&l)c jTarmcr'0 iilcmtljlu iMsitov. 



tury, and the mountains rising in majestic gran- 

 deur to the clouds. In passing out, the valley 

 of San Jose opens to the view in all the loveli- 

 ness of the climate of Italy and beauty of the 

 tropics. 



This valley is ahout sixty miles in length, and 

 ten in width. The Pueblo, which means an in- 

 corporated town, is the principal place of busi- 

 ness for the valley, and is about five miles from 

 Santa Clara, the landing, on the bay, or as it is 

 termed here, " the embracadaro.'' Passing on 

 from here north-east, the traveller in a few hours' 

 ride reaches the Straits, which separate the Su- 

 sisiin bay, formed by the confluence of the Sac- 

 ramento and San Joaquin rivers, from that of 

 San Pablo. Here it seems that the accumulated 

 waters of a thousand years had suddenly rent 

 the opposing mountains asunder, and flowed 

 with tremendous force to the great bosom t)f the 

 deep. On the north side of the bay, from the 

 straits to Sousilito, is one of the finest districts 

 of country in all Upper California. Next to 

 Yerba Buena, Sousilito is the best point on the 

 whole bay for a commercial town. It is seven 

 miles n little east of north from this place, on 

 the opposite side of the bay, and has long been 

 n watering point for vessels. An attempt ha 

 recently been made to lay off and build up a 

 town at the straits, to supersede the two last 

 mentioned places. It will no doubt, however, be 

 an entire failure. San Francisco bay being the 

 safest and most commodious harbor on the en- 

 tire coast of the Pacific, some point on it must 

 be the great mart of the Western world. We 

 believe Yerba Buena is the point, commanding 

 as it does now, all the trade of the surroundin 

 country, and there being already a large amount 

 of capital concentrated h er e, The town of 

 Yerba Buena is called in some of the old maps 

 of the country, San Francisco. It is not known 

 by that name here, however. The town takes 

 its name from an herb to be found all around it, 

 which is said to make good tea : and possessing 

 excellent medicinal qualities, it is called good 

 herb, or Yerba Buena. 



®l)c Visitor. 



CONCOKD, N. H., JANUARY 31, 1849. 



OyWe hope our subscribers will pardon us 

 for the deficiency in our editorial department in 

 this number of the Visitor. The editor is now 

 comfined with a severe attack of spasmodic asth- 

 ma^nd has not touched pen to paper for a num- 

 ber of weeks. We trust his health will be so 

 much improved that he will be enabled to make 

 the next number amply repay for the deficiency 



in this. 



g ii _ 



From the New England Furnier. 

 Science in Agriculture. 



The various sciences that aid agriculture are 

 comparatively new, and their application to this 

 department of industry is still more recent; yet 

 they have already thrown much light on various 

 subjects, and have clearly explained what before 

 seemed as mysteries, enabling the farmer to act 

 understandingly, by using the proper means to 

 accomplish desirable purposes. The following 

 articles illustrate our proposition : — 



Bone Disorder in Cows.— Some years a"o, in 

 the great dairy district of Cheshire, England, 

 the cows failed from a waste, or lading in of the 

 bones; and able chemists were called on to ex- 

 plain the cause. On analysis, they found that 



milk contained a quantity of phosphate of lime, 

 or bone earth, and that the same substance form- 

 ed a large portion of the material of bones. 

 They also discovered that old lands became ex- 

 hausted of phosphate of lime, and that common 

 stable manures did not sufficiently supply the de- 

 ficiency. A cow, fed on an acre of land, for 

 seventy-five years, would carry off, in her milk, 

 one ton of phosphate of lime. 



As this material became exhausted, the land 

 produced plants that contained but a small por- 

 tion only; and that being appropriated mostly to 

 the production of milk, the animal had not a sup- 

 ply to repair the natural waste of her bones ; 

 hence she failed, having what is now called the 

 bone disorder. As a remedy, bone meal and dis- 

 solved hones were given ; and as a preventive, 

 bone manure was applied to the land, and then 

 it produced plants for fodder that abounded in 

 phosphate of lime. With a renovation of the 

 land, the disease disappeared. 



Many farmers have seen their milch cows at- 

 tempting to eat bones, without being aware of 

 the cause; and since the subject has been better 

 understood, bone meal is kept at agricultural 

 stores, as a medicine for cows that feed on old 

 lands and become afflicted with the bone dis 

 order. 



The English have become well skilled in thi: 

 subject, and they import a vast amount of bones 

 from the continent of Europe, even from the bat- 

 tle grounds; and they also import largely fron 

 this country, and from those very cities around 

 which the lands are old, and becoming barren fo 

 want of the very material for manure which is 

 exported to foreign lands; and only a few years 

 since, some of the produce of this manure was 

 imported into this country, to supply a lack occa- 

 sioned for want of intelligence and energy in a 

 ricultural pursuits. But we arc now learning on 

 this, as well as other subjects, and improvements 

 follow. When proper machinery is in operation 

 for grinding bones, or the process of decomposi 

 tion by acids and alkalies, this valuable manure 

 will he used exclusively to enrich our own lands, 

 and aid in filling our own granaries, and keeping 

 our animals in healthy condition without resort 

 to medicine. 



