VOL,. XII. NO. 11. 



AND HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 



91 



It" you take the trouble to examine tiie records 

 or journals of the Massachusetts Agricultural So- 

 ciety (perhaps about the year '97 or '99, or earlier) 

 you will find some letters on the subject of rearing 

 and managing silk-worms, communicated by my 

 father. 



If you will inquire of Mr. William Sullivan, I 

 presume he will confirm the above statement. I 

 will also refer you to Mr. John or Charles Tappan, 

 Mr. Charles C. Nichols, of Willinm street, Boston, 

 or Judge Lyman, Northampton. I have often re- 

 gretted that the practical knowledge that my fa- 

 ther acquired with so much toil and with some pe- 

 cuniary sacrifices, should have been so entirely 

 lost to the world. I remain with much respect, 

 &r C _ Anne L. Clarke. 



You will perceive from the above that handker- 

 chiefs, cloth, and stockings, were made a long time 

 n"0. I do not know whether ours were the first. 



Marshals for their polite but prompt, active and 

 energetic exertions in keeping order, and putting 

 into operation the arrangements of the Society. 

 All was peace and harmony ; and but for the rain 

 which fell in torrents during a part of the first day, 

 there was nothing to disturb the happiness and 

 hilarity of the occasion. 



The Reports of the Committees, &c. &c. will be 

 published in due time. — Winthrop Farmer. 



CATTLE SHOW AND FAIR. 



The Cattle Show and Fair of the Kennebec 

 County Agricultural Society, was held on AVednes- 

 day and Thursday last in this village. In many 

 respects the exhibition proved vastly better than 

 last year. The number of handsome and strong 

 oxen and excellent milch cows offered for exhibi- 

 tion, puts it beyond a doubt that our farmers have 

 not only awakened to, but are practising the spirit 

 of Improvement. The bulls were numerous, and 

 some very handsome and well made yearlings pro- 

 mise an increase of good stock of this kind. 



Some beautiful yearlings belonging to Mr. San- 

 ford Howard of Hallowell, and a new milch two 

 year old that afforded 7 lbs. of butter in 7 days, 

 was offered for exhibition, and added much to the 

 interest of the show. Some yearling heifers, be- 

 longing to Mr. R. Eaton of Augusta, and some be- 

 longing to Mr. B. Nasou of the same town, were 

 very handsome animals. 



The number of sheep exhibited were not so 

 many as last year ; but what were exhibited show- 

 ed that there had been no falling oft' in the good- 

 ness of that stock. The show of swine was better 

 than last year, also that of horses, but here is vast 

 room for improvement yet, though there were i 

 few first rate ones exhibited. The show of man- 

 ufactured articles was far less as it regards lum- 

 ber of articles exhibited, than last year. What 

 articles were exhibited were good ; but we really 

 hope that the ladies, as well as our mechanics, will 

 give us a better treat next year. 



A dinner was provided by Mr. Shaw, whicl 

 proved that he and his lady have not lost any cf 

 their well known skill and activity. The good 

 things upon the table, and the attention given :o 

 the guests, were exceedingly gratifying. The des- 

 sert was enriched by fruits of various kinds fwn 

 the garden of Mr. B. Vaughan of Hallowell, vho 

 in his old age hath not forgotten the farmer. 

 Grapes and other fruits were also presented by the 

 Messrs. Fosters of Winthrop. 



Sentiments appropriate to the occasion we - e of- 

 fered by the gentlemen present, and the conpany 

 separated pleased and satisfied. On Thursday the 

 Society met at Union Hall, and marched in pro- 

 cession to the Rev. David Thurston's 5Ie;ting- 

 house, where an address was delivered by the Edi- 

 tor of this paper, [Dr. E. Holmes,] and the Fair 

 was held in the afternoon. 



Much credit is due to the Choir for the excel- 

 lent music which they gave us, and also to the 



IMPROVEMENTS IN BRICK MAKING. 



It is well known that bricks for our buildings 

 are often very rough, and quite unfit for handsome 

 walls; two important improvements in the manu- 

 facture of this article have been lately made. One 

 is a machine for tempering the clay better, and 

 less injurious to the work people. The other is a 

 machine for pressing the bricks in a half dry state, 

 which renders them greatly superior to dressed 

 bricks, and less expensive. •One of the latter ma- 

 chines is now at work at Hanford,and it is expect- 

 ed the other will be got to work shortly. — Staf- 

 fordshire Adv. 



PATENT SPRING CHAISE. 



A patent has recently been taken out for an 

 improvement in the hanging of chaises. It con- 

 sists principally of a spring, by means of which 

 the centre of gravity of the chaise is thrown back 

 when it is going down hill, and forward when it 

 is going up, to the great relief of the horse — thus 

 obviating one of the most important objections to 

 the use of a chaise instead of a wagon. The pa- 

 tentee was in this vicinity, last week, and exhibit- 

 ed his invention to a number of gentlemen, all of 

 whom approved it. — Greenfield Mercui-y. 



the value of this instrument will be properly ap- 

 preciated. — N. Y. Evening Post. 



