1335.] 



FARMERS' REGISTER, 



85 



rally exhausted where it is cultivated; but not so 

 under the latter. The reason is that the roots of 

 the ionner are much more shallow than those of 

 the locust, and of course, the ploughing is not 

 deep. The body of earth thrown up by the 

 plough under the poplar and hickory, is not half 

 eo deep as under the locust, and the power of the 

 sun is proportionally greater on it. Who is he 

 that can point out the difference in the fertility of 

 the ground well covered by grass, where the 

 largest poplars and locusts have grown for many 

 years in the same yard? The earth under trees, 

 whose roots are shallow, is merely scratched on 

 the first ploughing, and from the repetition of it 

 appears to be dead or exhausted; while under the 

 locust, the apple, the peach tree, &c. &c, whose 

 roots are deep and not reached by the plough, its 

 advances in improvement are at least as last as 

 where there, is not a tree. 



My communication is growing too long, and 

 whatever other views I have, must, if at all, be 

 forwarded to you hereafter. Such as are here 

 thrown together depend rather on the experience 

 than the theories of men. 



J. R. WALLACE. 



From the Genesee Farmer. 

 THE BUFFALO BERRY. 



Last autumn we procured of Judge Buel, three 

 trees of the buffalo berry; and this spring when 

 they came into flower, we found that one plant is 

 staminate and the other two pistillate. This dis- 

 covery is very gratifying; for it is well known that 

 like the date palm, none of these trees are expect- 

 ed to be productive unless both sexes grow in the 

 same neighborhood. Whether there is any way 

 to propagate them except by the seed, we have 

 not been informed. Last year we tried layers on 

 another plant which we had previously obtained; 

 but none of them rooted. If it could be increased 

 by some such mode, we could then be certain of 

 having both kinds; and we should not be subject- 

 ed to the risk of having only one sort when we 

 procure two trees. If they can be readily in- 

 creased only by seeds however, it will be well to 

 purchase only such trees from the nurseries, as 

 have had blossoms; and as these appear while 

 the trees are small, this precaution will not be at- 

 tended with much inconvenience. Ours are not 

 five feet high. 



From the Genesee Farmer. 



THE OSAGE ORANGE. 



We have been informed that this fruit ripened 

 the last season for the first time, east of the moun- 

 tains. Our friend T. S. Pleasant has kindly sup- 

 plied us with seeds from his trees at Beaverdam in 

 Virginia; and we have now a number of plants 

 which sprung from them in a hot-bed. They ger- 

 minate freely. 



This tree is also dicecious. We have a pistil- 

 late plant eight or nine, feet high, which now ap- 

 pears to be preparing to blossom; but as this is 

 the only tree of the sort in our possession, we can- 

 not expect much fruit — which however is only to 

 be prized as a curiosity, or as the means of propa- 

 gation. Pistillate trees indeed, sometimes pro- 

 duce hermaphrodite flowers, and consequently 



some fruit; but never in much quantity; and this 

 exception to a general rule, seems only to be a 

 provision of nature for preserving the species un- 

 der extraordinary circumstances. 



With layers of this tree we have always been 

 unsuccessful; and equally so with cuttings of the 

 branches, though we have succeeded with pieces 

 of the root. Whether we shall hereafter become 

 more skilful or not, is uncertain, but at present we 

 are inclined to believe it can be most readily in- 

 creased by the seeds. 



From Jameson's Philosophical Journal. 

 SUBTERRANEAN LAKE AND ITS INHABITANTS. 



"The most striking example which we can men- 

 tion of a subterranean sheet of water, of a vary- 

 inglevel, is that of the Lake Zirknitz, in Carniola. 

 This lake is about six miles long by three broad. 

 Towards the middle of summer, if the season be 

 dry, its surface rapidly falls, and in a few weeks it 

 is completely dry. The openings by which the 

 waters retire beneath the soil may then be distinct- 

 ly perceived, sometimes quite vertical, and in other 

 places bearing a lateral direction towards the ca- 

 verns which abound in the«urrounding mountains. 

 Immediately after the retreat of the waters, all the 

 extent of the surface which they covered is put 

 under cultivation, and at the end of a couple of 

 months, the peasants are mowing hay, or reaping 

 millet and rye, in the very spot where, some time 

 before, they were fishing tench and pike. To- 

 wards the end of autumn, and after the tains of 

 that season, the waters return by the same natural 

 channels which had opened a passage for them at 

 the time of their departure. The description which 

 we have just given of the inundations and retreat 

 of the water, is the regular and common occur- 

 rence; but every extraordinary atmospheric change 

 is apt to interfere with this order. Sometimes a 

 very heavy fall of rain on the mountains with 

 which Zirknitz is surrounded occasions an over- 

 flowing of the subterranean lake, which advances, 

 during many hours, so as to cover with its waters 

 the land which lies over it. 



"Very singular peculiarities have been remark- 

 ed as belonging to these different openings in the 

 earth: some of them supply nothing but water; 

 others supply a passage both to water and to fishes 

 of a greater and smaller size; and there is a third 

 class by which ducks are supplied from the sub- 

 terranean lake. 



•'These ducks, at the moment that the water 

 floats them to the surface above ground, swim with 

 perfect facility. They are completely blind, and 

 almost naked. The faculty of sight, however, is 

 very speedily acquired; but it is not till after two 

 or three weeks that their feathers, which are black, 

 except in the head, are so grown as to allow them 

 to fly. Valvasor visited the lake in 1687. He 

 himself caught a great number of these ducks; 

 and saw the peasants catch individuals of the 

 Mustela fluviatilis, which weighed two or three 

 pounds, tench of from six to seven pounds, and, 

 finally, pike from twenty to thirty, and even to 

 forty pounds weight. Here, then, it will be per- 

 ceived, that we have not only an immense subter- 

 ranean sheet of water, but a real lake, with the 

 fishes and ducks which frequent the common lakes 

 of the country." 



