I. AGRICULTURE AND RURAL ECONOMY. 41 1 



taincd in pieces about five and a quarter by three and a quar- 

 ter feet, and is warmed and pressed to prevent its curling. 

 That of the upper part of the trunk and of the branches is 

 tied in bundles and rotted under water until September, 

 when it is dried by aid of heat, and separated into thin, deli- 

 cate strips, suitable for weaving into matting, and varying 

 in weight according to the use to be made of it. The heavi- 

 est is sold at the Nishni Novgorod fair at about $24 per 

 hundred-weight. 14 (7, CCIX., 172. 



A NEW FORAGE PLANT IN GUATEMALA. 



A new forage plant has lately been sent to the Societe 

 d'Acclimatation of Paris, from Guatemala, by M. Rossingol, 

 director of Public Gardens in Guatemala City namely, the 

 teosinte {Reana luxurians). This plant, M. Rossingol in- 

 forms us, thrives best in the temperate and cooler part of 

 Guatemala, on which account he thinks that, if protected 

 against frost, it may be cultivated in almost any part of 

 France. It is a very vigorous plant, having leaves resem- 

 bling those of Indian corn, but of a darker green, and often 

 much broader. These leaves are cut at stated intervals, and 

 oxen fed with them fatten very rapidly. The young shoots 

 furnish an excellent dish for the table. The plant is quite 

 ornamental on account of its beautiful foliage, and is fre- 

 quently cultivated in gardens in Guatemala. 10 j5, Febru- 

 ary, 1874, 168. 



PRESERVATION OF WOOD LANDS. 



Professor F. B. Hough, who for many years has been me- 

 teorologist to the State of New York, has published a valu- 

 able paper on the duty of governments in aiding the preser- 

 vation of wood lands. Professor Hough states that the ex- 

 tensive data at his command, although they reveal great ir- 

 regularities in the rain or snow fall of any given locality, do 

 not justify us in supposing that in the general average of 

 periods the amount is sensibly increasing or diminishing, al- 

 though they do show a tendency to drought in some cases 

 for a series of years together. This growing tendency to 

 floods and droughts he ascribes directly to the clearing up 

 of wood lands, by which the rains quickly find their way to 

 the streams, and swell them into destructive floods. The 



