182 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Dec. 20. I82(;. 



if it runs into n slag, or vitrifies, or becomes ex- 

 cessively hard, it may be used, but if otlicrwise it 

 must be discarded as unfit for tlie purpose. The 

 proper Jiind of earth being thug selected, it must 

 be heated either in tlie interior ofa bricii or otlier 

 kiln, or in a kiln or furnace, formed for the ex- 

 press purpose, and which may be built either of 

 bricks, or formed of earth, with proper vent holes 

 or flues, until it becomes completely vitrified, or 

 reduced to ii state of hard black or glassy slag, 

 which in many cases will be found sufficiently 

 hard to strike fire yvith steel. The harder and 

 moie vitrified the materials become, the better 

 they will answer for my aforesaid improvement. — 

 The vitrification of some kinds of earth will like- 

 wise be occasionally assisted and improved by mix- 

 ing refuse or broken glass, or even sand and wood 

 ashes before it is exposed to the action of fire. I 

 claim likewise the exclusive privilege of appropri- 

 ating other slags, or vitrified materials wliich are 

 not produced for the t'xpress purpose to aforesaid 

 improvement, such as those which come from the j 

 furnaces of smclting-houses, glass-houses, foun- 

 dries, steam engines, or other boilers, and all ma- ' 

 terials reduced to a state of vitrification by intense 

 heat. The whole of the aforesaid materials, 

 whether produced for the particular purpose or ob- 

 tained from any of the before-mentioned sources 

 and whether consisting of vitrified earth, metallic, 

 or other vitrified slag from furnaces, or burnt flint 

 or flint-stone must be bruised, pounded or ground 

 by any of the usual, accustomed and well-known 

 methods, until it is reduced to such a grit as will 

 be convenient and necessary for formation of the 

 particular sort of mortar, stucco, plaster or cement, 

 which may be required for this purpose ; it must 

 be passed through such wire-screens or sieves, as 

 will produce the necessary fineness or quality, and 

 being so separated into different qualities it may 

 be put up into casks or otherwise preserved for 

 nse, and is a most perfect pozzalana. The manner 

 of using the above material or materials is to mix 

 it with well burnt lime, instead of the lime usually 

 employed for the formation of mortar, stucco, pias- 

 ter or cement, water being added as usual, until it 

 IS of the proper consistence to be used ; or the ar- 

 tificial pozzalana, or above materials may be mix- 

 ed with quick lime completely pulverized, and sent 

 in casks or other packages ready to be used with 

 the addition of water only. In this latter case it 

 will be necessary to keep it from moisture or ex- 

 posure to the open air till the time of using it. — 

 The proportion of quick lime that must be added 

 to the above materials will depend entirely upon 

 the goodness or strength of the lime that is used 

 in general. One measure of good lime will be 

 suflrcient for, from three to five measures of the 

 aforesaid materials, but this must be regulated by 

 the work for which it is intended, and will be 

 readily ascertained by a little experience. I here- 

 by further declare that another part of my said in- 

 vention and improvement consists in the nse and 

 appropriation of marble of various colours, and of 

 various coloured bricks, when highly burnt or vit- 

 rified and reduced to fine powder ier the purpose 

 of producing all the varieties of colours and shades 

 required to imitate stone, and liiglily polished 

 wood and marble. And lastly, I claim the exclu- 

 sive right and privilege of using vitrified eartli, 

 and the aforesaid other materials for the purpose 

 of mixing with lime and plaster of Psris, to cast 

 figures, ornaments, and mouldings of every des- 

 cription. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



BOSTON, FRIDAY, DEC. 29, 1836. 



LIVE FENCES. 



Continued from page 174. 



In our last we gave some directions rel.itive to 

 the cultivation of Live Fences copied from an arti- 

 cle on that subject, written by George Tibbits of 

 Rensselaer, N. Y. Wcj continue Mr Tibbits' ob- 

 servations. 



" It is indispensable, that plants put in live 

 fences, whether with or without a ditch, should be 

 kept free from weeds and grass for at least the | 

 three first years, otherwise they become stuntnd, | 

 mildewed, and die, or have a very unequal and | 

 slow growth, and never make tolerable fences. — j 

 They are also to be protected against cattle of all I 

 kinds ; cattle, horses, and sheep, would bite off i 

 and tread them down ; hogs would root them up. | 

 They must, therefore, have a fence on both sides! 

 of some kind, sufficiently strong and tight, howev- 1 

 er, to exclude animals of all kinds until they be- ' 

 come a strong fence of themselves, which may re- 

 quire from six to ten year.s. 



" To save the expense of these two fences, it is 

 well worth the consideration of the person dis- 

 posed to cultivate live fences, whether he will not 

 dispense with turning cattle or hogs into a field 

 which he .intends to enclose with a live fence, 

 around which there may be standing a dead fence 

 which may last until his live fence is grown. If 

 this should be his determination, he will, the year 

 preceding that in which he plants his thorns, cul- 

 tivate a piece of land eight feet broad, or therea- 

 bouts, around on the inside of the old fence, with 

 potatoes, and with manure make it as nearly equal- 

 ly rich in every part as practicable,that the thorns 

 may grow equally fast, and be equally strong. 



