Vol.VIII.— No. 36. 



AND HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 



285 



;r was laid by two gentlemen, that a coniinon 

 n-se could draw tliirtynix tons for six miles along 

 road, and that he slioiikl draw this weight 

 om a dead pull, as well as turn it ronnd the oc- 

 isional windings of the road. A numerous par- 



of gentlemen assenihled near Merstham to sec 

 is extraordinary triumph of art. Twelve wa- 

 )ns loaded with stones, each wagon weighing 

 lOve three ton, were chained together, end a 

 jrse, taken promiscuously from the timber cart 



Mr Ilarwood, was yoked to the train. He 

 arted from l]%: I*'o.\ ]inblic-house, near Merstham, 

 id drew the immense chain ol wagons, with 

 jparent case, almost to the turnpike at Croydon, 

 distance of six miles, in one hour and fortyone 

 imitcs which is nearly at the rate of four miles 



hour. In the course of the journey he sto|ipe(l 

 ur times, to show that it was not by any advan- 



(• of descent this power was acquired ; and 

 Ter each stoppage lie again drew off the chain 



wagons with great case. Mr Banks who 

 d wagered on the power of the horse, then de- 

 ed that four more loaded wagons should be j 

 ded to the cavalcade, with which the same horse | 

 t off again with undiminished pace. Still fur- 

 er to shew the effect of the railway in facilitat- ! 

 g motion, he directed the attending workmen, i 



the number of fifty, to mount on the wagons,] 

 d the horse proceeded without the least distress ; 

 d, in truth, there appeared to be scarcely any 

 iiitation to the power of his draught. After 

 is trial the wagons were taken to the weighing 

 achine, and it appeareil that the whole weight 

 as as follows : — 



Tons. Cwt. qi: 

 i WagoniS first linked together 38 4 2 

 I Ditto, afterwards attached 13 2 



ipposed weight of fifty laborers 4 



55 6 2 



[ To be continued next tceck.'\ 



FOR THE NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



THE OLIVE. 



Mr Fessekden — Although the Olive is exclu- 

 d from our catalogue of trees, which it is possible 

 naturalize, in theso northern regions, it may be 

 icressfuUy introduced, and found a most valua- 

 e acquisition, in the more congenial soil and 

 iinate of South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, and 

 )rtions of Alabama and Louisiana ; and as your 

 urnal has a circulation co extensive with the 

 uuds of the republic, I enclose an extract, 

 hich is intended for our horticultural colabora- 

 rs, in the sunny plains of the South. 

 The Olive trees of France, have been repeated- 

 destroyed by the severities of winter. The in- 

 nse cold of 1709, 1766, 1788 and 1820 was 

 ry fatal, and during the rigorous winter, of the 

 st named year, nearly every tree in Provence 

 as killed. These frequent disasters have so 

 uch discouraged the cultivation, that not a quar- 

 r part of the oil consumed in France, is produ- 

 d in that country, and more than 50,000,000 of 

 incs are annually paid for the supplies imported 

 om Spain, Italy and the Levant. 

 Under these circumstances, the government, as 

 ell as the agricultural and horticultural societies 

 ive attempted to revive, encourage and extend 

 e cultivation of the Olive ; and researches have 

 ten made, to find some species of this invalua- 

 e gift of Minerva, of a hardier character, than 



those hitherto raised on the shores of the Medi- 

 terranean. Their efforts appear to have been suc- 

 cessful. Two kinds have been discovered to ex- 

 ist in the Crimea, which hid defiance to the in- 

 clement winters, which are occasionally expe- 

 rienced on the northern borders of tlie Euxine, 

 and are, therefore, capable of flourishing in the 

 less frigid climate of the southern departments of 

 France. 



As an intercourse is now open with the Rus- 

 sian ports of the Black Sea, in consequence of 

 the recent treaty of Adrianople, it will not be dif- 

 ficult to obtain plants of the remarkable varieties 

 of the Olive existing in the Crimea, which will 

 find a more temperate latitude and fertile soil in 

 the south western section of the United States, 

 than those where they have continued to flourish 

 fur centuries. 



The Crimea is situated between the 44lh and 

 46th degrees of north latitude, and the Cimmerian 

 Bopphorug, or straits of Yenicale, and sea of Azof, 

 which bound it on the east and the north, are us- 

 ually closed with ice, from December to March. 



During all time the Olive has been considered 

 the most valuable of all cultures, and is still so es- 

 timated within those favored and limited regions 

 of the globe, where it will flourish. 



In the contest between Neptune and Minerva 

 for the guardianship of Athens, each cxhibiled 

 their power and beneficence ; the former produc- 

 ed the horse, by smiting the earth with his trident ; 

 hut the latter, with the touch of her lance, caused 

 the Olive to spring up at her feet ; and this being 

 considered the most useful present to man, the 

 Goddess of Wisdom become the tutelar divinity of 

 the city. In America the god of the ocean has 

 anticipated his rival, and seems to claim the hon- 

 or of i)rotector, by furnishing from his vast domain 

 a partial substitute for the product of the Olive. — 

 But it is not improbable, that Minerva may yet 

 dispute his right, and command equal distinction, 

 by extending to us the rich present, she made to 

 the Greeks; for there are portions of the United 

 States, where the cultivation of the Olive will 

 possibly rival or take precedence of that of the 

 sugar cane and cotton plant. 



