VOI,. XIT. NO. 4«i. 



Ax\D HORTICULTURAL REGISTER. 



N. B.— I 



379 



wish to be understood in my remarks | for this preparation to stand several days that the 

 upon pruning-, that I prune any time between the soap may become sufliciently solidified. If after a 



fall of the leaf in autumn and the middle of May 

 followinor. I never pruned at any other season of 

 the year, except to remove suckers in July or Au- 

 gust, which I think advantageous. And now, as 

 I am upon a fresh sheet, I will say more. 



As 1 before remarked, many people are setting 

 trees and selfcting the kinds from the knowledge 

 they obtain from books, regardless of their adapta- 

 tion to particular soils and situations, which is a 

 great mistake. Thus for instance, the Newton 

 Pippen, Pennock's Red Winter, and many others 

 raised south of New York are indifferent fruit with 

 us, however e.icellent they may be at the South 

 And some of our common varieties of fruit, for in- 

 stance the Pickman Pippen, a most valuable apple 

 with me, I am informed by Mr Jno. M. Ives, is a 

 poor tree in liis soil. And the old Blue Pearmain, 

 greatly extolled by some persons, in my soil the 

 fruit is poor and the tree a shy bearer. S. P. F. 



SOAP. 



I have always taken pleasure in superintending 

 some of the chemical operations of the kitchen : 

 by this means I have acquired some ffractical, in 

 addition to my theoretical knowledge of the art of 

 making common soap. I shall give below, the 

 result of my experience in making this detergent 

 article. 



The bottom of the iiopper or barrel intended for 

 the ashes, should be covered with hay or straw : 

 the ashes are then to be thrown in, and pressed 

 down, as the hopper is filled. Leave room at the 

 top for a bucket full of water. If quick lime can 

 conveniently be had, put in a gallon or more with 

 the ashes ; it is not important where, whether at 

 the bottom, in the middle, or at the top of the bar- 

 rel ; or whether intermixed throughout the ashes. 



Boiling water is now to be poured on the ashes 

 until the ley pass out at the bottom. Cold water 

 may then be used. Rain water in both cases is 

 preferable to hard water. Four buckets full of 

 strong ley may thus be produced from a barrel of 

 ashes. This quantity of ley, with the requisite 

 proportion of fat will make half a barrel of prime 

 soap. 



When the ley is put into the kettle, throw in the 

 fat witliout measure; the surplus is easily remov- 

 ed after the ley has "eaten" it* share. If the pro- 

 cess be rightly conducted, the combination will 

 take place and soap will be formed within 1-2 an 

 hour's boiling. Now skim off the supernatant fat ; 

 and if " brittle" soap be desired, add to the hot 

 soap, 1-8 or more of its bulk of warm water, and 

 stir the mass well. 



Care should be taken to have both the fat and 

 the Icy as free as possible from any earthy matter 

 and other dirt. 



If these directions are pursued, and the precau- 

 tions observed, soap m\[ "come" in spite of all 

 the witches that ever beset the soap kettle. 



The above process is intended for soft soap, or 

 soap of potash. If 



Hard Soap, — Or soap of soda be required, it is 

 only necessary to add common salt, and a sufficient 

 quantity, to the newly formed soft soap ; and to 

 boil the m-!S3 until it becomes hard on cooling : 

 this may be easily ascertained by taking a little of 

 it in a ladle, and setting it in cold water. When 

 this changL- takes place, remove the contents of 

 the kettle from the tire. It is sometimes necessary 



large quantity of salt is added, there appears to be 

 no formation of hard soap, throw in some strong 

 ley. Plenty of salt, and plenty of ley to decom- 

 pose it, will ensure success. — Mbany Cull{val(tr. 



MANURES. 

 The Cardinal point to be observed in the man- 

 agement of manures, is to apply them in that state, 

 and to those crops which are the most benefitted 

 by their application. When manures are left in 

 the yards over the summer, and exposed to the 

 action of sun and rain, they are deprived of much 

 of their value. The most efBcient parts pass 

 away and are lost to the farm. If manures are 

 not applied to the spring crops of corn and roots, 

 they should be heaped with layers of earth, veg- 

 etable mould, marsh mud, wash of roads and with 

 some lime, that the salts and gasses produced, 

 may be absorbed and retained. In this way, the 

 value of yard manures is much increased, and the 

 quantity augmented. The experiments ofChaptal 

 and Liebig, prove that the more veretable mould 

 left by the decomposition of plants or manure in 

 the open air, possesses little value compared with 

 that in which all the salts and fertilizing ingredients 

 are retained. 



