VOL. XVllI. NO. 4a. 



AND HORTICULTURAL REGISTER 



353 



goiiif on yet very slowly ; — a change no less iiii- The following exporiincnls may not be nninter- 

 porta^nt to the interest of agriculture than to the j esting to some of our readers. After a long period 



liigli and benevolent feeling of an enlightened and 

 sanctified heart. 



] have kept my mind directed to the subject for 

 many years, and have had conversation with many 

 enlightened and observing persons in different parts 

 of the state and nation, and am constrained to be- 

 lieve, that while there may be occasionally in some 

 places an undue proportion of some kinds of birds 

 and other creatures, who subsist much if not main- 

 ly on worms, insects, &c., and that sometimes there 

 may be a lack of food for them, as there is occa- 

 sionally for man, and that in consi'queoce thpy may 

 be driven to use very unceremoniously the grain 

 and otlier kinds of produce which men were culti- 

 vating for their own use, yet, as a general fact, the 

 number and variety of birds is at present much less 

 through the country than the true interest of the 

 flirmer calls for, and that the killing them, as is or- 

 dinarily done, for sport, is an act as contrary to true 

 wisdom as it is full of wanton cruelty ; and 1 think 

 that an observation which has been made is sus- 

 ceptible of as clear proof as the nature of the case 

 admits, — which is, that the farmer who destroys a 

 bird, loses thereby a peck of grain and a bushel of 

 fruit, and robs his neighbors of twice that amount : 

 while he who cultivates no land and yet sports him- 

 self in their destruction, does his citizens a wrong 

 for -which he can make no just and adequate resti- 

 tution. 



The leading object of this communication is to 

 inquire if any one recollects the account referred 

 to, or can give information through your paper 

 where it can be obtained. B. 



THEORY OF DEW. 



Not.vithstanding the researches of Dr VV^'lSi 

 and others, upon the subject of dews, there are 

 many who still remain either in total ignorance of 

 the principles of the deposition of the moisture, 

 called dew, or hold to the old theory that it is 

 caused by the air alune becoming colder. The an- 

 cient Greeks observed the fact, that dew was de- 

 posited in clear nights, and not in windy or cloudy 

 ones, and every barefooted boy w 



of drouglit, when the air was very still, and the 

 sky serene. Doctor Wells exposed to the sky, 

 twentyeight minutes before sunset, previously 

 weiglied parcels of wool and swandown, upon a 

 sinootli unpainted and perfectly dry fir table, five 

 feet long, three broad, and three feet in lieight, 

 which liad been placed an hour before, in the sun- 

 shine, in a lirge, Invel j:r:ss f.rld. 



The wool, twelve minutes after sundown, was 

 found to be fourteen dngrees colder than the air, 

 nd to have acquired no weight. The swandown, 

 the quantity of which was niuc.li stnaller than that 

 of the Wool, was at tiie same time thirteen degrees 

 colder than the surrounding air. At the same time, 

 the grass was fifteen degiees colder than the air 

 four feet above the ground. From such experi- 

 ments, he established the proposition, that bodies 

 must become colder than the surrounding air, be- 

 fore they become dewed. 



He also e.tplained the reason wliy there was no 

 dew in cloudy nights. It is because the clouds 

 act as reflectors, and throw the lieat back again ; 

 in the same manner as the bright tin top of a tin 

 baker throws down or reflects the heat down upon 

 the bread. A blanket, or umbrella, put over any 

 body, would prevent the dew settling on that body 

 for some time, although it was filling p.l! around it. 



On this principle, vi!»s. m\u etiier things, are 

 protected from fmsts, by putting a blanket or cov- 

 ering over them, at night 



Frost is dew, frozen. liy putting the covering 

 over the body, it reflects heat back, and prevents, 

 for some time, the dew being deposited upon what 

 it covers. — Maine paper. 



From the Farmer's Cabinet. 



QUINCE TREES. 

 The cultivation of the quince is much fieglected, 

 though it may be justly ranked among our most 

 valuable fruits. For preserves, it has long main- 

 tained a distinguished rank, and the fruit either in 

 a green or dried state, is not surpassed by any oth- 

 out early I er article for communicating a pleasant and agreea 



in the morning, knows that it is much more abun- 

 dant on the grass by the wood side, than it is upon 

 the sand or gravel in the road itself. Dr Wells, 

 of England, made many experiments upon the sub- 

 ject ; and from the facts thus ascertained, explain- 

 ed the cause of the phenomena, in a treatise which 

 he published some time ago. He ascertained the 

 cause of the deposit of moisture in the form of 

 dew, to be the radiation or throwing of the heat 

 imbibed by the sun, which thus cools the particles 

 of air that come in contact with it, and causes the 

 moisture which was in the warm air to be condens- 

 ed. It may be well, for the better understanding 

 of the theory, to state, in the first place, that as all 

 bodies receive heat more or le.ss easily, so they 

 part with it, or radiate it more or less easily. 

