* 



86 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Oct. 7, 



Srlccttons 



From files of Engl ish papers recciyed at the office of the 

 New England Farmer. 



Copper Utensils. — A man and his wife lately 

 died at Newcastle-upon-Tyne England, in con- 

 sequence of using water for tea which had stood 

 for some time in a copper vessel. 



Adulle ration of Flour and Tea. — An English 

 Apothecary slated when under examination be- 

 fore the Lord Mayor of London, " that a short 

 lime since he went down to Hull, by order of 

 the Lords of the Treasury, to analyze samples 

 of 1467 sacks of flour, then at the Custom- 

 house there, (o be shipped for Spain and Portu- 

 gal ; and on examination found that one third ofl 

 it was plaster of Paris, one third of it burnt 

 bones and beans, and the remainder flour of the 

 coarsest description. Mr. Clark also staled that 

 he was engaged by order of Government in an- 

 alysing several chests of Souchong tea, and al- 

 though he had only examined a few of llioni, 

 yet he found that one fourth of their contents 

 was leail ore, or poison of the rankest descriji- 

 tion, and he knew iVom experience tluit a great 

 quantity of Tea was adulterated in a similar 

 manner." 



Tempering Tools — The following mode of 

 fempeiing Edge Tools is recommended in a 

 French publication. Plunge the tool to be tem- 

 pered in boiling fat for two hours ; then take it 

 nut and let it cool gradually. 



The Jlspen Leaf. — The trembling of the as- 

 pen leaf is proverbial. By some it is supposed 

 to proceed from the leaf stalks being scallcrcd 

 at the end; but that is common to other pop- 

 lars, whose leaves are not so restless. Dr. 

 Stoke ascribes it to the plane of the Ions leal 

 Slalk being at right angles from that of the leaf; 

 thus allowing a freer motion than they wonUl 

 have had if the planes had been parallel. Dr. 

 Aikin attributes it to the lenglh and slender 

 ness of the leaf-stalks. But the IJighlanders set 

 this question at rest at once ; they believe that 

 the Cross of Christ was made of this tree, and 

 that, therefore, the tree cannot rest. It has 

 been maliciously alfirmed that s.'o)/icn's tongues 

 were made of the leaves of the aspen. — Sijtvan 

 Sketches. 



A few days ago a man and his wife died at 

 Ilandcross, Sussex, in consequence of using wa- 

 ter for tea, which had stood for sotne time in a 

 copper, by which they were poisoned. We un- 

 derstand that water being scarce in that neigli- 

 bourhood, they had brought it I'rom a consider- 

 able distance, and [lut it into the copper for use. 

 Their children still remain very ill, and a man 

 who likewise partook of i(, though in a greal 

 measure recovered, slill feels the ill efl'ects of 

 drinking it. 



It moreover can be regulated in a moment to 

 work at any depth necessary. As a pulveriser 

 of land, and extirpator of couch, weeds, kc. it 

 surpasses the grubber, scufler, or cultivator in- 

 finitely more than these implements do the com- 

 mon harrow. Tlie Self-Cleansing Harrow 

 works regularly at the bottom of the furrow, or 

 deeper, if required, without any additional 

 weight being employed ; whereas these other 

 implements with their duck feci, (requiring e- 

 normous power to drag them along.) cut the 

 root weeds generally about three or four inches 

 from the surface, or about the middle of the 

 furrow. Thu-', by this mode, the evil is rather 

 multiplied than cured."' A Committee of the 

 United East Lothian Agricultural Society, be- 

 fore whom Ibis implemint was exhibited, were 

 so satisfied of its decided superiority over every 

 other, that they immediately voted a premium 

 of twenty guineas to Mr. Finlayson, and request- 

 ed permission to make the Patent Harrow for 

 the use of the Members of the Society. To 

 this Mr. Finlayson readily agreed, upon the un- 

 derstanding, that he was to receive an appro- 

 priate premium on each. 



At anolher exhil)ition of this harrow, accord- 

 ing to the same paper, the farmers " unanimous- 

 ly expressed their surprise and astonishment, 

 when they saw with what f.icility, (by the aid 

 of this new implement) land can be at one and 

 the same time cleaned and pulverised, together 

 with the peculiar property it has over all oth- 

 ers, of leaving the land loose and open. We 

 understand that an immense number of orders 

 have been gi\ en in East and .Mid Lothian, dif- 

 ferent farmers having ordered two of them. — 

 We further understand that it is Mr. Finlayson's 

 intention to grant licenses to the various Agri- 

 cultural Societies, or to np|ioint agents in every 

 county in Scotland, to gel harrows made and to 

 receive a small premium for cach,-vvhich is cer- 

 tainly one of the best methods that could be de- 

 vised for bringing this valuable implement into 

 general use."' 



