VOt. XIII. NO. 4- 



AND HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 



29 



J^Vom the iMahte Fan/irr. 

 KEW IMPROVEMEIVT IIV WASHING MA- 

 CHINES. 



O.VE would suppose tluit ViiiiUce iii.^i'nuity liad 

 Iieroiiie well iiigli exhausted ut>(ui VViisliiug Mu- 

 ■chincs; but we have lately cxainiiied a new iu- 

 veiiiidii, or railiera modification ofau old systetn, 

 hy Mr. James I'ullen, of China. — His plan is upon 

 the coMUMon fluted washboard, but his finiings are 

 made ot' sheets of copper, ziuc, tin — or they may 

 lie made of glass, earthern, or sijnilar durable and 

 smooth substances. These sheets or substances 

 are fastened to boards, and used as such boards are 

 coninmnly used. Now wliere's the improvement ? 

 — 1st, 111 durability — 2d, In its smoothness — anil 

 3d, Ease in performing the operation of ridibinjr. 

 A common washboard does not last long — it soon 

 gets rough, of course wears out the clothes and 

 makes harder work — they get warped and split, 

 are then patched up with shingle nails, wljich get 

 rusty, and make a rickety, weak concern — the 

 women scold, and the poor husband has to march 

 off and buy a new one. The metallic rubber will 

 last a long life time, if a little care be taken in dry- 

 ing it after u.sing ; for when worn a little on one 

 side it may be turned and worn on the opposite 

 side, and in the contrary direction. 



We like the simplicity of the concern. Our 

 washing machines have been too complicated. 

 The inventors seem to have considered it necessa- 

 ry to show their skill in comliining the greatest 

 number of mechanical modifications in one piece; 

 and the greater the array of cog-wheels, cranks 

 and rollers, the more ingenious has the machine 

 been considered, and t!ie more likely to dp its duty 

 without liands. Disappointment has of course fol- 

 lowed. This improvement is simple, and prom- 

 ses no more than it can perform. It does not 

 promise to indulge idleness, and to do away the 

 labor of washing — but to lighten and facilitate that 

 labor, and render it a pleasure, rather than a 

 dreaded task. Mr. Pullen has left one of them at 

 our office for the inspection of those who wish to 

 e.xaniine it. 



valve. The person therefore is enclosed in an at- 

 miisphere, and can breathe, though covered over 

 by Ihi,' " vasty deep," nearly as well as in the at- 

 iHi.sphere. We are aware that many plans have 

 lieun devised for descending into the water for the 

 purpose of carrying on operations below the sur- 

 face ; but we think this plan an improvement. 



Mr. Norcross also invented the [U'ocess of pre- 

 paring the India Ilubber which he puts on — this 

 may or may not be the same preparation which 

 lia.s heretofore been used ; but as tiiose who have 

 used it, keep it a secret, credit is not the less due 

 to him for <iiscovering the mode used. As he has 

 spent much time and money in bringing his inven- 

 tion into practical use, and been subject to much 

 trouble for want suitable assistance, we Ijope that 

 he will ultimately be well rewarded for his ingenu- 

 ity. — Maine Fannfi: 



COMPLAINT AMONG BLACK CATTLE. 



Much is said with propriety in the Farmer res- 

 [lecting raising and feeding cattle. There has not 

 lieen very much written in it, as yet respecting 

 their maladies. I have recently been in company 

 with a man who has had experience as to their 

 several disorders. Our conversation turned on a 

 pretty common comidaint among black cattle call- 

 ed a WEN. His mode of cure is, to cast the crea- 

 ture and cut it out; tliis done he fills the cavity 

 with rosin and salt well pulverized and mixed, and 

 then carefully brings the skin hack to its place and 

 sews it up. He says in this way it will not leave 

 a scar larger than his thumb nail. He wholly ob- 

 jects to putting in a rowell,. as it will be long ef- 

 fecting a cure, and if an ox he will be testy all the 

 time it is in. And it m;iy be so situated as to ren- 

 der it improper to work him for the whole time. 

 — A hint by Q. D. 



NORCROSS' DIVING APPARATUS. 



Mr. L. Norcross, of Dixfield, gave us last 

 week an interesting exhibition of his aiiparatiis 

 which enables one to go under water and remain 

 as long as he i)leases, in search of any articles at 

 the bottom ; and then come up neither wet nor 

 DROWNED. This is effected by means of a dress 

 of cloth saturated with India Rubber, which is put 

 over the body, covering all parts. A large helmet 

 of lead is put over the head, which rests upon tlie 

 shoulders, and is made tight with the dress. Glass 

 is put in front of the helmet to see through, and 

 two tubes affixed to the to[i, through which the air 

 circulates. These tubes are of India Rubber cloth 

 or hose, and must of course be long enough to 

 reach from the bottom above the water. 'J'o one 

 of them is attached a forcing pump through which 

 air is propelled by some one at the surface; the 

 other lets the air escape, so that there is a con- 

 stant circulation of fresh air. Mr. Norcross has 

 adopted a peculiarly simple mode of obviating the 

 great pressure of the water in preventing this cir- 

 culation. A small portion of tube for the escape 

 or return of the air is made of leather, and the 

 pressure of the water of course flattens or shuts it 

 together, and thus keeps the air in until the forcing 

 pump throws in sufficient to overcome this pres- 

 sure when it passes out. This part then acts as a 



From tin] Southern Agriculturist. 

