Vol. IK.— N... 10. 



AND HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL 



149 



From liotli those elfg.iiit scats tlie eye sweeps 

 over tlie iiolile Hudson, wliieli is nearly a mile in 

 wiiltli, specklfil at all times witlitlie wliite spread - 

 in<' canvas, or llje more formidable Fnlton steam- 

 ers. A rii-licr prospect is not to be tbiinil, a more 

 Taried and liiscinatin!^ view of pictmesqne scene- 

 ry is scaroidy to be iniairined. Tlie present pro- 

 prietor, Dr David Hosack, lias since the year 1794, 

 been distingiiisbod for assiduity and devotion to 

 the practical duties of his |irofession, and fulfilling 

 tbe office of teacher in various brandies of med- 

 ical science in the city of New Vork. Many of 

 his works have been fepublislied in foreign coun- 

 tries, and among the honors which be has receiv- 

 ed from the learned institutions of Europe, he lias 

 been elected a follow of the Royal Society of 

 IiOndon, and also of the Wernerian natural history 

 Society of Kdinliurgh. His more recent work, 

 the life of tlie late Governor Dewiit Clinton, with 

 n account of tbe origin and jirogress of tbe great 

 Erie Canal, has been received as a splendid pro- 

 uction, justly delineating the character of bis il- 

 ustrions friend, and redounding to the fame and 

 onor of the author. Dr Hosack sustained th= 

 ffice of president of the New York Historical 

 lociety for several years, and in May, 1324, was 

 lected president of tbe New York Horticultural 

 lociety. lie was tbe founder and proprietor of 

 le Elgin Botanic Girden in 1801, the first ano 

 lest in tbe United States, which has been purohas- 

 |d by the Legislature of that State for the pur- 

 of cempljting a system of medical instruc- 

 ]. Although this eminent physician and jihil- 

 pher has exchanged bis professional labors du- 

 g tbe summer months for the delightful scenes 

 jF rural and pastoral life, yet he retains a high 

 mse of the iiii|iortance of medical science, and 

 e public is still to be benefited by his literary la- 

 He is well qualified as a practical ag-ricul- 

 rist ar.d horticulturist, having devoted mu(-h .it- 

 tion to the nature of soils and the principles 

 vegetable life when lecturing on botany and 

 lorgics. From tbe spirit displayed during the 

 Tt period of 18 months in his system of im- 

 vements, it may be predicted that as an agri- 

 iiirist, he will become no less eminent than in 

 ical erudition. 



e rises early, and soon repairs to the point 

 ere Jiis presence is most required, allowing 

 iself little relaxation either of mind or muscle. 

 never sufTers his talent to be hid in a napkin, 

 r his wealth hoarded under a miser's key. 

 [(Please accept the respectful regards of your 

 mble servant. JAMES THACHER. 



'lymoulh, J^'ovemhit, 1830. 



FOR THE NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 

 L J. B. RUSSELI. 



|3ia — In December last, I iionght a lot of gar- 

 seeds at your Store ; I then told you that you 

 I uld bear from nie on their ficcount, wbellier 

 I sfied or dissatisfied. I have now the pleasure 

 Inform you that, with ths excejition of a. box of 

 lis which I had several years ago, from those 

 It out by Win Cobbett to this country, the seeds 

 In you were the best I ever had, and their pro- 

 le has proved conclusively that they had been 

 led from selected plants, and that care had been 

 Im to prevent a mixture of kinds. Aiii.ing 

 H;rs, I slioiiUl mention as those which were pc- 

 Barly excellent, the Ruta Baga, tha L^jre Cape 

 loy and Low Dutch Cabbages, the Long Dutch 

 Isnip, Blood Beet, and White Portugal and Yel- 



low Onions. The Parsnips and BimUs wore re- 

 markably straight and (tee from fibrous roots ; the 

 Kuta Baga the finest I ever saw, excepting those 

 only raised from the seed of Cobliett, above men- 

 tioned. I have selected 46 of tbe handsoinest 

 and largest of tbe Ruta Baga for seed, which 

 after they were div(;sied of the leaves weighed 

 442 lbs. one of the largest weighed 16 lbs. I 

 meulion these facts in justice to you, and for the 

 benefit of those who are in want of seeds, that 

 they may know where they can procure such 

 as may be depende<l upon. 



Though not immediately connected with agri- 

 culture, yet conclusive as to a fact highly interest- 

 ing to it, whether the use of anient spirits is ne- 

 cessary for laborers, I avail myself of this opportu- 

 nity t inform you tliat tli is past season from the 

 25th of Jidy to the 25tli of October I was con- 

 cerned iii the execution of a contract for the mak- 

 ing of 19 miles of the U. S. Blilitary Road be- 

 tween Bangor and Houlton ; that we had on an 

 average about 40 men employed, about one half 

 were our own countrymen, and the other half 

 Irish; that our labor was of the hardest kind and 

 most trying to the constitution, at least one third 

 part of our men half leg deep in nunl and water, 

 digging drains; that we slept on tbe ground with 

 only a few boughs under us, a blanket over us, 

 with no other shelter than a camp, the roof of 

 which was so leaky that after every rain we were 

 compelled to bang our blankets out to dry ; not- 

 withstanding this mixture of our own countrymen 

 and the Irish, who are thought not to accord, not 

 n cross word was spoken in our camp. Notwith- 

 standing tbe severity of the service to which we 

 were exposed, only equal to six days of one man 

 were lo.st by sickness, and both these facts are t» 

 1)3 attributed to the fact, that not one drop of any 

 anient spirit was brought into our camp. After 

 this, let no advocate of Rum say that it is neces- 

 sary to keep out the cold or to ward off the effects 

 of ex|)0sure to danijiness and wet. 



