Vol. VII.— No. 52. 



AND HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 



413 



RAILWAYS. ; 



[Exlrnct from an European Magazine, Aug. 1805.] ( 



EXTRAOREINARY^'EAT OF A DRAUGHT HORSe! 



An unparalleled instance of the power of a hoi'pe, 

 when assisted by ait, was shown near Croydfn. 

 The Surrey Iron Railway being completed, aiid 

 opened for the carriage of goods all the way floai 

 Wandworth to Mertsh.^rn, a bet was made be- 

 tween two gentlemen that a common horse coijlil 

 draw thirty-six tons for six miles along the road, 

 and that he should draw this weight from a dead 

 |)ull, as well as turn it round the occasional wind- 

 ings of the road. The 24th of July was fixed on 

 for the trial, when a number of gentlemen assem- 

 bled near Mertsham to see this extraordinary tri- 

 umph of art. Twelve wagons loaded witli stones, 

 each wagon weighing above three tons, were 

 chained together, and a horse, taken promiscuous- 

 ly from the timber cart of Mr Harwood, was 

 yoked into the team. He started from near the 

 Po.x public house, and drew the immense chain of 

 wagons with apparent ease, to near the turnpike 

 at Croyden, a distance of si.x miles, in one hour 

 and forty-one minutes, which is nearly at the rate 

 of four miles an hour. In the course of this time 

 he stopped four times, to show that it was not by 

 the impetus of the descent that the power was 

 acquired ; and after each stoppage he drew off 

 the chain of wagons from a dead rest. Having 

 gained his wager, Mr Banks, the gentleman who 

 laid the bet, directed four more loaded wagons to 

 be added to the cavalcade, with which the same 

 horse again set off with undiminished power ; 

 and still further to show the effect of the Railway 

 in facilitating motion, he directed the attending 

 workmen, to the number of about fifty, to mount 

 on the wagons, when the horse proceeded with- 

 out the least distress ; and in truth, there appear- 

 ed to be scarcely any limitation to the power of 

 his draught. After the trial the wagons wpjp. 

 taken to the weighing machine, and it appeared 

 that tlif whole weight was as follows, 



qrs. 

 2 



to hang over the field. If allowed to stand longer, 

 the stalks of the male hemp wither, become dark 

 colored, and the coat will be of little value. The 

 way to secure seed for the succeeding year, is to 

 sow a patch thinly for that purpose, at the rate of 

 from half to three-fourths of a bushel tb the acre, 

 but the better way is to sow in drills or rows. — 

 Cutting is preferable to pulling ; a man will ctit 

 from half to an acre per day, but can pull only 

 about a quarter of an acre ; and cut hemp will 

 bring more by the ton than pulled. In gathering 

 the hemp it should be sorted into long and short. 

 Fine and soft hemp is the best ; the American is 

 frecpiently the reverse owing to the seed being 

 sowed too sparingly. 



idle away all the time they 

 they are fourteen or fifteen ; 

 pitiful rivalry of fashion 



12 wagons, first linked Tons. Civt. 



together, weighed 38 4 



4 ditto afterwards at- 

 tached 13 2 



Supposed weight of 50 



laborers 4 



Total, 55 6 



CULTIVATION OF HEMP. 



Hemp is considered a very hardy plant, resists 

 drought and severe frost, is easier cultivated, less 

 exhausting, and more profitable than many other 

 vegetable crops. It may be grown year after 

 year on the same ground well manured, and has 

 been cropped from the same ground in England, 

 seventy years in succession. The usual quantity 

 of seed sown on an acre of middling land, shouhl I 

 be two bushels to an acre, on very rich ground 

 three bushels. Early sowing renders the coat 

 heavier and strotiger ; the ground being covered 

 early shades the soil and preserves the moisture. 

 The seed having been sown as even as possible 

 should be well harrowed, and a roller or brush 

 passed over to smooth and level the ground, so 

 that the hemp may be cut about the 1st of Au- 

 gust ; the time will be indicated by the blossom 

 stalks becoming yellow spcnted, and dropping the 

 leaves ; and when the wind is still, a cloud of dust 

 from the blossom stalks or male hemp will be seen 



REARING OF SILK WORMS. 



We have in our possession a beautiful skein of 

 silk, spun upon the farm of Mr Enoch Boynton, 

 of Byfield, in this county. We understand that 

 this gentleman has about six thousand worms, 

 and has for the two or three last years turned his 

 attention to the culture of silk. The valuable in- 

 formation on the subject of silk worms, which was 

 disseminated by Mr Rush's Manual, prepared by 

 order of Congress, in 1828, has led to some ex- 

 periments in th& rearing of Worms in our own 

 town. The skilful superintendent of our Aims- 

 House farm, has planted a small spot of white 

 mulberry trees, and is now rearing one or two 

 thousand worms, for the purpose of employing 

 those tenants of the Aims-House who are disabled 

 for other work. As a woman can make from 

 twelve to fifteen poimds of raw silk, in a season of 

 six weeks, which is worth four dollars per pound, 

 we think that the culture of this article 

 furnishes the most profitable employment, which 

 can be introduced into Alins:-TTnti«;ps5- In one or 

 two towns in Connecticut there are annually man- 

 uftictureil from two to ttiree Uioutsand pounds. In 

 one of the counties in that State, it is said, thai 

 sewing silk answers for money as a circulating 

 medium, in the same manner as tobacco was for- 

 merly considered in Virginia and Kentucky. 



