i\EW ENGLAND FARMER. 



125 



11 the stock of the hiisharnimati requires feed- 1 

 »g, and as he would not s^ivc his oxen sulphiirir 

 cid for drink, or arsenic for a baiting, neither 

 lould he treat his field of rye or v.hcnt in the 

 imp manner. Those poisons which are most 

 eleterious, belong to the clitsses of Minerals. 

 .11 the metals which are so nuincroiis and so 

 ■idely disseminated, are highly prejudicial to 

 iiimal life, and that they are injurious to plants. 

 1,1V be inferred from the facts, that, districts in 

 Inch mining is pursued to the greatest advan- 

 r,'e, where the greatest wealth abounds in the 

 . iMim of the earth, are barren and sterile on the 

 J r face. 

 It is an hypothesis now generally received by 

 rilors, that diflcrcnt plants, require different 

 .lunshment. If the growth of the forest is suc- 

 eeded, not by the same tree, but by a species 

 otally difl'ereut iVom the former occupant of the 

 pot, it is believed to be, from a wise provision 



shrub. If the food necessary for the Rye be 

 exhausted by a single crop, it would bo folly to 

 ex[)ect a second to thrive on the same liild. If 

 jiropcrties noxious to the Rye, arc beneficial lo 

 the Indian Corn, then, the commonly practised 

 succession, which placed that grain before the 

 other, is founded on sound reason. It is true, 

 that experiment has not, as yet, rendered these 

 princi|)lcs "•doubly sure;" but this should only 

 be an incentive, urging the curious to investiga- 

 tions so important to the good management ol' 

 rural concerns. 



Men who have not been accustomed to sci- 

 entific |)ursuifs, are usually frightened and dis- 

 courageii, bv their apparent abstruseness and 

 difficulty. To such, abstract studies must be di- 

 vested of some of their rigor, or they will nev- 

 er be i)ur?uaded to follow them. It cannot be 

 expected, nor is it wished that the intelligent, 



practical farmers of the country should waste 

 fNature,' requiring that the plant whose pecu-j I'lC'r li'"e, and perplex their minds, with deep 

 iar food was consumed, should seek a more fa- 1 '"quizes into Mineralogy, or be able to take 

 orable situation. Most persons who are obser- '"-'"k with the ^^erne^s, the Hauys and Cleave- 

 - - ■ ' lands, who have adorned and improved that de- 



partment of knowledge. But it is desirable that 

 hey should be acquainted with so much of it, as 



ant of the phenomena exhibited around them, 

 n i^t have remarked the daily changes taking 

 liace in the growth of our forests. The loftv 



which at one time formed the most mi- 'o l-e able to distinguish the several mineral pro- 



ncrous variety of our timber trees, have almost 

 hsappeared, and instead of them, the oak and 

 he walnut have sprung up and occupy their 

 ilaces in the woods. The explanation of this 

 act is not difficult upon the theory to which we 

 lave alluded. Let us suppose a soil, constituted 

 if resinou-, nitrous, and alkaline earths. If the 

 esinous partcies existing in the soil are the food 

 if the Pine and necessary to its life and vegeta- 

 ion it. is evident that where these particles shall 

 lave been exhausted by the continual draughts 

 nade upon them, for the supply of so many 

 oots and branches, the individual can no longer 

 ;xist.* If young trees of the same species should 

 •ise from the seeds deposited near the parent 

 runk, they must soon perish, from the want of 

 he support essential lo their healthy state. — 

 The so.l according to the supposition still con- 

 ains nitrous and alkaline particles. Assuming, 

 hat the lirst of these, are the proper nourish- 

 ■nent of the Walnut, that tree will flourish upon 

 ;be spot where the Pine once stood, until these 

 :»re exhausted, when it must share the fate of its 

 predecessor. Two of the constituent parts are 



ductions of their lands and be acquainted with 

 their several properties. The practical agri- 

 culturist, is ignorant of many sources of reve- 

 nue which he might possess. His lands may 

 contain treasures, of which he has never dreamt. 

 Mis plough daily turns up substances, which 

 would be valuable, were he only acquainted with 

 their worth. Those tracts which are parched 

 by the summer sun, and which, to his eye, are 

 sterile and barren, may contain hid in their bo- 

 som, mines and metals which would am|)ly re- 

 (lay the toil and expense of exploring them. 



In recommending Mineralogy to attention in 

 its connection with agriculture, it will be proper 

 to state the grounds of the faith that is in us, of 

 its usefulness. This shall be attempted in a 

 subsequent number. A FARMER. 



From tlie Hallowell Advocate. 



