AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
5 
when ten and twenty acre lots are a good deal 
more convenient? Why, some men up here in 
Connecticut have kept themselves cramped for 
money all their days, by building stone-fences 
where they were not wanted. What is the use 
of burning out twenty cords of wood to keep 
warm, when you can do it a great deal better with 
half the quantity 1 Good stoves in a house save 
fifty dollars a year mighty easy. What is the use 
of taking four acres to grow a hundred bushels of 
corn, when you can grow it cheaper upon one 1 
What is the use of paying fifteen dollars for a 
bridge across a ditch, when you can have one just 
us good and durable for three? 
It was curious to hear my neighbors speculate, 
when I got the things together to make the 
bridge. 
“ Going to set up a crockery-shop, Esq. Bun¬ 
ker,” said uncle Jotham, as he struck the tiles 
with his staff. 
“ What new tricks you got in your head 
neow?” asked Seth Twiggs, as he thought of the 
tiles and the brain manure in the garden. 
“ Going to dig a grave, and brick it up ?” asked 
Jake Frink as he looked over the fence. 
“ Nothing of the kind, Mr. Frink—you made 
a grave for ten or twelve dollars in your bridge 
up yonder, and I think, there has been grave-dig¬ 
ging enough of that kind in this bit of land.” 
I had got a dozen horse-shoe tile of seven inch 
size, costing, all told, just one dollar; and a white 
oak plank two inches thick, twelve feet long, and 
about a foot wide, sound as a nut, cost fifty cents. 
I laid the plank upon the mud in the bottom of 
the ditch, about three inches under the water. I 
then put the tile upon the plank, covering them 
with a lot of old straw, and then packed fn the 
turf, grass side down, over them, and filled up with 
gravel from a neighboring hill. There was 
about a half-day’s work carting dirt, and the 
whole was finished. That oak plank, I calculate, 
will last a good deal longer than I shall, and 
should n’t wonder, if my grandchildren found it as 
sound as it is to-day. The tile will last as long 
as brick in a chimney. The whole cost of the 
bridge is not over three dollars, and it is quite as 
durable, and a good deal more ornamental, than 
that rough stone affair, that cost fifteen. Tire 
fact is, I arn getting sick of the sight of stone 
above ground, except in line walls, since I have 
begun to drain, and to use a horse-mower. I 
can’t help thinking, how much better they would 
pay in a good stone culvert under the sod, or 
even in raising up the land in swampy places. 
On the surface they are unsightly, they take up 
a good deal of room, and are always in the way 
of the plow and the mower. Beneath the sod, 
they are out of the way, and are saving the six¬ 
pences in carrying off the excess of water. There 
is nothing on the farm so handsome, as a clean 
green meadow, just ready for the scythe. 
I guess I have beat Jake Frink twelve dollars 
on the bridge, and that will do to set over agin 
the carrots. Yours to command, 
Timothy Bunker, Esq. 
Hookerstown, Dec. 15, 1858. 
Chinese Sugar Cane in Kansas. — Chas. 
Dickinson, Leavenworth City, who received a 
small package of Chinese Sugar Cane seed from 
this office two years ago, writes as follows. “ I 
planted it the first year like corn. It did well, 
growing 10 to 15 feet in hight, producing abund¬ 
ance of seed. As there was no mill in this vicin¬ 
ity, I did not attempt grinding it. I planted again 
the past season in common with my neighbors 1 
who had from to 10 acres each. Our crop was 
good, and some of us clubbed together, and made 
a wooden mill, 1dm the old fashioned cider-mill. 
Several others were made in the neighborhood, 
and a few iron mills were introduced. With our 
wooden mill we probably extracted two-thirds of 
the juice. From my patch of seven rods I made 
9 gallons of first-rate syrup. I find it as easy to 
boil as maple-sap, with very little danger of burn¬ 
ing. I think there has been sufficient syrup made 
in this part of Kansas for one half the consump¬ 
tion, and next season we shall probably be ex¬ 
porters. ...” 
——-—■ ■ —-—► «-- 
Planting Trees for Shelter. 
At this season of the year, when bleak sites, 
and indeed all sites, are swept by severe winds, 
we need not spend much time in showing the im¬ 
portance of planting trees for shelter. Cold 
weather can be borne easily, if the air is still, but 
frost and wind combined make even strong men 
flinch. Most houses need the protection ef trees 
for the comfort of their inmates. Barns and 
sheds and cattle-yards need it for the comfort and 
health of stock. Orchards and gardens with 
young and tender trees and shrubs need it. And 
how shall it be obtained ? 
