116 



®l)e jTarmcv's ittontl)lj3 bisitor. 



petre) and six dracliins of siili)linte acid (oil of 

 vitriol) mix them in a tea cup. By adding one 

 draclim of the oil at a time, a cojiious discharge 

 of nitrous acid gas will take place. The cup to 

 1)6 placed during the prefiaralion on a hot earth 

 or a plate of heated iron, and the mixture stirred 

 with a tohacco pi()e. The (piaiitity of gas may 

 he regulated liy lestc iiiug or increasing the f|uun- 

 tity of the ingredients. The above is lijr a mod- 

 erate sized room ; half the quantity would he 

 sufficient for n small room. Avoid as murli as 

 possible hreathiiig the gas whv.n it first rises from 

 the vessel. No injury to the lungs will haj'pen 

 when the air is impregnated with the gas, which 

 is called nitrous acid gas, and it canrjot be too 

 widely Unown that it i)ossesses the ])roperty of 

 preventing the spread of fever." 



Working kob a Livisq — The following ex- 

 cellent article in the "Offering," edited by the 

 factory girls of Lowell, breathes the right spirit: 



Whence originated the idea that it was derog- 

 ntoiy to a lady's dignity, or a blot U|ion female 

 cliaracter, to labor ? And who was the first lo 

 say sneermgly, "Oh, slie works for a living"? 

 Surely, such itleas and expressions ought not to 

 grow on American soil! The lime has been, 

 when ladies of the first rnid< were accustonifd 

 to busy themselves in domestic employment. — 

 Homer tells us of princesses who used to draw 

 water from !he springs, and wash with their own 

 hands ilie fimsl linens of their respective tami- 

 lipH. Lucreiia used to spin in the midst of her 

 attendants, and the wife of Ulysses, after the 

 siege of Troy, employed herself in weaving un- 

 til her husband returned from Ithica. 



Insects '^n Potatoes. — Messrs. Editors : — 1 

 have discoverefl- the small leaves upon the tops 

 of my potato stalks, first wilting, then drying i.;), 

 turning black and cnaped. Upon close exanun- 

 aii"ii 1 find upon such leaves a small species of 

 fly at v\ork, generally in the centre, or near the 

 junction of the leaf with the stalk. He does not 

 consume the leaf, like another insect now at work, 

 ai.so, but by his bite, either poisons the plant, or 

 sunders the iiJircs essential lo it>j life. I'lir. Uueuy 

 nf ilie leaf resembles that of the ciicamber and 

 squash, bitten by the black bug, called lite, slinking 

 bu</ by some. 



] enclose a specimen of the flies and of tli ^ 

 leoves upon which they were found, and net 

 knowing their name and habits of life, would be 

 glud to be iulonneil. 1 discover them about the 

 time early potatoes begin to blossom, and v.ould 

 state some querii's respecting them as causing 

 the potato blight. 



1. Does not the bite of this fly kill tlie leaf by 

 a poisonous influence as the bite ot some insects 

 poisons ovu' flesh around it? 



2. Jf this is the fact, may not the multiplication 

 anil industry of these insects soon kill the potato 

 sialkB, and so ilestroy the channels in wliiih the 

 stiperfluous juices (roni the roots and tubers of 

 the plant need to flow, in order to its health, and 

 even life ? Then must not mortification seize the 

 tuber, of c^omse, by the retention of their super- 

 fluous juice ? 



1 observe rarely, very rarely, tmy halls formed 

 upon the stalks alier the blossom, as these seeiu 

 all struck with blight, but whether from the fly 

 or not, have init ascertained. In the healthy 

 growth of potatoes, in former years, seed halls 

 were numerous. 



(Clusters of yellow eggs I often find upon the 

 leaves, and their product is mirucrous; oval, yel- 

 low, filthy-looking worms altacdiiug themselves 

 to the leaf, and devouring all aromid them. They 

 kill only by consunfiu!; the plant, but il' they mul- 

 tiply, their tnischief may be great. 1 suspect 

 these to be the larvtc of the round red and sjieck- 

 led hug, called the lady bug. 



Knowing the ileep interest felt respecting all 

 facts connected with the potato blight, I have 

 thought it best to state the foregyiiig liicts. 

 Kespectfully yours, 



.iONATHAN LEE. 



Salisbury, Ct., July 1, 1847.— iios/oH Cult. 



