262 



THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



heavy lands of ihis district, is only useiul to crops 

 which have succeeded a clover-ley, and to young 

 clovers. Should the future experience ol others 

 agree with my own, it at once points out the 

 fields to which" in a season it ouglu to be applied, 

 and may remove some of the couOicting opmions 

 regarding its value as a manure. 



Oswald Coplakd. 

 Grove hall, ToUeshunt Knights, Essex. 



NITRATE OF SODA. 



From the Farmcis' Magazine. 

 On the 25ih of April last, 1 sowed a ridire in a 

 field of wheal vs^ith nitrate of soda, U cwt. per 

 acre, the ridge adjoining with saltpetre, 1 cwt. 

 14 lbs. per acre, the ridges on each side of thern 

 receiving no manure ; the same plan was adopted 

 on the "same day in another whe^t field. Ihe 

 field No. 1, is a uravelly soil ; No. 2, a wot sanu, 

 both were (alloued the preceding year 

 lowing is the result ; — 



No. 1. 



The lol- 



I remain, very faithfully yours, a friend to 



Agricultural Improvebient. 



•IMPORTANT DISCOVERY — HOW TO RENDER 

 AVOOD IMPERISHABLE AND INCOMBUS- 

 TIBLE. 



From the New Genesee Farmer. 



• 31essrs. Editors .-—A discovery of ihe highest 

 imporiance appears to have been made in France, 

 by which the long-sought jireservalion o( wood 

 from ordinary decay, combustion, &c., is finally 

 achieved. This has been done by introducina 

 into the wood itself, through the agency of veo-e- 

 table lile, the substances which contribute to these 

 important ends. 

 it has, indeed., been long known to amateur 



botanists, that the flowers ol' house plants, &c., 

 may be colored by the introduction ol coloring 

 matter into the organization ot the plants ; and 

 that the flavors of iruits may sometimes be in- 

 jured or destroyed by liquids poured upon the 

 ground, at the root ol' the tree, at the season of 

 their ripening, which are subsequently imbibed 

 into the vegetable circulation. But these isolated 

 facts have hitherto remained with their possessors, 

 withoulany useful suggesiions having been drawn 

 from them, like a multitude of other scientific 

 truths, which only lequire to be applied to the arts, 

 to produce the most important results ol usefulness 

 10 mankind. 



The announcement of this discovery comes to 

 us under circumstances which leave little doubt of 

 its truth. The discoverer having submitted his 

 results to the Academy ol f?ciences, of Paris, a 

 commission was named Irom that highly scientific 

 body, 10 investigate the subject, and make a 

 report thereon. In the hope of usefulness, I have 

 made a translation of this report, (omitting some 

 poriions, as irrelevant to my purpose,) lor your 

 paper, which I subjoin; deeming it highly im- 

 portant that experiments should be extensively 

 made, the en.?uing summer, in conformity with 

 the discoverer''s process, as shown in the report. 

 It wt)uld be no trilhng result to secure timber, in 

 all situations, from decay, and our buildings from 

 conflagration, at a cost so trifling as to be vi^ithin 

 ihe reach of all. 



A physician of Bordeaux, Mons. Boucherie, 

 has arrived at the all-important result of render- 

 ing the tissue of wood almost entirely unattack- 

 able by those causes of destruciion to which it is 

 ordinarily subject ; and at the same lime his pro- 

 cesses render itmuch more suitable to the various 

 purposes to which it is applicable in the arts. 



A commission of ihe Academy of Sciences, at 

 Pans, having been named, to examine the sub- 

 ject, A'lons. Dumas, in the name of the com- 

 mission, made in December last the following 

 report, as the result of its investigations : 



" The Academy has charged Messrs. Arago, 

 de Mirbel, Poncelet, Gambey, Audoin, Boussain- 

 gaiili, and myself, vv^ith the examination of the 

 Memoir of Mons. Boucherie, relative to the 

 preservation of wood, the fbilowing is the result of 

 our labors : 



" The Academy has already examined, with 

 the most lively interest, the preparations of the 

 author ; and it has before it, at this moment, 

 pieces of ihese so remarkable that the task of its 

 commis-sion is thereby greatly abridged. Mons. 

 Boucherie proposes to render wood much more 

 durable, to preserve its elasticity,to prevent the 

 variations in volume which it experiences through 

 the ageiicies of dry and humid atmospheres, to 

 diminish its combustibleness, to augment its 

 tenacity and its hardness ; and, finally, to commu- 

 nicate to it various and durable colors and 

 odors. 



" To assume that- all these exigencies have 

 been satisfied, and that this has been accom- 

 plished by methods, cheep, simple and new ; and 

 consummated through the aaency of substances 

 that are com.mon, and which b'ear but a low price, 

 is to fix the attention of ihe Academy, in a lew 

 words, upon the important features of the subject 

 we are charged to examine. 

 " For the purpose of penetrating an entire tree 



