JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
18 
[ January 6, 1881. 
The phosphate and carbonate of ammonia were wholly removed 
from solution; whilst in the case of the nitrates, and sulphates, and 
chlorides of ammonia, potassium, and sodium only the bases (am¬ 
monia, &c.) were retained, whilst the acids passed through. 
Some bases are taken out of solution to a greater extent that 
others. According to Kullenberg, the salts and alkalies are retained 
according to the following order, the most readily absorbed being 
first —ammonia, potash, magnesia, lime, and soda. The last named 
base passes very readily out of the soil; and as nitric acid is also not 
easily retained by the soil, the nitrate of soda is liable to be carried 
out of the ground by drainage water. 
The study of the composition of drainage waters throws light 
upon the absorptive properties of soils. The analysis of the latter 
shows that it contains the phosphates in large quantity, often from 
0.5 to l£ per cent, of potash salts, and small, but about equal, 
quantities of ammonia and nitric acid and of soda salts. 
In the drainage waters the nitrates greatly exceed in quantity the 
ammonia compounds, and they contain much common salt. From 
one to twenty grains of nitric acid per gallon are often found in 
them; whilst it is rarely that in these waters so much as the 
twentieth part of a grain of ammonia is found. As for the phos¬ 
phates, only the most minute trace is found in drainage waters, and 
often not even a trace. 
As salts of ammonia and superphosphate of lime are retained 
with so much tenacity by the soil, these substances may safely be 
applied long before they are required for the use of plants. Farm¬ 
yard manure may be spread out upon the field in winter, and exposed 
to rain with perfect impunity; for the ammonia and phosphoric 
acid compounds which are carried down into the earth by the rain 
will be kept securely by the former until required by the plant. On 
the other hand, nitrate of soda should be applied only at the time it 
is actually required, or shortly before that time; for, as we have 
seen, this article is retained by the soil only to a very trifling 
extent. 
It has been found that the very stiffest clays are not the worst 
absorbents of manurial ingredients. Sandy soils are not bad 
absorbents; but they are inferior to the light loams. The absorbent 
powers of the stiff soils are greatly improved by cultivation, by 
every process which renders them more porous. Just in proportion 
to the degree of porosity brought about by tillage will also be the 
beneficial effect produced upon the inert vegetable matter within 
the recesses of the soil by the action of the air freely admitted 
from without .—[Irish Farmers’ Gazette.) 
VARIETIES. 
The firm of agricultural engineers of Messrs. Ransomes, Sims, 
and Head of the Orwell Works, Ipswich, and 9, Gracechurch Street, 
London, will in future be designated Messrs. Ransomes, Head, and 
Jeffries, Mr. Sims’ term of partnership having expired. 
-Salicylic Acid v. Foot-and-Mouth Disease.— The following 
letter has been published by E. H. Moore, County Analyst, Brighton : 
—“ The valuable antiseptic properties of salicylic acid render it of 
infinite use as a local application in foot-and-mouth disease. Being 
perfectly harmless, it is equal to most of the remedies used without any 
risk. Its solubility is arrived at in a convenient form as annexed :— 
Salicylic acid, 00 grains ; water, 1 oz .; glycerine, 2 ozs. Dissolve in 
a glass beaker at a gentle heat.” 
- Late Entries at Poultry Shows. —Complaints are fre¬ 
quent of secretaries receiving entries after the advertised date. A 
certain amount of unfairness cannot fail to result from the practice, 
as it gives the old hand who knows that his entries will be received 
a week or so after date an advantage over the beginner, who believes 
that the announced date is adhered to. Seldom, however, has the 
system been carried so far as at the recent Ryde Show ; there entries 
were accepted so late that the catalogue was actually in print before 
they were received, and the numbers of many of the winning pens 
given in the prize list were not to be found in the catalogue. More¬ 
over, the Secretary, who was the most to blame in the matter, actually 
wrote to our representative to ask him to draw the attention of 
exhibitors to the inconvenience he suffered from the late entries ! 
