SCRAPS. 



479 



The Society for the K.ntouragkmknt ok 

 National Industuy in Fuanck offers, up to 

 1850, large jircmiums annually for llie intro- 

 duction of new plants, iVc. from foreign coiin- 

 trioH, which may be useful in rural economy or 

 the arts ; and, after designating particular ob- 

 jects, they make a general offer of tnclrc thou- 

 fatid francs for the discovery which shall be 

 adjudged the most useful hi perfecting French 

 industiy in departments or branches in wliich 

 France has not yet attained superiority over for- 

 eign countries. 



Von Thaer. — The Journal of Agriculture, 

 published in Paris, places the name of this great 

 agricultural writer (whose profound work on the 

 Principles of Agriculture was published entire 

 in the first volume of Thk Farmkrs' Liiirary) 

 at the head of the list of German writers ; to 

 whom it acknowledges France to owe great ob- 

 ligations for their contributions to agricultural 

 literature. Yes — that 's the word — " Uttcrature 

 agricole." 



Offers of Premiums.— The Central Society 

 of Veterinary Medicine at Paris [we ought to 

 have one in New- York] has offered premiums 

 of 1,000 francs for the best Essay on the peri- 

 pneumonia, or disease of the lungs in cattle ; 500 

 for the best Essay on the periodical salivation or 

 slabbering- of horses ; and 300 for the best on 

 the trembles or convulsions in sheep. Now all 

 these, and other E.ssays for which very large 

 sums are paid in England and in France, are at 

 our command for the benefit of the friends of 

 The Far.meks' Library, very soon after they 

 have been published in Europe. ^Ve need hard- 

 ly say that we shall endeavor to make the most 

 of 'em. 



GRAFTi.Nf.WAX. — I was surprised to see, in 

 the January number of The Farmers" Liuha- 

 RY, that clnjf was used in grafting, instead of the 

 wa.x the Yankees use. Ah ! they are at least a 

 hundred j-ears before us. An equal quantity of 

 beeswax, rosin and tallow, melted togetl;cr and 

 put on a strip of cotton, say an inch and a half 

 wide, wrapped once around the graft, can be 

 muchvasier and quicker done, and with greater 

 success. When done in cold weather the wax 

 can be made hot, and the strings dij)ped in. 



Ml'.nificence Wet.i, Be.'jtowed. — We re- 

 joice to see it stated that the British Govern- 

 ment has granted a life pension of JJlOO to iho 

 widow of the late Mr. Loudo.v, vvho.Hc portrait 

 and memoir have been published in The Farm- 

 ers' LiiiRARY, in consideration of the utility of 

 his labors to promote and refine the arts of use- 

 ful cultivation. How can a nation's funds be 

 bestowed with more propriety than on the help- 

 less widows of those who have preeminently 

 aided to increase its means of subsistence, and 

 to promote civilization. Alas ! that it should be 

 only in the patronage lavi.shed b}- monarchs and 

 despots on the militarj' props of their power, 

 that our Republican Government imitates them, 

 with a fidelity as ill-judged as it is dangerous in 

 its tendency to public liberty. As to Loudon's 

 labors, his wife was a strong spoke in the wheel. 



What rewards do we give to tho.se who save 

 us from war? The Emperor of China, being 

 once asked how much he paid his physician, 

 answered — "Liberally while I keep well, but 

 nothing when he lets me get sick." 



"All, honor should pay to the conquerinc; spade ! 

 That sword HDd spear Hre but darren things ; 

 While to kiria in his p3idc, and his subjects beside. 

 Its bounties the epude of the gardener biings !" 



VANACK CABBAGE 



Is a variety with which we are not acquainted. It is, as will be seen, very 

 highly commended in the following notice in a London paper, which we should 

 esteem worthy of a place were it only for the suggestion, which we hope will 

 not be lost on American Agricultural and Horticultural Societies, to wit — the im- 

 portance of ofl'ering premiums not so much for the fattest, and the largest, and 

 heaviest things, but for the most genuine of such varieties as are known to be 

 valuable and worthy of preservation. What is wanting is to preserve that which 

 is known to be excellent in quality, in its natural size and genuine characters ; 

 not to stimulate the growth of monsters in size or form, merely to amuse the 

 childish and to attract the notice of the ignorant. 



Would it not, let us repeat, be highly useful if a Society could be formed espe- 

 cially to import, without loss of lime, new varieties of fruits and vegetables, and 

 machinery more efficient and labor-saving than the best we have in use ? 



Vanack Cabbage. — Of all the uumerous soits that have been offered to the piibUc, thi» 

 (959J 



