AND CiAKDENER'S JOUKNAL. 



75 



rolling of crops on Innil where there is no such 

 use existing ? Tlio " to/," pnpulnrly so cnllcd, is 

 icn found to prevail on free nml light soils ns well ns 



1 those of n niorc henvy icxtnro, nml indeed in eiiun- 

 )n3 whore there is no subsirntuni lor yards, nnd even 

 ids helnw the surface. The fnrm which 1 cultivate 



n free sandy loam, nnd so open that in order to ob- 

 in water it is necessary to dig from eighty to ninety 

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

 at distance, but we have often had rotten tni nips in 

 ■cat abundance, even in ihis soil, as well as on the 

 opes of our eminences, where the soil is so light, 

 at in order to prevent the surface from being washed 

 vay by heavy rains and showers we have found it 

 cessary to haul on clay and muck. If Mr. Stnrges' 

 :C'>ry bo correct, the tap-roots of our rnta bagas, hUe 

 osc of the Ohio parsnips, must be " rather long." 

 gain — ^Ir. Sturges assures us that the grub never 

 lacks the turnips, unless when previously diseased, 

 ut until he proves that the tap-root of the rnta baga 

 capable of permeating a light sandy soil, or riirth, to 

 c depth of 8il or i)0 feet from the surface, and of tip- 

 np'nnheffi'ir'">>tl (■-'J waters of the earth's in- 

 riiir, I shall reject ilie loiter theory, as no less nnsat- 

 aet'irv than the liist. H. D. VV. 



Wiiiitham, Mc , April. 5, 1841. 

 The ariiclefrom the " Farmers' Cabinet," referred 

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

 ctory to ns as to him. But it was an attempt to 

 (hibit the cause of frequent losses of a crop which 

 inny of our formers wish to raise. The attempt wa.s 

 -oise-worihy. The matter ol rot in the rnta baga is 

 serious evil. If its cause can be ascertained, and 

 lies given by which the action of the cause can be 

 oidod, a great good will be conferred upon our com- 

 lunity. it will give ns pleasure to receive informa- 

 an, or even bints and conjectures, upon the subject, 

 oni any of our renders. 



We have seen ihis rot where it was impossible that 

 ipcrnbundant moisture in the subsoil could produce 

 in one season it prevailed more among that part of 

 le cro| which was sowed (about the first of June) up- 

 II unfermented dnng, than upon lbs part manured 

 itb B mixture of ground bones and ashes. And more 

 I each of these lots than in those sowed about the 1st 

 " July. This was in 1838; and ihe crop that year 

 'as not by any means a failure. In 18:39, we sowed 

 pon fresli manure from the barn cellar, on the last 

 (Wednesday of Moy. Land, a light loam— subsoil 

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

 ctured that the failure was owing either to the early 

 iwing, or the fresh state of the manure. In 18-10, 

 ■e sowed where the manure had been applied the pre- 

 ding autumn, and the same evil was experienced. 

 The season of sowing and the condition and nature 

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

 I increasing or diminishing this rot. But what the 

 roper season for sowing is t what the safest soil and 

 ibsoil ? what the best kind of manure ? what stage 

 " decomposition should the manure be in ? — these 

 uestions our experience and observations cannot nn- 

 wer We are in the dark. And we put the question 

 islinctly to aiiy m«rt who can, or to any man who 

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

 ata boga ?— Ed. N. E. Far. 



ntlnence of Solar Eclipses on the Weather. 



''.xtractfrom " Travels through the Western Coiin- 

 iry in 1816,"— ('By David Thomas ) 



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

 jveral thunder showers from the west. The weather 

 len became clear; and for three days we had brisk 

 ales from the north-west, of unusual severity for 

 ummer. The surface of the rivers was rolled into 

 )am, and each nigj^was attended by considerable 

 ost. Indeed, it still con-.inucs. (G mo. 10.) 



