NEW ENCxLAND FARMER. 



319 



the stump ! Yet, we think well of the large mass 

 of political parties, whose "sober second thought," 

 as Fisher Ames, (not Van Buren) our own hon- 

 ored son, said, in the Massachusetts convention 

 upon the adoption of the Constitution of the Unit- 

 ed States ; — the sober second thought of these 

 masses will bring matters right ; at least, such is 

 our faith in the people. 



But we agree with our friend, that the pursuits 

 of rural life are far less exciting, and present far 

 less temptations to fruitless ambition and corrod- 

 ing care, than political pursuits. There is no 

 condition in life, in our opinion, so highly favora- 

 ble to the full development of high character, the 

 perfect man, as that of the agricultural community. 

 In that, the moral powers occupy a higher scale 

 than in most others, while the intellectual, per- 

 haps, are less prominent. It becomes us, then, 

 to raise these, and then we present not only the 

 most perfect man, but the most perfect communi- 

 ty, and nation. 



Our friend's views of the position and influence 

 of farmers are liberal and just, and their expres- 

 sion will affjrd encouragement to them as it does 

 to us. 



For the New England Farmer. 



SIMPLE RULES, 



FOR LAYING OUT GIVEN SURFACES. 



These can be of little use to the surveyor, but 

 may be of utility to refer to, especially to those 

 Avho are not versed in the surveyor's art. In land- 

 scape gardening and rural embellishments a few 

 such rules are often indispensable. In measuring 

 land surfaces, the chain of two or four rods is used. 

 A proper chain, is 4 rods, or 22 yards, or G6 feet, 

 or 100 links (of 7.92 inches) in length; and a 

 square chain contains 1G square rods, or one-tenth 

 of an acre. A wooden rod 16 1-2 feet in length, 

 or a tape or rope of the exact length 16 1-2 feet 

 may likewise be used. The square acre contains 

 160 square rods, or 10 square chains, (of four lin- 

 ear rods each.) 



To lay out an acre in the form of a square, mea- 

 sure one way, (say north,) 12 rods and 16 2-10 

 links, or 12 rods and 10 7-10 feet; then measure 

 at right angles to this, (say east,) the same dis- 

 tance. To lay out the same in form of an oblong, 

 measure one way 20 rods and the other 8, or so 

 that one side multiplied by the other shall equal 

 160. i ' 1 



To lay out, 1st, an acre, 2d, one-fourth acre, 

 3d, one-eighth acre, in the form of a circle : — 



1. Fix a centre, and with a rope (radius) 7 rods 

 and 3 3-8 links in length, trace the circle (of one 

 acre) on the ground. 



2. For 1-4 acre, use a measure 3 rods and 14 

 links in length. 



3. For 1-8 acre, use a measure 2 rods and 13 

 links in length. 



To lay out, 1st, an acre, 2d, one-eighth acre, in 

 the form of an equilateral triangle : — 



1. Make each side of the triangle 19 rods and 

 5 1-2 links in length for an acre. 



2. Make each side of the triangle 6 rods and 20 

 links in length for 1-8 acre. 



A plot of ground may be laid out having the 

 form of an ellipse or oval, in the following manner, 

 viz.: Set three stakes, not in a straight line, but 

 say at the three corners of a triangle. Around 

 these stretch a rope or cord. Then take away one 

 of the stakes, which stake move along against the 

 rope, keeping it tight, and it will trace out an 

 ellipse. 



If proper, I will send some simple rules for sur- 

 veying land and for multiplying chains, links and 

 rods, &c, with remarks on the use of the compass. 

 Salisbury. 



Remarks. — Right and proper. Such short and 

 plain rules are exceedingly convenient to moat of 

 us many times in the year. 



A NEW HORSE RAKE. 



A writer in the Germantown Telegraph says : — 



"To the already extended list of labor-saving 

 implements used on the farm, there has been an- 

 other lately added, which is really a remark- 

 able and valuable invention — being calculated to 

 rake either hay or oats, on rough or level ground. 

 # # # # # 



"In my opinion no invention calculated for the 

 lightening of farm labor has been made for the 

 past half century which can be regarded as more 

 decidedly valuable. There is no need of stopping 

 at all in placing the rows ; it does its work perfect- 

 ly; is cheap ; easily mended when out of order; 

 saves the labor of one hand, and will rake oats or 

 barley as well as hay ! Indeed, the latter grain is 

 always so short, that the hand-rake never takes it 

 clean, while this instrument leaves scarcely a straw 

 behind. Any fanner who mows twenty-five acres 

 of grass, and half or two-thirds the number of 

 acres of oats and barley, would save the price of 

 one in a season." 



Our readers will recollect that we recently gave 

 a cut of the rake described above. We have used 

 it three seasons, and fully concur in what the 

 writer states above, and will add, that the person 

 raking rides, and finds the labor a light one. 



A WONDER. 



According to some Italian journals, a new or- 

 ganized being has been discovered in the interior 

 of Africa, which seems to form an intermediate 

 link between vegetable and animal life. This sin- 

 gular production has the shape of a spotted ser- 

 pent. It drags itself along on the ground, and, 

 instead of a head has a flower shaped like a bell, 

 which contains a viscous liquid. Flies and other 

 insects attracted by the smell of the juice, enter 

 into the flower, where they are caught by the ad- 

 hesive matter. The flower then closes _ and re- 

 mains shut until the prisoners are bruised and 

 transformed into chyle. The indigestible portions, 

 such as the head and wings, are thrown out by 

 two aspired openings. The vegetable serpent has 

 a skin resembling leaves, a white and soft flesh, 

 and, instead of a bony skeleton, a cartilagenous 

 frame filled with yellow marrow. The native, 

 consider it delicious food, at least so says the paper 

 from which we copy the above, but we consider 

 the whole story a fabrication. 



