BOTANY. 299 



live in an atmosphere charged with 5 per cent, of carbonic acid. 

 From these experiments, he concluded that no objection could be 

 offered to the theory of a large proportion of carbonic acid having ex- 

 isted in the atmosphere in the early periods of the world's history. 

 London Athenaum, Sept. 



NEW SUBSTITUTE FOR THE POTATO. 



A VEGETABLE, called the Oxdlis crenata, has been known to the 

 scientific agriculturist of Europe for some years. It is a tuber, the 

 culture of which, however, upon a large scale has been little prac- 

 tised. It is stated by the Baron Suarce (who has cultivated 

 about two acres and a half of it on his own estate in the South 

 of France), to possess a larger degree of nutriment than most of the 

 farinaceous plants that form the basis of human food in our climate. 

 The total weight of the crop produced on two acres and a half, culti- 

 vated by him, was ten tons, from which three tons of flour were ob- 

 tained. From the stems of the plant, which may be cut twice a year, 

 and can be eaten as a salad or spinage, ninety gallons of a strong 

 acid were obtained ; which, when mixed with three times its bulk of 

 water, is well adapted for drink. The acid, if fermented and brought 

 to an equal degree of acidity with vinegar, is superior to the latter 

 when used for curing or preserving meat, as it does not render it hard, 

 nor communicate to it a bad flavor. The flour obtained from the 

 Oxalis crenata is superior to that obtained from the potato, maize, or 

 buckwheat, as it makes an excellent light bread when mixed in the 

 proportion of one fourth with wheat-flour. This is not the case with 

 the potato, maize, or buckwheat flour. The Oxalis crenata came 

 originally from South America, and is a hardy plant, unaffected by 

 change of temperature. It grows readily in almost any soil, and when 

 once introduced it is difficult to eradicate it. Proc. of Society of Arts. 



CHINESE HEMP. 



M. STIER, a member of the French embassy in China, a year or 

 two since, procured some seeds of the Chinese hemp, which he trans- 

 mitted to M. Gamier Savatier, who has succeeded in cultivating and 

 naturalizing it in the vicinity of Marseilles, and has thus enriched 

 France with a very important new production. This hemp grows to 

 a height of twenty-four or twenty-five feet; the stalk is from five to 

 six inches in circumference, and each plant produces from two to three 

 kilograms* of seed, and furnishes thread enough to make a yard of su- 

 perb lawn, superior in beauty and quality to any obtained from French 

 materials. The cultivation of the plant in the South of France will 

 be the more advantageous to the country, as a climate of the tempera- 

 ture of that region is necessary for bringing the seeds to maturity, 

 and these will find a ready market in those countries where the seeds 

 will not ripen, but where the filaments may be produced. Some speci- 

 mens of this plant have been exhibited at a recent agricultural show at 

 Montpellier. Would it not be well for some of our Kentucky hemp- 

 growers to endeavour to introduce this new hemp into this country, as 

 it would probably thrive at the South ? 



* A kilogram equals about 21l)s. 3oz. Avoirdupois. 



