No. 5. 



AND GARDENER'S JOURNAL. 



79 



4lh, cbnp. 60, the duly on foreign wheat is as I'ollowe, 

 viz., when the average price of wheat io at and 

 above" — 



' On barley and Indian corn, if the average price ie 

 '' 31s. and under 3Js., the duty is 12s. 41 per imperial 

 J quarter, and for every Is. per qr. that it advances, the 

 I,, iuty is decreased Is. Od., until it reaches 4l8. per qr., 

 It which price and upwards, no more than Is. per qr. 

 ^' 8 levied; and the duty increases in like manner Is. 6d. 

 ■'■ 5er qr. as the price declines Is. or part of Is. under 

 ii. 339. per qr. 



(( On oats, if the average price is 258. and under 2Gs 

 ,11 )er qr., the duty is 9s. 3d. per qr., decreasing Is. 6d. 



lor qr. as the average price advances Is. until it reach- 

 \ a 31s., when at that price or more the duty is only 

 '•', .s. per qr., and in hUe manner it is increased Is. 6d. 

 ci .er qr. for every Is. or part of Is, per qr. the average 

 , I,, ecedes below 24s per qr. 

 .(3 For the convenience of those who do not readily 



nderstand quarters and sterling money, I have prepa- 



ed the following tables, exhibiting the rates of duty 

 la; er bushel in federal money, together with the duty 

 i,y n flour per bbl in federal money, so arranged that they 

 "' orrespond with the preceding table, and will be at 



nee understood. Thus when wheat is at and over — 



From an inspection of the above tables, it will be 

 !en that tho duty oa flour is 50 per cent. hisUer than 



on grain: consequently shippers generally send wlicnt 

 in bulk to Knglnnd, unless the price ia very high, 

 when the duty is eo small as to make the freiglilnge 

 more than counti-'balance the extra duties. At be^t, 

 however, it is buta hazardous business, and often at- 

 tended with ruinous loss to American exporters. The 

 extra duty on flour is no doubt intended as a .'sort of 

 protective tarill" to English flour manufacturers, and is 

 abundantly characteristic of English tact and statcs- 

 mnehip. I have no wish to make comments now; 

 the time is coming when this subject will be canvas- 

 sed in all its parts, and an atlmbiUiration elected that 

 will put forth all its powers to procure either a total re- 

 peal of these unjust laws, or such a mudiflcation of 

 them as will justify American merchants in seeking 

 the ports of Great Britain as an available market for 

 our increasing surplus of bread stufl's. 



J. 11. HEDLEY. 



Castor Oil Bean~Sutt Floiver See<l~Cottoii 

 Seed Oil. 



Messrs. Editors — You ask if the Castor Oil plant 

 will come to full maturity in otir climate. As the 

 (Ricinua communis) castor bean, is a tropical plant, it 

 is hardly probable that it will attain its greatest perfec- 

 tion in our climate. There are many tropical plants 

 which perfect their seed in our climate, without at- 

 taining the enlarged growth of the torrid zone. 



Half an acre of sun flower seed was planted in this 

 vicinity last season, with the intention of using the 

 crop for oil. The seed was planted on a strong muck 

 soil about the first of June; it grew very large, but 

 continued green until September. When harvested, 

 the fall rains had commenced, hence it was got in in 

 bad order. It was a little neglected, and the siied got 

 mouldy and spoiled. 



Had it been planted earlier so as to have been har- 

 vested and thrashed with our flax seed crop in August, 

 I think the success of the experiment would have been 

 complete. 



I was told by a white lead manufacturer of Pitts- 

 burg, that cotton seed oil, mi.ted with one-third spirits 

 turpentine, made the beet paint oil for inside work; it 

 being much lighter colored than linseed oil. Why 

 would it not answer equally as well for lamp oil, as 

 castor oil mixed in the same manner with spirits tur- 

 pentine ? SE.\ECA 



Waterloo, N. Y. 



Countervailing Duties. 



The efiisct calculated to be produced by countervail- 

 ing duties may be seen by the second resolution pas- 

 sed at the meeting of the American Chamber of 

 Commerce held in England on the 2d of March of this 

 year; in which a reduction of duties on the agricultu- 

 ral products of the United States, of flour, rice, tounc- 

 co, cotton, and oiher articles, is recommended, from 

 the anticipation that the tariff in the United Stiles 

 would otherwise be augmenied in the course ol this 

 year, on the manufnelures of Great Britnin: this an- 

 ticipation being founded, doubtle.'^s, upon the discus, 

 sions in the United States as to the suitableness of a 

 policy of countervailing duties, with the view of 

 bringing about a more liberal scale of duties on our 

 products in England. — Nut, Intel. A. Farmer. 



FesoUed, That this Chamber, being composed of 

 members deeply interested in furthering the commer- 

 cial relations between this countiy and the United 

 States of America, feel it incumbent on them to ex- 

 press their thorough conviction, that unless some im- 

 portant modification of the existing duties takes place 

 in respect to flour, rice, timber, tobacco, cotton, and 

 other articles, the growth of that country, changes in 

 the tarilTin the United States will be introduced, in 

 the coursof this year, hicjhly injurious to the Biitish 

 interests, and especially detrimental to its principal 

 manufactures. 



