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O.Hears Augusta *V. T. A Society.
Dr. JOS. A. EVE, President.
Dr. DANIEL HOOK, i
Rev. WM. J. HARD, > Vice Presidents
HAWKINS HUFF, Esq.
WM. HAINES, Jr. Secretarv.
L. D. LALLERSTEDT, Treasurer.
MANAGERS.'
Jamas Harper, E. E. ScoSelJ,
Rev. C. S. Dod, James Goiiby,
John Milled^e,
From the Southern Cultivator.
Potatoes.
Mr. Editor: —l have been of opinion
for several years, that the potatoe crop
was too much neglected in this section of |
country. The crop that I have made
this year, has confirmed mo in that opin
ion. I planted a fraction more,th in two j
acres. Threo-fiiurths of the land was of
second year’s tending, and was so full of;
roots and stumps that we could not pre
pare it for planting to my satisfaction ;
but after breaking up the land a time or
two, the rows were run off’ in a horizon
tal position and beds thrown up with a
turning plow, then a hand with a hoc;
made holes for every eighteen or twenty
inches, in which the seed were dropped j
and covered—these were of the Spanish
kind. The land is thin grey soil; j
growth post-oak and black-jack inter
mixed with pine. The other fourth of
the ground planted, is old grey land, on
which cows had been penned. This, and
a small part of the fresh land was plant
ed with yarn-slips. (I here remark, that
I have found out long since that the
richest land is not the best lor potatoes.)
We hauled home and put away six hun-1
sired and forty bushels,and I suppose there 5
were fifty bushels lef on the ground for j
the hogs to get, and we must have dug s
at least ten bushels previously for table i
use, Ac. At tins, my crop from a little ,
over two acres, is seven hundred bushels;
but I will take it at 600 bushels, which
at 20 cents per bushel, amounts to >sl2o.
The same land in corn, under the most j
favorable seasons and best mode of cul-,
ture, could not have made more that 80
bushels, that at 86 cents per bushel,
{which is the settlement price,) amounts j
to S3O 40. 1 will allow $lO for the;
value of labor ( which is more than enough )
expended on the potatoes, more than \
would have been required-on the same j
land had it been in a corn crop ; and ■
will allow $5 for fodder that might have j
been procured with the corn. At this,
calculation, there is a balance left in fa
vor of potatoes of $74 60. I may have i
priced the potatoes too high, but will
leave it to the readers of the Southern
Cultivator to put their own prices on
each article—make their own calcula
tions —draw their own inferences, and
come to their own decisions as to the j
propriety of our planting more potatoes
than we have heretofore; and what we
do plant, be sure to cultivate well, as
they are a crop that is well worth our
attention, if they were but to feed our
stock on. They will fatten a hog quick
er than corn ; and for fattening an old
ox or cow, I have never found their equal;
as a change of food and for milch cows,
there is scarcely any thing better; and
for children, both white and black, they
are the most healthy food we can give
them.
I am, sir, yours respectfully dzc.,
JOHN FARRAR.
MiiTOigyLi^iEiOiyig^ l
l.ord Kosse’s Telescope.
At a late meeting of the British asso
ciation, Lord Rosse gave the following
account of his gigantic reflecting teles
cope :
“He explained the difficulties with
which he had to contend in making his i
reflector. In the first place, ordinary !
speculum-metal is more brittle than glass;
and it is so greatly expanded by heat,
that it is with the utmost difficulty a large
speculum can be cooled without splitting.
In Lord Rosse’s first attempts, he made
one hundred castings without being suc
cessful. This difficulty is avoided in in
ferior instruments by varying the propor
tionsof tin and copper which form the
speculum-metal, also by the addition of
zinc; but the brilliancy of the polish and
the reflective powers are thereby greatly
diminished. An attempt was next made
to cast a speculum of a baser compound,
which would not be brittle, and afterwards
to plate the surface with the best specu
lum-metal. This answered the purpose
tolerably well; but the unequal junctions
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Vol. III.]
jof the plated metal caused diffraction of
i the light injurious to the distinctiveness
lof the image. It then occurred to him,
that as the splitting of speculum-metal in
cooling, must be caused by the irregular
. manner in which the different portions
! of the mass contracted in cooling, if that
j process could he regulated so as to make
1 the metal cool gradually on one side the
difficulty might be overcome. To effect
this, the lower part of the mould was
made of iron, whilst the sides were of
sand ; bv which means the heated mass
cooled below at a quicker rate than in
any other part that being comparatively
(lie only cooling surface. By this means,
speculum-metal of the required size could
he cast without splitting ; but there was
found to be a defect in the metal arising
from air-bubbles rising through the metal.
