In the town of South Hadley, Hampshire Co., Mass., is a small orchard of seedling trees, which has been in bearing for many years. The fruit resembles, more than any other variety, the Late Yellow Melacaton. The trees seem little less hardy than the apple tree. From the fruit of these thousands of young trees have been raised, and transplanted to different towns in the region; and, I am credibly informed, in no case have these been known to produce other fruit than that of the original stock.

In the town of Leverett, Franklin Co., Mass., is an orchard covering about two acres, all of the same variety, and propagated from the stone. The owner calls them "Red Rareripes." They resemble Crawford's Late. The orchard, considering the hardiness and productiveness of the trees, is far better than any other one in the county. They escaped uninjured from the severities of last winter, while budded trees all around were mostly killed.

"H. C. N." thinks I arrive at conclusions from too small a number of facts. It may be so. I give only the facts which have come under my observation, and make such inferences as seem to me legitimate from these facts. If facts can be adduced proving that my position is untenable, then we are all where we were before; no better and no worse.

In producing the peach, we of New-England have thus far met with but partial success. Whether we are most to blame, the climate, the soil, or the culture, remains yet to be shown. Whoever will throw any light upon the subject I shall regard as a benefactor.

BONES BOILED AND UNBOILED.

The Mark Lane Express, (Oct. 18,) in an account of a meeting of the Cheshire Agricultutal Society, has the following account of remarks made by Mr. Forster, of the Liverpool Bone Manure Mills, in reference to the comparative fertilizing powers of boiled and unboiled bones. They seem to us sound. The gelatine and other substances dissolved in the process of boiling are among the best fertilizers known, and hence it must be a matter of great moment to retain them.

Mr. Forster stated that he thought he could prove to the satisfaction of all present that genuine unboiled bones possessed much greater fertilizing powers than boiled bones. Mr. F. conceived that the only argument that could be advanced in favor of boiled bones was, that hitherto they had acted quicker than unboiled bones; the reson for this undoubtedly was that decomposition had to a great extent taken place in the process of boiling. And he would ask the gentlemen present to inquire of any experienced agricultural chemist if he considered it possible that the bone could be so far decomposed without removing to a large extent its fertilizing powers; indeed, should any one doubt this fact, he would ask how they could account for the very matter that is extracted from the bone in the process of boiling being occasionally used for manure, when from circumstances it has become unfit for the purpose for which it was extracted? Mr. F. called their attention to his sample of No. 1, or superfine bone dust, (which was ground as fine as guano,) and stated that it was his firm opinion that unboiled bones ground so fine would not only act more promptly than boiled bones, but that it would be found fully equal to the best Peruvian guano in that respect, with at least double the durability, and at a reduction on the first cost of over one third. Mr. F. stated that his firm had decided to grind nothing but genuine unboiled bone,

and that all manure sent from their mills was fully guaranteed as such. Some of their friends had suggested to them to grind both unboiled and boiled bones; but they had fully determined to have nothing to do with boiled bones as it might raise a doubt in the minds of some persons as to the quality of the manure they vended, and they felt in justice to their patrons and themselves, that they should be in such a position as to be above suspicion. All he (Mr. F.) would ask of the agricultural community was to give his firm one trial, and he felt fully assured that the manure would give such satisfaction as would insure their future favors.

FOR THE PLOUGH, THE LOOM, AND THE ANVIL.

.CLEANLINESS IN CELLARS.

MESSRS. EDITORS:- Spending a few days recently in the pleasant village of Winchester, New-Hampshire, I was made acquainted with the following facts, which you may deem of sufficient importance to occupy a place in your valuable journal:

The physician was called a number of times to visit the family of a farmer, living out of the village. For more than a month some member of the family, and most of the time two or three, were under the doctor's care. At length one died, leaving three very sick. The physician became convinced that there must be some local cause. He communicated his convictions to the family. A search was made, but nothing discovered. The doctor still insisted that the sickness causeless did not come. Another search resulted in the discovery of the true cause. A large quantity of half-eaten potatoes, mixed with the excrement of rats, had fallen through the bottom of a potato-bin, and, by the aid of heat and moisture, was undergoing the putrefactive fermentation. The odor from this mass was so very offensive as to cause vomiting on the part of the man who attempted to remove it.

No doubt is now entertained by the physician or the family that this decaying vegetable matter was the principal, if not the sole cause of the sickness. Ought not farmers and all housekeepers to be extremely cautious to remove vegetable matter from the cellar early in the spring? Ought not also more caution to be used in abating nuisances, by the application of deodorizing substances to sinks, waste-water spouts, vaults and the like? Ought not every cellar to be thoroughly cleansed at least once a year, and the walls whitewashed?

Quære: May not cattle be injured by standing over a cellar filled with decaying vegetables? R. B. H.

To Joseph Bancroft:

FOR THE PLOUGH, THE LOOM, AND THE ANVIL.

CHURCH RATE IN ENGLAND.

