Vol. G.— No. 6 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



45: 



AMERICAN BAY TREE. 



Amon<r the plants which deck the summer of 

 New-England, the tall bolls of the Lily are moat 

 oonspicuons above tlio countless blossoms of the 

 vallies : The laurel spreuils along the hill sides, 

 at one season presenting a wide landscape ol gor- 

 geous flowers, and at another exhibiting a rich 

 bed of evergreen foliugo. Tlic Rhododendron or 

 American Buy Tree, more magnificent than either, 

 seeks the shelter of the forest and flourishes in 

 the beauty of maturity in some tangled thicket 

 where its buds seemed destined to expand unseen. 

 This splendid shrub clothes the summits of moun- 

 tains, the shores of lakes ortlic mar-hy and damp 

 spots where are the sources of rivers. The banks 

 of the Charles River, and the borders of Sabago 

 Pond in Maine, are the only localities of its 

 growth mentioned by Dr. Bigelow. It is found 

 flourishing in a wood within the town of Leicester. 



The leaves are broad, long, and of a deep green 

 color. The flowers e.vpand in large bunches on 

 the ends of the stalks, and arc shaded with a tint 

 of pink. The plant assumes the character of a 

 large struggling bush, irregular in shape and hav- 

 ing rough bark? The great elegance of its flow- 

 nr°and the magnificenceTof its foliage, recommend 

 it for cultivation as an ornamental shrub, instead 

 of those pampered exotics whose nurture and edu- 

 cation consume so much time and care better de- 

 voted to develope the beauties and properties of 

 our own native productions. It is said to be diffi- 

 cult to tame, and disposed to dwindle under the 

 hand of cultivation; but probably the experiment 

 of transplanting has not been made under favor- 

 ,^ble circumstances. Natives of the burning sandn 

 of the line and of e.xtreme north, arc made to 

 twine their branches sociably together in the par- 

 lors of the wealthy. The addition of a splendid 

 ornament to the garden would recompense the 

 oare necessary to bring the Rhododendron from 

 his forest bower. — J^ational JEgis. 



BUILDING. 



BY DR. MEASE OF PUILAHELI IIIA. 



A very capital error in building in the United 

 States is, the thinness of the walls. A house with 

 thin walls, is both cold in winter, and hot in sum- 

 mer ; a house with thick walls just the reverse. 

 To the N. W. and N. E. in particular, the walls 

 ought to be three times the common thickness. 



The opportunity here offered, cannot be omitted 

 of bearin" a testimony against the common but 

 uneconomical, unhealthy and dangerous practice 

 of erecting v/ooden buildings, particularly in cities- 

 The evil, however, will correct itself. The fre- 

 quent fires in Boston ; the almost entire destruc- 

 tion of Savannah a few years since, and the dread- 

 cent conflagration of Portsmouth, N. H. speak 

 more forcibly than words, as to the propriety of 

 abolishing the custom of building with wood. It 

 is to be regretted, that in the United States advo- 

 cates for wooden structures are found. To such 

 the following observations are oflfered. 



By building of wood, much immediate as well 

 as remote inconvenience, is to be expected ; and 

 certainly, however suddenly felt may be the com- 

 fort arising from an increase of despatch, the 

 numerous considerations of perishablene.ss, want 

 •f safety, and call for repairs, added to the re- 

 flection, that the public taste is, for the time, de- 

 prived of one great field of e.xertion, will very 

 much weigh with an enlightened people, when 

 once they become awakened to their advantages, 



and proud of the singular novelty of their physical 

 and moral opportunities of situation. 



Wood, considered as a material of arcliitocturc, 

 is not only porisluible, but it is fearfully acccssi- j 

 bic to all the dangers of wind and fire, and is not 

 so strong as brick or stone. To these objections I 

 may be added, the consideration, which will weigh j 

 with the man of taste, that wood is unsusceptible i 

 of chaste ornament. If it be adorned, it is in a, 

 finical, puerile taste, in which there is as great a, 

 distance from the simplicity of the Grecian, as 

 variance from the whimsical, yet often pleasantly ^ 

 fanciful assemlilage of the Gothic style. | 



Bachelors only ought to build of wood : men | 

 wlio have but a life estate in this worlu, and who' 

 care little for those who come after them. Those 

 who have cither children or a wife to leave be- 

 hind tiiem. will build of brick, if they wish to 

 leave monuments of kindness, rather than a rent- 

 charge, behind them. A well-finished brick house, 

 however small, is not only more elegant, and im- 

 mediately useful and safe, but it is cheaper in the 

 end than a wooden one. It neoils fewer repairs ; 

 its prime cost is little more : it is a property which 

 yields more, inasmuch as, if rented out, it carries 

 from the pet cent, of rent, fewer of the eating re- 

 pairs, which render the profits of wooden rent- 

 rolls, so equivocal ^nd precarious. With respect 

 to insurance, which in all populous places sooner 

 or later takes place, it boars an analogy to poli- 

 cies on annuities, where one subject linges un- 

 der a precarious existence, and the other is blest 

 sed with youth and a sound constitution. In point 

 of ease, taste, .^nd duration, there can be no hesi- 

 tation between them. The whole doubt in the 

 mind of a builder rests in the competition between 

 immediate convenience and the remote advantage 

 of an unknown duration ; for a j:ood brick house 

 will be habitable for centuries. 



