Vol. VII.— No. .3-2. 



AND HORTICULTUilAL JOURNAL. 



ket the crop of a liiiiidred acres ; and the most 

 laborious or tedious part of the operation, the 

 picking and assorting the leaves would only re- 

 quire the aid of women and children. 



At a time when the English are straining 

 every nerve to introduce the culture of the tea 

 plant into their East Indian possessions, nnder the 

 expectation of being at no distant day shut out 

 from the Chinese market, it may well be worth 

 our while to inquire whether we cannot render 

 ourselves inde[)endent also of a foreign supply. — 

 I do not pretend to any very profound arquaiiit- 

 ance with the '- metai)liysics of commerce," as po- 

 litical economy has been called, but I should cer- 

 tainly think, that our tea trade cannot be very 

 profitable to the country, as it is one in which 

 neither our staijle commodities nor the products 

 ©f our manufacturing industry, are given in ex- 

 change. 



But let us examine whether our climate or soil 

 offer any impediments to the successful introduc- 

 tion and cultivation of the tea plant. 



There is perhaps no country in the world whose 

 climate resembles our own so much as that of 

 China. This country extends with a medium 

 breadth of 600 miles along the eastern sea ; and 

 is included between the 22d and 41st degrees of 

 north latitude ; north easterly winds ])revail and 

 bring with them the same kind of weather which 

 we experience in the United States. From a me- 

 teorological table derived from Dr Lynn, who ac- 

 companied the English embassy in their travels 

 from the southern to the northern extremity of 

 China, it appears that during the months of Sep- 

 tember, October, and November, the thermometer 

 varied between 45 and 75 deg. though it was 

 rarely as low or as high as either of these points. 

 There were frequent ami sudden changes of tem- 

 perature, amounting to 10, or 15, and even 20 

 decrees within the twenty-four hours. Our Dr 

 Rush had long ago pointed out in some of his 

 philosophical essays the very great resemblance 

 in these particulars between the climate of China 

 and that of the United States, and hence we may 

 conclude that there is nothing in our climate to 

 prevent the successful cultivation of the tea plant. 

 Dr Abel mentions that the green tea district is 

 embraced between the 29th and 31st degrees, 

 which correspond to the northern parts of Georgia, 

 Alabama, and Mississipiii. 



Tlie black tea districts are confined within nar- 

 rower limits, that is to say, between the 27th and 

 2Sth decrees of north latitude. Florida, Louisia- 

 na and Texas would correspond with this in the 



St Helena, at the Cape of Good Hope, and as we 

 have seen above, at Kio de Janeiro. 



Having thus shown that there is nothing in its 

 geographical situation opposed to its introduction 

 into the ~United States, let us examine the nature 

 and composition of the soil upon which it is most 

 extensively raised in China. 



The intelligent author above quoted, states that 

 it appeared to be most generally cultivated on 

 sides of mcuntains, where there can be but little 

 accumulation of vegetable mould. The planta- 

 tion at Rio de Janeiro, was on a level plain, com- 

 posed of loose sand, resulting from the decompo- 

 sition of granitic rocks. As far as the tea districts 

 of China have been examined, the rocks of the 

 country are found to consist of sandstone, slate, 

 and granite. The result of all observations has 

 clearly shown that for the successful cultivation of 

 the tea plant, nothing more is required than a 

 meagre soil and a moderate temperature. Both 

 these requisites I believe may be found in our 

 country ; it only remains to mention one circum- 

 stance that may be supposed to be adverse to the 

 raising of tea. We are accustomed to see' it occa- 

 sionally in our hot houses, and hence we might be 

 led to conclude that it would not flourish in the 

 0|)cn air all the year round. The only meteoro- 

 logical table to which I have been able to refer, 

 shows that in the latter part of the month of No- 

 vember, the thermometer stood in the black tea dis- 

 trict at 40, and the observations for that month, 

 showed a continual and regular decrease of tem- 

 perature. We all know that ice and snow are fa- 

 miliar occurrences in the northern districts of 

 China ; and we have already seen what a striking 

 resemblance there is between that climate and 

 our own. I conclude then that the tea plant 

 might withstand even severe frosts ; and I am not 

 acquainted with any circumstance to oppose its 

 introduction into the United States. 



Respectfully yours, 



I. E. D. 



examination we found it to be of very simple con- 

 struction, not liable to get out of order, and op- 

 erates upon the timber with great facility and ex- 

 actness. It is constructed in such a manner that 

 its operation may be \iioduced by hand, horse, 

 water, or steam power. House, and ship builders, 

 machinists, cabinet makers, wheelwrights, &c., 

 may use it to great advantage ; iinj we recommend 

 it to them as an admirable and important inven- 

 tion. 



IVIr Knowlton, who is the agent for Mr Smith, 

 will probably attend to any communication that 

 may be addressed to him on the subject. — PUts- 

 fdd Jlrgus. 



