UMASS/AMHERST 3ia0bb005604=lHH LIBRARY OF THE %\ A MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE s 73 5m-12-'29. ^ B27 — v.l I8S0'IS93 J DATE DUE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AT AMHERST "S j GEDRGICK FAFEM3 1809, CONSISTING OF LETTERS AND EXtHACTS, COMMUNICATED TO THE MASSACHUSETTS SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING AGRICULTURE. pubU'sljeD hy> tfjc %vn$tm* Withoul encouragement of Agriculture, and thereby increasing '-'^' ^hestnn;, walnut o^ hickory, twenty.five dollars ; if all of oak, Jifly dollars. Claims to be made on or before the 1st of October, 1812. <» u'* lo oc UaMsJf eveL nnn '««•"'*=]»'»« respectively, and in like manner the ?er and shall howl'"''': ^f '''"^ ^^^" '"^'^"^^^ 'he defects of the lat- remedied hv ht.HH^^ ""'T^ experiments how the said defects may be S^JLntrv^ r^dtn -^ '"" "^ '?[''*' "■" "'^^'' •"S>-^«Ji'^"t«. which abound iu that ... n^ o * -^ '*'^" •''PP'^^'' '« rain, and at the same time so plausible, that 1 have thouiiht it worth publication. Though it does not establish the faft, that the Berberry emits no noxious inllu- ence, yet it may serve to remove a prejudice ol our farmers, and be the means of preserving a salutary shrub, which is often, for no good reason, devoted to destruction. By ma- king it known, therefore, through the medium of your work, you may benefit society, and will oblige Yours, &c. R. Catnbridge, April, ] 809. THIS shrub has lately acquired an ill name for a very mischievous effect, which, if true, should in- duce every husbandman to extirpate it from the vi- cinity of his corn lands. It is atlirmed, that ears of 15 wheat, wliich grow near it, never fill, and that Us influence in this respect has been known to extend three or four hundred yards.* Mr. Macro, a very respectable farmer at Bar- row, in Suffolk, planted a Berberry bush in his gar- den, on purpose to ascertain the fact. Heset wheat round it three succeeding years, and it was all so completely mildewed, that the best of the little grain it produced, was only about the size of their rice, and that without any flower. He adds, that some which he set on the opposite side of his gar- den, one of the years, produced very good grain, al- though the straw was a little mildewed. f There are other accounts from practical men, correspond- ing with this of Mr. Macro's, We can scarcely, however yield our assent to an appearance so strange and so wholly unaccountable, till the fact has been examined more accurately. The Berberry is so common in the hedges about Saffron Walden, in Essex, and many niiles round that place, where corn grows frequently up to the very hedge, that we can scarcely suppose such an interesting effect to have escaped observation. The celebrated Duhamel long since looked upon the mildewing power of the Berberry, as totally void of foundation ; and Mons. Broussonet, who has bent his attention particularly to Agriculture, assures us of the same thing from his own observations.]; Extract from a commwiication, by Doctor J^mes Ijlton, of Wilmington, Delaware, on the subject of an Insect, so generallij destructive to the choice fruits of our country ; and 'published in the first American edition of the Domestic Encyclopedia:, in Philadelphia. Curculio, a genus of insects belonging to the ^ Withering. I Young's .Annals. 7, 188. + English Botany, 40. 16 Colcopteni or Beetle order : the species are said to be very numerous : the immense dcmicvj^e clone by an insect of this tribe to the fruits of this country, of which there is no similar account in Europe, has given rise to a conjecture with some naturalists^ that we have a peculiar and very destructive species in America. The manner^ in which this insect injures and destroys our fruits, is^, by its mode of propagation. Early in the spring, about the time when the fruit trees are in blossom, the CurcvUones ascend in swarms from the earth, crawl up the trees, and as the several fruits advance, the^ puncture the rind or skin, with their pointed rostra, and deposite their embryos in the wounds thus inflicted. The maggot, thus bedded in the fruit, preys upon its pulp and juices, until, in most instances, the fruit perishes, falls to the ground, and the insect, escaping from so unsafe a residence, makes a sure retreat into the earth ; where, like other Beetles, it remains in the form of a grub, or worm, during the winter, ready to be metamorphosed into a bug, or beetle, as the spring advances. Thus every tree furnishes its own ene- my ; for although these bugs have manifestly the capacity of flying, they appear very reluctant in the use of their wings ; and perhaps never employ them, but when necessity compels them to migrate. It is a fact, that two trees of the same kind may stand in the nearest possible neighbourhood, not to touch each other, and that one will have its fruit destroy- ed by the Curculio, and the other be uninjured, merely from contingent circumstances, which pre- vent the insects from crawling up the one, whilst they are uninterrupted from climbing the other. The Curculio delights most in the smooth skinned stone fruits, such as nectarines, plumbs, apricots, «&c. when they abound on a farm ; they li nevertheless attack the rou2:h skinned peach, the apple, peaPj and quince. The instinctive sagacity ot" these creatures directs them especially to th« fruits most adapted to their purpose. The stone fruits more certainly perish by the wounds made by these insects^ so as to fall in due time to the ground, and afford an opportunity to the young mag-got to hide itself in the earth. Ahhough mul- titudes of these fruits fall, yet many recover from their wounds, which heal up with deeply indented scars. This probably disconcerts the Curculio in its intended course to the earth. Be this as it may. Certain it is, that pears are less liable to fall, and are less injured by this insect than apples. Necta- rines, plumbs, &c. in most districts of our country, where the Curculio has gained an establishment, are jtterly destroyed, unless special means are emploj- ijd for their preservation. Cherries escape better on iccount of their rapid progress to maturity and their ibundant crops : the Curculio can only puncture a timall part of them during the short time they liang ipon the tree. These destructive insects continue i-heir depredations from the first of May until au- umn. Our fruits, collectively estimated, must hereby be depreciated more than half their lalue. It is supposed that the Curculio is not only inju- ioiis above ground, but also in its retreat, below the urface of the earth, by preying on the roots of our fruit trees. We know that Beetles have, in some Instances, abounded in such a maimer as to endan- I :er whole forests. Our fruit trees often die, from nanifest injuries done to the roots by insects, and. ly no insects more probably than the Curculio. In iistricts where this insect abounds, cherry trees and tipple trees, which disconcert it most above, appear t) be the special objects of its vengeance below the lirface of the earth. 3 . IS These are serious evils, to combat \vbic]i every scientific inquirer is loudly called upon to exert his talents ; every industrious farmer to double his dili- gence ; and all benevolent characters to contribute their mite. Naturalists have been accustomed to destroy vi- cious insects by employing their natural enemies to devour them. "^ We are unacquainted v.'ith any tribe of insects! able to destroy the Curculio. All the domestic an- imals, however, if well directed, contribute to this purpose, Hogs, in a special manner, are qualified for the work of extermination. This voracious ani mal, if suffered to go at large in orchards, and a mong fruit trees, devours all the fruit that falls, and among others the Curculiones, in the maggot state which may be contained in them. Being thus gen erally destroved in the embr\o state, there will b< few or no bugs to ascend from the earth in th( spring to injure the fruit. Many experienced far iTicrs ha^e noted the advantage of hogs running i their orchards. Mr Bordley, in his excellen ^' Essays on Hushandrij," takes particular notice c the g;reat advantage of hogs to orchards: and a I ( though he attributes the benefits derived from thes animals to the excellence of their manure, and thei occasional rooting about the trees, his mistake i this trivial circumstance does by no means inval™ ^ date the general remarks of this acute observe il y, The fact is, hogs render fruits of all kinds fair an unblemished by destroying the Curculio. The ordinary fowls of a farm }ard are great d vourers of Beetles. Poultry in general are regar ed as carnivcrous in summer, and therefore coop( sometimes before they are eaten. Every body kno with vhat aviditv ducks seize on the tumble bu fscara locus cminfex) and it is probnbJc the Cure 19 lio is regarded by all the fowls as an equally deli- cious tnorsel. Therefore it is, that the smooth stone fruits particularly succeed much better in lanes and yards, where the poultry run without restraint, than in gardens and other enclosures^ where the fowls are excluded. The following TiUtorij of Merino Sheep is taken from Lord Somervilt.e's JMemoir, addressed to the Bath Society in 1802 ; containing also some important observations on the use of salt for cat- tie J and the preservation of hay. I RECEIVED from Mr. Lasteyrie, together with a most polite letter^ his history of the introduc- tion of Merino sheep into different parts of Eu- rope, lately published. His exertions in tracing the differentpropertiesof sheep in Spain, Sweden, Den- mark, Saxony, Prussia, &c. &c. are unexampled ; his knowledge has obviously been obtained in the shcepfold, and the fluency and correctness, with which he details the various diseases of sheep, aiid their remedies, declare him to possess a shepherd's knowledge of a flock. In his commencement of the subject, he expresses himself thus : '" The difl'erent governments of Europe had long acknowledged the advantages, that would be derived to agriculture and commerce from the introduction of hue wools into their respective states ; but their views meeting opposition in the ignorance and pre- judice of the times, a considerable number of years elapsed before they set about realizing an idea, which at first seemed chimerical ; at length there appeared men, equally commendable for their patri- otism and their knowledge, v^'ho have laboured, with zeal and perseverance, to enlighten their fellow-citi- zens, by producing facts to prove, that nature^ far 20 from opposing* itself to the preservation of iine- wool sheep in certain climates, seemed, on the con- trary, to lend itself complacently to the vxertions of industry. I believe I have demonstrateJ ui my trea- tise on sheep, that the fine wools of Spain depend neither on the vovage, nor on the soil, nor ihe cli- mate, nor the pasture, but that they depend on other causes, and that it is possible to have in France and elsewhere, wool of the same quality as that of Spain. My travels in the north of Europe have offered facts and observations, which have afresh demonstra- ied tliis truth. I have found, in the far greater num- ber of the flocks I have examined, wool, which, judging from the eye or the touch, equals in beauty and fineness that of Segovia and Leon ; so much so, that in my opinion no doubt can remain, that we can obtain superfine fleeces in every part of Europe, where pastures are to be found, and where we can depend on winter food, on which sheep can be sup- ported. These wools make cloths as fine, as silky, and supple, as those manufactured ol Spanish wool, as attempts made in France, and other countries, prove. But were it true, that ihe food, climate, and other local circumstances had a certain influence on the intrinsic qualities of wool, such as the elasti- city, the strength, the softness, &c. &c. it would not be the less proved, that, at all events, cloths, fine and beautiful enough to satisfy persons the most difhcult on this point, can be obtained ; and that a nation can easily do without the fine wools of Spain, and feed its finestmanufactures with those drawn from its ov,'n proper soil. Nevertheless, as these truths are still held in doubt by some persons, and lest these doubts should have a considerable influence on our agriculture and our commerce, I thought it ray du- i\ to publish these facts, which must give a new de- gree of force and certainty, i here present to view 21 the actual state of Merino jSocks^ naturalized in Europe." He says, that a Merino flock came into Sweden, in 1723 ; that from the year 1740, to the year I7So' a bounty of seventy-five per cent, was allowed to those, who sold fine wool ; in 1780, these bounties >vere reduced to 15, and in 1786, to 12 per cent. ; and in 1792, being no longer deemed necessary to encourage this breed, they ceased. In 1764, Swe- den possessed 65,369 Merino sheep of the' pure blood, and 23,384 of the mixed blood : since that period (hey have constantly increased in number, m spite of the difficulty occasioned bv the length of winter, and severity of the climate. That the Me- rino sheep preserve, in Sweden, their pristine form ; that the fleeces have lost nothing of their equality of length, their elasticity, and their fine quality of pde ; that their weight continues as great as in Spain ; that he has seen Merino rams, whose fleeces weigh 13 pounds each ; and that, when seasoned to the climate, and properly fed, he has seen them lar- ger and finer sheep than in Spain. Upper Saxony, , he says, is the country next to Sv^eden, where the I introduction of the Merino is of the longest date; I and it is in Saxony where this naturalization has met ,with the most marked success, aid pjoduced eflects I the most beneficial : the native breeds have, b> a mixture of Merino blood, profited in an equal de- gree. The first importation was in 1765 ; the next V?J^^^' ^^^- I AsTEYRiEsavs, Iic has seen many different flocks, and has found the pure Merino, as well as some mixed breeds, producing' wool of the first quality ; indeed, the sheepwalks Sf Saxony are at this moment more productive than any other spe- jPies of husbandry ; and the wool sells at three limes the price of the wools of the country. Sax- ony rears about 1,600,000 sheep, of which 90,000 are Merinos, and the mixed bred. Thev were introduced into Prussia by Freder- ick U in the vear 1786. Some of these, distribu- ted over the country, from mismanagement and gross neo-lect, have degenerated and died ; others he has seeli which preserve their pristine qualities^ In Denmark, and in various parts of Germany, Mr LASTEYRiEhas seen this race of sheep always prospering, if well treated ; and in this, and every other country, degenerating from want of food, and ne2:lect ; always, however, doing as well as the na- tive breeds in the same keep, and iusome cases bet- ter • that the more regular and ample the supply ot food is, whether of grass or green vegetables, the heavier and finer will be the fleece---the larger in size and more perfect in shape will the sheep be He strongly recommends housmg ; but adds tiiat foul, close, sheepcots are injurious ; that a tree circulation of air is always found beneficial, and that this breed of sheep suffers more from heat than from cold-(this doctrine has been repeatedly confirmed by our practice at home ; ) that they will cetfat as quick as any indigenousbreed, in any coun- try, and have done so wherever a comparison has been made. , t^/t • i. An experiment was made on the Merino sheep ofRambouiilet, which denotes the peculiar char-, acter of this breed, and its tendency to carry wool. A ewe, eighteen months old, was lett unshorn ; the next season, her fleece, when shorn, weighed four- teen pounds ten ounces; and its pile, which was double the usual length, lost nothing as to