THE CULTIVATOR. 
163 
dark brown, broad, long and gelatinous leaf, the name ffllets, and they communicate that flavor to vegetables 
of which I do not know. Iwith which the y are mixed - Lightfoot mentions that 
Sea-weed, particularly the latter and rock weed, are||in the Isle of Skye in Scotland, it is sometimes used in 
eaten with avidity by swine; and where continual ac-§§fevers to promote perspiration, being boiled in water 
cess is had by them to it, will promote their growth and 
fatten them, though the flesh is far from palatable, if 
they are not fatted, for two or three months before kill¬ 
ing, exclusively on other food better fitted for putting 
good flesh on them. Some farmers give them little else, 
up to within that period of fatting time. When thus 
permitted, however, to range for food on the seashore, 
they feed exclusively on muscles and such shellfish as 
they can crush with their teeth, are fond of fish gene¬ 
rally, and particularly so of the description known as 
horsefeet. 
The Avrack-grass sea-weed may also be used as a 
thatcli, and forms a more durable defence against the 
violent winds and heavy rains than straw. 
The latter also is used as a substitute for horse-hair 
in stuffing matrasses and furniture- For this purpose, 
it is carefully washed twice in fresh water, and then 
dried quickly, the intermixture of other sea grasses less 
fitted for the purpose being picked out. 
It is very convenient and effectual for sheltering a 
manure heap from the drenching of rains, and protect 
ing it from solar heat; for covering plants in gardens 
vegetables left in garden grounds, or buried for winter 
keeping; or for young trees, to protect them from the 
rigorous frosts of the wintry season, and for a variety of 
purposes about farming buildings. 
An opinion of the practical estimate of its utility may 
be formed from the fact, that for manuring purposes, it 
is carted in Ireland to the distance of forty-five miles 
inland from the seacoast. 
Ezra L’Hommedieu, Esq. formerly senator from Suf¬ 
folk, a very intelligent and skilful agriculturist of his 
day, in a communication made to the Agricultural So¬ 
ciety of this State in 1791, says, “ Many farmers are ofj 
opinion that one load of sea-weed as a manure, is equal 
to a load of cowyard manure for raising wheat.” And 
he says, “that within the two years then preceding, he 
had used more than 200 loads for wheat only, but he 
did not find it equal by five loads in thirty; that it was 
found in some respects superior to any other kind for 
Indian corn, as it prevents worms and injury from 
drought ; that the preceding summer, much Indian corn 
had been cut off by that means, but where the lands 
were manured by this weed, the corn was not affected 
It may not be amiss here, while quoting from this 
writer, whose authority is too well remembered to per¬ 
mit a question as to the authenticity of his statements, 
to notice what he says of th e manure of mud taken from j n °t ic arn ed fully or perhaps lairly to appreciate them 
. ■ . . - . . I. ■ n r, i-v-k rv + ri w» r, 1 \ ah v, t , n a y-\ t n vi .rr a v- rr /-i a ri rt n rl 
salt-water creeks and swamps, and in which the weed 
often grows:— 
“ Mud from the creeks on Long Island and on the sea- 
coast of some parts of Connecticut, has been made use 
of as a manure, with success in some instances, tvhen in 
others no benefit was experienced. This is owing to their 
using two kinds of mud. In order to determine which 
is fit for manure, if you run a paddle or a pole into the 
mud, and it sticks so fast that it is with some difficulty 
you pull it out, you may determine that mud unfit for 
manure, it being only loam or clay soaked with water; 
with a little butter. It is soft and limber, and does not 
become rigid in drying, being of a more loose texture 
than many other sea-weeds. 
The Halymenia edulis (red dulse) is by many prefer¬ 
red to the H. palmata, especially for cooking in the fry¬ 
ing pan. Like that species, its smell somewhat resem¬ 
bles sweet violets. 
Lmainaria esculenta, (badderlocks or henware.) The 
midrib, stripped of its membrane, is the part chiefly 
eaten. In Orkney, the pinnae are also eaten under the 
name of pickles. 
