638 



FARMERS' REGISTER 



[No. 10 



cents a load of 20 bushels, and the last at 50 cents 

 per load". The application to the soil of both 

 kinds is about the same in quantity, rariirins^ from 

 6 to 25 loads per acre. The o;reatest distance to 

 which they have hiiuled ("rom this neiijhborhood is 

 about 12 miles. The ixeneral use of marl here 

 is quite recent, and no doubt as it becomes better 

 known, the use ot it will be crreatly extended ; 

 and the time will come when it will be as much an 

 article of commerce as lime. This last spring I 

 purchased a farm here of between 50 and 60 

 acres, entirely worn out ; the soil of part of the 

 farm is sand, and the rest gravel, no clay any 

 where about it. The farm has once been produc- 

 tive, and I judge, theretore, that it can be made 

 productive aijain. Up to this lime I have spread 

 marl (^both kinds) over about one quarter of the 

 i'arai, and if you think this conm)unication worthy 

 a place in the Cultivator, I will, from time to time, 

 give you the result of my endeavors to improve 

 my place. 



Considering marl, lime, and plaster of Paris, or 

 gypsum, as stimulants merely, due attention will 

 be paid to clover and grass crops, and barn yard 

 manure; the last being composed of all the refuse 

 of the farm, applied in a crude or unrotted state. 



E. H. VANUXEX. 



Long Branch, N. J. Nov. 17, 1836. 



From the Journal of Commerce. 

 DUTY ON SPIRITS. 



During the last week 2,600 bushels of foreign 

 rye were sold in one lot (or distillation at 142 cents 

 a bushel. Almost all the rye which has been im- 

 ported in such great quantities dtu'ing the last 

 twelve months, has gone to the distillery. Most 

 of our domestic supplies have gone the same way, 

 and so has also a very large proportion of the In- 

 dian corn. Thus the bread stuff's which are im- 

 ported to supply the deficiency of our own crops, 

 are snatched away and transformed into aggrava- 

 tions of the distress which already exists. In ibis 

 view of the case it seems to ns very doubtful 

 whether the duties on all foreign spirits might not 

 better be repealed. They have been supposed, by 

 enhancing the price of foreign spirits, to do some- 

 thing to check intemperance. But the difference 

 from this cause is so verj" small as hardly to be 

 perceived upon the small quantities which are re- 

 tailed. Whether drunkenness be produced at the 

 expense of four cents, or six cents, is a considera- 

 tion which weighs very little with the drunkard. 

 Distillation is not a species of manufacturing 

 which we wish to cherish by protecting duties. Il 

 would require but half the ship-room to bring the 

 whiskey, which is required to bring the rve, and 

 possibly if the duty were repealed, and the whis- 

 key were imported ready made, the portion of 

 room left vacant in this way, iiuiiht be filled with 

 rye whi(;h would actually be made into bread. 

 At any rate, we should be saved the mortification 

 of seeing the stafi' oi' lifi? which had been brought 

 three ihonsand miles to support us, snatched away 

 and distilled into the scythe of death. 



A numerous and respectable meeting of Phila- 

 delphiaiis have passed a resolution requesting the 



farmers and distillers of Pennsylvania not to pur- 

 chase or sell, for distillation, or use lor that pur- 

 pose, any mendiantable grain, for the ensuing 

 three months. It is stated in Pitkin's Statistics, 

 that in 1810, between five and six million bushels 

 of grain were distilled in the United States, and it 

 is supposed the amount is equally great at present. 

 If distillers would put out their fire?;, there would 

 be no scarcity of bread-stuffs, notwithstanding the 

 short crop.s. — /&. 



From the Rail Koad Journal. 

 POPPY SEED OIL. 



Paris, Oneiila County, Neiv York, Oct. 1836. 

 Mr. D. K., Minor, 



Dear Sir, — Being a subscriber to your valuable 

 and interesting Journal, I am favored with the pe- 

 rusal of comments, (extracted from the Journal of 

 the Franklin Institute,) on the production and 

 manufacture of salad, or table oil, in the United 

 States, to be procured fi-om the seeds of poppy ; 

 requesting inlbrmation relative to what is already 

 considered a very interesting part of French lius- 

 bandry, &c. being and having been, a participator 

 in the interest of this very important intjuiry, and 

 being a practical manulacturer of various kinds of 

 oils, I have luade such investigations, as I will 

 venture to pen down, in answer to the request set 

 forth in the coluiuns of the Journal of the Frank- 

 lin Institute, and submit the same to you for publi- 

 cation, should it meet with such approbation as 

 will entitle it to a place in the columns of your 

 Journal. In December 1824, Mr. Daniel J>.Iark- 

 ham, of Madison county, N. Y. obtained letters 

 patent, from the government of ihe United States, 

 for the discoveiy and art, of manuliicturing oil 

 from the seed, of poppy, to be used for culinary, 

 and many other important piuposes. But igno- 

 rance and prejudice, being predofuinant in the 

 minds of those who have been addressed on this 

 subject, sickness and indigence on ihe part of the 

 enterprising projector, have ever held in check, 

 the advancement of this important object in this 

 country, for which reasons, it is believed, the pa- 

 tentee has just claims tor a renewal of his patent, 

 for seven years after the original has ran out, to 

 effect which, I believe, he is about to take prelimi- 

 nary measures. Myself and others, have fiom 

 repeated trials, ascertained that 100 bushels of 

 poppy seed can be procured from one acre of good 

 lan(i, after allowiuc amply for waste, &c. Doctor 

 L. Bishop, of Oneida county, has raisetl the pre- 

 sent season, at the rate of 147 bushels per acre, 

 with taking very little pains in cultivation. This 

 may ?eem to be, (in the minds of many,) an ab- 

 surd exacrgeration, but it is no less strange than 

 true, and one bushel of this seed, will yield from 

 eight to twelve quarts of oil of the first order; 

 possessing (when drawn cold and pure,) a trans- 

 parency e(|iial to the best spring water, and a fla- 

 vor tiir more delicious than the olive ; it is extreme- 

 ly limpid, and never chills with frost. 'J'he pre- 

 sent price of this oil. in the city of New York, is 

 50 cents per pint, and is sought after by the por- 

 trait painters, being the finest and best oil for their 

 business. When burnt in a lamp, it sends forth a 

 brilliant flame, and emits but little smoke; its me- 

 dicinal qualities are mild, harmless, though effec- 

 tive in many cases, as proved by practice — it 



