446 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Oct. 



State would be 375,000, which may be valued at 

 at $1,125,000. The best judges think that an in- 

 crease of one hundred per cent, might easily be 

 made, on an average, throughout the State, with 

 a reasonable degree of care and attention. If this 

 be tinie, the Commonwealth annually suffers a 

 loss of $1,125,000, at least, by neglect in this 

 single department. 



For the Neto BnglanJ Farmer. 

 HOW TO BUILD CISTEBKTS. 



In the Farmer of January 5, I noticed direc- 

 tions for excavating cisterns which appear very 

 absurd to me, as being 5X1^ ft. on top and ex- 

 cavated with a slope so as to be 9 in. wide on the 

 bottom and 4 ft. deep, it would hold very little 

 water for the amount of labor and material used. 

 The surfaces being flat, would be very easily 

 forced in by any accidental pressure from without, 

 whereas if they run on a circle it would be an 

 arch not likely to fail. Now I think there is on- 

 ly one right way to build a cistern, which is this : 

 IJraw a circle 10 ft. in diameter, and excavate 3 

 ft., then draw a circle 8 ft. in diameter and exca- 

 vate 8 or 10 ft., if the earth will stand up safe, 

 and plaster with two coats of good cement ; but 

 if it be loose gravel, dig one foot more or less, at 

 a time, and plaster as you go, with quite soft 

 mortar, and at times it may be necessary to hold 

 it on a moment until it sets. When the sides are 

 completed, shove the top sloping inwards, and 

 lay a course of brick in cement, leaving a hole 

 wherever a conductor is to be inserted, then fol- 

 low with other courses drawing over rapidly so as 

 not to reach an elevation of more than 18 inches, 

 where the hole is in the centre, say 24 inches diam- 

 ter, plastering the outside, and treading the earth 

 in firmly around the base of the arch as you go, to 

 prevent it spreading. Build a square chimney (a 

 little larger than the hole in the arch, so that a 

 lid can be dropped in loosely, or it will swell so 

 that it cannot be got out,) to the top of the 

 ground, and finish with frame and trap-door in 

 the middle for dirt to settle in* and lay a flat 

 stone. Smooth the bottom, with a sink where the 

 pump pipe goes, and plaster with a good thick 

 coat of cement, about the consistency of thick 

 whitewash, and it is done, probably, for all time. 

 The waste pipe should lead into a "hole in the 

 ground" filled wi h loose stone, as if it goes out 

 on the surface bugs and toads will crawl in- 

 to the cistern, and the air will circulate through 

 and freeze in winter. The water in a cistern of 

 this description is as sweet and cold as the best 

 well water, unless impregnated by new shingles. 



Quechee, Aug., 1861. 



* Being all the filter that is of any practical use. 



McDougall's Disinfecting Powder. — This 

 is an English preparation, and of wonderful effi- 

 cacy in the various places where we have used it. 

 In the sick chamber, in hospitals, in the army 

 and navy, dissecting room, and all similar places, 

 it must prove of great value. The only agency 

 that we know of is that of James R. Nichols & 

 Co., 12 Kilby St., Boston. 



THE "WEEDEB. 



"77i? terrant earnestly clesireth the shadotc." — Job. 

 "The morn is past, and yet the weeds are thick, 



And the fierce August suq pours on me burningly. 

 O God 1" she said, "send, send that shadow quick. 



Which I desire so yearningly. 



"For me the heat and burden of the day, 

 And a stern master who doth show no lenity ; 



For him rich pleasnre-lands stretch far away, 

 With groves of cool serenity. 



"Above his meadows, into golden air, 

 The rounded knoll uplifts its green protuberance, 



The ripening harvests wave and toss their hair, 

 In golden tressed exuberance. 



"There are cool woodlands, in whose dusk arcades 

 The very noonday seems of twilight emulous > 



Ko heat wins there, but, in the silent glades. 

 The silent dews hang tremulous. 



"There the tall tulip crests the glorious scene. 

 The stately monarch of those sylvan palaces ; 



And its strong arms, like priests in ferial green. 

 Lift up their golden chalices. 



"Through the thick leaves the tempered sunbeams sift. 

 And pleasant shades are o'er the sward distributed: 



There worms may crawl ; there thistle-down may drift j 

 And I — I am prohibited. 



"I faint with toil ; yet keep my faith to all, 

 Though none save God, regardeth me observantly. 



Father!" she cried, "when will that shadow faU, 

 For which I pine so ferveotly .'" 



Then came a shadow j but 'twas icy cold. 

 As of some swart, dread angel o'er her hovering} 



It wreathed around her with voluminous fold. 

 And wrapped her in its covering. 



Chill though it was, she hailed it with a smile ; 



And, worn by years and grief and long infirmity, 

 Lay down beneath it, slept a little while. 



And wakened in eternity. Putnam's Montldif. 



WTLD BEE-HUNTrNQ IN AUSTBALIA. 

 I am indebted to my brother, who has been a 

 resident for twenty years in various parts of Aus- 

 tralia, for the following account of the mode em- 

 ployed by the aborigines in obtaining the wild 

 honey of the stingless bees that are found in some 

 parts of the interior of that continent. These 

 bees, which are about the size of our common 

 house-flies, build their combs (composed of glob- 

 ular cells) in the hollow of trees. The black, 

 who is desirous of obtaining the honey, betakes 

 himself to the side of some water-course, having 

 provided himself with a slender stick. He has 

 also a little piece of fine down, picked ofi" the 

 leaves of a common plant, which he has previ- 

 ously twisted into a point at one end, and dipped 

 into the sticky juice obtained by breaking the 

 stem of another weed. Thus armed, he fills his 

 mouth with water, and when he sees a bee alight 

 on the margin of a pool to drink he discharges 

 the mouthful of water over it in a fine shower, 

 and thus by wetting the wings of the bee pre- 

 vents its flight. He then allows it to crawl upon 

 the stick, and when the wings are nearly dry, and 

 the bee is preparing to fly away, he attaches the 

 pointed end of the light tuft of down to the back 

 of the insect, by means of the sticky point. This 

 by impeding the rapidity of its flight, and by ren- 

 dering it more conspicuous, enables the savage 

 to pursue it to the hollow tree containing the 



