For the New England Farmer. tendeth to poverty." Stormy as the political horizon may appear, do not let September pass away THE SEASON AND CROPS. without making some permanent improvement on Rarely have I known a season that gave prothe farm, or at least without doing something to mise of crops more abundant. To be sure, the make home more pleasant, and next year's work superabundant rains have materially interfered more agreeable and profitable. Something of this most important products of New England farms; with the making of hay, which is ever one of the kind may be done at small expense. It will not still, a large crop has grown, and most of it has cost much to plow up a small "land" of that been cured in the best manner practicable, under bound out meadow, and seed it down for next the circumstances. The introduction of mowing year's mowing, harrowing in manure in propor-getting the crop, wherever their value has been machines and hay caps has greatly facilitated the tion to the "heft" of the crop you wish to cut known and appreciated. One of my neighbors, thereon for the next six or eight years. Neither who cuts more than one hundred tons of hay, has will it cost a great deal of money or time to col- got it all in, in good condition, by due attention lect materials of some kind to prevent the waste to the time of cutting, and covering when in the of the best part of the manure in the hog-pen and several days, if properly capped; in fact, I am not field. Hay is not injured by standing in cock for cowyard, the sink, drain, privy, &c. If the old sure that it is not better made so than in any swamp is dry enough, a few days' work there will other way. I cannot doubt that the expense of furnish an ample supply of an excellent absorbent such caps will be saved in a single season, if proESSEX. for the whole year. If it is too wet, what say to perly used. a little bit of experience in turning running water over a portion of the grass ground, if you happen to have a stream that can be so used without too much expense; or, while waiting for the dry spell that we usually find in this month or the next, perhaps we can do something for that bushy pas-oughly wilted, or half made, then cock it, cover ture, or possibly lay up a few rods of stone wall, that will look much better and much safer than the old wooden fence that was so completely smashed down by last winter's snow. And now for the cattle show. Never mind if it is not managed exactly to suit you. You are just the man that is wanted. Go yourself, and take your family with you, and by the influence of your word and example the "little improvements" which you desire may be effected. Farmers cannot well do without these stated times and occasions for meeting together to examine the results of each other's labor, and to talk over affairs connected with their business. Mechanics who cluster together in villages and cities, have frequent opportunities for conversation, but farmers live remote from each other, and are in danger of becoming too solitary and unsocial. There is high authority for the injunction "to do good and communi cate." For the New England Farmer. MR. EDITOR:-Have your correspondents done August 11, 1862. REMARKS. Our correspondent is right in his suggestion about hay being worth more for being cured under caps. We have no doubt but it is at least ten per cent. better. Let the grass be thor with caps, and let it remain from 24 to 36 hours; then throw it open to the air and sun for three or four hours, and the hay will be as perfectly cured as it can be. It will not be brittle and break like so many dry twigs, nor bleached until almost colorless, but soft, fragrant, and of a cheerful, light green color, and full of tallow and milk, or what will abundantly make them. We are for progress in every thing good. GATHERING SPONGES. The sponge business is largely pursued at the Bahama Islands. The exports of this article now amount annually to about $200,000. It is almost entirely the growth of the last twenty years. Dur in value, and has been applied to a great variety ing that period the article has nearly quadrupled of new purposes, especially in France. The sponge is compressed in powerful presses and sacked like cotton. It is assorted and grad ed, samples being fastened to each package to show the quality. It is fished or raked or grappled up from the clean, sandy bottom at the depth of twenty, forty, and even sixty feet, and often far out from the shore. The water is so transparent that the grow. ing sponge is visible on the bottom. The sponge, when first taken from the water, is black, and at once becomes offensive to the smell The first process is to bury it in the sand, where it remains for two or three weeks, when the gelatinous animal matter seems to be absorbed and destroyed, or eaten by the insects that swarm in the sand. The boatmen who obtain it are paid in shares by the owners of the boats. This, therefore, becomes a precarious and semi-gambling pursuit, highly attractive to the colored population. HOW TO ENTER UPON SCIENTIFIC PURSUITS. The great treasure-house of nature is open to all, and the only fee demanded for inspection, is attention. Sir J. Herschel said: "In entering upon any scientific pursuit, one of the student's first endeavors ought to be to prepare his mind for the reception of truth, by dismissing, or loosening his hold on all such crude notions as tend to mislead him." The advice is most excellent as far as it goes, and we purpose rendering it more complete, by showing how it can be followed. an instrument-he