VI No. 49. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



38s 



it be, tliat the Rocky Hill coal is a sliade darker 

 tlian the Lehigh. We understand that the pro- 

 prietor of the quan-y intends blasting the rock, to 



HAY-MAKING. 



The first thing to lie considered about liay-mak- 

 ing, is the time of cutting the grass. It should 

 not be cut too early, or before it iias got its growtli, 

 for this will cause it to shrink too niucii hi drying. 



notice the method adopted by Mrs. Gibbs, for 

 ■preparing starch from the roots of the Wake-Rob- 

 in ; for which the Society for the encouragement 



of Arts, &c. in 1797, presented her with their gold , trace the vein deeper."— A'". Y. Slaksman. 



medal. She observes, in her conmiuuication, that ^ . , . '■ ; TT ~~~ . - _ 

 such roots are found in the Isle of Portland, in 1 Lightning Rods.— The season (July) is near at On the contrary, it sliould not stand too late, or 

 the common fields, whence they may be dug out, l>and, when your barns will be filled with the till the seed be quite ripe. It is not only harder 

 cleansed, and pounded in a stone" mortar with I products of your fields. And it is certainly desir- to cut, but the ripeness of the seed will cause il to 

 water. The whole is then strained, and the a'^'e after the labor and expense of filUng them shatter out while drying, which will be a consid- 

 starch settles at the bottom. A peck of these 'las been met, that they should be preserved to re- erable loss, as the seed is the most rich and nour- 

 roots pro.luce.1, upon an average, about four munerate this labour and expense. You must jgiiing ,,art ; and the soil will be the more exhaust- 

 pounds of starch, which was sold at lid. per however, be sensible, at least you will be, if you ed by nourishing the seed till it come to maturi- 

 pound. See also Wake Robin. 1 "'i" '"P*'"'" ^o facts, that your expectations of re- ,y^ a„(j ti,e next succeeding crop will be the poor- 

 Starch abounds in a great variety of vegetables, j ward for your toil are often cut short by a sudden ^r. There never can be any advantage in mow- 

 Mr Parmentier has shown that the roots of 22 ' stroke of lightning. This you can prevent by ^^ i^te, unless it be thickening the grass roots, by 

 vegetables yield starch, and that the seeds of nine erecting Hghtning rods to your barns. Tlie last scattering some of the seed, where they were be- 

 I.lants and trees contain it nearly pure. He omits, ; season after the summer crops were gathered, a fyye too thin. He that mows early has the ad- 

 however, the ./Jntm TVi/pAi/i^uni, or Indian turnip, greater amount of property was destroyed by hght- vantage of longer days for drying his hay; and 

 which probably does not grow in France. See mug, i" the county of New Haven alone, than of shorter nights, when the dews are less detri- 

 Turnip, Indian. ^^""'"^ '^*^*' furnished hghtning rods to every barn cental to hay-making. 



Dry mealy potatoes yield a large proportion of 'n the State. It must then certainly be unwise to ^^^^ the farmer who has many acres of the 

 >tarch, which is preferable, when properly pre- '"isk such an amount of property, when it can be ga^e ti„d of grass, cannot always expect to cut 

 pared, to the starch of wheat flour. The follow- insured at so low a premium. After close obser- the whole of it in exactly the right season. That 

 ing is the method recommended by Baume. vation for fifteen years, I fearlessly assert that he may approach as near to right as possible, he- 

 Rasp clean washed potatoes, collect the pulp <innng the months of July and August, that is, should cut the thickest grass first of all ; especial- 

 in a tub, and mix it with a great quantity of clean after your summer crops are lodged in your barns ly jf jt be in danger of lodging, or so thick that 

 v.ater. Place two wooden rails on the brim of a greater number of barns are struck by lightning, | the lowest leaves perish, or the bottoms of the 



.-mother verv clean tub to support a sieve ; pour hy twenty to one, than any other objects of equal 

 fresh quantities of water on the pulp, till the clear height and number. The reason is obvious to a 

 \^ ator runs through. In six hours the water will careful observer, at least it is so to a philosophical 

 have deposited the flour suspended in it ; when one. The exhalations which arise from a barn 

 the water is to be poured off; and a great quauti- AHed with hay and gram, recently gathered, are 

 TV of verv clean water poured upon the flour re- great and forma column of rarefied air, which 

 inaining at the bottom of the tub, which is to be reach to a great height in the atmosphere. This 

 stirred up in the water, and the whole is to stand column is a direct attractor and conductor of the 

 quiet till the day following. The flour will then electric fluid ; as much so, as the smoke of an 

 be found to have settled at the bottom of the tub ; extinguished candle is to an approx-imating flame, 

 the water is again to be poured oft"; the flour ; Erect hghtning rods to your barns, and the fluid 

 ^^•aslled in a fresh quantity of pure water, and the | 's conducted harmlessly to the earth, 

 mixture passed through a silk sieve pretty fine.— f ^ (^ i« « fa<^t which we think none will deny. 

 The whole must once more be suffered to stand 'that bams that are stored with nay and gram, are 



quiet till the flour is settled ; if the water above 

 it is clean, the flour has been sufficiently washed ; 

 but if the water has any colour, it must be agam 

 w.ished. 



When perfectly washed take out the flour, and 

 jilace it upon wicker frames covered with paper, 



much more frequently struck by lightning than 

 any other building, let the cause be \\ hat it may 

 Conn. Journal. 



