THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



29 



to extend the use of marl and lime are beginning 

 to be appreciated, and are operating upon the 

 community to an extent of which you probably 

 have no conception. 



While on this subject, I will mention a circum- 

 stance in another state, which, has recently come 

 to my knowledge. I am a native of York, in 

 Pennsylvania, and recollect, in my boyhood, hear- 

 ing " the barrens" frequently spoken of. This was 

 a large extent of sandy countrj^, commencing 

 about five miles from York, and proverbial (or po- 

 verty. The land was considered scarcely worth 

 accepting as a gift. A townsman, whom I met a 

 few days ago, tells me that they have lately taken 

 to liming this section, and that the value of it has 

 in consequence suddenly started up to $50 per acre. 

 Many of the farmers now preler it to the rich but 

 heavy soils by which it is surrounded, as they con- 

 sider it less liable to suffer from the summer 

 droughts. York and Lancaster counties, you 

 know, are considered the garden of Pennsylvania: 

 and it is a circumstance worthy of note, that a 

 sandy region in their midst is beginnin'g to have 

 such a value merely from the use of lime. In my 

 last visit to York, I was surprised to find how 

 much the limestone quarries in that neighborhood 

 had increased in value, and how rapidly the lime- 

 kilns in the neighborhood of the town have multi- 

 plied, in consequence of the demand of this article 

 for agricultural use. And this, it must be remem- 

 bered, is in a region where farmers are proverbially 

 skilful, and where they never throw away a cent 

 on wild or useless schemes. 



If you think think the above useful you are at 

 liberty to publish it. Gko. Jonks. 



P. S. If any of your subscribers take pleasure 

 in a fine-looking poultry yard, allow me to recom- 

 mend the Bucks county (Pa.) fowls. They can 

 be purchased in Philadelphia — cost high ; but are 

 of extraordinary size. 



seasonable: hikts. 



The following extract from Col. Macerone's 

 ' Seasonable Hints,' appeared in the Mechanics'' 

 Magazine, dated February 3, 1838. After stat- 

 ing the utility of sheep-skin clothing, for persons 

 whose employment renders it necessary that they 

 should be much out of doors, &c., he says — " I 

 will not conclude without inviting the attention of 

 your readers to a cheap and easy method of pre- 

 serving their feet from wet and their boots from 

 wear. I have only had three pair of boots (or the 

 last six years, (no shoes,) and I think that I shall 

 not require any others for the next six years to 

 come! The reason is, that I treat them in the 

 following manner : I put a pound of tallow and 

 half a pound of rosin into a pot on the fire; 

 when melted and mixed, I warm the boots, and 

 apply the hot stuff with a painter's brush, uniil 

 neither the sole nor upper leathers will suck in 

 any more. If it is desired that the boots should 

 immediately take a polish, dissolve an ounce of 

 bee's wax in an ounce of spirits of turpentine, to 

 which add a tea-spoonful of lampblack. A day 

 or two after the boots have been treated with the 

 tallow and rosin, rub over them the wax in tur- 

 pentine, but not before the fire. Thus the exte- 

 rior will have a coat of wax alone, and shine like 



a mirror. Tallow, or any other grease, becomes 

 rancid, and rots the stitching as well as the leather ; 

 but the rosin gives it an atilise[)tic quality which 

 preserves the whole. Boots or shoes should be so 

 large as to admit of wearing them with cork soles. 

 Cork is so bad a conductor of heal, that, with it 

 in the boot, the feet are always warm on the 

 coldest stone floor. 



EXTRACTS FROM THE ADDRESS OF JAMES M. 

 GARNETT, TO THE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY 

 OF FREDERICKSBURG, VA,, NOVEMBER 13tH 



1840. 



On this occasion, my friends, as on several other 

 of our anniversary meetings, I shall commence 

 what I have to say to you, with a detail of such 

 experiments as I have made since we last assem- 

 bled together. Although few in number, 1 hope 

 they will be deemed, at least, equally interesting 

 with any which I have heretofore communicated. 

 And first, I will speak of Indian corn — that king 

 of all grains ; since it is not only our chief staple 

 throughout all the tide-water portion of Virginia, 

 but really has higher claims to our attention than 

 all other grains, on account of the far greater va- 

 riety of uses to which it can be applied. This 

 should lead all corn-growers to continual experi- 

 ments, with a view to ascertain which, among all 

 the varieties now cultivated, is best (or every pur- 

 pose. And true it is, that many trials — called 

 experiments — are frequently made, but most of 

 them in a way so loose and inaccurate, as to leave 

 the matter quite as much in doubt as before the 

 trial. Thus each man is apt to have a pet corn 

 of his own, which he fondly conceits is the best 

 in the world, and consequently is almost sure to 

 give it some advantage over all with which he 

 compares it — if indeed, he ever prevails on him- 

 self to bring any others into competition with his 

 favorite. Again, the few, comparatively speaking, 

 who experiment at all, instead of making their 

 trials as accurate as possible, by choosing similar 

 j ground of precisely the same dimensions and 

 fertility, giving it similar culture, and then ac- 

 curately measuring the quantities produced by 

 each piece — generally content themselves with 

 merely judging by sight. In all such cases, if 

 the experimenters happen to be popular agricultu- 

 r sts, it is taken for granted by their admirers, that 

 their opinions must be correct ; and thus the varie- 

 ties of corn which they recommend, frequently get 

 into very extensive use, without having any just 

 claims to preference. This we might all easily 

 avoid, simply by making experiments tor our- 

 selves, with the necessary degree of care and 

 nicety, instead of trusting implicitly to olheis, 

 when under no necessity whatever to do so. But 

 it is idle, perhaps, in me, or any other person, to 

 preach against the most pernicious practice of 

 unnecessarily taking things for granted, since 

 thousands upon thousands of our race have been 

 following it from the earliest records of time to 

 the present day. It is the prolific, the inexhausti- 

 ble source of all the fooleries, frauds, and humbugs 

 that have ever prevailed throughout the woild — 

 none of which could ever have injured mankind 

 to any great extent, but fijr their own highly cul- 

 pable credulity. Let this suffice by way of pre- 



