416 



THE AGRICULTURAL GAZETTE. 



[June 22, 



of tbe tub, spread it out, and dry it in the sun, or in a 

 warm place, and apply it by the drill. If it is to be used 

 on pasture land, the best time will be the end of March. 

 Let me here remind the farmer that in buying unboiled 

 bones, he should recollect that the younger the animals 

 have been from which the bones have been taken, the 

 greater will be tbe quantity of gelatine contained therein, 

 and nice versa. Old farmers have observed that the 

 bones of horses (which are only killed when old and unfit 

 for use) are preferable, and of louger duration than those 

 of any other animal. This is evidently owing to the large 

 amount of phosphates which they contain, varying from 

 70 to 85 per cent, thus confirming the view I take on the 

 subject of boiled bones. The agriculturist will find it of 

 more advantage to use the gelatine of unboiled bones, for 

 nourishing his pigs, than for applying to his land. It 

 will well remunerate him to buy fresh bones for the pur- 

 pose of boiling them together with other messes for 



nourishing his pigs. 



If the farmer does not wish to dissolve his bones after 

 •the efficient manner proposed by Liebig, it is better to 

 use bone-dust. He must not, however, imagine that 

 bones are a substitute for guano or farm-yard manure. 

 If the land is only wanting in phosphates, with nothing 

 either better or cheaper can they be supplied than by 

 means of bones. They are often found to produce no 

 effect, and in every such case which has -come under my 

 notice, I have found that the land either contained a suf- 

 ficiency of phosphates, or demanded a supply of alkalies. 

 Bones are almost as much misapplied as lime. All that 

 can be answered for certain to the inquiry. When should 

 bones be applied ? is, that pasture lands, on which 

 cattle have been continually fed and brought up, without 

 any substitute for the substances the earth has furnished, 

 with the exception of the manure of these cattle, must 

 ultimately fail, unless the bones of these cattle be re- 

 stored. By means of analysis a certain answer may be 



given. 



We now come to the adulteration of bones. Unboiled 



bones on only be adulterated when finely ground : there 

 are then often found mixed up with them carbonate of 

 lime (chalk, oystershells), lime, sulphate of lime 

 (gypsum), and sulphate of barytes. The most common 

 adulteration is the first, the detection of which lies in 

 every one's power. Take a weighed sample of bone- 

 dust and place it in a small Florence flask, the weight of 

 which is known and noted down ; as much muriatic acid 

 (spirits of salt), diluted with its own weight of water, as 

 there is bone-dust is to be poured into the flask upon 

 -the bones ; violent effervescence takes place if adulterated 

 with chalk, whereas only slight effervescence if unadul- 

 terated. Bone-dust contains naturally about 3 per cent, 

 of carbonate of lime. After all effervescence has ceased 

 ■ for some time, weigh the flask open ; the loss in weight 

 will show the amount of carbonic acid, from which the 

 quantity of chalk contained in the bone-dust may be 

 estimated, remembering that every 45 parts of carbonic 

 acid corresponds to 100 of chalk. An adulteration with 

 lime may be proved, firstly, by an alkaline taste ; and, 

 secondly, by washing a small portion of the bone-dust 

 with water, filtering and adding a clear solution of car- 

 bonate of soda or oxalate of potash to the filtered liquid. 

 In both cases, a white precipitate indicates the certain 

 presence of lime. If an adulteration with sulphate of 

 lime, or sulphate of barytes be suspected, (this is found 

 •out by the increased weight,) the quantity may be thus 

 detected : — Take a dried and weighed sample of bone- 

 dust, put it into a Berlin porcelain evaporating basin, and 

 pour a quantity of slightly diluted muriatic acid, sufficient 

 to dissolve it. Heat it and filter through filtering paper, 

 and wash the residuum, if any appreciable quantity there 

 be, with clean water. Dry the filtrum, separate the 

 powder, and weigh it ; the weight indicates the amount 

 of adulteration. Should you wish to know whether it 

 be gypsum or sulphate of barytes, pour a little water on 

 the powder, and filter it ; add a small portion of a solu- 

 tion of chloride of barium to the filtered liquid •, a white 

 precipitate would prove the adulteration to be gypsum, 

 no precipitate (sulphate of barytes is insoluble) would 

 indicate sulphate of barytes. If the experimenter in 

 testing for chalk should find none, be may add a small 

 quantity of fresh acid, and heat the flask over a spirit- 

 lamp until nothing more dissolves ; an appreciable resi- 

 duum would indicate an adulteration. 



