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.