his friendship, and brought him a large bead, as a present of reconciliation, which the old man received very coldly, and would not allow them to go on board the English vessels.

The Artingalls were apprehensive of the vessels going against them by their staying so long; and the king, wishing to frighten his foes, begged the captain to fire two guns without shot, which he did, and no doubt it had its desired effect upon his Artingall visitants.

The foregoing are the principal occurrences which took place during captain M'Cluer's stay in the Pelew Islands, from whence he

sailed for Canton, intending to return to Arrakappasang in about three or four months, there to join the Endeavour, and proceed together on further surveys and discoveries, agreeable to their orders and instructions. Justice to Abba Thulle's character requires us to add, that since captain Wilson's time another Malay proa had been cast away upon the Pelew Islands, the crew of which, showing a spirit of resistance, were mostly cut off by the natives, excepting a few who were saved by the people of Coroora, and by them conducted to Abba Thulle, who treated them with great hospitality.

USEFUL

Method of preserving fruit-trees in blossom from the effects of frost. [From the German.]

HE chevalier de Bienenberg, of Prague, has discovered a method of effectually preserving trees in blossom, from the fatal effects of those frosts which sometimes, in the spring, destroy the most promising hopes of a plentiful crop of fruit. His method is extremely simple. He surrounds the trunk of the tree, in blossom, with a wisp of straw, or hemp; the end of this he sinks, by means of a stone tied to it, in a vessel of spring-water, at a little distance from the tree. One vessel will conveniently serve two trees; or the cord may be lengthened so as to surround several, before its end is plunged into the water. It is necessary that the vessel be placed in an open situation, and by no means shaded by the branches of the neighbouring tree, that the frost may produce all its effects on the water, by means of the cord communicating with it. This precaution is particularly necessary for those trees, the flowers of which appear nearly at the same time as the leaves; which trees are peculiarly exposed to the ravages of the frost.

This method is unquestionably singular, and may exercise the sagacity of those philosophers who

seek to explain every thing. But the plain man, who demands facts in preference, will be satisfied with knowing, that the chevalier de Bienenberg has not published it till he found it confirmed by repeated experience. The proofs of its efficacy, which he had an opportunity of observing in the spring of 1787, were remarkably striking. Seven apricot espaliers in his garden began to blossom in the month of March; fearing that they would suffer from the late frosts, he surrounded them with cords as above directed. In effect, pretty sharp frosts took place six or eight nights: the apricottrees in the neighbouring gardens were all frozen, and none of them produced any fruit, whilst each of the chevalier's produced fruit in abundance, which came to the greatest perfection.

To satisfy himself of the effects of his preservative, the chevalier de Bienenberg placed vessels of water here and there, in the neighbourhood of those which communicated with the cords surrounding the trees: the ice in the former was not thicker than a straw, whilst in the latter it was the thickness of a finger. Hence, he infers, that the cords conveyed the cold from the trees to the water. Though this explanation may not be satisfactory to the philosopher, the fact is nevertheless incontestible.

Mr.

Mr. Jeze, professor of philosophy and mathematics, in the academy at Liegnitz, has a high opinion of the method of the chevalier de Bienenberg; which, however, he does not consider as absolutely new; something of the same kind, but in a more clumsy manner, and mingled with a species of superstition, being practised in Lower Saxony. On Easter-eve the peasants make a particular kind of cake, which they set to cool on straw: when the cakes are cold, they make cords of the straw, which they bind round the trunks of their fruit-trees, taking care to let one end hang down to the ground. This end they cover with the first snow that falls; and are firmly persuaded, that the virtue which the straw has received from their Easter-eve cakes will prove an effectual charm against the power of frost.

In consequence of an address of the house of commons to his majesty, and of an examination made re specting the efficacy of a composition, discovered by Mr. William Forsyth, for curing injuries and defects in trees, his majesty has been pleased to grant a reward to Mr. Forsyth, for disclosing the method of making and using that composition; and the following directions for that purpose are published accordingly.

TAKE one bushel of fresh cow

dung, half a bushel of lime rubbish of old buildings (that from the ceilings of rooms is preferable), half a bushel of wood-ashes, and a sixteenth part of a bushel of pit or river sand. The three last articles are to be sifted fine before they are

mixed, then work them well together with a spade, and afterwards with a wooden beater, until the stuff is very smooth, like fine plaster used for the ceilings of rooms. The composition being thus made, care must be taken to prepare the tree, properly, for its application, by cutting away all the dead, decayed, and injured part, till you come to the fresh sound wood, leaving the surface of the wood very smooth, and rounding off the edges of the bark with a draw-knife or other instrument, perfectly smooth, which must be particularly attended to. Then lay on the plaster, about one-eighth of an inch thick, all over the part where the wood or bark has been so cut away, finishing off the edges as thin as possible. Then take a quantity of dry powder of wood-ashes, mixed with a sixth part of the same quantity of the ashes of burnt bones; put it into a tin-box, with holes in the top, and shake the powder on the surface of the plaster, till the whole is covered over with it, letting it remain for half an hour, to absorb the moisture; then apply more powder, rubbing it on gently with the hand, and repeating the application of the powder till the whole plaster becomes a dry smooth surface. All trees cut down near the ground should have the surface made quite smooth, rounding it off in a small degree, as before-mentioned; and the dry powder directed to be used afterwards should have an equal quantity of powder of alabaster mixed with it, in order the better to resist the dripping of trees and heavy rains. If any of the composition be left for a future occasion, it should be kept in a tub, or other vessel, and urine, of any kind, poured on it, so as to cover the sur

