that muscle which envelopes il ! With some natural shapes, we doubt whether an ox will not draw as much by his head as when harnessed in a yoke. As we use these animals, the pressure is against a movable and moving limb. Should we not, leasoning as from the books, expect to find this arrangement resulting in lameness, and finally in utter helplessness ? But our point is that we must not go to a college library to learn this, but into the field, and by actual " experiment " learn the actual fact. The best slope for roofs is another of this class of doubtful facts. The mathematician can tell with absolute certainty which of several plans will consume most lumber, and which is the strongest. He may not be able to tell which, under existing circumstances, is actually the best. The whole science oi friction is at best an approximation to the truth. What is established as a general law is the result of a given number of experiments. One more or one less would have lessened or increased the average result. Friction, in certain given instances, may have been tested till the exact truth is very nearly ascertained. But one well-conducted experiment is sojnetiraes enough to prove a theory or general rule fundamentally defec- tive. One illustration occurs to us while we are writing. Book-farmers, when they saw, and their good judgment approved the position, that break- ing up and disintegrating the soil qualified it the better to produce crops, established the precept, " plough, plough, plough." We have seen it so printed "in the books." But one of the best farmers in New-England recently reasoned himself into a query on this subject, and put his queries to the test, and became convinced that frequent ploughing was injurious to the crops, particularly in a drought. Now many farmers see all this as plainly as possible, and wonder that any could have thought differently ; but there is by no means, as yet, a general agreement among farmers on this point. Another similar case occurs to us. Ten or twelve years ago, our learned men began to experiment with electro-magnetism as a motive power. And we well remember the fii-st " model car " on a circular railroad, flying round, moved only by this power, at a great speed. Here was " experiment " and science too. But science claimed more. " There is no limit to the application of this power ; all our trains can be carried and will be carried by this alone." Was " science " right in all this ? The unremitting efforts of more than one, from that day to this, have not yet found a way of doing more than the work of " six horses," and this, we believe, only by accumulating power by the rapid revolution of a very heavy wheel, before the weight was attached. The only service that we have known performed by this agent, in the actual and continued and reliable performance of useful labor, is, to cry fire and ring the bells for the good people of Boston. A similar result has followed the endeavors of the theorist, the mere HYDRAULIC RAM. 13 book-mechanic, to obtain a great amount of labor out of the hydraulic ram, as illustrated on another page of this journal. Many of the various and apparently interminable questions relating to the wholesomeness of certain kinds of food, or of drinks, we think, belong to this class. One wise physician denounces coffee, another tea, another chocolate, while a third balieves that cold drinks chill the stomach, and a fourth is sure that hot drinks essentially weaken it. Does not each found his belief on what he has seen, or experienced, or read ? Accurate and honest observation is the last appeal that can be taken amid all this confusion of theories. Every science must rest upon its own inherent merits, and when these are established, it may demand our assent, while it confines itself within its true limits. Beyond, it can claim no homage of any man. If the chemist tells us that water is composed of two elements, and exhibits the evidence of it, we have no right to deny it. If he states further that these elements are both destructive to life, and that therefore it must not be used as a beverage, we may appeal to long and constant and universal use, not only without injurious, but with positively beneficial effects, with no evidence of experience to the con- trary, as quite a sufficient answer. The superiority of certain mechanisms in oar ordinary labor can be tested only by experience. This proves its mathematics to be true or false. If the theory is sound, fair experiment will only illustrate its truth. If it is unsound, the same experiment will expose its misrepresentations. Either may be erro- neously conducted — the demonstration or the experiment — and hence repeated tests are often important. Facts, however, are stubborn things, and actual trial is of far greater value than the theories of even very learned men. HYDRAULIC RA^M. Si.vc'E the short article on page 17, which contains a few suggestions on this motive power, was placed in the hands of the printer, we have met with a very clever account oi it in the Mechanic ; and we are rather pleased to see that the indefiniteness with which the whole operation of it floats in our mind, appears to be the rule rather than the exception, as we had supposed it was. The editor says: " The alternate action of the valves, produced by the oscil- latory motion of the water in the ram, shows plainly the physical causes which produce the effect of this machine; but they never have been sufli- ciently understood to furnish the basis of a mathematical formula. It has been supposed that the passive resistance, and especially those arising from the shock or blow given by the valves, interpose difficulties in determining their value, which render any estimate of the whole dynamic effect almost impossible; hence its effective power as a motor has always been determined by experiments." The momentum communicated to the still w^ater is esti- mated as from 57 to 70 per cent. If 31-5 galls, water are used per minute, in a fall of 37 feet, its momemtum becomes 31*5 X 37 = 1165-o. If the quantity of water raised 195 feet be 3'85 galls, per minute, its momentum becomes 195 x 3-8o=750-75. That is, the ram transmits -j-Y/^- of the whole water used, or about 64 per cent. The first invention of this motive power is ascribed to Mr. Whitehurst, a watchmaker of Derby, England, in 1772. In 179G, Montgolfier originated the same thing, having never seen that by Whitehurst. 14 HYDRAULIC RAM. The operation of the hydrau- lic ram is as follows : At H is a spring, or other constant sup- ply of water. A pipe, perhaps 1-^ inches in diameter, or greater if desired, is laid from the upper surface of this reservoir to a point below, (and the greater the fall the better.) The lower end is furnished with a valve so ar- ranged that, when the water in the pipe has acquired a given velocity, it will be closed. This, of course, suddenly stops the current. If, near the lower end, a perpendicular tube (C) is con- nected with the main tube, this sudden arrest of the current will force a quantity of water from the main tube to a given height. The pressure on the lower valve being thus relieved, it again opens, and the current again moves, is again arrested, and again the water rises in the tube C. If an air chamber (A) is affixed in connection with the bottom of the upright pipe, it will secure a more regular and constant flow of the water iu the perpendicular pipe. It will also furnish security against the bursting of the pipes by the sudden closing of the valve. The little fountain at D is not an essential part of the mechanism, but is only one of the possible forms of adapting the instrument to ornamental uses. Estimating the general average as 60 per cent., the following rule.s are given for ascertaining the several possible results, to wit : To determine, the height to which the ivater can be raised. — Multiply the quantity of water to pass through the ram by the whole fall on the site, and this product by '60 Then divide this product by the quantity to be raised in the same time. Thus, if the supply be 30 galls, per minute, and the fall but 1 foot, how high will this raise 1 gall, per minute? 30 x 1 =30X'60=*= 18-^l = 18, the height to which this quantity can be raised. To determine how mtich water can be raised a given height. — Multiply the quantity on the site by its fall, and this product by '60, and then divide by the given height. If 100 galls, flow per minute, the fall be 6 feet, and the height required 70 feet, 100 X 6=600 x -60=360-^ 7 0=5 galls, nearly per minute. The principal sources of mistake in these rules are perhaps these : 1. The want of accuracy in the '60, which is assumed as the average. This ratio will vary more or less with the length of the tubes through which the ■water is forced, the number or extent of angles or curves, the nature and condition of the tubes through which it passes, and this on the supposition that the machine itself is perfect in its construction. The writer of the remarks already quoted closes with the following par- agraph : " When the water ram was first invented, it was supposed it could bo used for raising large quantities of water; but as yet all attempts to elevate respect- able volumes have failed, on account of the violent shock of the valves and the heavy pulsations of the machine, which are so severe as to render it impos- sible t-o make them sufficiently stronjy to stand any length of time. We are THK ARABIAN HORSE '' TARTAR. IS of the opinion that all these difficulties could be removed. It is to be Lopefl that some of our inventive niecimiiies will consider this subject. Tlie largest size"that has been used to any extent, is only equivalent to about one fourth of a horr^e power."' THK ARABIAN HORSE "TARTAR" Tub above cut lepiesents '■Tartar,'^ one of three jouny entire horees, of Arabian blood, bred by Asa Pingree, Esq., of Topsfield, and now in pos- session of J. S. Leavitt, Esq., of Salem, Mass. He was six years old in the spring of 185'-', and was sired by the imported full-blood Arabian horee "■ Iniaumy '• Tartar " stands fifteen and a fourth hands high, weighs nine hundred pounds, and is of a dark-gray color, with dark mane and tail. The engraving above pretty well shows the configuration of " Tartar," but cannot represent the agile action, flashing eye, and cat-like nimbleness of all his movements. It shows, however, the beautiful Arabian head and finely-set-on neck ; his ample, muscular quarters ; his flat legs, rather short from the knee downwards; and his long and elastic pastern. All his motions are light and exceedingly graceful, and his temperament so docile that a child may handle him. The owner' of " Tartar " has also two other horses of the same blood. The first, " Sultan," was seven years old in May, 1852, sired by "Imaum,"and out of a full-bbod English mare ; stands fifteen hands high, weighs about nine hundred and fifty pounds, and is of a light gray, or rather light chestnut, dapple color — fine figure and action. The second, " Prince," was seven years old in August, 1852. sired by " Imaum ," and out of a Vermont Morgan mare ; 16 THE ARABIAN HORSE " TARTAR." — » stands fourteen and a half hands high, weighs nine hundred and fifty pounds, and of a granite or stone-gray color, which was the color of the sire. The horse " Iniaum," sire of the three horses above mentioned, is the horse referred to in the New-EnrjUmd Farmer, for 1849, page 355, as follows : "In 1842, a tine Arabian horse, of pure blood, was presented by the Sul- tan of Muscat to David Pingree, Esq., of Salem, as a mark of distinction and particular regard, selected as one of the best fi'om a stud of one hundred horses. Hon. Richard P. Waters, late United States Consul at Zanzibar, who shipped said horse by order of his highness the Sultan, remarks as follows of this race : " ' It is well known that all the superior properties of the Barbary, the Andalusian, and the English blood-horse, are derived from the Arabian. This blood of horses have greater powers of endurance, better wind, or bottom, as it is technically called, than any other in the world — besides more ease of motion, activity, and grace of action, " 'It is unnecessary to recommend him to those who are fond of fine horses, as highly worthy of their attention. Richard P. Waters.'" It is undoubtedly the combination of different and excellent qualities vchich makes up the best horse. The Arabian possesses remarkable powers of speed, and it is said of endurance, too ; but we cannot doubt that the Arabian, mingled with the best of the English road horses, has produced a stock better than either of the originals for the practical uses which we make of them. The introduction of this splendid animal into our columns affords us an opportunity to refer to an anecdote or two, showing the strong love which the Arabs have for their noble steeds. They have exhausted all the wealth of their fine language and rich imaginations in descriptions of the beauty, spirit, and pride of the noble animal. The mare of Shedad, called " Jirwet," is thus mentioned : Shedad's mare was called Jirwet, whose like was unknown. Kings nego- tiated with him for her, but he would not part with her, and would accept of no offer or bribe for her ; and thus he used to talk of her in his verses : " Seek not to purchase my horse, for Jirwet is not to be bought or borrowed. I am a strong castle on her back ; and in her bound are glory and greatness. I would not part with her were strings of camels to come to me, v.-ith their drivers following them. She flies with the wind without wings, and tears up the waste and the desert. I will keep her for the day of calamitie?,|and she will rescue me when the battle-dust rises." What energy and power there is in the following description : " But at the clash of arms, his ears afar Driuk the deep sound, and vibrate to the war ; Flames from each nostril roll in gathered stream ; His quivering limbs with restless motion gleam; O'er his right shoulder, floating full aud fair, Sweeps his thick mane and spreads his pomp of hair; Swift works his double spine ; and earth around Rings to the solid hoof that wears the ground." The Bible has seveial passages of surpassing grandeur in relation to the horse, showing that his speed aud power were appreciated in those remote times. A description bordering on sublimity may be found in Job, chapter xxxix., to which the reader is referred. We are indebted to our friends, the Neiu-England Farmer, for the above cut and description. MECHANICS OF FARM WORK. 17 MECHANICS OF FARM WORK. There are various ways in whicli the labor of farm work may be materi- ally diminished. We now specify sundry modes, in a department of work unhke those ah-eady spoken of in previous articles iinder this title. Whoever has regaled himself with a trip along Cape Cod, in the warm months of the year, will remember those long rows of wind-mills in some of the lower towns, and especially at Provincetown. They extend, according to our recollection, more than half a mile, at intervals of a few rods. A stranger to the industry of that region would wonder what could be their design. They are for pumping the salt water of the harbor into their salt pans, for the manufacture of salt. They extend their long arms clear above the line of any thing else earthly, for nothing can grow on that desolate sand bank ; and being shifted by suitable machinery to accommodate the various changes of the wind, both as to direction and force, they work at the time and tiie speed their overseers demand. The attachment of these revolving shafts to the piston of the pump is nothing but a crank, or in common par- lance the shaft has a double elbow directly over the pump, to which the upper portion of the piston is attached. This mechanical contrivance forces the " idle wind" to do all this labor. Many a farmer might avail himself of this expedient in providing water for himself, his flocks, and his herds. His oldest son might make the huge arms, by way of amusement ; and we are sure that the saving of cold, not to say severe work, might also be quite agreeable to him. But there are other contrivances for this, often more available, and more economical. We refer to the Hydraulic Ram. We need not give a diagram of it, perhaps, for it is in almost every weekly sheet in the country. It is a contrivance, eminently adapted, as it always seemed to us, to get round the law of gravitation, or in other words, make water run up hill. This feat it accomplishes, in fact, and by a very simple process. Were we to try to talk scientifically upon it, we might say, that it makes itself efficient by taking advantage of the laws of dynamics in connection with statics, or by making running water to exert an influence upon still water. Perhaps the principle involved may be made intelligible by this. A cubic foot of running water has a certain momentum. By- leading it into pipes, with valves, this momentum may be communicated to still water in those pipes, in such manner as to meet the wishes of the mechanic. A ball rolling down an inclined plane, will roll up another con- tiguous to it. If its momentum was communicated to other little balls at the junction of the planes, these little ones would rise so much higher than the large one, as they are less in size. It is on this principle the Hydraulic Ram acts. Half the farmers in the country, at an outlay of less than $50 or $100, and often not over $25, might have a constant supply of fresh water, both for bipeds and for quadrupeds. Irrigation of fields might be secured by this mechanism, and the amount of root crops, grass, &c., ofttimes be doubled by the means. PoRfERAGE, or the carriage of burdens, is another matter, about which the strangest notions are entertained, and consequently the most extravagant practices are frequent. In the streets of New- York, you are constantly meeting men and women, foreigners chiefly, with heavy burdens on their heads. In Yankeedom such a sight would be as strange as a sight of an elephant. Barnum's Sea-Tigress, at his New- York Museum, is nothing to it. We except, of course, those cities where Germans congregate. Which vou V. 2 18 THE USB OF LIME IN AGRICULTURE. is right, the foreigner or the Yankee ? Many of the latter resort to a con- trivance for carrying buckets, which is sometimes, at least, very convenient : a piece of light timuer, fitted to place on and across the neck and shoulders, from which buckets, (fee, may be suspended on cords of a length to avoid the ground as the carrier ordinarily walks. This seems limited also to cer- tain localities, thouglj in some places it is very common. It is more conve- nient in farming districts than in crowded cities. And we are here reminded of a remark or two in relation to the modes of attaching quadrupeds, as well as bipeds, to their various burdens. Yokes are generally used for oxen and cows, and collars and breastplates for the horse kind. But we have seen oxen harnessed very much after the fashion of a horse, and we are by no means certain that we are so much in advance of our less scientific neigh- bors, on these practical points, as we have supposed. Many wise men con- tend for the use of collars ; others, equally wise, reject them. Habit does much on all these points. The point of pressure, or line of draft, is not the same in the collar as in the breastplate, but higher, and its arrangement is such that it should be so calculated, to secure a proper draught. Besides, a horse throws himself down upon his load when he draws, so that for this reason also, the line of the traces or chains should be higher than otherwise would be proper. The degree of difierence should depend on circumstances — the form of the horse's breast, the shape, height, _ , GENEKAL ACTION OF LIME AS A CHEMICAL CONSTITUENT OF THE SOIL. Lime, as I have already shown, acts in two ways upon the soil. It produces a mechanical alteration, which is simple and easily understood, and is the cause of a series of chemical changes, which are really obscure, and are as yet sus- ceptible of only partial explanation. In the finely-divided state of quick-lime, of slaked lime, or of soft and crumbling chalk, it stiffens very loose soils, and opens the stiflPer clays ; while, in the form of limestone gravel or of shell-sand, it may be employed either for opening a clay soil or for giving body and firmness to boggy land. These effects, and their explanation, are so obvious that it is unnecessary to dwell upon them more than has already bean done. The purposes served by lime as a chemical constituent of the soil are at least of four distinct kinds. 1. In every state of chemical combination it supplies one or more kinds of inorganic food, which appear to be necessary to the healthy growth of all our cultivated plants. 2. In the state of quick-lime or of carbonate it performs three additional functions. a. It neutralizes acid substances which are naturally formed in the soil, and decomposes other noxious compounds which are not unfrequently within reach of the roots of plants, producing in their stead substances which are not only harmless but often directly useful to vegetation. h. It changes the inert vegetable matter in the soil, liberates the inorganic substances it contains, and thus gradually renders it useful to vegetation. c. It aids and promotes the decomposition of the mineral or rocky frag- ments of which so much of all our soils consists, sets free the mineral substances they contain, and thus enables them to become useful to the growth of plants. These several modes of action it will be necessary to illustrate in some detail. OF LIME AS THE FOOD OF PLANTS. On examining the chemical nature of the ash of plants, it is found that lime in all cases forms a considerable proportion of its whole weight. Hepce the reason why lime is regarded as a necessary food of plants, and hence also one cause of its beneficial influence in general agricultural practice. The quantity of pure lime contained in the crops produced upon one acre, during a four years' rotation, amounts on an average to about 200 lbs., equal to 360 lbs. (say 3^ cwt.) of carbonate of lime, in the state of marl, shell-sand, or limestone gravel. It is obvious, therefore, that one of the most intelligible purposes served by lime, as a chemical constituent of the soil, is to supply this comparatively large quantity of lime, which, in some form or other, must enter into the roots of plants. But the different crops which we grow contain lime in unlike proportions. Thus the average produce of an acre of land under the following crops con- tains of lime — Per acre. Wheat, (25 bush.) Barley, (40 bush.) Oats, (50 bush.^ Rye, (26 bush.j Beans, (25 bush.) Turnips, (20 tons) Potatoes, ( 8 tons) Red Clover, ( 2 tons) Rye Grass, ( 2 tons) Lime in the Grain. Straw or Roots. Total. 1 12 13 lbs. U 15i 17 lbs. 3 19 22 lbs. H 15^ 17 lbs. H 34 36^ lbs. 46 Y2 118 lbs. 8 31 39 lbs. — 77 77 lbs. 30 30 lbs. 20 THE USE OF LIME IN AGRICULTURE. These quantities are not constant, and generally all our crops contain more lime when grown upon land to which lime has been copiously applied. But the very dift'erent quantities contained in the several crops, as above exhibited, show that one reason ^vhy lime favors the growth of some crops more than others is, that some actually take up a larger quantity of lime as food. These crops, therefore, require the presence of lime in greater proportion in the soil, in order that they may be able to obtain it so readily that no delay may occur in the performance of those functions, or in the growth of those parts, to wbich lime is indispensable. RELATION OF THE PERIOD OF GROWTH OF A PLANT TO THE EFFECT AND PRO- PORTION OF LIME IN THE SOIL. In connection with the quantities of lime actually found in plants, another important circumstance must be taken into consideration. Whatever kind or amount of food a plant may require to bring it to matu- rity, it must collect the whole during the time usually allotted to its growth. Thus the longer a crop is in the ground, the slower it grows ; and the longer it usually takes to come to maturity, the more time it has to collect its food from the soil by means of its roots. Barley germinates and ripens its seed within three months — in Sicily sometimes within three weeks — while wheat is from six to ten months in the ground. The roots of barley, therefore, must do much more work in the same time than those of wheat. They must, among other things, take up the 17 lbs. of lime in the above table in three months, while wheat takes up on an average only 13 lbs. in six months. Now, to effect this in the same soil, it must send out more roots in quest of this kind of food than the wheat plant will require to do, and thus it must waste more of its vegetative strength under ground. But if we make the supply of lime in the soil more abundant, we diminish the labor of the barley plant, and greatly facilitate its growth. Thus we arrive at the conclusion that the proportion of lime contained in the soil ought to be adapted not only to the proportion which the perfect plant is found to contain and require, but to the period also which is allotted to its natural growth. For crops which run their course quickly, a larger propor- tion of lime, as well as of all other kinds of food, will be required, or will be beneficial, than for crops that are longer in coming to perfection. Has this fact any thing to do with the earlier harvests upon well-limed land, or with its peculiar fitness for the growth of barley ? THE CHEMICAL ACTION OF LIME IS EXERTED CHIEFLY UPON THE ORGANIC MATTER OF THE SOIL. There are four circumstances of great practical importamce, which cannot be too carefully considered in reference to the theory of the operation of lime. These are — 1. That lime, unless in the form of compost, has comparatively little or no ■effect upon soils in which organic matter is deficient. 2. That its apparent effect, at least upon the corn crop, is inconsiderable during the first year after its application, compared with that which it pro- duces in the second and third years. 3. That its effect is most sensible when it is kept near the surface of the -soil, and gradually becomes less as it sinks towards the subsoil. And 4. That, under the influence of lime, the organic matter of the soil disap- pears more rapidly than it otherwise would do, and that, after it has thus disappeared, equal additions of lime are much less beneficial than before. THE USE OF LIME IN AGRICULTURE. 21 It is obvious, from these facts, that in general the main beneficial purpose served by lime is to be sought for in the nature of its chemical action upon the organic matter of the soil ; an action which takes place slowly, wliich is hastened by the access of the air, and which causes the organic matter itself ultimately to disappear. OF THE FORMS IN WHICH ORGANIC MATTER USUALLY EXISTS IN THE SOIL. The organic matter which lime thus causes to disappear is presented to it in one or other of five different forms : 1. In that of recent, often green, moist and undecomposed roots, leaves and stems of plants. 2. In that of dry and still undecomposed vegetable matter, such as straw. 3. In a more or less decayed or decaying staLe, generally black or brown in color, and often in some degree soluble iu water. In such a state we see it in peat. 4. In what is called the inert state, when sjjontaneous decay ceases to be sensibly observed. And — 5. In the state of chemical combination with the earthy substances, form- ing humates, ulmates, &c., with the alumina, and with the lime or magnesia which exist in the soil. Upon these several varieties of organic matter lime acts with diflerent degrees of rapidity. CIRCUMSTANCES UNDER WHICH THE DECOMPOSITION OF THE ORGANIC MATTER MAY TAKE PLACE, The final result of the decomposition of these several forms of organic matter, when they contain no nitrogen, is their conversion into carbonic acid and water only. They pass, however, through several intermediate stages before they reach this point; the number and rapidity of which, and the kind of changes they undergo at each stage, depend upon the circumstances under which the decomposition is effected. Thus the substance may decompose — 1. Alone, in which case the changes that occur proceed slowly, and arise solely from a new arrangement of its own particles. This kind of decompo- sition rarely occurs to any extent in the soil, and then only in such as are very compact, and impervious to air and water. 2. In the presence of water only. — This also seldom takes place in the soil. Trees, long buried in moist clays impervious to air, exhibit the kind of slow alteration which results from the presence of water alone. In the bottoms of lakes, ditclies, and boggy places also from which inflammable gases arise, water is the principal cause of the more rapid decomposition. 3. In the presence of air only. — In nature organic matter is never placed in this condition, the air of our atmosphere being always largely mixed with moisture. In dry air decomposition is exceedingly slow, and the changes which dry organic substances undergo in it are often scarcely perceptible. 4. In the presence of both ivater and air. — This is the almost univeisal condition of the organic matter iu our fields and farm -yards. The joint action of air and water, and the tendency of the elements of the organic mattei- to enter into new combinations, cause new chemical change; to succeed each other with much rapidity. It will of course be understood that moderate warmth is necessary to the production of these effects.* * A familiar illustration of the conjoined efficacy of air and water in producing oxidation (rusting) is exhibited in their action \ipon iron. If a piece of i)ulished iron be kept iu perft ctly dry air, it will not rust Or if it be completely covered over with pure boiled water, in a well-stoppered bottle from which air is excluded, it will ^^ THE USE OF LIME IN AGRICULTURE. 5. In the presence of lime, or of some other alkaline substance, (potash, soda, or magnesia.) — Organic matter is often found in the soil in such a state that the conjoined action of both air and water is unable, without other aid, to hasten its decomposition. A new chemical agency must then be introduced, by which the elements of the organic matter may again be set in motion. Wood-ashes, kelp, carbonate of soda, &c., act in this way ; but lime is the agent which, for this purpose, is most largely employed in practical agriculture. GENERAL ACTION OP ALKALINE SUBSTANCES (pOTASH, SODA, ETC.) UPON ORGANIC MATTER. It is this action of alkaline matters upon the organic substances of the soil' in the presence of air and water, that we are principally to investigate. When organic matter undergoes decay in the presence of air and water only, it first rots, as it is called, and blackens, giving oflf water or its elements chiefly, and forming humus — a mixture of humic, ulmic, and some other acids, with decaying vegetable fibre. It then commences, at the expense of the oxygen of the air and of water, to form other more soluble acids, (malic, acetic, lactic, crenic, raudesic, &c.,) among which is a portion of carbonic acid ; while, by the aid of the hydrogen of the water which it decomposes, it pro- duces also one or more of the many inflammable compounds of carbon and hydrogen, which often rise up as marsh-gas does from stagnant pools in summer, and escape into the air. Thus there is a tendency towards the accumulation of acid substances of vegetable origin in the soil, and this is more especially the case when the soil is moist, and where much vegetable matter abounds. The eflfect of this superabundance of acid matter is, on the one hand, to arrest the further natural decay of the organic matter, and on the other to render the soil unfavorable to the healthy growth of young and tender plants. The general effect of the presence of alkaline substances in the soil is to counteract these two evils. They combine with and thus remove the sourness of the acid bodies as they are formed. In consequence of this the soil becomes sweeter, or more propitious to vegetation, while the natural tendency of the vegetable matter to decay is no longer arrested. It is thus clear that an immediate good effect upon the land must follow either from the artificial application, or from the natural presence of alkaline matter in the soil, while at the same time it will cause the vegetable matter to disappear more rapidly than would otherwise be the case. But the effect of such substances does not end here. They actually dispose or provoke — predispose chemists call it — the vegetable matter to produce acid substances, in order that they may combine with them, and thus cause the organic mat- ters to disappear more rapidly than they otherwise would do : in other words, they hasten forward the exhaustion of the vegetable matter of the soil. Such is the general action of all alkaline substances. This action they exhibit even in close vessels. Thus a solution of grape sugar, mixed with potash and left in a warm place, slowly forms a sour substance called melassic acid ; while in cold lime-water the same sugar is gradually converted into remain bright and untarnished. But if a polished rod of iron be put into an open vessel half full of water, so that one part of its length only is under water, then the rod will begin very soon to rust at the surface of the water, and a brown ochry ring of oxide will form around it exactly where the air and water meet. From this point the rust will gradually spread upwards and downwards. So it is with the organic matter of the soil. Wherever the air and water meet, their decomposing action upon it in ordinary temperatures soon becomes perceptible. THE USE OF LIME IN AGRICULTURE, 23 another acid called the glucic. But in the air other acids are formed in the same mixtures, and the changes proceed more rapidly. Such is the case also in the soil, where the elements of the air and oi water are generally at hand to favor the decomposition. But the nature of the alkaline matter which is present determines also the rapidity with which such changes are produced. The most powerful alkaline substances, potash and soda, produce all the above effects most quickly : lime and magnesia are next in order ; and the alumina of the clay soils, though much inferior to all these, is far from being without an important influence. Hence one of the benefits which result from the use of wood-ashes con- taining carbonate of potash, when employed in small quantities, and along with vegetable and animal manures as they are in this country ; but hence also the evil effects which are found to follow from the application of them in too large doses, or too frequently repeated. Thus in countries where wood abounds, and where it is usual as in Sweden and Northern Russia to bum the forests and to lay on their ashes as manure, the tillage can be continued for a few years only. After two or three crops the land is exhausted, and must again be left to its natural produce. SPECIAL EFFECTS OF CAUSTIC LIME UPON THE SEVERAL VARIETIES OF ORGANIC MATTER IN THE SOIL. The effects of lime upon organic matter are precisely the same in kind as those of alkaline substances in general. They are only less in degree, or take place more slowly than when soda or potash is employed. Hence the greater adaptation of lime to the purposes of practical agriculture. 1. Action of caustic lime alone upon vegetable matter. — If the fresh leaves and twigs of plants, or blades and roots of grass, be introduced into a bottle surrounded with slaked lime and corked, they will slowly undergo a certain change of color, but they may be preserved for years without exhibiting any striking change of texture. If dry straw be so mixed with slaked lime it will exhibit still less alteration. In either case also the changes will be even less perceptible if, instead of slaked lime, the carbonate (or mild lime) in any of its forms be mixed with these varieties of vegetable matter. On some other varieties of vegetable matter — such for example as are undergoing rapid dec-ay, or have already reached an advanced stage of decomposition — an admixture of slaked lime produces certain perceptible changes immediately, and mild lime more slowly ; but these changes being completed, the tendency of lime alone is to arrest rather than to promote further rapid alterations. Hence the following opinions of experienced practical observers must be admitted to be theoretically correct In so far as they refer to slaked lime acting alone. " If straw or long dung be mixed with slaked hme it will be preserved." — Morton on Soils, 3d edition, p. 181. *' Lime mixed in a mass of earth containing the live roots and seeds of plants will not destroy them." — Ibid. "Sir H. Davy's theory that lime dissolves vegetable matter is given up; in fact, it hardens vegetable matter." — Mr. Pusey^ Royal Agricultural Journal^ iii. p. 212. These opinions I have said aie probably correct in so far as regards the unaided action of slaked lime. They even express, with an approach to accuracy, what will take place in the interior of compost-heaps of a certain kind, or in some very dry soils ; but that they cannot apply to the ordinary action of lime upon the soil is proved by the other result, of universal oljser- vation, that lime, so far from preserving the organic matter of the land to f4 THE USE OF LIME IN AGRICULTURE. which it ia applied, in reality wastes it — causes, that is, or disposes it to dis- appear. It is unfortunate indeed that opinions such as»those above quote should be so generally or broadly expressed by practical men, as they tend to propagate erroneous impressions. 2. Action of caustic lime on organic matter in the' presence of air and water. — In the presence of air and water, when assisted by a favoring tem- perature, vegetable matter, as we have already seen, undergoes spontaneous decomposition. In the same circumstances lime promotes and sensibly hastens this decomposition, altering the forms or stages through which the organic matter must pass, but bringing about more speedily its final conversion into carbonic acid and water. Duiing its natural decay in a moist and open soil organic matter gives off a portion of carbonic acid gas, which escapes into the air, and forms at the same time certain other acids, which remain in the dark mould of the soil itself. When quick or slaked lime is added to the land, its first effect is to combine with these acids — to form carbonate, huniate, &c., of lime, till the whole of the acid matter existing at the time is taken up. That portion of the lime which remains uncombined either slowly absoi'bs carbonic acid from the air or unites with the carbonic already formed, to produce the known compound of hydrate with carbonate of lime* — waiting in this state in the soil till some fresh portions of acid matter are formed with which it may combine. But it does not inactively wait; it persuades and influences the organic matter to combine with oxygen of the air and of the watei- with which it is surrounded, for the production of such acid substances, till finally the whole of the lime becomes combined either with carbonic acid or with so.ne other acid of organic origin. Nor at this stage are the action and influence of lime observed to cease. On the contrary, this result will in most soils be arrived at in the course of one or two years, while the beneficial action of the lime itself may be perceptible for twenty or thirty years. Hence there is much apparent ground for the opinion of Lord Kames, " that lime is as efficacious in its (so-called) effete as in its caustic state." Even the more strongly expressed opinion of the same acute observer, "that lime produc-es little eftect upon vegetables till it becomes effete," derives nmch support from experience, since lime is known to have comparatively little eftect upon the productiveness of the land till one or two years after its application ; and this period, as I have said, is in most localities sufficient to depiive even slaked lime of all its caustic properties. Of the saline compounds} which caustic lime thus foims either immediately or ultimately, some, like the carbonate and humate, being very sparingly soluble in water, remain more or less permanently in the soil; others, like the acetate of linie,J being readily soluble, are either washed out by the rains or are sucked up by the roots of the growing plants. In the former case they cause the removal of both organic matter and of lime from the land ; in the latter they supply the plant with a portion of organic food, and at the same time with lime, without which, as we have frequently before remarked, plants cannot be maintained in their most healthy condition. ACTION OF MILD OR CARBONATE OF LIME UPON VEGETABLE MATTER OF THE SOIL. The main utility of lime, therefore, after it has first removed the sourness * Tliat compound, namely, wliieh is produced when quick lime slakes spontaneously in the air, and which has been described in a previous paper. •j- Saline compounds or salts are always formed when lime, magnesia, potash, soda, &c., combine with acids. \ Acetate of lime consists of acetic acid or vinegar and lime. THE USE OF LIME IN^AeRICULTURE. 25' it found in the soil, depends upon its prolonged a/^cr-action upon the vegeta- ble matter. What is this action, and in what consist the benefits to which it gives rise ? In answering this question, it is of importance to observe that all the effects produced by alkaline substances in general, whether by lime or by potash in the caustic state, are produced in kind also by the same substances in the state of carbonate. The carbonic acid with which they are united is retained by a comparatively feeble affinity, and is displaced with greater or less ease by almost every other acid compound which is produced in the soil. With this displacement is connected an interesting series of beautiful reac- tions which it is of consequence to understand. The end or termination which nature, so to speak, has in view in all the changes to which she subjects organic matter in the soil, is to convert it, with the exception of its nitrogen, into carbonic acid and water. For this purpose it combines at one time with the oxygen of the air, while at another it decom- poses water and unites with the oxygen or the hydrogen which are liberated, or with both, to form new chemical combinations. Each of these new combi- nations is either immediately preliminary to, or is attended by the conversion of a portion of the elements of the organic matter into one or other of those simpler forms of matter on which plants live. Now during these preliminary or preparatory steps acid substances, as I have already explained, are among others constantly produced. With these acids the carbonate of lime, when present in the soil, is ever ready to combine; but in so combining it gives off the carbonic acid with which it is already united, and thus a continual, slow evolution of carbonic acid is kept up as long as any undecomposed carbonate remains in the soil. I do not attempt to specify by name all the various acid substances which are thus formed during the oxidation of the organic matter, and which successively unite with the lime, because the entire series of interesting and highly important changes which organic substances undergo in the soil has, as yet, been too little investigated to permit us to do more than speak in gen- eral terms of the nature of the chemical compounds which are most abun- dantly produced. Of two facts however in regard to them we are certain : that they are simpler in their constitution than the original organic matter itself from which they are derived, and that they have a tendency to assume still simpler forms if they continue to be exposed to the same united action of air, water, and alkaline substances. Hence the compounds which lime has formed with the acid substances of the soil — the humate, ulmate, &c. — themselves hasten forward to new decom- positions, unite with more oxygen, liberate slowly portion after portion of their carbon, in the form of carbonic acid, and of their hydrogen in the form of water, till at length the lime itself is left again in the state of carbonate or in union with carbonic acid only. This residual carbonate of lime begins again the same round of changes through which it had previously passed. It gives up its carbonic acid at the bidding of some more powerful organic acid produced in its neighborhood, while this acid by exposui-e to the due influences undergoes new alterations till it also is finally resolved into carbonic acid and water. Two circumstances deserve to bo borne in mind in reference to these successive decompositions: first, that as they proceed more easily-soluble compounds of lime are now and then foxmed, some of which are washed out by the rains and escape from the soil, while others minister to the growth of plants ; and second, that very much carbonic acid is produced as their iinal 28? THE BINOCULAR MICROSCOPE. result, of which also part is taken up by the roots of plants and part escapes into the air. Thus at every successive stage a portion of organic matter is lost to the soil. If this quantity be greater than that which is yearly gained in the form of roote, or decayed leaves and stems of plants, or of manure arti- ficially added, the soil will be gradually exhausted; if less, it will every year become more rich in vegetable matter. It is also to be borne in mind that, although for the purpose of illustration I have supposed the carbonate of lime first formed in the soil to be subse- quently combined with other acids which gradually decompose and leave it again in the state of carbonate, yet it will rarely happen that the whole of the carbonate of lime in the soil will be brought at one and the same time into any of these new states of combination. In general a part of it only is thus at any time employed in working up the acid substances produced. But it is necessary that it should be universally diffused through the soil, in order that it may be every where at hand to perform the important part of its functions above explained. It is only where little lime is present, or where decaying vegetable matter is in exceeding abundance, that the whole of the carbonate can at one and the same time disappear. THE BINOCULAR MICROSCOPE. Prof. Riddell, of the Ijniversity of Louisiana, has invented a micro- scope, of which the following account is published in the New- Orleans Monthly Medical Register : At a meeting of the Physico-Medical Society, on Saturday evening, 2d October, Prof. J. L. Riddell called the attention of the Society to an instru- ment of his own invention and manufacture, which promises to be of incal- culable advantage in microscopic researches, especially in the prosecution of mici'oscopic anatomy and physiology. He remarked that he last year contrived, and had lately constructed and used, a combination of glass prisms, to render both eyes serviceable in micro- scopic observation. The plan is essentially as follows : Behind the objective, sfnd as near thereto as practicable, the light is equally divided, and bent at right angles and made to travel in opposite directions, by means of two rec- tangular prisms, which are in contact by their edges, that are somewhat ground away. The reflected rays are received at a proper distance for binocular vision upon two other rectangular prisms, and again bent at right angles, being thus either completely inverted, for an inverted microscope, or restored to their original direction. These outer prisms may be cemented to the inner, by means of Canada balsam ; or left free to admit of adjustment to suit different observers. Prisms of other form, with due arrangement, may be substituted. This method proves, according to Prof. Riddell's testimony, equally appli- cable to every grade of good lenses, from Spencer's best sixteenth to a com- mon three-inch magnifier, with or without oculars or erecting eye-pieces, and with a great enhancement of penetrating and defining power. It gives the observer perfectly correct views, in length, breadth and depth, whatever power he may employ ; objects are seen holding their true relative positions, and wearing their real shapes. In looking at solid bodies, however, depres- sions sometimes appear as elevations, and vice versa, forming a curious illu- sion ; for instance, a metal spherule may appear like a glass ball silvered on THE BINOCULAR MICROSCOPE. 27 the under side, and the margin of a wafer may seem to ascend from the water into the air. With this instrument the microscopic dissecting knife can be exactly guided. The watchmaker and artist can work under the binocular eye-glass with certainty and satisfaction. In looking at microscopic animal tissues, the single eye may perhaps behold a confused amorphous, or nebulous mass, which the pair of eyes instantly shape into delicate superimposed mem- branes, with intervening spaces, the thickness of which can be correctly esti- mated. Blood corpuscles, usually seen as fiat disks, loom out as oblate spheroids. Prof. Riddell asserted, in short, that the whole microscopic world could thus be exhibited in a new light, acquiring a ten-fold greater interest, displaying in every phase a perfection of beauty and symmetry indescrib- able. The following extract froili a letter to Dr. Burnett, of Boston, will, per- haps, with its accompanying sketch, still better illustrate the advantages and mechanical design of the instrument : University of Louisiana, New-Orleans, Oct. 31s<, 1852. You do not over-estimate the value of the binocular microscope. It will be found indispensable to the physiologist, the pathologist, and the naturalist, who would correctly observe nature. I do not think it can be well adapted to microscopes of the existing forms ; but the bulk of the instrument must be different. I hope to have the pleasure, ere long, of sending you drawings and descriptions, such as to enable any optician readily to construct the instrument. The erecting eye-pieces will be essential in the compound microscope for general purposes ; because without them, sohd opaque objects present an illu- sive appearance; depressions appearing as elevations, and elevations as de- pressions. With the erectors, bodies appear as they should, enabling the observer to judge as well of their shape as I can judge of the shape of books, ink-stands, &c., on the table before me. Spencer's inch objective, mounted in this way, makes the best conceivable microscope for dissection. The accompanymg sketch exhibits in section, of real size, the essential arrangements of the Binocular Microscope. There is some advantage in cementing with Canada balsam the adjacent surfaces of D and P together. The instrument, however, will not then admit of inversion, and is not so efficiently adjustable to the eyes of different observers. A. Object to be seen. 0. Objective combination. P P. Two rectangular prisms of fine glass, separating the rajrs by internal reflection, at 45°. D D. Outer rectangular prisms, adjustable, for different distances between 28 THE POTATO DISEASE. the ej^es. These send each bundle of rays in the direction denoted by tlie arrows, to be received by tlie oculars and electors, also adjustable. A O P P may be inverted, or turned half way round, so that the object will be above. I prefer the stage fixed, and the slow motion for adjusting the focus of the objective, to affect the whole structure AO PP DD. THE POTATO DISEASE. We have published but little on this vexed question, chiefly because we had but little that was satisfactory in the opinions or the experiments which have been given to the public. An abl§ English writer seems to us to discuss the matter very sensibly in the following paragraphs. It will be seeif that while he admits the disease to be a fungus, he goes behind this point and inquires as to the cause of the fungus; and this he imputes, sub- stantially, to protracted bad cultivation : Of all the causes that have been suggested, constitutional debility seems best to agree with the facts we now know connected with this question. It was insisted upon at a very early period of the inquiry, and would certainly have met with more general acquiescence, had not the suggestion been over- laid with so much bad physiology, unsound reasoning, and utterly unfounded hypothesis. It was by no means inconsistent with the theory that the im- mediate cause was either meteoric or fungoid, or both ; and it derived great probability from Mr. Shepherd's practice, above alluded to. That practice mainly consisted in growing seed potatoes apart from those for market, never taking up the sets till they were to be planted ; and planting imme- diately, that is to say, on the very same day. We observe that a writer in the Cork Constitution has revived this view of the cause. He is of opinion " that the potato disease is not produced by electric or atmospheric intluence ; that it is not 'blight' at all, but is simply the natural and inevitable effect of exhaustion, produced by long years of most barbarous treatment, and total disregard of all the well-known rules observed in the care of seeds." " If," he adds, " this theory be real and true, we must look for the ' blight ' next year ; and the next, and the next unless means are adopted for the resuscitation of the potato. As exhaustion^ is the cause of the disease, so resuscitation is the remedy, which I rejoice to think may be readily applied, and be also speedy, efltectual, and permanent in its effects. Besides the usual modes of producing resuscitation, it is ray opinion that if the breadth of a ridge around every field in the land were sown early with whole seed, to be left at rest in the ground all winter and until digging time the following summer, or, what would be still better, until setting time, then dug and re-set, we should so.)n have potatoes at 2d. per lb. (weight ?) again. If, then, any persons should feel disposed to try an experiment so easy and simple, I warn them that it is indispensable to a fair trial of it, that the dykes inclosing each field should be cleaned out and dug to a depth of at least three feet, [uplands included,) and deeper still if the subsoil at that depth is not fouutl to be perfectly porous. If this be well done, the field will be thoroughly drained, and not one drop of foreign water can by any possibility pass through it, the fi-equent drain ' or Deanstoiiian system ' notwithstanding. With regard to the same system, and while I am quite ready to admit that it has been eminently, nay, pre-eminently suc- cessful, I nevertheless consider it to be based on false hypotheses, and alto- " MECHANICS OF FARM WORK " EXAMINED. 29 gether too expensive ever to admit of general application in this country. But to return. There is one other matter which is indispensable to a fair trial of this experiment. It is, that in setting the seed each potato must be allowed as much ground as is usually appropriated to half a dozen, or more, sets. If these two indispensable requisites to a fair trial of this expe- riment be strictly perforined, 1 dare to promise most satisfactory results." Assuming this view to be a just one, the case of the potato might be succinctly stated thus : 1. The potato, like all other living things, bas a peculiar vitality or vital force, by means of which, if unimpaired, it is capable of resisting disease, and of braving the attacks of parasites. 2. But if the vitality decreases, then the potato becomes liable to disease, and suffers from parasites. 3. The common mode of preserving the potato in heaps, or exposed to the air for long periods of time, has the effect of lowering vitality, and, consequently, of predisposing it to disease, and rendering it incapable of bravit)g the attacks of parasites. 4. This supposed reduction of vital force does not take place suddenly, but comes on slowly, after years of mismanagement. 5. The vitalforce of the potato having been thus lowered, if an unusually unfavorable season, or peculiar meteoric causes occur, the potato has not enough constitutional energy to resist them, and whole districts are suddenly affected. ■ 6. When this affection has been once experienced, the vitality of the plant is still more lowered, and will continue to be so until the constitutional energy is repaired, 1. Vital energy may be restored by means the reverse of what reduced it, keeping the plant always in the ground, when all its functions of life go on without interruption and by better cultivation. 8. When vital energy is thus restored, then the potato will be able to resist meteoric action, or parasitical attacks, as formerly. These propositions are, we take it, a true expression of the theory in ques- tion, and they deserve the most serious consideration. They show why the Botrytis now commits its ravages, although it had no such effect in former days. They go in fact to the remote cause of the disease, which is far more important than the immediate cause. They even show how it has happened that men of intelligence should be still led to believe in the preposterous notion that the potato disease, or the vine-mildew, or any such affections, are caused by insects. "THE MECHANICS OF FARM WORK" OF NOV. NO. EXAMINED. In our November journal we published an article with the title above quoted, the second on the same subject, and as we had lately read in an exchange what seemed to us erroneous, upon a topic which we were about to discuss, we began by saying : " A recent journal has the following, which bears date from an Agricultural Institute. It states that with an axle three inches in diameter, a given power can draw but half as much as with an axis of only one and a half inches in diameter." But when we looked for the article, that we might copy the writer's language, we could not find it; and hence we filled up our blank space with the seci)nd sentence above cited. Being thus left without our testimony, and unwilling to implicate any writer or journal 30 "mechanics of farm work" examined. in teaching error, when we might be mistaken, we declined to give any name or date, and then no one, as we believed, could charge us with doing him in- justice. But on the 10th December, according to its endorsement, a commu- nication was received at this office, which was placed in 'our hands on the 12th, in which the writer assumes that he is the person alluded to, but denies having asserted any such doctrine. It would be enough for us to say, "Then you do not answer our description." But as this paper asserts what we think is erroneous, on other important points, and as truth is our only object, we publish below his entire discussion, and append such remarks as seem to us proper. We omit the first page of his communication, because it is a mere repudiation of what we both agree to be unsound, or else mere personal re- mark, which does not affect the doctrines which are the subject of criticism. It reads as follows : FOR THE PLOUOH, THK LOOM, ANB THK ANVIL. Messrs. Editors : — Upon mature reflection, you will see there are two other principles involved in the practical solution of this question, namely, the line of draught and the relative size of the wheel to the height of the obstacle to be overcome. What I said was this : " The power of the wheel to overcome /ne- kton at the axle depends upon the relative size of the radius of the wheel and axle.^' I then supposed a wheel five feet in diameter, and a wooden axle three inches in diameter, the power will be as 20 to 1 ; but if an iron axle one and a half inches were substituted for the wooden one, the power to overcome friction at the axle will be as 40 to 1, or twice that of the former; You say the amount of power is not at all affected except in friction ! Your appeal to experience, to overthrow a scientific truth capable of the clearest demonstration, is somewhat remarkable. Why not prove by men's experience that the earth stands still and that the sun revolves round it ? You do not even stop to define what the arms of the lever are ; though you do attempt that when you come to speak of wheels being raised over obstacles ! Surely you do not mean that the power to overcome obstacles, and the power to overcome friction at the axle, are the same ? From the context we are forced to conclude so. [I .] You draw a line from the centre of the wheel to the point of contact with the obstacle to be surmounted ; this you make one arm of the lever, and the other arm the continuation of this line until it meets the ground Une. Thus C A* [C D] is one arm of the lever, and AB [the con- tinuation of C D to the ground] the other. Suppose a loaded carriage is moving on a horizontal plane free of obstacles where ■ then are the arms of the lever ? Accord- ing to your philosophy you have but one arm, as the line drawn from the centre to the obstacle must coincide with a line , drawn from the centre to the point of the plane on which the wheel rests. But I shall revert to this again. I shall now establish the position I assumed, viz. : " that the power of the wheel to overcome friction at the axle is in the ratio of the radius of the wheel to the radius of the axle." It is evident, when the wheel is made to slide, the whole of the friction is encoun- tered and no mechanical advantage gained ; but when a wheel turns on its * We choose to retain our friend's lettering in this explanation, but as we use a dia- gram which we had prepared and used in the Dec. number, we add in brackets the lines which the writer indicates, as we have lettered them. "•MECHAOICS OP FARM WORK " EXAMINED. 31 «ile, the friction is transferred from the ground to the axle, and the greater the weight the greater the friction. In this case each spoke of the wheel successively becomes a lever, turning on the ground as a fulcrum, while the power is exerted on the end next to the axis^ (not axle, J but the friction on the axle reacts in the opposite direction with a lever power equal to the radius of the axle ; hence there is a mechanical advantage gained in over- coming the friction at the axle, in the ratio of the radius of the wheel to the radius of the axle. This, remember, is the mechanical power to overcome fric- tion, and is entirely distinct from the amount of friction. You confound the power to overcome friction with the friction itself. You also confound the power to overcome friction at the axle with the power to surmount obstacles. My position is fully sustained by Uriah Parke, in his " Philosophy of Arith- metic," and by D. Olmsted, Professor of Natural Philosophy in Yale College. In fact it is a well settled principle, sustained by every philosopher (except yourself) whose writings have come under my observation. [2.] I shall now refer to your position as to the arms of the lever. Professor Olmsted, after proving what I have attempted, says : " Wheels have another important advantage, viz., in overcoming obstacles : in which case they act on the principle of the bent lever^ You make no distinction between the power to overcome friction at the axle and the power to overcome obstacles. You make the latter to act on the principle of the straight lever ! Olmsted on the principle of the bent lever ! He draws a line at right angles to the line of draught to the point of contact with the obstacle to be overcome, and another line from this point of contact at right angles to a line drawn from the centre of the wueel to the plane on which the wheel rests. Thus in the figure, C P is the line of draught, and M A, [C B,] which is at right angles to it, is one arm of the lever, and N A, [B D,] which is drawn at right angles to C R, is the other arm of the lever, and the mechanical advantage gained in overcoming obstacles will be in the ratio of M A to N A, [C B to B D.] You make the arms of your lever without any reference to the line of draught. Hence the power to overcome obstacles will be the same, no matter in what direction the line of draught be exerted, which is absurd. [3.] You admit yourself the most economical expenditure of power will be at right angles to a line drawn from the centre of the wheel to the point of contact with the obstacle, or at right angles to C A ; though you make a blunder wiien you say through A. You should have said through C, because the power is not applied at A but at C. [4.] You say, as a general rule, the line of traction should be parallel to the plane. Olmsted says, " The line of draught should not be horizontal, but inclined upwards towards the breast of the horse, in an angle not less than 15 degrees with the horizon. This brings the strain at right angles with the collar, whereas a horizontal draught lifts the collar upwards, by which the force is wasted and the animal choked." [5.] This point might safely be submitted to the experience of farmere, or to the good sense of your readers. The importance of this subject must atone for the length of this article. And I ask, in justice to your readers, its publication in your journal. Yours truly, L. H. Gause. Mt Airy Ag. Inst, Nov. SOth, 1852. [1.] We have neither affirmed nor denied^ any thing in reference to the eflfect the size of the wheel may have upon its power " to overcome friction at the axle." We have been discussing more weighty matters. And we were and are content to remain silent, having made only a single remark that had ao reference to this or any other writer. But we would now add 88 "mechanics of farm work" examined. that the effect of friction is not a matter for mathematics, nor professors, to demonstrate. It is a mere matter of fact, to be determined only by "expe- rience." These results are noticed, and then recorded in the books. We do " suppose the same power has to overcome all resistance." [2.] Our learned friend has erred in this paragraph, according to our view, in more than one particular. And, (1,) he says, " the friction is transferred from the ground to the axle." Our notion is, that a less friction is suhntituted for the greater. Friction cannot be transferred without a transfer of the sur- faces producing it. If a less is substituted, the mathematics of the greater cannot be "transferred" to the less. But, (2,) "axis, not axle." Yet this writer uses both interchangeably, for aught we see. Axis occurs once only, and axle many times. If not used as synonymes, we cannot understand our friend's meaning. There is no such mechanical power brought into action here as the " wheel and aa;?e," and there is no axle unless the axis or axletree is one. The term axle, distinct from axis, cannot be applied to carriages, or any ordinary mode of setting them in motion. It is an essential part of the wheel and axle, that the wheel should be fixed on its axis, while the power is applied to the wheel, and the weight is attached to the axle. Any change of this arrangement changes the character of the mechanism. Writers use both terms, as we suppose, interchangeably. Otherwise we cannot under- stand them. But, (3,) what does our friend mean by " friction on the axle" ? (axle again.) We know of no friction applicable to the " wheel and axle," but the friction of the gudgeon on which it (the wheel and axle) turns. Can this be meant by the "friction of the axle"? No writer that we have seen regards the size of this gudgeon as of sufficient importance to allude to it, as affecting the motive power of this mechanic combination. We have already explained our views sufficiently on this matter, and we have not changed them. But, (4,) we doubt whether the ground is a fulcrum, as ex- plained hi) this writer. He says, " each spoke of the wheel successively be- comes a lever, turning on the ground as a fulcrum, while the power is exerted on the end next to the axis, but the friction on the axle reacts," &c. Let us look at this. The ground is the fulcrum, the power is at the centre of the wheel, while the resistance, the friction, is between them. And this writer increases his power, by lengthening the distance between the fulcrum and the resistance! We will here borrow one of his notes of admiration. [3.] Again, our correspondent mistakes our remark, and, as we think, mis- takes in his mathematics. We did state in the article in November that, under a given state of facts, the spoke C A, " from the centre to the obstacle," wasonearm of the lever, and the same line continued from A to the ground was another arm. We say so now. But we did not say that this formula was for universal application. If there was " no obstacle," there could be no such line as C A was described to be. But we are happy to say that in our December number, which the writer could not have seen, we used the iden- tical diagram which is found in the margin to illustrate the subject, in a manner capable of universal appHcation, and substantially as he explains it in this communication ; it differs only in the lettering. True, we did not call it a " bent lever." We do not like the term, and do not purpose to use it. Mathematics, strictly speaking, recognizes no such mechanism, but resolves all levers ultimately into straight lines. [See our last month's journal, p. 347.] [4.] We might have omitted " through C A," and as a matter of taste ouirht to have done so, for it is mere surplusage. We wished only to point out the direction of the line of economic power. We had already stated that " the power is in fact applied to the axis." If our language would lead the FATTENING OF HOGS. 33 careful reader to apply his power to the circumference of the wheel, it would be false teaching. We did not dream of any such interpretation. [5.J We have not treated of the " collar," nor the yoke, nor of breastplates, nor other parts of the harness, belonging to horses, oxen, or other motive powers, thus far ; but when we do, we shall inquire of teamsters, stable keep- ers, and such like, and not of mathematicians nor professors. All they know, or think they know, has been obtained from these sources, and we prefer to go to the fountain. The printer has in hand a paper, which we gave him several days ago, in which these matters are alluded to, but we may write more definitely hereafter. We have thus, " in justice to" our friend, printed his views of this subject, and " in justice to [ourself and] our readers," we have added remarks of our own. FATTENING OF HOGS. The following useful hints on the care and management of hogs during the time of fattening, we extract from the American Farmer : Attached to the pen, there should be a good covered shed, with a plank floor for them to sleep on, or retire to, in wet weather. This shed should be divided into two departments — the one for feeding in, and the other for sleep- ing in. Attached to it there should be an inclosed yard, its size to correspond with the number of your hogs. Over the floor of this yard, spread to the depth of ten or twelve inches rough materials, as marsh mud, wood mould, or any similar substance. Over this, twice or thrice a week, sow plaster or pul- verized charcoal. Every two years, after your hogs are put up for fattening, clear out this yard and put in an equal quantity of rough materials ; continue this practice until you have killed your hogs, and you will be able to obtain from twenty hogs, if you keep the manure out of the weather, or so pack it up in bulk as to turn the water, as will manure you as many acres of land. This is not an exaggerated statement, and will not be so considered by those who reflect that there are nearly 5 pounds of urea in every 100 pints of hog urine, and that there are nearly 3 lbs. in his solid excretions ; that every pound of urea is resolvable into so much ammonia, and that this mixed manure yields in every 100 lbs., of potash, 7 lbs., of the sulphate of soda, 19 lbs., of the phosphate of soda, and of lime and magnesia, 8 lbs. 8 oz. We say tliat those who reflect that the excretions of the fattening hog are thus rich in the elemental food of plants, will not consider what we say in behalf of the value of the voiding^ of the hog as manure, to be in the least exaggerated. While the hogs are undergoinij; the process of fattening, corn should be scattered daily over the yard, to induce them to root for it ; for, in so doing, they will turn over and mix the excretions with rough material, and thus aid in the absorption of the former by the latter. The material from the hog-yard, whenever cleaned out, should be thrown into bulk, in such form as will turn water, and then compressed with the back of the shovel, and have fresh portions of plaster, or powdered charcoal, added to it, and dusted over the surface of the heap. When first penned to fatten, they should for three or four days, at intervals of a day apart, have mixed with their food which should be soft, in the pro- portion of a teaspounful of sulphur, and half a teaspoonful of copperas, for each hog. Their food for the first week or ten days should be mainly pumpkins, roots, VOL. V. PART II. 3 34 KEEPING APPLES. apples or vegetables of some kind, mixed with a small portion of corn meal, wliich should be cooked. As the feeding progresses, increase the quantity of meal. The last three weeks of the fattening, the hogs should be fed on cooked corn meal. Their beds should be provided with straw or leaves, which should be cleaned out and renewed once a week. Each yard wherein hogs are fattened, should be provided with a rubbing- post, for the hogs to rub themselves against, and a trough in which should bd oonstantly kept charcoal, rotten wood, ashes and salt. A QUESTION FOR THE CURIOUS. Every one has noticed that when water is emptied through a funnel, it assumes a rotatory motion, and, as if urged on by a centrifugal force, retreats from a certain space in the centre of the funnel, producing a void, of a cylin- drical or conical shape. Can any one explain this ? We only make a suggestion or two in relation to it. It has been said, and printed, that this is the result of the revolution of the earth, and is always of course in one direction. We are confident, by ocular demonstration, that this is not so. The revolution is not always in one direction. Again, it has been said that it is from the impulse the fluid receives in descending along the surface of the funnel. But the shape of the funnel does not appear to make any diflference. No matter whether it is conical or not, wherever water flows from a circular orifice in the bottom of a vessel, the phenomenon is seen. Does it not, in fact, occur sometimes in a watering trough ? We think so, but would not be too confident. Has the shape of the outlet any thing to do with this matter ? If so, how, and if not, what is the cause of the phenom- enon ? We pause for a reply. KEEPING APPLES. Mr. Pell of Ulster county, the celebrated exporter of apples to Europe, re- commends that apples, after having been caiefuUy hand-picked in baskets, should be laid on a floor by hand, without pouring from the baskets, until they are from fifteen to eighteen inches deep, and left to dry and season three weeks ; when again carefully packed in clean barrrels, they may be kept with- out rotting, any reasonable length of time, and safely sent to any part of Europe or the East Indies. The plan of drying and seasoning in the air, be- fore barrelling, prevailed generally some years ago, although, now-a-days, it is mostly discontinued and thought useless. We are disposed to think well of this process when it becomes important to keep apples safely till next spring, to send to foreign countries ; for we have always observed that on opening a barrel a few days after being put up, in ever so dry weather, that the moisture often stands in drops over whole surfaces, and although loose barrels will al- low it mostly to evaporate, yet where they come in contact, the two surfaces retain it and cause rot. The carrying of apples in a common wagon, either before or after barrelling, is injurious. They should be moved on springs or sleds. The least abrasion STEAMBOAT BILL. • 35 of the skin, or crushing of the cell of the pulp containing the juice, allows fer- mentation and decomposition, and the consequent decay of the whole ma^s. Apples will not freeze until at a temperature of from 5 to 10 degrees below the freezino- point of water; and it is beneficial to keep them as cool as possi- ble, even down to 30 degrees. Apples inclosed in a water-tight cask may be left in a cold loft all winter without further care, and will be sound in the spring, and perfectly fresh. — Genesee Farmer. rOR THB PLOUGH, THB LOOM, AliD THB ANVIL. STEAMBOAT BILL— SECURITIEB AGAINST ACCIDENTS. This bill originated through Senator Davis, in the Senate, in the Thirty- second Congress, first session. It is said to have received many important amendments in the House. Upon the whole, this bill, which was matured into a law, was the Magna Charta of that tedious session of ten months. In this law the public are well requited for the expense of the whole session. The law will at least awaken a spirit of inquiry among our engine-builders, which will progress and improve, until the public can rely safely upon travel- ling in steamboats without being alarmed at the former recklessness of human life attending this means of travelling. The law is quite voluminous, but aflfords an ample panoply, if faithfully executed, against accidents in every way incident to and common with steamboating. And now, Messrs. Editors, let me be excused the task of penning here the provisions of this salutary law, which would necessarily spin out this notice to an unpardonable prolixity. I will merely refer your numerous and intel- ligent readers to the law itself; and then, for the benefit of those who may be curious to know how the law is to be executed, merely hint at what may be some of the means employed to that effect. This, however, I ought to say, is mere supposition, for I have no warranty for it. That a " water indi- cator," such as was made by Alfred Guthrie, Esquire, of Chicago, Illinois, who, by the by, is a connoisseur in engineering, will be adopted; the object of it being to show to passengere the state of the boilers in respect to watef. When there is plenty of water in the boiler, the indicator is so mechanically^ arranged, that a card is displayed with the sign, " Good water." When the water falls too low, a card, " Dangerous," is pushed up over the other. This is shown outside of all machinery. It is well known that a defective supply of water has been the cause of most explosions ; for a defective supply of water leads to the overheating of flues, and the result is, they are made soft and weak. Then, when cold water is suddenly injected on the red hot platrs, a sudden increase of steam and pressure is the result, which forces the boiler to pieces like gunpowder. Mr. Guthrie has likewise invented a " Steam In- dicator," operated by the pressure of steam, made to raise a piston with weights. The machinery is so constructed, that by cylinders indexed, the number of times the water or steam has been "dangerous" on a trip will be known at the different points on the voyage. These indicators are to be locked up against all interference of any person except the government. Inspectors. — These inspectors are to have the same charge of the indicators that proper persons now have of the keys of the mails. I'he plan of opera- tion is given by Mr. Guthrie thus : " We will suppose a steamboat at St, Louis, ready to depart for New-Orleans. The inspector is notified of the fact, 36 • HOW TO KEEP SHEEP. repairs on board, and makes a proper inspection of the boilers, engines, and machinery, and finds they bear the relative proportions, wilh tlie proper pumping apparatus, free and unobstructed passages, and all in good order. But he finds the boilers are old and somewhat worn ; or in the hydrostatic pressure, he finds that it will not be safe to run these boilers under a higher jjressure than say fifty-five pounds to the square inch. lie then says to the engineer, You may run with tliis pressure and no more ; you may also run when the water is full three inches above the flues, and no lower. He then repairs to the cabin, adjusts the indicators to the precise limits, (which is done in a moment.) locks up the indicators, and retains the keys. Between the two indicators he places his permit, and the boat is allowed to depart. Suppose the boat has proceeded on her voyage as far as Memphis, and during this time the engineer has had "dangerous steam" or "dangerous water," and none of the passengers are disposed to prosecute him for the penalty in his bond. It will be the duty of the local inspector there to repair on boatd and unlock the indicators, examine the secret register, giving the exact number of times that "dangerous water" or " dangerous steam" lias occurred since the departure from St. Louis, and if he should consider it unsafe to allow the engineer to continue in charge, he substitutes another in his stead. Add to this the facts that, as the engineers and pilots act upon certificates of capacity given them by the inspectors, they are responsible for any damage done, if they transcend the order of the inspectors ; and if the owner or master of the boat is informed of the fact, and allows such violation of order, be becomes personally responsible ; the whole showing that the eft'ect of the law has a direct practical bearing on the interests of the community. May we not then trust that the provisions of this humane law, carried out as intended by its makers, will put an end to that destruction of life which we have often had cause to lament ? A. L. B. Mill Be>,d, Tenn., Dec, 1852. HOW TO KEEP SHEEP. "Uncle Billy," writing in the Ohio Cultivator^ says: A large majority of the farmers of Ohio think that, give a sheep grass during the spring, summer and autumn months, hay during the early part of the winter, and hay and grain towards spring ;,if they die from poverty in the spring, as many of them do, it is attributed to bad luck. The unlucky man will say that he feeds his sheep all the grain they want in February and March, and they still go down in flesh, and many of them die, while those belonging to his neighbor get through these trying months on half the grain, and keep in good flesh. Why is it ? It must be luck. Now if the unlucky man will look at his neighbor's sheep occasionally in the months of Novem- ber and December, he will find them on good feed and lookinc: strong. His lucky neighbor will tell him that when the frosts come in the fall, the pastures fail in substance, and this is the time sheep require care and attention. They should have some good hay and a little grain. A sheep to endure the ap- proaching winter should be provided as well with a coat of flesh as of wool. If he goes into the winter strong, it is ea^y to bring him out stiong in the spring; but if he is thin in flesh in the fall, all the grain that can be given will not bring him up. A peck in December is better than a bushel in March — an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure. But the un- REPORTS ON PEACH TREES. 