FOREIGN AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 
FOREIGN AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 
By the steamship Britannia we have our regular 
file of European journals to September 4th. 
Markets. —Ashes dull. Cotton had advanced £d. per 
lb., chiefly in the low and middling qualities, and was 
Drisk of sale. The stock on hand at Liverpool on the 
1st September, was 998,000 bales, against 933,000 same 
period last year. Flour excessively dull in consequence 
of the favorable prospects of the harvest. Beef an im¬ 
proved demand. Pork dull. Lard scarce. Cheese 
active and the market quite bare. Rice in fair request. 
Tobacco firm. Tallow scarce with an upward tendency. 
Wool large sales. 
Money continues plenty at 2 * to 3 per cent, notwith¬ 
standing the gigantic railway speculations. 
The Weather was propitious for the grain harvest. 
The rot in the potato crop was extending rapidly. In 
France the harvest was good, other parts of the con¬ 
tinent quite unfavorable. 
New Species of Rice. —Mr. R. Clarke, the senior assist¬ 
ant surgeon to the Colony of Sierra Leone, has lately 
brought into notice a grain called “ Fundi,” or “ Fun- 
dungi,” cultivated by industrious individuals of the 
Soosoo, Foulah, Bassa, and Joloff nations, by whom it 
is called Hungry Rice.” It is a semi-transparent 
cardiform grain, about the size of a mignonette seed; 
the ear consists of two conjugate spikes, the grain 
being arranged on the outer edge of the spike. The 
ground,” says Mr. Clarke, “ is cleared for its reception 
by burning down the copse wood, and hoeing between 
the stumps. It is sown in May or June, the ground 
being lightly drawn together over the seed with a hoe ; 
in August, when it shoots up, it is carefully weeded. 
It ripens in September, growing to the height of about 
eighteen inches, and its stems, which are very slender, 
are then bent to the earth by the mere weight of the 
grain. When cut down it is tied up in small sheaves, 
and placed in a dry situation within the hut, for if 
allowed to remain on the ground, and to become wet, 
the grains become agglutinated to their coverings. 
The grain is trodden out with the feet, and is then 
dried in the sun, to allow of the more easy removal of 
the chaff in the process of pounding, which is performed 
in wooden mortars. It is afterwards winnowed with 
a kind of cane fanner on mats. In preparing this deli¬ 
cious grain for food, it is first put into boiling water, 
in which it is boiled for a few minutes: the water is 
then poured off, and the Foulahs, Joloffs, &c., add to 
it palm oil. butter, or milk 5 but the Europeans and 
negroes connected with the colony, prepare it as fol¬ 
lows :—To the grain cooked as above mentioned, fowl, 
fish, or mutton, with a small piece of salt pork, tor the 
sake of flavor, is added, the whole being stewed in a 
close saucepan. This makes a very good dish, and 
thus prepared resembles ‘kouskous.’ The grain is 
sometimes made into puddings, with the usuai condi¬ 
ments, and eaten either hot or cold with milk. By the 
few natives of Scotland in the colony it is dressed as 
milk porridge. This grain could be raised in sufficient 
quantities to become an article of commerce; and I 
have no doubt would prove a valuable addition to the 
list of light farinaceous articles of food in use among 
the delicate or convalescent.” Before preparation the 
grain is said to be of a clear dull brown color, and 
when cleaned from the husks it resembles very fine 
millet .—New Farmers' Journal. 
Increase of Ergot .—Ergot has increased to an alarm¬ 
ing extent in this district, and Dr. Latham states, he 
has found it upon eighteen different grasses where it 
did not prevail before. The effect of ergot upon the 
human frame is dreadful, and we are informed by 
Professor Henslow, that people have died in a parish 
not far distant from his rectory in the most deplora¬ 
ble condition from subsisting upon ergotted-rye bread, 
their extremities having gangrened and rotted off. 
Whether the disease at this time prevailing amongst 
the cattle, sheep, and swine is caused by ergotted food, 
is, I think, a subject worth inquiry. In the early stage 
of the disease the mouth is affected, and ultimately 
the extremities gangrene and rot off; and the ailment 
among the cows, in milk, appears to be of an uncom¬ 
mon and unusual nature, in many instances proving 
fatal. Amongst the eighteen different grasses Dr. 
Latham found to be ergotted, are the lolium perenne , 
or perennial rye-grass ; hordeum pratense , or meadow- 
barley grass; triticum ripens , creeping wheat, or couch 
grass ; alopercuruspratensis , or meadow fox-tail; phleum 
pratense or Timothy-grass; dactylis glomerata , or cock’s 
foot, were found much affected, and which are most 
generally known to practical farmers. Ergot, I am 
aware, is not generally understood, and, indeed, 1 
believe there are many farmers who are not aware 
the produce of their farms is liable, or subject to such 
an evil. Wheat, in some districts, is often ergotted in 
a greater or less degree, and it has been ascertained, 
by experiment, that the sporules might be conveyed 
by water, and that plants, upon which this ergotized 
water had been employed, became diseased.— lb. 
Increase of the English Agncullural Society. —At the 
termination of its first year, in 1838, the members of 
this society were 690 in number, its income £1,128. 
Its present list of members is nearly 9,000, and its 
funded property above £9,000. 
Agricultural Chemistry in Schools. —At a meeting of 
the committee for promoting the introduction of in¬ 
struction in agricultural chemistry into schools, Mr. 
Aitchison, of Drunmore, was called to the chair. Mr. 
Milne, detailed the progress which had been made in 
carrying the objects of the committee into effect. 
There were now sixty-eight schools in which agricul¬ 
tural chemistry was taught, and a great stimulus h'as 
been given to their exertions by the General Assembly 
of the Church of Scotland, recommending the school¬ 
masters under their superintendence to teach this new 
branch of education. Professor Johnston moved that 
a cheap class-book on agricultural chemistry should 
be drawn up for the use of the scholars. Mr. Stephens 
agreed to assist in the compilation. The motion was 
unanimously agreed to.— Dumfries Times. 
To Destroy Weeds on Gravel Walks. —Put about an 
ounce of arsenic in a gallon of hot water, and pour it 
through the nose of a pot on the walk, or pitching. 
Another Method. —Having seen in your columns, a 
plan for destroying weeds on walks, or pitching, with 
arsenic, I beg to mention one which, I think, is more 
economical, and which I have proved to have the 
desired effect (on pitching). I have a large yard, which 
for years has been very much neglected—it was a 
complete mass of thistles, dandelions, couch, hog- 
weed, convolvulus, &c., in fact, it was covered to that 
degree, that you could hardly tell whether it was peb¬ 
ble or not. To keep men weeding seemed useless, so 
having a large copper, containing (when full), about 
60 gallons, I had it filled with water, and when the 
water boiled, I threw in about 50 lbs. of salt (not quite 
a pound to the gallon): this I had put on while boil¬ 
ing, and the result has been beyond my expectation ; 
the weeds being large I had them pulled up. This 
was done in the spring of last year; in autumn I found 
them springing up again, I then had the yard done 
with a solution not so strong as the first. This, too, 
proved effectual, and I had it done once this spring as 
a preventative, and I have had scarcely a weed during 
these last 18 months. This method not only eradi¬ 
cates the weeds, but gives to the pebbles the bright 
appearance of those by the sea-side. The reason why 
I mention this is, that I think the arsenic dangerous, 
and the salt is so much cheaper. I have not tried it 
on gravel walks.— Gard . Chron. 