The New York Scirirtific American recom- 

 mends pennyroyal as a sovereign prc.'ventive ol 

 the entrance of mosqnitu.s into rooms in the eve- 

 ifmg. lie says, put it into a box with a tight cov- 

 er, and when night comes open the box and they 

 will not enter the room. 



Deep Plonghing. 



The use of the subsoil plough is often of no 

 avail, from a neglect of the very essential pre- 

 liminary improvement of removing (by improved 

 drainage) the water to a greater depth from the 

 surface ; and from this neglect the success of per- 

 haps a really valuable improvement is thence at 

 once rendered impossible. It is in vain for the 

 farmer, indeed, to dtejien the soil, and thus en- 

 deavor to afford the roots of his crops a greater 

 extent of pasturage, if that additional space is 

 pre-occnpied by water. It is also to be well re- 

 membered, as some encoiu'agement lo the liirm- 

 er in his efforts to overcome any obstacles that 

 may present themselves to the profitable attain- 

 ment of this deepening of the soil, that he is in 

 the far greater m:ijority of instances endeavoring 

 to incorporate with the surface soil a greater ex- 

 tent of the same earths or rock from which, by 

 the effect of natural and artificial causes, ihe sur- 

 face soil is almost entirely composed ; he is, in 

 fiict, generally laboring, not to add new materials 

 to the land he cultivates, but merely to add to it 

 an increased mass of the same surface of which 

 the cultivated soil was originally formed. The 

 common opiinon that a heavy subsoil plough, and 

 the consequent employment of a veiy considera- 

 ble hor:;e [)0u er, is needed for the deeper disturb- 

 ance of the subsoil, is a very erroneous conclu- 

 sion. It is, in very inany cases, only necessary 

 to take oft' the mold-hoard from the comirrou iron 

 plough, and a subsoil jilough is produced, capa- 

 ble ol' being drawn by only two horses, and yet 

 of penetrating to the required depth. In Scot- 

 land they have some time since adopted this plan. 

 Mr. J. Wilson of Easlfield has evidently adopted 

 this mode with very considerable succes.^. ile 

 observes, "The subsoil plough, from its great 

 weight, I conceive cannot bo expected in many 

 districts lo he much used, as it requires a greater 

 number of horses to wield it '!ian i'- kept on ma- 

 ny farms ; but as a strong iron plough, drawn by 

 two horses, has been found to answer equally 

 well, at least where the soil is not very tenacious, 

 subsoil ploughing may be perforujed any where 

 at a trifling expense." — Bell's Weekly Messenger. 



Prouty & Mears Centre Draught Plough, for the 

 pin-pose of deep ploughing, and the breaking up 

 and thoroughly cultivating the soil, without w hicli 

 I calcidate deep ploughing loses more than one- 

 half its value. C. D. 

 — Boston Cultivator. 



Deep Ploughing. 



Messrs. Editors : I find the public attention 

 is beginning to bo drawn to the subject of deep 

 ploughing, and test of experience is brought to 

 favor the theory e.jibraccd by the friends of the 

 imijorlant improvement. And among the fore- 

 most of its advocates is seen the Hon. Dixon H. 

 Lewis, "the great sena'oi- from Alahainn," who, 

 at the meeting of the New York Farmers' Club, 

 thus expresses himself on Ihe value of deep 

 ploughing, as well as the best implenniils for 

 carrying thai process into execution. When call- 

 ed ui)on by the chairman. Col. Clark, lo make 

 some remarks on Southern Agriculture, and what 

 he thought of deep ploughing, be replied. He 

 considered il best for curn, and in many casos, 

 the best for land generally; he had had lliisyear 

 some experience of the benefits of the system. 

 On his pir.ntation there was a deep black soil, and 

 corn had been raised on it for twenty years in 

 succession, as in his State little attenlion had 

 been paid to rotation of crops. He fornnnly got 

 from (JO to 7.5 bushels of corn to the acre, but hu- 

 terly, but from 30 to 45 bushels. Ho concluded 

 this was owing to shallow ploughing, which had 

 been but live inches deep, and the soil had he- 

 come exhausted. Ile thei'efiu'c sent to Ihe north, 

 and got one of I'routy & Mcais' ploughs, and 

 ))loughed as ilcep as it could be done with three 

 iiorses; and be bad now the best crop within 50 

 uul(!.s standing the cold wet weather best. He 

 had ploughed from nine to twelve inches deep, 

 iMid had plouglieil with a subsoil plough between 

 every jow of corn ; makinuboth together a depth 

 of sixteen inches. The soil, a black limestone, 

 was not turned over to this depth, but it was //lo- 

 rotushli/ tiroken. \\y digging deep ditches, he hail 

 discovered that the deeply turned soil was the 

 best. Ho considered corn at even 40 ceiUs per 

 bushel, was the best crop grown; but be would 

 rather grow corn at '^5 cents per bushel, than cot- 

 Km at (i to 7 cents per lb. Deep ploughing, be 

 observes, drains the lainl, and makes it warmer. 

