1843.] 
THE GARDENERS 
CHRONICLE. 
845 
aqueous solution of iodine. By means of a compressorium 
invented by the author, the granular contents may be 
easily pressed out under the microscope. The author con- 
siders it probable that in the bottom ferment the globules 
burst and disburthen themselves of their contents, from 
each granule of which anew globule is developed, sothat the 
bottom ferment would be multiplied by sporules. Sub- 
stances which act as poisons on fungi destroy the action 
of ferment, for instance corrosive sublimate, and other 
substances of similar nature ; but liquids which act most 
violently on the animal frame, such as tartar-emetic, in 
solutions of which fungi very readily develop, do not dis- 
of the grain is cut ; and their custom is that every man, 
during the time his Corn is reaping, has to find all the 
rest with food. The women’s work is to gather up the 
Corn after the reapers, and carry it all to one place.’’— 
Col. Campbell's Excursions in Ceylon, as quoted in the 
Atheneum. 
Eaperimenis with Manures for Turnips.—The result 
of all experiments with manure is decidedly in favour of 
Guano as a manure for growing Turnips. So very appa- 
rent was its superiority in this respect in most of the 
fields, that there was no difficulty in pointing out the fur- 
rows in which it had been used. The general idea of its 
Leone. The tree is lofty. The fruit isa large, somewhat 
globular five-celled capsule; the seeds, of which there are 
from 18 to 30 in each capsule, vary in size from that of a 
Chestnut to a hen’s egg; they are three-cornered, convex 
on the dorsal surface, of a brownish or blackish red colour, 
and rugous. Specimens of the seeds, with the fruit are 
contained in the Banksian Collection, at the British 
Museum. The natives manufacture it into oil, which 
affords a pleasant and good light. The leaves are used b 
the Kroomen asa thatch to their huts. At the village of 
Kent, near Cape Schilling, the oil is manufactured as 
follows :—the seeds are dried in the sun, then hung up in 
turb the process of fermentation. Several fungi which are | value in the commencement of the season, when it was 
known as vegetable diseases are similarly circumstanced, applied, seems to have been that one cwt. of Guano was 
as for instance dry-rot to woody fibre; and with these | equal to five yards of farm-yard manure, or six bushels of 
facts a new field is evidently opened, explanatory of the | bones; and it is our impression, from the result of the 
decompositions which the roots of plants are capable of experiments, that its value as a manure has not been over- 
effecting in the soil; and it may be expected that we shall | estimated. A crop of Turnips, for which the first pre- 
be able to demonstrate by experiment, what general expe- | mium was awarded, was raised on different fields from the 
rience has shown, that the roots of plants, when unable to following proportions of manure :— 
obtain from the atmosphere the substances requisite for 
their development, take them from the soil; and it is not 
improbable that the roots themselves effect the necessary 
d position of b contained in the soil, 
just as the greatér portion of vegetables obtain the requi- 
site substances for their first development from the seed 
itself. Although this is difficult to prove in the higher 
order of plants, it may be proved more definitely in the | was very considerably a better crop.—Galloway Courier. 
lower tribes, especially in the fungi, as for instance in the Presence of Organic Matter in Water—In the last 
Champignon, The process of fermentation is therefore | Number of the ‘ ‘Transactions of the Royal Society of 
of considerable interest. One of the most important Edinburgh,” Prof. Connell has shown that a bie 
chemical binations is di posed by a contact-sub~ quantity of—apparently nitrogenous—organic matter is 
Stance, which contact-substance is an organized being | present in the purest waters from terrestrial sources, an 
belonging to the most simple forms, the development of | excellent illustration of which is afforded by the well- 
which may be traced in the most easy and certain manner; | known spring of St. Anthony’s well, at the foot of 
but its first origin is moreover of great interest, for it ig Arthur’s Seat, near Edinburgh. 
formed in a liquid in which it appears as numerous points may be considered asa very pure spring-water, as respects 
SO small as to escape observation.— Poggendorff, as quoted 
tn the Annals of Natural History. 
Agriculture of Ceylon.—* The Kandyan plough is only 
what may be called a crooked piece of wood, something 
like an elbow ; it merely tears up the ground as unevenly 
4s if it were done by hogs. They then overflow the field 
with water. 
Dung. Bones, Guano. 
yds. bush. wi 
Aberdeen Yellow and White Globe ., 15 14 
Swedish, one field .. ab S210 = 2 
Do., another field . se ee 10 15 2 
One furrow in the last field, grown with Guano at the 
rate of four cwt, per acre, notwithstanding the very heavy 
manuring which the other part of the field had received, 
pensable, not only as paths for the people to walk upon 
through the fields, who otherwise must go in the mud, 
but also to keep in and contain the water overflowing the | partaking of such waters; and this will more particularly 
at the top are not above a foot in width. 
land is ploughed, and the banks are finished, it is again 
1 heterophylla and ramosa, and Isotoma Brownii. Th. 
laid under water, and remains go till the time for the i h 
latter is one of our most beautiful plants, it varies with 
wicker racks or hurdles, and exposed to the smoke of the 
huts ; when exposed for a sufficient time, the seeds are 
roasted and triturated in large wooden mortars until 
reduced to a pulp. The mass is then boiled, when the 
supernatant oil is removed by skimming. ‘Tallicoonah 
oil, medicinally, is both purgative and anthelmintic; its 
nauseous odour and bitterness render it, however, an un- 
pleasant remedy. It is sometimes liquid, sometimes solid 
according to the variable quantities of oleine and stearine 
which it contains; and it owes the bitterness which it 
possesses to an alkaloid principle. Mr. Redwood, Member 
of the Pharmaceutical Society, who made a few experi- 
ments to determine some of the most prominent characters 
of the oil, found it to be entirely {soluble in ether, and 
that alcohol separated it into two parts,—a concrete sub- 
stance, which was dissolved, and an oil fluid at ordinary 
temperatures, on which the alcohol took no effect. The 
‘ormer contained the bitter principle and the nauseous 
odour of the oil, the latter was nearly colourless and 
tasteless. Tallicoonah oil is sold in the colony at 2s. a 
gallon retail, and could be procured in abundance from 
the coast as an article of commerce. Its medicinal pro- 
perties are fully detailed in the Pharmaceutical Journal 
for November, 1842.—F'riend of the African. 
