General jYulices. 267 



plentiful. In general, it is sown and cultivated exactly in the same 

 tnanner of wheat. When the ground is prepared, the seed is steep- 

 ed in water for one night; after sowing it, the land is well soaked 

 with water in which the ashes of rice straw have been previously 

 mixed. It is then hoed at three different times, and is each time 

 watered with liiiiiid manure." (Id.., 1842, p. 223.) 



[The introduction of this variety may be of great advantage to 

 the northern states, and enable them to produce their own rice. — Ed.] 



Nitrate of Soda on Evergreens. — Mr. Rivers, of Sawbridgeworth, 

 has applied it at the rate of one and a half to two hundred weight 

 per acre, at the time when spruce firs were making their shoots, and 

 the change produced in the appearance of the trees operated on was 

 most remarkable. From a pallid, yellow hue, the leaves became of 

 the richest and deepest green, anti the trees grew twice as fast as 

 those not nitrated. It is the only form of manure, that, as far as we 

 know, has ever been found j)ossil)!e to a])p!y to coniferous plants with 

 advantage. Common farm-yaid manure is well known to be fatal to 

 them; and we apprehend that other comjilicated manures, such as 

 guano, will lie found equally deleterious. {Id., 1842, p. 250.) 



Cypripedium ins'igne. — Allow me to call the attention of your 

 readers to a plant calculated to ornament the drawing-room during 

 the cheerless winter's gloom, and are so easily managed as to l^ 

 within the reach of most persons possessing only a limited garden. I 

 allude to Cy|)ripediurn insigne. On the tirst of December I |)laced 

 eight |)lants in the drawing room; there they revelled in the greatest 

 luxuriance for three successive tnonths, and w hen taken out in March 

 were as fresh and vigorous as ihe day they were put in. {Id., 1842, 

 p. 252.) 



Guano Manure and Potatoes. — During the last year or two, the 

 article of guaiio has attracted much attention among Eiiglish agri- 

 culturists, and its value as a manure has been stated to be very great. 

 Even gardeners have made use of it, and many have recommended 

 it as a valuable manin-e for plants. In connection with the subject, 

 we have copied the following, on the great value of this manure to 

 the potato crop, and invite the attention of our readers to it. At a 

 future time, we shall endeavor to olFer a digest of the opinions of 

 cultivators upon the use of the guano for garden purposes. — Ed. 



We have before alluded to this new manure, w bich is exciting so 

 much interest in England, as one of the most efHcient yet known. 

 In C. W. Johnson's great work, the Farmer's Encyclopedia, now 

 publishing in numbers, we find, under the article Guano, some facts, 

 which, as exhibitins several matters comparatively, are of interest 

 to the farmer, we give for the benefit of our retiders. From a series 

 of careful experiments, Mr. Johnson considers thirty-five bushels of 

 guano equal to seventy loads of good rotted manure, in its effect 

 upon crops. Guano, it may not be amiss to add, is the dung of sea- 

 fowls, and found on some islands in the Pacific, on the shores of 

 Peru. Considerable quantities have been inqtorted to England, and 

 as the quantity is apparently inexhaustible, the use of it promises to 

 extend rapidly. It consists of the most active ingredients, bone 

 earth, uric acid, and ammonia. The experiments of the table below 

 were made by Gen. Beatson; and in every instance, thirty-five busb- 