We shall be at work on the same road next 

 year from the first of June to the last of Septem- 

 ber. We shall want as many hands as we had 

 tbe past season ; we will give them as nmch as they 

 want to eat, Coffee and Tea three times a day, 

 plenty of hard work, their cash when their work 

 is done, but not one drop of Rum. Those who 

 want to engage on these terms may apply to the 

 subscriber at his camp on the Military Road be- 

 tween the Moluncus and the Fork of tbe Mattaw- 

 amkeag. CHARLES JARVIS. 



EUsworlk, Me. J^ov. 16, 1830. 



VENUS' FLY TRAP. 



Botanic name, Dioncsa Muscipula. 

 English name, Venus' Flij Trap. 

 French name, Atlrape Moucht. 



This strange American flower is one of the 

 greatest wonders of tbe vegetable world. — There 

 are many plants showing evitablc signs of irrita- 

 bility and spontaneous motions, but few that de- 

 coy and ensnare insects so completely by acts emu- 

 lating volition. 



This wonderful plant is quite peculiar to Ameri- 

 ca, and even confined to a very small range. It 

 has only been found wild in the swamps of North 

 Carolina, and seldom if ever out of that state. It 

 is much admired and prized in ail gardens, being 

 rare, difHcult, to procure, cultivate and propagate. 

 It must be kept in pots, always moist and surround- 

 ed by moss. 



The leaves are radical, wedge shaped, andeacli 

 has at the end a biloped appendage, surrounded 

 by bristles. It is in those lobes that the power of 

 moving resides. They can expand ami shut or fold 

 themselves. A kind of clammy exudation at- 

 tracts small flies and winged insects, who come to 

 sip it ; but no sooner have they tickled the lobes by 

 their feet, than tbe lobes shut and entangle the 

 flies by their bristles, holding them fast, and never 

 unfolding again until they are dead, and cease to 

 irritate the leaves by their struggles to escape. 



The flowers are white, forming a cluster of 

 Corymbus, upon a leafless stem: they have five 

 jietals and ten stamina ; therefore belong to Decan- 

 dria, or tbe 10th class of Linnsus. In a natural 

 arangement this plant is the type of the family of* 



DiO.MDIA. 



It has recieved the generic name of Dionia, which 

 was one of the ancient names of Venus, and the 

 specific name of MusciPHLA, means fly catcher. 

 Only one species is known, and no varieties are 

 afforded. It is therefore an unique wonder. 



It may be considered as a true emblem of cau- 

 tion, teaching us to beware of deceitful attractions 

 and the concealed snares of the world. — Ohio 

 JVat. Rep. 



Opening of the Manchester and Liverpool Rail 

 Road. — Accoriling to our report, tbe speed of the 

 car was, while be observed tbe time, at tbe rate 

 of 18 or 19 miles an hour; but he was assured by 

 Mr Stephenscm that, when the interruption took 

 place, the rate was 24 miles an hour, and at one 

 time even 38! 



This is unquestionably one of the greatest tri- 

 umphsofMschanicalScience. It isthecommence- 

 ment of a new era in loco-motive. We may ex- 

 pect tlie construction of rail-ways on all the roads 

 where the dense population would render the spec- 

 ulation profitable. Already the shares of this com- 

 pany are at a premium, which is the best proof of the 

 general opinion as to the speculation. 



Distant cities are now brought near to each 

 other. The ranting call of tbe Poet to annihilate 

 space and time, may almost be said to be realised. 

 Before i citizen of London could proceed in one of 

 those limbering coaches which yet disgrace the 

 streets <f the metropolis, tbe stronghold of so many 

 monopdies, to the west end of tbe town, a Liver- 

 pool mircbant will have finished his journey to 

 Mancbster. 



The lower of man ever tbe material world 

 has beei augmented within a few years in so ex- 

 traordiiary a manner, invention having succeeded 

 rapidlyto invention, that there has been generated 

 adispoition to believe that the elements may be 

 made mailable to man to a degree far beyond ny- 

 thing f which we have experienced. Had rail- 

 roads long which carriages might proceed at the 

 rate 0136 miles an hour been hinted at to Swift, 

 he wold certainly have deemed the speculation 

 adaptd to Laputa. — Lon. Morn. Chron. 



Encmous Bones. — The skeleton of an animal, of 

 proditous size, was discovered about four weeks 

 since,ittlie Big Bone Lick in Kentucky. We 

 have le following p uticulars from a friend, who 

 receivd them from a gentleman who resides near 

 tbe L k : — 



Th:e are ten or twelve sets of tusks, from 4 to 

 12 fee long ; the claws are 4 feet long 3 broad; 

 the tii<s were arranged in a circular order, as if by 

 the hndsofman; within the circle the bones 

 were leposited, which, when placed together, 



