^^38 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



.!ie resistance of the external parts, wliich form 

 in arch or vault round it, so tliat the whole is left 

 \n a state of constraint ; and v.s soon as the cqiii 

 libriuni is disturbed in any one part,tlic whole ag- 

 gregate id destroyed. Hence it becomes necessa- 

 ry to anneal all glass, by placing it in an oven, 

 whore it is left to cool slowly; for,\^'ithout lliis pre- 

 caution a very slight cause vroiild destroy it. The 

 Qologna jars, somotimES called proofs, ate small 

 thick vessels, made for the purpose of exliibiting 

 this effect ; they are usually destroyed by the 

 joipulse of a small and sharp body, for instance, a 

 single grain of sand, dropped into them, and a 

 small body appears to be more eftectaal than a 

 'arger one ; perhaps because the larger one ia 

 more liable to strike the glass wiih an obtuse part 

 of its surface." 



The hardening of steel is an effect of tlie canne 

 sort. The piece of steel is made red hot, and in 

 that state, is suddenly cooled and contracted by 

 immersion in water ; in consequence of which it 

 remains so brittle and iiard as not to suffer its 

 being filed or hammered. If, instead of water, 

 the piece of red liot steel bo plunged in oil, its 

 contraction is not so sudden, and of course its 

 hardness will not be so great. If it bo plunged 

 tnto quicksilver, which cools it mucli quicker than 

 water, its hardness becomes so groat as to render 

 it capable of cutting or scratching glass like a si- 

 Ucious body. But, on the other hand, if the piece 

 of steel after its having been rendered red-hot be 

 suffered to contract gradually in the air; then its 

 (exture will easily yield to tlie ham.Micr or to the 

 file. 



counts were Jiclilious, or not to be relied on. Now 

 it so happens that Sir George Wheeler travelled 



f 

 May 18. 1837^ 



THE WEEPING WILLOW, (Salix.) 

 , ^ , T'''^ following article on the weeping willoi 



some years in the LtVant, in company with Doct. abstracted from a work by an Eno-lish lady 

 .Sy'oji, a native of Lyons. In 1070 they v;ere at )led .Vi/fiia/i S/lcic/ifi. ° " 



Athens, engaged in making accurate surveys ofi rp. _ „,^ . ... ,.„.,. ] 



the superb sculptures that adorned the Parthenon, J^Z ZT7 I ,'" ^"^0^''"' ^ » 



many of which have since been ' ravaged^ by a late " ' ,"= }^r.^f '""' .'^°' '^'^ tuated in Englani 

 7 I TM ■ J . . ■ J .1 J'<5"- I 1 IS tree. With its bnrr, sender DondJ 



Lord Eliriv, o^riii at a more recent period another (,,.„, „l „., t-i ="-'""i.r, pi-nnu 



II ■,• I 1.1 .1 I 11 . ..1 -n 1 '"^'i"'^"cs, is one of the most e ecant ornamenl 



British nobleman took nearly all that the Turks ii,,^.:^,, „„ ,„ ™, .. ,. *• "^'y'^""-n\ 



I J . J . J J i^oo ,1 'n 1 Liiglish scenery. The situation which it affJ 



had not destroyed. In 1682 these J ravels were „.„ „„ ,l • <• u . "'""^" "• 'lam 



ui- 1 1 ■ p 1 1 ■ 1 1 r 1- 1 M''^"' °° the margins of brooks or rivers. increJ 



published in Eng and in I volume folio, and con- :,^ i,„.,„c, . ir w ■ • r " '"^^''. 



1 ,, . • .-^ J • .• J., . "s beauty like Narcissus, It often seems to I 



lamed the most scientific description ot the natu- i„„„„ .l„ » <• ., - =cc no lu i 



I 1 .■ r .u T . ;. . T I ,1 .over the water for the pui pose of admirnc thi 

 ral productions of the Levant that had then ap- { |jgj,^jpjj . ' ' """""oIbi 



peared in Europe. A few years after, Sir George 



Wheeler published a description of the ancient 



churches in the east. Indeed, it must be known to 



all wlio are familiar with writers on the natural 



history and antiquities of Greece, tiiat the Travels 



of H'htelcr and Span were considered as the high- { 



luthority on those subjects long after their i 



— " Pliad.iwy trees, tliat lean 



So ehgantly o'er the wiiter's brim." 



There is a line weeping willow in a <•■ 

 near the Paddington end of the New Road, 

 most magiiiticeiit one, also, in a garden on ' 

 banks of the Thames, just before RichmJ 



pubiicati-jn. The celebrated Count Chateaubriand, 

 who travelled in Greece as late as 1806, says, 

 " every reader is acquainted with the works of 

 Wlieelcr and Spon, in which the arts and antiqui 



bridge, on the Richmond side of the river, 

 oral of the arms of this tree ore so large, that] 

 of them would in itself form a fine tree, 

 are propped by a number of stout poles ; andJ 



70 THE EOrTOR OF Til}-; NEIV E.NBLAZvD FAUMEK. 



CORINTIIL^N GRAPE. 



