234- Domestic Notices. — England. 



In a few days the leaves begin to wither and dry up, and the root is found in 

 a state of decay. This practice has been adopted on the farm of T. B. 

 Evans, jun. Esq., near Enstone, in Oxfordshire, and also by Mr. Harris, of 

 Keddington, in that neighbourhood, Sir Charles Throgmorton, in Glouces- 

 tershire, Lord Althorpe, in Northamptonhire, and others. The latter noble- 

 man, who is eminently distinguished both as a scientific agriculturist, and a 

 kind landlord, was the first in England to apply salt with success to the de- 

 struction of the common dock. 



Application of Salt in Ireland. — In the Irish Farmer's Journal, G. W. Irvine 6tates, that all 

 perennial weeds, the roots of which are not of a creeping nature, may be destroyed by salt ; but 

 he thinks the best mode of application would be to cut the plants over as close to the ground^as 

 possible, and immediately apply the salt to the green wounds. 



" In justice to deceased merit, it may be here mentioned, that the late Mr. Edgeworth, of 

 Edgeworthtown, was, many years ago,; in the habit of recommending salt to his tenants, for de- 

 stroying docks, &c, in the method pointed out by Mr. Sinclair, which, perhaps, was long before 

 the experiment tried on the farms of Viscount Althorpe. 



" Salt, in a destroying point of view, is also useful to the gardener. In the bark bed, pines and 

 other tender exotics are frequently much injured by worms getting into the pots ; a little salt 

 occasionally strewed at the bottom and around the sides of the pots, will effectually prevent this. 

 Auriculas, polyanthuses, Cape bulbs, &c, which are usually kept during the winter in frames, 

 may also, by this means, be preserved from the injuries of worms and slugs. A strong solution of 

 salt regularly poured over gravelled or paved yards and courts, &c, through the rose of a 

 watering-pot twice or thrice a-year, would destroy the weeds which give so much trouble 

 in picking them out, and which give a place such a desolate appearance when suffered to grow. 

 This I observed some years ago, upon throwing out on a paved yard some pickle, after having 

 steeped seed-wheat in"it. I think a much weaker solution of the same might also be useful in 

 preventing worm casts in mown lawns and pastures." (G. IV. I. in Irish Farm. Journ. Jan. 13. 

 1827.) 



Bishop Watson's Opinion on Salt. — " It has been known to some for ages, though perhaps it is 

 not so well known as it ought to be, that too much salt will for many years absolutely destroy all 

 vegetable life, and ruin the land on which it is laid. Bishop Watson, in an essay on salt, gives us 

 several instances, in which, when any land or town was condemned to be unfruitful or desolate, it 

 was always sprinkled with salt ; and he observes, as a remarkable thing, that it is still usual " to 

 raze the houses of rebels and traitors, and to sprinkle the ground on which they stood with salt." 

 He tells us also, that when the soil in Cheshire abounds with rushes and weeds, it is customary 

 to lay a quantity of rock salt upon it, as it is found utterly to destroy every vegetable, and that 

 " some of the African and Arabian deserts are thought to be barren by their having too much 

 salt in them, while many parts of Barbary are reckoned to be peculiarly fruitful, from their con- 

 taining a less quantity of it." It seems evident, that salt does not nourish vegetation. It only 

 putrifiesand makes useful as manure all the dead vegetable matter in the soil. It is not a food for 

 plants, though it prepares more palatable food for them than they would otherwise enjoy. Mr. 

 Parkes, in his Chemical Catechism, says of a conversation with Mr. Hollingshead, a great agri- 

 culturist, " I was informed, that from one bushel to six bushels to an acre of pasture land, always 

 make such land more productive ; but that a large quantity would, for two or three years after- 

 wards, render it actually sterile." Too little salt on dead animals will cause them to putrify, 

 where more will cure ; whereas, a little salt will nourish, and even bring to life vermin after sup- 

 posed death, though a greater quantity will kill them. These are very curious opposite effects 

 on the dead and living animal. (Newcastle Mag.) 



With reference to the Controversy respecting Salt as a Manure, I find it 

 stated in the History of Renfrew as a curious fact, that a Lord Napier took 

 out a patent for improving lands by sprinkling them with salt, in 1598, — 

 '' a project," says the historian, " that does not seem to have succeeded, as 

 it is no more heard of." (Robertson's Continuation of Crawford's History, 

 1818. Com. by A. W.) 



The Loquat, Eriobotrya Japonica. — I have been trying some experi- 

 ments with this fruit-tree, by grafting it on pear, quince, medlar, service, 

 and white thorn stocks. Those on the white thorn flourished beyond all 

 the others ; a plant, two years from the time of grafting, planted in a favour- 

 able situation, under a rock, and against a mud cottage, has shot upwards 

 of three feet, with every appearance of shortly coming into fruit, which no 

 doubt, if it sets, will ripen in the open air of our climate. (J. B. Boughton, 

 Mount, Kent.) — Whoever wishes to try experiments on this fruit, should 

 endeavour to procure scions of the very best varieties, which at present, we 

 believe, are only to be obtained from the garden of the Horticultural Society, 

 or that of Lord Powis. The variety in common cultivation, is supposed 

 to be as inferior to what might be produced, as a crab is to an apple. This 

 remark will apply generally to rare foreign fruits raised in this country from 

 seeds, and it should not be lost sight of by those who attempt the different 



