

NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



.blished tvery Saturday, by THOMAS W. SHEPARD, Rogers' Building, Congress Street, Boston ; at $'J,5U per ann. in advauc , ,n- 5.-i,0U at llie close ot" tlii year. 



Vol. I. 



BOSTON, SATURDAY, DECEMBER U, 1822. 



No. 20. 



From the iVational ^gis. 



MINERALOGICAL No. IV. 



In the estimate of the wealth of our country, 

 6 Antliracite, or as it is here improperly called 

 e Black Lead, should not be omitted. As a 

 imbuslible it resembles Coal in many circum- 

 inces of its character, and for many uses is 

 •eferable to that mineral. Altho' there is some 

 fficulty in igniting it in the first instance, yet 

 hen the process of combustion is once commen- 

 id it goes on with rapidity. The heat which 

 produced is intense, and its production is unac- 

 )napanicd with smoke. For the smelting of 

 ■es, for the conversion of iron into steel, in the 

 irning of Lime-stone ; in distillation, and in 

 ose mechanical operations where the desider- 

 um is a strong, durable, and continued heat, it 

 ay be employed with singular advantage. It 

 is not here been used as fuel, but there is 

 ) doubt that it would succeed on experiment 

 jually well, as the same substance in its appli- 

 itioQ to this use, when dignilied by the name 



■ Rhode Island Coal. It is the opinion of a 

 stinguished mineralogist that a broad vein of 

 athracite crosses this section of country passing 

 om Rhode Island, thro' Worcester, into New 

 ampshire. It has here been converted into 

 paint, which forms a cheap and durable cover- 

 g for the roofs of buildings. In a reo^ion 

 here the forests are daily receding before the 

 e of cultivation, it will become neccessarv to 

 ovide a substitute for the growth of the" an- 

 snt wood. That this substance may become val- 

 blc for such a use, admits of little doubt. 

 Another individual closely associated with 

 at to which we have alluded, is the Graphite 

 riving its appellation from the facilities it af- 

 rds in the art of writing, but which has been 

 [ually unfortunate as its neighbour in receiving 

 name. It forms the material of those crayons 

 roneously known, by the term. Black Lead 

 jDcils. These misnomers are of little consc- 

 ience in themselves but are adverted to mere 



because correctness is preferable to error. 

 The Sulphate of Iron, the Copperas of Con- 

 erce exists in many of the rocks ofourcomty 

 id is discoverable by analysis to be held ii so- 

 tion in some instances in the waters vhich 

 read themselves over the surface of merdows. 

 Itbo' perhaps, in sutHcient abundance topreju- 

 ce vegetation, yet it would not form ar advan- 

 geous article of manufacture. 

 The Slate which appears upon the sarface in 

 unerous localities is quarried in but few. 

 'hen the villages of the present day shall be 

 lilt into towns, when the .spires of the city 

 lall take the place of the more modest habita- 

 DDSofthe town, when a dense ^lopulation shall 

 ; gathered upon the borders o^ the highways, 

 ese will furnish employment for industry and 

 pply materials for building. 

 lu the catalogue of those substances which are 

 jduable to the Farmer, we have not included 

 OS.? which gratify the eye of the scientific 



■ sei ve only to ornament the shelves of the cab- 

 et. Nor shall we trespass longer upon the 

 itience, which we fear has already been so se- 

 ;rely tried, by making such an enumeration. 



Although there is much here to invite attention, 

 we shall not delay to note the brilliancy of aur- 

 ficts, the changing colors, the variety of form 

 or the curious structure of those which belong 

 to a stricter and more scientific survey. The 

 chrystrils of Quartz, a mineral which pervades 

 every region, here often tempt the unskilful, 

 wiih the promise of counties? treasures of dia- 

 monds, those who take dl that glitters for gold, 

 have often fancied that the lustre of the beau- 

 tiful cubes of Sulphuret of Iron, was the splen- 

 dor of a more valuable metal, and the exercise 

 of a moderate «arnithof imagination has con- 

 verted the little plates of Mica, into spangles of 

 Silrer. 



.Although the promise that was given to shew 

 the advantages of the study of Mineralogy, has 

 been but inadequately performed, yet we trust 

 it uill have been seen that its cultivation is not 

 of doubtful utility to the farmer. His daily toil 

 is reijuired for the daily necessities of a busy lil'e. 

 Ye. there are many intervals of leisure which 

 ma/ be occupied in the acquisition of information, 

 wi'hout prejudice to his more pressing, but not 

 mo'e important business. If the object of his 

 labours is the acquisition of wealth, it were folly 

 to fvcrlook the course which leads most direct- 

 ly ;o it. To travel on, in the same path which 

 our fathers have trod, without understanding 

 whether it is the best, or knowing those roads 

 which may be more easy and direct, discovers 

 but little wisdom. Nothing is so inimical to the 

 progress of improvement as ill-founded preju- 

 dices, hastily embraced but warmly defended. 