Deak Sir — It is gratifying to learn, by a com- 

 fnnnication over the signat'ire of a " Lover of Plum 

 Puddinsr" whicli appear:!d in the last New Eng- 

 land Farmer, page ;J?9, that the Ccrinthian ]'ine 

 may be found so much nearer home than we had 

 reason to expect; and ! trust you will not deny 

 fne the privilege, inherent in a New England man, 

 of guessing the author of that article, who I do 

 not hesitate to itientify as the best horticulturi'jt, 

 and as great a friend to the social virtues as my 

 good fortune ever made me acquainted with. It 

 has been my misfortune, hov.cver, not to have vis- 

 ited his garden since his '^ ptach house" was erect- 

 ed, except in seasons when tiie vines showed no 

 foliage, otherwise i ain sure I should have come 

 Hi contact with his Corinthians. The doubts ex- 

 jjressed in my letter to the Editor of the American 

 Parmer, which you did me the honor to republish, 

 and to which your correspondent refers, that the 

 Corinthian yine was not cultivated in England 30 

 years ago, or in this country at present, had refe- 

 rence to nurserymen in the neighbourhi.od of Lon- 

 don, from whom plants could be obtained. We cer- 

 tainly could not suppose that this well known plant 

 should never have been introduced' into the collec- 

 tions of botanists or such amateur horticulturists as 

 Sir Joseph Ba.\ks. The idea meant to be convey- 

 ed was, that its cultivation was not notorious, and 

 hence the propriety of sending directly to Greece. 



I should not have troubled yon with this explan- 

 ation, but from a desire to accompany it with some 

 remarks if) order to remove erroneous impressions 

 respecting ffTieeler, who, your correspondent says, 

 " travelled, (and in a parenthesis) or wrote travels 

 *9 the Levant," which seems to imply that his ac- 



tios are liandled with a critical skill before nn-j '"''''' appears in a flourishing condition. If 

 known". Wheeler's description of the Corinthian , '''''S be, as it is said, no more than ninety 

 vine was taken from M Beaujour's Memoir, who, J''"''"'''^, "',''- 'he quickness of its growtli is indl^C 

 considering his long residence in Greece, wa may • astonishing. 



suppose was fully able to judge of its correctness. | Martyii relates an interesting anecdote, w 



I think it must be obvious that the appenrance ' '."^ S'^'<=s °" ""^ authority of the St. James's Ck 



of vines growing in a small " Peach house" or a i "''*'' '"'' '^''gu^'i iHOi : — 



coii^jnei/ .^/if/^tre^ iocrfcr in this climate, that were i "The famnus and admired weeping will 

 propagated from plants probably long habituated planted by Pope, which has lately been fellei 

 to a hot house in England, would differ essentially ' "'® ground, came from Spain, enclcsing a prei ^ 

 from those in a vi'ell managed Corinthian vineyard ''"'' '^''>' Suffolk. Mr Pope was in company whei 

 in the Morea. I presume that your correspondent "^'^ covering was taken off; he observed tiiut th' 

 has viewed vineyards in France, that, had he been ! P'*^_ces of stick appeared as if they had some ve, 

 a stranger to their management, he would have j '^'ion ; and added, ' Perhaps they may prodi 

 described the plants as " shrubs rising from 5 to () | something we have not in England.' Under 

 feet." But " all is not gold that glistens." Dr i 'f''^ ''« planted it in his garden, and it produi 

 Reos' in his Cyclopedia, informs us of a native 

 grape of Grtenr, with long trailing branches, pro 



! the willow tree that has given birth to so ' 

 ] others." It is said, th.-it the destruction of tl 

 ducing small black fruit without" seeds, which he j '■''f'' "''""^ caused by the eager curiosity of the ii 



inirers of the poet, who, by their numbers, so dis- 

 turbed the quiet and f.itigued the patience of tb. 

 possessor, with applications to be permitted to se. 

 this precious relic, that to put an end to thi 

 trouble at once and forever, she gave orders tha 



says it is doubtful whether the Zante Currant be 

 precisely the same, — that it was cultivated in the 

 Royal Gardens at Kew and other similar establish- 

 ments." Now we know that the true Corinthian 

 Grape is not without seeds. However I am inclin- 

 ed to believe that our friend the " Lover of Plum • ■' should be felled to the ground 

 Pudding," is in possession of the true Corinthian : "^'he weeping willow, in addition to the pensive 

 vino, and feel as.sured that he will, with his usual ', drooping appearance of its branches, weeps littli 

 patriotism, disseminate cuttings and plants from it drops of water, which stand like fallen tears uji 

 extensively. the leaves. It will grow in any but a dry soil, '' 



Stili I must express the hope, that there may be no "^°^^ delights, and best thrives, in the immed: 

 relaxation of efforts to obtain from Greece as many neighborhood of water. The willow, in poctil 

 plants as po.-isible. There is plenty of room for language, commonly introduces a stream, oi 

 them from Cape Florida to the Delaware, extend ^""'"''°" ''^"°- • 



j 



forsaken lover : — 



pass a s:ulf in which the willows dip 

 Their pendant boughs, stooping- as if to drink. 



ing westward on the same parallels to the Missis- 

 sippi. And although they may not be cultivated 



to advantage in JVeio England, yet as members of Chatterton describes 

 the gieat Amcican family, we shall reap a share _, 



of the harvest by the formation of a ntw staple for ""' ' ^'''"^°«''"? the bubbling brook 



general consumption, that will add an item to our Churchill mentions, among other trees, 

 coasting and internal trade, if our palates are not The" willow, weepin? o'er the fatal wave 



gratified. But local views on such subjects, I trust, { Where many a lovfr''finds a watery grave ; 

 are out of the question. | The rypres?, sacred held when lover" mouri 



With sincere wishes that yourself and the vete- Their true lore snatched away, 



ran editor of the American Farmer, may be regal- In Shakspeare, Chatterton, Fletcher, and mil 

 ed with )-ons< tet/" and plum /jucWina- in the g-oo(/ i other old English writers, frequent allusion 

 old John Bull style, as often at least as your valu- i made to the willow, and to the associations i 

 able journals are published, j ."iuperstitions connected with it in the minds of 



I remain, respectfully yours, English peasantry. 



Brighton, Itj Ma;/. S. W. POMEROY. I 



h 



