450 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Oct 



Mr. J. H. Shedd, of this city, for the express pur- 

 pose of testing the accuracy of commonly received 

 opinion upon this subject. 



A jar wrapped in several folds of flannel was 

 filled with water at 66° Fahr. — the flannel on the 

 outside of the jar was completely saturated with 

 water at the same temperature and the whole was 

 then placed in the sun when the themometer stood 

 at 126°; evaporation took place with great rapid- 

 ity, so rapidly in fact that the wrapper required 

 to be re-wet several times in the course of the 

 hour during which the experiment was continued ; 

 the water used for wetting the wrappers was al- 

 .(^ays of the same temperature, viz., 66°, and could 

 have had no eff'ect in raising the temperature of 

 the water in the jar ; yet at the expiration of the 

 hour its temperature was 81° — that is, lo*^ higher 

 than at the beginning of the experiment ! Not 

 doubting in the least the accuracy of this trial, as 

 it was performed by a gentleman who is well 

 known to be careful and exact in performance, 

 the trial was repeated in the following manner. 

 One end of an ordinary porous drain tile was 

 closed, and the tile then filled with water at 71°; 

 this was not placed in the sun, but in such a po- 

 sition that it was constantly subjected to a draught 

 of air at a temperature of 72.^°: the water soon 

 saturated the porous sides of the tile, and evapo- 

 ration took place so fast that in the course of 

 three hours a tenth part had been vaporized ; yet 

 the only change that had taken place in the tem- 

 perature of the water had been to raise it, in the 

 beginning of the experiment, 1^°, that is, to 72^*^, 

 the temperature of the atmosphere ; having gained 

 this point, it remained constant throughout the 

 entire time of the trial. 



It is possible that in making these experiments 

 something essential to their successful operation 

 may have been omitted ; if so, it is hoped that 

 some one of the many intelligent readers of the 

 Farmer may correct our errors, and at the same 

 time throw more light upon this portion of the 

 theory of evaporation. 



Though evaporation, per se, may not be a cool- 

 ing process, yet no one can doubt that through 

 this medium wonderful changes of temperature 

 are eftected ; and still more wonderful and even 

 fatal changes are prevented. 



In the whole economy of nature there is no 

 more beautiful phenomenon than this ; — annual- 

 ly the earth in its mighty respiration sends forth 

 and draws back to itself one hundred and sixty 

 millions cubic miles of vapor. To this flow of 

 the earth's breath of life we owe our majestic rivers 

 and ever flowing springs ; the beauty of the sun- 

 set filling the heart with calm, quiet joy, the 

 vanishing tints of the rainbow, ever reminding 

 us of God's saving promise, are but the fulfilling 

 of its mission to men. Pensa. 



Boston, Aug., 1858. 



The Heaviest Bullock ever Butchered. 

 — Upon the authority of the President of the 

 American Institute, it was recently stated that 

 the heaviest bullock butchered in this country 

 was the ox Washington, whose gross "weight was 

 3,204 pounds, and weight of beef 2,174 pounds. 

 This claim appears to be disputed, however, by 

 some writers in the Tribune, from Pennsylvania, 

 one of whom claims that a bullock was butchered 



near Lancaster, on the 22nd of February last, 

 whose live weight was 3,387, net, 2,409 ; the 

 other that a Berks county ox was butchered some 

 years ago in Philadelphia, whose live weight was 

 3,350, net 2,388. A still heavier bullock is an- 

 nounced in the Saratoga County Press, which 

 says "that J. M. Cole, of Saratoga Springs, 

 slaughtered an ox in 1847 whose live weight was 

 3,520 lbs. ; dressed 2,567." If this be true, Mr. 

 Cole has probably beaten the world, and should 

 give the world the proof. — Southern Planter. 



INQUIRIES ABOUT "WHITE CATTLE. 



Ed. Cultivator : — Permit me to ask you or 

 some of your readers a few simple questions : 



1st. Will white cattle stand our cold winters 

 as well as cattle of other colors? 



2nd. Does the color make any difference about 

 their standing the heat, when worked hard in 

 warm weather ? 



3d. Does the color affect the quality of beef? 



4th. Would it not be better to bring our cat- 

 tle from the north as much as possible, than from 

 the south ; would they not stand our winters 

 better ? 



I would like to have these questions answered, 

 as I am rather partial to white cattle, and I would 

 like to know whether they are as hardy as cattle 

 of other colors ? Yours truly, H. c. B. 



Answer. — More than thirty years ago we 

 worked a yoke of white oxen through a heavy 

 season's plowing, and though, in the abstract, 

 they stood heat better than dark cattle, yet their 

 general tenderness led us to turn them to beef as 

 soon as possible. Our experience with white 

 cows is also unfavorable to their profitableness. 

 But these were not the blood stock. We shall 

 be glad to have the experience of those who have 

 kept the white full blood short horns. — Ohio 

 Ctdtivator. 



POWEB OF ABSOKPTION. 



It is a fact well known to physiologists that 

 the power of absorption of nutritious matters de- 

 pends upon the fact that the blood in the capil- 

 lary vessels which surround the intestines is 

 thicker than the fluid contained in the intestines. 

 Water is absorbed in great quantity and rapidity 

 into the blood from the intestinal canal. The 

 blood would thus soon become so diluted as to 

 be incapable of further absorption, if it were not 

 for certain arrangements for the rapid escape of 

 this water from the body. A part of the water 

 passes off by the kidneys. Thus, if a man drinks 

 five or six tumblers full of ordinary well or spring 

 water, the major part will be excreted by the kid- 

 neys in less than thirty minutes. But, besides 

 this, the evaporating surface, including the cuta- 

 neous and respiratory, is immensely large as 

 compared with the absorbing surface. According 

 to Lindenau's calculation, the whole absorbing 

 surface of the intestine is 24 square feet, while 

 the evaporating surface of the lungs is 2,642 

 square feet and that of the skin is 12 square feet. 

 By this wonderful contrivance any undue increase 

 of water in the blood is soon got rid of, and the 

 due thickness of ihe blood, and of consequence its 

 powers of absorption, are constantly maintained. 

 — Louisville Journal. 



