VOL,. XII. NO. 3fi. 



AND HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL 



283 



diminish most sensibly tin: amount of wool they 

 yield, but they are unnblp to sustain their lambs, 

 and the natural consequence follows, they die. 



BUTTER. 



A friend waited on ns, yesterday, to commu- 

 nicate the result of a process, which had been 

 recommended to him, of restoring butter to its 

 original sweetness. Incredulous as he was, he 

 made the experiment, and he authorizes us to say 

 it was entirely satisfactory. It consists simply of 

 churning the butter with sweet fresh milk, in the 

 proportion of about 2 lbs. of the former to half a 

 gallon of the latter. Duller, thoroughly rancid, 

 by this simple process, was rendered sweet and 

 good. Our citizens, in view of the present scar- 

 city and (harness of butter of even tolerable qual- 

 ity, will not fail to appreciate this discovery. — 

 Fredericksburg Arena. 



HOT BEDS. 



In this latitude a hot bed is al st indispensa- 

 ble with those who would have, good gardens. 

 There are many plants cultivated in gardens, 

 which, in order to receive the greatest benefit from 

 them, require a little forcing, by which they are 

 brought to greater perfection than they would ar- 

 rive at if planted in the open gurond. 



Early cabbages should be brought forward in 

 this manner, as by it they may be brought to the 

 table one month sooner than when the seed is 

 sown in open ground. 



Tomatoes and peppers are more productive 

 when brought forward in beds; besides, to have 

 tomatoes, during mid summer, not only pleases 

 the appetite, but is conducive to health. 



Cucumbers, melons, and squashes may be start- 

 ed in hot beds, and afterwards transplanted to the 

 open ground with advantage, as some of the finest 

 varieties of melons do not ripen sufficiently early 

 to have them in perfection, unless they are brought 

 forward in tins manner. 



We would not recommend planting hot beds in 

 this vicinity until the middle of March ; but the 

 manure for them should be collected ami put in a 

 heap, that the fermentation may commence be- 

 fore it is put into the bed, otherwise they are lia- 

 ble to become so hot as to destroy the young 

 plants. 



Sufficient directions for the formation and man- 

 agement of hot beds will be given in die season, 

 to enable those unacquainted with the business to 

 be sure of success. — GoodscWs Fanner. 



PAINTING OP BUILDINGS, ifcc. 



For painting the roofs of buildings, Mr. Patter- 

 son, of New Jersey, has, some years since, given 

 the following directions, which have been highly 

 approved, as the best composition known for pre- 

 serving the roofs of houses ; as it is found, that it 

 hardens by time, and is an effectual preventive 

 against the roof taking fire from the sparks of the 

 chimney. 



"Take three parts of air slacked lime, two of 

 wood ashes, and one of fine sand ; sift these 

 through a fine sieve, and add as much linseed oil 

 as will bring it to a consistence for working it 

 with a painter's brush. Great care must be taken 

 to mix it perfectly." 



We believe grinding it as a paint would be an 

 improvement. Two coats are necessary ; the first 



rather thin ; the second as thick as can be con- 

 veniently worked. 



Tainting of wooden buildings, of every kind, is 

 not only ornamental, but the owner is well repaid 

 for this extra expense, by the greater durability 

 which the paint gives to them. The wooden 

 fences also, which are intended to be ornamental, 

 round, and near buildings, should never be desti- 

 tute of a good coat of paint. — Farmer's Assistant. 



BEST TIME FOR CUTTING TIMBER. 



The best time for cutting timber involves an in- 

 quiry of deep interest to fanners. Last summer 

 we received the following notice of this subject in 

 a letter from a valued correspondent: 



" Some years ago, a German on tin: Tohickon, 

 cut hoop pedes late in the spring ; and a bundle 

 was accidentally left in the woods lying on the 

 ground. It remained there a year or two before 

 it was discovered, and then to his surprise found 

 to be untouched by the worms. The poles were 

 ash, hickory, and maple. He has since had his 

 timber for rails and other purposes, cut at that 

 season of the year, and I have also successfully 

 tried the experiment." 



We did not clearly understand at the time 

 whether the hoop poles were preserved by lying 

 on the ground, or by being cut at that season ; and 

 we wrote for an explanation. This we have just 

 received, and are pleased to lay it before our 

 readers : 



" The hoop poles left in the woods were pre- 

 served from becoming doated or worm eaten, in 

 consequence of having been cut late in the spring, 

 at the period when the sap is elaborated in the 

 full grown leaf. A sawyer told me that logs cut 

 when the bark first begins to peel will soon be- 

 come sap rotten, while others cut only a few 

 weeks later, will remain sound in similar situa- 

 tions. Ash, hickory, and maple, when cut at the 

 wrong time, are very liable to be worm-eaten." — 

 Genesee Farmer. 



