8S6 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
Dec. 
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wasted, when the hogs have cleaned up the field, than 
would be supposed by one unacquainted with the practice, 
Still, With the carelessness which too often prevails,— 
the cattle being fed in too small fields, or such as be¬ 
come muddy at times, Or covered with manure*—“there 
is much waste and loss, both from the food not being 
eaten, and the stock being kept in uncomfortable places, 
Where, if they thrive at all, it is but slowly. 
Wood and timber should be cut and hauled if practi¬ 
cable, before deep snows. There is economy in this 
on several accounts. More fuel is saved, and more la¬ 
bor is done in a given time, with less expense, and far 
more comfort to all engaged in it. Hails for fencing 
may be worked out to good advantage in mild weather, 
and in stormy days, if there is a suitable place to work 
under cover, posts may be mortised and made ready for 
setting. Stones for walls may be readily moved, when 
there is just snow enough on the ground to make good 
sledding. 
Peat for manure may be dug in many places. If de¬ 
signed for use next season, and without being made 
into compost, it will be best to spread it on the fields 
at once, and expose it as much as possible to the action 
of the air, frost, and rains, by which any acid it con¬ 
tains will be dissipated, and it is rendered fine and fit¬ 
ted for vegetable food. While bogs are frozen hard 
enough to bear a team, is a good time to carry off the 
peat which has been dug. If not wanted soon, it may 
be piled in large piles, in situations where it may be 
reached at any time. 
GATE HINGES. 
A good and cheap gate-hinge was lately shown to us 
c by Dr. W. D. Cook, of Sodus, N. 
$ ; . ; x Y. It is represented in the annexed 
figure, the lower hinge being mere¬ 
ly a short rod or bar of iron. A, 
fig. 110, bent at a right angle, so that 
one end passes into the gate post B, 
and the other into the foot of the 
gate through a circular iron ring or 
washer. The upper hinge is made 
by attaching a short piece of cap- 
timber, to the upper end of the post, 
by a mortise, as'shown by the dotted 
lines, projecting towards the gate, 
and with a two inch auger hole to 
receive the rounded end of the up¬ 
right bar C. 
This contrivance is not only recom¬ 
mended by its cheapness, but by the 
ease with which a single hand may 
place the gate on its hinges, the dif¬ 
ficulty of adjusting two entering 
removed. 
Fig. HO. 
points at the same moment bein 
Good hinges are also made of cast iron, at less than 
A half the usual expense, 
and not inferior to those 
of wrought iron, as shown 
by Fig. 111. The hook 
A, on which the hinge 
turns, should be of good 
£ 
Fig. 111. 
wrought iron, the bar B, forming the rest of the piece, 
being cast round it. The bar C, through one end of 
which the hook or iron pin A passes, is entirely of cast 
iron. Both of them are notched on the lower sides, so 
that after placing them in the holes made in the gate 
and posts for their reception, they are firmly secured by 
driving a wooden wedge or pin into the holes above 
them. 
MR, HORSFORD’S LETTERS.—NO. XV. 
Importation of Leicester Sheep. —We learn that 
the Hon. Henry Clay has lately imported from Eng¬ 
land. some very superior Leicester sheep, 6 ewes and 2 
rams, which have been forwarded to his farm in Ken¬ 
tucky. Their cost in England is said to have been 
§100 each. 
Giessen, Oct 10, 1846. 
Mr. Tucker— You have doubtless seen, in the re¬ 
ported proceedings of the British Association, that Prof. 
Schonbein, of Basle, Switzerland, had discovered or in¬ 
vented and exhibited, at the recent meeting of scientific 
men in Southampton, an explosive, cotton , that in many 
respects promises to supplant the best varieties of gun¬ 
powder. 
It exploded, entirely disappearing without smoke or 
smell, at a temperature of 400 degrees C., while the 
best rifle powder required a heat of some 600 degrees 
C. The cotton preparation exploded even with a stroke 
of the hammer, and underneath piles of ordinary gun¬ 
powder, without firing them—-as is the case with ful¬ 
minating silver and quicksilver. Soon after the an¬ 
nouncement of Schonbein, here, in Germany, Prof. 
Boetger, of Frankfort, made the same discovery, and 
united with the Basle Professor in an arrangement to 
share the profits of rewards from Government, whatever 
they might be. The newspapers abounded with records 
of experiments made under the direction of artillery 
officers, and crowds came about the laboratory of Prof. 
Boetger to see the new cotton, and witness its effects in 
throwing balls, which so far surpassed those of ordinary 
powder. 
Natuially enough, a great number of chemists com¬ 
menced experiments in the hope of finding out the se¬ 
cret. Among others, several of the young chemists in 
the Giessen Laboratory, and I among them. We have 
had the pleasure here to make a cotton that exploded at 
a low temperature, but by no me»ns equalling in power 
that which had gained such renown. 
Yesterday, appeared in the newspapers a communica- 
tion from Prof. Otto, of Brunswick, containing his dis¬ 
covery, of which the following is the substance. 
He had gone forward in his experiments from the 
suggestion of Pelouze, made several years since, that 
paper, which is chiefly composed of cotton, might be 
made explosive, by saturating with nitric acid. The 
chemical constitution of cotton may be written thus: 
C H O 
Five atoms of this with two of nitric acid, give the 
elements for five atoms of carbonic acid, five of water, 
(vapor,) and two of nitrogen, products that have no 
smoke and no smell.* 
Pelouze failed to realize, practically, the idea above 
expressed. Paper is cotton with too small surface. 
Otto found, by dipping cotton for an instant in concen¬ 
trated nitric acid, and then drying it, that he had, as he 
considers, the wonderful product. Here the cotton is 
nearly all surface. By too long digestion in nitric acid, 
new products are formed, xyloidin, probably, among 
others. By treatment in diluted nitric acid, water en¬ 
ters the delicate cotton fibres, and prevents that actual 
contact, if not combination of the nitric acid, essential 
to the explosive character. 
The nitric acid was prepared by distilling from 1 part 
of saltpetre in 6 parts of concentrated sulphuric acid. 
Prof. Otto claims a share in any rewards that may be 
made for the discovery. 
There is unquestionably much improvement to be 
made in the article, before the full value of the inven¬ 
tion can be ascertained. For mining, quarrying, and 
some kinds of military service, it promises to be of 
great use. For ordinary fire-arms, and probably for 
cannon, I cannot help doubting its profitable employ¬ 
ment. The experience of France under Napoleon, has 
shown that a powder from charcoal, sulphur, and salt¬ 
petre, may be made so strong that it cannot be profit¬ 
ably used. 
I understand that the Messrs. Schonbein and Boetger 
have proposed to our Government to purchase their se- 
* 5CHO-^2NQ 5 =5CO aT 5HO + 2N. 
Common gunpowder consists before explosion, of 
K 0, N O 5 -f- S 3 C, 
which in exploding becomes 
Ii S, -(- N t 3 C Oj. 
