No. 6. Cactus. — Earle's Planting Plough. — Jg. Statistics of JV. Y. 181 



intelligence progress, and may our sufferings 

 from this cause soon come to an end. 



Chemico. 



Cactus. — The Cactus tribe, as such of our 

 readers as are familiar with Mexican pro- 

 ducts are aware, is not a family of plants 

 merely curious to the botanist or plant col- 

 lector. On one of the species, C. cochinil- 

 lifera, the Cochineal insect feeds, that in- 

 sect which produces the splendid scarlet dye, 

 so well known in commerce. Mexico has 

 the entire monopoly of this product, and the 

 fertile district of Oaxaca is that in which it 

 is chiefly cultivated. Some idea of the value 

 of this little red insect, apparently so insig- 

 nificant, may be obtained, when we mention 

 that the annual export of it now amounts to 

 above one million of dollars, and according 

 to Humboldt, two millions dollars worth of 

 it have been exported in a single year. — 

 Horticulturist. 



Agricultural Statistics of N. York. — 



The following statistics of agriculture are 



furnished by the Marshals employed to take 



the census of 1845: 



Acres of improved land in the 

 State, 



Acres of barley under culti- 

 vation, 



Bushels of barley raised, 



I Acres of peas under cultivation. 



Bushels of peas raised. 



Acres of rye sown, 



Bushels of rye harvested, 



Acres of oats sown, 



Bushels of oats harvested. 



Acres of beans under cultivation. 



Earle's Planting Plough. — A. B. Earle, 

 of Broome county, New York, has invented 

 a planting plough, of interest to those who 

 have seeds to plant. It has a pretty con- 

 trivance by which corn, pumpkin seeds, and 

 some kinds of manure may be at one time de- 

 posited in the same hill, or only one may be 

 used, at the option of the user. The rows 

 or hills will be at equal distances one from 

 the other, and may be regulated to suit oc- 

 casion. The machine may be made so as to 

 plant several rows at the same time, if drawn 

 by a horse. The single machine, however, 

 may be urged forward by a nian, as he would 

 force a common wheelbarrow, and in that 

 way he will plant, that is, open a drill, depo- 

 sit one or more kinds of seeds, any given 

 number in a hill, as fast as a man can walk. 

 The machine can be made and sold for $20. 

 Patent pending. — Eureka. 



How to Judge Cattle. — In all domestic 

 animals, the skin, or hide, forms one of the 

 best means by which to estimate their fat- 

 tening properties. In the handling of oxen, 

 if the hide be found soft and silky to touch, 

 it affords a proof of tendency to take meat. 

 A beast having a perfect touch will have a 

 thick loose skin, floating, as it were, on a 

 layer of soft fat, yielding to the slightest 

 pressure, and springing back towards the 

 finger like a piece of soft leather. Such a 

 skin will be usually covered with an abun- 

 dance of soft, glossy hair, feeling like a bed 

 of mossy skin. But a thick set, hard, short 

 hair, always handles hard, and indicates a 

 hard feeder. 



11,767,276 



192,.503 



3,108,704 



117,379 



1,761,503 



317,099 



2,966,.322 



1,026,915 



26,323,051 



16,231 



Bushels of beans raised, 162,187 



Acres of buckwheat under culti- 

 vation, 255,495 

 Bushels of buckwheat raised, 3,634,679 

 Acres of turnips under cultivation, 15,322 

 Bushels of turnips raised, 1,350,332 

 Acres of potatoes under cultivation, 2.55,762 

 Bushels of potatoes raised, 23,653,418 

 Acres of flax under cultivation, 46,089 

 Pounds of flax raised, 2,897,062 

 Acres of wheat sown, 1,013,655 

 » wheat harvested, 958,233 

 Bushels of wheat raised, 13,391,770 

 Acres of corn sown, 595,134 

 Bushels of corn harvested, 14,722,114 

 [American Agriculturist. 



Lime. — Lime, commonly called calcareous 

 earth, is never found naturally in a pure 

 state, but in combination with the acids — 

 chiefly with the carbonic, for which it has 

 so strong an affinity that it attracts it from 

 the atmosphere. The burning of limestone 

 is undertaken for no other purpose than to 

 expel by heat this gas, and reduce the base 

 to a caustic powder, in which state it has a 

 strong tendency to absorb first moisture, and 

 then the carbonic acid of which it had been 

 deprived. Lime blends the qualities of clay 

 and sand, occupying a middle place between 

 the two. In its caustic state it is a power- 

 ful promoter of putrefaction, or decomposer 

 of animal and vegetable matter, to which 

 circumstance is owing, to a certain extent, 

 its efficacy as a manure. Lime also helps 

 to fix the carbonic acid which is generated 

 by the fermentation of putrescent manures 

 in the soil, or which floats in the air on the 

 surface of the earth, and it freely imparts 

 this gas, in union with water, for the nou- 

 rishment of plants. Lime is therefore an 

 exceedingly valuable ingredient to the farm- 

 er; and, accordingly, wherever agriculture 

 is carried on with spirit, it is eagerly sought 

 after, though it sometimes bears a very high 

 price. — Chainbers's Information, <^c. 



