Vol. v.— No. 10. 



NEW ENGLANO I Alti\n<:U. 



Al'ilICA. 



Tlie line iniportaut iliscoveries in the oentrtil 

 art-- of AiVii n.'liy tUe Eiiglisli travellers, Deiilmm, 

 .i]i;ii'rloii, &. will form ;im epoch in the annuls 

 if If I'figraphy, and perhaps in the lii.slory of tlie 

 m race. Much, howcvp.r, as these cnteri)ris- 

 nen have e.Ktendcd our knowledge of tt.e 

 ountries ;ind manners of .Afrir.i, they have lr!l 

 ndecided the frreat point which has so long ei- 

 rciscd the ingenuity of philosophers — the course 

 nil termination of die river Niger are yet involv- 

 [1 i:i mvsterv. A river called Veou, which corncs 

 oiii the west, and empties into Lake Tsad, was 

 pposed when first discovered hy M; jor Uenh'-iii, 

 00 the Isiirer, but it w.is .iscertaine>! by further 

 jsearchcs tiiat the river comniotily called Niger 

 irn.; short at Tombuctoo. and rons to the so'ith 

 ist as far as NyfFce ; beyond that place every 

 iing is um.ertain. Some suppose that ii turns to 

 le south and empties into trie Atl-intic ocean 

 irouj'.i tlio < 'ongo. Mi:jor Denham appears in- 

 ined to believe that a large river called the 

 harv, which enters Lake Tsad from the sou„',i, 

 the same river as the Kowara or Niger, whici! 

 ms near Tombuctoo. It is not yet known wheth- 



• J., ke Fsad has an outlet to the east, or whel'ii- 



• tiie waters are carried oli" by evaporation. — 

 iajor Denham says the people of Africa enter- 

 in a notion that if the Europeans could find out 

 le true course of the Niger, (or Knowara.) tliey 

 ould immerliately conquer central Africa. There- 

 •re tiie information given by the natives respect- 

 g tlie course of this river is contradictory, and 

 iwoithy of confidence. 



Though the numerous tribes, visited by the Eng- 

 iih travellers, have not attained to a very emi- 

 ?nt degree of civilization, yet we are astonished I 

 find in the centre of Africa, a great number of 

 opulous cities, well cultivated countries, an active 1 

 tade, many kinds of industry, and people who are 

 t> Btrangers to the feelings of humanity. The I 

 mo-lish weie everywhere treated with kindness] 

 ,• the princes and by t'leir subjects. The habits 

 "the people are sociable and humane, and the 

 omen among them enjoy a liberty unknown in 

 her Mahometan countries. Slavery is the prin- 

 oal obstacle to order, security, and the progress 

 'civilization. The continual incursions of these I 

 joplc against each other for Iho purpose of pro- 

 arino' slaves, are attended with murder, dcvasta- 

 lon, and the conOagration of cities and villages ; 

 ind are a perpetual cause of trouble and war. The 

 ritish power inspires fear and respect in the in- 

 rior of Africa: the Mahometans of these regions 

 el grateful to the English for having expelled the 

 reiich from Egypt. 



Clapperton was informed at Sackatoo there was 

 christian people in the adjoining province of 

 ouber, who were descendants of the Copts of 

 gypt. He was told that they spoke their own 

 n'^uage and had their own books. It is hoped 

 hat he will be able to procure more certain infor- 

 lation respecting them in his present expedition 

 rom Benin to Sackatoo. [Hamp. Gaz.] 



BOSTON FAIR. 



The Boston Fair is highly spoken of in all qiiar- 

 ers. 



The New York .Yational Advocate, in giving an 

 ccount of our late Pair, says, " it may be looked 

 ipon as a new era in the history of our industry 

 .nd resources ;" and that the best Canal which 

 Joston can beast of, is the spacious Hall of Ikt 



J\i\w Market House" — This, it adds, is a summit ( 

 level as well as a reservoir of their internal indus- 

 try from which tl. nr productions will tlow to e-.ery 

 other etate of the Union, and even along the gulf 

 stream to the southern hemisphere. — Ventincl. 



FEEDING SWINE WITH ACORNS. 

 A friend of ours, has brought us a small bush of 

 what is ColleM shruh oak, bearing as we shouhl 

 judge, more than one quart of acorns ; and states, 

 that he has fed and improved 2U swine upon these 

 nut.; for weeks, without the use of any other nutri- 

 niciit, except the common oiTals of a family. His 

 mothuJ is, to take a h;iy-cart into his lot, and ci(t 

 ti;e most fruitful stocks or branches in the vicinity 

 and soon gathers a load. He then leals them to 

 his hogs in sufficient (niantities ; and soon as tliey ' 

 have gathered the fruit, the brush is removed. — 

 The hoi,s feed upon them with avidity, and appear 

 to thrive. As it is impracticable to have hogs roam 

 at large over pastures and woodland, and thus 

 helping themselves to the "■fat of the laiid," would 

 it not be good policy for our fanners, who have 

 great quantities of these articles on their farms, to 

 try the experiment. If it can be proved tliat acorns 

 are good food for swine, and can be gathered at a 

 trifling expense, it is worthy of attention; thereby 

 converting an otherwise useless shrub to profit. 

