1858. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



531 



question of strength. The hard slates differ in 

 quality ; some are thick and slabby, others thin, 

 of uniform size, thickness and grain, and in all 

 respects but color, are equal to the Welsh slates, 

 and are much cheaper. 



Some persons who make thick slates endeavor 

 to discredit the thinner slates by saying that the 

 latter lack strength, and that a roof, to be well 

 protected, should be strong enough to hold up 

 thick slate. This reasoning is like that of the 

 fox who lost his tail in the trap and then tried to 

 persuade the other foxes it was vastly better to 

 do without tails. These people split their slates 

 as thin as they can ; the thin slates are made so 

 for their superior quality and grain, and could be 

 split thick as well as thin, were they not better 

 thin than thick. 



''To test this last operation, take specimen slates 

 from different quarries and rest them by their 

 thin ends on supports ; now put weights on the 

 middle of the slate till they break, and you will 

 find that in the great majority of cases the thin 

 will bear the largest weight ; they are stronger 

 than the other kinds. 



These best slate are made in the Glen Lake 

 and Eagle quarries ; the former are the most uni- 

 form and thinnest. They average 55 — 60 to 

 the foot, and 4 squares to the tun. These meas- 

 urements and weights are the same with the 

 Welsh slate, which I said at the commencement 

 are the standard. A square of slate is what will 

 cover 10 ;^ 10, or 100 square feet, on the roof of 

 a house, or is equivalent to 1000 shingles.- 



These best slate can be had in Boston or its 

 vicinity, for $7 per square ; about the same price 

 with shingles, and are fire-proof, unaflected by 

 heat and cold, and, in a word, imperishable. The 

 only objection to them is the change of color, 

 which is but slight, in no way affects the strength 

 of the slate and if the slate are carefully selected, 

 they all fade about the same, and in a year or 

 two the difference is hardly perceptible. 



It seems to me that these facts prove conclu- 

 sively that slate roofs are the only roofs an eco- 

 nomical farmer can afford to lay. 



I remain ypurs respectfully, 



RUSTICUS. 



THE CAMELS. 



There is, after all, a fair prospect of the Arabi- 

 an camel becoming a regularly naturalized and 

 American citizen. Our government, on two sep- 

 arate occasions, has imported cargoes of camels, 

 in order, if possible, to acclimatize them for long 

 journeys over the dreary plains of the south-west. 

 Lieut. Beale, formerly of the navy, and superin- 

 tendent of the construction of the ne(v military 

 road from Texas to the Colorado river in Califor- 

 nia, has made the exploration, occupying forty- 

 eight days, and located an excellent wagon road, 

 the whole distance. On this exploration the cam- 

 el was the tried animal, and it seems it surpassed 

 his expectations for patience, endurance and fit- 

 ness for American desert travel. He says re- 

 specting it : — 



"Unsupported by the testimony of every man 

 of my party, I should be unwilling to state all 

 that I have seen them do. Starting with a full 

 determination that the experiment should be no 

 half-way one, I have subjected them to trials 



which no other animal could possibly have en- 

 dured, and yet I have arrived here not only with- 

 out the loss of a camel, but they are admitted, 

 by those who saw them in Texas, to be in as 

 good condition to-day as when we left San An- 

 tonio. In all our lateral explorations, they have 

 carried water sometimes for more than a week, 

 for the mules used by the men, the camels never 

 even receiving a bucketful each. 



"They have traversed patiently with heavy 

 packs on these explorations, countries covered 

 with the sharpest volcanic rock, and yet J;heir 

 feet, to this hour, have evinced no symptom of 

 tenderness or injury. With heavy packs they 

 have crossed mountains, ascended and descended 

 precipitous places, where an unloaded mule found 

 it difficult to pass, even with the assistance of the 

 rider dismounted, and carefully picking its way. 

 I think it would be within bounds to say that in 

 these various lateral explorations they have tra- 

 versed nearly double the distance passed over 

 by our mules and wagons." — Scientijic American. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 JSTOKFOLK AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Friend Brown : — The report, in your last 

 paper, of the Exhibition of the Norfolk Agricul- 

 tural Society, as taken from another journal, is 

 so one-sided a statement, that I feel it my duty 

 to make you acquainted with the facts in the case, 

 and as a verification of the same, I enclose the re- 

 port of the Cultivator, Plougliman and Traveller. 

 The Norfolk Society never held so good an ex- 

 hibition, or one crowned with more entire suc- 

 cess. The "Reporter" you quote says, "there 

 icere a few fine horses and some milch cotvs." 

 Now there were 120 entries of horses, and it is 

 not too much to say that no county exhibition 

 has ever surpassed them in excellence. As to 

 "some milch cows," Messrs. Motley, Bacon, Hun- 

 newell and others showed very fine animals in 

 this class. The pens, 150 in number, were filled 

 and Mr. Motley alone exhibited 25 head, two of 

 Jersey Grade, and for two or three of his cows 

 he had been ofi'ered five hundred dollars each. 



The exhibition of fruits was remarkably fine — 

 that of vegetables excellent. There were 20 en- 

 tries of bread and 14 of butter. The articles in 

 the department of female industry, exclusive of 

 the ladies' fair, filled a table more than 100 feet 

 in length, and constituted a fine feature of the ex- 

 hibition. 



The Ladies' Fair in the upper hall, notwith- 

 standing "Reporter," was on a most extensive 

 and magnificent scale, occupying most of a hall 

 135 feet long and 58 feet wide, and was an hon- 

 or to the mothers and daughters of Old Norfolk, 

 embracing in their number ladies of the highest 

 distinction in the county. These ladies were the 

 friends and patrons of the society, and with most 

 generous and praiseworthy labors volunteered 

 their services to aid in raising funds towards 

 paying for the recent purchase of lands. As to 

 the base ball match, permission was given by the 

 Committee of Arrangements, for the clubs from 

 our own towns to play a game, after the stock 

 was removed, and the exhibition was over on the 

 ground. 



The plowing match was decidedly the best 1 