37 lucky man will say his sheep will not eat hay ; he carried them an armful a few days ago, and they ran over it and trampled it into the mud ; as for grain, he never thought it necessary to be given until February, when sheep got weak. Now if the unlucky man will put his hay in racks to prevent its being trampled under foot, and will adopt his neighbor's mode of feeding, he will find in March that there is more in management than in luck. REPORTS ON PEACH TREES. We are desirous of doing all that we can to secure a sure growth and a suitable cultivation of this fruit, which is not surpassed, we think, in the Northern States, by any species, and have extracted from the reports of Com- mittees of the American Pomological Society, made at a meeting held in Philadeli)hia in September last, what they communicated on this subject. We place the remarks of the committees under their several States, New- York. — Coming from New-Hampshire, a State which had hardly grown peaches, I remember with what zest I ate the first peach I ever saw at Rochester, and it is a fact worth remembrance that 35 years ago the Royal Kensington Peach was grown in the virgin soil of Monroe, then Genesee county. My father, in the year 181Y, purchased the first dozen of peaches which he saw there, and as he had just located what he deemed his home lot, he with great care kept and planted the pits of the peaches mentioned. From them seven fine thrifty trees sprung up, which at their bearing proved identical with the peaches he bought, and which were the Royal Kensington variety. Those trees were moved to another lot, and most of them lived 25 years, fine bearing trees, and the variety was very generally propagated from them. It is also within my recollection that a tree of the Yellow Melacoton variety was grown in a neighbor's yard, which produced the best fruit of that kind 1 have ever seen. That was also a seedling tree. It is also well remembered that so spontaneously did the peach tree grow there, and so plenty was the fruit as early as 1821 to 1825, that growers many times have thrown their peaches from their market wagons into the river, sooner than sell them less than twenty cents per bushel. It may be asked why peaches now command in ordinary seasons at this point from two to three dollars per basket. It is because a second planting of trees did not take place till very recently, and that the trees are more or less afi'ected by the disease known as the yel- lows, and by the depredations of the borer, which all growers should know and exterminate from the roots. Our seasons vary so much, and the country has been cleared of the forests to such an extent, (except in some locations,) that a good crop cannot at all times be depended upon. Near Lake Ontario, within a few miles of Roches- ter, in the light soil of that region, the best peaches are grown. This season, from the late spring and inclemency of the weather in cold rains, idence, R. I., assignor to the New-England Screw Company of same place, im- proved machinery for making wood-screws, &c. WiUi.im P. Blake, New- York, N. Y., a lining for iron safes, &c. James C. Forrest and George Baker, Schenectady, N. Y., for trip-hammers. Joseph H. Gesf, Bataria, O., tield-rollers for cutting stalks and weeds. Robert Ilinton, Roxbury, Mass., manufacture of ball castors. Joseph \'. Houston, Conway, Mass., for stone picks. Clark PoUey, May's Landing, N. J., buckets for endless chainlpamps. Zimri Husaey, Chilicothe, O., apparatus for treatment of fractures. Henry Nyncum, L'nionlown, Pa., seed-planters. Abram, Charles, and Charles N. Clow, Port Byron, N. Y., for scythe-snaths. Joel Dawson, of Barnesville, O., for straw-cutters. William Field, Providence, R. I,, machinerj' for forging metals, tc, dated Dec. 14, 1852; ante-dated Jime 14,1852. 7.irari Hussey, Chilicothe, O., apparatus for the cure of club feet, llarvey Sprague, of Riga, N. Y., for plough regulators. Philip P. Trayser, Baltimore, Md., for spike-machines. Moses D. Wells, Mprgantown, Ya., for seed- planters. William H. Seymour, Brockport, N. Y., assignor to W. H. Seymour and Daton S. Morgan, <>f same place, for grain and grass harvesters, dated Dec. 14, 1852 ; ante-datefl Oct. 25, 1852. Cullen Whipple, Providence, R. 1 ., assignor to the New-England Screw Company of s.ime place, for mechan- ism for pointing and threading screw-blanks in same machine, ante-dated Oct. 16, 1852. Lydorian Rick- etson, administratrix of Henry H. Ricketson, deceased, of New-Bedford, Jlass., for machines for cutting whale-blubber. Jearum Atkins, of Chelsea, 111., for rakes to harvesters. W. S. Carr, New- York, N. Y., for water-closets. A. S. Dozer, Norfolk, Ya., for ventilators. Warren Gale, Louisville, Ky., for straw-cutters. W. A. Gates, Mount Comfort, Tenii., for ploughs. Jjansing E. Hopkins, New- York, N. Y., machinery for^manufacturing hat-bodies. John Jones and Alexander Lylo, of Rochester, N. ¥., fbr grain-threshers and cleaners. W. H; Morrison, of Indianapolis, Ind., for equalizing apparatus for engincs^which use steam expansively. Jacob L. Ream, Mount Pulaski, 111., for maize harvesters. S. W. Rogers, Baltimore, Md., for cut-off valve motion. Jesse N. Seeley, Forsyth, Ga., for potato-diggers. Thomas Snook and Stephen Hill, Rochester, N. Y., for lamps to locomotive engines. John Swindells, Manchester, Eng., manufacture of chromate of soda. William E. I'nderwood, Middlefleld, Mass., for improved fulling-mills. Daniel Walrotb, Chittenango, N. Y., and Lucius Evans, of Manlir.s, N. Y., machinery for separating iron from furnace-cinders. (_^aleb C. Walworth, improved steam flat-irons. .\retU8 A. Wilder, Detroit, Mich., for planing-machines. W. H. Woodworth, of Salmon Falls, N. I?., for method of measuring cloth on the beam. Linus Yale, .Jr., Newport, N. Y., for safety-lock- List of Designs Issued during December. Ezra Ripley and N. S. Vedder, of Troy, N. Y., assignors to Samuel McClurc, of Rochester, N. Y., for design for a cook-stove. Josej)!! Wager, Volney Richmond, and Harvey Smith, of Troy, N. Y., for a box stove. Nicholas T. Ilorton, Cincinnati, O., for iron railing. Gilbert Knapp .ind Adnah H. Neal, of Honesdale, Pa., for a coal-stove. Sherman S. Jewitt and Francis II. Root, of Buffalo, .\. Y., for stove-plates. Sherman S. Jewitt and Francis II. Root, of same place, for a cooking-stove. James Wager, Volney Richmond, and Harvey Smith, of Troy, for a hearth-plate. W.i'hington L. Pcsrsnil and Sylvester W. Pearsall, New- York, N. Y., for a spittoon. -56 NEW BOOKS. NEW BOOKS. Footsteps of our Forefathers ; what they suffered and what they sought : describing Localities and portraying Personages and Events, conspicuous in the Struggles fw Religious Liberty. By James G. Miall. Boston : Gould & Lincoln. 1852. 352 pages. The title of this work is a fit description of its contents. The style is good, and the incidents are often intensely interesting. The scenes described occurred chiefly in the period commencing with the accession of Henry VIII. and closing with the reign of James. The frequent and abominable assumptions of ecclesiastical power by the differ- ent sovereigns then upon the throne, and the individual persecutions of Wichf, Hamp- den, Pym, Baxter, Wm. Penn, Geo. Fox, and others, are minutely set forth, and perhaps justify the declaration of the author, that " ecclesiastical authority is not safe in the hands of civil rulers." The volume is illustrated by 36 engravings. The Memory of Washington : with Biographical Sketches of his Mother and Wife, &c. Boston: James Monroe & Co. 1852. 320 pages, 12mo. This is a book of incidents and anecdotes illustrating the life of Washington, rather than a history. It cannot fail to be popular. v Home Cookery : a Collection of tried Receipts, both foreign and domestic. By Mrs. J Chadwick. Boston: Crosby, Nichols (fe Co. New-York: Chas. S. Francis & Co. 1863. 159 pages. This volume, like good bread, is much kneaded, for the number of good cooks is won- derfully small ; and though we have no peculiar illumination on this subject, we can honestly say, after a careful examination of it, that we should be better satisfied with reading some of these receipts, than by eating of the culinary products of many a house- hold in this " happy land." We are always glad to see good cookery books, for half the unhappiness in the world is the consequence of bad bread and bad cooking. The Metropolitan Glee Book, or Alpine Glee Singer. Vol. II. By William B. Brad- bury. New- York: Newman & Ivison. 1852. This is one of the best Glee Books we have ever examined. The selections are good, the arrangements good, the typography clear, and the whole quite to our taste. It contains " Glee Ciioruses, Opera Choruses, and Four-part Songs from the most popular authors." To this variety are added, for some good reason, we suppose, several of the magnificent choruses from the Messiah. Outlines of a System of Mechanical Philosophy ; being a Research into the Laws of Force. By Samdel Elliott CouES. Boston : Chas. S. Little ly of native phosphate of lime, which only requires pulverization to render it almost as useful as recent bones. Pliosi>hates in the bones comprise their chief value, which is sliowri by the fact that they make a fertilizer equally as valuable after the fatty matter has been extracted by soap boilers as before ; hence all old bones might be rendered valuable if properly applied. Guano, the most powerful fertilizer applicable to husbandry, is known to derive its great value from the amount of bone earth it contains. I therefore regard the annual waste of bones on plantations in the South, where more animal food is consumed than by any other people in the woild, a«> the most suicidal disregard of that economy which has furnished the axiom to agriculturists that " manure is wealth.''^ Many arguments abound to favor the adoption of bones as manure amongst us. One is, they can easily be preserved, and it only requires the same labor to do this that it does to throw them away. Another argument in their favor is, that a laborer can transport in a sack, to a distant field, bone manure, which will furnish more constituents to the crop than can be concentrated in a four-house load of the best stable dung or compost manure ; still another is the little labor requisite to apply them to the soil. The great secret of applying bones to the soil is found in pulverizing them into as finely separated particles as possible, which fits them for the operation of speedy atmospheric influence, that their con- stituents may be taken up rapidly by the plants. Grinding, crushing, and burning are the usual modes ; but in order to fit the crushed bones or bone ashes for the greatest production, Liebig recommends to pour over the crushed bones or ashes half their weight of sulphuric acid diluted with four parts of water, and after they have been digested for twenty-four hours, to add one hundred parts of water ; this mixture is sprinkled over the field im- mediately before ploughing. By its actiofa, in a few seconds the free acids uniting with the bones contained in the earth, a neutral salt is formed, in a very fine state of division. Experiments instituted on soils for the purpose of ascertaining the action of manure prepared in this manner, have distinctly shown that neither grain nor kitchen garden plants suft'er injurious effects in consequence, but that on the contrary they thrive with much more vigor after its application. (L-ebig, Organic Chemistry, Am. Ed., p. 230.) Another theory of application, by the celebrated Dumas, contained in his me- moir " On the maimer in which Phosphate of Lime enters Organized Beings^* (Comptes Rendues, Nov. 30, 1846, p. 1018,) is interesting. He remarks, that the phosphate of lime, being insoluble in water, nevertheless penetrates and is deposited in their structure, and bones containing it are slowly dis- aggregated by the soil, and disappear after a time under the influence of the rains. The investigations of M. Dumas discovered two causes producing these effects — the one acting rarely and feebly, the other constantly and with great intensity. The first resides in a property of sal ammoniac, which facilitates the solution of phosphate of lime. Though this salt dissolves a notable quantity, and exists in all running water, its small proportion renders its action in this respect inconsiderable. The second is found in the action of carbonic acid, and in this the true solvent of phosphate of lime is to be found ; for water, impregnated with carbonic acid, dissolves large quantities of phosphate of lime. Berzelius and Thenard had remarked that ebullition and neutralization by alkalies reprecipitated the phosphate from this solution. Dumas intro- duced plates of ivory into bottles of Seltzer water, and they were as much softened after twenty-four hours as if acted on by dilute muriatic acid. The Seltzer water was found loaded with ghosphate of lime, and the exj^riment ANALYSIS OF THE COTTON PLANT AND SEED. 89 proved the action of carbonic acid as its solvent to be both rapid and cer- tain. I am sure this discovery will be of importance to the agricultural world. I would call the attention of physiologists to this property of carbonic acid, as satisfactorily explaining the assimilation of phosphate of lime by plants. Of course, it would not be practicable to dissolve the phosphate by Seltzer water, but the preparation of bone ashes, by its known and powerful con- stituent, might be rendered available in the following manner : Where bone powder or ashes is intended for manuring soil destitute of vegetable matter, let it be mixed with leaves or other organic matter, and its decomposition, with the aid of rains and atmospherical influences, will create a sufficient quantity of carbonic acid to assimilate the phosphates in such a form as readily to be taken up by the organism of the plants. How easily could a planter manure a few acres of cotton with bone powder or ashes ! When all the bones are hoarded as gold, and their true value known, they will be ap- preciated. Then a bone mill for crushing, and simple apparatus for their chemical reduction, will be as essential to producing the crop as a grinding mill is to prepare grain for the food of man. Wood ashes, containing phosphates and alkalies to a considerable extent, may, where they abound, be used advantageously as a manure for cotton. Being useful in decomposing and ameliorating adhesive soils, might be pro- fitably employed in the permanent improvement of cotton lands. Common potters' clay diffused through water, and added to milk of lime, thickens immediately upon mixing ; and, if the mixture be kept for some months, on the addition of an acid the clay becomes gelatinous, which is the effect of the admixture of the hme. The lime, in combining with the ele- ments of the clay, liquefies it; and, what is more remarkable, liberates the greater portion of its alkalies. These interesting facts were first observed by M. Fuchs, at Munich, and led to the explanation of the effects of caustic lime upon the soil, which furnishes the agriculturist with an invaluable means of opening it, and setting free its alkahes, substances so indispensable to the pro- duction of his croj^s. The lime lands of the West producing abundant crops of cotton so long as furnished with vegetable matter, shows that lime alone upon exhausted soils would prove a doubtful aid. It was a matter of surprise to Professor Liebig that any soil, not furnished by artificial means with the preponderating constituents of the cotton plant and seed, should produce a crop abounding in the phosphates. This leads me to further investigations, and a rich field of research lies still unexplored in the analytical examination of the cotton soils of the South and West. Thomas J. Summer. South Carolina, 1848. It is indeed a matter of surprise, that an article of such world-wide neces- sity should have been hitherto so neglected by agricultural chemists ; and I am not aware that we have even now an analysis in full of the ash of the whole plant. The two best analyses are those of the stalk, by Summer and Judd. The analysis of the seed by Summer contains an error of loss and chlorine = 4.84 per cent. The same analysis (of seed) by Shepard gives an error of 1.68 per cent, of loss, carbonate potassa, sulphates of lime and magnesia, alumina and ses^ioxide of iron ; and Shepard's analysis of 90 CHEAP DRAINING. the wool yields 6.23 per cent, loss, chloride of potassium, sulphate of lime, phosphate of potassa, and trace of sesquioxide of iron. Shei)ard's analyses are calculated with regard to the composition of the ash itself, instead of l^pving- the constituents separately, which aione renders a comparison between diflferent analyses possible, the composition of ash varying according to the nature and quantity of its constituents, and the degree of heat at which it is prepared. I have recalculated Summer's analysis of the stalk, by Weber's new analytical tables; want of data in the seed analysis rendered its recalcu- lation impossible. I have also recalculated Summer's analyses to the hundred parts, neglecting sand, coal, and carbonic acid ; and, having separated the salts in Shepard's analj'ses, recalculated the constituents in the same manner. The following table will show the comparative nature of the constituents of the ash of the plant, seed, and wool, as analyzed by Summer and Judd, the defective analyses above mentioned considered as approximative : CONSTITUENTS OF THE STALK. SEhD. 1 WOOL. THE COTTON PLANT. Summer. Judd. Summer. Sbepard. Shepard. Potassa, 29.40 29.68 29.56 20.04 44.00 Soda, 1.29 — 2.92 — — Lime, - - - 23.30 24.34 11.56 27.84 22.43 Magnesia, - 6.9Y 3,73 11.27 0.13 4.45 Oxide iron, - 9.56 — 3.65 — — Alumina, - — — — — 1.94 Phosphoric acid, - 18.28 34.92 37.65 48.92 19.63 Sulphuric acid, - 1.Y4 3.54 3.39 1.24 1.84 Chloride sodium, - 0.79 — — — — Silica, 8.65 3.24 — 1.71 5.71 Chlorine, — 0.65 — 0.12 — 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 Dh. Charles M. Wetherill. FhiladelvMa, No. 206 Cherry St., December, 1852. CHEAP DRAINING. It is stated in the foreign correspondence of the Michifjan Farmer, that a method of cutting drains has been adopted in Scotland requiring much less cost than formerly, being all done with the plough. It is very useful in all cases where the ground is clayey and tolerably free from stones. In the first place, a common plough is passed back and forth, turning out a furrow on each side ; then follows the draining plough, which goes down from two to two and a half feet, the mould board being so formed as to turn the earth all out. In this manner twelve acres in the vicinity of Sterling were drained with three ploughs in one day, the tile being laid in the furrows just as the plough left it. The earth was returned to the ditch by means of a scraper in the form of the letter V, the legs of course protruding forward, and a team attached to each leg on each side of the ditch. We have been long since satisfied that the cost of excavating ditches might be reduced by more horse labor than is generally used. For instance, let a Michigan subsoil plough, with ample team, be set in a foot deep — a thing very easily done by throwing a furrow each way, leaving but a narrow strip in the middle ; the first foot of THE COCHINEAL INSECT. 91 the ditch is at first thrown out with sufficient rapidity to prepare some miles for the spade in each day. By running twice each way, a greater dejtth and more perfect work might be attained. A regular and thorough system of drainino- is at present quite expensive, costing some twenty-tive or thirty dollars per acre ; and if its cost could be reduced one half by the application of horse power, it would greatly contribute towards its general introduction, and be worth millions to the country, lying, as it does in most cases, at the very foundation of successful farming. THE COCHINEAL INSECT, The studies of mankind are infinitely varied. They are not necessarily confined to those departments of learning which are termed scientific. The field of philosophic inquiry is as illimitable as the universe, embracing a boundless range of physical, moral, and intellectual phenomena. Nature ^ spreads before us a table loaded with the most delicious viands, and it is our own fault if we do not banquet on her bounty. Up then, gentle and juvenile readers, and bestir yourselves in the great field of knowledge, which, once acquired, will continue a never-failing spring of consolation and delight. The history of the cochineal insect is a proof. Down to the close of the seventeenth century, neither our dyers nor clothiers knew that they were in- debted for the bright scarlet color, called cochineal, used by them to dye cloth red, to the little insect represented in the above engraving ; yet so it is! This insect was first discovered by the Spaniards in Mex'co, in the year 1518, in the employ of the natives ; but its true nature was not accurately ascertained for nearly two centuries afterwards. It was always supposed to be the seed of a plant, and in commerce it appears like a reddish shrivelled grain, covered with a white powder or bloom. But philosophers, by dissec- tions and microscopical observations, ascertained its real natui'e. This insect feeds on a particular kind of Indian fig, called a nopal. The above engrav- ing represents the nopal, (which is a plant consisting of stems, the buds of which are prickly,) with the male and female insects feeding upon it. The editor of " Tlie Student " thus describes their habits, &c. : " The natives, where these creatures are produced, raise plantations of the 92 BENDING AND ANNEALING GLASS. nopal near their dwellings. It grows freely from cuttings ; and these are fit to receive the insect after eighteen months. Into a small nest, formed of some thread-like sub-.tance, or cottony matter, a few females are placed, about the middle of October. These nests are affixed to the nopal, on the side facing the rising sun. The eggs are soon laid and batched ; and as each female produces up- wards of a thousand eggs, a large colony of these little creatures soon spread over the tree. It is said that six generations of them are produced in a single year. On first leaving the egg the insects of both sexes are quite active, and run about among the leaves and branches of the trees. They are so small, how- ever, at that time, that they cannot be seen without the aid of a microscope. They are flat ovular, without wings, and with short antennae or horns. The females have a small, short, and almost conical beak, placed between the first and second pair of feet, which contains a sucker. It is by the means of this that they draw forth the juices of the leaves and tender stems. ^ When the female has reached what is called the perfect state, it is filled with a multitude of very minute eggs. Having laid her eggs, the female never moves from her place, but dies, and her body becomes a covering for the eggs till they are hatched. When this is done, the young insects work their way out, and commence feeding. After a short time their skins harden, and serve as a cocoon. From this they pass into a chrysalis state, and soon after appear the perfect insect. The cochineal is first collected about the middle of December. The insects are removed from the nopal with a knife, the edge of which has been blunt- ed, or are carefully brushed off. This labor is performed by the Indian "women, who often sit for hours together by the side of a single plant. The insects are usually killed by the application of heat, sometimes by baking them in ovens." BENDING AND ANNEALING GLASS. A VERY simple mode of accomplishing this process is practised in England, and possibly in this country. It was patented in England in September, 1 851. A muffle or oven is so constructed, that the fire surrounds the lower part of the oven externally, the heat and flame of which enter the muffle through a long opening near its top, and forming a sort of arch, pass out through an open- ing in the top of the muffle. An upright axis revolves within the muffle, which can be raised or lowered at pleasure. On the top of this axis is a mould of the shape and size desired. When the mould has become heated, the workman places the circular sheet of glass upon the mould, and first causing it to revolve on the lower part of the oven, it gradually becomes heated, and is raised to the hotter part. When at the right heat, as observed through opening a side hole, another mould, fitted to the lower one, is fixed upon a handle, and pressed down upon the glass, forcing it to assume the shape of that on which it rests. Meanwhile, the axis is kept in constant rotation, for the purpose of securing an even heat. When this is done, the mould is removed and subjected to the process of annealing, and another mould substituted. In this way, concave, convex, or other shaped glasses are obtained of a form suitable for reflectors, and other uses. LATHE FOR CHUCKING AND TURNING. 93 J^ bO a*- -a 72 ^-5 5 ^ ^ " § ■§ -a ^ ^^ ci,pi ^.2 '-•go -a 05 > O ^ O fl c 0) S c^ -t-. CS .2.> § «" i: ,r^ » -" a „ <« ,5 ^ -S ;: a =• I" • == « •§ s^ c I S = ft '^ !- t« bbj^ „ I'-g 3- 2_0 -oo' ■T! T fl 5 S ^ J a rt ^ "i s| s I s s s «^1 5.2 1)1 Qj c rt O c r"^ a; « i J C3 O =^ ''^ rC iT 5 g 9; -; «5 ~ aj >- 5 ^ ■::«>- 3 MM to -r 3> "^ 5 ■•? fee sx-^ o u =i 3 a o m 2 -■ "rt £ «•-_->-> o ^ -a .^ S -^ °* m 3 C ^ ^-a £ g-a =»•= ft£ S " ^ .= =- =s S. I H "S .i^ "t: c - 2 s^i.s^l <" 3 ^~ _!. " U o ^ § B « « oj H n oj M p^ 94 LETTERS ON SCIENTIFIC HUSBANDRY. FAMILIAR LETTERS ON PRACTICAL AND SCIENTIFIC HUSBANDRY. No. L INTRODUCTION. Dear Sir : — It would be a work of supererogation to waste many words in attempting to prove that, of all arts and sciences, Agriculture is not only the most ancient, but the most useful and universal. Upon this all other arts depend, and in all countries it is coeval with civilization. It employs three fourths of this, and every civilized community ; and in the prosecution of it, nine tenths of the fixed capital of every nation is embarked. It is not only indispensable to all national prosperity, but is eminently conducive to the welfare of those engaged in it. It gives health to the body, energy to the mind; is favorable to temperate habits and moral purity of character. Upon these are built the foundations of national independence. Although we read that emperors, kings, philosophers, and statesmen have had a pride in being accounted farmers, and some have written on the subject, yet the study of the principles of agriculture never occupied the greatest minds ; on the contrary, the energies of the man of science have been devoted to the improvements of art and manufacture hitherto ; and at the commence- ment of the present century the system of cultivating the land was found but little advanced on that adopted by the Romans some two thousand years ago. But in every country a period must arrive when the study of agricul- ture becomes more urgent than before. Hitherto, in our comparatively young countiy, under a very imperfect system of culture, we have produced enough food for our population, with a fair surplus for exportation. But population rapidly increases, with a proportional demand for food. The imperfect system of culture will no longer supply the demands upon the soil ; the land must be systematically tilled, its special qualities and defects studied, and means adopted to extract a maximum produce from every acre susceptible of culti- vation, There was probably no department in the Exhibition of the World's Fair which illustrated in a more striking manner the lesson of the agricultural progress of nations, than in passing through the English and American departments of the implements of husbandry. In them were seen high results of ingenuity and mechanical skill, such as steam engines, improved drills, horse hoes, and threshing machines, bent to subduing nature ; while in the Indian department were seen models of the old plough, fashioned in the same rude manner as it was centuries since — then the model of a squalid- looking sower scattering and wasting the seed, and the hoofs of the oxen treading out the grain after the fashion of the days of Scripture. The other continental nations generally filled up the gap between India and America, enabling the lookers-on to read the world's progress more satisfactorily than could have been done by years of travel. It wa« admitted that though the greatest mechanical achievements had hitherto been made on behalf of man- ufactures, the era had arrived when the purely mechanical and constructive arts must bend their skill in promoting the cause of agriculture. That great gathering of the products of all nations taught Americans that the real, the inexhaustible wealth of the Republic, consists in the fruits of its soil, in the produce of its tillage. It has opened a new field for the inventors, and we may anticipate new and valuable inventions in the various departments of agricultural industry. It should therefore be a point with our countrymen not only to seek sedulously the science of developing the riches concealed LETTERS ON SCIENTIFIC HUSBANDRY. 96 within the bosom of the earth, but to chronicle the present starting-point of all the available machinery devoted to the same end. The aTiculturists of antiquity, as well as those of the middle a,£jes, were destitute of many advantages enjoyed by the modern cultivator. They had no correct knowledge of geology, mineralogy, chemistry, botany, vegetable physiology,' or natural philosophy ; but these sciences give the command of important agents, elements, and principles, of which the ancients had no idea. The precepts of their writers were conformable to their experience ; but the rationale of the practices they prescribed they could not explain. Nature's most simple modes of operation were to them inexplicable, and their ignorance of causes often led to erroneous calculations with regard to effects. They bad no correct knowledge of the nature and properties of manures, mineral, animal, and vegetable ; the best modes of applying them, and the particular crops for which particular manures are best suited. Neither did they know the method of using all manures of vegetable origin while fresh, before the sun, air, and rain had robbed thera of their most valuable properties. It was formerly the practice to place barn-yard manure in layers or masses for the purpose of rotting, till the whole had become destitute of fertility and reduced in quantity. They knew nothing of chemically analyzing the soils to ascertain their constituent parts, and thus learn what substances were wanted to increase its fertility ; nor of root husbandry, or the raising of potatoes, turnips, mangel- wurtzel, tfec, extensively, for feeding cattle, by which a given quantity of land may be made to produce much more nutritive matter than if it were occupied with grain or grass crops, and the health as well as the thriving of the ani- mals in the winter season greatly promoted. They were also unacquainted with laying down lands to grass, either for pasture or mowing, or with a greater variety of grasses adapted to a greater variety of soils, such as orchard- grass for dry land, meadow-grass for very wet land, timothy for stiff clayey soils, (kc. Neither knew they the art of breeding the best animals and the best vegetables by a judicious selection of individuals to propagate from. These improvements, with many others not specified, render the agriculture of the present period very different from that of past days. It is a complicated art, and demands a general education, the study of principles, and observation. Without observation, experience and application, it cannot be practised with success. Farmers often complain that they know not what to do with their sons, and seek places for them in cities. Such places ! as Mr. Greeley truly remarks, where their henlth and happiness are often wrecked — where, too, they have to compete with thousands. And all this, while the noble science of Agriculture is not half learned ! Whereas that man who would promote the happiness and success of his sons, should bring them up to skilled agri- culture. That is a certain method of providing for the future of a family, and is a better provision for youth than a city life, with its uncertainties, drinking, gambling, and smoking cigars. Men of capital — city men who have made a sufficiency to live — often retire to the country, engage in farming, and find themselves very defective in some of the most necessary qualifications of the art, and sink in their circumstances. And necessarily so, for agriculture is both a scietice to be learned, and an art to be practised. The science consists in the knowledge of the life of vegeta- bles, the origin of their elements, and the sources of their nourishment. The art tells how to preserve or render fields fertile for one, two, three, or all plants. Without an education no man can be an agriculturist. The banker does not intrust the capital of the establishment into the hands of a person unacquainted with the intricacies of the profession. The manufacturer nor the merchant commit their interests to those who are not versed in their separate 96 LATHES. branches of business. The business of husbandry is no exception to this rule. No man can be a farmer without learning the science and practising the art. These letters we intend to be useful instructors and correct guides, giving clear narrativ'es of all the 'principles and labors of the farm. The Editor of the F(irmer''s Libranj sa,ys: "There seems in. truth — and every Christian will hail all such omens with delight — to be a growing con- viction that, as the field of Science enlarges, the practical man cannot fulfil his calling, whatever that calling may be, without some acqii^nntance with those branches of Science which bear ui)on it. The Divine, the Lawyer, the Physician, the Merchant — and he, still honored and rewarded above the best, whose art it is to destroy his fellow-man — are all of them acting upon this principle. The advance of Science in all other pursuits except farmino-, is making empiricism in them degrading and unprofitable. Yet the follower of each of them was once an empiric. The Farmer alone is so still. Does not then the advance of Science — may we not say his own character and self- respect — require him, too, to be a man of certainty, independent on, or rather a controller of circumstances ?" Justus Liebig, the celebrated agricultural chemist, after showing that those who are destined to the pursuit are not properly instructed in the art of hus- bandry, but learn it, in a way, by imitation and habit, gives the following definition of agricultural empiricism : "The empiric attributes all his success to the mechanical operations of agriculture. He experiences and recognizes their value, -without inquiring what are the causes of their utility, their mode of action. And yet this scientific knowledge is of the highest importance for regulating the application of power and the expenditure of capital ; tbrinsuring its economical expenditure and the prevention of waste. Can it be imaofined that the mere passing of the ploughshare or the harrow through the soil — the mere contact of the iron — can impart fertility miraculously ? Nobody, perhaps, seriously entertains such an opinion. Nevertheless, the modus oper- andi of these mechanical operations is by no means generally understood. The fact is quite certain that careful ploughing exerts the most favorable influence : the surface is thus mechanically divided, changed, increased, and renovated ; but the ploughing is only auxiliary to the end sought." The only remedy for this condition of mind is an agricultural education, which is as necessary for the farmer as for the lawyer or physician ; and we shall monthly sketch out such as we consider will lead the mind, by an easy and natural process, to the principles on which that business is conducted successfully. While one agricultural individual is in darkness who might be enlightened ; while only one blade of grass grows where two might spring forth, the highest and holiest of duties demand that effort bo exerted and experience be extended. The history of our country declares with a thousand tongues, that the advancement of art and science can only be effected by the teachings of experience through the medium of the Press. LATHES. In the London Exhibition, of the various machines and implements exhib- ited, lathes appear to have been collected in the greatest number and variety. In the report of the jury on this subject, we find commendatory notice of one sent by the Lowell machine shop, of 12-inch centre and 13-feet bed. These gentlemen say, it " will be looked on with great interest, as a specimen of fii'st-rate transatlantic workmanship in this branch, and as offering various ARTIFICIAL MANURES. 97 peculiarities of form and distribution of metal ; the latter being employed as sparingly as possible on account of the great cost of iron. Hence a lightness of construction carried to the extreme point, consistent with strength and stiffness, which presents a singular contrast to the sohd proportions adopted by our own engineers." An English lathe is described, capable of turning wheels above seven feet in diameter, and another in which " the work is acted on simultaneously by two tools cutting at the opposite extremities of the same horizontal diametrical line. Thus vibration and deviation of the work in shaft-turning is wholly prevented. The beds of these lathes are 18 and 36 feet, respectively." ARTIFICIAL MANURES. We extract the following excellent article from a late English paper. It is worthy of careful study, and affords a simple guide for testing the value of all artificial manures : 1. Nitrogen, in the form of ammonia, or nitric acid. Nitrogen, without doubt, is the most valuable of all fertilizing substances, as it is the so-called stimulating or forcing property of manures. All cultivated plants are much benefited when richly suppHed with it in a proper form, particularly at an early stage of their growth ; at a later period of their development its appli- cation appears much less effective. Nitrogen in a free state, however, is not assimilated by plants to any extent, and it is only when the nitrogen of nitrogenized organic matters has become changed by fermentation or putrefaction into ammonia, (or nitric acid,) that this elementary substance acts as a powerful fertilizer. It is for this reason that fresh bones, unfermented urine, long dung, &c., are much slower in their action than the same materials after having undergone fermentation or putre- faction. In the latter state they contain ammonia ready formed, which the plants can assimilate at once ; but, in the first case, the decomposition of the nitrogenized matters proceeds slowly in the ground, particularly when ploughed in deep ; and the plants are thus necessitated to wait a long time before they can absorb the ammonia which is generated during the decomposition of the nitrogenized organic matter. In stiff soils, and in dry seasons, the formation of ammonia proceeds so slowly that the beneficial action of manuring sub- stances is often lost in the first year ; because, if plants have passed the period of the most vigorous growth, they derive little advantage from the ammonia. Oh the other hand, manuring substances, such as guano, soot, refuse-water of gas-manufactories, sal-ammoniac, sulphate of ammonia, putrefied liquid ma- nure, which all contain large quantities of ready-formed ammonia, exercise a most surprisingly quick forcing power on grass-land, and on wheat, and all plants at an early stage of their growth. The effects of ammonia have been so well ascertained by numerous prac- tical experiments, in which it has been applied with the exclusion of all other substances, that few practical men at the present time will hesitate to ascribe the rapid forcing effects of guano, of the ammoniacal liquor of gas-works, &c., to the ammonia which they contain. 2. Phosphoric Acid. — Next to ammonia, phosphoric acid must be regarded as the most valuable compound in artificial manures. It occurs in soils but in small quantities, and as it is an essential constituent of all cultivated plants and particularly required for the perfection of grain, its deficiency in the soil PART U. VOL. V. 7 98 ARTIFICIAL MANURES. is at once indicated by the poor small ears of wheat, oats or barley. Phos- phoric acid exists generally in artificial manures in the form of bone-earth or phosphate of lime. 3. Alkalies, potash and soda. — Other valuable fertilizers are potash and soda, or rather salts of potash or soda, particularly the first. In their chemical relations, potash and soda resemble ammonia ; and this similarity is also shown in their action, which, like that of ammonia, is forcing or stimulating. All cultivated plants, particularly root-crops and herbaceous plants, require potash as a necessary article of food, for they show in their ashes large quan- tities of it. It is for this reason that turnips, carrots, and other green crops, are much benefited by the application of burnt clay, in which, as I have shown in this Journal some time ago, a much larger quantity of soluble potash exists than in natural clay. For the same reasons these crops are much bene- fited by wood ashes and liquid manure, which both contain considerable quantities of salts of potash. How soon does an artificial manure act? — Chemical analysis, in many instances, is capable of satisfactorily answering this question. Those constituents of an artificial manure which are soluble in water, or which are easily rendered so by a rapid decomposition, benefit plants in the first year ; those which are soluble in acids, or which decompose more slowly in the ground, exercise the chief fertiliziing action on plants in the second or third year ; those, finally, which are insoluble in acids, or which decompose still more slowl}', can only benefit vegetation at a still more remote period. How are artificial manures best applied to the land ? In what state ? At what fune ? In what quantities ? — Practice alone can give correct answers to these questions. Theory in many instances may throw out some valuable hints, but can never give special directions, as the nature of the soil, the position of the land, the climate, and numerous other local influences, necessarily must greatly alter the mode of application of artificial manures. The b^st mode of application is entirely dependent on circumstances, and can only be established in every separate instance by practical experience. What is the value of an artificial manure ? — This question, undoubtedly, is the most important to the farmer, and happily one, the solution of which chemistry will greatly facilitate. The external characters are insufficient indications of the real value of an artificial manure : a much better guide to the correct estimation of its value is chemical analysis. The farmer, however, will derive benefit from analysis only when he can calculate from the analytical data the money-value in an easy manner. In order to enable him to do so, he requires to know the market price of each of the constituents of the manure. By a simple rule of three he can then ascertain the value of the whole manure. Calculations of this description, however, are not so simple as they might appear to be, and often present insuperable difficulties, arising from the want of a standard price of several of the constituents of artificial manures. Many of them are not found in trade at all ; others, like potash, soda, sulphuric acid, &c., which are articles of commerce, are always sold in a more or less purified state ; but it is clear that the commercial value of such materials cannot be accepted as the standard price, because the value of an artificial manure, in which the same substances occur in an impure state, would be estimated far too high. A third difficulty in ascertaining the commercial value of manuring substances arises from the circumstance that two, three, or four simple sub- stances occur together, in the fertilizers of commerce, which renders it very difficult to assign to each its proper value. ARTIFICIAL MANURES. 99 It would lead me too far to enumerate all the reasons -which could be assigned for fixing the price of some of the more frequently occurring ma- nurino- substances which follow. However useful the subjoined table nia)'- be to the practical man, considerable latitude must be allowed in esdraating the real commercial value of an artificial manure; and as all articles of commerce are subject to considerable fluctuations, it follows, necessarily, that the price- list subjoined can have no permanent value. Table for determining the Value of Artificial Manures. 1. Every lb. of nitrogen, in the form of ammonia or nitric acid, may d. be estimated at ........ ^ 2. 1 lb. of nitrogen, in the form of nitrogenized matters, at - 6 3. Organic matters, free from nitrogen, (humus,) 18 lbs., at - - 1 4. Salts of potash, 1 lb., at 1 Or potash separately, 1 lb., at - - - - - " li- 5. Salts of soda, 9 lbs., at - 1 6. Phosphate of lime, 1 lb., at f Or phosphoric acid, separately, 1 lb., at - - - - \\ v. Gypsum, 6 lbs., at 1 8. Lime, 12 lbs., at 1 For all practical purposes, the determination of the value of the remainder of the substances, which are usually indicated in the analyses of artificial manures, such as oxide of iron, alumina, silica, &c., maj'- be entirely neglected. The chief questions which the farmer requires to have answered by the chemist are — a. How much, in 100 lbs., does the artificial manure contain of — 1. Ni- trogen ; 2. Organized substances ; 3. Salts of potash ; 4. Salts of soda ; 5. Phosphate of lime ; 6. Gypsum ; V. Carbonate of lime, or of magnesia ? b. In what combination does the nitrogen exist ? In the form of amrao- niacal salts? Or in the form of nitrates ? Or in the form of nitrogenized organic matters ? Do the latter enter easily into putrefaction, or do they decompose with difticulty ? The answer to the first question, a, including the above-mentioned seven points, will enable the farmer to calculate the commercial value of the manure. The answers to the other questions, ft, will teach him approximately whether the manure is likely to act quickly, or whether it belongs to those, the full fertilizing effects of which are brought out only in the second or third year. Bone dust resembles, in its chief constituents, the solid excrements of animals, and straw, and differs from them chiefly by being much richer, as will be seen by the following comparison : Constituents. 1,000 lbs. of 1,000 Ibe. of fresh 1,000 lbs. of bone-dust, cow or horse dung, dry straw. Nitrogen, 60 4 4 Phosphoric acid, - - - 240 3 2 Lime, 330 4 4 Bone-dust thus contains about twelve times more forcing substances, and eighty to a hundred times more grain-forming material?, than dry straw or the solid excrements of animals. With regard to the application of bone-dust, I would observe that the usual practice of applying bones, as ^ inch or ^ inch bones, cannot be recom- 100 BUFFUM S PERFECTED GOLD SEPARATOR. mended. In this state they decompose very slowly in the ground — so slowly, indeed, that ten or twenty years may be required to dissolve them entirely. Dissolved Bones. — A great many analyses of commercial dissolved bones, or super-phosphate of lime, having been published lately by Dr. Anderson and Professor Way, it is not necessary for me to cite many analyses of com- mercial super-phosphate. I shall therefore merely give the examination of one sample of super-phosphate, as it affords an additional proof of Dr. Anderson's observation, that this commercial article is frequently of a very inferior quality : Super-Phosphate of Lime, Water, 6.30 Organic matter, 9.32 Phosphate of hme, 34.25 Phosphate of iron, 6.57 Sulphate of lime, 28.31 Sulphate of magnesia, ------ 2.42 Sulphate of soda, with a little sulphate of potash, - - 6.38 Silicious insoluble matters, 6.45 100.00 This article, which in reality did not contain any soluble phosphate of lime at all, was offered for sale at £7 10s. per ton. BUFFUM'S PERFECTED GOLD SEPARATOR. When it was announced that the hills, the valleys, and the rivers in Cali- fornia were one vast field of golden ore, open to individual enterprise, the attention of inventive genius was drawn to a careful investigation of the known methods of separating gold from the ores in which it is imbedded ; and on ascertaining that they were universally defective, a great variety of new mechanical arrangements were brought forth, intended for a more perfect performance of this productive labor. It has long been well understood that between gold and quicksilver there is such a chemical affinity, that when they are brought into contact with each other, and that contact is continued over a sufficient distance to secure an adhesive covering of the quicksilver over each separate particle of gold, they buffum's perfected gold separator. 101 become united in amalgam. But in the meclianical arrangements, both ancient and modern, the chief obstacle to complete success has been the in- sufficiency of any well-understood scientific principles which can be so applied as to unite the gold and quicksilver in amalgam, and retain the quicksilver in security, with a current of water sufficiently powerful to keep the heavy sands in a floating position, so as to wash all impurities away. In the arrangements where the rocking or shaking motion is relied upon for carrying oft" the sand, and especially where all is stirred and mixed up together, the quicksilver becomes broken into globules, and escapes with the sand, and is lost. In other arrangements, the black sand, pyrites, and sulphurets settle, and form a cake on the surface of the quicksilver, and prevent a contact of the gold with the quicksilver ; and in all heretofore introduced, the distance which the sand passes in contact with the quicksilver is too limited to insure an amalgam of a feir percentage of the liberated gold. In consideration of these difficulties, it is conceded that, in the pulverized gold-bearing pure quartz, from twenty-five to fifty per cent, of the gold is lost ; and that in the ores which are densely saturated with pyrites and sulphurets, and in the black iron sand, any attempt at separation by the ordinary processes is entirely unavailing. But we are now authorized to announce that Arnold Bufium has made discoveries of scientific principles in the action of fluids in whirlpools, different from the theory of all professional scientific writers on the subject, by which, with a very simple mechanical arrangement in one cistern, he gives to golden sand a thorough washing, and then passes it in contact with quicksilver over such a distance as insures an amalgam and saving of all the gold, while the heaviest sulphurets and pyrites and all sands are washed clean away. This arrangement consists of a cistern, with an irregular spiral jDassage-way on the bottom plate, commencing at the periphery and ending at the centre ; with a discharge aperture surrounded by a conical ring at the centre of the cistern bottom. Suspended in the cistern immediately above the spiral passage-way, is a horizontally revolving table, making a division between the upper and lower part of the cistern, excepting a small space around the periphery of the table. In practical operation, the bottom of the cistern is covered with quicksilver ; a stream of water and golden sand are poured in at the top of the cistern ; the horizontally revolving table gives to the water a rapid whirlpool motion ; the agitation of the whirlpool above the table commingles the ore with the water, and washes away all impurities from the surface of the gold before it reaches a contact with the quicksilver ; the circular motion of the whirlpool below the table keeps the sand in a floating position, and circulates it in the channels which form the passage-way ; the centripetal motion of the water which rests upon the quicksilver carries the sand spirally to the discharge aperture at the centre of the cistern bottom, where it passes away, leaving the gold all absorbed by the flickering counter-motion of the whirlpool in the quicksilver. The cisterns vary from ten to twenty-four inches in diameter, being alto- gether very light, compact and portable, and adapted to gold mining of every description, in all places. They are exhibited in operation, washing gold every day, at the Gold Mining Depot, No. 8 Battery Place, JNew-York. The patent bears date the 21st day of October, 1851. The practical results of the machine have won for it the appellation of " Buff"um's Perfected Gold Separator." 102 MILK CHEESE ^BUTTER. MIL K— C II E E S E— B UTTER. Milk contains some 12 or 13-lOOths of solid matter. The remainder is a liquid. It is coagulated by acids and by rennet. Milk consists of water, caseine, milk of sugar, small quantities of several salts, and butter, and fats. When milk turns sour, lactic acid is produced.* An atom of grape sugar contains two atoms of lactic acid, the formula of the former beino-, C'', H", O", and of the latter, C^ H", 0". Fatty substances readily absorb oxygen and become rancid. Acids are formed, in other words, and the peculiar character of the acid is transmitted to the entire mass. The spontaneous coagulation of milk is owing to the formation of lactic acid, and is the incipient step in decomposition. This acid is formed by the sugar of milk and the oxygen of the atmosphere. Let us describe the elementary substances which are found in milk, and which we have already enumerated : Caseine is the substance of cheese, and its composition is very nearly the same as that of blood. The formula for caseine is, carbon 54.825, hydrogen 7.153, nitrogen 15.628, oxygen and sulphur 22.394 ; while that of the fibrine and albumen of blood is carbon 53.850, hydrogen 6.983, nitrogen 15.673, oxygen, sulphur, and phosphorus 23.494. In cheese, the caseine is combined with fatty matter, and its proportion depends upon various circumstances, as we v/ill presently explain. It may be separated from the liquid parts of the milk by different methods ; but all the means used are eifectual by inducing the incipient stages of fermentation or decomposition. Thus rennet, from the stomach of the calf, is in fact a mem- brane already in this condition. The presence of this in milk induces a similar process in it, and the caseine or curd is separated from the whey — that is, from the liquid which remains. The curd diflfers entirely from the cream, and must not be confounded with it ; but in its coagulation it envelopes and incloses, as it were, the cream, and thus the latter is contained in all cheese made from new milk. But the cream is not only unlike the caseine, but neither forms any portion nor proportion of the other. Caseine is the only nitrogenized substance found in milk, and hence it is the only portion of it which can be converted into animal tissue without the addition of other kinds of food. All the other portions of milk are of service only to deposit fat and excite animal heat. But though an essential part of the milk when it is to be used as food, it is found that animals cannot thrive for a long time if confined to the use of caseine exclusively. The diverse and opposite effects of cheese, as a general article of food, on health, are the result of various conditions, such as the condition of the curd when the cheese is formed ; the presence or absence of fatty matters, and if these are present, they may or may not have become rancid ; the presence of foreign ingredients added to the substance or the surface of the cheese, either for giving flavor, color, &c. ; and its hardness or dryness, the result of pressure, age, &c. The cheese known as Stilton cheese is made from new milk, with a quantity of * We wish our readers to be familiar with the symbols of chemistry. For the benefit of those who are not, let us add here, that 0 stands for carbon, H for hydrogen, and O for oxygen ; and that the figures after each letter denote the atoms of each that are contained in one atom of the compound. MILK CHEESE BUTTER. 103 cream added. Parmesan cheese is made from skimmed milk. Cheshire cheese is made from new milk, without any addition. Double Gloucester is made from fresh milk, and single Gloucester from milk about half of which has been skimmed. Cream cheese is no cheese, but cream from which the watery parts have been drained. Such at least are the distinctions of the various sorts of cheese, as given by Solly. And yet we must be allowed to remind our readers that the strictest attention to these distinctions will scaicely secure for them the eminence which has attached itself to some of the names we have described. The richness and other qualities of the cheese must necessarily be dependent, not only on the conditions already suggested, but also upon the quality of the milk, and this again upon the food which forms the milk. If any one doubts that the character of the food materially affects the character of the milk, let him feed his cow with onions, garlic, &c., or po-mper her on the active products of a distillery. Often, carrots are fed to cows both to give flavor and color to the butter which is obtained from their milk. We do not, however, purpose to enter here upon a treatise on cheese- making. We prefer to leave this in the hand of the skilful dairyman, while we should be very happy both to commend his skill, as tested by our own experience of the quality of his cheese, and to make known, in detail, the mode by which his success was attained. But we add a single remark on this head. It is said that exercise increases the amount of caseine in milk, while rest is'favorable to a liberal supply of but,ter. This seems to accord with the well-known laws of Physiology. Milk of sugar is the next constituent of milk which we have named. We might have said sugar of milk ^ as it is, only that it is not in the form of sugar, but is held in solution. It may be separated as sugar, and is then found to be essentially like the sugar of the grape, or the cane. There is however a slight difference in the proportions of the elements of sugar obtained from these different sources. Thus, the formula for sugar of milk is C", 11'^ and O''*. That for sugar of grape is C'^, and water 12, or H^" and O^'. And that for cane sugar is C'^, and water 14, or H^* and 0'*. Butter is the next important constituent part of milk. It contains six dif- ferent fats, each essentially distinct from the rest. Four of these always remain in a liquid form, while the other two may be crystallized. They are as fol- lows : Stearine, margarine, oleine, butyrine, caproine and caprin. The first of these, stearine, is the basis of all fats ; it is crystalline, like spermaceti. Margarine resembles stearine, but is more soluble. If solid fat is melted and kept for a considerable time in a liquid form, the solid portions will separate, when cooled, in crystalline grains. When this is subjected to pressure, a fluid is separated from it, which is lard oil, while the margarine and stearine are used in the manufacture of candles. The addition of a little alcohol is useful in securing a readier separation. Oleine constitutes the mass of liquid fixed oils, which are not drying oils. It is found nearly pure in the expressed oil of sweet almonds. It remains liquid at 0 of Fahrenheit. Oleine is composed of glycerine, margaric acid, and the elements of water. Butyrine is that which gives its agreeable flavor to butter. It is colorless, and becomes solid at about 32 degrees of Fahrenheit. Cream consists, according to the statement of Berzelius, of 92 parts of whey, 4.5 of butter, and 3.5 of caseum ; while skimmed milk contained some caseous matter and butter, with sugar of milk, chloride of potassium, alcoholic extract of lactic acid, alkaline phosphates, earthy phosphates, and a trace of iron. If sulphuric acid is added to skimmed milk, the caseum is precipitated as a white coagulum. It is also precipitated bj alcohol. 104 LESSONS TO FARMERS AND MECHANICS. But probably no analysis of milk from different cows would exhibit the same result ; and milk from the same cow, with different kinds of food and different treatment, will also vary. So also the character of the milk varies in summer and in winter. Milk from a fat cow, and from the same cowwhen lean, is also said to contain different proportions of caseum and of cream, A very simple contrivance for learning the proportion of cream in different samples of milk is now very common. It consists of a few small tubes, graduated and set in a frame. As the cream separates and rises, the relative proportion of cream and skimmed milk is at once obvious. But as caseine is not always found to be in the same proportion as cream, what is best for making butter may not be best for making cheese. It is, however, a very practicable affair to precipitate the caseine by the use of alcohol, in a tall, narrow glass vessel, so that its quantity can be readily seen ; and we know not why such tests are not as important as those for cream. For cheese con- sists, as we have already explained, of caseine and water, with such fats as are confined within the substance of the coagulum. In cream, as already stated, the butter is collected. It consists of minute globules, or as one writer at least, whom we remember, has it, it is confined in little sacs, which must be broken up, and their contents gradually collected into one mass ; and this is the work which the process of churning accom- plishes. The practical bearings of these and similar facts are of vital consequence. It is not the " greatest milker" that produces the most butter or the largest cheese. Mr. A. W. Dodge, in an official paper, informs us that the milk of a cow held in high estimation for her large yield of milk was found to afford cream of only y^Q of an inch, by the lactometer, while that of a low-priced cow, of the same herd, gave cream l-j-''^ inch in thickness, and of a much yellower color. Let experiments be made on these qualities of milk, both in regard to cream and caseine ; for though it may be true, as a general rule, that milk which abounds in cream also /tijcTSflds in caseine, we doubt whether the fact is ascer- tained by extensive aijld careful experiments. LESSONS TO FARMERS AND MECHANICS. THEORY VS. PRACTICE. NO. I. Nothing is more common than to hear, from the lips of seemingly sensible men, the announcement, that some proposition " may be right in theory, but is undoubtedly wrong in practice." Theory can be opposed to practice only by those who use the term in ignorance of its appropriate meaning. The relation which exists between theory and practice is not that of opposition or contrast. It is a relation of homogeneousness or comparison. Theory, by those who use the term understandingly, is meant to designate the general princix>les of correct practice. The term theory, applied to that which is not altogether practical, is a misnomer, and nonsense. The material distinction between the meaning of the terms theory and practice is, that practice de- scribes a set of operations or experiments not necessarily methodized ; theory is the name under which any class of generalized or philosophically-arranged experiments may be comprehended. Practice indicates a certain method of acting, in relation to which the corresponding theory points out the most ex- cellent way. And hence, in opposition to the common conception on^this LESSONS TO FARMERS AND MECHANICS. 105 subject, it may be seen that practice, unaided by theory, properly so called, has only the chance of being right ; whereas theory never can be wrong. Keeping this view of the subject in mind, there can be little difficulty in comprehending in what respects a theoretical knowledge must be advanta- geous to the Farmer and Mechanic. Every degree of dexterity in handicraft or chemical or mechanical labor is acquired by reiterated attempts to imitate some model, either actually observed, or otherwise brought before the eye of the mind. Merely to imitate thus the actual model, is usually denominated practice ; to work in obedience to a conception of the operation formed from the idea of a more perfect model, is to work theoretically. To imitate an actually observed model, is thus to work in obedience to a conception necessa- rily imperfect ; because from the unavoidable derangements to which muscular action is constantly subject, all human operations fall short of absolute correct- ness. To work theoretically, is to act in obedience to a conception which must be correct ; inasmuch as the very conception is the true model of the work to be done. The perfection of practice, therefore, is merely to do equally well what is held up as having been done before. Beyond the degree of imitation necessary to accomplish this, practice, properly so called, cannot go. All beyond this is the result of theory ; so that if one harbor the slightest de- sire for improvement in the conduct of any of his operations, he must theorize, however unconscious he may be of such a process of thought. The value of theoretical knowledge may be thus considered as co-extensive with the desire for improvement. In fact, the source of all human improvement may be traced to that quenchless thirst for greater enjoyment of some sort or another, which is found to actuate the bosom of every individual. The wish to be placed in circumstances which shall be, in some respect or other, more favora- ble than those already experienced, is one of those primary feelings which go to form the mental constitution of man. It grows with our growth and strengthens with our strength. It comes with us from the cradle, and leaves us only at the grave. And it is to the gratification of this feehng in the breast of the scientific farmer and practical mechanic, that the acquisition of the- oretical knowledge directly conduces. It is now clear that it is theory of some kind or other (that is, observation of facts, and a consequent classification of some sort or another) which is at the bottom of every improvement, however trivial. For the performance of any mechanical operation, it is true, muscular facility is indispensable, and this facility can be acquired only by repeated efforts. So far, therefore, a cer- tain amount of mere practice is absolutely necessary to the creditable per- formance of any operation whatever; but that facility once gained, the man who acquaints himself with the theory of the operation — that is, who com- pares the results of his labors with other results so as to connect the particular operation in question, as one of a more extensive class of operations, among which he has discovered some common feature of resemblance — is in a condition to apply his muscular dexterity more extensively than before, and hence be- comes a more skilful, dexterous, and useful workman than before. This is the immediate and obvious advantage which theoretical knowledge brings with it to the practical ploughman and mechanic. They have only to court its acquisition, and the magnitude of the advantage will be in proportion to the variety, amount, and quality of the knowledge consequently gained. They will become distinguished for greater ability and skill than their fellows, and consequently soon shoot ahead of them in the career of independence and comfort. But farmers and mechanics are not the only parties benefited by the 106 MECHANICAL POWERS. spread of theoretical knowledge, in alliance with practical ; the community at large are gainers in proportion to the wideness of dissemination. It sliould be taken into account, that in all works requiring for their execution combined labor, the ability of the workman is scarcely less important than the skill of the employer. There may be cases where the workman is a mere machine, but in most cases where workmanship is worth notice, skill, discretion, and thought, in various degrees, are requisite. Employers may plan with ability, but unless supported by workmen who can bring to the execution of their plans theoretical knowledge, as Avell as practical, their plans and superintend- ence will often be bootless. The general public are therefore concerned, not only in having mere muscular or practical and routine farmers and mechanics, but in having them imbued with the science of the various occupations. MECHANICAL POWERS, LEVER, WHEEL AND AXLE. The general definition of a machine is, any instrument employed to regu- late motion, so as to save either time or force. No instrument saves both time and force, for it is a maxim in mechanics, that whatever we gain in the one of these two, must be at the expense of the other. The simple machines are usually reckoned six : the lever, the wheel and axle, the pulley, the inclined plane, the wedge, and the screw. The weight signifies the body to be moved, or the resistance to be overcome ; and the power is the force employed to overcome that resistance, or move that body. A lever, as every reader knows, is a bar or rod, supposed to be perfectly rigid, and without weight. It may be bent or straight, simple or compound, and supposed capable of turning round a fixed point, called the fulcrum. Simple levers are such as a crowbar for raising stones, and a poker, used for raising coals in the grate, the bar of the grate being the fulcrum. Another instance of the lever is in a chipping knife, fixed at one end, which is the fulcrum; the wood to be cut is placed under it, and is the load, or resistance to be overcome or moved, and the power is the hand of the workman at the extremity of the blade. A wheelbarrow is also a lever, the wheel being the fulcrum, the contents of the barrow the weight, and the man wheeling it the power. In the common form of wheelbarrow, the load is made to incline as much as possible towards the wheel. This of course is an advantage, because the man bears as much less of the load as its centre of gravity is nearer to the axle of the wheel than to his hands. An oar is also a lever. So is a fish- MECHANICAL POWERS. 107 ing rod. Scissors, snuffers, or pincers, consist of two levers turning on a pivot or rivet, which serves as the fulcrum, on one side of which power is applied to overcome resistance on the other side. A pair of nut-crackers is formed by two levers, moving on a hinge as a fulcrum. When two men bear a burden on a hand-barrow, one of them may be considered as occupying the place of the power, and the other that of the fulcruna. If they have both the same degree of strength, and can support the barrow in a horizontal direction, the ^veight or burden should be exactly between them; for if it be placed nearer to one than to the other, an advantage will be given to the man stationed farthest from it ; and in going up or down hill, the bearer of the lower end of the barrow or plank must support the greater part of the resistance. Among the various applications of the lever, one of the most useful and important is in the construction of the common balance, styled, from its adver- titious appendages, a pair of scales. The beam, which is the essential part of the macliine, is nothing more than a lever of the first order, having equal arms, and turning freely on its fulcrum, or centre of action. It is hardly necessary to add that its use is to ascertain the weight of bodies by equipois- ing them with an authorized standard, and the principle on which this is effected has been already amply illustrated. There are, however, some cir- cumstances requisite to insure the accuracy of a balance, whicji deserve to be noticed. The beam of the balance should be so formed that its centre of gravity may be placed just below the axis or centre of motion ; for if the centre of gravity and centre of motion coincided, it must be obvious that the beam would rest in any position instead of assuming the horizontal direction necessary to indicate the equality of weights on each side. However, when a very delicate balance is required, its beam must be so constructed that the centre of motion may be as near as possible to the centre of gravity, but somewhat above it. The extremities of the arms of a balance are named the points of suspension, to which are fixed the scales ; and those points should be so situated that a straight line extending from one to the other would touch the point on which the beam turns. The sensibility of the balance is likewise influenced by the form of the fulcrum ; and in the most accurate balances the beam rests on a knife-edge moving on agate, polished steel, or some very dense and smooth surface. Equal nicety is required in the sus- pension of the scales, which should hang from thin edges. The principal use of the common lever is for raising weights througb small spaces, which is done by a series of short intermittent efforts. After the weight has been raised, it must be supported in its new position while the lever is re-adjusted to repeat the action. The chief defect, therefore, of the common lever, is want of range and of the means of supplying continuous motion. The wheel and axle, as represented in our engravings, is a kind of lever so con- trived as to have a continued motion about its fulcrum, or centre of motion, where the power acts at the circumference of the wheel, whose radius may be reckoned one arm of the lever, the length of the other arm being the radius of the axle, on which the weight acts. It will be observed in cut 1, that the wheel and axle consists of a wheel having a cylindrical axis passing through its centre. The power is applied to the circumference of the wheel, and the weight to the circumference of the axle. In the wheel and axle, an equilibrium takes place when the power multiplied by the radius of the wheel is equal to the weight multiplied by the radius of the axle. Cut No. 2 is another very familiar illustration of the wheel and axle. A large cylinder reaches half across the well, and a small one across the other half, both joined together. One end of a rope is fastened to the large csJinder, and another end to the 108 stowell's evergreen sweet corn. small one. Midway on the rope hangs the bucket. By turning the crank attached to the end of the large cylinder, a great deal of power is exerted without great personal strength. The annexed cut of the windlass represents one of the most efficient forms of the wheel and axle. It is constantly used on board ship and in dockyards. It consists of a vertical spindle fixed firmly as in the deck of a vessel, but turning on its axis and support- ing a drum, or solid cylinder connected with it, and having its periphery pierced with holes directed to- wards its centre. It is then worked by long levers, WINDLASS.