NEW ENGLAND PARMER. 



337 



n absorb the perspirable fluid from the bark 

 ii'es? But it is best to agree with the face- 

 s poet, that " no ara:ument like matter of 

 It is a tact that the practice of white 



From the Brunswick Times. 



luriii) as a suusuiuie lor Inilitro, anrl believiii"- ■ j- j .• ' ""'" '" '" •^^ '"'• 



that whatever ma^ be fouml a useful ^ubstitutl I l.-fe' ^f, ^ "l"'""'''^ °' ^'""' ^^'ii<=h ="•« put at 

 ea, for any foreign article imported into this com.- ! ifr""''''"" '" V^O'^'lc" vat and digested 

 ,„d fry, employed in our domestic or family manu- 1 " ' 'l/.hi?".f', . , ''r'')' '"""'' """ 

 om taclures, tends not only to render us indcpendenl ! |„ „f ' '^^ substances to be dyed are immersed 

 ustlof foreign nations, but, with some attention, m,y silkTnXn !;„„„ „ ..=._. . 



CULTURE OF WO AD. 



_ _ J _ ^ Having seen in your paper an extract from 



trees has been followed for several i ""^ Aurora, giving an account of the uses and 

 ■11- and not a solitary instance of its injurious i '^"'fivation of the \v'oad Plant (or /snd's Tine- 

 Vr; ts has ever occurred to my observation, tortu) as a substitute lor Indigo, and believin"- 

 it on the contrary ihore are not wanting the 

 ost ample attestations in favor of its great 

 ility. The trees being more vigorous an 

 !althy, the bark more smooth and free fro 

 OSS than ever before. If, however, we m 



I governed by fashion, and the fashion has had '^sco'ne sources of wealth to our industrious 

 ; run, let it be discarded. In the American j '■"'mers and citizens, I have annexed herewith 

 xhardist and in that valuable paper the New J some further account of this valuable plant, 

 igland Farmer, other compositions which may ! which I should be glad ifyou would publish for 

 ove equally salutary are recommended. But j [''^ benefit of my brother farmers; not doubt- 

 ere is another topic brought into view which | '[i?5 'hat if generally known with what ease 

 )m its gross absurdity is liable to animadver- ''i''' P'^nt is reared and prepared for use, that 

 m. It is asserted in an English paper that i every lady who is in the habit of making cotton, 

 iterpillars may be destroyed by a clod of ''iien, and woollen cloths, for private use, would, 

 rth moulded round the top of the trunk of instead of running to the shops for indigo, pro- 

 es inlested with these reptiles. The wri- ere a small quantity of the woad seed and cul 



moulded over again, and dried on boards in the 

 sun. Woad and in<ligo are frequently used in 

 conjunclion, which makes a very great savin-' 

 to the dyers. In dyeing blue with these snb° 

 stances, it is usual to mix -tOO lb. woad, 30 lb 

 madder, 8 or 9 lbs. lime, and from 10 to 30 lbs. 



must be entirely ignorant of the natural his- 

 •y of the caterpillar. They are hatched in 

 : spring from eggs deposited on the branches 

 i twigs of trees the preceding summer.— 

 ley manifest no kind of antipathy to the 

 -fh, as they are frequently seen to traverse 

 9r it without reluctance, nor have they oc- 

 ion to ascend the trunk of the tree, for it 



{)n the branches that they have their birth. — 

 e most credulous reader, therefore, not hav- 

 faith in magic, must smile at the supposition, 

 t a clod of earth will prove so powerful an 

 idote as to kill or force the reptiles toaban- 

 1 their possessions. But in all professions 

 re are those who delight in quackery, ^rid- 

 themselves in some nostrum or new diseov- 

 . The sagacious editor of the New Eng- 

 d Farmer in copying the article expressed 

 doubts respecting the efficacy of this novel 

 • ;overy, but by another pen we are gravely 

 i)rmed that though the experiment had been 

 " pwn to fail, yet when the sod had been applied to 

 nest it succeeded better than any thing 'jshich he 

 ever tried '. Let those then who may choose 

 ;limb into the tree be careful that they do not 

 r asunder the caterpillars' nest and crush the 

 tiles, but nicely adjust the sod and wait pa 

 itly till its shall display it magical powers. — 

 i h exploits may vie with the French Mounte- 

 k, who among other nostrums, boasted of an 

 llible powder to kill tleas with the assur- 

 e that if there are millions of them his 

 i^der will destroy them all. The nostrum 

 1 readily purchased at a high price, but a 

 son desiring to know how it should be appli- 

 was answered that he must take the flea by 

 back and squeeze him until he gapes, then 

 p a little of the powder in his mouth and 

 will die. 



