vol,. XIV. NO. 40. 



AND GARDENER'S JOURNAL. 



in tolerable coiuiition, and produc.cil a inidcIHiij:; 

 crop of coin. The year it was sowed in carrots 

 no manure was put on it ; it was ])loiif;lipd aii<l 

 harrowed, the stones and sods tlirown otT in order 

 to sow with a machine, then levelle<l with a hoe. 

 After being plonghed, two liands prepared and 

 sowed it in halfa day. The rows were seventeen 

 inches apart, and four ounces of seed were sown. 

 It required one or two more days' work in hoeing 

 tlian it would if planted in corn — less e.xpense in 

 digging than the same quantity of potatoes. Mr 

 Hntcliins sold several tons at nine dollars, being 



cows and horses, and the latter picked them out 

 and left the oats when they were mi.ved and fed 

 together. Those that bought them used them 

 mostly for sheep. The shakers at Canterbury fat 

 tlieir horses on carrots. A bushel of carrots weighs 

 about 40 lbs. — Yanliee Far. 



Wool. — In many sections of our State, Agri- 

 culturists are tnrning their serious attention to the 

 growing of Wool, with a certain prospect of a fair 

 remuneration for the enterprise. It has been 

 proved by e.xperience that in this country, flocks 

 of sheep can be doubled in a short period of time, 

 and no doubt remains that eventually more Wool 

 will be produced tlian wiil suffice for our own 

 consun)i>tion. In 18.31, the number of Sheep in 

 the United States was estimated at twenty millions. 

 Since that period the increase has been rapid, and 

 the number at present may with safety be set 

 down at thirty millions, producing at a fair calcu- 

 lationv-one hundred and eight millions of pounds- 

 of waslied wool. The price of wool hasranged, 

 and is at present high, so that estimating the new 

 clip at an average of 4.3 cents per pound, the total 

 value will amount to .$43,200,000. In 1830, the 

 number of sheep raised in Great Britain, was thir- 

 tytwo millions, producing one hundred and sixty 

 millions of lbs. of n-ool. In France in 182S, there 

 were thirtytvvo millions of sheep, which produced 

 upwards of one hundred millions of lbs. of wash- 

 ed wool. In Prussia in 1828, thenumber of sheep 

 amounted to 11,606,200, of wliicli, upwards of 

 1,754,000, were merinos. The number of sheep 

 in tlifi state of New York, at present, is computed 

 at full five millions; in Pennsylvania, three and a 

 half millions, and in Vermont, one miilion one 

 hundred and fifty thousand. — Phil. Com. List. 



hoe:i.\g corn. 



The object of hoeing and working the soil 

 about corn, are, first, to destroy all weetis ; and 

 secondly, to loosen the soil at the surface, that it 

 may the more readily absorb dews and rain which 

 fall upon it, and prevent the evaporation of mois- 

 ture, which takes place nmch sooner where the 

 soil is hard, than where it is kept loose and mel- 

 low, nie practice so prevalent, of de p cultiva- 

 tion by the plough between rows of coin is not to 

 be recommended; If the ground has been prop- 

 erly prepared before planting, when not too wet, 

 it will not need this additional loosening. After 

 the corn has arrived at the usual" size foe hoeing, 

 the soil should only be disturbed at the surface. 

 For as the plants increase in size, they send out 

 long 'fibrous thread-like roots in all directions, 

 which branch every way and ruti all over the 

 ground ; ami it is through these that they receive 

 a large portion of their nourishment. To break 

 or injure these would therefore materially retard 

 the growth of the plants by cutting off their accus- 



tomed supply of food. And yet surprising as it 

 may seem, a notion is very prevah^nt, that it is 

 serviceable to break the roots of corn. Rut what 

 should we think of such reasoning as this, wen- it 

 applied to animals What should we think if it 

 were declared to be serviceable to cftitie to <le- 

 privo them of their supply of food ? Or as a wri^ 

 ter somewhere asks,. what would be thought of 

 the reason cf a man, who should declare it as his 

 opinion, and practically enforce it, that the best 

 way to fatten a bu'lock, is to wourul his tongue, 

 break his teeth and batter his jaws, whenever 

 he reached forward his he'ul for food ? Why then 

 treat plants, which, as much as animals rsquire 

 their projier nourishment, in the same way.' 



Hilling corn we would also disapprove, although 

 it is very commonly practised. Not imfrequently 

 in performing this operation, all the loose mellow 

 earth is scraped away from between the rows and 

 heaped up round the plants, forming a sort of roof 

 about them, throwing off the rain, which runs 

 itown into the hard soil thus laid bare at the bot- 

 tom of the furrows, which the first dry weather 

 hakes to the last degree of hardness, so that the 

 roots can receive no moisture here, and little with- 

 in these artificial pyramids. A reason is^ assigned 

 in favor of hilling, — that it makesthe corn stand 

 firmer and more erect, and is less liable to be bro- 

 ken down by the wind. This may be the case 

 when the ])lants are small and do not need any 

 such help; but when tl>ey attain a height of sev- 

 eral feet and are loaded with leaves and ears,- it 

 must be evident that a little loose earth piled about 

 the roots is tot'ally insufficient for such a purpose. 