 [Concord paper.] 



GRAPES. 

 JMr Adlum, who has a vineyard at Washington 

 City, and who has published a very useful book on 

 the cultivation of grapes and making of wine, lias 

 found it necessary to advertise in the newspapers 

 a caution to his visitors not to permit their servants 

 to intrude on his grounds. .\t the same time he 

 informs them that grapes will be given them to 

 eat, and sold to them at 12 cents per pound to car- 

 ry away. He sells his wine at six dollars per doz- 

 en bottles. [Brooklyn Star.] 



SPINNING FLAX. 

 Two mechanics of Lowville,N. Y. have invented 

 a machine for spinning fla.x, which is expected to 

 be of great value. For such an invention. Napole- 

 on offered a great prize. Hitherto, all Attempts to 

 spin flax with a facility at all compared with that 

 with which cotton is spun, have been ineffectual. 

 If this machine succeeds, the price of linen will be 

 greatly reduced, and become an article of export 

 from the United States. 



TIIE SEASON. 

 This has been an extraordinary season. The 

 drought and the Grasshoppers brought vegetation 

 almost to a stand in July. Currant bushes, and 

 other shrubbery were stripped of their foliage, and 

 even of the bark. — Potatoes and beans had come 

 to a full stand. Since the rains have descended, 

 and the ravages of the grasshoppers ceased, every 

 thing has taken a new start. The vines of white 

 beans present two crops, the last now almost ripe. 

 Potatoes planted in May were in blossom last week, 

 and the Lilacs have blossomed as in the spring. — 

 Rose bushes present a June appearance, budding 

 to blossom in September ! [Keene Sent] 



Books. — It is a current fact that the empire of 

 China was full of books before there was one man 

 in Europe who could read or write. 



A paper mill has been established in Upper Can- 

 ada. 



From the .Miilicat and Agricultural Register. 



OBSERVATIONS AND E.XPERIMENTS ON 

 GYPSUM, OR PLASTER OF PARIS, AS A 

 MANURE. 



It has been asserted in print, " that it is well 

 known that gypsum does not answer near the sea ;" 

 and this has been tlie prevailing sentiment, to the 

 great discouragement of experiments. One object 

 I have in view is, to endeavour to remove tliis too 

 general idea ; for as no limits have been mention- 

 ed, to define how near or far oft" from the sea the 

 t'urmer must live, before he can promise himself 

 any success in the use of the plaster stone, it has 

 operated as a general discouragement to farmers 

 in this, and I believe in neighbouring States. I 

 therefore mention, for the encouragement of far- 

 mers in general, that by information I have re- 

 ceived, and which may be relied on, the gypeum, 

 the most ancient name, and which I shall use, (as 

 to make it the plaster of Paris it mast bo first 

 burned ; and beside, as ours used in America is 

 chiefly the product of this country, ills still less 

 proper to call it plaster of Paris ;) that tliis manure 

 has been used in the form of flour (the stone being 

 first ground in any grist-mill) in the State of New 

 York, on land near the sliore of the western sound, 

 !('!'(/i great adi'untage, while otiier lands near by 

 received no benefit. This informatiou satisfied 

 my mind that it was more in the soil than in the 

 sen air, or marine acid, which prevented the use- 

 ful effects of the gypsum, as a manure near the sea; 

 for these equally pervaded the fields on which it 

 proved useful as those where it did not; and the 

 same variety of soil existing far in the country, 

 where some fields are greatly benefited, and others 

 on the same farms near by receive no material 

 advantage from the use of this manure. 



The knowledge of these facts induced me again 

 to make further trial of the gypsum, having some 

 years before tried some imported directly from 

 France, as well as some from Nova Scotia, without 

 any material advantage. That there is a differ- 

 ence in the plaster, as well as the soil, is equally a 

 fact ; for all the chymists who have analyzed the 

 gypsum, as far as I have seen, disagree in the pro- 

 portion of its component parts ; this being, I pre- 

 sume, owing to the different specimens they tried, 

 and shows many varieties of it. But to b'e satisfied 

 of this by my own experience, I tried by pulveri- 

 zing four samples, two of white, one blue, and 

 one red ; the white was hardest to pulverize, the 

 blue next, the red the softest. I put each speci- 

 men into an iron kettle, with a view to try them 

 by tiio common test, by which it is known or rep- 

 resented by writers and others, as the best for 

 manure. The two first appeared considerably like 

 a fluid, but did not boil ; the blue shewed some 

 appearance of air holes, but not in the degree I 

 had heard spoken of and read about ; but the red 

 showed much ebullition, and on stirring seemed to 

 bubble briskly, and continued lively some time. — 



From this I concluded the red was the best for 

 manure, and proposed purchasing chiefly of that 

 for use the next season. But that I might have 

 the best criterion in future, after I had experienced, 

 if I should live, the several kinds of these samples, 

 I took three samples of the same stones of equal 

 weight, say 960 grains, in open air thermometer 

 5-5", both in and out of water. I weighed these 

 hydrostatically, or in water ; the white sample 

 weighed .534 grains, being 42i per cent, less in- 

 than out of water ; the blue and red differed very 