To overcome the new difficulty, the
under surface of the mould was made of
vertical plates of iron placed closely to.
gather; and through those lamina of iron
the air escaped, instead of rising through
the melted metal/ The proportions of
which the speculum-metal consisted were
56,9 parts of tin and 126,4 of copper.
So many minutiae are required to be at
tended to, that even the composition of
the melting-pots was found to he essen
tial to the perfection of the process. In
the ordinary iron melting-pots the min
ute holes, through which some portions
of the tin of the speculum-metal flows
when melted, and deteriorates the alloy;
these holes arc prevented from being
formed by casting the melting-pots in an
inverted position, instead of erect. In
grinding the speculum, which weighs
three tons and three-quarters, and is six
feet in diameter, it was placed in a tank
of water, in which it was kept revolving;
and the polishing-tooi, moved with two
eccentrics and worked by steam-power,
was applied on the top. The required
focus was obtained by observation, not
by measurement. The speculum, when
completed, had a focus of fifty-three feet;
and the telescope was fitted on the New
tonian plan, the image being reflected to
a hole in the side of the tube, near tnxs
top, into which the spectator looks, In
stead of looking towards the object.
The immense tube weighs six tons
and a half; and the joint and aparatus
on which it rests weighs three tons and a
half. To support this great weight two
high and massive walls have been built ;
and are fitted to them,
to elevate the spectator, and enable him
to look through tliKeye-glass at all el
evations. It is Attains a transit instru
ment, and has scarcely any other than a
vertical movement, as it is intended for
making observations when stars come to
the meridian. To compensate in some
degree for the want of a traversing mo
tion, a reflection is used ; by which
means any heavenly body may be seen
an hour before it comes to the meridian.
In supporting the tube, so as to render it
manageable by one man, large counter
poise weights are employed, which di
minish, by resting on the ground as the
tube is elevated. The actual weight to
he moved, therefore, does not exceed
three hundred weight, and one person can
elevate it with great ease. The lowest
angle to which the tube can be inclined
is ten degrees, and it may be raised to
four or five degrees below the pole. It
was the examination of the nebulous bo
dies in the heavens that he principally
had in view when he commenced the
construction of the telescope, fifteen
j years ago. He exhibited the drawing of
I a nebulous cluster examined through the
great telescope; (ho stnrs composing it
appeared as large as stars of the first
magnitude, though the whole cluster of
them, seen through a moderately good
telescope, appears only as a white patch
in the heavens. In most of the nebula;
i are seen filaments of light issuing from
; their sides; and Lord Rosse conceives,
that when he brings his great telescope
to hear on these filaments, they will he
found to be composed of stars. In this
manner he will be able to verify the ideas
of astronomers and not limiting his dis
coveries to new satellites or planets, he
will make known the existence of suns
and of planetary systems, compared
with which our celestial system, is but a
speck.in the universe.
From the Georgia Pioneer.
My Fair Friends : —Will any of us
hesitate for a moment, to defend our sex
against the numerous imputations that
have been cast upon it, by those who
should rather be its defenders than ac
cusers ? Surely a task sufficiently ex-
1
AUGUSTA, GA. DECEMBER 28, 1844.
alted to occupy the mind, and employ
the pen of every female whose heart
vibrates with a desire that woman should
be promoted, and not degraded to shame.
That a number of females have confer
red no honor on the sex, i; a truth, of
which we are too assuredly apprised.
