100 



^{)t Saxmtt's ittontl)!]) Visitor. 



until rpcently, lias not eqiinlled the consumption ; 

 but the low piire of grains and provisions since 

 1840 has caused a rapid increase in the nuniiier 

 of sheep — which, under very lavorable eirciirn- 

 stanoes, may douhle each three years — and they 

 now surpass, and aie likely still further to sur- 

 pass, all previous eslitnaies. The quanliiy of 

 wool became so un wieldly last year that the valij(^ 

 fell lull twenty per cent., iiotwithslandinf; the fo- 

 reiiiu shipnienis, the nliNndance of iiKiney, the 

 Iiiiih TaritT, and the prosjierous cnjidition of the 

 luaMulacturiiif; interest. We now have the pro- 

 mise of coiisiderahly increased Jjuanlilies in this 

 year's din, especially from some of the new States, 

 with money more in demand, ihe protective 

 policy in more danger, and lower prices of chillis. 

 If the home marUels were solely relied upon, 

 wool like all other articles, .when produced in 

 ■excess, would long rule low in price. An ahun- 

 'dant supply will hereafter enable manufacturers 

 to purchase at their leisure, and to choose their 

 ' qualities ; and hencelorlh prices must be regu- 

 'leted, like those of cotton, in the open markets of 

 Uhe world. 



some of om- far^ners wrll be induced to try them, 

 and make the result known. — Springfieid liepuh. " 



Cultivation of Cranberries. 



^ 'M6ist;n-e is indispensable to tlm Cranberry. 

 ' The soil for it should be loose and porous ; there 

 •' should a^so he an abundant supply of water, ac- 

 ■'cessible at. all seasons. Take a sandy soil, that 

 ■" is so situate'd, that it may at all times have water 

 conducted upon it, and you may ra'se cranberries 

 to any extent. Jf you have boggy grounds just 

 cover the su.-face with sand. The vines aie to 

 \be set out in ci'rills -alput two feet apart. Two 

 br three upright slaiks are set together, and 

 placed from six to tweivs inches apart in tlie 

 drill. The easiest and U'st expensive cultiva- 

 rtion^fthe cranbetry Is op wet sandy barrer^s. 

 ■It is, not every wet Ppqt,';iowever, that is 'suit- 

 able for cranberries. The soil must be sanr^, ^uA, 

 peat, or a iiiixture of these. Tlie groui ,j |„;,y |,e 

 saturated vvitli water _froin sprin'^s^ running 

 streams, or from the Jraining'* of 'nigher lands. 



It is stated by experienced cultivators, that 

 cuuings from any part of the stem will strike 

 root, which will save labor and expense where it 

 is difficult to procure roots. Cranberries may 

 also be sown : though there have not been known 

 to be many experiments of sowing the berry. — 

 We have seen an account of one made in the 

 eastern part of our State which was snccessfid, 

 and the ground becatn-e thickly set with vines ! 

 The spring is supposed to be the best time for 

 aeiliug vines. During the first season, vines 

 often put forth runners several feet in length. 

 The next year upright stems sj)ring from these 

 runners, which produce new vines the third 

 year. The vines do not usually cover the ground 

 before the fifth year. 



Manure is worse than thrown away on the 

 cranberry vino. Any vegetable oranimal matter, 

 iliat produces lermentalion,is injurious. In gene- 

 ral, the more barren the surface-.soil, the belter. 

 The growth of ^■[rasses, weeds, &c., in such spots 

 is fi:ei)le; and the cranberry viiM;s kill out all 

 such vegetation, as its nourishment comes from 

 water and the atmosphere. It is well, however, 

 to )inll out the grasses, &c., as they .apjiear: 

 bushes of course must he carefully cradjcited. 



One hundred and fifiy bushels of cranberries 

 from un acre are regarded as a gooil crqp, where 

 the vines have been set five years, Mr. Sullivan 

 IJales, of Uidlingham, in lliis Slate gathered 

 nearly 400 bushels from an acre in one season. 

 Mr. Hates' cranlienies are of uncommonly large 

 size, and were olitaiued by transplanting from 

 low grounds lo hi^h. He plants in drills, aO 

 inches apart ; in hills, 7 inches. 



The account we have given of the mode of 

 cultivation, &c. of this valuable berry, is derived 

 from the abundant ex()orieuce of thu farmers "f 

 IJarnstablii County, ll would seeiii that some 

 cultivators do not regard umisiure as so indis- 

 pensable to the thriving ol the plants 



Dr. Underliill says that the cranberry proiod/i/ 

 improves in ail respects by llio trau^ler from 

 marsh to upland, \yild grapes, he said, delight 

 in alluvial wet positions; hut their flavi)|- is not 

 to be compared with those growing in (|ry soils. 