In a late Advocate was published a new Rule 



for gnagings casks, given by S.\muel Preston, 



Esq. of .Stockport, Pennsylvania. This rule was 



first published in the A'ew England Farmer, and 



useful to the 



is recommended by its author as 

 aow consumed, on the third the Oak may subsist farmer in ascertaining the quantity of cider he 

 [>nd strike its roots deep and shoot its branches Ljakcj^ nn,] exceeds in accuracy and brevity 

 high. This exemplification is selected as a fa- ^„y pt^or rule before employed. The rule is 

 miliar one. The application is obvious to other "" 

 examples. It shows the close connection that 

 should subsist, between the practical and the sci- 

 entific man. It evinces conclusively the benefi- 

 cial results that will ailcnd the prosecution of 

 Chemical and Mineralogical jiursuits. If the 

 wheat is blasted, or its produce be light and ill- 

 conditioned, the fault is more likely lo be found 

 in some quality of the soil prejudicial to that 

 grain, than in some harmless insect or innocent 



*J^o!e by the Editor of the K. E. Farmer. — Rf vinous 

 particles are formed iu plants during the process of 

 vegetation, being extracted from hydrogen, one of the 

 chemical constituents of water. " All kinds of vege- 

 tables, when assisted by the rays of the sun^ hare the 

 power of decomposing water ; during which decompo- 

 sition the hydrogen is absorbed, and goes to the forma- 

 tion of oil and resin in the vegetable." 



Part;a' Chcvvsal Catechism, p. 54, lO^ft Ed. 



as folloivs : — 



1. Multiply the ineaii diameter of the bung 

 and head diameter by itself. 



2. Multiply the product by the length of the 

 cask. 



3. Multiply that product by 34. 



4. Strike off four decimals, and you will have 

 the true contents in gallons and decimal parts 

 of a gallon. 



The admeasurompnts are to be taken in in- 

 ches and tenths of inches. 



The author of this rule gives no explanation 

 of itf but calls upon the mathematical student to 

 give an explanation or demonstration of it. 



As the reasons of all parts of the rule may 

 not be readily hit upon, and to know the ration- 

 ale on which it is founded may be gratifying to 

 those who may hapjien to make use of the rule, 

 the following explanation is given, adapted to 

 any commoD uuderstandmg. 



As necessary to the cxphui.:!!c:j of the rule, 

 wc premise the following principles — to obtain 

 the cubic or solid contents of a regular body, 

 you must first get the superficial contents of a 

 base of it. For example, to obtain the cubic 

 conlenls of a (lanilleiopipcdon, or, in other 

 words, of a square stick of timber of equal si;'.e 

 from end lo end, you first gel the superficial 

 contents of one end by multipl\ing one fide of 

 the square into itself; then multiply the super- 

 ficies of the end by the length of the slick, anil 

 you will have the cubic contents in the same 

 denomination of measure as you have employed 

 in the previous work. If the stick be of une- 

 qual dimensions, you must take the mean of iho 

 diameters in different parts, and from this mean 

 diameter obtain a mean superficies, and multiply 

 this superficies by the length of the stick for 

 the solid contents. 



To apply these principles to the first step in 

 the above rule. A ca>k, being a cylinder cf 

 unequal diameter, you will fir.st lake the mean 

 of bung and head diameter for the side of a 

 square, equal to said mean diameter. ^ ou then 

 multiply this mean diameter into itself, and this 

 gives vou the superficial contents of a square 

 made by the mean diameter. Then the 2nd 

 step in the rule, viz. multiplying this superficies 

 by the length of the cask, gives you the solid 

 contents of a parallelopipedon (of which the 

 form of a square stick of timber is an example) 

 whose base or end is a square of the mean dia- 

 meter of the cask, and of the same length as 

 the cask. 



The reason of the 3d step in the rule is not 

 so apparent as the preceding steps, and requires 

 a more particular explanation — and as the 3d 

 and 4th stejis are so connected in principle aa 

 to be incapable of explanation separately, we 

 shall consider them together. 



It must be recollected that the process thus 

 fir explained, has given us the solid or cubic 

 contents of a square stick of timber, whose di- 

 ameter is equal to the mean diameter of the 

 cask whose contents are to be ascertained, and 

 whose length is the length of that cask ; and 

 that the object to be obtained by the 3d and 4lh 

 steps is to get the cubic contents or capacity of 

 the cask in gallons and decimal parts thereof. 

 Now it is evident from inspection that a square 

 stick of timber, whose diameter is the mean di- 

 ameter of the cask and whose length is the same 

 must be greater in solid contents than the cy- 

 linder whose diameter and length is the same. 

 Then wc must reduce the contents of the square 

 stick of timber already obtained to those of the 

 cylinder of the same diameter and length — that 

 is, of a cylinder whose diameter is the mean di- 

 ameter of the cask. Now the cubic contents of 

 Ihe cylinder and the square stick have the same 

 proportion to each other as the superficies of 

 their ends. viz. the circle and square, their di- 

 ameters being the same. The superficial con- 

 tents of a circle are to the contents of a square 

 whose side is equal to the diameter of the cir- 

 cle as "7854 decimals to unity. Now then, we 

 want to reduce the contents of the square stick 

 to those of the cylinder. Therefore multiply 

 the product of the 2d step by '78o4 decimals 

 and cut off four decimals in the product, which 

 is the same thing as to multiply by tV„Voi "I's 

 being the vulgar form of that decimal; as in a 

 vulgar fraction, you always in multiplication 

 multiply by the numerator, and divide by the 