Rcanimation of F>-ozen Fish. — In winter, the 

 Canadian fishermen erect huts on the ice of the 

 lakes and rivers, and, cutting a hole in the ice 

 enclose it with a screen of straw, &c. to shelter 

 themselves from the cold. Sitting inside the 

 screen they sink their hooks through the hole made 

 in the ice. Amongst other fish so caught, are 

 perch in abundance. After hauling them up if 

 thrown aside on the ice, they speedily become 

 frozen quite hard. They then take them home 

 and place them in water near a fire ; in a short 

 tiiTie they begin to exhibit symptoms of reanima- 

 tion. The fins first quiver, the gills open, the 



United States. 



Tint T« the temnerature of those States which . ,„ • , n 



net the west of 'the great Apalachian ridge of fi«h gradually turns Uself on ,ts belly, moves at 

 mountains is much higher than in corresponding 

 latitudes on the sea coast, I confidently expect 

 that the tea plant could be successfully cultivated 



in Teimessee, Kentucky, and Illinois. It must, 

 however, be remembered that these limits assign- 

 ed by Dr Abel to the tea districts in China, are 

 not fixed and permanent. Circumstances which 

 the proverbially cautious policy of the Chinese do 

 not permit us to unveil, may, perhaps, have con- 

 fined its more general cultivation to a district of 

 not more than 250 miles in extent. It is found, 

 however, growing in the latitude of 32 deg., cor- 

 responding nearly to that of Savannah, in Georgia, 

 and we know from Kempfer that it is successful- 

 ly cnltivated in Japan, as far north as the 45th 

 decree of latitude. It has also been introduced at 



first slowly about the basin, and at last completely 

 revives and swims briskly about. — Edin. M Phil. 

 Journal. 



''Revolving Timber Plane." — A machine for 

 straightening, squaring, and smoothing timber, of 

 various sizes, has recently been constructed, 

 which in its operation executes work in one- 

 eighth part of the time it can be performed by 

 hand, and in a better manner than it is usually 

 done, especially upon timber that is cross grained. 

 The inventor of this machine is Mr Daniel N. 

 Smith, of Warwick, Mass. There have been but 

 four constructed, one of which we saw in suc- 

 cessful operation the other day, at the Machine 

 Shop of Mr Elmer Knowlton, in this village. On 



Malt Liquors a Preventive of Fevers. — It is a cu- 

 rious fact, and one which is worthy of investiga- 

 tion by medical men, that persons who are in the 

 habit of drinking largely of malt liquors, are rare- 

 ly known to be siezed with typhus, or other low 

 fevers, whatever other eftects these liquors may 

 have upon the constitution. In corroboration of 

 this fact, we have been assured by those whose 

 ojjportunities for observation have been extensive, 

 that there is not an instance known of a brewer's 

 servant being entered as a patient, nnder these dis- 

 eases in any of the public hospitals. — York (Eng.) 

 Courant. 



Important to Gardeners. — On every square rod 

 planted with cucumbers, put a piece of a board 

 flat on the ground, to preserve your plants frota 

 a striped bug, which some seasons is very destruc- 

 tive. This simple experiment may seem to be 

 novel and ineftectnal : but the secret of the matter 

 is, the board forms a shelter for a toad, which 

 hops from under the cover at night and destroys 

 the bugs, and during the day time may be found 

 by turning over the board. Should any one have 

 doubts on the subject, be can easily try the exjier- 

 impnt, — Saratoga Sent. 



To make kitchen vegetables tender. — When peas, 

 French beans, and similar productions do not boil 

 easily, it has usually been imputeil to the coolness 

 of the season, or to the rains. This popular no- 

 tion is erroneous. The difficulty of boiling them 

 soft arises from a superabundant quantity of gyp- 

 sum imbibed during their growth. To correct 

 this, throw a small quantity of snbcarbonate of 

 soda [common soda of the shops] into the i)Ot 

 along witli the vegetables, the carbonic acid of 

 which will sieze upon the lime in the gypsum, and 

 free the legumes from its influence._^ — Bulletin des 

 Sciences. 



Wonderful Phenomenon. — On the afternoon of 

 the 9th of May last, in clear open weather, a rock 

 of 36 pounds weight fell with a tremendous noise, 

 in the vicinity of Forsyth, Geo. It sunk two feet 

 into the earth. The noise was lieaid to the dis- 

 tance of seventy or eighty miles round, which re- 

 sembled a mighty explosion. — The outer part of 

 the rock has the appearance of having been in the 

 fire, and when taken up, emitted a sulphurous 

 smell. When broken, it is of a bright grayish 

 color, mingled with some bright metallic particles. 

 History informs us, that similar bodies have fallen 

 from the atmosphere at diflerent times, in the 

 eastern, as well as in this continent, yet no one 

 has been able, satisfactorily, to account for their 

 origin. — Cherokee Phanix. 



