4bo 



THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. [December i, 1884 ; 



said to have no antiseptic influence when mixed with oil, 

 It is the aqueous solution only that is reliable for the 

 diffusion of health. Vaporizing, as now practised in the 

 Rotunda Lying-in Hospital of Dublin and other institutions, 

 both with carbolic acid and corrosive sublimate (one part 

 to one thousand) is barely practical either in orchard or 

 garden where the " broad expanse " of air covers so much 

 uneonfined space. This them could be continued to an almost 

 indefinite extent ; but what fruit growers are most concerned 

 about is "a remedy," antiseptic rather than disinfecting; but 

 both have been presented in this paper, and I trust will 

 prove of some value to the future experimenter. — 59, Gregory, 

 St., Rochester, N. Y. — Gardeners" Monthly. 



AGRICULTURE ON THE CONTINENT OF EUROrE. 



{Special Letter.) 



Pabis, 4th October. 

 It is alleged that cooking grain for horses aids digestion, 

 as much grain when raw, passes through the stomach un- 

 changed. In the case of oats, poultry find in horse-dung 

 plenty of undigested seeds, and so much so, that the Latter 

 do not lose their germinative properties. Oats contain in 

 their pellicle a fatty oil and an aromatic resin, which stimul- 

 ate and impart a transient force, as urine does to man. 

 Now cooking oats deprives the grain of this invigorating 

 power. Some only steep the grain in boiling water to 

 crack it, and so force open the feculent cellules; indiges- 

 tions are thus avoided. Coachman say, too, that colds are 

 thus kept away. In Paris, when beans are given, they 

 are first soaked. 



Agriculturists are commencing ti pay more attention to 

 the chauging of seed, and the local farm societies through- 

 out the country organize exchanges. "Where wheat may 

 be cultivated on light soils, deficient in lime, change of 

 seed every three years is imperative. The same applies 

 to rye, if the land be strong and humid. 



Dairy farming is making important strides, and the 

 progress is aided by the ensilage system, and the rapid 

 consolidation of small holdings, the owners being unable 

 to till them, and prefer to be comfortable farm laborers 

 or immigrants to the cities than starved squatters. But 

 the dairy mania absorbs all the milk either to be sold fresh 

 in cities or converted into butter and skim cheese It is 

 the situation of the fishing port that sends all its " catch " 

 to the metropolis. The doctors complaiu that the rural 

 children are becoming stunted and sickly from inability to 

 obtain a milk diet, the substitutes of coffee — slops and 

 beer wash — being inimical to health. It is suggested to 

 compel farmers to pay their work-people partly in milk, 

 or limit the export of it. One dairyman in a village solves 

 the difficulty better; he serves the inhabitants with milk 

 all the year round at a fixed price. Good Samaritans sug- 

 gest the organisation of "Cow Clubs," for and by the 

 needy. This might suit where there existed large landed 

 proprietors, but in France there is only the cottier or the 

 mvtai/er. No proprietor would think for a moment of 

 letting two or three acres to John Hodge to keep his 

 cow, and so secure a supply of milk, to say nothing as 

 to how Hodge is to obtain a shed or the capital to pur- 

 chase the cow. And even had he all these aids, the chances 

 are quite on the cards; he would enter into an arrange- 

 ment to dispose of all the milk, and fall back on 

 coffee, artificial beer, or manufactured wine. In Lorrain, 

 celebrated for its robust inhabitants, the diet during nine 

 months of the year consists of boiled potatoes and skim 

 milk; after each bite of taty, a spoonful of the milk is 

 taken. And in the mountainous parts of Germany the poor 

 hewers of wood and drawers of water Lave to exist on the 

 potatoes without the milk. 



