€l)c iTavmcr's ittoiitl)!!) llxBitov. 



131 



they were 84 feet in eirciiinferenee, ant) 60 feet 

 \v|](;re the trunks heeaiiie fvliiiilrieiil. Jiy coiilil- 

 iiii; tlio eoiieeiilrie i'iri;,'s ol' kiuIi luirt.- as weic 

 iieeessilile, lie aniveil iit lliu coiiolu.-ion that 

 tliey uero of the age of Homer. " 



Salt I'or Pt.ini Trff?. — The INIaine Faiinei- 

 s:a)s ihiit P. C llohiR'S of (Janliiier, hail several 

 |>liirii tree-i plaiiteil ill a soft elayey loam, wliieli 

 liail not home any frnit tiir seven or ei;;lit years, 

 in l(iR fill of 181-1, he strewei! a i|naiirity (how 

 mii'li is that ?) of salt aroiiinl the roots, uiid in 

 1815, they were fnll of frnit. 



CoKN Haisf.i) for FonriFU. — D. S. Beers, 

 Knox Co., Ohio, in Ohio Cnhivator, says, "1 

 plowed ahont three aeres of swaiii|i f;roiinil 

 that had lieeoine dry, l>nt was overrnn with 

 weeds, and sowed liinr linshels of corn on it. — 

 From this I ent ten tons of most valnahle fodder, 

 anil it has proved the most valnalile eroji I rais- 

 ed this year." Triple the anionnt of secil 

 uonld have greatly added to the ero)). 



Wheat i.n Ohio. — The following' is given as 

 the aggregate amoniit of the several whi'at crops 

 for the state of Ohio, dining the fonr past years; 

 and shows very siriUiiigly I he extent of the 

 impoverishing sjslem of farming wliieli loo 

 inneh prevails there as well as elsewhere. 



Crop of 184-5, 25,:i87,4.'39 hiishels. 



" I84o, 18,780,705 " 



" 1844, 15,!>tJ9,000 " 



" 1815, ]-2,UO(i,00() " 



IJraught of Plocghs. — The London Ag. Ga- 

 zette stales, that upon an average, 35 per cent, 

 of the labor of plowing is attribnlahle to the 

 weight of the implement, 55 per cent, to the 

 operation of entting the furrow slice, and only 

 ]0 per cent to the aclinii of the mould hoard. — 

 Ueiiee more attention slionld he directed to less- 

 ening weight, and improving the ctitling part, 

 while the form of tin' monld-lKiard should not 

 he overlooked. 'I'lie English ploughs, it is true, 

 are usually heaver than the Yankee ploughs ; 

 hut this estimate ot' the strength rei|iiired lor 

 cutting must appear nearly correct, when it 

 is rememliereil how inncli more force is requir- 

 ed to thrust a spade ihroiiyh a tough sod, than 

 to lift the uoight of the earth removed. 



Strong Womf.n. — 41enry Colman .says, the 

 most remarkalile instance of strength and en- 

 durance is perhaps to he found in the fish wo- 

 men of Edinhiirg, who attend market from a 

 distance of more than two miles on foot. Their 

 load of fish, in baskets, slung upon their hacks, 

 often weighs 150 lbs., and has been known to 

 weigh 200 His. They slop to rest hut once on 

 the road, and after iheir arrival are found crying 

 their fish in all ]iarls of the town. "How ma- 

 liV," asks Colman, "of the Chesinut-street, or 

 \Vasliington->treet, or Hi oadway belles, would 

 it require to lift even one of these loads from 

 the ground.'" He says these woman are nrat 

 in appearance, of fair complexions, and not by 

 any means bad looking. 



Bigs on SqtAsiiES, are repelled by .sprinkling 

 • mixture of soot and snl(iljnr on the young 

 lanis while the dew is on in the mornin;;. 



Repeal of the British Corn Laws. 



We bad the gratification in our last of an- 

 .loimcing the repeal of the exorbitant atid odious 

 Custom House iliiiies wbicli have been so long 

 levied upon the imporlalion of hreadstntis into 

 (ireat Uritaiii, to the serious injury, and olien 

 luart-rending sufferings of her people. Jtis one 

 of the most beneficent pcts of the age, and 

 does honor to the men who were instrumental 

 in passing it. The people of Great Britain and 

 Irclaiiil have at length attained the common 

 rights of hnmaniiy, and are now enabled to sup- 

 ])ly themselves w iib food where it is to be had best 

 and cheapest. We hope henceforth to hear no 

 more cries for bread iVom hall-famished thou- 

 sands, when it can be had at a low price from a 

 neighboring country. 



