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About The west shore. (Portland, Or.) 1875-1891 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 1, 1877)
September. THE WEST SHORE. 13 THE FORESTS OF ATHOLE. The Duke of Athole's famous plantations at Ulair Atholo and Dunkeld, Scotland, have en gaged the pens o1 numerous writers from the period of Loudon's compilation of the A rboratum to the present time. Mr. McGregor, who holds the important office of forester on the Duke of Athole's domain, has enabled a correspondent of Tht AyrkuUural OmtUt to repeat an old but interesting story. Previous to the accession of the great planter, Duke John, in 1"74, two Dukes of Athole had planted larches. In 1738 Duke James planted, at Blair Athole and upon the lawn at Dunkeld on the banks of the lay, on a rich alluvial sand with open chanuelly sub sod, 16 larch plants, the parents of the subse quent and famous crop wliich was mm on the same property. One of these original Ulair At hole liircht' furnished the timber for the great planter s coffin. The hight of this tree was llHi feet. Three of the five Dunkeld lawn treea were also felled, and two of these which were cut down in IS09 contained, at the age of 71 years, 147 cubic feet and ICS cubic feet, respectively and the last-iiieutioned was sold in Leith to a company of shipbuilders for Its. per faot, or i.'25 4a. the tree. Baltic timber at that time was soling at war prices. The two other original larches on the lawn still standclose to the ancient cathedral of Dunkeld, and not far from a tine group of their own offspring. They are still sound timber at 138 years old, though their period of growth had been reached some years since. The largest tree measures 98 feet 10 inches in hight, and 14 feet 6 inches in girth at 5 feet from the ground. The trunk is perfect in shape, taper ing gradually and regularly, until it ceases to be measurable timber at about 30 feet from the top. It is said to contain 423 cubic fee of tim ber. These two companion treea are 1 1 yards apart, and their branches meet and interlace without injury. From this history of two larches, which probably attained their growth at about 100 years, we learn much in reference to the quan tity of timber which may be produced on good light land, with natural drainage. To eimtinue our general history. It was by no means easy to obtain larch plants. The 16 jusf noticed were brought from London by Mr. Menzies, of Migeny, who presented them to the Duke. Others were obtained by the same Duke James, wlio planted, in all, I, Ml, John, Duke of Athole, who succeeded in 1704, obtained about 1,000 plants yearly from the cones of tho tirst planted trees upon the lawn, and added in 10 years 11,400 young larchcB to tho growing crop. His successor, John the Planter, soon became a larch lover and an enthusiast, but, previous to determining on the general planting of his estate, ho felled some of the original larches, aged 40 or 50 years, and tested their value. In a short time the Athole friijate, and a small fleet of merchant ships, built of larch timber, were afloat, and, to his intense delight, he soon dis covered that tho timber of the new fir from the Tyrol was equal, and, in some respects, superior to that of the ancient pine of Scotland. The greatest efforts in planting were made during the years 1816 to 1818, when 5,922,000 larches wore planted, and from 1824 to 1880 when 4,038,880 were willed. The great improver died in 1830, having planted 12,074,380 larches without mixture and 1, 122.330 larches in mixed plantations. The following abstract account of the Duke of Athole's woods and forests was drawn up in 1829 : Mote AOfM I Statute Acres. 1,;M7 Saitoh 43s lrch I Mr -I 3.AKA Spruce fir 470 1 Birch SO On the Duke's accession in 1774, the total number of acres planted was about 1,250, eon seqiiently the area planted by him was 15,473 statute acres; and allowing 2,500 plants to each acre, the total number of trees planted was 84,756,000. In reality, the number was consid erably greater, and if 10 per cent lie allowed for making good the failures of plants, the total number of trees planted would 1m 27,231,000. INLAND SEA IN ALGERIA. MM. Dumas and Daubree have urged sev eral objections, says the Enginttr, to the pro posed artificial inland sea in Algeria, and agree with M. Naudin, who read a paper on the sub ject at a recent meeting of the Academy of Sciences, that its sanitary effects would be de plorable. It is thought that to fill the shallow basins of the region which it is proposed to convert Into a sea with salt water would be equivalent to reproducing in Algeria all the worst features of marshy plains. Captain Roudaire, WoO propond the scheme, admits that cveu in the center there would lie nowhere more than aUtut 80 feet of water, and the whole coast