South Branch intelligencer. [volume] (Romney, Va. [W. Va.]) 1830-1896, 1835-12-12
SEED WHEAT.

81
An amusing and instructive anec
tote vas related to me OF a farmer in
Vermont, to whom his neighbors were
accustomed 10 resort, for the purpose
Of procuring his seed Wheat; as be
was able 10 supply them with that
which vas very superior in It's appea-
rarce, pfoductiventss, end early ma
trri,y, which he was accustomed to
call barrel wheat, and which readily
commanded lhiee dollars per bushel,
phsn other wheat was sold for one COL
lar and one dollar g. q quarter. The
secret was at last discovered. He us
I'd, before ,hrashipg his wheat, 10 Sc
leci the b.s, sheayes /; end striking
them over the head Of an open barrel,
three or four times before laying them
down TO be tLreshed, obtained in this
Z wHy superior seed. AS in this way
the largest and earliest ripe kernels
would be shaken out, and Tall into the
barrel, he obtained VIVA. might be con-
sidered selected seed which he de-
nominated bis "barrel wheat" end
which the formers, until they heard
how to do il for themselves found their
advantage in purchasing - C0teman's
Notes by the sody."
The description, from Silliman's Jour.
nal, ofthe nature and formation of COAL !,
will probably be new to many.
"Ihe immense beds OF hituminous
coal found in The valley Of the Ohio,
fill the mind with wonder e. surprise,
as il reflects on the vast forest of ar
bcrescent and sandstone, until the
whole series had accumulated PLANS
required in their formation. Age af-
ter age, successive growths Of plants
springipg up in the same region, were
entonbed beneath thick strata ofshale
toa depth Of more than a thousand
feet while beneath the whole lay the
bed Of an ocean foored with fossil salt.
Indications Of coal are found at inter-
walls, across the great valley, from the
Allegheny 70 The Rocky mountains. Ii
il found near the surface in Kentucky,
Ohio, Indian, Illinois, and Missouri,
and without doubt, may be found be-
meath the extensive tertiary deposits,
which form the substratum Of the great
pfaiIies in the central and northern
paris Of the western states. As low
Gown as New Madrid on the Missis-
sippi, ceal wss thrown up from be-
meath the bed of the river, by the great
earthquake Of 1872 sufficient pIool
Of It's continuation in the most depres.
sed part Of the great valley.
That coal is Of vegetable origin,
none who has read much of the sub
jsci, or personally examined the coal
beds, will now deny. Time was,
when j. was considered peculiar
mineral product, formed in the earth
in the same manner and at the same
time with the rocks that Surround ii.
The piednce offs chemical analysis,
being altogether vegetable, and the ar.
lifcial formation 81 coal from wood by
Sir Jsmes Hall, have siienced all
aoHbts on the subject. The only
mystery now is how such vast quaint
ties oil vegetable matter could be accu-
mula,ed q grow on the spot where they
were buried. Thatthey grew in general,
on the surfnce Low occupied by the
eeNl, appears certain from the perfecl
state 10 which the most delicate leaves
and stems are preserved. Had they
been transported by currents of water
and especially from any distance, il is
hardly possible that they should not
have received more damage. The
climate a, tina, period must have been
both more warm and more humid than
Al present, as many of the plants are
u those families which now grow on
~ in tropical climates; and as The laws
scfnaturs never change, this may be
deemed correct interence."
II is doubtless recollected that Dean
ESift, though great favourite among
The ladies, Was (no doubt, good and SUBJ
liantlal reasons nevertheless q bachelor.
his opinion Of the married state seemed
TO be not very much exalted. On one
occasion he Lad been called upon to mar
ny q couple, and after getting them prop
|tIly arranged, commenced as follows
.Man that Is born Off woman, hath but
short tlme to live. and is full OF mise~
|sy." My Gear sir, interrupted the
ELrldesgroem, you are reading the burial
service. Instead Of the matrimonial" Ne
YER mind friend :, ~ hisnered tie dean