face;

face; otherwise the atmosphere will greatly hurt the efficacy of the application. Where lime-rubbish of old buildings cannot be easily got, take powdered chalk, or common lime, after having been slaked a month at least. As the growth of the tree will gradually affect the plaster, by raising up its edges next the bark, care should be taken, where that happens, to rub it over with the finger when occasion may require (which is best done when moistened by rain), that the plaster may be kept whole, to prevent the air and wet from penetrating into the wound. WILLIAM FORSYTH.

Remarks on the manufacturing of Maple Sugar. Published by a society of gentlemen, at Philadelphia, for the general information and benefit of the citizens of the United States of America, in July, 1790.

E who enables another to obtain any necessary of life either cheaper or more independently than heretofore, adds a new source of happiness to man; and becomes more or less useful, in proportion to the number of those who participate in the benefits of his discovery. The transitions, however, made from one stage of improvement to another, are not sudden, but gradual; which probably arises from that strong and almost universal disinclination in the mind, at departing from the beaten path, or from longestablished customs. Hence men, frequently at first, treat with neglect or contempt, that which, afterwards, on better information and a thorough knowledge of facts, they believe, and, without reserve, adopt

in their subsequent practice. Were we to introduce, and embrace as a maxim,—“ That every new proposition, merely on account of its novelty, must be rejected, "-our knowledge would no longer be progressive, and every kind of improvement must cease.

That the juice of the sugar maple would produce a saccharine substance answering the purposes of sugar has been known many years, and particularly by the inhabitants of the eastern states; but that there was a sufficient number of this kind of tree in the states of New York and Pennsylvania, only, to supply the whole United States with this article, is a fact which was notso well ascertained, or so satisfactorily authenticated, till within a year or two past; and that the sugar of this tree was capable of being grained, and produced, in quality, equal to the best imported, was in some measure problematical till within even two or three months past, when the arrival of several chests in the city of Philadelphia, made last spring on the Delaware, removed every doubt in the minds of those who have seen it, as to the truth of this last fact.

A

who had many years 7 person been acquainted with the usual way of making this article, being desirous of improving the method, obtained the instructions of a refiner of sugar in Philadelphia, and, with these before him, began his experiments in February last, at Stockport, about three miles below the junction of the Mohock and Popatchtunck branches of the Delaware. He soon discovered that the business was yet in its infancy, that great and even essential improvements might be made therein, which would require a departure from

the

the methods, heretofore in general use in boiling down the green sap, graining the syrup, &c. and which, if attended to and adopted, would enable him to produce sugar, in colour, grain, and taste, equal, if not superior, in reputation, to any imported. His sentiments and hopes on this head have been fully confirmed by the result of his experiments; for the sugar he has made and sent down to this city, in the opinion of well-qualified judges, is equal to the best sugars imported from the West-India islands.

The person above-mentioned, whose judgment on this subject is much to be relied on, as well from his experience in the business, as his established character for candour and integrity, is clearly of opinion, that four active industrious men, well provided with materials and conveniencies proper for carrying on the business, may turn out, in a common season, which lasts from four to six weeks, forty hundred weight of good sugar, that is, ten hundred to each man. If four men can effect this, how great must be the product of the separate or associated labours of the many thousands of people who now inhabit, or may inhabit, the immense tracts of land which abound with the sugar-maple tree! what a new and extensive field opens for these considerations! what an interesting and important object to the cause of humanity presents it self to our view an object that deserves the countenance of every good citizen, and that highly merits even national encouragement!

(Then follows a detail and description of the necessary utensils and materials, with the process or mode of manufacturing the sap of the maple.]

VOL. XXXIII.

The pamphlet concludes as follows:

In all sugar plantations it will be advantageous to cut out the different sorts of timber which grow intermixed with the sugar-maple, and even those of that species which are not thriving, promising trees. The timber so cut out will serve for fuel for the boilers, and leave greater openings for the rays of the sun to enter, which will have a tendency to improve and enrich the remaining trees. The ground so cleared of all except the maple- tree, it has been observed, is particularly favourable for pasture and the growth of grass. "Whether this tree is injured or impoverished by repeated tappings," is an inquiry to be expected, and has been frequently made of late, by persons who have anxiously wished for the success of this business. It has been before observed, that it will bear much hardship and abuse, and it may be added, that there are instances, particularly among the old settlements on the North River, of trees which have been tapped for fifty years or upwards, and continue to yield their sap in the season, equal to any brought into use of later time; indeed, it is asserted with confidence, by persons who have had some years experience, that these trees, by use, become more valuable, yielding a sap of a richer quality. How far a careful cultivation of them, the stirring and manuring the soil in which they stand, may improve their value, remains to be ascertained in future; though it may be expected that this, like almost all other trees and plants, may, from a natural state, be greatly and essentially improved by the hand of art. Experiments, therefore, will not be Аа

unworthy