FOREIGN AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 
CM 
Mammoth Gooseberry. —Mr. T. Gibson, of Nottingham, 
grew a gooseberry, last season, weighing 35 dwts , 12 
grains. It is called the “ champion berry of England.” 
The members of the Horticultural Society intend pre¬ 
senting Mr. G. with a piece of pUte for growing such 
an enormous gooseberry. 
To kill American Blight. —Apply spirits of tar on 
the trees and shrubs with a painter’s brush, and take 
care to rub the material well into all the crevices 
Singular Agricultural Fact. —In the last week of 
April, Mr. H. Cayzer, of Mawgan in Pyder, sowed two 
fields of barley, but the dry weather which followed 
prevented a large portion of the seed from germinating. 
The seed which did germinate, however, produced a 
crop, which was cut and carried at the usual time ; 
after which the rain that fell in the latter part of the 
summer caused the remaining seed to grow, and Mr. 
Cayzer has now cut the second crop for the season 
from the same two fields. The latter crop is a fair 
one, and, if there is favorable weather, will turn out a 
good sample. 
The Heart changed Sides. —Some students, at Madrid, 
lately dissected a body, and found the heart on the right 
side. This reminds us of a calf lately killed by Mr. 
Barnes, of Buffalo, which had not only the heart, but 
the liver and sweetbread on the right side. It was 
said to be in perfect health at the time, and made good 
veal. 
Great Destruction of Worms. —The gentlemen con¬ 
nected with the Bowling Green, having long been 
annoyed with the eruptions made by the worms, had 
recourse to an experiment tried a few years ago, which 
consisted in merely pouring a mixture of water and 
corrosive sublimate over the ground, which brought 
them to the surface 5 and having a number of boys 
picking them up, they gathered together eleven stones 
{154 lbs.) in an area of 45 yards by 32. It may be in 
the recollection of some of our readers that twenty 
stones (280 lbs.) were gathered from the same ground 
four years ago. 
Potato Anniversary. —The 300th anniversary of the 
introduction of potatoes into Europe was lately cele¬ 
brated at Munich. 
Chloride of Lime for steeping Seeds. —In Germany it is 
considered of great efficacy. French beans steeped 
four hours in a solution of a quarter of an ounce of 
chloride in a gallon of water, were up and in rough 
leaf before others sown at the same time were above 
ground, and an equal difference was observable with 
other vegetables. 
Destruction of the Gooseberry Caterpillar by Salt. —To 
destroy the green worm, as also the small orange-col¬ 
ored aphides, which often injure the bushes and de¬ 
stroy the fruit, sprinkle the plants with salt and water 
early in the spring, before the leaves are developed: 
the mixture may then be made so strong as to whiten 
the branches, without affecting the future crop. Should 
the leaves or buds be in part expanded, the brine should 
be greatly reduced, say one quart of salt to about eight 
gallons of soft water, applied over the bushes from the 
nose of a watering pot.— New Farmers' Journal. 
Large Gourd. —An extraordinary large specimen of 
the mammoth gourd has been exhibited in York. The 
circumference of the gourd is five feet eight inches, 
and its weight 92 lbs. 
Splendid Agricultural Prizes in Cuba. —The Real Junta 
de Femento have proposed a number of prizes, some 
of -which are very large. One is # 1,200 to each of the 
three first owners of plantations who shall, during 
the years 1845, ’46 and ’47, settle on their lands fifty 
white families, provided with necessary implements 
of agriculture. To each of the three first sugar 
planters who, within the same period, shall settle 
twenty-five white families in lots—one half of these 
settlers to plant *he sugar cane, $ 6 , 000 . To the indi¬ 
vidual who will cultivate within the same period, a 
sugar plantation producing annually 45,000 arrobas of 
sugar purified by concentration or in a vacuum—the 
cane to be cultivated exclusively by thirty white fami¬ 
lies, possessing each a certain measure of ground, 
$ 20 , 000 . There are a number of other large prizes 
offered for the best machinery for purifying and boiling 
sugar ; for the improvement of the breed of domestic 
animals, &c., &c These prizes are more valuable than 
any we have ever before heard of. 
Guano—A Description of the Island of Ichaboe. —The 
following account of the Island from whence guano is 
taken, is from the letter of a sailor. “ Here I am, on 
the father of all dunghills ! an enormous mass of birds’ 
manure, called guano, lying 30 feet deep on the Island 
of Ichaboe (pronounced Itchebo). Conceive a barren., 
desolate, sandy coast,—but so sandy, so desolate, so bar¬ 
ren! withoul a soul, or a bush, or a stream near 
where it never rains, where the dew wets you through 
where it is so cold one gets the horrors, where the air is 
so obscure that one cannot see the land till he is a mile 
or two off. An enormous surf beating over the shore, 
rocks, reefs and shoals in all directions. Conceive a 
barren rock of an island off this coast to be covered to 
the depth of about 30 feet with a beastly, smelling- 
bottle sort of mass, looking like bad snuff mixed with 
rotten kittens ! Conceive 132 ships lying packed be¬ 
tween this island and the aforesaid sand and surf: 
fancy 132 masters of merchantmen,with 132 crews and 
132 sets of laborers, all fighting; conceive a gale of 
wind on the top of these—and you will then have 
only half an idea of the place I have at last got into.” 
Charcoal as Manure in a Drought. —During the severe 
drought in England the past summer, the Earl of 
Essex mixed 24 quarts of fine pulverized charcoal with 
2 quarts of turnip seeds, and drilled them in a single 
acre. They came up quickly and grew more rapidly 
than the crops without charcoal. By sowing charcoal 
with carrot seed they did equally well Charcoal and 
salt are not only direct food to plants, but powerful re¬ 
tainers of moisture. 
Recipe for drying Pears for Dessert. —Pare the pears 
and leave the stalks on; cover them with water; and 
either boil in a brass kettle, or stew in earthenware, 
until they are tender ; then lay them upon old dishes, 
and put them in a slow oven to dry; turn them fre¬ 
quently, that all parts may dry equally; when done 
put them in paper bags, and hang them in a dry place, 
or keep them in tin canisters or boxes. Reserve the 
water in which the fruit is boiled, and by constantly 
using this for the succeeding operation, a syrup is ob¬ 
tained, which gives a gloss to the fruit, as if sugar v/as 
used. I never use sugar for them. 
Bathing Lambs as a Cure for the Scour. —Lambs at¬ 
tacked by the scour sometimes die in a few hours, and 
sometimes live for a month. An examination after 
death shows that the liver is affected, and a good 
deal of water is found in the intestines. Mr. Fisher 
says that the most effectual remedy he tried, was to 
dip the lambs into cold water for twelve mornings 
successively, and that a running stream was preferable 
to a pond. 
Agricultural Institutions in France. —In France there 
are 21 model farms, and 771 agricultural associations, 
aided by government. The chief object of these insti¬ 
tutions is for improving the breed of animals, for en¬ 
couraging the culture of silk, wine, and other products 
of the soil, and for disseminating practical and useful 
information in topics of agriculture generally. Among 
the numerous experiments which have been instituted 
perhaps the establishment at Alfort for crossing various 
breeds of sheep, will be no less interesting than useful 
in its results. Will not our State government follow 
the example of France and other countries in this very 
important branch of education ? 
