No. 2. 



The Fruits of Good Tillage — A Cottage Garden. 



26 



cold in the heat of the summer, and warm 

 during the cold of winter.] 



Radiation is the spreading of heat, which 

 arises from heat passing from a hot body to a 

 colder one near it, as uniformly as water runs 

 down a slope. This spreading of heat takes 

 places between the surface of the ground and 

 air; and when the air is cold, though the 

 eoil be warm, it soon loses its heat, and dew 

 or hear frost is formed on the grass, by the 

 moisture diti'used in the air, though previously 

 invisible, becoming condensed or frozen. But 

 when the sky is covered by clouds; this 

 spreading and loss of heart is, in a great 

 measure, prevented, and hence there is no 

 dew or hoar frost on a calm cloudy night. It 

 is on this principle, that garden plants are 

 protected by matting, which stops the heat 

 of the soil from spreading about and being 

 lost in the air. Dr. Wells proved this by 

 stretching a very thin cambrick handkerchief, 

 two feet square six inches above a grass plat ; 

 and he found on one nigiit, that it was five 

 degrees warmer under the handkerchief than 

 on the rest of the grass plat ; and on another 

 night, there was eight degrees of difference. 

 The screen should not touch the soil, or the 

 plant to be protected. In this case it might 

 carry off heat by conduction. 



It is on the same principle that snow affords 

 a protection from the severity of frosts, the 

 plants under snow having been found, by Dr. 

 Darwin, to indicate forty degrees, that is 

 eight degrees above freezing; hence some 

 Alpine and Siberian plants, do not bear ex- 

 posure to frosts when unprotected by snow, 

 so well as those which are natives of a 

 warmer clime. 



A reason for a slope or a hill being warmer 

 than a valley, is that cold air being heavier 

 than warm air, the coldest air always rolls 

 down to the lowest situation ; but if there be 

 a brisk running stream in a valley, it will 

 prevent, in some measure, the stagnation of 

 cold air ; injurious, because the greatest 

 cold always occurs in air having the least 

 motion. Prof. Daniel says he has seen a 

 difference of 30 degrees on the same night, 

 between two thermometers, one placed on an 

 elevation and another in a sheltered situation. 

 Daniel also states, that the same surface 

 which in a calm state of the air, would give 

 off 100 parts of moisture, would yield 125 in 

 a moderate breeze, and 150 in a high wind. 



The Fruit§ of Good Tillage. 



We remember to have read somewhere, of 

 an old gentleman who owned a large vine- 

 yard. Besides this farm he was blessed with 

 two daughters. On the marriage of the eld- 

 est he portioned her off with one-third of his 

 farm, and behold the remaining acres pro- 



duced quite as much fruit and wine as be- 

 fore. Soon after lie married his young daugh- 

 ter and gave her an equal dowry with the 

 first, and still the remaining third of his soil 

 yielded much as his entire original planta- 

 tion. Good farmers will see no mystery in 

 this. The moral of the story is, that as his 

 farm became smaller he cultivated it more, 

 and the same amount of labor upon a few 

 acres, will make it produce the fruit of many. 



There is a great difference between bad 

 tillage and good tillage. Some farmers — no, 

 some earth scrapers, merely scratch up the 

 soil, and after dropping their seed haphazard, 

 trust to the chance of the season. It is not 

 wondered at, that such tamperers have to 

 scratch hard for a living. We have heard 

 many complain that large farms did not pay 

 the expense of their cultivation — that manure 

 is too expensive to use. The earth was 

 therefore, lazily scratched up sufficient to de- 

 stroy the face of the soil, and the seed thrown 

 away upon it. W^e need not say that such 

 farmers have but little grain to sell, and not 

 much money in these hard times, to put out 

 at interest. 



Take another case, however; that of the 

 farmer who makes his farm his pride, who 

 means to show his labor and his skill upon 

 every acre, and mark the difference. The 

 land pays treble value upon its surface for all 

 that has been bestowed upon it. The owner 

 enriches the soil, and the soil in its turn en- 

 riches its owner. 



Every farmer to make his farm a source 

 of profit, should make it a source of pride. 

 Whatever portion of the soil is cultivated, 

 should be well cultivated. The point should 

 be, not to have many, but rich acres. The 

 means whereby husbandry is improved and 

 facilitated, should be studied and employed. 

 By such careful attention, a continual plea- 

 sure will be found in agricultural pursuits, 

 which will heighten the rewards of good til- 

 laee. 



A Cottage Oarden, 



Properly cultivated, is full of beauty. Ifs 

 well formed walks and borders, adorned with 

 fragrant flowers, exhibit a gorgeous display 

 of richness which cannot be surpassed. The 

 English cottager takes a praiseworthy pride 

 in the various species of flowers which adorn 

 his garden, and not unfrequently prizes are 

 awarded to him by horticultural and other 

 societies,/or his skill in bringing to matu- 

 rity, and presenting the world with improved 

 specimens of floriculture. The study of the 

 vegetable kingdom is also a subject of his 

 earnest solicitude, and the avidity with 

 which he pursues this favorite object is the 

 theme of frequent admiration. The cogno- 