" As soon as convenient, in the spring, plough 

 and harrow this land again, then strike a deep 

 fuiTow where it is intended the live fence shall 

 stand, which ought to be in the centre, in order 

 that the grass and weeds may be kept down, with 

 the assistance of the plough and one horse-harrow: 

 clear out this furrow with the spade, and by a line 

 set for that purpose, make one side or edge straight 

 and even ; take up the plants from the nursery, 

 cut oft" the top so as to leave of the plant growing 

 above ground about five inches ; clear the root of 

 its lateral bianciies, cut off the tap root, leaving it 

 eight or nine inches long ; the whole plant, top 

 and root, will be about fourteen inches long ; lay 

 or set the plant in the furrow, leaning on the side 

 which has been made straight and even by the line 

 so that a little more than the root shall be cover- 

 e.l when the dirt is hauled in ; put the plants five 

 inches apart in the row, haul in the dirt with a 

 spade or hoe,and tread it dcwn,taking care that the 

 plants remain in their places at five inches apart in 

 the row, and the tops all standing in a line as 

 straight as possible. And, lioreafter, with the 

 plough, one horse-harrow, and hoe, for the three 

 succeeding years at least, keep the plants free 

 from graiss and weeds, and raising the land some- 

 what towards the plants. 



" The plants may be taken up in the nursery at 

 any leisure time in the fall, after the leaves drop, 

 or early in the spring, before they leave out again, 

 and as they are trimmed they should be laid in the 

 trench, covered with dirt, and trodden down. They 

 Hill remain perfectly safe and green, until taken 

 up to set in hedges ; and it is adviseable, if con- 



venient, that they be placed in trenches along 

 parcel of land prepared for setting the hedge, nj 

 where they are to be set, and from which they 

 be taken as they are wanted to be set. 



Plants, when set in hedges should all of tl 

 be as nearly of the same size as possible, ani 

 there is any difierence, let the larger be set! 

 themselves, and the less by themselves, and 

 alternately a small and a large one, for if so pli 

 ed, the less are stunted or destroyed by the larl 

 and the hedge becomes open or of uneq] 

 strength. If the land is good, the plants may 

 expected to grow the first year from two to th 

 feet. The line should be examined the succeed 

 spring, and where any of the plants are dead, thj 

 place should be supplied with the largest 

 thriftiest plants from the nursery; and in ihreeBtlti 

 four years, the plants will have grown to 

 height of seven to ten feet, provided they are 

 cropped or cut oft". From reading, and advice' 

 persons who I supposed understood this busim 

 much better than I did, I let mine run up to tl 

 height without cropping, and then performed u 

 them an operation called splashing. This is do| 

 by cutting off about every other plant six inci 

 from the ground, trimming off with a bill-book 

 the limbs from the remainder of the plants, mi 

 ing stakes from a part of those cut out, stick: 

 those stakes at about two feet from each othl 

 along the line; cut the plants left standing a lit! 

 on one side, six inches from the ground also, wii 

 them in between the stakes, in a reclining poa 

 tina, and so that the tops may be about four fee 

 from the ground ; then by two withes, made al 

 of the plants which had been cut out and run aloi 

 the tops of the stakes, the whole is secured 

 getlier and held stedfast in their places. 



'• The plants sprouted up a,iain from the botti 

 and those bent among the stakes sent out num^ 

 ous lateral branches, and after two years, the m 

 of them became a sufficient fence against hogs 

 After plnshing, to prevent them from runnin 

 and becouiiiig thin at bottom, the top is to be tri; 

 med every year, which may be done in Augusi 

 with a pair of hedge shears, or in the fall, after th 

 leaves drop, but if left for several years, V. 

 more easily done with a bill-hook. — See New Eng 

 land Farmer, vol. iii. page SS. 



A mode of destroying Aals. — A w-riter by th '' 

 name of RoughIy,some of whose sketches of Wes " 

 India agriculture is republished by Loudon, say '■ 

 " Poisoning by arsenic is the most expedient mod 

 of getting rid of ants, as the living will feed o 

 the dead, so that the whole nest, (by devourini 

 one another,) are thus killed." 



Canal Toils. — The tolls received in 189(; by th( 

 Collectors of the Erie, Ch;miplain, Cayuga, ant 

 i^eneca canals, in New York, amounted to 



.«76.5,002 i!5 



Amount received in 1825, $5il,.343 !I4 



Increase, $24.3,719 01 



Hook Knowledge in Agrieullwe. — Agricultura 

 knowledge, like all other knowledge, is foundei 

 on experience. Experience is the result of cxper 

 iments. If we derive our knowledge solely fron 

 our own experience, it must of course be very lim- 

 ited. If we call to our aid the experience of others 

 our knowledge is tliereby extended. The experi 

 once of others can only be obtained by observation 



