260 
FOREIGN AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 
jForagu Agricultural 'Ntms. 
By the steamer Atlantic, we are in receipt of our 
foreign journals, to the 10th of July. 
Markets. — Ashes, firm, at an advance of one shilling. 
Cotton, an advance of id. per lb., with large sales. 
Corn, &d. to Is. higher per quarter. Provisions, a little 
lower, with the exception of bacon. Lard, an advance 
of &d. per 100 lbs. Naval Stores, and other American 
products, no change. 
Guano Water. — Half a pint of guano dissolved in 
6 or 8 gallons of water, and applied as circumstances 
require, has been found of service to many kinds of 
flowers. — Gardeners 1 Chronicle. 
To Keep Flies out of the House. — Stretch threads 
across the windows, at 'the distance of a quarter of an 
inch. Flies will not pass them readily, — Ibid. 
Poultry Management. — My poultry are of the same 
sort as may be found in any of the neighboring farm- 
yards ; the eggs of the largest and best hens have been 
selected for sitting, so that the stock consists of birds 
capable of covering 15 eggs, which is the largest num- 
ber I ever placed under a hen. The cocks are changed 
every two years, taking care to supply their place with 
fine, healthy birds of the previous year. Hens are 
•useless after the third year ; my plan is, in a stock of, 
say 30 hens, to introduce 10 young pullets every year, 
and part with ten of the oldest hens. One male bird 
must be kept to every seven hens ; but when more 
than fifty hens are kept, one to" every six is necessary. 
On the proportion of male birds kept, depends, I am 
confident, the number, as well as the successful fecun- 
dation of the eggs. About a month since, as an exper- 
iment, I placed 13 eggs, which I had procured from a 
farmyard where the proportion of male to female birds 
is about 1 to 15, under a hen and mark the result. 
From 13 eggs were produced three chickens; seven of 
the eggs, at the end of three weeks, were almost as 
fresh as when just laid, and three were addled. — Cor- 
respondent in Agricultural Gazette. 
Mr. Huxtable's Mode of Saving Manure. — The sheep, 
pigs, and cattle on the farm of Mr. Huxtable, at Wal- 
dron, stand, for the most part, on board floors. The 
framework on which they stand is made of spars, with 
interstices half an inch wide, through which liquids 
pass with ease. The said flooring, however, must be 
perfectly level, and raised 6 inches from the water- 
tight brick or stone flooring below, the under part 
being inclined to the drain communicating with the 
tanks. The space below the floors admits of room 
for a scraper like a gardener's hoe, used in cleansing 
out any manure that falls through between the inter- 
stices of the spars. Each wooden spar must be 2-f- 
inches wide, and 1^- thick. Still, cattle cannot well do 
without a little straw spread on the boards ; much 
less, however, suffices, than when they stand on a 
brick or stone basement. — • Gardeners' Chronicle. 
Roots Choking Drains. — In a recent case, where 
some poplar and larch trees stood about 16 to 18 feet 
from the line of a main drain, laid through a field, it 
was found that in two years the drain had become 
chokeab'with roots , and it is believed that in many in- 
stances, where drainage has not produced, those im- 
provements in land which were anticipated, and even 
where hedgerows cross or adjoin any portion of a main 
drain, the cause may be an obstruction of this nature. 
In the case quoted, however, the precaution of plac- 
ing vertical pipes at the junction of each of the 
parallel drains with the main, aided greatly in pointing 
out the cause. The drains in this case are said to have 
been made of horse-shoe tiles, well laid, and fitting 
closely at the joints. — Builder. 
| Death of Mr. Smith, of Deanston. — We regret to 
announce the sudden death of James Smith, of Deans- 
ton, the eminent agriculturist. He was found dead in 
his bed in the 10th of June. He was acknowledged to 
i have been the inventor and chief promoter of the mod- 
: ern system of thorough drainage ; that is, the drainage 
through the land by pipe drains, instead of over the 
I land by surface drains. More recently, he had been 
■ engaged as one of the superintending inspectors of the 
, General Board of Health, by whom his exertions were 
I more especially directed to the application of the sew- 
erage water, and refuse of towns, to agricultural pro- 
: duction. He was noted for his fertility of invention, 
i and a very high order of talent. He was personally 
highly esteemed by those who served with him, and 
by whom he will be greatly lamented. — Condensed 
•■from the Times. 
Cotton Cultivation in India. — Mr. Bright lately, 
moved in the British House of Commons, for an address 
to the crown, praying her Majesty to appoint a com- 
mission for the purpose of proceeding to India, to in- 
quire into the obstacles which prevent an increased 
growth of cotton in that country, and to report upon 
any circumstances which may injuriously affect the 
economical and industrial condition of the native pop 
ulation, being cultivators of the soil, within the presi- 
dences of Bombay and Madras. He said that his con- 
stituents were agreed upon the propriety of his motion, 
and that Manchester was convinced that the prosperity 
of its trade was intimately connected with this ques- 
tion. The cotton trade employed nearly 2,000,000 of 
the population, and had a greater capital engaged in 
it than any other trade in the United Kingdom ; there- 
fore, it was of the utmost national importance to have the 
raw material for this extensive manufacture, obtainable, 
if possible, from their own colonies. He contended that 
the East Indies was peculiarly well qualified for the 
growth of cotton, and that a judicious cultivation of it 
in that empire would confer immense advantages on 
India, as well as on Great Britain, and all her depen- 
dencies. . 
Dissolving Bones by Sidphuric Acid. — Various 
quantities of acid have been named as the proper quan- 
tity. If the bones are to be completely decomposed, 
hdlf their weight in acid will be required ; but we do 
not think it advisable to complete their decomposition, 
as a portion is then left for the following crop ; at the 
same time, a sufficient quantity of the bones being ren- 
dered soluble for the wants of the present crop. 
Our method of dissolving bones, is as follows : — We 
do not give it as being better than other methods, only 
that we have found it to answer the best. 
Into a tub or cistern, place a quantity of crushed 
bones, the weight having been previously ascertained ; 
level them, and add sufficient water to cover them one 
inch deep, adding sulphuric acid to the amount of half 
the weight of bones, stirring the mixture occasionally, 
for 36 hours. If the acid is good, and the bones free 
from chalk, the whole will have become a thick fluid 
by that time. This is the best method when it is in- 
tended to apply manure or other tillages for the wheat 
and seeds ; but if it is intended to carry out through a 
whole course of cropping, a fourth of the weight of 
bones in acid is sufficient, as it only decomposes a por- 
tion of the bones for the immediate food of the first 
crop, and leaves the other portion for the assimilation 
of the following crops as required. The decomposed 
bones are then mixed with sawdust, ashes, or other 
materials that will pass through the drill. 
Some persons add large quantities of water, and ap- 
ply it in a liquid state ; the great objection to this is, 
the extra labor required, and the uncertainty of its 
even application. — Farmer's Herald. 
