STANDARD AXLE FOR VEHICLES. 85 



microscopical observations ; and, if his first observation is 

 correct, there is no fungoid growth in that case. The only 

 fungi which have been found are simply external, and there- 

 fore may be simply accidental and secondary. But he found 

 (which confirms me in my views) that the cellular mass 

 was overcharged with starch, that the peculiar action of the 

 cellular system in that case was abnormal : in other words, 

 the osmotic action of the cellular mass was interfered With. 



. We have a few peach-trees upon the college-grounds, one 

 of which the professor of agriculture says is suffering from 

 the yellows. It began four or five years ago. We are apply- 

 ing these chemical compounds. We applied first our mineral 

 fertilizer, and then applied a large amount of muriate of 

 potash, at the same time cutting the tree back about two 

 years' growth. This year that tree shows as healthy growth 

 as any peach-tree on that ground. 



These are the facts, as far as they are at the present time 

 on record. I do not pretend to say that I have found the 

 secret ; but I am on the way to find it out, if possible. 



NECESSITY OF A STANDAKD AXLE FOR VEHICLES. 



BY JUDGE CHAKLES G. DAVIS. 



It is worthy of remark, that in that portion of the Com- 

 monwealth in which, from the nature of the soil, we are 

 most likely to find sandy roads with ruts, the length of the 

 carriage-axle, and consequent distance of ruts from each 

 other, are also greater than elsewhere. In a section of coun- 

 try in which the soil is more compact, and the roads hard 

 and smooth, the use of a long axle by its inhabitants would 

 be of comparatively little inconvenience to a stranger travel- 

 ling with short axles. In the part of the State in which you 

 are assembled, in Barnstable, Plymouth, and Bristol Coun- 

 ties, and in the eastern portion of Rhode Island, we find 

 what is known by many carriage-builders as the "New- 

 Bedford Axle," five feet four and a half to five feet five 

 inches, "out to out," in length. These limits very nearly 

 coincide with the original limits of the Old Colony of Plym- 

 outh ; and this length of axle may well be termed the 

 " Old Colony Axle." These axles furnish, so far as I can 