line would have so little water that it would be little better than a sandbank with au admixture of salt and fresh water, upon which the strong tropical heat would act in the most deletorious inauner for two-thirds of the year, caus ing a rapid decomposition of organic matter, ami spreading contagion for miles in every di rection. M. Naudin considers that there is no similarity between this district and Egypt, the climate of which country has lieeu much im proved by the creation of the Suei canal and the plantation of trees; for, according to him, while Egypt lies between two seas, and is traversed by an immense river which has peri odical overflows, the Algerian district is far from the sea, and is bounded by arid deserts. As American BuMflTVTI R GCM-AaUBIC -It is said that the mesquite gum of Western Texas is almost identical with gum-arabic, and, during the past year, has become an article of export, some twelve thousand pounds having been gathered in Bexar county, and as much more between that and the coast This gum exudes from the stem and branches of the mes quite, a mimosa, several species of which grow in Texas, New Mexico and Arizona. Journal ('BURrTL looks make every dish a feast. And 'tis that crowns a welcome. Joastaysr. CAN A POULTRY FARM PAY? This question has been fully answered in the affirmative by our neighbors, the French. Hitherto with us the attempt has ended more or less in failure; but u that a reason, if a proper method is adopted, and due care and supervision excercised, that we should not suc ceed in the future? From the accounts 1 have before me of the French poultry farms, I gather that if we follow their example and breed for sale, jnat as ordinary farmers do their sheep and oxen, there is no apparent reason whv a fairly remunerative profit should not be real ized by poultry farmers in this country. L Let there be plenty of space in the open runs. The poultry will find for themselves much good and wholesome natural food, and so save extra feeding. 2. Let the home feeding . .v aim iioc-jui, out not excessive; vonr bird be ill gootl health i condition. 3. Whether you propose producing eggs or meat for the table, choose suitable breeds for each object Do not, however, use too many different breeds, as that involves com plication in your houses, yards, and accommo dations generally. 4. Lot your personal super vision lie constant, and employ only the lst and most trustworthy assistants. I have lately rewl with pleasure, in Mr. L Wright's book on poultry, of the Bellair French) farm, that if intending poultry farmers here took this as their mode and only improved upon it so far as their own experience and that of celebrated poultry breeders suggested, they would soon have a Bound system to work on, sou success ne assured. To take another line of argument. A farm, Bay of 15 or 20 acres will only supply a certain number of sheep or oxen, according to its fer tility of soil; all other feeding stuff, oil-cake, etc., will have to be paid for extra, and that in high proportion. Calculate out the product of this in beef and mutton for the market So many oxen or sheep at such and such a weight can be raised, but what can we say of poultry? In this case so much does not depend on the quality and richness of soil; and a greater weight of poultry at less cost will be raised than beef or mutton. Poultry, it is true, are liable to dis ease; so are sheep and oxen. With 20 acres, too, if properly inauaged, nearly every requisite might be raised for the stock kept Could this be done in ordinary farming? There is only one question that seems to me of vital impor tance now left for consideration la there a good and conveniently situated market'for your poultry, easy of access, and where fair whole sale prices can be obtained? If so, I can see on reason to doubt success. PROPELLING BY PUMPS. Attempts have been mwle at various times to move boats by forcing jets of water through openings in the sides or ends of tho hulls, and hitherto these experiments have not been suc cessful. A more recent exjicrimcut in this direction has resulted favorably, and a tow boat, 13.11 meters (43 feet) long, has been con structed that employs a common steam pump in place of an engine and propeller. A writer in Scribner's Monthly give the following details: The boat has a steam boiler of moderate size, and is, in other respects, one tow-boat of the usual pattern. Four pipes, 04 millimeters (2J inches) in diameter, are laid the whole length of the lioat inside, and about a meter below the water line. At the bow two of these pipes open the whole Bizeof the pipe directly into the outer water, and at the stern they are reduced to a nozzle of only 22 millimeters diameter. The other pair of pijies are arranged in the same manner, except that the nozzles are placed at the Ihiws. A