 At all events the soil for the cr;ud!erry nuist 

 be porous ; one that bakes will never answer. 

 We rely very inuch on the experience of the 

 Barnstable farmers. Experiments can be easily 

 innde and nt very little expense. We hope thai 



More Down East SjvUL. — We have recently 

 examined very thoroughly a self Itieding machine 

 for sawing Liiths, invented by two mechanics in 

 Ellsworth, Daniel Salshury and Ijenjamin Barker, 

 and by them recently patctiled. Jt is a great 

 labor saver, as by a neat contrivance of an end- 

 less belt, having several tarns or hooks altarhed 

 to it, atid by which the timber to be sav.e<l is 

 INCssed Ibrward instead of the old tnethod of hav- 

 ing one hand lo push the timber during the iirst 

 part of the sawing. As soon as a hitii is sawn 

 from the Ixilt, a plate at the enti of the gnage 

 presses the bolt out from the saw upon the table 

 while a sort of scrape pushes it endwise upon the 

 table towards the tuaii tending the machine. 

 These two movements are beautiliil and are 

 effected without iuiy complicated machinery, and 

 with unerring certainty. There is an index at- 

 tached to the machine which counts the hitlis as 

 they are sawn, ami which gives an alar/ii on 

 counting up a hiimlred. 



We could readily describe the structm-e of the 

 machine, and the movements by which these re- 

 sults are eflected, but this would only be of ser- 

 vice to machinists, and lliey had luater obtain the 

 information from the model and specilications.of 

 the inventors. — Bangor Whig. 



American Railroab Iro.n. — ^The Sunlrtuy 

 American thus describes the manner in which the 

 iron T rail for railroads is manuraclured at the 

 Montour works, Danville, Pennsylvania. 



In order to make the T rail, the iron is first 

 rolled through one sot of rollers into heavy flat 

 bars, about three inches in width, and three- 

 fourths of an inch in thickness. These bars are 

 then cut into pieces, something less than three 

 feet in length. A number of the i)ieees, pro- 

 bably 15 or 20, are then placed togetiier, making 

 a square bundle or faggot, weighing 400 pounds. 

 This faggot is then placed into one of the fur- 

 naces and brought to a white heal, when it is 

 drawn out on a small iron handcart, and con- 

 veyed to the rollers. The great weight and in- 

 tense heat of such a heavy mass, requires con- 

 siderable skill as well as stienglh in passing it 

 through the rollers. 'I'he bar as it passes through, 

 is caught and supported by iron levers fastened 

 to chains, that are suspended on pulleys from a- 

 hove. The first bar passes through the square 

 grooves of the rollers thrive or four times, before 

 it is run through the ditieront grooves that gra- 

 dually bring it to the form of the edge or T rail, 

 as seen upon our railroads. Through the last 

 grooves it passes five or six times before it is 

 completed. It is then placed on a small railway 

 carriage, on a track eighte(;n feet wide, and liaided 

 up about 20 feet, when the rail comes in contact 

 with two circular saws, one of which is placed 

 on each side of the railway. These saws revolve 

 with great rapidity, and the moment the rail, still 

 red hot, reaches tliem, the red sparkling iron .saw- 

 dust is scattered in every direction. The rails 

 lire thus cut off square at each end, exactly 18 

 feet long, apparently as easy as if ihey were made 

 of tough hickory wood. 'J'lie rail is then dragged 

 to the pile aiul left to cool, perleclly finished. 

 The rails we saw made were inteiided for the 

 llarrisburg and Ijimcaster road, and weiglie<l 51 

 pounds to the yard, or soinelhing more llii-ee 

 liujidjcil pounds eacli. These are said to be the 

 first rails ever made with anthracite iron in this 

 (u- any other coimtry, and are, we believe, supe- 

 rior to any that have ever been imported. 



"l>eatU of the Old Brown Doe." 



Uuler this head the Cincinu;ili papers of Sa- 

 turday, .Inly II, have editorial nutii-cs of the 

 death'ofa remarkable dog ol'lhal city, well known 

 lo the "oldest iuliabilanl." Thi' Herald says ihiil 

 for twi'iiiy yiNus p:ist he has resided there, and 

 generally si'gnalizeil himself by atteiuling with 

 great sobriety, all grand processions, lie was 

 buried wilh (iiie honors in the yard of the (ia'/elte 

 buildings, and it is in couleirq)lation, we learn, 

 to rear a monument to his memory. Mr. Cist in 

 his Advertiser, has the following notice of him : 



" One of the greatest curiosities of Cincinnati 

 is Leiu-, the old brown dog, who may bo si'en at 

 almost any hour of the day in the piuliens of our 

 city post-office, us he has not, and i>robably never 



had aiiy owner, may be numbered as one of the 

 fatniljars ol" that establishment. 



