'vol 1.— No. 21. 



AND GARDENER'S JOURNAL. 



163 



same thing will take place. Lime is often 

 placed in the bottom of the leach, and but 

 few can tell why they do it. If the question 

 is asked, the reply is — because it makes the 

 ley cleaner. Lime has a stronger affinity 

 for carbonic acid than potash has, and of 

 course will separate it from it. Common 

 limestone is lime and carbonic acid : when 

 limestone is burned in a kiln, the carbonic 

 acid is separated by heat, and quicklime is 

 formed. Now if this quick or fresh-burnt 

 lime is placed in the bottom of the leach 

 and the ley made to pass through it, it be 

 ■comes purified from the acid, and the only 

 thing necessary then to have it unite with 

 grease, is to have it of sufficient strength. — 

 This may be ascertained by its specific grav- 

 ity — to learn which, put a new-laid egg into 

 it : if the egg floats, the ley is strong enough ; 

 if it sinks, the ley must either be evaporated 

 by boiling, or by again leaching it through 

 ashes. The grease made use of is the refuse 

 fat of animals, and before it is united with 

 the ley, should be freed from all the salt by 

 boiling it in water. The quantity necessary 

 for a barrel of good soap is about sixteen 

 pounds, or half a pound to a gallon. 



Soap, when well made, should be thick 

 and salve-like, capable of being spread thin 

 upon cloth without flaking or rolling oft*. — 

 If to such soap about an equal quantity of 

 soft water is added, the soap becomes hard 

 and liver-like, capable of being taken up in 

 the hand. This many think is desirable, — 

 especially the soap-boilers who make it for 

 sale, as they make double the profit they 

 would on the other quality. 



Some housekeepers practice making their 

 own hard soap. This is done by adding salt 

 to the soap after it is well made, while it is 

 yet boiling. The effect is thus explained. 

 .Salt is soda and muriatic acid. Potash has 

 a stronger affinity for muriatic acid than so- 

 da has, and when they come in contact, as 

 in this case, the potash decomposes the salt 

 and combines with the muriatic acid, form- 

 ing a muriate of potash — leaving the soda 

 pure to form a hard soap with the grease : — 

 the muriate of potash will be found on cool- 

 ing, in solution at the bottom, being of great- 

 er specific gravity than the soap. The salt 

 should be added by'small quantities until the 

 separation takes place, which may be known 

 by the soap becoming curdled ; after which 

 it should be allowed to stand until cold, when 

 it may be cut into bars or cakes, as suits the 

 operator. Many suppose that resin is neces- 

 sary to harden the soap. This is not the 

 case; it is used as a matter of profit — not of 

 necessity. 



The common yellow color of soft soap is 

 owing to the iron contained in it, as the ox- 

 ide of iron is dissolved by potash. Where 

 white soap is desirable, it may be made by 

 substituting pearlash or carbonate of potash, 



and abstracting the carbonic acid by lime 



and by using lard or other white grease, the 

 purest white soap may be made. 



1S31 



$17,269 83 

 ) 5,21 6 40 



Canal Tolls collected at Rochester 

 The Canal Collector at Ibis place bas obli 

 gingly furnished us with the following fads, 

 which we deem of importance to publish. It 

 will be seen (bat the amount of cash received, 

 from the 15th April, to the 15th of May, in- 

 clusive, is upwards of thirteen thousand dollars 

 more than was received duriug the correspon- 

 ding lime, last year, 



1830 



Tolls ree'd from mill to tiie 



30th of April inclusive $9,860 74 



Do. from 1st lo IS May itict 9,496 86 



S19.347 60 $32,486 23 



This is a gratifying result of the first 30 

 days of business- From the 16th to the 21st, 

 five days, there was received $6,479 89,whicl 

 is fully the average of the preceding 30 days 

 Tbere was received last season, gl49.J5CO 55 

 which was an increase of $57,362 38, ovei 

 the receipts of the preceding year, at (bis 

 place. 



Tbere has very litlle or no wheat been sbip 

 ped on the canal Ibis spring. The amount oi 

 Flour, down to the 15th inslant, which has 

 £one E'ist, has been sixty four thousand three 

 hundred and seventy two barrels. Some of 

 (his bas come down the Genesee River, and 

 some from the West, but a small quantity, 

 however, from that quarter, at the date o : 

 our estimate (15th inst.) — as it will be recol- 

 lected that Lake Erie was not navigable nn- 

 til the 8ih ; but little, if any of this amount 

 came from Ohio. 



