EDITORS TAB LEV 
37 
® inter 0 Sable. 
A Second Volume on the Trees of America. —We 
are authorized to announce from Mr. Browne, that the 
success of his new work on. trees, has been sufficient to 
warrant the preparation of a, second volume of the size 
and character of the first, about one-half of the engrav¬ 
ings of which are already executed. This work, 
when completed, will undoubtedly contain more truly 
practical and useful information on American trees 
than any other work extant. 
Florida Olives. —The editor of the St. Augustine 
News has been presented with some fine fresh olives, 
the growth of that place. The soil and climate of that 
State are said to be well adapted to the cultivation of this 
fruit. The olive oil which is imported into the United 
States, is valued at $50,000 annually. 
Cultivation of the Almond.— One of the most im¬ 
portant advantages of cultivating this excellent fruit, 
seems to be, that it requires neither care of cultivation, 
nor excellence of soil, as it appears to prefer warm, dry 
soils like those of both shores of the Mediterranean, and 
would doubtless succeed in many parts of Florida, and 
the islands of Georgia. Almond trees are easily pro¬ 
pagated, either by planting slips, or by budding on their 
own, or stocks of the plum. Who among our Southern 
readers will give this subject a fair trial 1 
Canals in the Caucasus. —The Russian government 
has already commenced the restoration of the irrigation 
canals, which intersect all the southeastern portion of 
the Transcaucasian country. Most of these canals 
were constructed by the ancient Kings of Armenia, and 
others by the shahs of Persia and the sirdars of Eri- 
van; the origin of some of them is even traced up to 
the primeval monarchs of the ancient East. For in¬ 
stance, one bears the name of Schamiran, because popu¬ 
lar tradition, assigns its origin to Semiramis. In the 
present district of Erivan. alone, there are 148 main 
canals, which feed 384 secondary channels.. Very 
great numbers of these, however, are now but ruins which 
merely serve to testify their former immense develop¬ 
ment, as well as what was once the population and fer¬ 
tility 7 of the vast steppes they intersect, and which are 
now naught but barren plains. Successive political 
catastrophes, wars, invasions, and the oppressions 
practised on the people by different governments, have 
annihilated these sources of riches. The Russian go¬ 
vernment intends to restore a certain number of these 
canals, for which purpose, it is said, Prince Woronzoff 
displays great activity. 
Artificial Icing. —An invention for generating ice 
by artificial means has just been discovered by Messrs. 
Lings and Keith, the patentees of the ice safe, &c. The 
ice is produced by means of a powder composed of 
salts, ammonia, and various chemical mixtures. This 
powder is placed in a simple apparatus, something in 
the shape of a churn, but smaller in size, and being 
mixed with water, is kept in motion by a rotary process 
around the bottle of wine to be cooled. In a few min¬ 
utes, and at a very trifling expense, the wine is suffi¬ 
ciently cooled, and if kept a few minutes longer in the 
vessel would be actually frozen. A bottle of water 
may be frozen to a solid by this prolonged motion; but 
of course it is not requisite to reduce the temperature of 
wine below a certain degree of coolness. The simpli¬ 
city of the contrivance is one of the principal advan¬ 
tages of it, and the ease with which the effect is pro¬ 
duced is equally beneficial. The most inexperienced 
in chemical experiments can produce the required re¬ 
sults, which, in fact, require nothing but the labor of 
the hand but a few minutes. 
Sickness Caused by digging Diseased Potatoes.— 
Last week, one of our subscribers, and his two sons, 
proceeded to Chappaquiddic, for the purpose of dig¬ 
ging potatoes. He had not long been engaged when his 
eldest son became quite sick, and vomited freely; he 
was immediately taken to the nearest dwelling, and 
properly cared for. Shortly after returning to the field, 
the younger son was seized'-in a similar manner, and the 
father began to feel quite unwell; indeed, such was the 
smell arising from the really putrid potatoes, that he 
was obliged to suspend operations and return to town. 
The elder son- has since remained quite sick, and is 
now under the care of a physician.— Vineyard Gazette. 
Santa Anna’s Flocks— A Supply for the Army .— 
The writer in Blackwood’s September number on Mex- 
ico, says a large portion of the country between Vera 
Cruz and the city of Mexico, belongs to the well-known 
Gen. Santa Anna. The soil of his vast estate is fer¬ 
tile, but left to its natural fertility—the General being a 
shepherd, and said to have from 40 to 50,000 head of 
cattle in his pastures, Should the government quarter 
the army on him for a while, would it not greatly ex¬ 
pedite their efforts to “ conquer a peace V } 
The Horse Bean. —Of the horse bean, there is con¬ 
siderable variety; two of them have been selected by 
us for cultivation, believing them the best adapted for 
the climate, and quite sufficient of the kind. They are 
the Early Long Pod and Broad Windsor. Both suc¬ 
ceed with the same treatment, but the first named is the 
most certain bearer of the two. In England, where 
they are extensively cultivated, they do much better than 
in this country, preferring its damp, cool atmosphere, to 
our frequently dry and hot one ; to counteract which it 
is desirable to plant as early in the spring, as the 
ground will admit of being worked, in the latitude 
of Philadelphia, the latter part of February, or be¬ 
ginning of March, if possible; they then come into 
flower before the weather becomes hot, otherwise the 
blossoms drop and set no fruit. 
Those who are particularly fond of this bean, can ac¬ 
celerate the crop, by setting a frame at the close of win¬ 
ter, under the lee of a board fence, or other protected 
situation,,exposed to the sun, which cover with glass, 
and in severe weather with matting or straw, so as ef¬ 
fectually to exclude the frost. Herein plant the beans, 
one seed to the square inch, and let them remain, until 
the arrival of milder weather, when they should be 
transplanted to the position in the garden, which it is in¬ 
tended they shall occupjL In transplanting them, care 
should be taken not to injure the roots, to guard against 
which, use a trowel to ease them up, and suffer as much 
earth as will, to adhere. During the time they remain 
in the frame, the sash should be raised when the weather 
is mild, to admit the air, or gradually harden them, pre¬ 
paratory to full exposure when transplanted.— Rural 
Register. 
Large Tree in Mexico. —His excellency Don Fer¬ 
nando Lorenza, formerly Archbishop of Mexico, affirms 
in his Annotations, printed in that city in 1770, that, in 
company with the Archbishop of Guatemala, and other 
persons, he visited a celebrated cypress, ( Cupressus aisti- 
cha ?) known by the Indian name of akeuheutl , which 
he found to be so very large, that in a cavity originally 
caused by a bolt of lightning, he made 100 boys enter 
at a time. ' 
Consumption of Salt on the Globe. —It has been 
estimated that the annual consumption of salt on the 
entire globe is 80 to 100,000,000 quintals, from 25 to 
30,000,000 of which are consumed in Europe, and 5 or 
6,000,000 in the United States. 
Curious Mode of Splitting Rocks. —According to 
the calculations of philosophers, a spherule, or little 
globe of water, only one inch in diameter, expands in 
freezing, with a force superior to the resistance of 13 £ 
tons weight. This power, it is said, has been applied 
with success in Sweden, to the splitting of rocks. Why 
cannot this mode be adopted in Canada and the north¬ 
ern parts of the U. S., in winter, filling holes drilled 
in the rocks with water and allowing it to freeze % 
