Alarm Bell, Garden Scraper, and large Sycamore. 401 



common crop in the country, namely, beans, we find that though 

 this crop extracts from the soil about double the quantity of nitro- 

 gen, yet it by no means exhausts the soil so much ; it is even by 

 most farmers reckoned a fertiliser, and oat crops do better after 

 beans than most other crops. * If ammonia be the sole source of 

 nitrogen to plants, and if this be wholly got from the soil, as 

 theorists say, how does it happen that this plant, which takes 

 away so much nitrogen, is rather an improver than exhauster of 

 the soil? It would appear that the nitrogen of the air is made 

 available in some way not explained yet by theory. Apart from 

 theory, however, the benefits derived from keeping the soil open 

 and pervious are palpable to experience; we have seen it often 

 double the rate of growth. It is possible to go to excess even 

 here : too spongy peaty soils, containing too much organic matter, 

 get acid and sour when wet; or, if drained, are so spongy that they 

 will not retain the proper degree of moisture, and in dry seasons 

 less porousness is required. In deep, alluvial, fertile, loamy 

 soils, however, and in our moist climate, the more open and 

 porous the soil can be kept the better; and this state is best 

 maintained when fields long under cultivation are renovated 

 periodically, by bringing up a portion of the maiden or virgin 

 subsoil. 



Art. VII. Notice of an Alarm Bell, a Garden Scraper, and a large 

 Sycamore. By M. Saul. 



I suppose you will have observed in the Garde?ier's Chronicle of 

 June 11th, p. 390., the burglary at Mr. Tongue's house, For- 

 ton Cottage f ; perhaps the enclosed sketch may be of interest 



* Another part of the theory is, that food is beneficial to animals chiefly 

 according to the quantity of nitrogen it contains. This seems to be cor- 

 roborated by beans, which are excellent food for cattle ; they thrive well both 

 on the beans and straw, and cows give a far richer milk. We find, however, on 

 the other hand, that some foods containing little nitrogen are very nourishing, 

 as potatoes in this country, and maize in America, on which cattle are said to 

 get strong, and firm in the flesh. 



-|- The following is the paragraph alluded to. " We have received from a 

 correspondent, an account of a burglary committed on Saturday by a party of* 

 four men, at Forton Cottage, the seat of Mr. Tongue, situated about six miles 

 from Lancaster. The robbers, who were disguised, effected their entrance by 

 battering down the door with the trunk of a large tree ; and, after seriously 

 ill-treating Mr. Tongue and his servants, carried off all the money and other 

 valuables they could find. They remained a considerable time in the house, 

 having threatened Mr. Tongue that, if he made any alarm, they would take his 

 life ; and, after regaling themselves with wine and the contents of the larder, 

 they left the house about daybreak. An alarm was immediately afterwards 

 raised in the neighbourhood, and information sent to the police of this city, 

 but no trace of the thieves has yet been obtained." (Gard. Chron., June 1 Ith, 

 p. 390.) 



3d Ser.— -1842. VIII. d d 



