1885.] REVIEWS OF BOOKS. 327 



size, the crop alone from it will yield a reliable return, keeping a 

 steadier average than that yielded by any fruit crop. In 1882, the 

 value of the nuts exported, nearly half of which went to America, 

 amounted to £59,428, a sum nearly one-third more than that 

 realized from the nuts exported in 1880. 



Water-cresses, if grown along with osiers, may yield an additional 

 profit of from £10 to £12 per acre. In Jersey, Mr. Dunster knew 

 the tenant and proprietor of a small garden obtain 8s. to 10s. 

 weekly by sending her water-cresses twice a week to market. They 

 grew in a shallow stream of water about 4 feet wide, running past 

 the end of the garden farm. In low-lying osier grounds, water- 

 cresses will always grow in the wettest places ; and on sites supplied 

 by springs from the uplands, let three or four drains, 2 feet deep 

 by 3 feet wide, be dug, and they may be filled with water-cresses, 

 which under the shelter of the osiers will yield a large crop. It 

 may be necessary to plant a few bricks or large stones to intercept 

 the too rapid flow of the water after sudden storms, which deterio- 

 rates the growth of the young plants. Water-cresses are either 

 raised from seed or cuttings; — the latter being lengths of 4 or 

 5 inches with several fine rootlets taken from the roots of old 

 plants. 



In 1882, the Custom Eeturns gave 180,849 tons of esparto 

 grass valued at £1,281,105, or somewhat more than £7 per ton, as 

 imported into Great Britain for the purposes of the papermaker. 

 The discovery of this fibre about a quarter of a century ago, as is 

 well known, saved from ruin a trade whose boundaries have extended 

 co-equally with the course of the years. Already grave doubts are 

 entertained as to the permanence of the supply. Now it is doubt- 

 less the part of this journal to say, " ISTothing like wood." But 

 practical men know the lack of a more elastic fibre for the perfection 

 of even our cheapest paper, consequently they must welcome the 

 return of the original flax into the manufacture at a price com- 

 parable to that of esparto. Mr. Dunster quotes the details of 

 practical flax-growing for the papermaker given in the Jourwd of 

 tlic Royal Agricultural Society of England (vol. xviii. second series), 

 which go to prove that the crop is as easily managed by the 

 farmer as one of barley or other grain, who needs have no anxiety 

 about weather in harvest time. The stalks are sold just as they 

 come from the thrashing machine. In two instances poor land in 

 Monmouthshire and on the Cotswolds gave £16 and £14, 10s. per 

 acre. The fibre was sold at £4, 10s. per ton, whilst the seed 

 yielded 8 s. per bushel. The cost of working and winning the crop 

 might be about £1, 5 s. per acre. Altogether, though the profits 

 were far below this which would have accrued had the needed pre- 



