VOl.. XII. NO. 43. 



AND HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL, 



347 



The oak which , has withstood the winds and 

 blasts of many years is torn from its bed,, and its 

 lowering branches prostrated, " Startled nature 

 reels!" From solid darkness leaps the vivid flash, 

 and dreadful rolls the echo through the sky ! 



No wonder man should fear, when the fierce 

 elements thus rush forth at war! The rude laugh 

 ceases ; the laborers are still ; the birds are mule 

 in their leafy bowers; Jehovah speaks! Let man 

 be silent ! But lo, again fear subsides, gladness 

 awakes, the sky is hushed and the bow of sunshine 

 smiles and cheers each trembling soul. 



INTERESTING PHILOSOPHICAL, FACTS. 



The change of property which takes place when 

 chemical attraction acts, is not confined to metals, 

 but is a general result in every case when different 

 bodies are brought into this state of combination 

 or chemical union. Frequently we find, that the 

 properties of eaidi body are totally changed ; and 

 substances from being energetic and violent in their 

 nature, become inert, harmless, ami vice versa. 

 For instance, that useful and agreeable snbsiance, 

 culinary salt, which is not only harmless but u hole- 

 Some, and absolutely necessary for the well being 

 of man, is composed of two formidable ingredients, 

 either of which taken into the stomach, proves fa- 

 tal to life; one of these is a metal, and the other 

 an air ; the firmer is called solium, and the latter 

 chlorine. When presented to each other, the vio- 

 lence of their nature is manifested by their imme- 

 diate bursting out into flame, and instantly they 

 are both deprived of their virulence. Can any 

 thing be more striking than the change of proper- 

 ties in this case ; and who could have supposed 

 that the culinary salt is composed of a metal uni- 

 ted ro an air. » 



The medicine called Glauber's salts is another 

 instance; it is composed of caustic, poisons of dif- 

 ferent kinds ; one called oil of vitriol and the other 

 barilla or soda. There are also two substances 

 known to chemists which are disgustingly bitter 

 liquids ; one is called nitrate of silver, and the 

 other hydrosulphate of soda ; when mixed they 

 are found a compound of considerable sweetness. 

 But the atmosphere which we breathe is the mosl 

 extraordinary of all instances, to those who are 

 acquainted with the fact, that atmospheric air in- 

 dispensable as it is to life, is composed of the same 

 ingredients as that most violent and destructive li- 

 quid called a qukfortis, or nitric acid. This pow- 

 erful acid by being made to act upon sugar, the 

 sweetest of all things, produces a substance in- 

 tensely bitter to the taste. Charcoal is, of all 

 known substances, the most difficult to con vert into 

 vapor, so much so indeed, that the conversion has 

 never been yet decidedly effected, it is also a very 

 solid substance ; and a diamond which is nothing 

 but chrvstalized charcoal, is one of the hardest 

 bodies in nature. Sulphur, in the solid state, is 

 also a hard substance, and to hold it in vapor re- 

 quires a high temperature. But when these two 

 substances, carbon and sulphur, are made to com- 

 bine chemically, so as to form the substance call- 

 ed bisulphuret of carbon, their properties are stri- 

 kingly changed. Instead of the compound being 

 bard, it is a thin liquid, and is not known to freeze 

 or solidify at any degree of cold that can be pro- 

 duced. Instead of the compound being difficult 

 to evaporize, it is of all liquids one of the most 

 evaporahle. Charcoal is the blackest substance 

 with which we are acquainted, sulphur is of the 



most lively yellow hue; but the compound is as 

 colorless as water. A new smell and taste are ac- 

 quired, and in a word there is not one point of 

 resemblance with the component. These facts are 

 strikingly illustrative of the change of properties 

 which follows on the exertion of chemical attrac- 

 tion between the ultimate particles of bodies. — 

 Uonagon's Chemistry. 



From the New York Farmer. 

 SUGGESTIONS RELATIVE TO FARMERS' 

 WORK FOR APRIL,. 



Ploughing. Various opinions are given in re- 

 spect to the depth of ploughing. As a general 

 rule we believe the most successful farmers plough 

 no deeper than the soil or rather the turf extends. 

 This soil is not generally more than two to four 

 inches ; consequently if the plough runs five or 

 six inches deep, the soil or fertilizing portion of 

 the furrow must become so very much diffused 

 that the plants particularly when young will not 

 find sufficient nourishment. This being the case, 

 it would seem that the direction so generally given 

 to plough a sandy loam deep, should also depend 

 on the depth of the manured portion of the soil. 

 The best farmers of the present day direct the ut- 

 most pains to be taken to turn the sod so completely 

 that it will all ferment. This is done most effec- 

 tually by one ploughing only, and some to keep 

 the sod from being in the least turned up by hoe- 

 ing and ploughing the corn, pass a roller over and 

 then harrow the field before planting. 



Oxen. It is very common, with even good far- 

 mers, to keep their working oxen in very thin flesh. 

