162 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



April 



having the same object. I have had this invention 

 of Captain Taylor's in practical operation for some 

 time, and the results have been so highly satisfac- 

 tory that I confidently recommend it to all fruit- 

 growers as a perfect vade mecuin. 



The cups of bitter water are half filled with 

 dead insects v/hich have perished in attempting to 

 swim across, and under them numerous cocoons 

 show that many have found discretion the better 

 part of valor, having been foiled in their attempts 

 to reach a more elevated state of existence. Nu- 

 merous orchards and trees in this vicinity have 

 been islanded with these biiter waters, which have 

 proved, thus far, better than the sleepless dragons 

 which guarded the famous gardens of the Hesper- 

 ides, and I am of opinion that if this impassable 

 circle of Captain Taylor had been extended around 

 the tree, in a certain garden that we have read of, 

 the human race might have been considerably 

 better ofi'than it now is, and the world would be 

 something better than a home for the fallen. 



Feb., 1859. r. 



Remarks. — We have examined the device of 

 Capt. Taylor to prevent the ascent of canker 

 worms, and should think it might prove effectu- 

 al. We know nothing of the cost, or of its prac- 

 tical operations, excepting what is stated by our 

 correspondent above. 



i'''or the New England Farmer. 

 THE WEATHER OF 1858. 



[ConcludeJ.] 



The whole number of falls of snow during the 

 year was twenty-one, amounting to about thirty- 

 four inches on a level, as near as can be easily 

 calculated, or two feet and ten inches, as follows : 

 In January there were three falls, amounting to 

 six inches ; in February four falls, amounting to 

 five inches ; in March four falls, equalling nine 

 and one-half inches ; in November four falls, 

 equal to nine inches, and in December six falls, 

 equal to four inches. 



The last fall of snow in the spring occurred on 

 the 14th of March, and the first in the fall, on 

 the 13th of November. 



The number of falls of rain in the year, includ- 

 ing thirteen thunder showers, was seventy, oc- 

 curring as follows : In Jan. four, in-Feb. one, in 

 March two, in April six, in May six, in June five, 

 including three thunder showers, in July eleven, 

 including five thunder showers, in August twelve, 

 including two thunder showers, in September 

 six, including three thunder showers, in "October 

 eight, including one thunder shower, in Novem- 

 ber two, in December seven. From December, 

 1857, to April, 1858, but very little water fell, 

 either in snow or rain, and had such a drought 

 occurred in any other season of the year it must 

 have been strikingly noticeable. 



The usual amount of rain fell during the au- 

 tumn months, and most of the summer months, 

 but in October the springs, and consequently the 

 wells and streams, were remarkably low ; hence 

 the query, how is this to be accounted for? 



The mean temperature of the year, based upon 

 an average of all the sunrise, noon and sunset 

 temperature, is 45.76*, which lam led, by differ- j 

 ent methods of observation, to conclude varies I 



but little from the true mean of the year, (I 

 have not room here to introduce a table that I 

 have made out, showing the mean of the sunrise, 

 noon, and sunset temperature for each month, 

 and the mean temperature as deduced from 

 these.) 



The mean temperature of the winter months, 

 (according to my method,) is 25.99'', of the 

 spring, 43.98'^, of the summer 68.15°, and of au- 

 tumn 55.79'-\ 



January, 1858, was fully IS'' warmer than Jan- 

 uary, 1857. 



The lowest temperature during the year was 

 12° below zero, the highest 92° above, and the 

 mean of these two extremes is 40°. 



The coldest day in the year was the 5th of 

 March, with a temperature of 2° at sunrise, 6° 

 at noon and 7° at sunset ; and the warmest day 

 was the 26th of June, with the thermometer at 

 71*^ at sunrise, 92° at noon, and 76° at sunset, 

 and the difference between the mean tempera- 

 ture is not far from 80°. 



There were two hundred and twenty days of 

 wind from some northerly quarter, during the year, 

 and one hundred and twenty-three from a south- 

 erly point. From the northwest ther^ were one 

 hundred and twenty-six days of wind, from the 

 northeast seventy-three, and from the north twen- 

 ty-one ; from the southwest sixty-four, from the 

 south forty-eight, and eleven from the southeast. 

 During twenty-two days the wind was either im- 

 perceptible, or so light and changeable that no 

 regular current could be perceived. Had I room 

 I would introduce a table showing the number 

 of days of wind from the points from which it 

 blows for each month. It also appears that there 

 were one hundred ninety-three days of wind from 

 the west, and only eighty-six from an easterly 

 quarter, which shows that the wind prevailed 

 much more from a more or less westerly quarter, 

 than from an easterly point, and accordingly 

 goes to prove a theory in meteorology that the 

 prevailing wind in the high northern latitudes 

 must be a westerly wind, (or fiouthwesterly.) 



There were one hundred and four clear days 

 in the year 1858, days in which the sun shone 

 almost uninterruptedly ; onu hundred and four 

 tolerably clear — days in which the sun shone the 

 greater part of the time though clouds were abun- 

 dant ; ninety-three cloudy days — days in which 

 the sun scarcely shone ; and sixty-four designat- 

 ed as quite cloudy — the clouds predomin ting. 



Wilbraham, Mass., 1859. J. A. Allen. 



Effects of Pedestrl\n Exerclse. — A cele- 

 brated English physician says that pedestrian 

 exercise particularly exhausts the spine and the 

 brain, and is, therefore, the kind of exercise less 

 suited to intellectually hard-working men. And 

 it is on this account that horseback exercise is 

 the medicine it is — the horse having the fatigue 

 and the rider the exercise. To sufficiently jar 

 the liver and other internal organs, for some con- 

 valescents, the legs and loins must be over- 

 worked. The thorough shake-up which is got in 

 the saddle is without effort, or with the effort of 

 only such muscles as can best afford it ; and the 

 student-rider comes back with physical forces all 

 refreshed, besides the exhilaration of movement 

 for the spirits and the change of mind. 



