164. 



THE FARMER'S MONTHLY VISITOR. 



ings extend on a street up and down the river as 

 the place of business and trade ; and at nu eleva- 

 tion of some hundred and fifty iert above, distant 

 Bome iorty rods, is the parallel street on which 

 Btand the'granite eai)itol and other public budd- 

 ings, with numerous elegant private dwellings. — 

 Ashort distance above the bridge is the Kenne- 

 beck dam, whicli was erected a few years ago at 

 an expense of ahout two hundred thousand dol- 

 lars: this dam originally flowed tlie water back 

 to Watcrville, distant some eighteen miles. The 

 intention in its erection was to improve the navi- 

 gation above Augusta, and to create a water pow- 

 er for the crectio i of muncrons manufactures. 

 The project is considered to be little better than 

 a total failure. A friend informed us that of the 

 expenditure on this dam, his portion was about 

 eighty thousand dollars! A mistake was made 

 in the nature of the ground where the dam was 

 erected : the foundation, supposed to be rock, 

 turned out to be only sand ; and when the higli 

 floods came, the water undermined the earth so 

 that the river soon found a channel on the west- 

 erly side, sweeping away in a few hours an incre- 

 dible quantity of ground, and even endangering 

 buildings supposed to be laroutof the way of the 

 river on high terra tirma. A new dam raising 

 the stream "above to a less extent than the first 

 dam, has lately been erected. 



Two miles below Augusta is the village of Hal- 

 lowell, a longer settled village than the former. 

 To this place up the river, steam boats and lar- 

 ger craft approach as the highest point to which 

 they venture. The village is more compact, but 

 apparently not so large as Augusta, and like that 

 has a street on the river bank and another west of 

 it more elevated. 



A few miles below Hallowell, we come to the 

 village of Gardiner, at and between both of which 

 places on the river are extensive steam mills lor 

 sawing lumber. The latter village has a fine wa- 

 ter power in a stream tumbling down the steep 

 bank from the west. In rear of Augusta, Hal- 

 lowell and Gardiner to the west, the ground rises 

 nearly to a mountain height for several miles on 

 the river. There is a great amount of pine tim- 

 ber brought all the way down from the sources 

 of the Kenuebeck to the Moosehead lake and 

 streams beyond it, which is maimfactiu-ed at the 

 saw mills at the three villages on the Kenuebeck 

 at the head of sloop navigation. Wealth has here 

 for the last quarter of a century been accunuila- 

 ting nearly in a compoimd ratio. 



A DISCOVERY. 



nie mail-stage road leaves the bank of the ri- 

 ver at Gardiner, and passes over into the valley of 

 the Cathantz, a considerable stream intervening 

 between the waters of the Kenuebeck and the 

 Androscoggin, the name of which we had never 

 heard until approaching it. At a village in Bow- 

 doinhani, bearing tlie name ol' this stream, we 

 were surprised with the appearance of two large 

 new ships standing out of the water like dwelling 

 houses. Not anticipating that the water here was 

 on a level with the sea, we would have been no 

 less surprised at seeing two new ships floating on 

 the Merrimack in front of our capitol, seventy- 

 five miles from the sea, than at this place in the 

 interior of the State of Maine. These elegant 

 ships and probably others had been built here 

 during the present season. There are many ri- 

 vers, or rather m-mt of liie sea, which Ibrm ex- 

 cellent liarbors all along the coast of Maine, 

 making the three hundred mih ;, .f ronst into ap- 

 proachable navigable shores by ii. dentation pro- 

 bably three or four times that dii=tr.iice. All along 

 this extensive coast are found tlir s:ir(ST and best 

 harbors in the world. Generaliv the shore is bold 

 and the water deep : a ship of lie lii'c may as- 

 cend the Penobscot to Bangor, 



The port of Bath is situated tl..- Cum above the 

 mouth of the Kennebeck, on tl e jioint below 

 where the waters of the Androscjggin and Cat- 

 hanz river, forming the ?ileiTymc'Oti!\<r bay, meet 

 with those of the former before they are dischar- 

 ged into the ocean ; with the town of Brunswick 

 it forms a peninsula nearly surrou! (led by navi- 

 gable waters. It is said that fifty ships owned in 

 Bath, averaging over four hundred tons each, have 

 cleared in the freighting business nKro than 

 §400,000 during the last year. A single trading 

 firm is reported to have made in the time over 

 $100,000! The freighting of cotton I'rom New 

 Orleans, Mobile, and other southern American 



ports, has been a great business for ship owners 

 during a year past: it has been so good, that the 

 danger is it may be a losing business hereuftei-. 