To Reuder wood Imperishable and lucombus- 

 tible. 



(fiktiier particclars.) 



We last month gave a somewhat detailed account o, 



the remarkable discoveries made by Dr. Boucberiefor 



preserving wood from decay and combustion. A late 



number o( the London Gardener's CUronicle contains 



the following additional information on this intponnnt 

 subject, extracted from a pamphlet publithed by Dr. 

 Boucherie. 



" It is obvious that to render a power of preserving 

 timber generally useful, it is necessary not only that 

 the substance to be employed and the means ol apply- 

 ing it sbiHikl be extremely cheap, but nleo tlini the for- 

 mer should be perleclly free from all unwholesome 

 qualities. Among the ninny substances that occurred 

 to Ur. Boucherie was the impure pyroligniie of iion, 

 manufactured abundantly from refuse iron for the uee 

 of dyers, which the lollowiiin (xperiment led him to 

 believe would be perleclly eflicacioiis. The soft fruit 

 of the melon did'ers from hard wood only in the 

 greater qiiantiliea of soiuble matter which it contninsj 

 rnd as the decay of wood has hern ascertained experi- 

 mentally to be caused principally by its soluble con- 

 tents, it appeared highly probable that whatever sub- 

 stance would preserve so perisb.able a vegetable sub- 

 stance as the melon, would a fortiori act with energy 

 upon timber. A melon then was divided into two 

 equal parts, one of which was immediately placed 

 upon a jilate, and the other was plunged for a few 

 hours into the pyrolignite, after which it was laid upon 

 a second jilale by the side of the first. As usual, the 

 unjireparcd half speedily became putrid; but the other 

 gradually became dried up, and at last acquired the 

 hardness of wood. Experiments upon saw-dust beet 

 root, carrots, and flour, having given the samt^result, 

 Dr. Boucherie proceeded to apply the pyroli;;nile to 

 wood. To gain this object completely was his next 

 inquiry. Mere immersion will pioduce only a super- 

 ficial eflfect and to force the pyrolignite into the tissue by 

 means of pressure is too expensive. It occurred to him 

 that the simplest, the most certain, and economical 

 method would be to take advantage of the vital 

 forces of a tree while in full vegetation, and to present 

 the pyrolignite to the lower extremity of th^' trunk, as 

 if it were food to be taken up into the circulation. Up- 

 on trial, this mode of impregnating the trunk was 

 found perfect; the pyrolignite rising rapidly through all 

 the permeable parts of the timber up to the extremities. 

 The method employed is simjile immersion of tho 

 lower end cut ofi", when small arms of trees are to be 

 operated upon; but when the weight of large timber 

 trees prevents their being so treated, without exp.cnsivo 

 tackle, the following contrivance has been adopted. — 

 At the ground line, a hole is boied, hoiizonially 

 through the trunk, so as to open a passage from s:de 

 to side; a coarse-toothed saw is then introduced into 

 the liolc, and worked right and leh horizoniolly, till 

 about an inch in thickness remains undivided on either 

 side; by which means nearly all the sap-vcsscls are cut 

 through, and the trunk remains supportefl by two op- 

 posite points. The wound is then carefully closed ex- 

 ternally with pitched cloth, except at one point, 

 through which a pipe passes from a reservoir contain- 

 ing the pyrolignite. A few days in the summer or 

 autumn are sufficient to eaturotc a large tree, for which 

 purpose pyrolignite to the amount of about one twen- 

 tieth of tlje weight of the green wood is required. 

 Timber thus impregnated becomes so ha:d and tough, 

 as to be very dillicult to work. 



Having thus ascertained the practicability of intro- 

 ducing substances into the interior of trees without 

 having recourse to any expensive juocess. Dr. Bouch- 

 erie turned his attention to the possibility of increasing 

 tlie elasticity of wood, and of diminishing its conibusti- 

 bility. He found that these most important results 

 could only be arrived at by the use of a deliquescent 

 salt. His experiments taught him that (he elasticity 

 of wood is generally in proportion to the quantity of 

 moisture it contains, and that those qualities are univer- 

 sally lost when perfect dryness is prOLiuced. Such 

 eases as appear to form an exception to this rule, are 

 either dependent upon some particulor structure of 

 wood, or upon the alkoline salts which it naturally 

 contains. IMiiriate of lime, an exceedingly cheap de- 

 liquescent salt, was employed with pcifect success: a 

 weak solution increases the elasticity and flexibility a 

 little; concentrated solutions render those qualities 

 excessive. Veneers of pine-wood prepared with a 

 concentrated solution of muriate of lime became so 

 pliable, that they could be twisted in any direction, or 

 bent into a perfect spiral, without giving way. It ap- 

 peals probable that the same preparation will render 

 wood durable; but in the absence of proof ol this, a 

 filth part of pyrolignite is added to ihe muriate. The 

 c-isting, splitting, and shrinking of wood, are all pre- 

 vented by the same means; and what is of much great- 

 er moment, its combustible qualit es are almost des- 

 troyed. Upon this most interesting subject we quote 

 the Words of Dr. Boucherie: — " As soon as J had_ 

 discovered that a certain amount of moisluie could ba' 