is guided by rules of music he long since became familiar with, though scarcely sensible of them now. The natural order undoubtedly indicates, first, search for the original principle of things-then definition of terms-then systematizing or classification, and lastly, application. This habit aids not only the acquisition of knowledge, but also its retention. Around these principles, as around a standard, the thoughts naturally associate. Touch but a remote chord of any question, and it will vibrate to the central principle to which it has once been well attached. Every relative impression owns a kindred connection, and the moment one is attacked, it, like a faithful sentinel, arouses a whole troop, which, marshalled and disciplined, bear down and challenge the enemy. Observation of nature is the only source of truth. Discursive observation is the art of noticing circumstances evident to the senses. Men who do this intentionally and carefully, with a view of acquiring a knowledge of phenomena and their causes, are distinguished for their varied knowledge, and often for their great discoveries. Shakspeare must have owed the varied facts in-investigation: terwoven in his delineations of human character to this source. The harnessing of the lightning by Benjamin Franklin, was doubtless the suggestion of his curious observations of things. Fulton, Arkwright, Sir Walter Scott and Cowper are well known to have been careful observers. Newton, Bacon, Hunter, Gall, and others, owe their discoveries to their powers and habits of observation and experiment. Experiment is invented observation. It is putting into operation certain-Farmer, Mechanic and Cabinet. supposed causes in order to observe their effects -or it may be defined as an observation, which we are at some trouble to make. It is the very foundation of scientific pursuits. What a poet once sung of the associations of childhood, is true of the associations of scientific Science is reason. Art is rule. Science tells why. Art tells how. An art is a system of rules for the performance of an operation; and science explains the reasons on which the rules of art are founded. To be scientific, therefore, we must have a clear perception of this definition. To have imbibed the spirit of science, whose traits are clear distinctions, accurate classification, and a strict reference to primitive data, is to approach the apex of the inventive pyramid. "Childhood's loved group revisits every scene,- HOT-BEDS---HOT-HOUSES---WEEDS-- MANURES. Will you please answer the following questions through the columns of the Farmer, and oblige a constant reader? 1. What size glass and sash are best and most convenient for a hot-bed? What for a small hothouse, in which to start and protect early and tender plants, and how should it be built? 2. How can manure be managed so as to kill the seeds in it, and to escape the trouble of constantly hoeing and pulling weeds, especially among onions and root crops? 3. How are the early onions and peas raised, and what variety are they, that are brought early into Boston market, and sent to other places ? Are the onions raised from the seeds? The peas in this market, now brought from Boston, are larger than the very early kinds raised here, such as the Dan. O'Rourke, &c. Waterville, Me., 1862. B. T. STEVENS. The student of science should have all his knowledge systematized and arranged. What other people have in confusion, he should have in order. The elements of knowledge are, more or less, known to all men-but in their perfect, communicable and usable state, they are known only to the scientific man. What training is to the soldier, science is to the thinker. It enables him to control all his resources, and by classification, show his powers to the best advantage. Astronomy, navigation, architecture, geometry, political economy, morals, all rest, or should rest, and do rest, if they have attained to the perfection of sci-purposes of a common family, may be constructed ence, on primary facts and first principles. Every of two old house windows and a few pieces of unstep should be measured by an axiom-every step planed boards, and the plants will be just as traced to a first principle. To detect error, then, in any province of investigation, the student first looks to the primary principles on which it is based, and thus tests the legitimacy of its conclu sions. REMARKS.-A hot-bed, merely to answer the thrifty as under one that cost, $20. But if you wish to engage to a more ample extent in producing early plants, it would be better to construct a hot-bed of considerable size, and of good Observation, definition, classification, are the materials, and even then, the process of conmaxims of absolute necessity to every inventor; structing the frame and sash is exceedingly simwithout them, no real progress can be made. ple. It consists in nailing four boards together, These principles may not always make their ap- the width being about four feet, or just wide pearance in formal propositions, but still they guide all our thoughts in the same manner as enough to reach across, to tend the plants, and when a musician plays a careless voluntary upon the length extended as far as is desired. The back board should be as much higher than the ly injured. If fermentation is kept within proper front, as will give a proper pitch to the sash for limits-and the heat of the poles and examinaconducting off the water. Pieces of two inch stuff, tions of the manure itself will always determine should be placed in the corners, and the boards this-the manure