154 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER 



KOV. IS, 1813. 



not, I believe, be said by a mnjoritij of tliose wlio 

 have given them a fair trial. 



The writer, in closing, says: "It is hoped that 

 the time is at hand, when we shall look at home 

 rather than abroad for excellence" in animals, &c. 

 Now, I can as heartily applaud as any one, this dis- 

 position to encourage home products ; but when 

 carried to such an excess as to lead one into the 

 blind policy of refusing to avail himself of a for- 

 eign improvement — generally acknowledged to be 

 such — merely because it is foreign, I think it so 

 far from being the offspring of patriotism or wis- 

 dom, that it is a near relative of prejudice and fol- 

 ly not unlike, in its nature and effect, that pre- 

 posterous self-conceit which leads the enlightened 

 citizens of " the celestial empire" to keep them- 

 selves as free as possible from intercourse and ex- 

 change with the " barbariiina''' of civilized nations. 



D. 

 QJ^The views expressed in the foregoing arti- 

 cle, have our entire concurrence. The course 

 therein recommended to be pursued for the im- 

 provement of our stock, is, beyond doubt, the best, 

 and that which is approved by the most skilful 

 breeders among us. — Ed. 



12. The principles laid down in maxims 1, 2, 3, 

 apply to cold water as well as cold air, in so far as 



is necessary to escape the diseases in question 



Jlmer. Traveller. 



SEASONABLE HINTS. 



Maxims designed to prevent cough, catarrh, in- 

 f!uenza, quinsy, consumption, rheumatism, lumba- 

 go, headache, sore throat : By Benjamin Bell, Ope- 

 rative Chemist, Charlestown, Mass. 



Maxim I. No person is liable to take cold whilst 

 every part of his body is exposed to the same tem- 

 perature. 



2. No person will take cold by exposure to any 

 sudden alteration in the temperature of the atmos- 

 phere, however great or small, provided the first 

 maxim be followed. 



3. The diseases indicated arc caused by the. ap- 

 plication of lieat to the greater part of the surface 

 of the body, whilst a smaller part is left exposed 

 to a colder state, solely from the inequality of the 

 application. 



4. Artificial clothing made of the usual maleri- 

 als, is of no salutary advantage to mankind, (so 

 far as heat is concerned,) in any atmosphere the 

 temperature of which is above 74 deg. Fahrenheit ; 

 it being the primary and principal cause of the 

 diseases above named. 



5. Clothing being a slow conductor of heat, 

 causes that sensation and effect by retarding the 

 passage of caloric from the surface of the body out- 

 wards. 



6. Iftt clothing is a quicker conductor of heat 

 than dry. 



7. Dry air is a very slow conductor and acts as 

 clothing whilst retained among hair, wool, feath- 

 ers, cotton cloth, &c. 



8. Air set in motion conducts the heat from the 

 8kin faster than air at rest. 



9. Moist air conducts faster than dry. 



10. An invalid, a person sitting or lying, or a 

 person asleep or in perspiration, are respectively 

 more liable to take cold than persons in health, or 

 standing, or awake, or cold. 



11. Any part of the surface of the body can be 

 educated and inured to bear with diminished risk 

 a temperature different from what the other parts 

 for the time being are exposed to. But some parts 

 are more intractable in educating than others, es- 

 pecially the cranium and armpits, which nature has 

 clothed. 



IMPROVEMENT AND PROPAGATION OF 

 WHEAT. 

 Having in former articles alluded to the ele- 

 ments which a soil must contain to yield a large 

 crop of choice wheat, we now ask the reader's at- 

 tention to a few remarks on the improvement of 

 this plant by pursuing a course of skilful and scien- 

 tifia propagation. 



Eight years ago Col. LeCouteur, of the Island 

 Jersey, commenced a regular series of experiments 

 by selecting the largest and finest heads of wheat, 

 from fourteen of the most esteemed varieties and 

 by fructifying the germs of each head by the pol- 

 len from another head, and continual crossings not 

 only with each other, but with every new variety 

 he could obtain from any distant quarter of the 

 world, taking care to breed a portion of each kind 

 perfectly remove and by itself, he obtained, in 

 1840, 150 varieties of this plant. 



Tliese experiments, which were conducted with 

 the utmost care, demonstrated the important fact 

 that the same soil, the same elements operated up- 

 on externally alike, produced very different results 

 in the different varielies of wheat, in regard to 

 weight of straw, weight of bran, weight of flour, 

 and weight of good bread, which the different 

 kinds of flour would make. Thus Gl kernels of 

 white Dantzic gave 3 lbs. 3 oz. wheat, and 3 lbs. 9 

 01. straw ; while 59 kernels of what had been re- 

 garded as a choice variety of red wheat gave only 

 1 lb. 10 oz. of wheat and 2 lbs. 5 oz. straw. We 

 will not trouble the reader with details of nume- 

 rous experiments, most of which were conducted by 

 destroying all the pistils on a head that stood by 

 itself remote from othecs which was fructified by 

 the pollen of the kind from which a cross was de- 

 sired. Combining all the advantages of an appro- 

 priate soil, with long-continued physiological im- 

 provements, Mr. L. has succeeded in obtaining 

 over two thousand four hundred pounds of super- 

 fine flour from an acre of wheat that gave only 542 

 pounds of bran. And from the large per cent, of 

 gluten contained in this flour it will make from C 

 to 12 per cent, more good bread than best of the 

 common flour. 



