second stratum of inferior and rapid Cumulus. 
[n this circumstance the Cirrus seem to 
march rapidly in the opposite direction to 
that of the Cumulus, when, in reality, they 
are following in the same path, but more 
slowly. It is an illusion analogous to that 
remarked in a railway carriage when the ob¬ 
jects which are found closer to us file rapid¬ 
ly past in a direction contrary to that of the 
locomotive; while the objects more removed, 
beyond the second plane, move parallelly. 
We cannot too much caution observers 
against this grave error, especially when 
they find themselves in presence of three or 
four strata of superposed clouds, some hav¬ 
ing the same direction, aud others oppo¬ 
site ones. 
Very often also, the Cirrus are so slow 
that it must take many hours to grasp their 
march. Then this extreme slowness con¬ 
tributes to their having a lateral moveme nt 
perpendicular to their advance stiil more 
pronounced Ilian that in the Cumulus or 
other types of clouds; to this must be added 
their filamentous form and the great number 
of their ramifications. In this case Iho ob¬ 
server must take n bench-mark upon some 
elevated structure In the city or upon the 
summit of a mountain or the top of a tree, 
verifying it from hour to hour, and if these 
precautions are not yet, sufficient, to wait un¬ 
lit the Cirrus has passed the meridian or has 
disappeared at the opposite horizon. Gener¬ 
ally, at ihe observatory at Havana, the direc¬ 
tion of Cirrus is not definitely noted upon 
the, register only in the afternoon, although 
they have appeared at live or six o’clock in 
the morning. 
When the Cumulus are piled tip at the 
horizon outside of their horizontal propaga¬ 
tion, they are besides extended obliquely 
towards the zenith by a lateral and ascending 
movement, which must be: distinguished from 
the true direction of the cloud. 
Cirrus. Cirro-stratus and Cirro-cumulus 
come, generally from the southwest, showing 
the presence of the superior equatorial 
current. 
Cumulus, Gumiilo - stratus and Prado- 
cumulus appear, on the contrary, towards 
the northeast, determining the inferior polar 
current. But the Cumuli from June to De¬ 
cember generally take a middle direction, 
from Hus east under the influence of the 
northeast and southeast trade-winds, while 
the Frado-rumulas accompanying the polar 
current, from the northeast, from December 
to May, when this last, going against the 
current from southeast of the southern hem¬ 
isphere, draws near the equator and causes 
the trade-winds to descend from north to 
east, northeast or east. 
Moreover, the Pallio-cirrus and the Pallio- 
cuuiulus serve alternately as a transition be¬ 
tween these two opposite currents, the eqiutr 
tvri<U and polar, although the first type ac¬ 
companies more frequently the superior 
current and the second the inferior current; 
so that, these two Pallia alternate in the fol¬ 
lowing order: 
Cirrus, ) , . _ 
(.'irm stratus, > Superior Equatorial Current. 
Cirro-cumulus.) 
P illlo-cirruH, 
PuNto-cumulus. 
Kractoioumulus. | Inferior Polar Current. 
Velocity of Cloiuln. 
The ignorance in which we now are about 
the velocity of the clouds, the difficulties 
which arc presented to n single observer, 
who may be, moreover, deprived of suffi¬ 
cient knowledge or of suitable instruments 
to undertake directly this calculation, makes 
it only possible to appreciate it visually and 
approximately. As a general rule, clouds 
are the more rapid the nearer they are to the 
surface of the earth, and the slower the 
farther they are removed from it. There¬ 
fore, the Frado-cumdus, which almost graze 
the summits of mountains and tops of trees, 
arc more rapid; while the Cirrus, which are 
found in the torrid zone, with an altitude of 
at least 10,000 to 15,000 metres,(six and one* 
fourth to nine and three-eighths miles) are 
the slowest, seeing that they remain for hours 
at a lime almost immovable. 
