260 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



writing cannot be available, when the very same 

 information, communicated orally, the same lan- 

 guage used — success attends it. That such is 

 often the case, I admit; and the reason lies, not 

 in the impracticability of communicating the 

 necessary knowledge, but in the object sought, 

 which is, in almost all cases, to communicate to 

 the mind a general understanding of the process 

 to be performed. Now in all cases where de- 

 scriptions are given on paper, much of the detail 

 which could be communicated in oral instruction 

 is generally left out, or taken as granted the 

 operator knows. Many circumstances are not 

 noted down which are absolutely necessary to 

 be attended to, and these are often as indispen- 

 sable as the most prominent parts of the process. 



Now if the writers of these descriptions were 

 as minute in their details as those who give oral 

 instruction, the result would be that nobody 

 would have patience to read the books, and 

 hence the very object of the description would 

 be defeated. 



In the above description of the quick vinegar 

 process, there are many details which are neces- 

 sary and even indispensable where it is pursued 

 as a money making business, that are entirely 

 left out, as otherwise the article would be too 

 tedious for the general reader ; although the de- 

 scription would answer for such as wish to manu- 

 facture for themselves. 



RATS. 



A red herring firmly fastened by a string to 

 any place where rats usually make their run 

 will make them leave the place. It is said to 

 be a fact that a toad placed in a house cellar 

 will have the effect of expelling those noxious 

 intruders. — Bangor Mercury. 



CURE FOR CONSUMPTION. 



An officer in the British service, resident in 

 the East Indies, had been stricken with the fatal 

 disease, and was reduced by it to nearly a skele- 

 ton ; his friends looked upon him as a doomed 

 man, and he himself had given up all hopes of 

 long continuance of life. He was one morning 

 crawling about his grounds, and accidentally 

 went into a shed where a man had been bottling 

 some wine; and at the moment of his master's 

 enirance had just melted some rosin to seal the 

 corks with. It could not be otherwise than that 

 those within the room should inhale the smoke 

 arising from the rosin. To the surprise of the 

 afflicted one, his respiration became free and un- 

 obstructed and it instantly occurred to him that 

 the relief he experienced was produced by his 

 having inhaled the rosinous smoke. He re- 

 mained better during the day, and without con- 

 sulting his doctor repeated the experiment in his 



sleeping room. That night he slept soundly — 

 a blessing he had not known for years. 



Twice a day, for a week, did he continue his 

 experiment, and with increased success. He 

 then mentioned the affair to his medical adviser, 

 who was equally surprised with himself at the 

 improvement of the patient's health, and advised 

 him to continue the inhalations night and morn- 

 ing. In the space of three months his cough 

 left him, and his appetite returned. In six 

 months his health was so improved that he con- 

 templated returning to his native country ; he 

 delayed, however, doing so until a year had ex- 

 pired. Still persisting in his new found remedy, 

 his health was complete restored, and he was 

 once more a sound man. — Selected. 



CEMENT. 



It may be of importance to some of our readers 

 to know that a highly valuable cement, capable 

 of withstanding the action of water and the at- 

 mosphere for a long time, may be made by mix- 

 ing the following ingredients in the manner pre- 

 scribed below : 



To a quart of vinegar add the same quantity 

 of new milk. Separate the curd, and add to it 

 the white of twenty eggs. These should be 

 beaten well together, and sufficient quick-lime 

 sifted in to give the mixture the consistency of 

 common paste. Fractured and broken vessels, 

 mended with this composition, seldom separate 

 when exposed to the action either of fire or 

 water. 



NRW YORK FARMERS' CLUB. 



On Tuesday, 17th, a regular meeting of the 

 Farmers' Club was held at the Rooms in the 

 Park, Judge Livingston in the chair. Judge 

 Meigs read a communication from a Vermont 

 Farmer, in which it was argued that, by plant- 

 ing only the large or prominent eyes of the po- 

 tato, you will obtain a greater yield and have 

 less small ones. This opinion was corroborated 

 by Messrs. Watson, Dye, Hyde, and the Chair- 

 man. Mr. Watson thought it best to have two 

 good sound eyes in each portion planted as seed ; 

 for if there is only one eye, and that happens to 

 die, the whole of that particular plant perishes. 



The hour for general remarks having elapsed, 

 the regular subject came up — "The Improve- 

 ment of exhausted and Unproductive Lands, es- 

 pecially those which have been long under cul- 

 tivation." Dr. Underhill said that if wheat was 

 intended to be cultivated, lime must be used. If 

 a farm is to be applied to some particular culti- 

 vation, as, for instance, orchards, which may 

 stand uninterrupted fifty years, give the land the 

 materials that are particularly calculated for 

 that growth. But if land is wanted for all kinds 

 of crops, pursuing with them a regular rotation, 



