VOL. XV. SO. i; 



AND GARDENER'S JOURNAL 



1.'39 



with fortitnde, with enerjry, and with intellectual 

 resources unsurpassed, is tlicrc oiio American 

 who can doubt ? 



By those unceasinir toils and mighty efforts, and 

 matchless labors for which our |)eo|)le are so dis- 

 tiuiriiished, the millions thus recovered will not 

 only be their just reward, but will add to the sub- 

 stantial wealth of the nation and to the glory of 

 the whole republic." — JVantucket Inq. 



H iMPSIlIRK, HAMPDFIN AND FBA1VKI.IN AS. 

 RICULTURAL SOCIETV. 



[Extracts from I lie Report of the Committee on the 

 stale of the Cattle Show, generally.] 



In makins a Report of the result of their ex- 

 amination of the various manufactures, the Com- 

 mittee take pleasure in saying', tliat the articles 

 proscnteil were much more numerous and of much 

 better quality than those exhibited on any former 

 occasion, for several years past. And it is grati- 

 fying to be able to state, that there has been u man- 

 ifest improvement over former exhibitions in the 

 quality and finish of the articles shown — thouglj 

 in the item of blue and other dressed cloths, there 

 is a great deficiency in quality. 



Flannels, fioor-carpeti=, hearth rugs, woollen 

 counterpanes, rose blankets, linen diapers and 

 Bheetiugs, were of excellent quality. 



The Wutter and cheese was of fine flavor ; one 

 lot of cheese from the dairy of Col. Gardiner 

 Dickinson of Conway, deserves particular notice 

 for its superior quality, and mode of inamifacture. 

 A letter in relation to it, having accoujpauied the 

 cheese, and setting a good example for all others 

 to follow, the object of such exhibitions being not 

 merely to show a particular sani])le, but to commu- 

 nicate the way improvements are made, that oth- 

 ers may derive a benefit from their experimen:s. 



The Silk department was superior to that of 

 any former anniversary in this county, and is a 

 sure evi<lence that the silk cause is rapidly ad- 

 vancing within the limits of tlie society, particu- 

 larly in the town of Ciinimington, where more silk 

 is manufactured than in any other town. 

 MTbe raw tuid reeled and manufactured article 

 exhibited by Mr Austin Cobb of Cuinmington, 

 was of excellent quality, and greater in quantity 

 than were ever before exhibited here. 



'J'lie raw and reeled silk exhibited by IMr Tim- 

 othy Sudtli of Audierst, wouhl do credit to any 

 county, or any society. 



The silk hoisery liy Miss Sophia Dickinson of 

 Hatfield, Miss Norton and Mrs Kiugham, and 

 Sewing silk by Mrs Tucker, all of Cunimingtcn, 

 were of superior quality. 



Mrs N. Hartshorn, of Northainjjton, exhibited 

 siiecimens of the greatest quantify of cocoons, and 

 of excellent quality. 



Were we to judge of the silk business from what 

 lias been now exhibited, the time cannot be distant 

 when every family might clothe themselves in 

 silk of their own nuinufactUiC, instead of paying 

 sixteen or seventeen millions of dollars lumually to 

 foreign nations for this one article. 



The legislature of this Slate have granted a 

 bounty for seven years on cocoons, reeling and 

 throwing of silk, which will pay all the expense of 

 feeding the worms, and of perfurining the reeling 

 and throwing, so that the si:k will be a clear gain 

 to the family in which the business i.s, or ought to 

 be done, and through which oiu- silk factories are 

 to be supplied. And so iin|)ortant is this subject 

 becoming, both as a matter of production and 



m;mnfacture, that the attention of the most en- 

 lightened men, as well as the r.ttention of state 

 legislatiu'es and of Congress, has been directed to it. 



The Committee noticed a mammoth pum|ikin, 

 and a squash weigliing sixtysix pounils, the pio- 

 duct seed being brought from the Meililerraucan, 

 and raised in the garilen of Mr VVhitmarsh of 

 Northampton. 



There was also some large sugar beets from the 

 garden of Mr Apthrop of Northatnpton, producing 

 at the rate o( v\&w\y forty tons to the acre. 



A machine for cutting potatoes and other vege- 

 tables for cattle, the invention of Mr Abel W il- 

 liams of Ashfield, attracted great attention, and it 

 is thought may be of great use. 



In respect to the animals, the Committee will 

 say generally, that they were more numerous and 

 finer than on ordinary former exhibitions. And 

 oil cows, heifers and cattle for the stall they regret 

 that the rules of the society did not allow them to 

 award more preniiuuis. 



Several fine bucks were shown, but no lots of 

 ewes. Swine better than last year, but might be 

 improved by cro.ssing the breed. 



The subject of Agriculture is of vastly more 

 importance than the mere term imports ; and the 

 annual shows ought not to be considered as in- 

 tended for or confined to the farmers alone. And 

 here the Committee feel compelled to remark, that 

 a comparison witfi similar societies in the neigh- 

 boring counties, places us decidedly in the back 

 ground. 