 This inveterate attachment to old customs is 

 l:iii/able, so far only as it discourages rash inno- 

 vations. When it closes the ears, to proposi- 

 tions for experiments which are supported by 

 reason and recommended by probability, it is 

 illiberal and unworthy of men who are compe- 

 tent to think as well as act for themselves. — 

 "To him that hath shall be given"'' is a maxim 

 as true in science and agriculture as in morals. 

 The more numerous are the principles which 

 are learned, the more numerous will be the 

 streams which will bring information to the mind, 

 from its increased powers of observation and re- 

 flection. The greater the amount of knowl- 

 edge, the greater will be the means of increas- 

 ing property, by better methods of tillage, and 

 by the superiority of management. //' Marie 

 exists it should not remain in its native beds 

 when it might be employed in spreading fertili- 

 ty around in its vicinity. If the harvests have 

 been blasted, let us seek out the causes of the 

 evil, and take this first essential step towards 

 its removal. If the Wheat and the Rye have 

 not succeeded on our hills, let us ascertain what 

 peculiar properties in our soils have been un- 

 friendly to them. Let the owner of land, ask 

 of himself, what arc the qualities of the plain, or 

 the meadow, what are requisite and proper for 

 the nourishment of the grass or the grain, and 

 what applications are most suitable to restore its 

 riches to the exhausted field? If these questions 

 cannot be answered in a satisfactory manner, let 

 him have recourse to those simple processes 

 which are offered to him, by those who have em- 

 ployed their powers in thesQ investigations. Who 



would be ignorant of the elements of tlie profes- 

 sion in which he is occupied? Who would be 

 liable to continual errors in practice and con- 

 stant disappointment as their unavoidable conse- 

 i quence, when the want of those few principles 

 which have occasioned them, might be so read- 

 ily supplied. Few men are so drstitute of cu- 

 riosity, as to be intimate with objects around 

 them for years, and never to feol an inclina- 

 tion to become acquainted with their names. 

 .\nd why should we be content to stumble over 

 the rocks, that are strewed along our pathway, 

 without even looking ujjon them and cietenniii- 

 ing how far thay may be valuable ? 



The great difficulty ivhich has been encount- 

 ered by tlio<e wiio liavc advanced far in the sci- 

 ence of Mineralogy, is one which need not even 

 be met by him, wLo does not purpose to fathom 

 its depths and penetrate its secrets. The ab- 

 sence of an organic slrncture, of those fixed and 

 certain marks which are the distinctions of oth- 

 er classes in the great family of Nature, have 

 rendered it a matter of great nicety to deter- 

 mine the proper place of many individuals in 

 the system of a strict arrangement. But where 

 it is only required to know the appellations 

 which should be given to a limited number of 

 subjects, whose characters are well delined, 

 which are obtruded upon the notice at every 

 step, this objection is not applicable. He who 

 has once attentively considered the appearance 

 of a mineral, will not fail to recognize it again 

 under any circumstances. The memory is so 

 strongly impressed fvith the features of ihc friend 

 who often comes before us, that we du not hes- 

 itate to annex his name to his face even among 

 st'-angers. Yet it would be no easy task to de- 

 scribe his person, to another, so accurately as 

 to enable him to fix uptin him whom it may be 

 intended to point out. This fact, for such it is, 

 which gives the power of determining our ac- 

 quaintance, is similar to the skill which ascer- 

 tains at sight the specimens of the cabinet. 

 When the lirst advance is made the greatest ob- 

 struction is overcome, and the subsequent pro- 

 gress is pleasant and eas}'. 



Having so long i)lodded on, with sober mat- 

 ter of fact and experiment, we may be justified 

 in wandering for a moment into the regions of 

 speculation. In another number this communi- 

 cation will be concluded with some general ob- 

 servations on its subject. 



From Sinclair's Code of Agriculture. 

 On Promoting the Collection and Diffusion vj 

 Useful Kno~xledge. 

 " It is a saying sanctioned by the authorit}' 

 of Bacon, that " kiiowkilge m power."' Of all the 

 various sorts of power, enumerated by that great 

 philosopher, this seems by far the most import- 

 ant. VVhat gives one man any real superiority 

 over another, but the knowledge he possesses ? 

 What enables some individuals, to produce abun- 

 dant harvests, — to cany on a prosperous com- 

 merce, — to establish successful manufactures, — 

 to excel in mechanism, or any other uset'ul art, 

 but the acquisition, and judicious application ot 

 that knowledge, in which others are delicient ? 



