1S53] 



ON THE PRESERVATION OF FOOD. 



10? 



the heavier soils. And here, without digressing much from the 

 subject, one can scarcely avoid observing very apparent marks of 

 design — the adapting of the pine to grow on soils unfitted for 

 cultivation, and the leading of- rivers through pine-bearing soils, 

 thus enabling the settler to take advantage of the various proper- 

 ties of running water in conveying and preparing the most useful 

 of all timbers for his manifold purposes. 



The valley of ths Don is from a quarter to half a mile in width, 

 with abruptly rising banks, from 100 to 200 feet and upwards in 

 height, the scooping out of which implies the removal of many 

 hundred millions of cubic yards, a quantity so immeasurably 

 great when brought into comparison with the agent of removal — 

 a stream (when not dammed up) only about 50 feet wide, that 

 it appears altogether irreconcilable with the inference drawn; 

 more especially is it so, when we know that the annual quantity 

 of matter brought down by the Dun is at present inconsiderable. 

 If, however, we bear in mind that, without assuming a greater 

 volume of water to have flowed in its channel than now, the 

 transporting power of the Don must formerly been veiy much 

 greater by reason of its greater descent and rapidity; and, if it 

 cau be shown that many ages have elapsed since it first came into 

 existence, the conclusion come to may be taken as rational and 

 correct. 



It may seem difficult — nay, almost impossible — to estimate, 

 however roughly, the time which has elapsed since the Don 

 commenced to flow ; but if we can arrive at the age of any other 

 river emptying its water into Lake Ontario from a source equally 

 high, the problem is s?lved. When the great Lake already 

 mentioned, subsided from its high level, then, and not till then, 

 did the Niagara, the Don, and other cotemporary rivers make 

 their appearance. Since that epoch the Niagara has cut a deep 

 channel for seven miles through the solid rock; its annual re- 

 cession has been ascertained approximately, and from these data its 

 age has been roughly determined. " We may turn to the deep 

 ravine." says Lyell, " and behold therein a chronometer measuring 

 rudely, yet emphatically, the vast magnitude of the interval of 

 years which separate the present time from the epoch when the 

 Niagara flowed at a higher level." 



Thus, then, the Don, coeval with the Niagara, has flowed, ac- 

 cording to this great Geologist, for a period far too great for the 

 imagination to comprehend, and which one can scarcely venture 

 to name by years; *even allowing that our historical knowledge 

 of the past condition of the Falls is far too meagre to estimate 

 with any degree of precision, the rate of their retrogression in 

 former ages, yet we cannot but arrive at the conclusion that the 

 chronological age of the Niagara and consequently of the Don, 

 must be so enormously great, that one would think even its frac- 

 tional part would suffice for the removal of the hundreds of 

 millions of yards of matter by the latter river to the Lake, 

 without calling to its aid any unusual phenomen*. 



Having thus shown that sufficient time may be granted, the 

 Don therefore supplies an adequate cause for pel forming, and 

 completing long since the work assigned to it ; year after 

 year during its early history, slowly but constantly hollowing out 

 a channel and removing the former contents of its valley to the 



* '• Mr. Bakewell calculated that, in Uie luriy years preceding 1S30, I he 

 Niagara had been going back at Ihe rateolabuula yard annually, but I 

 conceive thai one foot per year would be a ranch more probable conjecture, 

 in which case 35.000 years would have been required lor the relreal oi the 

 Falls, Irom the escarpment of Queenston to their present site, if we enuld 

 assume that the relrograde movement had been uniform throughout. This 

 however, could not have been the case, as at every step in the process of 

 excavation, the height of the precipice, the haidnes of the materials at its 

 base, and the quantity of fallen matter to be removed, must have varied. At 

 some points it may have receded much faster than at present, at other much 

 slower, and it would be scarcely possible to decide whether its average pro- 

 gross has been more or less rapid than now." — Lyell. 



lake, the lighter and more soluble matter being held for some 

 time by the water, to be distributed far and wide, the heavier par- 

 ticles on the other hand to be deposited near its mouth, in the form 

 of an extensive shoal or delta — the base or ground-work of the 

 Peninsula, on which again to be deposited a drift from other 

 causes and from another source. 



To be continued. 



On the Preservation of Food. 



BY J. T. BKOXDGEEST, ESQ. 



Read before the Canadian Institute, December 10, 1853. 



Interesting in an economical point of view, this subject be- 

 comes much more so when we consider how large a portion of 

 the exports of Canada cjnsist of provisions, and'the shipments 

 from Toronto of little else. 



This has been the subject of care in other countries, and in 

 distant ages, when either from want of skill, or the accidents of 

 war, famine was more prevalent than in modern times, and in 

 those places with which we are the more familiar; the freedom 

 of intercourse now renders the surplus of one country so accessi- 

 ble to supply the wants of another, that the deficiency of crops 

 must be far more general than any that has occurred for years, 

 before we require any particular arrangement, for preserving the 

 products of the soil from one year to another. 



But let not this fancied security prevent us from examining 

 into the matter closely, for, apart from the possibility of the 

 wheat-fly devastating other parts of the world in the way Lower 

 Canada suffered for many years — let us not forget that constant 

 waste is a constant loss, without any countervailing benefit, and 

 that we agitated for years for a grant from the Mother Country 

 for a protection on our breadstufts, falling far short in amount of 

 the loss occurring in our grain stores from destruction by rats 

 and mice alone. And in forwarding grain to its destination, 

 much as it has been improved upon of late years, there is still iu 

 every portion of the process loss and injury. 



I propose, therefore, to give my views on the subject of the 

 preservation of articles of food, premising that I offer notkino- new, 

 having often previously on other occasions urged the matter on 

 the attention of my fellow-citizens, and also intimating my anx- 

 ious desire that my remarks -may call forth something much bet- 

 ter than what I now offer to your notice. 



Our warehouses for wheat are mostly constructed near the 

 water, often so low as to be in danger from floods ; they are built 

 of wood, many of them in bad order, subject to destruction from 

 fire, and infested with vermin. 



Owing to the short time our grain remains in the warehouse, 

 the weevil, so destructive in Europe is little known, were it ne- 

 cessary to store grain for any lengthened period, there is little 

 doubt the destruction with us would be excessive, our granaries 

 being so accessible to heat. 



I would propose as a remedy for all these, the construction of 

 " silos "—warehouses built of brick iu the form of a hollow cone, 

 like a tile-kiln, cemented outside to keep out the weather, haviho 

 an iron cover on the top, and an opening at the lower portion to 

 let out the grain — the grain is put in at the top, either by an 

 Archimedian screw or by a crane, and taken out below as required ; 

 and as the grain is moved throughout the whole mass whenever 

 any is removed from beneath, to air the grain nothing further is 

 required than to take some out below, and put it back ao-ain at 

 the top. 



These buildings were used in ancient times, and are still used 



