132 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



May 



■h 



on a bit of wood a little larger than a lead pencil, 

 is required, and this roll can be carried in a pock- 

 et for warmth or suspended from a button. Only 

 u single spiral wrapi)ing should be given, and it 

 will then unwrap itself withnut attention as growth 

 progresses, and without checking or choking it. — 

 W. G. Waking, in Country G'eufleman. 



■WHITEWASH OR LIME FOE, SHINGLES. 



Messrs. Editors : Like Elihu of old, I will 

 "shew mine opinion." In 1844, having occasion 

 to put up a blacksmith's shop, a building of all 

 others exposed to fire and destruction of shingles, 

 I took the precaution to prepare the sawed shin- 

 gles with which the roof and walls were covered, 

 in the following manner : 



Having a large trough, I put into it a bushel of 

 quicklime, half a bushel of refuse salt, and five or 

 six pounds of potash, adding water to slack the 

 lime and dissolve the vegetable alkali and the 

 salt, — well knowing that pieces of an old lime pit, 

 a soap barrel, or a pork tub were not the best 

 kindling stuff, and having long since learned, 

 while at the Vineyard Sound, that hot salt ivater 

 whitewash would endure far longer than that 

 made with fresh water, — absorbing moisture, 

 striking into the wood and not peeling and wash- 

 ing off. I set the bundles of the shingles nearly 

 to the bands, in the wash for two or more hours ; 

 then turned them end for end. 



When laid on the roof and walls, they were 

 bi'ushed over twice with the liquid, and were 

 brushed over at intervals of two or three years 

 after. At the expiration of 11 years, (seven for- 

 ges having been used,) a shingle had not been 

 burnt, nor had a nail started. The shingles had 

 become anii-phlogistic, and the acid from the coal 

 and the atmosphere had been neutralized by the 

 alkalies, so the nails remained entire. The shin- 

 gles now appear about as sound as new. The 

 whitened and hardened shingles in the wake of 

 the chimney on any old house, so abundantly 

 confirm this theory and support the practice, that 

 he who runs or rides, may read, and go and do 

 likewise. — John Mears, in Boston Cnltivutor. 



RESPECT THE BARTH-'WOBM. 



Farmers are generally aware that the earth- 

 worm luxuriates in a rich soil, but they are not 

 disposed to give him any credit for contributing 

 to its fertility. But the Creator is wiser than they, 

 and He gives the farmer efficient helpers under 

 ground, who do Him good service, without pay 

 in money or even in thanks. One of the foreign 

 quarterlies gives an account of the labor done by 

 this busy engineer : 



The ground is almost alive with the common 

 earth-worm. Wherever mold is turned up, there 

 these sappers and miners are turned up with it ; 

 they are, indeed, nature's plowmen ; they bore 

 the stubborn soil in every direction, and render it 

 pervious to air, rain and the fibres of plants. 

 Without these auxiliaries, "the former," says Gil- 

 bert White, "would find that his land would be- 

 come cold, hard-bound and sterile." The green 

 mantle of vegetation which covers the earth is 

 dependent upon the worms which burrow in the 

 bowels of it. What conveys a more definite idea 

 of the magnitude of their operations, jhey are 

 perpetually replenishing the upper soil and cover- 

 ing with soft and fine material, a crust which be- 



fore was close and ungenial. They swallow a 

 quantity of earth with thtir food, and having ex- 

 tracted the nutriment, they eject the remainder at 

 the outlet of their holes. Ttiis refuse forms the 

 worm-casts, which are the annoyance of the gar- 

 dener, who might be reconciled to them if he was 

 aware that the depositors save him a hundred 

 times more labor than they cause. Mr. Charles 

 Darwin has shown that in thirteen years a field 

 of pasture was covered to a depth of three inches 

 and a half with the mold discharged from their 

 intestines ; and in another case, the layer that 

 they had accumulated in eighty years was from 

 twelve to fourteen inches thick. They therefore 

 play a most important part in the economy of 

 vegetation, and we see why they teem throughout 

 the surface of the globe. 



LIQUID GRAFTING "WAX. 



Mt.' L'Homme-Lefort (or, as others spell the 

 name, Lhomme-Lefort) invented, not many years 

 ago, a grafting composition, which, when general- 

 ly known, will no doubt supercede all others now 

 in use, either for grafting purposes or for cover- 

 ing wounds of trees. It is very cheap, very easi- 

 ly prepared, and keeps, corked up in a bottle 

 with a tolerable wide mouth, at least six months 

 unaltered. It is laid on in as thin a coat as 

 possible, by means of a flat piece of wood. With- 

 in a few days it will be as hard as a stone. In 

 addition to all the advantages indicated above, it 

 is not in the least afl'ected by the severe cold of 

 our winters ; it never softens or cracks when ex- 

 posed to atmoshperic action or changes. A sin- 

 gle instance which came under my own observa- 

 tion, will suffice to show this clearly. In April 

 last the bark of a double-flowering peach tree had 

 been destroyed by some goats, several days be- 

 fore I noticed the mischief. There was hardly a 

 place as far up as the goats had been able to 

 reach, where any bark was left ; the few remain- 

 ing particles were in no connection whatever ; the 

 wounds were rough, and had already turned 

 bj;own by an exposure long continued. Although 

 I despaired of the possibility of saving the tree, 

 yet I determined to try it by an application of the 

 grafting wax of L'Homme-Lefort, which I had 

 just purchased for the first time. 



The result was surprising. The tree is as vig- 

 orous as ever, the wounds having healed over 

 under the cover of tiie hardened grafting wax, 

 which, after a lapse of so many months, slicks as 

 firmly to the tree as if laid on a few days ago. v 



As long as the inventor kept the preparation 

 secret, it was sold at very high prices. Even now, 

 it is unknown to many ; I feel induced, therefore, 

 to give the recipe, as follows : 



Melt one pound of common rosin over a gentle 

 fire. Add to it an ounce of beef tallow, and stir 

 it well. Take it from the fire, let it cool down a 

 little, and then mix with it a tablespoonful of 

 spirits of turpentine, and after that about seven 

 ounces of very strong alcohol (95 per cent.) to be 

 had at any druggist's store. The alcohol cools it 

 down so rapidly that it will be necessary to put it 

 again on the fire, stirring it constantly. Still the 

 utmost care must be exercised to prevent the al- 

 cohol from getting inflamed. To avoid it the 

 best way is to remove the vessel from the fire 

 when the lump that may have been formed com- 

 mences melting again. This must be continued 



