FOREIGN AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 
99 
FOREIGN AGRICULTURAL NEWS, 
By the Steamer Niagara we are in receipt of our for- 
eign journals to the 27th of January. 
Markets. — Ashes, a slight decline. Cotton, an ad- 
vance of i d. per lb. On most other kinds of Ameri- 
can produce, either a trifling advance or an increased 
briskness of s-ale. 
Money continues very abundant at 2£ and 3 per 
cent. 
American Stocks. An increased demand at a mode- 
rate advance in prices. 
Business generally has greatly revived in England 
and Fiance ; and if no more political outbreaks occur, 
we may look for a greatly improved state of things 
during the present year. 
Important Fact in the Use of Liquid Manure. — 
Liquid manure is wasted if it is given to plants not in 
full growth, or just beginning their growth. This is 
true in all cases. If applied at other periods, it will 
have some effect, but not so much. — Gard. Chron. 
How to Restore Ropy Cider or Beer. — Put half a 
pound of mustard seed into 60 gallons of ropy cider or 
beer, bung it closely up, and it will be fit for use in 
one or two weeks. — Ibid. 
Demand for Horses in England. — It is stated that 
the government of France has a number of agents in 
England for purchasing horses suitable for their troops. 
The steamboats from London bridge and Falkstone, 
are said to be daily conveying fine horses, also, to Bou- 
logne, for the supply of the Neapolitan government. 
JVew Variety of Wheat. — Advices from St. Peters- 
burgh mention that a new variety of wheat has 
recently been discovered and cultivated in Bessarabia. 
It is called Kolus, or large-eared wheat, on account of 
the peculiar beauty of its ears. 
Clipping Horses. — Observing a paragraph relative 
to clipping horses, I beg to state that I have lately been 
informed that the process injures the constitution of 
the horse in the long run, causing the animal to wear 
out sooner, notwithstanding every care may have been 
taken with him at the time of the operation and sub- 
sequently ; although it is conceded that at the time of 
clipping, the horse is thereby enabled to perform his 
work more easily, and also thrives better. — Agricul- 
tural Gazette. 
Effects of Living on Potatoes. — A person living en- 
tirely on potatoes may be said to be on the brink of a 
precipice, without a single inch of ground before him, 
when the only safety lies in retreat. The disadvan- 
tages may be shown in three different ways. 1. It 
leads to imperfect bodily strength and unsoundness of 
health. 2. To increased mortality and shortness of 
life. 3. To loss of energy, and to a kind of stupidity, 
and want of interest in everything but what concerns 
the merest animal interests. A country in this state 
is always ripe for rebellion, and ready to join in every 
insurrection. — Philosophical Magazine. 
Extensive Cultivation of Potatoes in Ireland. — The 
Ballyshannon Herald, gives the following in the agri- 
cultural report for the county of Donegal : — Wheat 
and potatoes are putting down in this neighborhood. 
If seed can be got moderate, there will be avast quan- 
tity of potatoes planted this year, the demand for con- 
acre land being very extensive. There will also be 
large sowings of turnips and parsnips, as it is now 
fully proved that an acre of turnips or parsnips pays 
better than an acre of corn or wheat ; but the native 
esculent, (the potato,) is still the general favorite. 
Throughout this country the potato produced nearly 
an average crop last year, and the rot was not exten- 
sive — these housed are keeping well. About Donegal, 
Stranorlar, Letterkenny, Dunfanaghy, and Raphoe, the 
spring work is in a forward state. A vast quantity of 
wheat is down, and some potatoes also. 
Grafting Grasses. — Signor Calderini, of Milan, 
having observed that grasses have at each knot a shoot 
enclosed in the sheath of the leaf, which can easily be 
drawn out when the plant is young, introduced some 
of these into plants of" the same species, having previ- 
ously removed their young shoots, and more than one 
half of them succeeded. He then extended his opera- 
tions to grasses of different species, and succeeded 
in grafting panic on millet. The only difference ob- 
servable in the grafted individuals was, that they 
ripened their seeds somwhat later. — Annates des Sci- 
ences JVaturelles. 
Salt as a Garden Manure. — I can strongly recom- 
mend a dressing of this manure (except on very stiff 
land. ) To grow asparagus and seakale in perfection, it 
is essential, and I find a general improvement effected 
by its use in the bulk and quality of our culinary crops. 
It also destroys snails and other insects. For general 
crops, about j lb. to the square yard will be sufficient ; 
this should be sprinkled evenly over the ground when 
it is bare, and if dry, forked in immediately. To the 
crops of seakale and asparagus twice this quantity 
may be given ; it should be spread over the beds in 
winter, or early spring, and either forked in at once 
or left to be dissolved by the rain. — Agricultural 
Gazette. 
Small Pox in Sheep. — At, a time when a disease 
resembling small pox is prevalent in sheep, the fol- 
lowing extract from an unpublished translation of 
Linnaeus's " Tour in West Gothland," may have some 
interest : — " Some time ago the sheep had had an erup- 
tion upon the body, which the people called small 
pox ; but a person who had given his sheep Cardeben- 
edict, (Cnicus benedictus,) in the winter, had com- 
pletely preserved them from such a distemper, 
although they had been fed in the same pasture with 
others which were diseased." — Linnai TVastgotarcsa, 
p. 145, published in 1747, in Swedish. It does not 
appear clearly from the context where this took place, 
but probably in the Island of St. Helena, of which he 
had been speaking in the preceding sentence. 
Caper Plant at Malta. — I observed the caper bush 
growing in great abundance out of the crevices in the 
walls and ramparts on the island of Malta, where I 
spent two days in the end of June last. It was in full 
bloom at that time, and was really a handsome object; 
the long white stamens tinged with purple contrasted 
finely with the clear green foliage. Some friends who 
were wandering about over the island with me, sight- 
seeing, fell into the common error regarding the capers 
of commerce, and stoutly argued that it was the seed 
of the plant which we eat at our tables ; nor could I 
convince them to the contrary until I procured a 
branch with some unexpanded flower buds upon it, 
and showed that these parts were what were gath- 
ered for use. It is a curious fact that caper eater9 
generally suppose they are eating seeds instead of 
flowers, and it is sometimes hard to argue them out of 
that belief. 
I may mention, in passing, for the amusement of 
your readers, a good pun that was made unintention- 
ally, I believe, by a former governor of this island. 
Some of the people had been in the habit of gathering 
and using the caper buds, much to the annoyance of 
the government, and it determined to put a stop to the 
practice. An order was therefore issued, which staged 
that " no one was allowed to cut caper.s on the walla 
of Malta." — JVotes of a Traveller. 
Agricultural Education in the Island oj Cuba. — 
Three of the principal schools of Havana have insti- 
tuted a new department in which instructions are 
given in Chemistry as applied to Agriculture, and the 
j science of Agronomia, or cultivation of tho various 
[kinds of field crops. — La Crdnica. 
