148 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



COJIMCSICATED FOR THI; StW ESCLAND iABMER. 



^:f,'.V FLOWER GIL. 

 It appears from experiments made formerly in this 

 State, that a bushel of Sun-flower seed, jiclds a gallon 

 of oil, and that an acre of ground planted with the seed 

 three feet apart, will yield between forty and fifty 

 bushels of the seed. This oil is as mild as sweet oil, 

 and is equally agreeable with sallads, and as a medi- 

 cine : It may also be used with advantage in Paints, 

 Varnishes, and Ointments. From its being manufac- 

 tured in our own country, it may always be procured 

 in a fresh state. The oil is pressed from the si ed iu the 

 same manner, that cold drawn linseed oil is obtained 

 from flaxseed, and with as little trouble. Sweet oil 

 sells for six shillings a quart. Should the oil of the Sun- 

 flower sell for only two thirds of that price, the product 

 of an acre of ground, supposing it to yield only (orty 

 buehrls of the seed, will be JC32, — a sum fur beyond the 

 product of an acre of ground, in any sort of grain. The 

 seed is raised with very little trouble, and grows in land 

 of moderate fertility. It may be gathered and shelled, 

 fit for the extraction of the oil, by women and children. 



Various uses of the Helianthus ajinus, or common Sun- 

 Jloioer. TranslttleJ from a Porlug^ucse U'or/c, enti- 

 tled ' Bio^^raphia diis nlhrlis _rnos,^ puhhilied in 179li 

 at Lisbon, by Jos .Mur. Da Corse Jeilluse. 

 l^The sprouts are eat with oil and salt. 



2. iJl-ead is made from its seeds, and also gruel for 

 children. 



3. Some American nations eat the seed. 



4. The seed gives oil for several uses. 



5. It fattens fc.vh. 



6. Its leaves arc- excellent food for cattlo in summer, 

 and increases the quantity of milk in cows ; they are 

 easily gathered, bei.ig of a large size, the inferior are to 

 be first gathered. 



7. They are also good for sheep. 



8. Its stems can be used to support cUiibing plants, 

 instead of poles. 



9. They serve for fuel. An economist of Frankfort 

 f >und them as good as willow wood for this use. He 

 Tiianted two acres and a quarter, and by that he saved 

 ill a winter, thirty dollars, and had oil worth twenty- 

 eight dollas. 



10. Lastly, they furnish excellent ashes. The seeds 

 when roasted have the flavour of coffee, and the infu- 

 sion of them in the manner of tea, is a pleasant bever- 

 age. 



From the New York F.vcning Post. 

 Wc lately saw in the English papers, an ac- 

 count of a m;irvellou9 discovery in the art of 

 tannitig. It is stated in the London Globe that 

 the discoverer sold his secret to a member of 

 parliament for I'),OOOZ. in hand, 5.000/. on the 

 first of January, 5,000/. per annum for four years 

 next succeeding', and afterwards, 1 1,000/. a year 

 for life. The following articles from the Liv- 

 erpool Mercury, however, contains a satisfactory 

 disposal of it. 



LE.VTHER TRADE. 



To the Editors of the Liverpool Mercury : 



Gentlemen, — 1 lately observed a parasfraph 

 in your independent paper, announcing that a 

 discovery had lately been made " to tan leather 

 ia six weeks that usually requires twelve 

 months, at less than half the expense." 



The moment 1 read it, 1 declared it must be 

 a fable ; but, for curiosity's sake, I was resolved 

 to trace it, if possible, to its source. This 1 

 have done, and find it quite as fabulous as 1 

 thought, though I must do the authors, (who are 



respectable, and treated me with every civility,) 

 the justice to acquit them of all wilful misrep- 

 resentations: but 1 have since every reason to 

 believe that the rumours in question alluded to 

 our manufactory at Dorking, wherein, (accord- 

 ing to advertisements) crop hides are tanned in 

 lour months instead of sixteen, without greater 

 expense than oak bark, averaging 8 lb. each a- 

 bove the raw halves or standard. 



Knowing, gentlemen, that you never wilfully 

 give the smallest countenance to idle and falla- 

 cious rumors in your columns, I have felt it my 

 duty to address you upon this matter, being con- 

 vinced that you are always ready to correct 

 misstatements, by giving them equally public 

 contradiction. 



Having observed some remarks published last 

 May, ill the British Traveller, also respecting 

 our manul'actory at Dorking, we take this op- 

 portunity to add a few plain facts, proving the 

 value and utility of our most providential dis- 

 covery to the trade, to the revenue, and to the 

 nation. 



Suppose a tanner turns out 100 cow hides 

 per annum, of 80 lb. each, making them weigh 

 40 lb. each when tanned, according to the rules 

 of the old trade (confirmed by Mr. John UnJer- 

 hill, acting chairman of the committee of the 

 Leather-Trade, at Berraondsey, as advertised in 

 the Times of the 27th ftLiy last) viz. " that 2 lbs. 

 of raw hide are required to make 1 lb. of leath- 

 er." Such common tanners may be enabled by 

 the use and knowledirc of our process (which is 

 both cold and vegetuLde) to tan 3000 similar raw 

 hides in one year, making them weigh, on fair 

 average, Clbs. each above the raw halves, thus 

 creating 24,000 extra weight of leather ! which, 

 at Is 6d. per lb. is 1800/. per annum adilitional 

 profit. 



