No. 



AND GAUJ)1:N!:R'S jouknal 



75 



tlio rolling; of crops on Innii where ihere is no such 

 c'liisr exieling ? Tile " rot," piipulnrly so colled, is 

 oU. n foiinii 10 prevail on tree nnd lighi soils ns well ns 

 un Uiose of n more henvy lexturo, nnd indeed in siuin- 

 li'iid where there is no eubstniuim liir yards, nnd even 

 riijs helow llic surface. The farm which I cullivale 

 is .'I free sandy loam, and 30 open ihnt in order to ob- 

 t'liii water it is necessary to dig from eighty to ninety 

 I' I. i\o water can be obtained in the village short of 

 (f'li Jretnnce, but we have often had lollen luinipa in 

 ' uabiindance, even in this soil, ns well as on the 

 ' ^ of our eminences, where the soil is so light, 

 I I. Ill order to prevent the surface from being washed 

 away by heavy rains nnd showers we have found it 

 necessary to haul on clay nnd muck. If Mr. Kturges' 

 theory be correct, the tap-roots of our ruta bagns, like 

 those of the Ohif> parsnips, must bo " rather long." 

 Again — Sir. Siurges assures us that the grub never 

 attacks the turnips, unless when previously diseased. 

 But until he proves that the tap-root of the ruta baga 

 is capable of permenling a light sandy soil, or earth, to 

 the depth of SO or 90 feet from the surface, and of tip- 

 pling upon AxQ stagnant (?) waters of the earth's in- 

 terior, I shall reject the lattertUeory, ns no less unsat- 

 isfactory tlinn the first. H. D. W. 

 Wlnillmm, iMc , Ajiril 5, 1841. 



The article from the " Fnnners' Cnbinet," referred 

 to by our correspondent, was as far from being satis- 

 factory to us ns to him. But it was nn nttempt to 

 exhibit the cause of frequent losses of a crop which 

 ninny of our farmers wish to rnise. The attempt was 

 praise- worthy. The matter of rot in the ruta bagn is 

 B serious evil. If its cause can be ascertained, nnd 

 rules given by which the action of the cause can be 

 avoided, a great good will be conlerred upon our com- 

 munity. It will give us pleasure to receive informa- 

 tion, or even hints and conjectures, upon the subject, 

 from any of our readers. 



We have seen this rot where it was impossible that 

 superabundant moisture in the subsoil could produce 

 '.t: in one season it prevailed more among thnt pnrt of 

 the cro( which was sowed (nbout the first of June) up- 

 on unfcrniented dung, thnn upon ths pnrt manured 

 with a mixture of ground bones and ashes. And more 

 n each of these lots than in those sowed nbout the let 

 )f July. This was in 1.SH8; and the crop that year 

 ivas not.by any menns n failure. In 1839, we sowed 

 ipon fresh manure from the barn cellar, on the last 

 IVednesday of May. Land, n light loam— subsoil 

 Iry. This crop was very badly injured. We con- 

 ectured thnt the failure wos owing either to the envly 

 lowing, or the fresh state of the manure. In 1840, 

 ve sowed where the minure had been applied the pre- 

 jeding autumn, and the same evil wos experienced. 



The senson of sowing nnd the condition and nature 

 if manure or soil, it is not improbable, have influences 

 n increasing or diminishing this rot. But what the 

 iroper season for sowing is t what the safest soil and 

 ■ubsoil ? what the best kind of manure 1 what stage 

 >f decompo..*ition should the manure be in? — these 

 questions our experience nnd observations cannot nn- 

 ivrer We nre in the dark. And we put the question 

 listinctly to any man who can, or to any man who 

 'hihks he can, answer it — What is the cause of rot in 

 ■Hta baga ?— Ed. N. E. Far. 



Influence of Solar Eclipses on the Weather. 



Extract from ** Travels through the Western Coun- 

 try ill 1816," — (By David Thomas ) 



" On the day of our arrival in Pittsburgh, we had 

 leveral thunder showers from the west. The weather 

 hen became clear; and for three days we had brisk 

 ;olc8 from the north-west, of unusual severity for 

 ner. The surface of the rivers was rolled into 

 ;, and each night was attended by considerable 

 rost. Indeed, it still continues, (fi mo. 10.) 



"It is said here, (is in New York,) that the sea- 

 lOJis are much colder than formerly; and the conver- 

 intion always terminates, whenever the subject is in- 

 roduced, by a reference to the great eclipse of 1806. 

 \i this turn, I have always listened with diminished 

 -..■si;ect. 



" This populnr opinion took its rise, from some 

 ■ 1 weather, in the summer seosons of 180G ond 

 - '7. A retardment, in the nvernge progress of vege- 

 -T.inu, for a few dnys wos deemed cause sufKcient 

 j ova^ok nil terrestrial ngents for the nbsorption of 

 lent, and to charge it directly to the moon. 