weight, because few ewes would have given more wool, d clipped at the usual period. Another ewe was shorn at thirty months old, and gave a still greater quantity of wool, although she, at that season suck 23 led a lamb ; her fleece weighed twenty-one pounds^ and the pile was eight inches long. In the ninth year ( 1800) eight ewes, whose fleeces were of two years' growth, jsiave from sixteen to twenty pounds each It appeared from these different experiments, that Merino wool of two years growth will double its length, and will preserve all its fine quality. It was not observed, that the sheep, subjected to this experiment, suffered particularly from heat, or that their health was in any degree injured. It is possi- ble, that this property in the Merino fleece to grow beyond the period usual in our breed of sheep, may be productive of some new manufacture, where great length and fine quality of pile is requisite ; but the hazard of the blow-fly, and the chance of losing in hedges and brakes any part of a fleece after it is once fit for a manufacture, will not allow of this practice becoming general, admitting even that the sheep sufler nothing in the proof during the summer months from the weight of the fleece, which in a large scale of practice is improbable, and that the wool should be found to pay as well for growing to this length, as it would when shorn in common course ; but we have taken the liberty of noticing a circumstance so novel to us^ because our English breeds are all supposed to cast their fleeces at a cer- tain season of the year, if not shorn, with exception to lambs which hold their fleeces ; ( this is quoted by many as an argument against shearing lambs : ) be- cause the fact has also been doubted by some of the best informed and liberal amongst us, not supposing the reporters of Rambouillet meant to deceive, but that some mistake must have been made. A sample of this wool is now in England ; I have carefully examined it, and can bear testimony to the fact. Salt is not given to sheep in Prussia and in Holland ; hut in Sweden, in Saxonv, in Silesia, and in France 24^ it is considered a most important article^ and in strongly recommended on the same principle^ as we had before laboured to induce its adoption in these king-doms. We had no doubt of the good effect of salt on mouldy hay ; but it remained to be proved, how good haV:, which had not spent its strength in pre- mature fermentation, would bear such a quantity of salt as would invigorate the stomach, quicken the circulation of blood, and excite in cattle a desire to drink largely. Some medical men, aware of our practice, conjectured that salt tends to decompose and convert water to nourishment in an increased deg-ree. Whether this is, or is not, to be so account- ed for, we are incompetent to judge. But it is our business to know the effect it has on stock ; and we do know, that it surpasses all belief. Some of our hay, lately in use, was of the first quality of sheep hay, the produce of rich and deep loam on a lime stone bottom ; it was put together without wet, and had 251b. of salt per ton sprinkled through a sieve, a greater quantity than has yet been used. In co- lour, flavour, and proof, it equalled any hay- whatever, and satisfies us that this, or a greater quantity of salt, may be infused into hay of the best quality, and with the best possible effect. In confirmation of this fact, we have also the authori- ty of Mr. Darke of Breedon, one of the most celebrated graziers in the kingdom, who has mix- ed salt with his flooded mouldy hay, 8 lb. of salt only to a ton, and he declares, that his Hereford oxen did better on it than others on the best hay he had, and that he was, and is convinced, that the hay had all its good effect from the salt. In Spain, a thousand sheep use in five months four arobes, or one quintal of salt, which is i281b. Their sheep would fat to 13 lb. per quarter upon 25 the iiverage ; this is llie qnanfliy given out, all of which may not be consumed : and as the price of salt in that country is no object^ more would have been given, if more was necessary. The quantity given to our sheep was such, as we have before stat- ed would keep them healthy, or such, as they appear- ed to demand. It is given in the morning when the sheep are looked over, in order to counteract the ill effect of the dew. They have consumed at the rate of one ton of salt, for every thousand sheep an- nually. A small handful is put on a flat stone or slate, and ten or fifteen of these slates, set a few yards apart, are enough for one hundred sheep. At first the sheep may be moved towards them ; if they feel a craving for salt they will lick up quickly as much as is necessary ; if they do not want it, what remains dry when the sheep are next looked at, is taken up and reserved for future use. Twice a week has us- ually been found sufficient ; in particular cases it may be offered thrice. As to any doubt respecting their inclination to it none can be maintained ; for in the year 1801, of a flock approaching towards 1000, there are not ten old sheep, which have not taken kindly to it, and not a lamb which does not consume it greedily. To the Trustees of the Agricullural Society, Gentlemen, Let the following Miscellaneous articles appear amons: your papers, and oblige your's, &c. A. B. Boston^ June 1808. To lovers of gardening it may not be unac- ceptable to know, that painting the walls black 4 26 greatly forwards llie ripening of fruit. Experience has proved, that a vine of an uncommon size, which, even in the hottest years, would not produce any ripe fruit, has now, for several years, regularly yield- ed the finest grapes ; all other fruit, the trees of which are planted against that black wall, ripen much sooner than those in the neighbourhood. The following is recommended to all Dairy -Women. To prevent that rancid, nauseous flavour, which is loo often prevalent in cheeses, even when made of the richest milk, and which otherwise would be de- licious, salt the milk as soon as it is taken from the cows. I mean the evening's milk, which is kept in pans, during the night, in order to be mixed with the new morning's milk. The quantity of salt, used on this occasion, is about a table spoonful to each gallon of milk, and is generally sprinkled on the bottom of the pan, and the milk poured upon the salt, and they soon become incorporated. This ear- ly salting has enabled many dairj-women, whose cheese was before always hoven and detestably rank, now to produce excellent well flavored cheese, and on farms that had been pronounced totally unfit for the dairy system. To this small portion ol salt, various good effects are attributed by those who use it ; they say, it prevents the milk from souring, in the hottest nights ; that it encourages coagulation, and very much promotes the separation of the curd from the whey, which is a great saving. All dairy women ought also to know, that it is a false idea, and a loss instead of a gain to the proprietor, to rob cheese of a single particle of butter ; and for these two reasons, because a pint of cream will pro- duce more than treble the quantity of curd, that a pint of skimmed milk will give ; and because ». 27 cheese, with all the butter left in it, will lose very little of its weight bv' keeping, whereas thatj from which the butter has been avariciously taken, will lose one third of its original weight in twelve months. Boiling Grain, given to Horses, recommended. It is satisfactorily ascertained, that boiling grain of all sorts for horses, and giving them the liquor likewise, will keep them in better condition,, than double the quantity in a crude state. The intelligent Farmer will find something more than amusement in the following calculations. IN AN ACRE ARE 4 roods,in each rood40rods,poles or perches, 160 rods, of 16|^ feet each, 4840 square yards, 9 feet each, 43560 square feet, 144 inches each, 174240 squares, of 6 inches each, 36 inches, 6272640 inches, or squares of 1 inch each. In the following table may be seen how many trees or plants may be raised in a rod of land, at differ ' ent distances. — Note, in a rod, are 272| square feet, or 39204 square inches, (all fractions are omitted.) Plants. No of inches asunder. Sq. inches to each, 2450 - - - - 4&?/4 ----- 16 I960 - - - - 5—4 ----- 20 1633 - - - - 6—4 ----- 24 1089 - - - - 6—6 ----- 36 816 - - - - 8—6 ----- 48 ' 612 - - - . 8—8 64 490 - - - - 10—8 80 392 - - - 10—10 100 261 - - - - 15-^10 150 28 To shew how mani/ trees or plants, hills of corny or potatoes, an acre will contain, at different distan- ces— (fractions omitted.) Trees or Plants. No. of feet asunder. Sq. ft. to each. 108 - - - - - 20ft. - , - - - 400 160 ----- 16i - - - - - 272i 134 - - - _. 18 _ - - - - 324 302 ----- 12 - - - - > - 144- 435 -_._-_ 10 .-_.-. 100 680 ----- 8 ------ 64 888 ----- 7 --___, 49 1089 ----- Sb7/5 40 1210 ----- 6 - 36 1361 8&?/4 - - - , . 32 1452 6—5 30 1555 7—4 28 1815 6—4 24 2178 5—4 20 2722 4—4 16 2904 5—3 15 3630 4—3 12 4840 3—3 9 5445 4—2 8 7260 3—2 6 8712 2^2 5 10890 2—2 4 19305 - - . - - li— li 2i 21780 2— r 2 43560 1—1 .---.-- 1 A bushel of middle sized wheat is supposed to contain about 500^000 grains ; if this number be divided by the number of square yards in an acre^ one bushel sown on an acre gives 103 grains and vjVths on each square yard ; on each square foot^ consequently, 11 grains and ^ ; consequently each 29 square space, measuring- 3j inches on each side, would, (on an average) have one seed deposited on it. Hence is deduced the following table. Bushels sown. [Grains contained. Onasq. yard. On a square foot. One grain on a square of 1 500,000 103 ,^,ths ^^ 3^ inches. 2 1,000,000 206 -rVhs. 23 9X ""2 ^ 1,250,000 |258 ,'oths. 28i 12-i- 1 '^•4- 3 1,500,000 300 -5-Vths 34i |2 '^i 1,750,000 |361 Voths. 1 40i 1 1 -roths. J'rojmgatioii mid culture of the common Parsncpy from Miller's Horticultural Dictmiari/. THE Parsnep is cultivated in kitchen-gardens^ the roots being large, sweet, and accounted very nourishing. It is propagated by seeds, which should be sown in February or March, in a rich mellow soil, well dug, that their roots may run downwards, the greatest excellency being the length and bigness of the roots. These may be sown a- lone, or with Carrots, as is practised by the kitchen gardeners near London; some of whom also mix Leeks, Onions, and Lettuce, with their Parsneps ; but this I think very wrong, for it is not possible, that so many different sorts can thrive well together, except they are allowed a considerable distance ; and if so, it will be equally the same to sow the dif- ferent sorts separate. However, Carrots and Pars- neps may be sown together very well, especially where the Carrots are designed to be drawn off very young ; because the Parsneps generally spread most towards the end of the summer, when the early Car- *rots are gone. so When the plants arc come up, hoe them out to ten or twelve inches asunder, cutting up all the weeds This must be repeated three or four times, according as jou find the weeds grow ; but in the latter part of the summer, when the plants cover the ground, they will prevent the growth of weeds. When the leaves begin to decay, the roots may be dug up for use. Before this they are seldom well tasted ; nor are they good for much in the spring, after they are shot out again. To preserve them for this season, dig them up the beginning of February, and bury them in sand in a dry place, where they will remain good until the middle of A- pril or later. To save seeds make choice of some of the longest, straightest, and largest roots, and plant them two feet asunder, where they are defended from strong south and south-west winds, for the stems grow to a great height ; keep them clear from weeds, andif the season should prove dry, water them twice a week. At the end of August, or the beginning of September, the seeds will be ripe ; then carefully cut off the umbels, and spread them upon a coarse cloth for two or three days to dry ; after which, beat off the seeds and put them up for use. Never trust to the seeds that are more than a year old, for thev will seldom grow beyond that age. The leaves are dangerous to handle, especially in a morning, while the dew remains upon them. I have known gardeners, when they have been draw- ing up Carrots from among Parsneps, when their leaves were wet with dew, and have turned the sleeves of their shirts up to their should rs, have their arms covered with large blisters, full of a scalding liquor, which have proved very troublesome for several da vs. To cultivate Parsneps, let the farmer sow the seed in autumOj soon after it is ripe ; by which means 31 the plants ^vill come on early the following springs and will «^et strong* before the weeds can grow so as to injure them. The young plants never materially suffer through the severity of the seasons. The best soil for them is a rich deep loam ; next this is sand, or they will thrive well in a black grit- ty soil ; but will never pay for cultivating in stone, brush, gravel, or clay soils ; and they are always the largest, where the staple is deepest. If the soil be proper, they do not require much manure. A very good crop has been obtained fot* three successive years without any. Forty cart-loads of sand laid Ion an acre of very stiff loam, and ploughed in, has answered very well. Sow the seeds in drills eighteen inches distant, that the plants may be horse or hand-hoed : they will be more luxuriant if they have a second hoe- ;iing, and are carefully earthed so as not to cover the i I leaves. I ' If land cannot be got in proper condition to re- f Iceive the seed in autumn, sow a plat in the garden f or the corner of a field, and transplant them at the i end of April or early in May. The plants must be , carefully drawn, and the land that is to receive them [ iwell pulverized by harrowing and rolling. When [ jit is thus in order, open a furrow six or eight inches deep, and lay the plants in it regularly at the dis- 1 tance often inches or a foot, taking care not to let I the root be bent, and that the plant stand upright • 1 after the earth is closed about it, which should be done immediately by persons following the planter with a hoe, and who must be attentive not to cover the leaves. Open another furrow eighteen inches distant from the last, plant it as before, and so pro- ceed till the field is completely cropped. When any weeds appear, hoe the ground, and earth the plants. Dibbling in Parsneps is a bad method, as the ground thereby becomes so bound as not easily to admit the lateral fibres, with which the root of this plant abounds, to fix or work in the earth, on which account the roots never attain their proper size. With attention to the soil, the season for sowing, cleaning and earthing the plants, and raising the seed from the largest and best Parsneps, there is no doubt but the crop would answer much better than a crop of Carrots. They are equal to them, if not superior, in fatting pigs ; for they make the flesh whiter ; and the animals eat them with more satis- faction. Clean washed and sliced among bran, horses eat them greedily, and thrive with them ; nor do they heat horses, or like corn fill them with disorders.