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NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



411 



roduce. The roots were tr;insphinteil, and 

 rew well, and ten bushels of wheat limed as 

 bove, produced a good crop, while the neigh- 

 oring tieids suffered materially, and some were 

 Imost wholly destroyed by the tly. 



A FARMtR OF BUCKS COUNTY. 



METEOROLOGY. 

 Jit;. Ski.nner — As in our very dry seasons, the 

 r;it (lost of your readers are watching the wind^ 

 nd the signs, as they are termed, for rain, 1 

 ave thought the following translation from a 

 reiich work, called " Erreurs et rrejuges,"' 

 night be acceptable to them. 

 " The .^bbe Toaldo has demonstrated that in 

 lOti new moons, 950 have been followed by 

 ■emarkable changes of weather. There are 

 hen 9aO chances to IfiG, or what is the same 

 hiiig, six to one that a now moon will produce 

 1 change of weather. The other phases have 

 ess inlluence. The full moon gives but five 

 ;hances to one. The first and last quarters give 

 )ut two and a half to one." — Jliiier. Farmer. 



v?e are of opinion that the slow and tedious 

 process of evaporation may be greatly accele- 

 rated by this improvement ; and when we con- 

 sider the vast quantities of salt which will here- 

 alter be manufactured in the western counties of 

 tais Stale, and tind a market thro' the medium 

 cf the Erie Canal, there can be no doubt but Mr. 

 Bulklcy's improvement in the manufacture of a 

 staple commodity will be [trotitable to himsell 

 and beneficial to the public. It is said one ol' 

 Ibe proprietors of the extensive salt-works in 

 Onondaga objected to the i)lan, because it ■^could 

 make suit too cheap. This objection would not 

 iveigh much with the greats mass of the commu- 

 uity. — A", r. Statesir.cin. 



The useful properties nf Charcoal, for sweetening 

 the breath, cleaning the teeth, 6,-c. 

 All sorts of glass vessels and other utensils 

 nay be purified from long retained smells of 

 3very kind, in the easiest and mo«t perfect man- 

 icr, by rinsing them out well with charcoal 

 powder, after the grosser impurities have been 

 icoured off with sand and potash, llubbing the 

 eeth, and washing out the mouth, with fine 

 ;harcoal powder, will render the teeth beauti- 

 'ully white, and the breath pertectly sweet, 

 ivhere an offensive breath has been owing to a 

 icorbutic disposition of the gums. Putrid wa- 

 ter is immediately deprived of its oftensive 

 smell by charcoal. 



To sweeten Meat, Fish, iS'C. that is tainted. 

 When meat, fish, &c. from intense heat, or[ 

 long keeping, are likely to pass into a state of 

 corruption, a simple and pure mode of keeping j 

 them sound and healthful is by putting a few \ 

 pieces of charcoal, each the size of an egg, ! 

 into the pot or saucepan, wherein the fish or' 

 flesh are to be boiled. Among others, an experi-1 

 ment of this kind was tried upon a turbot, which ' 

 appeared to be too far gone to be eatable ; the 1 

 cook, as advised, put three or four pieces of 

 charcoal, each the size of an egg, under the 

 strainer, in the fish kettle ; after boiling the 

 proper time, the turbot came to table perfectly 

 sweet and firm. 



To purify Jly-blown .Meat. 

 It has been successfully proved, by many ex- 

 periments, that meat entirely fly-blown, has 

 been sufficiently purified to make good broth, 

 and had not a disagreeable taste, by being pre- 

 viously put into a vessel containing a certain 

 quantity of beer. The liquor will become taint- 

 ed, and have a putrid smell. 



USEFUL LWEXTION. 

 Mr. Ralph Bulkier, of this city, has submitted 

 to our inspection a specification, accompanied 

 with a diagram, of an improvement in the man- 

 ufacture of salt by eTaporation. As he intends 

 to obiain a patent for his invention in England, 

 we are not at liberty to give a description of 

 his plan. From an examination of his papers, 



From Dr. Dwight's Travels. 



On the 2Gth of .September, three days after 

 we passed through Portsmouth, on our journev 

 in 1807, Colonel Walker of this town went out 

 on a shooting excursion at 1 o'clock in the morn- 

 ing. For this purpose he embarked in a small 

 boat with an intention of crossing the Piscata- 

 qna. When he had passed over about half thn 

 breadth of the river, a severe spasm seizing him 

 ill the head, sensibly aft'ecled his sight, but left 

 him in full possession of his understanding. — 

 Appr-ohendiug that his situation was dangerous, 

 he immediately turned his course back towards 

 the Portsmouth shore ; and as the flood tide, 

 then flowing with great strength, forced him 

 up the river, he steered towards a small wharf 

 about three fourths of a mile above the town. 

 As the boat came near the wharf, he laid the 

 end of a paddle, which he held in his hand, up- 

 on a corner of the wharf, in order to lay the 

 boat by its side. But the tide forced him away. 