— NO. 3. inserted in the holes by men who walk in succession, round it, and thus make it revolve, while a rope or cable wound about the axle may act with force sufficient to weigh a ponderous anchor. The efficiency of this machine, the windlass, as a concentrator of force, is augmented either by diminishing the thickness of the barrel, or by increasing the length of the winch ; but the barrel would be too much weakened if diminished beyond a certain extent, and the winch becomes useless if length- ened beyond the radius of the circle which the hand and arm can convenient- ly describe. Hence arises a necessity for multiplying the long arm of the lever and making it into several radii, in the same way that the short arm was multiplied to form the pinion or the barrel. This repetition of the longer arm constitutes the wheel, which is commonly reckoned as the second simple machine, although only a modification of the first. The advantage of the wheel over the single spoke or winch is, that however long its radius, it can always be turned continuously by a force whose action is confined to a small part only of the circumference. This can be eflfected in either of the modes above described in the case of the short arm, viz. : first, by forming projections on the rim of the wheel, to be successively acted on by the power in the same way that the leaves of the pinion successively act on the resistance ; or secondly, by passing a rope or band round the wheel. FOR THE PLOUGH, THE LOOM, AND THE ANVIL. STOWELL'S EVERGREEN SWEET CORN. He who expects to find this article of corn as much superior to the common kinds, as the ambrosia of the gods was to the food of mortals, will lay down his cob and pick his teeth in disappointment. He will rise from the table and call it a humbug. The fact is, he who has good sweet corn upon his table, picked at the right time, and well cooked, has an epicurean dish that he might ask any sensible god in the Mythology to partake of, without fear of refusal. Should some German commentator upon classic lore undertake to prove that this was the veritable ambrosia, it would be difficult to disprove the position. The man who does not appreciate sweet corn as a standard of gustatory excel- lence, is not the man to appreciate any edible. But, were the Stowell's decided- ly superior to all other kinds for the table, we should not expect to have the multitude believe it, even after they had tried it. We have heard a very sensible man assert that the common field pumpkin made as good pies as the marrow squash, of Boston notoriety. From that date our faith was very much strengthened in the old adage, "There is no use in disputing about tastes." If this new variety of corn is as good as the old for the table, and has other excel- lences that the old does not possess, it will prove an acquisition. stowell's evergreen sweet corn. 109 It has been introduced to the agricultural public mainly through the agency of Professor Mapes, who has sent out thousands of samples of the seed to the readers of his paper in various parts of the country. He gives the following account of its origin in his paper for December, 1850 : " Stowell's sweet corn is a new sort, and is every way superior to any other we have seen ; for, after being pulled from the ground, the stalks may be placed in a dry, cool place, free from moisture, frost, or violent currents of air, (to prevent drying,) and the grains will remain full and milky for many months. Or the ears may be pulled in August, and by tying a string loosely around the small end, to prevent the husks from drying away from the ears, they may be laid on shelves and kept moist and suitable for boiling, for a year or more. This corn is a hybrid, between the Menomony soft corn and the northern sugar corn, and was first grown by Mr. Nathan Stowell, of Burlington, N. J. Near the close of the Fair of the American Institute, 1850, I presented the Managers with two ears pulled in August, 1849, and twelve ears pulled in 1850. They were boiled and served up together, and appeared to be alike, and equal to corn fresb from the garden. " The ears are larger than the usual sweet corn, and contain twelve rows. To save the seed, it is necessary to place the ears in strong currents of air, freed from most of the husks, and assisted slightly by fire heat when nearly dry. In damp places this corn soon moulds, and becomes worthless. The seed, when dry, is but little thicker than writing paper, but is a sure grower. The stalks are very sweet, and valuable as a fodder." A writer in the Rural New- Yorker tried it in 1851, and speaks thus of it : " Until it began to tassel out, it appeared very much hke enormous broom corn, and exhibited no symptoms of putting forth ears until very late in the season, when it eared rapidly and bore three very large, full ears on all the best stalks, and in some cases the fourth was fairly set. Only a very few of the stalks bore single ears. It matured rapidly and very perfectly ; but it was many weeks after frost set in, and the corn was housed, and after the husks had become entirely white, before any of the kernels presented the shrivelled appearance of sweet corn " That it will do all that has been said of it I have no reason to doubt, as far as my observation through one season extends. I am satisfied it is a most valuable acquisition to our sweet corn. It grows freely, is of the first quality, and produces in my garden this season far beyond any corn I have ever seen. Besides the greater number of grains on a stalk, each ear and kernel is very large, although it dries down for seed to a very small ear and kernel. Very few of the ears bave less than fourteen rows, and I have just noticed an ear of it only seven inches long, and yet it had sixteen rows, and contained more than eight hundred kernels. The day I planted this corn I planted an equal number of hills of a very superior kind of sweet corn, the kernels of which most perfectly resembled this; and although the exposure and soil were equal, yet the Stowell corn surpassed it in every respect. I shall try it another season with increased interest." Another writer in the same paper gives us his experience for 1852 : "When I read of the wonderful productiveness and keeping quality of this new kind of corn, I rather regarded it as a humbug. However, I bought a gill of seed for twenty-five cents, and planted it. May 25th, in rather an unfavorable spot for late planting. But it matured in good time, and produced from three to seven perfect, good ears on a stalk ; and one stalk had on it sixteen — the shortest about two inches, but well filled out , and all ripe enough, and good 110 OBSERVATIONS ON REARING POULTRY. for seed. I wish to record my vote in favor of the evergreen corn, that it is no humhuff.^'' I will add to these trials of the article my own experience for the last two seasons. I procured a few seeds, from tiie office of the Working Farmer in New-York, in the spring of 1851. I planted them late, but owing to drought only six kernels came up. I had eighteen perfect ears irom these six kernels, and two imperfect ones. This showed the corn a very superior bearer. The growth of stalks was large. I had now seed enough to plant about one third of an acre, after giving away some to friends. The soil was badly exhausted by cropping, and was not highly manured. But the growth of stalks was larere, and the yield of corn was satisfactory ; though the season was one of great drought, and corn sufi'ered much throughout the country. Some of the stalks had three ears, and many of them two, with settings for more, showing what it had a mind to do, if the soil had been in better heart, and the season more propitious. I have no doubt that in very rich soil there will be often three ears upon a single stalk, and some stalks of twice that number. We may then set down the advantages of this sweet corn, as mainly the following: 1st. Its exquisite flavor is not injured by the hybridizing, as has been the case with other attempts at crossing the sweet corn with other varieties. 2d. It secures a very much larger yield of corn. The number of rows upon an ear varies from eight to twenty. A very large proportion of them are twelve and upward. Most of the large ears have from four hundred to eiglit hundred kernels upon them. Then we have more ears upon a stalk. 3d. It prolongs the season of green corn until frost comes; and if it be pulled up by the roots and sheltered, it lengthens it until freezing weather. 4th. If you have a fruit room where you can command the temperature, you can have green corn the year round on the cob. But as we have no such room, we have not tested the corn in this respect. • 5th. It furnishes the largest amount of fodder of any kind of corn grown in the North. Prof Mapes says, " The Stowell corn when thickly sown will yield double the burden of stalks and leaves of any other corn we have tried. It is more easily cured, and preferred by cattle even to the best English hay." The only drawback to be apprehended, and this perhaps is imaginary, is the danger of its crying back to the originals from which it was produced — a danger that is common, I believe, to all hybrids, until long cultivation has fixed their peculiarities. Whether the variety of rows that the different ears assume is any indication of a relapse, tiie experim^ter must judg- for himself. I have full confidence in th article, and believe it a greats acquisition to the garden and the farm. W. Clift. Stonington, Ct., January 11 th, 1853. FOR THE PLOUGH, THE LOOM, AND THE ANVIL. OBSERVATIONS ON REARING POULTRY. BY CHAUNCEY GOODRICH. Messrs. Editors : — In a former communication I submitted some general remarks on the subject of raising poultry. In that article I gave a condensed statement of the different soils, departments, and fixtures requisite for the successful propagation of the hen fowl. I now purpose to notice the general OBSERVATIONS ON REARING POULTRY. HI management and peculiar treatment indispensable to an abundant, healthful, and prosperous supply of that valuable species of stock-growing; and for the sake of convenience shall arrange my remarks under the following general heads : Management and Treatment. 1. Management : By which is meant — 1. Proper attention to the selection of breeds. 2. The age to which the fowl is to be restricted for use. 3. The seasons of the year for the propagation, respectivel}^, of layers, breeders, and fallings. 4. The kinds and quality of food. 5. Change of association. 2. Treatment: By which reference is had — 1. To the temperature to which the fowl is to be subjecttjd. 2. To the quantity of food, time and mode of feeding. 3. To the cure and prevention of disease. BREEDS. Observation has proved that a promiscuous mixture of several species pro- duces better layers than can be obtained by any selection of distinct breeds ; and that the vigor and healthfulness of the entire stock are thereby promoted. Some objection may appear at first view to this mode, as having an unfavor- able bearing upon the other purposes for which the fowl is raised. But ex- perience has shown that no such grounds of objection exist. If it be desired to produce a stock for fattening, the eggs of the species best adapted to that purpose may easily be distinguished, and selected accordingly. And it is well known that no distinct species produce uniformly good breeders ; but on the contrary, that but comparatively few individuals, in any distinct breed, are good setters, or good protectors of their offspring. The true method, in this particular, is to select from experience and observation, upon the ground of individual manifestation, and without reference to i^articular breeds. As to the hardihood and health, two very important requisites, it is a well-established fact, that the general fiivorable effects in this respect are as fully accomplished by the crossing of breeds in the stocks of fowls, as in others of the animal tribe. The promotion of the several objects for which this article of domestic use is produced, seems to harmonize with the practice of a promiscuous mix- ture of species ; the paramount object of good Imjers taking the lead. But whether this generally favorable effect has its origin in the mental dispositions, animal sympathies, or the compulsory influences existing, I leave for the learned and curious to investigate The facts, under whatever philosophical view they may be taken, remain essentially the same, both in truthfulness and practical importance. AGE. Few breeds prove to be good layers much beyond the age of from one to two years; while on the contrary good breeders may be kept, with increasino- benefits, from three to six years. When, therefore, a good breeder is discovered, she should be preserved for that object. Fowls for fattening prove most pro- fitable when permitted to reach their fullest maturity of growth, (which may be accomplished under proper treatment in from four to six months,) the most ' marketable while they are yet young and thriving, which under certain kinds of treatment may be extended from twelve to eighteen months. SEASONS, ETC. Late broods, grown principally during winter, produce the earliest and most constant layers. In fact, there is no good reason for introducing early broods for any purpose; as during late winter, throughout spring and early summer, eggs are not only the most merchantable, but command, during those seasons, prices which render their sale far more profitable than brood- raising ; while 112 THE AALUE OF STRAW. in midsummer the egg is less merchantable, but more certain and appropriate in its appliance to brood-raising. Besides, late summer and autumnal broods produce, under proper treatment, by far the most hardy stocks. Hence the proper season for raising the respective stocks coincide. FOOD. The demand for proper food varies according to the purpose for which the .fowl is designed. If exclusively for layers, a very large proportion of animal and mineral substances are requisite, and of each a great variety. If the soils adopted be of sufficient variety, the necessary sources for animal and mineral supply will need no other attention than what may be necessary to render them available. A variety of vegetable food is also necessary. This may be furnished by a mixture of the several English grains, and the addition of the cultivated grasses ; also cabbage and some of the minor seeds, such as millet, broom-corn, and sun-flowers. Fowls for fattening need no other food than that which promotes growth and flesh. Those best adapted to these purposes are beheved to be Indian corn, cabbage, and the grasses. ASSOCIATION. The practice of an intelligent exchange of companionship is required bv a variety of circumstances, many of them founded on the nature and wants and peculiar relationship of the sexes, as well as the different uses and purposes to which the fowl is to be applied. Frequent change of association is particularly necessary in the management of layers ; such as new incitements to copulation, and seasonable counteraction of a premature disposition to set. In fact, there appears to be a kind of emulation inspired by frequent change of associates. Again, it is obvious that fatlings, breeders and their broods, should each have separate apartments, with little or no association with the general stock, after the period at which their uses shall have been assigned. Even layers should have separate apartments, and be subjected to periodical change of association. Practice has shown that a judicious exchange is one of the most essential means of success in producing constant layers, as well as in remedying many unfavorable contingencies to which the propagation of fowls is subject. In a future communication, I shall treat further on the subject of rearing poultry. FOR THK PLOUGH, TDE LOOM, AND THE ANVIL. THE VALUE OF STRAW. Not until quite recently have I learned that straw possesses so much value as a food for cattle and horses. Barley straw seems to be nearly, if not quite, as valuable for feeding young cattle as clover hay. In feet, many are of opinion that it is even of more worth than clover hay. From a recent trial in using barley straw, I am well convinced that it is of much real value; and that farmers — particularly those who raise much barley — should be careful to preserve all their straw, since hay and grain have become so high in our home and city markets. To prove its value, you want to take particular pains in cutting your barley at the right period of its growth. This season, we cut ours when many of the stems or stalks were in a green state. The weather was fair, and no rain, of any amount, was allowed to dampen the cocks and winrows. We cut the barley low, and in order to do this, we rolled our ground thoroughly, with a large roller, immediately after sowing. This process NEW BOOKS. 113 produced a smooth surface, and hence we were enabled to get all of the barley without running the risk of raking up stones, &c., in the windrows. As soon as it became dry, the barley was immediately drawn into the barn, and not "stacked," as is often the case when barn room is not plenty. On threshing it, we had a scaffold so arranged that the straw could be taken from the end of the separator and cast into a large bay, reserved for the pre- servation of the fodder. Thus managed, straw can be fed out at pleasure, just as you would feed out hay to your cows and sheep. I never did like the operation of stacking straw when it was possible to put it up in bays or other suitable places. Most usually, when it is stacked out, the top of the stack becomes deeply frozen, and is, therefore, hard to be got at. Though straw can be stacked in such a way that it will save very well, yet after all, much of it inevitably wastes by reason of the constant access of the cattle to the stack. The practice of economy in the feeding of straw is just as essential as the performance of it in anything else : therefore it is well to have suitable racks in your yards in which to place the straw. Probably cheap and simple ones would answer just as valuable a purpose as more costly structures. So far this winter, we have simply used a long board structure, around which the cattle can assemble, and commence grinding up the straw imme- diately on its deposition in the rack. Frequently, the straw should be salted moderately, for, as almost every body knows, animals are very fond of saline matter. We have not fed our young cattle on anything except barley, oat and wheat straw for the past two or three months, and I can assure the readers of Tke Plough that they look as fine and sleek as those that have taken plentifully of hay and stalks. Then, farmers, don't burn up your straw on the fields from which it was taken, as many have done and continue to do, but on the contrary, save it all; feed it out as you would your timothy hay, and my word for it, you will be more than doubly paid for your labor and trial. W. Tappan. Baldwinsville, N. Y., Feb., 1853. NEW BOOKS. The Eclectic German Reader : consisting of Choice Selections from the Best German Writers, with copious R'ferencss to the Authors Gtamm,aticil Works; to which is aided a Complete Vocabulary. By W. H. Woodbury. New- York : Leavitt & Allen, 27 Dey street. 1852. 1 vol., 12mo, pp. 280. This volume, of which we give the title in full, is a valuable and admirable selection f Jt the use of students of the German language. The book gives numerous references to the author's Grammar, in which tlie syntactical and i J iomatic expression and construc- tion are made familiar and intelligible, in a manner superior to that of any author wi h whom we are aoqua'nted. We commend the work as a most excellent cue for the use of German readers and learners. Ic is a handsome volume, tastefully printed on fine paper, and clear type. Japan : An Account, Geographical and Historical By Charles MacFaelane, Autlior of " British India," " Life of Wellington," lenti/ of flannel. In short, flannel is a most im|)ortant article of dress for either sex, for infancy, meridian, or old age. Let all ladies at this season furnish themselves with a good supply of flannel and merino petticoats, and not sacrifice their health to the vanity of displaying slim figures. Unfermented Thread. — Bread is a matter which comes home to the stomachs of every body, and we would say a word on fermented and un- fermented. Bakers generally make fermented bread. The only purpose served by fermentation is the generation of carbonic acid to raise the dough, THE HOME CIRCLE. 117 and to effect this, a quantity of yeast is mixed with the flour. But the same purpose is gained by mixing a quantity of carbonate of soda with the flour, with a corresponding proportion of mui-iatic acid, and bread so produced is more nutritious and economical. The following formula is for White Bread : Take of flour, dressed or household, 3 lbs. avoirdupois ; bicarbonate of soda, in powder, 9 drachms; hydrochloric acid, specific gravity 1.16, 11:^ fluid drachms, and about 25 fluid ounces of water. To MAKE Browk Bread. — Take of wheat meal 3 lbs. avoirdupois; bi- carbonate of soda, in powder, 10 drachms ap. wt. ; hydrochloric acid, same specific gravity as for white bread, 12^ fluid ounces, and water about 25 fluid ounces. First mix the soda and the flour as thoroughly as possible. This is best done by shaking the soda from a small sieve over the flour with one hand, while the flour is stirred with the other, and then passing the mix- ture once or twice through the sieve. Next pour the acid into the water, and diS"use it perfectly by stirring them well together with a rod. Then mix intimately the flour and the water so prepared, as speedily as possible, using a wood spoon for the purpose. The dough will make two loaves somewhat larger than two pound ones as sold by the bakers. They should be put into a quick oven speedily. By this method bread can be made in two hours, and saves both tinae and labor. The ingredients are simple, and cost little. This kind of bread never sours on the stomach. Fermentation always de stroys more or less of the meal. Life. — Every day is a little life, from which we may reckon our birth from the womb of the morning ; our growing time from thence to noon, after which we hasten to the evening of our age, till at last we close our eyes in sleep, the image of death ; and our whole life is but a tale of a day told over and over. Mendixg China. — The best cement for broken china or glass is made by soaking isinglass in water till it is soft, and then dissolving it in proof spirit. Add to this a little gum, dissolved in as httle alcohol as possible. When the cement is to be used, it must be gently liquefied by placing the phial con- taining it in boiling water. The phial must be well closed by a good cork, not by a glass stopper, as this may become fixed. It is applied to the broken edges with a camel's hair pencil. When the objects are not to be exposed to moisture, white of egg alone, or mixed with finely-sifted quicklime, will answer pretty well. Shell-lac dissolved in spirits of wine is better. A very strong cement for earthenware is made by boiling slices of skimmed milk cheese with water into a paste, and then grinding it with quicklime in a mortar, or on a slab with a muller. Lungs and Stays. — A work recently published thus talks of the fatal consequences of bad air and pressure : Women ought to measure at least from 27 to 29 inches round the waist, but most females do not permit them- selves to grow beyond 24 ; thousands are laced down to 22, and some even less ; and thus by means of wood, steel, and whalebone the lungs are injured, a weak and miserable progeny is engendered, and an early death secured. Woman. — He who has not experienced the friendship of woman, knows not half the charms and delights of friendship. Woman possesses the art of embellishing the saddest moments of our life, by unalterable sweetness of temper, constant care and unwearied attention ; she is man's best companion in prosperity, and in adversity his truest friend. Without her society our existence were a blank, our life barren, cheerless and comfortless as the wilderness. 118 AGRICULTURAL RECORD. AGRICULTURAL RECORD. The EspiRiTU Santo. — A Panama paper describes this to be one of those rare flow- era found only on one part of the Isthmus, near Panama. It is of the lily formation, possessing a bulb root, long oval leaves, and a stock three or four feet in length. It requires little earth for vegetation, growing among stones with the bulb entirely ex- posed. The flower is of the most elegant formation. The outward part, which is smaller than a pigeon's egg, resembles a curious shaped vase, on opening the lid of which the most perfect and beautiful fac- simile of a dove is found within. The head is turned over its back, appearing as if about to soar into the regions above. It is the most extraordinary flower ever seen, while its beauty and curiosity is said to ex- cite the admiration of all beholders. We trust some spirited individual will forward one or two to this part of the world for exhibition. New Dahlias. — The following notes con- cerning the best new dahlias brought out in England during the past year, will be interesting to our horticultural readers : Sir John Franklin. (Turner's.) — This flower is, by many, thought to be the best seedling of the year. It is an orange buff. It has taken several prizes against very large collections of seedlings. Unanirnitt/. (Edward's.) — This is a beau- tiful flower. Flaked like a carnation in stripes ; scarlet and yellow. The best of its class in form and petal. Lilac King. ( Rawling"s.) — Exquisite Li- lac ; perfect centre ; very fine shape ; some say the best of the season, and universally admired. Miss Matthews. (Bragg's.) Scarlet, edged with white ; remarkable for its depth of petal. Miss Caroline. (Brettell's.) — Blush white- edged purple. In the way of Marchioness Cornwallis, but better. Centre close and Lord Byron. (Pope.) — Rosy salmon ; color novel ; large smooth petal, and good shape. Beauty of the Grove. (Burgess.) — Buff yellow, with rosy tip ; deep flower and showy. Brilliant. (Rawling's.) — Vivid scarlet; splendid form ; good centre. Best scarlet yet raised. Water in Flour and Wheat. — Prof. Beck has written a report for the Patent Office, in which he shows that the presence of water in wheat and flour is the reason why these articles are unfitted for preserva- tion ; and also that the total annual loss in the United States from moisture in wheat and flour is estimated at from $3,000,000 to $5,000,000. It is said that the quan- tity of water in wheat is greiter in cold than in warm countries. In the United States it is from 12 to 14 per cent. ; in Africa and Sicily, from 9 to 11 per cent. The flour of the Southern States yields more bread than the Northern, for this reason ; it is said that Alabama flour yields 20 per cent, more than Cincinnati. The warmer the country the more is the water dried out of the grain before it ripens, and hence the more water it absorbs when made into bread. The Hartford Excelsior, to remedy the evil arising from loss by flour turning sour and musty, says, " that the grain should be well ripened before harvesting, and well dried before being stored in a good dry granary. Kiln drying is prefer- able. The mode of ascertaining the amount of water is this : Take a small sample, say five ounces, and weigh it carefully. Put it in a dry vessel, which shall be heated by boiling water. After six or seven hours, weigh it carefully, until it loses no more weight. Its loss of weight shows the origi- nal amount of water." Threshing Machines. — Measures to se- cure a patent for improvements in threshing machines have been taken by Thomas McClure, of Ohio. These improvements prevent the grain from being thrown out of, or beyond the machine, by the force of the threshing cylinder, and allow of the straw being discharged or drawn from be- neath the curve or deflector. This deflec- tor is of a peculiar shape to supersede the ordinary method. There is also a peculiar arrangement of the spouts, by which the grain is perfectly separated from foreign substances. Cotton Scraper and Cultivator, — I. W. Thompson, of Jackson, Tenn., has taken measures to secure a patent for a combina- tion of these two agricultural implements. Tlie cultivator is attached behind to the standard of the scraper by means of a staple, or other fastening, dispensing with the beam and handles as unnecessary. Economy of labor results from this com- bina ion of two distinct implements, as the two operations of scraping and ploughing the ground are performed together, the teeth of the cultivator taking into the ground and cutting it loose as the scraper clears it off. AGRICULTURAL RECORD. 119 LoNGKViTy OF Farmers. — The Massa- chusetts registry for 1851 establishes be- yond all cavil, that agriculturists stand much the highest chance of long life. Farm- ers' lives run up twelve years above the general average, nearly nineteen above that of common laborers, and eighteen per cent, above the average age at death of me- chanics. All countries confirm the fact that agriculturists enjoy the longest lives. The statistics of every country show that agri- culture is a more healthful, pleasant, and safe pursuit than any other. There is not a profession, or artisan or mechanical busi- ness in this city, in which (here are not hundreds living in care, want, drudgery, and hastening to early graves, who, had they been farmers, would have been healthy and happy, if not wealthy. Number of Plants per Acre — The Western Horticultural Review, a first rate monthly, by the way, published in Cincin- nati, gives the following table as useful to the gardener, in showing the number of plants or trees that may be raised on an acre of ground, at given distances apart, when planted at any of the under-mentioned distances : Distanc« ) apart. Number of Plants. 1 foot, - - 43,560 li feet. - 19360 2 " - - - 10,890 2i " 6,969 3 " - 4,840 4 " 2,722 5 " - 1,742 6 " - 1,210 9 " - - 687 12 " 306 15 <( . . 193 18 " 134 21 « . _ 98 24 11 75 27 " 59 30 " 48 American Institute. — The Farmers' Club, at a late meeting, had exhibited a specimen of the Japan pea, the plant of which grows to the height of 4^ feet. Fine specimens of potatoes, apples, and grapes, from P. Phillips, Conn., Judge Livingston, and Mr. Coleman, M. D., were presented to the Club, and also cakes of preserved vegetables, beans, cabbage, &.c. iing of a num- ber of figures, among which are the per- sonifications of science in general, chemistry, botany and mineralogy. The medal is worthy cf the object. 124 SCIENTIFIC AND MECHANICAL MONTHLY RECORD. Fire Engine Invevtion — The corporation of the city of Cincinnati have lately built a steam fire engine, and given it a public trial, at which it appears to have been more successful tiian Rarnum's fire annii)ilator. The Cincinnati Times, describing the expe- riment, says, that "horses were attached to guide the apparatus, but its own inhe- rent locomotive power is chiefly relied on, the machine weighing several ton«, and presenting to the eye, as it goes rumbling along the streets, with its smoke cliimney and steam pipe, the appearance of a rail- road engine. This giant throws six streams of water by steam power, and works con- stantly, witliout much labor ; steam can be generated in five minutes, and kept up without difficulty any length of time." A Pecui.t.\e. Lamp. — A Mr. E. Whele (so says a foreign paper) has taken out a patent for a lamp with a dial or clock face, and as the candle burns, the hands mark the hours and minutes correctly, and the hammer strikes the time. As a chamber lamp for a sick room, it can be set to strike at such periods as required. As a niglit light, it marks the time on a transparent tlial, rings an alarum at any stated period, and in ten minutes afterwards extinguishes the light, or will continue to strilie every second until the party gets out of bed and stops it. It can also be made to fire off a per- cussion cap, and by a regulator and imlex it shows the amount of light consumed. We understand that all this is accom- plished with very little and very simple machinery. New Steamboat Wheel. — The Detroit Advertiser describes the trial of an im- provement in the paddle-wheels of steam- boats, invented by Capt. W. A. Bury, of Michigan. The principle of this invention we understand to be getting rid of much of the lift of water by the revolutions of the wheels, which causes the loss of such a large amount of power on steam-vessels. That Capt. Bury must be on the road to success, must be evident from the fact, that when lie tried his model, which is about four feet in diameter, in the water, turning it at the rate of 30 revolutions per minute, he was not wet at the distance of two feet from the paddles. We are informed that the wheel which he has in- vented is formed in all its parts exactly like the paddle-wheels of a steamboat, ■with the exception of the paddles or buckets. In t!ie common paddle-wheel the paddle or bucket is a solid oblong board, fastened firmly across the two parallel arm«. In this new wheel a pad- dle or bucket is affixed to each arm by a strong hinge in the inside corner of the arm the two paddle-wheels being equiva- lent to one common one. The paddle itself is an oblong piece of wood, shaped liked a wedge and hung in the arm, so that tlie heavy end is between ihe armo, and the light end is outside. But the lightest division of the paddle-wheel has the most surface, and it is upon this fact the utility of the invention depends. For instance, the wdieel revolves, the paddle-wheel strikes the water, but it is so hung on the arm at a certain angle that the outside corner gradually sinks in, and as the wheel revolves the surface of the paddle meets the water gradually, but so as to press it back against the arm, where it is firmly held by the pressure caused by its own motion through the water; as the paddle rises to the surface, the angle at which it comes out of the water permits the heavy end to fly back against the in- side of the arm, and it thus comes out edge- wise, exactly on the principle of feathering an oar. The paddle, by the simple opera- tiin of the principle of gravitation, remains with its edge directly in the line of the re- volution of the wheel till the arm passes the perpendicular, when the paddle falls into its place ready to meet the pressure of the water again. It is well known that in the revolution of the paddles of our ordinary steamboats, an imtnense amount of power is lost by having to lift a heavy weijiht of water with every turn of the crank. Numerous con- trivances and inventions have been tried as a means of overcoming and doing away with this useless weight which the boat is obliged to carry ; but we know of none that has not been found too intricate to be useful or available. Life Preservers. — A Mr. George P. Tewksbury. of England, has invented a life-preserving seat, which some of the Eng- lish press highly eulogize. These seats are in the form of stools and settees, and are so constructed that whilst they answer the purpose of ordinary stools and settees, take no more room, and are just as porta- ble, they possess such buoyancy that one stool will easily support one ptrson on the surface of the water, and a settee that will seat three jiersons will support the same number. It is said 'he British Government are about adopting them in their ships of war and transports. The same gentleman has also invented a life-boat of tiie same character, that under no circumstances can founder, sink, or be inverted, unless broken. editors' jottings. 125 EDITORS' JOTTINGS. The Reality and Poetry of Mecham- ISM. — Mechanism is become a very source of inspiration. Among the latest imbibers at its fount is the Rev. Samuel Osgood, who Las been lecturing before the members of the Mechanics' Institute of this city, on the " Poetry of Mechanism." In that lecture he contemplated the works of genius as applied to useful pursuits, of its changing the face of nations, taming the wild Leavings of na- ture, and elevating man from the savage to the citizen. Or to use his own words : " Sublime are the processes and results of the mechanic art ! Look at iron levelling for- ests, and subduing waves ! What is man ■without the backwoodsman's axe, com- pared with man with that axe ? Look at this, and see what iron has done iu our day. Is bread the staff of life ? Twenty acres of land may now be cultivated by the same labor that one required a few years ago. One man and one boy can now do the work that once took one hundred men and one hundred boys to do. More potent than the decrees of Xerxes, the hand of science sub- dues mountains and beats back old Nep- tune himself. This art carries out the aims of the Creator as the benefactor of man. Within a century our own country has lived ten centuries ; and these few millions have done the worjv of a hundred years ; and a city like this acliieves industrial re- sults beyontl those achieved by the empire of the Caisars when theirs was the empire of tlie world. Surely the old fable is real- ized, and the dragon's teeth, if they do not create men, do the work of men. Who shall spfak of the electric-newsman, com- pared with whom Ariel is very slow ? These are the influences whicli are yet to bring the Atlantic and the Pacific into a prox- imity which shall render them like the Siamese Twins, feeling the beatings of each other's hearts. The politicians have said a great many things— some very good ones, and some very poor ones — about the saving the Union ; but the mechanic has wired it and tied it together, so that all the politi- cians will find it difllcult to take it apart." It is not of the poetry but of the practi- cal knowledge of mechanism we would speak. There is too much dilettantism al- ready about mechanism, and we would ra- ther speak of the practice than the poetry of it. And why ? Because we find from the late Commissioner of Patents that of every five applications made at Washing- ton for so-called improvements, two are only monuments of wasted time and ruinous enterprise, made by persons many of them quite deficient in a knowledge of the first principles of mechanical science. We read that in the Museum of the Mechanics' Institute of Glasgow, there is preserved the model of a machine to procure per- petual motion. In the contrivance and execution of this beautiful machine an in- genious watclimaker spent seven years of his life ! It is not, and never could be, of the least earthly use, and is only a last- ing monument of the watchmaker's igno- uorance, perseverance, and handicraft. We might lengthen our illustrations of similar failures constantly' transpiring in our midst, but enough has been said to show that all real advances in mechanism can only be proportional to the ihoiough acquaintance- ship with first principles. Enough has been said to show that no great mechanical or scientific improvements, such as those of a Newton, a Hargreaves, or a Fulton, could ever have been made, without the mind being previously stored with scientific elementary knowledge. The falling of an apple may have suggested the law of gravi- tation to Newton ; the motion of a common spinning-wheel continued while in a state of falling to the ground may have suggested to Hargreaves the invention of the cotton jenny ; the steam issuing from the spout of a tea-kettle may to Watt have foreshad- owed that mighty motor, steam ! But it was to their well-digested elementary edu- cation the world owes their ability to turn these circumstances to good account. Each month we shall illustrate the ele- ments, as well as record the progress, of science and mechanism ; for it is a univer- sally admitted truth, that upon the diffusion of these two bases of genius and art will depend much of our nation's future welfare and prosperity. It shall be our monthly task as well as pleasure to give such lessons as shall render our industry characterized by our genius. The Arts, and their Commercial and Manufacturing Utility. — We have great faith in the effects to be expected from di- recting the attention of the producing pub- lic to the study of the truly beautiful in art and nature. We have a warm conviction that the higher the standard of excellence to which attention is directed, the more no- ble and beautiful will be tiie living result. For instance, besides the pleasure derived from the study of form and color, and the numerous resources which it opens up to the mind, it is directly calculated to influ- ence in a particular degree the progress of our trade and manufactures. As the eye becomes familiarized with the beautiful, a 126 editors' jottings. new sense seems to be created, to gratify whose cravings the stores of nature and the ingenuity of man are alike made subser- vient ; and thus the more widely extended the knowledge of art, the greater becomes the demand for articles in which taste is combined with utility. It is precisely this want which designers and artisans are called on to supply; and as skilled labor is the best paid, and a great amount of American money is spent upon foreign ornate manu- factures, so the whole country must benefit by home art-education. It is in such belief we hail schools of de- sign, and lectures upon the subject of Art, fully convinced that a vast improvement in mental action, in morals, and general activi- ty for good would be the result. A well illustrated book is a picture gallery in min- iature. It supplies to the intelligent me- chanic, farmer, and tradesmen, copies of the richest gems of art at a rate reachable to all, and especially to him who has children to train, and who is anxious to raise true and beautiful images in their minds, and teach them to look from " nature up to na- ture's God." Eugenio Latilla has been lecturing lately at the Hope Chapel, in this city, on the Fine Arts as practically applied to com- merce and manufactures. He said that " men affected to despise Art as a theme not marketable, yet there is probably no- thing in the whole range of merchandise yielding so fair a percentage as that which has risen from the art, for example, of de- signing. Taste is as much a marketable commodity as iron or wood. Take a lamp, a mantelpiece, a carpet, a musical instru- ment, a lady's dress, a shawl — these and a thousand other things btlong to the indus- trial arts ; and manufactures are lowered or increased in value, according as the design is good or bad. The reason few articles of furniture possess real beauty is found in the fact that no designer is employed upon it, or one not knowing a well-drawn pattern from a bad, or not knowing one style from another, so that when he makes a vase, Gothic, Doric, and Elizabethan are all mixed up in hopeless confusion. Hundreds of thousands of dollars are expended in per- petuating corrupt tastes. The lecturer then directed the attention of his hearers to some of the furniture of past times and past na- tions, and came down to those of modem date. We have seen that the Assyrians possessed a knowledge of sculpture, but they were ignorant of anatomy, and unable to infuse into their statues those life-like representations of the Grecian warriors, the snorting, prancing, and instinct of life in their chargers. " In Assyrian Art we have a dim attempt at grandeur, but the want of anatomical knowledge did not allow the Assyrian sculptors to attain the power of giving man's likeness that the Greek sculptor could do. The Assyrians were skilled ia the art of casting metals ; they were also acquainted with the art of gilding. The As- syrians and Babylonians were noted for the weaving of cloth of various colors, and in this stuff gold was often woven in the threads. We learn from sacred and pro- fane history their garments were of rare value. Plutarch informs us that Cato re- . ceived as a legacy a Babylonish garment, but he sold it because it was too costly for a citizen to wear. The carpets of Babylon were extremely rich, embroidered with ani- mals and flowers. The Persians are con- sidered to have attained their knowledge from this source : the colors, though rich, are combined in the most perfect harmony. They present a striking contrast to some carpets I have seen here, which seem to have been made to dazzle the sight, but Eet all harmony at defiance." The lecturer concluded by denouncing the folly of employing the cast-off frippery of European garrets, but to endeavor to em- ploy our own vast resources of mind and matter in both the fine and industrial arts. In short, in this, as in all other departments, we must learn to think, and feel, and do for ourselves. The Caloric Engine of Ericsson. — The present struggles for a new motive power are indicative of great results. The increased anxiety for the triumph of American Ocean Navigation keeps pace witli the progression of wejilth and power. When the Great Western, British Queen, and the President, had successfully overcome the most formid- able obstacles to ocean steam navigation. Great Britain concluded she had secured her ancient dominion on the seas. But rich in experience, wealth, and wisdom, able in constructive skill and marine intrepidity as England is, she has only shown the way to her child-empire on this side the sea. Her empire is departed to more youthful and vigorous hands. The great desideratum has been achieved — a prime mover has at last been practically tested, applicable, ener- getic, and more economical than steam, and whose mechanism is less roomy, bulky, costly, and dangerous than the steam en- gine. The Caloric ship Ericsson left her dock at the foot of North Eighth street, Wil- liamsburg, on the 4th of January, at 94 o'clock, A. M., passed the flag-staff on Gov- ernor's Island at 9 o'clock 56 minutes, and passed abreast of Fort Dimond at 10 o'clock 30i minutes ; thus making a distance of 7^ EDITORS JOTTINGS. 127 miles in 34^ minutes. She arrived at the buoy on the Southwest Spit at 11 o'clock 21 minutes ; after rounding the buoy, owing to tlie boisterous weather, accompanied with a severe snowstorm, it was deemed prudent to come to anchor and remain during the night. On her way down and returning, the engine was not stopped or the speed slackened. Some alterations and improve- ments are yet to be made in her engines, and her engineers will make several excur- sions for tlie purpose of testing her quali- ties thoroughly before she proceeds on her grand trial trip to Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Charleston. The speed attained on this trip has far exceeded the anticipations of those interested, and also that claimed by the inventor, Capt. Ericsson. During Wednesday and the day before, after it was known that the Ericsson had finally pro- ceeded down the Bay, there was much cu- riosity manifested, throughout this and the adjoining cities, to learn the final result of the experiment. Thousands of persons lined the piers to obtain a glimpse of the mod- ern Flying Dutchman, propelled neither by wind nor steam, and all seemed to feel that she was the discovery of this half of the century. To Ericsson belongs the honor of practically conferring a benefit upon man- kind no less important in its ultimate re- sults than the first application of steam. We shall presently have to believe as much in flying air-ships as in the Telegraph, and perhaps in a few years the present magni- ficent engines and steam inventions will be curiosities equal to those of Fitch and Ful- ton's day, now. Such is the rapid progress of our country in Arts, Science, and Me- chanics. Uses of the Atmospheee. — The first terrestrial body that has always arrested attention is tlie atmosphere, which is so essentially necessary to the support of animal and vegetable life, and therefore a worthy object of investigation to every philosopher. This atmosphere is a thin, transparent fluid, sun'ounding the earth to a considerable height above its surface, and though generally regarded as invisible, is not 60 in reality. If we look at a distant object, such as a mountain, or village spire, when the atmosphere is clear, we shall per- ceive it of a bluish tint, and the intensity of this tint will vary with the distance of the object, growing fainter as we draw near to it, and vice versa. The boundless vault of heaven appears also of an azure blue color, which results not from the sun, moon or stars, but from the mass of atmospheric air through which those bodies are seen. The finely attenuated and almost spiritual condition of the atmosphere prevents us from seeing its hue, unless we look through a large mass of it, until the recent discovery by which it can be seen distinctly. The uses of the atmosphere are many. It serves, for example, to equalize the distribution of heat over the surface of the earth. Expanding, and of course becoming specifically lighter from increase of temperature, a current of air always ascends from any part of the earth's surface that is much exposed to the solar rays ; it carries off" the excess of heat, which would otherwise accumulate, while its place is supplied by colder air, which is pressed in on every side. The warmer ail' is wafted to colder regions, and parts, in its progress, with the heat it had received. A circulation is thus established, by which the extremes of heat and cold, that would other- wise have rendered the greater part of the globe uninhabitable, are prevented ; while by these motions of the air, its purity as adapted to the support of animals is more effectually preserved. It is the useful agent by which the circulation of water is estab- lished. Assisted by heat, it is capable of elevating a portion of this fluid in vapor, which, cooled in the higher regions, or in cooler climates, descends in the form of dew, rain or snow, and by the declivity of the land is conveyed over its surface, and returns to sea. Lastly, air is indispensable to the support of vegetables. Clover. Thresher. — Sandford Mason and Seth M. Eastman, of Millport, N. Y., have invented a machine to obviate the inconve- nience at present felt of threshing clover and small seed. It consists in employing a cylinder with teeth on its periphery, and two additional sets of teeth, one above fixed to the frame, and the other below on a fast bed. The former are used for threshing the straw, while the latter act as a rasp, by which the seed are cleaned from the heads. Straw Cutter. — IMeasures have been taken by David and Lyman Clinton, of North Haven, Ct., to patent a straw cutter cylinder. The advantage is said to consist in attaching a wrought-iron .shaft to the cast- iron cylinder holding the cutters •, and this latter may be either cast around the former or cast separate from it, and then secured by pins. The cylinder of this invention will be more durable than those shafts cast by the ordinary method, as they often break at the points where the knives are attached to the flanges. Mineral Matter Assimilated in Vari- ous Crops. — It is found on analysis that an acre of wheat being an average crop, car- ries ofF with it no less than 210 pounds of inorganic elements, viz : 30 pounds in the 128 PATENTS ISSUED DURING JANUARY, 1853. grain, and 180 pounds in the straw — a of twenty tons per acre, when removed ofiF striking proof of the importance of con- the land, carries off 650 pounds of mineral Burning tlie straw upon tlie land. Barley matter. Potatoes, including the tops, take takes off 213 pDund,-^ — 53 in the grain, and off 580 pounds, the tops containing about 160 in the straw. 0. its take 316 pounds — 4^0 pounds. Cabbage carries off nearly 32 in grain, 30 in the husks, 5-i in the chaff, 1,000 pounds, and 200 in the straw. A crop of turnips, List of Patents Issued during January, 1853. Daniel S. Bayles, Brooklyn, N. Y. — Improved parrel for yards and vessels. M. A. Bertolet, L. Kirk, and A. IM. DeHarl, of Reading, Pii. — Improvements in the method of ob'aining gold, &e.. hy amalgamalion. Samutfl Oanby, Ellicotr's Mills, Md. — Improre- ment in winnowing machines. George Uaure, Pascal Nicholas, and Felix Lopez, Marseilles, France. — Improved process of making illuminated gas. Elihu and Warren W. Dntcher, North Benning- ton, Vt. — Improved temples for looms. John P. Farnhani, assignor to J. Jenkins and C. B. (JIark, of Andover, Mass. — Improvement in cutting paper. Pierce Saulnier, assignor to J. T. Brueu. of New- York ci'y. — Improved mode of mounting the cut- ters of machines for planing metals. Royal E. Honse, New-Vork city. — Improvement in Magnetic Pruning Telegraph. Edward Page, Albany, N. Y.— Machinery for heading bolts, &c. Wm. Tucker, Blackstone, Mass — Improvement in shuttles for looms. Wm. E. V\^ard, Portchester, N. Y. — Improved method of heading screw blanks, rivets, &c. Henry Waterman, Williamsburg, N. Y. — Im- proveni'-nt in safety app^r^itus for steam boilers. John F. Wiiislow and John Synder, Troy, N. Y. — Machinery for making railroad chairs. Wm. Garnall, Newark, Ohio. — Improvement in daguerreotypiug Jamfs P. Arnold, Louisville, Ky. — Improvement in machines for heckling fltx and hemp. John I. Bruen, and Jaines G. Wilson, Hastings, N. Y. — Improvenientin machinesfor sawlngstone. James (J. (JIark, Philadelphia, Pa. — Improve- ment in self-winding telegraphic registers. George Feaga and Geo ge W. Peaga, Frederick, Md. — Improvement in grain-washers. John S. Gallaher, Jr., Washington, D. C— Im- provement in crutches. John C. Bidwell and John Hall, of Pittsburg, Pa., executors of Simuel Hall, deceased. — Im- provement In hillside plonghs. Richard HoUiugs, Boston, Blass.— Improvement in hose-ripes. BeDjamio T. Jenkins and Luke L Knight, Barre. Mass. — Improvement in lathes for turning irregular forms. Werritt Peckham and Lucius O. Palmer, Utica, N. Y. — Improvements in orewash'TS. Francis (J. Schaffer, Brooklyn, N. Y.— Improve- ment in potato diggers. William Watson, Chicajo, III. — Improvement in toDguing and grooving niHchiues. Jeptha A. Wilkinson, Kiieplace, N. Y.— Improve- ment in i.rinting presses. Dated January 4, 1853. Patented in England. PHptemher23, 1842. Thomas Baylis and Daniel Williams, Tecumseh, Mich.— Improvement in rakes to harvesters. Rudolph Kreeter, New- York, N. Y., assignor to Robert Nunus and John 01. irk of same place. — Improvement in covering pianoforte hiimmers. Waller Hunt, New-York, N. Y , assignor to Charles T. Kipp, of same place.— Improvement in bottle-stoppers. Matthew Chapman, of New-York, N. Y. — Im- provt-ment in lathes lor turning interior and ex- terior surfaces. Moses G. Farmer, Salem, Mass.— Improvement in porous cells for galvanic batleries. I'inckney Frost, Spiiugfleld, Vt.— Improvement in sc>the fastenings. Ammi M. George, Nashua, N. II. — Improvement in mode of operating circular saws. John L. Gilliland, Brooklyn, N. Y. — Improve- ment in fire-palishing glass. Peter P. R. II ay den, New- York, N. Y.— Im- provement in buckles. Silas A. Hedges, Lancaster, Ohio. — Improve- ment in manure-spreaders. Wm Mann, Philadelphia, Penn. — Improvement in manufacturing copying pnper. Andrew Mayer, Philadelphia, Penn. — Improve- ment in screwcuttiDg dies. Hichard Montgomery, New-York, N. Y. — Im- proved method of connecting the sheets of shute flue and water-space steam boilers. Daniel Pease, jr., of Floyd, N. Y.— Improvement in smut machines. Robert W. Andrews, StaffDrd, Conn.— Improve- ment in operating the Ireddles of looms. Chas. L. Bander, Cleveland, O.— Improved bed- stead fastenings. Dexter H. Chamberlain, Boston, Moss., assignor to Cyrus G. Howard, of same place.— Improve- ments in machinery for reducing metal bars. Joseph Coutuer, Milroy, Pa.— Improved saddle- trees. Gen. nnd David Conk, New-Haven, Conn. — Im- provement in driving circular saws. Ed. Everett, Lawrence, Mass., and Samuel T. Thomas, Lowell, Mass. — Improvement in harness boards for Jacquard looms. Jaines S. Hogeland, Lafayette, Ind.— Improved wool condensers. Jno Griffiths, Philadelphia, Pa.— Improvement in screw-cutting dies. Jno. L. Kingsley, New- York city. — Improvement in compounds for stereotype plates. Jeremiah P. Smith, Humraelslown, Pa.— Im- provement in corn-shellers. Jos. \V. Webb, Aurora, N. Y., assignor to Benj. Gould.— Improvement in valves of rotary steam enaines. Sara, and Wra. H. Witherow, assignor to Sam. Wilherow, Gettysburg, Pa. — Improvement in seed planters. DESIGN.— Robert E. Dietz, New- York, N. Y.— Design Jfor a girandole. ®l)e ipioitgl), tl)e loom, mitr t\)t ^nml Vol. VI. MARCH, 1853. No. 3. TO THE HON. R. M. T. HUNTER, CHAIRMAN OF THE COMMITTEE ON FINANCE, OF THE SENATE. (Letter Third.) Sir, It is possible that you may suppose I have overestimated the effect pro- duced on the market of England by the supply of food from this country and Canada, and of course overestimated the advantage that would result to our farmers from making at home a market that would relieve them from the necessity of exporting food in its original form ; and having just met with some facts tending to throw much light on the subject, I lay them now before you. _ . The London Economist of November 13 furnishes the following statement of stocks and prices of sugar in the principal markets of Europe : — 1849. 1S50. 1851. 1S52. Stocks cwt. 3,563,000 ...2,895,000 ...3,810,000 ...3,216,000 Prices— duty free— Havana brown.... 17 to 24s. ...20 to 27s. ...16 to 22s. ...19 to 26s. « Brazil brown 16 to 20s. ...18 to 22s. ...12 to 17s. ...16 to 20s. The stocks of 1849 and 1852 were, as you see, nearly alike, and the prices did not greatly differ. Taking them, therefore, as the standard, we see that a diminution of supply so small as to cause a diminution of stock to the extent of about 400,000 cwts., or only ahout three per cent, of the import, added ahout Ji/teeji jyer cent, to the prices of the whole crop in 1850; whereas a simi- lar excess of supply in 1851 caused a reduction of prices almost as great. The actual quantity received in Europe in the first ten months of the present year has been 509 cwts. less than in the corresponding months of the previous one. The average monthly receipts are about a million of cwts. per month, and if we take the prices of those two years as a standard, the following will be the result : — 1851 12,000,000 cwts. Average 16s. 9^. £10,050,000 1852 11,500,000" " 20s. 3d. 11,643,750 Gain on the crop 1,593,750 If now we compare 1850 with 1851, the following is the result: 1851 as above 10,050,000 1850 11,000,000 cwts. Average. ..21^. 9d. 11,971,250 1,921,250 Now if this reduction of export had been a consequence of increased domestic con- sumption, we should have to add tlie value of that million to the product, and this would give 1,187,500 £3,108,750 We have here a difference of thirty per cent, resulting from a diminution of export to the amount of one-twelfth of the export to Europe, and not more than a twenty-fourth of the whole crop. Admitting the crop to have been 24,000,000 of cwts., and it must have been more, the total difference produced by this abstraction of four per cent, from the markets of Europe 130 LETTER TO THE HON. R. M. T. HUNTER. would be more than six millions of pounds, or thirty millions of dollars. Such being the result of a diflference of four per cent, is it not quite certain that if the people of Cuba, Brazil, India, and other countries were to turn some of their labour to the production of cloth, iron, and other commodities for which they are now wholly dependent on Europe, and thus diminish their necessity for export to the further extent of two per cent., the eflPect would be almost to double the value of the sugar crop of the world, to the great advantage of the planter, who would realize more for his sugar while obtaining his cloth and his iron cheaper ? To me it seems quite certain that such would be the case. The same number of the Economist contains facts in relation to the coflFee trade tending to nearly the same result, and showing how large is the reduc- tion of prices consequent upon a very small excess of supply, precisely as has been so often shown to be the case with cotton. It is well known that a crop of two millions of bales of the latter will produce more than one of two and a half millions, and yet our planters will insist upon a course of policy tending to force almost their whole crop upon the English market, there to build up a " stock on hand" to be used by the men of Manchester in diminishing the value of the crop coming to market. Examine the facts where you may, you will find that all experience tends to fiivour the correctness of the views I have furnished in regard to food ; and that if the farmer or planter desires to grow rich his only course for the accomplishment of that object is to be found in the adoption of measures that will enable him to release himself from the oppressive monopoly of machinery established by England, and which she desires to perpetuate by the aid of the system called free trade. The men who raise sugar have scarcely any intercourse even with their immediate neighbours except that which is carried on through the medium of Liverpool and London. One Hindoo sends his cotton, and another his sugar to Manchester, and at the expiration of a couple of years a small portion returns to them iu the form of cloth ; and thus it is that men make exchanges who live at a distance of a few miles, or hundreds of miles, from each other. So is it with the cultivators both in Brazil and Mauritius. They can make no exchanges with each other any more than can the cotton planter of Ala- bama with the sugar planter of Louisiana or Texas. Your fellow-citizens of Virginia have little trade with each other, because you are all producers of wheat and tobacco; and as a necessary consequence of this absence of trade among themselves, they have none with their immediate neighbours. Bich- mond has little to do with New Orleans or Charleston, and perhaps less with Louisville or Nashville. Your exchanges among one another must all be made through New York or Philadelphia, Boston or Baltimore — but chiefly through the first ; and the reason that they must be so is, that it does not accord with the policy of England to permit that there shall be diversification of labour among her colonies, and as yet we are only British colonies. If you converted your food into coal and iron, and food and cotton into cloth, you would need to exchange iron for cotton, and then Norfolk and New Orleans would trade together ; but as it is they cannot do it. This absence of do- mestic intercourse among the Southern states has been exhibited in a striking manner on a recent occasion, when it was attempted to carry slaves to New Orleans from Bichmond, through New York. Had Bichmond had any trade with New Orleans it would not have been necessary to travel so far out cf the way, at so much risk. Real free trade would constitute a great pyramid, the base of which would be a great intercourse among yourselves, the pro- ducer of food exchanging with the producer of cloth and iron ; and every sti^p LETTER TO THE HON. R. M. T. HUNTER, 131 in that direction would be attended with an increase of foreign trade : but so long as you liave no domestic trade you can have little or no foreign trade. The little that your State now has results from the fact that jou manufacture some of your wheat into flour. The necessary consequence of the centralization o{ the exchanges of the world in Great Britain is a corresponding centralization of the exchanges of nations in single cities. Almost all those of India are made in Calcutta and Bombay, to which are brought the rice and the cotton of the whole nation that the people may there exchange with each other; and thus are those cities built up at the expense of the whole people of India, whose spindles and looms have been destroyed bv the working of the British monopoly. The splendour of Calcutta increases as the wretchedness of the people of India is augmented ; for the more the cultivator is deprived of the aid of the artisan the more is he thrown into the power of the trader. So precisely is it among ourselves. The people o( Virginia make a large portion of their exchanges, even among themselves, through New York ; and the cotton manufacturer of South Carolina sends his goods to New York there to he purchased hy the shop- keeper of Camden, Charleston, or Hamhurgh, burdened loith enormous cost of freight and commissions. Your own journals, on occasion of a recent grievance, have said : — " Let Viroinia look to Tirffinia. Let her sustain her own trade — support her own commerce— stand upon her own bottom. The ocean lies open before us ; ere long her sails may whiten every port, and her steamers ' walk every sea.' Self-interest, self-respect. State dignity, demands of her legislature a calm but enlightened, resolute but conciliatory coarse." — Richmond Whig. All this would be true if Virginia luoidd " look to Virginia." As it is she must go to '^e-w York, and the reason why she must do so is that the tendency of the present system is toward centralization and monopoly, to the impoverish- ment of the farmer and the planter. It tends to place all the cotton and woollen machinery in the North and East at a distance from the men who produce the cotton and the wool — and all the iron-making machinery of the Union in Pensylvania, while Virginia and Tennessee, Missouri and Minnesota, are to be compelled to forego all the advantages that would result from the opening of their mines and the smelting of their ore. It tends to centralize all the trade of the Union in the single port of New York — and that centralization is the result of the policy known among us as free trade, advocated, as it is, by gentlemen who for twenty years have looked anxiously for the adoption of some measures tending to promote the commercial independence of the South. What has been the progress in that direction of the last eighty years will be seen by the following comparative statement of imports': — New York. Virginia. South Carolina. 1769 £,stg. 189,000 £851,000 £555,000 1821 $23,000,000 $1,078,000 $3,000,000 1832 57,000,000 550,000 1,213,000 1851 141,000,000 552,000 2,081,000 Why should this be so ? Why is it that Norfolk has no foreign trade ? It is because Virginians have no trade among themselves ; because they will not avail themselves of their vast deposites of coal and ore, and of their vast water power, deeming it cheaper to send food to New York, to go thence to Liverpool, thus to be eaten by men, women, and children that make cloth by aid of English coal, than to feed it directly to people who made it by aid of the falls of the James or of the Potomac, capable as they are of making all 132 LETTER TO THE HON. R. M. T. HUNTER, the cloth and all the iron consumed in their State, were they even ten times greater in quantity than they now arc. It is because Virginia has been deter- mined not to qualify herself for direct trade with the world. She has nothing to give to the world but raw products, and she has to compete for the sale of them in New York, Boston, and Liverpool. She exhausts her land, and then she obtains, as Mr. Stevenson informs us, but sis or eight bushels of wheat to the acre, and that wheat she sends to the North to be exchanged for hay, while thousands of acres of well-timbered land, capable of yielding hay in profusion, may be had, as I understand, in the lower part of the State, at from three to five dollars per acre. Marl abounds everywhere, and yet her people are flying in every direction to seek new lands in the West, to be exhausted, as they have already exhausted so large a portion of the State. Her people are being impoverished and they are leaving the State, and from year to year they have less power to purchase foreign commodities. When men abandon lands that they have cultivated, we may be quite sure that they have small means with which to purchase cloths, silks, or iron. How many of our popu- lation, says Mr. Stevenson — "Do we see disposing of their lands at ruinous prices, tmd relinquishin"- their birthplaces and friends, to settle themselves in the West; and many not 8° much from choice as from actual inability to support their families and rear and educate their children, out of the produce of their exhausted lands— once fertile but rendered barren and unproductive by a ruinous system of cultivation. "And how greatly is this distress heightened, in witnessing, as we often do the successions and reverses of this struggle between going and staying, on the part of many emigrants. And how many are there, who after removing, remain only a few years, and then return to seize again upon a portion of their native land and die where they were born. How strongly does it remind us of the poor shipwrecked mariner, who, touching in the midst of the storm the shore, lays hold of it but is borne seaward by the receding wave ; but struggling back, torn and lacerated he grasps again the rock, with bleeding hands, and still clings to it, as a last and forlorn hope. Nor is this to be wondered at. Perhaps it was the home of his childhood the habitation of his fathers, for past generations — the soil upon which had been expei-.ded the savings and nourishment, the energies and virtues, of a long life — 'the sweat of the living, and the ashes of the dead.' " Oh ! how hard to break such ties as those. "This is no gloomy picture of the imagination; but a faithful representation of what most of us know and feel to be true. Who is it that has not had some ac- quaintance or neighbour — some friend, perhaps some relative, forced into this current of emigration, and obliged from necessity, in the evening, probably, of a long life, to abandon his State and friends, and the home of his fathers and childhood, to seek a precarious subsistence in the supposed El Dorados of the West?"* This is a terrible picture, and yet it is but the index to the worse one that must follow in its train. Well does the hon. speaker say that — "There is another evil attending this continual drain of our population to the West, next in importance to the actual loss of the population itself, and that is, its tendency to continue and enlarge our wretched system of cultivation. "The moment some persons feel assured that for present gain, they can exhaust the fertility of their lands in the old States, and then abandon them for those in the West, which being rich require neither the aid of science nor art, the natural tendency is at once to give over all eflForts at improvement themselves, and kill their land as quickly as possible, then sell it for what it will bring or abandon it as a waste. And such will be found to be the case with too many of the emigrants from the lowlands of Virginia." * Address delivered before the Albemarle Agricultural Society, by Hon. Andrew Stevenson. LETTER TO THE HON, U. M. T. HUNTER. 133 It has been estimated (Census Report 1849) that we waste annually as much of the materials of which grain is composed as would produce 500 millions of bushels of wheat, or 1000 millions of bushels of corn ; and it is stated, on the same authority, that no State in the Union has done so much of this as Virginia : the one which is most exclusively given to agriculture. Is there not here evidence that her people can never thrive at a distance from the anvil and the loom ? Contrast, I pray you, the picture offered by Mr. Stevenson, with the follow- ing view of the price of land near New York : — "The fai-m of Mr. Polhemus, situated between Astoria and Ravenswood, of 100 acres, sold a few days since for $50,000, being $500 per acre. Another farm of 40 .acres near Astoria, which belonged to the late Isaac Van Alst, sold for .$35,000, $870 per acre." The New York papers of the day inform us, that so rapid has been the growth in the value of city property, that a gentleman has just realized llOOjOOO profit on the sale of one-half of a few city lots purchased but a short time since; and similar operations of greater or less extent are being made from week to week, if not from day to day. If you desire to know the cause of this, you may find it in the fact that the policy of Virginia and the South tends to exhaust and depopulate themselves, and to prevent them from having any trade, even among themselves, except through that single port, which is thus built up at their expense. Congress is now making large grants for roads, each one of which is a bounty on emigration from all the older settled Slates, to the injury of every man in those States that owns an acre of land. How it has operated in Virginia for the last twenty years you know, but as you may not know how it now works in the western States, I give the following extract from a letter from a gentleman of Michigan : — " We could once sell our farms for fair prices and for cash, but at present we cannot sell an improved farm for more than from %1 to .