NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



61 



From the Amtrican Farmer. 



M I L L E T ON NEW LAND. 



Pahni/rn^ August 8, 1824. 



Sir, — I have scon spveral accounts of crops 

 of millet in your paper, which appear to he 

 smaller than one 1 raised la?t year. Four quarts 

 were sown on what was inleiidRil to be an acre, 

 but by measurement since :t ajipe.irs to be 190 

 rods. The produce, when thrp«hed, was meas- 

 ured, and turned out 50 bushels. The land was 

 part of a piece I had cleared for wheat. The 

 wood Iiad I'cen partly cut ofl for fire-wood, and 

 the burn was in consequence not so sjood as on 

 tlie rest of the piece ; lar^e spots were left on 

 it unburnt, so (hat we thought it would not an- 

 swer well for wheat. If voii are acquainted with 

 clearing land, vou well know that the crop is 

 considered to depend, in a orreat measure, upon 

 the goodness of the burn. The drousfht last 

 summer was the greatest ever recollected in 

 New York stale. The land on which the millet 

 was sown is a loam, in a slight degree more 

 moist than the renninder. The wheat adjoining 

 wa* the best on the piece; we supposed it to be 

 little more than 20 bushels to an acre. The 

 millet was sown the 7th of June, and reaped (he 

 tith of September ; two men threshed it in a day 

 and a half All sorts of stock appear to be very 

 fond of it. Four quarts of seed to an acre, is the 

 usual allowance here; which seems to be much 

 less than your correspondents at the South use. 

 My men judged that the straw made a ton and 

 a half of fodder, and the cattle eat it as readily 

 as good hay. 



I would recommend to beginners in farming, 

 in particular, to begin on wild land. The busi- 

 ness is much the most simple, — -requires no 

 knowledge of the minutiae that must be attentted 

 to on old farms, — there is much less danger of 

 failure of old crops, — and it is, 1 believe, the 

 most profitable. Yours, &c. H. WARREN. 



From the Salem Register. 



NEW STEAM ENGINE. 



We have seen with surprise and admiration, 

 Mr Dixon's new mode of generating steam, and 

 its application in driving a steam engine. There 

 is no boiler, and consequently that cumbrous 

 and dangerous part of a steam engine is entirely 

 got rid of But, instead of it, there is a cylind- 

 rical vessel of cast iron, 2 feet in length, 1 foot 

 in external diameter, and about two inches in 

 thickness, which is called the retort. This re- 

 tort stands in an air lurnace, and is surrounded 

 with the fuel, which is of coal. In this retort 

 the steam is generated exactly as fast as it is 

 wanted. This is elTecled by a force pump, 

 worked by the machinery which forces the 

 water, with an air vessel, similar to that of a 

 common fire engine. From this air vessel the 

 water is conveyed into the retort, where, thro' 

 a tube perforated with innumerable small holes, 

 it is dispersed in the form of mist, and instantly 

 converted into steam. In order to set the ma- 

 chine in motion, there is another force-pump, 

 worked by hand, a few strokes of which forces 

 a sufficient quantity of water into the retort to 

 give the first impulse to the machinery. 



We saw this machine in operation at Mr Hall's 

 excellent Dying Establishment, in Lyni. The 

 machme was applied to drive a sn U sieam- 

 boat, fitted up for the occasion. We took an 



esctirsion in the boat for about a mile across the 

 pond. The boat moved at the rate of about six 

 miles an liour. The power of the machine not 

 only was kept up to the last momeni, but even 

 acted with an increased energy. This is a proof 

 that the heat of the retort can be maintained 

 without any diminution. When we stopped, 

 there was no blowing ofj' of steam, and no ap- 

 prehension from the neglect of the engineer to 

 take care of the safety valve. The whole was 

 harmless in an instant. Thus it appears that a 

 boiler barely of the size of the cijliadcr to the 

 common steam engine, would be sufficient for 

 the pur|)ose of generating steam lor this most 

 useful piece of machinery. In our excursion 

 across the pond to a beautiful arbour erected by 

 Mr Hall, at the extremity of the pond, we were 

 accompanied by several ladies, and we owe much 

 to the politeness and attention of Mr Hall, who 

 g-tive us an elegant refreshment at the arbour. 



From the JV. H. Patriot. 



THE WHITE MOUNTAINS. 