A short time since, a Committee of the French 

 Institute was appointed to examine the natnre and 

 effects of a new manure, represented as of extraor- 

 dinary power. It WES found to be composed of 

 gypsum, saturated with urine, the mass then dried 

 and pulverized, and applied to plants in the form of 

 a powder. It was pronounced the most effective 

 of a large variety of the animal ized manures, so 

 much so indeed that the committee recommended 

 great caution in its use. A small quantity applied 

 to corn, garden plants, &c. gave a most rapid and 

 vigorous growth. Would it not be well for our 

 farmers to make some experiments with this ma- 

 terial ? It is certainly within the power of all. 

 We hope that poudrette and bone manure will also 

 be fairly tried ; on these points we should be neg- 

 ligent no longer. — Ibid. 



The Team — It is enough to sicken the heart of 

 a man of ordinary feeling, to witness the wretched 

 skeleton animals that are compelled by dint of flag- 

 gellation, to perform the labor of the farm in so 

 many instances. Such treatment of animals is not 

 only cruel but unprofitable. It is certain that one 

 team well kept, will do more work than two half 

 starved ones, and do it at the time and in the man- 

 ner it should be done. It is a most injudicious 

 practice to allow working cattle or horses to leave 

 their stalls for the pasture, until the spring work is 

 mainly over. They cannot derive sufficient nutri- 

 ment from the young grasses, and a taste of the new 

 makes them eat sparingly of the old, and the result 

 is, they will fall away rapidly. — Ibid. 



Pruning. — It is the custom among farmers to do 

 the pruning of their orchards at such times as is 

 most convenient, or as they have been taught to 

 do, without reference to vegetable physiology, or 

 the best methods pointed out by nature. Some 

 prune in the winter, many in May, which is per- 

 haps as good a time as any, the summer months ex- 

 cepted. We think that July, or rather the interval 

 that takes place between the formation of the flower 



and fruit shoots or buds, and that of the terminal 

 shoots or buds, a period that lasts some three weeks, 

 is the best time fi)r pruning, and we advise those 

 of our friends who have this work to do, to ascer- 

 tain by experiment, what time gives the most 

 healthy and vigorous wodd for covering the wounds 

 necessarily made in pruning. — Ibid. 



POPULATION OF THE UNITED STATES. 



The Washington city Madisonian publishes the 

 following statement of the population of the differ- 

 ent States and Territories in the Union, agreeably 

 to the census of 1840. The aggregate, it will be 

 seen, exceeds 17,000,000. 



States. u 



Maine, 



Massachusetts, 



Rhode Island, 



New York, 



Pennsylvania, 



Maryland, 



South Carolina, 



Tennessee, 



District of Columbia, 



Georgia, 



Louisiana, 



Ohio, 



Illinois, 



Arkansas, 



Wisconsin, 



New Hampshire, 



Connecticut, 



Vermont, 



New Jersey, 



Delaware, 



Virginia, 



Mississippi, 



Florida, 



North Carolina, 



Alabama, 



Kentucky, 



Indiana, 



Missouri, 



Michigan, 



Iowa, 



Total 



Population 

 501,793 

 73!),699 

 108,830 

 2,428,9^1 

 1,724,022 

 469,2:53 

 594,398 

 829,210 



43,712 



667,194 



351,176 



1,519,467 



474,404 



95,642 



30,752 

 284,574 

 310,015 

 291,948 

 37.3,306 



78,085 



1,239,797 



375,651 



54,207 

 753,110 

 569,645 

 777,397 

 P83,314 

 381,102 

 211,705 



43,068 



17,100,572 



Returns from nine counties in Georgia wanting, 

 seven of which contained in 1830, 55,881. 



Returns from five counties in Alabama, not in- 

 cluded. Four of the five counties contain, accord- 

 ing to the Marshal's returns, 85,701. 



Returns frcm Carter county, in Kentucky, want- 

 ing. The amount of population in 7 counties in 

 Georgia in 1830, and that of four counties in Ala- 

 bama, mentioned in this note, are included in the 

 sum total. 



The United States contain 2,3000,000 square 

 miles. One half only of this is settled. If the 

 United States numbered as many inhabitants to 

 the square mile as France, our population would be 

 363,000,000 ! The whole area of cultivated land 

 in Great Britain and Ireland, is about fortyfive mil- 

 lions of acres. 



It is computed that there are in England one 

 million of horses used for labor — and two hundred 

 thousand for pleasure — all of which are supposed 

 to consume the produce of seven millions acres of 

 land. 



