18 THE YEAR-BOOK OF AGRICULTURE. 



on behalf of the Light-house Board, to engage in the cultivation of the rape and colza 

 plants extensively and most profitably grown in Europe. 



It is a serious question whether our agriculturists, in importing foreign seeds and plants, 

 are not neglecting valuable products and materials which are abundant at our very doors. 

 The cotton-seed annually wasted at the South is capable of affording a large amount of su- 

 perior oil. Recent experiments, made in Scotland, show that the cotton-seed cake, after 

 pressing, is equal to linseed, rape, or bean cake for the feeding of stock. Indeed, its im- 

 portation from New Orleans into Great Britain, for this purpose, has already commenced. 

 Other facts, of a similar character, might also be adduced. 



Many of our readers will remember the splendid collection of woods, seeds, mineral and 

 vegetable products sent from British Guiana for the New York Crystal Palace. This valuable 

 and, at the same time, perfectly unique collection, made by the colonial government at great 

 expense, has been secured, through the exertions of Dr. Gale, of Washington, and the aid of 

 the British Minister, for the National Institute, and will, hereafter, form an important feature 

 in the museum of this Society. 



In Russia, for some years past, a peculiar disease, called "rinder-pest," or cattle-plague, 

 has been committing fearful ravages among the flocks and herds of that country. During 

 the past year it has exhibited some tendency to spread westward into Austria and Prussia. 

 The authorities of the latter country have, therefore, just published a proclamation totally 

 prohibiting the importation from Russia of horned cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, dogs, and poul- 

 try ; fresh skins of oxen and other animals, horns, unmelted tallow, fresh beef, furs, manure, 

 and stable implements that have been used. The following articles are prohibited if there is 

 reason to believe they are the produce of infected or suspected districts : Raw wool, dried 

 hides, and the hair of animals, with the exception of hogs' bristles. All persons who, from 

 the nature of their avocations, may be fairly supposed to have had personal contact with 

 infected cattle, such as cattle-dealers, butchers, graziers, drovers, tanners, leather-merchants, 

 and poultry-dealers, will not be allowed to enter the Prussian territory ; and should special 

 reasons exist for making exceptions in particular cases, they must remain for some days 

 before their admission under the surveillance of the authorities, submitting to such regula- 

 tions as may be considered needful for the general security. In order the more effectually 

 to maintain a control over travellers and goods arriving from Russia, they will only be allowed 

 to cross the frontiers at specified points, all others for the present being closed. 



The subject has also come before the Royal Agricultural Society of England, and the 

 matter is also under serious consideration both on the part of the Society and of the Govern- 

 ment. There is some reason to believe that the disease has made its appearance also in the 

 Crimea among the animals intended for the allied armies, and the French government have 

 especially instructed their veterinary surgeons in reference to its nature and propagation. 



The potato disease appears to be diminishing in intensity, and but little complaint com- 

 paratively has been made of it during the past season. The British Meteorological Society, 

 as the result of a long series of observations, have recently published the following summary 

 of conclusions to which they have arrived : 



That the vital energy of the potato is unimpaired, and that it never becomes diseased 

 until the stage of flowering, which is about one hundred days, or about three months, from 

 the time of planting ; that the causes are simultaneous in their action over a large tract of 

 country, and at great distances, and are peculiar to the soil and air. That the object of the 

 agriculturist ought to be the proper cultivation of the soil, and endeavor to economize the 

 vital power of the plant at the time of flowering ; and the removal of the flower before the 

 formation of the seed would seem to contribute to this end. 



Two interesting productions have been recently introduced into the Jardin des Plantes, at 

 Paris, from Ecuador, by M. Bourcier, formerly consul-general of France in that country. 

 One is the red and yellow ocas, which is of the form of a long potato, and has the taste of a 

 chestnut ; the other is the milloco, which has the taste and form of our best potatoes. These 

 two roots, which are found in great abundance in the neighborhood of Quito, grow readily in 

 the poorest land. The oca is cultivated in the fields of Mexico, but only succeeds in the 

 warmer districts. 