We adopt the four following terms:— 
S'oic, very slow, rapid, very rapid, which suf¬ 
fices to express with exactness enough, all 
the velocities of clouds, because there is no 
case where we need use a longer and more 
minute nomenclature. The absolute deter¬ 
minations, especially very rapid, being the 
most difficult to seize, we must guard well 
against making use of them before being 
perfectly acquainted with the march of the 
Cirrus, which loiters for hours, describing a 
little are, and that of the Practo cumulus, 
which lias very variable velocities. But 
after a few appearances of clouds with high 
velocity, the observer will he able to judge 
them correctly.—[Concluded next week. 
■ifltr jl raps. 
Tin' Lnt cmi Ic#- Machine.—An Ice making ma¬ 
chine, constructed on the system devised by Dr. 
P. It. Van uku Wkydjs, has just been completed 
til Paterson. N..T. It. is designed to freeze ten 
tons <>f water in twenty-four hours, at a cost of 
two dollars per ton. The mnchitio occupies an 
area including tlie engines, put lint their boilers 
id twelve feet, suinire, and ft ts nine feet, high. 
] list cad of am tuotifa, ether, or other If u ids hither¬ 
to used tor toe same purpose, a petroleum pro* 
dnot termed " Kbigolene " is employed to ren¬ 
der talent, by Sts volatilization, the heat ab¬ 
stracted from the water to freeze it. 
EARLY-CUT HAY. 
In securing a hay crop early, it 19 said 
there is a loss, from a luck of maturity. 
This is so. But it is more than made up in 
the succeeding crop, and in the aftermath, 
which, in good soil, affords a bile in the fall, 
and yet a protection. Besides, this early 
cutting, when the stalk is yet green and ten¬ 
der, favors the root. It comes somewhat 
under the head of mowing lawns, or the fre¬ 
quent mowings—some seven or eight times 
—practiced in Italy’. It thickens the sod. 
Thus there is « benefit all round. You have 
better hay — or grass, cured, and having 
a summer effect—more of it, a thickened 
sod, a good covering for winter. But the best 
is the summer feed in winter thus secured. 
And it is more than thin grass—the same 
land in pasture—can afford, by at least a 
third, and yet it is not so much as is .some¬ 
times raised. We have heard of five tons to 
the acre, and this imtv be done by three cut ¬ 
tings, without much difficulty, and oftener 
than is supposed. By this mode of cutting 
the hay would he worth, say fifteen dollars, 
where “good ” hay in market brings but ten 
dollars. 
Here is the profit then, mostly—your hay 
is so much better. This has often been as¬ 
serted; but yet it seems not to be fully 
credited, and is often opposed. The reason 
is, it has not been tested. Who cuts his hay 
before the heads appear, when it. is, to all 
intents and purposes grass, fall grass, such 
as you would like to turn a herd or a horse 
in to feed—not the mllcli cows so readily, 
as the short, tender growth of a few days is 
hotter. Perhaps it does not give more milk, 
but makes better butter. Otherwise, the 
grass fit to cut, knee-deep, is the grass; and 
t his, relieved of its moisture, is the grass fed 
in the winter. 
No, you do not cut such grass; it is too 
young, too tender; too good to make hay of. 
You even do not cut it. w hen just headed 
or well heading out; this is too early 
even for you. Bo you do not. know’ what 
such hay will do. Very few do; though we 
are glad to say the number is increasing, 
and the number that now cut clover when 
in blossom is quite respectable. They are 
coming up nearer and nearer, and in greater 
numbers to the point, and by and by they 
will cut ynm when the juice is all in it; 
when in the stalk there is nothing hard or 
innutritions. The blossoming is the period 
when this changes, and then grass ceases to 
he a proper fodder; it is no longer grass. 
I have given the principle of harvesting 
hay. Last year 1 seemed the first day but 
half my small crop, for more than one reason. 
1 wished to secure what I cut the same day, 
and I wished to secure it well. I commenced 
in time, so as to have a chance to select my 
day. The next happening to he a good day, 
I secured the rest. W it It a large quantity of 
hay to cut, I would have increased my force, 
doubled my macliiuery and my hands to run 
it, when necessary. This, in the long run, 
will pay. It will save, on an average of the 
grass, from a quarter to a third of the crop, 
in quality, which is the main thing; for a 
pound of good hay is worth two pounds, or 
more, of poor. A ton of early-cut ha v, when 
just getting into full bloom, or a little earlier, 
is worth more than twice the amount of ripe 
hay, or hay just ripe, if you please. 
