78 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
ning of September, “ that is,” to quote the writer, “ rather more 
tlian two months before its arrival at that point where it will be 
nearest the sun. Its situation also will be favorable to the splen 
dor of its appearance. It will most probably be distinguished by 
the naked eye, like a star of the first magnitude, but with a dul¬ 
ler light than that of a planet, and surrounded with a pale nebolo- 
sity, which will slightly impair its splendor. On the night of the 
Sd of October, about midnight, it will appear in the east, at an ele¬ 
vation of about 30 degrees ; and will be a little above a line joining 
the bright star, called Castor, with the star called a in the Great 
Bear. Between that hour and sunrise, it will ascend the firmament, 
and will cross the meridian near the zenith of London about sun¬ 
rise. On the night of the 7th, the comet will approach the well 
known constellation of Ursa Major; and between that and the 11th 
it will pass directly through the seven conspicuous stars of that 
constellation, following the track we have here attempted to mark. 
In our latitude, this 
9 th 
Oct. 
31th 
Oct 
constellation, [known 
by the common names 7^ 
of the pointers, wagon ’fifl Uy 
wheels , &tc.] never sets OeL 
and consequently the gT 
comet may be looked ' ** 
for at any hour of the 
night. But the time most favorable for its appearance will be on 
the 7th, before the commencement of the morning twilight; on the 
9th, at any time in the absence of twilight, when it will pass dur¬ 
ing the night from the north-west to the north-east, its altitude not, 
however, exceeding thirty-five degrees ; and on the 11th, after the 
close of the evening twilight, when it will be seen approaching the 
constellation of the Crown, in a direction a little north of west, and 
at an altitude of about thirty degrees. 
“ Towards the end of Nov. the comet will plunge among the 
rays of the sun, and disappear, and will not issue from them on the 
other side until the end of December. On its departure from the 
sun, it is doubtful whether it will be visible at al‘ 
circumstances, it cannot remain long apparent.” 
The orbit of Halley’s comet is a very oblong oval, the nearest 
point of which to the sun is about half the earth’s distance, or 50 
millions of miles, and its extreme remote point 355,000,000 of miles. 
At its nearest point to the sun, the heat and light of that luminary 
will be four times the heat and light at the earth, and at the greatest 
distance they will be about twelve hundred times less. If the 
earth were transported to the more remote extremity of the comet’s 
orbit, every liquid substance would become solid by congelation ; 
and it is extremely probable that atmospheric air and other perma¬ 
nent gases might become liquids. If the earth was, on the other 
hand, transferred to the nearest extremity of the comet’s orbit, all 
the liquids upon it would be converted into vapor, would form per¬ 
manent gases, and would either by their mixture constitute atmos¬ 
pheric air, or would arrange themselves in a strata, one above the 
other, according to their specific gravities. All the less refractory 
solids would be fused, and would form in the cavities of the nu¬ 
cleus oceans of liquid metal. Such are the conjectures of philoso¬ 
phers. 
Comets, in former times, were supposed to portend direful evils, 
as earthquakes, war, pestilence, famine, Stc. Science has dispelled 
such fears, and it has been demonstrated from the past, that comets 
have not hitherto produced any sensible influence on the earth. 
They are supposed to be mostly masses of vapor, totally divested 
of all concrete or solid matter ; both Sir William and Sir John 
Herschell, as well as other astronomers, having, on account of 
their translucency, discovered stars and constellations through 
their heads or centres. 
Laighton's Threshing Machine, is a recent invention, recom¬ 
mended by the inventor, for its utility, cheapness and simplicity ; 
and from a cursory view of it, while in partial operation, we are 
rather disposed to endorse the recommendation. We are not how¬ 
ever prepared to give a definite opinion, until we see it subjected to 
a more prolonged and satisfactory trial. The machine occupies 
about the space of a common wagon box, and the sweep by which 
it is propelled, and which is attached to it, works in a circle of 13 
feet diameter. It, is easily removed, and with a little attention not 
liable to get out of order, and may be readily repaired. It is driven 
by one horse power, requires two men to attend it, does not cut or 
break the straw, will thresh 70 to 75 bushel of grain per day, will 
do it well, and costs $75. The proprietor has not left us his ad¬ 
dress. 