CUT FLOWERS. 



To more conveniently enjoy the sight of flowers, 

 they are often plucked and placed in jars of water 

 iq the dwelling. By changing the water, or add- 

 ing alkalies every day, they may be perpetuated 

 without failing for many days, even to the period 

 of falling from the parent stem. Lime, magnesia, 

 or soda, may be used in moderate quantities, such 

 as to give natural sustenance to the detached shoots 

 in preservation. They may be made a luxuriant 

 and appropriate ornament to the drawing-room or 

 parlor ; and in the more humble dwelling of the 

 laborer, how cheerful appears the while-washed 

 room and broad fire-place, 



" Whose hearth, except when winter chills the div. 

 With aspen boughs, and flowers, and fennel gay, 



throws out its soft perfume to the air. — Ulmus. 



From the Genesee Farmer. 

 FENCE POSTS. 



In a late number of the Farmer, I recommen- 

 ded the cultivation of the locust, believing it to be 

 the most valuable timber for fence posts. Since 

 I penned the article, I have reflected much on the 

 subject, and have been led to the conclusion, that 

 by the use of strong alkalies, several kinds of tim- 

 ber abounding in our country may be rendered 

 durable in the ground. 



An intelligent farmer of Cayuga county inform- 

 ed me, that when he entered on his farm, about 



thirty years ago, there stood on it a building which 

 had been used as a potashery, and against which 

 lay a large quantity of leached ashes. On remo- 

 ving it, within a few years, he found that one of 

 the posts, on the side next the ashes, was of bass- 

 wood, and, to use bis own expression, as sound as 

 when put in. 



In building our fine packet ships, the spaces 

 between the timber and ceiling and outer plank, 

 are filled with salt, it having been ascertained that 

 it has the effect to render the wood imperishable. 

 In an article, page 91 of 1st vol. of the Farmer, it 

 is stated that the Shakers at Union Village, have 

 been in the habit of making oak posts as durable 

 as locust by a very simple and easy process. This 

 is merely to bore a hole in that part of the post 

 which will be just at the surface of the earth, with 

 such a slope as will carry it just below the surface 

 and fill it with salt. 



With the exception of the red cedar, which is 

 found on the islands anil shores of our lakes, we 

 have no timber that will remain sound in the 

 ground many years, unless measures arc taken to 

 neutralize the acid contained in the wood, in .the 

 part buried in the earth. It appears, by the above 

 statements, that the ley of wood ashes, and salt, 

 have that effect ; and we have reason to believe 

 that lime would answer the same purpose. But 

 which will answer best can only be ascertained by 

 experiment. Quere — Does not the ley, salt, and 

 lime, drive out and occupy the place of the natu- 

 ral moisture? I believe it to be a fact well estab- 

 lished, that seasoned posts are more durable than 

 green ones, and I conclude the reason is, thatthere 

 is much less of the acid remaining. 



I will now propose to the readers of the Farmer 

 that those of us who have leisure and opportuni- 

 ty should make the following experiment. Pro- 

 cure sound oak, chesnut, or white cedar posts, and 

 when they are well seasoned, divide them into three 

 parts. Of that part to be put in the ground, let 

 one-third be immersed in strong ley, one-third in 

 strong brine, and one-third in lime water, for a 

 sufficient length of time to neutralize the acid. 

 Or if this he attended with too much trouble, set 

 one third with leached ashes to within six inches 

 of the surface, then strong ashes, let one third 

 have salt applied as done by the Shakers, and the 

 other third be set with lime from the surface to the 

 depth of six inches, for it is at the surface of the 

 mound that the posts decay. By such, an experi- 

 ment, in addition to the benefit to ourselves, we 

 should have the pleasing reflection that we have 

 rendered one to the country at large. 



I should be sorry if the above suggestions 

 should divert the attention of any of our farmers 

 from the cultivation of the locust, my only object 

 in penning this being to inform them how to sup- 

 ply themselves with durable posts until their lo- 

 custs shall have attained a proper si-ze. 



Several writers for the Farmer have asserted 

 that posts last much longer if the end which was 

 upwards when growing be put in the ground. I 

 consider this worthy of further experiment. 



Ontario. 



ANIMAL. LIFE. 



A hare will live ten years, a cat ten, a goat 

 eight, an ox twenty, swine twenty-five, a pigeon 

 eight, a turtle dove twenty-five, a raven one hun- 

 dred, an eagle one hundred, and a goose one hun- 

 dred and fifty. — Amer. Farmer, 