 This is bad policy; they cannot perform as much 

 nor as heavy work ; are not so capable of being 

 substitutes for horses, nor will they last as many 

 years ; are fattened for the butcher at greater ex- 

 pense, and in longer time. The extra expense in 

 keeping working oxen in good condition does not 

 probably exceed in a whole season the additional 

 work they could thereby do in one month. And 

 when we consider that they consume less food in 

 fattening, and can be moderately worked all the 

 time they are preparing for the butcher, it will be 

 seen that there is economy in keeping a good por- 

 tion of flesh always on them. Many people are 

 under the impression that oxen in flesh cannot 

 move as fast, nor undergo as much fatigue, as they 

 can when they are not much more than skin and 

 bones. This is true with oxen that are well fed 

 and unaccustomed to labor; but not otherwise as 

 many farmers can testify, and as correct reasoning 

 would conclude. 



Corn. In communications from farmers we find 

 that some varieties of corn will yield live pecks of 

 shelled, from two bushels of ears, and others but 

 little, if any, more than four pecks. This seems 

 to depend very much on the smallness of the cob. 

 In planting corn, it is recommended to put six to 

 eight kernels in a hill, and then to pull up at the 

 first hoeing all but four of the most healthy spears. 



To prevent birds and fowls from scratching up 

 the corn, the seed is covered with tar and wood 

 ashes: and various other methods are adopted, but 

 none that we are acquainted with have any de- 

 cided advantages. 



Skinless Oats. This kind of oats begins to be 

 considerably cultivated. As yet the seed com- 

 mands a pretty high price, yet it is advisable, for 

 every farmer who can, to procure at least a few 

 quarts. 



Flesh-colored Clover. It would be well for farm- 



ers lo furnish themselves with a few pounds or 

 even ounces of this seed in order to test its merits. 

 It may be of great benefit. 



TEMPERANCE. 



No man ever began to drink, for the purpose of 

 becoming a drunkard ; no man ever meant to be a 

 drunkard. How is it then that so many are drun- 

 kards ? Ardent spirit was to them what a bail in 

 the snare is to an unwary bird. They knew not 

 the danger they were in, when they began to be 

 cautious drinkers. Cautious drinking is an en- 

 deavor to pull the bait out of the trap without get- 

 ting caught. Let it alone. No man is safe who 

 drinks cautiously. If you get into the habit at all, 

 it is like the rash or ignorant mariner entering the 

 disk of the Maelstrom, that great whirlpool on the 

 coast of Norway. He cannot keep upon the edge. 

 Each circumstance carries him nearer to the centre, 

 and of course to irretrievable destruction. His 

 only safety lies in keeping out of the current, and 

 at a distance from it. — Some people drink to drown 

 sorrow. Unwise! they drown themselves. They 

 are about as reasonable as the mad commander of 

 a vessel, who, because he had troubles on his 

 voyage, ran his vessel into the whirlpool, that the 

 dizziness produced by the rapidity with which he 

 made the circumference, might cause him to forget 

 his troubles. — Trumpet. 



A NEW METAL. 



Ix the month of August last, Professor Briet- 

 hanpt, in Freiburg, determined a new substance, 

 possessing very remarkable properties — solid or 

 native iridium. Platinum has long been consider- 

 ed the heaviest of all metals ; but Professor B. shows 

 that native iridium is two parts heavier, viz. 23 3 

 to 23 6 ; platina being only 21 5. In the 17th and 

 18th Nos.of the "Annals ofChemistry and Physics," 

 there is an article, from which we extract the 

 following particulars relative to this discovery. 

 Professor Briethaupt found the substance which 

 he has determined in grains from the gold and 

 platina works of Nischno-Tagilsk, on the Oural, 

 which were brought to him by some young Rus- 

 sians who are studying at Freiburg. This sub- 

 stance has a shiney and perfectly metallic lustre. 

 Externally the color is silver-white, strongly in- 

 clining to yellow ; internally it is silver-bluish, 

 inclining to platina grey — " its hardness," says 

 Mr. li. " is from eight to nine of my scales, and 

 therefore it immediately polishes the best files. 

 This substance is consequently the hardest, in all 

 probability, of all metals and metallic compounds." 

 This metal is therefore a new species. According 

 to the examination hitherto made by Professor B. 

 it consists of iridium with a very little osmium. 

 It combines with their hardness and specific grav- 

 ity, in which it exceeds all metals hitherto known, 

 two other remarkable properties. It actively re- 

 sists the action of acids, and is in a high, perhaps 

 the highest degree infusible. — Lit. Gazette. 



AWAKENING SUDDENLY. 



To awaken children from their sleep with a loud 

 noise or in an impetuous manner, is extremely in- 

 Judicious and hurtful ; nor is it proper to carry 

 them from a dark room immediately into a glaring 

 light, against a dazzling wall ; for the sudden im- 

 pression of light debilitates the organs of vision, 

 and lays the foundation of weak eyes from early 

 infancy. 