Sphcerococcus ciliatus (ciliated dulse,) and Laminaria 
digltata (fingered dulse, sea girdle and hangers,) are 
sometimes gathered and eaten, like the Halymenia edu¬ 
lis, palmata, and other species. 
Laminaria digitata. In Scotland, the stem of this spe¬ 
cies is used for making handles to pruning knives. A 
pretty thick stem is selected, and cut into pieces about 
four inches long. Into these, while fresh, the blades are 
stuck; and as the stem dries, it contracts and hardens, 
closely and firmly embracing the hilt of the blade. When 
these handles have become hard and shrivelled, and 
have been tipped with metal, they are hardly to be dis¬ 
tinguished from hart’s horn. 
Chondria pinnatifida (pepper dulse,) in Scotland, is 
eaten along Avith the Halymenia palmata ; and in Ice¬ 
land, it is used instead of spice. This species is com¬ 
mon to Scotland, Iceland, the Red Sea, and the shores 
of Egypt. 
Floating fucus. The succulent fronds. Turner men¬ 
tions, are selected and pickled like samphire; and the 
young shoots are eaten as a salad, seasoned with juice 
of lemons, pepper and vinegar. 
ZJlva lactuca, (lettuce leaves or oyster green.) The 
thin green pellucid membranes, of which this vegetable 
is composed, are eaten raw as a salad, and esteemed a 
great delicacy by such as are accustomed to the use of 
marine vegetables. 
Thus, sir, in ansAver to your wishes, I have given you 
what I know, or have read of sea-weeds, and their va¬ 
rious uses and applications. It may serve to show us 
that the vegetable kingdom of the ocean, if not as ex¬ 
tensive as that of the dry land, has at least its treasures, 
not only to fertilize the earth, to minister to the weak 
and the infirm, to feed the poor and the needy, but even 
to gratify and to satiate the ever-craving and the pam¬ 
pered appetites of the sensualist; that as yet Ave have 
or this among the many bounties of an ever-good and 
an all-wise Providence. Yours truly, 
_ W. A . SEELY. 
Patent Sausage Cutter. 
Fredericktown, Md. Sept. 25 th, 1839. 
J. Buel —Sir—Please be so kind as to inform thepub- 
lic thro’ the columns of your valuable paper, of a newly 
invented and useful machine, denominated the “ Patent 
Sausage Cutter,” the elaborate invention of Mr. A. Hen¬ 
kel, of New-Market, Va. It is erected on a small bench, 
enclosed by a perforated concave; a crank turns a cy¬ 
linder, on which are fixed eight revolving knives, Avhich 
pass through as many upright steel bars, forming a comb. ! 
The meat, when cut sufficiently fine, makes its escape 
being whipped and urged by the driver boys, and are 
soon destroyed by the cruel service. 
Since the canal commissioners will persist in enlarging 
the canal, instead of using the rivers, I use the freedom 
of asking you to advise them so to construct the new 
towpath as to make it the base of a railway, which can 
most easily be done; and then, by placing rails on it, 
locomotive engines may run on it and tow all the boats, 
thereby saving the destruction of the poor horses, and 
leaving all those numerous driver boys to be employed 
in some useful calling, and become wholesome citizens, 
and not worthless and vicious men, as is the present 
consequence. 
Locomotive engines could tow a fleet of boats at the 
rate of ten or twelve miles an hour. Both the engines 
and boats could carry lamps, so as to see and travel 
safely at night, and transport passengers, goods and 
produce nearly two hundred miles in twenty-four hours, 
probably from Albany to Buffalo in little more than two 
days, and thereby reduce the price of freight to a very 
small sum, probably a barrel of flour to ten or twelve 
cents from Buffalo to Albany. The saving of time and 
board to passengers would be so great, as to enable 
emigrants to remove to the western states at trifling 
charges. The produce of the very far west may be 
transported through the lakes and canals to the sea¬ 
board, at as small expense as formerly they were trans¬ 
ported from the Mohawk. 
