380 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



iVSE 12, 1»33. 



ANECDOTES OP THE EEL. 



Eels wheu kopt in fresh water pontis grow 

 very large, and are very voracious ; they are 

 known to swallow frogs and lizards whole, which 

 liave been found in opening large ones. A gentle- 

 man at Twickenham, England, had a large pond, 

 on which he bred a number of ducks and geese. 

 He was much astonished by the disappearance of 

 large numbers of goslings and ducklings, as soon 

 as they took to the water. Having occasion, 

 about this time, to draw his pond, he found a 

 number of eels, and on opening them the un- 

 digested remains of many of the lost birds were 

 found. Eels liave been caught in fresh water 

 ])onds, weighing eighteen or twenty pounds. 



They are supposed to be more universally 

 spread over the globe than any other tribe of 

 animals, with the exce|)tion of man. It is .said 

 that none are seen above the Falls of Niagara, or 

 in Lake Erie. Some one supposes that all tlie 

 eels in the interior visit the sea, annually, and 

 then return from their pilgrimage to the old spot; 

 and it is moreover asserted, but certainly on 

 doubtful authority, that if an eel remain habitually 

 in fresh water it becomes barren. We do not 

 credit a word of this ; there is some want of ac- 

 curacy in the examination. 



Though they have been repeatedly seen fifty 

 and sixty feet high on the rocks of the cataract, 

 wending their way up, they never yet succeeded 

 in the enterprise. Mr. Clinton supposes the reason 

 why eels do not exist in Lake Erie, if any were 

 left there on the subsiding of the waters of the 

 flood, is because their eoimnunication was cut of!' 

 from the ocean, and in illustration of his theory, 

 relates that the Passaic river is formed by the 

 union of three considerable streams, Rockaway, 

 Long-Pond and Ramapough creeks, until a canal, 

 some yeais ago, was cut around the great falls at 

 Peterson, no eel was ever seen in the waters 

 above. Since that work was completed, the water 

 abounds with them, distinguished for size and 

 quality. He further remarks, that in the spring, 

 elvers, or young eels, are seen in innnense num- 

 bers, ascending these streams. 



Mr. Jesse says that he has been informed, upon 

 the authority of a nobleman, that if an eel is found 

 on land its head is invariably turned towards the 

 sea, for which it is always observed to make in 

 the most direct line possible. If this information 

 is correct, and there seems to be no reason to 

 doubt it, it shows that the eel, like the swallow, 

 is possessed of a strong migratory instinct. 



We can ourselves partly confirm his statement, 

 for we have seen an eel more than twenty yards 

 from a river, making its way to it like a snake 

 through the grass of a moist meadow ; and what 

 is pei'haps more uncommon, we hhve watched an 

 eel rising repeatedly to the surface of a stream to 

 bite off and feed upon the duck-weed floating at 

 the top. 



An amazing number of eels are hr;d in the two 

 large ponds in Richmond Park, which is sufficient- 

 ly evident from the very great quantity of young 

 ones which migrate from those ponds every year. 

 We are assured that at nearly the sime day, in 

 the month of May, vast numbers of young eels, 

 about two inches in length, contrived to get 

 through the pen-stock of the upper pond, and then 

 through the channel which led into the lower pond, 

 . from whence they got through another pen-stock 

 into a water course, which led them eventually in- 

 to the river Thames. They migrated in one cou- 



ich prodigious numbers, 

 !;iven as to their luobable 



nccted shoal, and in 

 that no guess could be 

 amount. 



An annual migration of young eels also takes 

 place in the River Thames in the month of May : 

 and they have generally made their appearance 

 at Kingston, in their way upwards, about the 

 second week in that month, and accident has so 

 determined it, that for several years together it was 

 remarked that the tenth of May was the day of 

 what the fishermen called eel fair ; but they have 

 been more irregular in their proceedings since the 

 interruption of the lock at Teddington. These 

 young eels are about two inches in length, and 

 they make their approach in one regular and im- 

 deviating column of about five inches in breadth, 

 and as thick together as it is possible for them 

 to be. As the procession generally lasts two or 

 three days, and as they apjjear to move at the 

 rate of nearly two miles and a half an hour, some 

 idea may be formed of their enormous i^umber. 

 The line of inarch is almost universally confined 

 to one bank of the river, and not on both sides at 

 the same time ; but, from some instinctive or ca- 

 pricious imiHilse, they will cross the river, and 

 change the side, without any apparent reason for 

 doing so. 



When the column arrives at the entrance of a 

 tributary stream which empties itself into the river, 

 a certain jiortion of the cohuun will continue to 

 progress up the tributary stream, and the main 

 phalanx eillier cross the river to the opposite bank, 

 or will after a stiff struggle to oppose the force of 

 the tributary branch in its emptying process, cross 

 the month of this estuary, and regain its origintil 

 line of march on the same side of the river. In 

 consequence of the young eels dispersing them- 

 selves from time to timi^, as occasion offers, in the 

 manner above described, the shoal must impercep- 

 tibly lessen until the whole have disposed ol 

 themselves in dift'erent places. — Smitli's Ichthyology. 