* In France and our Islands adjoining to it, Pars- neps are held in high esteem both for cattle and swine. In Brittanny this crop is said to be little inferiour in value to wheat. Milch cows fed with it in winter give as much and as good milk, and ■yield butter as well flavoured, with Parsneps, as- with grass in May or June.f The following otservations on the Nature of Vege- tables, are extracted from the same ingenious English 'publication, from which large extracts were made in the Society's 'publication for 1806, and is a continuation of the same subject. ON THE SAP OF PLANTS. SINCE the food of plants is imbibed by their roots in a fluid state, it must exist in plants in a flu- id state ; and unless it undergoes alterations in its * JIazard, iri Bafh pajjers, vol. 4, page 244. t Bath papers, 4, 2?7 ss Composition just when imbibed, we may expect to find it in the plant unaltered. If there were any method of obtaining this fluid food from plants be- fore it has b^eii altered by them, we might analyze it, and obtain by that means a much more accurate knosvledge of the food of plants, than we can bv any other method. This plan indeed must fail, provi- ded the food undergoes alteration just when it is absorbed by the roots : but if we consider, that when one species of tree is grafted upon another, each bears its own peculiar fruit and produces its own peculiar substances. The great changes, at least which the food undergoes after absorption, are pro- duced probably not in the roots, but in other parts of the plant. If this conclusion be just, the food of plants, af- ter being imbibed by the roots, must go directly to those organs, where it is to receive new modifica- tions and to be rendered fit for being assimilated to the different parts of the plant. There ought, there- fore, to be certain juices continually ascending from the roots of plants ; and these juices, if we could get them pure and unmixed with the other juices or fluids which the plant must contain, and which have been secreted and formed from these primary juices, would be the food as it is imbibed by the plant. Now during the vegetation of plants, there actually is a juice continually ascending from their roots. This juice has been called the sap, the succus communis, or the lymph of plants. The first step towards an accurate knowledge of the food, and of the changes which take place du- ring vegetation, is an analysis of the sap. The sap is most abundant during the spring. At that sea- son, if a cut be made through the bark and part of the wood of some trees, the sap flow s out very pro- , fusely. By this contrivance, any quantity of sap S4 we ihink proper may be collected. It is not proba- ble, indeed, that by this method we obtain the as- cending sap in all its purity : it is no doubt mixed with the peculiar juices of the plant ; but the less progress vegetation has made, the purer we mav ex- pect to find it ; because the peculiar juices must be in much smaller quantity. We should, therefore, examine the sap as early in the season as possible, and at all events before the leaves have expanded. For the most complete set of experiments hither- to made upon the sap, we are indebted to Mr. Vau- QUELiN.* He has neglected to inform us of the state of the tree when the sap which he analyzed was taken from it ; so that we are left in a state of imcertainty with respect to the purity of the sap : but from the comparison which he has put it in our pow er to draw between the state of the sap at differ- ent successive periods, we may in some measure ob- viate this uncertainty. He found that 1039 parts of the sap of the com- mon elm, were composed of Water and volatile matter, Acetite of potass. Vegetable matter, Carbonat of lime. On analyzing the same sap somewhat later in the season, Mr Vauquelin found the quantity of ve- getable matter a little increased, and that of the ace- tite of potass diminished. Still later in the season the vegetable matter was farther increased, and the other ingredients farther diminished. The carbonat of lime was held in solution by carbonic acid, of which there existed a considerable excess in the sap It is to this acid gas that the air-bubbles, which so often accompany the sap, as it issues from flie tree, are owing.f * Ann. de Chini. xxxi. 32. and Jour, de Pliys. xlix. 38. i See Coulomb, Jour, de Pb^s. zVix. 392. S5 The sap of tlie beech, contained the following; ingredients : Water, Acetite of lime with excess of acid, Acetite of potass, Gallic acid. Tan, A mucous and extractive matter, Acetite of Alumina. Although Mr. Vauquelin made two different analyses of this sap at different seasons, it seems clear that the gallic acid and tan were combined togeth- er ; for the sap tasted like the infusion of oak bark. The quantity of each of these ingredients increased as vegetation advanced ; for the colour of the se- cond sap,collected later, was much deeper than that of the first. This shews us that thej did not form a part of the ascending sap. Probably they were de- rived from the bark of the tree. The presence of alumina, and the absence of the carbonic acid gas, would, seem to iudicatc,that all plants do not imbibe the very same food. These experiments lead to the conclusion, that acetous acid forms a component part of the sap. Now it is not easy to suppose, that this substance is actually absorbed by the roots in the state of ace- tous acid. The thing might be determined by ex- amining the mould in which plants grow. This examination indeed has been performed, and the acetites have been found, but not in any great quan- tity. Is it not probable that the food, after it is im*' bibed, is somewhat modified and altered by the roots ? In what manner this is done we cannot say, as we knoAv very little about the vascular structure of the roots. We may conclude, however, that this modification is nearly the same in most plants : for one plant may be engrafted on another, and each 35 continue to produce its own peculiar products ; which could not be unless the proper substances were conveved to the digestive organs of all. There are several circumstances^ however, which render the modifying power of the roots somewhat proba- ble. '1 he strongest of these is the nature of the in- gredients found in the sap It is even possible that the roots may by some means or other, throw out a~ gainsome part of the food, which they have imbibed as excrementitioiis. This has been suspected by several physiologists, and there are several circum- stances which render it probable. It is well known that some plants will not vegetate well after others ; and that some again vegetate unusually well when planted in ground where certain plants had been growing. These facts, without doubt, may be ac- counted for on other principles. If there be any excrementitious matter emitted by the roots, it is much more probable that this happens in the last stage of vegetation. That is to say, when the food, after digestion, is applied to the purposes which the root requires. But the fact ought to be supported by experiments, otherwise it cannot be admitted. The sap, as Dr. Hales has shewn us, ascends with very considerable force. It issued during the bleeding season with such impetuosity from the cut end of a vine branch, that it supported a column of mercury S2|^ inches high.* It is certam that the sap flows from the roots towards the summit of the tree, for if in the bleeding- season a number of openings be made in the tree,, the sap begins iirst to flow from the lowest open- ing, then from the lowest but one, and so on succes- sively, till at last it makes its appearance at the high- est of all. And when Duhamel and Bonnet made plants vegetate in coloured liquors, the colouring- ■' YfZ' Stat. i. 105. S7 matter, which was deposited in the wood, appeared, first in the lowest part of the tree, and oradually as- cended higher and higher, till at last it reached the top of the tree, and tinged the very leaves. It seems certain, too, that the sap ascends through the wood, and not through the bark of the tree ; for a plant continues to grow even when stript of a great part of its bark ; which could not happen if the sap ascended through the bark. When an in- cision, deep enough to penetrate the bark, and even part of the wood, is carried quite round a branch, provided the wound be covered up from the exter- nal air, the branch continues to vegetate as if noth- ing had happened ; which could not be the case if the sap ascended between the bark and the wood. It is well known, too, that in the bleeding season lit- tle or no sap can be got from a tree unless our in- cisions penetrate deeper than the bark. These conclusions have been confirmed by the ex- periments made lately by Coulomb and Knight. — Coulomb observed that no sap ever flows from the poplar till the tree be cut nearly to the centre.* Grew and Malpighi, the first philosophers who examined the structure of plants, took it for grant- ed that the woody fibres were tubes, and that the sap ascended through them. For this reason they gave these fibres the name of lymphatic vessels. But they were unable^ even when assisted by the best microscopes, to detect any thing in these fibres which had the appearance of a tube ; and succeed- ing observers have been equally unsuccessful. The conjecture, therefore, of Malpighi and Grew, about the nature and use of these fibres, remains totally unsupported by any proof. Duhamel has even gone far to overturn it altogether. For he found •^ Jour, de Phys. xlix. 392; SB that these woody fibres are divisible into smaller fi- bres, and these again into still smaller ; and even by the assistance of the best microscopes^ he could find no end of this subdivision.* Novi^ granting these fibres to be vessels, it is scarcely possible, after this, to suppose that the sap really moves through tubes, whose diameters are almost infinitely small. There are, however, vessels in plants which may easily be distinguished by the help of a small microscope, and even in many cases by the naked eye. These were seen, and distinctly described, by Grew and Malpighi. They consist of a fibre twisted round like a corkscrew. If we take a small cylinder of wood, and wrap round it a slender brass wire, so closely that all the rings of the wire touch each oth- er, and if, after this, we pull out the wooden cylin- der altogether, the brass wire thus twisted will give us a very good representation of these vessels. If we take hold of the two ends of the brass wire thus twisted, and pull them, we can easily draw out the wire to a considerable length. In the same man- ner, when we lay hold of the two extremeties of these vessels, we can draw them out to a great length. Malpighi and Grew finding them al- ways empty, concluded that they were intended for the circulation of the air through the plant, and therefore gave them the name of tracheoe ; which word is used to denote the windpipe of animals. These tracheoe are not found in the bark ; but Hed- wiG has shewn that they are much more numerous in the wood than was supposed ; and that they are ol very different diameters ; and Reichel has demon- strated that they go to the minutest branches, and spread through every leaf. He has shewn, too, thai they contain sap ; and Hedwig has proved that the notion which generally prevailed of their contain- * Physique des Arbres, 57. S9 ing nothing but air, arose from this circumstance, that the larger trachece, which alone were attended to, lose their sap as soon as they are out ; and of course, unless they are inspected the instant they are divided, they appear empty.* Is it not proba- ble, then, or rather is it not certain, from the dis- coveries of that very ingenious physiologist, that the tracheoe are, in reality, the sap vessels of plants ? Indeed it seems established by the experiments both of Reichel and Hedwig, that all, or almost all, the vessels of plants may, if we attend only to their structure, be denominated trachcos. But by what powers is the sap made to ascend in these vessels ? And not only to ascend, but to move with very considerable force ; a force, as Hales has shewn, sufficient to overcome the pres- sure of 43 feet perpendicular of water ?f Grew ascribed this phenomenon to the levity of the sap ; which according to him, entered the plant in the state of a very light vapour. But this opin- i ion will not bear the slightest examination. Mal- piGHi supposed that the sap was made to ascend by the contraction and dilation of the air contained in the air vessels. But even were we to grant that the tracheoe are air vessels, the sap, according to this hypothesis, could only ascend when a change of temperature takes place ; which is contrary to fact. And even if we were to wave every objection of that kind, the hypothesis would not account for the cir- culation of the sap, unless the sap vessels be pro- vided with valves. Now the experiments of Hales j and Duhamel shew that no valves can possibly ex- 1 ist in them. For branches imbibe moisture nearly equally by either end ; and consequently the sap moves with equal facility both upwards and down- ■* Fundament, Hist, Nat. Moscpr, Fondest, part i. p. 54. t Vfget. Stat. i. 187, 40 wardsj which it could not do, were there valves irt the vessels. Besides^ it is well known, from many experiments, that we may convert the roots of a tree into the branches, and the branches into the roots, bv covering the branches with earili, and exposing the roots to the air. Now this would be impossi- ble if the sap vessels were provided with valves. The same remarks overturn the hypothesis of Mr. De la Hire, which is merely that of Malpighi, ex- pressed with greater precision, and with a greater parade of mechanical knowledge. The greater number of philosophers have ascrib- ed the motion of the sap to capillary attraction. There exists an attraction between many solid bodies and liquids; in consequence of which, if these solid bodies be formed into small tubes, the liquid en- ters them, and rises in them to a certain height. But this IS perceptible only when the diameter of the tube is very small. Hence the attraction has been denominated capillary. We know that there is such an attraction between vegetable fibres and watery liquids ; for such liquids will ascend through dead vegetable matter It is highly probable, therefore, that the food of plants enters the roots, in conse- quence of the capillary attraction which subsists between the sap vessel and the liquid imbibed.- — 1 his species of attraction, then, will account per- fectly well for the entrance of moisture into the mouths of the sap vessels. But the first person who gave a precise view of the manner in which the vessels probably act was S^ussuRE. He supposes that the sap enters the open mouths of the vessels, at the extrem.ty of the roots ; that these mouths then contract, and by that contraction propel the sap upwards ; that this contraction gradually follows the sap, pushing it up from, the extremity of the root to the sum - 41 mit of the plant. In the mean time the mouths are receiving new sap, which in the same manner is push*- ed upwards * Whether we suppose the contraction to take place precisely in this manner or nol, we can scarcely deny that it must take place ; but by what means it is impossible at present to say. The agents cannot precisely resemble the muscles of an- imals ,* because the whole tube, however cut or maimed, still retains its contracting* power, and be- cause the contraction is performed with equal readi- ness in every direction.f It is evident, however^ that they must be the same in kind. Perhaps the particular structure of the vessels may fit them for their office. The contracting agents, whatever they are, seem to be excited to act by some stimulus com- municated to them by the sap. This capacity of being excited to action is known in phvsiolo2:y by the name of irritability ; and there are not wanting* proofs that plants are possessed of it. It is well known that difterent parts of plants move when cer- tain substances act upon them. Thus the flowers? of many plants open at sunrise, and close again at niiiht. LiuN^us has given us a list of these plants. Des ToNTAiisES has shewn that the stamina and an- theraeof many plants exhibit distinct motions. ;|; But every one has it in his power to make a decisive ex- periment. Simply cutting a plant, in two places^ so as to separate a portion of the stem from the rest, is a complete demonstration that the vessels actually « Encycl. Me.th. Phys. Vegef.p.2C7. + Mr. Kmgut thinks it probable that the sap is propelled by the contraction and expansion of what is called by carpenters the silver graio of wood, between the laminoe of which the vessels run, (Phil, Trans. 