1860. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



477 



pass it for this use ; and we are surprised that it 

 has not found its way into general consumption. 

 — Working Farmer. 



Fur the New England Farmer. 

 A VALUABLE TABLE. 



I notice in the Farmer of July 26 an article 

 under the above caption, which would be valuable 

 if it was correct ; but I find so much discrepancy 

 in it that I am constrained to write. 



When I was a boy I learned from Adams' old 

 arithmetic that 268.8 cubic inches make a gallon 

 dry measure, and on that supposition, the first 

 box 24 by 16 by 28 inches, said to contain five 

 bushels or one barrel, is correct if you call 40 

 gallons a barrel ; but that is not the way we reck- 

 on barrels here. No matter — it is the boxes we 

 are after now ; all correct so far. 



But the second box, said to contain half as 

 much as the first, is of the same length and 

 breadth and should be 14 inches deep instead of 

 12 inches. 



The third box, 26 by 15.8 by 8 inches, said to 

 contain 1 bushel, does contain over a bushel and 

 a half. 



The fourth box, 12 by 11.2 by 8 inches, said to 

 contain 1 peck, does contain just half a bushel. 



The fifth box, 8 by 8 by 4.2 inches, said to 

 contain a gallon, is correct. 



The sixth box, 4 by 8 by 4.8 inches, said to 

 contain a half gallon, is 19.2 cubic inches too 

 large. 



The seventh box, 4 by 4 by 4.1, said to contain 

 a quart, is 1.6 cubic inches too small. 



Now I have my hand in, if you have room to 

 spare, I should like to give a simple rule to ascer- 

 tain the correctness of grain measures in the form 

 commonly used for half-bushels, j^ecks, &c., that 

 is, the round or circular form. 



First, to find the area of any circle, multiply 

 the square of its diameter by .7854, that is the 

 decimal form of 7854-10,000, and the product 

 will be the answer. And now for the half bushel. 



Measure the diameter carefully in inches and 

 fractions of an inch, (a carpenter's square will an- 

 swer all practical purposes, but the Gunter's 

 scale is better, because it gives the fractions in 

 decimal form) then multiply its square by .7854 

 as directed above, and you have the number of 

 square inches checked right out on the half bush- 

 el bottom, by which divide the number of cubic 

 inches in half a bushel, and the quotient will be 

 the required depth in inches and fractions of an 

 inch. Now measure perpendicularly, and if not 

 correct, cut down the top or move the bottom 

 outward or inward. H. Briggs. 



Fairhaven, VL, Aug., 1860. 



Lichens. — And as the earth's first mercy, so 

 they are its last gift to it. When all other ser- 

 vice is vain, from plant and tree, the soft mosses 

 and gray lichen take up their watch by the head- 

 stone. The woods, the blossoms, the gift-bearing 

 grasses have done their parts for a time, but these 

 do service forever. Trees for the builder's yards, 

 flowers for the bride's chamber, corn for the gra- 

 nary, moss for the grave. Yet as in one sense 

 the humblest, in another they are the most hon- 



ored of the earth-children. Unfading, as motion- 

 less, the worm frets them not, and the autumn 

 wastes not. Strong in lowliness, they neither 

 blanch in heat nor pine in frost. To them, slow- 

 fingered, constant-hearted, is intrusted the weav- 

 ing of the dark, eternal tapestries of the hills ; 

 to them, slow-penciled, iris-dyed, the tender fram- 

 ing of their endless imagery. Sharing the still- 

 ness of the unimpassioned rock, they share also 

 its endurance ; and while the winds of departed 

 spring scatter the white hawthorn blossoms like 

 drifted snow, and summer dims on the parched 

 meadow the drooping of its cowslip gold, — far 

 above among the mountains the silver lichen-spots 

 rest, star-like, on the stone ; and the gathering 

 orange-stain upon the edge of yonder western 

 peak, reflects the sunset of a thousand years. — 

 BusJdti. 



For the New England Farmer. 

 NATURAL SCIENCE— PROGRESS. 



Mr. Editor : — I am the hearty advocate of 

 science among farmers, especially the natural sci- 

 ences in the field of which the farmer's labors are 

 continually going on. Thirty years ago, however, 

 it would have been next to an impossibility for a 

 young farmer to acquire much knowledge, even 

 of the most common and simple of these sciences. 

 They were, then, in comparative infancy, and were 

 so mystified with jaw-breaking technicalities, that 

 the first view made them repulsive, especially to 

 the young. 



But investigation has brought many new things 

 to light, and being seen, their beauty, loveliness 

 and general utility are developed. The minds of 

 learned men are becoming more expansive, so 

 that what they see and admire they deem fit ob- 

 jects of sight and admiration of others. The bot- 

 anist and geologist are bringing those sciences, 

 not only to a general focus, but are adapting them 

 to the capacities of the very young. So, too, with 

 writers on the subjects of animal creation ; and by 

 making us acquainted with the nature and habits 

 of the birds and beasts that surround us, they 

 teach us that these, too, are not the enemies, but 

 the friends of man. 



I rejoice, most heartily rejoice, in this day of 

 progress in these things. It augurs a good time 

 coming for the general intelligence among men, 

 in the things that surround them, and in which 

 their labors and successes are intimately connec- 

 ted. 



It has been urged as an objection to the intro- 

 duction of these sciences into families and com- 

 mon schools, that no books were prepared, adapt- 

 ed to the capacities of such learners. This vain 

 plea is happily yielding to some stubborn facts in' 

 the case. Gray's "How Plants Grow" is admi- 

 rably adapted to the juveniles, and at the same 

 time instructive to the advanced capacity. Hitch- 

 cock's "Elementary Geology" is a work with which 

 any one can become familiar who is disposed to 

 do so, and what is equally good, Messrs. Harper, 

 of New York, have just "brought out a highly il- 

 lustrated work, prepared expressly for the young, 

 by Dr. Hooker, of New Haven, on the "Natural 

 History of Animals," which we heartily commend 

 to the consideration of loving parents, accom- 

 plished teachers and all good boys and girls, both 

 little and big, who wish to make their minds big- 



