168 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



that vast amounts of capital are invested in manu- 

 factories, in steamboats, and in railroads, and the 

 pro])rictor3 and managers of these concerns are ever 

 read}' to confer a generous and substantial reward 

 for any new improvement which will enhance their 

 profits. 



And this prospect of an ample reward stimulates 

 the inventive genius of our countrymen to those 

 ceaseless efforts which wo have often seen resulting 

 in suri.rising success. 



But in relation to agriculture, if we except the 

 invention of some useful implements of husbandry, 

 the case is far otherwise. The man who labors and 

 toils for its improvement, cannot go for his reward 

 to rich capitalists, who have millions invented, and 

 "who arc ready to pay thousands for the invention 

 which shall add but a small percentage to their 

 profits ; bnt instead of this, he will ^jrobably be 

 doomed to find his improvements adopted slowly 

 and with m;uiy doubtful misgivings, and as a reward 

 for his efforts, he will probably be compelled to rest 

 contented with the satisfaction of doing a good 

 action. 



ANTIDOTE TO POISON IVY. 



On the ly4th page of this volume it is stated that a 

 decoction of poison ivy is a preventive and a remedy 

 against its effects. Mr. Zephaniah Breed, of Ware, 

 N. II., informs us that he has tried it with success ; 

 but he recommends a more simple mode of using. 

 lie had occasionally been poisoned by this plant, 

 imtil he practised putting a few of the tender leaves 

 into his month, and chewing them, retaining them 

 as a quid of tobacco, as he supposes, not using that 

 vile weed. In this way he has been almost wholly 

 protected against the effects of the poison, they being 

 very slight indeed when he has been among this 

 vine with this precaution. 



He had a boy with him who was very liable to be 

 poisoned with ivy, and he found that chewing a few 

 leaves was a preventive. Mr. Breed gives his own 

 experience, not knowing what the eflect may be on 

 those who are more subject than himself to injury 

 from this poison vine. 



POWER OF 



THE SOIL TO ABSORB 

 ODORS. 



It is well kno^^'n that onions, if buried in the earth 

 for a few days previous to being cooked, will have 

 lost much of their rank flavor. Wild ducks, which 

 are often too fishj' in flavor to be good, may bo 

 rendered much more palatable by being wrapped in 

 absorbent paper and buried in the ground for a few 

 hours. Dried codfish loses much of its austerity of 

 flavor (if we may coin a term) by similar treatment. 

 During the plague, in Europe, clothing was often 

 buried for a time to disinfect it. This absorbent 

 property of the soil is due to the presence of carbo- 

 naceous matters ; for clean sea-beach sand will pro- 

 duce no such results, while pulverized charcoal will 

 act with much greater energy than common soil. On 

 this principle, animal matters coated with unlcached 

 ashes, and then buried in pulverulent peat or muck, 

 will not only decompose without giving off offen- 

 sive odors, but the muck will also, by absorbing 

 the resulting gases arising from decomposition, be 

 rendered highly valuable as a fertilizer. Dr. Dana 

 says that a dead horse, if cut in pieces and treated 

 as above, will render twenty loads of muck equal 

 in quality to the best stable manure. — Workinr/ 

 Farmer. 



PROSPECTS OF THE NEXT CLIP. 



The Wool-Grower contains a communication, over 

 the signature of 11. li., on this subject. 



In regai-d to the prospect of the " next clip," in 

 Maine, we can tell him it will be a very small one. 



The sheep have dcpartjd from our borders. We 

 know of some neighborhoods Avhere, a few years a^^o, 

 you could find a thousand sheep; now you will not 

 find enough there to supply sufficient wool to make 

 stocking yarn to furnish that same neighborhood. 



We can take you into towns where, a few years 

 ago, the Avoollen fiictories were buzzing night and 

 day, and giving profitable employment to hundreds 

 of industrious hands ; now the Sisindles are rusting 

 in idleness, and the workmen disi^ersed. Even those 

 inills that are in operation, turn slowly, and everv 

 revolution of the wheel mourns dolefully of hard 

 times. 



Such is the prospect of the " next clip " in Elaine. 

 These are facts. We say nothing of the causes. 



The writer above alluded to estimates, from the 

 statistics and other data of 1810, that there will be, 

 in 1850, thirty millions of sheep in the United States, 

 and that the clip of that year will be seventv rail- 

 lions of pounds, and that the clip of this spring 

 (18 19) will be sixfi/six millions of pounds. He thinks 

 not over one fifth of this will be worked up at home, 

 and that there will be, therefore, upwards of Jifty- 

 three millions £)r the manufacturer. 



In remarking upon this statement, the editor thinks 

 that the old stock of wool will be pretty well worked 

 up ; that the imports Avill be about fifteen millions 

 of pounds, or say twenty millions. This, with the 

 clip, deducting what will be worked up at home, 

 will give seventy millions for the manufacturer. He 

 then estimates the number of woollen factories in the 

 United States at fifteen hundred ; and allowing only 

 two " sets " of machinery to each factory, they will 

 require tico hundred and twenty-jive thousand pounds 

 per day. They will thus work up sixty-eirfht mil- 

 lions during the year, thereby leaving a surplus of 

 two millions " iov lee-way and variation," as a sailor 

 would say. 



According to the above calculations, it is probable 

 that the clip will all be wanted at home ; but the price, 

 as every one knows, must depend upon the price of 

 fabrics, and the condition of the money market. 



AVithout trenching on political ground, we pre- 

 sume we may be allowed to say, that it is unfortunate 

 that the price of the fabric is regulated by the agents 

 of the English manufacturer. Instead of having a 

 home valuation to be attached to foreign fabrics 

 which pay an ad valorem duty, — that is, a duty ac- 

 cording to its value, — the value is sworn to by for- 

 eign agents as it is in their country, not in ours ; and 

 abundant experience proves that they consider a 

 custom-house oath a mere farce, and the taking a 

 false one there, the least heinous and most pardon- 

 able of all mortal sins. — Maine Farmer. 



VEGETABLE MARROW. 



Since the partial failure of the potato crop, the 

 English farmers are turning their attention to the 

 cultivation of this species of squash as food for hogs. 

 Those who have tried it state that twenty tons may 

 be raised per acre, and that when cooked it is found 

 to be superior to most other vegetables as food for 

 hogs. Its nutritive properties arc equal to those of 

 the ruta baga turnip. This vegetable is known by 

 various names, such as the Boston Marrow Squash, 

 Midsummer Squash, &c. — Maine Farmer. 



In this region six or eight tons to the aci'e are con- 

 sidered a large crop. — Ei>. of New Eng. Faemer. 