1801, p. 344-.) By silver grain, is meant those thin longitudinal fibres, diverging in every direction from tliepith, and composed of the lymphat- ic vessels of Grew and Malpighi. I do not see hoW the contraction of these lamina; could propel the sap through the sap vessels, destitute a« they are of valves, unless it were a contraction precisely similar t» ybat Saussure sujiposed to take plgc*; in the s^ap vessels. % Mera. Par. i7t<7. 4^ 5o contract. For whoever makes the experiment will find that the milky juice of that plant flows out at both ends so completely, that if afterwards we cut the portion of the stem in the middle, no juice what- ever appears. Now it is impossible that these phe- iiomenacould take place withouta contraction of the •vessels; for the vessels in that part of the stems which has been detached cannot liave been more than full ; and their diameter is so small, that if it were to con- tinue unaltered, the capillary attraction would be more than sufficient to retain their contents, and con- sequently not a drop would flow out. Since, there- fore, the whole liquid escapes, it must be driven out forcibly, and consequently the vessels must contract. It seems pretty plain, too, that the vessels are ex- cited to contract by various stimuli ; the experiments of CouLOM and Saussure render this probable, and an observation of Dr. Smith Barton makes it next to certain. He found that plants growing in water vegetated with much greater vigour, provided a lit- tle camphor was thrown into the water,* Functions of the Leaves during the Dai/. It has been ascertained that the sap ascends to the leaves, that there it undergoes certain alterations^ and is converted into another fluid called the succus proprius, or peculiar juice, which, like the blood in animals, is afterwards employed in forming the various substances found in plants. Now the changes which the sap undergoes in the leaves, provided we can trace them, must throw a great deal of light upon the nature of vegetation. These changes are produced in part during the day, in part during the night. As the functions of the leaves during the * Aon. de Chim. xxiii. 63, 43 day are very different from whatthev are during the night, it will be proper to consider them separately. No sooner has the sap arrived at the leaves, thaa a great part of it is thrown off by evaporation. The quantity thus perspired bears a verv groat proportion to the moisture imbibed. Mr. Wood- ward found that a sprig of mint in 77 days imbibed J2558 grains of water, and yet its weight was only increased 15 grains ;* therefore, it must have given out 2543 grains. Another branch, which weighed 127 grains, increased in weight 128, and it had im- bibed 14190 grains. Another sprig, weighing 76 grains, growing in water mixed with earth, increased in v/eight 168 grains, and had imbibed 10731 grains of water. These experiments demonstrate the great quantity of matter which is constantly leaving the plant. Dr. Hales found that a cabbage transmit- ted daily a quantity of moisture equal to about half its weight, and that a sun-flower three feet high, transmitted in a day 1 lb. 14 ozs f He shewed, that the quantity of transpiration in the same plant was proportional to the surface of the leaves, and that M'hen the leaves were taken off, the transpiration nearly ceased.;}; By these observations, he demon- strated that the leaves are the organs of transpiration. He found, too, that the transpiration was nearly confined to the day, very little taking place during the night, § that it was much promoted by heat, and stopped by rain and frost. II AndMiLLAR,*! Guet- TARD,** and Sennebier, have shewn that the tran- spiration is also very much promoted by sunshine. The quantity of moisture imbibed by plants de^ pends very much upon what they transpire : The reason is evident : When the vessels are once filled ■y- Phil. Trnns. No. ccUii. + Veget. Stat. 1. 5. & IJ. + Ibid 30. ^ Veget. Stat. 5. ^ Ibid, 27, lie 48. •_' Ibid. S2, 4'* 3Iejn. Par. Ili9. 44 ivitli sap, if none be carried off, no more can enter ; and of course, the quantity which entersmust depend upon the quantity emitted. In order to discover the nature of the transpired matter. Hales placed plants in large glass vessels, and by that meaus collected a quantity of it.* He found that it resembled pure water in every parti- cular, excepting, that it sometimes had the odour of the plant. He remarked, too, as Guettard and DuHAMEL did after him, that when kept for some lime it putrefied. The first great change, which takes place upon the sap after it arrives at the leaves, is the evapora- tion of a great part of it ; consequently what re- mains must be very different in its proportions from the sap. The leaves seem to have particular organs adapted for throwing off part of the sap by transpi- ration. For the experiments of Guettard, f Du- HAMEL,]] and BoNNET,§ shew that it is performed chiefly by the upper surfaces of leaves, and may be nearly stopped altogether by varnishing the upper surface. The leaves of plants become gradually less and less by this transpiration; forSENNEBiER found that when all other things are equal, the transpiration is much greater in May than in September, || Hence the reason that the leaves are renewed annually. — Their organs become gradually unfit for perform- ing their functions, and therefore, it is necessary to yenew them. Those trees, which retain their leaves during the winter, were found by Hales and suc- ceeding physioligists to transpire less than others. It is now well known that these trees also renew their leaves, * Wget Stat. i. 49, -'r Mem. Par. 1T49. 'I Pbysiqiie dcs Arbres.' i. 158.. ^ Traite des FeiiiUeS I. Mem.? ijiincyc. Metb. Veget. 28S. ' *' 45 Leaves have also the property of absorbing car- bonic acid ^as from vhe aimosphere. We are indebted for this very important discove- ry to the experiments of Dr. Priestley. It has been long kno\vn that when a candle has been al- lowed to burn out in any quantity of air, no candle can afterwards be made to burn in it In the year 1771, Dr. Priestley made asprigofmint vegetate for ten da^s in contact with a quantity of such air ; after which he found that a candle would burn iu it perfectly well.* This experiment he repeated fre- quently, and found that it was always attended with the same result. Mr Savssure has shewn that plants will not ve- getate when totally deprived of carbonic acid gas. But when a quantity of lime was put into the glass vessel which contained them, they no longer con- tinued to grow, and the leaves in a few days tell off'.f The air when examined, was found to contain no carbonic acid gas. The reason of this phenomenon is, that plants (as we shall see afterwards) have the power of forming and giving out carbonic acid in certain cifcumstaiices ; and this quantity is sufiicient to continue their vegetation for a certain time. But if this new formed gas be also withdrawn, by quick- lime for instance, which absorbs it the instant it ap- pears, the leaves droop, and refuse to perform their functions Carbonic acid gas^ then, applied to the leaves of plants, is essential to vegetation. Dr. Priestley, to whom we are indebted for many of the most important facts relative to vegeta- tion, observed, in the year 1778, that plants, in cer- tain circumstances, emitted oxygen gas ;'l and In- geniiousz very soon after discovered that this gas is emitted by the leaves of plants, and only when * On Air, iii, 251. ! Afln. de Chim. xxiv. 145, 148. i On A^, iii. '28'}. 46 tliey arc exposed to the bright light of day. His method was io plunge the leaves of different plants into vessels full of >\ ater, and then expjvse them to the sua. Bubbles of oxygen gas very soon detach- ed themselves from the leaves, and were collected in an inverted glass vessel.* He observed, too, that it was not a matter of indifference what kind of water was used. If the water, for instance, had been pre- viously boiled, little or no oxygen gas escaped from the leaves ; river water afforded but little gas ; but pump water was the most productive of all.f Sennebier proved, that if the water be previous- ly deprived of all its air by boiling, the leaves do not emit a particle of air ; that those kinds of wa- ter which vield most air, contain in them the ffreat- €st quantity of carbonic acid gas ; that leaves do not yield any oxygen when plunged in water total- ly destitute of carbonic acid gas ; that they emit it abundantly when the water, rendered unproductive by boiling, is impregnated with carbonic acid gas ; that the quantity of oxygen emitted, and even its purity, is proportional to the quantity of carbonic ■acid gas which the water contains ; that water im- pregnated with carbonic acid gas gradually loses the property of affording oxygen gas with leaves ; and that whenever this happens, all the carbonic acid gas has disappeared ; and on adding more carbonic acid gas the property is renewed \ These experi- ments prove, in a most satisfactory manner, that the oxygen gas which the leaves of plants emit depends upon the presence of carbonic acid gas ; that the leaves absorb carbonic acid gas, decompose it, give eut the oxygen, and retain the carbon. We now see why plants will not vegetate without carbonic acid gas. They absorb it and decompose * Ingenhousz on Vcget. 1. 15. &c. f Iiigenhousz on Veget. i. 83» % Jlncjc. Mctli. Pbys. Veget. 181. 4*7 it ; but this process goes on only when the plants are exposed to the light of day. Therefore, we may conclude, that the absorption and decomposition of carbonic acid gas is confined to its entering into combination with the oxygen, that this substance is enabled to assume the gaceous form, and to sepa^. rate from the carbon It is extremely probable that ])lants by this pro* cess acquire the greatest part of the carbonaceous matter which they contain ; for if we compare the quantity of carbon contained in plants vegetating in the dark, where this process cannot go on, with the quatitit} which those plants contain which vegetate in the usual manner, we shall perceive a very con- spicuous difference. Chaptal found that a byssus, which was vegetating in the dark, contained only -^ of its weight of carbonaceous matter ; but the same plant, after being made to vegetate in the light for 30 days, contained —^ of its weight of carbona- ceous matter* Hassenfratz ascertained, that plants growing in the dark contain much more water, and much less carbon and hydrogen, than plants I growing in the light. Sennebier analyzed both with the same result. Plants growing in the dark yielded less hydrogen gas and oil : their resinous matter was to that of plants growing in the light as 2 to 5. 5, and their moisture as 13 to 6 ; they con- tain even one half less of fixed matters. It is evident, however, that this absorption and decomposition of carbonic acid gas does not depend 'I upon the light alone. The nature of the sap has ij also its influence ; for Hassenfratz found, that the quantity of carbon did not increase when plants vegetate in pure water. Here the sap seems ta have * Mem. Par. 1786. 4S wanted that part which combines with and retains the carbon ; and which, therefore^ is by far the most important part of the food of plants. Upon the discoveiv and mode of applying* this substance, whatever it is, the improvements in agriculture must in a great measure depend. Sennebier has ascertained, that the decomposi- tion of the carbonic acid takr^s place in the paren- chyma. He found, that the epidermis of a leaf would, when separated, give out no air, neither would the nerves in the same circumstances ; but upon trying the parenchyma, thus separated from its epidermis and part of its nerves, it continued to ^ive out oxygen as before.* He remarked also, that every thing else being equal, the quantity of oxvgen emitted, and consequently of carbonic acid decomposed, is proportional to the thickness of the leaf; and this thickness depends upon the quantity of parenchyma. That the decomposition is performed by peculiar organs, is evident from an experiment of Ixge.n- iiousz. Leaves cut into small pieces continued to give out oxygen as before ; but leaves pounded in a mortar lost the property entirtly. In the first slate, the peculiar structure remainea ; in the other, it was destroyed. Such are the operations performed by the leaves during the day. They seem in some measure to depend upon the action of light ; for they never take place except when the leaves are exposed to the influence of light. The green colour of plants is owing entirely to their vegetating in the light ; for when they vege- tate in the dark they are white j and when ex- posed to the light they acquire a green colour in a very short time, in whatsoever situation they' ^ Encj'rt Method. Physiol. Vcgeta 18(J. 40 are placed, even tliougli plunged in watcr^ piovided always that oxygen be present ; for Mr. Gough has shewn, that light without oxygen has not the power of producing the green colour.* Sennebier has observed, that when plants are made to vegetate in the dark, their etiolation is much diminished by mixing a little hydrogen gas with the air that surrounds them.f Ingenholsz had already remarked, that when a little hydrogen gas is added to the air in which plants vegetate, even in the light, it renders their verdure deeper :'l and he seems to think also, that he has proved by experiments, that plants absorb hydrogen gas in these circumstances. § And several plants which grow in the galleries of mines, retain their green colour even in the dark, and that in these cases the air around them contains a quantity of hydrogen gas. This may perhaps be true iu certain cases ; but the experiments of Mr. Gough, mentioned above, are sufficient to prove that the retention of oxygen is not the only difference between green and etiolated plants. [] Functions of the Leaves during the Night. During the day, then, the leaves of plants exhale moisture and oxygen gas, and absorb carbonic acid gas ; let us now endeavour to trace the operations which they perform during the night. Plants will not vegetate unless atmospheric air or oxygen gas have access to their leaves. This was rendered probable by those philosophers who, about * Manrh. Mem. iv. 501. + Encyc. Meth. Physiol. Vcget. 77. I Ann. dc Chim. iii. 57. ^ Ibid. p. 61. II Plants of a white colour, are called etiolated, froia a Frcliirfx fl word nliich signifies a star, a? if they grew by starlight, 7 the end of the 17th century, turned their attention particularly towards the physical properties of the air. But Dr. Ingenhousz was perhaps the first of the modern chemists who put it beyond doubt. He found that carbonic acid gas^ azotic, and hydrogen gas, destroyed plants altogether, unless they were mixed with atmospheric air or oxygen gas. He found also, that plants grew very well in oxygen gas and in atmospheric air.