 The number of visitors upon this highest 

 ground of the United Stales, ha^i this year been 

 three-fold that of any former year; and nothing 

 is wanted but the making of good roads to their 

 bise, and the erection of suitable houses of ac- 

 commodation to make them a place of as general 

 resort (as there is surely a greater curiosity to 

 w toess their grand scenery) as the Catskill 

 mountains, the Falls of Niagara, or the watering 

 places of Saratoga and Ballstown. Something 

 has already been done on the south-westerly 

 valley which fronts these mountains, by cutting 

 a convenient foot-path from the turnpike which 

 passes through the " Notch," and it has been 

 contemplated to make a road, over which car- 

 riage.s may pass. Another path from a travel- 

 led road still nearer has been cut from Durand 

 (lately incorporated into a town by the name of 

 Randolph.) But the most eligible and easy way to 

 ascend Mount Washington and the cluster which 

 surrounds it, will be by a new road which is now 

 making from the town of Adams through the 

 woods to Randolph, a distance of twelve miles, 

 which proceeds along the valley at the very base 

 of Mount Washington, and which will shorten 

 the distance betiveon Conway and Lancas- 

 ter ten miles from that of the road at pres- 

 ent travelled. — A gentleman who has lately 

 passed over the route of this contemplated 

 road informs us that the land is comparative- 

 ly level, and that the road will be so far 

 proceeded the present year as to be passable 

 with sleighs the ensuing winter. To assist in 

 making this road, the Legislature of this State 

 has granted one thousand acres of land, and 

 about one thousand dollars have been raised by 

 subscription. When completed it will be an 

 easy task to ascend and descend Mount Wash- 

 ington. Besides, this road will give access to 

 many thousands of acres of the most valuable 

 and fertile land for rearing cattle, and the small- 

 er kinds of grain. The soil in the vicinity of 

 these mountains is not inferior to any soil in 

 New England: when cleared to any considera- 

 ble extent, it will be found that even Indian 

 corn may be raised in ordinary seasons. A few 

 years ago the inhabitants never pretended to 

 plant corn in Coos county ofT the land in the 

 immediate vicinity of Connecticut river. But 

 in the town of Whitetield, which has more than 



trebled its population in the course of five or 

 six years, on the high grounds, Indian corn is 

 now [)lantc<l with .is tnuch confidence as it is on 

 the intervals of Concord; and it is found that 

 the danger of frost grows less with the clearing 

 of every new piece of ground. We are con- 

 vinced that nothing is wanting but tlie axeand 

 its industrious application to convert much of 

 the wilderness of Coos county into fruitful 

 liclds capable of sustaining a numerous and 

 wealthy population. 



From the Mohawk Herald. 



Farmers, take ■warning .' 



The steel-pointed rod prefixed to the barn ot 

 Mr William liunn, of Florida, New York, was 

 struck wiih lightning on Friday, the 30th ult. 

 Several of the labourers were in the barn — the 

 shock was tremendous, but the destructive ele- 

 ment was conducted harmless to the foot of the 

 rod. 



Barns at this season of the year are more lia- 

 ble to be struck, than any other buildings of the 

 same height, as they contain large quantities of 

 vegetable matter, constantly emitting a steam, 

 which, rising in the air, serves as a conductor 

 to the lightning. The trifling expense of a 

 lightning rod, and the security which they af- 

 ford, should induce every farmer immediately 

 to put one up to his barn, where so much of his 

 treasure is deposited. 



Cutting of Steel by soft Iron. — This useful 

 fact stated by Mr. Barnes, of Conn, in vol. vi. 

 page 33G of this Journal has been verified by 

 our countryman, Jacob Perkins, in London. A 

 piece of a large hand tile was cut by him into 

 deep notches at the end, where also from the 

 heat produced by friction, it had been softened 

 and thrown out like a burr. On the other part 

 of the file, where the plate had been applied 

 against its flat face, the teeth were removed 

 without any sensible elevation of the tempera- 

 ture of the metal. The plate which had pre- 

 viously been made true, was not reduced either 

 in size or weight durmg the experiment, but 

 it had, according to Mr. Perkins, acquired an 

 exceedingly hard surface at the cutting part. 

 Silliman''s Journal of Science. 



JViUis' Lute. — To prevent the materials con- 

 tained in earthen crucibles and retorts from 

 penetrating through their substances, the au- 

 thor prepares a lute composed of two ounces of 

 Borax dissolved in a pint of boiling water, to 

 which is added slacked lime in sufficient quanti- 

 ty to form a soft paste. This lute applied to 

 the vessel by a brush within and without (if a 

 crucible) vitrifies very speedily, and prevents 

 the penetration of the melted ingredients, but 

 it cannot prevent the fracture of the vessel. — 

 To accomplish this second object, the inventor 

 covers retorts with a lute composed of linseed 

 oil and slacked lime. This is applied by a 

 brush to retorts, and left to dry during a day 

 or two. It can be taken every time a retort is 

 charged to cover it with this lute ; it may be us- 

 ed four or five times without breaking. Cracks 

 may be eflfectually stopped by the same compo- 

 sition, only powdering the surface with a liUle 

 slacked lime. This may be done without risk, 

 even when the retort is very hot. — Jbid. 