In the accompanying illustrations we introduce 
two belts of trees re-engrave 1 from sketches in 
Kemp’s (English) Landscape Gardening. Though 
introduced in that work purposely to critizise 
their sameness of appearance, we think just such 
belts of trees would be a decided improvement 
along thousands of farms upon the broad, and 
level or rolling prairies, where it is particularly 
desirable to secure a screen from the winds 
which sweep on with almost the fierceness 
they do over the level ocean. 
Evergreens, undoubtedly, make the best screen, 
because they retain their foliage in winter; and 
where they can be had at reasonable cost, they 
should be planted first and chiefly. They should 
be set in double rows, the outer or most exposed 
being made of pines and spruces, and the inner 
of hemlock and arbor-vitae. By a little care, a 
dense wall of verdure may soon be formed in this 
way. But where evergreens are scarce or expen¬ 
sive, let the shelter be made of deciduous trees, 
or of these and evergreens mixed together. Of 
deciduous trees, one of the best for this is the 
European Larch .—It harmonizes well with ev¬ 
ergreens, and has quite a compact net-work of 
branches. It is perfectly hardy and grows rapid¬ 
ly. It can be bought very cheaply in the nurseries. 
The Yellow Locust is another good screen tree. 
It is as hardy as can be desired, accommodates it¬ 
self to all kinds of soils and situations, and grows 
fast enough for anybody. Even if raised from 
seed, it becomes a large tree in a few years, es¬ 
pecially if sown in good soil and helped on by a 
little cultivation. The raising of locust-trees is 
attended with this great advantage, (hat if one’s 
grove becomes too thick, the trees c«* be thinned 
out and will sell at a good price in market for tim¬ 
ber. In ship-building towns, this is worth fifty 
cents a cubic foot. For rails, fence-posts, mil] 
works, building timber, rail road ties, hubs for 
wagon-wheels, and in short for any purpose re¬ 
quiring strength and durability, the yellow locust 
has hardly any superior. 
The Scarlet Maple is an excellent tree for shel¬ 
ter. It has a fancy for 
moist ground, but suc¬ 
ceeds well anywhere. 
In good soil, it makes 
shoots annually from five 
to seven feet. Its scarlet 
flowers in early Spring, 
its bright green foliage 
with a silvery lining, in 
Summer, and its brilliant 
tints in Autumn, are among its many recommen¬ 
dations. 
The White Ash should be named in this connec¬ 
tion, because it thrives best in the soil which the 
maple loves, is as hardy as an oak, and harmon¬ 
izes well with the maple and locust in landscape 
scenery. 
For low trees and shrubs, to make an under¬ 
growth, we recommend the Buckthorn, Mahaleb 
cherry and Privet. The Dogwoods are also ex¬ 
cellent, 
--» * --- -- 
Examining Bottoms of Wells and Cisterns- 
It is not generally known, we think, how easy 
a matter it is to examine the bottom of a well, 
cistern, or pond of water by the use of a common 
mirror (“looking-glass.”) When the sun is shin¬ 
ing brightly, hold a mirror so that the reflected 
rays of light will fall into the 
water. A bright spot will 
be seen at the bottom, so 
light as to show the small¬ 
est object very plainly. By 
this means we have exam¬ 
ined the bottom of wells 
fifty to eighty feet deep, when 
half full or more of water- 
The smallest straw, or othei 
small object, can be perfectly seen from the sur¬ 
face. In the same way one can examine the but 
tom of ponds and rivers, if the water be somewhat 
clear, and not agitated by winds or rapid motion. 
If a well or cistern be under cover, or shaded by 
buildings, so that the sun light w-ll not fall near 
the opening, it is oniv necessary it. employ two 
mirrors, using one to reflect the light to the 
opening, and another to send it down perpendi¬ 
cularly into the water. Light may be thrown 
fifty or a hundred yards to the precise spot desired, 
and then reflected downward. We have used 
the mirrors with success to reflect the light 
around a field to a shaded spot, and also to carry 
it from a south window through two rooms, and 
then into a cistern under the north-side of the 
house. Half a dozen reflections of the light may 
be made, though each mirror diminishes the bril¬ 
liancy of the light. Let any one not familiar with 
this method try it, and ho will find it not only 
useful, but a nleasing expe-iment. It will per¬ 
haps reveal a mass of sediment at the bottom of 
a well, which has been little thought of. but which 
may have been a fruitful source of disease, by its 
decay in the water. 
- - -» --—=:©«*- - 
A small leak will sink a great, shin 
