Vol. 6.— No. 35. 



NEW EIVGLAND FARMER. 



375 



of iudiiect bounty by the fosleriiiy cure of tliu 

 General Government. And whereas hemp and flax 

 constitute important items of home consumption, 

 and might become the basis of valuable manufac- 

 tures for foreifin trade, LMvinj; stimulus to ajjricid- 

 ture, affordiUij employment for the capital and la- 

 bor of our own cinzens, thus advancing internal 

 improvement, ausmentinuf the wealth and enlarg-| 

 ing the enjoyment of all. Therefore, 



Sec. 1 Be it enac'ed bij the Senate and ffouse 

 of Representatives of the Commonwenllh of Penn- 

 syhaaia, in General Jlssembli), met. and is hereby 

 enacted by the anihority of the same. That the sura 

 of ten thousand dollars is h'-reby appropriated, to 

 be drawn hy the warrant of tht' governor, in favor 

 of the person, who, on or before the first day of 

 March, A. f). 18."}.5, sha 1, before commiisioners to 

 be appointed for the purpose by him, exhibit and 

 try ti)e most perfect ni;iehine or machinery, for 

 dressin:; and reducinpf flax or hemp without dew 

 or water rotting, to the state fitted for marlufac- i 

 taring, and who shall satisfy them hy such trials 

 as they shall deem proper, that the said machine or 

 machines are fitted to effect the objects aforesaid, 

 and that the e.xpense of constructing, erecting 

 keeping in repair, and workin? said machines,} 

 shall not be too great for the purposes contem-i 

 plated by tliis act. and w o shall secure to the 

 citizens of this Commonwealth the ricrht of em- 

 ploying said macliiup or machines free of any 

 charge whatever. 



Sec. 2. ,'Jnd be it further enacted by the avthor- 

 ity aforesaid. That iinmedialeiy after the passage 

 of this act, the governor shall appoint three com- 

 missioners whose duty it shall be to publish the 

 same, and to give notice of the place where such 

 machine or machines are to be exhibited, and a 

 majority of them, shall examine and try the same, 

 and if, ill their opinion, any machine or machines 

 so exhibited, after ample trials in the preparation 

 of at least five tons of flax, neither dew nor water 

 rotted, shall appear to them fitted to effect the 

 objects of this act, they shall certify the facts, to- 

 gether with the name of the inventor or proprie- 

 tor thereof, accomp.inied by a conveyance in due 

 form from the said inventor or proprietor, author- 

 izing the citizens of this Commonwealth to erect, 

 use, and employ all such machine or machines and 

 process or processes, necessary for the accom- 

 plishment of the intentions of this af-t, free of all 

 charge whatever : and on the receipt of such cer- 

 tificate and conveyince, the governor shall draw 

 his warrant on the State Treasurer, in favor of 

 such inventor or proprietor for the aforesaid sura 

 often thousand dollars. 



EXPERIMENTS ON SEA COAI, AS A 

 MANURE. 



BY THOMAS EWELL. 



In the proposals I have issued, fov the publica- 

 tion of a new work on chemistry, to be adapted 

 for the use of the public in general, it is stated, 

 that 1 would relate some experiments, instituted 

 to throw light on the art of enriching impoverish- 

 ed lands. The result of several of these has so 

 far exceeded my sanguine expectations, that I 

 hasten to publish them ; hoping to turn the at.on- 

 tion of fanners to a subject by which their inte- 

 rests may be incalculably promoted. 



Frora a train of reasonings, I was led to believe, 

 that the common sea, pit, or mineral coal, which 

 is so abundant in the United States, when finely 

 pulverized, might prove a useful manure. To as- 



certain tiie truth of tnis, I made tlie followiug ex- 

 periment. 



In three small pots I put equal quantities of a 

 yellow clay, which had lately been removed from 

 several feet below the surface of the earth. To 

 the first pot, a table spoonful of finely powdered 

 pit coal was added ; to the second, the same 

 quantity of powdered charcoal [blacksmith's coalj 

 obtained from the comm.n oak ; an ■ the third 

 was left without any addition. The same num- 

 ber of sound grains of corn were planted in each; 

 the same quantity of water was daily added to 

 each ; and they were exposed in similar situations 

 to the actions of light. The rapidity of t'.e 

 growth of the corn in the pot with sea-coal, ex- 

 ceeded any thing of the kind I ever witnessed. 



Many days did not elapse before this corn was 

 four inches high, while at this time, that with the 

 i-ommon charcoal was not two inches high, and 

 that with the clay alone, had only sprouted. 



After this experiment was made, I procured se- 

 veral small pots, and in each put the same quaiiti- 

 ly of clay. To the first. I added a drachm of sea- 

 coal — to the second, a drachm of horse manure — 

 to the third, the same quantity of plaster of Paris ; 

 and to the fourth, the same quantity of common 

 ashes The fifth was left without any addition. 

