Vol.VII.-No.lO. 



AND HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 



75 



THE FLOOD. 



Since ihe waters receded from the meadows, 

 some of t!,e farmers have been enga^'ed in strip- 

 ping down the husks of the Indian corn, leaving 

 the'ears to drv and ripen on the stalks ; others in 

 .rathpriiiff their corn ami hulking it. Some ol it is 

 but little injured, and some is materially damas;e<l. 

 The potatns are completely ruined, and most of 

 them will he 1 ft in the ground. We believe that 

 a great portion of the potatos in the low meadows 

 in Hadley, Hatlield and Deertield, liave shared the 

 same fete with those in Northampton. 



Considerable loss has been sustained in nearly 

 all the towns in this county. The roads are 

 inucli injured, many bridj:es gone, and inurii dam- 

 age done to other property. Josiah Mills, Esq. of 

 Worthington, lost fifty merino sheep. We are in- 

 formed that one fourth of an acre of land in Am- 

 herst was carried away to the depth of twenty 

 feet, and deposited on a lower field. In North- 

 ampton a blacksmith's shop, and some other pro- 

 perty belonging to Mr. Salmon Ensign, were 

 swejit away. 



Errors corrected.— The bridge on Fort river in 

 Hadley is not gone. The water cut a broad 

 channel round the bridge, but did not carry it otl". 

 We were misinformed in regard to the destruc- 

 tion of salt at South Hadley Canal. 



In the vicinity of Hartford the low lands were 

 covered with water, and the crops destroyed or 

 much injured. In the city some families were 

 driven from their houses in the streets near the 

 river. The damage at Enfield Falls is estimated 

 at from .5000 to 10,000 dollars ; the Hartford 

 Mirror says the loss will not exceed .5000 dollars. 



At Farmington the embankment of the canal 

 adjoining the river gave way for a number of 

 rods, and the earth was removed ten or twelve 

 feet below the original bottom of the canal. The 

 great culvert was seriously underi>iiiied and dam- 

 aged, and the mouth of the Farmington feeder 

 greatly injured. 



■ The papers from the north and south are filled 

 with accounts of the disasters oceasiuied by the 

 late rains. — Hampshire Gazelle. 



INSTINCT OF A SHEEP. 

 A gentleman of Inverness, on a recent journey 

 Hi the Highlands, while passing through a lonely 

 and unfrequented district, observed a sheep hur- 

 rying towards the road before him, as if to inter- 

 cept his progress, and at the same time bleating 

 most piteously. On approaching nearer, the ani- 

 mal redoubled its cries, and looking significantly 

 in tlie face of the traveller, seemed to implore 

 some favor or assistance at his hands. Touched 

 with a sight so unusual, the gentleman alighted, 

 and leaving his gig, followed the sheep, to a field 

 in a direction whence it came. There, in a soli- 

 tary cairn, at a considerable distance from the 

 road, the sheep halted, and our traveller found a 

 lamb coin|iletely wedged in between two largf 

 stones of the cairn, and struggling feebly with its 

 legs uppermost. The gentleman instantly extri- 

 cated the little sufferer, and placed it safely on tlio 

 neighboring greensward, while its overjoyed 

 mother poured forth her thanks hi a long contin- 

 ued and grateful, if not a musical strain. — Iiivcr 

 ixcss Courier. 



Johnny, or hoe-cake. — Scald one quart of mill;, 

 and ]Hit it to three )>ints of Indian meal, and hah 

 a pint of fine tlour — .salt and sweeten it and bake 

 it before the inc. 



Method of dissipatins; Storms. — It is not uncom- 

 mon at sea, when danger is threatened from a 

 water spout, to fire a broadside al the mass. In 

 the M H-nnnais. in France, they sometimes make ' 

 use of a similar ('xpedient to dissipate destructive 

 storm- of hail or rain, bv explosions of siinpow- 

 der. This experiment was first tried at Varenard, 

 bv the Marriuis de Cheviers, a retired naval offi- 

 cer, who had got the hint at sea by obseri ing the 

 effect which discharges of ordnance produced up- 

 on the atmosphere. It was found so beneficial, 

 that lor several years an annual approiniation of 

 1600 His. of gunpowder was made for the pur- 

 pose. 



A farmer who lives in the immediate ueiehbor- 

 hood of Bedford, and reenlarly attends the mar- 

 ket there, was returning home in the eveniM<T very 

 recent'v on horseback, rather groggy, and not be- 1 

 inn- able very well to maintain his equilibrium, he , 

 rolled off, nolens volens, into the middle of the : 

 road. His horse stood still ; hut after remaitiinir 

 patiently for some time, and not observing any 

 <lisposition in its rider to set up or proceed fur- 

 ther, he took him by the collar and shook him. — 

 Tliis had little or no effect, for the farmer only 

 srave a grumble of dissatisfaction at havinjr his re- 

 pose disturbed. The horse was not to be jmt off 

 with any such evasion, and so applied his mouth 

 to one of his coat laps, and after several attempts 

 in this way to raise him imon his feet, the coat 

 lat> gave way. Three individuals, who witnessed 

 this extraordinary proceedimr, then came up. and 

 assistel him in mounting his charser, "iittin? the 

 one coat tail into the pocket of the other, and so 

 he safelv reached his home. This horse is de- 

 servedly a favorite of Ids master, and has. we un- 

 derstand, occasionally been encased in gambols 

 with him like a dog — T^/ne Mercury. 



