1837] 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



287 



were ourselves, thoiifrh somewhat foiul of the mar- 

 vellous ill mechanical powers, amoiis^st those who 

 doubted the authenticity of the statement. This 

 paragraph, however, was not without its eflect. 

 Amongst others it caugiu the eye ot'JNIr. Dodgson 

 Carr, ot'this city, who being a practical man, deter- 

 mined 10 inquire into the real iiicts of" the case. He 

 soon tiiund 'hat the statement was true in all its 

 parts, and, like a sensible man, he determined to 

 profit by his knowledge. A machine was ordered; 

 and in a very short time larue and commodious 

 premises were erected in Cal'lewgate; and in that 

 once neglected part of our city tliere is now actu- 

 ally at work a machine fully capable of perlbrming 

 the wonders ascribed to it in our paragraph. We 

 had the curiosity to visit the place the other day, 

 and must confess that, on seeing the machine, all 

 our doubts vanished. It is fully capable of doing 

 the work named, and the ingenuity of the inven- 

 tion IS no less striking than its cleanliness, neat- 

 ness and portability. The dough or paste is knead- 

 ed by machinery, rolled by machinery, and cut into 

 form by machinerj-; and by and by it will be baked 

 bv the same steam which carries that machinery. — 

 Carlisle Journal. 



From the Marie Lane Express. 

 PLANTING POTATOES. 



Sir — You have below the geiieral result of a 

 crop of potatoes planted in April last year, with a 

 view to ascertain what difference, if any, might 

 occur — 1st, where the potato was j'lanted whole, 

 except the crown; 2d, where planted whole with 

 one eye only. 



Soil, sandy loam; within a very few years past, 

 furze-land. Previous crop, wheat, stubble turned 

 in late in the autumn, manure from the yard, 

 chiefly cow dung; a tolerably good dressing, plough - 

 ed in. nine bouts to the rod; sort, Kentish kidney, 

 dibbled with a large blunt dibble upon every other 

 plit, and loell covered. 



Forty-five rods planted with a view to the first, 

 and other forty-five rods with a view to the second 

 question. The distance in the rows, about fifteen 

 inches: depth of holes, full six inches. The roller 

 was passed over afler planting, and then harrowed 

 with a hand -harrow; edge-hoed once, and earthed 

 up once by the common one-horse break. 



During the growth of the haiilm, appearances 

 were much in favor of number 2; and, as to 

 weight, when taken up, it retained its superiority 

 over number 1, by a yield of full one quarter more; 

 but the potato was knobby, large, irregular, and 

 ungain; number 1, very uniform in shape, some- 

 what exceeding in size ordinary ware; a good ta- 

 ble potato. 



The seneral produce, when taken up late in No- 

 vember, not to be complained of, and boiling re- 

 markably mealy, if properly boiled. 



Doubtless such experiments have been often 

 made, and a better or more detailed account of 

 them has as often been given, but such as mine 

 were, you are heartily welcome to make public 

 through your useful paper. You are the best 

 judge of their worth, whether to insert them or 

 not. 



I am, respectfully your's, 



TlIOS. IjEK. 



Bexley Heath, Feb. I, 1837. 



P. S. — Wore the experinuml to be repeated, the 

 distances, both as to plit and in the rows, might, I 

 think, most usefully be enlarired. [ may just ob- 

 serve, that some of my neiuhbors, who had plant- 

 ed sets or cuttings, had very indifl't rent crops. 



From the American Jnunial of Sci(!nce and Arts. 

 ROTTING OF TIMBER IN CERTAIN SITUATIONS. 



Extract of a letter to the editor, from Mr. D. 

 Tomlinson, of Schenectady, N. V., dated Jtpril 

 4, 1836. 



In the year 1810. I built a ware-house on my 

 lot in Union Street, in Schenectady. The cellar 

 was dug about four feel deep, and the stone wall a 

 foot or two deeper. I left no opening in the walls 

 for door or window. The floor beams were of ex- 

 cellent pitch pine timber, of twelve by twelve inch- 

 es, slit, and were six by twelve inches when placed 

 in the wall, and about eighteen inches above the 

 ground. I laid a floor of three inch oak plank, 

 loose, neither jointed nor nailed, although they 

 were square edge, and lay close to each other. 

 Five years thereafter, I observed a jostling in a 

 place in the floor, and raised one of the planks to 

 learn the cause, and found one of the six by twelve 

 inch beams rotted off and ftillen on the bottom of 

 the cellar. The plank was rotten below, except 

 about an inch sound on the upper side. I lifted 

 the whole floor, found most of the planks rotten, 

 except a shell on the top; and the timbers were 

 rotten, and so decayed, that I took them out and 

 put in oak, after making windows and a door in 

 opposite sides of the wall. I thought the depth of 

 the cellar would have prevented injury to the tim- 

 ber, but found it the cause of the destruction, as 

 fine shavings and slivers lying on the bottom of 

 the cellar, were perfectly sound, while the timbers, 

 were beautifully ornamented with curtains of 

 white mould, hanging in festoons, nearly to the 

 depth of the cellar, as white as snow, very thick, 

 and appeared like bleached muslin. 



In the year 1817, I took down an old kitchen on 

 the same lot, Tlie floor had lain on saplincs of 

 about 6 by 8 inches, such as are used for scaffold 

 poles. They were bedded in the ground, so that 

 the pine floor came next the ground, and excluded 

 air. They had lain there from 1794, and both the 

 timbers and flooring were very little injured by 

 rot. 



I concluded, that a free circulation of air must be 

 allowed, or air must be entirely excluded, to save 

 timber fr-om decay. 



It has been found, that when posts are set in the 

 ground and cased with boards, for better appear- 

 ance, the confined air destroys them. Even red 

 cedar, which lasts an age when set open, if cased, 

 which is often done for ornament in gate posts, de- 

 cays as soon as any other wood, by the confined 

 air. 



From the Records of the United Agricultural Societies of Virginia. 

 ON CLOVER FALLOW FOR WHEAT. 



[The following letter was written at a time when 

 the clover husbandry was considered altogether im- 

 practicable for the poor lands of lower Virginia. Now, 