 Some bodies will part with, or radiate the heat 

 which they have received, as fast again as other 

 bodies. Hence they become cooled before the 

 others. Warm air will hold more moisture than 

 cold air : therefore, the body which radiates heat 

 fastest, becomes cool first, and cools the particles 

 of air which surrounds it, which deposits the mois- 

 ture or dew upon it first. Grass parts with its ca- 

 loric, or heat, much faster than sand or gravel — 

 hence it has more dew upon it. 



ble flavor to pies made of apples. It is easily pro- 

 pagated by layers and also by cuttings, and any 

 ajiprovcd kinds may be perpetuated by grafting in 

 the usual manner. 



It produces the finest, fairest fruit when planted 

 in a soft, moist soil, in a rather shady or sheltered 

 situation. It keeps well if properly managed, and 

 always sells for a very high price ; the markets 

 never being overstocked with them, as is the case 

 with many other fruits in ]deutiful seasons. 



The quince derives its name of Cydonia, from 

 the town of Cydon, in Isle of Crete, whence it was 

 originally brought. There are four kinds of the 

 quince ; — the pear quince, from the resemblance in 

 its shape ; the apple quince; the Portugal quince, 

 which is less harsh and more juicy than the two 

 preceding kinds; ami the eatable quince, which is 

 less astringent and milder than either of the other 

 kinds enumerated. The trees being small, they 

 can be planted ten or twelve feet apart along fenc- 

 es, or in places where they won't interfere with 

 other tree, or the business of agriculture. 



It is hoped that the present season will not be 

 permitted to pass over without the cultivation of 

 this valuable fruit being considerably extended a 

 mong our farmers and gardeners. Philip. 



E.XCRETIONS OF PLAN'l'ti. 

 Tlie following notice of some of the substances 

 excreted by the stems and leaves of plants, is ta- 

 ken from a work of Prof. Lindley : "Acid excre- 

 tions are formed by the hairs of the chick-pea, the 

 stag-horn sumach and some other species; and it 

 is supposed that the singular property which some 

 lichen."! possess of imbedding themselves in calca- 

 reous rocks is owing to their excretion of oxalic 

 acid. The stinging power of the nettle is produced 

 by an acrid matter excreted by the hairs with which 

 their leaves and stalks are covered. The nettles 

 of Europe simply produced an uneasy sensation, 

 but some of those of India have brought on lock- 

 jaw, and even death itself by the torments which 

 they inflict. A discharge of sticky matter by the 

 hairs or by the bark of plants, is of very common 

 occurrence. It is this which gives their viscidity 

 to such plants as the rose acacia, to the buda of 

 the horse chesnut, and to the young leaves of the 

 bofch tree. Tn nmny cases this sticky n^atter is 



analogous in composition to common bird lime 



Wax, or some substance analogous to it, is of very 

 common occurrence on the surface of plants. Sac- 

 charine matter, in difierent forms, is also a common 

 excretion from many plants. European manna is 

 discliaroed by the flowering ash (frnxinus ornus,) 

 either in consequence of wounds artificially inflict- 

 ed on the branches, or of the puncture of insects. 

 The inanna spoken^of in scripture is yielded by a 

 species of tamarisk, ard by the camels-thorn, a 

 plant which is common in the deserts of southern 

 Asia. But the ij'ost curious instance of matter ex- 

 creted from ih'e leaves, is afforded by the fraxinel- 

 la. The leaves of this plant are covered with little 

 brown glands, which excrete a species of volatile 

 oil. In warm weather this oil is converted into va- 

 por and surrounds the plant, as an inflammable at- 

 mosphere, readily taking fire when a flame is brought 

 in contact with it,^and burning without doing any 

 injury to the plant." 



The possession of the power of rejecting such 

 matter as is found unsuitable for their nourishment, 

 would seem to bo a necessary condition of the life 

 of plants. Did they not possess it, their vessels 

 must soon become clogged, and rendered unfit for 

 performing their appropriate office. From some 

 experiuients which have been performed, it would 

 seem that plants possess the power of disembar- 

 rassing themselves of all kinds of matter which are 

 found unfit for their nourishment. Macaire took a 

 plant of mercury ( iiiercurialis annua,) and having 

 divided its roots into two parcels, introduced one of 

 them into a glass containing a weak solution of 

 acetate of lead, and the other into a glass of pure 

 water. At the end of a few hours he found that 

 the glass of pure water had become perceptibly 

 tinged with acetate of lead, which of course must 

 have been taken into the circulation by the roots on 

 one side of the plants, and thrown off again by the 

 roots on the other. In this instance the excreted 

 matter was thrown back without having undergone 

 any change : as a general thing, however, this is 

 not the case : thus, leguminous plants, of which 

 the pea may be mentioned as an example, although 

 they absorb only carbonic acid and water, will ex- 

 crete the elements of those substances combined so 

 as to form a species of gum. Grasses excrete prin- 

 cipally certain alkaline and earthy muriates and 

 carbonates, but very little of any gum. — Farmer's 

 Register. 



Be always at leisure to do good. 



