356 



The Oak.— The Wheat Crop.— The Bee Moth. Vol. VIII. 



The income of a single nobleman, from 

 his coal mines, exceeds one hundred thou- 

 sand pounds sterling a year; and I believe 

 this is not the largest of the coal possessions. 

 With such wealth as this, men may make 

 what improvements they please, and attempt 

 what experiments they may deem worth 

 trying; but should such imaginations ever 

 visit a New England or a United States 

 farmer in his dreams, if ^Esop's fable of the 

 frog, who attempted to swell himself to the 

 size of the ox, did not cure him, he might 

 be deemed a fit subject for a lunatic asylum. 

 There are other circumstances in the cases 

 which are to be added, and those are the 

 cheapness of iron, the abundance of coal, 

 and the admirable facility and skill with 

 which the former material is wrought. 

 Wood, and especially the soft woods, which 

 are so much wrought among us, are here 

 scarce and dear, and therefore seldom used 

 for building purposes; bricks, and in many 

 parts of the country, good building stone, of 

 the best quality, are abundant. Most of the 

 cottages which I have seen have brick or 

 stone floors, though many have only hardly- 

 trodden clay and earth ; and the entries of 

 the best houses are generally paved and the 

 staircases made of stone. A fence of iron, 

 affording a sufficient protection against cat- 

 tle, is made here at a less expense than 

 many wooden fences are made with us. — Col- 

 mari's Agricultural Tour, 



The Oak— Curious Experiment. 



Take an acorn in the fall of the year, tie 

 a string round it in such a way that when 

 suspended, the blunt end of the acorn where 

 the cup was, is upward. Hang it thus pre- 

 pared in the inside of a bottle, or hyacinth 

 glass, containing a little water, taking care 

 that the acorn does not reach the water 

 within an inch ; wrap the bottle all over in 

 flannel, so as to keep it dark and warm, and 

 put it in a warm place. In three or four 

 weeks the acorn will have swollen, its coat 

 will have burst, and a little white point will 

 make its appearance at the end opposite the 

 water. This point is the root ; the acorn is 

 now changing its nature and becoming an 

 oak; still, however, it must be stationed in 

 the dark, still it must be kept clear of the 

 water, and so it must continue till the 

 young root is at least half an inch long. 



Then the water may be allowed to rise 

 higher; but it is only when from the neck 

 or the root, a little point begins to turn up- 

 ward, that it is safe to allow the water to 



rank, but rather as a pursuit in which they may all 

 moat usefully and honourably lend their combined in- 

 fluence. 



touch it. At this time, the acorn has ceased 

 to be an acorn, and has really become a 

 young oak; for the little point directing it- 

 self upward, is the beginning of that trunk 

 which a century later, may form the timber 

 of a frigate. As soon as the young stem 

 begins to shoot, the oak will require a dose 

 of light, a little every day; and it also 

 yearns for more food, so that its root, which 

 in reality is its mouth, must be allowed to 

 touch the water, and to drink it. 



After these events have come to pass, 

 our little nursling breathes and must have 

 air; digests, and must have light; sucks 

 greedily, and must have fresh water given 

 to its root, which, however, should never be 

 permitted to be wholly covered ; just that 

 point where the stem begins, should always 

 be kept out of the water. The pet having 

 been brought to this, its first state of exist- 

 ence, must be put in the window. At first 

 it will be a stout thread, whitish, and co- 

 vered with tiny scales ; then the scales will 

 expand a little, and the end will become 

 greener. 



Next will appear some little leaves; hair 

 will begin to grow, veins will branch ; the 

 old scales will fall off, and by slow degrees 

 the leaves will arrange themselves upon 

 the stem, each unfolding from the bosom of 

 the other. And thus, out of a little starch 

 and gum, — for the acorn was not much 

 more — manifold parts will be curiously pro- 

 duced by the wondrous creative powers of 

 nature. — Gardener'' s Chronicle. 



The Wheat Crop. — The general report 

 in relation to the wheat crop, is favourable. 

 In some neighbourhoods, complaint is made 

 of the fly, but we think the injury is not ex- 

 tensive. In Burlington and Gloucester, we 

 learn that the rye is considerably injured by 

 the rust. 



For the Farmers' Cabinet. 



Bee Moth. 



To THE Editor, — In the last number of 

 your Cabinet, you say that " on examining 

 your bee hives in the morning, you have 

 been annoyed by frequently finding on their 

 platform, worms full grown, which had no 

 doubt been hatched from the egg of the Bee 

 moth. Where did they come from ? Will 

 some of our friends tell usi" 



The Bee moth is a nocturnal visiter, and 

 enters the hive after the bees have retired to 

 rest, and deposits its egg in the comb where 

 the insect, when hatched, meets with its 

 proper food, until it arrives at maturity. It 

 then descends to the bench, and incloses 

 itself by the web which it spins, and passes • 

 mto the pupa or chrysalis state, before it be- 



