!21 



ROYAL AGRICULTURAL MUSEUM AT BERLIN. 



The agricultural museum of the United States Department of Agri- 

 culture has, until recently, been unique in its character. But the value 

 and utility of sftch an institution are so evident that a number of at- 

 tempts are now being made, both in this country and Europe, to establish 

 collections of a similar character. Among these, that commenced at 

 Berlin, Prussia, appears likely to assume a prominent place. Occa- 

 sional notices of it have appeared in the "Annalen der Landwirth- 

 schaft," and we have recently received its catalogue and a guide to 

 the museum, which enables us to give the following description : 



The Royal Agricultural Museum was established by Minister of Agri- 

 culture von Selchow, at the instance of the royal agricultural commis- 

 sion, and was opened on the 4th of April, 1868, in temporary quarters, 

 No. 24 Potsdamer strasse. Its object, as stated in the introduction to 

 its catalogue, is to benefit agriculture " by exhibiting the best exam- 

 ples of every kind of product," and " by giving valuable information of 

 all kinds." 



To accomplish the first object, seeds, grains, fruits, and samples of 

 every kind of agricultural production are exhibited ; while to attain the 

 second end, the library, models, or actual machines, and illustrations 

 of all the different tools and processes employed in agriculture are pro- 

 vided. The collection occupies two stories of an irregular building, di- 

 vided into seventeen apartments, of which the first contains specimens 

 of wood, native and foreign, including very fine collections from Canada 

 and Hindostan. The heating power of difi'erent kinds of wood is shown 

 by Winkler's tables, as follows : Taking a cubic meter of common spruce 

 as unity, to give the same amount of heat will require .94 white pine, 

 .92 poplar, .91 willow, .70 beech, .69 Norway spruce, .66 birch, .65 maple, 

 .63 elm, .59 oak. Near this collection are the seeds of the difi'erent trees, 

 and charts showing the extent of forests in Prussia and their product. 

 Also, here is a stem of Lonicera periclymenum cut so as to show that it 

 is the descending sap-current which forms the wood. 



Next, in three rooms, is the collection of wools, grouped under six 

 heads, viz: First. Pelts, mostly of Russian breeds. Second. Com- 

 mercial samples. Third. According to fabrics made from them. Fourth. 

 General collection arranged by countries. Fifth. Showing improvement 

 of staple. Sixth. Special German collection as it was arranged for the 

 Paris Exposition, 1867. Of these, in the third division, the prepara- 

 tion of combing-wools is shown, from which ladies' cloth, thibet, last- 

 ing, «&c., are made ; then the short and curly, or merino wools, capable 

 of felting and making close cloth ; and, third, the wool from rags and 

 waste, known as mungo and shoddy. The first is made from all-wool 

 rags ; and the second from mixed stuffs, from wiiich the cotton is re- 

 moved by treatment with acids. Near by are specimens of difi'erent 

 kinds of yarn, and cloth in all its stages of manufacture. 



In the machine-halls is a collection of East-Indian drills sent bj 

 the British government of Bombay. Some of these represent ma- 

 chines that have been in use thousands of years, and which undoubtedl j 

 gave us the first notions of drill-culture. A statement is made that 

 the earliest European drill was invented between 1638 and 1653, by 

 Gabriel Platte, an Englishman, and was arranged to plant in hills, but 

 in a straight line. The invention is also ascribed to Joseph Locatelli, a 

 nobleman of Carinthia, and to an Italian, Cavallina. Locatelli's "seed- 

 ing-plow" went to Spain, and from thence to England in 1669, but 