THE PROFESSION OF A GARDENER, AND 

 THE NATDRAI- LOVE OP A GARDEN. 



" On observing the jiule-faced mechanic hur- 

 rying away to his morning labors, we almost re- 

 gret, with Rousseau, that great cities should be so 

 numerous ; that mankind should be congregated 

 in such mighty masses ; and think not witlioul 

 |)ain, of the many long hours the artisan must 

 pass in the tainted atmosphere of a crowded manu- 

 factory. IJut how ditlerent are our feelings on 

 seeing the gardener resuming the badge of his 

 trade, or the plough-boy harnessing his well- 

 trained team I The toils of both may be hard, 

 but they are, at the same time, surrounded with 

 every thing that is rural and inviting. The grass 

 springs and the daisy blossoms under their feet; 

 the sun tells them by his shadows how the day 

 waxes or wanes ; the blackbird serenades thciii 

 from every hedge or tree ; and they enjoj', more- 

 over, the inexpressible pleasure of seeing Nature 

 in her fairest forms, rewarding most munificently 

 their skill and industry. How does the citizen 

 sigh for such scenes ; and how soon, when his 

 fortune is made, does he hurry away from the 

 confines of a second Babel, to sink the merchant 

 in the gentleman farmer! Few who are so forty 

 nate strive to rival the handicraftsman by making 

 their own shoes, or any other needful article oi' 

 dress , but all, yes all, who are able, strive to trim 

 their own gardens, and superintend the cultivation 

 of their own property." — London Magazine. 



From the Amrriran Si-nlinr/. 

 INCOMBtJSTIBI.E WASH, AND STUCCO WHITE 

 AVASH. 



TnE gentleman who furnished the following, 

 assures us that the receipt is what it purports to 

 be — and that he believes it to be a very valuable 

 one. 



The basis for both is lime, which must be 

 first slacked with hot water, in a small tub or pig- 

 gin, and covered to keej) in the steam ; it then 

 should be passed, in a fluid form, through a fine 

 sieve, to obtain the flower of the lime. It must 

 be put on with a Painter's Brush — two coats are 

 best for outside work. 



First, to make a fluid for the roof, and other 

 parts of wooden houses, to render them incombus- 

 tible, and a coating for brick tile, stone work and 

 rough cast, to render them impervious to the water, 

 and give them a durable and handsome appear- 

 ance. The proportions in each receipt, are five 

 gallons. Slack your lime, as before directed, say 

 six quarts, in which i)ut 1 quart of clean rock salt, 

 for each gallon of water, to be entirely dissolved by 

 boiling, and skimn)cd clean, then add to the 5 gal- 

 lons, 1 lb. of alum J lb. copperas, ^ lbs. potash — 

 the lust, to be gradually added ; 2 qts. of fine sand 

 or hard wood ashes nmst also be added 5 any col- 

 oring [natter may now be mixed in such quanti- 

 ties as to give it the requisite shade. It will look 

 better than paint, and be as lasting as slate. It 

 Biuret be put on hot. Old shingles must be first clean- 

 ed witl) a stiff broom, when this may be api)lied. 

 It will stop the small leaks — prevent moss from 

 growing — render them incombustible, and last 

 niuiiy years. 



Second. To make a brilliant Stucco white-wash, 

 for all buildings inside and out. — Take clean lumps 

 (if well burnt stone lime — slack the same as be- 

 fore ; add J lb. whiting or burnt alum pulverized, 

 1 lb. loaf or other sugar ; 3 pts. rice flour made into 

 a very thin, and well boiled paste, starch, or jel- 

 ly, and 1 lb. clearest glue, dissolved in the same 

 manner as cabinet makers do. This may be ap- 

 plied cold within doors, but warm outside. It 

 will he more brilliant than Plaster of Paris, and 

 retain its brilliancy for many years, say from 50 to 

 100. It is superior, nothing equal. The east end 

 of the President's House, in Washington, is washed 

 with it. 



Washing Salads. lii(lej)endent of the good ef- 

 tects of washing salads, c.ibhagcs, and the like, in 

 water in which salt has been dissolved, we should 

 sujipose it would render them less liable to speedy 

 putrescency. The salads shoidd be put in salt 

 water for a few nnnutes, sufficiently long to 

 detach or kill all insects, and then rinsed in clear 

 fresh water. 



From the Boston Mercantile Journal. 

 A PACT FOR FARMERS. 



An Englishman, an eminent florist, at the last 

 meeting of the Londini Horticultural Society, ex- 

 hibited a specimen of the most delicious butter 

 made from the cream of a cow that had been fed 

 on mangel wurtzel merely. " It was of a bright 

 yellow, or straw color, and sweet in flavor resem- 

 bling what is called Epping butter in the height 

 of the season." 



It is well ascertained, we believe, from travel- 

 lers and other, that the most northern latitudes 

 where grazing is made a business, produce milk, 

 eream and butter, all richer and better than ours. 



We recollect particularly the statements of 