But alas, for them ! How limited were
their moments of reason, reflection, and
discretion; inexperience and suscepti
bility blinded them to the insidiousness
of their “ false, designing friends.”—
However, for the follv, imprudence, and
capriciousness of a p&rt,, entire sex
should not be indiscriminately implicated.
Seldom are we allowed the gratification
of perusing a Periodical of any descrip
tion but that our sensil>iiiti.;s are paraly
zed by the charge of cgrcgiously ignoble
offences. We are incessantly assailed
and mortified by sarcasms of tne most
humiliating kind. Eccentricity, insta
bility, 'pugnacity , and a ho i of other de
fects, are abundantly ascribed tons —and
these superlatively magnified and depict
ed to the eye of the world in the most
odious manner. i
“The constitution of sdciatjr, like the
waters of a river, is constancy varying,
and those variations are distinguished bv
the bestowmont and recession of peculiar
advantages.” However, * iiaJfcver may
be the improvements of t/.o present pe
riod, none appear to conduce In the in
trinsic edification of woman. The most
debased, most corrupt, most infamous,
seem to esteem the privilege of-speaking
degradingly of woman, n prerogative to
which they are unreservedly entitled.
Frequently too, do many of our sex, in
stead ofan effort “to hide tlie faults they
see,” appear to realize a peculiar delight
in exposing and “feeding on the detects
of others.” Oh ! ignobly, diabolical in
clination !
But let us contemplate woman as she
was intended to be, a beiiig all purity, all
love, “destined to live ng\in and shine”
—a being as fair, as immaculate, as the
snow from Heaven. E \r ready and
by benevolent exerlions.jwhile she her
self is happily edified byt rtje design.—
“The proper sphere cf woman is so
strongly delineated by a Divine finger, !
that it must be apparent to every eye,
which is not wilfully blif.d. Those who
question or deny it, start aside from their
orbit, and by their irregularities, give
and receive a disastrous influence, while
those who move in the circle assigned
them, not only fulfill tlie will of their
Creator, but, in silence, and without ob
servation, like the moon in Heaven, are
shedding around them a refreshing sym
pathy, that shall exhileraje many a heart
and a gentle light that [shall guide and
confirm many a hesitating footstep.”
In referring to the anrlalsof all coun
tries, we find that where Ivoutm was pro
moted to her “ proper sUhlc,” and her
virtues and humanities cat • ily and ex
tensively cultivated, the (bit.-rest of the
nation was Writers, who
have assumed to themselves the honor of
comprehending the female heart, have
observed (hat woman is as unstable as
water—consequently caiinot excel.—
Whence have they incurred this accusa
tion? Does not both ancient and mod
ern History furnish us with many ex
amples of female application and p. -se
vering constancy. Many have tonelra
trated the most intricate depths of the
most abstruse sciences. It may be trmt.
that caprieiousness is one of the weak
nesses belonging to our sex, or is incul-;
cated by a defective mode of instroctirm, |
at so early an age, as to pass current fbr
an innate propensity. And let us on-1
quire, is those very qualities mosti'for- 1
eign to female consistency and stabi ity,
are not frequently the exclusive oh ects
of masculine admiration and applaus r. —
This is one reason for which we afford !
so few proofs of solid utility*, and ai 2 so j
deficient in strength of character. Jne ;
faculty of the mind is improved at the |
iminent destruction of another, which |
renders it impossible that our minds j
should ever possess that efficiency which j
extensive erudition can alone bestow.
We are necessarily confined to a kind |
of rnonotonous seclusion, while the other
sex have constant va ieties from their
daily intercourse with the world at large.
Thus they acquire a di ersity of thought
of which woman is cmsequently desti
tute. However, to do well under many
disadvantages, is an aciievement which
promises reward—“aid to bear, is to
conquer our fates.” Let the lords of
creation indulge their pusillanimous re
marks, and exhaust fleir accrimonious
aspersions upon us; it is true, they occa
sionally give excruciating shocks to our
sensibility—yet we go on trying to a-
I chieve deeds of excellence, and live for
high purposes of existence. “Envying,
■fearing, hating none.” To those who
have been profuse in their sarcasms at us,
; w e would simply suggest the expediency
of reflecting on the near relationship
which man sustains to woman. In de
; grading her, he deliberately and unequiv
ocally degrades his mother, his sisters,
j and probably bis wife.
