246 



Long Island Peaches. 



Vol. XII. 



animal is turned adrift to contend with pierc-j 

 ing winds and almost impenetrable drifts of 

 snow, while it plods its way to the well re- 

 membered spring, the pure, cool waters of 

 which, so oflen allayed the feverish thirst 

 of summer, to sip the healthful draught that 

 winter's wants require. What hooking and 

 pushing and crowding are often witnessed 

 by the way, and when the already enraged 

 group gather round and in angry dispute, 

 contest each others claim to the sparkling 

 fountain ! and how they look, and how they 

 feel when they return to the barn after such 

 a pilgrimage, attended with such conflicts! 



Many of our farmers, it is true, have seen 

 the inconveniences and unprofitableness of 

 such a state of things, and have remedied 

 them by introducing pure streams of water 

 into their yards, so that the animal may go 

 to the tub at any time, or at all times when 

 liberated from the stable to take the liba- 

 tions that nature so promptly demands, 

 Those who have done so, have found econ- 

 omy in this, though in some instances, the 

 first cost, from the distanceof the spring, in- 

 volved considerable expense, by the saving 

 of their own time, the saving of the comfort 

 and thrift of the animal, and the saving of 

 manure, which, instead of being left in a line 

 from the barn to the spring and around the 

 spring where it is not wanted, is now depo- 

 sited in the yard, ready at the farmer's move 

 to be taken to the spot where its value will 

 be most advantageously realized. Hence it 

 must bo concluded that it is for the farmer's 

 interest to have a constant supply of pure 

 water in or very near his farm yard, in order 

 that his animals may drink singly or to- 

 gether, when, and as often as they please. 



The frequency with which farm buildings 

 are situated on elevations, however, seems 

 . in many instances to preclude the possibility 

 of introducing water to them, from the 

 springs, which are often ail situated so far 

 below, as to shut off the possibility of getting 

 supplies from them by the usual method of 

 an aqueduct. But another method to accom- 

 plish this object has been found, nnd from its 

 utility has been liberally adopted, and this 

 with a success fully equal to the expecta- 

 tions of all who have adopted it. I refer 

 to the introduction of Benson's hydraulic 

 ram, not that hydraulic rams are a new thing, 

 for Montgolfier, a Frenchman, invented one 

 long ago; but this of Benson's, so simple in 

 construction, so easily kept in repair, and so 

 regular in its operations, is to us northerners 

 altogether new. The first of Benson's I saw, 

 was set up about two miles from my re 

 eidence, as an experiment in September, 

 1846. The spring was from ten to twelve 



rods from the buildings, and down a bank, 

 the descent of which was about forty feet. 

 At the bottom of this bank the farm animals 

 had been obliged to travel through storm, 

 wind, snow, and mud, and over ice, for a full 

 half century or more, and up this doleful way 

 the water for the family use had been car- 

 ried in buckets, by hand (who does not feel 

 himself growing stooping, while he thinks of 

 it,) for the same long period. The operation 

 of the machine was so satisfactory that the 

 farmer became the purchaser, and in the No- 

 vember following, made it a fixture of his 

 premises, and since that time, has had 

 through its agency, an abundant supply of 

 water for his stock in his yard, and for 

 household purposes, at his door. In a recent 

 conversation with him upon its utility, after 

 a year's trial, he expressed his full satisfaction 

 in its operation and thought that no conside- 

 ration would induce him to forego the conve- 

 nience it affords. And thus we see, that a 

 way is fully and completely provided where- 

 by those whose springs are situated lower 

 than their buildings can have them brought 

 within a convenient distance, or if they 

 choose, carried into every stable, or every 

 apartment of the dwelling, with as much 

 facility as convenience requires, at but a 

 little more expense in the outfit than water 

 can be brought down hill in a common aque- 

 duct, and with as great prospect of perma- 

 nent success in the former as in the latter 

 instance. W. Bacon. 



Richmond, Mass., Jan., 1848. 



Long Island Peaches. 



It has long been the opinion of many, that 

 the soil and atmosphere of Long Island, from 

 its proxmiity to the ocean, are unfavourable 

 to the successful cultivation of several of 

 our garden fruits, particularly that of the 

 peach. But when it is considered that the 

 little peninsula of Delaware, which is but a 

 trifle larger than Long Island, produces the 

 peach in the greatest abundance and in the 

 highest state of perfection, all arguments 

 like the preceding will appear fallacious. 

 Moreover, we have an instance before us, 

 where the cultivation of the peach on Long 

 Island has been crowned with the most com- 

 plete success. 



On the l^■t of October last, we visited the 

 peach orchards of Mr. John I. Stoothoff", situ- 

 ated on tiie Rockaway road, directly at the 

 head of Jamaica Bay, six miles frurn the At- 

 lantic, and t'vo miles south of the village of 

 Jamaica, where they receive the uninter- 

 rupted effects of salt air and ocean winds. 

 These orchards are two in number, one con- 