What an immense improvement this would be! It 
would equal the steam-ships on the ocean for speed and 
saving of time. It would be truly a new era; and be¬ 
fore another century shall pass, men may leave this for 
the far west, to the Pacific; cross that ocean by steam, 
and Asia by railways to the Mediterranean, to France 
and England; and then take the steam-ships as ferry 
boats to New-Yoxk, and thus encompass the globe in a 
month. 
This improvement would save the numerous boys and 
girls from such exposure to vice, and reserve them for 
moral service. What a wonderful improvement would 
be. accomplished in the moral, as in the pecuniary world! 
If your mind shall accord with mine on this subject, 
let me ask you to give your advice. I ask this of you, 
sir, because you have undertaken to instruct and im¬ 
prove all the operations of common life, in agriculture, 
&c. See. in your Cultivator. 
If the canal commissioners were to furnish the en 
gines and tow all the boats, that may be a source of 
revenue to the State; and they must do so if engines are 
employed. Their stations may be at the difficult passes, 
and where the locks cluster, as the Little-falls, &c. 
Most respectfully, 
DAVID TOMLINSON. 
Judge Buel. 
but if your paddle or pole is drawn out easily, the mud 
is fit for manure. This mud being taken out in the sum¬ 
mer and exposed to the frost during winter, in the spring, 
becomes as fine as leached ashes, and is a good manure , , , . - . 
especially for grass; being spread on poor loamy land, it i! through the concave into a vessel set as a reservoir. It 
brings up white clover similar to ashes, though it takes 
a larger quantity.” 
To return particularly to sea-Aveed, and to direct at¬ 
tention to facts, which here have been little if at all no¬ 
ticed. There are many of the Fuci class of sea-weed 
which elseAvhere are, and here may become edible. They 
are used as condiments by families living near the sea- 
coast in other countries, and by the poor, because in 
seasons of scarcity they furnish articles of resource as 
a food. 
There are numerous species employed in gardening! 
as manures. 
The Laminaria saccharina (sweet fucus or sea beet) 
is sometimes boiled by the common people of England 
as a pot herb. The Icelanders, Audubon says, boil it! 
in milk to the consistence of pottage, and eat it with al 
spoon. They are also said to soak it in fresh water,! 
dry it in the sun, and then lay it up in wooden vessels.! 
It soon becomes covered with a white efflorescence of j 
salt, which has a sweetish taste, and in this state they 
eat it with butter. They also feed their cattle with this! 
species, 
The great value of the Iceland and of the Carrigan! 
moss, or lichen, in consumptive or pulmonary complaints,' 
is well knoAvn every where. ; 
The transparent edible nests of the East-Indian swab! 
low, so much in repute at the luxurious tables of the 
rich in China ana the East, are now generally believed 
to be almost entirely composed of gelatinous fuci, and 
more especially of the lichenoides. The plant also is in 
high estimation for the table in India. 
manufactures with ease 200 pounds per hour; if pushedi 
and well attended to, much more. The machine is,' 1 
without difficulty, removed by hand from place to place, 
to answer the demands of a neighborhood. The knives 
are readily taken off, Avhen grinding is necessary, and 
from the neatness and simplicity of the structure, is ea¬ 
sily kept in order. To Avhich is added a stuffing ma 
chine, which greatly facilitates and expedites that pro¬ 
cess. We do not hesitate in saying, that every reader of 
the Cultivator would do well to make further inquiry 
of its great utility, especially as the price is so mode¬ 
rate as to place it in the reach of the most ordinary cir¬ 
cumstances. Price $10. Yours most respectfully, 
M. W. WEATHERS. 
Proposition for Torv-Path Railxvay. 
Schenectady, September 26, 1839. 
Dear Sir —Many years ago, a very aged Englishman, 
named Johnson, kept a school in this city. He said that 
he was born in England, but was bred at the mouth of 
hell !—that is, on board of a ship of war. 