 It is the strong bracing roots which radiate from 

 the stock which are to support it there ; and to 

 bury these roots deep under the surface while 

 they are growing, and thus shutout from them 

 both heat and air, and render them weak and ten- 

 der would only help to bring about the very thing 

 we wisli to prevent. 



It is imijortantto farmers -that this subject be 

 well understood; for a little knowledge may save 

 many weary, st«ps, and be the means of an abun- 

 dant crop in the bargain. But if any farmers doidjt 

 the accuracy of our reasoning, we would request 

 them to test it by experiment ; by ploughing and 

 hilling. high one part of their corn, and using the 

 cultivator and applying the same amount of labor 

 in mellowing the flat surface of the other ; and 

 then measuEe the results. — Yankee Far. 



NEW JERSEY ZINC. 



It has long been known to Mineralogists, through 

 the scientific investigations of Dr. Fowler, at pres- 

 ent one of the Representatives of this State in 

 Congress, that the greatest known deposlte of the 

 red oxide of zinc,.Ri\A, that of the richest quality, 

 exists in the neighborhood of Sterling, in Sussex 

 coimty. A mountain mass of it isftiundat that 

 place, about two himdred feet high. Various ex- 

 periments to r'inder it available, however, have 

 heretofore proveil nnsncce.ssdil. But this desider- 

 ;itum has at le: gth been obtained, and the reduc- 

 tion ofthe ore is no longer a doubtful process. 

 Thirty tons of it were recently sent to the furnace 

 at Washington City, and we have received a beau- 

 tiful specimen ofthe product, which metallurgists 

 whom we have consulted pix)nounce a pure and 

 superior article. 



Mr J. R. Hassler, the superintendent of the 

 construction ofthe standard weights and measures 

 for the Custom Houses, being unable to procure 



_380 



.zinc of a ga,„| quality fn; his pm-po^, erected a 

 furnace at Washingtcm, in which by the adoptior» 

 from abr«?..i of a very easy and simple process, he 

 h^ manufacturing zinc from the New .lersr^y ore. 

 This we understand is the first successful attempt 

 to produce this valuable metal (rom the ore, thai 

 has been tnade in this country, nnd tli6 establish- 

 ment at Washington is therefore a subject of com., 

 mon interest, as it promises to render us measura- 

 bly independent of foreign supply. 



The circumstances and the importance of the 

 introduction of this process into our country, will 

 appear by an extract from Mr Hassler's i-errtarks; 



''The zinc of commerce (Spalter) is generally 

 very impure as to" admixture of metals: therefore 

 not malleable, and it is entirely an article of for- 

 eign importation. The' price is a'so variable, 

 r.Muging from three cents to a dollar to the pound. 

 Great quantities are consumed, and at present 

 there is no supjily in the New York market. The 

 gentleman who erecte<l the zinc distilling estab- 

 lislnnent in Switzerland from which f had order- 

 ed a supply for oilr piirpose, having arrived in this 

 country, it was deemediuost advisable to take ad- 

 vantage of the circnmstiitice. erect an establish- 

 ment, and thus avail ourselves of the American 

 ore for the distillation of pure zinc. This was 

 also judged to be true economy, as the purification 

 ofthe impure zinc of connnerce is .t more expen- 

 sive process than the redaction of it from the ore 

 itself. This establishment at the arsenal has ir> 

 every respect proved successful." The zinc pro- 

 duced, it is further remarked, is malleable ; a qual- 

 ity which the imported article wants, and which 

 alone renders ours superior for many purposes, 

 and especially for roofing. 



We have also i-eceived a fine specimen ofbrass 

 made at the same establishment, from the ore pro- 

 cured at Sterling. '1 here is therefore no longer 

 any doubt concerning this deposite, and it must 

 soon become at ooce an important article of com- 

 merce to ou.r State, and the source of supply for a 

 useful metal to the country at large. Professor 

 Rogers, in his late valuable report oti the geologi- 

 cal survey of the State, after expressing- a hope 

 that the zinc of Stirling and its vicinity may not 

 be left to lie nnpiiuductive, remark that "the enor- 

 mous quantities of it, and the facilities it would 

 present tojnining, are calcu'ated to invite attention 

 and enterprise, so soon as its existence and value 

 become more generally known." — J'^'ewark Daily 

 Adv. 



Interesting Experimknt. — »A bar of heated 

 iron to whitjeness, held against a strong current 

 of air fron] the blowing ."ipiiaratus of a forge, ir»- 

 stead of, coolipg, as might have been expected, 

 burtjed brilliantly, throwing off scintillations ir» 

 every directions. 1 he editor of the .Scientific 

 Tracts who relates the account, does not undertake 

 to account for it : but it is evident that the addi- 

 tional oxygen thus forced upon the already ignit- 

 ed metal, jjromoted the continuance of the com- 

 bustion, chemically, in a much greater degree 

 than its cooling power retarded it,-^ Boston Me- 

 chanic. 



Sick Headache. — A teaspoonful of finely pow- 

 dered charcoal, drank in a halfa tund)lerof water, 

 will in less than fifteen minutes give relief to the 

 sick headache, when caused by a superabun- 

 dance of acid on the stomach. — JVewburyport 

 Herald. 



