438 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Sept. 



EXTRACTS AND BEPHES. 

 THE BUR-MARIGOLD. 



Will the editor please inform me what is the 

 name of the enclosed "posy," and oblige a North 

 Ferrisbure:h SUBSCRIBER. 



Aug., f862. 



Remarks. — The plant enclosed is a common 

 one in Massachusetts, and we believe is the Bia-- 

 Marigold. It grows on a long, slender stem, and 

 bears a yellow flower, having four or five leaves. 



TRANSMISSION OF PROPERTIES. 



I wish to call your attention to a piece I find in 

 the Vermont Chronicle of May 27, 1862, headed, 

 "Transmission of Properties, Diseases, &c." 1 

 would like to see your comments upon it, and its 

 application, not only to the human family, but to 

 the breeding of sheep and other kinds of stock. 

 There are a few thoughts upon my mind that I 

 might like to present at some future time. 



Sharon, VL, Aug., 1862. A. S. Phelps. 



Remarks. — Send the article along, and your 

 own thoughts, and we will consider them. 



A GOOD wash for OUTSIDE BUILDINGS. 



Thinking some of your readers may like a good 

 receipt for a wash for buildings or fences, I will 

 give you one which I have used for ten or twelve 

 yeai-s. It is almost equal to paint. 



Take half a bushel of lime and slake it with 

 boiling water ; then add one peck of salt and two 

 pounds of glue dissolved in warm water. Add eight 

 pounds of dry, yellow paint, and two large papers 

 of lamp black, mixed to a paste with alcohol. This 

 makes a beautiful slate color. The color can be 

 varied bj'' adding more or less black to suit the 

 taste. F. E. Bigelov^t. 



Concord, Mass., Aug., 1862. 



MORTAB FOR BUILDING. 



In common practice, the cohesion of mortar is 

 greatly impaired by using too large a portion of 

 sand ; it should never exceed two parts by meas- 

 ure to one of lime paste. A cask of lime weigh- 

 ing 280 lbs., made into eight cubic feet of lime 

 paste, should be mixed with sixteen bushels of 

 damp sand. The notion used to be generally en- 

 tertained that the longer lime was slaked before it 

 was used, the better would be the mortar made 

 of it. 



This, however, ds not the case with our common 

 fat lime and sand mortars. The sand should be 

 mixed with the slaked lime as soon as the latter 

 becomes cold, and no more water should be em- 

 ployed than will reduce the lime to a thick paste. 

 In preparing mortar, the unslaked lime should be 

 placed on boards and sheltered from the sun and 

 rain ; it should be open above and surrounded 

 with some sand. The water necessary to slake 

 lime should be poured upon it with any suitable 

 vessel, and care should be takan to stir the lime 

 so as to bring the water into contact with every 

 portion, when it may be left until all the vapor 

 has passed off. 



The sand may now be incorporated with the 

 lime by means of a hoe or shovel ; and, if neces- 



sary, a little water may be added to produce a 

 homogeneous, consistent paste, when it is ready 

 for use. Sand from the sea-shore should never 

 be employed for making mortar without being first 

 washed with fresh water, because the salt left in 

 such sand is liable to absorb moisture and prevent 

 the mortar becoming hard. 



In putting up walls of brick or stone, care 

 should be taken that the stones or bricks be mois- 

 tened before they come in contact with the mor- 

 tar. Every brick and stone should be laid in a 

 good bed of mortar, and should receive a blow to 

 fix it firmly. The bricks should not be laid mere- 

 ly as is the common custom, but forced down so 

 as to press the mortar into all the pores and crev- 

 ices. The superintendent of a building should 

 give his personal attention to the vertical joints in 

 the walls, as the masons frequently neglect to 

 fill them up with mortar. — Scientific American. 



YOUTH'S DEP/^RTMENT. 



THE DRY STREAM. 



"John," said Isaac, to his brother, "do you know 

 that the brook in the sheep pasture has dried up ?" 



"No ; I do not know any such thing." 



"It is dry." 



"I saw it running not an hour ago." 



"It was dry this morning. I was going to cross 

 over on the fence, but there was no water in the 

 bed of the stream above or below the fence. I 

 heard father say the brook never failed." 



"I know it has not failed." 



"That comes pretty near saying you don't be- 

 lieve what I say." 



The brothers went on disputing till they got 

 very angry. At first, one was sure that the other 

 was mistaken. "When they became angry, one 

 was sure that the other had asserted an untruth. 



Now, the fact was, that both had spoken the 

 truth. When the stream Avas low, there was a 

 gravel bank by the fence mentioned by Isaac, 

 through which the water percolated without ap- 

 pearing on the surface. John had seen the water 

 flowing as usual in its channel some twenty rods 

 below the fence. 



Men often dispute about things in I'egard to 

 which they really do not differ. They look at the 

 subject from different points of view. Before you 

 decide that a man is wrong because he differs from 

 you, see from what point he views the matter. — 

 S. S. Times. 



THE KANGAROO AND HIS PUPS. 



How many times, on my hunting excursions, 

 have I painfully witnessed the poor doe — when 

 hard pressed by the hounds — hastily pull from her 

 pouch the almost hairless and utterly helpless 

 little Joey (as its offspring is called,) and cast it, 

 whilst at full speed, into a tuft of high grass, or 

 clump of thick fern plants, as the last resource 

 whereby to save herself from the ruthless fangs of 

 her hungry pursuers. And hundreds of times 

 have I seen our magnamimous dogs spring over 

 the Joeys, as if such puny prey were unworthy of 

 their notice, and continue in hot pursuit of the 

 poor, panting mother, who, if so fortunate as to 

 outstrip the hounds, in one hour's time would in- 