Those Avho have dwelt in seaport cities or towns, have 
had the opportunity of seeing the lives and manners of 
that class called old jack sailors. The term means that 
class of sailors who do not aspire to office, but they go 
to sea merely for support of their lives and vices. They 
are considered to be the most depraved class of men, as 
to drunkenness, profane SAvearing and vice. 
We who dwell near the Erie canal, have the opportu¬ 
nity of seeing greater depravity in the same vices, in the 
boys employed to drive the horses used in towing the 
, rr . . 7 canal boats. Those boys become abominable black- 
Of the Halymenia palmata (L. dulse,) both the ten-||guards, and swear most profanely. As they are in ser- 
der stalks and young fronds are eaten fresh^from the||vice at night and in storms, they learn to drink whiskey, 
""" P1 ‘and become more Avretched than salt-water sailors. 
sea, commonly without any preparation. They are 
sometimes considered as forming a salad, but more ge¬ 
nerally are used as a whet. It is said that the inhabit¬ 
ants of the Greek Islands are fond of this species, adding 
it to ragouts and olios, to which it communicates a red 
color, and at the same time imparts some of its rich and 
gelatinous qualities. The dried leaves infused in water 
exhale an odor somewhat resembling that of sweet vio- 
iTheir stopping places, in rum holes, are various ; they 
|meet opposition from the same class, and become worse 
|than sailors onboard of ship, where their home is limit- 
led. The numerous young women and girls also em- 
|ployed in those boats, have the reputation of becoming 
Ivery degraded, as well as the boatmen. The poor horses 
Itoo drag out a most severe and destructive service, in 
Urate and Poudrette. 
New-York, 21st Sept. 1839. 
Sir —The Nerv-York Urate and Poudrette Company, 
finding that gentlemen who had purchased their manures, 
had been experimenting with the articles, some advi¬ 
sedly and others mistakenly, it became desirable, for ma¬ 
ny reasons, to learn, 
1. On what particular grains or garden vegetables 
the manure was used, the quantity applied, and the re¬ 
sult. 
2. To know the precise manner and result of each 
trial. 
3. How the urate and poudrette compare with other 
manures in their effect, and 
4. Generally, whether it was not desirable to the far¬ 
mer and gardener, to have the contents of sinks and pri¬ 
vies made into inodorous manures. 
In answer to their circular, sent to Mr. Linn, of Sche¬ 
nectady, they have received a letter of so interesting a 
character, that Ave ask the publication of it, at as early 
a day as your arrangements and convenience will per¬ 
mit. 
Amended instructions, the result of information re¬ 
ceived, will be published in a few days, for gratuitous 
distribution among those who have or may wish to use 
the manures. Yours, &c, A. DEY. 
(Copt.) 
Schenectady, Sept. 19,1839. 
The N. Y. Urate & Poudrette Co. 
Gentlemen—In answer to your “ Circular ” I 
would say, that I obtained from your company a barrel 
of poudrette last spring, intending to test its value as a 
manure, by a few close and accurate experiments. It 
came to hand, however, so late in the season, that I was 
unable to apply it as I intended, or to arrive at results 
which would in all respects prove the value of the sub¬ 
stance as a manure, or the best modes of applying it. 
I applied it to a variety of vegetables in my garden, and 
also to a small portion of a field of corn of about five 
acres, at my farm in the vicinity of this city. The ve¬ 
getables in my garden have groivn with unusual rich¬ 
ness and luxuriance, and have most evidently felt the 
effects of the application. Of the results at my farm, 
I can speak more satisfactorily, because there I can 
compare the portion Avhich has, with another portion 
of the same crop, in the same field, Avhich has not re¬ 
ceived the poudrette. This crop is upon a strong rich 
soil, which had been slightly manured in the hill’from, 
the fold-yard, at the time of planting. At the firs’t hoe¬ 
ing, and when the plants by reason of the unfavorable 
season, were extremely backward, I directed my farmer 
to apply to a corner of the field, where the crop was the 
least promising, a handful of poudrette to each hill, co¬ 
vering it at the same time with a thifi coat of earth. 