 THE WILD OR CANDLEBERRY MYRTLE, 



A IlEMEDY AGAINST THE WEEVIl's DEPREDATIONS 



Information on all and any subject, connected 

 with agricultural pursuits will, I presume, find ad- 

 mittance into your periodical, and although the 

 notice may be of apparently small matters, yet to 

 some one of your readers, it may be new, and let 

 me add valuable. I am induced to make these re- 

 marks from the inconvenience I snftiired for many 

 years, from the destruction of my corn by weevil, 

 and the total absence of them now, in consequence 

 the ap|ilication of a very simple remedy. The 

 laud which I plant in corn is low, and requires al- 

 most as much draining, as the river lands; but is 

 productive, and yields abundant crops. Whether 

 it is owing to the location of the land, or other (to 

 me) unknown causes, I am unable to say, but the 

 fact is, that tlie corn is often taken from the field 

 with a great many W(;evil in it. No injury seemed 

 to result from their residence in it, while in the 

 field, or during the cold weather, but as soon as 

 summer's sun had shed his genial warmth upon 

 us, these iutruders gave notice of their existence, 

 by commencin 



several <;ccasious my jirovisions were materially in- 

 jured, and much complained of by the consumers 

 — I tried a variety of remedies, without effect. 

 Late planting, and early planting, were both sug- 

 gested and tried ; the land was all broken up deep 

 in the winter, with a plough ; the seed was coated 

 with tar and soot, and finally was brought from 

 one of the sea-islands at a distance and planted. 

 The crops, I think, were improved by each of the 



remeilies in quantity, but the enemy still retained 

 his position, unmoved, and ap|)arently immovable. 

 I was one day mentioning the circumstance to a 

 friend, who told me th.it he had understood, that 

 the wild myrtle (Myrica reriftra), was a sovereign 

 remedy for this seemingly incurable disease. At 

 this time the deslruclion had commenced, and the 

 insects were to be seen in every direction ; a quan- 

 tity of myrtle was procured, and spread over the 

 top of the corn, and directions given to follow it 

 up, if any effect was visible. My removal to town 

 for the summer, prevented my attending to the 

 business any farther, and I learned upon inquiry 

 in the fall, that "it seemed to check the weevil in 

 some degree." This was not satisfactory, and as 

 the corn in the field was apparently niore than 

 usuully infesteil, I determined to give the experi- 

 ment a fair trial. The corn-house was emptied 

 and swept, and washed w itli boiling water ; the 

 floor was then covered with myrtle, a layer of 

 corn about a foot deep was then brought in 

 and then a layer of myrtle, and this manage- 

 ment continued throughout the whole harvest 

 observing to cover the top of the corn with a bed 

 of these little bushes. During the winter I several 

 times exuniincd the corn, near the door, and saw 

 no weevil, yet I was fearful, that in the body of 

 the house, the mischief might still be going on. 

 Late in the spring we began to use the corn freely, 

 and still found no weevil ; the crop was eventually 

 consumed, and was to the last, entirely free from 

 insects of all and every kind. 



This was to me satisfactory, and the rule has 

 been uniformly observed of strewing the house 

 with myrtle, and no weevil has since been seen. 

 My corn house is divided into two bins, and an 

 entry ; and this year I had planted a small field 

 alone, and desired that it might be kept separate. 

 Into this entry it was thrown, and no myrtle was 

 put with it, but the two bins were as usual well 

 supjilied. Upon examining tlie corn-house, I found 

 the corn in the entry filled with weevil, while that 

 in the bins was perfectly free from all insects. The 

 corn was immediately removed, and though filled 

 with insects, was divided between the Iv/o bins, 

 and myrtle jilcntifully strewed over the top of each. 

 I am now eating the corn, and the weevil are no 

 where to be Ibiind. 



This last accidental experiment is more convinc- 

 ing than either of the others ; here the two bins«i 

 were free from weevil, and the corn which was 

 separated from them, only hy a loose board parti- 

 tion was filled, and I have little doubt, would have 

 been rendered unfit for use before the summer was 

 over. Perhaps, Mr. Editor, in giving you an^ 

 your readers the information detailed in thi^ pa- 

 per, I have been carrying " coals to Newcastle ;" 

 if so, light your spirit lamp with it, and I shall be 

 satisfied, as my only object is to do good, and not 

 to see myself in print. Z. 



BARBARISM. 



There were confined, in a room 14 by 16 feet 

 the work of destruction. Upon I square, in the jail of this city, on one of the hot- 

 test days of last week, thirteen persons committed 

 for the crime of not being able to pay their debts. 

 The whole number confined in jail for debt, on 

 Friday last, was thirty-three. The number impris- 

 oned for crimes under sentence of the law, or com- 

 mitted for trial is twenty-eight, all of whom are 

 confined in eight small cells. The whole number 

 confined for debt and crime is sixTr-ONE, among 

 whom are four colored persons. — Providence Jour. 



