36 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



POTATO-ROT. 



The article in another column upon this subject, 

 in connection with the laws of vegetable growth 

 and decay, by Professor Hoyt, we commend to 

 our readers, as one of the most thoroughly scienti- 

 fic investigations of the subject of the potato-rot 

 that has yet appeared. 



The statement which we published a few weeks 

 since, showing that potatoes rotted more upon re- 

 cent coal hearths, than places adjacent, has attract- 

 ed much attention. The explanation since given 

 by Mr. Comings in the Farmer should be under- 

 stood by all. It is, that carbonic acid and not 

 charcoal induces the rot. It is true that carbonic 

 acid is formed of carbon (or charcoal) and oxygen, 

 but it is not formed of charcoal except by burning 

 it. Coal undergoes no change on exposure to the 

 air, or when imbedded in the ground, and gene- 

 rates no carbonic acid. It has the power, when ap- 

 plied to the soil, of absorbing for the support of 

 vegetation large quantities of valuable gaseous 

 matters, as for instance, of ammonia, it is said to 

 absorb 95 times its own bulk. The conclusion of 

 the whole matter would seem to be that although 

 the potato may rot on land where coal-pits have 

 been burned, or on land on which earth from coal 

 hearths filled with carbonic acid has been spread, 

 yet charcoal itself can produce no similar effect. 

 The gas formed when charcoal is slowly burned, in 

 a close room, often produces death, but a man 

 might sleep without danger, in a charcoal bin, un- 

 less set on fire. 



The subject is peculiarly interesting, as showing 

 the value of science applied to agriculture. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 TO THAW OUT FROZEN PUMPS. 



BY SANFORD ADAMS. 



Mr. Editor : — If I can be allowed the privilege, 

 I think there may be some light thrown in the way 

 of your readers to relieve them of much trouble 

 which they have hitherto experienced during the 

 inclement season. With a little care and suitable 

 knowledge, much time and perplexity may be 

 saved. The best way that has ever yet been found 

 to secure a log pump from freezing, is to have a 

 steam box from the platform to the nose a foot 

 square, and connected with the pump so that the 

 pump shall make one side of the box and an aper- 

 ture through the platform to let the steam into it 

 from the well. 



This plan keeps the water cool through the sum- 

 mer, and the steam from the water in the well rises 

 into the box and prevents the pump from freezing 

 in winter, provided there is a tight platform and 

 properly secured around it. Many pumps have a 

 vent under the platform. Some let off by raising 

 the handle, which brings the upper box in contact 

 with the lower valve so as to open it. If a pump, 

 through negligence, gets frozen, it is a very easy 

 matter to thaw it out if one knows how. Some 

 will he:it iron bars and put in, some will put in 

 salt, and either of these will do the work if one has 



patience. But the quickest and easiest way is to 

 use a 4 or | inch lead pipe and boiling hot water. 

 A pump that is frozen 10 feet solid, may be thawed 

 out in 10 minutes, by having a pipe to reach as 

 low as it is frozen. Put one end of the pipe down 

 the pump on the ice, swell the other to admit a 

 tunnel, pour in the hot water, and the way the pipe 

 settles down is a caution to the one that holds it. 

 There is a current of hot water acting on the ice 

 which does its work and rises outside. A barrel 

 of hot water may be turned in without a pipe, and 

 it will penetrate but a little depth before running 

 off. 



If any individual ^an gather information from 

 these few plain ideas, I shall be amply paid for 

 this communication. 



What is there that adds more to the domestic 

 comforts of a family through ihe inclement season, 

 than a good supply of wood and water near at hand. 



Wilmington, Dec. 15, 1851. 



Remarks. — These "few plain ideas," as our 

 correspondent calls them, are just what are wanted 

 Dozens of pumps are ruined every year for want 

 of knowledge how to thaw them out when frozen. 

 The same method of thawing will apply to sink 

 spouts. 



A QUESTION. 



HOW DOES WATER EXTINGUISH FIRE? 



It would seem almost paradoxical at first glance, 

 that water should extinguish fire, considering the 

 elementary compounds of water, which are hydro- 

 gen and oxygen, the former being the most inflam- 

 mable substance known, the latter, the chief sup- 

 porter of combustion. In the first place, let us in- 

 quire how fire is extinguished? In putting out 

 fire, we act on two principles: first, shutting out 

 the air, by which it is deprived of its supporter, 

 oxygen, or, in other words, smothering it. Second 

 — by lowering the temperature of the combustible 

 below the point of ignition, which, in most solid 

 substances, is about one thousand degTees Fahren- 

 heit. Any temperature much below this point de- 

 stroys the affinity of the combustible for oxygen, 

 tnerefore causing the combustion to cease. Now, 

 when we use water to put out fire, on this last 

 principle, the water coming in contact with the fire 

 is immediately converted into steam or vapor, 

 which absorbs nine hundred and fifty degrees of 

 heat from the combustible. This soon lowers the 

 temperature of it below the point of ignition, there- 

 fore the combustion ceases. The question may 

 arise, why does not alcohol, being a fluid like 

 water, extinguish fire? The reason is this : water 

 is a natural compound, formed by nature, and found 

 everywhere in nature. The elements of which it 

 is composed have a strong affinity for each other. 

 Chemical affinity is now supposed to depend on 

 electricity, and caloric is the agent which destroys 

 or opposes it. Now, when water comes in contact 

 with fire, the caloric weakens very much the 

 chemical affinity between its two elements, causing 

 it to assume the form of steam; yet the affinity is 

 strong enough to hold it in this form. Alcohol is 

 an artificial compound, found nowhere in nature, 

 nor formed by nature, but is always the product of 

 art. Its elements, carbon, hydrogen and oxygen, 

 have a very weak chemical affinity for each other, 

 in the proportions in which they are united to form 