steam pump is connected with each iair of these pipes, and when at work takes the water iu at the bows and ejects it in a powerful stream at the stern, ami thus forces the Uiat ahead at a good speed. To reverse tho direction, the pump takes the water from the stern through the other pair of pipe and forces it out at the bow, and the boat instantly re verses its direction. The novelty in this inven tion consists in the use of a reduced pips, or nozzle at the place of discharge. By means of the two nozzles the boat may be easily steered independently of the rudder by using one or the other of the two pipes alternately. The advan tages claimed for this system of propulsion are the cheapness of the apparatus and the absence of ripple or disturbance of the water. The escaping water is so far below the surface that it creates no disturbance, and the lioat only makes the wave that breaks from the bOW, auif, in this respect, this method of propulsion may fulfill the demand for a steam tow-lxiat for canals. On a trial trip at sea, the I mat made a voyage of some length in safety and at good IMMi THE VALUE OF DRY STEAM. S, Hang, a mechanical engineer, writes for the ViyrfAm AVnVir some points on the loss and danger of priming in boilers, and some ways of guarding against it He says: The use of dry steam is not only a source of economy in the boiler, to prevent au unnecessary expendi ture of heat, but still more so in the engine, where water contained in tho steam not only does no work, but cools the metal in the steam cylinder, etc., thereby causing a fresh expendi ture of Bteam to heat these parts np again. If with every potutd of steam at 80 lbs. pressure a half pound of water is carried over, a quantity not unusual in a priming boiler, the latter has to lie heated to the boiling point, and T of the beat is expended in heating the water curried over. The feed pump has, of course, 50 , mere work to do, ami the heater will have its effi ciency reduced by one-third, j "To avoid priming, a boiler should have a , good circulation, and be large enough to do ita I work without forced firing. A good circulation . will also improve the cvuporativu efficiency of a boiler, as the steam i which is a had conductor of heat) is quiekly removed from the bitted plates, 1 and new water constantly follows it. I A steam trap, either fixed in a steam dome, or in some high place iu the steam pipe, will drain 1 the water traped iu it back to the boiler, thus saving heat expended in heating it. Sometimes the steam pipe is extended downward from the throttle valve on the eugine, bo as to form a ml i tie wc for tho accumulation of water, which can ! theu be pumped back into the boiler. A super ' heater, heated by tho waste gases, may serve to j evaporate the water carried over, and to dry the 1 steam thoroughly; but if the priming is uxcess- j If water is carriod into the cylinder, it will j cool the metal, with which it comes in contact; the amount of this depends iqion the surface exposal, the difference of initial and final tem perature, the specific heat of the metal, the pis- variable character of these conditions makes it exceedingly difficult to give a figure for the loss thus incurred, hut it is certainly considerable, and may range up to 30. In non-expansive engines this water is tartly evaporated on the back stroke, attracting heat from tho cylinder increasing the back pressure, and in a condensing engine requiring more injec tion water and entailing more work upon the air pump. In expansive engines the re-evaporation of this water takes place during expan sion, whereby tho final pressure is somewhat increased, but this is vastly overbalanced by a great fall iu the initial pressure; for engines using fiO jmunds of steam, cutting off at one sixth or one-eighth, the initial pressure on the indicator card may often lie 20 to 30 pounds lie low the boiler pressure. Even a steam jacket would lie xiwerless againxt a great inllux of water, as its surface and rate of conduction are necessarily limited. I -t, but not least, the danger of water in the cylinder must Ihi consid ered, the result generally being broken pistons and rods, knocked-out cylinder heads, and, as a natural consequencu, a general smash-up. A New Metal. --Serge Kern announces, in ComMe Rendu, his discovery, in dune last, of a new platinoid metal which he calls 'faiyum, in honor of Sir Humphrey Davy. It is hard, silvery in luster, malleable at red heat, readily Boluhle iu wjua-regia and very feebly in boiling sulphuric acid, yielding a yellow precipitate with caustic potash. Sulphurated hydrogen, passed through a dilute sotutiun of the chloride, yields a brown precipitate which becomes black upon drying. I'otassic sulphocyamdo, with the same solution, is colored red; and if the solution of davyum in hi yh is concentrated, a