THE SOUTHERN PLANTER 



301 



From the foregoing considerations it is con- 

 cluded, 



1. That Timothy grass cannot, under any 

 circumstances, be adapted for pasture ; as the 

 close nipping of horses and sheep is fatal 

 to the tubers, which are also extensively de- 

 stroyed by swine. 



2. The'proper period for mowing Timothy is 

 at any time after the process of desiccation has 

 commenced on the stalk, as noted in Propo- 

 sition 3. It is not very essential whether it is 

 performed a week earlier or later, provided it 

 be postponed till that evidence of maturity has 

 become manifest. 



3. All attempts at close shaving the sward 

 should be avoided, while using the scythe, and, 

 in gauging mowing-machines, care should be 

 taken to run them so high that they will not 

 cut the Timothy below the second joint above 

 the tuber.— Pat. Off. Rep. 



Growing Rubber in the United States. 



Messrs. Editors. — After a long interval of 

 country life I again open a communication 

 with you, my main object being to present to 

 the American public, through the medium of 

 the Scientific American, the cheering intelli- 

 gence that the question' so long propounded, 

 as to whether there was anything to be found 

 in the wide expanse of our national domain 

 that partook of the nature and characteristics 

 of caoutchouc, or India rubber, may now be 

 safely answered in the affirmative. I have the 

 gratification of being able to state that the 

 article not only exists in our country, but 

 that it is a common product in all of the States 

 south of latitude 39°. I send you a small 

 specimen of the substance, remarking that it 

 is found in this country in a" solid form, in- 

 stead of the fluid or milky condition in which 

 the ordinary rubber is found, consequently 

 being in minute parts, cohesion of those parts 

 can only be effected by the action of heated 

 rollers, such as are used in all India rubber 

 factories. 



The specimen I send you is small and rather 

 ragged, from the cause already stated, the 

 cohesion in this case being effected by the 

 action of a hammer with a heated plate of 

 iron. From a very imperfect and unprofes- 

 sional analysis I am led to believe that the 

 physical properties of this article and the 

 substance imported are identical. Without 

 pretending to absolute accuiacy in my results 

 I think the approximation is C.87'2 H.12-8. 

 The flame resembles the imported article as 

 well as the smell and taste. 



" Honor to whom honor" is a motto I some- 

 times find to fail in the application ; lest some 

 other person should set himself forth as the 

 discoverer of this American product, I shall 

 invite the attention of such to the announce- 

 ment I now make, and if any one has preceded 

 me in the field, let the fact be known during j 



the coming six months, or I shall take to my- 

 self the credit, if any be clue. As I before 

 stated, the growth of this substance is general, 

 and though unlike the Sther, it can easily be 

 reduced to a suitable shape for export or do- 

 mestic use. Joseph E. Ware. 



[The sample forwarded looks like the real 

 caoutchouc, and exhibits the same elastic 

 properties, but we do not detect any smell. 

 If it differs from common rubber, it is, for 

 aught we see to the contrary, as likely to be 

 better as worse. Will Mr. W. give us further 

 information ? — Ed.] — Scientific American. 



A Superior Washing Fluid. 



Messrs. Editors — I send you a receipt for 

 making a superior Washing Fluid, which I 

 have had in use over two years. There is no 

 precipitate if prevented from freezing and 

 properly made. In the following proportions 

 it will not cost over three cents a quart: 



Dissolve 1 pound of sal soda in 1 quart of 

 hot water, and add to it 4 quarts of lime 

 water ; when this settles pour off the clear. 

 Next dissolve 3 ounces of borax in 1 quart of 

 boiling water, and add it to the 5 quarts of 

 clear water. When cold dissolve in it 2 or 3 

 ounces of pulverized carbonate ammonia. Put 

 it in bottles, .and keep it tightly corked- 



This fluid makes strong, thick "suds," 

 makes washing less injurious to the hands, 

 and it cleans the clothes with less rubbing. 

 Use 1-2 pint, or less, to about five gallons of 

 water ; put it, with some soap, into the tub 

 of clothes the night before washing-day, or a 

 short time before boiling the clothes. I think 

 this chemical fluid, among the list of washing 

 compounds, will take "the rag off the bush" — 

 and clean it. Trenton. 

 Trenton, N. X, March, 1857. 



[Washing fluid made after the above re- 

 ceipt we have no doubt will be found an excel- 

 lent article, and we are much obliged to our 

 correspondent for it. 



Many who are in the habit of using wash- 

 ing fluids do not appear to be aware of their 

 nature and specific objects. Why should they 

 be used at all in washing? We answer, sim- 

 ply to provide a slight excess of alkali to com- 

 bine with the grease and dirt on the clothes. 

 They should be sparingly used, at best, and 

 wholly discarded in washing laces and fine 

 linens. 



Good soap suds of sufficient strength makes 

 the best washing fluid for fine white textile 

 fabrics. The chloride of soda makes an excel- 

 lent fluid for whitening linen that has become 

 yellow in color, and as a washing fluid is in- 

 ferior to none. 



The use of strong caustic alkalies impart a 

 yellowish tinge to fine linens and tends to in- 

 jure them, and therefore should be used (if at 

 jail) with much caution. — Scientific American. 