$10 per acre, while it has cost the pioneer from $10 to $15 per acre, to make the improvements! And then we cannot sell for cash, but on credit. I have been engaged in the land trade for some twenty years, and at no time have I known real estate so great a drug in the market. There are thousands who want to buy, but they have no money. If they are mechanics or labourers, they work for store-pay, and with that they cannot buy land. I speak for Michigan, and suppose it is so in all the older western States." Similar are the results of the depopulation now going on in all the older of the States of the Union; and the more men scatter abroad the greater is the growth of centralization. The man who makes iron in Pennsylvania or Virginia, exchanges with the neighbouring farmer for food; but from the moment of his departure to farm in the west, both must look to New York as the only place at which to make their exchange. The lead miner of Illinois buys food from one neighbour and sells lead to another ; but when you close the mines, and drive him to raising food, all must look to New York. But recently Congress made large grants for a road through Illinois, and the persons who procured that grant are said to be certain to realize from it a profit of twenty millions of dollars. Where are they to be found ? In New York. That road offers a bounty upon emigrants from Pennsylvania and Vir- ginia; and the greater the emigration from both the greater the centralization of trade in New York, and the greater the power of Wall street to buy up new lands and to pay largely for grants of public lands in aid of roads. The tendency of the whole system is thus to build up a central power to control the operations of the farmer and planter of the Union. Lands are asked 134 LETTER TO THE HON. R. M. T. HUNTER. for roads through the south and west, and other roads across the continent to California ; and each of these ■will become the object of speculation in Vt^'all street, while each will be a bounty on emigration from tlio old States of the Union, with hourly increasing tendency to centralization of trade, and with vast increase in the value of New York lots, and decrease in the value of land in the older States. I have now before mc a letter from a gentleman of South Carolina, in which he says that in that State they make nothing but in the ''increase of stock;" and such is, to a great extent, the case in other Southern States. Eccrij railroad South and West is ccntrifugalin its tendency. While the centripetal force existed to some extent under the tariff of 1842, no injm-y could result from this ; but now that we build neither mills nor furnaces, and now that the whole energies of the nation are given to the making of roads for the purpose of attracting the population of the older States, the worst effects may be anticipated. I would now beg you to remark how the system called free trade — that which looks to securing to the manufacturer of England a monopoly of the trade of the world — has operated in your State, as compared with the protec- tion which looks to the opening of your coal and iron mines, thus to make a market for your food. The decennial period 1830-1840 was emphatically a free trade one. The compromise was soon to bring an horizontal duty of twenty per cent. ; and from the date of its passage we built few mills or furnaces, while millions of people fled to the West. In that ten years the population of your State increased only 28,392 The following period was emphatically one of concentration. In 1841, the West, exhausted by the making of roads with borrowed money, offered no inducements to emigration from the old States. In the following year the tariff was passed, and that endured until 1847. The great rail-road specula- tion of England kept up prices in 1847 and part of 1848, and it was not until 1849 that we began fully to realize the effect of the change. Almost the whole decade was a period of perfect protection, and the effect of this is seen in the fact that your State increased in numbers to the extent of. 185,067 or almost seven times as much as it had grown in the previous period. Compare this now with the growth of New York and Brooklyn. In ten years they grew 260,000 ; whereas in twenty years your great State grew 213,000, when it might have doubled itself, had the policy of the South tended to permit it to bring into activity its vast resources in coal and iron, and to enable its people to maintain trade among themselves, as the basis upon which to erect a trade with the world. Were she to make a market on her land for its products, and thus enable her to relieve herself from the perpetual loss of all the valuable elements of production, she could support five times her present population, and that would give her about a hundred to the square mile ; whereas Belgium, the most prosperous country in Europe, has more than twice that number. Pennsylvania has recently increased her representation, and the reason why she has done so is, that much of the State has not only ceased to export food, but has become an importer of it. In the last decennial period, Schuylkill county alone grew in number 28,000, or more than the growth of all Virginia in the previous one ; and the consequence of that growth has been, that the farmers of Schuylkill and other counties can not only sell all their wheat at the highest prices of New York and Boston, but they can also sell potatoes, cabbages, and hay, and put the manure yielded by them back on their land : as could the people of Virginia, if they would but mine ore and coal and make iron. LETTER TO THE HON. R. M. T. HUNTER, 135 It would seem to be time for Virginians to understand that the plough and the harrow never have thriven when separated from the spindle and the loom, and that the road to prosperity is to be found in the adoption of measures tending to enable them to export their food in the form of coal, iron, and cloth. Let them do this, and they may have direct intercourse with the world. The little they now have results, as I have said, from the fact that they manufacture their wheat into flour. Let them go one step farther and manufacture it into iron and cloth, and then they will be enabled to enrich their land — to find a market for labour — to clear their rich lands now covered with timber — to make roads — and thus labour and land will acquire a value, and population will be attracted to the State instead of being, as now, repelled from it. Massachusetts makes a market on her land for all its products, and she imports both men and food, and therefore her poor soil grows rich, and her lands sell for hundreds of dollars per acre, while she herself increases in power. Your State, on the contrary, exports both food and men, and land declines in value as she herself declines in power ; and from being the first State in the Union she has now become the fourth, with every prospect of becoming soon the eighth, unless she shall adopt the policy tending to bring into activity her vast resources of coal, iron, lime, marl, water power, and, indeed, almost every thing required to enable her to become, if she will, a powerful nation of herself. The representation of New York has risen from 5 to 33, while that of your State has risen from 10 to 13, and yet your whole policy looks to compelling every man in Virginia to see in New York the only place of exchange, whereas Norfolk has every advantage that could be desired for becoming one of the most important seaports of the Union, as it will become whenever you shall determine to become importei's of men and raw materials, instead of being, as now, exporters of both. It is proposed now to hold an Agricultural Congress of the slaveholding states, for the following purposes : " To adopt measures to improve the present system of agriculture ; to develop the resources and combine the energies of the slaveholding States, so as to increase their wealth, power, and dignity, as members of the confederacy ; to fortify a public opinion within the borders of the slaveholding states, in antagonism to that without ; to en- force the growing sentiment that the children of the South shall be reared and educated at home, instead of abroad; to foster scientific pursuits, promote the mechanic arts, and aid in establishing a system of common schools ; to assist iu bringing the South in direct commercial intercourse with distant countries ; and to 'cultivate the aptitudes of the negro race for civilization, and consequently Chris- tianity— so that, by the time that slavery shall have fulfilled its beneficent mission in these States, a system may be authorized by the social condition of that race here, to relieve it from its present servitude, without sinking it to the condition of the free negroes of the North, and West Indies.' " How shall these things be accomplished ? Is it by further maintaining the system that has reduced the southern consumption of cotton to 75,000 bales after it had reached 120,000 by the aid of the tariff of 1842 ? Is it by main- taining a system that drives your people from the neighbourhood of coal and iron mines, where they would be customers to your farmers, to buy farms in the West where they must be rivals to them ? Is it by scattering her people througbout Texas and Alabama that Virginia can acquire power to make roads, or to build school-houses? Is it by impoverishing her land and dimi- nishing her power of maintaining trade that she can obtain direct trade with the various nations of the earth ? Is it by diminishing her representation in Congress that she can maintain her dignity ? Assuredly not. If Virginia 136 LLTTER TO THE HON. 11. M. T. HUNTER. and the South desire to do these things they must awaken to the fact that all the purely agricultural communities of the world are poor and weak, and are becoming daily poorer and weaker, while all those who bring the loom and the anvil to the side of the plough and the harrow are becoming daily richer and sti'onger. Let them awake to the great fact that what they need is to raise the price of raw materials, and that that object can never be attained by forcing food or cotton into the market which now regulates the prices of the world, and which is kept by men whose interests look to having cheaper FOOD, CHEAPER TOBACCO, and CHEAPER COTTON. Let them awaken to the further fact that what they need is a larger supply of manufactured goods, and that that object can never be attained by compelling themselves to draw all their supplies from one market kept by men whose interests lead them to desire to sell dearer cloth and dearer iron. Their objects and those of the people of Manchester and Birmingham are directly the opposite of each other — yet how few of them there are who study political economy in any but the books of the Manchester school, which teach that the true interests of the farmers and planters of the world are to be promoted by following the plough exclusively, and thus depriving themselves of all the aid afforded by the powerful steam — by having no employment but that which requires more physical power, and thus stunting the growth of intellect while rendering valueless the labour of the young and the aged, and driving the women to the field — and by exhausting the land by taking from it all the valuable portions of the soil to be transferred to Great Britain, there to be added to her already vast supply of manure, valued, as it now is, at above one hundred millions of pounds sterling, and as much as all the cotlon, rice, tohacco, sugar, ivheat, and corn produced in all the states south of Mason and Dixon's line-. Each successive steamer brings advice of the wonderful prosperity of England under free trade, and that prosperity is adduced by all the papers in the pay of foreign agents as a reason why we should follow out the great example set for us across the ocean. If, however, we enquire in what that prosperity consists, we find that it means cheap food and high-priced iron — cheap cotton and high-priced cloth. If next we enquire why food and cot- ton are cheap, we learn that it is because our present system compels us to force on the European market large supplies of both that should be con- sumed at home. If we enquire why it is that cloth and iron arc high, we learn that it is because the same system compels us to look abroad for large sup- plies of both that should be made at home. Throughout the South there are thousands of men who see that what they need is protection, but who refuse to adopt it because, as they say, it will benefit the North and East, and increase their power; and yet, if they would but examine the matter carefully, they would find that every measure they have yet adopted for weakening the North has strengthened it as compared with the South. The tariff of 1833 broke down thousands of manufactur- ing establishments at the north, but they rose again under that of 1842, and with improved machinery can now almost set at defiance all attempts at inter- ference; but the factories of the South, once down, do not speedily revive again. Had the tariff of 1842 been maintained, the mills of the southern stales would now count almost by hundreds, and they would be approxi- mating daily to an equality with the people of the North in manufacturing power, but as it is they are forcing on the centralizaiion of macMnery in the North. So, too, with the manufacture of iron, vrnich is daily centralizing itself in Eastern Pennsylvania, where improved machinery will probably, -vud LETTER TO THE HON. R. M. T. HUNTER. 187 at no distant day, set at defiance domestic and foreign competition. Tlio woollen mills of the West may be broken down, but those of Lowell will prosper under the existing system, and live even through the next revulsiai. The tendency of the present system is to place the farmer, bound h:ind and foot, at the mercy of the trader, and to give him a steadily decreasing reward for his labour. Our population, growing at the rate of almost a million a year, is now being driven in excessive numbers into agriculture that we may supply foreign nations with food, and yet the population of the only food- purchasing country of Europe is diminishing, and promises to diminish steadily for years to come. In that market the people of Virginia are to compete with those of Russia, whose crops are thus described : " The crops in South Russia this year have surpassed all calculation. The Menno- nite Colonies alone will have over one-and-three-quarter millions bushels of grain for export. The demand for labourers has been so great in the fields that the shops of the tailors, shoemakers, and stone-cutters were all deserted during harvest. Every day is bringing these countries nearer to England." ^^ Every day is hrinying these countries nearer to England." In this single sentence you may read the cause of the low price of wheat in England j and if you now look to the fact that almost every measure before Congress has for its object to increase the number of producers of wheat, and to bring them nearer to you and to England, you will, I think, have little difficulty in satisfying yourself that the course of your State, v/hich should be the first in the Union, must continue to be downward, without a change of system. The quantity of land for which warrants are now in market is almost fifty millions of acres, and there is probably half as much in the hands of specula- tors in New York, Boston and other cities, all of whom are at work to obtain appropriations for roads, that they may have the lands " brought nearer to England;" and with each new grant, trade and power tend more and more to centralize themselves in New York : and yet the South, while it maintains the system, talks of commercial independence and direct trade ! The artisan has everywhere been the safeguard of the agriculturist ; and where the former has not been found, the lattter has always been, and cdways must he, the slave of the trader. The celebrated Resolutions of '98 consti- tute, as it is declared, the basis of the democratic platform. They were levelled against political centralization, but unhappily the policy of Virginia and the South looks to a system of centralization that has everywhere proved itself far worse — that which places the farmers and planters under the control of merchants and traders. The city of New York governs the Union, and the governing power therein largely consists of the agents of the trading people of Europe, all busily engaged in establishing and maintaining what they call free trade. Their means, as there is good reason to believe, contri- buted much to the passage of the act of 1846,* and those means are still largely used to perpetuate that policy. Look, I beg of you, to the thousand schemes for railroads, and for steamers to Europe and California, for which congressional aid has been asked, and see how large a portion of them have their origin in the desire to perfect the commercial centralization that now exists. Among the most striking instances of this is the effort that has been made to obtain a Branch Mint in that city. California needs to sell gold — the manu- factured article — and to be relieved from the necessity for selling gold dust ; * A recent English journal states that £80,000 were raised in Manchester to secure the passage of the act of 1846. 138 LETTER TO TEE HON. R. M. T. HUNTER. and the reason why she does so is found in the fact that the value of the raw- product of the earth was found to have increased one dollar per ounce as soon as the place of manufacture was brought to the side of the producer. From that moment the State could maintain direct intercourse between the producers and consumers of her products; and it was to carry out and perfect this system that Congress was willing to expend the large sura required for a California Mint. Such a measure, however, would diminish centralization, whereas a New York mint would maintain it where it now stands, and therefore no amount of pecu- niary or political influence was spared in the effort to accomplish the object. The objects of New York and Manchester are precisely the same. Having looked at these things, I will ask you to examine next the votes on numerous bills for promoting centralization, and remark that they have generally been passed by aid of the very gentlemen who most desire to see established the commercial independence of the South. That independence can never be established by aid of a system that compels South Carolina and Virginia to buy all their cloth and their iron in England, because thai trade must be carried on through New YorJc. It may and will be abolished whenever those States shall determine to convert their wheat and their cotton into cloth, iron, and coal, for those commodities can be exchanged without passing through this one great commercial centre of the Union. In saying this, I beg you to understand that I am quite convinced that the real prosperity of that city would be greater and more permanent under a system that would enrich the South and West than they ever can be under one which tends to the im- poverishment of the Union. She would grow as fast, but they would grow faster, and more equality would be maintained. Look at the palaces now going up in New York, and other cities. Look at the magnificence of hotels erected at a cost of two, three, or four hundred thousand dollars each. Who pay for them ? Not the owners, for they produce nothing. All they do is to stand between the consumer and the producer and grow rich at the cost of both. Having studied New York, I would beg you to look at Norfolk, with one of the finest situations in the country — one that should make it one of the first cities of the world — and then to mark the character of its buildings and the growth of its population — 3,400 in ten years ! Look, I beg of you, to the rents now being paid in New York, of six, eight, ten, and even twenty thousand dollars for single buildings of moderate size, and then enquire who are they that pay them. Are they the occu- pants ? Assuredly not. They are paid by the people of Illinois and the West, of Virginia and the South, who vuist go there to exchange wool for cloth, and food for iron. Look next to the rents of Norfolk, and then at her magnificent bay, close at hand, and capable of affording shelter to the assembled fleets of the world. Then pass up the James and the Potomac, and see how clearly it has been provided that Virginia should be a great road of communication between the Mississippi and the ocean, and how abun- dantly have been provided the food, the coal, and the iron ore needed for making the roads, if Virginia could but persuade herself to " look to Vir- ginia." That done, I would ask you to study the great system of roads now in preparation, and see that, almost without exception, they tend to carry trade from southern cities and to New York. Even New Orleans is losing her trade ; and the day is probably not far distant when little will remain of that which but recently she had with Missouri and Illinois, Kentucky and Indiana. Tobacco and cotton now reach New York by canal and railroad ; LETTER TO THE HON. R. M. T. HUNTER. 139 and what is at this moment true of the products of Kentucky and Tennessee, will soon probably be equally true in regard to Mississippi and Alabama. Commercial centralization becomes from day to day more perfect, as each day adds to the necessity for resorting to a single place of exchange, and increases the facilities oflfered there as compared with other parts of the Union. Every movement points in the same direction. The more we must look to foreign trade the more we need a navy, the expenditures of which are now almost as great as were those of the whole government only twenty years since. Two thousand more seamen are now asked for, that we may have more ships ; and the more ships we have the more employment for them must be found. And therefore it is that we have new expeditions of discovery in all directions, and that we are now sending a fleet to Japan for the accom- plishment of objects that would have remained unthought of had not the whole policy of the government looked to building up foreign trade on the ruins of domestic trade. A law of three lines, rendering permanent even the present duties paid by cloth and iron, would add more in a year to the trade of the Union than will all these expeditions in a century. Such a law, how- ever, would not promote centralization. It would not enable thousands to look to the Treasury for support, and therefore it would not be popular among the people who now so largely control the action of Congress. It would look towards having a really democratic and economical government, while a large navy and well-appointed expeditions look toward a splendid and expensive one; and yet this latter course is sustained by some of the warmest admirers of the Resolutions of '98. That there is little probability of having such a law I am well aware. The adoption of specific duties on iron, even at their present amount, would at once cause a fall in the price of all iron in England of 30s. per ton, whereas a repeal of the duties on railroad iron would add 30s. to the present price. Supposing the whole difference to be even only 40s., the difference to the British iron masters would be more than seven millions of pounds per annum, and in five years it would amount to little short of two hundred millions of dollars. Under such circumstances they could well afford to pay one, two, or even three millions of dollars for the repeal of the duty ; and we have it on the authority of a member of the Senate, that " if the people had any idea of the dishonesty, corruption, and robbery practised at Washing- ton, in all departments of the government, they would march to the Federal city and pitch the whole establishment into the Potomac.'' It is, however, so well known that large amounts of money have been paid for securing the passage of the various bills tending to the perfection of centralization in New York and Manchester, that it can scarcely be necessary to adduce proof of the fact. Individual members are said to have profited by railroad grants to the extent of fifty, sixty, and seventy thousand dollars, and when such has been the case in times past it would seem little likely that such a bill as this should fail to effect its passage. The few gentlemen concerned in one road would, as I am informed, profit by it to the extent of a million of dollars ; and they alone could afford to pay 8100,000. The legislation of this coun- try is rapidly following the course of that of England, and passing under the control of Manchester and Birmingham, of which New York is the agent. Corruption and centralization always walk hand in hand with each other. Iron has already advanced more than four pounds per ton ; and as the whole power of Great Britain is now directed toward the extension of railroads in all parts of the world, while there is no corresponding increase in the arrange- 140 LETTER TO THE HON. R. M. T. HUNTER. meuts for the production of iron, I can see no reason to doubt that it may- go to ten pounds, or even to twelve, if the duty be repealed. And yet every movement in Congress looks to compellingus to resort to one market alone in ichlch to maize our 2Jiirchases, involving necessarily a single market in which to make our sales. Is it wonderful, then, that lands and lots around that market double in value while other lands and lots decline ? Is it wonderful that New York, aided as she is by Manchester and Birmingham, should acquire power to Lu)/ her v:a\j through Congress, and thus dictate the whole legislation of the Union, while Virginia and South Carolina so rapidly decline in p6wer ? Will Virginia ever learn to " look to Virginia V Look, too, at the centralization of the direction of public opinion in the hands of the editors of a few New York papers, whose columns are controlled by the same men who purchase legislation and pay for it out of the taxes they impose on the West and the South. Is it wonderful that the purely agricultural portion of the country declines in power when its whole remain- ing energies are given toward centralizing in the hands of a body of traders the power to dictate the terms on which they will buy and those on which they will sell ? Have not the farmer and the planter everywhere been poor when wholly dependent upon the trader ? That they have is undeniable ; and yet throughout this country they take their opinions almost alone from those journals whose editors realize fortunes from prohibiting all discussion on the question whether the loom and the anvil shall or shall not take their places by the side of the plough and the harrow. Look next to the demoralization so obvious in that great city, whose government now expends annually three or four millions, all of it derived from the taxation imposed upon the farmers and planters of the Union, on objects that elsewhere would be provided for by a single million. Next look to the hideous mass of poverty and crime side by side with enormous luxury and gambling, and then look to the elections and reflect that the government of this whole nation is rapidly passing under the control of a millionaire aristocracy, and its squalid dependants.* Such has been everywhere the result of centralization. Gold abounds and prices rise, but not the price of raw produce, the com- modities that Virginia and Carolina desire to sell. The rise is confined to the things they need to buy, or to use. Cotton is cheaper than in 1846, but cotton cloth rises from week to week. Wheat is cheaper, but iron rises every- day. Factory stock now rises from day to day, because the South has ceased to build mills ; and furnaces rise in price because Ohio and Tennessee have nearly ceased to make iron. Centralization is giving to the North and East, cheap food and cotton with dear cloth and iron, and yet the South and West rejoice in the "benign" action of the tariff of 1846 ! The commercial and political centralization now going on is, however, only the realization of the wishes of' Mr. Walker, who desired to see New York " the great mart for the interchange of all the commodities of the earth," as London now is — that is, he would have all the Union go to that city with what they had to sell, there to meet all the world outside of the Union to make exchanges. Such an idea as this is in direct opposition to that of the commercial independence of the South. As much is it opposed to the indepen- dence and prosperity of its people, who find themselves every hour more and * In 1850 the Chief of Police reported that there were in the city 18,456 persons occupying cellars, -who had no other room. LETTER TO THE HON. R. M. T. IJUNTER. 141 more compelled to depend on the will of individuals abroad for the determi- nation of the value of v/hat they produce and what they desire to purchase. Whenever we shall become sellers of cloth, iron and lead, your farmers will grow rich, and then they will be able to buy, and pay for large quantities of the fine cottons, the silks and other commodities produced abroad So long as we continue to be compelled to compete in foreign markets for the sale of a few millions of dollars worth of food, they must continue to impoverish their land and must remain poor. The difference between being buyers or sellers of raw materials is so fully illustrated by the wool trade of this country and Germany, that I am disposed to call to it your attention. Wool is higher here than in any country of Europe, because we have to import a small part of the quantity required for our domestic consumption; and such would be the case even were there no duty whatever payable on its importa- tion. The wool-growers, therefore, grow rich, and they do so because the tariiF of 1842 caused the building of a great number of woollen-mills, and enabled the manufacturers greatly to improve their modes of operation. Eight years ago, the case was different. The compromise tariff had for years stopped the building of mills, and the revenue tariff of 1840-42 had closed many of them, the consequence of which was that for several years our farmers were compelled to look abroad for a market for a small portion of their pro- duct. Then they had to take i]uropean prices minus the cost of exportation Now, they have European prices plus the cost of importation. Such, too, has been the case v/ith Germany, iinder protection. Twenty years since, that country exported twenty-five millions of pounds of wool, and wool was cheap. Now she imports wool, and wool is high. Then she imported cloth, which was high. Now she exports cloth, which is supplied to her own people more cheaply than in, I believe, any country of the world. Such is precisely what would happen with us with regard to food, could we place ourselves in a position to import onc-lwJf of one per cent, of our consumption and to export cloth and iron, instead of exporting one per cent, of our crop and buying abroad our supplies of cloth and of iron. The difference of these two things to the farmers of the Union would not be covered by two hundred and fifty millions, of dollars, and I am not quite certain that it would be covered by double that amount. In this you may, perhaps, think I am in error; and yet if you will examine carefully the facts you will, as I think, see that there are good reasons for believing that such is not the case. Look at the purely agricultural countries of the world, and see how poor are their people, and how weak are those nations. Then mark the fact that their people are the mere instruments in the hands of traders, who use them for their own profit. Look at Ireland, Turkey, Portugal, India, Brazil, and you will find abundant evidence of the correctness of this view ; and then look at Virginia and the Carolinas, the most purely agricultural States of the Union, and see if such is not there the case. Next look at the countries in which their farmers are gradually interposing the artisan between themselves and the trader, and see if the people are not there steadily improving in their condition and the nations in strength. Take Russia, Northern Germany, Belgium and France, and you may even add Spain, since she has acquired some power to carry out her laws and repress the smuggling through Portugal and Gibraltar. She now converts into cloth nearly all her ovi'u v>'Ool, and now it is that she is enabled to import largely of cotton. She is gradually releasing herself from the do- minion of Leeds and Jlanchester, and with each step in that direction .she is acquiring the power of self-government. Next look at those parts of the 142 LETTER TO THE HON. R. M. T. HUNTER. Union in which the farmers have combined their efforts with those of the artisan, and see how much more rapidly the people and the States acquire strength, and confidence in themselves. Tbe South is constantly looking abroad for support — the North never. The South required Louisiana, Florida, and Texas, but the North has never sought to add a foot of territory to the Union ; nor need she, so long as thej^lantcr sJiall j^crsist in loeakcnimj Imnsdf hy insidimj that he ivill not have the aid of the artisan in his contest with the trader. It is the common idea through the South that the North is enriched by the spoils of the South, and that it is protection that enables it to be so ; but if you will examine the matter carefully you will, I think, be satisfied that the disparity of strength, now so rapidly increasing, is due almost altogether to the fact that the South is the portion of the country which most needs protection against the power of " the merchant princes" of the world, and yet is the one that determines not to have it. Kecollect, I beg of you, that it is not as the advocate of the manufacturers that I address you. For them alone I would not utter a word. They are but middlemen interposed between the producer of cotton and the consumer of cloth ; and were their interests opposed to those of the producer and consumer I would say, let them take care of themselves. It is as the advocate of the farmer and the planter that I ask your attention to the facts I have laid before you, believing that nothing but calm consideration is needed for satisfying you that they are the people who really need protection, and who have most to gain by its being made effective. Protection is either right or wrong. If right, the more effective it is made the better will it be for the nation, and the more speedily shall we reach perfect freedom of trade. If wrong, it should be at once and forever aban- doned. Incidental protection is an absurdity ; and yet we have gentlemen in Congress urging "the reduction of the duty on some few of the manu- factured articles, that there may be a healthy competition with importations from abroad of similar manufactured articles." Now this is precisely what is desired by some of the larger ironmasters, because it 2cill tend to raise the prices of all the iron they have to sell. They do not make railroad bars ; and they know that if that description of iron be admitted free of duty, it will so raise the price of all iron in England, as to enable them to add six, eight, or ten dollars per ton to all their stoves, ploughs, and axes. Is this the course that the farmer and planter should desire to see pursued ? It is not. They need that effective protection which will as speedily as possible terminate the importation of iron. Thereafter the price of all iron will be fixed by the cost of production among ourselves as the first step toward being themselves supplied so cheaply that we could export iron, as in 1846 we exported lead. This, however, is in direct opposition to the views of Mr. Walker, who told Congress that it was one of the objections to the protective policy that prices fell so rapidly that in a little time importation ceased, and the revenue suffered. We have here the strongest recommenda- tion of protection brought forward as an argument against it. In 1846, there was no revenue from lead. Why ? Because protection had made it so cheap that we exported it. Now we have a large revenue from it. Why ? Because revenue duties have made it so dear that we import it. What we need is either real and efficient protection that will enable us to supply our- selves with cloth and iron, and speedily to become exporters of both, or real free trade, ridding ourselves of the absurdity of protection as merely incident to the raising of revenue, and it is time that the subject should be fully LETTER TO THE HON. R. M. T. HUNTER. 143 examined with a view to the adoption of one or the other of then). We have now a large revenue, derived from the jMwer to purchase on credit. So we had in 1836 ; but in 1842 we had scarcely any revenue because we had gone in debt so heavily that we had lost our credit. The revenue is now increasing, and it will continue to increase so long as our credit lasts ; aud the more you reduce the duties the more rapidly will the revenue grow, because the foreign prices will grow faster than the dudes are diminished. Two years since a ton of bar iron paid $7 duty. Now it pays $15, and if we import, as we may, half a million of tons in the next year, this will make a difference of four millions of dollars. The prices of cottons, woollens, and other commodities, are gradually rising, because we do not build mills; and the more heavily the consumers of those articles are taxed by the foreign and the few domestic manufacturers that have escaped through the perils which surrounded them in the struggle that ended in the destruction of domestic competition, the larger will be the revenue ; and the increase will all be paid by the farmers and planters, who will pay higher for their cloths, and their ploughs and axes, while getting far less for their wheat and cotton than they would be getting had they not annihilated that domestic competi- tion, which was so rapidly carrying us forward toward becoming exporters of cloth and of iron, and importers of wheat. So long as the South shall continue to insist upon the maintenance of a policy that forces us to be sellers of food, it must continue cheap and manu- factures must continue dear. Whenever the South shall determine that the interests of the whole body of agriculturists of the Union will be promoted by the adoption of a policy that will enable us to become sellers of cotton and woollen cloths, and of iron, and purchasers of food, the former will be cheap and the latter will be dear. The farmers, mechanics, and labourers of the country will then be prosperous, and the domestic consumption of cotton will then become so large as greatly to diminish the necessity for forcing it into foreign markets; and their own direct trade with the consumers of cotton cloth throughout the world will so much diminish the cost of it to those con- sumers that the demand will exceed the supply, and thereafter they will be relieved from all necessity for holding conventions to determine how to keep up the prices of their own great staple, or how to maintain the dignity and honour of the Southern States. The secret for maintaining both is to be found in the establishment of that efficient protection, which will enable them to establish real free trade. Has not the South become steadily weaker for the defence of its rights iu its contest with the North ; and is not this a necessary consequence of the exhaustion of its land, and the dispersion of its population ? Is not the South now far, very far, weaker than it would have been had Texas and Cali- fornia remained out of the Union ; and have not the addition of those States, and the dispersion of the population, north and south, added enormously to the growth of centralization ? For an answer to this question, let me ask you to look to the fact that a large proportion of the grants of land aud money for which Congress has been, and is now, importuned, and for obtain- ing which large prices have been and are now being offered, have their origin in this extension of territory — the act of the South — and that the profit of nearly all these grants centres in New York. Next let me ask you to look to the fact that the enormous increase of public expenditure has its origin in this increase of territory ; and that the profit of that expenditure goes to the increase of the revenues of the owners of lots and lands in New York; and 144 LETTER TO THE HON. R. M. T. HUNTER. that the South is thus daily building up a power that may be regarded as only a branch of that great central one by which it is taught that Chris- tianity is to be beneGtcd by the destruction of Southern interests. " The price of a negro on Red River," says one of the latest English writers, "varies with the price of cotton in Liverpool; and tchatevcr tends to lowei- the value of the staj^Ie here not only confers an inestimaUe advantage on our own manufacturing jjojndati'on, hut renders slave lahotir not only less profitahle, hut therefore less permanent, in AlaLama." It is certainly fortunate for England that she has found a mode of enabling philanthropy and pecuniary profit to travel in company ; but how is it that the Alabama planter goes to such men for advice how to enrich himself, and thus enable him to defend his rights of property ? Must not the South continue to grow weak if the present policy be con- tinued ? To me, such a result appears inevitable. The more you disperse your population the more you must need roads, and the cheaper must be the wheat and the cotton with which to buy the iron and the cloth, and the higher must be the cloth and the iron with which to pay for the wheat and the cotton ; and the more you must be compelled to resort to brokers in Wall street, and in London, for the sale of bonds, thus rendering yourselves from day to day more dependent upon those whose interests are directly op- posed to your own. They desire to have iron dear and cotton cheap, and you place yourselves more in their power from day to day. Mr. Walker certainly did not mean to promote the weakening of the South, but had he done so he could have desired no better mode of action than that of a system of ad. valorem duties that would destroy the domestic competition for the sale of cloth and iron that was so rapidly growing under the tariff of 1842. At the moment of concluding this paper I received the proceedings of a meeting held in Baltimore, at which were delivered various speeches refer- ring to the necessity of the South and West endeavouring to prevent the further concentration of the commercial capital of the nation at New York ; and th\is make all sections of the country equally attractive. Nevertheless, of all those present there were few who were not advocates of that system of policy which tends to cheapen food and cotton and to render cloth and iron scarce and dear, by centralizing the whole trade of the Union in New York, as the only medium of communication between the men who eat food and spin cotton while making cloth and iron. Twenty years since a similar effort was made for Norfolk, and what has been the result ? Has her trade grown ? Will it, or will that of Baltimore, or of Savannah, grow, under a system that tends daily to weaken and impoverish the South, and to render it more de- pendnnt on the North and the East — on New England and old England? It is impossible; and the only consequences that will result from such meetings will be that twenty years hence the South will look back to the late conven- tion as it now does to that held twenty years since, and be surprised to find that its '' commercial subserviency to Northern cities" has augmented in a geome- trical ratio in the whole period that has elapsed. To free itself from that *' subserviency" the South must fit itself for direct trade with the world, and that it will never do until it determines to talce for itself efficient protection. I am very respectfully, Your obedient servant, HENRY C. CAREY. Burlinffton, December 24, 1852. FLORICULTURE. 145 FLORICULTURE. CULTURE OF THE ROSE. NUMBER ONE. Perhaps, of all the flowers that adorn our greenhouses, our bordei-s, or our gardens, none are more beautiful and attractive, or more worthy atten- tion in regard to its culture and propagation, than the rose. The varieties that are being continually added to it, and its universal adoption as a leading ornament in almost every garden, warrant us in preparing a few short arti- cles in regard to the culture, peculiarities and properties of some of the most admired varieties of this beautiful flower. And here we would remark, that probably out of one thousand varieties which are named in some of our larger catalogues, eight and perhap> nine hundred might be dispensed with, unless they are propagated merely for the sake of curiosity to grow an entire collection.; but our purpose in the present chapter being to assist the amateur at the be- ginning of his efforts, we will give a few of the best tests and some of the most reliable rules for selecting the good from the bad. To de6ne, however, the properties of a fine rose, is attended with consider- able difliculty, arising from the following curious facts : First, the rose is the only flower that is beautiful in all its stages, from the instant the calyx bursts and shows a streak of the corolla till it is in full bloom ; secondly, it is the only flower that is really rich in its confusion, or that is not the less elegant for the total absence of all uniformity and order. The very fact of its being beautiful from the moment the calyx bursts, makes the single and semi-double roses, up to a certain stage, as good as the perfectly double ones are ; and there is yet another point in the construction of some varieties, which makes them lose their beauty when they are full blown. For instance, the Moss-rose is a magnificent object so long as the calyx is all seen, but so soon as the flower fully expands, all the distinction between a Moss-rose and a common, one has departed, or is concealed. From this one fact, it is evident that roses, even for show, must be divided into distinct families, and those qualities for which families are most distinguished must be exhibited to the best advantage. The grand characteristic of a M'oss-rose is its calyx, and therefore all varieties of Moss must be exhibited before they expand enough to hide the calyx. In the present state of horticulture, we can hardly allow that any other descrip- tion of rose should be grown if semi-double. Some, however, consider that a climbing-rose, or a rose of peculiar habit, or indeed any other distinction, should be sufficient to justify semi-double and imperfect flowers. If we con- cede any thing, the extent should be, that a new color only should justify the saving of any semi-double or single rose; and we are very much mistaken if any who have been accustomed to grow the best double roses, would give much for any variety of the former description. If thf re be any distinct and valuable feature in a plant, which justifies the growing of a variety for its beauty as a plant, the bloom is at once out of the question, and we hardly take such a variety to be worth the florist's keep- ing. There are, however, some properties which apply to all roses, whatever be their characteristics in other respects, and therefore must be taken as an estimable point in the construction of a flpwer. 1. "The petals should be thick, broad, and smooth at the edges." Whether this be for a Moss, which is never to be shown fully opened, or PART. II. — VOL. Y. 10 146 FLORICULTURE. the florist's favorite, which is to be shown as a dahlia, this property is equally valuable, because the thicker the petal, the longer it is opening, and the longer does it continue in perfection when it is opened. There is another essential point gained in thick-petalled flowers : The thicker the petal the more dense and decided the shade or color, or the more pure a white, while the most brilliant scarlet would look tame and watery if the petal were thin, transpa- rent, and flimsy. Hence, many semi-double varieties, with these petals, look bright enough while the petals are crowded in the bud, but are watery and tame when opened and dependent on their single thickness. 2. "The flower should be highly perfumed, or, as it is termed by dealers '■fragrant.^ " Whether it is to climb a cottage, bloom on the ground, or mount a trellis, or other device, fragrance is one of the great charms which give the rose its distinguished preeminence as the queen of flowers. 3. " The flower should be double to the centre, high on the crown, round in the outline, and regular in the disposition of the petals." DIAGRAM OF A FINE DOUBLE ROSE. in remarking on the present classification of roses, we will in the first de- scribe the Provence Rose. — This, or what it is frequently called the Hundred-leaved rose, is a distinguishing title to every rose that has a remarkably double flower, unless there is something in the habit or character that causes for it another title. If this were understood, we should know what we were about. The Moss-rose would clearly come under this, were it not for the moss; for the old Cabbage-rose and the Moss-rose strongly grown would not be known ILLUSTRATIONS OF POPULAR MACHINERY. 147 from each other except for the moss ; and Moss-rose would be a Moss-rose, if ever so single, though its original were double and 6ne. Now, the Pvov- ences of which the old Cabbage-rose is a sort of type, and generally called the Hundred-leaved rose, ceases to deserve this if semi-double. So that, al- though the origin of the family is rightly named, many that are pushed into the same list do not deserve the name. ILLUSTRATIONS OF POPULAR MACHINERY. It has often been repeated, that there is a real confederacy between civiliza- tion and machinery. Civilization is the fruit of machinery, which diminishes toil and facilitates and lessens labor without superseding it. It enables men to perform what they could not accomplish without such aid. "What seems wanted at this era is some master-spirit to arise, to accomplish for the history of science and morality what Gibbon did for Rome, or Audubon did for orni- thology. Such a master-mind might comprehensively display the true causes of the fact that since the introduction of self-acting tools, and the classification of labor, men are often becoming tools themselves ; and how the use of ma- chines as substitutes, formerly requiring skilful working men, at present appears to have the effect of increasing Avealth in a few hands. Such a master-mind, by industrious research, patient investigation, critical acumen, and shrewd penetration, would be worthily emplojed on so grand a theme as " The His- tory and the Progress of Machinery, and the method by which it will ultimately modify the unequal distribution of comforts, and man's ultimate disenthral- ment from vice, poverty, and degradation." When such a work is accom- phshed, with the poet we may exclaim : " Then shall the reign of mind commence on earth, And starting fresh as from a second birth, Man in the sunshine of the world's new spring Shall walk triumphant like some holy thing." It has been tritely enough shown by many writers, that if man were furnished with no other means of defense, or assistance to his physical strength, than those which his own organization supply, he would be the most helpless of existing creatures. But his hand instinctively grasps the stick or stone as protective weapons, while hunger teaches him to form the bow, the spear, &c., for the pursuit of game or fish. He twists the vegetable fibre into the line or the cord, and the cord into the rope. From fallen trees he makes the raft or canoe. He quits the cave and builds the hut ; but in doing so finds he has to do with materials beyond his unaided strength to fashion or to move. The pole in his hands becomes a lever to remove the trunk of the fallen tree, and the rope of twisted fibres or thongs, thrown over the fork of an extended branch, probably formed the first crane. By this arrangement several men could unite their strength, and one man hold fast the result of their combined labor. It has been suggested tiat the origin of the crane machine, and the name, is derived from seeing that long-necked fowl wading in the shallows by a river side, and plunging its bill into deeper pools to bring up its food. Most readers are aware that the present method, in many parts of this country, of raising water from a well, is by means of a tall poplar or other tree, resting in the fork of an elm or oak growing near the well or brook. The root end of the poplar, assisted often by the weight of a stone, overbalances the top 148 ILLUSTRATIONS OF POPULAR MACHINERY. from which the bucket is suspended, the counterbalance being equal to half the weight to be raised, so that the person has to pull down the bucket to make it descend into the well, the counterbalance assisting to hoist up the bucket when full, and thus, by apportioning his efforts, doubles them in the time of need. The ap|)lication of the pole as a lever for moving weights, or for turning over the trunk of a tree, might suggest its further use, combined with a rope to obtain mechanical power ; as is sometimes adopted by our backwoodsmen, and in Canada, for the purpose of hoisting timber. They attach a lever and axle to three legs formed of three poles, secured by a rope and shackle at top. The end of one handspike or spoke, being occasionally thrust through the axle or windlass, rests upon the ground and stops it from unwinding, forming a simple but effective check. A similar primitive windlass is still used by the Chinese for weighing anchor, even in their largest junks. So late as the beginning of the present century, the windlass used on board of the best British and American vessels was but little advanced on that of the Chinese. The difference consisted mainly in its not extending entirely across the vessel, as that of the Chinese, but was supported and secured by two strong timbere fixed on opposite sides of the main deck, a little behind the foremast, wherein the windlass turned on its axis. These were called " windlass bits," and made in two pieces for more convenience in getting out the windlass and allowing the bight of the cable to be passed around it, commonly in three turns ; the upper parts of these bits, being formerly ornamented with carved " knights' heads," still retain that nari\e. Another difference consisted in the windlass being furnished with " pauls," which Falconer, the author of the poem called the " Shipwreck," thus describes: " The pauls, which are formed of wood or iron, fall into notches cut in the surface of the windlass, and lined with plates of iron. Each of the pauls being accordingly hung over a particular part of the windlass, falls eight times into the notches at every revolution of the machine, because there are eight notches placed on its circumference under the pauls. So, if the windlass is twenty inches in diameter, and purchases five feet of the cable at every revo- lution, it will be prevented from turning back, or losing any part thereof, at every seven inches, nearly, which is heaved in upon its surface." " As this machine is heaved about in a vertical direction, it is evident that the efforts of an equal number of men acting upon it will be much more powerful than on the capstan, because their whole weight and strength are applied more readily to the end of the levers employed to turn it about ; whereas, in the horizontal movement of the capstan, the exertion of their force is considerably diminished. It requires, however, some dexterity and address to manage the handspike to the greatest advantage ; and to perform this, the sailors must all rise at once upon the windlass, and fixing their bars therein, give a sudden jerk at the same instant, in which movement they are regulated by a sort of song or howl pronounced by one of their number." Many improvements have successively been made in the windlass. Ma- chinery of various kinds has been attached to it to render its working nearly continuous, more rapid in its action, and also useful for lighter work, such as warping ships out of harbor, &c. Large vessels now use, instead of the windlass, the capstan, which allows a number of men to act together by walking round it in a united effort, to the Sound of music or a song. It is composed of several parts, namely, the "drum-head," the " barrel," the "whelps," and the "spindle," all made of timber. Our readers can best understand the working of this machine by CULTURE OF BEETS. 149 stepping on board a large ship. Referring to the practice of heaving the capstan to the sound of music, it may be mentioned that the Russians of the present day employ them in moving immense blocks of stone ; and also employ them in moving their line-of-battle ships, often built on shallow water at a distance from the sea, until they are fairly floated upon the caissons which are used to buoy them up and enable them to come down the Neva to the Gulf of Finland, towed by a flotilla of row-boats. The rock on which stands the colossal statue of Peter the Great was moved from Lachta, in Finland, to the Russian capital by the aid of many capstans worked at the same time by a large body of soldiers, who Ivept step to the sound of the drum. The transit of this enormous block of granite was facilitated by a kind of anti-friction railway, laid down as it proceeded onward and taken up from behind; it consisted of large beams of timber, wherein grooves were formed to receive large cannon balls, the stone resting upon corresponding grooved timbers, so that the two beams formed a kind of channel for the balls. The capstan was foniieriy used at the mouths of coal mines in England ; but as the mines became deeper, frightful accidents often occurred through the miners not acting in concert, and being occasionally overcome by the descending load, flinging the miners from its arms with fearful and fatal vio- lence. It is generally superseded by " the gin," which is worked by horses or steam. The gin consists of an upright wooden axle, on which is fixed a hollow cylinder of woodwork called the cage, round which a rope winds hori- zontally, the ends of the rope being directed down the pit by two pulleys. A transverse beam, eight yards long, is secured across the axle, to each end of which is yoked a horse. The horse track is not less than eight yards in diameter, so that the animal does not expend his force in an oblique direction, but gets a fair pull. Lately, the steam engine has in most cases superseded the horse gin for winding up coals, and similar uses. These machines, as our readers will perceive, are but modi6cations of the wheel and axle. [TO BE CONTINUED.] CULTURE OF BEETS, Mr. James Reeve, an extensive English farmer, of thirty years' practice, has published an account of his mode of cultivating this important crop. His views differ from those of most farmers, as lie supposes, but he has confidence in the results of his own observations. His mode is, to enrich only with the tops of the beet, which he ploughs in, in a green state, leaving them to a nat- ural decomposition. He contends that this is one of those crops which, like a forest, are able to sustain themselves by their own annual products. This may be true ; "science," so called, is sometimes sadly at fault, in these matters. The soil of a forest is constantly growing more and more fertile. True, crops are not plucked up and carried away, as with those which we harvest, but the annual growths of woods are not returned to the soil, nor can they possibly tend in any manner to enrich it. The leaves only are " deciduous," alone " return to dust," while the trunk of a single oak or pine is increased annually perhaps by a ton. Our only explanation is that, with a virgin soil at the beginning, the tree can appropriate from the air and from water, the elements not con- tained in the decayed leaf. Every crop is best nourished by the decomposed 150 CULTURE OF BEETS. products of its own growth. But this writer must speak for himself. He says : I have in several valuations, this present season, taken accounts — heavy accounts — paid for manures used in the preparation and growth of these crops. In some instances, besides the ordinary dressing of ten or twelve loads of the common yard manure, a considerable quantity of super-phosphate of lime, sulphate of ammonia, pearl-ash, soda-ash, sulphate of magnesia, calcined bone-dust, muriate of ammonia, &c., and various other mixtures have been employed. In viewing these crops I could not but remark the very great unheal- thiness of their appearance ; and it has occurred to me, in making a comparison with my own crops, that it is extremely doubtful whether the various manures used for the culture are suitable for the best product ; on the contrary, I am more inclined to believe that many of the manures are extremely prejudicial to those plants, and tend to check the free circulation of the absorbing powers. In one instance I was thoroughly satisfied, when valuing a crop of roots, that they were in a most unhealthy condition ; especially the leaves. These were spotted and deformed ; in some instances yellow and lifeless, even to the hearts of them. This will at once account for the deformed and irregular state of the bulbs, for as soon as the absorbing powers of the plant are in- jured, the constitution of the whole is immediately impaired ; and there is no remedy to restore them to health when once their vitality is affected. I con- sider this very succulent and susceptible foliage was injured by the evapor- ation of the manure used for their growth ; for although the air and support enter every part of the plant, the chief admission (with the beet tribe) is through the leaves. The leaves of the beet are perhaps more succulent than those of any other plant in cultivation. Air-vessels are found in the leaves of all veg- etables, but in the beet family they are more readily discovered ; and there is no doubt that air is inhaled by vegetables, and adds abundantly to their sub- stance, for it supplies the properties most suitable for the plant. I have no hesitation in saying that it will soon be proved by analysis that the atmos- pheric air and the attracting powers of the plant, in combination, effect the formation of these bodies. The great aerial principal is of the utmost service to plants at all times and of all kinds ; but for these in particular it has almost every requisite in itself for their perfection. Beet has so succulent a leaf that it may draw a great part of its nourishment from the air ; and no doubt can exist (from practical knowledge) that there are many properties in the nourishment suitable for the beet class which contribute to their growth and produce : but the air contains most of them, and is the principal food for the beet. Beet is considered by many an exhausting crop ; but it is not so if its principal food is supplied by atmospheric agency, and by ploughing into the ground the immense quantity of leaves, containing ihe natural food for future absorption ; thus return into the earth much, very much of the natural in- gredients and properties of the plant. From the action of this principle it may be deduced that in every three or four years, whatever the course of system may be for fallow, for rest, or otherwise, a good crop of either beet or mangold wurtzel may be produced without the formidable outlay which has hitherto proved so discouraging in the culture of these valuable crops. The beet may be considered an attractor to the various atmospheric agencies, as may be verified by its chemical contents. Manure may be ap- plied to whatever crop you desire ; but for a fine healthy crop of beet or mansfold wurtzel. unincumbered bv a quantity of forks and fibres.it is best to CULTUliE OF BEETS. 151 )ns. cwt. lbs. 38 IV 96 32 18 16 31 10 9 39 13 6 leave the chemical productions of the earth and atmosphere to form its chief feeding and nourishment ; and although I believe the third or fourth course system as that which would take in a proportionable part of a farm annually for this product, I have little doubt that by constantly burying the leaves in the earth a fair crop of beet or mangold wurtzel would be produced alternately on the same land. Some situations, some aspects, some counties may be more or less favorable, and the productions of the chemical properties may vary ; still my plan would be the same. In confirmation of the foregoing observations, I may be permitted to offer the experience of upwards of twenty-five years in the cultivation of beet and mangold wurtzel, dui'ing which time I have had the advantage of obtaining the opinions of the most competent judges on the produce of my crops. I will further illustrate this efficacious mode of culture by the produce of this present season, 1851, which is considered (throughout England) to have been more unsuitable for the culture of bulbs than any period within the last ten years. The following table will exhibit the produce of four kinds grown this season ; viz., White Silesian Beet, Orange Globe, Rose Pink, and mangold wurtzel : r White Silesian, - - - - per acre. Orange Globe, - - - - " Rose Pink, Mangold wurtzel, . . - " I will here copy, from my book of valuations taken this season, (Michael- mas,) the cost of preparation of five acres of these roots situated within two miles of my farm : A FALLOW FIVE ACRES. Four times ploughed, twice scarified, twice drag-harrowed, twice small-har- rowed, two rollings, drilling, forty-six loads of yard manure, twenty-two hun- dred-weight of salt, six hundred-weight of super-phosphate, two hundred and ninety bushels of ashes, carting, spreading, five hoeings, rent, taxes, &c. I have other valuations which I could cite, where guano and the other more expensive dressings are used ; but I must leave this part of the present system of culture, which is already notorious for its expensiveness. I may here repeat : — Use whatever manure you please for other crops, but none for the beet ; and I will now offer some additional proofs to the foregoing obser- vations relative to my crops this season. The land in question, when I grew the present roots, had been cultivated in the following rotation — wheat, peas, turnips, (fed off, ) oats, and the last crop beans, (1850,) each year having produced most abundantly. Now it may be supposed from this process that the land never requires cleaning, &c. I acknowledge that it requires both restoring and cleaning ; and I at once have recourse to my favorite plan in order to restore it to its good keeping. I have it once ploughed deep in March, harrowed and rolled ; and about the last week in April I drill in the seeds, about two feet apart in the rows. In this present month (November) I have the roots taken up and the leaves trim- med off, leaving about three and a half tons per acre dispersed evenly over the ground. I then have them immediately ploughed in, and the wheat drilled, leaving the field perfectly clean, with no other dressing than the veg- table matter for my wheat crop ; and by this process I find that I obtain the finest crops of wheat on my farm; besides, from the frequent hoeings, the jaud is perfectly clean and in fine woiking: order. Though the land on this 162 CULTURE OF BEETS. estate varies considerably, having both light and stiff loam, gravel and clay, my plan is the same. After the present crop (wheat) I take a crop of clover, dress the ley for my second and third crop, and again grow beet or mangold ■wurtzel to clean the land for the wheat. It will be observed that I have named a third crop : this would be in proportion to my land ; but if I re- quired to grow these crops more frequently on the same land, I would under- take (without the smallest hesitation) to have a fine produce every alternate crop. I have at present one field under this course. It was beans last season, and required cleaning and improving, having produced four crops since it had been manured. It was foul, as may be supposed, but is now perfectly clean, and drilled with wheat, with no other dressing; and I know from experience that I have a safe prospect of a fine crop. The great question, and I may say the only question now unanswered, is, "Do these roots, without manure, contain the same amount of saccharine mat- ter as when freely manured ?" It is said that the action of manure of every description has an important influence on the quahty and amount of sugar ; and althongh no positive experiments have ever been carried out to test the nature of such influence, a great deal of misconception appears to prevail upon the subject. I think most of the fears entertained on this point are groundless, especially (as Professor Sullivan says) when we recollect that several of the bulbs which he examined were grown on land highly manured. Now, whether the amount of substance is increased, and the saccharine juice improved, is still a question, so far as it relates to the ingredients suitable for making sugar, or even for producing the best results as a means for feeding stock; and, as the Professor remarks, 'if animal manures cannot be employed, from fear of diminishing the amount of sugar, the profit of the farm will be diminished.' Nitrate of potash has been found atsome periods in the juice of beet- root; and it appears that as this substance increases the amount of sugar dimishes ; and in some cases (observed by Peligot) disappears altogether. In confirmation of this, I will cite a case which occurred a few years ago on the estate of a Russian nobleman. Count Basil Brobrensky, who possesses a very extensive establishment, in the government of Toula, for the making of beet- root sugar. In the year 1846, the director of the works was surprised to find, when the sugar was taken from the moulds, that the greater part was almost completely changed into saltpetre, little more than 35 per cent, of saccharine matter remaining; in fact, some portions of the substance ignited more freely than, and burnt almost as fiercely as saltpetre, from the remaining parts be- coming charred. The gentleman who is my authority (a resident of twenty years in Russia) ignited some of the particles himself, and can vouch for the accuracy of the statement. After a careful investigation, the inference was that the excess of nitre was owing to the land having been too freely ma- nured. It seems that these consequences, resulting from manure, frequently occur ; for this gentleman assures me that in some instances, when the sugar is tolerably free from nitre, the treacle (molasses) is so impregnated with it that it has been rendered unsaleable, being offered at £2 10s. per ton without meeting with a purchaser ; so that it was afterwards used as a top-dressing for grain. From this it seems extremely doubtful whether high manuring, or even the liberal use of manure, is calculated to promote the best produce. If, therefore, such doubts exist as to high manuring for the family of beet, it is unnecessary for me to urge further the advantage of the system I have re- commended. So simple and easy are the means, and so completely within the reach of every small farmer, that I hope many will try this method ; and CULTURE OF BEETS. 153 I am convinced that they will be induced every season to have a portion of their farm, let it be ever so small, cropped with beet or mangold wurtzel. Many who attempt to grow beet, leave the plants too close to each other, which is objectionable in many respects, particularly for the hoeing and clean- ing. Let it be for a moment considered that if planted two feet apart there will be a produce on the surface acre of 10,890 plants ; that is, both two feet apart longitudinally and latitudinally, or lengthways and breadthways. The white Silesian beet is incomparably the best for the manufacture of suo"ar; and the circumstance of its containing more saccharine juice than the other kinds at once proves the advantage of its culture for feeding pur- poses. Complaints have been made of its having its roots too much forked and too fibrous : this will not be the case if manure is not immediately ap- plied to encourage these objections. My views as to the inutility, and even injurious effect of manuring the ground for beet crops, as especially detrimental to the production of the saccharine matter, receives further a remarkablo and very timely support from a communication lately made by a gentleman conducting the beet-sugar manufactory now in process at Mount Mellick, in Ireland, (King's Co.,) by which the quantity of saccharine in the roots examined appears to be in direct inverse proportion to the degree of preparation or manuring which the land had received. He states : "I caused a root to be scraped, and on examining the product with a Beaume's hydrometer, 1 found the density of the juice to be 8 deg., thus in- dicating that a gallon of the juice of this quality would yield one pound of sugar. The gallon of juice would weigh but little more than 8 lbs., and from this I infer that the root contained not much below 12 per cent, of sweet constituent, which, allowing for molasses and waste, may be equivalent to about 10 per cent of crystalline sugar. I have made a great many trials of beets from various localities. The specific gravity of the juice I find ranges to 7f, 8, and 8^ deg. (the latter is from Lord de Vesci's.) One specimen of the wbite Silesian, a very large root grown at Mount Mellick in a garden which was highly manured, only indicated 5^ deg., proving that high culture prodzices leaf, and diminishes the saccharine qualities.''^ Some farmers in my neighborhood sell a part of their crop of beet or mangold wurtzel, which is frequently as high as 20s. per ton ; but probably a farmer would not on a large quantity realize this price. Well, let us value it at 10s. per ton for his various consuming purposes, (I think it worth much more;) this would pay him twice the value of an acre of wheat. Although many advantages may be gained by repeated ploughing, and turning over, and breaking the particles of earth for the produce of most plant?, yet it is not so with the best culture of the beet or mangold wurtzel, and the prevention of the evaporation from the soil is desirable for the accumu- lation of the suitable and natural ingredients. From so much of the atmos- pheric air being blended with the soil, a large portion of the oxygen may be supplied and retained ; and this, with the union of carbon and various other inflammable materials which the earth contains, would probably produce the carbonic or other acids requisite in greater abundance, and more suitably for the growth of the beet. Frequent hoeings also would bring it more minutely in contact with the portions of atmospheric air, and unite with it what has been covered in and pent up previously ; and thus the supplies of ammonia, or volatile alkali, with the combination of its hydrogen with azote, would be more regular and more copious, as well as those of nitre, by the complete 154 CULTURE OF BEETS. union of its superabundant oxygen, with some other portion of abounding nitrogen or azote of such air. As the atmospheric air consists of oxygen and other fluid matters of heat, and these combined form the material, and produce the nitrous acid, or the oxygen in its fluid state, which is of great utility in promoting the growth of plants ; and further, if any process of the putrefactive kind be going on where atmospheric air is in this way confined in the soil, the azote may combine with the hydrogen of the decomposing water, or contribute to decompose it, and after this has been completed is of very material use in promoting vegetation ; while at the same time, the oxygen afforded by the decomposing water may, like that of the atmosphere, contribute to the production of carbonic, nitrous, or phosphoric acids, and in this way will render the compound a basis quite capable of being taken in by the absorbing plants. Thus, by the course of nature, there is a production of both ammonia and nitrous acid, which are so suitable for the best beet-root family, and so beneficial in promoting vegetation. It is then readily to be conceived that the process of fallowing land for the production of the beet-root or mangold wurtzel, may cause some danger, by the natural ingredients being injured by too much evaporation and exposure ; so that however plausible it may be to fallow land, (and it would be diflicult to persuade many people that it is not desirable,) it may, as well as the use of manures, for the production of the roots, be essentially wrong, and tend to destroy the natural elements of the earth and air productions, and check the union of such substances as form the compounds already alluded to. It has been said by some writers, there may be other products of not less consequence arising from dissipation or loss of the carbonic or nitrous acids; so that although there may be much advantage in ploughing frequently to pro- mote the best produce, in most crops it appears, from the success I have had at all times with my crops of beet-root, that the great mechanical alterations which must of necessity take place in the soil by repeated ploughing, and from the exposure of these compounds to the influence of the atmosphere, can in no way promote the improved production of the roots. Let it then be strenuously contended that the most judicious intermixture of crops upon every kind of soil, will not preclude the necessity of a summer fallow. I doubt it very much ; for I contend, from long experience, that a well-managed crop of beet-root or mangold wurtzel will clean the foulest land, and help to restore it to its required condition. But whatever advantage there may be in fallow- ing, and obtaining a perfect pulverization in this mode of cleanliness, it is a mistake to imagine it requisite to incur these heavy expenses to produce a fine crop of beet. Besides, the process of fallowing is almost destructive to the vital economy of nature in these plants. The loss sustained by the land remaining idle such a great length of time by the prevailing system of fallow, cannot be disputed ; why not, then, lessen the expense by a suitable and more profitable substitute — a substitute which will insure a still more luxuriant crop the following season, obtained by cleanliness and an ample supply of vegetable matter, the leaves being ploughed into the ground, in preference to their adoption for any other use hitherto sanctioned in rural economy? We thus insure, then, the fact that beet-roots may be grown every season in the same piece of land ; the foliage of the produce of one season being a natural nourishment for the plant the following season; and to facilitate this process, I would suggest that trenches be dug out between the rows of plants, and when the crop is taken up and trimmed, to bury the leaves in the trenches and fill them up with earth — these trenches to be considered the hne for the MACHINES TOOLS NEEDLES. 155 succeeding crop — thus offering an abundant supply of the food and properties necessary for the next produce. From all the information I can collect, plants grown without the assist- ance of any kind of manure contain as much, and in many instances more saccharine matter, than those to which such artificial means have been sup- plied, and which consequently would be grown only at a much greater expense. MACHINES— TOOLS— NEEDLES. The difference between a tool and a machine seems not to be very clearly defined, even by those who use both. A popular explanation of them may be useful. A machine is generally considered as an organ or instrument placed between the workman and the source of power or force, whatever that may be, and the work to be done. Machines are used chiefly for three rea- sons : To accommodate the direction of the moving force to that of the resist- ance to be overcome ; to render a power, which has a fixed and certain velocity, effective in performing work with a different velocity ; to make a moving power, with a certain intensity, capable of balancing or overcoming a resistance of a greater intensity. These objects, as all who have studied mechanics know, may be accomplished in different ways ; either by using machines which have motion round some fixed point, as the three first mechanic powers, the lever, the wheel and axle, and the pulley ; or by those which furnish to the resist- ance to be moved a solid path along which it may be impelled, as is the case with the inclined plane, the wedge, and the screw. Various operations occur in the arts, in which the assistance of an additional hand would be a great convenience to the workman ; and in these cases tools of the simplest construction come to his aid. A tool, therefore, may be called the first element of a machine ; and simple machines are often only one or more tools placed in a frame, and acted on by any moving power. An illus- tration of the advantages of tools is at our hand. Most readers know something of the manufacture of needles : how the best steel is reduced by wire-drawing machines to a suitable diameter ; how the steel wire is calibred, by means of a gauge, to an equal thickness ; how it is then cut into the desired needle-lengths ; how the wires are taken to the grindstones to be sharpened, the heads hardened, the eyes pierced, grooved, and thrown pell-mell to the temperer, and afterwards polished. Now some twenty or thirty thousand needles are thrown promiscuously into a box, mixed and entangled with each other in every possible direction, and have to be arranged in such a form that they shall be all parallel one with another. This would be a tedious and diflScult operation if each needle were to be separated individually, yet this operation is daily performed in needle manufactories in an incredibly short space of time by a very simple tool. This tool is nothing but a small flat tray of sheet iron, slightly concave at the bottom. The needles are placed in it, and shaken in a peculiar manner by throwing them up a very little, and giving at the same time a slight longitudinal motion to the tray. The shape of the needles assists their arrangement, for they will, when they fall on the bottom of the tray, tend to place themselves side by side, and the hollow form of the tray assists this disposition. As they have no projec- tion on any part to impede this tendency or to entangle each other, they are, by continually shaking, arranged lengthwise in three or four minutes. The direction of the shake is now changed; the needles are but little thrown up, 156 ANALYSIS OF CLAM AND OYSTER SHELLS. but the tray is shaken edgewise ; the result is that the needles, which were previously arranged endwise, become heaped up in a wall, with the ends against the extremity of the tray. They are now removed by hundreds at a time, by raising them with a broad spatula, on which they are retained by the forefinger of the left hand. During the progress of the needles towards their finished state, this parallel arrangement must be repeated several times ; and unless this cheap and expeditious method of handling this tray, or tool, had been devised, the expense of manufacturing needles had been considerably increased. Another process in the art of needle-making furnishes an example of one of the simplest contrivances which come under the denomination of a tool, the efficiency of which will appear. After the needles have been arranged in the manner already described, it is necessary to separate them into two parcels, in order that their points may be placed in one direction. This work is gene- rally performed by children. The needles are placed sideways in a heap, on a table, in front of each operator, just as they are arranged by tbe process already described. From five to ten are rolled towards this person by the forefinger of the left hand ; this separates them in a very small space from each other, and each in its turn is pushed lengthwise to the right or to the left, according as its eye is on the right or left hand. This is the usual pro- cess, and in it every needle passes individually under the finger of the operator. A small alteration expedites this process. The child puts (m the fore-finger of its right hand a small cloth finger-stall, and rolling out of the heap from six to t welve needles, he keeps them down by the fore-finger of the left hand gently against their ends. Those needles which have the points toward the right hand sink into the finger-stall, and the child, removing the finger of the left hand, slightly raises the needles sticking into the cloth, and then pushes them towards the left side. Those needles which had their eyes on the right hand do not stick into the finger-cover, and are pushed away to the heap on the right side previously to the repetition of this process. By means of this simple but ingeniously contrived tool, each movement of the finger from one. side to another carries five or six needles to their proper heap ; whereas, ia the former method, frequently only one was moved, and rarely more thaa two or three were transported at one movement to the proper place. FOR THB PLOUGH, THE LOOM, AND THB ANVIL. ANALYSIS OF CLAM AND OYSTER SHELLS. Messrs. Editors : — In your January number of the " Plough, Loom and Anvil" is a brief notice of the application of oyster shells as a manure for fruit trees. That those who use them may know what they are adding to their soil when they apply them, I here send you for publication their analysis, together with the analysis of the clam shell In the vicinity of the sea coast and in the neighborhood of large towns, the common clam and oyster shells are quite extensively used by farmers as a manure. They are sometimes thrown upon the land whole, sometimes previously broken into fragments, and often burned. As a general rule, the latter method may be considered preferable to either of the others. Soils, however, containing already a sufficient quantity of lime for present demands, and where the object is merely to compensate for the gradual waste, shells uaburned may answer quite as good a purpose as those which have ANALYSIS OF CLAM AND OYSTER SHELLS. 