V01-. XVI. \0. 51. 



AND GARDENER'S JOURNAL. 



405 



13. If tlu! Soiitli wind begins for two or tliree 

 •lays, the Nui-ili will suddenly hlow after it ; hut 

 if the North hlows for the s'lnie niiiiiher of days, 

 the Sooth will not rise till after the East has blown 

 for some liirn'. 



14. A cli«n>;e in the warmth of weather is gen- 

 ally followed by a change of wind. 



VIII. METEORS. 



When meteors, or the niiiora horealis, n|ipear 

 after some warm day, it is generally succeeded by 

 a coldness of the air. 



IX. — FROM ANIMAL CREATION. 



Swallows, when they fly aloft after their prey, 

 a serene sky — when they skim the ground or the 

 water, rain not far oft" — their appearance a sign 

 of spring set in. When the notes of the whip- 

 poor-will are heard, spring has set in — when 

 sheep wind up the hills in the morning to their 

 pastures, and feed near the top, an indication of 

 the clearing of clouds, or drizzly weatlier — dogs 

 grow sleepy and 3tU|iid before rain, and hy refu- 

 sing their food and eating grass, show their stom- 

 achs out of order — water fowl <live and wash them- 

 selves more than ordinarily before rain — flies are 

 particularly troublesome, and seem more huagry 

 than usual — toads are seen crawling across the 

 road or beaten path in the evening — moles work 

 harder than usual, and sometimes come forth ; so 

 do worms — ants are observed to stir and bustle 

 about, and then return to their burrows — bees 

 stir not far, and betake themselves to their hives 

 — swine discover uneasiness, as do likewise sheep, 

 cows, &,u. all appearing more eager in pasture 

 than usual — l)irds of all sorts are in action, and 

 more earnest after their prey — fleas bite harder 

 than commnn — spiders crawl abroad. On the 

 contrary, — spiders webs on the trees, or in the air, 

 indi'.;ate (air and hot weather — so do bees, when 

 they fly far and come home late — likewise, a more 

 than usual a|)pearanne of glow worms by night. 

 If gnats play up and down in the open air, near 

 sunset, they presage heat ; if in the shade, warm 

 and mild showers; but if they join in stinging 

 those that pass by them, cold weather and much 

 rain may be expected. In men, frequently, aches, 

 corns and wounds, are more troublesome, either 

 towards rain or frost. Tiie crow cawing and 

 walking alone on the seashore, or on the banks of 

 rivers or pools, presages rain. Birds that change 

 countries at certain seasons, if they come early, 

 show the temper of the weather, ac(;ording to the 

 country whence they came ; as in winter, wood- 

 cocks, pigeons, &c., if they come early, show a 

 cold winter. 



X. FROM VEGETABLE CUEATION. 



1. Most vegetables expand their flowers and 

 down in sun-shiny weather, towards theevenirig; 

 and against rain close them again — as in the down 

 of Dandelion. The rule is, if the flowers are 

 close shut up, it betokens rain ; if they are spread 

 abroad, fair weather. 



2. All wood, even the hardest and most solid, 

 swells in moist weather. 



3. The speedy drying of the earth's surface, is 

 a sign of a Northerly wind and fair weather; and 

 its becoming mcist, of a Southerly wind, and rain. 



4. When sounds are more plainly heard than 

 usual — rain. 



5. If wainscots or walls that used to sweat he 

 drier than usual in the beginning of winter, or the 



eaves of houses drop more slowly than ordinary, 

 it [lortends a hard and frosty winter. 



6. When there are but f -vv nuts, colil and wet 

 harvests generally follow ; when a great show of 

 them, hot, heavy and dry harvests succeed. 



7. If the oak bears niiich mast, it presages a 

 long and hard winter. The same of hops and 

 haws. 



.XI. FROM RAIN.* 



1. Sudden rains never last long ; but when the 

 air grows thick by degrees, and the sun, moon 

 and stars shine dimmer and dimmer, it usually 

 rains six hours. 



2. If it begins to rain from the South with a 

 high wind, for two or three hours, and the wind 

 falls, but the rain continues, it is likely to rain 

 twelve hours, or more ; and does usually rain un- 

 til a strong North wind clears the air; these long 

 rains seldom hold above twelve hours. 



3. If it begins to rain an hour or two before 

 sun rising, it is likely to be fair before noon, and 

 continue so that day ; but if the rain begins an 

 hour or two after sunrising, it is likely to rain all 

 that day, except the rainbow be seen before it 

 rains. 



XII. FROM SEASONS. 



1. Generally a moist and cold summer portends 

 a hard winter. 



2. A hot and dry summer and autumn, espec- 

 ially if the heat and drought extend far into Sep- 

 tember, |)ortend an open begimrmg of winter, and 

 cold to succeed towards the latter part and begin- 

 ning of spring. 



