132 
A'GRKT’T TURAT. NEW 5 *. 
Cure for the Distemper in Cattle. —The Earl of Essex 
says, that this first showed itself in one of my cattle 
by its discharging abundant saliva from the mouth, with 
sore and inflamed tongue and gums, very dull, no ap¬ 
petite, confined bowels, and very hot horns. I then 
desired the bailiff to give the animal one-half pint of 
the spiritsof turpentine, with one pint linseed oil: 
repeating the oil in twenty-four hours, and again 
repeating it according to the state of the evacuations. 
At the end of twenty-four hours more, the bowels not 
having been well moved, I repeated both turpentine 
and oil. In two days the beast showed symptoms of 
amendment, and in three or four took to his food again, 
and did perfectly well. All the yard beasts, and two 
of the fattening beasts, have had it (five others I had 
sent to London before the disease appeared), and all 
have been treated in the same manner with perfect 
success. Half a pint of turpentine is the smallest, 
and one pint the largest, dose during three or four 
days. Little food, besides oatmeal gruel, was given. 
Population of England , compared with the Surface of 
Land Cultivated. —A calculation by Mr. W. K. Brown, 
of the probable population of England in 1861, and of 
the territorial surface as the source of sustenance, esti¬ 
mated upon the state of population from 1791 to 1841, 
was submitted to Sir Robert Peel in May, 1844. In 
this it is stated that the 
Acres of land cultivated and uncultivat¬ 
ed in 1791, . 32,342,400 
Population estimated, - - * 7,500,000 
Four acres and a fraction for each person, including 
maintenance of horses. 
Acres of land rated or cultivated in 1841, 30,000,000 
Uncultivated,. 2,342,400 
32,342,400 
Population,. 15,000,000 
Two acres and a fraction for each individual, includ¬ 
ing maintenance of horses. 
The population returns from 1831 to 1841, give an 
increase of population in ten years, in England, of 
2,000,000, or about 13,000,000 in 1831. The same in¬ 
crease going on to 1851 (or seven years to come) will 
make at that period— 
Population in England in 1S41, - - 15,000.000 
Increase from 1841 to 1851, - - 2,000,000 
Population in 1851, - - - 17,000,000 
And in 1861, 2.000,000 more from 1851, 2,000,000 
Population in 1861, - 19,000,000 
— Condensed from the Jour, of Jig. 
Improvement of Barren Lands. —There are men now 
living who could remember when 40,000 acres of 
land, belonging to the late Lord Leicester, in Norfolk, 
which are now worth 40.000Z. a year, were nothing 
but rabbit warrens and barren heaths. Lord Yar¬ 
borough had 30,000 acres of land in Lincolnshire, 
which formerly let at 4s. Gd. per acre, and at this low 
rate ruined almost every farmer who rented it; this 
same land is now rented at an average of 25s. per 
acre, by farmers who are all making such large for¬ 
tunes that many of them keep their carriages. 
Age of the Queen Bee. —The precise age of the queen 
bee is not ascertained, but she has been known to live 
at least four years, and is perhaps the longest-lived 
insect we have. It has occurred to me that old queen 
bees are larger than young ones; if so, their growth 
is at variance with the received belief that “ the period 
of growth in insects is during the larva condition.” 
May there not, however, be an analogy in this respect 
between the queen bee and the mole cricket, which 
increases in size with age? But that insect, if I may 
so call it, belongs to a class that have no “abstinent, 
or chrysalid state.” Some old queen bees have a 
slight yellowish mark on their sides, which I never 
observed in young ones. 
Mildew has been shown bv naturalists to be a minute 
fungus, whose germs are floating in the atmosphere, 
and only require for their development, a particular 
condition of the surface of whatever plant they attack. 
Thus, their growth is, doubtless, favored—perhaps 
insured—by the exudation of sap from the ruptured 
vessels of the wheat plant, on which they may alight. 
This rupture may be caused by a plethoric state of 
those vessels—perhaps, also, by a deficiency of silex in 
the epidermis of the straw ; and this condition is 
brought on by whatever occasions a great flow of sap, 
or causes it to continue too long; and the indications 
of it are a deep green color in the leaves and straw, 
and the continuance of this dark green color a few 
inches below the ear after the chaff has begun to turn 
off. When this symptom appears, a bad case of mil¬ 
dew is inevitable. 
That the excessive use of nitrogenous manures will 
produce this disease is evident, from the mildew which 
follows the use of nitrate of soda and guano, on rich 
soils and in growing seasons, as a dressing for wheat—- 
from that, also, which attacks the wheat growing on 
the sites of dung-heaps, when other parts of the field 
areffree from it—and also from the usually diseased 
state of wheat grown in highly cultivated gardens. A 
continuance of warm and humid weather, which pro¬ 
duces a rapid and luxuriant growth of leaf and straw, 
and keeps the plant, in this state when the grain ought 
to be approaching maturity, is highly favorable to the 
development of mildew. 
Value of Coal Ashes. —Part of a piece of wet heavy 
land was dressed with them; the result was most 
satisfactory. It could be easily seen at a considerable 
distance how far they had been applied; and the crop 
was quite as heavy as it could have been expected, had 
good manure been applied. I imagine they act not 
directly as a manure, but, like charcoal, they are in¬ 
strumental in absorbing ammonia and other gases, 
which plants are known to feed rapidly on; and to 
yield it to the plants, without giving off any of their 
own substance, which remains unchanged for years. 
Great Products of Potatoes. —Mr. Joseph Meloney 
says he has discovered a mode of culture by which he 
can obtain 1,000 bushels of fine mealy potatoes from 
one acre of land. He intends to publish a pamphlet 
detailing the means by which this extraordinary pro¬ 
duce is to be obtained. 
Alderney vs. Durham Cows. —In a late Number of the 
Ghronicle one of your correspondents said that an 
Alderney cow would not cost near so much to keep 
as those large beasts usually kept by milkmen I 
have now one small milch Alderney and two large 
Durhams; and the Alderney will eat nearly as much 
as the other two 1 
To Secure the Fruiting of a Tree. —Select a tree well 
furnished with blossom buds, just as they are begin¬ 
ning to expand. Take a potato-fork, and with it make 
holes all over the surface of the space occupied by the 
roots, heaving the earth by pressing on the handle, and 
with this exertion make holes about 18 inches apart. 
Having dissolved 1 oz. of nitre to 3 gallons of water, 
fill the holes with the solution. No manure must be 
given. Should, after stoning, the tree appear unable 
to sustain the fruit, the following preparation may ba 
applied in the same manner. To 1 gal. of blood add 
1 gal. of water and 1 oz. of potash. Stir the whole 
well together, and when it has settled, pour off the 
liquid, and mix 1 gal. of this liquid with 1 gal. of 
water, and pour it into holes made in the mannei 
already described.— Condensed from Gar. Chron. 
