NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



The lenfftli and souiidnos* of lliG s'laple of 

 clolhiiiq: wool is iioxl In ^ic conoidcred. By tlio 

 st:iple i^( wool i« menni the Sf^piirale locks into 

 which the tleer.e n:UMi;ill)' divide* in the skin, 

 cacli li'Ck consi-:iin^ of a CPiiain number of (i- 

 brt-. ivliich collHCtivoly arpcallpd the staple. 



Ti;e best lenglh of <il:iple for fine clothing; 

 wool, if sound, is I'lom two to lliree inches. — 

 Jfit be longer it requires hreakina: down to 

 prepare it for the proce.'is ot' cardintr. Saxony 

 wool, beiny j»enerally more tender than the 

 8|)anisli, and more easily broken down, is some 

 times lour or live inches long; but as it work- 

 down easily it is pref<!rred, on account of the 

 lengih of its staple, for such goods which re- 

 quire line fjiinninsr, as cassimeres, pellise cloth 

 and shawls. Much of the English clothing wool 

 of a middle quality is arrown longer than is de- 

 sirable for (lie purpose oS' the clothier, and 

 when sound is thrown out for the hosiery trade, 

 if the demand tor the hider he great. As the 

 grower could not shorten the lengih of (he sta- 

 ple without diminishing the weight of the 

 fleece, he lias no motive to induce him to grow 

 shorter wool ; but the object might he obtained 

 with much, benefit to himself by shearing twice 

 in the year, once in the latter end of Ajiril, and 

 ag.iin the latter end of August ; the wool would 

 then be grown of a suitable length for the card, 

 tnid from experiments which have been made, 

 we believe the weight would exceed what can 

 be obtained by one clip : the increase would 

 not be less than ^(cen per cent, and the condi- 

 tion of the sheep thereby improved. 



The soundness of the staple in clothing wools 

 is not so important as in combing wools; but 

 for sorail kinds of colours which injure the 

 wool it is padicularly desirable that the fibre 

 should be sound and strong; this is judged by 

 drawing out the staple and pulling it by the 

 ends. The soundness and strength of the staple 

 depend primarily on the healthy state of the 

 animal, and on a sufficient supply of food. The 

 staple on some parts of the fleece will always 

 be more tender than on other parts, but by mix- 

 ture they tend to form a dense pile on the sur- 

 face of the cloth. 



[To be continucd.'\ 



From Ike Hampshire Gazelle. 



SALT. 



TVe have seen samples of four kinds of salt 

 lately brought from the Onondago salt-works to 

 Harlibrd by a canal boat. The coarsest kind is 

 of the most perfect whiteness and purity, and 

 weighs 74 pounds to the bushel. It is made by 

 evaporating the sail water in the sun, in large 

 wooden vats. It is almost as coarse as Turk's 

 Island salt. — The second quality is about as 

 coarse as St Ubes salt, but entirely free from all 

 impurity. It weighs G6 pounds to the bushel, 

 and is made by boiling the brine in wrought 

 iron pans. The 3d quality is a little finer than 

 that called Liverpool coarse salt, and a bu-hel 

 weighs 55 lbs. The fourth kind is very fine 

 and clean table salt, superior to any blown salt 

 we ever saw. It is not improbable that great 

 quantities of the Onondaga salt will be hereafter 

 brought up Connecticut river. 



Tlie water of the salt springs at Salina is said 

 to yield four times as much salt as the water of 

 the ocean. It probably proceeds from some vast 

 fcodj of rock-salt in the bowels of the earth. It 



is expected that forty acres will be coveri^d Wiih 

 vats for making salt by solai' evajioialion, the 

 next season. The price of salt at the « oiks va- 

 ries irom 25 to 37 1-2 rents per busliol. The 

 •Inly paid to the state is 12 1-2 cents the bushel 



Most of the salt imported into the U. States 

 from ?'rance, Spain, and Portugal is prepared by 

 ■ vaporaling sp;"i-wa|pr in the sun. That from 

 Turk's Island, T"rlu?a, and Cape Verde Islands 

 ^n m ide in the sun from the water of salt lakes 

 iir ponds. Salt lakes and springs are found in 

 oiaiiy places in Europe, Asia, .\lrica and Ameri- 

 ca. 



The kind of salt called rock salt is widely 

 distributed over the globe. In some countries 

 it is dug up like melaU from (he bowels of the 

 j earth ; sonieliuies it forms solid mountains ; and 

 in some places it is spread over the surface of 

 Ihe earth. One of the salt mines of VVielitska, 

 near Cracow, in Poland, is 800 feet deep, GOO 

 leet wide, and 2000 feet long. Cracow is com- 

 pletely undermined, being suspended as it were 

 on pillars ot salt, which are left to support the 

 roofs of Ihose subterranean chambers. About 

 700 jiersons are employed in these mines, and 

 horses and wagons are used to draw the salt to 

 the shaft, where it is taken up by engines. — 

 Here are several chapels and images of saints 

 cut out of rock salt. In Norwich, Cheshire 

 county, England, there are extensive mines of 

 rock salt, which yield more than those of Cra- 

 cow. The rock salt occurs from 100 to 150 

 feet beneath the surface, and is so hard that it 

 it ditlicult to break it with picks and wedges. — 

 Gun]jowder is commonly used to separate it in- 

 to huge craggy lumps, which are drawn up in 

 capacious baskets. The largest rock salt pit 

 contains an area of about two acres, and the 

 roof is supported by 25 pillars of salt. In 

 Transylvania there is a valley whose bottom 

 and sides are pure rock salt. The walls of salt 

 on the sides are 200 feet high. In the vicinity 

 of Cardona, province of Catalonia, Spain, there 

 is a mountain 500 feet high, and about three 

 miles in circumference, composed almost entire- 

 ly of rock salt. Besides the common uses, it is 

 manufactured into altars, saints, crosses, &c. 