red pre cipitate is obtained. Hp. gr. 9.385 at 25 C. Kern thinks that in MendeleiefT s proposed clauification of the elements, davyum is the hypothetical element placed between molybde num and ruthenium, in which case its equivalent should )e 100. It would then rank as the sec ond confirmation of MendelejefTs predictions, gallium having been the first It is probably rare. The platiniferous sand does not contain more than .00045 of davyum. A MAM will carry four hundred dollars in his vest pocket, but a woman needs a morocco portemonnaie as large as a fist, and too heavy to carry in the pocket, to escort a fifty -cent scrip, rewpe lur mumg a jeuy-cane ana two sample of dress goods. OUR DOMESTIC METALS. Professor Thurston makes the following points in the Popular StitHdt Atonthhj: i ins country has m years ision importing cast iron, while domestic products of equal and ticn gii-iibvr mi i iti.ii tuiuu ii bj a lower price. Other similar instances of unwisdom are cited by Professor Thurston, as, for example, the i-i i that we are imHrtiug lioilor-plato at j ii coma a pounu, wnen wo cau purchase Ameri can steel, vastly superior in all respects for the ! special puriKises to which the former article is j applied, at eight cents. Again, we import vast quantities of foreign steel tools, when at Pitts burg and elsewhere we mako steel fully its equal. In New England and Pennsylvania we I have ores from which is mwle the finest cast iron ordnance in the world. In Ohio we mako ! a metal for car-wheels such as is never seen in hurope, and of such tenacity and elasticity that foreign engiueers listen incredulously when it is described. Our lake Champlain ores make an iron fully equal to Swedish for conversion into steel; and around lake Suerior and in Mis souri we nave uuimiiii irom which comes lies simer metal, far superior to the nhoantuifita. charged metal wo inqsirt New .lersey supplies ii n wilii mho which meei Willi no CouiHtitiiiu as a pure metal, and which can lie used without purification, even for chemical MipMMi ami our native OOpptf is absolutely free from admix ture with injurious elements. It is time that these tacts should lie known, ami that the ih-o-pie should disabuse their minds id the idea that, liecause a commodity is ' nnMirted,' it is there fore of greater intrinsic value than a domestic product ' OalVAVIO OlTRAtUsUTIOsT. The journal of the Russian Chemical and Physical Society, says Nature, contains observations, by Shidlov sky, on the microscopical crystallization of va rious metals under the influence of a galvanic current. The dondritrie agglomerations of crystals form very speedily; their branches sprewlout from the cathode to the auodo pl.it. . vibrate on reaching it and collajwe; this pro cess is repeated till the stiace I ml ween the plates is filled with a spongy metallic mass. Each metal has a characteristic ramification. The crystallisation does not appear when the anode 1 is gold or platinum. Colon or Mark. -In the observations about I to be made of Mars at the time of its opposition, which occurs in this month. Professor Pmctor j thinks that it will be a favorable opportunity ; for a more careful study of the varieties of light I and shwle and of color in this planet In corn- iwMig -i. ..ii. - ..I vur wmc t j i nuvie ny on ferent observers, great difference is apparent, and can be traced tothiscanse. The notion that the surface is divided into ruddy and green portions, and the white polar crown cape and occasional whit- cloud markinirs. is fr from th. ! truth. GEOLOGICAL PROGRESS. We learn from a foreign exchange that MM. Delesse ami do Lspparent have prepared a val liable resume of the geological works published during the years 1875 and 1879, Their work covers IS4 closely-printed pages we have room only for a few brief notes. The mean hight of Euiopo, according to Uipoldt, is 886,888 meters; llunilwildt's estimate was 80flm, The increase of tenijieraturo at given depths below the surface, is greatest in the equatorial regions. I'restwich has confirmed tho views of Dana, Owpnter and Wyvillo-Thotusou, relative to the distribution of ocean toiiiioratnres. Tho resist ance of rocks to crushing is diminished (in some cases as much as SO per cent ) by the alworptiou of water. The plasticity of surface rocks is intimately dtpMtdttl on their argillaceous char acter; but at great depths, pressure, water and inortsstad tempoiuiurc, make all nicks plastic Th. Hn Winer has demonstrated, in a lignite, the existence of a multitude of microscopic quarts crystals, which he attributes to a slow decompo sition of infiltrated silicates by the humie acid. By treating a Ycsuvian pumice, which seemed to lie amorphous, with fluorhydric acid, Fonque has extracted from it crystals of feldspar, pyroxene, amphilxile, peridote, magnesiaii mica, and