332 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



July 



ed ; this is the crude turpentine, which is carried 

 to the distillery and distilled, giving pure turpen- 

 tine and rosin. The trees are then cut down and 

 piled, as we pile for charcoal, over a hole in the 

 ground, covered with earth, and then set on fire ; 



during their burning there runs out into the hole^impoj-tance to the world : 

 in the ground another pitchy substance, tar. The 

 Hard or Southern Pine lumber is derived from the 

 tree, cut before all this process has been 



INDIA KUBBER IN A NEW SHAPE. 



A New York correspondent of the Boston Jour- 

 nal gives the following account of a new applica- 

 tion of India rubber, which promises to be of much 



passed through, though, sometimes, I believe the 

 tree is used for lumber after the turpentine has 

 been extracted. 



Were it not for the practice of allowing the hogs 

 to run at large in the forest, as I mentioned in my 

 last, these trees would restore themselves, but the 

 hogs eat the mast or seed, and the tree is thus fast 

 disappearing ; and countless as their numbers seem, 

 no distant day will see the end of the Southern 

 pine, unless the Legislatures of the respective 

 States pass some forest laws restraining its destruc- 

 tion and promoting its growth. 



Having thus described the North Carolina staple 

 crop, I will leave the rice of South Carolina for a 

 future number. I remain yours, &c., 



R. MoRFvIS COPELAND. 



UTILITY OE MOLES. 



Among the recent applications of India Rubber, 

 none are so remarkable as the manufacture of what 

 is called "Hard India Goods," into which the rubber 

 enters most largely. We have in this city a com- 

 pany called the Beacon Dam Company, which is 

 devoted to the manufecture of this class of goods. 

 By a process that originated with Mr. Chafi'ee, coal 

 tar is mixed with the rubber, and the compound 

 makes one of the most solid, elastic and elegant 

 articles that can be found in the market. It resem- 

 bles polished stone, is as black as coal, needs no 

 finish, and has of itself a hard and exquisite polish 

 as it is possible for any metal to bear. There seems 

 to be no end to the articles into which it can be 

 made. Canes of the most elegant form and ap- 

 pearance are constructed out of it, and are as tough 

 as so much steel, while they have all the elasticity 

 of whalebone. Cabinet Mork, inlaid and mosaic, 

 ornamental to the ])arlor and the chamber. Spec- 

 tacle bows and glasses for the eye, are made so 

 light as to be no annoyance, while their elastic 

 character cause them to sit firm to the head ; ojiera 

 glasses, castors, sand stands, ink stands, brushes 

 for the hair, that cannot l^e harmed by hot water, 

 tape lines, pen holders, pencil cases, cigar cases, 

 government boxes for the army and navy, govern- 

 ment buttons, and an endless variety of articles. 



Mr. George Wilkins, in the .figrlcnUural Gazelle, 

 gives the following statement: — "The Journal of 

 the Royal Agricultural Society affirms that in one 

 year, and every year, full G0,()()0 bushels of seed 

 wheat, equal at this time to nearly £30,000 worth, 



are destroyed by wireworms. If 60,000 bushels of I are thus made, and the articles are of a most ele- 

 seed are destroyed, full 720,000 bushels of crop are I gant character; syringes of a novel form and char- 

 prevented, equal in value, at this time, to upwards jacter ; machines for oiling cars and engines, on a 

 of £300,000 a year ! If farmers, instead of killing i new principle, indicate that this new use of rubber 

 moles, partridges, and pheasants, would protect | is to work a complete revolution in the arts and 

 them, 720,000 more bushels of wheat would go manufactures. 



every year into the English markets ; but the crea- But one of the greatest applications of this new 

 ture designed by a kind Providence to perform the rubber manufacture is the new telegraph wire that 

 chief part of this immense good is the mole. Someiis made from it. It needs no poles, as it is laid in 

 y ears since I had two fields, one of which was full the ground. It needs no covering; a trench of a 

 o^ wireworms, and the other was infested with them i few inches is dug; the rul)ber telegraph wire is put 

 to the extent of more than one-third part of it. Myjin and covered up; the wire is enclosed with the 

 crops failed for the first two or three years the land rubber ; no storm render the wires inoperative; no 

 was in my possession, but every year afterwards i insect sever ; no rust corrode. It would appear 

 they improved, and at length rapidly. The cause I fabulous if I should state the miles of this wire 

 was this: — I bought all the live moles I could obtain, , that have already been engaged, and the goods can- 



first at 3s. a dozen and then at 2s., and turned them 

 down in my fields ; and one year in which I had 8 

 quarters of barley on an acre and nearly 7 quarters 

 of wheat, the moles were at work all the summer, 

 and in such numbers that, as I walked among the 

 growing crops, the ground under my feet was like 

 a honeycomb ; but that was the last year I had a 

 mole on my land ; their work being done, their 

 food — the former pests to my crops — being all 

 consumed, the little innocent workmen, who had 

 performed for me a service beyond the powers of 

 all the men in my parish, migrated to my neighbors 

 to perform for them the same kind or benefit they 

 had for me ; but of course, death met them at 

 every move, and soon the whole colony was de- 

 stroyed. I w\\\ add that now I will allow all farmers 

 in this country to turn upon the globe I myself oc- 

 cupy, all the moles from their farms they can bring, 

 being convinced they would do me no injury ; but, 

 if I happen to have a wireworm, they would by de- 

 stroying him do me good." 



not be made to meet the demand. 



The government of the United States is now 

 the best customer of the Beacon Dam Company. 

 The call for the Navy and Army button is immense ; 

 the article is elegant ; the naval button has on it 

 the motto, "don't give up the ship." And so tough 

 are these rubber buttons, that if one is placed on 

 an oak j)lank and pressure applied, it can be sunk 

 clear into the plank, and will come out unharmed ; 

 and the government shaving boxes, which are about 

 three inches in diameter, are so strong that a man 

 weighing 200 pounds can press his whole weight on 

 one of them, and not break them. Gun handles, 

 sword handles, and other military implements, are 

 constructed from this material. 'J'hey are cheap, 

 elegant, enduring. A walk through the sales-room 

 of this company is one of the marvels of New 

 York, and if any of your readers have the least 

 curiosity to see one of the most Avonderful appli- 

 cations "of India rubber that the world has ever 

 seen, they can be gratified by visiting the wholesale 