The horn snake Tliis beautiful spotted reptile, 



is rarely to be found. One of extraordinary di- 

 mensions, upwards of five feet in length, and as 



and dry it, properly defending it from dust.-- j,^.^^ ^^ ^ ^^^^,^ ^^^ ^^,^^ ^,1^^ ^^^1^^ j3^^ .^^^ ^^ 

 Wlien dried, pass it through sdk sieves, to divide ^^^ ^^^^_^ (Woodstock, Va.) A gentleman 



any clotted lumps that may remain ; and s^eep it ^^.j^^ ^^^^ ^^^ ^_^.^^^j describes the horn, not as a 



in glass vessels stopped with paper only.- 

 iic Encyclopedia. 



COAL 



stalks turn yellow. The thinnest of his grass shoi»l<i 

 be cut next, which is apt to be ripe soonest : and 

 last of all, the middling sized grass, or that which 

 is on a medium between thick and thin. 



Where a second crop is expected the same year^. 

 thick grass should be cut a litths the earlier, that 

 the roots may not be injured so much as to pre- 

 vent their speedy recovery, by being closely cov- 

 ered too long by the first crop. 



Some regard should be had to the weather,. 

 \\hen tlje time of cuttuig is in contemplation. — 

 Those, especially, should regard It, who are able 

 to call in as liiuch assistance as they -please in hay- 

 making. 



Grass, which has not been washed by ram fot- 

 several days, has a kind of gum on it, which is 

 known by its adhering to the scythe. This gum' 

 is thought to be a benefit to the hay ; and the 

 farmers are fond of mowing their grass when this 

 gum appears, rather than just after the grass has 

 been washed by rain. 



As to the drying of hay, or the manner of mak- 

 ing it, I know there are a variety of opinions. The 

 right way is to do it m such a manner that as 

 much of the sap as possible may be retained, and 



, blunt protuberance from the tail, but a flint-hard 



! substance encased in a shield, and as sharp as a i . ., u . . » .i . • -n i i- . i u 



,, , ■ , , 1 , , , ' m the best state that is possible. In this I should 



needle, which when attacked, the creature shoots u- , „ ,. . „. .„ „ 



think all would agree. AU persons will allovr 



m ri _c 1 r> .;„ , tf M „ i„„ „ , uWT from the scabbard and inflicts a wound which , ., i j - ■ i w-i wl - ^ ■ i 



The Hartford Review or Monday says, " We , , , ... »t . that too much drvmg is hurttul. It is certainly 



.... ..UT : e „:„„" 1 „„„i .„i,„„ would destroy any thmg it encounters. Natural- . , _ .. __. _ .. ' _?. . .. „. _„ ..,_.. ,^ :_ _ j.l 



have on our table a piece of mineral coal taken 



., J- „ 1 -„ ,. „ „, ists have uuiversaUy described the weapon of this ^, ..\ , •„ ,, 



ti-om a vein recently discovered m the stone quar- , , ,t- , , that the leaves will crumble 



tD 1 xi-ii ,„ _ ,u;-, „;.„ T. ,„„, c.,..,.,i ., snake differently ; we have not a correct account! ■ i-., i n i . - j 



ry at Rocky Hill, near this city, it was tound in ,1.-1 h . b a- a j 1 I much of the sap should be retauicd as is cousis- 



a loss to rake it, or stir it at all, when it is so dry 

 And doubtless as 



the trap rock, where it lies upon the red clay slate 



of it. The skin has been taken oft", and no doubt 



which underlies the whole of the hill, embedded ^^'- ^'^^""' the proprietor of the works, will pre- 

 in the spongy looking stone, with which our streets ^''^ " '° o ne of the museums. 

 are Mac-Adamised in the uj.per part of the city.-- j ^„^^,. ^^ ^ ^eeyt.— Mr. James Smith, of Whate- 

 It is of various sizes, from that ot a pea, up to jy^ j^^^g from the milk given by one cow, in a 

 that of an egg. Upon examining the stones which .^ggj,, 1 U pounds of butter, after using what milk 

 are scattered in the streets, it n.ay be found very ■ wanted in his family. 



abundantly interspersed in the fragments, having j^j,. p„„.g,^ ^ celebrated agriculturist in Penn- 

 very much the appearance of shorl m granite.— Lyi^^^j^^^ „.;,( ^eat us all in New Ei;gland. It is 

 The coal very much resembles the Anthracite, from stated that he makes from a small cow upwards 

 Lehigh, havmg the same bnUiant conchoidal frac- ^f 20 pounds of butter a week. The celebrated 

 ture, and about the same specific gravity. Indeed Qakes cow owned in Danvers, in this state, pro- 

 upon comparing the specmien which we havc^^^gj f,om 16 to 19 pounds of butter per week 

 and a peice of Lehigh coal, we can hardly discov- through the months of June and July : and in S 

 <tr the least diflference in their appearance, unless ! months 484 pounds— ifamp. Gaz. 



tent with its being kept in good order for fodder^ 

 and for long keepmg. 



Some grasses will keep well with less drying- 

 than is needful for others. Tlie Bhode-Island 

 bent, as it is called, or red-top grass, wiU do 

 with less drying than some other grasses. It lias 

 been much practised to put up witli so little dry- 

 ing that it heats in the mow to so great a degree^. 

 as to make it turn brown like tobacco ; and it is. 

 known that cattle will eat it well, asd tlirive on it. 

 But the mow will certainly send out part of the 

 virtue of the hay in steams I cannot but thuik 

 that all grasses should be so fcitich dried, that the 

 mows and stacks, though they ha^a degree of 

 heat, should not emit any Bensble OTBOiiaMtt 