The only adulteration of which whole boiled bones is 

 capable is water. This may amount to 30 per cent. Any 

 one who has seen a dry bone will not be taken in. I only 

 mention this adulteration, because I have met with 

 farmers who told me that they preferred the boiled bones, 

 just as they are taken from the boilers. — Albert J., 

 JBernays, London, 



perceptible now or soon afterwards, the countenance looks 

 pale, and upon parting the fleece the skin is found to 

 have changed its vermilion tint for a pale red, and the 

 wool is easily separated from the pelt; and as the disorder 

 advances the skin becomes dappled with yellow or black 

 spots. To these symptoms succeed increased dulness, 

 loss of condition, greater paleness of the mucous mem- 

 branes, the eyelids becoming almost white, and afterwards 

 yellow. This yellowness extends to other parts of the 

 bodv, and a watery fluid appears under the skin, which 

 becomes loose and flabby, the wool coming off readily. 

 The symptoms of dropsy often extend over the body, and 

 sometimes the sheep becomes chockered, as it is termed — 

 a large swelling forms under the jaw — which, from the 

 appearance of the fluid it contains, is in some places 

 called the watery poke. The duration of the disease is 

 uncertain ; the animal occasionally dies shortly after 

 becoming affected, but more frequently it extends to 

 from three to six months, the sheep gradually losing flesh 

 and pining away, particularly if, as is frequently the case, 

 an obstinate purging supervenes. 



With regard to our remedial measures, little satis- 

 factory matter can be offered. There are few drugs 

 which the laboratory can supply but what have been 

 tried and found wanting ; and though salt has appeared 

 to have had more effect on it than anything else, it must 

 be confessed that hitherto medicine has offered no remedy 

 for this formidable and destructive disease. Prevention 

 must be our chief aim, and it is satisfactory to know 

 that much can be done by means of extensive and 

 general draining ; and it is hoped that before long, by 

 the aid of the legislature and the conjoint energy and 

 capital of both owners and occupiers of land, the system 

 will be adopted almost universally, by which alone this 

 disease is likely to be controlled or eradicated ; and at 

 the same time increased labour employed on the land, 

 and more abundant crops obtained from the bounty of 



Nature. 



It appears that, whether as a preventive or as a cure, 

 salt has a more powerful influence over this disease than 

 any other remedy. Its presence preserves even wet 

 pastures from the disposition to give the rot, for it is 

 well known that salt marshes are free from danger. In 

 what manner salt thus operates it is difficult to explain. 

 The blood in this disease is in a state of unnatural 

 dilution — it is deficient in its fibrous and colouring 

 principles : now, whether salt, which is a combination 

 of chlorine and soda, acts by restoring some portion of 

 those salts of which the blood is deficient, or whether it 

 is prejudicial to the vitality of the flukes and the eggs, or 

 whether it acts by the antiseptic power which belongs to 

 chlorine, we cannot tell, though its influence over the 

 disease is generally acknowledged. 



Our own advice as to remedial treatment may be 

 summed up in a small compass. The' sheep should 

 be removed from the unsound pasture as soon as possi- 

 ble, either to a salt marsh or the driest pasture that can 

 be found ; as much salt may be given as ihe animals will 

 take with their food ; to this the sulphate of iron may be 

 joined. Half a drachm daily for each sheep, with the 

 same quantity of ginger, may be given in nourishing 

 gruel. An aperient should be given once or twice during 

 the treatment, and may consist of one or two ounces of 

 sulphate of magnesia, or a large table-spoonful of common 

 salt dissolved in warm gruel or water. Food should be 

 given in as nutritious a form as possible ; and a pint of 

 Beans daily will be an excellent diet with good Hay on 

 sound pasture. 



Though Turnips cannot be considered as a cause of 

 rot, yet from the superabundance of water they contain, 

 they are highly prejudicial to sheep that are affected with 

 the disease, particularly if taken whilst a hoar-frost is on 

 them. Calomel has been strongly advised, but the recom- 

 mendation, as far as I am aware, has not been backed by 

 any successful cases. If tried by way of experiment, 

 about five grains daily, with four of opium, suspended in 

 thick gruel, may be repeated once a day for the space of 

 a week at a time. — Extracted, by permission, from Mr. 

