52 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
Feb. 
Artesian Wells. 
Messrs. Eds. Co. Gent. —A neighbor of mine-wish¬ 
es to get some information through your valuable jour¬ 
nal in regard to Artesian Wells. He desires more par¬ 
ticularly to know if by going deep enough, a good sup¬ 
ply of water can be obtained in any situation—also 
what would be the probable cost per foot. He is in the 
milk business, and has no good spring to cool his milk, 
and is willing to go to any reasonable expense if he 
could be sure of getting a good cold stream of constant 
running water in his barn-yard. Any information 
which you can give on the subject, will be thankfully 
received. D. C. M. Chester , N. Y. 
We regret that we are unable to give our correspon¬ 
dent accurate information on the subject. Artesian 
wells are not common in this country—the great cost 
preventing many attempts of the kind. They are usu¬ 
ally some hundreds of feet deep—the cost per foot rap¬ 
idly increasing with the depth. In most places on the 
earth’s surface, by going down twenty to fifty feet, 
small streams of water are found, forming ordinary 
wells, but rarely or ever having a head sufficient to rise 
abo 3 the surface. Descending a greater'depth, we 
often reach rock—and if this rock lies in sloping layers, 
with chances for large reservoirs between or in the lay¬ 
ers, and if in addition to this, these rocks extend up¬ 
wards elsewhere to a higher region of country, there 
will be a strong probability of finally reaching water 
that will issue in a spring from the surface of the 
ground, by the higher head in another place. A tho¬ 
rough geological knowledge of the rock and its charac¬ 
ter, may assist in predicting the probability of ultimate 
success—the depth being uncertain in all eases. 
But where the rock is not stratified, or has no chasms 
for large subterranean reservoirs, the chances are 
of course, very small. At Chester we should not look 
for much success—and the expense, even should the 
result prove successful, would probably be far great¬ 
er than any advantages would warrant. We hope 
some of our correspondents will be able to give more 
accurate and reliable information. 
«-- 
Notices of Plums. 
McLaughlin. —This variety is certainly one of the 
most valuable acquisitions of late years. It is scarce¬ 
ly inferior to the Ureen Gage in quality, larger in size 
and greatly supe¬ 
rior in vigor of 
growth. It was 
raised by James 
McLaughlin of 
Bangor, Maine, 
and has now been 
pretty well tested 
in different parts 
of the northern 
states, and so far 
has proved a ge¬ 
neral favorite. 
It is rather 
large in size, 
nearly round and 
inclining to ob¬ 
late, flattened at 
the ends, with an 
obscure suture — 
McLaughlin. 
the stem is about three-fourths of an inch long, 
and 
hut slightly sunk at its insertion—the skin is thin, yel¬ 
low, sprinkled with thin red with some russet on the 
sunny side—the flesh il dull yellow, rather firm, juicy, 
sweet, and generally of “ best” quality, according to 
the scale of the American 
Pomologieal Society. It 
adheres to the stone. It 
ripens at the end of autumn. 
The shoots of the tree are 
smooth. 
Schenectady Catha¬ 
rine. —The late severe win¬ 
ters have so 1 greatly injured 
many of our finer varieties 
of fruit, more particularly 
at the west, that those 
sorts which have proved the 
hardiest are now placed 
much higher on the list for 
value, than formerly, even 
where in other respects, Schenectady Catharine. 
they may be of a less attractive or popular character. 
Among the plums, the Schenectady Catharine is likely 
to prove especially valuable for its power of withstand¬ 
ing the severest weather—at the same time that its 
fine quality, vigorous growth, and productiveness more 
than compensate for its small size. 
It is below medium in size, nearly round, slightly 
narrowed towards the apex ; the suture is rather shal- 
ovv; skin deep pur¬ 
ple ; the stem is 
about three-fourths 
of an inch long, set 
in a rather deep and 
narrow cavity; the 
flesh is greenish yel¬ 
low, melting, sweet, 
rich, and excellent— 
“very good,” nearly 
“ best” — separating 
freely from the stone. 
It ripens the begin¬ 
ning of autumn. It 
originated at Sche¬ 
nectady ; and when 
grown from the stone 
varies but slightly 
from the parent—showing it to be a distinct variety. 
Royal Hative or Early Royal. — This is a 
French Plum—valuable for its early period ot ripen¬ 
ing. The tree is vigorous, with stout, short, very downy 
shoots. The fruit is medium in size, roundish, slightly 
wider at the base ; skin light purple ; stem half an inch 
long, stout, scarcely sunk : flesh with a rich high flavor, 
nearly free from the flattened, ovate stone. It begins to 
ripen soon after mid-summer, & continues for some time. 
-9 g «---— 
Valiial>le himment. 
Messrs. Editors —As for liniments, the best I know 
of for horses or human beings, for sprains, swellings, 
(slight, consequent on blows, Ac.,) in horses, and sore 
throats and rheumatism in horse-masters, is as follows : 
Equal parts of hartshorn, (aqua ammonia,) oil ori¬ 
ganum, olive oil, gum camphor, laudanum and spirits 
turpentine—all of best quality—to which add three 
parts good soft-soap. I have used this for several 
years. H. L. t. 