Tt is worth it, not because it has more 
nutritive matter, but because it has this in a 
form and distributed so as to make it avail¬ 
able— so as to get. the full benefit of the 
w eight—and because it lias a sanitary effect, 
which another hay has not. You arc get¬ 
ting up the condition of summer — lively, 
vigorous, full of digestive as well as mus¬ 
cular energy —in your stock. You appro¬ 
priate all that, is to he appropriated; you 
get the full, free effect, the work of your out¬ 
lay, and you are satisfied. You are not satis¬ 
fied with the old system. Taken altogether, 
then, such hay is worth twice the value 
of ripe hay. We prefer it to double the 
quantity, and would pay that difference in 
market. And yet people are feeding dead, 
dry hay—hay that requires grain to make it 
do. In the other case no grain is thought 
of, and stock continues its course the year 
round, improving in winter during the re¬ 
cess in milking. Small Farmer. 
-- 
ORCHARD GRASS FOR THE SOUTH. 
An Atlanta, Ga., correspondent of the 
Plantation says of this grass: — “ In the 
catalogue of grasses adapted to the soil and 
climate of the South, both for meadow and 
pasture, this I regard as the most valuable 
for general cultivation from the Potomac to 
the Gulf of Mexico. It withstands the frosts 
of our most vigorous winters, and well en¬ 
dures the heat of our hot and frequently very 
dry summers, yielding a fair return for culti¬ 
vation on moderately good soil, and a most, 
abundant yield on that well manured. It 
furnishes good pasturage during the winter 
mouths, and if stock be removed from it at 
the proper time in spring, it yields an early 
and bountiful crop of choice hay in May and 
June. So acceptable is the hay to our best 
judge of a good article, the well-fed and 
dainty horse, that if we place in the rack be¬ 
fore him a mixture of that from clover, 
timothy, herd grass, blue grass and orchard 
grass, he will first select the stems of the lat¬ 
ter, supposing all to have been cut at the 
proper stage for curing into the best forage. 
“ This is the Dactylis ylomerata of botan¬ 
ists, the r,ode's foot yruss of English farmers, 
in this count ry generally known by the name 
above, because of its adaptation to shady 
situations. This and blue grass are espec¬ 
ially important to US of the South, for our 
forests are rapidly disappearing, and we 
should utilize what are left to us by clearing 
out their undergrow th, not suffering the ax 
to “hurl their oaks,’’ and by converting 
them into woodland pastures for horses, cat- 
tic, sheep, and hogs. 
“ My opinion in favor of this grass is based 
upon experience in its cultivation, as well as 
observation of its growth by others in the 
States of New York, Virginia, Tennessee, 
and Georgia; and that opinion is well cor 
roborated by others. John Washington, 
an eminent practical farmer of Virginia, 
thus speaks of it:—‘It will supply horses 
with more hay and grass in fall, winter, 
spring, and summer than any other grass 
yet introduced into Virginia. It is the only 
grass that grows with us all the year round, 
except only when the ground is frozen. It 
will grow on any dry land, not excepting 
a sand bank. II you want a lot always 
green for an idle horse to run in, this will 
supply it; or green grass in winter for your 
dairy cow, this is the only grass that will 
furnish it. Try it on a sand bank if you 
can’t do better.’ ” 
apurs. 
FIELD NOTES. 
Experience wltli llio Early Rose J*oi»to. mm i 
Mr. A. IIolt of Wisconsin writes us that. Price* Bed lickings seventy-five to ninety 
he procured fifteen pounds of Early Rose !l yard, shirtings fifty to seventy-five 
seed,cut to single eyes, planted one-eighth of cents, &e. Alter the pence of 1815, of com so 
tin acre of old ground, without manure. The prices declined; hut. as bite ns 1817, upon re¬ 
product was fifty bushels of nice, sound po- Jcrring to our invoices, 1 find domestic 
tatoes, one-third of which was returned to shirtings” charged at thirty to fifty cents; 
the party furnishing the seed, fifty dollars’ calicoes, thirty to thirty-five cents for best, 
worth were sold, an acre has been planted by wholesale, in Philadelphia. East India 
the present season, a good many have been muslins had also declined. Balias, iwcnty- 
gi ven friends for seed, and our correspond- seven cents; Banmihs, twenty -one cents, and 
ent lias over a bushel left, lie asks, “ Who Jullipores, ll.irty-mie cents per yard. Add 
AMERICAN MANUFACTURES. 