 Spooner' s forthcoming work on the Sheep. 



THE ROT IN SHEEP. 

 The first symptoms attending this disease are by no 

 means strongly marked ; there is no loss of condition, 

 but rather apparently the contrary ; indeed, sheep in- 

 tended for the butcher have been purposely cothed or 

 rotted in order to increase their fattening properties for 

 a few weeks, a practice which was adopted by the cele- 

 brated Bakeley. A want of liveliness, and paleness of the 

 membranes, generally may be considered as the first 

 symptoms of the disease, to which may be added a yellow- 

 ness of the caruncle at the corner of the eye. Dr. 

 Harrison observes, M When in warm sultry and rainy 

 weather, sheep that are grazing on low and moist lands 

 feed rapidly, and some of them die suddenly, there is fear 

 that they have contracted the rot." This suspicion will 

 be further increased if a few weeks afterwards the sheep 

 begin to shrink, and become flaccid about the loins. 

 By pressure about the hips at this time a crackling is 



Home Correspondence. 



The Tussac Grass. — We are indebted to the kindness 

 of Sir William Hooker for the opportunity of publishing 

 the following extracts from a letter addressed to him by 

 the Governor of the Falkland Islands:-—"/^. 1, 

 1844. — If you take this valuable production of Nature in 

 hand, and make it known in England, there will be no 

 doubt of its being both valued as it ought to be, and ex- 

 tensively grown in the parts of the country best adapted 

 for it. I can now further add, that the experiment of 

 sowing seed in common garden mould in a spot not under 

 the immediate influence of the spray of the sea answers 

 perfectly, as also transplanting the young plants from 

 the natural habitat to other and totally different sites and 

 soils ; both these I have proved to my utmost satisfac- 

 tion, and I have also tried it in garden ground richly 

 manured. In fact, I am inclined to think that the Grass 

 will answer anywhere, and in any soil. To be on the 

 safe side, not to mislead people, I have only mentioned 

 in my despatches the sites natural to it, and have said it 

 may be cut twice in the year, but I think it may be gone 

 over four times. It grows rapidly, and improves much 

 by cutting, but is decidedly injured by grazing, at all 

 events, for the first three or four years. It is my inten- 

 tion to plant out a large field at Port William, the site of 

 the new town, planting it in rows ; and as I think there 

 is every probability of Oats and Barley answering well, 

 I shall be able to keep my horses in the stable, foddering 

 them with bundles of Tussac instead of hay ; and keep 

 my cows and sheep about the premises by throwing 



them down bundles of Tussac at night. It must be re- 

 collected that this Tussac grows, and can be cut. winter 

 and summer alike. You will probably agree with me 

 that it ought to be immediately tried at the Orkneys and 

 Shetlands. It would be a wise thing in the gentlemen 

 of these Islands to subscribe, and send an agent here to 

 collect seed and study the habits of the Grass ; he should 

 arrive at the latter end of October, and start again after 

 three months' residence, bringing with him a small port- 

 able house (in preference to a tent) from Manning, the 

 builder,of Stepney and Holborn. The house should bethe 

 fac simile of one he has lately sent me, by order of Go- 

 vernment, for the Survey Department. It is 10 feet 

 square, fitting in pannels, with a hipped roof and two 

 glass doors (so as always to have one to open to lee- 

 ward). The expeuse is about 20/. or 25/., and would sell 

 when he went away for 30/., or more. It puts up and 

 takes to pieces in a few hours. He should also bring 

 about 200 bricks, a small barrel of lime, and a ton or two 

 of coals, with biscuit, tea, and sugar. You see I am 

 practical in my ideas, and descend to details. Expe- 

 rience makes every person practical. The exppnse of 

 sending such an agent would be far more than repaid by 

 the abundance of seed he could collect, and the care he 

 would take of it on the passage home. I have sent 

 some seed to you inclosed in a box, with much 

 more to Lord Stanley. A settler here sends, by 

 the same opportunity, a quantity on speculation for 

 sale. I hope every summer to be able to collect some 

 from u Hooker's Islet," at the sea-board, at the east 

 end of Jackson's harbour ; your son knows the place. 