* These experiments are sufficient to shew that oxygen gas is necessary to vegetation. The leaves of plants seem to absorb it ; and most probably this absorption takes place only in the night. We know at least, that in ger- mination light is injurious to the absorption of oxygen gas ; and, therefore, it is probable that this is the case also in vegetation. The leaves of plants not only absorb oxygen gas, but water also. This had been suspected in all ages : the great effect which dew, slight showers,, and even wetting the leaves of plants have in recruit- ing their strength, and making them vegetate with vigour, are so many proofs that the leaves imbibe moisture from the atmosphere. Hales rendered this still more probable, by observing, that plants increase considerably in weight when the atmos- phere is moist ; and Mr. Bonnet put the matter beyond doubt in his researches concerning the use of the leaves. He shewed that leaves continue to live for weeks when one of their surfaces is applied to water ; and that they not only vegetate them- .selves, but even imbibe enough of water to support the vegetation of a whole branch, and the leaves be- longing to it He discovered also, that the two surfaces of leaves differ very considerably in their power of imbibing moisture ; that in trees and * Ingenhousz, ii. passijn. SI shrubs, the under surface possess ahnost the w hole of the property, while the contrary holds in many of the other plants ; the kidney bean for instance. These facts prove, not only that the leaves of plants have the power of absorbing moisture, but also that the absorption is performed by very differ- ent organs from those which emit moisture. If we consider that it is only during- the night that the leaves of plants are moistened with the dew, we can scarcely avoid concluding that, except in particular cases, it is during the night that plants imbibe al- most all the moisture which they do imbibe. During the night the leaves of plants emit car- bonic acid gas. This fact was first demonstrated by Dr. IngenhoCsz,* and it has been since con- firmed by every philosopher who has attended to the subject. Whether the emission of carbonic acid be occa- sioned by the combination of oxygen absorbed with the carbon of the sap, or by the decomposition of water has not been ascertained. \^ hat gives pro- bability to the first is, that the absorption of oxygen and the emission of carbonic acid take place at the same time. It is extremely probable that there is also a decomposition of water going on in the sap. But if such a decomposition takes place, it depends in a good measure upon the quantity of oxygen gas absorbed ; for Dr. Ingenhousz found that when plants are confined in oxygen gas, they emit more carbonic acid gas than when they are confined in common air.f Of the peculiar Juices of Plants. By these changes which go on in the leaves, the nature of the sap is altogether changed. It is now » On Vegetables, i. 47. and ii passim. + IxoEynousz, ii. converted into what is called the peculiar juice, and is fit for being assimilated to the different parts of the plant;, and for beingemplojed in the formation of those secretions which are necessary for the pur- ' poses of the vegetable economy. The leaves, therefore, may be considered as the digesting organs of plants, and as equivalent in some measure to the stomach and lungs of animals. The leaves consequently are not mere ornaments ; they are the most important parts of the plant. Accord- ingly we find, that whenever we strip a plant of its leaves, we strip it entirely of its vegetating powers till new leaves are formed. It is well known, that when the leaves of plants are destroyed by insects, they vegetate no longer, and that their fruit never makes any farther progress in ripening, but decays and dries up. Even in germination no progress is made in the growth of the stem till the seed leaves appear. As much food indeed is laid up in the cotyledons as advances the plant to a certain state ; the root is prepared, and made ready to perform its functions ; but the sap which it imbibes must be first carried to the seed leaves, and digested there, before it be proper for forming the plumula into a stem. Accordingly if the seed leaves are cut off^ the plant refuses to vegetate. It will be very natural to ask, if this be true, how came the leaves themselves to be produced ? We know that the leaves exist long before they appear ; they have been traced even five years back. They are completely formed in the bud, and fairly rolled up for evolution, many months before that spring in which they expand. We know, too, that if we take a bud, and plant it properly, it vegetates, forms to itself a root, and becomes a complete plant. It will not be said, surely, that in this case the bud imbibes nourishment from the eartb : for it has io i)3 form a root before it can obtain nourisliment in that manner ; and this root cannot be formed with- out nourishment. Is not this a demonstration that the bud contains^ already laid up for itself a suffi- cient quantity of nourishment, not only to deve- lope its own organs, but also to form new ones. This I consider as a sufficient answer to the objec- tion. During the summer, the plant lays up a suf- jficient quantity of nourishment in each bud^ and this nourishment is afterwards employed in develop- ing the leaves. This is the reason that the leaves make their appearance, and that they grow du- ring the winter, when the plant is deprived of its organs of digestion. Hence we see why the branch of a vine, if it bo introduced into a hothouse during the winter, puts forth leaves and vegetates with vigour, while every other part of the plant gives no signs of life. Hence also the cause of another well known phenomenon : The sap flows out of trees very readily in spring be- fore the leaves appear ; for as there is no outlet^ when the vessels are once full they can admit no more. It appears, however, from the bleeding, that the roots are capable of imbibing, and the vessels of circulating, the sap with vigour. Accordingly whenever there is an outlet, they perform their functions as usual, and the tree bleeds ; that is they send up a quantity of sap to be digested as usual ; but as there are no digesting organs, it flows out , and the tree receives no injury, because the sap that ; flows w ould not have been imbibed at all, had it not been for the artificial opening. But when the di- gestive organs appear, the tree will not bleed ; be- cause these organs require all the sap, and it is con- stantly flowing to them. If a tree be deprived of its leaves, new leaves make their appearance, because thev arc already 54 prepared for that purpose. But what would be the consequence if a tree were deprived of its leaves and of all its buds for five years back ? That plants do not vegetate without their leaves is evident from an experiment of Duhamel. He stripped the bark off a tree in ringlets, so as to leave five or six rings of it at some distance from each other, with no bark in the intervals. Some of these rings had buds and leaves ; these increased considerably in size ; but one ring which had none of these remain- ed for years unaltered. Mr. Knight found, that a shoot of the vine, when deprived of its leaves, died altogether.* Thesuccus proprius, or peculiar juice of plants, may be considered as analagous to the blood of ani- mals. It is the food altered by digestion, and ren- dered fit for being assimilated and converted into a part of the plant itself, by the subsequent processes of vegetation. That it flows from the leaves of the plant towards the roots, appears from this circum- stance, that when we make an incision into a plant, into whatever position we put it, much more of the succus proprius flows from that side of the wound which is next to the leaves and branches, than from the other side ; and this happens even though the leaves and branches be held undermost.f When a ligature is tied about a plant, a swelling appears a- bove, but not below the ligature. The vessels containing the peculiar juice have j been traced by Mr. Knight from the leaves into ' the cortical layers of the inner bark.J Hedwig, who has examined the vessels of plants with very j great care, seems to consider them as of the same structure with the tracheae ; but Mr. Knight is of j a different opinion. It appears evidently, from the •» Phil. Trans, 1801, p. 338. + Bell,Mancli. Mem. ii,. 402, $ Phil. Trans, 1801. p. 337. ii bo experiments of this last gentleman^ tliat they com- municate with no part of the plant which is situat- ed at a greater distance from the root than the leaf from which they themselves originate. For when two circular incisions are made through the hark of a branch above and below a leaf, and at some dis- tance from it, only that part of the portion confin- ed between the two incisions which is situated below the leaf increases in size. The peculiar juice is easily known by its colour and its consistence. In some plants it is green, in i some red, in many milky. It cannot be doubted that its motion in the vessels is performed in the , same way as that of the sap. In many cases, the peculiar juice may be known by its colour and then its analysis may be perform- ed with an approach towards accuracy. The experiments made on such juices have proved as might have been expected, that they differ very considerably from each other, and that every plant has a juice peculiar to itself. Hence it follows, tiiat the processes which go on in the leaves of plants must differ at least in degree, and that we have no right to transfer the conclusions deduced from experiments in one species of plants to those of another species. It is even probable, that the processes in different plants are not the same in kind ; for it is not reasonable to suppose, that the ; phenomena of vegetation in an agaric or a boletus B are precisely the same as those which take place in i I trees and in larger vegetables on which alone ex- / periments have hitherto been made. To attempt any general account of the ingredi- ents of the peculiar juice of plants, is at present im- II possible. We may conclude, however, from the experiments of Chaptal, that it contains the vege- table fibre of wood, either ready formed^ or very 5^ nearly so ; just as the blood in aniujals contciliis a' substance which bears a strong resemblance to the muscular fibres. The peculiar juices of plants contain more car- bon, hydrogen and oxygen, and less water, and pro- bably lime also, than the sap. They are conveyed to every part of the plant; and all the substances which we find in plants, and even the organs them- selves, by which they perform their functions, are formed from them. But the thickest veil covers the whole of these processes; and so far have philo- sophers hitherto been from removing this veil, that they have not even been able to approach it. All these operations, indeed, are evidently chemical de- compositions and combination ; but we neither know what these decompositions and combinations arCj nor the instruments in which they are regulated. Of the Decay of Plants. Such, as far as I am acquainted with them, are the changes produced by vegetation. But plants do not continue to vegetate for ever ; sooner or later they decay, and wither and rot, and are totally decomposed. This change indeed does not happen to all plants at the end of the same time. Some live only for a single season, or even for a shorter period; others live two seasons, others three, others a hundred or more; and there are some plants which continue to vegetate for a thousand years. But sooner or later they all cease to live ; and then those very chemical and mechanical powers which had promoted vegetation combine to destroy the remains of the plant. Now the phenomena of vegetable life are in gen- eral vegetation. As long as a plant continues to Oi ' ege(a(e, wc say it lives ; when it ceases fo vegetate^ we conclude that it is dead. TIic lite of vegetables^ however^, is not so inti- mately connected with the phenomena of vegeta- tion that they cannot be separated. Many seeds may be kept for years without giving any symptom of vegetation ; yet if they \egetate when put into the earth, we say that they possess life ; and if we should speak accurately, we must say also that they possessed life even before they were put into the earth : for it would be absurd to suppose that the seed obtained life merely by being put into the earth. In like manner, many plants decay, giving no symptoms of vegetation during winter ; yet if they vegetate when the mild temperature of spring affects them, we consider them as having lived all winter. The life of plants, then, and the phe- nomena of vegetation, are not precisely the same thing ; for the one may be separated from the oth- er, and we can even suppose the one to exist with- out the other. We can in many cases decide, with- out hesitation, that a vegetable is not dead even when no vegetvation appears ; and the proof which we have for its life is, that it remains unaltered ; for we knovv that when a vegetable is dead, it soon changes its appearance, and falls into decay. Thus it appears that the life of a vegetable con- sists in two things : 1. In remaining unaltered, when circumstances are unfavourable to vegetation : 2. In exhibiting the phenomena of vegetation when circumstances are favourable. When neither of those two things happens, we say that a vegetable is dead.- The phenomena of vegetation have been em^me- rated above. They consist in the formation or expansion of the organs of the plant, in the taking in of nourishment, in carrying it to the leaves, in digestino' it, in distributinic it through the plant, in ^ S 58 ftiigmeiitin^ ilie bulk of the plant, in repairing do- cayed parts, in forming new organs when they are necessary, in producing seeds capable of being con- certed into plants similar to the parent. The cause of these phenomena, whatever it may be, is the cause also of vegetable life, and may be distinguished by the name of the vegetative principle. The death of plants, if we can judge from the phenomena, is owing to the organs becoming at last altogether unfit for performing their functions, and incapable of being repaired by any of the pow- ers which the vegetative principle possesses. Of the Decomposition of Vegetable Substances. Not only entire plants undergo decomposition after death, but certain vegetable substances also, whenever they are mixed together, and placed in proper circumstances, mutually decompose each other, and new compound substances are produced. These mutual decompositions, indeed, are naturally to be expected, for as all vegetable substances are composed of several ingredients, differing in the strength of their affinity for each other, it is to be supposed that, when two such substances are mix- ed together, the divellent affinities will, in many cases, prove stronger than the quiescent ; and there- fore decomposition, and the formation of new com- pounds, must take place. Chemists have agreed to give these mutual de- compositions which take place in vegetable sub- stances the name of fermentation ; a word first in- troduced into chemistry by Van Helmont;* and tlie new substances produced they have called tlie products of fermentation. All the phenomena of * Stahl, Fundament, Chem, u 124. 