AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY AND GEOLOGY. 195 



up before all the heat has passed off. A desirable, and probably much better and safer plan, 

 ■when the hay harvest has been accompanied by wet weather, is to place a few layers of straw 

 in the stack at intervals. This will absorb the moisture from the heating hay, and prevent 

 the risk of fire. In clover and sainfoin stacks, mixed layers of straw are particularly useful, 

 (especially when the straw has been stacked very green,) as the straw not only absorbs the 

 superabundant moisture occasioned by the peculiar succulence of the herbage, but becomes 

 itself almost as good as the hay ; and the whole together cuts up into most admirable fodder. 



Every grower should possess a rick cloth, either that kind supported by poles and ropes 

 over the stack during the time it is being built, or a common cloth sufficiently large to throw 

 over the stack to protect it from wet. They prove also exceedingly useful, both in the corn 

 and hay harvests, in covering down stacks. 



The sides of the stack should lean well outwards, so as to miss the drip from the eaves; and 

 after its subsidence or settling, it should be well trimmed — that is, the bent, &c. pulled out 

 by hand, and the corners neatly tucked in, the trimmings being employed to top up the stack. 

 It is then securely thatched ; and care ought to be taken that in all future cuttings for fod- 

 der, the interior should not be unduly or needlessly exposed. 



Grape Mildew. 



M. Rivet states that in 1847 he was invited by Dr. Loze to examine a sort of wine to which 

 extraordinary properties were attributed. Another invitation to the same effect was received, 

 in 1849, from M. Souleyet, who spoke highly of the efficacy of this wine in curing some dis- 

 eases. M. Rivet found iodine in the wine ; and he learned that the vines which produced it 

 were not attacked by the oidium, and that M. Mouries had effected remarkable cures among 

 vines by manure containing iodine. Having made some experiments, the following facts were 

 elicited : — 



1. Manure produced by the fermentation of marine plants has been employed in some parts 

 of Spain since 1835. The soil which has received this manure contains, on the average, 

 1-600000 part of iodine. The vines which grow in it have never, up to the present time, 

 been attacked by the oidium. 



2. The wine made from these vines has some peculiar qualities. In commerce, where it is 

 rare, it bears the name of Malaga Rives de Mer. It is of all vegetable productions the richest 

 in iodine, containing on the average 1-50000 part of that principle. 



3. Iodine found naturally in plants or animals possesses an action which, by its nature and 

 intensity, cannot be produced by its chemical preparations. M. Didot pointed out the ab- 

 sence of oidium on vines, the wood of which had been smeared over with coal tar. 



M. Lapierre-Beaupre stated that according to his observations the mildew does not attack 

 the stem ; the vines which were diseased in 1852 even appeared to have for the most part 

 escaped in 1853. It was stated by M. Pascal that acetate of lead prevents the development 

 of oidium and other cryptogams. M. Sourdette proposes a simple and inexpensive preserva- 

 tive, which has proved successful in some experiments made during two years in the neighbor- 

 hood of Bordeaux. In order to prevent and arrest the development of the oidium, it is suffi- 

 cient, three weeks after pruning the vine, to smear the stem and shoots with pure liquid tar, 

 applied with a large brush. This operation costs very little, and has proved very successful 

 on all the plants on which it has been performed, even although they were in the midst of 

 infected vines. — Comptes Rendus. 



When Should Grain be Cut? 



A most important question for the farmer. Careful observation, and some little experience 

 during twenty years' residence in a great wheat-growing country, has convinced the writer 

 that it is fully ten per cent, profit on the crop to the farmer to cut his wheat before the grain 

 is fully ripe. Our rule is to commence cutting as soon as the earliest part of the crop has 

 passed from the milky into the dough state. 



There is no occasion to let it lay to cure when cut while the straw is still partially green. 



