THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



661 



DR. BOXTCHERIE S PROCESS. 



The following article from a French writer " on 

 the preservation, &c., of wood," was translated tor 

 the Savannah Republican : 



Since the Academy o( Sciences and the Cham- 

 ber of Depuiies approved and recommended to 

 public attention the ingenious process, discovered 

 by Dr. Boucherie, of Bordeaux, (or the preserva- 

 tion, elasiic'ty, hardness, and coloration of various 

 kinds of wood, the learned and commercial world 

 await with imfiatience the result of the experi- 

 ments which are going to be instituted on a large 

 scale. 



The learned doctor has received fi-om povern- 

 meiit amission to experiment on the fine forests 

 of the south of France, and every facility has 

 been att'orded to him lor thesuccesslul ap|)lication 

 of his discovery. Tlie process employed by him 

 is very simple, and he has made no secret of it. 

 It consists in using together vital force and press- 

 ure, in order to propel into the whole texture of 

 the largest bodies of a vegetable nature certain 

 liquids, conveniently prepared. These liquids, 

 insinuating themselves quickly through the whole 

 organization of the fibre, from the trunk to the 

 most delicate fibres of the leaves, drive before 

 them the aqueous parts of the sap, which either 

 evaporate or flow down, whilst the salts that they 

 hold in solution, combining with the mucilaginous 

 or solid panicles, destroy (or ever, if they are ol 

 an aniisep'ic nature, all tendency to fermentation, 

 and consequently to decomposition. 



Numerous experiments have shown to Dr. 

 Boucherie that deliquescent salts and the primitive 

 waters of salt pits communicate to wood a very 

 great flexibility ; and this is such that a wooden 

 ruler, although exposed lor many months to the 



compoeed of Meesrs. Mirbel, Arago, Poncelet, 

 Audouin, Gambey, and Boussingauli, members 

 of the Academy of Sciences. The authority 

 attached to such names is too great for requiring 

 any commentary on our part. We shall merely 

 extract from that remarkable report the following 

 passage : 



"The aim of Dr. Boucherie is to render wood 

 much more lasting, to preserve its elasticity, to 

 protect it against tliose variations of volume, re- 

 sulting from the influence of wet and dry weather ; 

 to diminish its combustibility, increase its tenacity 

 and hardness ; and, lastly, to impart to it colors, 

 and even odors, various and lasting. 



" To aflirm that all these conditions have been 

 fulfilled, by means of common and cheap sub- 

 stances, is to fix the serious attention of the Aca- 

 demy on the very important subject which we 

 have just examined." 



ON CIDER MAKING. 



From tliG London Farmers' Magazine. 



Dumbleton, August 2'ird, 1841. 



My dear sir ^ — In confbrnnty to the request of 

 the Winchcomb Farmers' Club you kindly trans- 

 mitted to me, I give you the process of making 

 my best cider and perry, and in as few words as I 

 am able to convey it. 



The apples being ripe and laid in a heap a 

 (brinight, exposed to the weather, uncovered, 

 about eighteen inches deep, they are then ground 

 in the cider-mill, which consists of a circular 

 stone in form of a solid broad wheel, about 4J 

 feet in diameter, 14 inches wide, and weighs about 



18 cwt. : is supported on its edge, and drawn by a 

 changes of the atmosphere, preserves its elasticity, j horse in a circular trough of stone, about 8 feet 

 without undergoing any sensible alteration. He 9 inches in diameter, and about the depth of 12 

 has also (bund that pyrolignite of iron hardens a inches, including the wooden rim upon it, which 



thin plank, so as to render it impenetrable to a 

 musket ball, and at the same time that it saves 

 it from decay ; and that fluids imparting color and 

 smell can communicate to wood t(>eir valuable pro- 

 perties, so that they make it fit for the heaviest 

 works, as well as lor the construction of the rich- 

 est and most delicate furniture. 



But of all the public departments, the one 

 which is likely to derive the greatest advantages 

 from the beautiiul discovery of Dr. Boucherie is 

 no doubt the navy. Every one knows with what 

 rapidity the body and the masts of ships of war 

 are destroyed. By means of the new process the 

 durability of ships can be prolonged, ii' not inde- 

 finitely, at leasi in a very high proportion; and 

 also the wood used for railroads becoming incor- 

 ruptible, much expense may be saved, and great 

 benefits obtained. 



Moreover, a new fact seems to show that it 

 might be possible henceforth to dispense with the 

 very heavy expense of coppering ships. Timber 

 prepared by Dr. Boucherie, and placed in constant 

 contact with sea water, during a long voyage from 

 Bordeaux to Bourdon, has been preserved from all 

 kmds of alteration. 



The results of the experiments now in progress 

 will soon be known ; and, indeed, we cannot 

 doubt of the success when we consider those 

 already obtained and attested by the report of the 

 learned Dumas^ in the name of a commission 



is three inches, and much like a bark-mill. In 

 this trough near two bushels of apples are ground 

 at a time, with a handful of charcoal strewed 

 amongst them, until the kernels and rinds are 

 broken small, as ?mit7j of Mc sir en gh of the cider 

 depends upon it. This fact was proved in the Agri- 

 cultural Report of the Rev. John Duncorab, in 

 1813, by an experiment made by Dr. Symonds, of 

 Hereford. " He made one hogshead entirely from 

 the rinds and cores of apples, and another from 

 the pulp of the same fruii. The former was of 

 ihe most unusual strength, and high-flavored ; 

 the latter was watery, and possessed not one re- 

 commendation." 



A horse with a man and boy will grind suflicient 

 pommage to make two hogsheads of cider in a day, 

 which is left in open tubg twenty-four hours. It 

 is then pressed between several haircloths by a 

 strong screw-press, and the cider is taken to the 

 fining house, and put into a hogshead or longer 

 vessel. In a few days it will ferment, and throw 

 up the must. When that appears, it is drawn off 

 into tubs, and about one pound of pulverized char- 

 coal is stirred in it, and is left for some hours, or 

 until the next day, when it is put into the drop- 

 ping bags to fine and to stop the fermentation ; 

 and with one dozen made with thin calico of six- 

 pence the yard, suspended from frames, the cider 

 is passed through, being previously dredged inside 

 wit'' pulverized charcoal. These dropping bags 