157 been burned. When used before burning, owing to their compact texture, they are acted upon but slowly by the ordinary agents to which they are sub- jected, and hence it requires a much larger quantiiy of them than of burned shells to exert, in a given time, the same degree of influence upon the soil. Unburned, their effects are not materially different — throwing aside the small quantity of animal matter ^nd soluble salts they contain — from ordinary lime- stones broken equally fine and disposed of in a similar manner. Before burning — omitting the moisture — they are made up principally of carbonates, with a small quantity of organic matter, phosphates, sulphates, and chlorides. The process of burning expels nearly all of the carbonic acid and organic matter, with some of the chlorine, leaving the phosphates, sul- phates, and a small amount of chlorides and carbonates. The rest, lime, which makes up nearly the whole, is in a caustic state. As the composition of these shells, both before and after burning, may be of some interest, I here give them : The common c/a??i 5/ie^^ (Venus mercenaria) — 100 parts of the dry un- burned shell gave of Silicia, ..-_--.. none Phosphates of iron, lime, and magnesia, - - 1.250 Carbonate of lime, 69.204 Sulphate of lime, -.--.- 0.815 Lime, probably combined with organic matter, - - 13.907 Magnesia, - - - - - - - 1.400 Potassa, 1.847 Chloride of sodium, - 6.101 Organic matter, ------- 6.050 100.614 The same shell, burned till the organic matter and carbonic acid were nearly all expelled — 100 parts gave of Sihcia, ..._---- none Phosphates of iron, lime, and magnesia, - - 1.856 Lime, - - 78.610 Sulphate of lime, - - - - - - 1.210 Magnesia, 2.078 Potassa, 2.816 Soda and chloride of sodium, - . - - 10.386 Carbonic acid, -------- 3.043 Organic matter, ------- trace 99.999 Shell of the common oyster (Ostrea boreftlis) — 100 parts of the fresh shell, deprived of water, gave of Phosphates of iron, lime, and magnesia, - - - 0.842 Carbonate of lime, 86.203 Sulphate of lime, 2.061 Lime, probably combined with organic matter, - 6.035 Magnesia, 0.338 Potassa, 0.191 Soda and chloride of sodium, . - - - 0.690 Organic matter, 3.613 99.613 158 THE MECHANISM OF A CLOCK. The same sliell, burned till nearly all the carbonic acid and organic matter were expelled — 100 parts gave of Phosphates of iron, lime, and magnesia, - - - 0.800 Lime, 91.918 Magnesia, -0.560 Potassa, - 0.316 Soda and chloride of sodium, . . . . 1.144 Sulphuric acid, --..-. 2.011 Carbonic acid, 2.050 Organic matter, .-..-- trace 98.799 From these analyses it will be seen that the shells of the clam contain a much larger percentage of phosphates, magnesia, potassa and soda, than those of the oyster ; while the latter are much the richest in lime and sul- phuric acid. Yours truly, J. H. Salisbury, State Chemist. Old State Rail, Albany, Feb. Uth, 1853. THE MECHANISM OF A CLOCK. Horology, or the art of measuring time, is of ancient date. The " gnomon," which subsequent improvements converted into the sun-dial, was probably one of the earliest instruments employed in measuring time. The progress of a tree's shadow, a phenomenon open to the observation of all, may have served as a tolerably accurate substitute for a clock ; and it may very reasonably be concluded, that the vast altitude of the Egyptian pyramids was designed to represent the wide dominion of the living monarch by the shadow thrown from his mausoleum when dead. We read of the " Dial of Ahaz," seven hun- dred years before the Christian era; we read of another placed near the Temple of Quirinus, some two hundred and ninety years before Christ. Water clocks were employed at an early period by the Romans. At first, these instru- ments indicated time by the gradual dropping of water from an elevated ves- sel, or reservoir, to a receiver beneath ; and the reservoir being graduated, the empty part showed the number of hours t'lat had elapsed since it was replen- ished. As the laws of hydrostatics be- came known, it was soon discovered that water passed faster out of a full vessel than a half-emptied one, and the jilan was abandoned. The earliest com- plete clock, moved by weights, of which we have any records, was constructed THE MECHANISM OF A CLOCK. 159 by a Saracen mechanic, early in the 13th century, and who received some 10,000 dollars for his ingenuity. An artist, James Doudi, in the 14th century, constructed a clock for the city of Padua, which was considered as a great wonder. In 1368, the manufacture of clocks was no novelty in England, and they have continued to be improved, and have become one of the necessaries of life. It is fit, therefore, that every body should understand their construction. We shall divide the machine into two parts, explaining first the part which marks the time, and next the part which strikes the hour, using the words of "^Ae Schoolmate'^ for this purpose. Fig. 1. Suppose a roller or spindle to be fixed so as to turn •4 freely, as in the accompanying cut; if a string be ' wound around the roller, and a weight attached to it, the roller will, of course, turn round till the weight reaches the floor, or the cord is all unwound. In this manner the wheels of clocks are made to turn, and it is only necessary to make tl;ie roller turn so slowly that the pointer fastened to it outside of the board may go round the dial circle but once in twelve hours, and the clock, though an imperfect one, is finished. Divide the circle into twelve parts for hours, and it will keep tolerable time. But, though it will mark the hours, it cannot tell the minutes. This must be done by another pointer, moving twelve times as fast. Fig. 2 shows how the arrangement is made. The roller with the weight attached has a wheel fastened to it, which must turn with it. The edge of this wheel is cut into seventy-two teeth, or cogs, and above it is another roll^^r, with a small wheel, having six cogs. These teeth lock into each other, so that when one wheel turns, the other must turn also. As there are twelve sixes in seventy-two, it is evident, that while the large one turns once, the small one must turn twelve times. Now, if the lower wheel turns once in twelve hours, -, the upper pointer will move round the dial every hour, thus pointing out the minutes ; so that we now have an hour-hand and a minute-hand — awkward ones, it is true, for here they have separate dials, and they turn in oppo- site directions. They are both placed in the centre of one dial by running the axis of the minute-wheel through the centre of the hour-wheel, so that both may turn freely without interfering with each other ; and they are made to turn in the same direction by addino- other cogged wheels, called motion-wheels. The clock will then tell the hours and minutes. But we have su2)2Msed that the hour-wheel turns once in twelve hours, though it is evident that the clock, as soon as wound up would begin to run down rapidly, and soon stop ; it must have a slow and e vjn motion. The machinery to eSect this is called the regu- lator, and is the n ost important part of a clock. The regulator of a clock is a pendulum, which swings back and forth at regular intervals, when it is set in motion. It was invented by the celebrated Galileo, who thought of it while watching the gre it lamp of the cathedral swinging slowly by its long cord. The manner of applying it to regulate clocks may be seen in Fig. 3, where the pendulum is seen with a small curved piece of metal fastened to it, just under the pivot it swings from. This is called the anchor, and moves with the pendulum. Fig. 2. 160 THE MECHANISM OF A CLOCK. \ ""^t.r. It is bent into two little pallets at each end, which catch into the teeth of the wheel, and then let it go again, as the pendulum swings. The toothed wheel is connected with the other wheels, so that it would turn very rapidly if not pre- /% vented by the pallets of the anchor. Let the pendulum be ^ raised up, as represented in Fig. 3 ; the left-hand pallet is also raised, so that one tooth escapes, and the wheel begins to turn, but the other pallet catches and stops it. The pen- dulum returns by its own weight, and another tooth escapes. The wheel turns again, until the opposite pallet catches, and so it goes on, the wheel being obliged to turn round in exactly one minute. This contrivance is called an escape- ment, and the striking of the pallets against the teeth pro- duces the sound called ticking. A long pendulum vibrates more slowly than a short one, and therefore the movement must be regulated by moving the weight of it up or down on the wire. To understand this, and many other curious properties of the pendulum, go to your philosophy. We now have a clock that will mark the hour and minute exactly, but it will not tell it aloud, until we add some striking machinery. This, unlike the time-keeping machinery, moves only once an hour, and then very swiftly. They must, therefore, be entirely separate from each other, and each have its own weight or spring to move it ; yet at the moment of striking they must be connected. Fig. 4 shows how a clock strikes. The wheel has a number of pegs near its edge, which, when it turns from left to right, raise the tail of the hammer, and draw it back from the bell. When the hammer-tail has passed the peg, it is forced down by the spring, so that the hammer returns and strikes the bell. The next peg draws it back again for a second stroke, and it continues striking as long as the wheel turns. But when wound up, it would continue to strike till the weight runs down. The question now is to make it strike but once an hour, and then only the number of strokes required. This is generally effected by what is called a striking- plate, which is a circle divided into unequal portions by notches on its circumference, as in Fig. 5. The princi- ple on which the circle is notched is Ihis : a clock strikes seventy-eight times in twelve hours ; and if we suppose the wheel to be divided into seventy-eight equal parts, the distance from A to B will be one of the parts, from B to C two, the next distance three, and so on to twelve, making seventy-eight in all. The first two notches are joined together. This striking-plate must be fastened to a wheel with seventy-eight teeth, working into a small wheel of six teeth, which is fastened to the peg- wheel, (Fig. 4,) so that while the striking-plate advances 1-78 of its circum- ference, as from A to B,the pin- wheel will advance 1-6, one peg will pass the hammer-tail, and the clock will strike one. It would continue to strike, were it not for a little pallet which falls into the notch and stops the wheel. This pallet is on the end of a lever which rests by the side of a wheel in that part of the clock which is always run- ning. This wheel revolves once every hour, and has a pin near its edge How TO MAKE A HOT-BED. 161 Wiiich presses upon the other end of the lever, raises the pallet out of the second notch, B, (Fig. 5,) and the clock strikes one, two, because the second Fig. 5. distance is double the first, and the ham- mer-tail (Fig. 4) passes two pins on the wheel. The pallet now falls into the notch at 0, and the whole striking ma- chinery is motionless until the pin in the hour-wheel comes round again, when V one, two, three is struck — so on to twelve. \ A fine wire generally hangs on the end of the lever, within reach of a person's fingers. If the clock strikes wrong, it may be made to strike right by pulling the wire which raises the pallet from its notch, just as the pin in the hour-wheel does. We have thus given a correct de- scription of the principal machinery of a common clock. We do not mean that we have given exact pictures of all the wheels, &c., for these would not be understood ; but we have shown in a. familiar way how the machinery moves to keep correct time, and tell the houit by striking. The clocks we have described are of the simplest kind, such a;i^ are found in almost every house ; for all are not made alike. Some s!iA-iJiQ^ the quarters, as well as the hour, and others are fitted up with a great deal of curious machinery, like the great clock of Strasburgh Cathedral,, wJiich. not only told the time, but also the motions of the heavenly bodies, and the day of the week and month. On its top was a golden cock, that cwwed ani^ flapped its wings every hour. The hour was struck by figures of hhcf Twelve . Apostles, who marched in a line around the clock-bell. A pjeture of this famous clock is given at the head of this article. It has beeu repaired twice, but is not now in use. All these complicated movements w^-e produced by means of levers, pulleys, and inclined planes, which are the o^Jy mechanical , powers known. HOW TO MAKE A HOT-Bm. Moore's -RifroliVew-FbrXrer gives the following^ directk)Bs haw to make a hot-bed : "Though little explanation seems necessary, yet we wifl give condensed directions for the formation and management of hot-beds i "The frame of the hot-bed is made of 2^-iijch plank,, nailed to upEight posts in each corner. Ten feet long and 6: feet wide is a good size : the hack may be 30 inches high and the front one half that, to give a proper slope of roof for shedding rain and throwing the light and heat upon the plants. For the sashes to rest and slide upon, a strip 6 inches wide is placed across the frame, even with the edge of the sanie. The sashes are made in the ordinary way, but without cross-bars;; and the panes of glass are set to lap on each other one fourth of an inch, so as to shed the rain. For the prepa- ration of the bed we find the following directions given by Mr. Barry : "'Hot-beds should occupy a dry situation^ wixere they will not be affected PART U. VOL. V. 10 162 AGRICULTURAL PROSPECTS OF GEORGIA. by the lodgment of water during rains or thaws. They should be exposed to the east and south, and be protected by fences or buildings from the north and north-west. "'Where it is intended merely to grow plants for transplanting to the garden, they may be sunk in the ground to the depth of 18 inches, and in such a case require not more than 2 feet of manure ; but when forcing and perfecting vegetables is designed, a permanent heat must be kept up, and the bed must be made on the surface, so that fresh and warm manure may be added when necessary. A depth of 3 to 4 feet of manure will in such cases be wanted. Manure for hot-beds requires some preparation. It should be fresh stable manure, placed in a heap, and turned and mixed several times, promoting a regular fermentation. It is thus made to retain its heat a long time; otherwise it would burn and dry up, and become useless. " ' The mould should be laid on as soon as the bed is settled, and has a lively, regular-tempered heat. Lay the earth evenly over the dung about 6 inches deep. Radishes and lettuce require about a foot of earth. After it has lain a few days, it will be fit to receive your plants, unless the mould has turned to a whitish color or has a rank smell, in which case add some fresh mould for the hills : at the same time vacancies should be made to give vent to the steam, by running down stakes. "'Those who wish to force cucumbers, &c., should begin, if the weather ;is favorable, by the fii'st of March. For raising plants, the middle is time ■enough.' " AGRICULTURAL PROSPECTS OF GEORGIA. The Savannah Republican says : " We had the pleasure, some days ago, of meeting an intelligent agriculturist from the North, now on a tour through the Southern States. He comes for the purpose of informing himself of the condition and prospects of Southern agriculture, and not to meddle in any way with our institutions. A few years ago, he visited England and Europe for a similar object. The subjoined extract of a private letter from Columbus to a friend in this city, embodies some of his impressions in regard to West- ern Georgia. "'Thouo-h the soil of Western Georgia, to a Northern man observing superficially, seems poor and unpromising, the stubble of the corn and other evidences show it to be greatly productive, and that the crops of the last year at least were heavy and profitable. The roads, which have been almost impassable from the heavy rains early in January, are now nearly dry, and cotton is moving rapidly to market. At least two hundred wagons must have entered Columbus to-day. The country is evidently prospering and improving. Every where I observe a great deal of land being cleared and preparino- for the coming season. A great many new houses, stables, and negro settlements are building, and I have seen several new churches in the woods. Extensive hill-side ditching and swamp draining is going on, and I have noticed guano in the returning cotton wagons. The country people with whom I have conversed are the most busy, hopeful, and ambitious that I have seen at the South. '"There is one agricultural operation that will, I think, eventually add much to the wealth of Georgia, which seems not yet to have been thought of. There are frequent watercourses, and the sandy soil is exactly of the character best adapted for irrigation. I have little doubt that forage crops FAMILIAR LETTERS. 163 could be made ia wa'er-ineadows in this soil and climate more profitable than cotton. Five tons of hay a year would be a small crop to expect from a water-meadow. It would not cost five dollars a ton to cut and make it. You now, in Savannah, send to the North and pay thirty dollars a ton for it.'" FAMILIAR LETTERS ON PRACTICAL AND SCIENTIFIC HUSBANDRY. No. IL HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE. " In ancient times, the sacred plough employed The kings and thoughtful rulers of mankind." The first mention of agriculture is found in the writings of Moses. In them we learn that Cain was a " tiller of the ground;" that Abel sacrificed the "firstlings of his flock;" and that Noah "began to be a husbandman, and planted a vineyard." History is silent as to the means or implements used for tillage by these antediluvians. The Chinese, Japanese, Chaldeans and Phcenicians are known to have held husbandry in the highest honor. They viewed it as the spring which sets the whole machine in motion. Agriculture was in no part of the world, however, in higher consideration than in Egypt, where it was the particular object of policy and government. The Egyptians were so sensible of its blessings, that they ascribed its invention to superhuman agency, and carried their gratitude so far as to worship the ox, because he trod out the corn. Whether they invented the plough or not, certain it is that the genius of that remarkable people employed itself strenu- ously in remedying the scarcity and redundancy of the Nile, by regulating its banks so as to irrigate their lands. It was this irrigation which made Ej^ypt the granary of the world. She moistened and matured her soil by the rich slime and mud that the Nile brought down in its bosom. Their plough was but a simple instrument, as they had onlv to harrow their grain into the mud, on the retiring of the Nile, and in the March following they found a plentiful harvest. The Carthaginians carried the art of agriculture to a high degree among their contemporaries. Mago, a Carthaginian general, wrote twenty-eight books on agricultural topics, which were translated into Latin by an express decree of the R :)man Senate. The Satrapas, among the Assyrians and Per- sians, if the lands in their governments were well cultivated, but were punished if that part of their duty was neglected. Africa abounded in corn ; and for a long period Africa and Egypt bs^came the storehouses of Rome. Hesiod, a Greek writer, supposed to be contemporary with Homer, wrote a poem upon agriculture, entitled '" Weeks and Davs," because, he said, husbandry requires an exact observance of times and seasons. Xenojihon also wrote a work called " Economics," which set out the " advantages of husbandry and a country life." The implements of Grecian agriculture were very few and simj)le. Hesiod mentions a plough, consi-^ting of three parts — the share-beam, the draught-pole, and the plough-tail, but we know not its exact form; also a cart with low wheels, seven feet six inches in width ; likewise the rake, sickle, and ox-goad. The operations of Grecian culture were neither numerous nor complicated. The ground received three ploughing-^, one in autumn, another in spring, and a third just before sowing the seed. Manures were applied, 164 FAMILIAR LETTERS. and Pliny ascribes their invention to the Grecians. Theophrastus mentions six species of manures, and that a mixture of soils produces the same effects as manures. Clay, he remarked, should be mixed with sand, and sand with clay. Seed was sown by hand, and covered with a rake. Grain was reaped with a sickle, bound in sheaves, threshed ; then winnowed by wind, laid in chests, bins, or granaries, and taken out as wanted, to be pounded in mortars. Such was Grecian agriculture about 1000 years B. C. The ancient Romans venerated the plough ; and in the purest times of the Republic, the greatest praise that could be given to an illustrious character was to say that he was an industrious and judicious farmer. Cato, the Censor, derived his highest and most durable honors, not for his statesmanship, gen- eralship, or oratory, but for having written a voluminous work on agriculture. Virgil, Pliny, Varro, Palladius, were distinguished Romans who wrote on agricultural subjects. Of the celebrated Cincinnatus, who was taken from the plough to command the Roman armies, we read : " The Romans, as historians all allow, Sought, in extreme distress, the rural plough ; lo triumphe ! for the village swaia Retired to be a nobleman again." The Roman implements of agriculture, from all we can ascertain, appear more worthy the notice of the antiquarian than of the practical farmer. Cato describes their plough as of two kinds, one for strong and the other for licrht soils. Varro mentions one with two mould-boards, with which, he says, " when they plough, after sowing the seed, they are said to ridge ; that is, with boards added to the share, they at once both cover on the ridge the seed sown, and draw furrows for carrying away the rain-water." About the middle of the 18th century, an English author says: " It appears that the ancients had all the different kinds of ploughs that they have at present in Europe, thouii-h perhaps not so exactly constructed. They had ploughs without mould- boards, and ploughs with mould-boards ; they had ploughs with coulters, and ploughs without coulters ; they had ploughs without wheels, and ploughs with wheels ; they had broad-pointed shares, and narrow-pointed shares ; they even had what I have not as yet met with among the moderns — shares, not only with sharp sides and points, but also with high and raised cutting tops. Were we well acquainted with the construction of all of these, perhaps it would be found that the improvements made by the moderns in this article are not so great as many persons are apt to imagine." Fallowing was a practice rarely deviated from by the Romans. A fallow and a year's crop generally succeeded each other. Manure was collected from nearly as many sources as have been resorted to by the moderns. Pigeons' duno- was esteemed of great value, and, next to that, a mixture of night-soil, scrapings of the streets, and urine, which were applied to the roots of the vine and olive. The Romans did not bind their corn into sheaves. When cut, it was sent into the area to be threshed, and was separated from the chaff by throwing it from one part of the floor to the other. Watering, on a large scale, was applied both to arable and grass lands. Virgil advises to ^'brincr down the waters of a river upon the sown corn, and, when the field is parched and the plants drying, convey it from the brow of a hill in channels." The farm management most approved of by the scientific husbandmen of ancient Rome was, in general, such as should meet the approbation of modern cultivatoi-s. Cato, when asked what was the best culture of land, replied, " Good ploughing." What is the next best ? Replied again, " Ploughing." FAMILIAR LETTERS. 165 In reply to what was the third requisite, he made answer, " The apphcation of manures." Cato's rephes conform to present experience, and show " There's nought In vain demands the farmer's care. He ploughs, He sows, he reaps, and gathers into barns ; Then rests from toil, to cultivate the mind. Learns from the past the present to improve." The Romans seem to have known the folly and slavery of cultivating too much land, and their experience proved that a man may spend all his time as usefully and profitably on an acre as many could do on fifty. They illus- trated their belief of this fact by the following apologue : A vine dresser had two daughtei-s and a vineyard. When his eldest daughter was married, he gave her a third of his vineyard for a portion, notwithstanding which he liad the same quantity of fruit as formerly. When his youngest daughter was married, he gave her half of what remained ; still the produce of his vineyard was undiminished. This result was the consequence of his bestowing as much labor on the third part as he had been accustomed to give the whole vineyard. To the Romans were the ancient Britons indebted for a knowledge of agri- culture. When Britain was subject to the Romans, she annually supplied them with great quantities of corn, and the Isle of Anglesea was then looked upon as the granary of the country. But the Britons, both under the Romans and Saxons, were nearly slaves, and as such employed at the plough. The conquest of England by the Normans first contributed to the improvement of agriculture in that country. Owing to that event, thousands of husbandmen from the fertile and well cultivated plains of Flanders and Normandy settled in England, obtained farms, and employed the same methods in cultivating them which they had been accustomed to in their native countries. Some of the Norman barons were celebrated for their agricultural skill. The Norman clergy and the monks retained much lands, and these they cultivated under their own supervision, with much care. We read of the famous Thomas a, Becket, after he was Archbishop of Canterbury, going into the fields with the monks of the monastery where he resided, and joining them in reaping their corn and making their hay. The implements of agriculture, at this period, were similar to those in most common use in modern times. We are not able to collect a definite account of the manner in which the various operations of manuring, ploughing, sowing, harrowing, reaping, threshing, winnowing, were performed. The first treatise on husbandry in English was published in the reign of Henry VIII., by Sir A. Fitzherbert, Judge of the Common Pleas. It contains directions for draining, clearing, and inclosing a farm ; for enriching the soil, and rendering it fit for tillage. It recommends lime, marl, and fallowing. In 1562, *' Tusser's Five Hundred Points of Husbandry" was published, and gives useful instruction. During the reign of " Queen Bess," agriculture attained some eminence. Several writers on agriculture appeared in England during Cromwell's Commonwealth ; but from this period down to the middle of the eighteenth century, agriculture remained almost station- ary. Immediately after this period, considerable improvement in the process of culture was introduced by Jethro Tull, a Berkshire gentleman, who began to drill wheat and other crops about the year IVOI, and who also published a work on " Horseshoeing Husbandry." Though this writer's theories and hostility to manures were often erroneous, these errors were serviceable by calling the attention of husbandmen to important objects. Chemistry had not then pointed out the true connection between the plant and the soil. After Tull's publication no great alteration took place until about 1760. Robert 166 USEFUL DISCOVERIES. Bakewell took the lead in effecting iaiportant improvements in the breed of cattle, sheep, and swine. By skilful selection at tirst, and constant care after- ■\vards to breed from the best animals, Bakewell at last obtained a variety of sheep which, for early maturity and the property of returning a great quantity of mutton for the food they consume, as well as for the small proportion which the weight of the offal bears to the four quarters, were without precedent. The names of Cully, Cline, Somerville, Darwin, Hunt, Young, Pringle, Daw- son, Mickle, are well known to well-read agriculturists in this country as having contributed to the improvement of domestic animals, and have left that branch • of rural economy in a very forward state in England. The raised drill system of growing turnips, the use of lime, and the convertible hus- bandry, came into general use about lV65 ; the improved swing-plough, about 1790, and Mickle's improved threshing-machine, about 1795 ; the field culture of the potato, shortly after 1750 ; the introduction of the Swedish turnip, about 1790 ; of spring wheat, about 1795; of summer wheat, about 1800. For much of all later improvements, agriculture in that country is indebted to the labors and genius of Arthur Young, Lord Kaimes, Dr. R. W. Dickson, John Loudon, Henry Stephens, the Higiiland Society of Scotland, and the establishment of a national Board of Agriculture. These individuals have bi'ought the art of agriculture into fashion and ton ; old practices are being amended and new ones introduced. The value of her agricultural products has, in consequence, doubled during the last half century. USEFUL DISCOVERIES. We find the following paragraphs in the Scientijic American, /^laster Casts of Leaves and Flowers. — The leaf, as early as convenient after being gathered, is to be laid on fine-grained moist sand, in a peifectly natural position, with that surface uppermost which is to form the cast, and to be banked up with sand, in order that it may be perfectly supported. It is then, by means of a broad camel-hair brush, to be covered over with a thin coating of wax and Burgundy pitch, rendered fluid by heat. The leaf is now to be removed from the sand, and dipped in cold water; the wax becomes hard, and sufficiently tough to allow the leaf to be ripped off, without altering its form. This being done, the wax mould is placed in moist sand, and banked up as the leaf itself was previously ; made thin, due care being taken that the plaster be nicely pressed into all the interstices of the mould, by means of a camel-hair brush. As soon as the plaster has set, the warmth thus pro- duced softens the wax, which, in consequence of the moisture of the plaster, is prevented from adhering to it, and with a little dexterity it may be rolled up, parting completely from the cast, without injuring it in the least. Casts obtained in the manner thus described are very perfect, possessing a high relief, and form excellent models, either for the draughtsman or for the moulder of architectural ornaments. Tanned Gelatine or Artificial Horn. — A manufactory has been established in Paris for the construction of a variety of ornamental articles with this sub- stance. The gelatine is usually obtained from bones by treating them WMth a weak solution of muriatic acid, and is ai'terwards tanned by the common }iro- cess, as in making leather. Upon becoming hard and dry, it assumes the ap- pearance of horn or tortoise-shell, and is employed for the same purposes as GOOD BREAD NEW AND OLD BREAD. 167 those natural pi-oductious. It is softened by being boiled in water with potash, when it may be formed into any shape, and the figure preserved by drying the articles between moulds. In the soft state, it may also be inlaid with gold, silver, or other metals, and it may be streaked with various colored materials, 60 as to resemble the finest and most beautiful woods. It is probable that this substance will soon be brought very extensively into use, on account of its elegance and cheapness. UPLAND RICE. We have seen so many fine upland rice patcbes, during the few past years, that we regard it certain this grain can be cultivated in most parts of the State. If we recollect aright, we once read of a remarkably heavy yield grown by some gentleman in Pendleton. In our own neighborhood, from fifty to one hundred bushels of rough rice have frequently been produced to the acre, and this product might be largely increased. It is valuable as food for poultry, domestic animals, and though not so fair and marketable as the world-renowned product of our sea-coast, it would, nevertheless, furnish our laboring classes with a cheap and nutritious article of food, if hulled by sim- ple machinery. The culture of rice in the low wet lands of the Cherokee (Geo.) country is recommended in an article in which the writer says : " I will endeavor to explain how to prepare the field : Take one of our branches, the more level the better, with a spring at its head. Cut a ditch on the upper side, and keep the water as much on a level as you can. To drain it above the field, make a band with the earth excavated on the inner side. On the lower side, cut a larger ditch to carry off the surplus water from the drain. Divide your land by cross-banks and ditches, so as to have an equal depth of water when the land is flowed. In each field you must Lave two trunks, one on the upper ditch, to take in the water; the other on the lower ditch, to let off the water. When your land is thus prepared, drill it with hoes, 15 inches asunder, and 3 inches deep ; commence to sow about the 15th of April ; put two and a half bushels gold rice to the acre; cover it with a bat. Then let the water on, and allow it to remain five days. Then draw it off. Let the rice remain dry until the plant has four leaves ; hoe, clean, and stir the earth deep below the rows; keep out the grass, and put on the water fourteen days, allowing the ends of the rice to be seen ; draw it off; hoe again as often as convenient. Let the rice remain dry until it joints, then put back the water, and let it remain until it is fit for the sickle ; occa- sionally changing it to prevent stagnation and sickness: and by the time the next season comes around, you will have a fine rice mill to prepare your crop for market" — Southern Agriculturist.'^ GOOD BREAD— NEW AND OLD BREAD. Some of our Agricultural Societies offer premiums for good bread, and require, in return, a statement of the process by which the result is attained. We commend this subject to more general attention, for, as we have said else- where, we consider bad bread a leading cause of a lai-ge proportion of the 1C)8 GOOD BREAD NEW AND OLD BREAD. pettisliiiess and peevishness indulged by so many in the intercourse of those ■who, being very intimate, disregard the checks and balances secured by the observance of the rules of ceremony. But a large proportion of the bread in some communities is scarcely more than an active form of yeast, thrown into the stomach only to produce fermentation and a host of disorders. And then we witness, of course, the blue vapors, which, under diflerent aspects, are as ruinous to the peace of a family as are those of a distillery. But we were surprised to see, in a Report of the Committee of the Norfolk County Society, the following sentence: "Milk, molasses, alkalies, should never be used ; they only deteriorate and take from its excellence. Neither should any of these ingredients enter into the composition of the yeast." If molasses were used in large quantities, we have no doubt the evils suggested " hasten and bring about the second and third fermentations, through an excess of saccharine matter." But we doubt whether a moderate quantity of this popular sweetener so essentially increases the tendency to fermentation that its use should be totally discarded. And we are still more taken by sur- prise at seeing milk placed in the same category. The tendency to fermenta- tion in milk is probably less after it is eaten than when exposed to the oxygen of the atmosphere. Babes and children live on milk to a great extent, and we are not satisfied that it is an unwholesome diet, as it certainly would be if it had a special tendency to fermentation. And it will not be denied that a liquid ferments far less rapidly when absorbed by solids than when in its ori- ginal state. According to the experiments of Dr. Beaumont, milk is digested in about half the time required by "fresh" bread. The conditions favorable to fermentation are warm temperature and liquid- ity. Hence, bread mingled with milk is not so liable to ferment under the influence of animal heat as pure milk, especially if the latter is used in large quantities. But as this favorite article of food and drink is not found unwhole- some to most persons, even when used freely, so we think the evidence is entirely wanting that the same rich gift of Providence is injurious when mingled, as in the dough, with a wholesome kind of food. And he who knows the excellence of bread as thus prepared by farmers in the country, will hardly be ready to pronounce such food unwholesome. We believe this mistake to have arisen from undue respect to scientific theories. This appears the more obvious explanation, when we discover the adoption of what we regard as another mistake, apparently from the same cause. To most persons new bread is unwholesome. Though some deny it, most acknowledge it to be so. Our own opinion has facts almost innumera- ble to rest on. But why is it unwholesome, when a day or two of ripening will make it one of the most wholesome articles of diet? This Report says, " It should be placed in some open, airy situation, that it may imbibe the oxygen, instead of being covered up, as is often the case, thus preventing the hydrogen from being thrown off by a proper process of cooling." The author of this Report is too judicious and too learned to sign his name to what has been proved to be error ; but has he not here gone beyond the testimony ? "Where is the evidence that oxygen is absorbed, or that hydrogen is "thrown oft'"? We have supposed that this, at best, was mere hypothesis, without a solitary fact to sustain it. Besides, we would ask, what does the oxygen unite with ? With the bread ? By what chemical law ? Is old bread found richer in oxygen than new bread ? And again : where does the escaping hydrogen come from, and how does this change the substance from which it escapes ? Before we receive this theory, we want light on these points. GOOD BREAD NEW AND OLD BREAD. 169 We have yet to learin that actual analysis has detected any changes of this sort. And we therefore fail to receive conviction of the truth of the theory. Nor do we know why the loss of hydrogen or the addition of oxygen in the stomach should be material. Carbon and carbonic acid are both healthful in their action within that organ, while they are fatal on the lungs. But we are not aware that uncombined oxygen or hydrogen produce in the stomach any important effect, whatever may result from their presence in the lungs. Nor is it warm bread that is so mischievous. New bread may be cooled thoroughly, and it is still unwholesome to many persons. The theory that seems to us most plausible and best sustained by known facts is that whicb refers the more ready digestion of old bread to physical, rather than to chemi- cal changes. Digest new and old bread in water, and knead the two kinds ; one rolls up like paste, and is impermeable to water or other liquids, while the old bread is comparatively free from adhesive properties. And this, we suppose, is the consequence of the solidifying of the gluten, which in new bread is scarcely more than semi-fluid. Exposure to an ordi- nary atmosphere so dries and hardens the gluten, that even a re-digestion fails to reproduce the effects before witnessed. If this is so, it is not the only substance which exhibits similar phenomena. But we do not speak ex cathedra. We favor this opinion for want of any sustained by more plausible evidence, or in better accordance with established scientific principles. While we present these views of the subject, we do so rather to get light than to communicate, and we hope we may obtain it from some of our learned correspondents. One thing, however, is certain. Fermented bread, when properly made, is essentially sweeter than when it is made light by some of the modes now so extensively adopted. A small quantity of carbonate of soda or of potash may not be unwholesome, particularly to those whose food is apt to ferment before it is digested. But the production of carbonic acid gas by the ferment- ation of the dough creates a quantity of sugar, which essentially changes the character of the bread. Whether all persons can discover the difference or not, bread made light by yeast, and properly cared for, is sweeter than "soda bread." It may not be more wholesome ; it must of necessity contain more sugar. A paragraph found its way into our February number which differs, in some respects, from these positions, but it ought to have been accompanied by a note, which was omitted. It was published only by accident. Our attention has been drawn to it by a friend, who objects to the amount of soda used ; who thinks one dram of the bicarbonate of soda sufficient for three pounds of flour. We suppose that generally an excess of the soda is not hurtful, unless used very freely. Then it is liable to the general objection against all medicinal articles by persons in good health. Note. — Since the above was in type, we have seen the following, in the last Annual of Scientific Discovery. A discussion took place before the French Academy on the question, " Why bread becomes stale." " M. Bous- singault laid down that stateness is not, as is generally supposed, caused by the proportion of water diminishing, but arises from a molecular state which manifests itself during the cooling, becomes afterwards developed, and per- sists as long as the temperature does not exceed a certain limit. M. Thenard said, it is caused by bread being a hydrate, which heat softens, and to which a lower temperature gives more consistency." A hydrate, as many of our readers know, is a substance in combination with water. These views, it will be seen, perfectly harmonize with the ideas above presented. 170 ENGLISH FARM IMPLEMENTS. ENGLISH FARM IMPLEMENTS. The following illustrations of Englisli Agricultural Machinery, for which we are indebted to the New -York Agricultor, are worthy the notice of our farmers. The first cut is Garrett's Patent Ilorse Hoe. It is a sort of uni- versal cultivator mounted on wheels, which enables the operator to regulate the depth of working as he may desire. The teeth are set in an iron frame, and so arranged as to be two feet apart, each tooth cutting eight inches, by which all the ground is i hoed over. There are two other sets of teeth ; one for grubbing, or breaking up the soil, and another set of steel shares for work- ing stubble-land. The frame carrying the teeth can be raised in a moment, so as to clear them of the ground, and thus be carried from one field to another. This is one of the advantages of mounting the machine on wheels. The accompanying cut is called the Uley Scarifier, and is said by Col. B. P. Johnson, Secretary of the New- York State Agricultural Society, to be very efficient in pulverizing stub- ble-land,, whether light or heavy, and also in clearing it of grass and weeds. The Colonel ? thinks it might be used by American farmers to as good advantage as it is by English ones. It does not cost much. HAT-MAKING MACHINE. Every boy in this country who has toiled, over heavy swaths of new-mown LIME ON COTTON. 171 grass, will hail with joy the introduction of a machine which will enable him to perform that labor faster and better by horse than hand-power. The above machine is represented as competent to do all this. Col. Johnson says, that one man can work it, raise and lower the spreader to its work, or throw it out of gear, in a moment. The inventor claims that he c m do the work of twenty men. Col. Johnson says, " Of this there is no douljt, as we have frequently seen them at work in England, and can therefore vonch for their performance from actual observation." burrall's reaper. In this age of Reaping Machines, the public can hardly obtain a knowledge of their varying shades of merit before new competitors appear. The above cut will give our readers an idea of the appeal ance of Burrall's Reaping Machine, which took the $50 premium at the trial of implements by the New- York State Agricultural Society. This circumstance, to begin with, is good evidence of its satisfactory capabilities. The shaft which is seen projecting from the machine on the left hand is attached to the axle of a pair of wheels, upon which is fixed a seat f9r the driver. The machine itself has no wheels except those which form a part of the operating machinery. The raker rides on the machine, and throws the grain, with a sweep of his rake, around the semicircular filatform oft" on the outside of the through just cut, so that the gavels are not in the way of the next round. Il is usually worked by two horses, but can be operated by oxen just as well, il they are trained to a quick walk. The cutting principle is similar to that of Hussey's, and this may be considered an improvement on his machine. It is not encumbered with a reel, like McCorraick's, on which account it is preferred. The Committee reported in favor of this machine after a fair trial in competition with eight others. We hope yet to see the best improved. LIME ON COTTO N . We heard the other day of an experiment made by a friend of ours, which resulted so favorably that we have been i iiduced to get the particulars from him, in order that others may be benefited by it. During the month of February, he opened diep trenches in a piece of old upland, which were at once filled up with leaves from the neighboring wood- 172 ANOTHEK SAFETY LAMP. land, tramped down hard. On top of the leaves he sowed lime at the rate of about 15 bushels to the acre. At the usual time for planting cotton, he opened the ridges with a coulter, dropped and covered the seed, and culti- vated the cotton in the usual manner. The result was a crop of cotton double what the land would have produced otherwise — that is, it brought 1000 lbs,, when its usual yield was from 400 to 500. It has struck us that this plan of manuring cotton would pay well. Per- haps some of our planting friends can throw some light on the subject. — Athens Htrald. ANOTHEI? SAFETY LAMP. Among the various substances and combinations in general use for the pro- duction of artificial light, " Burning Fluid^'' " Ethereal Oil,^^ " Spirit Gas," &e., &c., occupy a very prominent place. These, as many are aware, are but different names for an article very similar in its nature and properties, being composed of highly rectified alcohol which has been carbonized by any of the essential oils, resins or resinous gums, and consequently, under ordinary circumstances, very volatile and inflammable. On being burned in an o.pen vessel, it produces a brisk flame with a strong heat, but it is not explosive. The same fluid, however, closely confined in the common portable or other lamp, either of glass or metal, becomes more or less heated while burning, and generates a vapor or gas which under ordinary circumstances is harmless. Confined within the lamp, uncombined with oxygen and not brought into contact with flame, it is never dangerous ; but if, from the removal of the cap or feeder of the lamp, this gas is allowed to escape and unite with the atmo- sphere, and then come into contact with a flame, an explosion is the conse- quence. Such "accidents" frequently result from filling the lamp while it is burning, and constitute more than four fifths of all the "explosions" that occur from the use of these burning fluids, (generally, but very improperly called " CawipAine,") all of which are solely the result of carelessness. There is, however, another cause of accidents from bufning the volatile oils ; and this is the flow of the burning material over the tops of the wick tubes, from the pressure of the gas within the lamp, which forces the liquid through the wick tubes, and brings it immediately in contact with the flame itself. This burns with a strong flame on the outer surface of the lamp, and, from the heat thus produced, either melts or breaks it. Apart from these two causes, accidents from burning fluid could scarcely ever occur, and its use would be attended with no more danger than ordinary lights. Now, to remedy these evils is the object of an invention by Professor Horsford. To obviate the former, he has attached a safety tube of tin or other metal, extending nearly to the bottom of the fountain or reservoir containing the fluid, and communicating therewith through the lower end of the same, which is capped with very fine wire gauze, and is a complete safeguard against either the spirits or volatile gas within the lamp itself taking fire even while filling it. This tube contains- the wick while the lamp is burning, and, as will at once be perceived, embodies the principle of Sir Humphrey Davy's Safety Lamp for preventing explosions from '■'■fire damp'"' in mines, collieries, &c., &c. In order, however, to render the lamp still more free from danger, and to obviate the second cause of accidents. Professor H. has appended a separate chamber or reservoir to the base of the wick tubes, which, in case of an over- CHEMISTRY OF VEGETABLE GROWTH. 173 flow of the fluid from the expansion of the gas before mentioned, receives that portion which is forced upward into the tubes and allows it again to descend into the reservoir below. This is also protected by wire gauze, completely preventing any communication of flame to the fluid or gases within the lamp. This apparatus, together with spurs or flexible points within the wick tubes, allowing the wick to move upwards, but effectually preventing its descent into the fluid from any sudden jar or other cause while burning, constitutes the simple and effective means adopted by Professor Horsford to insure safety in burning the volatile fluids and ethereal oils now in general use. The safety principle of this lamp is essentially the same with that of Mr. Newell, described in the December number of this journal, with an additional contrivance to prevent accident from the expansion of the fluid. Which is the best form, every purchaser must judge for himself. Messrs, Starr, Fellows & Co., Lamp Manufacturers, No. 67 Beekmaa street, we are informed, are the authorized agents for the sale of this lamp. CHEMISTRY OF VEGETABLE GROWTH. Agricultural Chemistry is indebted to Professor Youmans for a highly instructive lecture on the chemistry of vegetable growth, lately delivered at the Tal^ernacle, of this city, to a very attentive audience. No subject possesses instruction more curious, or phenomena more interesting, than the science of vegetable life. A plant is a living being. Living beings are distinguished from inanimate bodies by peculiar characters ; their existence depends upon certain conditions, and is regulated by determinate laws. It is obvious, there- fore, that there can be no scientific, and consequently no uniformly successful management of such beings without a knowledge of the phenomena of life, of the actions upon which these phenomena depend, and of the laws which regulate them. For these reasons we introduce this subject methodically to our readers. All plants consist of two substances, cellular tissue and sap, and proper vessels ; but vessels themselves being probably composed of cellular tissue, the ultimate analysis of vegetable matter would leave cellular substance alone. The cellular tissue is commonly conceived to be a solid fibre, to which vessels are added as distinct appendages. Microscopical observers contend that it consists of an infinite number of minute particles of a globular form. It obtains the name of cellular from the arrangement and intersection of its primitive fibres, which are such as to leave spaces between them, these spaces being denominated cells. Ttiere is great resemblance in appearance, and great analogy in the physical properties of this substance in both classes of living beings, vegetables and animals. The common vegetable tissues are cuticle, bark, stem, and pith. The common vessels are sap vessels and proper vessels. These are the elementary structures, by the various combinations of which all vegetables are built up or constructed. With these preliminary re- marks we allow Professor Youmans to say his say on the growth of plants : We begin with germination. Every seed contains within it the germ or embryo of a new plant Germination is the beginning of its growth. Here, as elsewhere, growth implies increase of mass — the addition of matter from a foreign source — food. The food of the embryo is wrapped around it, consti- tuting the chief bulk of the seed ; but the solid particles have no power to move towards the germ ; they must be transported ; a medium is wanted for 174 CHEMISTRY OF VEGETABLK GROWTH. this purpose ; that meiVium is water. Moisture is indispensable to germina- tion. But the nourishment which surrounds the embryo is insoluble in water, and so, under the influence of oxygen, a fermentation is begun in the seed which alters the nutiiti\'e substance so that water will dissolve it, and it thus enters the expanding germ. In this first stage, the embryo cannot be regarded as leading the true vegetable life. It is more like the animal ; it consumes organized matter. It is only when this source of nutriment is exhausted, and the infant plant begins to shoot its roots downward, and open its leaves to the light above, that it begins to perform the essential office of vegetable life. We may here inquire in what way it is that the increase of matter is effected in living beings. It is by the growth of minute bodies termed cells. Cells are little sacks or bladders, so minute as to be invisible to the naked eye. They consist of a closed membraneous wall, containing a fluid, and always appear before the production of circulating vessels, or any other forms of organiza- tion. If we burn a piece of wood, a small portion falls to the ground as ash, but much the greater part ascends into the air in the form of gases. Now, if the plant is to form another piece of wood, it goes downward into the soil after the ash, and up into the air after the gases. It was formerly supposed that the constituents of the ash were present in the plant by accident, and were such as water, falling upon the soil and entering the roots, happened to dissolve. But this was a vast mistake. Each plant requires certain earthy minerals for its healthy growth, and will not flourish without them. One demands lime, another plaster, another potash. This fact should be tho- roughly understood by farmers, as without it there can be no intelligent and skilful management of soils. But the great mass of vegetable nourish- ment is derived from the air, as we might imagine from the form of the plant. The whole structure, trunk, branches, and leaves, shows that the object is to expose a large surface to the air. The water, which brings up dissolved minerals from the soil, exhales continually from the vast leaf surface into the air ; at the same time the innumerable mouths with which the leaves are covered are busy imbibing gases from the air — carbonic acid and probably ammonia. This absorption of gases by the leaf has been variously and abun- dantly demonstrated. Besides its office of evaporation and absorption, the leaf is also an organ of digestion. It is the seat of all those grand formative chanofes which are [)eculiar to vegetation. The crude or ascending sap consists of water, containing dissolving salts from the soil. This mixture passes upward to the leaf, and is tliere changed. In other vessels, which descend from the leaf and distribute t,o all parts of the plant, we find another class of substances, organized vegetable products. These have therefore been formed in the leaf out of the dead nnnerals and gases. This is proved by the fact that plants grow or enlarge from above downward. Tie a ligature tightly round a branch, and it will b^ found to swell up above as the new matter accumulates. Where leaves are distributed along the branches or twigs, the branch is found to be larger below each leaf; but in those trees where the leaves are inserted as tufts upon the top of the branch its cylinder is seen to be of uniform size. We thus see that the Vegetable leaf is the factory where living things are created ; wh<.^re dead matter takes on the wonderful properties of life. The chano-es that occur in the leaf are twofold. First, analytic — the decomposition of carbonic acid, water, and ammonia. The leaf in the daytime decomposes carbonic acid, rctui ns its oxygen to the air, and retains the carbon. Here the action antagonizes that of animals, which withdraw oxygen from the air and return carbonic 'icid. This decomposing power of the leaf is a field of high PROFITS OF FARMING. 175 interest. It is a higher analysis than that of the laboratory, for no chemist has yet succeeded in decomposing carbonic acid at common temperatures by any expedients of art, and this goes forward constantly in every leaf and every blade of grass. The second class of changes is synthetic or formative, the true constructive processes of vegetation. The decomposed gases, with the salts brought up from the soil, furnish materials for every organized product, and the atoms which form them were first put together in the leaf. It is here that allUving substances originate, all the innumerable products of vegetation, and all parts of our own bodies. We thus regard all organized substances as composed mainly of gases condensed from the air. The forests represent so much solidified air, and so do our food and clothes and the solid structures of our own systems. They were all formed from lifeless matter by the exquisite and mysterious chemistry of the leaf. We now, said the lecturer, inquire what is the motive power which, as it were, drives the vegetable machine. We shall §nd it in the radiations which proceed from the sun. Every one is aware of the powerful control of solar light over vegetable growth. Healthful growth cannot be made to take place in darkness. In the shade, also, plants are feeble and sickly ; it is only in strong light that they are sound and vigorous. But the agent which we commonly term light, as it comes from the sun, is very complex. It contains several different forces, and produces a variety of effects. One of these forces affects the animal eye, and is distinctly the illuminating force ; another acts upon the thermometer — it is heat, or the calorific force ; still another force exists in the solar beam, known as the actinic or tithonic force, which produces chemical decomposition, such as those of the iodized or chlorinized silver plate in the Daguerreotype process. PROFITS OF FARMING. We commend the following, which we cut from the Country Gentleman: The statements furnished of the management of four State premium farms serve as a good answer to the hackneyed assertion that farming can never be made profitable, or that 2 or 3 per cent, is all that can be exjiected from capital invested in land. The farm of N. Hayward & Son, of Brighton, Monroe county, contains 78 acres, 68 of which are "improved." The total expenses are given at $1470, which sum includes 7 per cent, interest on $10,000, estimated value of the farm, that, is about ten dollars' interest per acre, besides all taxes, cost of manure, labor, seeds, insurance, and even news- paper subscriptions. The receipts are ^2726, making the net profits $1256 — • that is, $18.48 per acre, after paying all expenses and interest. This is better than bank or railway stock. A few of the principal items of this large amount of profits are the following : Wheat, $403 ; hay, $406 ; potatoes, $161; peaches, $460; apples, $162; onions, $314; seed onions, $100; garden and farm seeds, $572, besides many crops of less value. It may be proper to state, that the proprietors of this ffirm are among the best and most intelligent cultivators of fruit in the State, as the frequent premiums they have drawn from the State Society fully prove. The farm of McCulloch & Kirtland, of Greenbush, consisting of 130 acres of land, chiefly occupied for dairy purposes, is managed at a cost of $1400 176 VARIETIES OF GRAPES. per annum; on which the receipts are $3358, leaving $1948 as net profit, or about $15 per acre, out of which interest is to be paid on the land. Albert G. Ford's farm in Fair6eKl, Herkimer county, contains 130 acres, 95 of which are improved land. The manufacture of cheese is the chief business; the yearly cost $926 ; the whole receipts, incUiding $1200 worth of cheese, and $510 of hay, are $2396, or $1460 net profits. This is a net ^ return of $11 per acre for the whole farm, or $15 per acre for the improved * portion. Now, such statements as these (and we could furnish twenty more not unlike them from our own knowledge) ou^^ht to convince all who place the highest net profits on farm investments at 3 j)er cent., either that they are deficient in abilities, or have never been informed themselves of the best modes of farming; and we advise them to buy at once this volume of trans- actions, and read over carefully the statements of the admirable management of these premium farms, and see if they cannot make some improvement on their present superficial, skinning, earth-robbing system. VARIETIES OF GRAPES. Mr. Robert Buchanan, in his recent work on the Grape Culture, gives the following varieties of grapes cultivated in the Cincinnati vineyards, with his views in regard to their relative value : 1. The Catawba is our great wine grape, and stands without a rival. Mr. Lono-worth has oflfered five hundred dollars' reward for a better native variety, and several new seedlings have been produced, but its equal has not yet been found. It is subject to rot. 2. Cape; this old favorite of former days is now almost displaced by the Catawba. It is still cultivated in some vineyards, but not extensively — a very hardy variety, and but little affected by the rot. 3. Isabella, a variety much esteemed in some of the Eastern States, parti- cularly about the city of New- York, where it ripens better than here. It is almost abandoned as a wine grape, and generally cultivated only for table use. A hardy variety, subject less to rot than to mildew — in some seasons ripens badly. 4. Bland's Madeira ; a delicious table grape, resembling the Catawba in its appearance. Too tender for vineyard culture in this climate. On arbor, in sheltered situations, it bears well. 5. Ohio, or Cigar Box, is a fine table grape, bunches very large and shoul- dered, berries small, black, sweet, and without pulp ; does well on arbors or trellises, but will scarcely answer for the vineyard culture — requires long pruning. 6. Lenoir; a black grape, bunches large and compact, sometimes shoul- dered, without pulp ; berries small, black, sweet and palatable. Subject, in clay soils, to mildew and rot. 7. Missouri ; fruit black, bunches loose and of medium size, berries with- out pulp, sweet and agreeable. Sometimes cultivated in vineyards. 8. Norton's Seedling ; bunches of medium size, compact shouldered ; berries small, purple, sweet, but with a pulp. 9. Herbemont's Madeira ; a good wine and a very pleasant table grape ; bunches medium size, berries small, black, and without pulp. 10. Minor's Seedling; a new grape of the Fox family. Fruit: bunches REARING TURKEYS. 177 medium size, berries large, p^lpy, musky, and ricli-flavored, very hardy ; but little subject to rot. This grape will probably be found a valuable variety for the vineyard. 11. White Catawba; a new seedling from the Catawba, but far inferior to the parent. Bunches medium size, shouldered ; berries white, large, round, and pulpy ; in taste like the Fox Grape. 12. Mammoth Catawba ; another new seedling, resembUng the Catawba in color, but not so well flavored. Bunches large, shouldered ; berries very large, round, pulpy ; in some seasons subject to fall off before ripening. Mr. Longworth, in a letter to the Cincinnati Horticultural Society, remarks : " T have for thirty years experimented on the foreign grape, both for the table and for wine. In the acclimation of plants I do not believe ; for the White Sweet Water does not succeed as well with me as it did thirty years since. I obtained a large variety of French grapes from Mr. Loubat, many years since. They were from the vicinity of Paris and Bordeaux. From Madeira I obtained six thousand vines of their best wine grapes. Not one was found worthy of cultivation in this latitude, and were rooted from the vineyards. As a last experiment, I imported seven thousand vines from the mountains of Jura, in the vicinity of Salines, in France. At that point the vine region suddenly ends, and many vines are there cultivated on the north side of the mountain, where the ground is covered with snow the whole winter, from three to four feet deep. Nearly all lived, and embraced about twenty varieties of the most celebrated wine grapes of France. But after a trial of five years, all have been thrown away. I also imported samples of wine made from all the grapes. One variety alone, the celebrated Arbois wine, which partakes slightly of the Champagne character, would compete with our Catawba. " If we intend cultivating the grape for wine, we must rely on our native grapes, and new varieties raised from their seed. If I could get ray lease of life renewed for twenty or thirty years, I would devote my attention to the subject, and I would cross our best native varieties with the best table and wine grapes of Europe. We live in a great age. Discoveries are daily made that confound us, and we know not where we shall stop. We are told of experiments in mesmerism, as wonderful as the grinding-over system would be; but I fear the discovery will not be brought to perfection in time to answer my purpose, and I must leave the subject with the young generation. " I have heretofore wanted faith in the doctrine of French horticulturists, that to improve your stock of pears, you must not select the seed of the finest fruit, but of the natural choke-pear. I am half converted to their views. The Catawba is clearly derived from the common Fox grape. In raising from its seed, even white ones are produced, but I have not seen one equal to the parent plant ; and in all, the white down on the under side of the leaf, and the hairs on the stalk, common to the wild Fox grape, are abundant." REARING TURKEYS. Messrs. Editors : — H. G. Howe, Esq., of Lawrence, Mass., has just related to me a very interesting surgical operation, which may give a useful hint to the growers of poultry. He has consented I should pass it over to you, to publish or otherwise, as your better judgment may dictate. Last February he had, among a flock of turkeys hatched the preceding September, which he ■ I'ART II. — VOL. V. 12 178 ECONOMY IN HORSE-FLESH. kept enclosed about his barn, one that for several weeks seemed to become more and more drooping, and destined to die. He caught it, and finding its crop very full and hard, and presuming that he should lose it at any rate, he ^ bound its neck, wings and legs, to keep it from fluttering, and proceeded with a sharp razor to open and lay back the skin of its breast, and then the crop, which he found nearly bursting with dried hay, of which he picked out nearly (as he says) enough to fill his hat! and then with a needle and a thread of tine silk carefully sewed up the opening, and kept it for a few days quiet in a warm box, eating lightly of soft bread soaked in milk, when it was allowed to run at large with the rest of the flock. In May succeeding, it weighed 24 pounds, and might with extra feeding have been made to weigh much more. Yours truly, E. Sanborn. Andover, Mass, Dec. 25, 1852. ECONOMY IN HORSE-FLESH. [We copy the following admirable article from a late number of the Farmer's Monthly Visitor, published at Manchester, N. H., and there is no subject more worthy careful investigation. But there is one paragraph which, although it is endorsed by the learned Editor of The Working Farmer, we think most manifestly open to criticism, and we have inserted comments of our own in connection with it. — Eds.] The natural life of horses is from thirty to forty years. Yet with the ■advantages of civilization most horses are broken down before they reach fif- teen. A few continue to serve enlightened and humane men twenty or twenty-five years. The early decay and multiplied disorders of horses indi- cate that some great errors are committed in our general education and management of this noble animal. In an economical point of view, this matter is worth looking at. If we could go into minute details, it might un- doubtedly be shown that hundreds of thousands of dollars are lost to the people of this State either by neglect or ignorance, or indifference to the care of horses. Our object in this paper is not to discuss this subject, but simply to call attention to it, to direct the thoughts of our agricultural readers to a topic in which they have an immediate interest. Most people are said to be peculiarly sensitive in their pockets, and certainly an intelligent regard to the main chance should induce farmers to study economy in horse-flesh. One obvious cause ia the general ill-treatment of horses during winter. Flesh, strength, health and spirits can be secured only by suitable care, food, warmth and comfort. Cold is a sad consumer of vital power. Dwellers in arctic regions require a large amount of nutritious food. A plentiful meal is of essential service in defending us from the effects of the cold. Yet how many horses are condemned during the winter to coarse meadow-hay, or other poor fodder ! How many are unacquainted wnth the luxury of a blanket and curry-comb ! How many sleep on bare planks, and through the day stand shivering in rickety barns or in the open yard ! The result is, that in spring they are rough, poor and feeble. It is not only easier but cheaper to keep a horse in good case than to repair his wasted energies and to replace his lost flesh. Is it not bad policy to treat a horse so meanly in winter, that he is incapable of labor in spring ? Horses are very tender. They shrink from cold and suffer by it, and regard to their comfort and our interest requires us to keep them warm. Another cause of their premature decay is too early hard work. A horse ECONOMY IN HORSE-FLESH. 