442 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



March 



them at night, but the earth being warm and the pro- 

 cess of thawing and settHng still going on, will drag 

 down the smaller branches and break them oif 

 where they unite with the main stem. So it will 

 be with raspberry and blackberry canes, and even 

 currant and gooseberry bushes. 



As soon therefore as a thaw commences, the 

 snow should be carefully shovelled away from the I 

 plants so as to relieve their branches. In neglect 

 of this, we have known some of the finest young 

 fruit trees and shrubs of our gardens utterly ruined. 



THREE THUESBAYS IN ONE WEEK. 



Of all the paradoxes there is none more surpris- 

 ing or calculated to disturb the mind than that 

 ■which asserts the possibility of having three Thurs- 

 days in one week. It is, notwithstanding, possible ; 

 and during the last century it was demonstrated 

 more than once. Circumnavigators in their voy- 

 ages round the world have discovered the fact. 

 The ancients never entertained an idea of the pos- 

 sibility of such a thing. It was a matter of aston- 

 ishment to seamen sailing round the world, to find 

 on their return to the place from which they com- 

 menced their voyage, that they had gained a daj'. 

 It was Thursday with them, and Wednesday at the 

 place of their arrival. 



On the contrary, those who sailed westward 

 round the world, counted on their return, one day 

 less to have passed than those did who had con- 

 tinued all the while at the place from whence the 

 ship set out ; so that it was Wednesday Avith the 

 circumnavigators, and Thursday at the place of 

 their arrival. As the pilots and others kept jour- 1 

 nals, and paid strict attention to every occurrence 

 during the voyage, they were, in the first instance, 

 at a loss to account for the difference they found 

 between the journals of those who had sailed east, 

 and those who had taken a westerly course. They 

 accused each other of negligence, and the dispute 

 led to a strong contest. Several able mathemati- 

 cians at last discovered the cause. They found that 

 the difference in time was occasioned by the laws 

 of nature, and not the fault of the navigator?. 



The reason will be easily seen. Every fifteen de- 

 grees east from the meridian of London, it will be 

 noon one hour sooner than with those of London. 

 When they reach the meridian of Cairo, thirty de- 

 grees east of London, they will have noon two 

 hours sooner than those at London, and so on in 

 the same proportion. Every meridian they arrive 

 at will bring the natural day one hour sooner than 

 at London, so that when they have got quite round 

 the globe, and returned to London again, they will 

 have gone 360 degrees and it will be noon, accord- 

 ing to their reckoning, 24 hours, or a whole day, 

 sooner than to those who stay at London ; or 

 Thursday to them, when it is but Wednesday noon 

 In England. 



On the other hand, if a ship set out from Lon- 

 don and sails westward, when they come to the me- 

 ridian of the Canary Island, 15 degrees west of 

 London, their noon will be an hour later than at 

 London. At 30 degrees west it will be noon two 

 hours later than at London, and when they get 

 round to London again, through the 27 meridians, 

 their natural day will be 24 hours later than at 

 London, or Wednesday noon with them, while it is 



Thursday noon at London. In this affair it is not 

 necessary a ship should go round the world on the 

 equator, it is sufficient if she passes through the 

 several meridians, as all navigators must who go 

 round the globe eastward or Avestward. 



For example : suppose a traveller embark at Ro- 

 chelle to go to the East Indies, when he shall ar- 

 rive at the distance of 180 degrees east longitude, 

 half the circumferance of the earth, it will be mid- 

 night there and noon at Ilochelle. It follows that, 

 in making the Avhole circle of the globe, he will 

 gain twenty-four hours upon the day at Rochelle. 

 If it is Wednesday at Rochelle, thus there are two 

 Thursdays in a week. To find a third in the same 

 week, we must dispatch another navigator, to sail 

 from east to west. When he has reached 180 de- 

 grees of longitude, he will find himself opposite to 

 that of Rochelle, and it will be Tuesday midnight, 

 when they will have noon on Wednesday at Ro- 

 chelle ; they would find a difference of twenty-four 

 hours between their reckoning. The Wednesday 

 at Rochelle is Thursday for those who went to the 

 east, because they gained a day. Secondly, the 

 Friday of Rochelle is Thursday to those who 

 sailed west, because they have lost a day. The 

 Thursday at Rochelle is the third. Thus, accor- 

 ding to the time, there are three Thursdays in one 

 week. — JVantucket Inquirer. 



For the Netc England Fanner. 



LITTLE THINGS: 



Or, a Walk in My Garden.. .No. 6. 



Cold ■weather, you ■will exclaim, Mr. Editor, to 

 walk in the garden, with the thermometer down to 

 zero. But let us see. Yesterday was a pleasant 

 January day. So with saw in hand, I ventured out 

 on the snow-banks, and walked into the tops of my 



APPLE TREES. 

 Now don't, kind reader, turn up your nose, because 

 your theory dlflers from mine. What does the sur- 

 geon do when he amputates a leg ? O, he dresses 

 it carefully as possible ; very well. So do I dress a 

 limb of a tree after it is sawed off, and common 

 sense requires it as much in one case as in the oth- 

 er. But I find it pleasant, as well as convenient, 

 on a leisure day to go out and trim off' the shoots 

 and dead branches, and when a warm day comes in 

 spring, I go all over the orchard with a ball of 

 grafting wax, or some shellac dissolved in alcohol, 

 and cover every wound. If you are not wiUing to 

 do this, then don't prune till the leaves are set, or, 

 which is, perhaps, better, till September and Octo- 

 ber, which with me is a very busy season. I see 

 where I have practised pruning and dressing in 

 years past, as I have described, that the bark is 

 lively, and the heahng process is going on all 

 around the wound, a point of the greatest impor- 

 tance. My theory on this subject, is to take care 

 and dress your wounds, make them when you will. 

 But let me get over this snow-bank and look into 

 the 



FRONT YARD. 



I want to tell your farmer readers how they may 

 have a front yard filled with the most thrifty trees 

 and shrubbery without any exjiense. A great many 

 persons build a house, put up a front yard fence, 

 and set out four elm or maple trees, and leave them 

 to take care of themselves. The probability is that 



