1S36.J 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



415 



quently acquired a strong and disagreeable flavor, 

 wiiich seriously injured its quality. The reason 

 of this has not heen generally understood. Mr. 

 JNIoir, of Scotland, has heen instituting a series ol' 

 experiuients on the subject, which appears to have 

 thrown some light on the matter. He tound that 

 most kinds of wood contain considerable quanti- 

 ties oi" pyroligiiic acid, which decomposes the salt 

 with which it comes in contact. The Linden, or 

 basswood, was the only wood he found entirely 

 iree, but the other kinds he experimented upon 

 were easily freed )i-om the acid by boiling three or 

 ibur hours, well pressed under water. It is evi- 

 dent that firkins made ol" staves prepared in this 

 way would be decidedly improved, and as the 

 preservation of butter in a sweet and pure state 

 is an important matter to the dairyman, we think 

 much would be gained by a proper attention to 

 the vessels in which it is packed. 



The fact that wood in ireneral contains large 

 quantities of pyrolignic acid is no new discovery, 

 or its injurious effects upon salt unknown. At the 

 large salt works in the Auslrion Tyrol, the water 

 as it flows li'om the springs is too weak to be pro- 

 fitably boiled. To raise it to a proper degree of 

 strength recourse is had to evaporation. This is 

 effected in inmiense buildinjjs, very high, and fill- 

 ed from top to bottom with closely pressed faggots 

 of fine brush. The water is conducted to reser- 

 voirs in the top of these buildings, and thence is 

 distributed in such a manner as to liill through the 

 whole mass of faggots to the bottom, where it is 

 received into cisterns or reservoirs, from which it 

 is conveyed in pipes to the places for boiling. In 

 this process of percolating through the brush, it is 

 found to gain in strength nearly one half, or rather 

 fr-om the immense surfiice of the water exposed 

 by this method to the action of the air, the evapo- 

 ration is so rapid that this effect is produced. It 

 was found that dillerent kinds of brush had very 

 different effects on the quality and quantity of salt 

 produced, and some after repeated experiments 

 were pronounced entirely uiadmissible. Those that 

 contained the least acid were found universally 

 the best, and at the present time little besides the 

 fine twigs of the linden is used for replacing such 

 faggots as at very distant intervals of time it be- 

 comes necessary to remove, the salt giving them, 

 by its constant and thorough saturation, an almost 

 unlimited duration. 



G. 



ox THE t.MPROBABir.lTY OF THE LEGISLA- 

 TURE AIDING THE IMPROVEMENT OF AG- 

 RICULTURE. 



To the Editor of tlie Farmers' Register. 



September 20ih, 1836. 

 Mr. Editor: — Although I was much ^ratified, 

 upon the whole, by the perusal of Col. Gooch's 

 two numbers in your last Reirister, and agree with 

 him entirely, that " legislative action is required," 

 (nay, imperiously required,) " in aid of agricul- 

 ture ;" yet I difler from him altogether, in the 

 opinions and hopes expressed at the end of" his 

 second number. To utter this dissent is my pre- 

 sent purpose, and in a way which, I trust, will not 

 be displeasing, either to you or himself, however 

 hardly it may possibly be thought to bear on some i 

 others. j 



In speaking of the agricultural community, 

 C-il. G. remarks. " That community can not be 

 expected to acquiesce much longer in delay and 

 indifference," &c. Now, if" coming events can 

 be predicted, with the least certainty, from those 

 which are past, an acquiescence which has lasted, 

 and with the most exemj)!ary patience too, ever 

 since the government existed, may very reasona- 

 bly be expected to endure for ever. Sir Robert 

 VValpole once compared our class to sheep, who 

 always submitted to be sheared without resistance, 

 by any wlio attempted it, as often and as closely 

 as they pleased ; and if ever there was a country 

 whose acjricultnrists verified the remark, our old 

 state, (God bless her,) is that one. 



In the next sentence Col. G. adds, "But my 

 confidence in the patriotism of the leffislature, and 

 in their disposition to do any thing for the public 

 good, when they see clearly how it may be done, 

 is such, that I am sure the members will, between 

 this and the time of their meetinor, reflect serious- 

 I3' on, and inquire into this vital subject, and be 

 prepared to legislate wisely and efliciently upon 

 it." 



This kind of confidence is, without doubt, very 

 comfortable to him who feels it, as well as agree- 

 able to those in reijard to whom it is uttered. I re- 

 gret therefore that I cannot conour in it. Nay, 

 even in Col. G. himsellj I must believe that it ig 

 prompted rather by long deferred, unfounded, but 

 still fondly cherished hope, than by any experience 

 on his part — any recollection of a solitnry enact- 

 ment favorable to agriculture, passed by a Vir- 

 ginia legislature, since our separation from Great 

 Britain. lYo such enactment being in my recollec- 

 tion, and judginj; of the future by the past, I can 

 feel no such confidence, and am consequently des- 

 titute of all hope on the subject of " legislative 

 action in aid of agriculture." 



It is true, Col. G. has guarded himself pretty 

 well against the chartre of being too sanguine or 

 credulous in his anticipations of this aid, by limit- 

 ing their fulfilment to the time "when they,'''' (the 

 legislature,) ''shall see clearly hnw it is to be done.^^ 

 I also shall expect them to be fulfilled, should this 

 ardently to be desired "when'''' ever come. But as 

 clearness of" vision in regard to the great and vital 

 interests of agriculture seems never to have been 

 an attribute, either required or manifested in Vir- 

 ginia legislators, I cannot say more of it, than 

 that I shall always be prepared to hail it as a God- 

 send, it it ever should be exercised in our behalf. 

 Until then, I can entertain no hope, nor even 

 shadow of" expectation, that the mental eyes of 

 our law-makers will ever be directed towards the 

 means of agricultural improvement and prosperi- 

 ty ; still less, that any laws will ever be passed to 

 promote them. 



In conclusion, permit me respectfully to suggest, 

 not only to Col. Gooch, but to all the rest of our 

 brethren, never more to look for legislative aid to 

 our class, until we can prevail on ourselves to 

 choose agricultural patriots to represent us, rather 

 than political party prize-fighters, and makers of 

 presidents and vice presidents. Never more to ask 

 any thing for agriculture, until political party bat- 

 tles and political party victories shall certainly have 

 ceased to be deemed matters of such paramount, 

 such very superior importance to the great agri- 

 cultural and commercial interests of tlie country, 

 as to render the qualifications for fighting those 



