NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



325 



scorching for it, and accordmgly require shading 

 from its too powerful beams ; while we must not, on 

 the strength of that circumstance, conclude that the 

 plant Mill stand our winter's rigor without protec- 

 tion. "We must first learn whether it be a native of 

 the northern or southern hemisphere ; if of the lat- 

 ter, that will account for its inability to withstand 

 our summer's sun at a season when, though it be 

 summer with us, it would be winter with the plant 

 in its native habitat ; and, its nature not being 

 changed with its situation, it is only harassed by our 

 summer's sun, at a season when it should have and 

 strive to enjoy its winter's rest; therefore it cannot 

 withstand our winter's rigor at the season appropri- 

 ated to it by nature for its summer of excitement. 

 "Were it not for this circumstance, there is no doubt 

 that the half-hardy Sollya HeterophyUa, Billarderia 

 Longifora, &c., would be among our hardiest wall 

 plants. 



These are circumstances the acclimatizer must well 

 attend to, ere he plant out a single exotic ; and next, 

 and of equal importance, the soil in which the exotic 

 is placed, be its richness or its poorness what it may, 

 must be of an open, free, unretentive texture, and 

 well draijied. Such exotics, in general, as are na- 

 tives of boggy or marshy places, can only be kept 

 ■well over winter in felt-covered pits or frames, or at 

 the bottom of ponds fed by springs. The plant must 

 be started into a fine and rapid growth in spring and 

 early summer, so as to have its growth completed 

 and properly ripened before winter, when a covering 

 of as dry and impervious a nature as possible must 

 be laid over its roots, and around its base, or life knot, 

 so as to exclude alike the frosts and the moisture of 

 our changeable winters. If the bole or branches of 

 such plants receive any protection, it ought to be of 

 a nature more to exclude moisture than air, which is 

 often useful in the severest winters. By observing 

 these simple and easy rules, I have never found much 

 difficulty in having stout and abundant flowering 

 specimens of such, generally considered greenhouse, 

 as Wistaria Sineiisis, Maurandya, Barclayana, Jasmines 

 of all kinds, &c. On various aspected walls, in many 

 and cold parts of Scotland, they do well for years; 

 ■where others of a much more hardy nature, but dif- 

 ferently treated, died during the winter, these plants 

 Survived. — Annals of Horticulture.^ 



PEAT AS MANURE. 



In the report of the New York County (New 

 Brunswick) Agricultural Society, we find some use- 

 ful observations on the value of peat as manure, bj' 

 I'rof. liobb, of Frcdericton, a gentleman of high 

 standing as a geologist and chemist. He gives three 

 modes by ■which this substance may be advan- 

 tageously used for the improvement of soil, as fol- 

 lows : — 



1. It may be carted to the barn-yard and spread 

 all around, so as to absorb all the liquid manure, 

 which it will do like a sponge ; not only will it soak 

 up and fix li([uid and gaseous matters, which would 

 otherwise be lost, but it will thereby take on a state 

 of fermentation itself, which will result in its becom- 

 ing soluble and proper for the food of crops. When 

 one layer is soaked and fermented more or less, it 

 must be renewed or replaced by fresh stutt' from the 

 bog, which Avill thus become a permanent benefit to 

 the farm. 



2. The peaty substance may be advantageously 

 composted and brought to a soluble form thereby. 

 If three loads of half-dried peat earth be mixed w iih 

 Mie of stable manure, (green,) there will be formed 

 four loads of manure equal to cow dung itscli', for 

 the ordinary root and grain crops. A layer of dry 



peat should form the base of the compost heap, then 

 a layer of green manure, then alternate layers of peat 

 and manure, ending with a tJtick layer of peac. If 

 ashes be added, or if the heap be occasionally wa- 

 tered with urine, decomposition will be more rapid, 

 and the compost be more fertilizing. In si.x: weeks, 

 more or less, according to the season, the heap may 

 be shovelled over, and then carried on to the field, 

 where its effects are equal, if not superior, to the 

 same quantity of common dung. It may be applied 

 to any soil deficient in vegetable matter, and in any 

 way, exactly as if it were well rotted yard manure. 

 By ashes alone, the peaty earth may be likewise con- 

 verted into the food of plants ; but I believe it is best 

 to use them as above directed. 



3. The peat may be burnt in the fields, for its 

 ashes, which are applied with very good efi'cct as a 

 top-dressing to meadows, at the rate of forty or fifty 

 bushels to the acre. — Albany Culticator. 



THE RESULT OF SKILL AND INDUSTRY. 



I have traversed the great Erie Canal, from one 

 end to the other ; floated on the waters of the Ohio 

 Canal, and returned to the sea-shore by the Pittsburg 

 and Pennsylvania canals and railroads. What a 

 magnificent excursion ! What mighty triumphs of 

 art and labor are here ! What a moving of the af- 

 fections ! What an expanding of the imagination ! 

 How many beautiiul and splendid visions have 

 floated before the mind, Avhich were surpassed by 

 the great realities ! Here were deep basins exca- 

 vated, and noble and long-stretching embankments, 

 which rivalled the neighboring hill-,. Here were 

 rivers, hundreds of miles in length, flowing at man's 

 pleasure, and in channels formed by his hands. Here 

 were streams crossing streams, on beautifully arched 

 aqueducts. Here were mountains of granite pierced 

 through and through, and a passage opened through 

 the heart of adamantine barriers, for vehicles freighted 

 with human life. Here were deep inland occ-a;is, 

 mingling their waters with the mighty sea that 

 sweeps from pole to pole, bearing upon their quiet 

 tides ten thousand floating and deeply-laden arks, 

 myriads of human beings, active in the pursuit of 

 business or pleasure ; accumulations of wealth from 

 the deep and tangled recesses of the forest, now first 

 springing into life under the touch of civilization, 

 from the glittering fields of polar ice, and from the 

 shores of the Western Ocean ; accumulations whose 

 growing extent defies all calculation. All this, too, 

 is the work of a little animal of the ordinary height 

 of sixty inches, with only two feet and two hands, 

 and of an average duration of less than twenty yeai's 

 — his mighty implements, a hoe, a pickaxe, and a 

 spade ! Such are the results of intelligent, concen- 

 trated, persevering labor. — Henry Colinan. 



CROPS IN SOMERSET COUNTY. 



W^e make the following extract from a private let- 

 ter, dated at Cornville. We arc glad to hear that 

 the crops are coming on so finely, and take this op- 

 portunity of once more recommending to our brother 

 farmers the cultivation of winter wheat. We are 

 receiving every day the most favorable accounts of 

 this crop, from every part of the state, and there is 

 every reason to believe that, should the seasons prove 

 favorable, it will soon be the mo.st iirofitable crop that 

 a iarmcr can raise. After a few words concerning 

 other matters, our correspondent says, — 



"Some subjects touched \x\w\\ in your paper, es- 

 pecially ' winter ^vhcat,' hit our case, at present, to a 