179 well treated reaches his full growth and strength in about eight years, and from that age till fifteen is in his prime. But most horses are strained, sprained, lamed, or broken down before eight, by untimely applications to hard labor. Light work and moderate exercise strengthen their constitution by increasing the appetite and promoting the general health. Dr. Warren says, that two hours' work every day is abundantly necessary to maintain their vigor and the suppleness of their limbs. Of course when fully grown they can do much more. All this, however, is very different from severe labor upon a youthful frame. In this respect a horse differs in no way from a child. We have all heard of children in England, five or six years old, working in mills fourteen or sixteen hours a day ; and if they lived through this early discipline, they became deformed, rickety, stunted and feeble men. Such treatment checks the free development of the system, retards the growth, and prevents the attainment of strength and health. Think of this when you think of your own purse. Long experience has taught us that health can be maintained (so far as food is concerned) by three meals a day, and that it is promoted when those are taken regularly. A sure method of disordering the stomach and hinder- ing its healthy action is to eat at irregular intervals. A horse has a stomach subject to many of the conditions of our own. Over- feeding, under-feeding and irregular feeding produce in him effects similar to those produced in us by like causes. Stable-keepers understand this, and profit by their knowledge. Why should not farmers ? Farmers keep horses for profit. Why not get and save as much as possible ? Irregularity in feeding occasions a direct loss of food, and an indirect loss in the impaired health of the horse. A hearty meal morning and night, and a moderate meal at noon, with kind treatment and general good care in other respects, will be sufficient for working horses. The superiority of cut and mixed food is so well understood as to need no argument to recommend it. Thrifty farmere know the value of a hay- cutter. It is not a matter of indifference how a horse stands in the stable. His legs are of about equal length, and he should therefore have a floor nearly level, that the weight of his body may be uniformly distributed. This arrangement, so obviously required by regard to his health and comfort, is violated by the construction of floors sloping from six to eight inches. The consequence is, that the liorse is subjected to a continual strain upon his fore feet, which must in time diminish their power. He knows where the trouble is, and speaks of it as well as he can, by bearing as much of his weight as possible upon his hind toes. He does this to equalize the weight, and to restore the balance lost by the sloping floor. Level floors may be constructed with deep grooves to carry off the water. This should be removed, not only for cleanliness, but because its accumulation in the bedding generates am- monia, which is said to be injurious to the sight. Let any of us stand a long time in a position that strains one set of the muscles of the legs, and we can then imagine the effect of a sloping stall upon the horse. Humanity and economy both demand that we should make the horse as comfortable as possible. [This correspondent, generally so judicious in his remarks, is here mani- festly at fault. When the floor is elevated forward, or inclines downward from the rack, it produces an effect precisely opposite that described. The weight of the pressure falls on the lower point supported. To illustrate : if two men hold a ladder by the two ends in a horizontal position, the pressure is alike oa'both. If one end is raised ten feet, the pressure is proportionably 180 ECONOMY IN HORSE-FLESH. increased upon the opposite end ; if it is raised to an angle of YO or 80 degrees, a mere boy can sustain the upper end. So, if the spring on one side of a chaise is so weak as to bring the weight lower on that side than oq the other, the weaker spring will have the greater portion of the weight to bear, and the mischief is constantly increased. This is too familiar to need com- ment. Transfer these facts to the fore and hind parts of a horse. Or look at a man going up a ladder at an inclination of YO degrees : he rather holds on by his hands than bears weight. Bat if that ladder were nearly horizontal, and his relative position to the ladder were the same, the ladder only being changed, the man would have partly to support himself by his own arms. But we have seen a horse standing in a stall with his hind feet elevated above his fore feet, by reason of the non-rernoval of his own dung; and thus the fore feet are strained, or at least overtasked, and every thing is unnatural and undesirable. — Ed.] Another cause, and perhaps a chief cause, of the early failure of the horse, is the treatment experienced by his feet. This assertion may sound dogmat- ical, coming from a person who has no minute knowledge of the anatomy of a hors<^'s foot, and never read a treatise on shoeing. But extensive know- ledge is not required to enable us to see and undei-stand some of the evils which ignorance or carelessness inflicts upon a horse's foot. Any body with eyes can see that a horse naturally elevates his fore toes to avoid obstructions. Why should his toe be pressed down and out of its proper position by tight heels to his shoe ? Every body knows that the natural tendency of the hoof is to expand. A regard to that fact should prevent excessive narrowing-in of the shoe. The effect is somewhat similar to that occasioned by our wearing "tight shoes. I have heard that the best fi^rmers in England drive no nails upon the inside heels of the fore feet ; that is, they nail the outside and j^ust round the toe, leaving the inside heel free to expand. We know that three or four weeks will produce a considerable growth of the hoof; and yet shoes sometimes remain on ten or twelve weeks, a struggle between the stiffness of iron and the flexibility of the hoof. We can easily guess which gets the better. We know that the hoof is apt to be cracked if the horse stands upon a dry wooden floor ; and yet how seldom does he stand upon any thing else ? We know that, owing to the peculiar construction of the foot, shoeing is a delicate operation, requiring skill and the application of en- lightened common sense ; and yet, until people havQ suffered severely in their pockets, they rarely make a sufficient scrutiny into the qualifications of their blacksmiths. These things being so, and within the reach of every one's knowledge, may we not be justified in saying that the treatmemt which the horse's foot receives is a chief cause of his early decay and death ? To us as well as to him, his foot is a most important member, and we consult our interest and his comfort by taking the best possible care of it. It is not necessary to speak of other causes of the shortened lives of horses, such as over-driving, exposure to take cold when heated, too much water when hard driven, deprivation of salt, excessive labor, cruelty, &c. The merciful man is merciful to his beast, and the treatment of the horse in these respects will depend on the general character of the owner. If humane and considerate, he will sympathize with his horse ; if unkind and irritable, he ■will abuse him. To Cure Warts. — Dissolve as much common washing soda as the water will take up; wash the warts with this for a minute or two, and let them dry- without wiping. This repeated will gradually destroy the largest wart. MANUFACTURING WROUGHT IRON. 181 ELECTRO-TELEGRAPHIC DEVELOPMENT. The extent of telegraphic communication completer! and in operation throughout the world at the beginning of the present year may be estimated, as far as can be gathered from the returns, at nearly 40,000 miles. Of this amount there were nearly 4,000 miles in Great Britain, of which 100 miles only were underground, with about 400 or 500 miles in course of construction in England, Scotland, and Ireland, and as many more projected. In America there were 20,000 miles of telegraph completed and in operation, with 10,000 more in process of construction, uniting in one great network the principal cities of the United States, the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean, and the extreme boundaries of that extensive continent. In Europe there were about 11,000 or 12,000 miles of telegraph in operation, and as many more projected or in progress. In Germany there were 3,000 miles completed, in Austria 3,000, and in Prussia between 3,000 and 4,000 miles. France, until lately in the rear of other nations, is now extending her telegraphic lines in all directions, her completed mileage at the present moment being small compared with that of other countries, her principal communications being those between London and Paris, Strasburg, and Marseilles. Russia has just commenced her system of telegraphs between St. Petersburg, Moscow, and Cracow, and the ports on the Baltic and Black Seas. In addition to her existing line between Naples and Gaeta, Italy is continuing the Neapolitan line from Terracina to Rome, so as to connect with the lines of Upper Italy. Denmark has about 400 miles of telegraph; Belgium 500; and the Netherlands line has just been completed from Amsterdam to the Hague. About 4,000 miles are about to be constructed in India. Switzerland is introducing the instantaneous communicator, as well as other continental cities, so that the only unsupplied portions that will soon present themselves on a telegraphic map of the world will be Australia, Africa, and China. — Advertiser. NEW PROCESS OF MANUFACTURING WROUGHT IRON DIRECT FROM THE ORE. One of the most valuable improvements in the manufacture of iron during the last half century has recently been made by Mr. James Renton, of Newark, New-Jerse3% For several years he has been engaged in experimenting upon iron ores for the purpose of producing good wrought iron direct from the ore, with mineral coal ; and we have been assured by those who have witnessed his experiments that they have been crowned with complete success. At the works of the American Iron Company, at Newark, Mr. Renton's process has been adopted ; and we learn from our informant, who had the pleasure of wit- nessing the operation, that nothing could be more complete and satisfactory. "The ore and its admixture is elevated to the top of a chamber, (situated in the rear end of the furnace,) and placed in close chambers communicating with the furnace. It is then let down in the rear end of the furaace, and subjected to the heat required to burn out the carbon and weld it into a ball ; it is then placed under the hammer and made into a bloom, or made to run through the rolls into merchantable iron. During our stay at the works, we saw several balls made, averaging about twenty minutes to each ball, and weighing about seventy pounds to the ball. The process is continuous, and after the furnace 182 " QUESTKJN FOR THE CURIOUS" ANSWERED. is heated up, a ball is taken out about every twenty minutes. Independent of the saving on cost of manufacturing, ■which is estimated at about f 10 on the ton, over all other modes, the iron is of a uniform good quality, and pronounced by competent judges to be equal to any iron manufactured." The great value of this invention will not fail to be appreciated in other countries, and patents have been secured for the same under nearly all the principal European governments, as well as in our own country. In regard to this improvement the Scteniijlc American remarks : "The process is founded upon truly scienti6c principles, and supersedes the necessity of previously melting into pig iron, as the ore can be made immedi- ately into blooms, an advantage which will be immediately appreciated by all interested in the manufacture of iron. We have personally visited the place, and can therefore speak more confidently on the subject. During our slay we saw the operation carried on, and marked the time required for making the iron, which was at the rate of a ton per day of twelve hours — three blooms, of over seventy pounds each, having been made in about an hour. An im- provement like this on the old-fashioned slow and expensive process, by which the ore or metal has to undergo two successive exposures in the furnace before it can be made into wrought iron, is a great triumph of American skill. We hasten, therefore, to record the event, and doubt not that other countries, as well as our own, will vie with each other in laying hold of the benefit conferred upon our times by the consequent economy that is now presented to their notice. Any description of fuel — wood or coal, both anthracite and bitumin- ous— can be indifferently employed for heating the furnace, and with nearly equal advantage." We learn that a company with a capital of $100,000 has been formed, for the purpose of carrying on this manufacture. FOR THB PLOUGH, THB LOOM, JLND THB iLNVIL. "QUESTION FOE, THE CURIOUS" ANSWERED. Messrs. Editors : — In the January number of The Plough, the Loom and the Anvil, I find "A question for the curious," which is easily explained by natural laws. When fluids are poured into a funnel, the portion in the centre descends more rapidly than that which lies near the circumference, because it meets with less friction : this causes a conical shape on the surface, in consequence of which new currents are formed from all parts of the circumference to the centre ; when these currents meet, the force of the meeting causes a rotary motion, influenced in its direction by the side in which it is poured : if poured to the right, the motion will be to the left, and vice versa.* This motion con- stantly increases as the cone approaches the cylindrical form, until it becomes * If a small funnel be filled with water, and stopped at the bottom with the finger until the fluid is at rest, on removing the finger, the water will flow out without any rotary motion ; but if filled as before, and stirred round rapidly, on removing the finger, the cone will be formed almost immediately, and the water will rotate in the direction in which it was stirred, whether right or left. If the funnel had been a large one, the water would have had sufiicient time to have established the rotary motion ; but being very small, it all escaped before the motion was communicated to a sufficient number of particles to be perceptible. I tried these experiments after writing this letter, and therefore add this note. NEW BOOKS. 183 SO great as to overcome the attraction of the particles of fluid for each other, and by centrifugal force a void is left in the centre. This phenomenon will occur in any shaped vessel which discharges at the bottom. The shape of the outlet has but little effect; a round orifice is more favorable than a square one, because the fluid meets with less resistance ; the motion will be retarded by a square orifice, and more by a triangular one. I should like to have you inquire of wheelwrights why they " tuck" or " gather" wheels, both before and at the bottom, instead of setting them per- pendicular on the axle-tree, thereby doing away with the object of "dishing." After they give their reasons, I should like to give philosophical ones why this univereal custom should be abandoned. Respectfully yours, G. W. Varnum. Wiota, Wis., June 23, 1853. NEW BOOKS. The Illustrated Magazine of Art. Published on the first day of every month, by Alex- ander Montgomery, 17 Spruce street. New- York. Two numbers of this new monthly are on our lable. They promise well, containing many articles of substantial merit. The engravings are very numerous and various. A few are coarse, but most of them are excellent, and favorably compare witli the very best in similar publications. A Gazetteer of the United States of America. equal parts. Powdered charcoal, ) Mix with boiling water, and put the ingredients into a bag, and secure it above the fetlock. As soon as a free discharge of matter takes place, abandon the poultice, and if the discharge is offensive, wash the cleft, morning and evening, with salt water, or what is perhaps better, salt and vinegar. If the animal's general health appears bad, give the following mixture at a dose, and occasionally repeat : Flour of sulphur, half an ounce. Powdered Sassafras bark, one ounce. Burdock (any part of the plant), two oz. Steep in a quart of boiling water, and when cool, strain. A FLYING RAILROAD BRIDGK It has been proposed to build a railroad bridge over navigable waters, so as to have the passage open, except while the train is passing. Piers are built at proper distances, with rails on the top of each. A platform of suit- IRON ITS NATURE, HISTORY, AND PRESENT STATE. 231 able length is placed on these piers, resting on wheels, which is movable at pleasure. When a train is to pass, the locomotive or a stationary engine is to be used to propel it across the stream. This does not look so quixotic as some propositions, the success of which has been placed beyond controversy. IRON— ITS NATURE, HISTORY, AND PRESENT STATE. The most precious of the metals, if we take actual value for the criterion, is undoubtedly iron. Unlike metals of inferior utility, its ores are not dis- tributed in thin veins, or scattered in minute particles, but are thickly stratified over thousands of square miles, chiefly in the northern regions of the earth, where nature has been less profuse of her other benefits. Thus, it is plentiful in New-York, New-Jersey, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, Missouri, Virginia, and Wisconsin. Indeed America excels all the world in the abundance, and even quality of its iron. Sweden produces in Europe the finest kind of iron, and in abundance. Great Britain ranks next, then Norway and Russia. Some specimens of native iron, nearly pure, have been found in Siberia and in South America ; also many iron stones, rich in the metal, supposed to be tf volcanic br meteoric origin, have been found in numerous parts of the earth ; but all the iron of commerce is obtained by chemical means. When pure, it s a metal of a bluish-gray color, and a dull fibrous fracture. Its specific gravity is 7.78. It is the most tenacious of metals. It is singularly suscep- tible of the magnetic virtue, but in its pute state soon loses it. W^hen rubbed it has a slight smell, and it imparts to the tongue a peculiar astringent taste, called chalybeate. In a moist atmosphere, iron speedily oxidizes, and be- comes covered with a brown coating, called rust. There are nineteen differ- ent ores of iron : Native iron of three kinds, pure, metalliferous, and steely ; arsenical iron, yellow sulphuret of iron, white sulj^huret of iron, magnetic sulphuret of iron, black oxide, secular or scaly iron, haematite, yielding red powder, yellow haematite, pitchy iron ore, silico-calcareous iron or zenite, sparry carbonite and clay iron stone, phosphate of iron, sulphate of iron, native copperas, chromate of iron, arseniate of iron, chloride of iron, oxalate of iron, and titanate of iron. The haematite and the brown iron stone are the most important. The native iron occurs generally in veins, and is mostly pure. The meteoric iron contains nickel, and the mass is magnetic. Ber- zelius says that the magnetic oxide or magnetic iron ore is a mixture of prot- oxide and peroxide, and contains in 100 parts: iron, 7'1.Y4 ; oxygen, 28.26. The use of this metal is of very great antiquity, though, on account of the difficulty of separating it from its ores, and of working it, probably not so remote as the employment of gold, silver, copper, and other comparatively soft metals, which are in many places found in a pure metallic state. The first worker in this metal is mentioned in Scripture as Tubal-Cain, while the Hellenic mythology refers its origin to Vulcan. Some writers assert that iron is mentioned by Moses, as the material of which knives and swords were fabri- cated, and that Herodotus mentions the presentation of a saucer or vase of iron, very curiously inlaid, by Alyattes, king of Lydia, to the Delphic oracle. Other writers maintain that the working and use of iron at these periods were utterly unknown. We are certainly left in perfect ignorance of the period of the origination or working of metals. Still, in the hoariest antiquity we find examples which prove the smelting of ores, the casting and the beating of 232 IRON ITS NATURE, HISTORY, AND PRESENT STATE. metals. In the earliest Egyptian civilization tbis is shown. An English author has shown that we have very satisfactory evidence that the progress of the arts and manufactures has been from the East towards the West, and also that the indications are clear that the commencement of civilization may be referred to the locality which is washed by the Persian Gulf and Indian seas on the south, and bounded by the line of perpetual snow on the mountain- chains of the north. He believes it very probable, that among the moun- taineers of the mighty Himalayan ranges metallurgy had its origin. Of one thing we are certain, that to take that strong and most unlikely ore from the earth, from its long home in the deep mines and caverns, to kindle the roar- ing fire, and to compel its stubbornness thus to yield, until the most un promis- ingly dull becomes tine in texture, and bright in polish — until the most blunt and edgeless becomes sharp and capable, was indeed a conquest worthy of the period when " there were giants in those days." Had the world possessed neither coal nor iron, civilization can no more be conceived than we can con- ceive life without air. Iron enters into every comfort and convenience of hfe, and exercises a major power over the persons and destinies of man and events. Without iron, the principal arts and manufactures would be unknown while the art of agriculture must have dwindled on in perpetual infancy. A Robert Hunt ventures a not uninstructive speculation on the probable accident that would lead man to a knowledge of the value of metals. It is not unlike the opening chapter of Paley's Natural Theology. We must suppose man in a country abounding in mineral treasures — almost in fact spread out on the face of the native rock. It is well known that in the porphyritic mountains in the midst of the Arabian deserts, and those which formed the elevated foundations of the Persian magi, immense quantities of the peroxide of iron and the ores of copper are found. In the debris of the valleys which are spread out at the base of these mountains, gold is found largely dissemi- nated. In the fissures of the rocks metallic veins would abundantly exist ; and since we find man sheltering himself in caves from the weather's inclemen- cies, they could not fail to have attracted his attention. In the remotest of days, fire was a well-known element; nature instructing as to its use and power. Volcanoes belching forth their flames and smoke, bursting with the energy of heat, and deluging the plains with rivers of glowing molten mat- ter, soon told those who survej'ed these grand phenomena, that an agent existed which would, if tamed and brought within human control, be a most important ameliorator of human necessities. The Grecian myth of Prometheus stealing fire from heaven, undoubtedly pointed to the first bold man that attempted the subjugation of this consuming power. Observation would tell the intellectual savage that fire would melt the rock, and the application of it to the veins of the caverns, the iron sands of the hills, and the gold of the ravines, would make him acquainted with the easy fusibility of the ores of the metals, compared with that of the earthy mineral constituting the rock in which they were found. The earliest examples of metal work are evidently castings, and the Chinese possess specimens which are proved, beyond all dispute, to have been made at a very early period. Bunsen assures us that the historical evidence and regular chronology of the Chinese go back 2,500 years before our era, and in the twelfth century before Christ. Ths- cheuti records the measurement of the length of the solstitial shadow, taken with such exactness, that Laplace found that it accorded perfectly with the theory of the alteration of the obliquity of the ecliptic. This shows an acquaintance with the exacter sciences, which, according to the ordinary progress of mental operations, it required long, long ages to produce. MACHINE FOR PICKING STONES. 233 We should not undervalue the intellectual qualifications of those races whose names are lost, though the remains of their industry remain. The builders of the pyramids, who lived nearly 4,000 years before the Christian era, must have had a vast amount of mechanical and architectural science. Indeed, proofs are not wanting to show that in many industrial arts, the men of the year 1853 are immeasurably in advance of those who lived 4,000 years before Christ. In a future article we will embrace the history of iron down to its present use. EFFECTS OF DRAINAGE ON THE TEMPERATURE OF THE SOIL. All the rain that falls upon our fields must either be carried away by natural or artificial drainage, or, having thoroughly saturated the soil on which it falls, be left upon the surface to be carried off by evaporation. Now, every gallon of water thus carried off by evaporation requires as much heat as would raise five and a half gallons from the freezing to the boiling-point! Without going to extreme cases, the great effects of the beat thus lost upon vegetation cannot fail to be striking, and I have frequently found the soil of a field well drained higher in temperature from 10 to 15 degrees than that of another field which had not been drained, though in every other respect the soils were similar. I have observed the effects of this on the growing crop, and I have seen not only a much inferior crop on the undrained field, but that crop harvested fully three weeks after the other; and owing to this circumstance and the setting in of unsettled weather, I have seen that crop deteriorated fully 10 per cent, in value. — B. Simpson, in Journal Royal Agricultural Society. In addition to the above arguments in favor of under-draining, says Prof. Mapes, the lengthened season of growth may be fairly taken into account. A field in the latitude of New- York, thoroughly under-drained, is rendered thereby nearly as early as one in Philadelphia left in its natural state, so far as under-drains are concerned. We find corn crops on such fields ripen much, earlier ; and turnips and other late crops planted on thoroughly under-drained soils are not so soon arrested in their growth by winter frosts. In addition to this, we assert, without the fear of contradiction, that one third less manure of an organic kind will answer the purposes of a well under-drained acre, better than of one not so treated. MIRRORS IN LOCOMOTIVES. It is very common in Europe to furnish locomotives with mirrors, so arranged that engineers can see the entire train without looking back. This must sometimes be of great service. We were once left in a car upon the road, the engine, tender and one car being separated from us. They went on a long distance before the accident was discovered. MACHINE FOR PICKING STONES. This invention consists of a large cylinder, revolving upon an axle, con- taining four rows of teeth. The cylinder being made to revolve by gear- work, the teeth pick up the stones and deposit them in a box. 234 UNITED STATES AGUICULTURAL SOCIETY. UNITED STATES AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. The First Annual Meeting of the United Stales Agricultural Society was liolden at Washington, on the 2d of February, 1853, at ten o'clock, in the lecture-room of the Smithsonian Institution. The meeting was called to order by the President of the Society, Marshall P. Wilder, Esq., of Massachusetts. The States and Territories of the Union were called in the usual order, and it was found that members from the following States and Territories were present, viz.: New- Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New-York, New-Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Texas, Wisconsin, the District of Columbia and Minnesota. Professor Mapes, of New- Jersey, presented specimens of the Japan pea. The President then delivered his annual address. It represented the pros- pects of the Society to be highly flattering ; such as should inspire every member with encouragement, and a determination to do all he can towards the furtherance of the great ends of the Association. It alluded successively to the subject of the appointment of members of the National Board of Agriculture ; the printing and publication of the Journal of the Society, the first of which, consisting of 144 octavo pages, is already in the hands of most of the members, and a second will be shortly issued ; the opening of correspondence and cooperation with distinguished agriculturists and local Associations all over the United States, which the President thinks should be extended even to- transatlantic nations, and the assistance of the General Government solicited in regard to it. The following resolutions were adopted, viz. : Resolved, That so much of the President's address as refers to the cooper- ation of this Society with the General Government in the diffusion of agri- cultural knowledge, the distribution of seeds, plants, &c., be referred to a committee of three, with authority to report to the Executive Committee of the Society at such times as may suit their convenience. The committee finally appointed by the Chair under this resolution, con- sists of Messrs. King, of New- York ; Brown, of Massachusetts, and Medary, of Ohio ; the mover having at his own request been excused from serving. The following resolution, by Mr. King, of New- York, from the committee to which was referred the recommendation of the President's address as to funds, &c., was adopted : Resolved, That the Executive Committee be requested to make immediate application to Congress for that portion of the money now annually appro- priated to the Patent Office for the preparation of the Agricultural Report, and the collection and distribution of seeds, with a view to the performance of the same work by the United States Agricultural Society. Resolved, That the thanks of this Society be tendered' the Hon. Samuel Appleton, Thomas H. Perkins, Josiah Quincy, Robert G. Shaw, and others, who have so generously contributed to its funds, and thereby increased the ability of the Society to diffuse agricultural information throughout the country. Resolved, That Congress be memorialized to establish a Department of the Government, to be called the De2Mrtment of Agriculture, the head of which Department, when established, shall be a Cabinet Officer. The following gentlemen were elected honorary members of the Society, UNITED STATES AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 235 viz. : Millard Fillmore, Franklin Pierce, Samuel Appleton, Thomas H. Per- kins, Josiah Quincy, Robert G. Shaw, Edmund Ruffin and Prof. Henry. The Society declined any official connection with the exhibition in the Crystal Palace, considering it as " inexpedient, in their infancy." Able speeches were made ; an address by Mr. Custis was very highly spoken of. The President of the United States and the Secretary of the Interior were present during one of the sessions. The officers of the Society for the year ensuing are as follows : PRESIDENT. MARSHALL P. WILDER, of Massachusetts. VICE-PRESIDENTS. Ezekiel Hohne, of Maine. G. W. Nesmith, Wew-Hampshire. Frederick Holbrook, Vermont. B. V. French, Massachusetts. Josiah Cliapin, Rhode Island. S. D. Hnbbard, Connecticut. Henry Wager, New-York. James J. Mapes, New-Jersey. Fred. Watts, Pennsylvania. C. P. Holcomb, Delaware. W. D. Bowie, Maryland. G. W. P. Custis, Virginia. Henry K. Burgin, North Carolina. John Witherspoon, South Carolina. P. M. Nightingale, Georgia. Richard Jones, Alabama. Alex. H. Beques, Mississippi. A. B. Roman, Louisiana. Samuel Medary, Ohio. Robert Mallory, Kentucky. " M. P. Gentry, Tennessee. Joseph A. Wright, Indiana. S. A. Douglas, Illinois. R. Atchison, Missouri. T. B. Flournoy, Arkansas. J. C. Holmes, Michigan. Baker, Florida. T. J. Rusk, Texas. W. F. Coolbaugh, Iowa. A. C. Ingham, Wisconsin. Homer, California. J. H. Bradley, District of Coluuibia. S. M. Baird, New-Mexico. H. H. Sibley, Minnesota. Joseph Lane, Oregon. Jos. L. Hayes, Utah. EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE. C. B. Calvert. Richard Peters. J. A. King. Joseph C. G. Kennedy, Corresponding A. L. Elwyn. Secretary. J. D. Weston. W. S. King, of Rhode Island, Record- Moses Newell. ing Secretary. Arthur Watts. William Selden, Treasurer. The following amendments to the constitution were adopted : The Executive Committee was increased from five members to seven. The Recording and Corresponding Secretaries to be considered as ex-officio members of the Executive Committee and the General Board of Agriculture. In the absence of the President ' of the Society, the Executive Committee shall elect its own chairman. Four members present shall constitute a quorum of the Executive Com- mittee. The future annual meetings of the Society shall be held in Washington, on ihQ fourth Wednesday of February. Scenes of Life. — Grace Aguilar says very happily that many scenes of life are holy — the early morn, the twilight hour, the starry night, the rolling storm, the hymn of thousands from the sacred fane, the marriage rite or the funeral dirge ; but none more holy than the chamber of the dying, lingering beside a departing spirit, as if the angel shone above the mortal, waiting but the eternal summons to wing his flight on high. 236 CUTTING FODDER FOR STOCK. CUTTING FODDER FOR STOCK. The following paper from the Neto-England Farmer, by Henry F. French, is worth a careful perusal and a practical regard. — Eds. " Do you think it will j?;ay to cut fo(ider for stock ?" is the question often proposed. The general impression among well-informed farmers seems to be that it will. The report from the Worcester County Society on feeding stock, published in the New-England Farmer for July and August, 1852, seems to have been taken as conclusive on the subject. So far as the opinions of that committee are concerned, they are entitled to great respect, as are the opinions of many persons named in their report. A premium had been offered for " the best experiments in determining the advantages or disadvantages of cutting hay as food for stock," and it is to the experiments offered for the premium that I vs'ish to call attention. However correct may be the conclusion of the committee, from all their premises, it seems to me that the experiments themselves are far from satis- factory as evidence of the profit of cutting good hay, or any fodder that cattle will eat up entirely, uncut. Before analyzing the results of those experiments, I had the impression that a great saving in the quantity of food actually con- sumed was made by cutting it ; but those experiments, as published, show that the cattle on which the trials ivere made consumed a very little more cut than uncut hay, in the same number of days. The conditions of the trials were in part as follows : — " The trial to be made with at least two animals — the time of trial to continue at least eight weeks, divided into periods of two weeks each. One animal to be fed with cut, when the other is fed with uncut hay, and the feed of each to be changed, at the expiration of each two weeks." Then follow the details of the experiments, as given in a recent number of our journal. The writer then proceeds : On the whole, the results of these experiments are not very satisfactory. They are lacking in uniformity, in almost every particular. They should be repeated, and it seems to me, under different regulations. Two weeks is not a term long enough, for each kind of food. The food of this week may make the fat of next week. Cows, heavy with calf, are likely to gain in weight on almost any food, and their weight could hardly be expected to vary rapidly by change of food two weeks at a time, except as their bowels might be full or empty. It is proper to say, that all the cattle referred to received other food, either roots or meal, during the experiments, so that it must not be inferred that the quantities of hay above stated are alone sufficient food for such animals. Having glanced thus at these experiments, I will suggest what seems to me the most reasonable view on this subject. I cut all my fodder for my horses and cows this winter, not because I suppose that there is any nutriment added to a lock of hay by cutting it into inch pieces, nor because nature has in general furnished animals with hay-cutters of their own, insufficient properly • to masticate their food. Horses have powerful grinders, and usually chew their hay sufficiently. An experiment, reported in the Patent Office Report for 1851, at page 'Zl, shows, that the food of a horse, fed on uncut hay, was equally exhausted of its nutritive properties in passing through the animal, as when fed on cut hay. DWARFING FRUIT TREES. 237 Ruminating animals, if they swallow their food hastily, may chew it over again at their leisure, and this seems to be a very innocent and becoming recreation for a cow that has nothing else (o do. The advantages of cutting fodder, I apprehend, are these : 1st. Working cattle and horses thrive better on cut fodder, because they eat it in less time, and have more time for rest. And besides, they are not so liable to lose their breakfast by the oversleeping of the teamster. 2d. Old animals, whose " grinders are few," can eat chopped food more readily. 3d. Chopped hay can be readily measured, and the animals receive a more regular allowance than when fed with long hay. 4th. No hay will be xvasted hy over-feeding, as your boys will be too lazy to cut more than is needful, whereas common hands will always fill the rack more or less, if they pitch the hay to the animals. Lastly, and most important of all, if we have corn-stalks, buts, fresh hay or coarse clover which cattle will never eat entirely up, such fodder may be passed through the hay-cutter, and they will eat it more readily. At the present price of hay, (about twenty dollars a ton,) grain is cheaper than good hay for cattle. By cutting coarse fodder into a box, moistening it, and add- ing a small quantity of meal or shorts, much may be consumed to advantage that is usually thrown into the yard for manure. No good farmer will be long without a hay-cutter. Whether it be worth his while to chop all his hay or not, may be doubtful, but he will every year find occasion for its use, for one or more of the reasons already suggested. This matter of chopping fodder is another of the thousand that needs careful investigation at the hands of Boards of Agriculture, and upon our anticipated Model Farms. DWARFING FRUIT TREES. The French have a method of cultivating dwarf fruit trees, or trees which have been stunted by a certain process, which their writers describe as follows : " Young trees are to be treated in the following manner : If there are more than three shoots on the plant, reduce them to that number, and shorten each to three, four, or six eyes, according to their strength. The followino- season, reduce the number of leading shoots to six, and shorten them to three fourths of their length, and spur in the remaining shoots. The tree should be managed in every respect in this manner, until it has attained the required size, which, of course, depends upon the fancy or convenience of the owner or conductor of the garden. I make a point of letting the trees take their na- tural form of growth, as far as the system described will admit ; for I consi- der it of little consequence what shape is given to the tree, provided my end is attained ; that is, to make every branch, as it were, a long spur, with bear- ing buds from the extremity to the base." It is asserted by both French and English writers, that trees so stunted are not so much exposed to injury from high winds, that they produce better fruit, bear earlier and more abundantly, and occupy less space. Dwarfs are also produced by inoculating on stocks of small growth. The apple is often inoculated on the Paradise or Douciu stock, the peach on a slow-growing plum, and the pear on the quince. We have seen large pears on trees not 238 THE PENGUIN. more than five feet tigh, the tops of which were not possessed of sufficient strength to sustain their weight of fruit without the assistance of props. This is a common result where some varieties of the pear are set in quince stocks. The writer above quoted says : " Two or three years' trial of this method only might possibly deter many from a continuance of it, in consequence of the young wood which will be produced yearly at first, and from the apparent difficulty of getting rid of the superfluity. But that inconvenience will be utterly surmounted if the fore- going instructions are attended to, and the consequence will be the possession of both healthy and fruitful trees." ^ THE PENGUIN. M.CiiATEAUBRiAND Speak- ing of sea-fowl, says they have places of rendezvous where you wo'.ld imagine that they were deliberat- ing in common on the af- fairs of their republic ; it is, in general, a rock in the midst of the waves. He passed whole days in stu- dying the manners of the fowl inhabitants of the is- land of St. Pierre. The best understanding pre- vailed in that republic of birds. Immediately after ^^S^the birth of a citizen, his ^°^ mother precipitated him into the waves, like those barbarous nations who / plunged their children into rivers, to inure them into the fatigues of life. Alto- ' yether, the study of these sea-fowl convinced him how productive and how rich were the lessons of Nature, when viewed with an attentive eye. The above engraving represents the Penguin, an inhabitant of the South Sea Islands, and the coasts of South America, particularly Patagonia. It is about three feet high, when standing. Its back is black, and its front parts white. It is the fast swimmer of the feathered race. On land it has neither legs to run with, nor arms to fight. The water is its true element, and only- safety. Its feet are placed so far back that it cannot balance its body, like other birds, and it therefore stands erect, as in the engraving. Their wings are more like fins than plumage, and they use them as oars, to assist their speed through the water. When there is no danger of man's intrusion, the SUMAC. 239 Penguin hatches her eggs in the sand ; but in situations frequented by men, she digs a hole several feet deep into the earth, to deposit her eggs. The voice of the Penguin is like that of the goose. ' Its flesh is fat, but is too fishy to be used as food. UNDER- DRAINING. I WISH to call the attention of the farming community to the practical utility of under-draining wet or moist land. Having a piece of ground naturally too wet to bear any kind of crop, about two years since I com- menced by digging a deep ditch through the centre of it, stopping the sides, so that it would support itself. This ditch was two and a half to three feet deep, four feet wide on the top, one foot at bottom. The ground naturall}'' descended towards the centre, and towards the outlet of this ditch. I then laid a blind ditch with drain tile at right angles with the main ditch at its head, and extended them as far as the ground appeared moist. The tile in this case which I used, was the second size horse-shoe : some of it I put a board under, and some I laid without. I also laid two more lateral ditches with tile, about one hundred feet from the first, there being a cross- walk. Where this last ditch was laid, one side I put down a board, and on the other none. This fall, having had a trench dug on the side of this walk, for the purpose of setting out some standard dwarf trees, I took up the ditch which had no shoe or board undar it, and found it entirely clean, and not filled up in the least. I then put it down a little deeper, so as to drain below the bottom of the trench. I mention this to show, that even in sandy ground (this was such land) with a moderate regular fall, there is no danger of the drains filling up, which I had heard might be the case. I have since put down several more lateral drains to this main ditch, using the round tile, all of which work to my entire satisfaction. I would mention that these tiles- are made at Bloomfield Centre, by Mr. John Daines. The expense at the factory is twenty-five cents per rod for the large size, and twenty cents per rod for the second size, the round or pipe tile being also twenty cents per rod. When the ditch is not too long, the pipe tile are equally good, and will obviate all necessity of a shoe in any soil. I practise putting over the lists, shavings from a joiner's shop; they answer my purpose : when these cannot, be obtained, straw may be used, or an inverted sod. I consider shavings the best. From two years' trial, I can confidently recommend the drain tile made by Mr. Daines, as more than answering my expectations. SUMAC. The following, taken from the Agrkultor, speaks like one Avho understands the subject, and may be serviceable to some of our readers : TiNTON Falls, Monmouth Co., N, J. Sir, — The article of sumac, which is so extensively used in manufacturincr morocco and sheepskins for shoe linings, &c., is very high, selling at from $90 to $100 per ton of 2240 lbs. In my opinion, it is well worthy the attention of the farmer. To be sure our sumac is not so good as that im- 240 DAIRY BUSINESS IN CENTRAL OHIO. ported from Spain, but it is worth from $30 to $40 per ton, when properly cured. Every body knows that sumac will grow on very poor land. As there are several different kinds of sumac, I will give you a description of the kind that is used by dyers and morocco-dressers. It grows on high ground, and has a smooth stem and leaf, and red stem, with a large pointed bob or bunch of berries, which turns red about the last of July and the first of August. At this time it should be gathered, or from the last week in July, through the month of August. The manner of the curing process is as follows : Take a fair day, if possible ; cut or break off the stem with the leaves, and take them to an open space, and spread them to dry. Turn them as often as may be necessary to get them dry. The quicker it dries, the bet- ter. There is great danger of its heating ; it will heat sometimes in two or three hours. If not dry by night, it should be put under cover and spread out thin, or put in small winnows and turned over before the sun dries the dew off; then, thrashed on the barn floor fine, and stems raked out, it is ready for market. No doubt there might be saved to the country many thousands of dollars which are now lost. I will pay the highest price for sumac wel( cured. Thos. Guest. DAIRY BUSINESS IN CENTRAL OHIO. A WRITER in the Ohio Cultivator says : My opinion, based upon my own experience and observation, is, that the Durhams as a distinct breed are not superior to the native, yet to cross them with the native would be an advantage. As regards the profits of cheese-making compared with that of butter-mak- ing, I have made but one experiment. From that alone, I found that from equal quantities of milk, what made 1 pound of butter would make 2|- pounds of cheese and a fraction over. All dairymen that I have conversed with, are of the opinion the difference is still greater ; that the milk that would make 1 pound of butter would make 3 pounds of cheese. Whether their opinion was based upon experiments I am not able to say. The profits of one com- pared with the other, would depend upon the price each would bring. I have milked the past season, lY cows ; one went dry the first of September. Their earnings are as follows : 6,289 lbs. cheese, sold for Y cents per lb., - - - - 1,3 Y 8 " retailed from dairy at 8 cents, 363 " on hand not sold, at Y cents, - 119 lbs. butter sold, at 16 cents per lb,, - . - . 228 lbs. cheese consumed and reserved for family, at Y cents, 300 lbs. butter consumed in familj', at 16 cents per lb., 5 calves sold when three days old, ... - 12 calves' skins, taken off when three days old and tanned on shares, Y5 cents each, ----- Estimated value of whey fed to hogs, - . . . Amounting in all to - - - " - Average amount per cow, - - $42 52 With respect to rich and poor milk in making cheese, I would rather have a cow that would give a large quantity and rich ; but if I could not have one - $440 23 110 24 - 25 41 19 04 - 15 96 43 00 5 00 9 00 - 50 00 $Y22 88 OVERCOMING STEEP GRADES. 241 that possessed both quahties, give me one that would give a large quantity, and not quite so rich. '^ I moved to this State eight years ago from Lewis county, one of the best dairy districts in New- York. My frieads there said good butter and cheese could not be made in Ohio. I am now able to convince them by samples, that as good butter and cheese can be made here as in any other State ; and I would be glad to show them in print that, in quantity or yield per cow, we are not behind other States. NEW INVENTION FOR OVERCOMING STEEP GRADES. We take the following extracts from a recent report by a committee of the United States Senate. It promises something highly important : The apparatus by which adhesion to any extent desired by the engineer may be produced at pleasure, is a simple, compact mechanical contrivance, costing but a few hundred dollars, readily attached to any engine, and may be thrown in or out of gear instantly by the turning of a steam-cock. When out of gear, it is lifted some twelve or eighteen inches above the rails ; and the engine in no way differs from the common locomotive, but runs readily, by the adhesion due to its weight, over the level portions of the road. This plan, therefore, adds nothing to the expense of constructing a railroad save a small increase in the weight of lh(i rail on heavy inclines, where a large business is done ; but saves time and expenditure in grading, reduces the weight of the engine, and consequently the working expenses of the road ; gives greater security to railway travelling, and suggests the introduction of railroads with machinery so light as scarcely to exceed in weight the ordinary mail stage. Surely the present system must be regarded as greatly defective, when to express even the President's message, contained in a few newspaper slips weighing but a few pounds, can only be done by some thirty or forty tons of machinery ; and the disproportion throughout the system between the dead weight and paying load, whenever passengers or light articles are transported, is so great as to account readily for the great depreciation in railway stocks. This invention, by substituting pressure for weight, equalizes this disproportion, and suggests an entire change in a system which has absorbed, and is absorbing, . all the floating capital of the world. It proves that millions of dollars have been unnecessarily expended, and, looking to the future, multiplies roads and distributes their advantages at a greatly reduced expenditure of time and money. Your committee have no doubt that on this plan, far cheaper railroads may be constructed and safely worked, with corresponding light machinery, than any now in use ; nor can they doubt that, by it, an engine may be made to - ascend any required grade. These things are perfectly apparent from the working model which has been submitted to our inspection, and we see nothing whatever to justify us in the assertion that this invention will not accomplish all the inventor claims for it. Some few years after the building., of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, a centre rail, pressed by two hori-- zontal wheels, driven by extra cylinders, was tried in England, and found toe . complicated for use ; and all these various contrivances have, with slight modi- fications, from time to time been brought before the American public. In., addition to these, many other plans have also here been resorted to to obtaic./ PART II. VOL. V. 16 242 OVERCOMING STEEP GRADES. the same end. The tender, by means of a lever, has been made to add a portion of its weight to that of the engine, when required ; the steam of the boiler has been conveyed into perpendicular cylinders, and made to exert its entire pressure on the driving-axles ; and the ordinary driving-wheels of the engine have, on inclines, been substituted for very small wheels running on elevated rails, thus increasing the power of the diameter of the driving-wheels. Magnetism has also been invoked, to furnish the necessary adhesion, with many other suggestions which we have not time to enumerate. None of these, however, have answered the purpose; and the growing wants of the railway have only been supplied by heaping weight upon the engine, until it has become a huge steam tug, witli the sand-box as an appendage for sprinkling the rails — thus carrying within itself elements of destruction which no road, however well built, can long withstand ; for, while the huge engine presses the road into the earth and laminates the rails, the sand which it sprinkles cuts away its journals and greatly adds to the wear of the road. We have examined and reviewed all these various plans, for the purpose of comparing them with the one now before us ; and while they serve to strengthen our convictions that the railway system can never be perfected so long as weight limits the power of the engine, they con6rm us in our belief that Mr. French's plan is the most simple, the most effective, and most readily adapted to the present system, which has yet been suggested. The model which has been for some time working in the Capitol shows at a glance the whole arrangement. It consists of a common wooden super- structure, with a flat bar-rail : the ends of the cross-timbers are cut off flush with the sleepers, and the flat bar resting on the sleepers projects over en the outside of the track, forming a clear continuous space on each side of the road for friction rollers, or small wheels, to revolve up against the projecting edge of the rail. The cranks are attached to the ends of the driving-axle, and between these and the driving-wheels is suspended from the axle, on each side, a friction roller, or wheel, which is made to drop at pleasure directly under the driving-wheels. Using the driving-axle as a fulcrum, by means of a compound lever, these friction rollers or wheels are pressed up at pleasure, and to that extent press down the driving-wheels, producing instantly whatever amount of adhesion may be required. The tread of the driving-wheels is as wide as the rails, and the friction rollers revolve just under them, with flanges •to prevent their rubbing the sides of the road. These friction rollers or small wheels, when not required, are instantly thrown up some eighteen inches above the track, where they remain until they are again required, when they are instantly thrown into gear. This facility of removing them adapts the engine in all respects to the common road, and requires a modification of the rail only in working the inclines. Experiment teaches that one pound of iron suspended from a pulley will move on a plane six pounds of iron, resting on iron ; hence it is said, the ad- hesion of iron upon iron is equal to one sixth the insistent weight. If this be so, it requires six tons of weight to be added to the engine to give it one ton of adhesion — six pounds added for every one pound gained. But actual practice on railways shows that adhesion is not worth so much, but is, under ordinary circumstances, probably nearer one eighth or one ninth of the insistent weight, and fluctuates greatly below the standard when aftected by the weather ; so that it will be seen, while the size of the boiler and its effective power may be increased directly in proportion to the weight added, the adhesion of the engine cannot be, but, for every eight or nine pounds added, can gain but a single pound; yet the adhesion hmits the tractile power of the engine. It is, MILK-PRODUCING FOOD. 243 therefore, and has ever been, since the introduction of the present systera, the object of the engine-builders to make these forces proportionate ; for if the steam-power be greater than the adhesion, the wheels will revolve, but not progress ; if less, the engine remains stationary. SHORT-HORN BULL "BACKWOODSMAN. J^:/i-<2i££i?r&9: The above cut is an excellent likeness of the short-horn bull, '■^Backwoods- man^'' winner of the first prize in class bulls over three years old, at the Cat- tle-show of the American Institute, in October, 1852. He was also winner of the first prize in the same class, at the show of the Dutchess County Agri- cultural Society, in same year. He is owned by Mr. Samuel Taber, Chestnut Ridge, Dutchess county. New- York. MILK-PRODUCINa FOOD. The following paper was read before the Agricultural Society of Worcester county, Mass. As the result of practical experiments, the statements made by Mr. Brooks cannot but prove interesting and instructive. Gentlemen : — Herewith you have an account of some trials in feeding which I have made within the last three months, with a view to determine the relative value of different kinds of food for producing milk, and the pro- portion of solid manure to the hay consumed. I have purposely delayed this communication beyond the time named in the Society's rules for having all applications for premiums on feeding filed with the Secretary, (the 15th March,) because I do not propose for a premium, but wish only to add what- ever I may to the interest of this important subject You, then, gentlemen, 244 MILK-PRODUCING FOOD. will not consider me as competing with gentlemen proposing for premiums, but will dispose of this communication in any way you deem proper. Dec. 17, 1851, commenced feeding two cows about seven months after calving; the cows were gravid, and expected to calve about the last of March next; live weight, 1,000 lbs; — one of them 44, the other 31 months old. Each trial continued five days. First five days fed on 2 per cent, of live weight of Cut hay daily, 32 lbs. 2 lbs. Indian meal, hay value, 8 " Hay value of daily food, 40 " Hay value of five days' food, 200 " Cost of five days' food, hay at ^ cent per lb., $1 Milk in five days, 61,875 lbs. Cost of milk, hay at ^ cent per lb., ly^g cents the lb., or 33^ cents the wine quart. SECOND TRIAL. Fed five days on 2^ per cent, of live weight of cut hay daily, 70 lbs. Cut hay in five diys, 200 " Cost of five days' food, hay at ^ cent per lb., - - |1 Milk in five days, 60 lbs. Cost of milk, hay at ^ cent per lb., l/g- the lb., or 3 J_ cents the wine quart. These trials show that 2 lbs. of Indian meal are very nearly equal to ^ per cent, of live weight of hay, or that one pound of meal is equal nearly to 4 lbs. of good English hay. THIRD TRIAL. Fed five days on cut bay, - 16 lbs. 32 lbs. oat straw, hay value, 16 " 2 lbs. Indian meal, h^y value, 8 " Hay value of food daily,- - - - " - 40 " Hay value of five days' food, ... - - 200 " Cost of five days' food, hay at ^ cent per lb. - - $1.07 Deduct 5 lbs. hay and straw not consumed, - - - .02|- Milk in five days, 50 lbs., $0.97 Cost of milk, hay at ^ cent a pound, 1.95 cents the lb., or 3.90 cents the wine quart. The hay and straw cut, and given wet ; the meal sifted over the hay and straw. This trial seems to show that 2 lbs. of oat straw is not equal for milk to 1 lb. of hay. FOURTH TRIAL. Fed five days on cut hay daily, 16 lbs. Oat straw cut, 32 lbs., hay value, - - - - 16 " 2 lbs. Indian meal, hay value, - - - - - 8 " Hay value of five days' food, 200 " Deduct 6 lbs. not consumed, 6 " 194 Cost of five days' food, hay at ^ cent per lb., - - 10.97 Milk in five days, 4:8j\ lbs Cost of milk, hay at | cent per lb., 1 j% cents per lb., or 3.99 cents the wine quart. The hay, straw, and meal were given dry, and the trial shows that dry hay, straw, and meal are not so good for milk as when wet. Feb. 3, 1852, commenced feeding two cows, one 33 months old, 14 days after calving; hve weight 1,000 lbs. The other 31 months old, 14 days after MILK-PRODUCING FOOD. 52 (( 260 (( 5 (( calving ; live weight 690 lbs. These cows were fed 6ve days on 42 lbs., or 2^ per cent, of their live weight, of uncut hay, and 50 lbs. of flat turnips daily. Uncut hay daily, 42 lbs. Turnips, 50 lbs., hay value, - - - - - 10 " 52 " Hay value of five days' food, ----- 260 " Cost of five days food, hay at i cent per lb., - - $1.30 Milk in five days, US/^ lbs. Cost of milk, hay at ^ cent the lb., ^% of a cent the lb., or l/g cents the wine quart. SECOND TRIAL. Fed five days on cut hay. Cut hay daily, - - 42 lbs. Turnips 50 lbs., hay value, 10" Hay value of five days' food, - - - - Deduct 5 lbs. not consumed, - - - - 255 " Cost of five days' food, hay at i cent per lb., ' - - $1.27^ Milk in five days, 1521 lbs. Cost of milk, -^\ of a cent per lb., or 1-^^^ cents the wine quart. The cows did not eat the cut hay quite so well as the long hay on the first trial, so that on the whole, the experiment shows a small diflference in favor of cut hay. THIRD TRIAL. Fed same as second trial, except 3 lbs. Indian meal, instead of 50 lbs. turnips. Cut hay daily, 42 lbs. 3 lbs. Indian meal daily, hay value, - - - 12 " Hay value of five days' food, - - - - Deduct 10 lbs. hay not consumed, 260 " Cost of five days' food, hay at | cent the lb., - - - $1.30 Milk in five days, 153 lbs. Cost of milk, hay at i cent per lb., Jg- of a cent per lb., or 1^^ cents the wine quart. This trial seems to prove that 3 lbs. of Indian meal is equal to 12 lbs. English hay, or 50 lbs. flat turnips, for milk. FODRTU TRIAL. Fed on cut hay daily, - - - - - -42 lbs. 33 lbs. carrots daily, hay value, - - - - 11 " Hay value of five days' food, . - - - - Deduct 5 lbs. hay not consumed, - - - - 260 " Cost of five days' food, hay at =- cent per lb., - - $1.30 Milk in five days, 150 lbs. 54 u - 270 it 10 u 53 (( 265 (( 5 (( 246 MILK-PRODUCING FOOD. Cost of milk, hay at i cent per lb., g\ of a cent per lb., or l-^\ cents the wine quart. This trial shows that 33 lbs, of carrots are not quite equal for milk to 50 lbs. of flat turnips, or 3 lbs. of Indian meal. The cows in all the trials had fi'ee access to water. December 10, 1851, commenced feeding one cow 72 months old, one do. 46 months old, one do. 48 months old, 5 heifers 32 months old, Y heifers 22 months old, 4 calves 9 months old, 4 calves 8 months old. These cattle weighed, live weight, 14,567 lbs., and were fed 5 days on 277 lbs. of cut hay daily, and drank daily 887 lbs. of water, dropped daily 668 lbs. solid manure, or 2.41 lbs. of manure for 1 lb. of hay consumed. Second trial commenced Dec. 16, 1851. Fed same cattle five days on 352 lbs. hay daily, solid manure dropped daily, 860 lbs., or 2.54 lbs. for 1 lb. hay consumed; drank daily 868 lbs. water. February 28, commenced feeding one cow 72 months old, one do. 96 months old, and one 48 months old, 3 heifers 32 months old, and 6 heifers 22 months old. The live weight of these cattle was 9,472 lbs. ; these cattle were fed five days on 240 lbs. cut hay daily ; solid manure dropped daily, 594 lbs., or 2.47 lbs. of manure for 1 lb. hay consumed. Drank daily 542 lbs. water. Hay consutned in the three trials, 869 lbs. Manure dropped in the three trials, 2,122 lbs. The proportion of manure to hay is as 2.44 lbs. of manure weighing 50 lbs. the cubic foot. Manure, after remaining under my barn one year, weighing 44 lbs. the cubic foot, a loss of 6 lbs. in one year, or 12 per cent, of its weight when recently dropped. John Brooks. Princeton, March 22, 1852. We append to this, the following account of another experiment of the same kind. It is from a correspondent of the Massachusetts Spy, and de- scribes the feeding of a cow belonging to Rev. George S. Ball, of Upton, and also the quantity of milk "and butter produced : From the first day of June until the first day of November, 150 days, she gave 2,330 quarts of milk. Average per day, 15i quarts. The highest number of quarts during any one day in this time, was 21^. Also, from the same date, from the third of June to the first of January, 1853, 211 days, 3,058 quarts. The average per day, for nearly six months, was a very small fraction less than 14i quarts. This milk was worth 3^ cents per quart. Amount, $107.03. And reduced to hhds. would give 12 hhds. 8 gallons, 2 quarts. Actually sold— Milk, $51.82 Butter, 14.00 $65.82 besides milk and cream for family use in abundance. The cow has been fed on grass and hay, and had the value of five quarts of wheat per day, until Nov, 1st, and since that time, the value of six quarts of wheat shorts. The feed has been changed several times. Corn meal has been tried, cobs and corn ground together, and oat-meal mixed with ground cobs and corn. The latter was found excellent feed, producing milk of good quality, and in good quantity. But for quantity, wheat shorts mixed with scalding water, until it will absorb no more, and remain the consistency of dough, well salted, was found much the best ; but the quaUty of the milk not equally good. CONSTRUCTION OF MACHINES. 247 MUSH. *' Oh, how it makes me blush To hear the Pennsylvanians call thee Mush." The following is from a Michigan paper. Will our Yankee friends try it ? If they prefer the word, they can call it " Hasty Pudding ;" or if any of the descendants of the Knickerbockers insist on calling it " Suppawn," no body will quarrel with them. Mush, Hasty Pudding, and Suppawn are all the same thing : "A friend writes us as follows : In a late number you have something about mush. Let me suggest for the comfort of those who stir it an hour or two, and then labor a great while to wash out the pot in which they boil it, that all this trouble may be saved by cooking it in a tin pail, set in a pot of boiling water, and after it has cooked, letting it cool in the same, after which it will slip out in a mass, leaving all clean behind it. "Whosoever tries this plan will never try the old one again, for it prevents the possibility of burning the mush, and dispenses with all care and trouble except occasion ally to replenish the water in which the pail is set to boil. As to the length of time required, the rule is, ' the longer the better.' " FORMULA FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF PARTS OF MACHINES, t that time ; the current was constantly changing during the whole evening. W-^ had a very brilliant display of the Aurora. The Aurora Borealis seems to be composed of a vast mass of electric matter, resembling in every respect that generated by the electro-galvanic battery ; the currents from it change, coming on the wires, and then disappearing, as the mass of the Aurora rolls from the horizon to the zenith; sometimes so faintly as to be scarcely perceptible, and then so strongly as to emit one con- tinuous blaze of fire — yet very different from what we commonly term atmo- spheric electricity, and which we cannot relieve ourselves from, as in the latter ease, by placing ground wire conductors in close proximity to the line wires. 264 INFLUENCE OF OCCUPATIONS ON LIFE. INFLUENCE OF OCCUPATIONS ON LIFE. One of the most interesting departments of the llegistration Reports published annually by the State, is that which relates to the influence of occu- pations on the duration of human life. In the last Report, which is now before us, there are tables exhibiting the average ages and vocations of persons over twenty years of age, who have'died during the year 1851, and also exhibiting the same for a period of seven years and eight months ; viz., from May 1, 1843, to Dec. 31, 1851. Taking this last as our guide, we find that the average duration of life in Massachusetts is as follows : Agriculturists, --------- 64.02 Laborers, -.,.----- 45.10 Mechanics, -.---._-- 46.01 Merchants, 46.12 Paupers, - - . 67.52 Pi'ofessional Men, -------- 48.45 Public Men, - 50.00 Seamen, 43.07 Average, 51.94 The longest livers are distillers, whose average age is over 74 yeare. But six men of this profession, however, have deceased within the time embraced in these tables. Pilots stand next, their, average lifetime being nearly 72 years. Weighers and Gaugers live 70 years, omitting fractions; Gentle- men, 68 ; Caulkers and Gravers, Judges and Justices, 65 ; Bank OflScers, Sheriffs and Constables, 62; Millers, 60; Coopers, 58; Tobacconists, 57; Lawyers, Sailmakers, Shipwrights, Stevedores and Sextons, 55 ; Tallovf Chandlers and Hatters, 54 ; Wood Turners, 53 ; Millwrights, 51 ; Carriage- makers and Riggers, 50; Carpenters, Tanneis, Curriers, Brokers and Soldiers, 49; Innkeepers and Grocers, 48; Butchers, Druggists, Masons, Papermakei-s, Wheelwrights, Cooks and Victuallers, 47 ; Expressmen, Tradei-s and Cabinet- makers, 46 ; Leather Dressers and Weavers, 45 ; Watchmen, Booksellei's, Tailors, Haruessmakers, Founders, Bakers and Ticket MasteTS, 44 ; Brick- makers, Furnacemen, Manufacturers, Shoemakers and Wool Sorters, 43 ; Sil- versmiths, Painters, Bookbinders, Cardmakers, Coppersmiths and Jewellers, 42 ; Artists, Stablcrs and Teamsters, 41 ; Musicians aud Welldiggers, 40 ; Cigarmakers, Dyers, Upholsterers and Glass Blowers, 39; Engravers, Whip- makers and Drivei-s, 38; Drovers, Teachers, Civil Engineers, Pedlers and Printers, 37; Machinists, Tinsmiths and Comedians, 36; Editors, Chimney Sweeps and Confectioners, 35 ; Shoecuttei-s, Railroad Agents and Conductors, 34 ; Clerks, Dentists, Engineers and Firemen, 33 ; Operatives and Reed- makers, 32 ; Pianofortemakers, 31; Powdermakers, 30; Stove Dealers and Baggage ]\Iasters, 29 ; Fencing Masters, News Carriers and Cutlers, 28 ; Brakemen, 27 ; Students, 23. Among females who are engaged in regular occupations, the longest-lived are Nurses, whose average age is 55 ; next come Housekeepers, 52 ; Shoe- binders, 45 ; Seamstresses and Domestics, 43 ; Tailoresses, 41 ; Strawbraiders, 36 ; Milliners, 35 ; Dressmakers, 32 ; Teachers, 28 ; Operatives, 27. . The average age of the above classes of females is 46.78 years, which is five yeax-s and sixteen-hundiedths less than the average of males. The tables from which we have gathered the foregoing facts extend over a sufficient period of time to enable us to deduce some important and TEMPERATURE AND CLIMATE. 265 truthful conclusions. lu the general divisions of occupations it will be observed that the Agriculturist stands first on the list in length of life, the average a^e of this class being no less then 64 years. This is fully twelve years aoove the general average, and nearly nineteen above the average age of those returned as laborers, and eighteen per cent, above that of mechanics. But when it is considered that none' are embraced in the table who died prior to their twenty-first year, the diflference is really much more important. Starting, then, at the commencement of the twenty-fii-st year of life, the farmer has the prospect of 44 years before him, while the shoemaker has the prospect of only 23. Next to agriculture, there are probably more of our citizens engaged in shoemaking than, in any other occupation. In 1850, there were 55,082 farmers in the State, and 31,944 shoemakers. The carpenters number only one half as high as the shoemakers. The latter form so import- ant a part of our industrial community, that the question may well be raised, whether means cannot be devised to diminish the unhealthy tendencies of their labor. The mortality among shoemakers, we suspect, is to be ascribed as much to the small, overheated and unventilated rooms in which the trade is usually pursued, as to the sedentary nature of the employment itself. Larger workshops, well ventilated, and with a temperature regulated by the thermometer, would do wonders for our friends of the lapstone. A little garden-patch in addition, just large enough to scratch round in an hour or two each day, would doubtless add much to the value of the prescription. TEMPERATURE AND CLIMATE. In our April number we illustrated this subject by showing the influence of mountains, of the sea, and of winds upon cliniate, producing many and great diversities of temperature, moisture, &c,, in places on the same parallels of latitude. The facts there stated but partially show the extent of the in- fluence thus exerted. We purpose now to add a few facts that shall exhibit more definitely the actual condition of different parts of the globe in these respects. The isothermal lines, or " lines of equal temperature," under the tropics, run across the Atlantic nearly parallel to the equator, but on the middle lati- tudes they bend southerly towards the coast of America. They run nearly parallel into the interior of this continent, till they pass the Rocky Mountains, after which they bend again northwards. Baron Humboldt gives us the fol- lowing as the actual mean temperature of different latitudes on the west side of the Old Continent and the east side of the New : Old Cont. New Cout. at 30O lat. 70° 5' 66° 9' " 40 " 63 1 54 5 " 50 " 50 9 38 " 60 " 40 6 42 2 The extremes of heat and cold occur at Quebec, where the summers are as warm as at Paris, and the winters as severe as at St. Petei-sburgh. In the United States, climates have been classified as follows : 1. New-Eog- land; 2. Thence to the Potomac; 3. (hot) Virginia, Carolina, and Georgia to Florida, where (Lit. 29°) frost is unknown ; 4. Tennessee, Kentucky, and territories north-west of Ohio and Louisiana. We have already stated that forests discharge more water by evaporatioa 266 TEMPERATURE AND CLIMATE. than does the ocean. The result of this is, that tracts of land covered with trees are much colder than those which have less surface of vegetable growth. All luxuriant vegetation, including, of course, that of our cultivated fields or gardens, has a similar influence ; and the changes produced by destroying the native forest are noticed even by the most careless observers. In ascending mountains, or by balloons, the heat is found to decrease nearly in arithmetical progression. We give in the following table, in the first column, the latitude ; in the second, the mean height of the lowest termi- nus of congelation ; and in the third, the mean height of perpetual congela- tion. The distances are in feet. 0° 10° 20° 80° 15,577 15,067 13,719 11,592 20,000 27,084 24,661 20,838 35° 10,664 19,169 40° 9.016 16,207 46° 60° 7,658 3,684 13,730 6,446 The quantity of aqueous vapor contained in the atmosphere varies from about one fortieth the weight of the incumbent atmosphere within the torrid zone, to less than one ten thousandth part in the polar regions. This is one source of the great diversity in the amount of dew, clouds, rain, snow, thunder, lightning, &c., in different places. The various disturbing causes we have Darned, with others of minor importance, necessarily occasion still greater di- Tersity, both in temperature and moisture. A general result, however, of the annual number of rainy days and the depth of rain is attainable in the various latitudes, and is substantially as follows : From 12° to 43° north latitude, 78 rainy days. " 43 " 46 " 103 " " " 46 " 50 " 134 " " « 50 " 60 " 16 " " The annual depth of rain, and the average number of rainy days, in the places named below, are as follows : British Islands, - - - 32 inches, Western France, - - 25 " Eastern " - - 22 " Central and Northern Germany, 20 " Hungary, - - - 17 " East Russia, (Kesan,) - - 14 " Siberia, (Irkoutsk,) - - 14 " Massachusetts, (Boston,) - 39 " At tue Equator - - - 95 " In western Europe it rains twice as many days as in the eastern part. In Ireland it rains three times as many days as in Italy or Spain. On the western side of Ireland it rains on 208 days, as an annual average. In Eng- land, France, and the north of Germany, there are from 152 to 155 rainy days annuall}^ In Siberia, only 60 days. On the western coast of England, 87 inches of rain fall, and on the eastern, only 25. In Sitka, North America, it rains almost perpetually, having sometimes only some 40 days of fair weather in the year. Most of the following localities are exce])tions to the 156 rainy days, 152 u 147 (( 150 (( 111 (( 90 (C 60 a 97 u 70 or 80 TEMPERATURE AND CLIMATE. 267 general rule we have given, while our previous illustration of varioits dis-. turbing causes will furnish a full explanation : In Bombay, latitude 20°, there fall annually from 61 to 112 inches. In Cuba, 142 inches. Vera Cruz, in Mexico, which is backed by high moun- tains, and where the tropical air is driven by the trade-winds across the sea, is variously set down at 62 inches and from 120 to 178 inches. Delhi, on the plain of the Ganges, lat. 28°, 23 inches. Lisbon, lat. 30°, 27 inches ; the table- land in Spain, 11 inches ; the plains of Lombardy, about 45°, 36 inches ; the south foot of the Alps, 58 inches, their northern foot, 35 ; the southern foot of the Apennines, 64, their northern foot, 26 ; at Bergen, the current of wind being arrested by mountains, as in some of the examples just given, rain falls to the depth of 88 inches. In this country, the annual depth of rain in the places designated is as fol- lows : — In Hanover, N. H., 38 inches ; in the Western Eeserve, O., 36 inches ; Marietta, 0., 41 inches ; Fort Crawford, Wise, 30 inches ; St. Louis, Mo., 52 inches ; in the State of New- York, 36 ; in Philadelphia, 45 inches. There is an important difference in different localities, not apparent from the forms of statement here given. In many countries the rain falls every month, while in others the rains are confined to certain seasons of the year, so that they have their wet and dry seasons, in the latter of which rain seldom falls. The reasons for this fact are obvious. Winds that blow over the ocean or other large bodies of water are heavily fi-eighted with vapor, while those which pass over continents are generally deprived of moisture on their passage, either by hot and dry sands or are arrested by contact with mountains, as shown in a former article. Hence, where the winds are periodical, there will be this marked succession of wet and dry seasons. The western coast of Decan, the coast of Malabar, has its rainy season dur- ing the monsoon of the south-west. During the winter these winds ascend the lofty sides of the western Shauts, and cause violent and abundant rains. Along the coast of Coromandel, the north-eastern monsoon is freighted with vapor, while the south-western is dry. From the eastern coast of Africa and Madagascar, across the Indian Ocean, to the northern districts of Australia, and from the tropic of Capricorn to the Himalayas, the interior of China, and to the Corea, the western coasts are watered during the south-west monsoon, which prevails from April to October, while the eastern coasts are watered during the north-eastern monsoon, which blows from October to April. In the southern hemisphere, the rainy season corresponds with the south-western monsoon, and the dry with the south-eastern. In northern Africa, it seldom rains in the summer months, nor does it rain during that season in the southern parts of Spain, in Portugal, Sicily, southern Italy, Greece, or the north-western part of Asia, but it falls copiously in other seasons, and particularly in winter. In Africa, near the line, the rainy sea- son begins in April, on the coast and in the interior. In the regions watered by the Senegal, rain falls from June to November. On the Coromandel coast, the seasons are reversed : from March to June the winds are hot and moist, blowing mostly from the south across the bay of Bengal. From June to October the heat is intense; but about the middle of October the cool north-eastern monsoon commences and brings the periodical rains, which ter- minate by the middle of December, though the same wind continues till March. In Congo there is no rain from March to September, though the south and south-east winds cool the burning atmosphere. In October, the hot and humid winds from the north-west, crossing the Gulf of Guinea, 268 PERSPECTINE DRAWING. __ . \ flood the country with rains till January. Slight showers then prevail till March. Wo may here remark that north of the equator the south-western mon- soons prevail from April to October, and the south-eastern from October to April, while south of the equator these periods are reversed. In the Pacific, the north-east trade-wind prevails between latitude 2° and 25*^ north, and the south-east trade-wind ranges, probably, from 10° to 21° south latitude. In the Atlantic, the north-east wind extends from 8° to 30° north latitude, and the south-east, from 3° to 28° south latitude; though the limits are not stationary, but vary with the sun's place in the ecliptic. The trade-winds and the monsoons also interrupt each other's progress in a direct line, and by this collision of winds the direction of the current is materially changed. Or, we may vary the form of statement as follows : — The province of autum- nal rains includes all Europe south of the Carpathians ; western France, the delta of the Rhine, northern and western Scandinavia, and the British Isles. More rain falls in these countries iii autumn than in the other three seasons. The province of summer rains comprises the eastern parts of France, the Netherlands, except the delta of the Rhine, the north of Switzerland, Ger- many north of the Alps, the Carpathian Mountains, Denmark, Northern Scandinavia, Central Europe, and the countries beyond the Ural Mountains to the interior of Siberia, where showers are very rare in winter. In the southern hemisphere, winter is the rainy season in Chili ; nd the south-western part of South America, while on the east side of the Cordille- ras the rains fall in summer. At the extreme part of the continent, Terra del Fuego, it snows and rains throughout the year. Northern and Souihe.-i> Africa, Madeira, south Spain, Portugal, Sicily, southern Italy, Greece, northern and western Asia and Australia have their rainy seasons in the winter months. During the reign of George I., John Parry, a native of Switzerland, sent a memorial to Piirliament, in which he says : " There is a certain latitude on our globe, so happily tempered between the extremes of heat and cold, as to be more particularly adapted than are other climates to certain rich productions, among which are silk, cotton, and indigo." This latitude he fixed at about 33°. Experiment confirmed this opinion, and Mr. Parry settled on the river Savannah, between Carolina and Georgia, and cultivated those crops. But this is a branch of our subject that we must defer to a future opportunity. PERSPECTIVE DRAWING. We have shown that the shape of the perspective square, while the horizon remains unchanged, depends upon the distance of the beholder. It is ob- vious, however, that to prevent a change in the horizon, as the beholder re- cedes from a given view, he must have a more elevated position. For when the position of the eye is changed on the plane of the picture, the horizon also changes. The beholder is the centre of the circle which forms the hori- zon, and of course it changes with that centre. But it is clear that it is pos- sible to assume a point of elevation as one recedes from a given object, so as to retain the same horizon at a given point ; and though the horizon will change in other directions with every change of position, that portion of the horizon which we wish to incorporate in our picture remains, as we have supposed, unchanged. PERSPECTIVE DRAWING. 