No. 5. 



AND GARDENER'S JOURNAL. 



77 



Victoria rrgalis. 



Dr. Robert Sckomburgh, a German naturalist, tra- 

 velling on account of the Royal Geographical Society, 

 and patronized by the English Government, — has dis- 

 covered in British Guiana, a plant, * so different from 

 nil others that are known, and eo magnificent, as to 

 savor strongly of the rosrv^Uous. He has furnished 

 the following account !— 



"It was on the first day of January [1839] while 

 contending with the difficulties nature opposed to our 

 progress up the River Berbicc, that we arrived at a 

 point whore the river expanded, and formed a current- 

 less basin, — some object on the southern extremity ot 

 this basin, attracted my attention. It was imposfeible 

 to form any idea what it could be; and animating the 

 crew to increase the rate of their paddling, shortly af- 

 terwards we were opposite the object which had raised 

 ray curiosity. A vegetable wonder ! — all calamities 

 were forgotten — I felt as a Botanist, and felt myscll 

 rewarded. A gigantic leaf, from live to six feet in 

 diairieter, salver-shaped, with a broad rim of a light 

 green above, and a vivid crimson below, resting upon 

 the water. Quite in character with Ihe wonderful 

 leaf, war the aliernate tints, from pure white to rose 

 and pink. Thesmooth water was covered with them, 

 and I rowed from one to the other, and observed al- 

 ways something new to admire. The leaf on its sur- 

 face is a bright green, in form almost obiculate. — 

 Around the whole margin extended a rim from three 

 to five inches high 1 on the inside, light green, like 

 the surface of the leaf: on the outside, like the leaf's 

 lower part, of a bright crimson." 



A colored engraving of it is copied into the (Lon- 

 don) Florticultural iSIagazine, and the editor gives this 

 additional information: — 



"The stem of the ilower is an inch thick near the 

 calyx, and studded with elastic pncklee. The calyx 

 is four leRved; each [leal] upwards of seven inches 

 in length, and three inches in breadth. The diame- 

 tei of the calyx is from twelve to twenty-three — on it 

 rests the magnificent flower. When it first opens, it 

 is white, with pink in the middle, which spreads over 

 the whole flower the more it advances in age, audit 

 is generally found the next day of a pink color. It 

 would appear that the higher this gentleman advanced 

 up the river, the more gigantic they became; and he 

 eays they measured a leaf which was six feet five inch- 

 es in diameter, its rim five and a half inches high, and 

 the flower fifteen inches across." 



It is said the Loddiges of Hackney have this most 

 extraordinary plant already in their collection. t 



* Named In honor of the British Queen. 



Geld Vine Pens, 



This name waa given to a small variety of field 

 Peas in Canada, which it was certified would not mil- 

 dew. A quantity of them were imported last spring, 

 and sold at the Rochester Seed Store, and we believe 

 Wc have not learned that any of them were injured 

 by mildew. In one or two instances they were sown 

 rather late in the season; and, in order to test them, 

 some common peas were sown by their side; the re- 

 sult was, the gold vine peas produced a good crop, 

 while the common were not worth harvesting. It is 

 certain, that they are a very good field Pea; and 

 those who wish to sow them can obtain imported 

 seed at the Rochester Seed Store. 



Chopping Hay. 



The foUowing-is a statement of Benjamin Hale, pro- 

 prietor of a line of stages running between Boston 

 and Newburyport. It is a correct statement of the 

 saving made by the use of Straw Cutters in preparing 

 the food for his horses. 



"The whole amount of hay pur- 

 chased from April 1, to Oct. 1, 



183G, (six months,) and used 



at the stage Etnble, was 

 At $25 per ton, (the lowest price 



at which hay was purchased in 



1816,) 



From Oct. ], 1816, to April 1. 



1617, whole amount of hay 



and straw purchased for, and 



consumed by the same number 



of horses, viz: 



T. cict. qrs. lbs. Cost. 

 Straw 11 13 3 10 $16U 22 

 Hoy 13 14 1 00 $350 00 



Tons cwt. qrs. lbs. 