3. A warm and open winter portends a hot and 

 dry summer, for the vapors disperse into the win- 

 ter sliowers; wheieas cold and frost keep them 

 in, and convey them to the late spring. So saith 

 my Lord ISacoii, 



4. A severe autiinm denotes a windy winter ; 

 a windy winter a rainy spring ; a rainy spring a 

 serene summer ; a serene summer, a windy aii- 

 tunm ; so that the air, in a balance is seldom 

 debtor to itself; nor do the seasons succeed each 

 other in the same tenor for two years, together. 

 So also saith my Lord Bacon. 



5. At the beginning of winter, if the South 

 wind blow, and then the North, it is likely to be 

 a colli winter; hut if the North wind blow first 

 and then the South, it will be a warm and mild 

 winter. Barnwell. 



Kor the N. E. Farmer. 



INFUSiON OF TEA. 



Of all plants tea resists the extraction of its vir- 

 tues by cold water with the most obstinacy. In 

 a week it woidd not give out to cold water as 

 much flavor as it would give in half an hour to 

 boiling water. The finest black tea Contains 47 

 per cent, of soluble matter, 35 of which may he 

 extracted by water, and the remaining 12 |)er cent, 

 by alcohol ; 100 parts of the best green tea con- 

 tain 51 parts of soluble matter, 41 of which may 

 be itnparlcd by water, and other 12 by alcohol. 



On the mysteries of the tea table it may be re- 

 marked, that no art can ibaw good tea from a l)ad 

 quality of leaf; and that from a good quality of 



leaf no want of skill can produce bad tea. Two 

 conditions only are requisite; that the water sliall 

 he boiling, and that the tea-pot shall he of a mate- 

 rial cai able (d' retaining the heat. A tea-()Otmade 

 of black, unglazed earthen ware should never be 

 used ; for it is calculated to disperse the heat by 

 radiation with great rapidity. When placed upon 

 the tabic the water contained in it will cool, al- 

 most immediately, below the extracting point; and 

 after the ceremony of drinking tc-i, the chief value 

 is often thrown away in the resiibial leaves. A 

 silver tea-|iot, kept exceedingly hrimit, at length 

 repays its cost ; nothing extracts the virtues of the 

 tea so completely; and, next to silver, the newly 

 invented German silver, in which there is no geu- 

 uine silver, answers best. 



OF THE SUCKKllS ON CORN. 



Fonlhill, May 2, 1838. 

 Dear Sir — I made a trial last summer of re- 

 taining the suckers on a part of my corn, which 

 was siiflicient to convince me, that nothing is 

 gained by taking them away. From some cause 

 last season, I saw more suckers shooting out from 

 the roots of my manured corn, than I think 1 had 

 observed before; and at the request of a gentle- 

 man, (to whom I had shewn them, with the re- 

 mark that I did not think that nature would, in 

 relieving itself, do a substantial injury to any jilant) 

 I |ireserved them, and watched their progress to 

 maturity. They grew along with the parent 

 stalks, (and becoining more and more detached 

 as the season advanced, and as they acquired sup- 

 port from the roots which they sent out) tasselled 

 at the same time, and a great many, though not 

 all, bore ears, at the proper places. Atid I have 

 satisfied myself, at least, from the experiment that" 

 by leaving the sucker,'', I made as iinndi corn — 

 certainly much more fodder — and saved the labor, 

 in a busy season, of taking them away. Cottok. 

 — Southern Jls;ni:uUiiralist. 



•It seems that in any given place, the quantity of 

 rain falling one year wuli :iriother, has been discovered 

 10 be tin; same, fiom wliich fact one .niight easily antici- 

 pate the seasons. This experiment lias been tried in 

 not less than tiiirleen places on the Continent, so as to 

 conBrin the rule for forty successive years. 



Progress of a pound of Cotton. — The fol- 

 lowing progress of one pound weight of manu- 

 factured cotton, will show the importance of the 

 cotton trade to Great Britain, in a very conspicu- 

 ous manner : 



'• There was sent off for London, lately, from 

 Paisley, a small piece of muslin, about one pound 

 weight, the history of which is as follows: 



'The wool came from the East Indies to Lon- 

 don ; from London it went into Lancashire, where 

 if was maniitactnred into yarn ; from Alanchester 

 it was sent to Paisley, where it was woven ; it 

 was sent to Aryshire next, where it was tambour- 

 ed ; afterwards it was conveyed to Dumbarton, 

 where it was hand-sewed, and again returned to 

 Paisley, when it was sent to a distant part of the 

 county of Renfrew, to be bleached, and was re- 

 turned to Paisley, whence it was sent to Glasgovy 

 and was finished, and from Glasgow was sent per 

 coach to London. It is difficult precisely to as- 

 certain the time taken to bring this article to mar- 

 ket, but may be pretty near the truth to reckon it 

 three years from the time it was packed in Indin, 

 till in cloth it arrived in the merchant's warehouse 

 in London, whither it must have been conveyed 

 5000 miles by sea, and 920 by land, and contrib- 

 uted to reward no less than 150 people, whose 

 services were necessary to tlie carriage and manu- 

 facture of this small quantity of cotton, and by 

 which the value has been advanced 2000 per cent. 

 What is said of this one piece, is descriptive of 

 no considerable part of the trade.' " 