" Of the facility, with which errors not pnlpnble to 

 l.he aftn^es, may be propagated, we hnve long been a 

 »vare; but that men of understanding should adopt 

 liisnoiion, — which originated in the grossest ignor- 

 ince of the causes of eclipses,— is surprising. Such, 

 lowever, is the case, and to these I offer a few obser- 

 I'alions. 



" The same ehadowthnt nttends the moon, has 

 constantly projected its dark cone since the crenlion. 

 Within every term of n few ycnrs, its point hns 

 touched the earth; at least twice in every year; our 

 satellite has passed so nearly between us and the sun, 

 ns pnrlially to hide it; niid once in every month, it hns 

 revolved round the earth, nnd npproachcd os near to 

 us ns it did on the day of the great eclipse. These nre 

 facts that admit of no dispute; and the inference is 

 clear and consiHteiu, that, if eclipses nfleet the weather, 

 the seasons ought to be equalized by such nn equality 

 of causes. 



"Other views of this subject would justify the as- 

 sertion, that a solar eclipse has no effect whntever on 

 the atmosphere, except during its continuance. The 

 darkness is nothing but q transient shadow. No rea 

 son can be given why the moon, in passing between us 

 and the sun, should produce more extraordinnry ef- 

 fects than when the earth rolls between ns nnd that lu- 

 minnry. The Inttcr ease happens every twtnty-four 

 hours; and the chillness in clear weather is not only 

 much greater, but the duration of the darkness will 

 overage more thon three hundred times longer thnn 

 in other eclipses. 



" But every point of view, in which this belief can 

 be placed, shows its absurdity; and whether it be said 

 that a pernicious vapour c&cn[ied from the shade of the 

 moon, or that the atmosphere received a shock, the 

 supporters of this doctrine are equally discountenanced. 



"It will be proper to inquire, if the seasons have been 

 uuifornily colder since the year 1806 than before that 

 period 1 A correct answer to this question would 

 show that much fallacy aitcndi this popular opinion. 

 Pennsylvania has been subject to summer frosts since 

 its first settlement; not, indeed, very destructive, but 

 sufficient to show that cool weather was frequent. 

 The celebrated David Rittenuousk, who resided ma- 

 ny years in Norriton, twenty miles north-west o( 

 Pldladclpliia,, asserted, "that he had discovered frost 

 at that pince in every month of the year except July." 

 He died in 1796. 



"This was in times of old. In more modern days, 

 but before the eclipse, I remember a severe frost in 

 some parts of Cayuga, in the 6th month, 1800; and 

 a considerable fall of sncw happened ot Philadelphia 

 in the 5th month, 1803. Many of the citizens were 

 owokened in the morning, by the crashing of Lom- 

 bardy poplars, the branches of which were in full leaf, 

 and unable to support the load. 



"We will now notice some seasons, since the 

 eclipse, of a different character. The spring of 1808 

 opened so early, thnt flnx was sown near the Ca- 

 yuga Lake in the 3d month; ond on the first of the 

 4th month, young cattle we-e turned to pasture, be- 

 cause there was n sulTiciency of gross. The whole 

 summer was unusually pleasant, excepting some ex- 

 tremely hot days. Similar observations weremade in 

 the year 181 1, one of the most remarkoble which the 

 oldest settlers in this country remember. The spring 

 opened about the middle of the 3d month, without any 

 subsequent frost; nnd the autumn was so fine that its 

 mildness was ascribed to lite comet. 



*' It thus oppenrs, that the popular doctrine of eclip- 

 ses is inconsistent with reason and contradicted by 

 facts. 



" This reference, to which I object, however, com 

 ports well with certain operations of the human mind. 

 When two remarkcble occurrences in the sky and on 

 the earth, hnve happened near the snme period, the 

 ignorant of all ages, hnve been subject to believe that 

 one depended on the other. Ancient nstronemers nr- 

 rnnged the disasters of the times with their accounts 

 of comets nnd eclipses; nnd in our own day we have 

 hod three remarkable illustrations of this principle. 

 In Eastern Pennsylvania, 



the swift 



And perilous lightning, fioiii tlie anirry clouds, 

 were thought by some to be much increased, on the 

 introduction of plaster. To the north-east, the fre- 

 quency of cold winds, since the great eclipse has been 

 iihserreil beyond all former example; but in the south- 

 western part of the United States, leliere no greeit 

 eclipse appeared, some of the old inhabitants declare, 

 thot this change of seasons arrived with the Yankees, 

 from the north." 



Ripening Pears. 



Bcurre* Did, ns well as sonic other kinds, require 

 a peculiar mode of management after they are gaiher- 

 ed. Two thnt were beginning to turn black on the 

 skin, were put in a drainer near the fire, where they 

 lay for a week or two. When cut they were perfectly 

 melting nnd delioious. — Gardener's Chronich. 



