THE OCEAN TEXEGRAPH.
(By the Author of " The Clouds.") Away beneath the open sky, Down in the briny depths I lie, With seaweeds for my pillow. ; Around me great sea monsters play, And o'er me sonndeth night and day, ' The seething restless billow. O'er crags I pass, and bluffs and stones, ' • Andmeet with deadmen'smouldering bones, . ~. And piles of yellow gold : Extinct volcanoes, sunken wrecks, With splintered masts, and riven decks, And sharks within the hold. And as I cross the deep ravine, * "Where sounding line has. never been, - ' What fairy scenes arise ! Scenes! now to human vision sealed, Bufc which, one day, by art revealed, Shall flash on mortal eyes. And when the winds the ocean lash, ~~ ■'' I hear the angry billows dash, * And break in thunder dread, An/1 men in ships go shouting past, Conflicting with the furious blast, Above ray tranquil head. f • : Anon I pass the lonely isle, And round the stormy cape defile r : - Nor aught my course can stay, -;; ;TJntQ I reach the landward pole. Which guides me to my destined goal, A thousand leagues away. And there:! lie, from coast to coast, The longest line the earth can boast, - ; The latest, noblest art, Which wit of man has yet designed . To bring together mind to mind, -And thought to thought impart. - Across this highway in the deep . . , lEhe fleet electric couriers sweep, In twinkling of an eye, From where the morning sun ascends, To where in glory he descends Beneath the western sky. - -The statesman, merchant, lover, friend, To earth's remotest bounds may send The urgent message on ; — The key is struck ! the work is done !— Bound'half the circuit of the sun, Already has it gone ! And this is but 9 part you see, Of what hereafter is to be ; — ! , , . .When wires, as nerves, shall run * From sea to sea, from pole to pole, And bind in one stupendous whole, " " " AlTnatlons 'neath the sun. And when millenial times shall come, Oppression cease, and war be dumb, - And earth from discord free, Although men far apart may lie, The lightning rod will bring them nigh, And they as one shall be. For were there one continuous wire, The herald sent, on feet of fire, With easy usual pace, 1 Eight times, with speed of light, around 3?he earth's enormous girth would bound Within a moment's space. Jls star-tubes bring the planets nigh, ' And ope the secrets of the sky For human eyes to scan, •So thus by speed, space disappears, And moments do the work of years, .For dust encumbered man. 'Then o'er the land and seas below •Shall ceaseless note and message go, And countless lines employ ; ' And thus shall throb in every part The universal human heart With mutual love and joy. . And earth shall be a transcript then Of paradise let down to men, Where God shall deign to dwell j And naught beneath, yon azure wall, Except the great original, — i — L.I — In^glo»y ahull Qfoot Lahtd pob G-rasses.— The success of grasses being largely dependent on the condition of the soils, we may be excused for directing attention to the subject. A firm seed bed is ag essential to rye-grasß, and more so to prairie-grass than to wheat. In all of these cases the roller or the landpresser is more serviceable than the harrow, and that fact is not recognised by one farmer out of twenty. The work of preparing land for grasses cannot be commenced too soon after harvest, if ploughing or deep-working be intended. Bo* tfie latter will be the better for neither the one nor the other the Bame season the grass is to.be sown. Deeply worked for the previous crop, we would work it ; no more than slightly harrow it to get rid of any weeds that may have germinated since the crop was taken off. Hraisin& and the Time to do It. — If draining is done in dry weather, the drains are ten times more effective than if the land is wet, and the operation is more easily and pleasantly carried on. It is hardly necessary to say that, it also ought to precede ploughing. As the character of the soil is, so must be the width allowed between the drains — some land, such as the heavy clay flats, will need drains every rod, whereas the lighter soils need but one in three times this width. A drain well dug and " laid " in dry weather will last over double the time that one will if made in wet weather, and when everything is as sticky as birdlime. If the stuff used for filling in be more like mortar than earth, it is apt to settle too firmly upon the pipes, and the object of the operation, that of percolation, will be in a measure frustrated. The plough can be used in the first instance to draw out .the lines, and by thus opening a good deep furrow the operator is greatly assisted.' Deep drainage is more effective, and quicker too, than shallow. Always draw out the drains direct up and down the slopes, and not diagonally as formerly practised; two-inch diameter pipes are the sise most used. The size of the main pipes or receivers must be guided entirely by the extent of land acted upon by the smaller pipes ; most probably a four-inch pipe .will be sufficient for the upper levels to be emptied into six-inch receivers at the lower or discharging end. There are many substitutes for these manufactured pipes, and in some soils they will last many years, if carefully placed. Stones, tea tree scrub, reeds, &c., can be used. Stasnawt "Wateb Causing Abobtiok is Catt:le. — The Editor of the North British Agriculturist, answering a correspondent, says : — " We are glad to have been able to afford you a clue to the causes which have produced such losses amongst your cows. Stagnant or foul water is injurious to all animals. It causes blood poisoning, and thus leads to many febrile eomplaiata. It brings on abortion in other animals ag well as in
cows. Two winters ago, three valuable mares, belonging to a somewhat careless, untidy farmer, slipped their colts shortly after "Christmas. These mares had been tolerably well kept, and not too hardly wrought, but they had been watered for several weeks at a pool by the side of which a large manure heap had been foolishly placed, and into which the highlycoloured organic matters freely found their way. Some ewes watered from the same pool cast their lambs ; whilst another lot of ewes kept two fields distant, managed, in exactly the same way, but enjoying a purer supply of water, carried their lambs to the full period. Since better care has been taken to prevent the water supply being contaminated by the manure heap, neither mares nor ewes have suffered from abortion. Similar cases have doubtless occurred in the experience of many of our readers."
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Southland Times, Issue 1241, 29 April 1870, Page 4
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1,152THE OCEAN TEXEGRAPH. Southland Times, Issue 1241, 29 April 1870, Page 4
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