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

 OTis are much colder than formerly; and the conver- 

 alien always terminates, whenever the subject is in- 

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

 it this turn, 1 have always listened with diminished 

 espect. 



" This popular opinion took its rise, from some 

 ool weather, in the suinmer seasons of 1806 nnd 

 807. A retardment, in the average progress of vegc- 

 ation, for a few days was deemed couse sufficient 

 o overlook all terrestrial agents for the absorption of 

 leat, and to chnrge it dircct!y to the moon. 



" Of the facility, with which errors not palpable to 

 lie senses, may be propagated, we have long been a 

 vare; but that men of understanding should adopt 

 his noiion, — which originated in the grossest igiior- 

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

 owever, is the cose, and to these I offer a few obser- 

 ations. 



" The same shadow that attends the moon, has 

 consiani'y projected its dark cone since the crcniion. 

 Wilhin every term of a few years, its point lias 

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

 saiellite hns passed so nearly between us nnd ihc aun, 

 as partially to hide it; ond once in every month, it has 

 revolved round the earth, nnd approached as near to 

 us 08 it did on ihe day of tlie great eclipse. These ai^ 

 facts that admit of no dispute: ond the inlercnco is 

 cicor ond consistent, that, if eclipses affei:t the weather, 

 the seasons ought to be equalized by such an equality 

 of causes. 



"Other views of this subject would justify the as- 

 sertion, that a solar eclipse has no effect whatever on 

 the atmosphere, except during its continuance. The 

 darkness is nothing but a transient shadow. No rea- 

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

 and the sun, should produce more extraordinary ef 

 lects than when the earth rolls between us and tlint lu- 

 minary. The latter case happens every twenty-four 

 hours; and the chillness in clear weather is not only 

 much greater, but the duration of the darkness will 

 average more than three hundred times longer than 

 in other eclipses. 



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

 be placed, shows its ahsurdily; nnd whether it be said 

 that a pernicious vapour escaped 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 inqniie,if the seasons have been 

 uuiformly colder since the year 1800 than before that 

 period 1. A correct answer to this question would 

 show that much fallacy attend-, this popular opinion. 

 Pennsylvania has been subject to summer frosts since 

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

 sufiieient to show that cool weather was frequent. 

 The celebrated David Rittenhoi'sk, who resided ma- 

 ny years in Nurritonj twenty miles north-west of 

 Philadetphm, asserted, " that he had discovered frost 

 at that place 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 snow happened at Philadelphia 

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

 awakened in the morning, by the crashing of Lom- 

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

 and unable to support the load. 



"We will now notice soine seasons, since the 

 eclipse, of a difi'erent character. The spring of 1808 

 opened so early, that flax was sown near the Ca- 

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

 4th month, young catde wee turned to posture, be- 

 cause there was a stiflieiency of grass. The whole 

 summer was unusually pleasant, excepting some ex- 

 tremely hot days. Similar observations were made in 

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

 oldest settlers in this country remember. The spring 

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

 subsequent frost; and the autumn was so fine that its 

 mildness was ascribed to the comet. 



" It thus appears, 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, have happened near the same period, the 

 ignorantof all ages, have been subject to believe that 

 one depended on the other. Ancient aetronemers ar- 

 ranged the disasters of the times with their accounts 

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

 had three remarkable illustrations of this principle. 

 In Eastern Pennsylvania, 



And perilous liglittiing, from the angry 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 

 iibserced beyond all former example; but in the south- 

 western part of the United States, icitcre no prcat 

 eclipse appeared, some of the old inhabitants declare, 

 that this change of seasons arrived with the Yankees, 

 from the north." 



Ripeiiiiig^ Pears. 



Beurre' Did, ns well as some other kinds, require 

 a pecttliar mode of management after they ore gather- 

 ed. Two that were beginning to turn black on the 

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

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

 melting and delicious. — Gardener's Chronicle. 



To I lie I^odies. 



