PROGRESS AND PROSPECTS OF AGRICULTURE. 19 



In Great Britain the potato-rot has been much less this year than formerly. The European 

 crop also has been generally large. 



Attention has also been directed to the fact, that the sycamore-trees, which, for a number of 

 years past, have been diseased, are now recovering. The malady appears to have commenced 

 about the same time as that affecting the potato, and has never been explained or satisfac- 

 torily accounted for in any way. 



In some parts of the South, especially in Louisiana, great trouble is experienced from the 

 rapid extension and propagation of the so-called "coaco," or "nut-grass." The legislature 

 of Louisiana have offered a premium of fifty thousand dollars for any practical plan of de- 

 stroying it. A writer in the American Cotton-Planter states that some of the most valuable 

 plantations in Louisiana have been rendered almost worthless by it, and that, unless great 

 precautions are taken, it will spread over the whole of the Southern States. 



One of the results of the Japan expedition, under Commodore Perry, was the procurement 

 of a large number of Chinese and Japanese plants, which have been deposited in the National 

 Conservatory at Washington. They were accompanied by a Chinese gardener, who is said to 

 be well versed in the Eastern style of trimming shrubs and training flowers. 



The foreign varieties thus procured embrace several new varieties of roses, including the 

 China black rose, the guava, custard-apple, several varieties of oranges, persimmons, and 

 dates, various species of China lilies, the lemon-grass, blue magnolia, and others. 



During the past year a quantity of African corn has been imported into Boston from Wine- 

 babah, on the west coast. The corn resembles our Southern corn, but the kernels are some- 

 what smaller. | 



At the last session of the legislature of New York, an appropriation was granted to the 

 State Agricultural Society to defray the expense of an investigation into the habits and cha- 

 racter of the insects of that State injurious to vegetation. The work has been intrusted to 

 Dr. Asa Fitch, well known as an entomologist. A collection already made by Dr. F. is un- 

 derstood to be the finest and most complete in the United States, and in some respects is 

 unsurpassed by any in Europe. 



As an encouragement for the growth of flax in Maine, the legislature of that State, at its 

 last session, passed the following resolution : — 



Resolved, That the sum of five hundred dollars is hereby placed in the hands of the Maine 

 State Agricultural Society for the encouragement of the raising of flax in this State, to be 

 appropriated in such manner as in their judgment will best subserve such purpose. 



The State Agricultural Society, on their part, voted to offer the whole in premiums, dis- 

 tributing $400 among the county societies, and reserving $100 to be offered in premiums by 

 the State Society. 



By the London Times, of August 9, 1855, it appears that the attempt to improve the culti- 

 vation of cotton in India, which, up to 1842, had failed upon government farms under the 

 care of government servants, has not been more successful in the hands of the natives. This 

 is ascribed to the prejudices of the natives, coinciding with the belief of certain of the go- 

 vernment agents, that " the introduction of the American varieties" would be of no benefit 

 to India. By the sales by auction at Bombay it is, however, shown that the cotton grown 

 from American seed for the last seven years has averaged from twenty-five to twenty-six per 

 cent, higher than the native cotton. The Times, therefore, argues that further effort should 

 be made. From this it appears that it is not likely that the United States will ever have a 

 very formidable competitor in India. 



Instigated by the high prices of breadstuffs during the past year in France, all the che- 

 mical and mechanical resources of that country have been applied in various directions for 

 the discovery, development, and increase in quantity and quality of farinaceous edible matter. 

 We have new inventions for corn-grinding, bread-making, and bread-baking. Agriculturists, 

 more or less encouraged by government, are experimenting in the culture of roots and grains 

 new to the soil of France. Among these a variety of upland rice may be particularly men- 

 tioned A Mr. Callias seems in the way to turn the fecula of horse-chestnuts to profitable 

 account as a substitute for wheat and potatoes, if not on the table, at least in the industrial 

 arts. The fecula of the horse-chestnut is extracted by grinding and sifting, with the same 