59 fermentation lay for many years concealed in the completest darkness, and no chemist was hold cnongh to hazard even an attempt to explain them. The vegetahle fermentations or decompositions may he arranged under five heads : namely, that which produces hread ; that which produces wine ; that which produces heer ; that which produces acetous acid or vinegar ; and the putrefactive fer- mentation, or that which produces the spontaneous decomposition of decayed vegetables. The Trmtees xvith pleasure prescrr^c among ilieir pa- pers the two following letters from the Hon. D. Humphreys, Esq. on a subject of increasing importance to American Manufactures. Boston, .Vov. 28th, 1807. Dear Sir, MORE than five years having now elapsed^ since the introduction into New-England of the flock of Merino-Sheep, in consequence of which the Society for promoting Agriculture in the State of Massachusetts, were pleased to present to me a Gold IVIedal, it will doubtless be acceptable to that respectable and patriotic body, to learn that their hopes and expectations concerning the utility of this interesting species of animals have not been disappointed. The attempt to propagate the pure Merinos in this country has been attended with complete suc- cess. The extent of the experiment insures the du- ration of the unadulterated breed. Instead of de- generating in the quantity or quality of their fleeces^ the identical sheep which I brought to this coun- try yield, on an average, half a pound of wool morft 60 a piece, than they did at the first shearing after their arrival. Nor, on the nicest and most candid examination, is it found, that there is any finer wool produced in Spain, than that which is now annually shorn from these same imported Merinos and their full-blooded offspring. The rams born in Ameri- ca are, however, generally preferred to those born in Spain, by persons who now make application io my agent for Merino-Rams, to cross Ihe blood of their flocks, in breeding from them by American ewes. It is the opinion of all the farmers in Con- necticut, who have been acquainted with the origi- jial flock and its descendents, both of the pure and mingled blood, that they are hardier, better adapt- ed to our climate, and more easily nourished both in summer and winter than the common breed of American sheep. They are likewise remarkable for being more gregarious and less disposed to stray or get over fences than the others. Finally, it may truly be asserted, that they preserve the entire char- acter, shape, features and qualities of tlie best Me- rinos in Spain. The mixture of the Spanish with the American })iood has succeeded in ameliorating the pile of the fleece beyond my most sanguine expectations As a proof of the superior value of the wool of the half-blooded Merinos, it is a well known truth, that it has been sold for a dollar a pound in Con- necticut, and still dearer in New-York, the present season, while the best common wool has been sold for about half that price. The half-blooded Me- rinos produce more wool than the common sheep, and they ordinarily attain a larger size than the Spanish or American breed, from which they are descended. The facts here stated agree in substance with those established by experience in every coun- try qf Europe in which I have travelled, where this 61 brood of sheep has been iiitrocliicod. In England and France the greatest care and ox pence are now bestowodj under royal and imperial protection^ for its extensive propagation, A diflicultv was experienced at first, in carding the wool by the common carding machines. This has been overcome. Some farmers, who early in- troduced a mixture of this blood info their flocks^, have made, in domestic manufacture, for sale, five or six pieces of cloth from this wool, during the present year, I shall have several hundred yards, fabricated entirely by machinery from pure Merino fleeces. Several thousands, made by the same pro- cess, from the common sheep's wool of the country, have already been sent to market. Samples of both kinds, with the prices, are enclosed. How long a period must pass before the preju- dices against the fabricks of our country can be ex- tinguished, is not for me to decide. If any suitable means for their extinction could be devised and adopted, perhaps an essential service would be there- by rendered to the real prosperity and independence of the United States. With sentiments of great respect and esteem, I have the honour to be. Dear Sir, your most obedient and most humble servant, D. HUMPHREYS. Dr. Aaron De.vteb, one of the Vice. Presidents' of the Society for promoting yigricul State of Massac/iuittts, ^"c. 6)"c. Sjc. e Presidents') iUiire, in ihe> 3 Factory, (Remmon Falls) Derhi/f\ Dec. 10///, 1807. / Dear Sir, THE importance of rightly understanding the best means of multiplying and improving the ^ne M'oolled breed of Sheep, derived from a cross of G2 the pure Merino blood v,'iih that of the common flocks of the country^ must be my apolog-y for oiler- ing a few observations in addition to those which I had the honour of communicating to your Agricul- tural Society^, on the 28th of last month. To facil- itate the extension of this improved breed, and to confirm its superior excellence in point of wool^ it is conceived, are objects which have a peculiar claim to the public attention. A mixed breed being first produced from our fin- cst-woolled Ewes by full-blooded Merino Rams, it is still desirable that the Spanish blood should be re- newed for three or four generations, tbrough the medium of sires of that race. Then the system of hreeding in and in, as it is technicall v called, »«d as it has been ably explained by Dr. Parry, of Bath, in his late ^' Essay on the nature, produce, origin, and extension of the Merino breed of Sheep," proves decisive for the accomplishment of the objects pro- posed, in the shortest time, at the smallest expence^ and with the greatest certainty, of any other plan hitherto suggested. It is judged by the farmers in this neighbourhood, who are best acquainted with this confirmed mixed breed, that, aside of their superior excellence with respect to wool, they have a greater tendency to fat- ten, on the same keeping, than any other Sheep with- in the compass of their knowledge. Although this disposition to fatten is of little consequence so long- as they are bred for the fleece only ; yet it may be well, that those farmers who may hereafter propo- gate them for the sake of the carcass should not be fgTi 01 ant of the fact. From my farther inquiries with regard to the weight of the fleeces of my Merinos, 1 learn, that they have increased somewhat more than I stated in my letter of the 28lh of last month. One of the I ()3 Rams born here 1ms produced, this season, seven pounds and live ounces of washed wool. This wool would, it is presumed, be worth one dollar and an half per pound in England. I have the united tes- timony of all the people engaged in, or acquainted w ith, its fabrication into cloth, to prove that it has not deteriorated, by reason of its augmented quan- tity, in any respect whatsoever. I take the liberty of inclosing four more specimens of Cloth. No's 1, 2, 3 were made from the wool of the pure Meri- nos ; and No. 4, from that of the half-blooded race. I beg you will receive the assurances of the real , and great esteem, with which I have the honour to I be, dear sir, your most obedient and verv humble I servant. D. HUMPHREYS. i 2'o the Hon. Didi.vv A. Trxc, Corresponding') I Secrefai-ij to the Socitty for promoLing jlgyi-> IJ culture in the Stnte of Massachusttts, ) 0/j the MANAGEMENT of tlic DAIRY, particii- liirhj uilh respect to the making and curing of BUTTER. BY J. ANDERSON, L. L. D. F. R. S. &C. ["Extracted from the sixth article in the fifth volmne of the Letters and Papers of the Bath Agricultural Society.] WHEN a dairy is established, the undertak- er ought to be fully acquainted with every circum- stance respecting the manufacture both of butter and cheese ; here it is only ])roposed to treat of the manufacture of butter. Tf he first thing is to choose cows of a proper sort ; among this class of animals it is found by experience, that some kinds give milk of a thicker consistence and richer quality than oth- ers. In judging of the value of a cow, it ought rather to be the quantity and the quality of the ream produced from the milk in a given time. tliaii the c|uanlity of the milk Itself; this is a cir- cumstance of more importance than is generally im- agined. The small cows of the Alderney breed af- ford the richest milk hitherto known ; but individ- ual cows in every country^ may be founds by a care- ful selection^ that aliord much richer milk than others ; these, therefore, ought to be searched for with care, and their breed reared with attention, as being peculiarly valuable. In comparing the milk of two cows, to judge of their respective qualities, particular attention must be paid to the time that has elapsed since their calving. To make the cows give abundance of milk, and of a good quality, they must at all times have plenty of food. Grass is the best food yet known for this purpose, and that kind which springs up spontaneously on rich dry soils, is the best of all. If the cows are so much incom- moded by the heat as to be prevented from eating through the day, they ought to be taken into cool shades for protection ; where, after allowing them a proper time to ruminate, they should be supplied with abundance of green food, fresh cut for the pur- pose, and given them by hand frequently, fresh and fresh in small quantities, so as to induce them to eat it with pleasure. Cows, if abundantly fed, should be milked three times a day during the whole of the summer season,, in the morning early, at noon, and in the evening just before night fall. If cows are milked only twice in twenty four hours, while they have abun- dance of succulent food, they will yield a much smaller quantity of milk in the same time, than if they be milked three times. Some attentive observ- ers I have met with, think a cow in these circum- stances, will give nearly as much milk at each time, if milked three times, as if they were milked only twice. lu the choice of persons for milking the $5 rO^Vs, 2:reat caution should be employed, for if all the milk be not thoroughly drawn from a cow when she is milkedj a diminution of the quantity gradual- ly takes place, and in a short time the cow becomes dry. In the management of a dairy, the following peculiarities respecting milk ought very particu- larly to be attended to ; some of them are, no doubt, known in part to attentive housewives, but they have never been considered of so much importance as they deserve. APHORISM I. Of the milk that is drawn from any cow at one time, that which comes off at the first is always thin- ner, and of a much worse quality, than that which comes afterwards, and the richness goes on, contin- ually increasing to the very last drop that can be drawn from the udder at that time. Few persons are ignorant that milk which is ta- ken from the cow^ last of all at milking, which in this country is called stroakings, ( here strippings J is richer than the rest of the milk ; but fewer still are aware of the greatness of the disproportion between the quality of the first and the last drawn milk from the same cow at one milking. From several accurate and important experiments it appears, that the per- son who, by bad milking of his cows, looses but half a pint of the last milk that might be obtained, looses in fact about as much cream as would be af- forded by six or eight pints at the beginning, and looses besides, that part of the cream, which alone can give richness and high flavour to his butter. APHORISM H. If milk he pnt in a dish and allowed to stand till it thi^ows up cream, that portion which rises first to the suiface is richer in quality and greater in quan-- tity than what rises in a second equal portion of time. 9 66 and the cream tliat rises in the second interval of lime is greater in quantity and richer in quality than Tvhat rises in a third equal space of time, and so on, the cream decreases m quantity and declines in qual- ity continually, as long as any rises to the surface. APHORISM III. Thick milk always thi^rjos up a smaller proportion of the cream it actually contaifis to the surface, than milk that is thinner, but that cream is of a richer quality ; and if water he added to that thick milk, it will afford a considerably greater quantity of cream than it would have done if allowed to remain pure; but its quality is at the same time greatly debased. APHORISM IV. Milk, which is put into a bucket or other proper vessel, and carried in it to any considerable distance, so as to be much agitated, and in part cooled before it be put into the milk pans to settle for cream, never throws up so much nor so rich cream as if the same milk had been put into the milk pans directly after it zvas milked. In this case, it is believed that the loss of cream will be in proportion to the time that has elapsed and the agitation it has sustained after having been drawn from the cow. From the above facts the following corollaries seem to be clearly deducible. 1. It is of importance, that the cows should be always milked as near the dairy as possible, and it must be of great advantage in a dairy farm, to have the principal grass fields as near the dairy as possible. 2. The practice of putting the milk of all the cows of a large dairy into one vessel, as it is milked, Ihere to remain till the whole milking- be finished^ 67 before any part of it be put into milk pansj seems 1o be highly injudicious, not only on account of the loss that is sustained by agitation and cooling, but also, as it prevents the owner of the dairy from dis- tinguishing the g'ood from the bad cows milk ; a better practice therefore, would be, to have the milk drawn from each cow separately, put into the cream- ing pans as soon as it is milked, without being mix- ed with any other. Thus would the careful farmer be able, on all occasions, to observe the particular quality of each individual cow's milk, as well as i(s quantity, and to know with precision, which of his cows it was his interest to dispose of, and which he ought to keep and breed from, 3. If it be intended to make butter of a very fine quality, it would be adviseable in all cases to keep the milk, that is first drawn, separate from that Avhich comes last, as it is obvious, that if this be not done, the quality of the butter will be greatly de- based, without much augmenting its quantity. It is also obvious that the quality of the butter will be improved in proportion to the smallness of the pro- portion of the last drawn milk that is retained, so that those who wish to be singularly nice in this re- spect will only retain a very small proportion of the last drawn milk. 4. If the quality of the butter be the chief object attended to, it will be necessary not only to separate the first from the last drawn milk, but also to take nothing but the cream that is first separated from the best milk, as it is this first rising cream alone that is of the prime quality ; the remainder of the milk, which will be still sweet, may be either em- ployed for the purpose of makingsweet milk cheeses, or it may be allowed to stand to throw up cream for making butter of au inferior quality. 68 5. From the above facts^ we learn that butter of the very best possible quality can only be obtained from a dairy of considerable extent when judicious- ly managed. 6. From these premises, we are led to draw a conclusion different from the opinion that is com- monly enterlained on this subject^ viz. — That it seems probable that the very best butter can only be with economy made in those dairies where the man- ufacture of cheese is the principal object. As but few persons would be willing to purchase the verij best butter at a price to indemnify the far- mer for his trouble, I am satisfied from experience and attentive observation, that if in general about the first drawn half of the milk beyseparated at each milking, and the remainder only be set up for pro- ducing cream, and if that milk be allowed to stand to throw up the whole of its cream, even till it be- gins sensibly to taste sourish, and if that cream be afterwards carefully managed, the butter thus ob- tained will be of a quality greater superiourto what can usually be obtained at market, and its quantity not considerably less than if the whole of the milk had been treated alike. No dairy can be managed with profit, unless a place properly adapted for keeping the milk, and for carrying on the different operations of the dairy, be first provided.* The necessary requisites of a good milk house are, that it be cool in summer, and warm in winter, so as to preserve a temperature nearly the same throughout the whole year, and that it be dry, so as to admit of being kept clean and sweet at all times. From the trials I have made, I have reason to be- lieve that when the heat is from fifty to fifty five * Tlie author here gives a '?ery particular description of the best, con- trived iuiiik hou.