82 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Fes. 



As to its value as a manure, Professor "Way, of 

 the Royal Agricultural Society of England, has an- 

 alized the best Peruvian guano, (in the patent office 

 reports for 1855, page 138,) and says, that the val- 

 ue of guano consists in the ammonia and phos- 

 phates it contains, the first, ammonia 17 per cent., 

 or 340 lbs. to the ton, and 6 pence sterling or 12^ 

 cents per lb., and the value of which is $42,50. 

 Phosphates 23-48 per cent, at a value of 3 farth- 

 ings or 1^ cents per lb., is equal to 470 lbs. at lj| 

 cents, $7,05. 



In the same ratio, according to Dr. Jackson's 

 analysis, the muriate contains : 



128 lbs. of ammonia at 12Jc $18,00 



130 " phosphate at IJc 1,95 



288 " saltatjc 96 



Total $18,91 



Making the value of it $18,91 per ton, according 

 to the estimated value of the best Peruvian guano 

 at $54 per ton, a much lower price than it has been 

 sold for in this market, and without saying anything 

 of the value of the other ingredients of which it is 

 composed. In a word, this article is worth one- 

 half as much as the best Peruvian guano, and is a 

 renovator of the soil, and will last several years. 

 The crop of grass raised on the land of David 

 Wood, Esq., of Lexington, the last season, and cut 

 about the 15th of June, was estimated at about 3 

 tons to the acre, it being the third year since it was 

 top dressed with the muriate. The estimate was 

 made by one of the most distinguished agricultu- 

 rists of the State. Yours truly, 

 Boston, Dec. 23, 1856. James Gould. 



For the New England Farmer. 



A TOUCH OF WINTER. 



Yesterday the mercury ranged through the day 

 from 10° below, to zero, averaging beloiv zero. It 

 rarely happens that we have a day so cold, so ear- 

 ly in the season — especially with no covering of 

 snow—but it is now softened, and we are having an 

 abundance of rain. 



The season has been favorable for the preva- 

 lence of scarlatina. A beautiful little girl, aged 10 

 years, has just expired in the house next to me — 

 after an illness of only 36 hours. I consider this 

 the most dreadful disease to which children are 

 exposed in our climate. It destroys so suddenly, 

 that no medical application can be made. I have 

 seen Belladonna recommended as a preventive, 

 but in what quantity or in what manner to be ap- 

 plied, nothing was said, so that the knowledge of 

 the remedy amounts to very little. A few days 

 since, I heard a gentleman of Newburyport say 

 that he had lost 8 children with this disorder, with- 

 in what limits of time he did not mention — or how 

 many children, if any, remained. It rages with 

 destructive effect in many places, the present sea^ 

 son. *. 



South Danvers, Bee. 19, 1856. 



Remakks. — Belladonna should be given in the 

 morning, three or four globules at a time, for two 

 or three days in succession. A homoeopathic phy- 

 sician informed us that he had not lost a case in 

 scarlet fever for many years, though having pre- 



For the New England Farmer. 



PATENT OFFICE REPORT, 



BY HENRY F. FREXCII. 

 Office Holdeks — Authoe of the American Muck Book — Do- 

 mestic Animals— Effects of Food and Climate — Native 

 Stock — Raise your own Sugar. 



Sidney Smith says that the world is made o^ round 

 people, and three-cornered people, and constructed 

 with A'arious holes, some of which are round, and 

 others triangular, for the people to live in. If a 

 round man chances to get into a round hole, he is 

 adapted to his position, and is comfortable and use- 

 ful; but if he happens into a triangular one, he is, 

 in more senses than one, out of his sphere, and 

 of course, does not revolve pleasantly. Now 

 whether D. J. Browne, who wrote the American 

 Muck Book, and other valuable works, and who is 

 the chief worker and chief clerk in the agricultural 

 department of the Patent Office, is a smooth or an 

 angular person, it is not necessary to decide, but 

 it is evident, at least, that he fits his place, and his 

 place fits him. 



An office in Washington is a tight place for any 

 man to be in, as a general rule, and the principal 

 consolation for those who are suffered to stay in, 

 is, that there is a "lower deep" from which they 

 escape, so long as they are not turned out ; a sort 

 of annihilation to which a government clerkship 

 seems to doom its incumbent. 



Addison speaks of one who illustrates absolute 

 power by a picture of a tall man who kicks a man 

 who stands a little lower, who, in his turn, kicks 

 the next below himself, and so on, the kicks all 

 going in one direction. Such is office-holding in 

 Washington, and indeed, everywhere else. Once 

 in a great while, we find at the head of a depart- 

 ment a gentleman who knows the proper use of his 

 boots, and treats all those who rank below him with 

 consideration and kindness. 



Hon. Charles Mason, the present Commissioner 

 of Patents, is everywhere known to be a man of 

 this rare description. His report, just received for 

 the year 1855, is doubtless more valuable than any 

 that has preceded it. It is well arranged, thorough- 

 ly digested, and has what is essential to such a vol- 

 ume, a good index. The hand of Mr. Browne is 

 manifest throughout the book. Several capital ar- 

 ticles are from his pen, and the whole work bears 

 the mark of a mind that is master of the subject 

 of which it treats. 



Many farmers place little value in Patent Office 

 Reports. Whatever may be said of former volumes, 

 this is a useful book to all who know enough cf 

 agriculture to appreciate it. ' It contains many arti- 

 cles which ought to be republished in all our agri- 

 cultural papers, but as this cannot be done at once, 

 let us refer to a few topics which are interesting to 

 all who are enea^ed on the farm in New England. 



