SMITH'S VERTICAL GATji, ETC. 
367 
The making of tar I must reserve for another 
letter, lest I should stick my readers fast in an 
over dose of pitch, turpentine, and tar. 
Solon Robinson. 
New York, October 6, 1849. 
SMITH'S VERTICAL GATE. 
Gate Shut. 
This gate differs from those in common use, in 
not swinging horizontall} r , but opens vertically by 
a parallel movement of rails or bars. Its superiority 
over other gates will readily be seen, as it does not 
swing sideways, and therefore can never "sag." 
Neither does it require any ground to swing upon ; 
consequently it can be opened while teams are 
standing close by on either side, and without regard 
to banks of snow. It can be opened and shut easier 
and much quicker than the ordinary gate, and a 
man on horseback can open it without dismounting. 
Gate Open. — Fig. 90. 
For very heavy gates, it is designed to have weights 
attached to the ends of the rails, to assist in raising 
them, but those of ordinary size do not require this. 
This contrivance is intended for any place where 
a gate is needed, but is more especially applicable 
to ferry boats, toll gates, stable doors, and numer- 
ous other places where horizontal swinging would 
be inconvenient. It can also be constructed single 
for narrow passages, as well as double for wide 
ones. The cost is but little, if any, more than 
that of the common swing gate, posts included, is 
less liable to get out of order, and, if needed, is 
more easily repaired. 
* 
A Late Autumn. — We noticed, on the 29th day 
of October, at Newburgh, which is north of latitude 
42°, that the dahlias were as fresh and bright as 
early in September, and tomato vines untouched by 
frost. The same could not be said the day after. 
A severe storm swept down these frail beauties. 
YANKEE FARMING.— No. 10. 
Good people all of every sort, 
Give ear unto my song ; 
And if you find it wondrous short. 
It cannot hold you long. — Goldsmith. 
Fertility of Water. — " Now," said I, aduirissing 
myself to Joe Watkins, " we will have a little talk 
about the fertilizing properties of water, and what 
it holds in solution; and, Caesar, mind your eye, 
there, and listen to what I am going to say." 
" Yas, massa, Sargeant, I hears 'em." he replied, 
at the same time scraping his foot and nodding his 
head, sailor fashion, as he turned up the whites of 
his eyes, "on dis subject, Csasar am thar ; and ef 
he does'nt know what water is mighty well, arter 
sailin' 'sixteen v'yage as cap'ns cook, gettin' 
washed overboard off de capes ob Varginny, which 
is in de middle ob de 'lantic Ocean" — not exactly, 
old boy, said I — " and arter floatin' all night on a 
hin coop — thrown over to save him in de gulf, 
where de seaweed was so tick he could near 
abouts walk on him, like de sedge ob de old fields 
ob Varginny, dat massa, who brought Caesar up, 
turned out like a tirty-year-old hoss he hab most 
work to death, cause he couldn't do nofim more j 
and den in de mornin' arly, afore you could see 
plain, a great big lubber whaleman come along side, 
and was goin' to harpoon dis nigger, cause he link 
him de old sea sarpint ob Nahant, when he give a 
mighty yell, like a tousand loon" — I thought just 
now you were off the capes of Virginia, Csesar. 
But to my reminding him of this slip in his geo- 
graphy, he paid no other attention than drawing a 
long breath, and then recommenced' with more 
rapidity than ever the recital of his marvellous mis- 
haps — "When, I say, de whaleman sing out, 
' Hello ! you great big nigger, how come you here, 
den ? You no sea sarpint, hehl Den you come on 
board, and not scare a man's eyes out floatin' de 
ocean in dis miserable way, like a soaked dog I' 
Yas, and warn't he wrecked in de most orful hur- 
rican dat" — 
" Come, come, Mister Cessar," said I, getting 
rather impatient by this time with his "long yarns," 
" that will do for once, and when we want you to 
take another swim, we'll set you afloat ; but recol- 
lect it is fresh not salt water, of which you seem 
to have had more than enough already, we are 
now going to talk about ; so please to listen to me. 
" So, as I was telling you, Joe, you know if 
we don't get water on the land, somehow, either 
by dews or rain, or by irrigation, nearly everything 
on the earth will soon be parched up. Now then, 
water itself is made up of two highly-fertilizing 
substances, hydrogen and oxygen ; it also absorbs 
nitrogen and carbonic acid from the atmosphere ; 
but its principle value seems to be, to dissolve other 
substances so minutely that they can be taken up 
by the almost invisible mouths of the rootlets of 
plants, or be inhaled through the pores of their 
leaves, and thus form a part of the plants ; or, in 
other words, make them grow." 
"I hab him," here exclaimed the impatient Cssar, 
clearing up his brow, and pulling with the strength 
of a giant at a whole handful of his woolly locks, till 
they were nearly straight from his scalp; "doesn't 
he bust open de mealy taters when he's biled 
well in de caboose pot? And doesn't he make de 