=e or dairy. 69 degrees on Farenhcit's thermometer, the separation of the cream from the milk, which is the most im- portant operation of the dairy, goes forward with the greatest regularity. When the heat exceeds sixty degrees, the operations become difficult and dangerous, and when it falls below the fortieth de- gree, they can scarcely be carried forward with any degree of economy, or propriety. In winter, should the cold become too great, it might be occasionally dispelled, by placing a barrel full of hot water closely bunged up, upon the table^ to remain till cooled. This I prefer to any kind of chaffing dish with burning embers. The utensils of the dairy, must in general be made of wood. As the acid of milk readily dissolves lead, with which the common earthen vessels are glazed, such vessels should be banished from the dairy. The creaming dishes ( for so I call the vessels in which the milk is placed for throwing up the cream ) when properly cleaned^ siveet and cool, are to be fill- ed with the milk as soon after it is drawn from the cow as possible, having been first strained carefully through a close strainer. These dishes should never exceed three inches in depth, whatever betheir other dimensions. As soon as they are filled, they are to be placed on the shelves in the milk house, perfectly undisturbed, till it be judged expedient to separate the cream from them. In a moderately warm temperature of the air, if very fine butter be intended, it should not be allow- ed to stand more than six or eight hours ; for ordi- nary good butter, it may safely stand ten or twelve, or more It is of great importance to the success of the dai- ry, that the skimming be well performed, for if any part of the cream be left, the quantitij of the but- 70 ter will be diminished ; and if any part of the milk be taken, its quality will be debased* When the cream is obtained, it ought immediate- ly to be put into a vessel by itself, there to be kept till a proper quantity be collected for being made into butter. And no vessel can be better adapted to that purpose than a firm neat made wooden bar- rel, in size proportioned to the dairy, open at one end, with a lid exactly fitted to close it, In the un- der part of this vessel, close to the bottom, should be placed a cock and spigot, for drawing off any thin serous part of the milk that may chance to be there generated ; for if this is allowed to remain, it injures the cream, and greatly diminishes the rich- ness of the quality of the butter ; the inside of the opening should be covered with a bit of gauze net- ting, to keep back the cream while the serum is al- lowed to pass, and the barrel should be inclined a little forward, to allow the whole to run off. The separation of butter from cream, only takes place after the cream has attained a certain degree of acidity. The judicious farmer will therefore al- low his cream to remain in the vessel until it has ac- quired that proper degree of acidity that fits it for being made into butter with great ease, by a very moderate degree of agitation, and by which process only, very fine butter ever can be obtained. How long cream may be thus kept in our climate, with- out rendering the butter made from it of a bad qual- ity, I cannot say ; but it may be kept good for a much longer time than is generally suspected, eyem a great many weeks. — It is certain that cream which ! has been kept three or four days in summer is in an excellent condition for being made into butter ; from » The cream shonlil be separated from the edaiea of the dish, by means of an ivory bladed knife, then carefully drawn towards one side by a skimming dish, and then taken off with great nicety. 71 three days tl., and mix it with their cream. This gives their butter as fine an pearance as the best Juno butter, without commonicatiiig any taste or 10 butter be thoroughly melted : Let it continue in that state for some time, and allow it to settle : The mu- cous part will fall to the bottom, and the pure oil swim at top. When it cools, it becomes opaque and paler than the original butter, and of a firmer consistence. When this refined butter is become a little stiff, and while it is still somewhat soft, the pure pari should be separated from the dregs, and then salted and packed up in the same way as is be- | fore directed. f Those who wish to see the subject more fully treated, are referred to the original. The following part of a course of work to he per- formed ly gardeners, in the month of July, is ' extracted from Matte's Gardener's Calendar. JULY. WORK TO BE DONE IN THE KITCHEN GARDEN. NOW prepare such pieces of ground as are va- cant in order to receive such seeds and plants as are proper to supply the table with necessary produc- tions in autumn and winter : many crops will no^r require inserting, both by sowing and planting,, some for temporary succession, and others more ex- tensive for longer continuance, in full crops for thd above mentioned seasons ; and should give very dil- igent attention to have them put in now in proper time, according to the directions for the different sorts under their respective heads. Planting Savoys ajid Cabbages. Get ready, in particular, some good ground, tc plant out a principal crop of savoys and winter cab bages. 75 Let an open spot of ground be chosen for these plants ; and let it be properly digged, and immediate- ly put in the plants. Let them be planted in rows two feet asunder, which at this season will be room enough, except for the large kind of cabbages, which should be planted two feet and a half dis- tance each way. — A watering at planting will great- ly promote the fresh rooting of all these plants. Transplant Endive. Plant out now, to supply the table in autumn, a parcel of the strongest endive. *" Endive requires good ground ; and if dunged will be additional advantage : let it be regularly- digged, and the rough surface raked even ; then put in your plants the distance of a foot every way from one another, and water them as soon as plant- ed. In dry weather the waterings must be repeat- ed once in two days, till the plants have taken root. Sow Endive Seed. Sow also some endive seed. This sowing is to raise a supply of plants for use the end of autumn, and for the principal winter crop. Choose principally the green curled kind for the main crop : and may also sow sortie of the white curled sort, and the large Batavia endive, observing of the green kind particularly, that for the greater certainty of procuring a regular supply all winter of good endive, it will be proper to sow some seed of that sort at two different times this month. Let some, therefore, be sown some time between the first and tenth ; and sow the next parcel about the eighteenth or twentieth of the month. Dig for this purpose, a small or moderate compartment of good light ground ; directly sow the seed thinly^ each sort separate, tread it down regularly, and rake ii in with an even hand. Give occasional watering, in dry weather ; this will bring up the plants soon^ and they will rise re- gularly. Onions. Sow some onions to stand the winter. This must be done in the last week of the months and not before. But the principal sowing is directed in next month ; though it is proper to sow a few now, to af- ford some to draw also in autumn and beginning of winter, and E\ay sow both of the common and the Welch onion ; the latter stands the severest frosts. For this purpose dig a compartment of rich ground, and divide it into beds three feet and a half, or four feet broad. Immediately sow the seed tol- erably thick, and let it be trodden down evenly, and then raked in. The plants will soon rise, and will get strength by the first of October, to enable them to resist the winter's cold; when they will be very acceptable both to draw in autumn and winter, and in the month of February, March, and April, to use in sallads, and for other purposes. Mind, when the plants are come up, to let them be timely weeded, otherwise the weeds, which will rise numerously with the onions, would soon get the start, and destroy the whole crop. Cai'Tots. In the first or second week in this month you may sow some carrot seed, to raise some young carrots for the table in autumn and winter. The carrots raised from this sowing will come in- to use after September, and will be very fine in October and November, &c. and continue good till the following spring. Choose an open situation and light ground, which dig a proper depths and directly, while fresh turned ■n up, let the seed be sown moderately thicks and rake it in evenly. When the plants are come up an inch or two high, let them be cleared and thinned to six or eight inches distance. Transplant Celery. Now is the time to prepare some trenches, in or- der to plant out a good crop of autumn and winter celery. Allot, for this crop, an open compartment of the best rich ground, and clear it well from weeds ; and then mark out the trenches ten inches or a foot wide, and full two feet asunder ; or rather, if good ground, allow two and a half, or three feet distance. Dig out each trench longwise, one spade wide, and a moderate spade deep, or about six or eight inches clear depth, ihe bottom well loosened ; laying the earth that comes out neatly in the spaces between the trenches, equally on both sides, in a regular lev- el order ; which serves, in part, in earthing up the celery when of proper growth ; then as you pro- ceed, dig and level the bottom of each trench, or previously it would be of much advantage to add some rotten dung, and dig it in only a moderate depth ; levelling the earth even for the reception of the plants. Then draw the plants ; choose the strongest, and trim the ends of their roots, and the tops of the long straggling leaves, and then plant them in one row along the middle of each trench, setting the plants ifive or six inches distant in the row ; immediately 'give some water, and let this be repeated in dry weather until the plants have got root. tLanding-up Celery. Land or earth up the crop of early celery plant- .ed into trenches last n:ont]),, or in May : break the 78 earth moderately well with a hoe or spade^ and trim it up neatly to both sides of the rows of plants, three or four inches high, repeating the earthing at this time about once a week, to have some blanched as early as possible. Cucumbers for pickling. Attend also to the cucumber plants which were sown or planted in the natural ground to produce picklers. Their vines will now begin to advance, and should belaid out in regular order ; but, where not done before, it would first be proper, early in the month, to dig and loosen the ground lightly between the holes of plants, not going too near to disturb the roots : and as you proceed, draw some earth be- tween and round the stems of the plants, in each hole, pressing it down gently, in order to make them spread different ways, also to draw the earth up round each hole, to form a bason, to contain the water when given in dry weather, and let the runners of the plants, in advanced growth, be trained out in proper regularity. These plants must also, in dry weather, be well supplied with water ; which, in a very hot season, will be necessary every day. Gather Seeds. Gather seeds of all sorts according as they ripen, Let this be done always in perfect dry weather, cutting or pulling up the stems with the seeds there- on, and dispose them spreadingly in some airy place where the full air and power of the sun have free ac- cess, in order to dry and harden the seed in a proper degree ; observing to turn them now and then ; and when they have lain a few days, or a week, or fort- night, according to the nature of the different sorts. 79 the seed should then be beaten out, and well cleaned from the husks and rubbish, and put up in boxes or bags. Gathering Herbs for Drying and Distilling. Gather mint and balm, pennyroyal, sweet-marjo- ram, as also carduus, hyssop, sage-tops, lavender- spikes, marigold, and chamomile flowers ; and oth- er aromatics which are now advancing towards flow- ering ; in order to dry, to serve the family in winter. These kinds of herbs should always be cut for the purpose of drying when they are in the highest per- fection, nearly of full growth, and coming into flower ; and some when in full flower ; as laven- der, marigold, and chamomile, for their flowers on- ly. Let them be cut in dry weather, and spread or hung up in a dry airy place, out of the reach of the sun, that they may dry gently. Likewise gather spear-mint, peppermint, penny- royal, lavender flowers, and other herbs to distil. Many of the proper kinds will now be arrived at full growth, and advancing into flower ; and that is the proper time to cut all such herbs as are in- tended for the purpose of distilling. Plant Sage and Savory, ^c. Plant now, as soon as possible, slips of sage where it was omitted in the former months, and al- so the slips of hyssop, winter savory, lavender, rue, and such like herbs. Choose such young side-shoots of the branches for slips as are about five, six, or seven inches longv of proper strength ; they must be planted in a sha- dy border, inserting them two thirds of their length into the earth ; give water at plaaUng ; and in dry weather must be often repeated. 80 Watering. Watering should at this time be duly practised in dry weather, to all such plants as have been lately planted out, till they have taken root : likewise to seed-beds lately sown, and where small young seed- ling plants are advancing. This work should generally, at this season, in sun- ny weather, be done in a morning, or towards the evening. The proper hours, in a morning, any time between sun-rising and eight or nine o'clock ; and between the hours of four and eight, or nine, in an evening ; as the watering at these times has greater effect, by the moisture having time to settle gradually into the earth, before much exhaled by the great power of the full mid-day sun. Clearing the Ground. Clear the ground now from the stalks and leaves of all such plants as have done bearing. In particular, clear away the stalks and leaves of the early crop of cauliflowers, and let the ground be hoed and made perfectly clear from all manner of rubbish and weeds. Likewise pull up the stalks and haulm of such beans and peas as have done bearing, and all such other plants as are past service, clearing away also all decayed leaves of cabbages, artichokes, and all such like rubbish litter, which both appear disa- greeable, and afford harbour to noxious vermin ; and let all large weeds be at the same time cleared off the ground. The ground will then appear neat, and will also be ready to dig, in order to be sown or planted with autumn or winter crops. 81 J^rom the art of destroying Moles after the manner of D'Amionac, by M. Dralet, keeper of the Forests in the vicinage of Toulose. EVERY one knows how destructive the Mole is to agriculture. This animal lives in the earth, and destroys all the roots it meets with, whilst pursuing the long subterraneous path which he forms with his nose and paws. He delights himself most in gardens, where he makes considerable rava- ges ; but it is in pastures that he does most injury, by covering them with molehills ; these not only occupy part of the ground where grass would have grown, but present an obstacle to the scythe ia mowing. Those are the mOst apparent injuries caused by this destructive animal ; but there are others more important, though not so generally observed ; they take place in pastures through which are rivers or streams, by destroying the dykes ; particularly ift the summer when they are seeking for water. OBSERVATIONS On the natural history of the Mole, serving as art introduction to the art of destroying them. 1st. The mole lives under the surface df the earth ; the atmosphere incommodes him. 2d. Notwithstanding this, he sometimes quits his habitation in the ground, in pursuit of one more convenient and which he immediately enters. 