The trees can be propagated by seeds, layers, 

 slips, cuttings of the root, aud by ,'prouts or suck- 

 ers. It is very remarkable, that it is only within 

 a very few years, that it was known Olive trees 

 oould be raised from the stones. Before the com- 

 mencement of the present century they were uni- 

 versally multiplied by suckers and cuttings. Ac- 

 cident made known the process which nature had 

 so long concealed from man. A cultivator of 

 Olives, in the south of France, threw the stones, 

 which had been divested of their pulp, into a yard, 

 where a flock of turkeys were confined, who 

 greedily devoured them. The next season im- 

 merous young plants appeared, within the enclo- 

 sure ; this induced the proprietor to investigate 

 the cause, which had developed the vegetative 

 powers of the seed ; and presuming that it was 

 probably owing to the extraction of the oil, while 

 in the stomach of the turkeys, he attempted to im- 

 itate that i)rocess by artificial means. A number 

 of stones, from which the pulp had been thorough- 

 ly sejjarated, were soaked in an alkaline solution, 

 a suflicient time to neutralize the oil, which im- 

 pregnated them, and were then planted ; the ex- 

 periment was successful. This expeditious mode of 

 establishing nurseries, has been encouraged by the 

 Royal Agricultural Society, and the first premium 



of 3,000 francs was awarded to M. D'Gasquet in 

 1825. 



The stones are planted the first of March, and 

 the plants are grafted or budded when four years 

 old. They begin to yield fruil in ten years, and 

 are fully productive about the twer\ty fifth year. 



A method of forming a nursery, which has 

 been successfully adopted near Toulon, may pro- 

 bably be introduced into this country ; it is by 

 transplanting,as stocks, wild Olive iilants,fioiu the 

 forests, where they had sprung up, from stones 

 dropped by the thrush and black bird. Fortu- 

 nately, we have an indigenous variety, — the Otea 

 Americana, the American Olive, or Devil Wood ; 

 still it may be so far removed in its physiology, 

 from the cultivated species, of the eastern conti- 

 nent, as not to answer for stalks, on which to 

 engraft them ; but the experiment is worthy of 

 trial. 



The American Olive grows as far north as Nor- 

 folk, in Virginia, and therefore, is capable of re- 

 sisting a greater degree of cold than any other 

 known kind, and may facilitate the naturalization 

 of those produced in the Crimea. It is found in 

 soils and exposures extremely different, in Vir- 

 ginia, the Carofiiias, Georgia, Florida and Louis- 

 iana. On the sea shore it springs up with the Live 

 Oak, in the most barren and sultry spots ; and 

 in other places, it is seen with the Big Laurel, and 

 Umbrella tree, in cool, fertile and shaded situa- 

 tions, which are very favorable circumstances, for 

 the cultivated varieties are fastidious as to soil, 

 aspect, and temperatuic. 



I believe attempts have been made to cultivate 

 the Olive in Georgia and South Carolinia; but whelh 

 er successfiilly or not, I am not informed, although 

 I have an impression, that some trees are growing 

 in or near Savannah. In Florida one experiment 

 has been made, and is thus described by Augustus 

 L. Hillhouse, Esq. in his very interesting article 

 on the Olive tree, contained in Michaiix's North 

 American Sylva. 



' While the Floridas were held by the English, 

 an adventurer of that nation, led a colony of 

 Greeks into the eastern province, and founded the 

 settlement of New Smyrna : the princiiial trc"- 

 sure which they brought from their native clime, 

 was the Olive, Bartram, who visited this settle- 

 ment in 1775, describes it as a flourishing town. 

 Its prosperity, however, was of momentary dura- 

 tion ; driven to despair, by hardship and oppres- 

 sion, a part of these unhappy exiles, conceived 

 theharily enterprize of flying to the Havannah,in 

 an open boat ; the restretnoved to St Augustine, 

 when the Spaniards resumed possession of the 

 country. In 1783, a few decaying huts, and sev- 

 eral large Olive trees, were the only remaining 

 traces of their industry.' 

 Very truly. 



Your most obedient servant, 



Brinley Place, > H. A. S. DEARBORN. 

 March 17, 1830. I 



EXTRACT NO. X. 

 From the Annales D'Horticulture. 



Memoir on the Culture and Propagation of the 

 Olive, &c, by M. Des Michels. 



After giving a history of this cultivation and of 

 the disasters which had attended it in France, he 

 observes : — 



The Journal of Odessa, — a Russian ])ort on 

 the north western coast of the Black Sea, — has 

 informed us, that there are cultivated, in the south- 