will become nearly black, and nailed to them, to keep the whole stiff. The sash quite fine, and we believe the vitality of the seeds should be narrow, so as to be easily moved, and will be destroyed. In addition to this the manure run up and down, not crosswise, the glass lapping, is rendered more valuable in every respect by the so as not to leak. This is all that is necessary, process; it can be more easily handled and apwith regard to construction; preparing the hot-plied to the soil or crops, and it is thought by inbed, and managing it, require constant and careful attention. We can give you but little aid, we fear, about "a small hot-house." All houses for the purpose of starting and growing plants, are rather expensive. A good one-not an extravagant one-will cost from six to ten dollars for each running foot, built of the ordinary dimensions, say 12 by 32 feet, or in about that proportion. A gentleman who is interested in such houses, recently informed us that he can construct a good house for less than five dollars per running foot,-one that will well answer all ordinary purposes. Your question, in regard to the management of manure so as to kill the seeds, is an important one, as living seeds, spread with manure, not only perpetuate a useless labor, but greatly exhaust the resources of the soil, in the millions of weeds which they produce. We know of only one way to prevent their germinating, and that is through the agency of fermentation. If this process is properly conducted, we think it would not only destroy the vitality of seeds, but vastly increase the value of the manure. But it is a nice process, and few, perhaps, will be willing to give it the necessary time and attention. The manure should be thrown into large heaps, and a lower place than the heap stands on be made near it, so as to catch all the drainage that escapes, which should be taken up and thrown over the pile two or three times each day. In throwing up the pile, place two or three smooth poles in an upright position, and throw the manure round them so that when the pile is finished these poles will stand in the midst of it. The heap must stand out doors, as the barn cellar would probably be too cool for the fermentative process to go on. After the pile has been set up for two or three days, and repeatedly saturated with its own drainage water, by drawing up one of the stakes and grasping it with the hand, the state of temperature may be ascertained. If it is found to be quite warm in some places, and cooler in others, it will become necessary to overhaul the heap, and break up and thoroughly mingle the whole. In a day or two apply the test again, occasionally drawing out a small portion to learn what its condition is. Great care must be observed not to al low fermentation to proceed too far, as "fire-fang," as it is called, would ensue, and the hean be great telligent farmers that one cord of it will produce more crop the first year than two cords in the crude form in which manure is generally applied. Will you try this process, and inform us how you succeed? The onions which you inquire about are probably produced from what is called the "top," or "potato" onion. This produces a cluster of bulbs, or offsets, in number from two to twelve, and even more, uniformly beneath the soil. Or, the onions that come along so early may be obtained in the following manner: Sow the seed of common onions so late as to get little bulbs of the size of a cranberry by the last of August, then take them up carefully, and dry them, and pack away secure from frost. Quite early in the spring, as soon as the soil wili permit it, plant these little bulbs in favorable situations, and they will soon produce fair sized onions. The size of the peas of which you speak may be owing to the high culture which they receive. There are, however, several varieties which vary considerably in earliness and in size, such as the Dan. O'Rourke, Champion of England, Missouri Marrowfat, &c. &c. TUBULAR BRICKS. laboring classes in London, highly commend the The society for improving the condition of the use of tubular bricks for purposes of construction. According to an official statement made by the society, a size has been chosen which, with the omission of the headers, reduces, by about onethe appearance of the work, giving it more boldthird, the number of joints, and greatly improves ness of effect and resemblance to stone than that of ordinary brickwork. This size is twelve inches long, and three courses rise one foot in height-a size equally convenient for the workmen in the bricks of this kind and size will do as much walling as sixteen of the common sort, while the weight of the former but little exceeds that of the latter. When passing through the machine, or in the process of drying, any number may be readily splayed at the ends for gables, or marked for closures, and broken off as required in use, or they may be perforated for the purpose of ventilation. manufacture and in the use of the bricks. Nine IN one ton of cabbage there are 189 ounces of sand, 184 of salt (chloride of sodium,) 279 of sulphuric acid, 156 of phosphoric acid, 72 of magnesia, 652 of lime, 208 of soda. 661 of potash. MANURES. plaything and delusion more, and drives us home to add one stroke of faithful work. Friends, All decomposing animal matters form most energetic fertilizers, and the collection of carcases of books, pictures, lower duties, talents, flatteries, animals, the blood from slaughter-houses, the resi-hopes-all are distractions which cause oscillations due from the manufacture of preserved meat, fish, in our giddy balloon, and make a good poise and &c., are all substances which, if given to the soil, a straight course impossible. You must elect would be the source of abundant crops. But these your work; you shall take what your brain can, substances are difficult to preserve. The abomin- and drop the rest. Only so can that amount of able stench they give out prevents their transport from knowing to doing.