 which are as clear as crystal. There is a 

 mountain of rock salt in Tunis, and another in 

 the province of Lahore, in India. In Abyssin- 

 ia, there is a plain of rock salt four days' jour- 

 ney across, and several feet deep. There is a 

 similar plain west of Cairo. Rock-salt is abun- 

 dant in Persia and Arabia, and the inhabitants 

 sometimes use it for building houses. Vast 

 quantities of it are found in Peru, Colombia, 

 and in the territory of the United States west 

 of the Mississippi. 



Some kinds of rock-salts are pure, but most 

 of it requires to be dissolved in water and 

 evaporated. 



Mode of giving Medicine to Infants. — It is best 

 for persons of every age, and particularly for 

 infants, that they swallow as little medicine as 

 possible ; but since it is sometimes indispensi- 

 ble, we have reflected on and practised all the 

 difFerent modes of administering it which are in 

 common use, and find none is so convenient as 

 to give it in the form of powder; to p!ai.e the 

 powder, mixed with a little fine sugar, on the 

 tongue, and then give the child the breast. 



Medical Inlelligencer, 



^ 93 



A''ative Calcutta Society. — A Literary Society 

 has been founded at Calcutta, by native Indians 

 of distinction, the object of which is truly 

 piaisevvorlhy. It is intended to enter into dis- 

 cussions on all subjects connected with the 

 progress of civilization and lileralure. Wurks 

 of learning and general iilility are to be publish- 

 ed in English ; and little manuals of morals and 

 science, tending to impugn certain inveterate 

 customs, and to lay down rules of retbrmation 

 conducive to the well-being of individuals in 

 Bengal. To promote these ends, mechanical 

 and mathematical inslruments, together with a 

 chemical ap|)aratus, are to be procured. A 

 house is to be erected for the purpose of holding 

 their assemblies, and containing their different 

 collections. A college will he annexed for in- 

 struction in the arts and sciences. 



In the beginning of July, lC18,a gentleman 

 on his way by water from Westminster at Black- 

 friar's Bridge, felt his curiosity excited by ob- 

 serving the craft which line the river on both 

 sides, crowded with spectators, gazing with anx- 

 ious eyes on some object on the surface of the 

 water. Upon advancing a little nearer to the 

 object of curiosity, he beheld a human being 

 seated in a washing-tub floating with the tide, 

 under the pilotage of six geese, yoked to the 

 aquatic vehicle, and proceeding with all the 

 grave composure of a civic voyage to Westmin- 

 ster. Whenever the geese were inclined to 

 deviate, he observed they were gently guided 

 by the aid of a stick into the right course again. 

 On enquiring into the exhibition, he found that 

 the personage thus launched upon so perilous 

 an enterprise, was Usher, the Professional grim- 

 acier of the Coburg theatre, whose aquatic feats 

 of this description had acquired him much celeb- 

 rity, and who, on this occasion, had laid a wager 

 often guineas to perform a voyage from Black- 

 friars to Westminster, in the frail bark which 

 we have just described. Sport. Eng. Mag. 



The greatest and most amiable privilege 

 which the rich enjoy over the poor, is that 

 which they exercise the least — the privilege of 

 making them happy. — Lacon. 



POLAR SEAS. 

 The theory that there are open seas round both the 

 Earth's Poles, has received strong corroboration within 

 the last few months. We have now on our table a 

 letter from a naval Officer at Drontheim, who notices 

 the fact, that Capt. Sabine had good weather, and 

 reached tlO deg. .81 min, north latitude without ob- 

 struction from the ice, so that the Expedition might 

 easily have proceeded farther, had its object so re- 

 quired. And we have also had the pleasure to meet 

 recently with a British officer, who, with two vessels 

 under his command, last season, penetrated to 74 deg. 

 25 niin. south latitude in the Antarctic circle, which 

 is above three degrees beyond Cook's utmost limit. 

 Here he found the sea perfectly clear of ice, and 

 might have prosecuted his voyage towards the Pole^ 

 if other considerations had permitted. There was no 

 field ice iu sight towards the South ; and the water 

 was inhabited by many finned and humpback whales. 

 London Literary Gazette. 



We regret that Mr. Bompland, the celebrated bot- 

 anist and companion of Humboldt, is still a prisoner 

 iu Paraguay, where he was confined upwards of two 

 years ago, on suspicion of being engaged in political, 

 instead of scientific, pursuits. The powerful interfer- 

 ence of the Emperor of Brazil in his favor has beeu 

 solicited, and he has pledged himself to use alibis ex- 

 ertions to effect his liberation. / 



