FOREIGN AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 
357 
Application of Steam Power to Agriculture .—At a late 
meeting of the Farmer’s Club at Wakefield, Mr. Hean- 
ley said : Steam power is one of the agents which has 
advanced the manufacturing, the mining, and the ma 
ritime interests of our country. Why is it not applied 
to agriculture? A great saving can be effected by 
using steam for thrashing, grinding, chopping hay or 
straw, and steaming food for cattle:—On thrashing 
corn by steam power, the saving is 2d. per load, for if 
wheat costs 5d. per load by horse power, it can be 
thrashed for 3d. per load by steam. I speak from ex 
perience of the last two years. Another advantage is 
d portion of the crop might be thrashed out immedi 
ately as it is carried from the field; Wheat carried 
immediately from the field measures better than at 
any other time; and in this respect is in the most pro¬ 
fitable state for selling upon the general average of 
years. By the application of steam thrashing the 
farmer would have it in his power to sell his corn at 
the time it fetches the highest price, and this could only 
be partially done by the application of horse-power. 
1 make the difference in cost of steam thrashing and 
that done by horses as follows .— 
BY STEAM POWER SAY 
3 men at 2s. per day,.£0 6 0 
2 women at Is. do.,----. 0 2 0 
2 lads at 6d. and 8 d. do.. 0 1 2 
Oil for machine and engine, - • • .. 0 0 10 
Coals and slack for engine fire,. 0 16 
Allow for wear and tear,. 0 3 6 
£0 15 0 
Thrashing 60 loads per day would be 3d per load. 
BY HORSE POWER. 
3 men at 2s. per day,.£0 6 0 
2 women at Is. do.,. 0 2 0 
2 lads at Qd. and 8c?. do.,. 0 1 2 
Oil,.. 0 0 4 
8 horses at 2s. do.,. 0 16 0 
£15 6 
Which makes it cost a fraction more than 5 d. per 
load of 3 bushels. 
The cost of an engine and thrashing-ma- £ s. d. 
chine fixed ready for work is,. 125 0 0 
The cost of horse thrashing machine, 
&c. about.•. 90 0 0 
Extra cost of engine,. 35 0 0 
Mr. Andrews, of Kirkham Lodge, said : I calculate 
a horse cannot last on an average above 15 years, whilst 
an engine with moderate care will last 100 years. 
Horses, whether working or not, are expensive in 
keeping; but w r hen an engine stands still, it is costing 
nothing A four-horse engine will do more work than 
eight horses—I mean yoked at the same time—for they 
never are all of one mind for pulling together. I re¬ 
collect once employing 18 horses to do some work, 
that is, six at a time, in three sets, relieving each other 
as they required it; but it proved tiring work. I put up 
a six-horse engine and it did the same work well. Ten 
per cent, upon the first cost will keep an engine in 
repair which works every day for 20 years; but the 
cost of those used for farming purposes, as has been 
stated, may be about 7 per cent.— Gar. Chron. 
Large Strawberries again —The Rev. E. Smythe, of 
Elkington, near Louth, Lincolnshire, informed me 
that he cut one a short time age, weighing 21 oz., and 
that at the same time there were two others partially 
destroyed, which he is quite sure would have weighed 
as much. This one of 2\ oz. measured 91 inches in 
ciicumference. It was seen by several gentlemen, 
there being at that time a cricket match close by. 
Mr. Smythe also says, that during the season he thinks 
he had eight which would have weighed 2 oz. each. 
I believe Mr. Smythe adopted the method I have 
done some time with every kind of strawberry; it is 
the late Mr. Knight’s plan Runners are taken from 
an old bed, and planted in the spring; no runners or 
blossoms are allowed for the first year. The second 
year of growth is their first and last for bearing Iruit. 
In consequence of the organizable matter stored’ up in 
the plants during a full summer’s growth, without any 
abstractions by runner or blossom, a greater quantity 
of fruit, and superior in quality, will be obtained the 
first bearing season than during any future season; 
therefore, my motto is, why not always have the most 
fruit, and crop strawberries like any other vegetable 'i 
Ibid. 
To make Potato Starch. —Potato starch is made by 
cleansing the tubers, grating or rasping them, and 
washing the pulp so produced in a sieve ; the water 
as it runs through the sieve carries with it the starch, 
which settles to the bottom if the water is allowed to 
stand for a short time, in a tub or vat. The water 
having been poured off, fresh water is added, and the 
starch stirred up and again allowed to settle, after 
which the water is poured off, the starch set to drain, 
and finally dried. The sound parts of diseased pota¬ 
toes may be used for this purpose, but the starch must 
be well washed, and not suffered to remain longer than 
possible in the first liquid ; and the slime or foul scum 
which collects at the top of the deposited starch must 
be carefully removed, otherwise the starch will be 
very liable to spoil. No more potato pulp should be 
made than can be washed at once, and the pulp should 
be washed as soon as possible, because, if kept, it very 
soon begins to ferment and putrify.— Ibid. 
Superior Method of Preparing Potatoes for Feeding 
Stock. —Mr. Boggild of Copenhagen, washes his pota¬ 
toes well, steams them thoroughly, and then, without 
allowing them to cool , he cuts them in a cylinder 
furnished internally with revolving knives, or crushes 
them in a mill, and mixes them with a small quantity 
of water and three pounds of ground malt to every 
100 lbs. of the raw potatoes. This mixture is kept in 
motion and at a temperature of 1 0 C to 180° F., for 
from one to five hours, when the thick gruel has 
acquired a sweet taste and is ready for use. Given in 
this state, the results of experimental trials are said to 
be—1st. That it is a richer and better food for milk- 
cows than twice the quantity of potatoes in the raw 
state.—2d, That it is excellent for fattening cattle and 
sheep, and for winter food ; that it goes much farther 
than potatoes when merely steamed ; and that it may 
be economically mixed up with chopped hay and straw. 
Edinburgh Jour, of Agriculture. 
Tallow and Train- Oil as a Salve for Sheep. —In the 
Highland and Agricultural Society’s Transactions for 
1844, pages 271-273, an article appeared, recommend¬ 
ing the use of tallow and train-oil, in equal parts, as a 
salve for sheep ; and, in reference to that article, a 
gentleman in Argyleshire, skilled in the management 
of sheep, writes as follows, under date the 9th July 
last: “ The salve I used for my sheep last autumn 
(viz. one half tallow to an equal proportion of train- 
oil), has, in every respect, answered the description 
given of it in the Society’s Transactions ; and one of 
my tenants whom, w r ith some persuasion, I got to 
smear thirty of his flock with that mixture, admits 
that they are in better condition than any of the 
others; that the wool will weigh as heavy as that 
done with tar and butter; and that he will get the 
price of white wool for it. The expense last year was 
a little greater than tar and butter, as I paid Is. 6d. a 
pint for oil, and 6d. a pound for tallow, but this year I 
shall get oil for Is. a pint,and if a quantity is required, 
at probably a lower price.— lb. 
Prodigious Mushroom. —A mushroom was recently 
gathered in a pasture adjoining Brightnell Park which 
measured 3 ft. 4 in. in circumference, and weighed If lb. 