An Interesting Review of their Early 
History. 
Robert Buchanan of Cincinnati sends 
us.some notes of the early history of prices, 
etc., of manufactured goods in this country, 
which, as they are interesting to ns, we. have 
no doubt will be so to our readers, and there¬ 
fore extract therefrom as follows: 
“ When 1 first went to business in 1811, 
our principal supplies of cotton goods were 
from England. The coarse muslins were 
made in India, and furnished through the 
East, India Company. They were sold 
cheap, but were of poor quality, and in¬ 
voiced under the Hindoo names of fluftas, 
Satina,hs, Momannahs , ITumhums, Jaltipares, 
Ac., Ac. The prices ranged from twenty- 
five to forty cents a yard, and higher during 
t he war. In 1810 there were but fifteen cot¬ 
ton factories in the United States, and the 
cotton crop was only 212,000 hales. Fifty 
years later this crop was 4,070,000 hales; 
cotton factories had been erected all over the 
Union, and sheetings sold at eight cents a 
yard that would have readily brought 
seventy-live cents during the war or pre¬ 
vious, bill they could not then he made. 
“ For many years past we have exported 
cotton goods to India and China at a profit, 
Whatn triumph for American manufactures 1 
During the war with England cotton fac¬ 
tories multiplied rapidly. The shipping in¬ 
terests of New England were badly cut up, 
and the energies of its industrious people 
were directed to manufacturing; we soon 
began to receive in the West supplies of 
“domestic” cotton goods, as they were then 
called, comprising ticking, drilling, shirting, 
sheeting and checks,of various qualities and 
prices. Bed tickings seventy-five to ninety 
cents a yard, shirtings fifty to seventy-five 
cents, Ac. After the peace of 1815, of course 
prices declined; but as late as 1817, upon re¬ 
ferring to our invoices, 1 find “domestic 
shirtings” charged at thirty to fifty cents; 
calicoes, thirty to thirty-five cents for befit, 
by wholesale, in Philadelphia. East India 
muslins had also declined. Baft as. twenty- 
seven cents; Summits, twenty-one cents, and 
“ The conversion of wool into domestic 
clothing was uot so laborious to the female 
portion of the household as flax. The shear¬ 
ing and washing, and sometimes the weav¬ 
ing was done by the men; the carding, spin¬ 
ning, and dyeing by the women. The ‘ big 
wheel ’ was a very efficient machine, and 
did its work rapidly. 
“The great demand for cotton yarns 
throughout the West, about fifty years ago, 
caused a number of small factories to he 
erected at prominent points—rude at first, 
and with imperfect machinery; but they 
served the purpose until later improvements 
made them more efficient. One was put up 
at Washington, Ky., in 1818, and run by 
horse power. The yarns sold then at seven¬ 
ty-live cents a dozen. Another at Lexing¬ 
ton about the same time. In 181P Herman 
Lo.no had a small factory in this city, and 
in 1820 Thomas and William Bossom start¬ 
ed another near Dayton. Among the earli¬ 
est pioneers in this business were Amob and 
Git.es Richards, and T S. Goodman, who 
Infill the Colcrain factory on the Miami in 
1822 or 1823. It was celebrated for making 
good yarns. The Phoenix Factory was built 
at the corner of Second and Ludlow streets 
in 1825, the Coving tun Factory in 1828, and 
the Cincinnati Factory, on West Seventh 
street, in 1829. All these mills were aban¬ 
doned in a few years, as the machinery wore 
out, except the Covington, which continued 
in operation thirty years, and was then sold 
to bcconverted into a woolen factory. With 
two exceptions they were profitable. They 
have been succeeded by larger mills with 
new and improved machinery, which supply 
the market with excellent yarns at moderate 
prices. 