 To each of these the same number of sound grains 

 of wneat ami corn were added. The precaitions 

 taken in the first experiment were strictly adher 

 ed to in this instance. In a few days my great 

 expectations from the coal pit were somewhat les- 

 sened, by perceiving that the wheat in the horse 

 manure was an inch high before th.at of the other 

 pots appeared ; however, it was but a short time; 

 for the wheat in the pot with the sea-coal came 

 up, grew to an equal height in a few days, and in 

 a t'ortnight, although the weather was cold, ex- 

 ceeded it by two inches. The corn in the pot 

 with coal, maintained a still greater superiority — 

 it appeared more healthy, and was more than 

 tw'ce as large as the largest in the other pots. — 

 Several of my acquiintances were astonished to 

 see this great difference in vegetation, produced 

 in so short a time. 



Pi\ coal must be cheaper than any article used 

 as a nanure, since it is found in so manv parts of 

 this country. The above experiments unqueslion 

 ably show, that when powdered, its power, in 

 quiclening the vegetation of corn and wheat, is 

 much greater than any manure with which we are 

 acquainted. Our knowledge of th^- effects of che- 

 mical bodies of growing vegetables, is but in its 

 infancy. Probably the discoveries which have 

 been made are not as generally known as they 

 should be. It may be owing to this cause — for 

 example, that an ounce of sulphuric acid is not 

 added to every cart load of manure; which has 

 long since been found, in England, to render it 

 doubly valuable. 



I congratulate my fellow citizens on their pros- 

 pect of renovating their large tracts of impover- 

 ished lands. By speedily using the coal in their 

 inexhaustible mines, I hope the fertility of all 

 their farms will soon be restored; and, that the 

 laboring poor, among my hospitable countrymen, 

 in future, may not suffer so much as to be depen- 

 dent for bread. 



From the United Slates Gazelle. 

 BAG WORMS, Sic. 

 Allow me through the medium of your paper, 

 to call the attention of our citizens thus early in 

 the season, before the leaves put forth and ob- 

 scure from view, a foe which ought to be imme- 

 diately removed, with the limb from which they 

 swing, and to which they are so firmly attached, 

 as to materially impede the flow of the sap ; they 

 are now in a torpid state, but will, with the re- 

 turn of vegetation, issue forth and destroy the 

 leaves, and neutralize the growth of the trees so 

 desirably situated on our footivays for affording 

 shade. The Lindens 1 believe are those most be- 

 set with this kind of worm. I would also sug- 

 gest a careful examination of the body of the tree 

 by opening the boxes and cutting off all the small 

 limbs and suckers to the height of at least 7 feet 

 from the pavement, as they inflict a serious injury 

 if suffered to remain, by preventm;^ the top of the 

 tree from attaining to such a size as to afford a 

 shade, the object for which they have been plant- 

 ed. Several cases of this kind are within my 

 knowledge. Further, those who have not tried the 

 experiment, are not perhaps aware of the impetus 

 afforded to the growth of young trees, by irriga- 

 tion, a bucket full of water poured on the roots 

 once in 24 hours, or say .3 or 4 times a week, has 

 a most wonderful effect, care should be taken to 

 apply it after sun down and during the warm dry 

 weather. In putting boxes round trees be careful 

 that the last section be attached with screws ("in- 

 stead of nails) and those to be well greased, that 

 they may bo withdrawn with facility when it may 

 be necesssry to open the boxes to cut off suckers 

 and limbs which so materially exhaust and im- 

 poverish the growth of trees. 



Cement for BoiUrs — It is stated by a correspon- 

 dent in the London Mechanics' Magazine, that a 

 cement of lime, (made from oyster shells,) and 

 worked into a paste with the white of an egg, and 

 used upon a cracked boiler ten years ago, which 

 has been in constant use ever since, is now as 

 firm as when first put on. It effectually slops 

 the escape ef gas through any aperture, when no 

 other cement could be made to rest. The lime 

 must be fresh and unslacked, and the cement ap- 

 plied as soon as mixed, otherwise it becomes sol- 

 id. It will resist the united action of fire and wa- 

 ter ; and even the concentrated acids are stated 

 to have little or no effect on it. — Pen. Gaz. 



Silk. — One farmer in Connecticut, estimates, 

 that when his mulberry trees, 500 in number, 

 shall have come to maturity, that the females ot 

 his family will annually make 300 lbs. of Silk. — 

 They maile 50 lbs. last year, by about 100,000 

 worms, without feeling any loss of labour. Silk 

 will be extensively produced in the United States, 

 especially in the South. — Amer. Farmer. 



Asparagus, from the garden of Benjamin Austin, 

 Esq. of Newton, was sold by Mr. Towner, in Fan- 

 euil Market, Boston, on Saturday the 8th inst. at 

 $1.25 per bunch. 



Sun Flotcer. — In Portugal, they eat the young 

 shoots of this plant, "seasoned with oil and salt; 

 bre.Td is made of the seeds, and also a sort of 

 groats, that a useful & edible oil may be express- 

 ed from them, and that they are good for fatten- 

 ing poultry. The leaves of the plant form an ex- 

 cellent forage, especially for cows am! sheep. — 

 The stems will do for props for twining or climb- 

 ing plants ; afterwards they will raako good fuel, 

 and their ashes afford potash. In some parts of 

 America they roast the seeds, and use them as 

 coffee." — Gardener^s Magazine. 



