7o8 
THE TROPICAL 
AGRICULTURIST. [February i, 1882. 
Cod liver oil jelly can easily be prepared in 
the following manner : — 
ft Cod liver oil 5 fluid ounces 
Best isinglass 2 drachms 
Sugar (white) powdered ... \\ ounce 
Oil of bitter almonds ... 4 drops 
allspice 4 ,, 
„ cinnamon (Ceylon) 2 ,, 
Water 1 fluid ounce 
Having placed the cod liver oil, isinglass and 
water in a suitable vessel over a water-bath, apply 
sufficient heat to melt the isinglass, then add the 
sugar, the essential oils having been mixed with it 
by triburation, and remove from the fire, stirring the 
mixture as it cools until it thickens. When it is cold 
a firm jelly will result, which will keep without 
spoiling for any length of time if put up in corked 
bottles. The consistence of this jelly is such that it may 
be taken in water, milk or wine without tasting the oil. 
— Pharmaceutical Journal. 
Change of Crop. — We frequently hear it urged 
that a complete change of crop in cultivated ground 
is necessary to success — such, for instance, as the 
four-course system often provided for in agricultural 
agreements between landlord and tenant. Yet, 
although this kind of change has its advantages in 
the case of some crops, more or less according to 
the nature of the land, the idea is often pushed 
"much further than there is use in, or need for. In 
Messrs. Osborn's nursery at Fulham there is this 
year, as usual, a considerable breadth devoted to 
maiden Peaches remarkable for their unusual, strong, 
even condition} and we understand that on this 
identical piece of ground maiden Peaches, alternating 
with Seakale, and nothing else, have been grown for 
forty-years, and Mr. Pitman, so long in charge of 
the fruit tree department here considers them the 
best maidens he ever had. Although, doubtless, some 
plants more than others exhaust the soil of the 
particular elements they require to build up their 
substance, yet, at all events, this piece of ground 
has not had its ability exhausted to grow the plants 
that without change it so long has borne. — Gard- 
eners' Chronicle. 
Broom Corn in America. — In connection with 
the subject of the more extended utilization of Broom 
Corn (Sorghum saccharattim) in America for sugar- 
making, a correspondent in Land and Water gives 
the following history of its introduction and cultivation 
in America : — This plant is said to have been introduced 
into America by Dr. Franklin, who, having accidentally 
seen a small wisp of it in the possession of a lady 
at Philadelphia, found, when examining it as an 
imported curiosity, one little seed left in it, which 
h" planted, and from this has sprung all the present 
Broijm Corn in the United States. The Shakers are 
the people who chiefly used to cultivate Broom Corn 
in America, and they did it in the first place for 
the purpose of manufacturing it into brooms. 
A little of the seed was sown, like other corn, in 
some gardens belonging to the Society of Shakers 
at Watervliet, New York, in 1791, and in the 
course of four years it began to excite attention. 
Some brooms were made of it, the handles being of 
soft maple timber, and they sold well at 50 cents 
each; so some machinery was erected of a very 
simple description, which has of course been gradually 
very vastly improved. But now a great part of the 
brush of Broom Corn raised in the valley of the 
Ohio, together with broom-handles, is shipped to 
England, it having been found that the brooms can 
be sold cheaper over here if made by us than if 
made there and exported to this country. The seed 
fattens sheep and poultry as well us Indian Corn 
does, and when ground and mixed with Wheat-bran 
it is given to mflch cows, — Ibid. 
Soy Beans in China.— The Soy Bean (Soja hispida), 
as is well known, is very largely used in China as 
an article of food. A kind of curd is prepared from 
them, but they are mainly used to manufacture an 
edible soil, and the refuse pulp after the expression 
of the oil is manufactured into cakes, the size and 
shape of large cheeses, weighing about 60 lb., which 
are used either as fodder for animals, or more 
frequently as manure, especially for Sugarcane plant- 
ations in the southern parts. The beans are known 
under three distinct varieties, black, yellow, and 
green: the yellow are said to be the I 'est, as pro- 
ducing most oil. It is stated in a recent report from 
Newchwang that the natives of that place boast 
that the oil made on the spot is much better than 
that made from the same beans after their arrival 
in the South. The harvest takes place in August 
and September, and the beans from the neighbouring 
localities are shipped from Newchwang before the 
river closes, and during the winter, when the roads 
are hard and the rivers can be crossed on the ice, 
thousands of carts arrive from the more distant districts 
with produce that is shipped away the following 
spring or summer. In fact, the shipment ofpioduce 
goes on all the year round as long as the port is 
open. Bean-oil and bean-cake can be kept any length 
of time without spoiling ; the beans themselves are 
more perishable, but will keep for a year or more 
if preserved from damp.— Gardeners' Chronicle. 
Orchard Planting and Culture. — Now tbat many 
an acre of wood, hop-garden, pasture, &c, is being 
converted into orchard, in the belief that fruit grow- 
ing is one of the best objects to which capital and 
labour can be employed in these days of agricultural 
depression, it is well to note that it is most essential 
that a good deep loamy soil should be selected, and 
which should rest on a dry subsoil — at least one 
through which there is natural drainage. Many an 
orchard has failed for want of attention to these 
essential conditions. Trees will flourish for fifteen or 
twenty years, and then decay, and it is a painful 
disappointment when such a disaster occurs. The 
farther north the site of the orchard, and the 
moister and colder the climate, the more necessary 
is it to have a proper subsoil. An old cultivator 
of fruit in orchards has remarked, that if the ground 
bo sheltered it is best to plant each tree upon a 
small raised mound of earth ; by this means the roots 
are always near the surface, and the trees are uniformly 
more fruitful in consequence. There are many orchards 
scattered about the country in which the trees are 
gradually becoming barren, and decaying for want 
of proper drainage, and those who plant now should 
endeavour to avoid the errors committed by their fore- 
fathers. In Kent and other fruit-growing districts 
where orchards are systematically cultivated, the matter 
of pruning receives greater attention thnn in some 
other parts. To have fruitful trees it is necessary 
to keep tbem open in their heads, not to allow a 
great quantity of small and cross branches in the 
insides, which prevent the wood from properly ripening 
in autumn, and the sun and air from circulating 
in summer. With proper pruning the fertility of 
the tree is promoted and finer fruit rewards the 
cultivator. Whether the soil should be sown with 
gras9 seeds or be kept cultivated is an open question, 
but modern practice follows the lead of the latter 
course, as bush fruits are in a large number of cases 
planted alternately with standard trees. In the case 
of a Cherry ochard fchw trees appear to flourish best 
when the soil is carpeted with grass, and thus it is 
that Cherry trees are generally planted by themselves 
and not mixed with others. An open cultivated toil, 
eare being taken not to injure the fibrous roots on 
the surface, is the best for standard Apple, Pear, 
and Plum trees.— ibid. 