- Sale op Homers.—W e much regret to note the breaking-up 
of the stud of Belgian Homers, the property of Mr. John Hudson 
(of Pelican House, Peckham Road, London), which are advertised 
in our columns as for sale by Mr. Stevens, at his rooms, King Street, 
Covent Garden, on Tuesday next, 11th inst. Mr. Hudson has been 
so well known for the last forty years as an importer and breeder of 
Homers—many of our best known birds, both for long distances and 
for taking prizes in the show-pen coming from his lofts—that we are 
sorry to hear of his retirement from the fancy. 
- Wheat-meal Bread. —The Bread Reform League has had a 
conference at the Mansion House under the presidency of the Lord 
Mayor, and is supported by a distinguished and influential list of 
patrons. The object of the organisation is solely to impart informa¬ 
tion on the great advantages of Wheat-meal bread as made on Dr. 
Campbell Morfit’s process of preparing the meal in a quasi-granular 
form instead of flattening it with the ordinary millstones, by which 
the flinty and irritative parts of the husk are retained. No one con¬ 
nected with milling or baking can become a member of the League, 
and there are no paid officials on the staff, all the funds that are 
subscribed being expended for the public benefit in advancing a 
system of bread reform. The League is anxious to forward at once 
to every clergyman, doctor, and chief magistrate in the kingdom an 
account of the Conference, and a copy of Miss Yates’ lecture (which 
contains all instructions necessary for grinding the Wheat and home 
baking), so that those who visit amongst the poor, and those who in 
any way can influence public opinion, may be induced to promote a 
movement so highly conducive and devoted to the general welfare of 
both rich and poor. The Honorary Secretary of the League is Miss 
Yates (Ladies’ Sanitary Association), 17, St. Edmund’s Terrace, 
Regent’s Park, London, N.W. We have tried this new bread and 
found it excellent, and superior to the ordinary brown bread now in 
use. We have also read Miss Yates’ lecture, which contains informa¬ 
tion of practical importance. 
- Bantam Club. —We see that efforts are again being made to 
form a Bantam Club. While we think the Poultry Club is the proper 
centre for all fanciers, we must admit that the Bantam exhibitors 
have recently had much to complain of, and perhaps have special 
need for a club of their own. At Birmingham a pair of Pile 
Game Bantams were awarded first in the class for “ Any Other 
Yariety of Bantams, cock and hen,” there being separate classes for 
Game Bantam cocks and Game Bantam hens, in which the Piles 
might have competed, and in which, in fact, most of the prizes went 
to Piles. Again, at Leeds there was a class for Game Bantam cocks, 
any variety ; then classes for Reds, Duckwings, Blacks, Whites, 
Sebrights, and Any other variety. Here again Piles monopolised all 
the prizes. This case was perhaps more doubtful than the ether, as , 
although there was a class in which Pile cocks might have competed, 
and did compete, there was no class open to Pile hens. We think 
schedules should be drawn up with more care to avoid questions of 
this sort arising, and we commend the matter to the attention of 
those about to form the Bantam Club. 
- The Extinction of Pleuro-Pneumonia.— In the “ Vete¬ 
rinary Journal” for December, which is edited by Mr. Fleming, the 
following remarks appear:—“The measures applied by the Dutch 
Government for the extinction of lung plague have been crowned 
with the utmost success. The decrease in the number of cases has 
been rapid since the adoption of these measures, and from September 
4th until October 2nd, the date of last information, no cases had been 
reported. Holland had been recognised as free from contagious 
bovine maladies by the German Government, and restrictions have 
been accordingly removed. It may be remembered that the measures 
adopted in ^Holland were voluntary inoculation where lung plague 
w r as not in existence ; but on infected farms slaughter of cattle really 
diseased, and compulsory inoculation of those not showing signs of 
the malady, had to be carried out. The value of inoculation, as on 
other occasions, has been most clearly demonstrated, and has proved to 
be as certain a protective as vaccination is of human small pox. The 
mortality following inoculation has been small, and no instance has 
been adduced of the disease having been spread or perpetuated by 
the operation. The experience of Holland dispels many notions 
entertained with regard to inoculation, and we can only regret that 
unfounded prejudice and narrow-mindedness have prevented this 
most valuable prophylactic from saving the country many thousands 
of pounds.” 
- Cambridgeshire Ornithological Society. — The third 
Exhibition of poultry, Pigeons, cage birds, and rabbits, open to the 
