6-2 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



sufficient to buy a dozen good saws. Mechanics 

 should make estimates occasionally. They will pre- 

 sent results in a long run that are highly important, 

 though they may seem trifling for a single day. 



Mil. Editor : We hear a great deal about the ill 

 effects produced by the use of lead pipe for conduits, 

 pumps, &c. It is said to be operated upon by some 

 water, in such manner as to produce more or less of 

 a deadly poison, which enters into the water con- 

 sumed, and which, in time, must produce, upon the 

 systems of those who use it, disastrous consequences. 



Now, if decomposed lead is injurious, I would ask, 

 IIow much less injurious is decomposed copper or 

 brass? For my own part, I should hardly know 

 " which of the two to choose," copperas, verdigris, or 

 lead. I am induced to make these remarks from ob- 

 serving that the connections (and their number will be 

 immense) between the service pipes and the main 

 pipes of our water works are of a composition of 

 brass, copper, Sec, soldered into the iron with lead. 

 Now here we have " all the good things together," 

 copper, lead, and brass. Let any one step into State 

 Street, and see for himself — let him take one of the 

 connections, or one of the stop-cocks up, and see the 

 qxiantity of verdigris already formed upon it, before 

 being submitted to the decomposmg process, which 

 will of necessity take place beneath the dampness of 

 our streets ; and let him say, if we are to be supplied 

 through such materials, Avhether " Cochituate water " 

 is to be a healthy beverage. Why was it necessary 

 to use brass or composition ? Why not use ii-on ? 

 Iron connection, stop-cocks, &c., could have been 

 obtained, and if they were acted upon by the water, 

 wo should have had our doses of metal all of one 

 kind, to say the least of it, — and that, I believe, ad- 

 mitted to be of a strengthening character. 



Perhaps some one more learned in these matters 

 can enlighten me, and prove beyond controversy that 

 these metallic mixtures will operate as an invigorat- 

 ing draught, to the corporations of our good citizens ; 

 bvit till such light is emitted, there will be many 

 misgivings in the mmd of SYPHAX. 



— Selected. 



Cement for Floors. — It is often desirable to 

 have a cement floor, rat-proof. The following recipe 

 was procured, by J. S. Skinner, from Colonel Totten, 

 of the U. S. Engineer Department. 



The mortar is to be made of one part of sand to 

 one half part of hydraulic cement, measured in rather 

 stiff paste. Then one part mortar, thoroughly mixed, 

 is to be used with two and a half parts broken stone 

 or bricks, the largest pieces not exceeding four 

 ounces in weight, or of gravel of similar sizes, or of 

 oyster shells, or either or all of these mixed together. 

 These coarse materials must be free from sand or 

 dirt. The concrete thus made must be put down in 

 a laj'cr of not more than six inches, which will be 

 about the proper thickness for the floor ; rammed 

 very hard, and until the coarse particles are driven 

 out of sight, care being taken to bring the top of the 

 mass into the true place of the floor by the first pro- 

 cess ; no subsequent addition of plaster being admis- 

 sible. By the help of a straight edge drawn over 

 guide pieces, the top surface may be made smooth 

 and even by the first operation. 



The concrete should contain no more water than is 

 necessary to give the requisite plasticity to the mass. 

 The floor should be covered, as soon as finished, with 

 straw or hay, Avhich should be kept wet for several 

 days, the longer the better. 



llepentance without amendment is like pumping 

 without stopping the leak. 



SINGULAR TREE IN NEW ZEALAND. 



One of the most extraordinary trees of the forest 

 is the rata, which, origmating in a parasite, grows to 

 such a size as to rank amongst the giants of the for- 

 est. It first makes its appearance in the form of a 

 tender vine, clasping the trunk of some huge tree 

 with its long tendrils, and growing both upwards 

 and downwards, and increasing in bulk at the same 

 time. After a while the parasite, having killed the 

 parent trunk, establishes itself upon its roots, sends 

 forth numerous branches aloft, which again send 

 forth aerial roots clasping the neighboring trees ; and 

 ultimately, the rata occupies a larger space than any 

 tree of the forest. It is under this tree that the 

 curiosity so well known as the vegetating caterpillar 

 is found ; and instances have occurred of natives 

 lying down to sleep under the rata having been 

 found dead. The tree is now always carefully 

 avoided by them. — Himmonds' s Colonial Magazine. 



CURE FOR HEAVES IN HORSES. 



A farmer tells us that he has recently cured two 

 of his horses, which had the heaves badly, by the 

 use of the following remedy : To three quarts of 

 sweet millc add a teaspoonful of sulphuric acid, (oil of 

 vitriol,) and mix with the horses' feed. Give at first 

 three times a week, and afterwards once or twice, as 

 there may seem occasion for a few weeks longer. 

 Our informant says there was little appearance of 

 the heaves after the first week. — Christian Alliance. 



BONE DUST. 



An experiment, tried by Mr. Mortimer, of Silver- 

 ton, furnishes a remarkable proof of the efficacy of 

 this manure. At a recent meeting of the Netherexe 

 Farmers' Club, Mr. AV. Strong, of Powhay Mills, 

 offered to give some bone dust to any agriculturist, 

 to be tried against guano. Mr. Mortimer took the 

 offer, and manured a piece of land, one part with 

 bone, another with Peruvian guano, and a third 

 portion with farm-yard dung, leaving a small strip 

 without any dressing. The whole was planted with 

 turnips, and we are assured by an agriculturist who 

 has seen them, that while on the boned ground 

 there are turnips larger than his hat, the part left 

 unmanured has not one so large as his finger. The 

 guano crop is finer than the dung turnips, but by no 

 means equal for the size, though the superior, in 

 thickness and rapidity of growth, to that grown 

 where bone manure was used. — Monk Lane {Etig.) 

 Express. 



SOMETHING FOR ALL. 



So various are the appetites of animals, that there 

 is scarcely any plant which is not chosen by some 

 and left untouched by others. The horse gives up 

 the ipater hemlock to the goat : the cow gives up the 

 long-leaved water hemlock to l\\c sheep ; the goat gives 

 up the monkshood to the horse, etc. ; for that which 

 certain animals grow fat iqjon, others abhor as poison. 

 Hence no plant is absolutely poisonous, but only 

 respectively. Thus the spurge, that is noxious to man, 

 is wholesome nourishment to the caterpillar. That 

 animals may not destroy themselves for want of 

 knowing this law, each of them is guarded by such a 

 delicacy of taste and smell, that they can easily distin- 

 guish Avhat is pernicious from what is wholesome ; 

 and when it happens that different animals live on 

 the same plants, still one kind always leaves some- 

 thing for the other, as the mouths of all are not 

 equally adapted to lay hold of the grass — by which 

 means there is sufficient food for all. — Siillingjleet. 



