January 20, 18G3. j JOURNAL OF HOKTICCLTUEE AND COTTAGE GARDENES. 



63 



removed from the machine ? and what material is used to stitch 

 with ? I should very much like to apply the process with some 

 modifications, perhaps, to the manufacture oistraw " Woodbury " 

 hires for my own use. — John P. Edwabds. 



[The tall upright in the engraving to which you refer, is an 

 iron bar 1 inch wide by three-eighths of an inch thick, firmly 

 secured to the work-bench by means of a screw and not, and 

 perforated throughout its entire length with holes 2 inches apart. 

 This forms the fulcrum of the lever which is hinged to it by 

 means of a moveable iron pin, which is shifted upwards from 

 hole to hole as the breadth of straw increases. The rows of 

 stitches run only in one direction, being perpendicular in the 

 machine, and horizontal in the hive. The perpendicular lines 

 are perhaps rather too itrougly marked in the engraving of the 

 latter, as they merely indicate the successive layers of straw by 

 which the hive is formed. The fabric must be properly stitched 

 with what material you please, 'lefore it is removed from the 

 machine. Most of the hives of this department were stitched 

 with bramble-splits, but one or two were neatly sown with (we 

 believe) iron wire. Now the rust from this would quickly damage 

 the straw where it comes in contact with it, but this objection 

 does not apply to copper, and copper bell-wire would be just the 

 material. Woodbury-hives made in this manner, with a wooden 

 frame an inch thick at the top and bottom, would be most 

 excellent.] 



WHINS, FTJEZE, OE GOESE FOE COWS. 



I hate received a letter on this subject, and gave the plainest 

 and the best directions I could ; but both for their sake and my 

 own, I would much prefer that any who wish for information 

 on the subject would provide themselves with my little book, 

 which contains so much more information on furze culture and 

 management, and testimonials to its utility, than could be given 

 in many letters. The price is but Sd. per single copv, or Gd. 

 each where four are taken, besides book postage ; to" be had 

 at Hartlaud's, Patrick Street, ; M'Kensie's, seedsman, Camden 

 Quay ; or at the printer's, Messrs. Landon, Bridge Street, Cork. 



Every day I have more reason to be convinced and confirmed 

 in my opinion that where furze is cultivated as directed in the 

 book, it is the most valuable seed which can be sown, producing 

 in perpetuity a greater weight of better food than treble the 

 same extent of best meadow. My crop this year is 14 stone the 

 statute perch, equal to 14 tons per acre. One perch sufficient 

 for four largest cows per twenty-four hours. Sufficient seed 

 sown in good ground in spring 'l861, and this from long ex- 

 perience certain to improve in quantity and quality, the prickles so 

 short and soft that (cut very short) the cattle eat it, as readily 

 and easily as they do clover or such kinds, and those fed on it 

 are in best condition; the expense of preparing a trifle ; with 

 pony power, that quantity is easily cut in a quarter of an hour 

 by the £7 cutter.— (Whliam E. Tovtnsend, Sector o/Agkadda, 

 iliddleton, in Irish Farmer's Gazette.) 



[We recommend this to the attention of those who keep a 

 cow on a limited space. That furze is relished by cows, horses, 

 and other animals, and that they thrive upon it has long been 

 known. The cavalry horses in Spain during the Wellington 

 campaigns were never in better condition than when their forage 

 was furze chopped small. This is no modern discoverv, for 

 Evelyn, Duhamel, Hunter, Martyn, and others record' how 

 team horses and other domestic animals thrive upon it. In 

 the Highland Society's, and the Royal Agricultural Society's 

 "Transactions" are many testimonials from practical men "to 

 its bullock and sheep-fattening properties, as well as to its 

 nourishing powers as a horse food. — Eds. J. op H] 



THE POISON OF THE STINGS OE WASPS AND 

 BEES A "PEEFECT CUBE!" 



Hearken unto me all you who are the victims of divers 

 maladies ; for may it not be in my power to impart unto you 

 the knowledge that a " perfect cure " lies near at hand, to be 

 found no farther off than in your own or your neighbours' 

 gardens ? 



Oh ! ye horticulturists who are afflicted with rheumatism, 

 let us in future hear no more of your painful experiences ; and 

 all who are seized with bronchitis, or troubled with lachrymal 

 fistula, and some other diseases of the eye, send not for your 



usual doctor, but take the remedy in your own hands if vou 

 have the courage to do so. 



