126 
April, 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
wood to break any rock, which a farmer might be desi¬ 
rous of removing from his fields. Another great ad¬ 
vantage was, that wood of little value, such as old pie¬ 
ces of rails, stumps, and the like might be used with 
advantage and economy. 
There is one point which must not be neglected, if 
success is expected,- that is, to keep the rock clear of 
shells while heating. To do this with facility, the tools 
required are a sharp iron crow-bar and a pair of large 
tongs. As soon as any shells are found to have started 
up, the fire should be removed with the tongs, and the 
scales carefully taken off with the bar. This is the on¬ 
ly secret in the process. The object is, that the heat 
may be applied directly to the solid rock. The fire 
should then be replaced with the tongs, and so on until 
the stone is broken. Throwing on cold water is super¬ 
fluous. 
One man can attend twenty of the fires, or one man 
can perform as much work in this as ten will with drills. 
The beauty of the process is, that it is performed com¬ 
paratively without danger or expense. Dennis John¬ 
son. Mount Airy Agricultural Institute, Pa., Feb¬ 
ruary, 1849. 
We have seen rocks broken by the process above de¬ 
scribed, and we endorse what our correspondent says 
in regard to it.—E ds. 
Good Hogs. 
Eds. Cultivator —As you sometimes notice the 
weight of hogs in your paper, I am induced to send 
you the weight of two or three lots, slaughtered this 
season in my neighborhood—not because they will fa¬ 
vorably compare with certain individual pet porkers, 
whose weights I have seen published—but because they 
were kept in the usual way—put up at the usual time, 
and fed from six to eight -weeks only. 
The first v 7 as a lot of four, twenty months old, but¬ 
chered by Mr. David Connor, averaging 397 lbs. The 
second, a lot of fourteen, butchered by R. S. Wright, 
Esq. The largest weighed 568 ; the four largest ave¬ 
raged 472 5 the twelve largest averaged 405, and the 
whole lot averaged 397 lbs. The third, a lot of seven, 
butchered by Mr. A. J. Brest, averaging upwards of 
300 lbs.; two of them, fifteen months old, averaged 
334 lbs. 
Several years ago, the Chester and Berkshire stock 
were introduced into this section of country, and have 
no doubt improved our breed; but few of the pure blood 
are now 7 found. S. B. T. Caldwell. Wheatland, Va.. 
January 16, 1849. 
Register of the Weather. 
Rev. D. C. Saunders, of Medfield, Mass., has fur¬ 
nished the Mass. Ploughman with some remarks on the 
weather, based on a register kept by him from the 
year 1821 to 1848, inclusive. The observations were 
made during this period, three times a day—at sunrise, 
and in the afternoon at two and nine o’clock. The ave¬ 
rage annual temperature for the whole time, is 46 de¬ 
grees, 52-100, Fahrenheit. But it is said “a writer 
on this subject would approximate nearly to the truth, 
were he to state the annual temperature of this part of 
the country at 50 degrees, as this thermometer was 
stationed on the North side of the house, in a very bleak 
place, where the sun never reached, and in the hot sea¬ 
son, was always shaded by the thick foliage of tall trees 
and dense shrubbery.” 
It appears that the former 14 years—from 1821 to 1835 
—were about 1 ° warmer than "from 1835 to 1849 ; upon 
which the writer observes—This fact opposes the ge¬ 
neral opinion, that the temperature of the country is high¬ 
er than it was in former years. Every aged person knows 
that the winters now are not nearly so severe as they 
were in the days of his youth. A thaw, in the winter, was 
never known in Vermont until about the year 1793, 
though since it has happened every season. Persons 
old enough to remember the cold winter here of 1780, 
when snow came high enough to cover up from sight 
all the walls and fences; when the crust of the snow 
was so firm as to bear up a traveller on foot any where; 
when the sun was not able to melt a flake of snow; 
and such extreme severity continued for more than six 
weeks, will not find it difficult to believe that the sea¬ 
sons have become much more mild. But if this climate 
has not become warmer, its temperature is certainly more 
equalized throughout the whole year. We have no such 
cold winters and deep snows as we used to have. Now, 
we have no Spring and frequent showers, as we had for¬ 
merly. But we have a compensation in lovely Autumn. 
September has become a delightful month, far more so 
than half a century ago. October, if not November, 
is about as mild and sunny as September was in earlier 
times. Winter used to come rough, violent, and last¬ 
ing, by the 10th November; now it often spares mildly 
to mortals the 1 merry’ days of Christmas.” 
The average temperature of each month, for the 
twenty-eight years, is given in the following table: 
July,. 69.41 
August,... 67.70 
January,. 25.12 
February,. 25.48 
March,. 33.66 
April,. 43.94 
May,. 53.15 
June,. 63.81 
September,. 59.72 
October,. 48.60 
November,. 37.87 
December,. 28.78 
This shows that January is the coldest and July the 
hottest. 
The number of fair days per annum has been 211; 
cloudy days, 154; rainy days, 57; average depth of 
snow, 30 inches. The warmest year was in 1828, at 
an annual temperature of 49 8-100 degrees; and the 
coldest year was in 1836, when the annual temperature 
was 43 63-100 degrees. This shows a difference be¬ 
tween the coldest and hottest years, of 5 45-100 de¬ 
grees. But, in general, the difference of temperature 
between whole years, is quite inconsiderable, or very 
nearly the same.”_ 
Seasonable Hints. 
As early in April as practicable, it will be proper to 
sow oats, barley, spring rye and spring wheat—except¬ 
ing, in reference to the latter, those sections where the 
crop is liable to injury from the wheat midge. It has 
been found that this insect appears at a particular pe¬ 
riod, and that it only attacks wheat which is in a par¬ 
ticular stage—or at least, it is only such wheat that 
is injured by it. If the crop is too far advanced it es¬ 
capes, and so it does if it has not reached the stage 
necessary for the fly to deposit its eggs. The eggs are 
deposited at the time, or shortly after the wheat is in 
bloom. Hence, early-sowed winter wheat and late- 
sowed spring wheat, is least likely to be affected by the 
midge. But to counterbalance this advantage in regard 
to late-sown wheat, it is more subject , to rust, and is 
less likely to fill well, generally, than that which is 
sown earlier. So that the farmer must choose between 
the different enemies by which he is likely to be assail¬ 
ed—that is, he must determine from which his crops 
are liable to be most injured, and direct his operations 
accordingly. 
The Black-sea wheat has been found to succeed bet¬ 
ter under late sowing, than most other kinds. In 
Maine, Vermont, and the northern part of New-York, 
it has been sown the latter part of May and sometimes 
as late as June, and given good crops. 
The usual quantity of seed, for spring wheat, is two 
bushels per acre. If the ground has been thoroughly 
stirred the previous year, it will not be necessary to 
plow very deep, though the soil should be well pulver¬ 
ized. 
