SEPTEMBER 335 



Sir William Crookes's remedy for the famine which he foresees 

 is that the water-power of Niagara should be used to produce 

 nitrate to be employed in manuring the earth and making it 

 more fertile. While Niagara and the Zambesi Falls are getting 

 into harness I would suggest that the end required, namely, the 

 accumulation of nitrogen in the soil, can be much promoted by 

 the growth of leguminous crops, such as beans and vetches, which 

 have the property of collecting nitrogen. I am afraid, however, 

 that this plan sounds very humble and homelike after that of 

 Niagara, yet it has merits, and with the help of a little farmyard 

 muck will enable the farmer to produce forty or even fifty bushels 

 to the acre upon sound and well-tended land. For the rest, as it 

 is practically certain that if needful we can supply ourselves for 

 many years to come with what wheat we want, I think that we may 

 leave other nations to settle the question of their own shortage as 

 may be convenient to them. 



The Times also announces the death of Lord Winchilsea. 

 Opinions may differ as to his schemes and ideas, which have been 

 attacked by some, but there is no doubt that in him the agricul- 

 tural interests, and especially the agricultural labourers, have lost a 

 true and earnest friend. The last sentence of his will, ' God save 

 Agriculture,' echoes the spirit that animated his life. 



Sepiember 12. — The end of last week, like its beginning, was 

 intensely hot. In this room on Friday night, vvith both windows 

 and the door open, the thermometer stood at 75 degrees, which 

 is high for England. Truly this is a strange climate, as a com- 

 parison between July 9 and September 9 will prove. The unfor- 

 tunate harvestmen suffer much at their hard and incessant toil. 

 From their appearance they might have been drenched with 

 water, and they complain that they cannot eat their food. The 

 8th is said to have been the hottest September day of which a 

 record exists in England. Perhaps this curious heat-wave has to 

 do with the spot which has appeared upon the sun. Looked at 

 through a piece of smoked glass, this spot appears to be the size 



