WEIGHTS AND MEASURES. 



m snth, and 3 fnct 9 inclics in length, 1 

 whicli, multiplied together, make 16| 

 square feet ; that nniltii)licd iiy IG, 

 the numher of pounds allowed to all 

 cattle measuring less than f) feet and 

 more than 3 in girth, makes '-iG4 lbs. ; 

 which, divided by M, to bring it to 

 stones, is 18 stones 12 lbs. The di- 

 mensions of the girth and length of 

 black cattle, sheep, calves, or hogs, 

 may be as exactly taken this way as 

 it is at all necessary for any compu- 

 tation or valuation of stock, and will 

 answer exactly to the four quarters, 

 sinking the ofTal, and which every 

 man who can get even a bit of chalk 

 may easily perform. A deduction 

 must be made for a half-fatted beast 

 of 1 stone in 20 from that of a fat 

 one, and for a cow that has had calves 

 1 stone must be allowed, and another 

 for not being properly fat." 



" French Sijslcm of Weights. — The 

 French denominations of weight oc- 

 cur so frequently in works connected 

 with the physical sciences, that it is 

 convenient to be acquainted with their 

 values. The unit of weight is the 

 gramme, which is the weight of the 

 100th part of a cubic metre of distil- 

 led water at the temperature of melt- 

 ing ice. A gramme is equal to 15 434 

 Troy grains ; whence the following 

 comparative table of French with 

 Troy weight : 



Grammes. 



•oai 



•01 



•1 

 1 



10 



100 

 1000 



Dyers' weed, or yellow rocket, an 

 annual used for dyeing purposes, es- 



Troy grains. 

 •01543 

 = • 15434 



= 1-5434 



= 15-434 



= 154-34 

 = 1543-4 

 = 15434 

 = 154340 



Milligramme =: 

 Centigramme =:= 

 Decigramme = 

 Gramme =: 



Decagramme = 

 Hectogramme = 

 Kilogramme = 

 Myriagramme ^= 10000 



"The kilogramme is equal to 2 

 lbs. 3 oz., 4-428 drachms avoirdupois 

 weight. In the Systeme Usuel the 

 standards are the same as the above, 

 but the denominations are those 

 which were anciently in use. It was 

 found impossible to introduce the 

 new terms. The divisions are bina- 

 ry. Half the kilogramme forms the 

 livrc usuel, which is divided into 

 halves, quarters, eighths, &c., down 

 to the gros, which is the eighth of 

 the once, or the f^g-th of the hvrc. 



WELD. Re'scda luteola (Fig.). 

 848 



pecially for yellow dyes. The fol- 

 lowing is Loudon's account of its 

 cultivation : 



" The soil being brought to a fine 

 tilth, the seed is sown in April or the 

 beginning of May, generally broad- 

 cast. Tlie quantity of seed is from 

 two quarts to a gallon per acre, and 

 it should either be fresh, or, if two or 

 three years old, steeped a few days 

 in water previously to being sown. 

 Being a biennial, and no advantage 

 obtained from it the first year, it is 

 sometimes sown with corn crops in 

 the manner of clover, which, when 

 the soil is in a very rich state, may 

 answer, provided, also, that hoeing, 

 weeding, and stirring take place as 

 soon as the corn crop is cut. The 

 best crops, however, will obviously 

 be the result of drilling and cultiva- 

 ting the crop alone. The drills may 

 be a foot asunder, and the plants 

 thinned to six inches in the row. In 

 the broad-cast mode it is usual to 

 thin them to six or eight inches' dis- 

 tance every way ; often, when weld 

 succeeds corn crops, it is never either 

 thinned, weeded, or hoed, but left to 

 itself tillthe plants are in full blossom. 



"The crop is taken by pulling up the 

 entire plant, and the proper period 

 for this purpose is when the bloom 

 has been produced the whole length 

 of the stems, and the plants are just 