In our Inst number wc promised to find both the 

 time nnd iBodu for ornnnieiital gnylening, — nnd wo 

 shall find them both in one inicUi(j"nt word — inclina- 

 tion. 



Wc know of one poor woman who lives in a log ca 

 bin, does oil her own work, tnkra care of lour voung 

 children nnd n baby, for whoto support she lakes in 

 washing. Yet in front of her door you may sec a 

 neatly tended border of flowers, — the seeds bought 

 with a few hold earned pence, and planted and wed 

 after the tods of day are over, or in a few stolen iiio- 

 ments before her children are up in the morning. We 

 remember loo, another wash-woman, whose windows 

 were curtained on the outside with scarlet beans and 

 morning glories; and whose double bnlsams, mari- 

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

 tion towards her otherwise cbeeiliss dwelling. So 

 much for instances among the very poor. Among 

 those to whom fortune has been favorable, we know 

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

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

 tic care, whose garden and grounds liave yet been iho 

 admiration and ornament of the neighborhood; and in 

 the wholesome spirit stirring exercise attendnnt on the 

 cultivntion of plants and shrubbery, she hns found 

 both recreation ond rest when wcoried with family 

 caies. 



Surely there nre instances enough to convince eve- 

 ry one that inclination can supply both time nnd mo- 

 ney. The beautilid productions of nature are so a- 

 bundant, that the poorest can aficird the cheap, yet 

 delightful ornament they afliord; a dwelling unadorned 

 by their presence, can only be accounted for, by sup- 

 posing its fair inmates destitute of that love of the 

 beautiful which is one of the most engaging traits in 

 womon. 



We know there are some that affect a distaste for 

 the more common flowers ond shrubbery, that ony 

 body ond every body can have. " Could we afford 

 to keep a green house," say they, " and to purchase 

 plants really worth having, we might feel some inter- 

 est in the thing; but these every day aflTnirs are not 

 worth the raising." Such show that they hove no 

 genuine love ond oppreciotion of the beautiful crea- 

 tions of nature, but regard them merely as matters for 

 ostentation and display. Let the fragrant myrtle, or 

 the splendid pomegranate, once become common flow- 

 ers, adorning the open field and fringing every brook, 

 and they would henceforth lose every charm in their 

 eyes; and the stupidest cabbage that ever vegetated, 

 might become elegant by becoming so rare that only 

 the possessors of thousands could own it 1 Those 

 who have a genuine love of nature, must have 

 s imething; if they cannot possess the costliest ond 

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

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

 aristocrat, but that he has shed a grace and beauty on 

 the more common of his works, far superior to that 

 which adorns the rarer ones. 



We would thot we could point our readers to the 

 gardens of some of our female friends, where a very 

 beautiful show of flowers and shrubbery has been 

 creoted with scarce on item of expense. 



Our friend Mrs. A. is an exomple — will yon walk 

 with us in her shrubbery a few moments 1 See that 

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

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

 has reached its present size — those honEysuckles that 

 tmtwine t'ae porch, were at first small cuttings token 

 from the vines o.' a friend: but Blrs. A. nursed them 

 to theirpresent growth — that white rose, whose snowy 

 blosooms 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 reached its present moturiiy — that orange tree per- 

 fuming the air with its blossoms, she raised from the 

 seed and innoculated with her own hands, and so with 

 many others of her choice shrubber}' — in like man- 

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

 splendid ornaments have been sources of very little 

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

 the gardener hns once arranged the borders in the 

 spring, the pinnling and watering and nursing and 

 transplanting is mostly done by herself; ond early ev- 

 ery morning you may see her in her cottage bonnet 

 and iiardening gloves, busy among her shrubbery; and 

 if yon will ask her, she will tell you that she gains 

 health and vigor daily by the exercise. 



If any of my readers 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, 

 and the selection of plants for persons in moderate cir- 

 cumstances. — Western Fanner and Gardener. 