oxidized iron. He has also shown that the minute cavities of the pumice were docked with microscopic crystals of ainplngene. The contest respecting the organic character of the A'oiooa still continues! and even if its animal origin is granted, doubts are thrown on the assumed age of the lAwreutian formation, iu which it is found. Owen has studied the lxmcs of a curious carnivorous reptile, Ognodrokon maJsT, from southern Africa. Ho assigns it, together with, other similar reptiles from the same region, to now order, 77i ro nWowtV, having tho dentition of carnivores. He thinks that their high Offal ration cannot be explained by tho hypoth eses either of Darwin or lmarck. Forest improve tho soil much more rapidly than coppice wood; the humus exhibits a very different composition from that of the rooks upon the siiriuco oi wnieu it is lormoil. Kx penmen ti with I rosea a apparatus seem to show that . leavage and lamination may In duo to tho same .'ause, and that tho schistosity of gneiss may be no evidence of stratification. A1.VANI7.1NH Inns.--Mnltwworth irivos tba following directions for galvanizing iron coat ing iron with zinc. The directions are very upuui ami win no louiui vatuaoie hy many of ur readers who have, from time to time, asked illestiiios in rt'iFArd to thin km. I nf w.irli Pi.LU the article six or eight hours in water contain iuu aliout one per cent, of sulphuric acid, hold in wooden vessels; the acid requires to lw renewed from time to time, according to the ittUttty 0) iron pickled. After picklina scour and wash well in clean water. Keep inn amen noun nma water tin wincn a little froth burnt lime has been stirred) until ready for the next process. Immerse in chlo ride of zinc for one or two minutes until a skin of tine bubbles is formed on the surface. Chlo ride of zinc may lie formed by saturating hydro chloric Mid with metallic nine until olTorvca conce ceases, then decanting and adding a tittle sal-ammoniac. Dry theartudo on a heated iron plate, then immerse it iu a bath of molten (not glowing) zinc until it acquires the temperature of the zinc bath. The surface of the molten sine should lie protected by sal-ainmoniw, or son other substance. In smne cases there is a parti tion at the surface of tho bath, one portum of tho surface being iirotected with sid-amuioiiiac, the other with a layer of charcoal. Beat the article while hot, to remove the excess of tina A Fiiksi'h nit button Beaut An import ant work of irrigation is iu course of execution iu the Department of Drome. Tho necessary legal concession for the prosecutiou of the un dertaking was obtained on May 21st, IH74, and the works are BOW being vigorously pushed forward. The canal takes its origin from the Bourne, at a point about 200 muters below Pont-en-Royaus, and is intended to supply wa ter at the rate of seven cubic meters jrar second for the irrigation of 17,800 acres of land. It will consist of a princijial canal in connection with a number of secondary channels carrying water Pi laud iu 2t dilforeut communes; and in case of need can be made to draw its supplioi from two further sources, one in the Lyouue and tho other in its tributary, the Cholet. The Min ister of Public Worki has granted a subvention of 8,900,000 fraues towards tho MptMM of the scheme, two thirds of which sum is to lie laid out upon the coustrui tion of the principal canal, while the remainder may lo employed uou the secondary and tertiary branches. The works are progressing at moh a rate that it is exported the princiial channel will Ihi completed consid erably within tho five years allowed for its con struction, and it has become necessary to pres ent a pottMoa to the Chambers asking for the payment of the subvention Imforo the date at which it was originally supjtoseil the money would bo first required, A ctTV man having moved to the country for quiet repose o' uiirhts awav from "the noise of team and horse cars," spent his first night in hunting up a cricket who whistled lustily tint in his right oar and then in his left. The sun rose on a haggard man newly impressed with the womlers of nature. Two squaws iu Tacoma gave a boy a dollar to get them a lottlo of whisky one day this week, ami the lsv forifot what he wimt for The squaws did not get the whisky or see the boy again. Good little boy. He will grow up to be an Indian agent. For irenuiue, enthusiastic oeonomv. commend us U the Gait fanner, who killed owls without wasting ammunition- When he sees one sitting on the ground, he walks around it two or three times, and the owl twists iU hewl olf trying to follow his motions. Fact ! Somk difficulty is 1 1 uerieitced in fillinir the commission to interview K. Hull. Very few feci muy saiisiiMi with the result of Custar s inter view, and have the nightmare wheusrtr the think of "bulling the Indian narturt.