1861. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



107 



small end was set green, and lasted but four sea- 

 sons, while some of the others that had been sea- 

 soned, lasted seven and eight years. Although the 

 buts of the fourth set had been seasoned, yet we 

 see they lasted but four years, or about one-half 

 as long' as the small ends of some of the others. 



These results, I am aware, are contrary to the 

 opinion of many writers, and the practice of many 

 farmers. But there they are, and if of any value 

 to the readers of the Farmer, they are welcome 

 to them. Mr. Todd, the author of the "Young 

 Farmer's Manual," contends there is no ground 

 for the opinion that a post will last longer when 

 placed in a reversed position from that in which 

 it grew. (See his article in Country Gentleman 

 for 1S58, page 323.) 



He recommends a mixture of equal parts_ of 

 coal, tar and pitch, applied hot, to posts, as being 

 far more effectual in rendering them durable than 

 any kyanizing that has yet come to light. How- 

 ever this may be, it will not be amiss for those 

 who set posts to give his recommendation a fair 

 trial. I am in want of information on this sub- 

 ject. Will some of the readers of the Farmer 

 let us have facts bearing on this point. 



Rochester, Jan. 16, 1861. R. o. 



Remarks. — These are such facts as farmers 

 need. Brethren, let your light shine. 



THS KINDLING "WOOD BUSINESS. 

 It may, to some, seem like a small matter to 

 hunt up the statistics of the amount of kindling 

 wood required by the community, but the busi- 

 ness of supplying the kindlings for a city like 

 New York or Boston is of no small importance. 

 We have not at hand the means of ascertaining 

 its extent in this city, but from observation know 

 it to be large. The New York Commercial Ad- 

 vertiser, which, for some time past, has been pub- 

 lishing highly interesting statistics of the various 

 trades and kinds of business in that city, gives 

 the following account of the traffic in kindling 

 v.'ood : 



It is about five years since this ti'ade became a 

 distinct business, and the peripatetic vender of 

 fat pine found himself and basket laid upon the 

 shelf by the energetic wood-cartraan. The trade 

 has now assumed an importance commensurate 

 with the growth of the city ; employing the ener- 

 gies of fifteen large establishments, and an ex- 

 tensi^'e moneyed and real estate capital. The 

 Nestor of the trade is Daniel Nash, whose firm, 

 the Accomac Wood and Kindling Company, em- 

 ploy a capital of nearly a hundred thousand dol- 

 lars. Their building occupies the block on Elev- 

 enth Avenue, Twenty-seventh and Twenty-eighth 

 Streets, where their wood is stored and prepared 

 for use. They draw their supplies entirely from 

 their estate of ten thousand acres of timbered 

 lands in Accomac County, Va., employing their 

 own vessels, and a force of about two hundred 

 men in cutting, transporting, and distributing the 

 wood to their customers. The other firms get 

 their supplies from wood dealers. Two hundred 

 thousand cords of wood are annually brought to 



the New York market, of which fifty thousand 

 cords are used by kindling wood companies. In 

 the transportation of this material about a hun- 

 dred schooners are employed. The number has 

 fallen off somewhat lately through a contraction 

 of the business. Of the immense supply of pine 

 wood. New Jersey furnishes one-eighth, and Vir- 

 ginia the remainder. The supplies from the lat- 

 ter State are drawn principally from the timber 

 lands along the James, York and Rappahannock 

 rivers, and from Accomac County, on the penin- 

 sula which lies between the Chesapeake Bay and 

 the Atlantic. Mr. James Allen, who is one of 

 the largest real estate owners on the James Riv- 

 er, has a railroad fifteen miles long on his own 

 land, for the transportation of timber. From his 

 docks the kindling wood dealers obtain a large 

 part of their Virginia pine. The supply of kin- 

 dling material is rapidly falling off at the accus- 

 tomed sources, and new tracts will soon have to 

 be opened, probably on the rivers of North and 

 South Carolina and Georgia. New Jersey fur- 

 nishes a far less amount each succeeding year, 

 and the supply from Virginia is not in keeping 

 with the demand ; although the Virginia pine has 

 a very rapid growth, shooting up from the brush 

 to a size large enough for firewood in ten years. 



The pine for kindling is brought to the estab- 

 lishments in this city in the form of cord wood, 

 being afterward divided into proper lengths by 

 circular saws, and split by a cross-formed ax, act- 

 ing by machinery. It is then bundled by hand, 

 boys being generally employed in this work, usu- 

 ally at wages that yield them a fair compensation 

 for their labor. Finally, the great life of our city 

 is put in motion every morning by these little 

 bundles of pine wood that the kindling-man 

 brings to our doors ; and New York without her 

 wood would be in almost as bad a condition as 

 New York without her water. 



In this city, a very common way of selling the 

 pitch pine kindlings is by the barrel, the retail 

 price of which quantity is about 62 cents. 



Air in a Crowded Room. — The condensed 

 air of a crowded room gives a deposit, which, if 

 allowed to remain a few days, forms a solid, thick, 

 glutinous mass, having a strong odor of animal 

 matter. If examined by a microscope, it is seen 

 to undergo a remarkable change. First of all, it 

 is converted into a vegetable growth, and this is 

 followed by the production of multitudes of ani- 

 malculaj ; a decisive proof that it must contain 

 organic matter, otherwise it could not nourish or- 

 ganic beings. — Scientific American. 



Worcester North Transactions. — Address 

 by Dr. George B. Loring, upon the actual husi- 

 7iess of farming — crops, cattle, manures, drain- 

 age, soils. Sec, and a good one it is. Among the 

 reports there is one on fruits and flowers, and 

 one on gardens. 



Thanks. — Thanks to our young lady corres- 

 pondent, "L. H. J.," from the Granite State. Do 

 not be discouraged if you do not see all your ar- 

 ticles in print. Good writing comes by practice, 

 as well as good dancing, or any thing else. 



