282 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



June 



tered on its pfteaffe to the wall, with such an ac- 

 cumulation of carbonic acid as it could meet, and 

 immediately (i« jiosited on the wall and strange to 

 tell, that it remains hitherto, not so much an ad- 

 hesive mass (if science be true) as a well-packed 

 collection of stones, sand, gravel and lime, (with 

 the irregular broken slate-stone predominating, 

 ■which is a ^ery favorable feature) witii but little 

 true raortiir. 



If your patience, Mr. Editor is parallel to my 

 disposition, T shall inflict upon your columns 

 still another article at least on this subject, and if 

 any of your readers intend soon to build after 

 this method, and are desirous for the whole sto- 

 ry, it may be said to them, get your foundation 

 ready as soon as you will, but do not commence 

 the worK a'ljve the underpinnings earlier in the 

 season than the first of Juno. w. n n. 



Waltham, May, 1855. 



water, being about half "as heavy as lead !" If 

 you want the weight set forth in tons avoirdu- 

 pois, you have the following pretty row of figures — 

 1,256, 195,070,000,000, nO(f, 000,000 tons weight ; 

 or, in words — one quadrillion, two hundred and 

 fifty-six thousand, one hundred and ninety-five 

 trillions, six hundred and seventy thousand billion 

 tons avoirdupois ! 



And now, good reader, are you any wiser than 

 you were before? We trow not, for the figures 

 are beyond the power of human conception. They 

 must stand in all their nakedness — an arithmetical 

 marvel. In the words of Chambers'' Journal, from 

 which we have condensed these facts, "after weigh- 

 ing the earth, we cannot realize the enormity of 

 its weight ; and yet the earth itself is but an 

 atom in the universe !" — Portland Transcript. 



WEIGHING THE EARTH. 



"What, weighing the huge earth as you would 

 a pound of soup or a lump of lead?" And why 

 not? If modern science cannot furnish the ful- 

 crum that Archimedes wished for that he might 

 move the earth, it can at least find a balance in 

 which to weigh it. This curious operation was 

 performed several times, in the last century, but 

 recently with more accuracy by JNIr. Bailly, late 

 President of the Astronomical Society of England. 

 It was dor. ^ in London and in a corner, but was 

 not done in an hour or a day. It was a long 

 labor of nearly four years duration. Bat how 

 was it done ? 



Well, that would require many words to ex- 

 plain, but briefly we may say that Mr. Bailly did 

 not clap the earth into a scale, and counterbal- 

 ance it with an indefinite number of pound 

 weights, nor did ho take it to pieces and weigh it 

 in fragments. lie did it by the aid of Newton's 

 great discovery — the power of attniction. He 

 hung a slender rod, with a light ball upon each 

 end, to the ceiling, ])y moans of a silk or wire 

 ihread fastened to its middle. He then placed a 

 massive leaden ball near each end of the rod, in 

 fiuch a wise that each sphere attracted the ball 

 next to it in op| osite directions, both thus tend- 

 ing to twist the thread the same way. Carefully 

 observing the ciffct of the spheres in twisting the 

 tliread and causing the rod to vibrate, he tlien 

 compared the r :sults with tlie effect produced by 

 the earth's attraction upon the thread, and hav- 

 ing accurately ascertained the weight of the leaden 

 spheres, thence computed the weight of the earth. 



But you maj be sure all this was not done 

 without combating with many disturbing influ- 

 ences. A brcatli of air, a ray of light, the dis- 

 turbance caused by a man's breathing, the emana- 

 tions of animal heat from the body — any of these 

 sufficed to put the instrument out oi tune, and 

 render the lesuJts of the experimonts wholly fal- 

 lacious. Consequently, Mr. Bailly was obliged 

 to put a casing alwut the apparatus, and then, 

 that his own presence might not disturl) it, stood 

 in a far corner and watched its movements with 

 telescopes, through small Avindows in the easing. 

 And now for tlie grand result — what docs the 

 earth weigh ? Well, Mr. Bailly, after allowing 

 for a small probable error, says the density of the 

 earth is five and a half times greater than that of 



For the New England Farmer. 



HOW TO MANAGE STUBBLE LAND. 



Mr. Editor : — I have six acres of stubble land 

 which was plowed last fall ; soil gravelly loam ; 

 three acres of which, I design for corn, and the 

 other three for potatoes. Now I wish to obtain 

 information through your valuable paper, as to 

 the best modes of cultivating these crops. 

 One of my brother farmers tolls me to spread on 

 thirty loads of manure to the acre, and harrow it 

 in without disturlnng the old turf. Another 

 says spread on fifty loads and cross plow it. 

 Which way will be likely to give the best re- 

 turns in corn? Shall I cross plow in the ma- 

 nure, for potatoes, or harrow it in ? Would 

 pond muck answer as a manure, or would gyp- 

 sum be better, or would you combine the two? 

 If you will give your views on these questions it 

 will greatly oblige a young farmer. 



A Subscriber. 



Remarks. — Apply all the manure y. d can 

 spare, per acre, immediately after plowing, and 

 turn it under three or four inches, harrow with 

 a sharp and long toothed implement moved at 

 a quick pace. The old turf ought to be dis- 

 turbed and thoroughly mingled with the other 

 soil. If you can adopt the advice of your friend 

 who says, "spread on fifty loads of manure and 

 cross plow," you will hardly fail of a crop, let 

 the season be what it may. Old muck and plas- 

 ter would be excellent in the hill. 



The Crops. — The Chicago Tribune of May 2d 

 says: — "We do not recollect a season for many 

 years, when on the first day of May the country 

 has looked so beautiful, or the growing crops of 

 wheat, oats and grass so thrifty, as they do now." 

 Spring wheat, the Tribune says, is all in and up 

 so as to cover the ground with its beautiful green 

 verdure. The amount sown is fully one-fourth 

 larger than ever before, and the prospect could 

 not be more favorable. Oats, too, are generally 

 in, and in some instances are already growing 

 above ground. The amount sowed is probably 

 about the same as last year. Corn had not been 



