CARBONIC ACID GAS,-KOHL-KHABI. 
237 
Mr. P., is a beautiful spot, commanding a varied and 
delightful view of the Hudson river and scenery for 
a wide distance around—one of the most agreeable 
objects of which is the Patroon's island lying directly 
in front of his farm. It is an alluvial soil, of great 
fertility, and being annually overflowed by the Hud¬ 
son, it remains unfenced. We wish such of our 
readers as like to be cooped up in miserable bounds 
of stone and wood, could have a half-hour’s look at 
this free island, beautifully checkered with crops of 
grain, roots, and grass, and unmarred by the unsightly 
divisions of post, rail, or stone. We are certain it 
would make them sick enough of the fencing system 
for one life. 
The buildings at Mount Hope are elegant and 
commodious, with ornamental grounds in front of 
considerable extent, and a superb garden of six acres 
in the rear. A wide strip of natural forest trees belts 
?t on the north, while thick thrifty hedges of haw¬ 
thorn and mulberry, running in parallel lines, protect 
it on the west. Beyond this is an extensive arbore¬ 
tum, composed of every variety of forest and orna¬ 
mental tree that will grow in this latitude. There 
are many other things deserving note here, but we 
have neither space nor time to record them. 
Farm of Mr. Vail .—This is in Troy, six miles 
above Albany, and has been described pretty fully in 
Pur second volume. Since we were last there his 
stock has been increased considerably. The queen 
of his herd is Lady Barrington, sent out to him from 
England last October, by Mr. Bates, of Kirkleaving- 
ton, in order to give a fresh cross. She is a superb 
cow and of a bright red color. Mr. Vail is paying 
much attention to the milking qualities of his stock, 
and all of his cows, with we believe, a single excep¬ 
tion, stand well at the pail. He deserves great credit 
for being thus particular, for we must have good 
milkers in this quarter; further west, where they 
raise stock solely for their beef, this point is not of so 
much importance. 
Mr. Z. B. Wakeman, of Herkimer, recently pur¬ 
chased a bull and heifer calf from this herd. They 
are fine animals, and we think will greatly improve 
the stock in this famous dairy county. We would 
advise Mr. W. to beware of a Dutch boar cross in 
these animals, otherwise the reputation of Mr. Vail’s 
stock may suffer in his hands —(Vide the June number 
of our current volume, at the bottom of page 184.) 
Mr. Verplanck, of Fishkill, has just purchased a fine 
Durham cow, of Mr. V., and Mr. Hays, of Montreal, 
a yearling heifer. The prices obtained were satisfac- ; 
tdry, and with Mr. Prentice’s late sale, shows an 
increasing demand for improved stock, which we 
would fain believe is likely to continue. It is im¬ 
possible that the farmers of this country should be 
satisfied with standing still ; the produce of our 
dairies is becoming too important to do so. A few 
years ago we exported no cheese of any consequence. 
Under a revision of the British tariff we sent out 
in 1841,—15,154 cwt.; in 1842,—14,098 cwt. ; in 
1843,—42,312 cwt.; in 1844, 58,115 cwt., thus 
quadrupling our export in three years. In addition to 
this, the Northern States have exported large quanti¬ 
fies of butter, and we have not a doubt, if proper at¬ 
tention be paid to the Improvement of stock, and the 
making of butter and cheese, that the exportation of 
these articles will be shortly doubled. We may also 
greatly increase our exportation of beef. 
CARBONIC ACID GAS. 
We notice in the Farmer’s Herald (English), an 
inquiry as to what becomes of the large amount ol 
carbonic acid gas, which is generated during winter 
in the northern hemisphere, by the combustion of 
coal, wood, &c., besides what is thrown off by the 
respiration of animals. To us the inqu : ry seems of 
easy solution, notwithstanding an analysis of the 
atmosphere at all times and in all places, shows the 
presence of about the same proportion of this gas in 
it; which is something less than the one-thousandth 
part of the whole. Supply and demand in this im¬ 
portant ingredient of vegetable nutrition, as in all the 
other arrangements of the great Author of nature, are 
beautifully harmonized, and excess or deficiency are 
equally guarded against. 
During the season of active vegetation, large de¬ 
mands are made upon the atmosphere for this gas, to 
supply the growing plants with their largest consti¬ 
tuent, while comparatively little is yielded by the 
combustion of fuel, &c. The excess in winter and 
the deficiency in summer are effectually avoided by 
the activity of the atmosphere itself, and the constani 
intermingling of its varied ingredients and their rapid 
distribution over the entire globe. In the rigors of a 
northern winter, we have a preponderating northerly 
wind, which wafts the air at the rate of from five to 
fifty miles an hour towards the equator and southern 
hemisphere, where vegetation is in the highest state 
of activity, and demands large quantities of carbonic 
acid, which it condenses and treasures up, till com¬ 
bustion or decomposition sets it free, again to mix with 
the air, and again to form new elements of vegetable 
life and nutrition. During our northern summer, the 
currents of the atmosphere are reversed, and we then 
have the deficiency which would otherwise exist, 
made up by the prevailing breezes from the south. 
But the atmosphere is so vast a store-house of this 
substance, that any considerable local causes operating 
in increasing or diminishing the supply can hardly be 
felt in the general result, and ages might elapse, with 
all the operations of nature working on one side of 
the balance, without prejudicially affecting the general 
result. 
Kohl-Rhabi.— We notice considerable attention is 
being paid to the culture of this plant in England, 
for a field crop. It is said to resist frost and the 
drought better than turnips, and is not preyed upon 
so much by insects. It is of the brassica family, 
quite like a half-bred between the cabbage and tur¬ 
nip in its leaves—the stem swollen like a tuber, and 
often attaining the weight of 14 lbs. or more. As a 
garden vegetable it has been cultivated for some years 
in Great Britain, and we hope it may prove valuable 
as a field crop. We believe it originated in Germany, 
as it is much cultivated there. It is sown as early as 
mangel-wurzel, and may be cultivated like cabbage or 
turnips. We grew it one season in our garden ; but 
it not proving equal, in our estimation, to cabbage or 
turnips, we gave it up. Perhaps others in the United 
States may be more successful. We would recom¬ 
mend a faithful trial of it among our farmers and 
gardeners. ■ 
Ramble in Connecticut and Massachusetts. 
—Having made a short excursion in these States the 
past month, we shall give some account in due time, 
of two or three farms we visited in our flying trip. 