Considered politically, and in tiiis government 

 every citizen is on the walcli of public happiness 

 and politicnl warfare, there is this good attending 

 brick buildings ; from durable habitations, in 

 which more money has been ^jpent, and more of 

 the refined tastes gratified, an afi'ectioii for the 

 soil is increased. A habit of thought arises, fa- 

 vourable to population : a greater proportion of 

 money is thus realised. The great national fund 

 of course is augmented, fixed to the soil and 

 pledged to society. 



The last and highest consideration is, that 

 migration would be less easy, and not so common, 

 were a finer spirit of building to prevail. Were 

 the Tartars to build houses instead of wagons and 

 tents, as Baron Tot says they still do, and as they 

 did when the Huns imnelled the Goths against the 

 feeble Roman empire, they would not rove, and 

 their country might become a land of tillage. — 

 The facility with which we may move, is a strong 

 incentive to that love of thange wTiich it particu- 

 larly interests us to repress in our citizens. 



Prolific. — An Irish lady now resident in Penn- 

 sylvania, was a short time since delivered of five 

 children at a birth, but who unfortunately did not 

 long survive. — The same lady before she left 

 Ireland had five children at another birth, and 

 twins while she resided in New- York ; making 

 twelve children in eighteen months. Had she re- 

 sided in France under JVapohon, he would have 

 pronounced her the ' first woman of the age,' and 

 if we have many such emigrants the next Census 

 of the United States must be wonderfully in- 

 creased 



RAILWAY FROM BOSTON. 



The commissioners ajipoiritcd to make a recon- 

 noisance and survey of the country between Bos- 

 ton and the Hudson River, with a view of deter- 

 mining upon the practicability and expediency of 

 a Railway, and upon the most eligible route to be 

 adopted tor such a work, passed through this 



town, on Thursday, on their v/ay Westward 



They have thus far made a very careful and 

 thorough examination of the country. They were 

 accompanied, for a few miles to the West, by 

 Governor Li.ncdl.v. 



The Survey of the Commissioners i.^ to Be ex- 

 tended into the territory of the State of New- York; 

 and we understand that the Gover.nor, in com- 

 pliance with the direction of the Legislature, has, 

 within a few days, addressed a communication to 

 Governor Clinton, enclosing a copy of the Re- 

 solve of the Legislature relating to the Survey^ 

 announcing to him the appointmout of Commis- 

 sioners, and requesting from him that countenance 

 and favour which may warrant the Commissioners 

 n making, with the State of Nev^-York, the in- 

 quiries, surveys, and admeasurements necessary 

 to the execution of their commission. We are in- 

 formed that Governor Clinton has, in answer, 

 with great cordiality signified his nssent to the 

 proposed Survey, so far as the E:;.:cutive of that 

 State is concerned ; and that the ..uccess of this 

 important undertaking, from its commencement to 

 its consummation, will bo viewed by him with 

 great interest and high gratification — Jf'or. Yeom. 



Nearly two thirds of the distilleries and brewers 

 in and about Glasgow have given up business for * 

 the present, in consequence of the scarcity and 

 dearth of malt, hops, &c. JIalt has now become , 

 so scarce, that it is with the greatest trouble and | 

 inconvenience tunning about for it that it can be 

 got, and it is as high as 32s. a bolt. Hops that at 

 Martinmas could have been bought for £5 a pock- 

 et, now cost .£1 1. 



JVhat a contrast ? — In the spring of the year \ 



1815 the editor of the Black Rock Gazette paid at ; 



the rate of $5 a cwt. for transporting a printing , 



press, and types from Seneca Falls to Buffalo ir» i 



wagons, a distance of 110 miles. — Good?, by any \ 



considerable quantities, can now be transported. \ 



from tiie city of New York to that of Pittsburg-, a | 

 distance of about 575 miles, for a few cei.ts over 

 $2 a cvvt. including all expenses ! 



American System. — A meeting of the planters, 

 has been called in Natches for the purpose of form- 

 ing an association for the encouragement of do- 

 mestic manufactures. 



It may be useful to our fair readers to Itnow 

 that muffs, tippets and other articles of fur, which 

 when put into any kind of wood or paper box or 

 drawer, are so generally liable to injury from 

 moths, if put into tin boxes, v/ill remain for years 

 uninjured. 



A meeting of the ofBcers of the Revolutionary 

 Army has lately been held in Baltimore, for the- 

 purpose of again memorializing Congress on the 

 subject of the half pay which was promised to 

 them in 1780. The Hon. Philip Reed, of Mary- 

 land, presided. 



A company has been formed in N. York for the- 

 purpose of settling sugar plantations in Florida^ 



