140 THE YEAR-BOOK OF AGRICULTURE. 



The leading idea is not to permit any element of fertility to escape, either l>y solar evapo- 

 ration or leaching and washing, hut compel growing plants to absorb and assimilate the 

 maximum of their appropriate food. 



Chinese Economy of Manure. 



ansPOHDBHT of the London Literary Gazelle gives the following memoranda respecting 

 the economy of manures, as noticed in China: — 



My first excursion was to a place called (Jading, thirteen miles from Malacca, where I had 

 permission to reside in a house occupied by some Chinese Christians, who are cultivating a 

 gambir and pepper plantation. The house was a mere huge shed. I lived in it a fortnight, 

 as, strange to relate, the Chinese (I trust because they were Christians) kept it clean. No 

 people in the tropics really cultivate the soil as these do. They do not merely plant and 

 reap; they dig and trench and level; they eradicate weeds and stumps; they keep the 

 ground clean, and they manure. The process of manuring, indeed, was the only thing I 

 objected to, as the tank was a large bucket kept standing for convenience in a corner of 

 the house. The rage for liquid manure is such, that, in the Chinese villages, a bucket often 

 stands near the door for public use. The pigs, for the same reason, are far better lodged 

 than with us, having a floor of poles with a tank beneath, in which all the manure is 

 collected. 



Mr. Mechi and Tiptree Hall 



Am- have heard of Mr. Mechi, the celebrated English agriculturist, and of Tiptree Hall, 

 where his experiments in farming have been carried on; but few are acquainted with the 

 history and details of this gentleman's experiences. We derive the following abstract from 

 the correspondence <'f the New York Tribune: — 



Americans, who may have known London twenty or fivc-and-twenty years ago will remem- 

 ber a constant affix to the 'had walls of the metropolis — " Mbohx's Macic Pa- i i :." 



This, in time, was succeeded by " Mechi's Magic Strop" and " Mechi's Magic Razor," 

 until at la-t these articles, by constant puffing ami advertising, became of almo-t universal 

 use throughout Grreat Britain. As the result of Ins enterprise and tact, Mr. afechi became 

 ] of no inconsiderable wealth, a portion of which he resolved to devote to agricul- 

 tural experiments, still retaining his shop in town. 



Although the advertising of Mechi's articles had, in a great measure, ceased, it was im- 



j — ible that a keen and enterprising man of this sort could be entirely forgotten. It was 

 not his character to allow himself to sink into oblivion together with his paste. After the 

 decline of that commodity, some time elapsed before Mr. Meohi again turned op; but when 



he did turn op, he turned up with a vengeance ! It was during that exciting period when 



" f r ee -tr a de" was agitating the minds of Englishmen and threatening to produce a revolu- 

 tion in the nation, that Mr. Mechi again eatne l,efore the public. The scene wa> the House 



of Commons ; thehour, t wive at night. Ministerial and Opposition benches were thronged; 

 the gall' ric- seemed ready to -ink under the mast of "strangers" crowding into them. 

 ••Hear! lear!" was most vociferous; "Oh! ohl" unusually sarcastic. Ami 1 a rolley 

 of both, - "Tne "honorable member" had just -at down, when, amid a silence as profound as 

 ii, u|i rose Bir Boberl PeeL That great statesman commenced, of eourse, in his blandest 

 tones. H'' touched lightly on the theme by the la-t speaker; he treated tenderly two or 



three salient points Which had occurred in the debate : and, after eliciting a cheer or two I?, io 

 those who Bat around him, came at once to the topic Of bil ipeoch. 



Ha wanted that night, he -aid, !•> address Mm— if !•. the agrioultnristi of England. He 

 red t" t'-ll the landlords t.i their faces that the solenee of agriculture in this country was 



t Imperfectly Undent 1. England, he wanted to impress upon them. Was at least a 



quarter of a oentary behind the age in agriculture, and would be outstripped even by Russia, 



if we did not speedily adopt new method". It WM his opinion that, in many respects, the 



dish farmer had the very A I'. C of cultivation yet to learn. [At such an a-surance as 