Liquid manure. —A correspondent in Loudon’s Gardeners’ Maga¬ 
zine speaking of the cultivation of the ground at Ghent, says, 
“Liquid manure may be here named, and very justly so, their sum- 
mum honum ; as if applied when the corn is sprouty, or just before 
a rain, it has an effect which no other manure can have. It de¬ 
stroys insects, and throws a surprising degree of vigor into the 
crops. It is pumped [from the tanks under ground, into which it 
is conducted by drains from the stables, &c.] into a barrel-shaped 
water cart: and, when brought upon the land, the plug is taken 
out, and the liquid, flowing over a board something in the shape of 
a fan, as the cart proceeds, is dispersed on both sides, over a space, 
perhaps, of 4 or 5 feet. The cart has generally three wheels.” 
Scraping Apple Trees. —George Olmstead, of East-Hartford, 
publishes in the New-England Farmer, that he has experienced 
great benefit from scraping the ross from his apple and pear trees, 
with a hoe, in June or July. There is no mistake in this. The 
rough bark of those trees affords shelter to numerous insects, and 
a receptacle for their eggs, prejudcial to the tree or its fruit. A 
smooth clean skin is of as much value to the tree, as it is to the 
animal; its functions are important to the health and growth of 
both. The fault is, Mr. Olmstead does not go far enough: he 
should clean, as well as smooth the surface of his trees ; and we 
do not think there is any thing better for this purpose, at least for 
the apple, than a strong ley of wood ashes or potash. We have 
had a dozen years experience of the benefits of this wash, though 
we have not in this time applied it more than twice to the same 
trees. It is applied to the bole, and as far as convenient to the lar¬ 
ger branches, with a common shoe brush, affixed to the end of a 
stick a yard long, the loose bark, where there is such, being previ¬ 
ously scraped off. It imparts to the bark a handsome, smooth, 
healthy appearance, destroys insects and their eggs, takes off the 
moss, and seems to be to the apple tree what salt is to the animal 
—a highly useful condiment. The objection to lime-wash is, that 
it stops up the pores of the bark, and by its caustic quality con¬ 
tracts the sap vessels, and gives to the exterior a dry and rigid ap¬ 
pearance. The ley, on the contrary, removes every obstruction 
to a wholesome perspiration, and leaves the bark so soft and pliable 
that it may almost be indented with the thumb. 
Fence Posts .—An excellent method of rendering these durable in 
the ground, is published in the American Eagle. It consists, 1, 
In peeling the posts, and in sawing and splitting them if too large; 
2. In sticking them up, under cover, at least one entire summer; 
and 3. In coating with hot tar, about three feet of the butt ends, 
which are to be inserted in the ground—after which they are ready 
for use. We have no doubt the advantages of this mode of prepa¬ 
ration will more than remunerate for labor and expense. Our rea¬ 
sons for this belief are briefly as follows : The sap of all non-re- 
sinous trees, will ferment in the presence of heat and moisture, and 
cause the decay of the wood. To prevent this natural consequence, 
the first object should be, when a tree is felled, to expel the sap 
from the pores of the wood. This is done by peeling, splitting, 
sawing or hewing, and exposing the wood to the drying influence 
of the sun, or at least of the air. The process is faciliated too by 
immersing the wood in water for a time, which liquifies the sap, 
and favors its expulsion. And when the moisture has been expel¬ 
led, the next object is to keep it out, by paint, tar or charring. In 
the mode recommended above, the moisture is expelled by the peel¬ 
ing, sawing and summer-drying and its return is prevented by the 
coating of tar. The retention of the bark upon timber is particu¬ 
larly prejudicial, not only in preventing evaporation, but as afford¬ 
ing shelter to various species of the borer, which under its cover, 
carry on their depredations upon the timber. We have seen pine 
logs nearly destroyed in a summer by worms, where the bark had 
been left on, while those which had been peeled remained uninjur¬ 
ed. The best timber is obtained from trees which have stood a 
summer, or a year, after they have been girdled and peeled. 
The bodily powers are impaired by the diseases of the mind.— 
Ovid. And we may add, vice-versa. 
