194 
SOUTHERN CULTIVATOR 
INTENi^E COED — ITS EFFECTS. 
For every mile that we leave the surface of the earth 
the temperature falls five degrees. At forty-five miles dis- 
tance from the globe we yet behold the atmosphere, and 
enter, strictly speaking, into the regions of space, whose 
temperature is 225 degrees below zero; and here cold 
reigns in all its power. Some idea of this intense cold 
may be formed by stating that the greatest cold observed 
in the arctic circle is fiom 40 to 60 degrees below zero; 
and^ere many surprising elTects are produced. In the 
chemical laboratory the greatest cold that we can produce 
is about 150 degrees below zero. At this temperature 
carbonic gas becomes a solid substance like snow. It 
touched it produces Just the same efirct on the skin as a 
red-hvH cmder ; it blisters the finger like a burn. Quick- 
silver or mercury freezes 40 degrees below zero ; that is, 
72 degree below the temperature at which water freeze,s 
This solid mercury may then be treated as other metals, 
hammered into sheets or made into spoons; such spoons 
would, ho vever, me't in water as warm a,s ice. k is 
ity certain that every liquid and g is we are acquainted 
wi h w "Id be ome solid if exposed to the regions ot 
space. Tne g s we lig^'.t our streets with would become 
w x; a'l would I e in le dity as hard as a ro -k ; pure spirit, 
wi ich we have never solidified, would appear like a block 
of tr.insp f nt crystal, hydrogen gas would become quite 
sol d and resemble metal j we should be able to turn but- 
ter hk" a piece ofivory, and the fragrant odor oi the flow- 
ers wiull have to be hot before they 'would yield per- 
fume These are a few of the astonishing effects of cold. 
— Septimus Piesse. 
Pine Spirit Barrels — vVe leirn tVv»m Kemp P. Hill, 
Esq., who is engaged in the turpentine busisiess, that he 
has successfully tested pine for epirit barrels. That they 
lose as iiitle by evaporating as the oak, and that no differ- 
ence is mule in the New York market in the } rice of 
spirit put up in pirie barrels. 
4'his is an important discovery, as it will greatly lessen 
the expense of barrel making. 
As an evidrnce of the superiority of the pine barrel, we 
can state that a lot of some seventy pine and oak barrel' 
were hauled to the river bank about three weeks ago, for 
shipment by boat, but owing to the low st.ite of the river, 
they have lain there up to Monday last, when the owner 
determined to ship by the Railroad. The lime being too 
^shorl to get the whole lot to the depot in lime, the oak 
was taken and the pine leff behind, fir the reason, that 
the oak barrals were leaking -and the pine were mu 
These pine barrals have been expo.'cd ro the hoi sun for 
nearly four weeks and yet exhibit no signs of leaking. — 
diermd Gazette. 
KIEEING ANTS IN TEXAS. 
Ws have seen (says a Texns paper) a machine invent- 
ed by Dr. Gregory, of LaGrange, Fayette county, which 
is designed to exterminate thegrazing or cutting ant— the 
greatest pest of this country. The wit of the invention 
is a chemical compound, which being placed upon burn 
ing charcoal p oduces a deadly gas heavier than air, 
which sinks .mo iheir holes filling them up, and perme- 
ating the earth in every direciion. The machine is 
.simple in ons luction, cheap, and requiring no peculiar 
skill in t e < p ra or to use it. Several gentlemen who 
liave usel Uj in orm us that it is effectual and has no dele- 
Herious jii'eci upon the ofj'rator. If it is what it claims 
to be, .ring on your ant k.ilers. Shrubbery and fruit 
Jreesari feuffe»’ing in Texas from the nightly deprtdu- 
of these troublesome insects. 
FASmONABEE FRIEND8. 
The. hardest trial of those who fall from afiluence and 
honor to poverty and obscurity, is the discovery that the 
attachment of so many in whom they confided was a pre- 
tence, a mask to gain their own ends, or a miserable shal- 
lowness. Sometimes, doubtless, it is with regret that 
these frivolous followers of the world desert 'hose upon 
whom they havefa\tned; but they soon forget them. 
Flies leave th** kitchen when the dishes are empty. The 
parasites that cluster about the favorite of fortune, to 
gather his gifts and ebb by his aid, linger with the sunshine 
imt scatter at the approach of a storm, as the leaves cling 
to a tree in summer weather, but drop off at the l.reaih of 
wititer and leave it naked to the stinging blast Like 
ravens settled down fir a banquet, and suddenly scared 
by a noise, how quickly at the first sound ol calamity 
ihese supeificial earthings are specks of the horizon. 
But a true friend sits in the centre, and is for all 
time. Our need only reveals liim more fully and 
binds him more closely to us Pmsjienty and adver- 
sity are both revealers, the difference being that in 
the former our friends know us, in the latter we know 
them. But noiwiths'anding the insincerity and greedi- 
ness prevalent among men, there is a vast deal more of 
e.'teem and feilow-yearningthan i>^ ever outwardly shown. 
There are more examples of unadulterated affeeiion, more 
deeds of silent love and magimnimily, than is usually 
supposed Our misfortunes bring to our side real friends, 
btfore unknown. Benevolent impulses where we should 
not exper t them, in modest privacy enact many a scene 
of b^uutilul wonder amidst tlie plaudits of angels. And 
upon the whole, fnrly estirnating tfie glory the uses, and 
the actual and possiole prevaleire ot the friendly senti- 
ment, we must cheerily strike I) re and lift voice to the 
lavorite sotig, confessing, after every complaint is tutkJ 
that, 
“There is. a power lo make each hour 
As sweet as heaven desljiiied it; 
Nor need wr roam to iniii^ it home, 
Th.jugh few there be th u find i( ! 
We seek too lii^h fir ihinjis elo.'C by, 
And lose wliai naiure found ns; 
For life h iih In re no charm so dear 
As home and 6 i>--nds around us ” 
» ^ » 
Suggestions as to Seed Wheat.— Mr. Jethro Tul 
says ; 
“Common barley, sown once in (he burning stnd at 
Patney, Wilt.sjiire, will, for many years afier, if sown in 
indifferent warm ground, be ripe two or tliiee weeks ear- 
lier than any olhn~ whndi has ever been impregnated at 
Patney ; but if sown a degree farther Norih, on cold clay- 
ey i uid, will, 111 two or three years, lose this qu.diiy, aod 
become as laie ripe as any other. The grams of vejjel- 
ables are their eggs, and ii e plants proceeding Irom iheia 
have their virtues and their diseases ” 
The above cotitaijisa truth that is known, and (osotre 
extent practised upon. But do not wheat giowers wio 
are in the haliit ofseodmg North, where the wheat ripeia 
some weeks later than with us, make a serious nibiuket 
The same variety of wheat would uadoulitedly riprtl 
later for having been cultivated for years in a higher lat'— 
tude, and earlier 'or hiving been cultivated in a low r 
latitude Add to this that Southern wh«at always con- 
tains a 'arger pe cen age of gluten, and so makes titi.< ir 
flour. Suouiti we not send South instead of North tor 
’seed wheat? 