 It is the nature of great enterprise to run into ex- 

 tremes. 



The Androscoggin river divides the villages of 

 Brunswick and Topsham : the latter is the half 

 shire town of the county of Lincoln, and the vil- 

 lage at the court house" is but a continuation of 

 the beautiful village of BrunsAvick, w hich belongs 

 to the county of Cuuiberland. At the litlls of the 

 Andro.scoggin between the towns, are extensive 

 lumber nulls and other manufacturing establish- 

 ments carried by water power. The college 

 buildings at Brunswick are situated on a very le- 

 vel plain of light soil : the main street is an ob- 

 long square upon this plain extending in the di- 

 rection of Topsham towards the river, on either 

 side of which are beautiful dwelling houses, stores 

 and mechanics' shops. As wc passed this place 

 in the night, we can only say that the change and 

 increase of buildings has been no less wonderful 

 here than it has been in many other parts of New- 

 England. Brunswick, Tojisham, and Bath, em- 

 brace a population nearly as large as Augusta, 

 Hallowell and Gardner. Altogether there is no 

 part of New England, if we except the ujetropo- 

 lis and its immediate vicinity, where wealth and 

 population exceed the valleys of the Kennebeck 

 and the Penobscot — and no part of the country 

 where these have increased so rapidly. 



they undergo are difiercnt — the jirogress of their 

 decomposition is less rapid «hen mi.xed with 

 saline or earthy matter than when they are prin- 

 cipally composed offihrine, albumen, gelatine, or 

 urea. Ammonia is given ofl" by animal com- 

 pounds during their pulreliietion, and is formed 

 by hydrogen and azoti ; the other jiroducts are si- 

 milar to those aflforded by the fermentation of ve- 

 getable substances, and the soluble substances 

 Ibrined abound in carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, 

 which may be called the constituent parts of ve- 

 getables. 



The iertilizing power of all these substances, 

 when properly applied is very great, but it often 

 happens that they are wasted by being allowed to 

 remain exposed to the air, till they are either de- 

 stroyed by birds of prey or decomposed. — Their 

 use, indeed is not conunon except in certain 

 cases, which I shall afterwards jioint out. 

 I am, sir, your's veiT obediently, 



A YEOMAN OF KENT. 



from the Mark Lane Express. 

 Practical Improvements in Agriculture. 



Sir, — One of the most important suhji cts for 

 the attention of the practical agriculturist is the 

 nature of manures, the manner in which they act, 

 and the best mode of their application. It has 

 long been known that certain substances blended 

 witli the soil have the eflect of accelerating the 

 growth of vegetables and increasing the crop ; 

 but the manner uf bringing them into action, and 

 of adapting them to the nature of the soil to be 

 improved, has long been a subject of discussion. 

 Chemistry, and more jjarticularly that branch of 

 it which shows the nature aud composition of 

 soils, will assist in this research, inasmuch as it 

 should be the study of the fai-mer to correct the 

 defects and supply the deficiences of the land on 

 which his efforts aje applied. 



Plants, not possessing the powers of locomo- 

 tion, can only thrive in those spots which contain 

 the juices necessary for their support, and as the 

 orgiuis through whicli they derive what may be 

 called their Ibod are extremely small, it follows 

 that every matter to be introduced into them must 

 be in a state of solution. Feiinentation is not ne- 

 cessary to ])repare the tbud of plants, although so- 

 lutions intended to nourish them must not be too 

 concentrated, or tlie vegetable organs will become 

 clogged, and the transpiration by the leaves pre- 

 vented. The great object in the application of 

 manure should therefore he to afford as much so- 

 luble matter as possible to the roots of the plant 

 so gradually as to ensuie its being taken up and 

 consumed in forming its sap and solid parts. All 

 vegetable manures contain a large quantity of fi- 

 brous and insoluble matter, which must undergo 

 certain chemical changes before they can be made 

 thus available. Animal matters deconqiose more 

 readily, and are sooner prepared tor use. The 

 lirincipal substiniops, either constituting the bo- 

 dies of animals, or foimd in their blood or excre- 

 ments, are gelatine, fihrine, mucus, fatty or oily 

 matter, albunx'u, >vra, uiic acid, saline, and earth- 

 ly matters. All these substances may he used 

 for manure, and require more or less soluble 

 water; those that are easily dissolved should not 

 be exposed to feiui.'ntation or putrefaction, and 

 those processes a; c only useful when the manure 

 consists principally of animal or vegetable fibre. 

