294 



V A R M E R S ' U E G I S T E R . 



[No. 5 



tiil: pitcher plant. 



Few plants il* we consider the structure of its foli- 

 age, are more interesting than the pitcher plant, 

 of Southern India. If is ibund in Ceylon, Java, 

 and other islands in the Indian Archipelago. Ji 

 has been transplanted into several gardens in Eng- 

 land, where it attains to great perfection. Its 

 stem is eighteen or twenty leet. It branches out 

 over the wires prepared to support it; and bears 

 numerous leaves, in the form ol' a pitcher, and 

 which look more like art than the production ol 

 nature. The lcaij including the stalk, is two leet 

 long. The pitcher is rather an appendage to the 

 leaf, than the leaf itself. It is hollowed out like 

 an elongated pitcher; and is eighi or nine inches 

 long. I' is attenuated at its base, where it is curved 

 or arched, and then suddenly turns upwards. In 

 its young stale, il is covered by a lid or operculum. 

 After a nine, the lip opens, ami the mouth of the 

 pitcher is exposed to view. The color is pale 

 green, hat often tinged or spotted with red and 

 nurnle. 



country, hul I tear the hope of their breeding is 

 very uncertain. 



From tin- Annua of Science. 

 SOLVENT OF INDIAK RUBBER. 



There is no solvent of Indian rubber so good 

 lor gardening and most other purposes, as refined 

 coal tar. sold under the name by drug merchants, 

 which is only common coal tar deprived of water 



by hoilmg. 



From lie. Field Naturalist. 

 THE LLAMA or PERU. 



We are indebted to the attention of a corres- 

 pondent in (.'ban tor tie- following account of the 

 interesting attempt now making in that nei 

 hood to domesticate the llama. 



1 am not surprised that the llamas here 

 be exciting attention, lor they certain!) are obj :cts 

 worthy of notice. Tins animal does not in am 

 shape resemble the sheen of this country; us 

 height is from (bur to five leet, with long legs and 

 lone. - neck, in some respects not unlike Hie camel. 

 asmall head without horns, the countenam i 

 tie and expressive of wonder. Ii is not remarka- 

 ble for any peculiar habits, except that it d ^hl 

 in ascending to the summits of the lulls: it,- a| 

 ance indicates an unfitness for climbing: I obsen e, 

 however, nature has served it with a hooked claw 

 on each hoof, which enables it in some measure to 

 travel heights with as much security as ti: 

 Their food and treatment differ in no particul i 

 from Mr. Stevenson's cows; they graze, eat hay. 

 chopped straw and potatoes, with them daily, and 

 have formed such an attachment to the cows, that 

 when the latter are brought from the hill tin- I'm: 

 purpose of milking, the llamas will not remain be- 

 hind, but accompany them to and from the byre 

 three times a day, a distance of half a mile — the 

 wool is extremely fine, each fleece weighing from 

 five to six pounds. Mr. Stevenson imported the 

 first pair (of the Alpacha breed, for there are seve- 

 ral varieties,) about three years ago — he tells me 

 that there were lour or live pairs shipped for him, 

 but all died during the voyage except the one, am! 

 the following year he received another pair ol 

 what he terms the real llama, but a common ob- 

 server cannot descern any difference. They in- 

 habit the mountains of the Andes, and, when do- 

 mesticated, are used in that country as beasts of 

 burden, chiefly in carrying ore from the mines of 

 Peru, and they carry about 100 lbs., and if one 

 pound be added more than they can carry with 

 freedom, like the camel, nothing will impel them 

 forward. If there was any chance of rearing 

 them, thev would doubtless become a benefit to the 



a ions have 

 directed to some 

 onl}' methodical 

 plants, know n here 



From the Southern Agriculturist. 

 OX THE PREPARATION OF VEGETABLE OILS. 



The production of the fixed vegetable nils, has 

 in all climates been a source of wealth; and of 

 course has attracted the science, industry, and 

 capital of cultivators. The plants in us- are con- 

 fined to no /.one. though growing in greater vari- 

 ety ami abundance, in tropical or hot countries. 



W e. too, have indulged in speculating upon the 

 agricultural value to us, of oil plants. These 

 been generally discursive, or 

 ndividual of the class. The 

 investigation of oil-bearing 

 or easily introduced, of which 

 ive have ever been informed, was undertaken by 

 the late .Mr. George Trescot, in whose education, 

 the exact sciences preponderated so much, as to 

 impress us with the belief, that his inquiries would 

 be v aluable lor their order and precision, he hid, 

 as we learnt, in conversation, made considerable 

 5 in his researches, but his untimely death, 

 it i- presumed, left them imperfect. 



In the east, the plants cultivated fir this use, 

 me mas ard, the fixed oil of which is as mild and 

 bland, as the oil is notoriously acrid; lin- 



seed, familiarly known every where. Sesamum 

 ami Palma Christi. This last has been sic 



cultivated in all pans f South Carolina, the 

 oil commanding a higher price in the market than 

 any imported. The mode of extraction was ge- 

 nerallj by boiling. It has fallen into disuse, una- 

 ble to ■ oni| etc u nh the profits of our cotton cul- 

 ture, and perhaps, in some degree, from the diffi- 

 cult} of the han est: the seeds ripen successively, 

 and are shed by the plant as they mature, the loss 

 in this way bears heavily upon the whole crop. 

 It is cultivated like Indian corn, bat we are with- 

 out any circumstantial estimate ol' the expense 

 and profit of growing it. Many gentlemen resi- 

 dent near Beaufort could supplv tins estimate, ami 

 we hope to draw the attention of their agricultu- 

 ral associations to it. 



The sun-flower seed is used in a limited degree 

 in Europe, from the Spanish peninsula to Russia, 

 ami its cultivation has been earnestly recommend- 

 ed in the Coiled States, where, in some instances, 

 it has produced 60 or 70 bushels to the acre, the 

 bushel \ ields three quarts of cold and one of hot 

 pressed oil. Notwithstanding the plausibility of 

 this account, we know of its growth only to feed 

 poultry, and especially turkeys, which thrive upon 

 the leaves and seeds, and, perhaps, it is used 

 quite as much for the pleasure of its flaunting 

 flowers, as tor any profit which it brings. 



At Arras, and other places in France, extensive 

 tracts are covered with poppies, which adorn hill 

 and dale with their rich variety of bloom. These 



