48 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
Aprtl 24. 
a man 70 years of age, performed the same operation, that 
of dowsing for water, with the same success. 
“Amongst other experiments which proved the success of 
the ‘ Virgula Divina,’ or divining or Dowsing Rod, in the 
discovering water, coal, and ores, Adams, the Dowser, to 
whom we have before alluded, stated that he had recently 
been sent for by the Rev. Mr. Foster, at his seat near Sod- 
bury, in Gloucestershire, to give advice on the subject of 
procuring water, that gentleman having, at considerable 
I expense, sunk a well full sixty feet in depth, without arriving 
at a drop of water! Upon dowsing, Adams quickly dis¬ 
covered a spring within six feet of the wall, which spring he 
conjectured to he about twenty feet under the surface, and 
on descending to that distance into the well he perceived 
oozing of water from the side. He accordingly recom¬ 
mended his employer to make an arch, of three feet by two 
feet in width and six feet in length, from the spot in the 
well whence the water oozed, and that being accomplished, 
| the workmen found an abundant supply of excellent water, 
which speedily filled the well to the extent of forty feet.” 
j In addition to these we have received the two com¬ 
munications which follow, both of them from trust- 
: worthy contributors, the last being a Physician. 
1 “ An article by C. B. S., in your number of the 20th of 
j December, brought vividly to mind a similar occurrence 
j related to me by an intimate friend. One day he was in 
j company with a French gentleman (Col. Dubourgh), who 
j possessed an estate in France; a discussion arose concerning 
i the finding of articles that had been lost; he said that he 
j found a wedding ring by a very strange process; the ring 
was lost by a woman whilst haymaking in a field on his j 
j farm, he happened to be near, and observed a female in 
much distress in searching for something she had lost; on 
enquiry, it proved to be her wedding ring; he immediately 
cut a forked hazel rod, rubbed his hands, also the end of 
his stick, with a gold ring, and thus armed searched for the 
lost treasure; after traversing awhile with the fork in his 
hands, and the end in the direction of the earth, the 
magnetic power (for such they supposed it to be) began to 
operate, the magic rod entered the centre of the ring, to the 
unbounded joy of the astonished owner. This gentleman 
also declared water could be found in the same manner. 
To prove lib words, he cut a similar forked rod, and asked 
my friend to put it to the test, who instantly clipped his 
hands in water, likewise the rod, and walked over a field, at 
one end of which was a small streamlet; in passing over 
| a wide plank that was placed to connect an adjoining field, 
the rod indicated signs of animation, and forcibly entered 
the water; my friend stated he held the fork with both 
| hands, and the power was such as to leave an impression of 
the stick on his hands for some time. These two gentlemen 
were savans, but not sufficiently to solve these mysteries.—A 
Guernseys an, Mardeu Nursery, Winchester." 
“With reference to the curious subject, ‘The finding 
I Springs with the Hazel Rod/ on which your correspondent, 
C. B. S., asks for information, though he is not, I suspect, 
likely anywhere to obtain a very satisfactory elucidation of 
the physical phenomena he describes, at least, nothing that 
I have read or heard of has appeared so to me, I may refer 
him to an able little work, by Dr. Herbert Mayo, ‘ On the 
\ Truths contained in Popular Superstitions in which he will 
find an interesting chapter devoted to the subject of ‘The 
Divining Rod.’ While fully convinced, as well from his 
own experiments, as from the testimony of others, of the 
reality—the bona fide existence—of the remarkable pheno¬ 
mena in question, Dr. Mayo seems unwilling to hazard more 
than a conjecture as to the precise agency to which they are 
attributable. He supposes, however, that the Divining fork 
in the hands of the operator may become the conductor of 
“ some fluid, or force,” emanating from, or disturbed in, the 
body by terrestrial agency; and he appears to favour the 
belief that this force is the newly-discovered physical prin¬ 
ciple of Yon Reichenbach, to which the name ‘ Od,' or, ‘The 
Od Force,’ has been given. Since Dr. Mayo’s book was 
written, Yon Reichenbach’s work, detailing his discoveries 
and researches on this new principle, has been published in 
this country, by l’rofessov Gregory of Edinburgh ; and this 
* Published by BIac>.w66d & Sons, iu 1851. Price 6s. 
eminent gentleman’s adherence to Von Reichenbach’s doo- 
trines created at the time no small stir in the scientific 
world, and particularly ameng the Alumni of the University 
to which he is attached.—W. C. G.” 
Some of the various points in which existing Poultry 
Exhibitions seemed capable of improvement were re¬ 
cently alluded to; we now turn to the circumstances 
under which new associations of this description may 
appear to be called for. 
It will hardly he expected of us to enter into any 
proof of the assertion that, from one cause or another, 
these meetings have become more numerous than is 
consistent with their favourable progress and accom¬ 
plishment of the views of their promoters. Localities, 
however, may readily he pointed out, where au opening 
is afforded for a Poultry Show, with every reasonable 
prospect of success. Nor is this opinion at all at 
variance with our condemnation of the undue multipli- 
plication we have complained of. Many districts have 
more than they require, and, consequently, more 
than they can support; while, elsewhere, a wide ! 
tract may be found devoid of the means by which 
Poultry excellence is best attainable. As a general 
remark, we might observe that the number of 
our English counties (for of Wales, Scotland, and 
Ireland, we have no sufficient data now before us on 
which to build an opinion) would probably best re¬ 
present the requisite number of Poultry Societies con- j 
sistent with a successful career aud permanent utility, j 
If the smaller counties might, in several instances, be 
amalgamated, the larger might well he divided for this j 
purpose into separate districts. 
The novelty of the undertaking has contributed in an 
important degree to the pecuniary success of the first 
and second exhibitions of a newly-formed society, where 
a few energetic men, actuated by a real desire to forward 
what they believe to be a valuable branch of agricultural | 
economy, have become responsible for the necessary 
outlay. But support of this description must not be 
relied on for ultimate efficiency; for the mode aud 
means furnished on such grounds, however valuable as 
giving the first impulse, are subject to so much un¬ 
certainty, that unless the beneficial nature of the under- ; 
taking is gradually recognized and supported by the 
neighbourhood and the public generally, failure is in- i 
evitably at hand. We are now in a position to deal very ' 
differently with this subject thau we should have 
ventured ou doing a short time since. A pursuit j 
hitherto unduly neglected, which claimed attention not 
less for its actual importance iu au economical point . 
of view than lor its effective administration to our 
interest and amusement, had to he brought prominently 
forward, and this was effectually done by the numerous 
Poultry Shows that extended throughout the length and 
breadth of so many of our English districts. But one 
main purpose being thus attained, objections, more than 
counterbalancing other advantages to he derived from 
these bodies, led to their gradual reduction ; a process 
