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from its seed. Such trees, sajs Mr. Czerny, are more healtliy and vig- 

 orous, (liaviug- never been wounded by the knife,) bear earlier, and when 

 accidentally injured in the stem, throw out shoots identical with those 

 of the original tree. 



Preserving the flavor of butter. — The German Agriculturist 

 says tbat a great portion of the fine flavor of fresh butter is destroyed 

 by the usual mode of washing, and he recommends a thorough kneading 

 for the removal of the buttermilk, and a subsequent pressing in a linen 

 cloth. Butter thus prepared, according to our authority, is preeminent 

 for its sweetness of taste and flavor, qualities which are retained a long 

 time. To improve manufactured butter we are advised by the same 

 authority to work it thoroughly with fresh cold milk, and then to wash 

 it in clear water; and it is said that even old and rancid butter may be 

 rendered palatable by washing it in water to which a few drops of a 

 solution of chloride of lime have been added. 



Xew fodder PL atvT. — A new kind of fodder plant ( Gymnothrix latifolia) 

 has recently been introduced into France from Uruguay. It is not 

 unlike the sugar-cane in appearance, grows eight or nine feet high, and 

 is said to make excellent fodder either when green or cured. 



Dwarf ragweed. — At a late meeting of the Academy of Natural 

 Sciences of Philadelphia, Mr. Thomas Meeham exhibited a small plant 

 of the common ragweed, Ambrosia artemisicefolia, which had grown in a 

 pot in his hot-house. The plant, little more than an inch in height, was 

 already provided with fertile flowers and also bulblets. He remarked 

 that it was a common impression that when land was put down in grass 

 the ragweed disappeared, but that after an unlimited number of years, 

 when the ground was broken up, the weed reappeared, as supposed 

 from the development of seeds, which had long remained in a dormant 

 condition. If such pigmy plants as the one exhibited can perfect seeds, 

 it is evident that a multitude of them might perpetuate themselves 

 among the grass unnoticed from year to year, until under fVivorable 

 circumstances a crop is produced, which becomes conspicuous from 

 their size. Thus their occurrence may be explainsd without the neces- 

 sity of an indefinite extent of vitality. 



Carbolic acid from androtvteda plant. — It is stated that car- 

 bolic acid has lately been obtained from a species of Andromeda, occur- 

 ring in the Neilgherry Hills of India, and tbat, being less deliquescent 

 and far more pure than ordinary carbolic acid, it may be made to serve 

 as a substitute in delicate medical cases. The discovery is considered 

 one of importance by the East Indian government, and measures are pro- 

 posed for utilizing it on a large scale. We have many species of this 

 same genus in North America, but it is questionable whether, in the 

 abundance of cheaper sources of supply, it would be a profitable busi- 

 ness to go into the manufacture. 



Value of the sunflower plant. — attention is called by the editor 

 of the Journal of Applied Science to the great value of the sunflower 

 plant in various economical applications. According to this article, the 

 sunflower can be cultivated very readily, an acre of land sustaining 

 25,000 plants at twelve inches distant from each other. The flowers are 

 very attractive to bees and furnish a great amount of honey. The 

 average production of seeds may be estimated at fifty bushels to the acre, 

 yielding fifty gallons of oil. This is said to be equal to olive oil for 

 tal)le use, and is well adapted to burning in lamps, soap-making, and 

 painting. The refuse of the above quantity of seed will produce 1.500 



