380 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



June 19, 1829. 



From the American Senllnel. 



BEES. 



Mr Starr— In a laie number of the New Eng- 

 land Farmer, inlbrmation is requested respecting 

 the source whence the bees obtain the substance 

 they bring to their hives, early in the spring, be- 

 fore any signs of vegetation appear. 



It is, in general, obtained from the heads of the 

 skunk cabbage, pothos gynandria polyandria, which 

 is common in our swamps, or low springy ground. 

 The blossoms appear in February and March, 

 and abound with that material with wliicli the 

 bees are seen returning to their hives, at their first 

 commencement of spring labor. 



Should " Medicus" become acquainted with any 

 facts respecting these curious little animals, upon 

 which he wants information, I shall be happy to 

 furnish him with any in my power; having been, 

 for more thah thirty years, acquainted with the 

 management of bees, and a careful observer of 

 many facts relating to them. N. 



Middktown, May 30, 1829. 



The Season. — The present appearance of the 

 grass crops in this vicinity is unusually promising, 

 and it is now so far advanced that it may be con- 

 sidered out of danger from a drought. Indian 

 corn came up remarkably well, and has grown so 

 rapidly that it is now earlier than in the average 

 of seasons at this time of the year. English grain 

 of all kinds affords the promise of a bountiful har- 

 vest. The apple trees do not so generally bear as 

 in some years, but those which have fruit on look 

 well, and there will, probably, be no deficiency if 

 the season should continue favorable. Of peaches 

 there will be but few, and hardly any pears. — 

 Cherries look tolerably well. — Mass. Spy. 



From the Journal o( a Naturalist. 



Trees in full foliage have long been noted as 

 great attractors of humidity, and a young wych 

 elm in full leaf affords a good e.xainple of this 

 supposed power ; but in the winter of the year, 

 when trees are perfectly denuded, this faculty of 

 creating moisture about them is equally obvious, 

 though not so profusely. A strongly marked in- 

 stance of this was witnessed by me, when ascend- 

 ing a hill in the month of March. The weather 

 had previoii-ly been very fine and dry, and the 

 road in a dusty state ; but a fog coming on, an 

 ash tree hanjiiiig over the road was dripping with 

 water so copiously that the road beneath was in 

 a puddle, when tlie other ))art,s continued dry, and 

 manifested no ai)pearance of htunidity. That 

 leaves imbibe moisture by one set of vessels and 

 discharge it by another, is well known ; but tirese 

 imbibings are never discharged in falling drops ; 

 the real mystery was, the fog in progress was im- 

 peded by tlie boughs of the tree, and gradually 

 collected on the ojipo-'site side of thein, until it be- 

 came drops of water ; whereas the surrounding 

 country had only a mist flying over it. Thus, in 

 fact, the tree was no attructor, but a condenser ; 

 the gate of a field will in tlie same manner run 

 down with water on the one side, and be dry on 

 the other; as will a stick, or post from the same 

 cause. It is upon this jirinciple that curi'ents of 

 air will he found under trees in summer, when lit- 

 tle is perceived in open places ; and the under 

 leaves and sprays will be curled and scorched at 

 times, when the parts above are uninjured. The 

 air in its passage being stopped and condensed 



against the foliage of the tree, it accordingly de- 

 scends along its surface or front, and escapes at 

 the bottom, where there are no branches or loaves 

 to interrupt its progress. In winter there is little 

 to impede the breeze in its course, and it passes 

 through ; consequently, at this season the air uu- 

 iler a tree is scarcely more sensibly felt than in 

 the adjoining field. It may be observed, that in 

 the sjtring of the year, the herbage under trees is 

 geneiially more vivJd and luxuriant than that which 

 is beyond the spread of the branches ; this may be 

 occasioned, in some instances, by cattle having 

 harbored there, and the ground becoming in con- 

 sequence more manured ; but it will be found 

 likewise manifestly more verdant and flourishing 

 where no such accessory could have enriched it, 

 and is, I apprehend, in general chiefly owing to 

 the effects of the driving fogs and mists, which 

 cause a frequent drip beneath the tree, not expe- 

 rienced in other places, and thus in a manner kept 

 up a perpetual irrigation and refreshment of the 

 soil. 



Molasses. — It may be interesting to the public, 

 and pjirticularly to our brother Yankees, to know 

 in what maimer the price is made up which they 

 pay for Cuba molasses. They will see from the 

 following statement, that the cost of the article at 

 the places from which it is imported, is less than 

 half the amount required for casks to put it in. 

 Expenses of casks, per gallon, 7 cts. 

 Freight, 4 



Duty, 10 



Leakage, 2J 



Small charges, ^ 



Original cost, 3 



27 cts. 