Computing the Excise Dul}', as lately sub- 

 mitted to the House of Commons, at 055,424/. 

 1.*. 8d. ])or annum, the weight of leather is above 

 til'ty millions of lbs. and one-sixth increase of 

 weight (as described above) nearly nine mil- 

 lions of lbs. at Is. Gd, per lb. is no less than 

 675,000/. per annum, derivable by the trade 

 and the public ; and if the old duty had not been 

 half repealed, the revenue would have benetit- 

 ed 109,16t3/. per annum, or 54,583/. at the pres- 

 ent rate of duty. 



But duly considering the great advantages of 

 weight alone, it would have been impolitic to 

 repeal the old duty, as the tanners might have 

 been placed better than duty free, while the 

 revenue itself would then have really been a- 

 bout 4.57,000/. more than it is now, and thus (up- 

 on moderate calculation) above one inilliou ster- 

 ling may be annually saved. 



1 deem all further remarks superfluous, ex- 

 cept that 1 hope every editor who copied the 

 fabulous paragraph will feel it a duty due to the 

 British Leather Company, and to the public, 

 to follow it, by inserting this letter likewise. 



I am with due respect, sir, your most obedi- 

 ent servant. 



JOHN BURRIDGE, Secretary. 



Fuller's Earth. — A gentleman at Sag Harbor, 

 Long Island, forwarded to us sometime since a 

 box of fuller's earth, from a bed which he 

 owns ; we put it into the hands of two experi- 

 enced fullers who have pronounced it to be of 

 an excellent quality. 



Connecticut Gazette. 



FACTS AND OBSERVATIONS RELATING TO 



AGRICULTURE & DOMESTIC ECONOMY- 



FOR THE KEW ESCLAND lARiMER. 



SALT AND MILDEW. 



A correspondent writes us word, that whert 

 this subject was mentioned before (1819) he 

 tried salt water for the prevention of this dis- 

 ease, which was then prevailing on his crop ; 

 but it had no effect in staying the progress of 

 the disease, and eventually the straw became 

 quite black. As he States that he tried this but 

 on a patch, and took great pains, it seems to 

 I'ollow that such a sprinkling as whole tields 

 could obtain would be entirely useless. We 

 slate these facts, as our duty is to prevent de- 

 lusion, and thoroughly to canvas the merits ot 

 a very imposing claim to public gratitutle. 



Farmers^ Journal. 



DAMP IN WALLS. 



An easy and efficacious way of preventin* 

 the elfects of damp walls upon paper in rooms 

 has lately been used, and (as we understand) 

 with complete success. It consists of lining the 

 wall, or the damp part of it, with sheet lead, 

 purposely rolled very thin ; this is fastened up 

 ivitli small copper nails, which not being sub- 

 ject to rust are very durable, and the whole 

 may lie immediately covered with paper. The- 

 lead is not thicker than that which is used in 

 the chests in which tea is imported, and is made 

 in shcet.s, of which the width is about that of 

 common paper hangings. — ibid. 



POWER OF THE HORSE. 



The couriers of Russia travel from Peters- 

 burgh to Tobolsk, a distance of 19 deg. 20 min, 

 in twelve days. Their rate of travelling is of 

 course about one hundred miles a day. What, 

 in equestrian phrase, is called a great mover, 

 will, without pressing, trot 6 10 yards in eighty 

 seconds. 



DENTIFRICr.. 



Take sage and salt, of each a like quantity, 

 and pound them together ; then bake the mix- 

 ture till it be hard, and make a fine powder 

 thereof, then therewith rub the teeth evenings, 

 and mornings, and it will take away all yellow- 

 ness. — Markham's English HousevinJ'c. 



FEF.DINO cows WITH CABBAGES. 



When cabbages are given to milch cows, the 

 decnyed and musty leaves must be taken otf, or 

 they will impart a bad taste to the milk and 

 butter. 



TO MAKE POMONA WINE. 



The directions published by Mr. Cooper, of 

 New Jersey, for making wine of cider and oth- 

 er ingredients, which may properly be called 

 Pomona Wine., are as follows. — " Take cider of 

 the best running of the cheese, and of the best 

 quality, and add to it as much honey as will 

 make the liquor bear an egg; strain the liquor 

 through a cloth as you pour it into the cask; 

 till the cask full, with the addition of two gal-t 

 Ions of French brandy to a barrel ; set it away 

 in a cool place, with the bung-hole open to fer- 

 ment ; as the fermentation proceeds, it will 

 throw out considerable froth and filth ; keep 

 filling it frequently with more of the same kind 

 of liquor, kept for the purpose, till the fermen- 

 tation has nearly subsided ; tlien put in the bung, 



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