358 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Aug. 



enclosed, and let out their sympathies upon the 

 world, how it would kindle emotions of gratitude 

 and love, and brighten the pathway of the meek 

 and lowly ! Mr. Corcoran, the banker, has a fine 

 garden, but being enclosed with a high brick wall, 

 it sheds no "sweetness on the desert air." He has 

 a fine gallery of paintings, however, open to the in- 

 spection of the public, one day in each week. It 

 contains many fine pictures, whose inspection af- 

 fords gratification to many ; but they are not like 

 the pictures of God's handiwork in the garden, that 

 are shut out of sight by the ugly wall. 



Downing's genius has given a new creation on 

 the "old fields" that surrounded the Smithsonian 

 Institute, Judiciary Square, &c. Its influence did 

 not stop on the objects to which it was particularly 

 directed. It set a good example, which many have 

 been wise enough to imitate. 



The frequent rains of the season have given the 

 country a beautil'ul aspect. The foliage is clean 

 and heavy. Some of the buttonwoods, so long in- 

 fected, are covered with luxuriant leaves, and look 

 finely. The grass promises to aflford an abundant 

 crop. In Delaware and Maryland, haying is al- 

 ready commenced, to a considerable extent, while 

 hundreds of acres on the way were covered with 

 the red clover in full bloom. Corn looks well, and 

 some fields I saw where it is already a foot in 

 height. The wheat crop also appears well, being 

 already headed out. Strawberries and currants 

 were in great abundance in the Philadelphia mar- 

 ket. New potatoes, here, are selling at $3,00 a 

 bushel, while the second crop of jjeas is now pre- 

 sented, and are selling low. 



While on my way here I had the pleasure of 

 looking in upon the National Convention, at Phil- 

 adelphia, and was forcibly impressed with the one- 

 ness of purpose and the harmony of feeling which 

 prevailed in that assembly. There was nothing 

 Kke bitterness or discord in all its deHberations. 

 But you have long ago learned its results, and 

 there is no need of my repeating them. 



The weather to-day is quite hot — the thermome- 

 ter in the shade standing at 90^, so that with the 

 plentiful moisture in the soil, vegetation is pro- 

 ceeding with great rapidity. 



I shall visit in this region such farmers as are 

 men of progress, and perhaps note my observations 

 for future remark. 



Truly yours, SrxiON Brown. 



Joel N'ouse, Esq., Boston. 



into molten sulphur cooled, then coated with a 

 composition of 16 parts, by weight, of gum arable, 

 9 of phosphorus, 14 of nitre, and 16 of fine peroxyd 

 of manganese, and a little sulphuret of antimony. 

 These ingredients are worked up with water to 

 form a thick paste, into which the matches are 

 dipped and then dried. Smalt and cinnabar are 

 employed to color the ends of the matches. 

 Those matches which ignite with a small crackHng 

 noise, are prepared with the chlorate of potash. 

 It is a dangerous substance to use in their prepara- 

 tion. When it is employed care must be ex- 

 ercised that the gum paste in which it is mixed 

 with the phosphorus, does not exceed 104° Fah. 

 These matches are dried in a dry and warm (but 

 not hot) room. 



On October 24th, 1836, Alonzo D. Philips, of 

 Springfield, Nass, obtained a patent for manufactu- 

 ring locofoco matches with a preparation of chalk, 

 phosphorus and glue. An ounce of glue is dis- 

 solved in warm water ; to this is added four 

 ounces ot fine pulverized chalk, and stirred until it 

 forms into thick paste. One ounce of ])hosphorus 

 is then added, and the whole kept a little warm 

 and well stirred until the whole are well incorpora- 

 ted together. Into this the ends of the matches — 

 which have been previously coated with sulpher 

 and dried — sre dipped, and then laid in rows on 

 sli])s of paper cut wide enough to lap over the 

 ends of the matches. — Scien. Am. 



INDIAN CORN. 



The value of this cereal to the country has never 

 been appreciated. Recent investigations and com- 

 parisons show conclusively that it is of more value 

 than any other agricultural production, not excep- 

 ting cotton even, about which so much has been 

 said. The culture of corn has wonderfully increased 

 the last few years ; the ratio of increase being far 

 tjreater than any other product. From 1839 tc 

 1849, as per census returns, the increase was fifty- 

 eight per cent. Wool the next highest, its increase 

 being fifty per cent. ; cotton, twenty-four ; oats, 

 twenty ; and wheat, sixteen. This is a remarkable 

 result. 



The cotton crop has not increased half so rapidly 

 as the corn crop, and the claim of the former to the 

 title of "king," is only in its influence upon the com- 

 mercial interests of the country. The cotton crop 

 of 1851 was nine hundred and twenty-seven mil- 

 lions of pounds, valued at one hundred and twelve 

 millions of dollars, while the corn crop of 1850 was 

 five hundred and ninety-two millions of bushels, 

 which at the lowest possible price at which it can 

 be estimated, is of far greater value than the cot- 

 ton crop. — Boston Journal. 



Friction Matches. — The first lucifer or friction 

 matches used were prepared with sulpher, chlorate 

 of potash and gum. The ends of these, when 

 dipped into a bottle containing asbestos moistened 

 with sulphuric acid, took tire at once. Such 

 matches have been superseded by the more simple 

 locofoco matches, which ignite liy friction without I ;;;^j;'^';i;gg ^^^.^^ 

 tne ;Tid ot an acid. 1 hesc matches are first aionea ' 



American Prizes at the Paris Exhibition. — 

 The Paris corresjjondent of the Commercial Adver- 

 tiser says the United States drew prizes at the 

 great Agricultural Exhibition for every article that 

 was presented for serious competition, numbering 

 five. Pitt's Buff"alo Threshing Machine drew a first 

 class medal, and was sold to the Emperor for 2200 

 francs ; Manny's Reaper drew a first class medal ; 

 a barrel of Col. Alston's South Carolina rice, do. ; 

 McCormick's Reaper, worked by Frenchmen, a 