It is not, however as an act of beneficence 

 wholly, that wc desire to call the attention of A- 

 merican liirmers to the repeal of the British 

 Coin Law.s, but as one likely to redound to their 

 lierinanent interest.^. Wilh'onr widely extended 

 nnil highly fertile teri-itoiy, and unprecedented 

 increase of«iiual popnhition, there is a constant 

 tendency in reasonably favorable seasons to pro- 

 duce a large surplus of [irovisions. Now if we 



were obliged to keep this surplus tit home, 

 tijere must inevitably be a steady fall in the 

 prii-es of agriciillural products, and a greater 

 or less loss every year from the injuries to w liich 

 sncli bulky and pc.'rislnible iiitii-les are constantly 

 liable. 'I'lio ports of (jreat Britain heiiijj now 

 nominally liee, we sIkiM easily get rid of our 

 sinplns produce, and thus be able to maintain 

 liiir price.s. If the tillers of the soil will take this 

 fact duly into consideration, they will see that it 

 is likely to be a greater boon lo them than lluc- 

 tnating high prices. Under the former taritii 

 Indian corn, one of the largest productions in 

 the United Stales, was yirlually a prohibited ar- 

 ticle — now it can be exported in large iiuanti- 

 ties. 



Notliwithstanding the promising harvest in 

 Jjurope the present year, it would not surprise 

 us if the exporlalions of corn, wheal, beef, pork, 

 lard, biilter, and cheese, should amount lo twelve 

 or thirteen inillimis of dollars. This amount 

 will be steadily on the increase, and in a few 

 )ears donblless approxiuiali: to twenty millions; 

 while the IVeight and charges earned by Ameri- 

 can citizens will be five millions more — and let 

 it he recollected thai those engaged in the trans- 

 portation of these products are consumers, and 

 not |producers. Hence ibe disastrous etlect can- 

 not lie so great as apprehended by some, as ma- 

 ny of our larmers will grow richer by the sales 

 of their produce, our shippers and sailors will 

 find employment, and the country will still pros- 

 [ler. — ^iin. jigrindlurist. 



DCRABILITV OF TtMBKR \S A WET STATE. — 

 Of the duraliiliiy of tiinlier in a wet state, the 

 piles of the biiil^'e built by the Emperor Trojan 

 across the Oaiiulie are one example. One of these 

 piles was taken up and found to be petrified to 

 the depth of three quarters of an inch: but ihe 

 rest of the wnoil was little ditVerent from ils or- 

 dinary state, though it has been driven more than 

 sixteen centuries. 



'J'he piles under the London Bridge have been 

 driven about six hundred years, and from iMr. 

 Bann's observations in 1746, it did not appear that 

 they were materially decayed. In 1819 they 

 were sutiiciently sound to support the massive 

 superstructure; tlu^yare chiefly of elm. 



In digging away the foundation of old Savoy 

 P/daee, Londo:i, which was built six hundred and 

 fifiy years ago, the whole of the piles, conslsling 

 of oak, elm, beach and chesnut, were found in a 

 state of perlt-'ct souiidijess,as also was the plank- 

 ing which covered Ihe pile beads. 



The cellar swamps of Cape May aflbrd even 

 more remarkable proofs of the durability of tim- 

 ber in a wet slate. 



On the noLtb side of Maurice River Creek, the 

 meadows and cedar swamps, as (iir up as the fast 

 land, are filled with buried cedars to an unknown 

 depth. In 1SI4 or '15 an attempt was made to 

 sink a well curb near Uennls Creek Landing, but 

 after encounlerlng much dltiiculty in cutting 

 ibroiigb a number of logs, the workmen were at 

 last compelled to give up the attempt, by finding 

 at the depth of twenty feet a compact mass of ce- 

 dar logs. 



It is a constant business near Dennis Creek to 

 " mine cedar shingles." Tills is ilone by probing 

 the soft mud of the swamps willi poles for the 

 purpose of discovering buried cedar timber ; and 

 when a log is found tlie mud is cleared off, the 

 log cut lip into proper lengths with a long one- 

 handled saw, and these leiigth.s, split up into 

 shingles, and carrieil out of the swamp ready for j 

 sale. This kind of work gives constant employ- 

 ment to a large number ol' bands. The trees 

 found are from four to five feet in iliameler ; they 

 lie ill every possible position, and some of them 

 seem to have been buried for many centuries. — 

 Thus stumps of trees wblcli have grown to a great 

 age, and w blch have been decayin;.' a century, are 

 found sianding in the (dace in wlilcli they grew, 

 while the Iriuiks ot aged cedars are lying hori- 

 zontally iiiuler their rool.<. One of these instan- 

 ces is ibiis described to us in a manuscript from 

 Ui: Beesley, of Dennis (,'reek, who has himself 

 "mined" many thousand cedar shingles and is 

 now engaged in the business. 