 He then attempted to reach a rocky point, a 

 few rodj above ; but while he was in the act of 

 m.'fking a stroke with his paddle, by some acci- 

 dent or other he missed the stroke, broke the 

 paddle, and fell into the river where it was 

 about tea feet deep. As soon as he rose above 

 the surface he endeavored to swim ; but being 

 unskilled in the art, and encumbered with his 

 clothes and boots, found himself unable. When 

 he perceived that he must sink again, he turned 

 his face towards the shore, designing when he 

 should reach the bottom, to make his way to 

 the spot where he hoped to land, by creeping. 

 Accordingly as soon as he felt the bottom, he 

 made the most vigorous exertions for this pur- 

 pose ; and, when he rose again, had advanced 

 so far towards the shore as to be able to raise 

 his head aliove the water while his feet touch- 

 ed the bottom. He then walked to the shore, 

 which he reached about an hour before the sun 

 rose. Hence he ascended the bank and walked 

 up the river with the hope cf finding some per- 

 son who might assist him to recover his boat. 



To this time Colonel Walker had retained 

 full possession of his reason ; but, as he suppos- 

 ed, he now fainted and fell, and had afterwards 

 no distinct recollection of his circumstances un- 

 til a little before noon on Monday the 201h. — 

 •Still, he retained a remembrance, which he 

 styles imperfect and visionary, of climbing over 

 stone walls, groping in a cornfield, and endeav- 

 ofing to reach his house before the nevvs of 

 taking up his boat should alarm his family. — 

 The course which he took to find his house he 

 could not remember; and probably did not con- 

 trive nor distinguish. But he evidently spent 

 the whole of Saturday, Sunday, ami a part of' 



Monday, in attempting to find his way thither. 

 The spasmodic atl'ection which he mentions, 

 the anxiety and flutter of spirits which he suf- 

 fered during the while ho was in and under the 

 water, and the excessive fatigue occasioned by 

 his extraordinary exertions to gain the shoie, 

 afl'ccted both his body and his mind in such a 

 manner as to leave him absolutely bewildered 

 Two days he seems to have wandered in the 

 cornfield and its environs; and two nights lo 

 have slept, if he slept at all, within the same 

 narrow limits; and all Ibis on ground which he 

 must iiavc familiarly known. After he had 

 reached the town ton Jlonday morning he made 

 a variety of attempts by wandering through 

 diflerent part of it, as he afterwards remember- 

 ed, to find the way to his own house ; but failed 

 in them all. About 5 o'clock, P. M. he was 

 discovered and conducted home by some bakers 

 in the neighborhood. 



To Ibis account, taken from Colonel Walker 

 himself. Dr. Buckminsfer adds, " Upon coming 

 to the bake house, to which he was probably 

 directed by the light of the oven, Col. Walker 

 asked the men whether they knew where he 

 was, and who he was, atid whether they could 

 conduct him to his house. The bake house was 

 in sight of the house of Col. Walker ; and di- 

 rectly behind the church where he had worship- 

 ped for thirty years. After he came home he 

 was put to bed. Within an hour I visited him 

 and found him in a great degree of perturbation. 

 He knew me however, as he had known his wife, 

 and several of his family, at his first coming 

 home. But he could not be convinced that it 

 was Monday, and not Saturday morning. In my 

 hearing he urged his wil'e to send a messenger 

 unto a company of men who under his superin- 

 tendence werfi working on a road, to tell them 

 that he was unable to give them directions, and 

 they must therefore disperse. Within a few 

 days Col. Walker was so far recovered as to at- 

 tend to his customary business, and not long al- 

 ter regained his usual health." 



I have recited this story because it exhibits 

 man in an attitude, which, so far as known, is 

 absolutely new. 



THE FARMER. 

 It does one's heart good to see a merry round- 

 faced farmer. So independent, and yet so free 

 iVom vanities, and pride. So rich, and yet so in- 

 dustrious — so patient an<l persevering in his cal- 

 lino-, and yet so kind and social and oblignig'. — 

 There are a thousand noble traits about him, 

 which light up his character. He is generally 

 hospitable — cat and drink with him and he won't 

 set a mark on you, and sweat it out of you with 

 double compound interest, as some I know will 

 — You are welcome. He will do you a kind- 

 ness without expecting a return by way of com- 

 pensation — it is not so with every body. He 

 is generally more honest and sincere— less dis- 

 posed to deal ill low and underhanil cunning, 

 than many 1 could name. He gives to society its 

 best support — is the firmest pillar that supports 

 the edifice of government — he is the lord of na- 

 ture. Look at him in his homespun and grey- 

 backs — gentlemen ! laugh at him if you will — 

 but believe me, he can laugh back, if he pleases. 



The young oak, to be a useful tree, must not 

 be reared in a hot-bed. Indulgence in the edu- 

 cation cf young people often spoils them. 



