APPLICATION OP MARL.-ACCLIMATIZING TREES OR SHRUBS, ETC. 
81 
and under circumstances similar to those which 
would control them, are what are essential to com- j 
mend them to their adoption. 
Jn the introduction of improved implements the 
effect would he similar and far more productive of 
immediate and wide-spread improvement. Most 
planters are chary of purchasing and supplying 
these, from apprehensions of unfitness for their par¬ 
ticular wants. With many, argument or illustration 
are of no avail in commending them to their use. 
They wish to see them tried, yet there is little hope 
of their realizing so desirable a consummation, and 
an association that would bring the planters to¬ 
gether at stated periods, would afford an opportuni¬ 
ty of mutual communication, and collect in one point 
the combined experience of all. This would dispel 
doubt, inspire confidence, and save to each the trouble 
and expense of multiplied experiments. A hundred 
experiments, undertaken by as many persons, would 
be thus as equally available to each, as if cgnbinedly 
undertaken by one ; and while the burden of trial 
would be divided, the benefits would enure to all 
participating in them. 
The benefits arising from the extensive use of im¬ 
plements better suited to the cultivation and conver¬ 
sion of farming products are great and not generally 
estimated. If, for instance, a style of plow could 
be introduced that with the same expenditure of 
force (team), would effect this division and pulveri¬ 
zation of the soil more perfectly, crops would be 
largely augmented at no increased expense. If to 
this improvement, economy in their use, better and 
more scientific construction—if of more durable mate¬ 
rials, and more cheaply repaired—if these several 
advantages be superadded—a large and important 
advantage is thus secured. Now this is precisely 
what is claimed, and I think justly, in the use of 
the best and most approved cast-iron plows. And 
in almost every instance where they have been 
fairly tried, these advantages are conceded. One 
planter told me he had used three plows 115 days 
without apparent wear, or any repairs, and had 
never before used a wrought-iron plow longer than 
15 days without requiring to be taken to the smith 
for sharpening. Their merits are acknowledged by 
those who have used them ; they are denied only 
by those who allow preconceived opinions (preju¬ 
dice), to usurp the place of experiment. What is 
true of plows is equally so of numerous other im¬ 
plements,but I cannot further particularize. 
Few Orleans , Jan. 4th , 1848. 
ACCLIMATIZING HALF-HARDY TREES OR 
SHRUBS. 
I have several hundred pomegranates, which have 
been flourishing for four years in open ground. 
About the 1st of November, in each auUimrf,when 
the plants were small, I had driven, at suitable dis¬ 
tances around the plot, several slight posts, to 
which were nailed, only for the winter, some rough 
boards, simply making a rude board fence. On the 
top of this fence, loose boards were laid over-lop¬ 
ing each other, unnailed, forming a kind of roof. 
Early in March, each year, the whole of this struts 
ture was removed. By this protection, the trees 
have now become so strong and vigorous, and so, 
firmly attached to the soil, that a simple binding in 
straw will suffice for their protection ; and perhaps 
even this may not be permanently required. 
Fig trees succeed by the same treatment; also, 
the Eriobotrya japonica, Zizyphus jujuba, Nandina 
domestica, and even the Camellia japonica, several 
varieties of the Azalea indica, Rhododendron arbo- 
reum, in all of its varieties, as well as the Lager- 
streemia indica. The Chimonanthus fragrans, Aucu- 
ba japonica, and some of the rhododendrons, when 
quite small and weak, require a slight protection of 
straw or earth; but after a couple of years they 
need no covering to withstand the winters here as 
perfectly as the most common shrubs. The Euony- 
mus japonicus, both the green and variegated-leaved 
varieties, need no protection whatever, and there 
are no two shrubs of the evergreen class that are 
more beautiful. Wm. R. Prince. 
Linncean Botanic Garden , 
Flushing , January 4 th, 1848. 
Application of Marl. —Experience proves 
that marl is a treasure to the farmer when properly 
applied to light sandy soils ; yet, the same experi¬ 
ence teaches him, that it cannot be applied, with 
success, to weak, worn-out lands, without some 
kind of vegetable or grassy matter covering the sur¬ 
face to prevent it from sinking into the earth. There¬ 
fore, instead of being applied to broken ground, 
it is better that all clays and marls, should be spread 
on the sod in the form of top dressing, where they 
should remain for one or more years, in order that 
the frost may shiver and temper the clods by bring¬ 
ing their particles to a complete separation, and 
where the vegetable matters may putrefy, keep 
moist, and cause a fermentation that will mix or 
unite these bodies together. 
INFLUENCE OF FORESTS ON THE DISTRIBU- 
TION OF RAIN AND HAIL. 
In every instance, and in every country of the 
globe, where the forests have been cleared, a diminu¬ 
tion of the fall of rain or snow has been the result; 
and these regions annually suffer, more or less, from 
tempests or storms of hail. In some parts of 
Europe, it is well known that insurance companies 
against hail demand, for certain districts, a higher 
premium than in others on this account. 
The evidence of Humboldt, Von Buch, Daniell, 
and others, is so powerful on this subject, that if 
should be particularly impressed upon the attention 
of the reader how important the existence of wooded 
spots become to the agriculturist. “ By felling the 
trees that cover the tops and sides of the mountains,” 
says Humboldt, “ men, in every climate, prepare at 
once for two calamities for future generations—the 
want of fuel and the scarcity of water. Trees, by 
the nature of their perspiration, and the radiation 
from their leaves, in a cloudless sky, surround them¬ 
selves with an atmosphere constantly cool and 
moist.” Hence all large forests tend to attract the 
clouds formed by the condensation of the moisture 
which rises from the earth, and thereby produce an 
abundance of rain. 
How to Make Metheglin.— Take honey 10© 
lbs; water 24 gallons; put them in a cask, and 
I stir daily until dissolved. Then add yeast 1 pint, 
and a decoction, from 1 lb. of hops previously boiled 
in water, sufficient to make 6 gallons pf liquid. 
Mix well and ferment. 