 32 4 00 



$800 01 



Beet Sugar EJxperiment. 



A farmer from Genesse county, whose name we 

 have mislaid, gave us a verbal account of a small ex- 

 periment which he tried the past season, in making 

 sugar from beets. 



He took two barrels full (about 5 bushels) of yel- 

 low and white sugar beets to a cider mill, and ground 

 them, and pressed out of them a barrel of juice. This 

 he boiled down in the same manner as for maple sugar, 

 and it yielded twenty pounds of good sugar. A little 

 milk and the white of an egg was put into the syrup 

 to clarify it; but the sugar was of a dark color, and 

 evidently requires some other process to purify it. — 

 He is convinced that beet sugar can be made with pro- 

 fit by common farmers, without any other apparatus 

 than a common cider mill and press, and two kettles. 

 He intends to try a larger quantity this year, and 

 hopes to succeed in making a better quality of sugar. 



If any of our correspondents can inform him of the 

 proper manner for clarifying the sugar, it would be 

 esteemed a favor. 



S310 23 



Deduct on hand, April 1, 

 1817, by estimation, 

 four tons more than 

 there was Oct. 1,1816, 

 at $25 per ton, $100 00 



Saving by the uce of Straw Cut- 

 ter, four months of the last six 

 months, or the difference in 

 expense in feeding with cut 

 fodder and that which is uncut 



Whole amount of hay used for 

 the horses of the Salem stage, 

 twenty-five in number, from 

 April 1, to Oct. 1, 1816, viz: 



At thirty dollars per ton, (the 

 lowest price in Salem,) 



Whole amount consumed by the 

 same number of horses, from 

 Oct. 1, 1816, to April 1,1817, 

 T. act. qrs. lbs. Cost. 



Straw 15 13 $137 80 



Hay 2 15 $ 81 00 



$410 23 



389 77 



be immOdeft and ihfil all lady-like to be presumed to 

 know, whether the milk comes from the udder or th 

 horns. "The rosy milk-maid," the title of a song 

 wh'ch we remember to have heard vvlu n a boy, la an 

 animal not known in modern natural hiatory; and re 

 to a young lady with thick shoes, a checkered apron, 

 her sleeves turned up, and a handkerchief tied o'ver 

 her head, ihutigh the apron should be as clean and the 

 handkerchief as white- as snow, and never so pretly a 

 pair of black eyes and rudily cheeks peeping from un- 

 der it, it would be an idea too shocking for one of our 

 modern exquisites even to dream of; and if presented 

 to her abruptly, while looking iu the glaes, in her 

 mmtslin dc laines, with her satin shoes, her gilt hair 

 comb, her paste earings, and her insect waisi, as crook- 

 ed as the limb of a scrub oak, she would probably not 

 recover from the fright for a week. 



We say we have no hope of recovering the good old 

 habits of former days. Revolutions never go back. — 

 Yet in this respect we have lost a great deal. Men 

 are seldom neat enough in their habits to be trusted 

 with milking. They have not patience to wash their 

 hands or to wash the udder before milking. They are 

 not gentle, and often abuse the animal by their kicks 

 and tiiumps. They are in a hurry in the morning to 

 get through a business which they diiJike; and they 

 come home tired at night; the cows are unnecessarily 

 milked at on unseasonable hour: and the busineess is 

 very often badly performed. Women, on the other 

 hand, are more patient, more gentle; more neat; and 

 we were about to say — they ought to do the milking. 

 The morning air would be bracing to their muscles, 

 (if the modern girls have any muscles, for there be- 

 gins to be a reasonable doubt in this matter;) and the 

 odor of the cow has been long known to be, and is of 

 n recommended by physicians as medicinal But 

 we will not say what we were disposed to say, be- 

 cause it would be useless. It is utterly vain to attempt 

 a contest with fashion; for according to Franklin's 

 proverb, "he that spits ogainst the wind spits in his 

 own face." We must, however, be just: ond in ri- 

 ding through Dedham lost week at the close of the 

 day, it was quite refreshing to see in at least four cow 

 yards, woman in her appropriate sphere; and by her 

 pleasant looks and gentle conduct as the sat at the 

 sidr of the bountiful cow, evincing her gratitude to 

 Providence for the riches, of all the benefactors which 

 Heaven has given to man in the form of a quadruped. 

