1853. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



83 



It is conceded by all intelligent observers, that 

 a vi(jlent cliill conmiunicated to the body, is very 

 soon and sensilily fult in the lungs, and that pleu- 

 risies and inllamiuations of the lungs themselves, 

 are the frequent consequences of such exposure. 

 Now, it is known tliat heat or calorie has a ten- 

 dency tu equalize itself in all the various bodies in 

 the univeri-ie : ice itself, only melting, by the inev- 

 itable necessity of imbibing heat, when exposed to 

 it, according to this unchangeable law, it can 

 only exist as ice durinn tlie summer montlis, by 

 interposing between the atmosphere and it, sub- 

 stances possessing a known power of lepelUng heat. 

 Thus it is preserved in ice-houses. "When the 

 earth is colder tlian the body, this law instantly 

 begins to operate upon the feet standiug upon it; 

 and as the body is a producer of heat its safety is 

 secured precisely in proportion to the vigor of 

 health it possesses, or in otiier words, the rapidi- 

 ty with which its blood circulates through the 

 lungs. It therefore follows that the feebler the 

 circulation, the more unable the body is to part 

 with its heat. If you clothe the body warmly, 

 and thus prevent its warmth from transmission to 

 the atmospliere, and interpose a cork sole be- 

 tween the sole of tliC foot and the earth, this 

 transmission of heat is stopped, because cork, wool, 

 silk and cotton are non-conductors of heat. 



In a woman of ordinary size, there can be no 

 reasonable doubt from the computation of phys- 

 iologists, that half of her blood passes under the 

 feet in two minutes at the least ! so that it will be 

 seen the conducting power of the damp earth must 

 continually deprive the blood of its warmth. The 

 effect of cold upon the nerves is yet more rapid 

 than this. It is known to most persons, that in- 

 stantaneous sneezing is often produced by standing 

 on the cold hearth-stone or oil-cloth ; and the 

 speedy action of damp or cold feet on the bowels, 

 is often painfully evident to many invalids. As- 

 suming the body to be a producer of electricity 

 (and it seems impossible to conclude otherwise,) 

 that fluid is known to be subject to the same law 

 as heat, i. e., to seek a constant equilibrium with 

 surrounding objects. There can be no better con- 

 ductor than the damp earth ; all positively or 

 negatively electrified bodies, not isolated or cut off 

 by a non-conductor, seek an instant equilibrium. 



Tliis is well known to philosophers, and ought 

 also to be equally so to every intelligent and 

 rational being ; therefore, it must be, that if 

 heat and electricity be not the same thing, still 

 the same danger must be incurred by too light 

 clothing and shoes. Dr. James Murray has as- 

 serted, and he thinks proved, that cholera is ren- 

 dered impossil>le, 1>y is(ihiting the feet by cork 

 soles, and feeding and clothing the body, so as to 

 keep up a high degree of electricity. AH experi- 

 ence has proved that tliose persons most afihcted 

 during both the epidemics which occurred in this 

 city, were those who endured the greatest expo- 

 sure to dampness, and ate the most watery and 

 ill-cooked food ; and what is more conclusive, that 

 they were mostly attacked towards morning, when 

 the atmospheric temperature was lowest. 



Cork si/les, of proper thickness, are an absolute 

 non-conductor ; and when the leather of the shoe 

 is of good quality, they will prove sufBcient for all 

 the purposes of health till the month of December. 

 By tliat time tlie pedestrian should accustom her- 

 self to a well-made boot with buckskin leggings, 



made in all respects like those worn by males. 

 Without such protection, she is never safe from 

 the vicissitudes of an American climate, nor from 

 the liahility to disease which will soon destroy her 

 gracefulness and beauty. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 SOWING GRASS SEED. 



Friend Brown: — Last summer I inquired, 

 through the N. E. Farmer, what should be done 

 witli land on which grass seed failed to come up 

 in the spring. Inmiediately afterwards, I received 

 a letter from Francis Brewer, of Springfield, Mass., 

 kindly answering the question l)y giving the re- 

 sults of his own experience in the case. 



And here I will acknowledge my obligation to 

 him for his early reply, enabling me to try the ex- 

 periment this year, so that I can now give the re- 

 sult for the consideration of others. But first I 

 will transcribe a portion of his letter, believing it 

 belongs to the public as well as myself, and there- 

 fore that he will excuse me for the lil^erty I take. 



Says he, "The month of August istlecidedly the 

 most favorable time in the year for stocking land 

 to grass seed, — first, you are more sure of a per- 

 fect catch of the seed, than when sown with spring 

 grain, and your crop of grass will be free from the 

 stubble which remains, and is unavoidably gath- 

 ered in tlie first crop of hay succeeding the first 

 process. It also furnishes an opportunity of ap- 

 plying those manures, or stinndants, for a suc- 

 cession of the hay crop, which it would be injudi- 

 cious to apply to the grain crop ; and again be- 

 cause you are secured against any loss of expen 

 ses by the crop of turnips, and these I consider im- 

 portant reasons ; and I venture to recommend to 

 you, that you plow your land as soon as practica- 

 ble, have on your compost heap from 100 to 150 

 bushels of leached ashes, or 100 pounds sifted gua- 

 no per acre, and have it spread evenly, and well 

 harrowed in ; mix 1 lb. of turnip seed with a suf- 

 ficient portion of grass seed to go over the piece 

 one way, sow the remainder of the grass seed in 

 the opposite direction, then with a light roller or 

 with a brush cover the seed, and I will warrant 

 you success." 



The above was received the 10th of 8th month 

 (Aug. ,) and pursuant to the recommendations con- 

 tained therein, I had 1 J acres plowed the 11th, on 

 which we applied five and one-half cords of barn- 

 yard manure that had lain in a heap all summer, 

 harrowed it in thoroughly, and the loth, I sowed 

 half a bushel of herdsgrass seed, half a bushel of 

 redtop, 8 lbs. of clover, and. Li lbs. of turnip seed 

 and rolled it in. A crop of barley had been taken 

 from the ground, and the seed that shelled in har- 

 vesting, came up and produced a good swarth. 



All the seed came well, and I found the turnips 

 much too thick. Early in the 10th month we 

 commenced thinning them, and pulled more than 

 one-half of the plants, Avhich gave a large quanti- 

 ty of valuable fodder for our cows. I think the 

 fodder was wo4h more than the cost of thinning, 

 so I have made no account of either. The weath- 

 er being favorable, I thought it best to leave the 

 turnips in the ground as late as it would answer, 

 so we did not commence liarvesting on this piece 

 until the 20th of 11th montli. We took off 142 

 bushels, or 125 bushels to an acre. The turnips 

 were not large, from want of sufficient time to 



