238 
PRESERVATION OF TIMBER, ETC. 
that too many farmers overstock their farms, and 
consequently kept their pastures too short; as lands 
that are keep with a good coat of grass on them 
through the season stand a drought much better 
and produce pasture earlier the next season, and 
cows will do better on them, than on shorter feed. 
Quantity of Butter Made .—As I have said be¬ 
fore, I commenced making butter about the 1st of 
April, and up to May 4th, made 512 pounds; then 
commenced packing for the fall market. Made in 
May, 26 days, 747 pounds; in June, 30 days, made 
1,186 pounds; in July, 31 days, 1,079 pounds ; in 
August, 31 days, 1,016 pounds; and from Septem¬ 
ber 1st, up to December 15th, three and a half 
months, 1,948 pounds, which is about t^e close of 
the season for making butter. I sold mf dairy this 
year to R. Clearwater, at 183 Washington street, 
New York, on the 30th day of November, for 23 
cents per pound, which amount was 5,030 pounds; 
the spring butter, and butter that was sent to the 
different fairs, and the butter that was made after 
the dairy was taken off, amounted to 1,450 pounds, the 
whole averaging 23 cents per pound, amounting in 
cash to $1,492.24; that is, over and above family 
use—and our family will average over eight in 
number-—and which finally makes an average of 
$37.30 per cow, including heifers. 
I sold my dairy last year to C. Adams & Co., at 
224 Fulton street, New York, for 24 cents per 
pound. I am told by them that it went south and 
stood the climate well. John Holbert. 
Chemung , Dec. 25th, 1848. 
CONSTRUCTION OF WHEELBARROWS: 
Fig. 53. 
The greater the diameter of the wheel of a bar- 
row and the smaller the axes, or ends of the gud¬ 
geons, on which it turns, the less power will be re¬ 
quired to drive it forward; for the leverage is 
thereby augmented and the friction materially re¬ 
duced. The diameter of the wheel might be in¬ 
creased with manifest advantage to double that now 
generally employed; for, even then, it would be 
below the point of draft, or impulsion, (the hands 
of the laborer,) and the nearer it can be brought 
to a level with this, the more efficiently he can ex¬ 
ert his power. The breadth of the felloes, or 
periphery, of the wheel, might also advantageously 
be increased one or two inches over that in common 
use, as it is generally employed upon a surface in 
some degree soft, in which case, such an increased 
breadth would diminish the depth the wheel of a 
loaded barrow usually sinks into the soil, and 
would evidently decrease the power required to 
overcome the resistance it would meet. In a wheel¬ 
barrow, thus constructed, a man might move, with 
more ease, 800 lbs. weight, than he now impels 500 
lbs. by the usual mode. 
If a wheelbarrow be made of wood, the feet and 
handles should be clasped with wrought iron, and 
its joints strengthened with bands of the same 
metal. If so guarded, it will outlast two others 
left unprotected. Barrows are now frequently em¬ 
ployed in England, constructed entirely of wrought 
iron, weighing only 92 lbs., which are but little 
heavier than those commonly made of wood. The 
wheels are 16 inches in diameter, with the ends of 
the gudgeons, running in brass bearings, and the face 
of the felloes about three inches in width. 
PRESERVATION OF TIMBER. 
For some years, few things have occupied the 
attention of the British and French governments 
more than to devise some plan by which their ship 
timber could be saved from decay. The dry rot, 
in France and England, has been a matter of as 
much national complaint, as the corn laws, tariff, 
s^ime Jaws, or any other of the various sources of 
excitement that serve to keep a people alive to 
their interest. But everything seems to have 
failed; and the dry rot has preserved its empire in 
its particular sphere, as firmly, to all appearance, 
as the Czar of Russia is now doing among the 
crumbling monarchies of Europe. Nothing has 
for any very long time shaken its dominion. 
Within a few years, a French gentleman, M. Bou- 
cherie, has, by a series of experiments, seemingly 
done a good deal to disturb its authority, and to 
hold out a hope that it may be entirely driven from 
power. 
An idea of the extreme importance of such a 
result may be formed, when it is remembered that 
France has no colonies from which she can bring 
timber—that her population, by its rapid growth, 
requires every inch of land for agriculture—that 
her large forests must necessarily disappear, and 
that, whether for war or commerce, she will be¬ 
come dependent on other countries for her ship 
timber. She already imports more than $6,000,000 
worth a year of this article—a state of things, 
which, in time of war, with any strong naval 
power, would rapidly destroy her fleet, unless so 
fortunate as to recruit it, by capture from the ene¬ 
my. It is not, then, surprising, that both France 
and England, but particularly the former, should 
regard, as a matter of vital interest, the preserva¬ 
tion of her wood, and encourage, in every way 
they can, every mind that is disposed to take up 
the subject. Heretofore, failure has arisen from 
two causes—the one, that the articles employed 
were only partially successful; the other, that 
they were too expensive for constant and general 
use. The first thing necessary, then, in opening a 
series of experiments, was to find some substance 
that was not only perfectly calculated for the pur¬ 
pose, but economical. But before attempting this, 
it was necessary to know what were really the 
causes of decay. M. Boucherie thinks that he has 
ascertained, by experiment, this important principle, 
‘ ; that all the alterations which wood presents, 
are due to the soluble matters which it contains.” 
When brought into contact with a certain quan¬ 
tity of water, the action of which is aided by a 
proper temperature, they have the power of becom¬ 
ing heated, decomposed, and furnish a corrosive 
liquid that penetrates the woody fibre, alters its 