 The value of Muscovado sugar in some of the 

 West India Islands is from three to fotn- cents per 

 lb., and in others from four to five cents, accord- 

 ing to the quality. — Jour, of Com. 



and produce very abundantly. Such being the 

 case, it is hoped, ere long, sufficient v.'ill be pro- 

 duced from our own soils, to supersede the neces- 

 sity of importation ; as plantations of this tree 

 would amply remunerate the possessor ; or, if 

 planted as a hedge, would be found to be very 

 prodiictive. A single bush of the Spanish filbert, 

 in Blr Prince's garden, produces half a bushel an- 

 mially. — Prmce^s Catalogue. 



Superiorand cheap Blacking for Leather. — Those 

 illustrious ))rofessors of the black art, Messrs Day 

 & Martin, Warren, Hunt, & Co., are now likely 

 to be eclipsed by Mr Bracconnet, the eminent 

 French chemist, who has discovered that a com- 

 position superior, as well as greatly cheaper, may 

 be made from the following formula : — 



Take Plaster of Paris, passed through a fine 

 silk sieve, 100 parts ; lampblack, 25 parts ; malt, 

 50 parts ; olive oil, 5 parts. Let the malt be first 

 macerated in water nearly boiling, to obtain its 

 soluble particles. Then mix the plaster and lamp- 

 black in a basin with that liquid, and when evap- 

 orated to the consistence of paste, mix the olive 

 oil with it. A little oil of lemons may be added 

 to perfume it. 



By the use of this receipt, the farmer may not 

 only prepare a cheap and good blacking for his 

 shoes, but also for the harness of his carriage or 

 gig. — Register of Arts, London, vol. ii. p. 271. 



A farmer in West Springfield, last year let out 

 his land at the halves, for the cultivation of hemp. 

 He received more than forty-five dollars an acre, 

 as his share of the profit! — WiUiamstoion Advo- 

 cate. 



JVorth Carolina Gold Region. — This richest of 

 all the American mineral regions, saving the coal 

 district of the Middle States, and the Iron of New 

 Jersey, and New York ; is every day found to be 

 more and more extensive. We on Saturday morn- 

 ing had a conversation with a gentleman who re- 

 turned on Friday evening from a visit to the gold 

 region, made at the instance of two gentlemen of 

 tiiis city, who are extensive landholders in the 

 country. lie has ascertained that at least 100,000 

 acres of the lands of those gentlemen are impreg- 

 nated with gold, and has brought specimens of 

 ore. The gentleman to whom we refer, visited 

 one ])lacc where eighty men are employed in 

 working a mine, and the product of their labor is 

 about $500 a day. While our informant was 

 there, a number of crucibles were dug up, which 

 were comitcsed of soap stone, and must have been 

 buried there forages. It is therefore evident that 

 the mines must at some remote period have been 

 known to, and worked by, the Indians. Some 

 gold rings, and articles of jewellery were found 

 in the possession of aborigines of that country, on 

 the first settlement of the whites, but where the 

 precious metal came from, has not until this time 

 been known — JV. Y. Com. Adv. 



Filberts. — These nuts, which are vended in 

 large quantities in the United States, grow as well 

 in our climate, as the common native hazlenuts. 



DEFERRED ARTICLES. 



RAIL. ROADS. 



We have never seen a more able and lucid 

 summary of arguments and facts in favor of that 

 species of improved highways, denominated Rail 

 Roads, than is contained in the following extract 

 from Gov. Lincoln's last Message to the Legisla- 

 ture. If a good road has its advantages over a 

 j trackless space, rough from the mould of nature, 

 the best of roads is still more desirable. If a 

 smooth, hard, level, straight turnpike is to be pre- 

 ferred to a crooked, narrow, up and down, miry 

 foot path, where a mule would stumble, and a 

 goat must be on the look out for stepping stones, 

 a railway fitted up with the modern improvements 

 is superior to a turnpike. Whether the proposed 

 railway from Boston to Albany will cost more 

 than the value of its advantages, is a question 

 without the sphere of our jurisdiction. 



"That the great work of a rail road from Boston 

 to the Hudson River, facilitating communication 

 j between the commercial capital of this State and 

 I the leading highway and thorough-fare from the 

 ! immense regions of the North, and West to the 

 ! commercial capital of the Union, is an event to be 

 I realized in the progress of time, no one who has 

 the slightest acquaintance with the geography of 

 ■ the country, and the advance of population, with 

 ; the increased and multiplied occasiotis of business 

 consequent upon it can reasonably doid)t. If we 

 are yet tmprepared for the undertaking, a genera- 

 tion not remote, will assuredly eficct it. But wc 

 may at least accelerate the work by an examina- 

 tion of the objections which discourage its com- 

 mencement. Inquiry and investigation will re- 

 move obstacles, which prejudice, from the novelty 