A prominent mend)cr of this society, and a dis- 

 tinguished public man in this county, now no more, 

 once reuuirked that "the moment you pass the lines 

 of the county on the east and west of the Connec- 

 ticut river, you feel that you have entered another 

 district " — the neatness of the farms, the excel- 

 lence of the fences, the' absence of brush iu the 

 highway — all told that thrift was there — and an 

 examination of the stock and farming implements, 

 and a nearer view of the domestic arrangements 

 showed that the neatness which prevailed without, 

 was but the consequence, or the accomplishment 

 of the neatness and order and system and comfort 

 and thrift which reigned within. 



The old county of Hampshire was formerly no- 

 ted, almost to a proverb, for being in point of beau- 

 ty, fertility of its soil, and the morality of its pop- 

 ulation, one of the finest counties in the country, 

 and unsurpassed in its general agricultural advan- 

 tages by any one in New England. 



And while our neighbors in the adjoining coun- 

 ties, with soil far inferior to ours, and possessing 

 far less luitural advantages, are outstri|)ping us in 

 agricultural improvements, shall not their example 

 stimulate us to renewed and increased exertions to 

 stimulate all classes of our peejile to give their 

 countenance, and lend their co-operation, in the 

 adoption of such measures as shall render these 

 anniversaries more interesting and useful, and in- 

 duce all to feel that strong individual as well as 

 combined eflbits are necessary to carry into com- 

 plete effect the great and useful objects for which 

 the society was originated. 



]n behalf of the Committee, 



Oct. 19, 1S36. EDWARD DICKINSON. 



The Tijaiwes Tc.n'.nel. — It is now no longer 

 a matter of doubt whether this wonderful nmler- 

 taking vvid be completed. Science and perse- 

 verance have triumphed over all difficulties, and 

 we may now expect, with well founed confidence, 



that it will not be long before the public "will be 

 enabled to go into the tunnel at Rolherhithe and 

 come out at Wapping." It a p: ears that more 

 than 700 o it of the whole 1300 feet have been 

 completed ; that the work is now proceeding at 

 the rate of 4 1-2 feet ]jer week, and that this 

 wei kly rate will soon be increased to 8 or 9 feet. 

 When it is considered that the stupendous shield 

 whi<h Ml Rrudel has constructed to obviate the 

 difficulties formerly encountered, weighs no less 

 than 140 tons,ai]<l is propelled under the bed of the 

 Thames, sustaining a pressure of 8l'0O tons, we 

 must regard this as a ra|,id progress. But that 

 which places the skill of the engineer in the most 

 c<uis| icuoiis point of view, is the fact that the 

 matirial through which the shield is now pro- 

 ceeding with the most perfect safety, is in a semi 

 fluid state. 



Experiments at Sea. — We are indebted to a 

 friend, who has ji'st arrived from Europe, for the 

 following. — A". F. Eti'iidrer. 



Experiments made on board the Charlemn^ne, 



26th of September, 1836, the weather being calm, 

 I corked an empty wine bottle and tied a piece of 

 linen over the cork ; I then sank it into the sea 

 six hundred feet ; when drawn immediately up 

 again, the cork was ins de, the linen remained as 

 it was jilaced, and the bottle was filled with water. 



I next made a noose of strong twine around 

 the bottom of a cork, which I forced into the 

 empty bottle, lashed the twine securely to the 

 neck of the bottle, and sank the bottle sis hundred 

 feet. Upon drawing it up immediately, the cork 

 was found inside, having forced its way by the 

 twine, and in so doif>g had broken itself into two 

 pieces ; the bottle was filled with water. 



I then made a stopper of white pine, long enough 

 to reach to the bottom of the bottle ; after forcing 

 this stopper into the bottle, I cut it'ofi" about half 

 an inch above the top of the bottle,, and drove 

 two wedges of the same wood into.tjie stopjier. 

 I sank it 600 fest, and upon drawing it tap imme- 

 diately, the stopper remaine<l as I placed it, and 

 there was about a gill of water in the bottle, which 

 remained unbroken. The water must have forc- 

 ed its way through the pores of the wooden stop- 

 per, although wedge<J as aforesaid, and bad the 

 bottle remained sunk long enough, there is no 

 doubt but it would have been filled with water. 



Col. Charles Biddle, a citizen of the U. States, 

 in conjunction with a kw capitalists in this coun- 

 try, have obtained a contract for a Rail Road 

 across the Isthmus of Panama, which promises, if 

 completed, to be of immense importance to our 

 commerce, and to the whole world. It must be- 

 come, ill a few years, the highway of nations to 

 the Pacific Ocean, and will enable our whaling 

 ships to make their return every six months, in- 

 stead of three years, as well as save a dangerous 

 voyage around Cape Horn. 



Gas Lighting. — A new mode of transport- 

 ing gas is about to be adojited in Paris. The 

 I riiimphal Arch de I'Etoil, the Prefecture of the 

 police, and the Mint, will shortly use what is 

 called "the portative gas, compressed," by which 

 the laying of subterranean gas pipes is entirely 

 avoided. ^ This has already been used with suc- 

 cess in the city ofRlieiins. The iliscovery of 

 the uncompressed gas is due to M Huozean Nuivon, 

 a distinguished Chemist cf Paris. 



