DRAINING STAGNANT POOLS.—THE DOMESTIC FLORA OF CHINA.—NO. 1. 
205 
will only be necessary to put on the press a parcel 
of stone or any other material weighing 100 lbs. 
The advantages of a press of this kind must be 
obvious to every one, as it serves equally well to 
give the gentle pressure required for the delicate 
cream-cheese, as for the thorough and more perfect 
condensation of those made of milk. The cut 
denoted by Fig. 42 gives a tolerably good idea of 
the appearance of the machine; but the manner in 
which it acts cannot intelligibly be explained with¬ 
out the article itself. Price $7.50. 
MODE OF DRAINING AND RECLAIMING 
SINK-HOLES OR STAGNANT POOLS. 
In many parts of the country there exist deep de¬ 
pressions or hollows in the surface of the earth, com¬ 
monly known under the names of sink-holes, frog- 
pdnds, &c., which are filled a great part of the year 
with'stagnant water, rife with pestilence and dis¬ 
ease, and contaminating the air during the summer 
months, for miles around. These pools, when 
drained, afford an abundance of muck of the most 
valuable kind for making composts, or mixing with 
barn-yard manure; or they may readily be convert¬ 
ed into rich tillable land. In many places where 
these holes abound, at some distance below the sur¬ 
face there is a stratum of loose sand, which will 
freely admit the passage of water; and it is gene¬ 
rally found that their bottoms consist of a thin stra¬ 
tum of clay or impervious mud, overlying the 
sand. In order to drain them, all that is necessary, 
is, to dig or bore one or more holes in the bottom, 
till you reach the stratum of sand, when the water 
wiil be immediately absorbed and the pond become 
dry. Several pools of this description, on Long 
Island, have lately been drained in this way with 
perfect success. 
A friend of ours informs us that within his recol¬ 
lection, there was a large frog-pond, about 40 miles 
from Boston, which covered an acre of ground. Its 
middle was overgrown with alders and other aquatic 
shrubs, affording a safe retreat for the black birds to 
rear their young, while near the margin, the water 
was a yard or more deep, harboring nothing but 
frogs and reptiles, which had wantonly been pelted 
with stones from year to year, by every idle 
urchin or teamster as they passed that way. The 
pond had remained in this condition for at least 
a hundred years, having passed through the hands 
of several owners, who had regarded it as of no 
value, until at last it was suggested, that if it were 
properly drained and cleared of its bushes it might 
be converted into a fertile meadow, and even into a 
rich garden for the production of vegetables. The 
owner, being a man of good understanding, took 
the hint, and one dull hay-day, in the month of 
July, went with his men and commenced digging a 
broad, deep ditch, with the view of draining its 
water into the lower level of a neighboring pond. 
The next morning, the weather being fine, the mow¬ 
ing was resumed, and no attention was paid to the 
ditch for some days, when, upon examination, it 
was found that the water in the pond had fallen 
several inches, having evidently been absorbed by 
the porous sand at the bottom of the newly-formed 
trench. 
Advantage was immediately taken of the last 
-named circumstance, and several broad pits were 
sunk near the margin of the pond, with which they 
were connected by short, deep drains. By this 
means, the pond soon became dry, which, notwith¬ 
standing the laughter and ridicule of his neighbors, 
encouraged the owner to persevere. The winter 
following, the bushes were all grubbed up by the 
roots and burnt on the spot the next spring. The 
soil, it was ascertained, contained the trunks of a 
number of large pine-trees, in a sound condition, 
which, probably, had fallen into the pond some cen¬ 
turies before, and, in process of time, became water- 
soaked, sunken, and finally ware imbedded in the 
mud. These trees, in the course of the year, were 
dug out, cut up into convenient lengths, and carried 
away for fuel. Early in June of the second season 
after the pond was drained, the ground was level¬ 
led, thoroughly harrowed, and planted with pota¬ 
toes, which yielded a fair crop. What the subse¬ 
quent treatment was, our friend was unable to 
inform us ; but in passing that way some ten years 
afterwards, he remarked that the “ old frog-pond” 
was heavily laden with a beautiful crop of grass. ■; 
THE DOMESTIC FLORA OF CHINA,—NO. 1. 
We have lately received from London a very in¬ 
teresting work entitled “ Three Years’ Wanderings 
in the Northern- Provinces of China,” containing; 
an account of the Agriculture and Horticulture of 
that country, new plants, &c., &c., by Robert For¬ 
tune. This work, which is the result of patient 
research and untiring perseverance, will, doubtless, 
wherever it is read, effectually dispel the mystery 
that has so long shrouded the penetralia of the 
M Celestial Empire.” Instead of “ a highly civilized 
nation, as it has hitherto been represented, “ su¬ 
preme in arts and agriculture, and powerful in pro¬ 
portion to its numbers,” we find China to consist o.f 
little more than a country of “ ruined cities, fall¬ 
ing temples, venal officials, a cowardly populace, 
and a feeble government.” Nor do the much lauded 
arts and sciences of the people justify the extrava¬ 
gant praises bestowed upon them by Du Halde, 
Macartney, and others. In truth, it would seem 
that China only became partially known to Euro¬ 
peans when their own country wa* in a state of 
barbarism, and when the refinement and skill of the 
Eastern nations formed a striding contrast with 
those of the West. But since that period, China 
has slowly been on the decline, while Europe and 
America have rapidly advanced. If, however, this 
singular people do not hold a high rank in the scale 
of civilization, it cannot be said that they take a 
low one. They are ingenious, industrious, patient 
in their labors, hospitable and liberal-minded, and 
often exercise in perfection many of the highest 
virtues of a patriarchal age, as our author has 
clearly shown. 
Mr. Fortune was sent to China by the London 
Horticultural Society for the purpose of obtaining 
new plants of an ornamental and useful character, 
with instructions to give every possible attention 
to the horticulture and agriculture of that wonder¬ 
ful country. His work therefore contains, in addi¬ 
tion to the usual subjects treated of by travellers, 
a large amount of information on these two points, 
which we propose to publish in a condensed form 
in two series of articles, one to be headed the “ Do¬ 
mestic Flora of China,” and the other the “ Agri 