Suppose we are precisely what they
: usually represent us to be, will those in
! whom are combined magnanimity, noble
! principles, and a superabundance of oth
jer great qualities, so far impair their
i dignity, as to adopt an inferior and con
; tcmptible subject, for want of a better
I one ? We do net desire their sympathy.
; we repudiate every consideration so re
pugnant to dignity. All we ask—all wc
desire, is impartial justice. MARY.
African Exqu-it .
The gentle reader has doubtless but
little idea of the length to which our ne
gro or servile population carry their so
cial distinctions. They have their cir
cles, their classes and their castes—iheir
exclusives and their non exclusives;
each revolving within its own sphere,
and all jealously tenatious of any ob
trusion within its orbit on the part of
any ol the others. The boundaries be
tween them are so wide that the instan
ces are few in which they are ever over
stepped ; and should one of them ever
have the temerity to ascend from a low
er to a higher circle, he is immediately
“ cut” by all “ hands,’ unless he had pre
viously paved the way for his due intro
duction. In this respect, the aristocra
tic clubs of London are not more con
servative of their exclusive identity.
In an altercation between two negroes
to which we once listened, we heard one
of them remark to the other;
“Now you go away, nigger! You’s
not on an elevation ob society wid dis I
.1, iffil ■ j.
your’s is nuffin more dan a common dray
man.”
It is well known that the negroes of
1 many of our citizens who do not them
| selves keep house, arc boarded by their
! owners, in several of the hotels, their ta
j hie being the same as thut of tlie colored |
; servants of the establishment:
“How is you, Jake?” said one of
; these, the other day, to a brother darkey,
who like himself, “boarded out.”
“ Wtd, Brutus,” said Jake, “ I feels an
indelicacy’bout being imperlite; but I
dosen’t (ink it ’comes you to ask me de
question. I boards at de Exchange, and
does not; slop at de resterat. Them as
does, shop Id know dere place.”
“But one of the greatest stretches of
African aristocracy “on record” is that
perhaps, to which we listened yesterday.
Two negroes met nearly opposite the St.
Charles, wlio, it appeared, Iqid been spen
ding the summer North—that is, they
travelled with t/ieir respective masters.
“Why, Saijlpson, how is you?” said
one. /
“Well, Vt well, tank you,” said the
I other. j
“ You’s been to the North, has you ?”
said Jeffer/on.
“ I’s ju/t corn’d home,” said Sampson.
“ Aint the free niggers mighty mean ?”
said Jefferson.
“Ob course dey is,” said Sampson,
“ but dat comes ob der habin’ nomas
\“Certainly,” said Jefferson, “ dey’s
[laboring under de abolition ob intelli
(gence. Mbit whardidyou stop when you
! was Norty, Samp ?”
“ Why,fee’ is, Jes,” said Sampson, “I
jspent most ob my time at the Wirginy !
Springs.” \ ‘ ,
“ You did, did you ?” said Jefferson. <
“ Wal, I reckdiis I did,” said Sampson, i
“Den you is’nt ’ciety for dis nigga,” i
| said Jefferson. “Bs been ’mong de re
iclusives, at We dan
jeesde Polka dere: I reckons Wirginy i
i break-downs can’t shine. Good by, <
! nigga! But look bea, when you meets I
\ a color’d gem’man wots (bank de con- <
gress water, you passes hira by wid si- <
lent dispect—dat’s all.” And saying i
this, Jefferson’s round eye dilated and his I
thick lip swelled at the idea of being ac- 1
costed and conversed with in the public ;
street by a negro who never mixed in f
more fashionable society than he con- r
>idered he must have met with at 4? I
Virginia Springs, who never had e
Congress water, and who was perfectly c
ignorant of the Polka!— Picayune. t
[No. 24 I
WASIIIXGTONIAX
TOTAL ABSTINENCE PLEDGE.
