FARMERS' REGISTER. 



515 



scene. 'If,' says one writer, 'it were possible to 

 furget that the flames have been, for three whole 

 days, devouring immense wealth, and Uiat liy this 

 conflagration 300 lathers of families will he thrown 

 out of em()loyment, there would lie room lor no 

 other Peiiliment tluiu that of admiraiion at tlif, 

 niaiiiiificent speciacle. Imagine a deep ravine, 

 nearly circular, in the Ibrin ol a reversed cone, with 

 its edfres, however, hourly enlaririnir. Through 

 fourteen large openings, ip?uing at about twenty 

 feet above the ground of this ravine, and givmg 

 access to the itmumerable galleries of the mines 

 below, as many torrents of flame are poured fiirih, 

 with liiglitful violence from liie caldrons within — 

 flames of a thousand hues rushing forth like fiery 

 whirlwinds — dividing, and crossing, and nunt^ling, 

 mid rising, and falling, and rising again! At 

 limes, a iiollow cracking sound echoes through 

 the abyss ; this is some huge block ofcoal detach- 

 ing itself from the roof or sides of one of the gal- 

 leries, and falling into the blazing gulf. Then 

 rises up a thick column of black dust, till it reaches 

 the opcniiigs of the galleries, where, pierced in all 

 directions by the flumes, long serpenis of fire work 

 through lis volume from side to side. — Sixiy R'Ct 

 higher up, on each side of the galleries, two gaping 

 mouths shodt into the air their dazzling columns 

 ol'fire. Suddenly one of these ceases. It seems 

 for a moment as if checked in iis wrath. Then 

 comes a long and startling groan from the entrails 

 of the earth ; and Ibrih again rushes the flame, 

 blood-red, roaring and terrible, threatening in iis 

 fury lo lift up the burning mountain altogether, 

 and bury the spectators beneath its dreadful ruins. 

 Again, look around you ; it is midnight, and ^000 

 human faces are there, some grouped on the 

 opposite crest of the ravine, and some sheltered 

 in ihe caviiies of the rocks. Yet no sound meets 

 «he ear, save that of the roaring flame?.' The 

 latest accounts state that the rafters of the galleries 

 had all iaJlen, and the founts of flime nearly 

 ceased to play. The whole had l)ccome one 

 huge burning gulf. The loss is paid to be incal- 

 culable; millions of heciolilres of coal had been 

 consumed. The engineers were preparing to turn 

 ihe course of a stream, which flows at a league's 

 dirJtance, and direct it upon the burning mountain. 

 Workmen were employed night and day in the 

 operation, by which it was hoped to lay the mines 

 under water." 



A later account states " that the river flowed 

 38 metres beneath the coal-field. A minute sur- 

 vey of the ground was, however, made, and esta- 

 blished the possibility of turning the course of a 

 tributary stream, which flowed at a distance of 

 4,300 metres. The work was instantly com- 

 menced; the ground-formations for the bed of the 

 deviation occupied 48 hours; and twice that inter- 

 val of time sufficed to execute and arrange in their 

 places certain wooden conduits, destined to tra- 

 verse several intervening hollows. At length the 

 waters so impatiently expected arrived, pouring 

 into the burning mine 2,000 cubic metres of water 

 per day. At the present moment, all the subter- 

 ranean works are under water; and since Ihe 

 commencement of this month a system of irrigation 

 has been established on the burning mass, which 

 has produced the happiest cfTects. Hopes are 

 entertained that, in time, not only will the imme- 



CUI.TIVATIOW OF PEAS. 



From the Yanlsee Farmer. 

 There are probably but few crops that more 

 amply remunerate the grower for the cost of cul- 

 tivation, when rightly managed, than peas._ They 

 constitute a most excellent and nutritious food lor 

 hogs, and as they ttiay be raised on almost any 

 soiTthat is moderately fine and dry, they are justly 

 prelerred by many of our most judicious and en- 

 lightened agriculturists, to meal or corn. 



Land naturally abounding in red sorrel, even if 

 it has been rendered sterile and unproductive, by 

 long and excessive cropping, will generally, if 

 subjected to a cleansing crop the year previous, 

 produce good peas. 



i haveupwards of an acre of" JHflrrot()/ais" now 

 growing on a soil of this description, and which, 

 judging from present appearances, will yield a 

 heavier net income than any other piece of similar 

 dimensions, on the liirm ; many of the vines hav- 

 ing already attained the length oi" four feet, and 

 presenting' in their innumerable pods and blows, 

 the most promising indications of an abundant 

 ' ykid,' 



I ploughed Ihe first of May, and eowed (^about 

 three and a quarter bushels to the acre,*) on the 

 furrow: The ground was thoroughly and 

 carefully harrowed with a light two horse harrow, 

 and the surlace smoothed with a " Drag Roller,'' 

 — an implement by the way, of such essential 

 u'iliiy that no farmer should, according to my view, 

 be without one, and which any person possessing 

 the most ordinary attributes of " constructive ge- 

 nius," may furnish, in a few hours, for himself! 



Some liirmers prefer drilling their peas. This 

 system is indubitably a good one, but will be found, 

 I'think by many, aiid especially by those who are 

 scant ol" ""Ac//)3," to involve many and serious in- 

 conveniences from which the more ordinary and 

 expeditious method of broad cast sowing, is ex- 

 empt. 



1 have known an excellent crop to be obtained, 

 by simply depositing a few peas — say six or eight, 

 in a hill with potatoes. Ttiey are no detriment 

 either to the growth or cultivation of the latter, aa 

 ihey require a specific nutriment, which they are 

 ena'bled to obtain without inlringmg in the slight- 

 est degree upon the pabulum specifically appro- 

 priated' to the potato. The fact is now, I be- 

 lieve, generally recognised by all judicious far- 

 mers, that leguminous plants derive but an incon- 

 siderable proportion of their nutriment from the 

 soil— a. fact which is amply and incontrovertibly 

 established by the circumstance of their growing 

 and floutishing in full vigor, lor weeks after the 

 pedicle or root-stalk has become dry for several 

 inches above the surliice of the soil, and conse- 

 quently incapaeitated either to imbibe or transmit 

 moisture in sufficient quantiiy lor the growth and 

 sustenance of the plant. 



* Many will doubllcss regard this as an error ; but 

 m my opinion the practice of sowing one and two^. 



and sometimes two and a half bushels to the acre, which 

 has generally prevailed among us, is the radical and 

 efncient cause of failure in the cultivation of peas. 

 I have made several experiments in order to ascertain 

 the 7-ight quality, and have invariably succeeded best 



_., „, ^ .._ when I have been liberal of my seed. The smaller 



diate conflagration be extinguished, but that also the size of the pea, the smaller of course will be the 

 which has been in operation Ibr 21 years pa?!." j quantity required. 



