1848. 



GENESEE FARMER. 



173 



in June, 1806, or the ''dark day," as it was 

 called, of May 19lh, 1780. The frost of June 

 the 6th, 1816, was perhaps no more memorable 

 than the one of September, during the same 

 year — this nearly destroyed corn, and rendered 

 it exceedingly difficult to obtain seed for plant- 

 ing the next year. 



The writer would suggest to tiiose who are in 

 the habit of making and registering observa- 

 tions of the time of tlie earliest flowering of 

 plants, shrubs, forest and fruit trees, that they do 

 this as soon as a flower can be found whose pol- 

 len begins to fall ; because the time when a 

 plant is in full flower is very much a matter of 

 opinion, as to which different persona vary 

 widely in their estimates. Let the most favora- 

 ble places be selected, and the observations be 

 made and recorded of the same trees, and plants 

 of the same localities. Observations thus made 

 and preserved, become of great interest and value 

 to the farmer himself; and, not only so, but to 

 his children, and the generations that come after 

 them. L. Wetherkll. 



Rochester, June, 1848. 



Meteorological Observations. 



The following is a condensed statement of a 

 Meteorological journal kept by M. Eames, Esq., 

 in Rutland Jefferson County, N. Y., whose resi- 

 dence is 1056 feet above tide level — showing the 

 amount of water which fell in each month of the 

 years 1846 and 1847. Also, the lowest and 

 highest point of the Barometer and Thermome- 

 ter in each month of the year 1847 : 



Discovery of a Mineral Paint or Cement. 



Mr. Wm. Blake, of Akron, Ohio, called on 

 us two or three days ago, says the National In- 

 telligencer, and exhibited an article that must, 

 we think, become of great value. It was discov- 

 ered sometime since in the township of Sharon 

 Ohio, and is taken from an excavation in a rock 

 about twenty feet deep, and spreading over some 

 six or eight acres. The substance is black, re- 

 sembling in 'igo, and about the consistency of 

 eold tallow, when taken from the mine, but an 

 exposure for a few days to the atmosphere, turns | 



it to a hard slate or stone. It has been found 

 upon analyzation to contain about one-half cili- 

 cia, one fourth alumina, and one eighth pyrites 

 of iron, with lesser proportions of magnesia, lime, 

 and carbon. Fronj the extraordinary character 

 of the article, it is supposed by geologists who 

 have visited the mine, that there must be some 

 fissure or crevice in the bottom of the ditch, 

 through which the article, in a liquid state, was 

 ejected from below. 



When the substance is taken out, dried, ground 

 to a fine powder, mixed with linseed oil, and ap- 

 plied with a brush to either wood, tin, iron, cloth, 

 paper, or bricks, and then exposed a few months 

 to the atmosphere, it becomes a perfect slate, 

 impervious to the action of the weather, or to fire 

 — the weather serving only to turn it to stone, 

 and render it harder the longer it is exposed, 

 while fire will char the substance to which it is 

 applied before it will give way. 



We were shown specimens upon cloth and 

 wool that were as fine specimens of school slate 

 as we have ever seen, and would show pencil 

 marks equally well. It is also susceptible of the 

 highest polish, as we saw a piece upon wood 

 that was polished, and had the appearance of the 

 finest Egyptian black marble. The article is of 

 much value, we should suppose, for covering 

 roofs, steamboats, dams, fences, buildings, and 

 everything else requiring protection from fire or 

 the weather, or for fire fronts, carriages, or cen- 

 tre or pier tabels, as it is in fact slate in a liquid 

 state when applied, and in a few months acquir- 

 es the solidity of the finest slate. 



We learn from Mr. Blake, who has secured 

 a patent for his discovery, that it is sold at his 

 place at $3 per hundred lbs., which will cover 

 the roof of a house thirty feet square, or nine 

 hundred superficial feet. 



Note. — The Cement above mentioned is being 

 used to a considerable extent in Rochester and 

 its vicinity. We learn that about fifty buildings 

 have been roofed with it, in this city, within a 

 few months past. For the information of those 

 of our readers who reside in this vicinity, we 

 will state that Mr. M. F. Reynolds, at No. 17 

 Buffalo street, Rochester, is the agent of the pro- 

 prietor — and that he sells the cement, at $4 per 

 hundred lbs. — Ed. Gen. Far. 



Scratches and Colic in Horses. — I have 

 never failed to cure the worst cases of colic by 

 drenching the horse with about half a pint of good 

 hop yeast. The yeast may be diluted with an 

 equal quantity of warm water; and a half pound 

 of gunpowder well mixed with about the same 

 weight of hog's lard will cure the scratches. — 

 Wash the part clean with soap-suds, and rub in 

 the mixture several times daily for a few days. 

 I have applied it, as a poultice, by tying on with 

 a strip of cloth. — Southern Planter. 