269 Thus, a person at a can see the top-masts of the vessel in the distance. If he recede from the ship, and would still retain the same view of her he had before, he must secure an elevated position ; and the farther he recedes, as from a to b, or to c, he must secure a position still higher at each remove. ^j»^ This diagram also illustrates the remark made in the second number, (April,) that the shape of the perspective square is dependent upon the radial distance. For the radial distance is determined by, or rather is dependent upon, the distance and elevation of the beholder. But, in perspective drawing, where shall we assume the line of the horizon, and where appoint the radial distance ? "VS^e answer, first : If you would give a true representation of a given landscape from a certain point, the facts of the case must decide. You must take the actual distance of the position from the scene you would represent. If, on the other hand, you wish to know what distances to assume when you would represent a given object, as a house, or field, &c., truthfully, and in a manner to produce the best effect, we answer as follows : The radial distance should not be less than twice the width of the picture. This rule is not arbitrary, but of necessity. The eye can view at once, with tolerable distinctness, about 30° of the horizon, or one sixth of a semicircle. In surveying a wider range, the head must be turned — or, in other words, we view two or more pictures in succession. This fact is the basis of our rule, A radius is one sixth of a circle. But the radius is the distance of the beholder from the horizon, and hence that distance, to be true to nature, should not be less than one sixth of 360°, or 60°, which is twice the width of the field of clear vision. The radius may be more than this relative distance, because we can take a view of less than 30° of the horizon, if we please. Suppose you wish to represent a view having a width of 300 feet, you assume a position at least 600 feet from it. Your sheet admits a picture 12 inches in width: that is, a ground line of 12 inches. Doubling this, you have 24 inches, to be set off on the horizon from the point of sight for your radial distance. Every inch of the ground line represents twenty-five feet. It is also obvious that this distance of twenty-five feet is represented by shorter lines in those portions of the view which are nearer the horizon. At the horizon, all distances or lengths come to a point. The length of any line, at intermediate points, will be in inverse proportion to its distance from the ground line. Let A B represent any given distance on the ground line as 25 feet. Draw lines from each of its termina- tions to the point of sight, S. All lines parallel to A, B, drawn between the horizon and the ground line, will alike represent 25 feet. It is well to draw a diagram of this sort, properly graduated into fractional parts, to which you may refer for any distances desired, not measured on the ground line. But how shall we determine distances in a direction A B perpendicular to the ground line ? The mode is simple, and its reason is plain. Divide the ground line into equal parts, as may suit / / / 270 PERSPECTIVE DRAWING. your convenience. Lay a straiglit-edge on each or either of these subdivisions, and also on the radial point, and the point where this edge cuts a Une drawn from the point 0, or the point from which these fractional parts were mea- sured to the point of sight, will represent the 'perspective distances or lengths on this perpendicular of these fractional distances so graduated on the ground line. Thus, drav/- a ground line, A B, and a line perpendicular to it, to the line of the horizon li ; mark oft' distances representing, say 5 inch- es, 5 feet or rods, he. Placing a straight-edge as a rule, on these points, 1, 2, 3, &c., on the ground line and on the radial point, (on the line H continued a suflScient distance,) mark off" on the perpendicular the points of intersection, 1, 2, 3. This gives the lengths on the perpen- dicular, which correspond with those marked on the ground line. ■* 3 2 1 R ipjjjg illustrates the principles involved in drawing any object in perspective, and how the position of any point in it may be readily determined. For convenience, it may be stated in form, as in the following Rule /or transferring any point into its place in perspective : First. Connect it with the ground line by a perpendicular. Second. From this point of intersection, draw a line to the point of sight. Third. Set off from this point of intersection its distance from the ground line, measured on the ground line, and connect by a straight-edge this point last found with the radial point. The intersection of this straight-edge with the hue from the ground line to the point of sight, will be the point required. Thus, to set off a point 25 feet or rods from a on the ground line, in the square in the margin, measure 25 feet from a to 6 on the ground line ; connect a with the point of sight; apply a straight-edge to h and to the radial point, and the intersection of this edge with a s gives the point required. If a LINE is to be thus placed in perspective, fix both its terminations by the pro- cess just given, and then unite them. If a POLYGON is to be placed in perspective, fix all its angles by this pro- cess, and then unite them by lines. If these several points, whether one or more, are already drawn on paper, but not in perspective, and are to be transferred to a perspective square, draw lines from each to the ground line, and perpendicular to it, as from a and d io c and g in last figure. From these points of intersection on the ground line as centres, draw arcs from the several points to the ground line, and apply the straight-edge on the points of intersection of these arcs with the A USEFUL DISCOVERY IN SUGAR-MAKING. 271 ground line, and on the radial point, as before. The intersection of this straight-edge with the Unes previously drawn, designates the several points required. This mode of determining the points required is often very inconvenient, from the extent of paper which is necessary to obtain the radial point. A plan has been devised for dispensing with these long lines, which ena- bles us to keep every thing within the limits of the picture. It is based upon the doctrine of similar triangles. Suppose the radial distance is 8 feet, the picture being 4 feet square, and the point of sight in its centre : the distance from tiie point of sight to the margin will be 2 feet. Divide the base or ground line into four equal parts, each will represent a foot. Half the width of the picture is one fourth the radial distance. Now, if we assume the margin of the picture as the radial point, and consider each of the divisions of the ground line as repre- senting four times what it really is, we shall have the same result as by the more cumbrous process already described. Let us illustrate by a diagram : Here we assume the S R we assume terms just denoted. S R is 2 feet, and forms one fourth the radial distance. Each division of the ground line represents 1 foot. Let us call S R 8 feet, and each division of the ground line 4 feet, and the result will be very con- veniently attained. From division 1, now worth 4, draw a line to R, cutting B S, and we get the ter- mination of a perspective square. From second di- vision, now worth 8, draw a line to R, and we get the boundary of the second perspective square, or, in all, 8 feet front and 16 perspective feet in depth. Any other fictitious value may be given to the parts of the radial distance, provided the value of those parts on the ground line be increased in the same proportion. Thus, half S R might have been taken for the whole radial distance, and then its fictitious value would be eight times its true value, and each division of the ground line would be worth 8 feet ; or, if the radial dis- tance is taken as three times the width of the picture, and R is assumed as the radial point, the fictitious value of S R becomes increased six times, and each foot on the ground line is worth 6 feet ; or, if half S R were taken for the radial distance, eacli division of the ground line would be worth 12 feet. Any portion of S R may be taken for the radial distance, provided the divisions of the ground line be valued by the same scale. A USEFUL DISCOVERY IN SUGAR-MAKING. An improvement has been made in the management of sugar plantatioaa, in the discovery that bagasse (the sugar-cane after it is crushed) can be used or fuel. The transportation of the waste to the swamps, river or bayou, has 272 HOW TO TOAST BREAD. been a heavy task to the planters, occupying no inconsiderable time and labor. The steam to drive the sugar engine is now generated by burning bagasse. . HOW TO TOAST BREAD. Chestnut brown Avill be far too deep a color for good toast ; the nearer you can keep it to a straw color, the more wholesome it will be. If you would have a slice of bread so toasted as to be pleasant to the palate and wholesome to the stomach, never let one particle of the surface be charred. To effect this is very obvious. It consists in keeping the bread at the proper distance fi'om the fire, and exposing it to a proper heat for a due length of time. By this means the whole of the water may be evaporated out of it, and it may be changed from dough, which has always a tendency to undergo acetous fermentation, whether in the stomach or out of it, to the pure farina wheat, which is in itself one of the most wholesome species of food, not only for the strong and healthy, but for the delicate and diseased. As it is turned to farina, it is disintegrated, the tough and gluey nature is gone, every part can be penetrated, it is equally warm all over, and not so hot as to turn the butter into oil, which, even in the case of the best butter, is invariably turning a wholesome substance into a poison. The properly toasted slice of bread absorbs the butter, and the biitter and farina are in a state of very minute division, the one serving to expose the other to the free action of the- gastric fluid in the stomach ; so that when a slice of toast is rightly prepared, there is not a lighter aiticle in the whole vocabulary of cookery. — Hotisehold Al- manac for 1853. We differ entirely from the no doubt learned editor of the Household Almanac, above quoted, and not in one respect, but in several. Brown color, in itself, will not pretend to be a more wholesome color than a more sooty shade ; and the latter is no doubt condemned by our author, not because it is black, but because it is charcoal. Now, although carbon in the lunos is a deadly substance, in the stomach it is quite wholesome. Its effects are antiseptic, decidedly and uniformly. All standard works on physiology agree in this. Again ; we do not wish our toast to be deprived of all its moisture. If it were'^l^we should throw it away with other offal. We would retain all the moisture that can be retained ; and we have yet to learn any reason why we should not gratify our palate by so doing. Thirdly ; we doubt whether it is practicable to have warm toast by any other course of procedure ; and even with this, our toast is often so cooled ere we are ready to use it, that we are disposed to commit it a second time to the action of the fire, and might do so, but for the fact that by so doing, " the whole of the water may be evaporated out of it," and we be doomed to eat a mere dry chip. With all the moisture that can be preserved in it, our bread will absorb quite as much butter as Ave wish it to, and our " gastric juice," to our knowledge, makes no complaint. It is a curious statement for a professed chemist to make, that by ridding bread of its water, the gluten and other constituents are all turned into farina. We should like to read a few chapters of our said editor's chemistry, and be allowed a few questions for explanation. This change would be quite as mar- vellous as that other change which some contend is witnessed, or may be wit- nessed any day of the year, of converting wheat into grass. We advise our friend to secure letters-patent, and without question he will find no rival claim- ant for the honor of his discovery. GRAPE CULTURE. 273 GRAPE CULTURE. What is more delicious than a good grape ? It has ever been deserv- edly regarded as one of the most desirable of fruits. Some few of the hardy- kinds have been grown quite extensively in New-England and other Northern States. But success has attended these efforts within very narrow limits, so far as varieties are concerned. Perhaps the Isabella has given the most gene- ral satisfaction. We refer, of course, to the efforts of those whose vines were unprotected from the natural climate, except perhaps a slight covering in the winter. Among our new books we have noticed, as our readers may observe, a new treatise of a practical sort, by Mr. Chorlton, which gives us plain and availa- ble directions for the culture of more desirable varieties under glass, though without heat. A large proportion of the failures met with in the cultivation of this fruit, the author referred to ascribes to the great and frequent changes to which the vine is exposed in our climate, both touching heat and moisture, by which a fungous growth is produced, fatal to the production of good fruit. The engraving at the head of this article is presented to our readers through the courtesy of Mr. Chorlton, and of his publisher, Mr. Riker. It is a view of the cold grapery of Mr. Green, on Staten Island, under which Mr. Chorlton has grown the finest of grapes. It is simple in its construction, and by no means costly. " Good and suitable houses can be erected at from $8 to $12 per running foot, on the length of the house, all conveniences in- cluded." Nor is the cultivation expensive. Our author also assures us that " the skill is soon acquired." He also adds, " no fruit-bearing plant will give greater satisfaction, if attended to, and nothing horticultural will continue to prosper without it." Different opinions are entertained in respect to the best shape and position PART II. VOL. V. 18 274 GRAPE CULTURE. of a grape-house. Of a variety of forms, each has its advocate. In this, as in some other things, while we are less competent to judge than are many of the disputants, we think we can see a propriety in the opinion, that different shapes are preferable in different localities, according to the power of the sun and atmosphere, as exhibited in the spot in question. Fig. 1. F'g- 2. F'g- 3- Fij?. 4. Fisr. 5. m m H- r \c.v\ f V-\-% ¥ Y Vt-Y-P J T " m ^ffi lllllllllll Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, are representations of the forms more generally recommended. They differ, as is obvious by inspection, in presenting either a double or single pitch, and a curve or straight line ; and, as Mr. Chorlton informs us, " latterly a new notion has sprung up, and we find the ridge and furrow-formed roof, figure 5, is becoming the order of the day." We readily perceive that this form gives an equal extent of surface exposed to the rays of the sun, with less elevation of the structure than any other of the forms presented. As a matter of economy in building, tl-.is may be of importance. And again, if the structure is built with close walls on the sides, or on the northern side, as they should be when early forcing is desirable, " the lean-to forms are the most economical." The form is not regarded by our author so important as " the having it so constructed as to shut up tight in case of an emergency." As to position, the ends ought always to face north and south, or as nearly so as possible. The following kinds are considered, in this treatise, as the best and most suitable for the cold grapery, and their time of ripening in New-York: Black Hamburgh, last week in August ; Victoria Hamburgh, last week in August ; Wilraott's Hamburgh, first week in September ; Chasselas Fon- tainbleau, middle of August ; Chasselas Rose, second week in x\ugust ; Mal- vasia, first week in August; Muscat Blanc Hatif, first week in August ; Pur- ple Damask, last of September ; West's St. Peter's, first week in October ; Zinfindal, middle of August ; Grizzly Frontignan, middle of August ; White Frontignan, middle of August ; Black Frontignan, middle of August ; Decon's Superb, last week in August ; Reine de Nice, first of October ; White Nice, early in October ; Syrian, last week in September ; Xeres, last of August ; AMERICAN MANUFACTURES. 275 Gromier du Cantal, middle of August ; Black Prince, first week in Septem- ber ; De la Palestine, last week in September ; Dutch Sweetwater, last week in July ; Scharges Henling and Muscat of Alexandria, beginning of Sep- tember. For ourself, we would be content with a supply of the Hamburghs. We have tasted none that, on the whole, suit us so well. FOR THE PLOUGH, THE LOOM, AND TUB ANVIL, AMERICAN" MANUFACTURES. The spirit of improvement is indeed abroad upon the earth. Every day gives birth to some new invention, the application of some new principle to be established, or the new application of what was before known ; and the facility and zeal with which these improvements are carried into effect are no less honorable to the intelligence and patriotism of the friends of domestic improvements, than promotive of the best interests of our growing and happy republic. The encouragement of home manufactures is strenuously urged by the first law of nations. It is the vital spark of a country like ours in ite youth. On this are suspended the happiness and prosperity of the people ; and in the same ratio as manufacturers and mechanics are encouraged, the interests of the whole community must advance. This policy strengthens the bond of union among the people, by associating different sections of the coun- try through the intercourse of trade, and rendering reciprocally the interests of one subservient to and dependent on those of another. It augments the national resources, and regulates the condition of society, by retaining and cir- culating the specie which is now annually exported and expended for foreign manufactures. Every cargo of such draws its value in specie from the coun- try ; consequently, the circulating medium is retrenched, money becomes scarce, and the attending evils fall heavily on the poorer classes of society. On the contrary, let our own manufecturers be encouraged, and the money which is sent out of the country will circulate through different channels equally among all grades of the community ; and the want of it, compara- tively, will scarcely be known. There are no mechanics more ingenious or industrious than our own, and our country is capable of supplying the mate- rial for the manufacture of stuffs of every variety. The silk-worm is a native of America — cotton also, and is one of the greatest commodities of exporta- tion. Vast shipments are sent to England — it is there manufactured, and again sent back to us ! The manufactured cottons of England are not to be compared to those of the United States. Why then do we pay duties, freight, charges, and foreign manufacturers, for an article which we have of a better quality at our own hands? Certainly we are not desirous of pur- chasing the favors of any foreign nation at the sacrifice of our own interests. The workshops of Great Britain can supply few valuable additions to the ingenuity, enterprise, and skill of our own countrymen. Whatever is worthy of imitation is already known in the United States, and subsequent improve- ments are much more likely to spring up among what Cobbett denominated " a thinking people," than among nations wiUing to hazard few experiments, and wedded to the prejudices of their forefathers. What then is necessary to render us the greatest manufacturers on the globe, but a will and determina- tion to become such ? Nature has provided ample means, and a knowledge 276 THE LAPLANDERS. of the use of them exists in ourselves. It may be said that we are in our infancy ; that the bud of our country is just expanding. It is true we are young, but strong, vigorous, and needing only a stimulus to elicit those pow- ers which, sooner or later, in the natural course of things, are to make us the rival of all Europe in the perfection of manufacturing and mechanic arts. England, by her internal improvements, inventions, and cultivation of the sciences, has risen to the highest pinnacle of fame and power. She has become the mart of the whole civilized world, and commands the respect and admiration of all. What may not America, by a wise policy, one day become ? She has England for an example ; has seen her errors, and can profit by them. She has no occasion for an expensive standing army and navy ; no discontented neighbors to quarrel with ; no nobles (except of her own creating) to support in luxury and idleness. Every thing moves along smoothly, in truly republican simplicity and economy. Her natural advan- tages are superior. She has an immense territory, and an industrious and increasing population, inured to labor, and having the best interests of their country dearest at heart. J. S. G. Media, Pa., March, 1853. ,THE LAPLANDERS. The inhabitants of Lapland are of Norwegian, Russian and Swedish descent. Their language is similar to that of the French, from whom they are originally an offshoot. The Lapps in general are of middle stature. They have long heads, short necks, small brown-red eyes, owing to the constant smoke in their huts, high cheek bones, thin beards and large hands. Those of Norway are distinguished from the Russian Lapps by the blackness, luxuriance and gloss of their Lair ; the more northern portion of the races are somewhat larger, more muscular, and of a lighter complexion than the rest. Those of Sweden and Norway are, to some extent, more cultivated, enterprising and industrious than those of Russia, and make light of the greatest privations and hardships. The richest of the latter have not more than 800 reindeer, while the former possess from 2000 to 3000. In Sweden and Norway, whoever owns from 400 to 500 passes for a man in moderate circumstances ; with 200 a small family with proper prudence can live without suffering from want, but less than this number plunges a family into all the troubles of poverty. Whoever has not more than fifty, adds his to those of some rich man, and becomes his servant — almost his slave ; and is bound in the proper season to follow him to the hunting or fishing-grounds. Fish, game, and the flesh of the reindeer are the usual food of the Lapps. Bread they never eat, though of the rye meal, which they procure in Kola, or of the fishermen in barter for the products of their reindeer herds, they make a sort of flat or pan-cakes, mingling the meal with the pounded bark of trees. For this purpose the meal is first soaked in cold water, and the cakes baked upon a hot iron. They are eaten with butter or codfish oil, which is esteemed a great luxury. The mingling of the bark with the meal is not done merely for the sake of economy, the Lapps considering it an excellent an ti -scorbutic. They are very fond of salt, and eat nothing uncooked. Their cookery is all done in untinned copper vessels, perhaps because in all Lapland there are no pewterers ; more probably, however, it is a long-descended custom, since in all Northern Asia the use of copper was formerly univei-sal, and the art of overlaying that metal could hardly be known to the rude inhabitants. Never- THE MAGIC OF CHEMISTRY. 277 theless, cases of poisoning from the copper never occur, being rendered im- possible by the perfect cleanliness of the copper vessels, which after every meal are scoured with sand till they shine like mirrors. Besides, after the food is sufficiently cooked, it is immediately poured into wooden vessels of home manufacture. The Norwegian and Swedish Lapps make cheese of reindeer milk, and carefully save for use all the whey. They milk their animals summer and winter, and freeze the milk which is set apart for cheese. The women consider this a great luxury. It is re- markable for its pleasant odor, and has a ready sale in Norway at a rather high price. The Russian Lapps have no idea of making cheese from their reindeer milk, although the manufacture, beyond a doubt, would be of great advantage to them. This milk is distinguished for its excellent flavor ; in color and consistency it is like thick cream from the milk of cows, and is re- markably nourishing. THE MAGIC OF CHEMISTRY, Chemistry is one of the most attractive sciences. From the beginning to the end, the student is surprised and delighted with the developments of the exact discrimination, as well as the power and capacity which are displayed in various forms of chemical action. Dissolve two substances in the same fluid, and then by evaporation, or otherwise, cause them to reassume a solid form, and each particle will unite with its own kind, to the entire exclusion of all others. Thus, if sulphate of copper and carbonate of soda are dissolved in boiling water, and then the water is evaporated, each salt will be re-formed as before. This phenomenon is the result of one of the first principles of the science, and as such, is passed over without thought ; but it is a wonderful phenom- enon, and made of no account only by the fact that it is so common and so familiar. It is by the action of this same principle, " elective affinity," by which we produce the curious experiments alluded to in a previous number, with sym- pathetic INKS. By means of these, we may carry on a correspondence which is beyond the discovery of all not in the secret. With one class of these inks the writing becomes visible only when moistened with a particular solution. Thus, if we write to you with a solution of sulphate of iron, the let- ters are invisible, Ou the receipt of our letter you rub over the sheet a feather or sponge, wet with solution of nut-galls, and the letters burst forth into sensible being at once, and are permanent 2. If we write with a solution of sugar of lead, and you moisten with a sponge or pencil dipped in water impregnated with sulphuretted hydrogen, tbe letters will appear with metallic brilliancy. 3. If we write with a weak solution of sulphate of copper, and you apply ammonia, the letters assume a beautiful blue. When the ammonia evaporates, as it does on exposure to the sun or fire, the writing disappears, but may be revived again as before. 4. If you write with oil of vitriol very much diluted, so as to prevent its destroying the paper, the manuscript will be invisible except when held to the fire, when the letters will appear black. 5. Write with cobalt dissolved in dilute muriatic acid : the letters will be invisible when cold, but when warmed they will appear a bluish green. We are almost sure that our secrets thus written will not be brought to the 278 THE MAGIC OF CHEMISTRY. knowledge of a stranger, because he does not know the solution which was used in writing, and therefore knows not what to apply to bring out the letters. Other forms of elective affinity produce equally novel results. Thus, two invisible gases, when combined, form sometimes a visible solid. Muriatic acid and ammonia are examples, also ammonia and carbonic acid. On the other hand, if a solution of sulphate of soda be mixed with a so- lution of muriate of lime, the whole becomes solid. Some gases when united form liquids, as oxygen and hydogen, which unite and form water. Some solids, when combined, form liquids. Nitrate of ammonia and sulphate of soda, when rubbed together in equal proportions in a mortar, become fluid. Acetate of lead and sulphate of zinc, in equal proportions, rubbed in a mortar, produce a fluid ; and so will acetate of lead and Glauber's salts. The union ofotbersubstancesproduces a wonderful change of temperature. Sulphuric acid poured into water will so increase the tem- perature as to make it uncomfortable to hold the vessel containing it. If one part of ice is dropped into four parts of sulphuric acid cooled to the freezing- point, 32°, the mass will suddenly rise to the boiling-point. Certain other mixtures produce an intense cold, and are called frefzing MIXTURES. Among these are the following : To 32 drams of water add 11 of muriate of ammonia, 10 of nitrate of potash, and 16 of sulphate of soda, all finely powdered, and immerse your thermometer and note the result. If equal weights of muriate of lime finely powdered, and fresh-fallen snow are mixed, a similar result is produced: 13 lbs. of each have frozen 56 lbs. of quicksilver into a solid mass. Sometimes a change of color is produced by similar means. Thus, dissolve copper in sulphuric acid, the solution is blue. Dilute one part of nitric acid with five or six parts of water, and throw in some copper filings. After a few moments, if you pour oS" this colorless fluid and add a little liquid ammonia, the mass will become blue. By similar processes odorous substances become inodorous, and the reverse ; and other changes equally remarkable are as familiar to the chemist as the alphabet of his native tongue. But the most astonishing exhibitions are wit- nessed, we think, in combustion. A great variety of experiments come under this title, presenting very dissimilar appearances. The comparatively slow process of fermentation by which the interior of your compost-heap is made hot, is one form of combustion. So is the glow-worm light of phosphorus exposed to the ordinary temperature of the atmosphere. Other exhibitions in this department present an almost infinite variety of form and condition. From the dim light but powerful heat of burning hydrogen or alcohol, to the insufferable light and heat of burning iron under the compound blowpipe ; from the bright light but scarcely perceptible heat of phosphoric oil (with which boys sometimes liffht up their oivn hands and faces) to the powerful action of that same substance, phosphorus, when immersed in oxygen gas, we have a series of developments as various in ap- pearance as they are wonderful. All these phenomena differ only in their conditions, and not in their essential characteristics. Can you really believe that the heat (we use the word in its popular sense) by which your house is warmed is actually in the coal or the wood while it is piled up in your cellar or outhouse ? Yet so it is. Were its latent heat called into a sensible state where it lies, your buildings would catch the infec- tion^ and all consume together. Why does not the fuel burn in the wood- pile as jt does on the hearth ? Something sets it on fire ! What is that VALUE OF NIGHT-SOIL. 279 "something?" Is any thing added to the wood not in contact with it before! Whence comes the heat of the mixture of sulphuric acid and ice, before named ? Is that set on fire by some other burning body ? How does phosphorus get on fire, when left exposed on your table ? These processes are alike wonder- ful. The phenomena exhibited by setting free this latent heat — the heat not cognizable by the senses, not even by the nicest instruments at a previous moment — are utterly astonishing. Throw a little phosphuret of lime into a vessel of water, and it takes fire on the surface. Throw a little potassium into water, and it burns rapidly wider water. The water sets it on fire. Were all the latent heat which now pervades the substance of the earth suddenly made free — as it might be by mere chemical action, without the application of any foreign burning body — the whole globe, with all its moun- tains of rock, its iron and other metals, and its mighty seas, would be con- sumed. We do not undertake to explain the phenomena we have described, but only suggest them as incentives to lovers of the marvellous to examine the subject in a systematic, scientific manner. The merely curious mind will find more to feed upon in this department of natural wonders, than in all the fic- titious stories which the press has ever issued. " Truth is more wonderful than fiction." VALUE OF NIGHT-SOIL. At the Massachusetts Legislative Agricultural Meeting, recently, Mr. Simeon Brown, of the Neio-England Farmer^ in his remarks stated, that according to Mr. Robert L. Pell, of Ulster county, the nitrogen contained in the excretise of one person would grow, in combination with the aid of the ammonia, phos- phates and sulphates obtained from the atmosphere, 800 lbs. of wheat per year, at which rate the population of Boston (150,000) might furnish suffi- cient to raise 120,000,000 pounds of wheat yearly. Add to this a small quan- tity of ashes and bone- dust, and with the natural resources of the farm we could bring up our lands to an amazing degree of fertility. The solid and liquid manuring substances produced in factories of various kinds in our cities, with the sewerage, &c., is equal to one ton for each inha- bitant. Allowing the same calculation for Boston, it would give 150,000 tons per annum. In addition to this, 150,000 tons of street dirt, ashes, &c., might be saved every year, the whole furnishing valuable fertilizing matter worth at least $150,000, Mr. Pell suggested the erection of reservoirs, with build- ings over them, at the terminations of the sewers, for the purpose of collecting the rising gases, and crystallizing them by chemical process for agricultural purposes. We are surprised that the enterprising farmers in the neighborhood of our large cities do not bestir themselves to secure the benefit of this immense quantity of fertilizing matter. Our cities often would be glad to give it away, although, according to our notion, it ought to be sold at auction every year, and become a source of profit. We know of at least one city into which immense wagons are driven in in the evening, and after being filled, are driven home, and the valuable offal of a city of some 40,000 inhabitants is poured upon the land, and is made to produce rich crops. What an immense amount is lost in the city of N'ew-York every year ! 280 FLAX CULTUllB IN INDIANA. Even now, in some of the more sunken parts of the city, as we have had occa- sion to notice within a day or two, the deep mire of the gutters begins to send up its strong odor, as powerful to fertilize when buried in the soil, as to kill where it now lies by the consent of our city government. If tbey are no purer in their morals than in their official habits, we would not " sit in their seats," nor receive their "reward," for all the harvests of grain ever garnered. Why may not some plan be adopted in all our cities, for turning these various kinds of ofFal to some crood account ? DRAINING, WHEN USEFUL. "Jtfy land dorUt need draining /" is frequently the stout assertion of the owner of light loamy soils, on the surface of which water does not stand a day, except in early spring, "How can I know whether draining will do my fields any good ?" is the more doubtful inquiry of others who have sometimes seen its beneficial effects. We believe, says the Albany Cultivator^ as a general rule, every acre of ground should be thoroughly and evenly underdrained, wherever it becomes necessary to dig a drain to a cellar ; but where the subsoil is so porous that a cellar is dry without an artifical outlet for the water, nothing more is needed for such land. Dig a pit any where, three feet deep, and if water remains in it during the usual period of ploughing, planting or cultivating, then, most plainly, that land needs the benefit of underground channels. Some of our readers will recollect the statement of T. G. Yeomans, in the last volume of New-York Agricultural Transactions, who regularly drained an apparently high and dry field of light loamy soil, which his neighbors positively assured him needed nothing of the kind ; but whom he convinced by showing the large stream which afterwards rushed out of his main trunk. F. L. Olmsted, in his Walks and Talks in England, mentions the case of a gentleman who drained thoroughly and expensively a piece of high land. All thought him crazy — "the hills "were too dry already," — he was throwing away his money. But he patiently awaited the result, which was, that the increased rental soon repaid the outlay, and his land was tripled in value. FLAX CULTURE IN INDIANA. Mr. R. T. Brown, of Crawfordsville, in a communication to Gov. Wright, President of the Indiana State Board of Agriculture, says : " I send you enclosed a few samples of ' Flax Cotton,' presented to me by the Hon. H. L. Ellsworth, of Lafayette. Mr. Ellsworth has secured the ma- chinery necessary for the manufacture of the cotton, and will have it in ope- ration early in the season. He has on hand the 'stem' grown on 120 acres last season, which, from experiments already made, will, he supposes, yield about 300 pounds per acre of 'cotton' similar to No. 2 of the enclosed speci- mens. The expense of reducing the fibre to this state, after the stem is pro- duced, is about 2 cents per pound, which at the usual price of cotton (10 cents) will leave 8 cents per pound, or $24 per acre, for the farmer who pro- duces it. To this must be added the value of the seed, which will range from 16 to $8 per acre, giving a final result of $30 at least for each acre. This is Mr. Ellsworth's calculation : it may be too high ; but if we allow for the THE HORSE. 281 magnifying effects of his zeal one third or even one half, still flax will be as profitable a crop in proportion to the amount of labor required to produce it, as any of the staples of the country. " Mr. E.'s method of flax farming is to break his ground in the fall, and secure it from being trodden in the winter. Between the middle and last of April he harrows it well, sows his seed, harrows in, and passes the roller over it, leaving a level surface. He harvests it with a horse-power reaper, cutting about two inches from the ground. As soon as it is dry, the seed is threshed off, (for which operation we yet need an appropriate machine,) and the 'stem' baled for transportation to the factory. The amount of labor is about the same as that required for a wheat crop." THE HORSE.-ORGANS OF RESPIRATION, DISEASES, &c. . "We take from the Traveller the following report of another of the lectures of Mr. Slade on the anatomy and diseases of the horse : The lecturer opened with an account of the pleura, the serous membrane which envelopes all the vital organs, and furnishes a liquid which lubricates the parts. This pleura sometimes becomes diseased, and this fluid becomes abundant and flows from the nostrils. The lungs are two large, soft, spongy elastic bodies, divided by the pleura, and separating the chest into two distinct parts. The lungs are divided into lobes by fissures. The right lung has three lobes, the left but two. In the young horse the lungs are of a pink color, which color grows darker as the horse grows older, until in old age it is quite gray. The trachea, when it devides into two parts, divides again into eight passages, and then into an infinite number of air-passages, terminating in air-cells, which ramify in arteries. The heart is separated by the pleura, and has a membranous bag called pericardium, which completely surrounds it. It is of a conical form, and is composed of four cavities. The two upper are called the auricles ; the two lower, the ventricles, which occupy the great bulk of the heart. The left side is engaged in the general arterial circulation of the body ; the right in the pulmonary circulation. The left is much thicker than the right, its work requiring much more strength than the other side. Starting from the left ventricle, the blood fitted for the nutrition of the body is forced through the arteries to all parts of the body, becomes altered, and then is returned by capillary vessels to the veins, commencing in small ramifications, and increasing until it reaches the right auricle, and then it is sent to the right ventricle, and then by pulmonary arteries to the lungs. In the air-cells of the lungs it comes in contact with the air, and is then carried through the pulmonary veins to the left auricle, and then to the left ventricle, and is there ready to be sent again through the body. The first great arterial canal is called the aorta, which divides into two branches, the anterior and the posterior. The anterior supplies the head and extremities — the posterior, the abdomen. The arteries are elastic tubes, composed of three coats. The veterinary practitioner must understand well the pulse of the horse. It should beat from 36 to 42. The pulse of the ox is 35 to 40. The dog, 90 to 100. The cat, 100 to 125. In the horse the quick pulse indicates fever ; a slow one shows the contrary, 282 THE HORSE. and is a sign of diseases of the brain, like blind staggers. A very strong pulse shows that tlie horse needs bleeding. A weak pulse requires tonics. The delicate organs of respiration and circulation are subject to many- diseases. But before considering the diseases, the lecturer defined inflam- mation as an altered nutriment, with increased sensibility, giving rise to heat, pain and swelling. The seat of disease in the chest may be detected by applying the ear to the chest, or by striking it with the fist. In a young, healthy horse, a murmur is heard in the chest. The respirations of the horse are six per minute, against sixteen of the man. The common catarrh is a common cold caused by exposure. There are watery discharges from the nose, which soon become thicker ; a cough is also observed. The influenza attacks horses early in the spring, after being shut up in warm stables. It is marked by great debility, and is epidemic, affecting the respiratory organs, and causing a sore throat and cough. The eyes be- come nearly closed, and are filled with tears. The animal becomes very much debilitated. Bleeding may be practised if the pulse is full, and great care should be taken not to excite the digestive organs ; a vapor bath may be applied, and the horse should be well clothed. Sometimes the disease is very severe «nd fatal, and sometimes its effects are very slight. Bronchitis is not a primary disease. The lungs become affected, and give rise to a whirring sound. The pulse is rapid, and the horse is languid, and does not hke to move. The disease usually ends in inflammation of the lungs. The lecturer then spoke of inflammation of the substance of the lungs. The delicate air-cells and the ramifying arteries upon them are the seats of many diseases. Lung fever is ushered in by a fever heat, followed by a chill which seems like a death-like cold. The pulse is obscure, the heart labors hard, the vessels of the lungs are enveloped in blood, and sometimes ruptured. Bleeding is therefore beneficial. The horse will not lie down, but strains every muscle to breathe. He will not move at all, and stands until he falls exhausted. The extremities are cold. The animal often looks at his sides, and his head is protruded. As the disease increases, the horse finds yet more difficulty in breathing, and finally suffocates. When the horse is attacked with the lung fever, the ear detects in the chest a crackling noise, as though salt had been thrown into fire. This is a sure sign of the disease. The horse should be bled in large streams, sTiould receive extensive blistering on the breast, and should be well covered. The bowels should be gently moved by injections of soap and water. There is little hope of a horse who has a settled lung fever, and sudden in- flammation of the lungs often leaves a portion of the lungs diseased. The horse suffers then with thick wind. The broken-winded horse breathes hard and quick in drawing in the air, but when respiring there seem to be slight spasms. Broken wind is caused by a cough, or by rapid galloping after a full meal. It is attended by a short cough, and cannot be cured. It may be palliated by nutritious food which will occupy little space in the stoma -h. The pleurisy is an inflammation of the pleura, and is caused by over- exertion, cold, change, or accident, as the breaking of the ribs. The first symptoms are a shivering, followed by heat. The side is very tender when touched, and the animal will shiver after being touched, lest the operation be repeated. The pulse is rapid, but full and strong. The limbs are never very cold. In pleurisy we hear nothing at first but a fainter murmur than when the horse is well ; there is also sometimes AGRICULTURAL SOCIETIES. 283 a rubbing sound. The horse dies finally by the flowing of liquid into the chest. As pleurisy increases, the symptoms increase, and finally the horse falls. There is dropsical swelling in the abdomen. The lungs are not a fourth of their usual size, and are invested with water. The lungs at death are collapsed in this watery liquid. Bleeding should be early and powerful : blistering, warm and comfortable clothing, and tonics, should be the treat- ment. Sometimes the tapping of the chest is performed. ' V AGRICULTURAL SOCIETIES. New-York State. — Proceedings of the Executive Committee, March 3 : Present, J. Delafield, E. P. Prentice, Geo. Vail, J. Beekman Findlay, Wm. Kelly, B. B. Kirtland, Charles Morrell, B. P. Johnson. Grasses. — The Secretary was directed to procure ten bushels of each vari- ety of grass-seeds, which were recommended by the committee at a former meeting for trial. It is so late in the season that the seeds will not be obtained in time for spring sowing, but they will be procured in time for another season ; and gentlemen desirous of experimenting with these seeds are requested to forward their names to the Secretary at as early a day as practicable. The annexed is the resolution of the Society, and the varieties of grasses selected for trial : Mr. Kelly, from the committee on the subject of procuring a variety of grass-seeds for cultivation in this State, reported, recommending that " a sys- tem of trial and comparison of the grasses enumerated be made by farmers in various parts of the State, whose interest in the cause will induce them to undertake and carefully carry out the experiment, by sowing not less than one eighth of an acre of each sort above named ; and that the Corresponding Secretary be directed to procure, by importation or purchase, an ample sup- ply of seeds, and furnish them in his discretion to such persons as shall agree to prosecute the experiments in conformity with directions to be given, and to report the result to the Society, in such form as may be prescribed." The premium list was taken up and completed, and ordered published. New-York State. — The Executive Committee of the New-York State Agri- cultural Society have adopted the following regulations in regard to fine-wooled sheep, (Saxony, Merino, and crosses between these breeds,) in the hope that greater justice will be done to exhibitors than heretofore, and the true merits of the sheep exhibited will be more satisfactorily ascertained : Requirements. — The number of ewes to be exhibited for premium to be five, and they must each have suckled a lamb the present season. 1. The fleeces must be sent to the Secretary at the Agricultural Piooms, immediately after shearing, with the private mark of the owner, and a mark placed upon each sheep corresponding to that sent to the Secretary, and a lock of wool left on each sheep. The Secretary to record these marks in a book to be provided for the purpose, and to be shown to no person until the fleeces are produced at the Fair. 2. A statement must also be sent containing the age of each sheep — how the sheep have been kept — the date when shorn, and that the fleece was of but one year's growth ; the length of time after washing when the fleece was shorn — and that each sheep had suckled a lamb up to the time of shearing. 3. The Middlesex Mills' standard for sorting the fleece to be adopted, and 284 PLYMOUTH COUNTY AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. the Secretary is to send each fleece to the assorter, marked by him, to be weighed, examined, and noted as to its various qualities. 4. The fleece to be carefully cleansed, dried and weighed, and each fleece to be put up separate, and returned to the Secretary with the sorter's report. 5. The sheep to be exhibited at the Fair, and to be examined by the judges. 6. After the judges have examined the sheep, the fleeces are to be sub- mitted to them, with the report of the sorter, and with the private marks of the Secretary, when the judges will make their awards. Each exhibitor must present an affidavit to the Secretary, for the use of the judges, that the sheep exhibited are the same that the fleeces were taken from, which were sent to the Secretary for being assorted and examined, and that the statement furnished by him to the Secretary is in all respects correct. Bucks. — The same rules as to shearing, marking, and statements as to age, feeding, &c., will be required to be verified in hke manner. PLYMOUTH COUNTY AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. KOOT CROPS. Benjamin Hobarfs Statement. Plottghed one half acre of land, and subsoiled it the first week in May, of a good loamy soil, which was in corn last year from greensward. Spread on the same thirteen loads, of forty cubic feet to a load, of good compost manure, principally from the horse stable. Divided the half acre into two quarters, and planted one quarter to beets on the 24th of May, and one quarter to carrots on the 28th. One half was mangel wurtzel, and the other, white French sugar beets, and long red blood beets. Hoed and weeded them on the 18th and 19th of June, and again in July, and thinned them out. The result, by the measurement of the Supervisor, Horace Collamore, Esq., was, of the beets, on the quarter of an acre, a little over 257 bushels of 56 pounds to the bushel, being over 1028 bushels to the acre. Seth Sprague's Statement. The quarter of an acre of land entered by me for premium for carrots, is a sandy loam ; was in turnips last year, the crop of which was very small ; having given it at that time an extra quantity of manure, and dressed it with ashes and bone dust. I put on, this spring, but few loads of compost manure of middling strength, ploughing and subsoiling it eighteen inches deep, the last week in April. The first week in May harrowed, and hand-raked the ground smooth ; planted the orange variety with a seed-sower in rows, eighteen inches apart, thinning them to six inches apart in the rows. There were many small vacant spots in two thirds of the field, sowed with seed purchased in Boston ; the other part, sowed with seed raised myself, came up very thick and even, and had a better growth than the others. They were hoed four times, and harvested the second week in November, previous to which the Supervisor measured one rod, gathered and weighed them, and made less than two hundred bushels. The spot was selected by myself, which I considered, at the time, would give less than an average, but not expecting to obtain the first premium. I felt indifierent as to the quantity reported. My men finished harvesting them a few days since, and they inform me that they had PLYMOUTH COUNTY AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 285 a little over three hundred bushels, that they were very particular in weight and measure, and cannot be mistaken. The size and length of the carrots give evidence to the correctness of this report. This I believe is a larger yield than has been reported at any previous time. When this is exceeded, I will try again, I think I can raise four hundred bushels to the quarter of an acre. Expense : Ploughing, subsoiling, harrowing, raking, and sowing, |2 50 Hoeing and thinning, 10 00 Harvesting, VOO $19 50 The tops given to my cattle were worth as much as the compost put on. Jonathan Cojyeland' s Statement. The quarter of an acre entered by me for premium on carrots was the same that I had carrots on last year. The middle of April we put on ten cart-loads of manure, and ploughed it in nine inches deep. The 20th of May, ploughed the ground again, harrowed, and brushed it, and commenced sowing by hand, in drills, eighteen inches apart : seed, orange variety. It took two men one day to sow them, and six days' work to weed and thin them out. My carrots are about as large at the top as they were last year, but not so long .and heavy. I think the ground wants stirring -with a subsoil plough. ONIONS AND "WINTER SQUASHES. Abiel Bassett''s Statement. The quarter of an acre of land I entered for premium on onions is a light mould ; it was in onions last year. The 16th of April I put on ten cart-loads of stable manure, which was spread and well ploughed in ; the 21st I spread on forty bushels of dry ashes, and sowed the seed with a machine. I raised my own seed the year previous. The hoeing and weeding were done by odd jobs, which I estimated at about six days' work. October the 5th the land was surveyed, and the onions measured on one square rod, which produced 4^ bushels, which would be 680 bushels to the acre. The certificate of the Surveyor I enclose in this communication. I hereby certify that I have this day measured, for Dea. Abiel Bassett, one fourth of an acre of ground, on which he has raised onions the present season, and selected one square rod thereof, which I judged to produce an average of the whole, and measured therefrom four bushels and one peck. Isaac Fobes, Surveyor. I hereby certify that I assisted in pulling and cutting off the tops of the abovesaid onions, and witnessed the measurement, which was as above stated. William H. Livermore. Bridgewater, October 5th, 1852. Austin J. Roberts Statement. I have raised this year, on one quarter of an acre of ground, 4942 pounds of squashes, or 2 tons 942 pounds, which is at the rate of 9 tons 1768 pounds per acre. The sward was turned over on the 1st of May, the soil being a light gra- velly loam. Holes two feet in diameter and one feet deep were dug, ten feet apart each way. To each hole three large shovelfuls of a prepared com- post were thoroughly mixed with the earth taken out, and the holes refilled. About the middle of May, the seed was sown ; the unnecessary plants were 286 ESSEX COUNTY AGRICULTURAL TRANSACTIONS. pulled up, leaving only three of the thriftiest. When they were two inches high, two quarts of unleached ashes were strewed around each of the hills and slightly hoed in. Bugs by-and-by appeared, but were happily made sensible that a strong solution of quassia and tobacco rendered the vines unpalatable. The variety raised was the custard squash, which I have cultivated for the last three years with satisfaction, and which has been improved by me in flavor and color, by crossing it with the marrow squash. It readily sells in large cities, at remunerating prices. Nathan Whitman's Statement. The land, one quarter of an acre, on which I raised my squashes, was, last season, planted to potatoes, I ploughed it deep, say seven inches, harrowed and rolled it, then farrowed it five feet apart one way, and put on six loads of good manure from barn cellar, and dropped it in the furrows, five feet apart. In August, went through with one furrow in each row, pulled out the weeds and thinned out the squashes, leaving three vines in each hill, half crooked necks and half marrowfats. Gathered from the same, 4523 pounds. ESSEX COUNTY AGRICULTURAL TRANSACTIONS. REPORT ON ROOT CROPS. The Committee report, that there were statements sent them of two crops of onions, one crop of carrots, and one of potatoes ; and they have awarded the premiums as follows : — To Andrew Nichols, of Danvers, for his crop of onions, raised in Mid- dleton, the premium of - - - - - - - - $6 00 To John L. Hubbard, of Byfield, for his crop of onions, a gratuity of 4 00 To R. P. Waters, for his carrots, the premium of - - - - 6 00 To Charles French, of Andover, for his potatoes, the premium of - 6 00 The statements were not received until November 16th, at which time the crops were harvested, except the carrot crop of Mr. Waters, so that your Committee did not have the pleasure of viewing them in the field ; but as the statements are so particular and so well vouched, they had no misgivings about making the awards. The statement of Mr. French, concise, but to the point, your Committee commend to the serious attention of all readers living in the neighborhood of worthless land. He has not only received a fair income from his ground the first year, but his land is now in fine order for any other crop he may wish to put upon it. The Committee have, perhaps, rather exceeded their authority in award- ing a gratuity to Mr. Hubbard, but they thought his experiment a very satisfactory one, and such an one as they did not consider advisable to let pass without " material aid " from the Society. For the Committee, J. Kittredge. Andrexo NichoWs Statement. The land on which this experiment was made is nearly level, one corner ESSEX COUNTY AGRICULTURAL TRANSACTIONS. 287 being a little elevated, and sloping towards the centre of the lot. The subsoil is sand or loose gravel, — the soil a l«amy mould, which, as analyzed by Dr. Dana in 1840, contains — soluble geine 4.56 per cent., insoluble ditto 3.50, sulphates 1.30, phosphates .84, granite sand 89.80. (See Society's Transac- tions, 1840.) On the larger portion of it onions had been cultivated for one or more years. Ou a small portion of it cabbages grew last year. About the middle of April the ground was ploughed seven inches deep, and manured with a compost formed by mixing twelve cart-loads of barn manure with fourteen of muck, of the same kind as that analyzed by Dana, (see Transac- tions, 1840,) and thoroughly harrowed, raked smooth, and one and three fourths pounds of seed sown thereon. They were weeded four times, twenty- four days' labor. Soon after first weeding, one bushel of dry wood ashes was sown broadcast over the whole piece. After the second weeding, one bushel of plaster Paris was strewn over it in the same manner. After the third weeding, the western end of the piece, on a part of which cabbages grew last year, was less promis- ing as to a crop than elsewhere. One peck of guano, mixed with one peck of plaster of Paris, was scattered over this part of the field, about one fourth of the whole. This apparently had the desired effect — gave the crop a luxuriant appearance, and at harvest the largest product. Danvers, Nov. 6, 1852. John L. Huhharcfs Statement. I herewith transmit a statement of the management of the crop of onions entered by me for premium. The land is a sandy loam, rather light on one side of the piece to a rather deep black soil on the other side, Avith a southern exposure, containing 86 rods. It has been used for an onion bed several years. The manure was partly barn-yard and partly slaughter-house manure ; was not composted. One side of the lot was manured entirely with the slaughter-house manure, and on the other side the barn-yard manure was thought to be too scattering, and some small heaps of the slaughter-manure were put in to fill up. The manure was ploughed in in the spring. The ground was not harrowe-d, but it was brushed over, and then raked by hand. The seed was then sown. One pound of the common yellow onion seed was sown first on the lightest part of the land, where the barn-yard manure was put; then one pound of Danvers seed entirely on the slaughter-manure, and then the lot was finished with a mixed seed of Danvers and yellow onion seed. The seed was sown the 5th of May. The product was 127 bbls. of Dan- vers, 125 of the common, and 47 of the mixed seed. Perhaps I ought to say that no account was made of the unripe and rotten onions, of which there were several bushels. The product was rather in favor of the mixed seed, but I attribute this to the land, as it was moister, and was not molested at all with the worms. The Danvers had the next best chance, and they were ripe some days sooner than the others. There were also taken onions for the use of two families during the summer, and 30 bunches were sold before harvest- ing. In regard to measure, I say that they were measured in a basket, and that of 100 baskets one basket was taken out, and the rest were taken to market and weighed, making 102 bushels and 18 pounds, 57J pounds being a bushel. If the remainder, which were barrelled, overrun at the same rate, there would have been over 340 bushels. $64 00 144 25 64 00 288 ESSEX COUNTY AGRICULTURAL TRANSACTIONS. EXPENSE OF CROP. Four cords manure, $16 00 Spreading manure and ploughing, - - - - 3 00 Fitting the land and sowing, - - - - - . 1 50 Weeding 6ve times, 20 00 Harvesting, topping, &c., 12 00 Hauling to market, - - - - - - -8 50 Interest on land, - 3 00 Crop sold for - - - - - From which deduct cost of production, Net profit, $80 25 Byfield, Nov. I2th, 1852, Richard P. Waters's Statement. The crop of carrots Avhich I entered for examination has now been har- vested, and the result is as follows : — From 100 square poles of land T have taken 555 baskets of orange carrots, weighing, on an average, 56 lbs. per basket, amounting to 31,080 pounds of carrots, or at the rate of 20 tons per acre. The mode of cultivation was as follows : — We manured the land with 18 ox-cart loads of barn-yard manure, two thirds of swamp muck, and one third pure stable manure, composted. This manure was spread, and the land ploughed 12 inches deep about the 20th of May. It was then raked with common hand-rakes, and the seed sown on the 28th of May — the rows ] 8 inches apart — with one pound of orange carrot seed. The piece was then hoed once and weeded by hand twice. The carrots were harvested on the first week of November, and the crop resulted as above stated. Perhaps it ought to be stated that I took a carrot crop from the same piece of land last year, and for which I received a premium. I shall continue the same crop on the same land another year. The soil is composed of dark and yellow loam, and was fenced ofi" from an old pasture three years since. EXPENSES OF CULTIVATION. Interest on land, $5 00 Six cords compost, - - - - - - - 36 00 Spreading manure, ploughing, harrowing, raking, and sowing seed, .-.-.-- 6 00 Seed, 1 60 Hoeing, weeding, and harvesting, - - - - 26 50 VALUE OF CARROTS. Fifteen and a half tons, at $10, Tops, as fodder for cows, $74 50 $155 00 25 00 — 180 00 Net profit, - - $105 50 In view of this result, I would ask what crop makes better returns than carrots well attended to ? Cherry Hill Farm, Beverly, Nov., 1852. THE SUFFOLK DRILL. 289 Charles Frenches Statement. I offer one half of an acre of land, in potatoes, for a premium. The land a bog, in a wild state at commencement, and yielding nothing. Cost of digging up with spade, - - • - - $6 00 " planting, 13 GO " hoeing, - - - 11 00 " seed, 6 bushels of black and chenango potatoes, (4 bushels black, 2 of chenangoes,) - - 4 67 Cost of manure, (stable manure and sand,) - - 15 60 " digging and housing potatoes, - - - 10 00 $59 67 117 bushels. 24 " The product was — of black potatoes, " of chenangoes, The chenangoes were dug early, before fully grown or matui'ed. Andover, October, 1852. THE SUFFOLK DRILL. f'«»^^'*'^^''*'"''^-'^6>^ Such is the name of the above machine. It has been awarded many prizes in England, and was fitted at the " World's Fair" with a steerage ar- rangement that renders its work very perfect. A swing steerage in front, guided by hand, enables the man to keep the rows perfectly parallel with the preceding course of the drill. This is done by the man's holding the steer- age handle as it is shown in the annexed cut, and keeping the same fore wheel in the track of the former large one. This insures perfect regularity, and prepares the whole field, so that the horse-hoe can be used to great ad- vantage and without injury to the grain. This arrangement could very easily be adapted to any of the other drills, and would greatly add to their useful- PART II. VOL. V. 19 290 AMERICAN IRON. FOR THE PLOUGH, TUE LOOM, AND THE ANVIL. AMERICAN IRON. Messrs. Editors : — It is stated in the last number of the Plough, Loom, and Anvil, that American iron was superior to either tlie English, Scotch, or French, both in its strength and purity ; two items of vast importance in the character of iron, and which ought to be known to all of the American people. Seeing this is the case, it is cheaper even at a higher price, and that too for every department of human enterprise, and especially fur the railroad, navy, and all heavy work. But what I wished to say, is this : It appears iron has greatly advanced. Now I wish to ask the cause of this. We were told that by reducing th^ TariflF, iron, among other things, would be cheaper. With this hope, we were willing to see the change so earnestly desired by some. That change has been affected. The Tariff has been lowered ; but the desired result has not come to pass. Prices have not come down as we were assured they would. Neither have they stood still, but they have gone up, and are still going up. We have been disappointed — and have we not been deceived ? We were grasping at lower prices — but we have reached higher. We were told we should pay less money — but we have to pay vastly more. We were encour- aged to hope for great saving — but there is greater expenditure. We were continually told how cheaply we should purchase, but we are called to put our hand still deeper into our pockets than ever ; and what makes all this so de- plorable, is the fact, that we are compelled to go abroad ; to carry our gold and silver to foreign countries ; to encourage British monopolies; to sustain British tyranny : for it does not go into the poor man's pocket. Little good does it do hira : but to swell the already overgrown fortunes of the oppressors of the poor do we send our money, and that too for an article greatly infe- rior to our own. We can obtain about one half of what we need at home ; all the rest, the vast and ever-increasing amount, we must look to the foreign market for : to those markets to which we send our gold and silver, paying them an extravagant price : and not only so, we must pay just as high for the home article, for it is the foreign market which regulates the price of the whole quantity. Now this is a plain case. It addresses itself to men of plain understanding, who have but little time and less inclination to mix in the strife of politics ; and thus we submit the interest to others, believing what we were told of the great reduction of prices ; and for this we have looked, but, as yet, in vain. We see things directly the reverse of what we were assured over and over again would be the result of a reduction of the Tariff. We are a matter- of-fact people. We may not reason so profoundly — but we can feel as keenly as others. All would have been active and prosperous where now we see de- serted mills and empty houses, and men idle for the want of something to do. The demand might have increased a thousand-fold, and still the supply have kept pace. Thus there would have been a healthy, prosperous commu- nity, all busily engaged, each helping the other, instead of a swelled, bloated, and sickly monopoly, full, of corruption and death, upon whom we are de- pendent for our supply, and of course, while they can monopolize, they will fix the prices. When the article must be had, extortion can be practised with impunity. But whose fault is all this ? It is the fault of those who broke down our manufactories, closed our furnaces, and threw us out of work ; who AMERICAN IRON. 291 forced us to compete with British monopolies. Our manufactories are closed, but we must have the articles, and they must supply us at their own price. We remember the storekeeper in the West who sold his goods " as cheap as possible." In a year or so, one store and another was opened, and he soon found that although goods had not fallen when he purchased, yet he could afford to sell some two or three hundred per cent, cheaper than before. And when money by millions is to be taken from our pockets and carried to dis- tant countries, are we not bound to wake up and look about us, and demand an explanation also ? And surely those who gave us such assurances are bound, in all honesty, to give us the explanation we seek — to tell us why so many fair promises have all been broken ; or if they cannot, they should frankly say they were deceived. But I suppose we shall be assured it is what must be expected from the law of supply and demand, and that it cannot in the na- ture of things be otherwise. Surely this is flying from the whole question, for we were assured in the most positive manner that the prices should be down, and that it was the Tariff that kept them up to such an oppressive height. The Tariff has been lowered, and prices are higher. Thus it appears that those who asked for the removal of a protective Tariff never had a thought that the law of supply and demand "would make such a difference. They uniformly declared prices should be down, and not as they now are, higher. So something else must be the cause. Pray what is it ? If you will permit us, we will say what we believe is the cause, and the reason why we think as we do upon this matter ; and if we are wrong, we hope you will set us right upon this vastly impor- tant subject. We think then that the disturbance of the Tariff has been the cause of all this rise, and not the law of supply and demand ; for if home protection had been afforded, we could have met the increased demand with great ease. Thousands of furnaces now closed would have been in full blast. Tens of thousands of men now out of work would have been busily engaged in making iron. That country storekeeper is a type of all mankind. Give any company the control of a business, and they will regulate their own prices. Look at the New-Jersey Railroad Company — they will charge you some three or four times as much for travelling as you would be charged at the South-west. Now the South-western men are as much disposed to get a good price for transportation as the New-Jersey Company. Where then is the difference ? This — simply this : competition, and no monopoly. But what has this to do with the price of iron ? Much every way. By disturbing the Tariff, we have broken many of our companies who were en- gaged in the manufacture of iron. Mills and furnaces have been sold for one fifth of their original cost. They make no more iron. The article we must have, therefore we go abroad for it. The English manufacturers, finding we are in their power, like the Western merchant and the New-Jersey Railroad Company, soon find they can set their own prices, and up goes the article. The monopolies are in full blast, the demand is urgent, the price is raised again and again ; and as we are in their power, the process goes on almost indefinitely, and now we cannot help ourselves. Having broken down our home manufacturers — desert- ed our friends — thrown ourselves in the arms of our enemies, we must abide our fate, until, by a judicious and permanent protection, we can secure our mills from such ruinous fluctuation. While there is capital enough and material enough, no men are willing to risk their all under such a fluctuating state of affairs. But let there once be a permanent state of things, and we will soon 292 POULTRY MANURE. see mills and furnaces every where spring up in full operation, and thousands of men engaged in working the raw material. Our resources will soon be developed, health and wealth flush every cheek, and prosperity bless every community. It has been said, Why not make the article as cheaply as the English manufacturers ? We would make it cheaper than they now charge us, we would get it for less than we are now paying. But it must be remembered, that as soon we commence the operation, they would reduce the price so as to break all small capitalists, and by such a course drive them from the market. Then, the market cleared, the business in their hands, up would go the price to compensate themselves for the temporary loss sustained while breaking down others of less means. We have seen this same game played in the New- York line of steamboats running to Albany. Have they not often reduced the passage to a mere nothing, until all competition was destroyed ? then, the whole business in their hands, they could fix their own prices, and the travelhng public could do nothing but accept their terms. So is it with the capitalists of England. Give us a reasonable assurance of moderate protection for a few years, until we have overcome the difficulties of a new business, and we would ask no more ; and unless this is granted, our iron, superior as it is to any in the world, must remain in the earth ; and we of Virginia, with iron enough and coal enough to meet all demands, and people enough to make as much as could be required ; with water-power in abundance and every advantage of central position, healthy climate, of mountain and dale, ocean and bay — yet with all these and a thousand other advantages, obvious to the observing eye, it would seem as if we weie des- tined to sleep on, unwarned by the past, unshamed by the present, un- alarmed for the future, while all our internal wealth is left to repose as nature gave it birth. Oh, it is enough to make one weep over the infatuation of our people, of our political leaders, to see how they leave Virginia, old Vir- ginia, the mother of States, thus to be outstripped by her youthful but more enterprising children ; thus to leave her waning in influence, waning in power, with comparatively little to cheer at present, and less in prospect, but the remembrance of her former glory ; while her uncounted treasures are left — all buried, untouched, and dead. But at present, I say no more. If I am wrong, pray set me right, and I shall ever remain, Most truly yours, Enoch Reed. Locustville, Accomac County, Virginia, 3Iarch ^tk, 1853. POULTRY MANURE. This is the most valuable of the farm manures, and is entitled to great care in its collection and use. Beyond the amount of water it contains, it is as valuable as guano, and therefore should never be sold by practical farmers to morocco-dressers, at 25 cents per bushel. The poultry-house should be underlaid with charcoal-dust, when it can be procured, so as to receive the hen manure as fast as made. The surface of this chaicoal-dust should occasion- ally be raked or removed off to one corner, with a portion of the dung. This may be continued until the manure is required for use, when it should be thoroughly mixed with ten times its bulk of soil before being applied to crops. Where charcoal-dust cannot be procured, well-decomposed swamp-muck, plaster of Paris, or even aluminous clay, may be frequently dusted over the floor of the poultry-house to be mixed with this manure. The object of all THE FLOWER GARDEN. • 293 this is to receive and retain the ammonia, so as to prevent its liberation from injuring the health of the inmates of the poultry-house. All animals, man included, suflfer from breathing the effluvia arising from their excretia, and this is particularly true of the feathered tribes. Their natural habits in the wild state cause them to pass through the upper strata of the atmosphere, and with such velocity as to readily rid themselves of the noxious gases given off the surface of their bodies, and to be beyond any deleterious influence from the fumes of their excretiae. We should, therefore, in the poultry-houses, make such arrangements as will prevent the poultry from inhaling these de- leterious gases. — Working Farmer. THE FLOWER-GARDEN. Every body loves flowers, though few are willing to pay the price necessary to procure them in their most perfect forms ; but wives and daughters, with few exceptions, have a greater or smaller portion of the garden devoted to this purpose, which they cultivate with due zeal and with very satisfactory results. We have often wondered why there were not small and cheap manu- als, illustrating these, the plainer phases of floriculture, at the command even of the poor. Breck's Book of Flowers is the best within our knowledge, and is all and exactly what it professes to be ; but there are thousands who need a little manual, not exceeding twenty five cents' cost, that shall give a list of flowers of easy culture and a regular succession of bloom, from the time of the crocus to that of the latest aster, to say nothing of those that may be taken up and placed in pots to grace the windows of the winter parlor. We have done something of this in the issues of the past year, and wished to do much more. We now add a few suggestions : 1. The time of planting. — For aimuals, and all delicate plants, an obser- vation for years satisfies us that no better advice can be given than this: Plant when the apple tree is in blossom. Perennial plants understand the science of seasons better than those who take instructions at second hand, and the cases are rare in which these, whether trees, shrubs or flowers, are extensively cut off by late frosts, or suffer by premature growth. At this time the ground is sufficiently warm and at the same time moist enough to secure active germination. If an earlier time is selected, the seed may decay, under the influence of cold and wet soil. Seeds may be planted much later, and in fact through the summer; but then they must be carefully watered, and not suffered to become very dry, at least till the roots are well grown. 2. The state of the soil. — This should always be well pulverized, and culti- vated for a considerable depth. The spade, of course, is the best tool to ac- complish this, its unfinished work being followed by an iron rake. In sowing, lay a board by the side of the row in which the seed is to be placed, so as to avoid the necessity of treading holes in the soft soil. 3. Depth of sowing. — Plant shallow. In a hot sun, a greater depth is necessary, but a very thin sprinkling of well-pulverized soil is all the covering usually required for small seeds : for the large seeds, like the sweet pea, a depth of half an inch or more is necessary. Moderate watering from the spout of a watering-pot is desirable if the weather is very warm, and especially if the top of the ground becomes very dusty; but a garden may be too wet as well as too dry. 4. What shall we jilant 'i — There's the rub. The ten thousand rural dis- tricts have each their own favorites, whether of long lists or of individual 294 THE FLOWER GARDEN. plants, and in each of these districts there is every variety in the extent of the floral department, the time that will be devoted to the flower-garden, and the skill that will be available in overcoming difficulties and in guarding against "accidents." Unless one can devote a generous portion of time and reasonable skill, and some little expense at least, our choice would most decidedly be, to con- vert the whole of the flower-garden into a handsome green lawn, which is infinitely in better taste than a shabby ornamental patch. For reasons based upon the foregoing remarks, we prefer, in these minia- ture gardens, an extra proportion of biennials and perennials. They require less care, generally, and less labor, and will remain in flower quite as long. The members of the Pink family, for example, blossom in various months, do not rapidly fade, and present a great variety in form and color ; and even the Rose cannot boast of more elegance than is seen in several species of this extensive family. A list of desirable annuals was given in the first number (July) of this volume, p. 4G, to which we refer the reader, and to this list we add a few more: ^ Alyssum maritimum; Sweet Alyssum. White, and long racemes, from June to November. Plant 1 foot high. Amaranthus tricolor : beauty in the leaf. Angemini grandiflora : White. May be taken up and kept in pots in the cellar during winter, and will flower elegantly another season. Caccalia coccinea : Scarlet, from July to Septembeu". One and a half feet high. Centaura Americana : Purple pink, August. Two or three feet. Clarkia pulchcUa : Purple, June to September. One foot. Hibiscus vesicarius : various, June to September. Impatiens : (Balsams.) Ipomea quamvelit: Cypress vine. This beautiful climber seldom suc- ceeds well, because it is not understood. Before planting, the seeds should be scalded in boiling water, (or in boiling milk, as some have said,) and al- lowed to remain in the liquid several hours, otherwise the seed will not be able to burst the outer covering ; or if it does, it will be a long time before its sprouts will appear, and these will be destroyed by the frost ere it is ready to blossom. It should have a rich soil, and be kept moderately moist ; it then becomes the most beautiful vine of the garden. Its crimson flowers are very handsome and abundant, but very soon diop oft', though they are re- placed by others. We have never failed in bringing this flower to maturity, but the season is too short to ripen the seed, and these must either be raised in the hot-house, or be imported. Hence the six-cent papers contain only some half-dozen seeds. Sow it early in May. It is still better to bring it for- ward under a frame. It makes an elegant cone or pillar, by being planted in a circle, three or four inches apart, and properl}' trained to a height of six or eight feet ; in August and September it will pay well for the trouble. Petunia: several varieties, June to November, three or four feet. May be trained on a trellis. Viola : very various. Perennials may be sown in the spring, or often as late as August, in any convenient place, in a good soil, and be transplanted in the fall to their per- manent positions. They may also be propagated by dividing the roots, by layers, cuttings, &c. Generally they will not blossom the first year. Among the favorite bulbous perennials, are the Crocus, Dahlia, Ferraris, Hyacinth, Lily, Narcissus, Pceonia, Ranunculus, Tulipia. These sorts require specific treatment, and our pages already contain several valuable suggestions THE FLOWER GARDEN. 