There is yet another circumstance connected 

 Si this subject deserving of attention. It too 

 piently happens that cattle are permitted to 

 e access to fruit trees in the winter season — 

 y never fail to nip off the twigs of the last 

 r's growth and break down the small branch- 

 vithin their reach leaving the ends jagged 

 unseemly. The only remedy for this evil 

 o cut oflf the jagged ends close up to the 

 I t bud. When this is neglected the broken 

 die and become rotten and eventually prove 

 intially injurious to the whole tree. J. T. 



tivate in her garden a very small spot, bein^ 

 sufficient to raise seed enough to sow two or 

 three acres. This plant may be sown any time 

 previous to the first of August, either in the 

 broad cast way, or in the same manner as car- 

 rots and parsnips are generally sown, and its 

 leaves are fit for use the summer following. It 

 is biennial, the lower leaves are of an oblong 

 oval figure, thick, ending in obtuse roundish 

 pointt of a lucid green. The stalks rise about 

 four feet high, dividing into several branches, 

 terminated by small yellow flowers. The time 

 for gathering the crop is about the end of June, 

 or whenever the leaves are fully grown, while 

 they are perfectly green. If the land he good 

 and the crop well husbanded, it will produce 

 three or four gatherings ; but the two first are 

 the best, and will produce three or four times 

 as much coloring matter as the third and fourth 

 crop. 



The leaves in the large way are carried di- 

 rectly to the mill, with a stone running on the 

 edge resembling the oil or bark mills, where 

 they are mashed into a smooth paste : if this 

 process is deferred, they would putrify. The 

 paste is then laid in heaps, pressed close and 

 smooth, and the blackish crust, which forms on 

 the outside, reunited if it happens to crack. — 

 After laying for fifteen days, the heaps are 

 opened, the crust rubbed and mixed with the 

 inside ; it is then formed into balls, which are 

 pressed close and solid ; these are dried up 

 on hurdles ; they turn black on the outside if 

 in the sun, if in a close place yellowish ; if the 

 weather is rainy, the first is to be preferred. 



The good balls are distinguished by their be- 

 ing weighty, of an agreeable smell, and when 

 rubbed, of a violet color within. Woad not on- 

 ly affords a lasting and substantial blue, which 

 may be reduced into many different shapes, but 

 is of great use in dyeing and fixing many oth- 

 er colors. 



In the small way the leaves may be pounded 

 in a trough or wooden mortar, laid smooth in 

 heads, as above directed ; and after laying some 

 days the outside crust rolled with the inside, 

 and made into small balls, about the size of a 

 coffee cup, in any convenient vessel which will 

 bear pressing strongly to mould them in: and 



Silk, woollen, linen, and cotton are alike dy- 

 ed with these ingredients, but with some varia- 

 tion of the proportions. A solution of woad and 

 indigo in sulphuric acid forms what is called the 

 Saxon blue. For dyeingyarn in the small way, 

 woad may be used in the same manner as indi- 

 go ; or a proportion of the ingredients before 

 mentioned may be added ; but the best color 

 wiH be produced by using each in the propor- 

 tion of one ounce of indigo to twelve ounces 

 woad ; the latter gives solidity and substance to 

 the color, the former brightness. 



The woad was once the great staple of Lan- 

 guedoc, is now cultivated generally in France, 

 Spain, Portugal, Germany, Switzerland, Swe- 

 den, and in many parts of England, and in the 

 small way in America. The produce of an 

 acre of ground from woad may be estimated to 

 be worth from one to two hundred dollars. 



That the farmers and dyers may make trial 

 of woad, induces this communication. 



A MIDDLESEX FARMER. 



From Long's Expedition to the Rocky Mountains. 



A singular description of food is made use of 

 by some tribes of the Snake Indians, consisting 

 chiefly and sometimes wholly of a species of 

 ant which Is very abundant in the region in 

 which they roam. The squaws go in the cool 

 of the morning to the hillocks of these active 

 insects, knowing that then they are assembled 

 in the greatest numbers. Uncovering the little 

 mounds to a certain depth, the squaws scoop 

 them up with their hands and put them into a 

 bag prepared for the purpose. When a suflS- 

 cient number are obtained, they repair to the 

 water, and cleanse the mass from all the dirt 

 and small pieces of wood collected. The ants 

 are then placed upon a flat stone, and by the 

 pressure of a rolling pin are crushed together 

 in a dense mass, and rolled out like pastry. Of 

 this substance a soup is prepared, which is re- 

 lished by the Indians, but is not at all to the 

 taste of white men. 



Gas Lights. — Professor Olmsted, of the Uni- 

 versity of North Carolina, has ascertained, that 

 a fine illuminating gas may be obtained from 

 cotton seed. The produce of gas from a bushel 

 ofseed, is more than double the average product 

 of the same quantity of New Castle Coal, and 

 greatly exceeds that in illuminating power. It 

 partakes of the purity and splendor of gas from 

 oil, with which substance, indeed, this seed is 

 known to abound. The experiments already 

 made, induce the belief, that, among all sub- 

 stances hitherto tried for gas illumination, this 

 article will be found the most eligible, especlallj 

 for our southern cities, where cotton seed can be 

 obtained at a very trifling expense ; and the idea 



if the balls happen to crack before they are suggested that this article may possibly become 

 thoroughly dry, they may be rubbed together, ] of considerable value for exportation. 