ODOMETER OR ROAD MEASURER. 



There is now daily running between Baltimore 

 and the city of Washington a stage coach, furnish- 

 ed with an Odometer, or Road Measurer, which 

 attracts much attention, not because this instru- 

 ment is entirely novel in this country, but owing 

 to the new principles in mechanics employed in 

 its construction, and its simplicity and very great 

 accuracy in determining the distance over which 

 the carriage has travelled. This is shown to the 

 passengers by means of an index, affixed to the 

 front of the coach, inside, the figures of the index 

 regularly increase in value with the increased 

 distance. This is not only shown in whole miles, 

 but in fractional parts of miles, until the comple- 

 ment of a mile is manifested by an additional num- 

 ber to the index of whole miles. The traveller at 

 the setting out of the coach has only to take note 

 of the number and parts of miles which the index 

 indicates, and compare them with those shown on 

 his arrival at any particular place, — the difference 

 will be the distance gone over. The index is cal- 

 culated for one thousand miles, after which it is 

 all blank, till the fraction one-eighth begins to fill 

 it up. anew. The coach here spoken of has very 

 nearly filled up its measure of numbers, and am- 

 ple opportunities have been had to verify its great 

 accuracy, both on smooth and rough roads, of well 

 determined measurement. Thus the traveller will 

 have an additional pleasure, whether in public or 

 private land conveyances, for as is affirmed by the 

 patentee, Mr. W. A. Turner, of North Carolina, 

 the cost of affixing them to all kinds of wheel car- 

 riages will be but a trifling sum, there can be no 

 doubt of their being very generally put into use. — 

 In England, where a patent is about to be taken, 



SPRING WHEAT. • 



A writer for the Maine Farmer, with the signa- 

 ture " A. B." makes the following observations: 

 " Were I to insure a crop of Spring Wheat (and 

 every man does who sows one,) I would have the 

 land not too rich, nor too poor, and would prefer 

 vegetable manure, such as clover roots and tops 

 ploughed in at a suitable time of the year, good 

 sound wheat that was fully ripe for seed, and I 

 would have it sown as early in the spring as the 

 land is in order to receive it, but no sooner ; for if 

 sowed when the land is wet and not in a suitable 

 state to work, all attempts to obtain a crop will be 

 useless. Seed well washed and place on a floor, 

 and well mixed with good strong lime, there to re- 

 main for 24 or 48 hours, and longer if necessary, 

 before sowing, and, if the land is very rich, sow- 

 ed at the rate of three bushels of seed to the acre. 

 When up, top dress it with leached ashes, and a 

 fourth part of lime well mixed at the rate of five 

 bushels to the acre, to check by the aid of the al- 

 kali the too rapid fermentation of the vegetable 

 matter, and neutralize any acid which may be 

 formed from these substances, while decompos- 



PINE CATTLE. 



Mr. Alpheus Morse, from Madison county, N. 

 Y. arrived in Westchester, Pa. on the 14th inst. 

 with upwards of 360 head of cattle, selected ex- 

 pressly for this market. Among them were fifty 

 or sixty two year old heifers, taken from the best 

 dairies, which are on demand and will sell readily 

 at fair prices. Of the working oxen, of which the 

 bulk of the drove is composed, some were very 

 large — of just proportion — and well broke ; and 

 so highly pleased were many of the purchasers at 

 the last year's sales, that increased prices have 

 been given. Two pair of this description were 

 sold at 175 dollars per pair; two at 140 dollars, 

 and many at intermediate prices, down to 60 dol- 

 lars, according to size and tractability. — I'illage 

 Record. 



V. S. DEPOSITS. 



The Washington Globe, the official administra- 

 tion organ, of Sept. 20, says, " We are authorised 

 to state, that the deposits of the public money will 

 be changed from the Bank of the United States to 

 the State Banks as soon as necessary arrangements 

 can be made for that purpose, and that it is believ- 

 ed, they can be completed in Baltimore, Philadel- 

 phia, New York and Boston, in time to make the 

 change by the first of October, and perhaps soon- 

 er, if circumstances should render an earlier ac- 

 tion necessary on the part of the Government." 



NEW OVEN. 



We lately examined a model of an oven on a. 

 new construction, invented and patented by Mr. 

 Joseph C. Carlisle, of Chesterville. It is built of 

 brick like any oven, but below the hearth is a va- 

 cancy for the fire ; and the flue runs spirally around 

 the outside of it — so that it is heated from the out- 

 side. It requires no sweeping or wetting of the 

 hearth, and of course, is exempt from the crack- 

 ing which is often occasioned thereby. It maybe 

 kept constantly hot if necessary, as the fire does 

 not communicate at all with the inside of it. — 

 Maim Farmer. 



