BREAKING ROCKS WITH FIRE. 
211 
rich deposit obtained in the purification of sew¬ 
erage for sanitary purposes. 
After the general expression of the members 
present, of the approval of the plan, and of the 
gratification it gave them, to find that his Royal 
Highness was devoting his enlightened attention 
to matters of such vital importance to the coun¬ 
try, the council unanimously voted their thanks 
for the kindness with which he had honored 
them with so interesting a communication, on 
so important a subject. 
BREAKING- ROCKS WITH FIRE. 
I believe it is not generally known that large 
boulders may be easily broken with fire. I 
have broken many that were on my land in the 
following manner :—If the rock is imbedded in 
the earth, remove the earth around it, and with 
a large lever raise one side of it a little, and put 
small stones underneath, so that when it cracks, 
it will separate of itself. Then, make a narrow 
fire across it, and in a short time it will crack, 
so that, with an iron bar and a small iron wedge 
or two, it may easily be separated. If scales 
start on it before it cracks, they must be remov¬ 
ed, which can be done with a pair of tongs. If 
it does not break readily, build the fire across 
in another direction. In this manner, a man 
will break a dozen large boulders in a day. 
Plowing in Corn for Manure.— When sown 
broadcast, even if it has reached a height of six 
or eight feet, this is easily done by attaching 
one end of an ox chain to the clevis of the plow, 
and the other to the beam where the coulter in¬ 
tersects it, throwing the bight, or double part of 
the chain, into the furrow at the right. As this 
is dragged along, the stalks will be thrown 
down and covered by the furrow. To finish 
up the work, and cover any straggling leaves 
or tops, attach a light halter chain to the stand¬ 
ard of the plow, with a three-pound weight at 
the dragging end, which throw into the furrow. 
This will effectually cover up all the crop left 
unburied by the plow. 
ECONOMICAL MODE OF DRAINING LAND. 
I am a believer in thorough, systematic drain¬ 
ing when the farmer has a capital to do it, but 
the greater part have not that capital. It is 
therefore necessary to adopt a temporary sys¬ 
tem, in order to raise good crops; for it is evi¬ 
dent to every farmer, that grain, or even grass, 
will not grow advantageously on wet land. 
The manner of draining that I have practised 
for years, I will now attempt to describe, which 
answers a good purpose on all swales and wet 
places that are not fed by springs. If necessary, 
let off the water by plowing a furrow, or by 
opening a trench with the spade ; then plow the 
fidiff. After the sod has rotted so that you can 
plow to advantage, mark out a land, the centre 
of which will be where you want your drain, 
with the outside extending, if practicable, to 
where the ground ascends. Plow deep, repeat¬ 
edly lessening the land a little at each plowing, 
so as not to leave a ridge between the outside 
of the field and the centre. By plowing from 
three to five times, and clearing out the dead fur¬ 
row in the centre, with a shovel or spade, you 
will have a drain, or hollow, two or three feet 
deep, that will last for years. 
There are several advantages attending this 
method. You have a drain nearly dug when 
you want to put in an underdrain, which may 
be covered by throwing the earth back with the 
plow. You also have the subsoil mixed with 
that of the surface, which, in most cases, is de¬ 
ficient in vegetable mould, and is ill adapted to 
the growth of wheat and other crops, thus ren¬ 
dering it more productive than any other part 
of the field. 
I have reclaimed considerable wet land in 
this way, and have found it cheap and expedi¬ 
tious. I always plow the rest of the field, if 
possible, so as to cross the main drains. I make 
my lands about three rods wide, always plowing 
them the same way. When the field is sowed, 
I run the plow through every dead furrow, and 
clean out the earth with a shovel or spade. I 
think if the above method were practised by 
farmers, we should hear less of the winter-kill¬ 
ing of wheat and the failure of crops. My ex¬ 
perience has been on a soil and subsoil of clay¬ 
ey loam, which is the character of most of the 
land in this state, called “ timbered openings.” 
Linus Cone. 
Troy , Michigan, 1850. 
THE FARMER’S HOME. 
What place ought more deservedly to be 
a place of happiness and peace, than the Farm¬ 
er’s Home! It stands, may be, upon the soil 
consecrated by the labor of his own parents’ 
hands; hallowed by the recollection of his own 
sunny childhood; endeared by the sweet mem¬ 
ories of other days. If not, it is at least his 
home. It stands upon his own heritage of earth’s 
broad surface, and its doorway opens upon his 
own fields of waving grain. No pestilential 
breath of the city’s corrupting influences pol¬ 
lutes the free, fresh air which plays around it. 
The birds, near the windows, warble their morn¬ 
ing and evening songs, and the setting sun 
throws its lingering shadows through the old 
trees that stand, (or ought to stand,) around it. 
And when the night time comes, and silence 
takes the place of the busy hum of industrious 
hands, labor-brought sleep folds all within its 
embrace, until the morning light brings again 
new labors and new pleasures. Such is, or 
should be, the farmer’s home. 
Love of home is one of the strongest princi¬ 
ples implanted in the mind by our Creator, and 
when cultivated, is productive of pure and nat¬ 
ural enjoyment. The happiness of the domestic 
circle has long been celebrated in poetry and 
in song. With how much beauty and truthfuL 
! ness, the home-loving man alone can tell! But 
| love of home and the domestic circle is not only 
' productive of happiness, but of morality and vir¬ 
tue. This feeling, existing strong and unbroken 
in the minds of our children, is one of the surest 
safeguards against vice. It i,g one of the most 