The Palmetto Root.—Another important branch of 
business is likely to do much for the state.of Mississippi. 
The Palmetto-root, which almost covers the country near 
the sea-shore, is found to contain a large quantity of 
tannin. These roots lay almost on the top of the ground, 
three to ten or twelve starting from one common centre, 
or top root, and frequently growing ten feet long, and 
from two and a half to four inches diameter, of a spongy 
fibrous texture, the leaves springing out of the extreme 
end, which lengthens the main root as the old leaves fall 
off. The main root is attached firmly to the ground by 
small fibrous roots growing out, and directly down from 
the lower side of the main root. This root can be dug up 
and ground cheaper than oak bark, besides the clearing 
of the land, which is an important consideration, as taking 
up these roots has heretofore been considered the most 
expensive part of our clearing.—.dmerican Agricullurist. 
The Date Tree.—We calculated at Dalaki (in Persia) 
where very good Dates grow, that every full-grown tree 
produces 100 pounds weight of fruit, which brings to the 
possessor from two to three rupees of profit, out of which 
© must pay a mohammedi (seven kreutzers) as well. 
Consequently, the annual value of 100 Date trees, in tax- 
kept gardens, amounts to only 300 rupees.—Bot. Zeit. 
Experiments with Guano on Potatoes.—In the districts 
of Dumfries-shire and Galloway, numerous trials on an 
extensive scale have been made of Guano, with a view 
accurately to ascertain its comparative qualities ; and as it 
is desirable that the results of these should be made 
nown, we give the following :—Guano, at the rate 
of 5 ewt. per Scots acre, was sown along the drill before 
planting the Potatoes, and a variety of drills compared 
with 30 cubic yards of well-rotted dung. The produce 
os 
Covered over with green leaves; and thus it remains for 
five or six days, so as to make it sprout. They then wet 
it again, and Jay it in a heap covered over, as before, with 
Prepared the ground for sowing,—which is thus done: 
they have a board, as before shown, about four feet long, | colour of the species seen alive in Europe. We have 
has been :— 
Tons. Cwt. 
White Potatoes, called “‘ Daily Wonders,” lately 
introduced, with Guano, per Scots acre . er eae 7a 
With dung,perdo, 5 6 wg mae 
Buffs, with Guano, per do. . of si fi Se oa 
Do., dung, perdo. . * < oo) eit 
The seed partially failed, but to an equal extent in both. 
Guano, at the rate of 3 cwts. per Scots acre, added to 
16 yards dung, produced— 
have observed. the old seed-vessels on the 
plant, the flowers are not known. 
mondii of Lindley, 
for m, 
then 
the ge 
By 1 " * * . 
thovins without any water, until the grain has grown | yellow Leschenaultia in our journey to the south. My 
Sto 
G) , 
rn, but. to kill the weeds, for they always keep their | scarlet, is one of the most beautiful plants our colony can 
Weed j 
8 Z 
ie e to transplant it, to,-places ‘where it may be wanted. 
ik a Stands overflowed, till the grain is ripe, when they | of our handsomest annuals is a species of Brunonia, which 
for 
Man) 
ling, 
the: 
field, 
They first reap one man’s | or Kundah oil is procured, is found growing abundantly 
in the Timneh country, and over the colony of Sierra 
Tons. Cwt. 
Don Potatoes, per Scots acre . . . Say ke 
Do., with 30yardsdungalone . . 11 73 
The land is fair in point of dryness, it had been cropped 
for several years, and was in grass before Oats—the soil 
is not deep. Where Guano alone was used, the shaws 
from the first, and during the summer, were decidedly 
Stronger and of a darker green colour; but, during 
September, decayed sooner than where the dung was used. 
With the mixed manure, the same effects as to strength 
and colour were produced ; but in a less degree, and they 
remained fresher to the last. From this circumstance, 
and the result of weight, we would be inclined in future 
to adopt the mixed manure, varying, of course, the pro- 
portion according to circumstances. On some lands in 
Dumfries-shire this facility of raising productive and 
profitable crops of Potatoes with the half quantity of farm- 
yard manure, may lead to the partial adoption of an 
additional grain and green crop before sowing out, viz. ;— 
First, Oats; next Potatoes, with dung and guano; then 
Wheat ; then Turnips, with dung and bones mixed ; then 
Barley or Oats, with Grass seeds. —Galloway Courier. 
Constituents of Maize.—Dr. C. T: Jackson made a 
verbal communication on researches made by himself and 
Mr. A. A. Hayes, of Roxbury, respecting the saline and 
other ingredients of Zea mays, and other grains, exhibiting 
specimens of seeds to which Mr. Hayes’ test of sulphate 
of copper, for the detection of the limits of the phosphates, 
had been applied. He also exhibited specimens to which 
tincture of iodine had been applied, which indicated the 
extent of the starch in each kind of grain and in several 
other plants. Mr. Hayes’ discovery of the limits of a 
salt of the, peroxide of iron was demonstrated by soaking 
es 