 Considering the testimony of such a man equal 

 to a volmne on the suhjcrt, 1 send the above to 

 the "Cultivator" for publication ; adding thereto 

 the experience of three years in favor of tlie 



Old Virginia.' 



Red Sulphur Springs, Virginia, 

 July26lh, 1847. 



To THE Editor op the Mo.nthlv Visitor: 



Sir, — A journey of four days from Washing- 

 Ion city, via the Potomac river, Gordonsville, 

 Charlottesville, Staunton, the Warm, Hot, While 

 Sulphur and Salt Sulphur Springs, brought nie 

 to this place about four days ago, for the purpose 

 of drinking of these waters of life. These Red 

 Sulphur Springs are situated in latitude 37"* 

 37', in Monroe county, Virginia, 245 miles from 

 the railroad junction between Ihe Potomac land- 

 ing and Richmond, and22(J miles from Winches- 

 ter, Va. Three hundred and fifty persons can be 

 accommodated here comfortably. The cooking 

 is good, and the table abounds in luxuries. The 

 scenery is wild beyoiul description, and rambles 

 up and down the valley, through the gorge.s, or up 

 the Sleep mountain sides, are very delightliil. — 

 Over the Springs is a beautiful i)avilion. The 

 tenqierature of the water, according to an analy- 

 sis by Mr. Rogers, geologist of Virgiifia, is 58"* — 

 the gaseous contents, sulphuretted hydrogen, car- 

 bonic acid, and nitrogen,— solid contents are sid- 

 |)hate of soda, lirne, magnesia, carbonate of lime, 

 and muriate of soda. The number of visitors to 

 these " Virginia Springs," of which there are 

 seven within a distance of eighty miles anil all 

 possessing more or less celebrity, is comparative- 

 ly small. The great current of pleasure-seekers 

 runs to the north, where travel is easy and cheap. 

 Persons accustomed to travel at the present rates 

 of fare from Richmond to Saratoga, Mcitreal, 

 Niagara Falls, or huffalo, will not easily be turn- 

 ed aside to seek pleasure in a crowded stage- 

 coach ovfr those mountains at the rate of ten 

 cents pur mile. At present there are about si.xty 

 persons here, mostly, if not exclusively, invalids 

 and their friends. At the much celebrated White 

 Sulphur there are only about 180. The attrac- 

 tion there is always aloul lo he heightened by the 

 arrival of a "Sea Sarpint" from somewhere. 

 When I pa.sscd lastweek, Mr. Clay was " expect- 

 ed daily ; Mr. Heiiton very soon ; and it was con- 

 fidently believcil that ClII. Taylor would obtain 

 a furlough in time to be there before the season 

 closed." It will not all do. Sea Sarpints a- well 

 as other people love their money and their ease; 

 ami fiir iX'nr little Jlshcs will not come in vast num- 

 bers where ihey are, they are mighty ajit to go 

 where there are vast numbers of /i«/c/.«/ifS. — 

 The Waters of all these springs uiuloubtedly con- 

 tain great medicinal virtues. I can speak from 

 experience of the Red Sulphur only. In 1841 I 

 came here poor and feeble, scarcely able to get 

 up into a stage coach, or to ride there after 1 bad 

 got in. I had a very hard cough, first brought on 

 by sleeping in damp sheets in a steamboat berth 

 a year previous. My breast had become so sore 

 that I dreaded to stoop forward, and the inhaling 

 of n long respiration produced very unpleasant 

 sensations. I do not undertake to say whether 

 my disease was of the lungs or the liver because 

 (loelors (lisngrccJ lihoM il. My opinion was that 

 it would make no difference. Indess 1 could <d)- 

 taiti relief and that speedily. All the no.strums I 

 took did mo no good. The action of these wa- 

 ters upon me was magical. Within a week they 

 began to act upon my bowels, which for several 



