VOL. XVI. HO. 15. 



AND GARDENER'S JOURNAL 



117 



(Selected for llie New Kiifiland Fanner.) 

 ON WASHING, BI^EACHING, &,o. 



"Nothiiipf is unimportant to the interests of ag- 

 ricultnrc, which tends to improve the method ac- 

 cording to wliich the daily work of a farm is 

 carried on : 'I'he object of bleaching, is the remo- 

 val of spots and stains from cloth ; those that most 

 frequently occnr, are occasioned by oil, grease, or 

 perspiration, and njay be removed by soa)i, clay, 

 or an alkali ; those produced by the juices of cer- 

 tain fruits, rccpiire difi'erent processes. Alkalies 

 can bo employed in cleansing fabrics of liemp, 

 flax or cotton ; only those of silk or woolen are 

 destroyed, or at least injured by those substances. 



" When household linen, or other articles of 

 wearing a|)parel become soiled, they are usually 

 thrown in a pile in some corner of the dwelling, 

 till a sufficient quantity is collected to form a 

 washing ; tlie consequence is, that the linen be- 

 ing impregnated with animal moisture, even per- 

 haps so as to be moist, heats and ferments, and 

 the texture of it is thus more injured by lying, 

 than by any use which is made of it as clothing. 

 To obviat') this evil, soded clothing should be 

 hung upon lines in a dry place, so that the arti- 

 cles may be neither heated, nor gather moisture. 



"If a bad slate of weather should prevent the 

 linen, &c., from being dried in the open air, it 

 should be hung around the fire in the house, and 

 not put away in closets and drawers, till thorough- 

 ly dry. The first operation in washing, is that of 

 soaking the linen ; for this purjjose, several arti- 

 cles jnust be laid smoothly in a tub, and covered 

 with a cloth, upon which water must be poured, 

 till the whole is covered with it. The day follow- 

 ing, a layer of ashes must be placed upon the 

 coarse cloth, so as to be equally thick over the 

 whole surface. The water is drawn oft' from the 

 tub by means of a stnp-cock at the bottom, and is, 

 thrown into the boih^-, under which a fire is kin- 

 dled ; as soon as the water becomes hot it is thrown 

 upon the bed of ashes, and this operation is re- 

 peated for some time : and the ley thus formed, 

 being allowed to run out of the tub to supply the 

 place, in the boiler, of that which is thrown into 

 the tub. 



" In this way, the linen gradually becomes hot, 

 and the ley acquires .strength ; when the liquid in 

 the copper is rjear boiling, the operation is discon- 

 tinued. The linen is allowed to remain in the 

 tub, till the ley has done running, after which it 

 is carried to the wash-room. 



" It is very important to know the means of 

 removing spots and grease from clothing of all 

 kinds, and the methods to be used must depend 

 upon the nature: of the cloths and of the cause of 

 the stain." — See Chaplal' s Jlgricultural Chemistry, 

 Chapter XiX. 



A correspondent writes that his "tuinips have 

 been literally cut off by the grass-hoppers," and 

 asks what he "shall do another year to prevent 

 their ravages ?" Our advice is, that he should 

 sow his turnip seed earlier, say as early as the 

 20th of July. By so doing, he will catch the 

 grass-hoppers in a state so young, that they will 

 be unable to do any material harm before his tur- 

 nip plants will have grown out of harm's way from 

 insects. They will even then have to contend 

 with the7?ea or^?^, but their chance of escaping 

 destruction will be much better, as they will have 



only one enemy instead of two to struggle with. — 

 Baltimore Fanner. 



[CT'Let him drive his turkeys into the field ; he 

 will then turn the grass-hoppers to a gotnl account, 

 ami have no occasion to complain of a visit from 

 them. — Com. 



(From the New York Farmer.) 

 URATE, OR MANURE FROM URINE. 



We have been furnished with the fijilovving 

 translation of a Report made in France, on the 

 subject of IMar.ure made from Urine, or the liquid 

 parts of the contents of sinks. 



By this report it will be seen that this kind of 

 manure is exceedingly valuable, and has been 

 used to great advantage — yet it is not held in as 

 high estimation as poudrette, or the manure made 

 by evaporation, from the more solid parts of the 

 contents of sinks or privies. The value of pou- 

 drette is well understood and appreciated in France, 

 Germany and England, where it is extensively 

 used, and even exported to the W.I. Islands with 

 great advantage. 



There cannot, we believe, be a question as to 

 its superioiity over any other manure, if it is not 

 deteriorated by the process of preparation ; and 

 so far as we are able to judge from the informa- 

 tion in our possession, we have no doubt as to the 

 facility with which it may be prejiared without 

 depreciation. 



The following extract from the report above 

 referred to, gives many interesting facts in rela- 

 tion to the mode of using, and quantity required, 

 on different soils, etc. 