Among the various succession of postmasters 

 —during the whole incumben<!ies of Burke, Tay- 

 lor and Crawford— amidst all the presidential 

 changes of Monroe, Adams, Jackson, Van Buren, 

 Harrison, Tyler and I'olk, he still holds his post. 

 Huw far back he m.ide iiis first appearance tfie 

 oldest inhabitant cannot tell, but i can find se- 

 veral who have known and recollect him for 

 twenty years and more. During tliis period he 

 was never known to liillow any individual, even 

 when tenq>ted by caresses or "the otfer of food : 

 in fact, he has never been known to receive food 

 fiom any person, invariably refusing it wlietl 

 oflered at his post. He has been f(>llowed by 

 (lersons curious to ascertain where he leeds, but 

 by some singidar process contrives to defeat tfieir 

 pui-j)ose, by ilisapj>earing the moment their eye 18 

 tnrnod to any other object, if but for one mo- ^ 

 nient. 



In each successive removal of the posl-office, 

 he has always gon« along, as if considering him- 

 self a part of the establishment. In the last case 

 following the first dray load of movables, and re- 

 maiinng at the new office ever since. 



He attends all firemen's p.uades, ni'ditary pro- 

 cessions, political mass meetings, and every fime- 

 ral of note in the city. At the fimeral pageant 

 last year, in memnry of General Jackson, he 

 crawled nnJer tbe hearse, and kept under it the 

 whole route, nearly two iriiles, although consider- 

 ably exhausted by the eflbrt, the day being un- 

 commonly sultry and close. 



Dining the whole course of his long life, he 

 has never been known to have been u>eddled 

 wilh by any other dog, or to have taken notice of 

 his species, or to have received any ill usage fiom 

 any individual, man or boy, by whom he is e.v- 

 tensively known, and legarded as a privileged 

 character. Hundreds having business at tlie |«»st- 

 officc, who would unliesilalingly kick aity ether 

 dog out of the road, step aside carefidly, however 

 great the throng, rather than tread on or insult 

 the noble brute. He may be seen occasionally 

 sunning himself at the iloor of the Trust Com- 

 pany or Franklin Bank, or the Bank Exchange, 

 but he is never guilty of lying at the door of a 

 private residence. My friend Rabbi .l-otias, who 

 iielieves in the transmigration of souls, suggests 

 that the spirit whieh animates Lear was once 

 that of a jjublie officer, and an individual of the 

 most aristocratic bearing. Apart from the usual 

 inslincis and remarkable sagacity of dogs, there 

 is much that is mysterious and unacconnl.able in 

 the history and habits of Lear, a part only of 

 which is here stated." 



The Alpaca. 



The late effort of the Agricultural Association 

 in New York ciiy, to secure the object proposed 

 by Mr. Amory Edwards, who has been (ivp years 

 Consul in Peru, lo inlioduce ibis beautiful ani- 

 mal in our country, jiromises to be successfiil. 



Several ihunsand dollars have been subscribed 

 for this purpose, and .Mr. I'Muards has olfered 

 his services to go down to Peru and Bi)livia and 

 select a fiock of about three linndred, aiid bring 

 Iheui 10 the United Stales, as soon as iherciiuired 

 amount can be oblaincd. ^ 



In England, the experiment haS: it appears, 

 proved quite successful. The female in thai cli- 

 mate h.iving matured two years earlier, and pro- 

 duced a finer lleece than in ils own native dis- 

 liicls; iho leiitith of staple was also iuqiruved, 

 anil llie fleece iin-ieased in a reiuarkable degree. 

 They are h.-udy, docil<<, alfecled neilhc'r by in- 

 len.so cohl nor' heat. The clip in Peru weighs 

 iiiiii.' ponnils, while that in E.ngland is said lo 

 wi'igh seveutiHMi and a half, which is suited to the 

 finest class of goods, and calculated lo compele 

 wilh silk. The flesh is fine, savory, easily di- 

 gesiiil, and recommended in Peru, by physicians 

 to invalids, in preference to finvls. The fleece 

 of one alpaca is I'qnal lo six merino sheep. The 

 fiillowing notice of the alpaca, fi(un llie Balti- 

 more American, gives a very graphic dcseriplion 

 of ils naluic\ and liabils, and may inipart a lilllo 

 adiliiional infoniiation lo our agricultural friends: 



"'l.'lie ,Mpaca inhabiis the slopes, tablelands 

 and monnlains of Peru, Bolivia and Chili, endur- 

 ing all the vicissitudes of the cliniale. They are 

 found twelve ihousand feet above the level of the 

 sea, where they derive u subsistence from the 

 moss, &c., growing upon the rocks, exposed to 