To the Ladies. 



In our last number we promised to find both the 

 time and mode for ornaiuental gardening, — and we 

 shall find them both in one intelligent word — inclina- 

 tion. 



We know of one poor woman who lives in a log en 

 bin, does all her own work, takes care of four young 

 children and a boby, lor whote support she tokes in 

 woshing. Yet in front of her door you may see a 

 neatly tended border of flowers, — the seeds bought 

 withafewhnrd earned pence, nnd planted and wed 

 after the toils of day are over, or in a few stolen mo- 

 ments before her children nre up in the morning. We 

 remember too, another wash-woman, whose windows 

 were curtained on the outside with scarlet beans and 

 morning glories; and whose double balsams, mari- 

 golds, and sweet peas, often drew a look of admira- 

 tion towards her otherwise cheerless dwelling. So 

 ninch for instances among the very poor. Among 

 those to whom fortune has been favorable, we know 

 of one matron, who has reared a large family of chil- 

 dren, and whose hands of course were full of domes- 

 tic care, whose garden and grounds hove yet been tho 

 admiration and ornament of the neighborhood; nnd in 

 the wholesome spirit stirring exercise nltendant on tho 

 cultivnlion of plnnts ond shrubbery, she has found 

 both recreation nnd rest when wenried with fninily 

 enres. 



Surely there nre indtnnces enough to convince eve- 

 ry one thot inelinniion con supply both time ond mo- 

 ney. The beautihil productions of nature are so a- 

 bundont, that the poorest can afliird the cheap, yet 

 delightful ornament they afford; a dwelling unndorned 

 by their presence, con only be occounted for, by sup- 

 posing its fair inmates destitute of that love of linj 

 beautiful which is one of the most engaging traits in 

 woman. 



We know there are some that affect a distaste for 

 the more common flowers ond shrubbery, that any 

 body nnd every body con hove. " Could W'e offurd 

 to keep n green house," say ihey, " nnd to purchosc 

 plants renlly worth hnving, we might feel some inter- 

 est in the thing; but these every day nfloirs nre not 

 worth the raising." Such show thot they hove no 

 genuine love and appreciation of the beautiful crea- 

 tions of nature, but regard them merely ns matters for 

 ostcmotion and display. Let the fragrant myrtle, or 

 the splendid pomegranale, once become common flow- 

 ers, adorning the ojicu field and fringing every brook, 

 and they would henceforth lose every cborni in their 

 eyes; nnd the stu|iidest cabboge that ever vegetottd, 

 might become elegant by becoming so rare that only 

 the possessors of thousands could own it ! Those 

 who hove a genuine love of nature, must have 

 s-imething; if they cannot possess the costliest and 

 most elegant, they will have the cheap nnd the hum- 

 ble, and ore thankful that the Author of nature is no 

 aristocrat, but that he has shed grace ond beauty on 

 the more common of his works, far superior to that 

 which adorns tho rarer ones. 



AVe would that we could point our readers to the 

 gardens of some of our fcmole friends, where a very 

 beautiful show of flowers and ehiubbery has been 

 created with scarce an item of expense. 



Our friend Mrs. A. is an example — will you walk 

 with ns in her shrubbery n few moments? See that 

 noble rose geranium I — it was tho growth of a slip 

 sent to her in a boquet, nnd cultivated by herself till it 

 has reached its present size — those honej-suekles that 

 entwine tho porch, were at first smoll cuttings lfd;en 

 from the vines o! a Iricnd: but IMrs. A. nursed them 

 to thcirpresent growth — that white rose, whose snowy 

 blossoms cover one end of the house, was in the be- 

 ginning a small offset, from the garden of one of her 

 neighbors, but she has cultivated and tended it till it 

 has reoched its present maturity — thnt ornni^e tree per- 

 fuming the ojr wi;h its blossoms, fbe raised from the 

 seed and innoculoted with her own hands, nnd so with 

 many others of her choice thrubbery — in like mnn- 

 ner the cape myrtles, the oleanders, the dahlias; thise 

 splendid oruoments hove been sources of very little 

 expense. Mrs. A. does not garden by proxy. After 

 the gardener hns once arranged the borders in tho 

 spring, the planting nnd watering nnd nursing ond 

 transplanting is mostly done by herself; and early ev- 

 ery morning you may see her in her cottnge bonnet 

 nnd gnrdening gloves, busy nmong her shrubbery; nnd 

 if you will nsk her, she will tell you that she gains 

 health and vigor daily by the exercise. 



If any of my renders are half persuaded to under- 

 take a like course, we will next month give a few 

 hints as to the laying out and arranging of a garden, 

 nnd the selection of plants for persons in moderate cir- 

 cumstances. — Western l\irmtr and Gardertr, 