 Gelatine, wh.en combined with water, becomes 

 jelly, and is easily soluble. Fihrine is not soluble 

 in water, but liy the action of acids it become an- 

 alogous to gelatine ; putrefaction with heat and 

 exposure to the air, will reduce it from a solid to 

 a liquid, and a considerable quantity of ammonia 

 and carbonic acid is formed. Mucus is easily so- 

 luble in water. Animal fat and oils and albumen 

 are also poluble. Urea is very nmch so, and rea- 

 dily undergoes putrefaction. Uric acid consists 

 of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and azoti, and is 

 least liable to undergo the process of fermenta- 

 tion. According to the different proportions of 

 these principles in animal substances, the changes 



From the Western Farmer and Gardner. 

 A comparison of the different Breeds of Sheep. 



In the Western States, where land is, of course, 

 not so valuable as in the East, the Bakewell breed 

 of sheep, although of a more tender constitution 

 than the Southdown and Cotswold, and of coarser 

 and smaller fleece, may be advantageously kept 

 for their wool, notwithstanding its quality is rath- 

 er coarse ; it appears, however, from all the in- 

 formation on this subject, (the comparative value 

 of the breeds of sheep,) that the Southdown and 

 Cotswold are much hardier, better nurses of their 

 ambs, and will live on shorter pasture in sum- 

 mer. The Meiino and Saxon sheep have often 

 too much the same objection as the Bakewell; 

 they are of lather weakly constitutions, and not 

 very good in rearing their lambs. Some of the 

 Southdown wool is pretty fine aud makes good 

 cloth : the mutton is, perhajjs, superior to all other 

 kinds, (excepting some of the small Welsh 

 breeds,) their constitutions are very vigorous and 

 strong, and they will make a living in ;my situa- 

 tion. The Cotswold are equally hardy, but want 

 richer keep than the Southdown : their fleeces 

 weigh heavy, and their quarters have been known 

 to reach 80 pounds in England. Some of the 

 Southdown and Cotswold lambs have weigh- 

 ed, at six months old, 60 pounds, and when full 

 grown 240 pounds. It seems, amongst many 

 other " hard cases" in agricultural eftbrts for im- 

 provement among farmers, very difficult to con- 

 vince peojde of the benefit they derive fi'om hav- 

 ing good stock. They complain too nuich of the 

 first cost, without considering that in two or 

 three years there is a fair prospect of not only 

 seeing their money back again, but piobably ten 

 times as much more. We do not wish to advise 

 farmers to go beyond their means on much imcer- 

 tainty, but we do say, that twenty dollars laid out 

 for the best breed of l>igs, and fifty to one hundred 

 dollarsi for sheep, or one hundred to two hundred 

 dollars towards improving their cattle, will with 

 proper management aud attention to the sale of 

 their produce, pay a handsome profit at the end 

 of a few years, besides supplying siqierior articles 

 at cheaper keep (on accoimt of the fiittening pro- 

 perties of the best breeds) lor domestic use, and 

 enjoyment of both sight and taste. We subjoin, 

 in the first place, a comparative statement of the 

 value of the difterent breeds of sheep. 

 Saxon Lamb C months old, weighing 18 lbs. at (i 



cents. 

 Merino Lamb do. do. 



Bakewell do. do. 



Cotswold do. do. 



Southdown do. do. 



In the second place, their wool,- 

 Saxon fleece weighing 3 lbs. at 40 cents, 

 Merino do. 3 31 



Bakewell do. .5 20 



Cotswold do. 10 95 



Southdown do. 5 31 



Of course this is rating the best breed of sheep 

 at the price of the common kind, which cannot 

 be for a long time to come. These animals are 

 now worth about twenty dollars each at least. 



In the third place we give a cojnpaiative state- 

 ment of the sheep when full grown: — 

 Saxon sheep weighing 50 lbs. at 4 cent.". 

 Merino do. 60 4 



Bakewell do. 110 4 



Southdown do. 340 4 



E. J. 



$2 00 

 9 40 

 4 40 

 9 CO 

 H. 