“It is gratifying to look back and note 
the progress made in this branch of Ameri¬ 
can manufactures within the last fifty-five 
years. Then our coarse cotton goods were 
imported from India, and sold at three 
times higher than our present prices. Now 
we send cotton goods to Calcutta, ala profit, 
and of a better quality Ilian can he made 
from the short staple cotton ol India. The 
English have found out that American goods 
are, on that account, preferred to theirs, and 
hence the present large demand for Ameri¬ 
can cotton in England. They are jealous of 
our competition with them in the East India 
market.” 
can heat, that?" ? 
k f l -wf- 
Tim Lute Hn<*>v-Bull Potato. 
I have taken the liberty of sending you a 
specimen potato from this region, whence 
Northern men have heretofore rarely re¬ 
ceived anything of the sort. 1 do not know 
the origin ol this potato. I found it in this 
locality twenty-five years ago, and think it 
the best potato known here, as a late table 
variety. Whether or not it is a native here, 
or originated elsewhere,! know not. It is 
called the late Snow-bull, and is never planted 
here until the first or second week in July. 
It is cultivated by the Germans of this, and 
neighboring counties, and is said to yield 
well. The potatoes, as to beauty and excel¬ 
lence, speak for themselves. 1 want you to 
test their flavor and quality as a table potato, 
and the rest cultivate, to see whether they 
will prove to he as desirable in New York as 
they arc in North Carolina.—J. J. Summer- 
ell, Salisbury, A. C. 
Remarks.—W c failed to find the party by 
whom the potatoes were sent, much to our 
regret, hence did not receive the specimens 
so kindly forwarded us. 
Clover — Deep Tillnmc. 
Some seem to regard red clover as, at best, 
a biennial; but I have seen it growing, in 
great vigor, for fifteen years, in the same 
place. It was mowed each year. Where I 
now reside, it has grown in my door yard 
for seventeen years. In both cases it grew 
without being re-seeded. In the latter case 
it has been mowed from two to three times 
each summer. 
In the first instance, it grew in a very fine 
mold, formed by the operation of nature. 
Large trees had been uprooted, and their 
trunks had decayed, forming the host possi¬ 
ble soil. No ice could form to disturb the 
clover. 
In the second case, the soil is a stony loam, 
formed by the union of art and nature. The 
earth thrown from the cellar, was spread 
over the natural soil; consequently, no ice 
forms to disturb the plants. 
These circumstances combine to instruct 
every man that we must have a well pre¬ 
pared soil as a prerequisite to success in 
fanning. I have never seen wheat disturbed 
in a well drained and deeply tilled soil. 
Upon light sand it may perish by the action 
of violent winds.— Rufus Feet. 
Ben m- and Penuill* fov Frrlilizors, 
A Virginia writer recommends as espe¬ 
cially adapted to green manuring on the 
Atlantic, coast, the Muggolby Bay bean, (Cas¬ 
sia,) asserting that “ it stands perhaps at the 
head of the (leguminous) tribe, delighting, as 
it does, in a saline atmosphere.” lie adds: 
“ If the peanut was used for the same pur¬ 
pose, it would probably be called to rank, as 
a fertilizer, as high as any other species of 
the order.” 
to the above rates the difference of ex¬ 
change, three to live percent; hunling over 
the mountains, seven to eight cents u pound, 
with the profit of the retail merchant, and 
some idea may be formed of the cost to the 
Western consumer. At that period, how¬ 
ever, the farmers bought but lit tie in the way 
of cotton goods, except calicoes; they pre¬ 
pared to make their own clothing at home 
from flax and wool. Those were the palmy 
days of the spinning wheel, and its cheerful 
music was beard in every house. Country 
flax and low linen, linseys, flannel, and 
coarse woolen cloth were the products of 
almost every farm house, and the surplus 
not wanted at home was bartered at the 
stores for such goods as the family wants 
required. 
•‘Flux linen, 600 to 700. bleached, was 
worth sixty to seventy-five cents a yard. 