The following analyses show that hones are 

 composed largely of the phosphate of lime, and 

 that the same ingredient is a component part of 

 milk, and though but small, daily, it amounts to 

 a large quantity in the course of a year, as twen- 

 ty gallons of milk contain an ounce of phosphate 

 of lime : 



Composition of Bones. 

 Organic animal matter, (gelatine.) 33i 



55i 

 3 

 3s 

 3d 



Phosphate of lime, 

 Phosphate of magnesia, 

 Carbonate of lime, 

 Soda and common salt, 



Chloride of calcium, 1 



100 

 Some analyses show thirty-eight parts of 

 phosphate of lime, and teu parts of carbonate 

 of lime, in bones. 



Composition of Milk. 



Water, 873 



Butter, 30 



Cascine, 48.20 



Milk sugar, 43.90 



Phosphate of lime, .... 2.31 



" magnesia, ... .42 



" iron, .... .07 



Chloride of potassium, ... 1.44 



" sodium, .... .24 



Soda in combination with caseiue, - - .42 



1000 



The Tea Plant. 



In ten years we shall astonish the world by 

 producing tea in the United States, superior in 

 quality to and cheaper in cost than the tea of 

 China. This is no idle prediction. Already we 

 find it produced in large quantities and of excel* 

 lent flavor in Brazil ; and Mr. Junius Smith is " 

 now planting the shrub in one of the southern 

 States with a view to its extensive cultivation. 



Mr. Spencer Bonsai), of Philadelphia, has been 

 for some years engaged in superintending a very 

 extensive range of tea plantations in Assam, hav- 

 ing some thousands of hands employed in the 

 field and the factory. The success was perfect. - 

 and Assam is now a tea country. This gentle- 

 man has returned to Philadelphia under the cer- ' 

 tain conviction that tea can be grown here with- 

 out doubt or difficulty of any sort. We have 

 been favored with a perusal of bis notes, which 

 record every particular of his valuable experi- 

 ence, and from them we are enabled to preset*' - ., 

 to our readers such a satisfactory summary as 

 will convince them that we need no protection 

 to grow our own tea. Assam is the northeast- 

 ern most part of British India, lying diagonally 

 between 25 and 28 N. Lat. It is watered by the 

 Brahmapootra. 



The tea plant, which, in Clrina, is a shrub,' 

 grows native in Assum to the height of thirty 

 and forty feet. But for plantation use, it is ne- 

 cessary to trim it, so that it shall not grow over . 

 five or six feet, to place the leaves in reach of 

 the gatherer. With Yankees, it might be allow- 

 ed to glow much higher. 



Green and black leas are made from the same' 

 plant, the difference being owing to the manner 

 of curing, though some leaves are allowed in 

 making black tea which would be rejected in 

 green, because of their being a little too old. 



The wood of the tea bush is light colored and 

 close grained, and it smells, when peeled, like 

 the black currant. The flowers are white and 

 fragrant. It is very leafy. The green leaf is bit- 

 ter, pungent and unsavory, and its decoction' 

 would be any thing but palatable. The seed 

 consists of two to five hazel-like nuts, enclosed 

 in a smooth, broad capsule. The kernel is - 

 white, oily and nauseous. 



The tea plant is remarkably hardy, and it flour- 

 ishes on the high slopes of mountains, where 

 frost and snow prevail three months in the year! 

 Its favorite soil in China and also in Assam, is . 

 the puorest yellow sandy loam, with carbonate 

 of iron in analysis. Silex, 76; clay, 10; carbo- ' 



nate of iron, 10; water, &c , 4 — 100. No lime. 



- 



Planting. — Cuttings do well. But usually sev- 

 eral seed are, when gathered, put at once into 

 shallow holes four feet apart, and allowed to 

 grow up bush-fashion. Or it is grown in nurse- 

 ries and transplanted. In four or five weeks the 

 germ appears above ground. It grows about a 

 foot every year. In the third year they begin to 

 gather the leaves ; nipping oft' the end bud so as to 

 restrict its height and breadth. It is desirable to 

 select hill-side ground, where the sun shines 

 about haif the day. A good tree is expected to " 

 yield— 



At 3 years li oz. tea, or 187 pounds per acre. 



At 4 " 2.J " 312 " " 



At 5 " 4 " 500 " 



At six years, when it is in full bearing, six oz. ,-. 

 tea, or 750 pounds per acre. 



Two thousand trees are allowed to the acre. 

 The tree lives to fifty years of age. 



The process of manufacture consists chiefly in 

 oft repeated exposure of the leaves in well heat- 



1 



