172 
SUNDRY ITEMS. 
some of these exactly resmhling those found in 
the ocean, at moderate depths: this similarity 
informs us of the origin of the sands of Man¬ 
hattan and Long Islands. 
Some of these water-deposited rocks, espe¬ 
cially those of the earliest date, have been, by 
close proximity to melted rocks, so altered as 
to become, in a degree, crystalline, at least, they 
assume a splitting or slaty character, and gen¬ 
erally speaking, the lower aijd older the bed, 
the better and finer slates will it yield. Those 
altered or metamorphic rocks, as they are techni¬ 
cally termed, are gneiss, mica-slate and clay- 
slate rocks. 
Gneiss is a rock having the same minerals as 
granite, but arranged regularly in layers; thus 
a layer of quartz, then a layer of felspar, and 
lastly, one of mica, and so on, repeated through 
the whole thickness of the rock. It varies in 
its character in proportion to the quantity of 
these minerals present, and soils formed from 
them vary, also, but almost alway resemble 
granitic soils. They are, however, poorer and 
yield a scanty herbage, requiring high manuring 
to yield any profit on farming. Small quantities 
of manure, added every year, tell better on 
gneiss soils, than heavy manuring repeated sel¬ 
dom. Gneiss constitutes the surface rock of 
Manhattan or New-York Island, over nearly its 
whole extent, a great part of Westchester, and 
the counties east of the Hudson. A large tract 
of the Highlands is gneissose, and a great part 
of Scituate ; Coventry, and West Grefenwich, in 
Rhode Island. The Green Mountains, in Ver¬ 
mont, are to a great extent, of gneiss, as is the 
hilly district on the west of Lake Champlain. 
Gneiss is found forming the rock and soil of 
Essex and Clinton counties, in this state, and 
among the Adirondack Mountains. Soils formed 
from this rock are found scattered over every 
primary district in New England. 
SUNDRY ITEMS. 
To Renovate Old Meadows .—I have lately seen 
.a new mode of renovating old sod-bound pas- 
lures and meadows. It is to take a subsoil plow 
and three horses, (which make the best team,) 
and plow the field, overturning no furrow, but 
loosening the earth below, about one foot deep, 
harrow the same w 6 ay, sow grass seed, and roll 
down with a heavy roller. This is the practice 
of a landlord who prefers grass to any other 
crop, and the effect is astonishing. I saw a 
piece that had just been served so. The sward, 
of course, was broken in streaks, and tne grass 
seed was up most beautifully on these. The 
unbroken strips had been stretched and moved 
a little, so as to expose the old roots a little to 
;ixir and moisture. 
To Cure the Sore Necks of Oxen .—A neigh¬ 
bor of mine had a pair of working oxen whose 
•necks became very sore. He covered that part 
of the yoke resting upon the neck, with sheet 
dead. They got well almost immediately, though 
constantly kept at work. I suppose the lead 
being a good conductor of heat, drew off the 
inflammation, and thus enabled the sores to 
heal. 
Easy and Rapid Way of Sowing Plaster .—» 
When I sow plaster, instead of setting my 
men to lugging it upon their backs and necks 
all day, I take a two-horse wagon, fix a long 
box across the back part of the wagon, and a 
seat forward of that, on which a man is seated, 
riding backwards. Then, with a quarter or half 
a ton of plaster in, I seat myself in front and 
drive back and forth, across the field till the 
load is sown out of the back part of the wagon. 
In this way, I can sow as fast as four or five 
men, and with less manual labor. My neighbors 
laugh at this, as being a lazy way. But I find 
a neighbor’s laugh much easier to bear for a 
few minutes, than it is to cary a back load of 
ground stone all day. 
Benefit of Guano .—Two years ago, I used half 
a ton of guano in various ways, some on grass, 
some on corn, and some in garden. The sea¬ 
son was unusually dry, and I saw no effect from 
it, except in the garden, upon a bed of peppers. 
These were the largest I ever saw. Last spring, 
I planted some chicken corn upon this pepper 
bed, which grew nine or ten feet high, about 
double the usual height. I regret, now, that I 
had not procured some more for wheat, last fall. 
Would it pay to put it on wheat in the spring? 
[Yes.— Eds.] What would be the effect upon 
the spring-sown grass seed, while the plants are 
young and tender ? [Very beneficial. —Eds.] I 
think I used it too sparingly, through fear of 
injury by excess, and have now a high opinion 
of it as a manure. 
The difficulty with us farmers, is the want of 
capital, and hence we fear to risk much for ex¬ 
pensive manures, lest a failure in the quick re¬ 
turns would put us to inconvenience. Now, if 
I should use it, or any one else, and raise thirty 
bushels of wheat per acre, I do not doubt that 
it would be the cause of using ma ny tons where 
the article is quite unknown. W. 
Dutchess Co., N. Y. 
CULTIVATION OF FRUIT ON LONG- ISLAND. 
Among the various objects that engage the at¬ 
tention of Long-Island farmers, few have higher 
claims upon their care than the cultivation of 
good and wholesome fruit. No one, however 
small a piece of land he may occupy, or howev¬ 
er limited his means, should neglect this impor¬ 
tant branch of husbandry. Hence it is that I 
think our farmers could not turn their attention 
to anything more profitable, at the present time, 
than to the cultivation of fruit. There is no 
place, perhaps, in the United States, where ap¬ 
ples and late peaches would commmand better 
prices, possessing, as most parts of the island 
do, an easy and ready access to New York, 
Boston and other markets. Our soil and climate 
are well adapted to the growth of excellent 
fruit, and all that is necessary for its perfection 
is more interest to be manifested by our farmers 
in its cultivation. 
The usual modes of planting apple orchards 
here, is to procure seedling trees from a nursery, 
large enough for standards, set them out at the 
regular distance, and graft them from 5 to 6 feet 
above the ground. By this method,! think they 