3d. He feeds on roots, insects and worms ; this is the reason why he is generally found in soft and good lands. 4th. He does not reside either in muddy or in stony ground. 5th. He hastens to get out of his subterraneous residence if water comes in upon him, 11 8^ 6th. J3ui ing the winter and rahiy season^ he in^ habits high places, because they are not so moist and he is secure from inundations. 7th. In the pleasant season he descends from the hills; mostly into the pastures/ Tvhere he finds fresh g^round,, easy to work^ and furnished with roots. 8th. When there has been a long drought, he shelters himself along the ditches and streams, and tinder the hedges. 9th. It is in the months of March, April and May, that the females bring forth the young : there are generally four or five to a litter. 10th. They prepare beforehand a deep hole, with a firm Covering, in an elevated spot, protected by a hedge or a clump of trees : there may be seen above this habitation, four or five large molehills very near to each other. 11th. The mole cannot live without working. Being compelled to seek his food in the bowels of the earth, he makes long subterraneous passages, called burrows. 12th. These burrows are generally parallel to the surface of the earth, from four to six inches deep, according to the season. loth. Aii moles are almost equally afraid of heat and cold, it is in winter and summer, that they dig deepest into the earth ; that is, their burrows are then most distant from the surface. 14th. They are very timorous ; when they ap- prehend that they are in danger, they sink them- selves into the earth in a perpendicular burrow, which they sometimes bore to the depth of a foot and a half. 15th. As fast as moles form burrows, they throw out at the surface of the ground the eartii which they have detached ; this produces the little risings, called mjQlehiUs ; they make at each attempt, three, four. SB six, and evch ttiue, according to their age and strength. ■ 16th. From this, it is evident, tliatthe burrows made hy one single mole, must have a communica- tion under ground, 17th. If with any instrument whatever you open ahurrow which has been lately made, the mole zdll in a fern moments go to the opening to make such repairs as will keep out the air ; for this purpose he farms at the open place a mound of earth, which ex- ternally looks like an oblong molehill, and zvith this he patches, as it were, the broken burrow. 18th. If a fresh molehill is injured, the mole will come and repair it. . These two last points make the principal base on which the whole art depends. 19th. The mole works in all seasons, for it is on* l_y by labour that he procures his food. 20th. It is not true that he sleeps all winter, as some naturalists have pretended, but in that season he has but little activity, and works much less than he does in summer. 21st. It is at the approach of spring that moles are most busy at work, and that they make the great- est number of hills. For this there are several causes : The first is the necessity of providing food for their young, which are born about this time ; the second is the ease with which they can move the earth, and the third is, that as the temperature grows mild, the animal recovers his powers, which were diminished by the severity of the cold. 22d. The male is much more vigorous than the female, and the molehills which he makes are large and numerous. 23d. The female works less than the male; her hills are smaller and fewer. 24th. The young ones merely form long ftirrows, throwing up the surface of the ground^ which but just serve to cover them ; when they begin to make hills they are small^ without form, and in zigzag positions. 25th. Their hours for work are, at sunrise, nine o'clock, noon, three o'clock, and at sunset ; but it is at sun rise and sunset that they are most ardent at their labour. 26th. In a dry time they seldom make hills, ex- cept at sunrise ; and in winter they seize the moment when the sun has heated the ground. 27th. It appears that the sense of seeing is hard- ly possessed by them ; but, in return, nature has be- stowed on them the most delicate sense of hearing. 28th. They are not easily taken, except when they are at work. 29th. Of course the most favourable time for the molecatcher is in the spring (21.) 30th. At this season it is in the pastures that war should be made on them (7. ) 3 1st. They must be attacked at sunrise, at nine o'clock in ihe morning, at noon, 3 o'clock, or at sunset (25.) 32d. It is better to begin at sunrise than at any other time of the day. 33d. The most convenient hour after this is nine o'clock, because if the whole number of the moles in pursuit are not then taken, the work can be con- tinued at the proper hours of the day, S4th. While watching for them great care should be taken to prevent noise, particularly striking the ground (27) 35th. Sometimes the mole may be compelled to quit his hole, by pouring in a certain quantity of vater (b,) 84 36th. When any person is near to a molehill, at the time when the mole is blowing-, if he cuts with a hoe the passage which communicates with the next hill, and stops it with earth, the mole will be im- prisoned between this and the molehill ( 16. ) 37th. A fresh hill proves the presence of a mole ; this is also the case when there are several fresh hilU at a short distance from each other. 38th. However fresh the hill may be, if it is pierced in the centre, in a perpendicular hole of about tvv^o inches diameter, it is certain that the mole has quited the ground, to find one better suited to him (2.) 39th. When a number of fresh hills are discover- ed, if they are all opened with a hoe, and the boring under ground which communicates from one to the other are searched, the mole will certainly be caught whilst at work. 40th. This operation would undoubtedly be too long and difficult, but it may be made very simple, if the mole can be inclosed between two points not distant from each other ; in this case you have only to search the intermediate space between the two points. 41st. The mole may be confined between two points in his burrow, by means of incisions made in- to it in proper places ; these incisions cut off his passage. 42d. When a cutting is made, the openings of the burrow must be slightly shut up with a little earth at each end. Application of the above named principles, or the practice of the art of destroying Moles. The only instrument, which is absolutely necessa- ry, is a hoe ; but it is convenient to be provided with a little straw, a few pieces of white paper, and a pot of water. 86 Of flic nuniber of Moles which are in an estate^^-of their sex and age. The first object is to find out the number of moles existing^ on the grounds, so as to attack them all, as far as possible, at the same time ; this is the wa.y to work with effect. Suppose a pasture to be represented by the an- nexed engraving, covered with molehills^ figures 1^ 2,3,4,5,6,7. Figure 1 is an insulated hill ; being fresh, it dis- covers that the mole is near ; ( 37 ) it is a large one, of course it must be made by a male ( 22. ) Figiure 2. Two hills at a short distance from each other, they must have been made by one mole only ; (37 ) they are fresh, of course the mole is work- inaj ; they are small, then the mole must be a fe- male (23.) Fijxure 3. The three hills are at a short distance from each other, then they must belong to only one mole ; they are fresh, then the mole must be work- ing ; they are large, then it must be a male. Figure 4. The six hills are at a short distance one from the other, and must have been made by one mole only ; being fresh, the mole must be work- ing ; being small, they must belong to a female. Figure 5 discovers furrows in zigzag, or without plan, and being fresh, they giVe evidence of a young mole (24.) Figure 6, five dry hills ; of course they are aban- doned by the mole. Figure 7, is seven hills, they are fresh, but one of them, M, is pierced in the top of it ; then the mole has quited them within a short time (38.) From these observations, I am convinced that there is in the pasture two males, two females and one vouns: one. '87 It is not unirnportant to know whether the moles which arc pursued arc males or females^ young or old : The males working fastest (22) must be more closely watched than the females. The young ones only raise the earth at the surface, pass very quick, and must not be left out of sight. OPERATION. First case. When a mole makes but one hill^ figure 1. I take off the hill with my hoe_, and ascertain whether it has a communication with other neigh- bouring ones ; to do this, I cough, or make a slight noise at the opening made, and at the same time listen : if the hill has no communication, the mole being at a short distance, is frightened at the noise. I hear him moving, he cannot then escape from me, I open the burrow a b with the hoe and follow it to b where I find the mole. Perhaps the animal, knowing his danger, has had time to sink himself in the earth by a perpendicular burrow, b c (14) then I have two ways of taking him. I either dig to c, when I find my prey, or I pour in water at b, and the animal comes out of himself. If, on the contrary, when I cough I do not hear the animal move, this proves that this hill commu- nicates with others, and I operate as in the follow- ing cases. Second case. "W hen the mole has made two hills, A B figure 2. I make an opening, d e about nine inches long, in the direction of the burrow communicating from one hill to the other ; I shut up with a little earth the two extremities d e of the burrow; in a few moments the mole, struck by the air from without, and fearing for his safety, comes to repair the inju-^- ry made to his dwollina:, (17> bo blows cither at tl 88 or c ; if it is at d that he presents himself, I am sure of finding him between this point and the hill A. If it is at e, I am sure that he is between this last point and the hill B. In one or the other of these instances I operate as in the jirst case before men- tioned : that isj I uncover that part of the burrow which bounds on the hill A, or on the hill B. Third case. When the mole has made three hills, C D E figure 3. I make the openings f gh i. The mole comes to blow at fgh ori; if he blows at f, he finds himself inclosed between this point and the hill C ; if he blows at i, he finds himself inclosed between this point and the hill E ; if he comes to g or h, he is in the intermediate space between these two points. In these three instances I operate as in the first case, by opening the space in which the mole is dis- covered. If he is shut up between g and h and I am not disposed to uncover all this distance, I take off" the hill D and make in its place a third common open- ing. I wait until the mole has blowed, and the | side on which he comes indicates to me whether I shall find him between the third incision and the point g, or between this opening and the point h. Fourth case. When the mole has made four or more hills, figure 4. Suppose there are six hills, F G H J K L. I make the incision k 1. If the mole blows at k, it is inclosed between this point and the hill F. If, on the contrary, it blows at I, it must be inclosed between this last point and the hill L. In either of these instances I make from K to F or from 1 to L the operations directed in the third case. 69 Another %vaij of operating in the 2d, 3d and ^th' cas- es^ above named. Suppose that when the cutting d e figure 2. is made, the mole comes to blow at d and that he blows while I am present, I know that he must traverse the space d e to repair his burrow, by forming- a mound of earthy which he detaches from the bottom of the opened place. If I stop here without making a noise, I shall see him working, and to catch him it will be only necessary to thrust the handle of my hoe after him before he gets to the point e ; by this means the earth which I have been careful in placing at the opening d will prevent his advancing, and the handle of my hoe will keep him from retreating — he can then be easily taken by re- moving with the hands the little earth with which he is covered. One may discover the moment when the mole comes to blow, without staying near the opening, by sticking into the ground a straw, at the end of which is fixed a little piece of paper ; this little standard will be upset, or at least shaken, at the first movement made by the mole in the place where it is planted, and give the signal to the person watching. Fifth case. When the mole does not come to blow at the openings made by the operator. Suppose that after having made the opening k I figure 4, the mole continues to blow at the first hill L then I am sure that he is between the point I and the hill L and the operations must be the same as in case third ; that is, I must act as if there were only the hills J K L, To find out whether the mole blows at a hill while I am absent, I flatten it slightly with my foot, and if on my return I find a little rising in it, there \2 90 can be no doubt but that the mole has been working there. Sixth case. Another way of operating in the 2d, 3d, 4th and 5th cases above named, when near to the hill at the time when the mole is blowing. If 1 find mvselfnear the hill L, figure 4, at the moment when the mole is blowing, I do not use the uncertain means of the gardeners, who take off the hill with a spade, but I make a large opening with my hoe at m n in the burrow communicating to the nei«:hbouring hill K ; this is a sure way of shutting up^he mole between tbe hill h and the point m n. When he is thus enclosed, I operate as in case first ; that is, I uncover the interval in which he is shut out It is useless to say that to ensure success in this way, the hill where the mole blows must have but only one communication. Seventh case. When one or more fresh hills are found in the neighbourhood of old hills, figure 4 and 6. This last case is the most intricate of all — it be- ing doubtful whether the fresh hills communicate by burrows with old ones — however, this may be, it is necessary to make an opening between the old and the new, so that the mole, alarmed in the new, may not escape into the old ones — after this operate, as in the preceeding cases. When this is the case, it is impossible to make too many openings, if there is no danger of injur- ing; the land, it would be well, for instance, in figures 4 and 6, to make a cutting in the direction from H to N ; and another from H to O because there may be a burrow in one or the other of those directions, and perhaps in both of them. 91 OBSERVATIONS. If one person kept closely watching only one mole^ without directing his attention to others, he would destroy but very few in the course of a day — But in searching an estate, to find out the number of moles which infest it, it is necessary to flatten slightly with the foot all the new hills, and to make all the openings in the burrows, without being afraid to make too many where the ground will permit. The little standards before named, must be planted, then the operator may go from one mole to another. In attacking a number of moles at the same time, great vigilance and activity are required, lest, whilst watching the one, the others should have time to repair their burrows. The mole will require more time to repair an opening, if a little mound of earth is placed at the bottom of it, and this is often a very good pre- caution. THE END -K ra^