572 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Dec 



he either gets relief or becomes delirious, and soon 

 dies. Either form of the disease may, however, 

 terminate in inflammation of the bowels. The blad- 

 der often becomes sympathetically afi'ecled, and re- 

 tentions of urine is the result ; this can be ascer- 

 tained by introducing the hand into the rectum. 

 These are some of the principal features of the 

 colic. 



HEAT AND COLD. 



Cold is supposed to be a negative propert)' — the 

 absence of heat — and the terms heat and cold are 

 only relative, as compared with the sensations of 

 animal heat ; yet cold has some singular effects 

 upon vegetable matter and fluid compounds. — 

 The peculiar properties of wines and vinegar 

 are destroyed by freezing, as are many other ar- 

 ticles. Many of the seeds of fruit and forest 

 trees, will not vegetate until they have undergone 

 the action of frost, while the seeds of the locust and 

 a variety of others, will not grow the first year 

 they are planted, notwithstanding they are exposed 

 to cold, unless they are scalded. All of these pe- 

 culiarities may be owing to some mechanical eflfect, 

 rather than to any radical change on the chemical 

 decomposition or composition of its constituents. 

 Many vegetables may be entirely frozen, and if the 

 temperature is raised slowly under water, or even 

 in an air-tight vessel, no change can be discovered. 

 A singular change takes place in freezing the pump- 

 kin. The saccharine principle is so developed, 

 that the concentrated juice is a very fair molasses, 

 and as such, was extensively used during the rev- 

 olution. The efi"ect of both heat and cold upon 

 the potato is altogether the most singular, and we 

 began this article to mention this fact. 



The potato contains a great deal of body — of 

 positive animal nutriment, composed, like the 

 breadstuff's, of farina, starch and gluten, and a 

 large portion of water. A potato, if frozen, and in 

 stantly put into cold water does, not recover, but is 

 totally changed, and becomes a flaccid sack of un- 

 savory, gummy matter, of a very disagreeable odor, 

 its original properties entirely changed and lost ; 

 but if while in the frozen state they are thrown 

 one by one into water constantly boiling, they are 

 in no way afi'ected, and are as edible as when first 

 taken from the earth. This is an anomaly in the 

 action of cold, which may also be true when ap- 

 plied to other vegetables, of which we are not ad- 

 vised ; but it is a fact worth knowing, as it may, 

 on some occasions, meet the necessities of almost 

 any family — especially in those flat countries where 

 cellars are difficult of construction. — Rural JVtw 

 Yorker. 



For the Nac England Farmer. 



CRANBERRIES CULTIVATED. 



I have heretofore spoken of the attention given 

 by Mr. E. Needham, of West Danvers, to the cul- 

 tivation of the cranberry on upland. I learn from 

 him that he has gathered the present season, one 

 hundred bushels from less than one hundred and 

 twenty rods ot land, of fruit of superior quality. — 

 When I take into view the comparative value of the 

 cultivated cranberry with that of natural growth, 

 and the general failure of this crop the present sea- 

 son,! think no one can hesitate in saying, that Mr, 

 Needham's experiment is worthy the highest com- 

 mendation. P. 



MURIATE OF LIME. 



This is a fertilizer manufactured by Mr. James 

 Gould, of Boston, and one which we have spoken 

 of before. Our attention is now called to it by no- 

 ticing in a pamphlet, an analysis of Dr. Charles 

 T. Jackson, the State Assayer, which we give be- 

 low: — 



Boston, Sept. 15, 1856. 



James Gould, Esq., — Dear Sir : — I have com- 

 pleted the analysis of your fertilizer, called "Muri- 

 ate of Lime," and have obtained the following re- 

 sults per cent. : 



Carbonate of Lime 54.00 



Chloride of Sodium (Salt) 14.40 



Phosphate of Lime and some Oxide of Iron 6.50 



Chloriiie of Calcium (Muriate of Lime) 2.70 



Chloride of Magnesium (Muriate of Magnesia) 2.49 



Ammonia 6.41 



Organ'c Matter 4.59 



Fine Sand 8.50 



Loss 0.50 



100.00 



Twenty per cent, of this compound is soluble in 

 water. 



It is shown by the above analysis that this fertil- 

 izer is a valuable manure, admirably adapted to sil- 

 iceous soils and to those which have been impover- 

 ished by long croping. 



Respectfully, your obedient servant, 

 Charles T. Jackson, M. D., 

 State Assayer, &c. &c. 



We have not used it sufficiently to decide wheth- 

 er the good results we have obtained were in con- 

 sequence of the muriate of lime, or a combination 

 of circumstances ; but our own favorable crops, and 

 the high testimonials of others, suggest to us to 

 recommend it to others to try small quantities of it 

 in various ways and test its ability. Several per- 

 sons who have used it speak highly of its effects on 

 apple trees and grape vines. 



THE BOA AND ELEPHANT. 



Shortly after emerging from the jungle into the 

 paddy, our liveHest curiosity was aroused by the ec- 

 centric movements of our elephant, and the sudden 

 excitement of his mahout, who, leaning over the 

 head of his beast, explored the ground before him, 

 and on each side, with curious, anxious scrutiny, 

 conversing all the while with his huge philosopher 

 and friend, in quick, sharp ejaculations, sometimes 

 shrill, sometimes subdued, sometimes almost whis- 

 pered in his ear. 



"Old Injin-Rubber" crept forward cautiously, 

 (imagine an elephant on tiptoe,) hesitating, suspi- 

 cious, vigilant, defen.sive, holding his precious pro- 

 boscis high in air. Presently he stops short, stares 

 straight before him with evident agitation, for we 

 feel the mass vibrating beneath us, as when a hea- 

 vily laden wagon crosses a suspensi(m bridge. — 

 Then, hark ! with trumpet pointed to the sky, he 

 blows a sharp and brazen blast, and trots forward. 

 At the same moment, an exultant exclamation 

 from the mahout tells the story in a word — "the 

 boa ! the boa !" 



Right in the path, where the sun was hottest, lay 

 a serpent, such as he who charmed the first vanity, 

 his vast length of splendid ugliness gorged, torpid, 