Remarks htj the Editor of the N. E- Farmer. — 

 Wo should bo glad to know m.ore about this har- 

 row, and mean to avail ourselves of all the means 

 of information we cm obtain for that purpose. 

 It it is but half equal to the representations of 

 it in the P^nglish papers, it must be the most 

 useful agricultural implement which has, for 

 many years been invented. 'I'liere i*:, no doubt, 

 a very material difTerencc between English and 

 .American modes of culture, aud what is proper 

 for the soil and climate of Great Britain, may 

 bo very incorrect in the United States. But the 

 same inqdement which will pulverize the soil 

 and extir[iate weeds in the former, will not be 

 less cflective for the same purpose in tlie latter. 



sugar from jalap, or wine from medicine. It is, 

 however, the seat of feelings peculiai to itself, 

 such as hunger, thirst, satiety,squeamishness,SiC. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Self-Clcanir.g llarroxa. — A late number of the 

 English Farmer's .lournal contains some notice 

 of a harrow invented by a Mr. Finlayson, called 

 the Self-Cleaning Harrow, which it says, '-Is 

 happily couslructed tor lessening the resistance 

 of draughl, r.diing up root weeds from the bot- 

 tom of ilie furrow, and throwing them ofT at 

 rmce upon the surface, without being choked. 



DtjRM.\NT SEEDS. 

 Crops of white clover spring up in appearance 

 spontaneously, upon the application of lime to 

 dry heaths or barren soils; and ra^^pberry-bushes 

 start u|i were fir-woods have been l>urned down, 

 though not a vestige of either could previously 

 be discovered on llio spot. 



THE STOMACH. 

 The stomach is not sensible of the weight, 

 taste, odor, &,c. of the substances received, and 

 SO far as it is concerned, wc could not distinguish 



FIIID.W, OCTOBER 7, I!325 



Agricultural Exhibitions appear to command 

 increased aud increasing attention. Those Hus- 

 bandman's Holidays, as they have aptly been de- 

 nominated, are acquiring that popularity which 

 their tendency to promote " the greatest good of 

 the greatest number," cannot fail to warrant, 

 strengthen, and perpetuate. Experiment has 

 tested their utility, and gainsayers who could 

 not bo convinced by arguments are silenced by 

 facts. Our farm yards, fields, domiciles, and out 

 houses — domestic animals and the products of 

 domestic industry — the improved appearance 

 of tlic country, and the comforts, convenien- 

 ces and means of enjoying "rural felicity," 

 possessed by its inhabitants, all speak eulogies 

 on Agricultural Exhibitions. These festivals of 

 reason, which convert business to amusement, 

 and useful labors to pastimes, put into operation 

 the most powerful springs of human action, — the 

 desire of distinction and a laud.ible solicitude for 

 the honest acquisition of property : and give 

 ihoie springs such impulses and directions that 

 (heir action benefits the'public in a proportion 

 graduated to the scale of benefit accruing to in- 

 dividuals thus actuated. 



As means of useful information, those agri- 

 cultural anniversaries are of great importance. 

 No cultivator is so well informed that he cannot 

 acquire, and no practical farmer so unskilful, 

 that he cannot commiiiiicale something useful to 

 those who are engaged in the same occupation. 

 At an .Agricultural Exhibition we may all — like 

 the pupils of a Lancasterian school — teach and 

 be taught by the same processes. Correct princi- 

 ples in agriculture and horticulture are enforced 

 by samples from the fields and gardens, which 

 prove (hat such precepts have been successfully 

 practised. And Ihe innocent gratification of the 

 senses, together with the indulgence of a ration- 

 al curiosity, are made the means of increasing 

 that knowledge which is not only power, but 

 wJalth, Wisdom, and virtue. Let us then con- 

 sider ourselves not merely as uninterested spec- 

 tators at our Cattle Shows, but every individual 

 reel himself (o he a parly concerned — that his 

 private weal is intimately connected with the 

 public prosperity, which those exhibitions are 

 among the best means of promoting ever devis- 

 ed by human ingenuity. 



HiLi.SBOHOviui Catti.k Siiow. — On the 2l£l and 

 C2d ult. (his Society held its .seventh anniversa- 

 ry at New Boston, with the Cattle Show and 

 Fair. The assemblage was more numerous than 

 for several years past. The exhibition of stock 