"I have in my mind a cedar some two and a 

 half feet oyer, under a large cedar stump, six 

 feet in diameter. Upon counting the annual 

 growths of the stump, I found there were thirty 

 of them in an inch ; so that there were 1080 in 



the three feet from the centre to the out side of 

 the tree. The slump must have been 1080 years 

 ill growing. To all appearance the tree to which 

 it belonged has been de.ul I'ur centuries, for alter 

 a stump in these meadows decays down to ihu 

 wet, there i.s no more decay — none at least that 

 is perceptible. Now we have 1080 years for the 

 growth of the slump, and .500 for its decay, and 

 500 for the growth of the tree under it, for this 

 must have grown and liilleii before the tree to 

 which the slninp belonged sprouted. We are 

 thus carried hack liir the term of perhaps 2000 

 years, of which l.")00 are determined, beyond 

 question, by the growth of the trees." 



'I'be better opinion is thai these trees have grad- 

 ually sunk through the soft mud of the swamps, 

 after having attained their growth and lidlen. — 

 Many, however, have decayed in their erect posi- 

 tion, for the swamps are full of smnips standing 

 as they grew. 



Within a short distance of the month of Den- 

 nis Creek, and about three miles from any grow- 

 ing timber, can be seen at low water, in the bed 

 of the stream, numerous cedar and pine stumps, 

 about six feet l;elnw the surface of ihe meadow, 

 with the bark still adliering to some, when the 

 mud is remoyeil. As one passes np the creek a 

 few miles, the slumps approach the surfiice, and 

 near the edge of the live swanqis they hecoino 

 very numerous. — Trenlon, JV. J., Gaz. 



Jiutritive Properties of Potntoes. 



An article lias lately been published iu the 

 Irish Fanner's Jouriml,\a regard to the relative 

 pioportion of nutritive material contained in 

 potatoes compared with that contained in wheat 

 and other grain, which we think can hardly fail 

 of commanding attention from those qualified to 

 investigate and elucidate this subject. Consider- 

 able diversity of opinion, it is well knovvn, has 

 existed in regard to the comparative value of 

 the potato. The results of most cheinical anal- 

 yses have been looked upon as indicating that 

 tills root possesses but very little nutriment; 

 though vNe believe that tills conclusion has not 

 been so readily reconcileable with facts developed 

 by practical observation. Certain it is, that a 

 higher estimate is usually allowed to potatoes 

 by those who form their opinions from actual tri- 

 al, and the results produced on the animal sys- 

 tem, than most chemical tests could justify. — 

 We do not say this as opposing science, for it is 

 obvious that real science exhibits no discrepancy 

 with practical liicts; TRUTHS can never opfiose 

 each other, whatever may be the mode by which 

 they are discovered. The attainment of truth 

 i.s, however, the grand object, and in that view, 

 we are gratified to meet with the article men- 

 tioned ; which, if not wholly true itself, we think 

 can hardly liiil to elicit such an examination as 

 will much enligbteT the subject. 



The article in the Journal relates chiefly to 

 a statement and facts tlierewith connected, laid 

 before the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland by -Mr. 

 Jasper W. Rogers, of Dublin, a Civil Engin- 

 eer, who, it is said, has for several years devoted 

 considerable attention to the composilion of the 

 potato and it susceptibility of being applied to 

 various uses. From the extracts which we give 

 below, it will he seen that Mr. Rogers deems 

 the nulritlyo properties of the potato, when 

 wholly converted into meal or flour, not essen- 

 tially (lifferent from those of wheat, while the 

 aggregate amount of substances proper lor the 

 sn|iport of animal life, aftorded by a given quan- 

 tity of land, are held to be four times grealer than 

 can be had from wheat. 



At the request of the Lord Lieutenant and 

 other gentlemen, Mr. Rogers exhibited, at an 

 appointed time, some of the results of his meth- 

 od of making the potato available as food in 

 many difierent form.s. This exhibition is stated 

 to have been "in the form of an elegant rf/yunt, 

 all the items of which, with the exception of 

 coffee, were prepared more or less from the po- 

 tato ; when a most satisfactory account was af- 

 forded bv Mr. Rogers of the difierent pi ocess- 

 es of their iireparation, with much interesting 

 Information relative to the value of the potato 

 itself, which, be very justly observed, is loo much 

 overlooked. Every one present was astonished 

 at the rich treat provided on the occasion, which 

 consisted of soup, stirabout, milk porridge, jel- 

 lies, blanc mange, Spanish llumiuery, and jiastry 

 of all kinds, made na we have already slated, 



