THE FARMER'S MAGAZINE. 



197 



It is not with these, howovor, wc propose now to deal. 

 We would rather call attention to the numerous insig- 

 nificant substances which have been or can bo utilized, 

 that lie waste and idle around the cultivator at home 

 and abroad. The refuse of manufactories we need not 

 now allude to : science has its eye on these, and very 

 soon converts them to a useful purpose. But if we look 

 at the numerous new uses for straw and flax waste, 

 peat and grasses, we find a large field open. Straw 

 paper is now an important manufacture, and paper from 

 flax waste promises to use up another refuse product. 



Mr. Simmonds pointed out hundreds of applications 

 of substances not perhaps familiar to every one. He 

 tells us — " The twitch or couch grass, which has 

 hitherto been such a troublesome weed to the farmer in 

 clearing his land, is now turned to several useful pur- 

 poses. In Italy it is used as food for horses and cattle- 

 Colonel Maceroni, in his Memoirs, states tliat upwards 

 of £40,000 sterling worth of this root is annually sold 

 by the peasants to the inhabitants of the city of Naples. 

 In France it has a medicinal repute under the name of 

 dog's tooth. It has been tried as a material for paper, 

 and is collected in large quantities in the fen districts, 

 and sold to the papermakers at 12s. a ton, instead of 

 being dried and burnt as heretofore. The sweepings of 

 our cotton and flax-mills, the outside wrappers of the 

 cotton bales, however discoloured or dirty, the weeds of 

 our fields, thistles and couch grass, the stalks of reeds 

 and canes, sawdust and pine-shavings, the refuse of the 

 Irish flax scutching mills, moss and furze, our cast-off" 

 garments, the beggars' rags, old sacks, and worn-out 

 ropes, all of which we should be troubled to dispose of, 

 are converted by the papermaker into an article indis- 

 pensable to civilized man. The dry residue of the beet 

 root, after expressing the juice for sugar, consists chiefly 

 of fibre and mucilage, and amounts to about one-fourth 

 of the weight of the clean roots used. It is greedily 

 purchased by the farmers on the continent, and also the 

 skimmings of the boilers, which are found to bo a 

 powerful manure. It is also useful as food for cattle. 

 The recovery of starch from rotten potatoes, and 

 damaged grain, and refuse rice, is a utilization of waste 

 substances ; and this has been carried further still to 

 advantage in the employment of horse-chesnuts for the 

 purpose. The French make good coffee out of roasted 

 acorns, and there is yet abundance of scope for experi- 

 mental research upon new roots and seeds. Horse- 

 chesnuts, which have hitherto been a waste substance, 

 are now utilized by removing the bitter principle, and 

 excellent starch, as well as vermicelli and macaroni, are 

 made from them in France. The following is a 

 plan of making flour from them. Grind the horse- 

 chesnuts, and mix with the pulp carbonate of soda in 

 the proportion of one or two per cent., and then wash 

 the produce until it is perfectly white : lib. of carbonate 

 of soda will purify lOOlbs. of horse-chesnuts, and pro- 

 duce 601bs. of flour fit for bread, as the salt removes 

 the bitter principle from the nut. In Saxony great 

 care is taken to collect the horse-chesnuts, which are 

 regarded as a wholesome aliment for sheep, and a 

 specific against the rot : these are givea to the sheep 



in autumn when the green food ceascH. The chesnuts 

 are cut into pieces, which it is dangerous to omit, as 

 they might otherwise stick in the throat of the animal, 

 and cause its death. Sheop, as well as cattle, refuse at 

 first to eat this food ; but when accustomed to it they 

 seek it with avidity, and even like to eat the prickly 

 husk in which the nut is enveloped." 



In the United States a large trade is carried on in 

 the cultivation of an article termed " Spanish moss" — 

 a kind of epiphyte attached to trees in the woods in 

 Mississippi, Texas, and other quarters. It is prepared 

 as a substitute for horse-hair, &c., as a stuffing mate- 

 rial for upholstery purposes. Tlds substance possesses 

 considerable elasticity, and may be had in any quan- 

 tity, at a comparatively small price. 



The fibrous husks or leafy covering of the ear of 

 maize is extensively used for stuffing mattresses ; and 

 will not harbour vermin. It is also used for packing 

 fruit and cigars, and as a paper material. 



In New Brunswick they collect the leaves of the 

 beech in autumn ; and, from their elastic quality, they 

 make better stuffing for palliasses than cither straw 

 or chaff, and last seven or eight years. 



The riband-like leaves of the Zostera marina — 

 known in commerce as Ulva marina — make admira- 

 ble stuffing for mattresses and cushions, as they repel 

 all vermin. They are used for the same purposes in 

 the Levant, and the twisted rush-like covers of the 

 Florence flasks are formed of them. 



But there are many other substances even not enu- 

 merated by Mr. Simmonds, whicli give extensive em- 

 ployment, and turn to profitable use waste substances. 



The manufactures of baskets, crates, hampers, 

 and chairs of osiers, rushes, straw, or other sub- 

 stances, employ at least 12,000 persons in this coun- 

 try, the entire British manufacture being estimated 

 at over a quarter of a million sterling. But in many 

 coimtries mats and baskets for packing, are even 

 more important than here. We imported, it is true, 

 mats and matting to the value of about £20,000 ; but 

 in countries where a light baling material is an object 

 in transport, mats are very extensively used for wrap- 

 ping goods, especially in Russia, in India, in China, in 

 the sugar and coffee producing colonies. For pack- 

 ing or pressmg grapes, olives, figs, and dates, they come 

 largely into use. 



Rushes are imported from Holland to the extent of 

 many thousands of bundles, for seating chairs, polish- 

 ing woods and metals, and other uses. The quantity 

 imported in 18.57 was 547 tons, valued at £4,485. 



The quantity of palm-leaves imported from Cuba, for 

 making hats ; of piassaba fibre (the foot-stalks of the 

 leaves of a palm) from Brazil, for making brushes and 

 street-sweeping machines ; of kittool (another palm- 

 leaf fibre, from Ceylon, for making stout clothes and 

 other brushes; and of coir, the fibrous husk of the 

 cocoa-nut, is now very considerable — and these were 

 formerly all waste and unappreciated substances. 



Take, again, the simple articles of brooms and 

 sweeping-brushes made of grasses, rushes, birch, &c. ; 

 what an extensive trade is carried on in them ! Im- 