 Mind the birds when the seed-vessels are ripening on the 

 Grass. I was robbed of all mine from the patch in the 

 garden in one morning. On the Tussac Islands, when 

 the seed is ripe, our Falkland sparrows are in myriads, 

 filling the air with their chirpings of delight. I must 

 stop about the Tussac, or you will think I ridemy hobby 

 to death. Who, however, can help being enthusiastic 

 when, filled with gratitude to a bountiful Providence, 

 he contemplates this valuable production, and yearns 

 with earnestness for it to be appreciated as it ought to 

 be, clothing hereafter the wild sea-beaten regions of the 

 North with its rich vegetation ? My heart is always 

 full when I think upon it. Your son will be pleased to 

 hear that a patch of Barley, the seed being brought from 

 so warm a latitude as the Rio Negro (lat. 39 deg.), is 

 now in ear, as is also a patch of Oats ; the latter being 

 exceedingly vigorous and strong, not even in the very 

 slightest degree affected by the wind. It will be a patriotic 

 act to send us some Scotch Oats, Rye, Barley and 

 Wheat, Clover-seed and Rye-Grass. The Elder-trees 

 are high and strong, as are the Gooseberries and Sweet 

 Briar, Broom, &c. Roses from St. Helena are doing 

 extremely well. Many of the "Antarctic" trees in the 

 grave-yard are doing well, chiefly the Beeches."— .ft. C. 

 Moody. 



Adulteration of Manures. —I am grieved to say that 1 

 have had full confirmation of the truth of your Leading 

 Article in last week's Paper. I purchased 5 quarters ot 

 what is called bone-dust of a neighbour, intending to have 

 all I wanted of him this season ; I put 4 bushels in a 

 tub, and mixed it with acid ; I soon discovered that it 

 was not all bones, but a mixture of lime-plaster witu 

 other rubbish. I found a bushel weighed exactly /Olbs., 

 when a bushel from Messrs. Porter, of Bristol, weighs 

 46 lbs.; I therefore conclude that not more than 4U or 

 50 per cent, is bone. As soon as I discovered this infa- 

 mous cheat, I sent a parcel to Mr. Phillips, of Craig a 

 Court, to be analysed, and until that is done it will not 

 be proper to give names ; and therefore, while you may 

 make what use you please of this, do not mention where 

 it comes from. When the truth is ascertained, 1 teen 

 will be my duty, however much against my inclination, 

 to make the fraud public. I know of no less than ten 

 persons who have had this stuff to mix with acid, ana oi 

 course the trial must fail, and the blame will be laid upon 

 me. [From a known correspondent.] 



Tiats.—Afi a Mr. Meyer is making a secret of a poison 

 for rats, I publish a cheap and efficacious one, recom- 

 mended by the late Sir Humphrey Davy, as being taste 

 less, odourless, and impalpable (carbonate of ° ar y tes ' \ 

 oi., mixed with 1 lb. of grease.) It produces great 



thirst, and death immediately after drinking, thus pre- 



going back to their holes. i0 V^ 

 vent accidents to dogs, cats, and poultry, it MOW ^^ 



venting the animals 



vent acciaems to uogs, caia, aim y^«*v»j, -- - w :»l] 



spread on the inside of an iron or tin vessel hung 

 wire, bottom upwards, over a beam, just high enoug 

 a rat to pass under easily. I have proved the efficacy 

 this poison during many years, and have added m j 

 strong - smelling substances, without increasing / 

 success.— S* . t . 



Potatoes.— Reding so many opinions in 1°™**]^ 

 luable journal on the cultivation of Potatoes, i ws > 

 duced to try a method recommended a few weeKs . 



which was to set large whole Potatoes a yard apart, 

 in order, as I thought, to be sure of having a crop, ^ 

 alternate row I planted large cut sets ; the rows wer 

 inches wide, and that it should not be said that we 

 nure rotted the sets, I planted them without any. 

 result is, that I have fine strong plants from ™ rotte d. 

 sets, and more than one-third of the cut ones have r 



them over again, and you may depend tow d 

 plant whole ones in their place. The soil is Ug ; _ 



sandy. I have raked the soil nearly flat, and top-dre ^ 



with guano whilst we had the fine showers last wee . ^ 

 am now using the hoe to kill the weeds, which w» ^^ 



the guano to drop amongst the roots, and sn ^ 

 plough them tp ; the result of the experiment, u 