While upon this subject, which is so inter 

 esting to our village and its tributaries, wc 

 will add some particulars respecting wheat 

 In the county of Monroe, last year, accord 

 ing to actual returns, as stated on respectabh 

 authority, there were sowed and cut 50,201 

 acres of wheat, which averaging 20 bushel- 

 to the acre, makes 1,004,020 bushels. Thi? 

 is a considerable item, and must be valued at 

 not less than about $1,000,000. as we believ. 

 that the wheat whicli has been sold at this mar- 

 ket since the 15th of Auguit last, has b:o't 

 au average price of 100 cents per bushel.— 

 The quantity of land sown with wheat last fall 

 cannot, of course, be accurately ascertained, 

 but we have conversed with intelligent Farm- 

 ers who give it as their opinion, that there is 

 one third moie now growing on the ground, 

 than was cut last year. The coolness of the 

 spring is probablv in its favor. 



The last accounts from Europe, state that 

 Flour was dull. We don't understand this 

 With a short crop in England; ODly a mid- 

 dling crop in the grain growiDg countries of 

 Europe ; and the probability too, of Europe ir, 

 arms, the present summer, what should <o 

 depress the market, is beyond our coropre 

 hension. If we should ascribe this depression 

 to the giant operations of speculators, perhaps 

 we should iuvadc their province, which would 

 be highly presumptuous. A few days must 

 end this suspense, which, to the non-initiated 

 wheat and flour holders must be painful, A 



pa i ( of the wheal bought here was purchased 

 in contract. 



No! withstanding sucn large sums bave been 

 '•cretofore invested in mills on the Genesee 

 •iver at this place and vicinity, still another 

 handsome mill is now building, situate but a 

 few rods below the large mill of E. S. Ueach 

 ■»• Co., calculated for six run of stones, which 

 will be in operation (his summer; near this is 

 a Grist mill erecting calculated for two run. 

 Tliese mills are building, the lasgest by Mr. 

 E D. Smith, and the other by Messrs. Shel- 

 mire Si Bemish, of this place. 



TULIPS. 



The Examining Committee of the Mon- 

 roe Horticultural Society acknowledge the 

 receipt of a beautiful assortment of Tulips, 

 from the garden of Messrs. Howard & Par 

 sons, of Lyons. They are placed in the 

 Arcade, for the inspection of Florists. As 

 they were not labelled, the Committee can- 

 not mention the different ones by name, but 

 can say that they surpass any that have been 

 presented to the Society this season. 



J. L. D. Mathies, 



May 23J, 1831. Chairman of the Committee. 



May 15— FLOBAL CALENDAR. 



Tulips, (Tulipa suaveolens) Sh<dflower, (Jyo 

 nia botrijapium) Crowfoot, ( Geranium macu- 

 latum) ii, flower 

 23 Dogwooil, (Cornusflorida) Lilacs, both white 

 iintt purple, Mountain A*h, (Sorbus Americana) 

 Quince, (Pyrus cidonia) in flower. 



The weather has been unusually wet and cold 



for the week past, consequently the farmers are 



backward in their spring work j many have no' 



yet planted their Inilian Corn. 



tfule. Owing to some oversight, the Floral Calendar 



has been omitted for several weeks. We hope to be 



ii)o,o careful in future- 



ALBANY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETT. 



Third exhibition of the Society, May 1 7, 1 83 i 

 A fine large boquet of flowers, consisting 

 of double flowering cherry, Japan apple, 

 peach and almond, snow-flake jonquils, dou- 

 ble tulips, spina futrix, purple and white li- 

 lacs — from the garden of D. B. Slingerland. 

 2 fine bunches radishes, 12 stalks rhubarb 

 — ■from the garden of S. Van Rensselaer, 

 sen. 



1 fine bunch Sir John Sinclair beet, 1 fine 

 bunch sea kale, 20 inches in length, 12 stalks 

 rhubarb, 2 stalks polianthus of 50 and 63 

 flowers — from the garden of Geo. Wilcox. 



A fine collection of flowers, consisting of 

 double narcissus, almond, cherry and jaco- 

 bia; 2 varieties of single narcissus, four va- 

 rieties of lilac, Silician, Chinese, purple and 

 white; double tulips of different colors; bi 

 zarn and bibloim tulips, of every variety oi 

 color, from the ' mountain of snow to the 

 rose Rebecca' — from the garden of Jesse 

 Buel. 



2 bunches radishes, 12 stalks rhubarb — 

 from the garden of Spencer Stafford. 



1 bunch beets, 1 bunch carrots, both rais- 

 ed in open ground by James Wilson. 



3 splendid seedling heaths, rose colored 

 and white — from the Albany Nursery. 



Stated premiums were awarded to S. Van 

 Rensselaer, sen., George Wilcox, and Jesse 

 Buel. 



Discretionary premium for beta Sir John 

 Sinclair and crambe maritima, to George 

 Wilcox,— Alb. Argus, 