295 in relation to tbem, and especially the number for November of this volume, page 308. As to herbaceous perennials, we vrould select the following as the desirable, though by no means superior to many others. We select such as do not require especial skill or peculiar treatment. Allhcea : This is a splendid family, containing a great variety of forms and habits, from the tall moody shrub to the most diminutive species of Hollyhock. Antirrhinum^ the Snap Dragon, is a curious genus, the flowers of which are quite noticeable. They are too well known to require description. Chrysanthemum : This family is highly ornamental, one of the handsomest of fall flowers. Clematis : The C. virginicum is a native of our own country, and one of the most desirable of climbing vines. Its growth is very rapid ; its white blossom is handsome and abundant, and its seed-vessel very peculiar. It is a fine plant with which to cover fences or even buildings. Corydalis fmicjosa : Climbing fumitory. Another indigenous climbing vine, growing fifteen or twenty feet in length. Dianthus : Many species of this genus are biennials or perennials, and, as already observed, are among the most desirable plants. Among the favorite species are the D. caryophillus, the Carnation Pink, which are also various in character: it flowers in July; D. hortensis, flowers in June; and D. har- baius, or Sweet William, which are white, pink, purple, crimson, scarlet, and also variously fringed, edged and spotted. Dixitalis : Foxglove. Purple, June and July, two or three feet in height. Hibiscus : Mallows. Showy, various in height, from six or eight feet, down to a few inches. Lobelia cardinalis : Cardinal flower. This has scarcely a superior; its brilliant scarlet spikes are very elegant. July and August, two feet. It is a native of this country, by the side of brooks. Phlox : This is one of the flowers for which premiums are offered by the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, and for the exhibition of which a day is specially appointed. The varieties are very numerous: different sorts are in blossom from May to October. The following form one complete series, which may be multiplied : In May, P. sabulata, colors various, white, pur- ple, pink, &c. ; P. mivalis, white; P. divaricata, pale blue; June, P. Ma- culata, purplish red; P. carnea, flesh-colored ; P. listonia, red ; July, P. Van Jloutteii, 'pu.rple stripes on white ground, superb ; P. ^^/cfa, white and red: P.fieur de Marie^ white with a dark red eye; August and September, P. Breckii, light purple with white eye, four to six feet high ; P. cordata gran- dijlora^ purplish pink, white centre, four or five feet high ; P. rosea superba, rose-colored; P. undulata, red, and changing to white. Saracenia purpurea : Side-saddle flower : difficult of cultivation, as it grows in wet bogs and swamps. Every part of the plant is curious, but not remarkably showy. We make no distinction between biennials and perennials, because the dis- tinctions are not well defined. Many kirds are biennial or perennial in dif- ferent climates, and some of them blossom sometimes in the first season- Foxglove is one of these, as found in our own experience. For edging, no plant in our opinion is so desirable as Box. Among shrubs, the Rose, of course, stands at the head ; and among Roses, none make a more magnificent display, when properly trained, than the Prairie Rose, flowers red, with a white stripe. With this exception, we leave our readers to judge entirely for themselves. The choice, from the entire list, would depend on a great variety of circumstances. HORTICULTURAL NOTES. 297 RICHARDSON'S CULTIVATOR PLOUGH. The accompanying engraving represents an improved Cultivator Plough, which has recently been patented by Mr. F. E. Richardson, of Hicksford, Greenville Co., Va. It is intended to supersede the wrought iron plough, or any other used in cultivating or stirring the earth effectually, and is thought an improvement ' over all others on account of the arrangement of the central bar, the form of the double compound share, the wings, and the simplicity of the manner in which the parts are united together, and the facility with which those which are worn out may be replaced by others. It is also a valuable implement for use without the wings, as a marking or checking plough in corn planting, and also as a slightly hilling plough. It is particularly designed for use in streak- ing or checking the land in corn planting, for streaking it for the cotton seed, for raising tobacco, and for cultivating each and all these crops. Its con- struction is as follows : A is the centre bar, which extends forward to a point fitted into a cavity in the share or share point D, and is 22 inches in length. A little forward of the centre of A is the upright marked B, (the letter being very faint and indis- tinct in this engraving,) which is of the same piece with A, and which is inserted into the beam of the plough. On B, but concealed in this engraving by the share D, are two shoulder-pieces or fans of a suitable width and shape to give to it (D) a firm support. B is furnished with an oblong link, which surrounds also the top of the share D, and which is confined by a wedge in a mortice, through B. F represents the wings, which pass through the centre bar A, and are firmly fastened by a shoulder on one side, and by a wedge which passes through the wings on the other. The wings are sharp in front, and of suflicient strength for the service that will be required of them. The cast iron parts of the plough are, of course, three in number; one, the centre bar and upright, with the supporting shoulders or flaps; second, the double share, D, and third, the wings, F. The wood-work of this plough differs but in one respect from other ploughs, and that is, in an oblique standard about twenty inches long, to which the hitider parts of the centre bar and draught beam are attached, by means of a tennent on the draught bc-am, passing through a mortice in the oblique standard, which standard is forked at the lower end, and passes on both sides the centre bar, to which it is fastened by a wedge. This standard extends above the beam. In this respect the engrav- ing is incorrect. The handles also should be fastened to the beam as far in advance of the sheath bar as it is here in arrear. A pin, fifteen inches long, passes through the handles, and also through the vipright or oblique standard. This standard should be of iron, except its lower end. From the sheath bar or collar to the insertion of the oblique standard in the centre bar is nine inches, which affords a purchase for the easy guidance of the plough. The cost of the ctistings for this plough is only $1.15, and the wood-work, though it will vary in different places, is scarcely more. HORTICULTURAL NOTES. The Circle of Pears. — Keeping apples the year round, so as to furnish a supply for every day of the year, is an old experiment, which all good cul- tivators have found no difficulty in performing. But with pears it is quite a different thing; and many, not understanding all the conditions for raising, 298 SEEDING FOR GRASS AND HAY. gathering-, keeping, and ripening the winter varieties, have come to the con- clusion tliat winter pears are worthless. As a proof, however, of what may be accorajjlished when skill and experience direct in their management, Col. Wilder states that the Easter Beurre^ Doyenne dliiver nouveau, Benrre Bretoneaii, and most of those with a thick, rough epidermis, are readily kept through the winter and spring, and into summer, and that some of this character he had preserved "in perfect condition the past season, and had them in eating, with the Madeleine, in August." FOR THE PLOUGH, THE LOOM, AND THE ANVIL. SEEDING FOR GRASS AND HAY. Messrs. Editors : — One of the most important things that the farmer can adopt is to use a liberal supply of timothy and clover-seeds upon his farm. No man need to apprehend any danger from such application. It is all-essential that the agriculturist should be liberal with the contents of his purse when he makes a purchase of clover-seed. Many men, however, who carry on farming, are not extravagant in buying either timothy or clover- seed. This is not as it should be, by any means ; for money expended in the purchase of seed which will result, when sown, in the enrichment of yo.ir fields, is not lost; on the contrary, it is put out at interest in a way that will pay him more than two hundred per cent, upon the principal expended an- nually. Every man who thinks of making himself eminent as an agricultu- rist, should not shrink from the duty of buying an ample quantity of grass and clover-seeds to enrich his land to such a degree as to put out of question the idea of having his farm called barren. The truth is, if we have land that is capable of receiving and producing clover, we ought not to neglect sowing it over plentifully with that kind of seed which will make it fertile and lively. It is manifest beyond doubt, that heavy soil can be made light and lively by sowing it with clover- seed. This I have tried satisfactorily. The roots of the clover penetrate the soil, and move it so that when it is ploughed, there seems to be new life imparted to every part of it. I do not think that timo- thy grass operates so beneficially in enlivening land as clover, but either will not injure impoverished soils. Probably nearly every one has noticed that timothy-grass roots do not make their way far into the soil, but are confined mostly to the surface of it. Now, fi'om this consideration, we must conclude that clover possesses a valuable superiority over most other grasses in respect to its roots. These are long and large, and they penetrate the soil deeply, stirring it up to a good depth, and bringing out its latent powers to the sur- face, thus creating vegetable matter where it will do good. But to change the subject to another point, — How much clover-seed should be sowed upon an acre of land ? Some few things must be considered before we can del ermine this. We must first learn the state of the soil to be seeded ; and, second, must know something of the history of its past treatment. If we find, by an examination of the soil, that it has been abused, meanly cul- tivated, we should plough it deep, sow it either to barley or winter wheat, and apply, just before digging the last time, at least six or eight quarts of clover-seed to the acre. This quantity is not too much, and some liberal- minded farmers in our State have even exceeded this amount. They are not, however, subjects of rebuke for thus strewing on the seed. Would to God that all our agriculturists would sow four times the amount of clover and grass-seeds that they now do ! Our soils would not be impoverished as SELF-PROTECTION. ^ ^^ "^ 299 they are, if we had adopted the plan of sowing hberai'4iiamtities of grass-seed twenty years ago, and had then formed the resokitioi^ fd have kept up the operation until the present time. To-day, had we adojited such a plan, the United States would be worth several millions of dollars ^lore than they are now. There is no use of talking about this matter now, for the time is past; but we should be more careful in future, and make it a point to sow more grass-seed, more clover-seed, and plough deeper than we have in by-gone years. Timothy-seed should be sown on lands at the rate of a peck to the acre. I do not care what people say in relation to the size of the seed. Sow at least eight quarts to every 160 square rods of ground, and my word for it, you will get paid a handsome profit for thus hberally seeding your ground. I never saw a piece of land seeded too much — that is, with clover or grass- seed of any kind. It is all folly to talk about putting on two quarts of clo- ver-seed to the acre. When you thus seed, you lose much of the ground which is but partially seeded. In other words, two thirds or more of the land is unoccupied, and hence lies bare to the sun's rays, or is " sodded over" with June-grass, or some other foul thing. Then, if you would enrich your ground, and produce an abundant supply of grass for your cattle, sow your fields liberally with grass-seed. The pur- chase of clean and handsome grass-seed, at 84 per bushel, and the purchase of clover-seed at $6 or 17 per bushel, cannot be considered any other than profitable expenditures of money. The tilbe for sowing grass-seed must be left to the judgment of every farmer. Immediately after sowing your spring crops, and before harrowing the last time, is a very good time to put on the seed. Some sow their clover-seed before the snow goes off — that is, on land which has been sown to winter-wheat in the fall. It is not a bad plan, by the way, to mix timothy-seed with clover-seed in the proportion of one bushel of the latter to two bushels of the former. This is a very good plan, and works well. After the clover " i-uns out," the timothy-grass will continue to do well, and makes very good mowing land, and withal, produces a good soil for subsequent ploughing. Baldicinsville, N. Y., Manh, 1853. W. Tappan. SELF-PROTECTION". Mr. Seward, in a speech in the U. S. Senate against abolishing the duty on railroad iron, said, "I am ashamed and mortified when a foreigner comes to my table, and I am obliged to own that the shovel and tongs and the andirons at my fire-place, and the knives and forks on my table, are made by the foreign mechanic and citizen, to the prejudice of labor, industry and art in my own country. But I think it is a far deeper reproach against our na- tional pride and patriotism, that we should bring iron from abroad to make roads over our oion iron ore- beds ; I am shocked by such a want of nation- ality." Iron is dear because the demand is great and the supply small. And why is the supply small ? Because you have put out the fires of your forges, and suspended manufacture for the last nine years. Now, then, the manu- facture is recovering in spite of you. Leave it alone. Capital, and labor, and genius are reerecting the forges and rekindling the fires, and the ore and the coal-beds are giving up their treasures. Let the workshops be at home and not abroad ; encourage your own farmers, manufiicturers, and mechanics, and railroad iron from American ore will be abundant and cheap. marston's improved rifle and cartridge. 301 MARSTON'S BREECH-LOADING FIRE-ARMS AND PATENT CARTRIDGE. The annexed engravinjys present views of improvements in breech-loading fire-arras, invented by William W. Marston, of this city, and for which a patent was granted on the 8th of January, 1851 ; also the cartridge for such fire-arms, invented by Marston & Goodell, patented on the 18th of last May, 1852. Figure 1 is a side view of Marston's breech-loading rifle; figure 2 is a like view of a breech-loading pistol ; figure 3 is an inside view of an im- proved gun-lock ; figure 4 is an interior view, showing the patent breech ; figure 5 is a side view of the shell of a patent cartridge, and figures 6 and V are upright views of two cartridges of diSerent sizes. The same letters refer to like parts. This is a most superior and convenient breech-loading fire-arm. A, figure 4, is the butt of the barrel, which is let into and secured in the stock; B is the breech-bolt. It is both ramrod and breech at the same time, and in this consists one of its excellences. This breech is now pushed close to the butt of the barrel, and closes up the orifice of the bore. To load the rifle, apply the hand to the lever, G-, and push it forward towards the trigger, H, and the breech, which is a sliding bolt, will be drawn back into the end of the dark recess exhibited, and expose the chamber for the reception of the cartridge. The cartridge, figure 6, is simply laid in this chamber, (which is then open before, as it is now behind the breech-bolt in figure 4.) and the said breech-bolt is made to force the cartridge into the bore of the barrel, by draw- ing back the lever, G-, into the position shown in all the figures. The rifle or pistol is then loaded, and with a cap on the nipple, is ready to be discharged. This is certainly a very simple mode of loading a rifle or pistol, and can be done nearly in a second of time. The manner in which the breech-bolt is operated and maintained snugly in its place exhibits great ingenuity. The inside of the loading lever, G, is a small arm, E, which forms part of , the lever, (which works upon the fulcrum or axis, F,) and on its extremity is a cam groove ; a pin, C, in the back end of the breech-bolt, B, passes through this groove. When the said breech-bolt is pressed close up to the ball in the barrel bore, the end of it at C is in the same position and combination of arrangement as the keystone of an arch, to receive the backward force of the discharge, in the same manner as pressing upon the apex of the arch. The combination is an ingenious mechanical arrangement. A small round part, in front of B, fits behind the cartridge and enters the bore of the barrel snugly, so that it is impossible for any leakage of flame or powder to take place. A small hole is drilled through the centre of the breech- bolt, which communicates with the priming hole of the cap nipple to ignite the powder in the barrel. This sliding breech-bolt along with the loading lever is a very strong arrangement ; no charge of powder can move it in the least. The loading is always uniform, without trouble or variation in the result. Cartridges. — The cartridge is composed of the shell, 5, in which the con- ical bullet shown in figure 6 is placed and cemented, and the rest filled with powder. The butt of the cartridge is a disc of leather with a small hole in its centre, to let the flash of the priming cap pass through the j)riming hole into the powder. The edges of the leather disc are greased, and the disc of one cartridge is driven out by the bullet of the next cartridge, as the said part of each cartridge is left behind. Every succeeding cartridge, therefore, by driving out the previous leather, cleans out the barrel, so that rifles using such cartridges never require to be swabbed out. The barrel will remain bright inside after firing a thousand shots. 302 CULTIVATION OF COTTON. Lock. — The lock is of the common kind, but as applied to this rifle, it affords the means of strengthening the small three-legged brace plate screwed over the tumbler, which operates the hammer. M L are the springs abutting on the tumbler into the notches, K, of which the trigger-latch, I, catches. The two sides of this lock are raised flanges, and thus it differs from the common lock, inasmuch as the springs, &c., are contained in it as in a box ; the com- mon lock is let into the stock; this one is merely screwed to the stock. The cartridges are an excellent invention, and the principle of thus loading at the breech is the most simple and best yet presented to us. Rifles, pistols, and shot-guns are now manufactured on a large scale, under the eye of the inventor, a practical gunsmith, in the factory on the corner of Washington and Jane streets, this city. No less than ninety hands are em- ployed, and rifles from $25 to -$100 are constructed. This rifle will, no doubt, arrest the attention of Mr. J. Chapman, author of the American Rijle. The question of good fire-arms has been an exciting one for some time, and at the present moment, this rifle of Mr. Marston is creating quite a stir in the capital of France, where Mr. Molton has been astonishing the Parisians with its excel- lent qualities in rapidity of loading, length of reach, and accuracy of aim. We have no doubt but the breech-loading fire-arm will yet supplant the muzzle- loading kind entirely. Why should the ball be rammed down from the top of the barrel to the bottom, to be driven back the old road again ? Not one scientific argument can be adduced in its favor, but plenty against it. These rifles can be seen at the store of Mr. Marston, No. 205 Broadway, this city. CULTIVATION OF COTTON. We find the two following articles in the Southern Cultivator, from writers who evidently understand themselves : CorroN-SEED. — Messrs. Editors : — I have been experimenting with cotton seed for a number of years. The most valuable experiment that I ever made was in 1829, at which time I was planting black seed. I then procured the Petit Gulf or Mexican seed, and found them a great improvement upon the black and green seed, the only varieties I had previously used. Having been so well renumerated for that change, I tried every variety of improved seed which has been brought to my notice, until the present time — such as Silk Cotton, Olcra or Twin seed, some direct importations from Mexico, the Hogan or Pomegranate seed, the Mastodon, Brown, Pitt, Willow, Sugar Loaf, and other varieties of seed, none of which have I found equal to the Mexican. The Mexican will deteriorate if planted in thin land, but if a sufficient quan- tity to make one's seed be every year planted in rich fresh ground, and well cul- tivated, it will not degenerate ; on the contrary, it may be greatly improved. The secret of having good cotton seed, much better than any of the costly varieties, is to plant in rich fresh ground, cultivated well, and select the best stalks for improvement of seed. This is the plan generally pursued by those who raise fine seed for sale. The second and third year after planted on ordinary ground and with common care, the purchasers find that their fine seed yields no better than their old seed. With proper care the Mexican seed will yield as much per acre as any seed that I have ever tried ; some varieties (the Mastodon and Pitt) will remain longer in the boll, and will waste less from the winter rains and winds, whilst other varieties (the Brown and Sugar Loaf) pick easier and fall out more ; on rich alluvial land, where the product is greater than the hands can gather. It may be well to plant a CULTIVATION OF COTTON. 303 small portion of the crop in Mastodon or Pitt seed, for February and March picking. In the month of February, I have averaged from the entire ground planted in Mastodon, 3,000 lbs. to the acre ; no other seed (except Pitt) would have yielded so much, after standing in the field exposed to the wasting winter rains and winds. This kind of cotton picks much easier in the winter than in the fall season. Whatever variety of seed the planter may be best pleased with, if he wishes to keep them pure, it is absolutely necessary that he plant a sufficiency of rich land to make planting-seed for the next year. pLANTiNa AND CULTIVATING CoTTON. — In the first placc, I recommeud you to make all the manure you possibly can, by building stock-lots, and hauling into them, from the forest, corn-field, and thrasher, all the litter you can, and spread it entirely over them — on which, never foil to pen your stock every night. In this way you can make as much manure of the first quality as you can haul out. As early in January as jow can, commence hauling your manure, and deposit it in piles thick enough, so as to be certain to have every row manured alike.' As soon as you get as much on one field as you want, commence laying off your cotton row with a scooter-plough, and put your raanure in the furrow about three inches deep, on which throw your beds with a one-horse turning-plough, or common shovel and mould-board ; the latter I prefer, especially in land that was in cotton the previous year, as you can plough up the cotton stalks more easily with them than any other ])lough I have tried. This should be done in January or Februar}', so as to give your beds time to settle before planting, which will prevent the tearing down of your beds in opening, and covering your cotton, besides other advantages unnecessary to mention here. The 10th of April, commence opening your beds with an opener made of a block of wood twenty inches long, triangular, with a small, short scooter-plough in front, with beam and handle ; never open your beds deeper than two inches. I should have mentioned that a side harrow should precede the opener, to clean the bed of trash and clods. Roll your seed in ashes, lime or plaster, and strew them very regular, at the rate of half a bushel per acre, and cover them shallow with a block or covtrer made of a piece of wood, 24 by 16 inches, hollowed out in front one inch, with beam and handles. As soon as there is enough cotton up for a stand, commence runnino- around it with the "Mississippi Scraper," which will leave the bed in the shape of the roof of a house, with the cotton standing on the ridge, (as it were,) about one inch wide, ready for the hoe, which follows, chopping lightly through, leaving from 1 to 3 stalks in a place. After you have gone over all your cotton in this way, turn on it with all hands, with the hoe, and put it to a stand as soon as possible. After ivhich, as soon as possible, run around it with side harrows. The balance of the cultivation to be done shallow, with sweep and harrow. I have now given my friend and his neighbors my plan of managing a cotton crop. And I avow most emphatically, that if he will manage as I have directed, he will never fail to make as much cotton as any of his neigh- bors, other things being equal. The above plan is not altogether original with me. I have been managing a cotton crop but about six years in the capacity of overseer, during which time I have studied agriculture as a physician studies medicine. After read- ing all the agricultural works I could get, among which the Southern Culti' valor stands preeminent, and writing private letters to the best and most successful cotton-growers of the South, together with my experience, I have fallen on the above plan, as the best I have tried or seen tried. MORTISING AND BORING MACHINE. 305 OTIS'S MORTISINa, BORING, AND HUB-MORTISING MACHINE. The engraving on the opposite page is a perspective view of Otis's Mortis- ing and Boring Machine in combination, for whicli we are indebted to our neighbor the Scientific American. A ivpresents the mortising or chisel shaft, B, the boring or auger shaft. The mortising is connected with the power, and operated by it in the fol- lowing manner : The side rods, C, one of which is seen in the engraving, are connected with the long yoke, D, at the top of the chisel rod, by an adjustable joint, with jam nuts to hold all fast together and keep the side rods of equal length. The two yokes, D and E, are connected together by short eye-bolts, which give the yokes full play, yet causing the chisel rod, yokes, &c., to move together in forcing the chisel down into the wood, and to retract the same by the help of the steel spring, F; there is a provision likewise for diminishing the friction between them. The rods, C, are connected at the lower end to a short slide, G, which plays in a groove in the bottom of the frame-work, H H H H H, by a screw. The shde, G, has a steel pin in it which plays in a groove in the movable letters, 1 1, that are connected by the pitman, J, to the balance wheel, K ; the balance wheel causing the levers to make a full stroke at every revolution, but not operating on the chisel rod, because the centre of the pin in the sliding ful- crum, L, is cut away, thus causing the centres of motion to be directly over each other, and of course giving no motion to the chisel rod. To bring the chisel rod into play, the foot is pressed down on the treadle, M, which carries down the lever, N, and the chain that is connected to it that passes over the little chain pulley, O, to the sliding fulcrum, L, thus causing the sliding ful- crum with the movable lever, I I, to slide forward on the rods, P P, over the steel pin in the slide, G, and of course carrying down pin and slide rods and chisel rod with it, and allowing the chisel to I'eturn again to the same level at every stroke ; mortising, of course, deeper and deeper as the levers slide, or the i-esistance is moved farther from the fulcrum and nearer the power.. The sliding fulcrum is brought back to its former position by the chain pass- ing from the sliding fulcrum over the chain pulley, Q, to the dead weight, R, when the pressure of the foot is removed, thus bringing it into full stroke, or five inches, or stopping the chisel, at the option of the operator. The chisel rod passes through the guide bolts, S S, the balls of which are lined, with babbitt metal. Said guide-bolts are connected together by the oi'naraental brace T, to which the boring brace, U, is attached, thus causing all the upper work to move in or out together, for any thickness of stuff, and also keeping the back and front boring shafts the same relative distance from each other. By this arrangement the chisel and auger are always in range, so that the chisel follows the auger, which in moitising hard wood is very desirable. They are held in any desired position by thumb screws not seen in the engraving. The boring shaft is operated by a belt coming up from a pulley, T, through: friction pulleys, to the short shaft at the back of the machine, on the end of^ which is a pulley not seen in the engraving. This short shaft hangs in a brace attached to the ends of the guide-bolts, and moving in and out with them. This pulley is made a tight or a loose pulley by a clutch, the shifter of which is seen at W, thus causing the pulley at X, with its belt running to- VOL. V. PART II. 20 306 JAPAN PEA. the boring shaft, to revolve at pleasure. The boring shaft is brought down by the rod Y and the treadle Z, and retracted by the spring lus honey, are 310 PHELPS' BEE-HIVE FEEDING BEES. equalled by no other hive, as the bees may be made to leave either box before removing it from its place in the hive. 4. It is decidedly the best non-svparming hive ever invented, as colonies may be divided and multiplied without the trouble and uncertainty of swarm- ing; or swarming may be prevented, by giving ample room, and taking the surplus honey as fast as gathered. 5. It is also the best swarming hive, as the bees may be confined t * a small amount of room during the f re part of the season, and thereby induced to swarm early, after which, more room may be given them, so as to prevent their clustering on the outside of the hive, and a much larger amount of honey obtained than in any other hive, 6. It affords the bees better protection against the ravages of the moth and miller, and the apiarian better and more effectual means to destroy them after they have entered the hive, than any other. 1. Each section is well ventilated, and the bottom, when closed, is proof against the miller, but, being attached by butts, may be let down and cleaned at pleasure. 8. The bees are better protected against the attacks of both robber-bees and millers in this hive than in any other. 9. It affords better accommodations for feeding either late swarms, or for obtaining honey, as the arrangement is such that for robbers to gain access to the feeding apparatus, they must enter a small passage at the spout, and pass directly through the main body of the hive. And, in fine, it is warranted to give better satisfaction upon a thorough trial, than any other hive known. Some two or three hundred of these hives have been in use during two and three seasons past, in the counties of Licking and Muskingum, Ohio, and sev- eral the past season in New-York and Massachusetts, and have given far bet- ter satisfaction than any thing of the kind heretofore known. And from the universal satisfaction it has given thus far, it is confidently believed that it will supersede all others for convenience, utility, profit, and all practical purposes. The first premium has been awarded this hive for three years in succession, by the Licking County Agricultural Society, where its merits are known. Also, the first premium and a diploma, by the Ohio State Agricultural Society, at tlieir second annual fair held at Columbus, September, 1^51. Addret-s E. W. Phelps, Westfield, Ms. Feeding Bees. — Now that we are upon the subject, we would say one word in reference to the subject of feeding bees. A writer in the last Wo}k- ing Fatmer seems to imply that one pound of sugar will make about two pounds of honey. The folly of this statement leads the charitable editor to infer that he intended to say, that the giving them one pound to eat would excite in them such a disposition to work as would lead them to gather an- other pound elsewhere. Ijut, however this may be possible, it does not tally With our notions of the fact : as we have been taught, we suppose that a pound of sugar will not make a pound of honey. The bees must consume a small quantity in nourishing themselves. Every motion wastes the organized matter of any living thing, and with the activity of bees in summer, a large hive must consume much in a season. Mr. Phelps tried an experiment on this subject with the following result: "He selected three hives in the fall, of about equal strength : one of them he fed with his feed, costing $1.20, and weighing abouL 18 pounds, exclusive of water, which was consumed in ten days. The fed swarm gained ] 1^ pounds^ RECIPROCATING AND ROTARY MOTION. 311 while the other swarms lost each about S^ pounds, making a difference of 15 pounds, and showing about G-g- pounds of food consumed by the working hive, while the idle hive consumed only 3^ pounds. In their torpid state in the winter, it is not considered safe to leave a strong hive with less than 15 pounds of food for the season. In the summer, they must necessarily con- sume several times this quantity. Hence only a part of what they collect is converted into honey." Another writer in the same journal, a Mr. Smith, says : " "Whatever bees collect and deposit in their c( mb, undergoes no change in consequence of any thing they do to it. If they are fed with molasses, they deposit molasses, &c." This must be incorrect. Pure molasses, in our opinion, was never found in a bees' comb. The notion must have obtained credence under the discarded doctrine that honey is merely collected by the bee. The doctrine now uni- versally believed among intelligent apiarists is, that honey is a secretion of the bee, just as essentially as perspiration, &c., in other animals, "/w their comb," implying that the comb itself is not a mere deposit. But it is quite as credible that the comb should be collected as the contents of the comb. The food of a bee materially affects the quality of the honey, without doubt. The peculiar essential chaiacteristics of food afiect the various secretions, to a greater or less extent, with all animals. AVe are persuaded that this idea of secretion in distinction {rom. dqiosit, \?> something besides "imposition, cant, and humbug," notwithstanding the assurance of the writer we have quoted. RECIPROOATLN-G AND ROTARY MOTION. This invention, as described by Mr. Howard, consists of a wheel having sixteen cross-bolts in its periphery, so arranged that the jaws of four levers can play alternately upon them. This wheel — or a system of arms with cross-bolt-?, arranged in a similar manner if preferred — is put on the main shaft instead of a crank. The four levers that play upon the bolts are as long as half the diameter of the wheel ; one end of each is furnished with a slit or jaw, the other moves on its respective axis. Two of them have levers at right angles permanently attached to them, which move on the same axis ; and to these, at the distance of half the diameter of the wheel from the axis, the other two levers are attached by two short connecting rods. The two right-angled levers are worked by two short pitmans connected to two piston rods, by which the whole is put in motion. The pitmans have a similar stroke to that which would result from two cranks working at right angles to each other ; by this motion, one of the jaws, at all times, has its strongest hold on the wheel, while two of the others are changing points, which is effected in a moment; so that two jaws — one from each piston — are almost continually playing on the wheel, and carrying it around with a regular, steady motion. The right-angled levers to two of the jaws above named are comparative to the crank now in use ; and if they are four feet in length, they throw a power on the water-wheel, equal to that thrown on it by a four-feet crank ; but instead of requiring an eight-feet stroke of a piston to do it, this aj'j aratus requires a little less than three. An eight-feet crank requires a sixteen-feet stroke ; but with an eight-feet lever, equivalent to an eight-feet crank, this apparatus requires but a six-feet stroke. And so, under all circumstances, the stroke of the piston is a little over one fourth less than the length of the 312 WHEN TO USE LIME AND PLASTER. moving lever ; and by lengtliening this lever, the water-wheel can be made as large as necessary without deranging the position of the cylinder; and the wheel can be turned backwards or furwards, by simply reversing the motion of the pistons, there being no dead points or centres. The space occupied by Mr. Howard's apparatus is governed by the diameter of the wheel. If that is eight feet, add four more for the levers, four more for pitmans, and three for the cyhnder, which in all make nineteen feet. The olijects intended to be accomplished by this invention are these, viz. : 1st. To save the power which at present, according to Mr. Howard's belief, is lost on the crank, and which he estimates at nearly one half, whether the machinery is propelled by steam, air or electricity. He attri- butes, in a great degree, the failure of Prof. Page's electro-magnetic engine to the loss of power occasioned by the crank now in use. 2d, To prevent machinery from being jerked to pieces by the tremendous power thrown on the crank, when it attains a right angle with the pitman or with the connecting rod, which is necessary to carry it over the dead points. This invention proposes to do away entirely with the danger and delay conse- quent on the breaking of the crank or main shaft, which is often, if not always, the eflfect of this sudden expenditure of power. 3d. To prevent the driving-wheels of locomotives from slipping on the rail, which is caused by the jerk of the pitman or connecting rod, when the crank attains a right angle to it. Any observing man knows that a train begins to lag so soon as the motive-power ceases or grows weak ; and then, at that time, to give a jerk, as the pitman does, when it has its greatest force, it must often cause the driving-wheels to slip on the rail ; particularly if the train is ascending a plane. There can be no doubt but that trains could ascend much higher grades than they now do, if they were propelled by a regular, steady motion or pressure. Mr. Howard has not the means of testing his invention on a practical scale himself; but offers to gi\e a large interest in it to any person who will ad- vance the means necessary for that purpose. WHEN TO USE LIME AND PLASTER. Gen. Bierce, of Akron, a successful cultivator, has recently contributed the following valuable suggestions to the Summit Beacon: The value of lime or plaster, as a manure, depends upon the component parts of the soil to which it is applied. All land has more or less sulphuric •acid in it, caused by the decomposition of iron pyrites. The presence of this acid may generally be known by the appearance of the soil, and particularly of the stones. If there is any iron rust, or oxide of ^Vo«, in the soil, or in the stones, or on the top of the water that filtrates through the soil, or if the water is hard, it indicates the presence of sulphuric acid. If land on which grass seed is sown is " slow to catch" or sod over, or catches in patches, it indicates the presence of sulphuric acid. If the roots of clover and herds-grass in the spring stand two or three inches out of the ground, and in detached parcels, with bare ground between, it is the work of sulphuric acid. On such land plaster is a positive injury. If clover and tame grasses die out, and are succeeded by wire grass, sorrel or sour dock, it is caused by sulphuric acid. Put on lime and keep off plaster. The reason why plaster should not be used on land charged with sulphuric THE EDGE-PLANE. 313 acid is, that plaster is composed of lime and sulphur, and applying that is adding more of that with which the land is ahead}' overcharged. On such land ap[)ly lime^ which unites with the sulphuric acid, and forms plaster. The lime thus neutralizes the acid ; and the acid thus neutralizes the lime, and forms a compound nutriment for vegetation. The reason why the ground a|)pears so hard where the eartli is charged with sulphuric acid is, that the old stubble has been m/m v]) by the acid. . The sulphuric acid in plaster, applied to land not overchargf^d with that substance, decomposes vegetation, and fits it for nourishing the Hving plants. When there is an excess of the acid, it eats up the vegetation, both dead and living. This is the reason why soils overcharged with the acid are always de- ficient in vegetable matter. And soils free from it have an excess of vegetable matter in a decomposed state. The presence of this acid is the cause of sorrel and sour dock and sour grass. The land is literally sour, and Nature is trying to throw it from her stomach, through these excrescences. The rule then is, if your land has too much sulphuric acid, or is sour, give it a good coat of lime ; if destitute of acid, apply plaster. THE EDGE-PL AKE, This is a useful instrument for shoemakers. It can be used without any danger of cutting the upper-leather of a boot or shoe, since, whatever may be the thickness of the sole, it can be set to a suitable width. On the other hand, it will cut a high heel in a truer and more tasteful manner and in less time than it can be done with a knife. A is the slide that contains the knife, and which passes through the mor- tise. V is the aperture through which the shavings pass oft". F is the 314 CAUSES OF PHOSPHORESCENCE. thumb-screw that fastens the slide. B is the corner, so bevelled as to give the knife a drawing stroke. A is a view of the slide removed from the mortise ; C is a screw which fastens the blade. The curved handle gives a side view, and the straight handle a front view of the instrument. This is the invention of Mr. Nicholas Bnclier, of Weedsport,Caynga county, N. Y., who has for sale the right for all the States and Territories except New-York. He has also the instruments on hand, for sale. The Edge- Plane was patented November 1, 1852. CAUSES OF PHOSPHORESCENCE IN THE SEA AND OF ANIMALS. The March number of that very learned and able Review, the American Journal of Science and the Arts, contains an article on the Phosphorescence of the Sea and of some Marine Invertebrata. Different opinions have been entertained as to the nature of this light. Nollet regarded it as a modification of electrical light. Bajon also considered it as due to the electricity of the waves. Others have attributed it to phosphorus, or to bubbles of hydrogen which rise to the surface and explode. Some regard it as analogous to the phosphorescence of the diamond after exposure to the sun. One other opinion is, that it is owing to what the animal has absorbed from the rays of the sun, which they throw out again in the dark ; another, that it is a kind of combustion, sustained by the oxygen of the air ; another, that light is taken in with the food, and disengaged by particular organs. The phospho- rescent matter has also been considered as composed of phosphorus and albu- men, the variations of light arising more or less from the coagulation of the albumen, which may be increased or diminished at the will of the animal. Still another explanation is, that it is due to the nervous fluid, concentrated and modified by certain organs, so as to appear under the form of light. Our author attributes the phosphorescence of the sea, in many cases at least, to the decomposition of fishes and of marine animals. But it is discovered, of late, that living animals have the power of emitting light. Since 1805, Viviani, Professor of Natural History at Genoa, has dis- covered and described fourteen species of phosphorescent animals. Our author, who.n we condense in this abstract, gives us a list of 9 sorts of insects, 2 myriapoda, 6 crustaceoe, or shell animals, 5 mollusks, 2 echinodermata, 5 acalepha, 5 polypi, 6 infusoria?, and Y annelida, whose phosphorescence has been established, and he regards the list as far from complete. In some animals, the process seems to be a slow combustion, analogous to that of phosphorus exposed to the air. Others, as the medusa?, (sunfish,) &c., appear to secrete a luminous liquid. In other instances, as in some of the crustacean, the seat of this light is sup- posed to reside in glands, variable in number, situated on the sides of the thorax, and that the light is emitted when they are irritated, or at the time of procreation. The phosphorescence of spongodium and of alga? (sea-weeds) in general, are supposed to owe their appearance to the luminous animalculre adhering to their surface. Our author concludes his learned treatise by suggesting that light is pro- duced in living animals — 1st, By the secretion of a peculiar substance, exud- NEW BOOKS. 315 ing either from the entire body, or from a special organ, in which the light is the result of a slov/ combustion ; and, 2d, By a vital action which results in a pure light, independent of all material secretion. NEW BOOKS TJie Miseries of Human Life. An Old Friend in a New Dress. New- York : G. P. Putnam. 1853. pp. 182. This reprint of an old book, we tliink originally from the English press, will recall many hearty and wholeso77ie shakings, not of tiie sides merely, but of the entire coi'poreity, in which the readers of those dajs, nolens volens, took a decidedly active part. Some of the information conveyed in these pages is of no mean miportance. A hungry man, who comes home for his supper after the table is cleared, will be glad to learn that even the tea-table becomes eatable when the tea (t) is taken off. If any of its readers ghould be inclined to be fi;stidiou8, they might call some of it nonsense. Most likely, however, they will generally be more modest, and say, with the author's bachelor friend, " I am not the man to take upon myself any heirs (airs.)" But to give a fair specimen of the fare served up in these pages would require a third reprint, and an attempt to do this otherwise would insure an entire failure, like that which happened to another friend of our author, who went " to meat with some friends," but who did, in fact, only " meet with difficulties." We might enlarge, but forbear, for bare want of space. Go and buy the book, and you will laugh, we repeat it, heartily and decidedly. One who has a tendency to azure hues can get no better advice than this : Read " The Miseries of Human Life." The price is only that of a generous box of pills, while, of the two, the book will often be found far the more efficient. Practical Treatise on the Culture of the Grape Vine, d'c. By J. Fisk Allen. Third edition, enlarged and revised. New-York : 0. M. Saxton, 1853. pp. 330. Here is a volume of instructions suitable ^or grape-growers on a large scale, or for those who are willing to incur whatever expense is necessary for the successful culture of the more tender varieties. The whole subject is discussed in a practical, business-like style, and, to a great extent, the result of his actual experience for several years. Mr. Allen is remarkably successful in this branch of horticulture. AVe never saw or tasted finer grapes than those we liave eaten from his vines. So thoroughly has he gone into this business, that he can furnish you, we doubt not, by the aid of his forcing and retard- ing-hiiuses, with fre.sh grapes nearly or quite every month in the year. The mode of doing this, including the form and construction of grape-houses, their furnaces, &c., the preparation of the soil and its appropriate manures, planting the vines and their subse- quent training and treatment for successive years, the growth of seedlings, &c., &c., is concisely described. This is followed by li^-ts of a great many varieties, with their spe- cific churacteristics. A few pages are devoted to the out-of-door cultivation of the vine. The price is only one dollar. The Illustrated Magazine of Ait. New- York: A. Montgomery, 17 Spruce street. We liave once before made formal mention of this new monthly. Nos. 3 and 4 have appeared, and abundantly sustain the high reputation we then claimed for it. 'Ihe en- gravings, which are very numerous, are excellent. The imperfections of " some of them," before noticed, we discover to be the woik of the printer, and not the fault of the en- graver. It assumes quite a scientific character. Principles of philosopliy, liie lives and productions of some ot the great artists, discoveries in Egypt, (tc, n of the numeious varieties of this queen of the flowers; also full directions for the treatment of the dahlia. This part forms one volume of Saxlon's Cottage and Farm Library. The second part consists of 316 NEW BOOKS. Every Ladij her own Floioer Gardener, and gives full and plain instructions in reference to the selectiou, pre])aratioa, and cultivation of the flower garden, and also of flowers in rooms, wiih a long list of annuals, perennials, act as a spring to press it out into the steam space, whichever way the engine may be turning. Also mounting or hanging the two cylinders on radial and axialjournals, respectively, arranged in a common plane, and at right angles to each other, whereby the two cylinders can accommodate ihem- selves to each other, so as to avoid binding, as set forth. Machine for making Axes. — By Jonas Simmons, of Cohoes, N. Y. : I do not claim the employment of rolling dies for shaping an axe ; but 1 claim the arrangement of the rolling dies with a rest bar to support the iron whilst being rolled, and an eye bar, arranged not only to serve as a mandrel to Bhape the eye of the axe. but with the rest bar to hold the iron firm during the process of rolling; the rest bar and eye bar being connected with the machinery, to give them appropriate movements, to cause them to cooperate with the roll* in shap- ing the axe, and these parts, further in combination with a scarfing bar, for the purpose of shaping the blade to receive the steel point in order to com- plete the axe, substantially as set forth. Supplemental Valve in Reciprocating Steam Engines. — Chas. A. Spring, of Kensington, Pa. : I LIST OF PATENTS RECENTLY ISSUED. 319 claim the arrangement of a valve in the lid of the steiim chest, or the equivalent thereof, between the cylinder of a steam engine and the boiler, in such manner that it will prevent the reflux of the lead steam, by closing, whenever l\\-i pressure of the steam in the engine excludes that in tlie boiler, and opening again whenever the pressure in the boiler is greater, substantially as herein set forth. Looms. — VVm. Townshend, of Flinsdale, Mass. : I do not claim actuating the pickers by the bacli- ward motion of the lay alone, but. first, I claim the cam-whefl on the chain shaft, right-angle lever, and staples or slide bolts combined and acting as described to bring the picking motion into opera- tion alternately on each side by the backward motion of the lay as specified. Second, actuating the picker staffs by the lay on its backward motion by means of the vibrating studs, svhen combined with levers attached to the swords of llie lay, and two bent levers, arranged and combined in the manner described. Third, the two levers are connected together by the adjustable pin so as to give greater or less mo- tion to the selviigd warp, when actuated by the cam as described. Fourth, the apron or straps connected to the bar, and kept to the cloth by proper weight or power, 80 as to cause sufRcient friction to wind the cloth on the cloth-beam, when said apron and bar ate moved or actuated from the lay or otherwise, so as to produce the effects herein described. Bedstead Fastenings — E. Sumner Taylor, of Cleveland, Ohio : I do not claim separately the pawl and ratchet, nor a continuous right and left hand screw, but I claim the combination of the pawl and ratchet with the spiral grooved sections attached to the tenons, arranged and applied in the manner and for the purpose herein specified, namely ; the tenons of one side rail and one end rail being furnished with the plate, having the spiral groove turning to the right and left as described, miking a tight joint with the post; the other side and end rails having on their tenons a groove, passing around the tenon at right angles to the axis and fitting the pins, as described, so that by having one side of the tenon on each end flattened to enable it to pass the pin, in order to allow it to enter the groove, when by turning, in either direction, less than a complete revolution, the pin fitting into the groove prevents the prists and rails from separating, and by attaching the ratchets to the end of this side rail and one end of the end rail, with the pawls attached to the posts, as specifie I, by tightening of the cord put on in the manner described, the whole frame of the bed- steal is held firmly together by the combined action of all the parts described, one end rail and one side r lil remaining stationary, the other end rail and side rail turning as described for the pur- pose of tightening the cord, both being secured by the pawl and ratchet. Currycombs. — By Wm. Wheeler, of Troy, N. Y. : I claim the application of a ring, loop, or fixture ou currycombs, for the insertion of a thumb as a guard and rest therefor, the ring or loop being made in one piece with the back strap, as set forth. Printing Presses. — By Seth Adams, of Boston, Mass. : I claim, first, the combination of the vi- brating platen wi'h the sheet holders, arranged as specified, so as to be kept up a little dist>inee from the platen when in position to receive the sheet, and moving with said platen to the form, in order to hold the sheets thereon and draw them from the types, also with the gauges for registering the sheets. Second, the mode for keeping the sheet holders up from the platen when the sheet is to be placed, diid means consisting of an arm on each end of the rod (on which said holders are fixed and with which they turn) and stops against which said arm strikes; the arrangements and operation being substantially as sot forth. Third, thw apparatus for delivering or taking off the shet-ts from the platen after it is printed, con- sisting of the moving or sliding tympan cloth, in combination with the turning sigment, to which an intermittent and reciprocating rotary motion is imparted by the catch, ratchet, and spiral spring, operating as specified Cane Juice Evaporators. — By Henry Bessemer, of Baxter Mouse, England. Patented in England, Feb. 2-1, 1852 : 1 claim the combination of a hollow and perforated shaft, connected with an air blast apparatus, a series of plates, or a screw plate, (placed around and on the shalt,) and a reservoir, trough or basin, for holding the liquor to be evapo- rated. Also, the combination of a hot water vessel and its heating apparat\i8, the cistern for holding the saccharine liquor and the app iratus for effecting its evaporation by means of hot air blown ou thin or extended surfaces, a screw or plates, us spe- cified. Filters for Cane Juice. — By Henry Bessemer, of Baxter House, England. Paientcd in England, Feb. 24, 1852: I claim the combination of the re- ceiving ves3els,rotaling filtering drum, (placed with- in the said vessel,) gutters, (within the drum,) the hollow axle or shaft, (coimected with said gutters,) and the scraper applied to the outer surface of the revolving drum, the whole being arranged and m^de to operate together, substantially as spe- cified. Breaking and Dressing Flax. — By S. A. Clemans, of Springfield, Mass. : I do not claim simply the double action of beaters, as that is well known in a great variety of machines for various purposes. What I claim is the m-thod of breaking and dressing fiax i>r other fibrous substances, by a beater constructed in the m.anner described, (vi- brating on a central axis,) between the faces of which the flax, &c., passes as described, when this is combined with one or two pairs of rests placed in close proximity to the edges of the beaters between which the flax passes, as specified. Also, in combination with the benter and rests for breaking and dres-ing, as described, the em- ployment of a pair of rollers, each of which is grooved in the direction of its periphery, and one of which is made to vibrate in the direittion of its axin, for the purpose of opening and softening the fitires, as described. Magnetic Machine for Washing and Separating Gold. — By Samuel Gardiner, of New-York city : I do not claim to have invented a rotary cylinder of magnets, lor the purpose of separating mngnetic particles from ores or metals; but I claim separat- ing gold or other metal from earthy and magnetic particles, by means of a rotary cylinder of magnets, which matjnetis, at the same time as they collect the magnetic particles, serve as agitators for agitating the water, and the metal, and earthy and other foreign matter which is mixed, for the purpose of washing away the said earthy and other foreign matter, the said cylinder of magnets being con- structed and arranged in relation to the trough, containing aforesaid mixture in any way, substan- tially as set forth. Daguerreotype Cases. — By J. P. !\iascher, of Philndelphia, Pa.: I do not claim the invention of a stereoscope, for that hHS been previously dis- covered ; but I c'aini constructing a daguerreotype case with an adjustable fl ip or supplementary lid, said tiap or lid being within the case and having two ordinary lenses placed in it; by which, upon adjusting the flap or lid, a stereoscope is formed of the case, and the twodaguerreotyp s, by binocular vision, are apparently formed into a life-like figure. (This is a very excellent improvement, well wor- thy the attention of daguerrean artists.) Moulding in Flasks.— By L. A. Orcutt, of Albany, 320 LIST OF PATENTS RECENTLY ISSUED. N. Y.: I claim, in combination with a flask hav- ing a continuous or reciprocating; rotary motion, the rammer or rammers, so arranged as to be made, nl any timo during their operation, to work in any po'tion of the tlaslc, whilst, at the same time, they have an automatic adjustment, so as to rise as the ilask is tilled and rammed, and adjust themselves vertically in regard to Itie flask, the whole being accomplished as described. Moulding for Cast-iron Plates.— By Thaddeus A. Smith, of Albany, N. Y. : I claim thi' process of moulding the recesses in the tops of stove plates intended for the reception of the lifters by which Buch plates are handled, (which recesses are required to be dov-v arc, but the parallel lines forming its oppo- / / ">, site margins must meet in the same point / /^'^^~~\ of the vertical. In this diagram, the van- ^C^^^ / ^^^ ishing - points and the vertical drawn ^^""-^v.^^^^ /^-■""'^^ through one of them are too far distant to be included in the figure. _ Sometimes two verticals are required; ^"^...^^^ as if a box should consist of two parts, ^'^^ with covers on each, hinged at its centre.— It is obvious that these points in the vertical may be at different elevations, since one cover may be represented as more open than the other. They may also be either above or below the horizon, according to the position of the cover, and also the position of the hinge, whether from or towards tho line of the horizon. ELECTRIC TELEGRAPHS IN INDIA. 339 H K The mode of drawing such diagrams is as follows : Set off the width of the box from a to 6, and rule to R, the radial point in the horizon H S. The point of intersection with a line from a to S gives the perspective width. From a, set off the height of the box, and rule towards S for its upper margin. A perpendicular may then be drawn for the rear of the ''1'^ box, the whole of which may now be completed by the rules heretofore given. For the cover, the depth of the box may be set off above its upper margin, on a e produced, and this point connected with S. The point h will then give its width when in a vertical position ; and by drawing a perspec- tive semicircle from the point g, as a centre, through this point, its width, in any position, will be exactly ascertained. Whatever position is chosen for it, continue the line representing it to the prime vertical, as at v, and by a rule from V to the opposite end of the cover, its opposite side will be fixed. The only remaining line must be drawn parallel to the top of the box, or, if oblique, it must be drawn to the vanishing-point from which the lines parallel to it were drawn. But one other point needs to be exhibited, for the convenient and successful application of this science to practice, in the plain way referred to in the commencement of this series. We may be more full hereafter on the same points, and introduce others of great convenience, and even essential for some of the styles of perspective drawing. But all plain rectangular diagrams, representing buildings, streets, &c., require the application of no other prin- ciple than those embraced in the foregoing, save that which we now attempt to explain. Perspective circles are among the most difficult of all the operations of the young student. They are neither circles, nor ellipses, nor ovals, as these terms are usually understood, but partake of the characters of all these. A circle is easily described within a square. But in a perspective square, the width of the square is constantly diminishing, the narrower part being towards the horizon. Hence the circle must be contracted in hke manner. Perhaps the simplest process for drawing the circle is this: Draw a mathe- matical square of the required dimensions, and inscribe a circle within it. Next, draw two, three, or more diameters, at pleasure, and then, by the rule given in our May number, page 270, transfer the points forming the extremi- ties of these diameters to the perspective square, and unite them by a pro- per curve. This will require some practice, but facility of execution will by and by be acquired, and two diameters will then be enough as guides in forming the entire curve. To prevent a multiplicity of lines, the diameters may be drawn with a pencil, one at a time, and the points being fixed, one line may be rubbed out and another drawn, and so on, and all confusion will be avoided. ELECTRIC TELEGRAPHS IN INDIA. A LATE number of the New- York Commercial Advertiser contamsBn inter- esting account of soine experimental telegraphic lines in India, and of an ex- 840 WORK FOR JUNE. tended system of telegraphing about to be introduced into that country. It se'MTis that Dr. O'Shaughnessy, of the Calcutta Mint, having been author- ized by the Governor-General to make some experiments in telegraphing, constructed a line 82 miles long, involving some extensive river crossings, which is found to work so admirably as to induce the East India Company to contract for some 3,150 miles of the telegraphic communication, connect- ing the three presidencies of Calcutta, Bombay, and Madras. Dr. O'Shaughnessy's plan is quite different from that used by any tele- graphing company. Instead of wires, he uses iron rods three eighths of an inch in diameter, and weighing a ton to the mile. These rods are welded to- gether and supported on bamboo sticks, which yield freely to the wind, bending, but not breaking before the tempest. The cost of the rods and the welding is about £l2 10s. a mile; and as no insulators, winders, or other apparatus is required, it is said to be cheaper in the end than wire lines, which are very apt to get out of order. The severest hurricanes have not, thus far, damaged this experimental line, while wires have been found broken after every storm. The telegraphing instruments employed are of the simplest kind, consisting of a single-needle horizontal telegraph, which is found to work in all weathers, and to be easily repaired by the operators. A battery of 12 to 20 pieces of platinum wire, with zinc plates, suffices, it is also said, to work the lines through the heaviest rains and most violent storms. The cost of a set of instruments of every kind is under £10, and the outlay for the construction of the lines, independently of river crossings, will be £35 per mile for a single, and £55 for a double communication. In crossing streams, a gutta percha-covered wire, laid in the angles of a chain cable, is employed. WORK FOR JUNE. By this time the industrious farmer will have finished all his "sprin; wprk," and his planting of the staple crops. This process will have exhauste* all his manure-beds, and left a void in the prospect before him which nothing else can fill. Hence it becomes him, in the short leisure time between plant- ing and hoeing, to commence the process of renewing those piles, the farm- er's only mines of wealth. Throw all the accessible refuse into one pile, and sprinkle it freely with charcoal dust or plaster of Paris, or both, with an occasional supply of cheap salt. Call the daily litter and dirt of the hog-pen into requisition, and from time to time add all the swamp-muck, broken peat, all the waste water of the cook and washerwoman, ashes, &c., and above all, the slops of the chambermaid, and you will secure the means of a valu- able harvest for another year. Every man is said to be the maker of his own fortune, and it is most emphatically true that every man is the fertilizer of his own farm. It rests with him whether it shall be a shallow, exhausted, drained, famished soil, or a deep, fertile, profitable one. All soils cannot be made equally rich, but there are very few that cannot be made paying farms. A top-dressing of plaster of Paris, sprinkled in the drills or rows, or of guano and charcoal dust, well mixed, will be of service in hastening forward your crops. Cucumbers, melons, ck. ct. Stock. Original Cost. Cost, adding prern. on Sto 1. Albany, $1,000,000 11,775,000 $1,892,000 . . 117 pr. 2. Utica, 2 Roads, 6,300,000 5,803,000 9,358,000 . .155 . . 3. Syracuse, 2 do, 3,000,000 3,261,000 4,761,000 . .150 . . 4. Rochester, 5,550,000 6,017,000 7,682,000 . .130 .. 5. Buffalo, 1,825,000 2,415,000 3,145,000 . .140 . . 6. Lockp't, 2 R'ds, 2,350,000 3,058,000 3,635,000 . .125 . . 7. Troy, 650,000 ■650,000 650,000 . . ' Total, $20,675,000 $23,069,000 $31,123,000 . . 136|p. c. " Thus, the management, salaries, office expenses, etc., of ten companies, are brought under one head, and consequently a great reduction will be raade, and tlie public are assured a more speedy and effective transit." The above paragraph, with some variations, is going the round of our exchanges, with an expressed or implied approval of it in all its particulars. But for ourselves, while we approve the policy of union, it is on entirely opposite grounds from the first named. The idea of saving cost in the management is or should be an obsolete idea, after the tragedies of the last months. Better men must be had, and at higher rates of compensation, and the number of agents must be essentially increased. This grand corporation, for example, requires one great, far seeing, comprehensive mind, who will discover any point on which there is danger to life or limb. This one mind is above and over all now in office, and will demand the highest salary, so as to secure the best man. The gentlemen now in office, under a change of name, if you please, must still be on the watch-tower. Their subalterns must be there too, and, like those on the Hudson Road, never so remote from each other as not to be in plain view, forming an unbroken chain of watchmen ; not minute-men, but mile-men or half-mile men. We allude now to roads or sections which have only single tracks. Then there will be dividends, for the public, feeling that they can be safe, will travel by steam. There will be dividends also, because every man will do his duty, conscious that eyes are on the alert, and that he is fully exposed to the observation, both of his co- laborers and of the public. Gentlemen, go on with the union, for it strengthens THE Union; but not to save a sixpence — rather to save life, and promote the ultimate interest, not only of stockholders, but also of the people. ROOT-GRAFTING. SADDLE OR GIG HORSR 347 An expert publishes the following as some of the prominent points of this noble animal, designed for the uses specified : A moderately small head, free from fleshiness; fine muzzle and expansive nostrils; broad at the throat and wide between the eyes, which denotes intelligence and courage ; a dished face indicates high breeding, and sometimes viciousness ; a convex or Roman nose frequently betokens the reverse ; the ears rather long, yet so finely formed as to appear small, and playing quickly like those of a deer ; the eyes clear, full, and confident, with a steady forward look. Glancing them back- ward or askance with a sinister expression, and with none or only a slight movement of the head, is indicative of a mischievous temper. The neck should be handsomely arched, and fine at the junction with the head, while the lower extremity must be full and muscular, and weH expand- ed at the breast and shoulders. The latter ought to be high and run well back ; the withers strong, firmly knit, and smooth; the breastneither too prominent nor retreating, too wide nor too narrow, and supported by a pair of straight fore-legs, standing well apart. The chest should bo deep, and the girth large; the body full, and not drawn up too much in the flank ; the back short, and the hips gathered well towards the withers ; the loins wide and rising above the spine; the ribs springing at nearly right angles from the back, giving roundness to the body. The hips ought to be long to the root of the tail, and the latter may approach to near the line of the back, which is a mark of good breeding. Both the thigh and hock should be large and muscular ; and between the hock or knee and pastern, the legs should be broad, flat, and short; the hind legs properly bent, and all well placed under the body ; the pasterns of moderate length, and standing slightly oblique ; the hoofs hard, smooth, round before, and wide at the heel; the frog large and sound, and the sole firm and concave. A white hoof is generally tender, easy to fracture and to lame, and diflacult to hold a shoe. The drau(jht-horse ought to differ from the foregoing, in possessing a heavier and shorter neck ; a wider and stouter breast, and low withers, so as to throw the utmost weight into the collar; a heavier body and quarters; larger legs and feet, and more upright shoulders and pasterns. — Ohio Farmer. ROOT-GRAFTING. To the Editors of the Alabama Planter : I AM glad to see that you bestow so much attention upon fruit culture in your State, and that more and more interest is being manifested by our people on the subject. It is certainly a favorable omen that, instead of in- variably sending as heretofore to the North for trees — the quality of which cannot be pronounced upon until they come into bearing — culturists are endeavoring to propagate from varieties of known worth in their own section. Budding and grafting are much practised by those possessing the requisite knowledge and skill, and in this way we shall, within a few more years, have the choicest varieties of all the best fruits growing in abundance in every part of the State. As to grafting, there is one mode I slxnild be ]>leased to be better informed about, viz.: root-grafting. I have heard of it, but as yet have not met with any one who has either seen the operation performed or 348 THE CAM. the tree after being thus grafted. You would therefore greatly oblige me by furnisliing me with such information as you may possess on the subject. " March 23, 1S53. Yours, B. Fig. a. FOR THB PLOUGH, THB LOOM, AND THE ANVIL. THE CAM. RULES AND PI1INCIPLK6. Fio. B. Fi8. C. To describe a cam or heart for a regular motion, to make a spool straight, as c on %. A, draw the line a b, fig. B, of equal length of the spool A, between the heads; draw 6 c at right angles to a b, and make b c equal half the diameter of the head of the spool, or the height you wish the cam to rise ; draw ac; divide a b "into any number of equal parts, say 16. Draw the circle c in fig. C, the size you wish ihe hub, ami divide it into 32 parts ; Fio. D. Fio. E. and draw lines through the centre, set up from c the L..^Lt } .a \.-h your heart to rise, as d equal b c, on B. Then take the distances on B from a 6 to ac, and trai.sfe.' toC,as 1, 2, 3, to 1,2,3, &c. ; and trace through tho^e points. To describe a heart to fill a spool largest in the middle, as a, in fig. A, draw D, as directed above, making b c equal to the height you would have Fio. F. FiQ. G. your cam rise ; then with the curve a, fig. A, in your dividing, describe the segments a e — e c, on D ; draw the circle a 6, fig. E, of the size you wish your THE CAM. 349 hub; divide it as in C;draw lines from centre through each division, and transfer from 1 to 1 — 2 to 2 — 3 to 3, videncc, R. I., for Im- provement in Mould Candle Apparatus. Daniel Reid, of Washington, N. C, for Improve- ment in Manure Carts. G. W. Reid, of Evansville, Indiana, for Improve- ment in Corn ShcUcrs. P. J. Steere, of Cheshire, Mass., for Improvement in Sawing Barrel Heads. J. S. Taylor, of Danbury, Ct., for Improvement in Machines for Shrinking Hat Bodies. C. N. Tyler, of Worcester, Mass., for Improve- ment in Repeating 7ive Arras. S. R. Wilmot, of New-Haven, Ct., (assignor to Joseph Kent, of Baltimore Co., Md.,) for Improve- ment in Apparatus for Drawing Water from Wells. Patrick O'Reilly, of Reading, Pa., for Improve- ment in Rails for Railroads. J. D. Steele, of Pottstown, Pa., (assignor to C. E. Smith, of Philadelphia, Pa ,) for Improvement in Rails for Railroads. Asabel G. Bachelder, of Lowell, Mass., for Im- provement in Counter Silks. Nehemiah Dodge, of New- York, N. Y., for Im- provement iu Pump Valves. E. L. Evans, of Hartford, Conn., for Improve- ment in Washing Machines. Thomas S. Minniss, of Meadville, Pa., for Im- provement in Invalid Chairs. Jonathan W. Morrill, of Hampton Falls, N. H., for Improvement in Ditching Machines. Enoch Osgood, of Bangor, Me., for Improvement in Fastening Leather Beltings. John W. Richards, of Hoboken, N. J., for Im- provement in Registering Apparatus for Printing Presses. John P. Sherwood, of Fort Edward, N. Y., for Improvements in Machines for Making Wrought Iron. Frederick E. Sickels, of New- York, N. Y., for Improvement in Operating and Controlling the Rudders of Steam Vessels. John H. Snyder, of Troy, N. Y., for Improvement in Machines for Making Hook-headed Spikes. George A. Whipple, of Newark, N. J., for Im- provement in Manufacturing Malleable Iron di- rectly from the Ore. D. Winder, of Xenia, Ohio, for Improvement in Locomotive Engines. Charles F. Sihbald, of Philadelphia, Pa., for Im- provement in Paint Compounds. Patented in England, October 15, 1852. John Mee, of Lowell, Mass., (assignor to John Mee and Robert Rourke, of same jjlace, and Gilbert MackennoD, of Portsmouth, N. H.,) for Improve- ment in Knitting Looms. John Mee, of Lowell, Mass., (assignor to John Meo'and Robert Rourke, of the same place, and Gilbert Mackennon, of Portsmouth, N. H., for Improvement in Warp Net Fabrics. James M. Patton and Wm. F. Fergus, of Phila- delphia, Pa., (assignors to John C. Da Costa, of same place, for Improvement inTongueing, Groov- ing, and Moulding Cutters. James Young, of Philadelphia, Pa., (assignor to John W. Middleton, of same place,) for Improve- ment in Printing Presses. Thomas A. Chandler, of Rockford, 111., for Im- provement in Pendulum Levels. Moses Coburn, of Savannah, Ga , for Improve- ment in Violins. Edwin Forbes, of Boston, Mass., for Improve, ment in Vertical Pianos. Samuel Fox, of (near) Sheffield, Eng., for Im- provement in Umbrellas and Parasols. Patented in England, April 6, 1852. Lewis L. Gilliland and Joseph R. Wagoner, of Dayton, Ohio, for Improvement in Sofa-Bedsteads. JohnH. H.Hawes, of Ithaca, N. Y., for Improve- ment in Calendar Clocks. Matthaus Helm, of Cincinnati, Ohio,' for Im- provement in Cooking Stoves. Abner H. Longley, of Lebanon, Ind., for Iraprove- ments'in the Machines for Cutting Wooden Screws. Frederick Mathesius, of New- York, N. Y., for Improvement in Upholstering Furniture. Julius A. Pease, of New- York, N. Y., for Im- provement in Seeding Hoes. Wm. J. Thorn, of Westbrook, Me., for Improve- ment in Pocket Combs. Wm. W. Wade, of Springfield, Mass., for Im- provement in Castors for Furniture. Halsey D. Wolcott, of Boston, Mass., for Im- provement in Graduated Cutters for Cloth and other Substances. Davis L. Weatherhead, of Philadelphia, Pa,, for Improvement iu Cleansing and Cooling Block Dies in Rivet Machines. Samuel J. Seeley, of New- York, N. Y , for Im- provement in Lime Kilns. Antedated November 17, 1852. James A. Woodbury, of Winchester, Mass., Joshua Merrill, of Boston, Mass., and George Pat- ten, of Charlestown, Mass., for Improvements in Air Engines. Patented in England, January 5, 18S3. AYm. Cresseler, of Shippensburgh, Pa., for Im- provement in Seed Planters. ;, ,U may be kept FOURTEEN DAYS ^.„^ 305- ^ TXl^ 305 TU V/.S