338 
REVIEW OF THE JULY NUMBER OF THE AGRICULTURIST. 
would be torn in pieces by the ignorant population, 
as Jacquard’s loom was in France, and some of 
Arkwright’s first spinning machines were in Eng¬ 
land. Such is the prejudice of ignorance in favor 
of old customs; for instances of which we need 
not go to Europe nor China. 
Utility of Wasps and Hornets. —Then why do we 
keep up the constant war of extermination against 
them ? ^ Is it for the same reason that we kill bats, 
spiders, and toads, so that we can have more flies 
and bugs to scold about ? 
Letters of R. L. Allen , No. 5.—In speaking of 
swine in Louisiana, Mr. Allen says : “ Could the 
meat-pickling apparatus be perfected, so as to be 
successfully applied here,” &c. Are we to under¬ 
stand from this, that Mr. Allen is of opinion that 
said apparatus is not yet so perfect that meat could 
be salted with it so as to be safely cured at New 
Orleans'? [Yes.] I had until now, always sup¬ 
posed that it might be ; but I am not so sure that it 
would be profitable to raise hogs in that vicinity for 
that purpose, when all the vast region of the valley 
of the Ohio and upper Mississippi, can do the thing 
in “ the natural way,” and send their bacon to the 
New-Orleans market to be sold at about the same 
price by the cord, that cord wood is. I don’t know 
about competing with the Suckers, Hoosiers, and 
Buckeyes. 
Hot Water for Trees. —To be used with care and 
proper judgment, without any danger. In the case 
detailed by Mr. Bacon, of boiling water poured 
from the spout of a tea kettle upon the locust, it is 
worthy of remark that this tree will bear 
greater heat than many other trees. And I would 
recommend his plan of getting rid of the borer to 
be pursued. I should have no hesitation to use 
lye boiling hot, instead of water; and I have no 
doubt that will be found a perfectly safe and cer¬ 
tain remedy for the peach worm. It is probable 
that a small boiler, with a convenient steaming 
apparatus, would be found preferable, and more 
speedy in its application. There is no danger of 
killing the tree, unless used very excessively. 
Cisterns. —Dr. Philips says that since families of 
his acquaintance have used cistern water, they have 
been much more healthy than when using other 
water. Will Dr. P. be kind enough to state what 
kind of water they used before? Whether from 
springs, wells, ponds, or streams, or all of them, as 
I know is common in some parts of the south. 
And what is the quality of water in the wells of 
your neighborhood, Doctor, hard or soft? Does 
your cistern water ever get an unpleasant smell, 
and how do you cleanse it for drinking ? Of 
course you have no ice. How, then, do you cool 
it? Or do you, like myself, condemn the extrava¬ 
gant use office, as unnecessary? The meaning of 
the word moderation , seems to be lost. If it were 
not for that, I would not set my face so strongly 
against tea and coffee, and everything that is 
equally poisonous and intoxicating when used 
immoderately. 
Navy Butter for Foreign Stations. —This matter 
all lies in a nutshell. The idea that none but 
Orange-county butter will keep, which is the opin¬ 
ion of “the gentleman who has special charge of 
this department,” is an idea that convinces me 
that he knows no more about the principle of 
butter making, than thousands of persons who 
annually manufacture and send to market a great 
many barrels, tubs, kegs, and pots, of a substance 
obtained from milk, which might very properly be 
termed “cow grease.” Butter, which is the oily 
part of milk, and nothing else, and which, if made 
agreeably to an article in the June number of this 
paper, whether in Orange county, or any other 
county of the northern states, where sw r eet feed 
grows, and packed in an air-tight vessel, will keep 
sweet as long as the navy of this government w T ill 
need butter, whether made “ in the mode of Irish 
rose butter ,” or in the mode directed by good sound 
common sense, which it seems that some gentle¬ 
men, in official stations, do not possess in a very 
superlative degree. I think I have seen enough of 
Irish butter making, to know something of it, as I 
once made a long tour through that country; and 
when master of the good ship-, often touched 
at Irish ports. It is no wonder that the gentlemen 
corresponded with, although extensive dealers in 
Irish butter, “never heard of rose butter ,” because 
it is only a local term in the neighborhood of 
Waterford, to indicate butter fresh churned in the 
spring of the year, ft originated with a celebrated 
butter maker there, stamping her lumps for market 
with the representation of a rose. If every other 
county is to be prevented from sharing in the trade 
of butter for the navy, through the whim of “ the 
gentleman who has special charge of this depart¬ 
ment,” unless he can smell an “ Irish rose” from 
Orange county, it is high time that that gentleman 
was “ turned out to grass,” until “ a rose, by some 
other name, would smell as sweet.” 
Do Lead Pipes Injure Water ?—This question is 
so fully and fairly answered by the editor, that it 
is worth while for every person who is in the least 
interested, to turn back to page 215, and read that 
article again. Or it may be fully understood that 
lead pipes, in all limestone regions, are as innocuous, 
and perfectly free from danger, as a clean tin pail. 
The white film with which they become coated, 
will never dissolve nor change through long ages 
of use. But if any have doubts, let them use 
iron. The prices of cast or wrought iron pipes, are 
now so low, that they are easily within reach, so 
far as regards cost. 
Wire Fences. —Has anybody tried the experiment 
of fencing the almost boundless prairies of the west 
with iron ? It seems to me that if people would 
only quit the barbarous fashion of letting hogs run 
at large, that these fertile lands might be fenced 
with iron very advantageously. And certainly in 
all the old-settled regions of the eastern states, such 
fence could be as cheaply built as any other that 
would be equally good, while it is to be preferred 
for its beauty. What can be prettier than beautiful 
yards, gardens, and lawns, inclosed with wire fence ? 
or what can look worse than an old rickety wooden 
one ? I hope to live to see much of the latter give 
place to iron, even including the posts of the same 
material. 
Superiority of Wool Matresses. —Superior to 
what ? So far as health is concerned, they are 
certainly superior to feathers. But wool is not su¬ 
perior to hair for luxurious comfort, nor for health; 
and certainly it should not be for cheapness. For 
the coarsest kind of wool is good for some kind* 
