287 



" In this climate we have grown the following varieties of the castor oil bean : 

 Ricinus communis, growing four feet high, and ripening earliest of all. R. Spec- 

 tabUis, five feet, with dark-green fruit and leaves. R. Sanguineus, fruit red and. 

 in large clusters, stalks and leaves dark red ; grows seven feet high. R. Lividus, 

 stems brilliant red, and fruit lively green ; grows five feet high, Leucncarpus, a 

 dwarf variety, growing three feet high, with white fruit. This is an African va- 

 riety, and we have found it the most prolific. R. Braziliensis, with a brownish 

 yellow fruit, growing five feet high. 



" We should much like to have experiments made with the different varieties, 

 and reported in the monthly report." 



THE PRESERVATION OF WOOD. 



A correspondent at Charlestown, West Virginia, gives the results of experi- 

 ments made some years since while in charge of the working force of one of the 

 railway companies in England : 



A cylindrical iron vessel, made of strong boiler plates 30 feet long by 2 J feet 

 in diameter, was fitted with safety valve and door (faced) at one end. After 

 putting in all the timber possible, it was filled with the preserving liquid, and a 

 pressure of 120 pounds to the square inch applied by a hydraulic pump. The 

 wood was allowed to remain under pressure for one hour to insure the penetra- 

 tion of the liquor. The preserving solutions successively used were corrosive 

 sublimate, arsenic, sugar of lead, sulphate of copper, and common salt. Pieces 

 of wood 3 by 3 inches and 2 feet long, each saturated by the above process 

 with one of these ingredients, were driven one foot into the ground under the 

 eaves of a large building. Other pieces were placed in a jack wall, covered up, 

 where timber rotted badly. In each case they were accompanied by pieces of 

 like dimensions unprepared. Six years after, upon examination, those under the 

 eaves were less affected than those in the wall. All were in better condition 

 than the unprepared. They ranged thus : 



Corrosive sublimate, and arsenic, best — little choice between them ; sulphate 

 of copper, next best ; sugar of lead, next ; common salt, poorest. 



The unprepared was in a state of decay. 



INSECTS. 



If correspondents, in noting depredations of insects in their localities, will be 

 careful to name them correctly and give clear and accurate descriptions, their 

 notes will prove more valuable and available. It would be still better to send 

 specimens safely secured in boxes or otherwise, to insure their safe arrival. 

 They will come free of postage, and our entomologist would be able to identify 

 the specimens and give their true names. In consequence of the very limited 

 dissemination of entomological knowledge among the masses, the greatest con- 

 fusion exists as to names and characters of common insects, which such a plan 

 as this would do much towards remedying, and prove highly interesting and 

 very beneficial to agricultural communities. 



The following are some of the entomological notes in our correspondence of 

 the present month : 



Sarpy countij, Nebraska. — The tent caterpillar is not so numerous as for the 

 last three years. Potato bugs {Doryphora 10 lineaia, or 10-striped spearman) 

 appearing — a soft, red, filthy-looking bug when growing ; hard-shelled, striped 

 when grown ; a little oval and about one third inch in diameter. Remedy — knock 



