FARMERS' REGISTER— EELS— THE MOLE, &c. 



187 



From Mr. Jesse's Gleanings. 



Several pages are devoted to the economj' of 

 these curious creatures, and as many points oi' their 

 history are warmly contested, Mr. "Jesse's experi- 

 ence is vakiable. 



That they do wander from one place to another 

 is evident, as I am assured that they have been 

 found in ponds in Richmond Park, which had been 

 previously cleaned out and mudded, and into which 

 no water could run except iiom the springs whicli 

 supplied it.* An annual migration of young eels 

 takes i)Iace in the River Thames in the month of 

 May, and they have generally made their appear- 

 ance at Kingston, in their way upwards, about the 

 second week in that month, and accident has so 

 determined it, that, Icjr several years together it was 

 remarked that the 10th of May was the day of 

 what the fishermen call eel-fair; but they have 

 been more irregular m their proceedings since the 

 interruption oi' the lock at Teddington. These 

 young eels are about two inches in length, and they 

 inake their approach in one regular and undeviating 

 column of about five inches in breadth, and as 

 thick together as it is possible for them to be. As 

 the procession generally laists two or three days, 

 and as they appear to move at the rate of nearly 

 two miles and a hall an hour, some idea may be 

 Jbrrped of their enormous number. 



Eels Iced on almost all animal substances, 

 whether dead or li\'ing. It is well known that 

 they devour the ycung of all water-fowl that are 

 not too large tor them. Mr. Bingley states, that 

 he saw exposed for sale at Retlbrd, in Notting- 

 hamshire, a quantity of eels that would have filled 

 a couple of wlieel-barrows, the whole of which 

 had been taken out of the body of e. dead horse, 

 thrown into a ditch near one of the adjacent til- 

 lages; and a friend of mine saw the body of a man 

 taken out of the Serpentine River, in Hyde Park, 

 where it had been some time, and from which a 

 large eel crawled out. The winter retreat of eels 

 is very curious. They not only get deep into the 

 mud, but in Bushy Park, where the mud in the 

 ponds is not very deep, and what there is, is of a 

 sandy nature, the eels make their way vuider the 

 banks of the ponds, and have been Ibund knotted 

 together in a large mass. Eels vary much in size 

 in ditliirent waters. The largest I ever caught was 

 in Richmond Park, and it weighed five pounds, 

 but seme are stated to have been caught in Ireland 

 which weighed from fifteen to twenty pounds. 

 Seven pomids is, I believe, no unusual size. The 

 large ones are extremely strong and muscular. 



TO FREE FRUIT-TREES FROM MOSS AND IN- 

 SECTS, 



Mr. James Thomas, of Derveruden Green, 

 near Chepstow, has tbund the following mixture 

 an excellent application for the purpose. The 



* I have been informed, upon the authority of a no- 

 bleman well known for his attachment to field sports, 

 that, if an eel is found on land, its head is invariably 

 turned towards the sea, for which it is always observed 

 to make in the most direct line possible. If this in- 

 formation is correct (and there seems to be no reason 

 to doubt it,) it shows that the eel, like the swallow, is 

 possessed of a strono; migratory instinct. May we not 

 suppose that the swallow, like the eel, performs its mi- 

 grations in the same undeviating course? 



mixture is made by taking five bushels of well- 

 burnt lime fresh from the kiln, and slacking it with 

 hot water, in whichsalt has been dissolved. When 

 the lime has fallen to a fine dry ])ovvder, add, by 

 snudl quantities at a time, a bushel of soot, stirring 

 it in till the two ingredients are completely incor- 

 porated. Advantage is to be taken of the first 

 foggy day, when the trees are damp, but not drip- 

 ping, to clust them over with this powder. One 

 man may treat fifty trees in a day, and the opera- 

 tion in Mr. Thomas's opinion, should be repeated 

 twice a year; the first time in March, and the second 

 time in "October or November. Mr. Thomas has 

 likewise found, that the grass beneath his trees, 

 which used to be full of moss, has now become a 

 fine sward, quite free from moss, no doubt in con- 

 sequence of those particles of the composition 

 which fell to the ground dunng the dusting of the 

 trees. — Transactions of ike Society of jlrts. 



THE MOLE. 



It is remarkable that this animal sometimes 

 rrives notice of a change of Aveather. The tem- 

 perature or dry'ness of the air governs its motions 

 as to the depth at which it lives or works. This 

 is partly from hs inability to bear coldor thirst, but 

 chiefly from the necessity it is under of following 

 its natural food, the earth worm, (Lumbricus ter- 

 restris,) which always decends as the cold or 

 drouo-ht increases. In frosty weather, both worms 

 and moles are deeper in the ground than at other 

 times, and both seem to be sensible of an approach- 

 ing change to warmer weather before there are 

 an'y perceptible signs of it in the atmosphere. 

 When it is observed, therefore, that moles are 

 casting hills through openings in the frozen turf, 

 or through a thin covering of snow, a change to 

 open weather may be shortly expected. 



The cause of this appears to be as follows: — 

 The natural heat of the earth being for a time pent 

 in by the fi-ozen surface, accumulates below it; first 

 incites to action the animals, thaws the frozen sur- 

 face, and at length escapes into the air, which it 

 warms and softens; and if not counter-balanced by 

 a oreater degree of cold in the atmosphere, brings 

 about a change. Changes from frosty to mild 

 weather, caused by the ascent of heat from the 

 earth, are oilen so evident, that the circumstance 

 needs no confirmation. Stronger proof; if proof 

 were necessary, cannot be given than the common 

 appearance of frost or snow remaining longer upon 

 o-round having a stratum of rock beneath, than 

 upon that where there is none. Old foundations 

 of buildings, which have not been dug out, are 

 easily tracked by the same appearance; and any 

 subterraneous solid body, as large stones, drains, 

 planks, or pieces of timlser, may be discovered m 

 the same way; and even a plank laid across a ditch 

 at such times will remain covered with snovy for 

 many hours after the snow on the ground is all 

 melted and cone. This sufficiently accounts for 

 the activity of the mole before a change of wea- 

 ther, and deserves to be noted by the meteorologist 

 amono- his other prognostics of the weather. 



The mole, though generally a despised and per- 

 secuted animal, is nevertheless useful in some de- 

 oree to the husbandman, in being the natural 

 drainer of his land, and destroyer of worms. To 

 other inferior animals he is a sapper and nnner, 

 forming for them their safe retreats and well se- 

 cured don-nitories.— 3/fl^a5;i?ie of Natural History. 



