124 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



March 



nt start, that they are soft. Soft slates, unless 

 ;j;reasy and naturally rotten, always soak more 

 iimter than harder varieties, and fail in the first 

 test. The soft slate is like soft wood or any 

 other soft material, unless pliable, like wrought 

 iron or copper, or other metals, is less able to 

 bear a strain and weight than hard kinds of the 

 same material ; and in the case of this slate the 

 following fact bears me out. 



A large number of squares of the mottled slate 

 were piled last spring at the Fairhaven depot, 

 and were sold this summer to some slaters, who 

 before they could use their purchase, were obliged 

 to pick them all over, and in many cases recut 

 (or dress) the slates ; and there was, two months 

 ago, at that depot, at least one-eighth of the 

 whole quantity culled and thrown aside as waste. 

 The mottled color bespeaks of so enthusiastical- 

 ly is the worst feature about them. It is bad 

 enough for all our slates that they change a little 

 in color when exposed to the sun for a time, but 

 when laid they are uniform in color, and become 

 nearly uniform after the fading is over ; but these 

 mottled slate look like a pie-bald horse, at first ; 

 a roof laid with them is a real curiosity for one 

 accustomed to observe color, its effect is like a 

 face spotted with small-pox or mottled with the 

 eruptions of scarlet fever ; it is neither one thing 

 nor another. This slate, like many others, will find 

 its largest and true use as slabs for marbleizing, 

 for tiles, &c. 



But to close all I have to say upon the subject 

 of slate, I would propose that all the slate manu- 

 facturers hold a meeting at a convenient place, 

 and select a committee of three careful and scienti- 

 fic chemists and engineers, who shall visit the va- 

 rious quarries, obtain fair samples of the slate, 

 both slabs and slate ready for the roof, which they 

 shall submit to the most severe tests in order to 

 establish their value for the various uses to which 

 slate may be put ; let this committee report pro- 

 gress through your paper from time to time, and 

 finally publish in it the result of their labor. 



If a careful investigation were made at once, a 

 conclusion satisfactory to all parties could be ar- 

 rived at before the spring sales commence, and 

 all might purchase intelligently. 



This is the practice in England. Every new 

 slate is tested by competent persons, and their 

 opinions published, so that no one n=eed buy a 

 poor article for a good one. The uses for slate 

 are many, and some kinds not good for one pur- 

 pose are pre-eminently good for others ; let this 

 be known to the public. 



I have proposed this plan to the proprietors of 

 the Glen Lake quarries, and they express great 

 readiness to enter into such an inquiry, and are 

 ready to subscribe liberally towards it, or to pay 

 their share of the cost ; this seems to me very 

 fair, and I hope the plan may be adopted by all 

 quarry owners. RusTICUs. 



A Fat Fish. — The siskawit, a fish of Lake 

 Superior, is reported to be the fattest fish that 

 swims, either in fresh or salt water. The fisher- 

 wen say that one of these fish, when hung by 

 the tail in the hot sun of a summer's day, will 

 melt, and entirely disappear, except the bones. 

 In packing about fifty barrels, a few seasons ago 

 t Isle Royale, one of the fishermen made two 



and a half barrels of oil from the heads and leaf 

 fat alone, without the least injury to the market- 

 ableness of the fish. Besides this leaf fat, the 

 fat or oil is disseminated in a layer of fat and a 

 layer of lean throughout the fish. They are too 

 fat to be eaten fresh, and f re put up for market 

 like the lake white fish and Mackinaw trout. 



STATE BOABD OF AGBICULTUBB. 



A quarterly meeting of the State Board of Ag- 

 ricidture was held at the State House on Tues- 

 day, Jan. 18, Gov. Banks, Lt. Gov. Trask, and 

 nearly every member of the Board, were present. 

 His Honor the Lieut. Governor in the chair. 



The management of the State Farm at West- 

 boro', during the last year, has been in the care 

 of a Superintending Committee of eight persons, 

 and the report of this committee, and its consid- 

 eration, was the first business in order. 



The report gives in detail the operations of the 

 committee in regard to the stock, crops, methods 

 of seeding and cultivating, reclaiming, trenching, 

 laying down lands, draining, and all other mat- 

 ters that have engaged their attention. As an il- 

 lustration of their mode of proceeding we cite an 

 experiment in seeding land to oats. They had 

 six acres to seed with oats — they were all sown 

 broadcast, April 27 and 28, and harrowed in as fol- 

 lows. No. 1 received^ue bushels per acre ; No. 2 

 received four bushels ; No. 3 three bushels ; and 

 No. 4 at the rate of two bushels. The lots were 

 manured with 100 lbs. of plaster per acre, spread 

 broadcast and harrowed in, with the exception of 

 a strip of one acre running across the several lots, 

 which received no plaster. The oats were har- 

 vested July 28, and threshed Sept. 2d and 3d. 

 The yield of lot No. 1 was 42 bushels ; that of 

 No. 2, was 30.^ ; that of No 3. was 40, and that 

 of No. 4 was 26i bushels. The acre that received 

 no plaster yielded 20A bushels, the grain weigh- 

 ing 28 lbs. to the bushel, and being much the 

 same on all the lots except on No. 1, on which 

 both the grain and straw were much the lightest. 



The results of this carefully conducted experi- 

 ment would seem to settle the question pretty 

 conclusively, that three bushels of oats is the 

 amount most profitable to be used for seeding an 

 acre of land that is in fair condition. This com- 

 mittee reported as much in detail upon all the 

 other crops of the farm. 



The committee close their report by saying, that 

 the aggregate amount for permanent improve- 

 ments during the past five years has been no less 

 than $13,727 58, while the aggregate amount for 

 boys' labor was $9,437 75. Ihe value of person- 

 al property is $4,804 36 greater than when the 

 Board first took charge of the farm ; or, in other 

 words, the Board leave that amount of personal 

 property belonging to the State over and above 