M. Goffart was the apostle of the ensilage plan of con- 

 serving green forage in trenches constructed in masonry, 

 or simply opened in a dry soil. M. A. Rouviere, of Aus- 

 sillon (Tarn), is the Peter the Hermit, of the plan of 

 conservation, by stacking in the open air. He has been 

 perfectly successful, and invites all whom it may concern 

 to come and see. Nothing more conclusive. Thus all the 

 se is saved of constructing silos in masonry with 

 cement and under special shed. There is nothing at all 

 extraordinary in the process. The whole principle of ensil- 

 age lies in the absolute exclusion of the air by a regulated : 



pressure from the green mass, and if such can be secured 

 in a " stack, 1 ' the preservation must be as efficacious as 

 in a covered trench. M. Rouviere has employed the stack- 

 ing in the open air of green forage since 1883. He has 

 given the analysis of his preserved fodder, and which shows 

 it to be as rich as that conserved in silos. This spring 

 he saved his whole lucerne crop by stacking it green, as 

 the spring was incessantly wet, and so prevented its dry- 

 ing. The following is the way to proceed : — Select the site 

 where you please ; immaterial if exposed to wind, rain, or 

 snow; cut around an open drain to carry off the rain water, 

 so that the bottom of the stack will be secured 

 dry ; commence the stack, which should be rectangular in 

 form, having a width of six feet ; pile the forage in even 

 horizontal layers, and tramp down firmly at sides ; place 

 planks one inch thick and seven wide across the stack, 

 then another row of planks to cover the joints like slates 

 on a house; next range planks perpendicular to the first, 

 nailing them at the ends. Let the cross planks project 

 a little over the side. On the planks heap large stones 

 at the rate of 16 cwt. per cubic yard, but apply only the 

 one-half this weight the first day. and the remainder the 

 following, when the mass shall have shrunk. The temper- 

 ature will at first run up to 119 Fahr. degrees, but will 

 speedily fall and remain stationary at 93 degrees. Leave 

 the stack then to itself, only a slight external skin will 

 be deteriorated. M'hen it is desired to use the preserve, 

 remove two or three, as may be required, of the planks 

 and their stones, and cut the exposed mass as if a hay 

 rick. By not placing all the stones on the stack when 

 completed, its leaning is thus avoided. A farmer has now 

 no excuse for not trying this plan with some maize, lucerne, 

 clover, &c. 



Messrs. Andouard and Dezaunay have recorded their latest 

 experiments on the feeding of milch cows with beet pulp 

 preserved in silos. Their conclusions on seven cows are : 

 the pulp — from the diffusion process of sugar extraction 

 increases the secretion of milk, and its richness in butter 

 without affecting the quality of the latter; but it alters 

 the flavor of the milk and accelerates its spontaneous 

 coagulation when not corrected by green fodder; it suits 

 fattening stock admirably, The experimenters fall into thfi 

 error of concluding milch cows are fed exclusively on the 

 pulp ; they receive rations of forage, as in the case of 

 grains, that which explains why no complaints are ever 

 made of the milk. The butter is never the same, how- 

 ever, as when prepared from green or dry forage. 



A useful little machine has appeared for washing bot- 

 tles. It can be attached to the side of a tub, and by 

 turning a wheel a brush is made to revolve inside the 

 bottle, along with a continuous jet of water simultane- 

 ously pumped. 



In order to revive the good old plan of women milking 

 cows, some ot the agricultural societies intend to have 

 ** milk-maid contests." 



In the annual Agricultural Show to be held at Paris 

 next February, there will be several innovations: there will 

 be prizes for milk, for oyster culture, cider and perry, 

 and for novelties iu the materiel of agricultural education. 



By the death of JYI. Barral, .Secretary of the National 

 Society of Agriculture, French agriculture loses its most 

 brilliant representative and science one of her ablest sons. 



At Rascof and elsewhere iu Brittany, sea wed imparts 

 a marvellous vegetative powrr to the soil. By its aid 

 thousands of acres are cropped with artichokes, asparagus 

 and cauliflowers for the Paris market. The weed is only 

 allowed to be cut on a stated day, and 20,000 people at 

 once set to work. "With the aid of branches, posts, bar- 

 rels, &c, immense rafts are formed to float in the cuttings 

 which look like moving islands. Hound the isles of Oin.s- 

 sant, the women rake the weed in from the sea; they 

 remain for hours up to the waist in water, having their 

 babies strapped on their shoulders to sleep or suckle as 

 occasion needs ; the waves sing a lullaby. 



SURFACE CULTURE IN FRUIT FARMING. 



The usual practice is to dig between the rows of soft 

 fruit, as close to the stem as can be done conveniently. 

 The theory on which Mr. Croose went to work was that 

 this digging is injurious to the trees by breaking the roots, 

 aud that the proper course is to thoroughly encourage 