Everybody knows that different breeds of pigs 

 and other domestic animals have different organic 

 powers of extracting muscle, fat, and bone, from 

 any given amount of fond; and that these natural 

 powers may be greatly impaired or greatly impro- 

 ved by good or bad management. This is equally 

 true of all vegetables, and especially of wheat, 

 which, in its present condition, may be regarded as 

 an artificial product. Many farmers, however, 

 seem to imagine that if they purchase at a higli 

 price an improved variety of wheat, corn, oats, po- 

 tatoes, or of cattle, sheep, swine, or horses, nothing 

 more is necessary. If they cannot flourish on the 

 same keep that starved their predecessors to death, 

 their pretended superiority is all humbug. We re- 

 gret to say that it is the profound ignorance of too 

 many cultivators of the soil which renders them so 

 liable to imposition on the one hand, and on the 

 other so poorly able to avail themselves of the im- 

 provements brought within their reach. Vegeta- 

 ble and animal physiology and agricultural chem- 

 istry must be studied and well understood to pre- 



vent the great and perhaps ruinous deterioration 

 farms and their vegetable and animal produci 

 Nothing is more easy tiian to improve wh(> 

 by skilful propagation; but the food of the pit 

 must be made to co-operate in effecting the des 

 ed result. Let a farmer go into the finest whi 

 field he can find and select the earliest and I 

 most weighty heads for seed. This should be w 

 washed in strong warm brine to remove all parae 

 ic seeds, larva; of insects, &c. then rolled in qu. 

 lime before sowing. Give one half acre, if 

 more, a top-dressing of 20 bushels of lime, 20 

 house-ashes, and 40 of pulverized charcoal, 

 addition to this dressing a few barrels of ur: 

 would be of essential service, if equally distribul 

 over the ground." — Buffalo Advertiser. 



Afutmeg Tree. — The nutmeg tree flonrishes 

 Singapore, near the e(iuator. It is raised from 

 nut in nurseries, where it remains till the fifth yi 

 when it puts forth its first blossoms and shows 

 sex. It is then set out permanently. The tr 

 are planted thirty feet apart, in diamond order- 

 male tree in the centre. They begin to bea 

 the eighth year, increasing [or many years, : 

 they pay a large profit. There is no nutmeg s 

 son. Every day of the year shows buds, blossi 

 and fruit, in every stage of growth to matut 

 The nutmeg is a large and beautiful tree, v 

 thick foliage and of a rich green color. The i 

 fruit is singularly brilliant. The shell is gh 

 black, and the mace it exposes when it bursli 

 of a bright scarlet, making the tree one of the n 

 beautiful objects of tlje vegetable world. — Selei 



Snarling. — For a man to enjoy himself, he r; 

 take the world as it is, mxiad up with a thous 

 shades and a thousand spots of sunshine — a cl 

 here and there — a bright sky — a storm today, 

 a calm tomorrow — the chill, piercing winds of 

 tumn, and the bland, reviving breath of sumi 

 He should realize, too, that he is surroiindet 

 individuals of different dispositions and characi 

 and take the mass as tttey are, not as he fan 

 they ought to he. He should look up to heave 

 gratitude for what he enjoys, and not censure 

 for what he has not granted. Then he will ci 

 fretting and snarling, and not before. If thei 

 one character on this earth who deserves the 

 pellation of fool more than another, it must be 

 person who continually frets and snarls, and n 

 knows a moment's peace, while surrounded 

 every thing to please and instruct. — Selected. 



American Carriages. — Lord Ashburton is n 

 pleased with his Philadelphia wagon and liari 

 Another English gentleman followed hie exan 

 and has recently received a wagon and har 

 from the same city. The Philadelphia Enqi 

 says : " VV^e have been favored with an opport 

 ty of perusing the letter of the owner, written ^ 

 1, shortly after the receipt of the articles. He 

 presses himself in terms of admiiation of the h 

 manship of the wagon, and above all, of the 1 

 ness. The coach-maker he says, to whom he I 

 them from the custom-house, was in admiratic 

 the iron work particularly of the carriage; anc 

 harness-maker, who came to see the harness 

 dared it the most finished production he had 

 examined. The writer said in England the cc 

 such work would be enormous. The letter 

 ceeds to state that the wagon is wonderfully 

 and easy, and that the writer is delighted will. 



