1835.] 



FARMERS' REGISTER 



175 



two-thirds the weight of the branch tapped, and 

 when exhausted, hut a few months' rest are re- 

 quired to replenish the vessels; the supply is there* 

 fore equal to almost any consumption, although 

 no doubt exists that this will increase amazingly. 

 A small quantity has been manufactured from the 

 juice of a tree in the Glasgow botanic garden, and 

 exposed to the public at an agricultural museum 

 at Stirling in Scotland. 



Mr. Nutla'l ohserves that the juice of the Milk- 

 weed, Asclepias Syriaca, which grows plentifully 

 in the vicinity of Boston, as well as of that of the 

 Apocynum is convertible into a substance resem- 

 bling gum elastic. 



A patent has been very recently granted in 

 England for the manufacture of an essential oil or 

 liquid, by distilling India robber at a given heat in 

 sssels made for that purpose; by redistilla- 

 tion it comes over pure and transparent. This oil 

 has many singular characters. It is the lightest 

 liquid known, being of less specific gravity than 

 sulphuric ether, it is exceedingly volatile, yet the 

 gas formed when it evaporates is the heaviest, gas 

 known, and may be poured out of one vessel into 

 another like water, as was exhibited at a late lec- 

 ture given on it, by Dr. Faraday in London. The 

 rapid evaporation of it, produces intense cold; one 

 minute and a quarter was sufficient to reduce the 

 thermometer from 60° Fahrenheit to 10° below 

 zero, by covering the bulb with muslin and blow- 

 ing on it with a bellows, while this liquid was 

 dropped on it. 



On removing the muslin at about. 10° above 

 zero, in another experiment, the bulb was observed 

 to be covered with a concrete substance resem- 

 bling snow, termed by Dr. Faraday. Bicarburel of 

 Hydrogen, supposed to have been previously dis- 

 covered by M. Mitscheriich. 



On mixing this produce of India rubber with 

 cocoa-nut oil, which is known to be always hard 

 at the usual temperature of the atmosphere, in 

 the proportion of one-quarter of the former to 

 three-quarters of the latter, the cocoa-nut oil is 

 liquified and gives a most brilliant flame. 



Mr. Beale has taken out a patent in England, 

 for a new lamp to burn this mixture; one of them 

 was exhibited at the before mentioned lecture, 

 and surprised the audience by its peculiar bril- 

 liancy. 



It mixes readily with oils used for painting, and 

 evaporates so speedily that the paint dries within 

 an hour after laying it on. As it is extremely 

 cheap and does not in the Jeast injure the most de- 

 licate colors, it is probable that it will be considera- 

 bly used for this purpose. 



One of its most important properties, however, 

 is that of completely dissolving all the gum re- 

 sins, particularly gum copal, without the assis- 

 tance of" heat, therefore the varnish may be pre- 

 pared without the usual danger from fire. It is 

 also a perfect solvent in cold, of India rubber itself, 

 and when this is laid on any substance in its liquid 

 state, the oil evaporates and leaves the India rub- 

 ber without the slightest alteration of its character, 

 fixed on the material. 



Messrs. Enderby & Co. of Greenwich, near 

 London, have established a manufactory of this 

 substance on a large scale, and have sent an 

 agent to South America for the pui'pose of pro- 

 curing a constant supply — they have always about 

 one hundred tons to operate on. 



The principal object of their manufactory, is to 

 saturate the fibres of the Phormium lenax or New- 

 Zealand flax, with this liquid previous to its being 

 made into cables, thereby rendering it totally im- 

 pervious to water, ami protecting it altogether 

 from the effects ot damp and motsfure. 



It has been named Caoutchouchine from Caout- 

 chouc, another name lor India rubber — which it is 

 supposed, if carefully managed on distillation, 

 would give nearly weight for weight of this oil. 



Being so recently discovered, its properties are 

 of course by no means entirely developed, and 

 much remains yet to be known on the subject. Dr. 

 Faraday's lecture is represented to have been most 

 interesting — he exhibited the juice of the India 

 rubber in its fresh state and explained how it de- 

 posited the article of commerce — he entered also 

 into a chemical analysis of it, the repetition of 

 which here would be trespassing too far on our 

 horticultural readers. 



From the Genesee Farmer. 

 ASHES AS MANURE. 



Farmers who now have ashes on hand, will 

 find it profitable to apply it as a top dressing to 

 their corn, instead of selling it at the asheries. 

 An application of ashes to this crop will not un- 

 frequently cause an increase of more than five 

 times the value of the ashes at the price they are 

 commonly sold. Ashes which have been kept 

 perfectly dry and uninjured are far preferable to 

 leached, though the latter is very valuable. When 

 it is applied to corn, one gill of that which is fresh 

 or unmoistened will be enough; if leached, half 

 a shovel full will not be too much. It is recom- 

 mended that when unleached ashes is appled, it 

 be placed on the. surface round each hill so as not 

 to touch the plants, as it might otherwise injure 

 them by its causticity. 



LEGAL, RESPONSIBILITY OF POSTMASTERS TO 

 PUBLISHERS FOR A VERY COMMON NEG- 

 LECT OF THEIR DUTY. 



"The proprietor of this paper" says the Phil- 

 adelphia Times, "last week, recovered judgement 

 against a postmaster for a paper not taken from 

 his office, of which he neglected to inform him. 

 All postmasters who do so, render themselves lia- 

 ble, and ought to be held accountable." 



We earnestly wish that every careless postmaster in 

 the Unitpd States, and especially some of those to 

 whose offices the Farmers' Register is sent, would read 

 and profit by this warning. With many of these of- 

 ficers the most culpable neglect of their sworn duty in 

 this respect, (if not worse than neglect,) is frequent. 

 We have suffered by it, in common with most of our 

 editorial brethren, by some very long continued and 

 most gross offences of this kind — and if no other re- 

 dress can be obtained, we shall try whether the law will 

 afford it in Virginia, as well as in Pennsylvania. If 

 publishers generally would adopt such a course, they 

 would check much of the disposition to indulge in 

 gross neglect, if not in petty pilfering. 