It is simple. Let it be supposed that rheumatism attacks 

 your right arm. Sally out, capture the first bee or wasp you 

 can see, and straightway compel it to sting you iu the afflicted 

 member. Should the disease fly to your leg, treat that in the 

 same manner. If bronchitis be your assailant, meet its attack, 

 not by applying a blister to the throat, but by substituting the 

 sting of a wasp ; or, if disease of the eye be your painful por- 

 tion, fly to the same inexpensive remedial agent — the poison of 

 the stings of wasps or bees. The curative insect may well say in 

 the words of the ancient general, slightly altered, "I came, you 

 sjw, I conquered." 



Oh! shade of Sydserff! may there not have been some truth 

 in thy theory that the poison of a second sting counteracted 

 the effects of the first, and that fifty stings were better than one? 



In " Chambers' Journal " for December 27th, in the article 

 on " The Month," we find a notice of the foregoing discovery. 

 Dr. Desmartis and M. de G-asparin are the promulgators of the 

 theory. "Dr. Humboldt, nephew of the late illustrious German, 

 in his practice at Havana, has ascertained that the poison of 

 the scorpion tribe is a remedy for yellow fever. He inoculated 

 2478 men of the military and naval garrison ; 676 afterwards 

 caught the fever, of whom not more than sixteen died." 



Then with regard to rheumatism. M. de Gasparin writes, 

 " He had long been afflicted with a rheumatism which kept him 

 constantly infirm. One day, in picking up a handful of weeds 

 in his garden, he was stung by a wasp on the wrist. The arm 

 swelled, but the rheumatic pain disappeared. Seeing this result, 

 he caused himself to be stung the next day, along the seat of 

 pain in his leg, and was again delivered from suffering and able 

 to walk with ease. This happened three years ago, and every 

 subsequent reappearance of the malady has been cured by 

 similar means ; and by a wasp-sting in his neck, an attack of 

 bronchitis was overcome." 



I do not express an opinion on the value of this so-called 

 discovery, but merely quote the assertions of these distinguished 

 foreigners as given in the veracious columns of " Chambers' 

 Journal." — S. Bet an Fox, Exeter. 



SALT FOE PIGS. 



Whether right or wrong in my idea that salt is injurious to 

 pigs, I am glad the subject has been mentioned. Truth is likely 

 to be elicited by the discussion, and truth alone is my object. 

 Feeling convinced my pigs were killed by salt, I do not feel 

 disposed to set the subject at rest by trying its effects again ; 

 as, to say the least, it is not necessary to the well-doing of these 

 animals that they should be fed on salted food. A "friend of 

 mine living near Peterborough tells me his servant once poured 

 down some brine in which pork had been salted in his farmyard. 

 There were a number of small bits of meat and fat in the brine. 

 These scraps were picked up by the fowls and pigs, and one 

 pig and several fowls died. I cannot think it possible these 

 bits of flesh were in a state of decay ; and if they were, would 

 not expect fatal results to fowls, remembering ho'w I have seen 

 poultry pecking at carrion in a game-keeper's yard. In my 

 own case the potatoes were undoubtedly diseased, but as they 

 were boiled one would hardly expect them to be poisonous; 

 besides which, I have given large quantities of diseased potatoes 

 to pigs before and since with no ill effects. If salt was not the 

 cause of my loss, it is at least singular that my second loss 

 should have occurred the day after brine had been put in the 

 swill-tub. One of your correspondents says he has seen pigs 

 made very ill from eating salt. It would be interesting to know 

 how old these animals were. Mine were in each case rather 

 young store pigs. Supposing salt injurious, the power to with- 

 stand its effects may depend on the age and strength of the 

 animal and the amount of the salt eaten. Has any one seen a 

 pig eat salt alone when placed in its way, as sheep, deer, and 

 oxen will do ? H so, I shall believe salt beneficial. I hope some 

 one who can afford the experiment will salt his pig before its 

 death and report the result.— J. R. Pearson. 



IS SALT INJUEIOUS TO PIGS? 

 To this question I should say, No ; and permit me to give 

 my reasons for making such reply. 



In the first year of the potato disease (1845), I had a rather 



