334 



THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



very large per-centa^e indeed to the woody fibre of the 

 green shoot. All immature leaves, by a law of nature, 

 adhere firmly to their shoots : when the leaf is ripe, it 

 cuts itself off, withaclean-healed wound, in a very work- 

 manlike manner ; therefore in making hay of shrubs the 

 leaves must be decidedly unripe in order to adhere to 

 the stems. I need not tell any one that the willow will 

 grow in any mud-bank at the level of the sea, and I 

 have already said that the Salix antarctica on the moun- 

 tain is a creeping shrub on the verge of perpetual snow. 

 This immense range, from undrained swamps to bleak 

 hill-tops, speaks volumes for the economical use of the 

 willow ; and if any one were to introduce a plant half 

 as useful as the willow, to our agricultural societies, 

 from some foreign country, he would be considered 

 a benefactor to agriculture. When goats and rab- 

 bits bark trees for food in winter, they teach us 

 an excellent practical lesson — viz., that the bark, and 

 even the wood itself, is not so bad an article of food as 

 we might have thought it to be ; and when we see a 

 person able to convert the woody fibre of an old shirt, 

 or even a heap of sawdust, into sugar, we find that it is 

 not without reason that the hares and rabbits have a 

 nibble at the apple-trees in winter : but I should de- 

 spair, after all this, of doing any good with such a 

 subject, were it not that I have already one link in the 

 chain, to weld this idea into — namely, the gorse, which 

 seems now fairly adopted into agriculture. Yes, it is a 

 fact that horses have actually been eating sticks, and 

 thriving well on them. Thirty years ago, I saw the 

 whin-mill at work, reducing the prickly fodder of 

 the gorse-plant into food for horses ; and all evidence, 

 then and since, goes to prove its vast importance, not 

 only as a tenant of the waste, but even as a cultivated 

 plant for fodder. 



After a very long acquaintance indeed with the plants 

 indigenous to our clime that are likely to prove of service 

 to us in cultivating what may properly be termed our 

 wastes, I find only three that seem perfectly at home as 

 slaves, or drudges, to do this dirty work ; and they are 

 — first, the willow, that is willing to grow in our osier- 

 beds, in that which has not even the name of " dry 

 land :" it will also thrive well anywhere else, for it is 

 propagated by cuttings merely stuck into the ground ; 

 and if there be only one joint in the ground and one 

 above it, the tree is planted. Willows are used by 

 planters as nurses for other trees ; and M'Gregor found 



the black sallow particularly excelling as a screen against 

 the sea-breeze. My father showed me large willow-trees, 

 that were once the twigs used for tying up the bundles of 

 trees from tlie nursery ; and when he had planted the 

 trees, he cut these twigs into sets, and stuck them into 

 the ground : therefore, what I have stated about the 

 willow is no experiment now, but an established piece 

 of practical planting. Nest in order comes the gorse, 

 as a plant for waste lands ; but of this I mean to say no- 

 thing, and pass on to the third slave or drudge, which is the 

 ivy. This plant is one of our most beautiful evergreens, 

 and is well known to gardeners and planters as a very 

 bad character. It is so uncharitable as a neighbour to 

 other shrubs and trees, that it beggars the earth in which 

 they grow by its roots, and fixes the bark of even large 

 trees so tightly to their stems, that the trees are actually 

 choked by the network of ivy-shoots. All this merely 

 illustrates the fact of this important plant being out of 

 place. I have seen the same plant covering the grey 

 face of a huge rock, and have seen the birds flocking to 

 it for shelter ; and in winter, when scarcely anything 

 else was to be seen for snow, I have seen the shepherd 

 cutting his ivy, and the anxious flock waiting around 

 him for its downfal. The range of this plant, therefore, 

 in no way interferes with that of the willow or the 

 gorse ; for it has a region of its own. It is a most de- 

 termined grower. Wherever it can find a little vegetable 

 mould, it will stick on like a leech, and never misses an 

 opportunity of raising itself on any prop that comes in 

 its way. It grows freely from cuttings, and still more 

 freely from its berries, which, in good localities, it bears 

 plentifully. It has no prickles, like the gorse, to con- 

 tend with in its cultivation ; and it fo.'ms a scene of 

 singular beauty wherever it is cultivated. As a cover 

 for game, it is a plant of the highest importance, and 

 should never be planted where it has to be rooted out, 

 as it is very unwilling to be dislodged when once in 

 possession. 



The limits of a newspaper will only admit of a hasty 

 glance at these matters ; but, as they will fall into hands 

 that only require reminding, and to whom the thinga 

 spoken of are no strangers, I must let them pass with- 

 out further comment. 



I remain, Sir, yours respectfully, 



Alex. Forsyth. 

 100, Quay-street, Manchester, Feb, 24. 



A SUCCESSFUL METHOD OF RAISING DUCKS. 



Believing it to be the duty of every individual 

 to contribute, for the benefit of society, any in- 

 formation he may possess, however small, and on 

 subjects ever so humble, and having for several 

 years past been in the habit of seeking recreation 

 during those hours v/hich were not devoted to 

 severer studies and labours, in a variety of experi- 

 ments on subjects of Natural History, I propose 

 giving you the result of some experiments in raising 

 ducks, were carried on during a number of years, 

 and which finally eventuated in complete success. 

 It is sometimes beneficial to examine the causes of 

 our failures, and it alFords me pleasure at this mo- 

 ment in retracing the steps by which, after many 

 disappointments, I gradually accomphshed the ob- 

 jects to which my inquiries and experiments were 

 directed. As an account of the process by which I 

 arrived at these successful results may not be 



uninteresting to those of your readers who devote 

 themselves to rural pursuits, and who pride them- 

 selves on having a well-attached poultry-yard, I 

 hope it may be no tax upon their time and patience 

 if I go somewhat into detail. 



During many years I was struck with the gen- 

 eral want of success which attend the raising of this 

 species of poultry. Not one-sixth of the young 

 were ever raised; they appeared to be subject to 

 innumerable diseases. Those that escaped were 

 stunted in their growth, and did not arrive at full 

 size till they were many months old. The general 

 complaint among farmers and planters was, that 

 this, the most valuable of our poultry, was a puny 

 bird, hard to raise, and subject to many diseases. 

 They could raise fowls and even turkeys, but there 

 was no certainty with regard to the duck. Desi- 

 rons of investigating the causes of a failure in 