" Eight to nine bushels (or about 600 lbs.) are 

 generally sufficient per arpent — -or French acre — 

 which is equal to 1 acre, 1 quarter and 2 square 

 if>erches our measure — upon artificial meadows, 

 or upon grain after winter has passed, and in dry 

 soils. In peor soils, it is necessary to increase 

 the quantity to from 12 1-2 to 17 bushels per ar- 

 pent, or to from 10 to 13 bushels to the acre, our 

 ifieasure, when used on grain in the fall. In damp 

 soils it has been used with success, at the rate of 

 from 17 to 21 bushels for winter graiu. On the 

 fertile soils of La Beauce, it has been used with 

 more success than plaster, upon artificial mead- 

 ows, and only at the rate of 1.3 bushels per a/7)e)!<. 

 In the vallies of Labrie, frotn 17 tO 21 bushels, 

 and at Montereau and de Bray, from 8 to 10 bush- 

 els per arpent are used. This manure may be 

 dissolved in water, as its action is greater when it 

 rains, soon after it has been si}read. The time 

 for using it, is indicated by the nature of the soil, 

 and mode of culture. Upon such soils as do not 

 retain water, it is better to spread it at the time of 

 sowing. The moisture ofttie earth, and the rains 

 of that season, hasten its solution, and the grain 

 is better prepared to resist the effects of ihe win- 

 ter. Nevertheless, if the sowing takes place a 

 very short time previous to the setting in of the 

 hard frosts, it would be better to omit spreading 

 the manure until early in the spring. Grain treat- 

 ed in this way, has given a produce very su|)erior 

 to that treated in a diflJerent manner ; also, when 

 the soil retains water during the winter, it is bet- 

 ter to delay spreading the manure until sjning 

 as without this precaution, it would be too njuch 

 diluted, except upon earli/ sowing. In a wet 

 season, more manme is required to be used in 

 autumn, than in spring, upon the same quantity 



of ground. The use of this manure is very prof- 

 itable upon spring wheat and other spring crops, 

 if oare is taken to spread itin damp or rainy wea- 

 ther. 



When spread immediately after a heavy rain, 

 its effects are almost instantaneous. During two 

 years trial, its i fl^ects have been highly satisfacto- 

 ry. The following are the results: 



The crops have been rendered stronger, and 

 heavier by its use, and come earlier to maturity, 

 while the grain has been larger and better filled. 



Oats have yielde<l double, and the grain very 

 heavy. 



The same results have been obtained with liar- 

 ley. 



Buckwheat has produced 2 or 3 times its ordi- 

 nary crop. 



Potatoes have yielded twice as many tubers, 

 which were much larger than usual, very mealy, 

 and of exquisite flavor. The manure is applied 

 by being mixed with pulverized soil, and put in 

 the hill. 



Turnips have been able, after its application, 

 to resist the attack of the tiqutt, (an insect which 

 eats the first leaves of the turnip during the 

 drought.) 



Beet roots obtained a circumference of 28 in- 

 ches, were of a superior quality, and the leaves 

 of unusual size. Ufion the vine the trials have 

 likewise been very successful, the vegetation has 

 become active, the period of ripening advance<l 

 a fortnight, while the vine was of better qual- 

 ity than that from the same sort of vine on the 

 same ground, but which had not been thus ma- 

 nured. 



For the culture of the vine, three different 

 modes of manuring have been tried, viz : Spread- 

 ing it as in a cornfield, placing it at the foot of the 

 vine, or by dissolving it in water, in the propor- 

 tion of one pound to a gallon. This last mode 

 has been found most successful. It has also been 

 preferred to the other methods, both for vegeta- 

 bles and fruit trees." 



Investigations into the properties of the Toma- 

 to show that it may be used as Medicine. A late 

 nun)ber of the Cincinnati Whig informs us that 

 Dr Miles of that city, has made a compound ex- 

 tract of this vegetable, in the form of pills ; which 

 he says is a substitute for calomel. It is not now 

 Sfateu hoH' far this new medicine will answer the 

 purposes of calomel; experience must determine 

 that matter, as it does the value of all new discov- 

 eries. — Zanesville (O.) Gaz, 



We were very forcibly struck, says the New 

 York Express, with the decrease of the value ot; 

 city property between this and last year. By the 

 returns of the Assessors just completed, it appears, 

 that th-B aggregate value of real and personal esj- 

 tate 



For 1836 was $309,500,920 



For 1837 is 263,747,350 



Decrease, 



$45,753i570 



AccrDE.NT. — John Bergen of Clear Spring, Md. 

 was suffocated by choke-danjp or carbonic acid 

 by descending into a deep well. Always try a 

 well before you descend ; let down a candle and 

 if it burn at the bottom of the well you may safe? 

 ly descend. — Md, paper. 