JOURNAL OF NATURAL HISTORY. 



Mr LoiiDON. the indefatigable compiler of the 

 well known Encyclopedias of Agricilture and 

 Gardening, and the Editor of the Gardener's 

 Magazine, a periodir-al work in London, conduct- 

 ed with distinguished ability, has lately undertak- 

 en another journal, called The Magazine ofNntu- 

 ral History, and Journal of Zoclocfv. Botany, Min- 

 eralogy, Geology and Meteorologv. In 8vo. (to 

 be continued every two months, alternately with 

 the Gardener's Magazine) price 3s. 6d. The dif- 

 ferent departments edited by gentlemen eminent 

 in each. The drawings of Botany and Concholo- 

 gv, by Sowerby ; — of Animals, by Harvey ; — of 

 Trees, by Strutt ; — and the Engravings on Wood 

 by Branston. 



The objects of this work are — To record every 

 new fact belonging to the subject ; to render every 

 part of the subject interesting to the amateur and 

 general reader ; to lead on the reader by degrees 

 from the more elementary details to higher views 

 and discussions ; and to translate the technical 

 terms, and Latin or Greek words used in Natural 

 History, as they occur, and to give the derivation 

 and accentuation of all systematic names. The 

 arrangement will be as follows : — 



I. Zoology— 1. Original Communications. 2. 

 Reviews. 3. Collectanea, i. e. short Notices col- 

 lected from various sources ; Abstracts or Abridg- 

 ments of the most interesting papers in Foreign 

 Jonrnplfi, &c. 



II. Botany. The same. 

 HI. .Mineralo^n. The same. 

 IV. Geology. The same. 



•V. Meteorology. The same. 



VI. Tlie General Suhject. 1. Original papers 

 of a Miscellaneous Description, or embracing two 

 or more Dnpartments, or a topic common to the 

 whole of Natural History. 2. Analytical Reviews 

 of Books on Natural History in general ; such aa 

 Elementary Works, Systems, Transactions of So- 

 cieties, Travels. &c. 3. Miscellaneous Domestic 

 Intelligence relative to the general subject, includ- 

 ing Meetings of Natural History Societies, Notices 

 respecting Museums, Sales of objects of Natural 

 History, Names of Dealers, List cjf Prices, Visits 

 to Collections, &c. 4. Miscellaneous Colonial 

 and Foreign Intelligence. 5. A Comparative 

 Calendar of Nature for different parts of the 

 World, and particularly for different and distinctly 

 situated parts of Britain. 6. Indicatorial Calen- 

 dar, pointing out the Objects to which the Stu- 

 dent ought to attend during the ensuing month. 

 7. Dpsi<lprata, i. e. topics or particular points of 

 Natural Histoid, foreign or domestic, which re- 

 quire to be investigated. 8. Queries, and Ans- 

 wers to Queries. 9. Retrospective Criticism.— 

 10. Obituary and Biography. 11. Catalogue of 

 B.'oks in the different Departments of Natural 

 HisKiry. 12. Notices of Works in the Press, or 

 in preparation. 



The first number, among other subjects, con- 

 tains articles on the Birds of America ; on the 

 Natural History of Plants ; on the Principal For- 

 est Trees of Europe, considered as Elements of 

 Landscape ; the state .^f Natural Histoi7 in North 

 America, &c. 



We have mad.? arrangements for receiving 

 [these works from London, and shall enrich the 

 I columns of the New England Farmer with ex- 

 tracts from such articles as will interest American 

 readers. 



AGRICULTURAL WORKS. 



Among other agricultural works recently pub- 

 lished in London, wc notice the following :— A 

 Treati.se on the Cultivation of Mangel Wurzel, 

 with Observations on the Utility of Steaming 

 Food ibr Cattle ; by George Bridges ; 8vo. 3s. sd. 

 Transactions of the Botanical and Horticultural 

 Society of the counties of Durham, Northumber- 

 land, and Newcastle-upon-Tyne ; Vol. I. ; Part I. 

 2s. 6d. sd. An Intro<luction to Entomology, or 

 i Elements of the Natund History of Insects ; by 

 ! William Kiriiy, and William Spence, Esq. F.L.S. 

 [Botanical Arrangement if British Plants ; by W. 

 i Withering, Esq. LL.D. F.L.S. &c. The EngUsh 

 ! Flora ; by Sir James E. Smith, M.D. F.R.S. Pres- 

 lident of the Linnajaii Society, &c. &c. ; in 4 vols. 

 I 8vo. " Sylva Florifera," the " Shrubbery ;" con- 

 i taining an Historical and Botanical Account of 

 f the Flowering Shrubs and Trees which now or- 

 [nament the Shrubbery, the Park, and Rural 

 I Scenes in general ; by Henry Philips, F.H.S. au- 

 ! thor of the History of Fruits known in Great 

 i Britain, and the History of Cultivated Vegetables. 

 j2 vols. 8vo. Conversations on Botany, with 

 Twenty-one Engravings. Conversations 0!i Min- 

 eralogy, with Plates. 



Malaria.— The sickness which now prevails on 

 Long Island, and which suddenly attacks whole 

 families, is considered by some to be the malaria, 

 so well known in Europe, and which arises from 

 heat, moisture, and the decay of vegetation. Its 

 effects in seme ])laces have been dreadful indeed, 

 and we tru: t will call forth the investigation of 

 gentlemen of medical talent. — L. I. Star. 