RESPECTED FRIEND:-In your remarks upon the subject of tithes and church rates in my article headed, Peculiarities of English Agriculture, I wish with candor to make the following statement. The individuals who met the demands of the church rate in the manner I therein stated, were

for many years well known to the writer, and strictly reckoned among the same society of which you are, I suppose, a member.

I thought I had exculpated the Society of Friends from all voluntary submission to pay a tax to which myself, as well as they, conscientiously object, when I stated, The Quakers resist the church rate to the very letter. This they certainly do when they allow the law to take, as a matter of necessity, what they conscientiously object to paying voluntarily.

The tithes in the parish where I farmed were generally commuted annually. We had among us one Friend, rather an extensive agriculturist, but his share was always paid in with the rest of the parishioners, to fulfil the contract between the tithe owner and the producer.

When I used the term Quakers, I did it not as a word for reproach, for I have had some friends and many acquaintances among your religious community whom I shall never cease to esteem; and the poetry of Bernard Barton, who lived in the same town with me, greatly interested me in days gone by. Yours respectfully, ROBERT SEWELL.

Madison, N. J.

FOR THE PLOUGH, THE LOCM, AND THE ANVIL.

LIVINGSTON, Sumter County, Ala.,
October 1st, 1852. S

MR. EDITOR:-Please inform me through the columns of "The Plough, the Loom, and the Anvil," how to make milk "turn," or sour for churning, during the winter season, if you are acquainted with such a method. Very respectfully, &c.

REPLY.-We can hardly presume that our correspondent really wishes to turn his cream sour, before churning, "in the winter season,' or in hot weather, since all the arrangements of the dairy are intended to guard most effectually against such a condition. But if he has a fancy that way, there is no trouble in effecting it. Omit the scalding of your milk pans, and the result will no doubt be attained; and if not, add a small quantity of vinegar or of muriatic acid. But if our friend would have good butter, let him study how to avoid the change of which he speaks, by perfectly clean pans, glass if possible, and by keeping his milk in a place cool, equable, and with good fresh air.-EDS.

LIVINGSTON, Sumter County, Ala.,
November 8th, 1852.

Editors of the Plough, the Loom, and the Anvil:

SIRS-My land is for the most part sandy. I have a field of fifty acres of sward which I wish to plant in corn the ensuing year, and wish you to give me some directions about manuring and planting it. It is somewhat rolling, and the most elevated portions are light dry sand, and just under the surface is clay soil. The bottom is what we call black land, and find it most productive. It has been lying out, or resting, for three years. Previous to that time it was sowed in wheat, oats and corn. It produces a very good crop of rye. Please inform me if you know of a preventive of smut in oats and rust in wheat, when grown on sandy land. Very respectfully, &c.

REMARKS. The following remedy for smut is highly approved, and has been extensively used: Mix quicklime with boiling water to about the same

consistency as when used by masons for lime wash; pour, boiling hot, on the wheat, and turn over the mass rapidly with a shovel, so that each grain may get a slight coating. This should be done three weeks or more before sowing, otherwise the application will not be effectual.

With reference to the management of these lands, we recommend to our correspondent the use of the subsoil plough. The "light dry sand," with clay "just under the surface," is a description of soil which has often been improved very materially by this process. We conclude, however, that the true soil is very thin in this instance, and are sure that the application of rich composts, with guano, or phosphate of lime, will be of great benefit. The ploughing, we scarcely need to add, should be done this fall, and the ground suffered to lie till spring.-EDS.

NEW BOOKS.

[The notice of a few volumes we have received is necessarily deferred to the next issue.]

Series of Geographics for Schools. By ROSWELL C. SMITH, A. M. First Book in Geography, Quarto Geography, Geography on the Productive System, with an accompanying Atlas. New-York: Daniel Burgess & Co., 60 John street.

After a careful examination of this series, we can unhesitatingly recommend it as the very best on the subject before the public," an opinion in which we find the Ward SchoolTeachers' Association of New-York fully agree with us in their report adopting it. Each book of the series is complete within itself, and has nothing of the abridgment character. The First Book is a perfect Child's Geography, has twenty colored maps and one hundred and twenty fine engravings, which are of a singularly practical character, and serve the purpose of explanatory matter; thus making it, without story-telling, and while confined solely to its subject, as attractive as a romance. The Quarto is on a larger scale, combining an Atlas of Maps and Text-Book in one work, and is equally beautiful. The Geography on the Productive System is a more strictly scientific treatise on Elementary Geography, giving all the desired detail. There is one feature of this series worthy of all praise, and that is its extreme correctness. The maps of the Quarto and of the Atlas are from steel plates, handsomely colored, and drawn on quite a large scale. They contain statistical matter enough to give a good knowledge of Geography, by merely inspecting them without reference to the book. For instance, the lakes have their length, breadth and depth engraved upon them; the rivers, their length and highest points of navigation for sloops, ships, and steamboats, the principal towns, their population, &c. All the routes of travel can be seen and traced at a glance. The system of emblems, as books, ploughs, crosses, &c., tell at once the religion, grade of progress from the savage to the enlightened states, population, &c. Nothing of importance seems to be omitted; as an instance of which, we may mention looking in vain on many maps for Nebraska, and for the Lobos Islands, until we examined this. We cordially commend Mr. Smith's series as deserving a place in every school and family throughout our country.