—Emerson. vital force accumulate which can make the step to any distance by land or sea. It is also extremely difficult to remove the excess of water they contain, which insensibly augments their weight, and at the same time contributes to their more rapid decomposition. To render blood, flesh, &c., imputrescent while desiscating and during the time necessary to keep them, but nevertheless to preserve their fertilizing properties, so that when added to the soil they may give out the putrefying elements required for the nourishment of plants, is a subject of great importance. To the solution of this problem, M. Chevallier, son of the distinguished chemist who has done so much for the advancement of industrial science and pharmacy, has lately directed his For the New England Farmer. THE ADVANTAGES OF A CULTIVATED In a former article I mentioned some of the in strumentalities by which the laboring man can become the possessor of a cultivated and intelligent mind, and a refined imagination. I now propose to show some of the advantages and benefits which are derived from a course of mental discipline, and the patient acquisition of useful and agreeable knowledge. question by asking another. What is that, which everybody is ever either actively in pursuit of, or passively sighing for? All who understand anything of the human heart will readily answerhappiness. Although the different paths in which it is sought after, are almost as numerous as the grains of sand upon the seashore, and, although some succeed in finding it, and others do not, yet every man, woman and child is always longing and striving for happiness, in some of its many forms. This yearning for happiness is implanted by Nature in every breast; and our infinitely wise and benevolent Creator has placed the means within our reach, by which we can gratify, not only our own personal desires for enjoyment, but also assist in making others happy. attention. M. Chevallier has found that a small The question is frequently asked by honest, but quantity of acid suffices, (from two to four per ignorant people, "What good does all this readcent. of the chloridine acid of commerce,) for par- ing, study, thinking, and writing do? Show us tially drying blood or flesh without giving out the use of spending so much time in doing nothsensible odor. It is highly desirable that this sug-ing, and we shall have more faith in what you gestion should be practically tested, and, if veri- say." I shall commence my answer to the above fied, generally adopted. The London-Manure Company, for instance, some time since endeavored to bring into notice an animal manure, consisting of the waste flesh of cattle imported from the River Plate, which contained 11 per cent. of nitrogen. The detestable stench of this substance, however, fully accounts for the repugnance of captains and owners in bringing it over. The adoption of some such process as that of M. Chevallier might, however, remove this objection, and bring into use this manure, which would prove nearly as valuable as the blood manure of the same company, containing about 16 per cent. of nitrogen. The quantity of animal matter at present wasted in the countries of the New World is enormous. In South America there are killed annually, for their hides alone, more than 5,000,000 head of cattle, the carcases being left to rot. There is thus wasted not less than 500,000 tons of manure, equally rich with the best guano. On the banks and shores of Newfoundland, again, there is thrown into the sea more than 10,000 tons of waste fish and bones, besides quantities of seal blubber. On the coast of France, especially of Britanny, there exist considerable quantites of waste fish, available for manure, but which is not cared for, although equal in fertilizing properties to guano. We may estimate that it is possible to furnish to agriculture an annual quantity equal to 400,000 tons of valuable animal manure, at present lost.-Mark-Lane Express. As we are all seeking for happiness, is he not the wisest man who pursues the course of action which will secure to him that enjoyment which is of the purest, most satisfying, and most enduring kind? That he is, all will admit. Now it has been proved, beyond the least shadow of a doubt, by observations extending through a period of several thousand years, that the pleasures of the mind are far superior to those of the body; in other words, the happiness which springs from the exercise and cultivation of our mental faculties, is as much greater and more lasting, than mere physthe brutes, or as the soul surpasses the body in imical or animal enjoyment, as man is superior to portance and duration. Here, then, is one of the greatest reasons why we should endeavor, by every means within our power, to strengthen and enlarge our mental powers; for by so doing, we can increase our capacities for happiness and usefulness to an unlimited extent. DO YOUR OWN WORK.