The Manual of the Secretary of State, to which 

 we have above referred, informs us, that the first 

 culture of silk, in this country, commenced in Vir- 

 ginia, by order of King James 1st. That as early 

 as 1623, the Colonial Assembly directed the plant- 

 ing of mulberry trees, and in 1656 an act was 

 passed, imi)Osing a penalty of ten poimds of to- 

 bacco upon every planter who should fail to plant 

 at least ten nudberry trees, for every hundred 

 acres of his land, and in the same year, a premi- 

 um of four thousand pounds of tobacco was given 

 to a person for prosecuting the trade in silk, and 

 during the next year a premium of ten thousand 

 pounds of tobacco was offered to any one who 

 should export two hundred pounds worth of the 

 raw material. — Salem Observer. 



From (he Massachusetls Journal. 



MORE HINTS TO PEOPLE OF MODER 

 ATE FORTUNE. 



Early teach children to take the whole care of 

 their own clothes. Talking will do no good so 

 long as their own carelessness is supplied by an- 

 other's attention. Make them depend on them- 

 selves. In all probability there will be times when 

 care and anxiety must come upon them ; at all 

 events it is wise to prepare them for such contin- 

 gencies. In this country we arc too apt to let 



children romp and 

 arc out of school, tili 

 and then how soon the 

 and vanity begins ! 



The fact is, children can be so educated aa to 

 take a pleasure m their a^,ty ; they can find en-' 

 joyment in usefulness ; and iijt „ot well that they 

 should find their happiness in sunces over which 

 time and circumstances have no pt>vver ' 



" Begin early," is the great maxinv fo,- every- 

 thing in education. A child of six yeai-a. old can 

 be made useful; and they should be tatwht to 

 consider each day lost, in which they have failed 

 to do some little thing for the benefit of others.-~- 

 The eager inquiries they make whether they have 

 done any good, and the innocent and gleeful pride 

 they evince when they receive assurance that they 

 have, is suflicient proof that habits of usefulness 

 are not naturally felt as a bondage. 



It is wise to keep an exact account of all you 

 expend ; even to a paper of pins. This answers 

 two purposes. It makes you more careful in 

 spending money ; and it enables your husband to 

 judge precisely whether his family live within his 

 income. No false pride, or foolish ambition to 

 appear as well as others, should ever induce a per- 

 son to live one cent beyond the income of which 

 he is certain. If you have two dollars a day, let 

 nothing but sickness induce you to spend more 

 than nine shillings. If you have one dollar, do 

 not spend more than seventy-five cents. If you 

 have but half a dollar a day, be satisfied to spend 

 forty cents. 



To associate with influential and genteel people, 

 with an appearance of equality, unquestionably has 

 its advantages ; particularly where there is a family 

 of sons and daughters coming upon the theatre of 

 iifc ; but, JiUo all other oxLenial advantages, it baa 

 its pi-oper price, and may be bought too dearly. — 

 They, who never reserve a cent of their income, 

 .„;tt. vi'K.ai. CO meet any unforeseen calamity, 

 " pay too dear for their whistle," whatever tempo- 

 rary advantages they may derive from society. 



Self denial in proportion to the narrowness of 

 your income, will eventually be the happiest, and 

 most respectable course for you and yours. If 

 you are prosperous, perseverance, industry, and 

 good character will not fail to place you in such 

 a situation as your ambition covets ; and if you 

 are not prosperous, it will be well for your chil- 

 dren that they have not been educated to higher 

 hopes than they will ever realize. 



Pear Trees — It is really surprising, says a sci- 

 entific writer, in allusion to the grafting of pears 

 on a quince stock, that English gardeners should 

 have so long neglected the practice, which has 

 long been followed in France, and to which the 

 excellence of the French pears is in a just degree 

 to be attributed. The quince used as a stock has 

 the property of stunting the growth of the pears, 

 and forcing them to produce bearing branches in- 

 stead of sterile ones, and of accelerating the ma- 

 turity of the fruit. No small garden should con- 

 tain pear trees grafted in any other way, nor any 

 large garden be without them to a considerable 

 extent. — N'eiv Monthly Mag. 



A writer in the Vermont Journal recommends 

 the use of soap suds in destroying caterpillars, and 

 says it will kill them as quick as the flames of 

 gun powder. Apply the suds when \}\ey arc in 

 the web, which is generally at sunrise, and at 1 

 Q'clpck, P. M. 