„ We, whose names are hereunto an
nexed, desirous of forming a Society for
our mutual benefit, and to guard against
a pernicious practice, which is injurious
to our health, standing and families, d<»
pledge ourselves as GENH.E»iEN, not to
i drink any Spirituous or Malt I.iquors,
I I Fine or Cider.
Thoughts for*Youth.
Force of Habit.— On the const of
Norway there is an immense whirlpool,
called bv the natives, Maelstrom, which
signifies the navel, or the centre of the
sea. The body of waters which form
this whirlpool, is extended in a circle a
hont thirteen miles in circumference.—
: In the midst thereof, stands a rock, against
; which the tide, in its ebb, is washed with
| inconceivable fury; when it instantly
swallows up all things which comes
j within the sphere of its violence.
No skill of the mariner, nor strength
of rowing can work an escape. The
| sen-beaten sailor at the helm, finds the
ship at first go in a current opposite his
j intentions; his vessel’s motion, though
! slow in the beginning, becomes every
moment, more rapid ; it goes round in
circles, still narrower, till at last it is
dashed against the rock, and entirely dis
appears forever.
And thus it fares with the thoughtless
and hapless youth, that falls under the
power of any vicious habits. At first he
indulged with caution and timidity, and
struggles against the stream of vicious
inclinations. But every relapse carries
him down the current, the violence of
which increases and brings him still near
er to the fatal rock in the midst of the
whirlpool; till at length, stupified and
subdued, he yields without a struggle,
and makes shipwreck of conscienc, of
interest, of reputation, and of every thing
that is dear and valuable in the human
character.
Good habits, on the other hand, are
powerful as bad ones; therefore no bet
ter advice can we give to youth, than the
following:—“Choose the more rational
and best way of living, and habit will
soon make it the most agreeable.”
The Chinese mode of taking wild
fowl, with which the neighborhood of
Canton abonds, is curious and some
what unsport man like. There is no
• oaipfas&tuvi.'fagui i_
nothing hut sport, and no “mistake.”—
Whenever they see a quantity of ducks
settled in any particular piece of \Vhter,
they send half a dozen gourds to float
among them. These gourds resemble
the pumpkins in England ; but being
hollowed out, they float on the surface of
the water. On large pools they leave
twenty or thirty afloat. At first the
fowl are ghy at coming near them, but
by degrees they get courage ; and as all
birds at length grow familiar with a scare
crow, they soon gather around them,
and amuse themselves bv “ whetting
their bill” against them. When the birds
j get pretty familiar with them, to deceive
them more effectually, a Chinese hollows
lout a pumpkin which in pretty large,and
i after making holes in it to see and breathe
I through, he claps it on his head. Thus
accoutred, he wades slowly into the wa
ter, keeping his body under, and letting
nothing be seen above the surface hut the
; pumpkin, in which is his head. In this
manner he moves imperceptibly towards
the fowl, which suspects no danger. At
last he fairly gets in amongst the fowl,
! they take not the least alarm, even when
I the enemy is in the very midst of them ;
who, whenever he approaches a fowl
seizes it by the legs, and draws it with a
sportmanlike (?) jerk under the water.
He then fastens it to his girdle, and pro
ceeds on to the next victim, till he has
loaded himself with as many as he can
fairly (?) walk off with.— From Captain
Pidding’s Chinese Olio and Tea Table
Talk, No. 14.
Home-Made Thunder. —A genius who
lives in the vicinity of the Grand Rap
ids, being informed that thunder was
death to cut worms, and being much
troubled with their works in his garden,
and despairing, too, of any thunder of
Nature’s Manufacture, resolved to have
some of domestic production. Pursu
ant to this determination, he charged an
old musket to the muzzle full, took a
bucket of water and a lantern, proceed
ed to the garden, rained on the plants
copiously from his bucket, made the lan
tern open and shut sesame byway of
lightning, and then in hot haste let off
“old Copenhagen” for thunder. Tho
worms “cut and run,” while the manu
facturer, of the “domestic thunder” tri
ed the full virtue of his experiment, by
being knocked flat upon his back on the
earth, rendered oblivious from the knock
caused by the re-percussivo actio# of the
thunder machine.