The Eclipse of Faith, or a Visit to a Religious Skeptic. 452 pages, large 12mo. Boston: Crosby, Nichols & Co. 1852.

This is a reprint of an English work, ascribed to Mr. Henry Rogers. We have seldom met with a book of greater ability. It is written chiefly in the form of a dialogue, and the interest is every where maintained with remarkable success. The following extract from page 59 gives the style as well as the nature of the topics discussed by the Skeptic and the Believer.

"I want to know whence I came, whither I am going; whether there be in truth, as so many say there is, a God, whose universal government extends even to me and ny fellow-atoms called men, within whose sheltering embrace even I am not too mean for protection; whether, if there be such a being, he is truly infinite, or whether this vast machine of the universe may not have developed tendencies or involved consequences which eluded his forethought and are now beyond even his control; whether, above all, he be propitious or offended with a world in which I feel too surely, in the profound and various miseries of man, that his aspects are not all benignant; how, if

he be offended, he is to be reconciled; whether he is at all accessible, or one to whom the pleasures and the sufferings of the poor child of dust are equally subjects of horrible indifference; whether, if such Omnipotent Being created the world, he has now abandoned it to be the sport of chance, and I am thus an orphan in the universe; whether this universal frame' be indeed without a mind, and we are, in fact, the only forms of conscious existence; whether, as the pantheist declares, the universe itself be God, ever making, never made, the product of an evolution of an infinite series of antecedents' and consequents,' a God of which (for I cannot say of whom) you and I are bits; perishable fragments of a Divinity, itself imperishable only because there will always be bits of it to perish; whether this conscious existence of ours is to be renewed, and if so, under what conditions; whether the vale, vale, in eternum vale, is really the proper utterance of a breaking heart, as it closes the sepulchre on the object of its love."

6

We scarcely need say that we commend this book to every reader who would solve his own doubts, or be able to guide others in arriving at sound conclusions on this momentous subject.

Summer Time in the Country. By Rev. R. A. WILLMOTT. New-York: D. Appleton. & Co. 245 pages, 12mo.

This little volume is of the same genus with another, though of a very different species, entitled "Up-Country Letters," which we have noticed within a month or two "Most people are conscious sometimes of strange and beautiful fancies swimming before their eyes," but very few are conscious of so unbroken a succession of classic comparisons and poetic suggestions as have passed through the mind of this author and been recorded in these pages. He who finds himself always at home in reading them has been a diligent and careful student of both ancient and modern literature. The author tells us of one whose countenance seemed "a very tablet upon which the ten commandments were written." Himself can be nothing less than a library of choice literature, in elegant binding. We "never saw so many glow-worms together as on this balmy evening," says he on another page; and we add that he has been remarkably happy in fastening them upon his manuscript; or we might more justly say that, like trees sometimes in winter, every leaf sparkles; and again, as he says of Demosthenes, his lip [is] roughened by no grit of the pebble." We are not sure, however, that he has wiped out all the traces of midnight oil. Our only criticism would be a query whether the work is not too carefully studied for a country rambler in summer time.

History of the Conspiracy of Pontiac, and the War of the North American Tribes against the English Colonies, after the Conquest of Canada. By FRANCIS PARKMAN, JR Boston: Charles C. Little & James Brown. 8vo, pp. 630. 1851.

There was a time when the name of Pontiac spread terror among his foes, while hi favor was considered a guarantee of personal safety. He was the Napoleon, the Blucher the Suwarrow of our Western wilds. Of course he was an object of intense interest to the scattered and trembling inhabitants of the then far West. The history of those times, so replete with startling and even terrible events, is given us in this volume bys one abundantly competent to the task. In interest few volumes are equal to this, while, the knowledge of the history here set forth should be part and parcel of the education of every one of our countrymen. It consists of an account of the various Indian tribes east of the Mississippi, the condition of the French and English colonies in America, with their relations to each other and to the Indians, and unfolds the progress of events in the contests between these diverse interests, which resulted in the establishment of the English, and finally in their independence. A vast amount of local information is naturally brought out, in these connections, of great interest to all, and especially to the people of the Western States.

Notes on North America, Agricultural, Economical, and Social. By JAMES F. W. JOHN. STON, M. A., F. R. S., &c. 2 vols. Boston: Charles C. Little & James Brown. Edin. burgh and London: Wm. Blackwood & Sons. 1851.

We have but lately received these volumes from the Boston publishers, and the work is too well known and too familiar and too well appreciated to require so extended a notice as we should otherwise be disposed to give. We will remind our readers, however, that these volumes contain a treasure of great value, giving us, in the familiar style of a journalist, information of great practical importance in connection with agriculture, and a general idea of men and things, in the places which he visited, more truthful and reliable than most volumes issued by foreign travellers.