 — N. E. Fanner. 



Caking of the Bag, or Udder. 



In newly calved cows, the udder sometimes hardens 

 or cokes, (as it is called,) and a remedy should be ap- 

 plied without delay. One of my cows, in this con- 

 dition, was lately treated with soft soup, externally 

 BppUed in the evening, and the next morning she was 

 well. I have beard no complaint of her since. 



A FARMER. 



Saving in using chopped fodder 

 five months 



Total saving in using the Straw 

 cutter nine months, viz: at 

 Newburyport, four months. 



At Salem, five months, 



Tons. cwt. qrs. lbs. 

 22j 



$660 00 



268 80 

 391 20 



389 77 

 391 20 



Total, . 



$780 97 



To Preser\e Fence Posts, &c. 



It is often the case where lime is used for plastering 

 and other purposes, the sittings and refuse are thrown 

 away as useless. But it is fjetter economy to put it 

 around fence and gate posts, as it will greatly preserve 

 them from decay. Leached ashes are very good for 

 the same purpose If slacked lime or leached ashes 

 were sprinkled over the wooden pavements in our 

 cities when first pui down, it would render them much 

 more durable than when sand or gravel alone i8Ui=ed. 



S. S. 



Hole long irill sheep live buried in snow ? — We are 

 informed by Mr. Perhani, of Athens, that during the 

 late snow storm two of his sheep were buried beneath 

 a drift near the barn, and remained in that situation 

 nine days and ten nights. They were missed at the 

 expiration of the tenth day, and found by accident, 

 some of the cattle having trovelled over the drift, and 

 by stamping, mode a breach in the snow bank, by 

 which the animals were discovered.— One of t'uem, on 

 being released, immediately went into the yard, and 

 commenced eating, as though nothing had happened 

 — the other was a little dumpish, and did not so readi 

 ly realize the value of liberty. — Bellows' Falls Gaz. 



Weight of Snow. — It has been demonstrated in 

 Baltimore that a cubic font of snow well saturated 

 with water, will weieh 3l)J pounds — and that there 

 was at one time [22d of December] on one of the 

 large churches in that city, fifty-fivt tons of snow, 

 the depth being ten inches, computing it at only 16 

 lbs. to the cubic foot. People are not generally aware 

 of the danger of having buildings crushed with large 

 bodies of snow upon them. 



How many young ladies are there who would be 

 mortified to the last degree if a frill or a collar, or oth- 

 er ports of their dress were misplaced, but who, on be- 

 ing detected in ignorance even in the history of their 

 own country, would own it without a blush ? 



Women jHilking. 



Thirty years ago it would have been almost as difH- 

 cult to find a man milking os to find a woman mowing, 

 excepting in cases of very large dairies. In this res- 

 pect matters are greatly changed: and any hope, for 

 iiught we see, of getting back to the old practice, 

 would be vain. Half of the young girls, now-a-days, 



fVUat will you hare ? — As a person once agreed to 

 produce the w'eather that might bo unanimously pro- 

 posed by the audier.ce, eo we agree to luriiieh tha 

 kind of reading which may be decided upon by a gen 

 eral convention of readers. In the mean lime, wo 

 shall continue to vibrate, as we have done, over a 

 field of variety, and thereby come in contact with the 

 favorable tastes of many. Reader — do not condemn 

 that paragraph which finds no I'avor in thine eyes; but 

 pass it over to him for whom it is prepared:-you must, 

 not monopolize. Ii requires sonie genius to read a 

 paper scientifically, as well os to make one. — .V. Y. 

 Svn. 



hardly know, at least they would pretend that it would ' iimes 



O* A Fathf.r wishes ANvFTTEWoul.i pive bis daughtera 

 some hints on Industry and Economy, during these tiord 