-Enlarge not thy destiny, says the oracle; endeavor not to do more than is given thee in charge; the one prudence of life is concentration; the one evil is dissipation; and it makes no difference whether our dissipations This exercise and training of the mind, is an are coarse or fine. Property and its cares, friends irksome and difficult task to a vast number of perand a social habit, or politics, or music, or feast-sons; but this fact is no argument against such a ing-everything is good which takes away one practice. Physical exercise and labor is also dis agreeable to many individuals, but who does not] The most important effects of knowledge, or enjoy the blessings of his own labor, or that of mental illumination, are to be seen in its moral others? But the exercise and improvement of the bearings, and the ability which it gives an indimind is not always irksome and unpleasant. What vidual to worship the Most High in a more intelseems, at first, a hard and wearisome task, if per- ligent, and, consequently, in a more acceptable severed in, finally becomes a positive and fascinat- manner. Every kind of knowledge confers advaning pleasure, beside which all physical enjoyment tages and blessings upon a cultivated, or well-regis dull, insipid, and unsatisfying. ulated mind; but a knowledge of the natural sciMental culture brings along with it so many ences, or of the visible manifestations of God's advantages, blessings and enjoyments that they power, wisdom and goodness, as displayed in the cannot be numbered; and in attempting to describe works of creation, is a special and powerful inthem faithfully, I should be at a loss to know centive to religious thought and feeling. But I where to begin or end. My limits will not permit must close, and yet the field which this subject me to mention, only in general terms, the advan- opens before us has scarcely been entered. Who tages which individuals and nations, of cultivated will lead us over its boundless expanse? intellects, possess over the ignorant and illiterate. In the common affairs of life, we all know and have felt the importance of knowing how to do a thing; indeed, without the requisite knowledge, we can do nothing in a proper manner, but are extremely liable, and almost always do fail in every undertaking. "Knowledge is power;" and he, who possesses the greatest amount and variety of it, and knows how to apply it to practical and useful purposes, has an advantage over the ignorant, similar in kind, if not in degree, to that which man holds over the brute creation. A thorough knowledge even of the most familiar natural objects, or of the most common pursuits of life, cannot in every, if in any, instance, be acquired simply by our own observations, or by the verbal communications of others. In the acquisition of any particular kind of knowledge, we must not only observe, study, and think ourselves, but make use of the thoughts, observations, and discoveries of other minds upon the same point; and this, in most cases, can be done only through the medium of books. I will now turn from individuals to nations, and behold the effects of knowledge and mental improvement. It is a well-known fact, that throughout the northern portion of the United States, education is much more generally diffused among the common people than it is in any other land. Here, those who cannot read and write are an exception to the general rule; but among the working classes of every other nation under the sun, he who has taken this first step in the rudiments of knowledge is an exception, and not the rule; and is regarded by his neighbors as a fortunate man. S. L. WHITE. The author observes that, on a comparison of his experiments with the practical experience of farmers in feeding cattle, he found a most remarkable coincidence between the theoretical and practical inference. We present the table as we find it, leaving the reader to deduce his own conclusions. And what is the effect upon our nation, of this acquirement, and of the power which it gives to enter the unlimited realms of knowledge? The question is easily answered. It has made us, as a FLIES ON PICTURE FRAMES.-There is no betpeople, capable of creating, and, I believe, of sus- ter preventive of flies soiling gilt frames than by taining a form of government greatly superior, in covering them with gauze. It must be admitted, every respect, to all others that exist, or that ever however, that many persons prefer leaving the existed upon the face of the globe! A republi- frames exposed rather than hide them under the can form of government like our own, cannot exist usual gauze covering; I would therefore suggest where ignorance prevails among the people. Such to manufacturers the advantage of improving the a government is founded upon the knowledge, vir- material. As at present made, the fabric is wovtue and Christianity of the people who sustain it. en much closer than is necessary. The finest and Ignorance is as much opposed to true republi- most open work gossamer that could be woven, canism, as slavery is opposed to freedom, or dark- would prove effectual in preventing flies settling ness is to light. That there are imperfections in near any object that was covered with it. A fly's our present form of government, we must admit; instinct prevents it going near a cobweb. I would but when slavery, that vampire upon our national say, then, weave your gauze as fine and as much prosperity and happiness, is uprooted and utterly to resemble a spider's web as possible. This annihilated, it will be as perfect as we can reason-would prevent the evil the housewife dreads, and ably hope to make it, in the present age of the at the same time would not hide any of the gilt world. and carved frames.-S. Piesse. |