1838] 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



109 



corrosive sublimate was known to preserve animal 

 matter from decomposition, so nii,<j;Iit it preserve 

 albumen. The experiments vvliicli he performed 

 on albuminous and saccharine solutions with cor- 

 rosive-sublimate, confirmed the correctness of his 

 conjectures. But the prior experiments of Four- 

 croy, and especially of Jierzelius, in 1813, had 

 produced the same chemical results, although the 

 latter had not discovered their practical applicabil- 

 ity to preserviu'jj wood. i3erzelius found the ad- 

 dition of bi-chluridc of mercury to an albuminous 

 solution to produce a proto-chloride, (calomel), 

 and tJie pruto-chloride combined with the albu- 

 men, and produced an insoluble precipitate. The 

 insoluble precipitate hardens like a fibre, and fills 

 up the open cells. Tliis is the chemical principle 

 of the process. The intention of seasoning tim- 

 ber by exposure to the air, is to dry up the albu- 

 men before it begins to decompose naturally; but 

 that the seasoning is not always successful, maj' 

 be ascertained from the defective state, already 

 alluded to, of so large a proportion of" the timber 

 in the naval dock-yards. We may now see how 

 green wood may be seasoned at once by the pro- 

 cess, in that there is a larger proportion in it of al- 

 bumen for the sublimate to act upon. The pro- 

 cess is somewhat analogous to tanning leather, 

 the tannin princijjle of the bark combining with 

 the animal jelly of the skins, and forming an inso- 

 luble precipitate. Oak contains much of the tan- 

 nin principle; and, as the sublimate does not act 

 upon it, oak, of all woods, least changes the sub- 

 limate solution. The process thus resting on sim- 

 ple chemical bases, its efficacy can never be neu- 

 tralized. Nor can deception be practised by those 

 who intend to deceive the unwary. A chemical 

 re-agent exists, by which the wood can be tested 

 that has been properly steeped. A drop of hydro- 

 sulphuret of ammonia will make a black mark on 

 wood steeped in corrosive sublimate, whereas it 

 will produce no change on common timber. 



We are glad to be informed that thirty-five 

 tanks of Kyan's solution have been erected by 

 noblemen and gentlemen in Scotland, upwards of 

 sixty in England, and a few in Ireland, for the 

 purpose of serving their own estates. Tanks are 

 now to be found in all the princi|)al maritime ports 

 in the kingdom. Ship-wrights and joiners do not 

 relish the process, in the apprehension their ser- 

 vices may be less required, but owners of ships 

 and proprietors of houses will, nevertheless, use it 

 for their own sakes; and we have no doubt, ere 

 long, shipwrights and builders will be unable to 

 dispose of new ships and houses, unless they 

 have been constructed of timber subjected to the 

 process. 



With regard to the expense of the process, 

 which is a material consideration to those who 

 use large quantities of timber, a builder, whether 

 of ships or houses, pays for steeping one pound 

 sterling per load of fifty cubic feet. Gentlemen 

 taking out privaie licenses for their own estates, 

 and not for the pur[)oses of trade, pay five shillings 

 per cubic foot of the internal area of the tank 

 erected, for the use of the invention during the 

 whole term of the patent. Licenses lor trade are 

 given on the principle of receiving a small pro 

 rata proportion of the profits of the license. Ex- 

 clusive licenses in towns are only granted to those 

 who qualify as shareholders, in order tu secure 

 their zeal for promoting tlic iuturec;ts of the com 

 pany. 



SASSAFKAS. RAT-PKOOF MEAT-HOUSES. 

 CI.OSE-GUAZING. HI1.L-SIJ)K DITCHES. 



To iliu Editor of the Fariiiors' Uogistcr. 



Waterloo, N. C, March 26th, 1838. 



In a former number of the Rejjister, I suggested 

 the idea of boring into sassafras trees, and pour- 

 ing into the opening thus made, some lieiuid sub- 

 stances, which might, by being carried with the 

 sap into every part of the tree and roots, destroy 

 I heir vitality so as entirely to rid us of tliat most 

 troublesome nuisance. By way of beginning the 

 ex))eriment in the latter part of the lasi sumn:ier, I 

 bored into a sassaii'as tree of about five inches 

 diameter with a half-inch auger, and poured in 

 about a table-spoonful of sulphuric acid. With- 

 in two or three days, the leaves on about one- half 

 of the tree began to turn of a reddish brown color, 

 and by the fourth or fifth day, were black and dry. 

 The body and branches likewise of about half the 

 tree, put on the appearance of dead hall-seasoned 

 wood, as appeared from incisions made with a 

 knittj, whilst the remaining lialf of body, branches 

 and leaves, preserved the appearance of other ad- 

 jacent trees of the same sort. This slate of things 

 continued until frost, when the leaves on the liv- 

 ing part of the tree faded and fell; those on the 

 dead part, remained until lately. No farther ex- 

 amination was made until recently. The whole 

 tree now appears to be dead. I will watch it, and 

 inform you whether the tree dies or not, and whe- 

 ther any sprouts spring up from the roots. This 

 may appear a small niatler to be made the subject 

 of a communication for the Farmers' Register; yet 

 I am sure there are many, very many by whom 

 any practicable and cheap means oJ' destroying 

 the sassafras, will be joyflilly and thanklliily re- 

 ceived. 



Having noticed several plans recommended in 

 the Register for rendering meat-houses rat-proof, 

 and believing one which I have adopted greatly 

 prelt!rable on the score of both economy and el- 

 tect, I will in a very few words describe it, pledging 

 myself that it will prove efiectual. wherever pro- 

 perly executed. Have your house built in the or- 

 dinary way of framed buildings, leaving no open- 

 ing large enough to admit rats through the body, 

 roof or door. Fill up the floor to tlie depth of 

 twelve inches or more with common quartz stone, 

 or as it is called in our country dialect, white flint 

 rock, and pound them with a stone-mason's ham- 

 mer until they become of the proper degree of 

 fineness, and lie close enough to prevent a moubc 

 from finding an opening in them large enough to 

 hide himself. 



I was greatly surprised upon the receipt of the 

 last No. of the Register, to find a highly intelli- 

 irent correspondent of yours, maintaining the posi- 

 tion, that ''constant, and even heavy grazing, does 

 not of necessity impoverish landy I had pre- 

 viously thought, that if there was unanimity of 

 opinion amongst flxrmers on any subject that ad- 

 mitted a variance, it was in relation to grazing. 

 I think your correspondent has been as unlbrlu- 

 nate in Ins arguments to sustain his position, as 

 he has been in assuming the posilioti itself He 

 says the commons in the viciniiy ol" towns, &c. 

 grow rich in conse(iuence of heavy grazing. As 

 well miiiht he have said, that our summer cow- 

 peuis are enriched by close grazing, or that his 