Tow linen, unbleached, fifteen to twenty 
cents. Linacy, seventy-five to eighty-seven 
cents, and course country flannel, $1 a yard. 
Within ten years later, prices declined one- 
third from these rates. As cotton goods be¬ 
came cheaper, and the products of the farms 
brought better prices, the cultivation of flax 
was neglected, or rather gave way to more 
profitable crops, and the domestic spinning- 
wheels were sib need lay the machinery of 
the cotton factories. 
“This has been a wonderful relief to the 
females of our agriculturists, for few can im¬ 
agine the toil in making linen garments in 
the * good old times,’ as we fondly call them. 
The flax had lobe pulled at maturity, spread, 
rotted, broken, scutched, hackled, spun, 
wove, and the web bleached before it was 
ready for the shears and needle; and in each 
process—except breaking and scutching— 
the women took the principal labor. No 
wonder the old Scotch woman complained 
of this drudgery in her 4 Song of the Shirt' 
a hundred years before Hood’s famous song 
was written. One verse may serve as a spec¬ 
imen : 
“ ‘ To make our good man a new sark I’m toiling awa\ 
Ami weary wi’ the spinning o’ It. 
T was n far better world when there were na sacks 
at a’, 
And that was ut the beginning o’ it.’ 
“ For many years past flax has only been 
grown in the West for the seed to supply 
the linseed oil mills. The lint was not raised 
until latterly. It is now cut by the mowing 
machine, dressed by machinery, and made 
into bagging and bale rope for baling cot¬ 
ton— a pretty good substitute for hemp. 
Some of the low is used to mix with cotton 
in making colored wadding. Many experi¬ 
ments have been made with ingenious ma¬ 
chinery 1o shorten the liber, bleach it, aud 
make what lias been termed ‘ flax cotton,’ 
but it is not adhesive enough to be spun by 
any spindles yet invented. Nor would it bo 
profitable when cotton is cheap. 
icrrscimin. 
HARNESSING A HORSE. 
A CORRESPONDENT of the Utica Herald 
talks thus sensibly upon this subject: 
Let me say a word about the correct way 
to harness a horse. Very few of those who 
are accustomed to usu horses from year to 
year perform the operation scientifically. It 
is true that many get a harness on the horse, 
and it may fit well, and it may fit like father’s 
hoots on the little hoy. It requires much 
more science than many persons imagine. 
1 will mention a few material points im¬ 
portant to he secured. The collar is the 
first point of importance. That huge thing 
that will admit a bundle of straw between 
it and the neck of a horse is totally unfit for 
a horse to work in. The collar should til us 
neatly and closely to the neck as a pair of 
boots to the feet. It will then seldom gall 
the skin if the hantes are properly made and 
correctly adjusted. The hames should not 
lie too far apart at. the lop ; this is often the 
case. Bee that the staples which hold the 
side strap and traces are not too far up at the 
lower ends. 
It is impossible for a horse to draw with 
ease when the traces are attached near the 
top of his neck. It will invariably gall the 
upper part of the neck. Should this he the 
case, take out the staples and place them 
lower in the hames. If the hack-bands are 
right for a wagon, they will he too short for 
plowing, and will be very liable to gall the 
hips of the team. Let the hip straps be 
properly adjusted, otherwise they will gall 
the parts of the horse. 
While the horses are at the plow, there is 
not that, relief in drawing as when attached 
to wheels. On this account the necessity 
of harness fitting properly is imperative. 
-♦♦♦-- 
REMEDY FOR WHITE HAIRS. 
J. W. B. writes “ A correspondent of 
the Rural New-Yorker auks for a remedy 
for white hairs that appear on horses from 
the use or wear of the saddle or harness. 
My remedy is a very simple one. Take a 
piece of fresh butter or lard, large enough to 
give the spot a thorough greasing; rub the 
same with the hand until it becomes quite 
hot, repeating the operation at least three or 
four times, and the white hairs will soon 
come out and hairs of natural color take 
their place. I have tried this on several 
horses, and never knew it to fail. Think 
the best time to do it is in the winter before 
the new coat starts.” 
Mp 
