FOREIGN AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 
29.1 
FOREIGN AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 
By the arrival of the steamer Caledonia, we are in 
receipt of our foreign journals up to August 4th. 
Markets. — Ashes, a very limited inquiry. Cotton 
an active demand without any change of prices. 
Stock on hand in Liverpool on the 1st of August. 
800,000 bales against 1,058,000 same period last year. 
Flour and Meal dull, but in consequence of the loss in 
the potato crop, it is thought the latter article will 
advance. Beef large sales. Pork dull. Lardi improv¬ 
ing. Cheese of a superior quality much asked for. 
Naval Stores in request. Pice a slight advance. Tallow 
improving. Tobacco steady. Wool firm with a fair 
demand. A small quantity had been received from 
Oregon. It was in fine order, and sold well. The 
stock on hand of all kinds is light. 
Money quite easy at to 4 per cent. 
The Weather had been somewhat unfavorable to the 
in-coming crops, and considerable injury had been 
experienced: not enough, nowever, to affect prices. 
The harvest in France has been injured about the 
same as in Great Britain. 
The Apple Crop is greatly injured throughout Eu¬ 
rope. This will make American apples in greater de¬ 
mand than ever. 
The Potato Disease is ravaging Ireland again, and is 
more or less prevalent throughout Europe. 
Seed Wheat. —Whatever difference of opinion may 
exist as regards the wisdom of the recent alterations 
in the laws respecting grain, there can be none as to 
the necessity of adapting ourselves to our present cir¬ 
cumstances, and endeavoring to make the best of 
them. It is a known fact that in high latitudes the 
growth of plants is very rapid. The burst of spring, 
the splendor of summer, and the maturity and inci¬ 
pient decay of autumn follow each other with a swift¬ 
ness scarcely credible. The grain sown to-day, is, in 
a very few weeks, ready for the sickle ; and the high¬ 
er the latitude where it can be made to grow, the 
shorter is the period it requires for its growth and 
ripening. Grain which has been grown in the extreme 
north, when used as seed in a southern country, gives 
its first produce more speedily, ripening in a much 
shorter time, although at a second sowing it loses this 
quality. The fact has been recognized, and is acted 
upon pretty extensively in this country, it being com¬ 
monly recommended to obtain seed from colder situa¬ 
tions than those in which it is intended to be sown. 
In Sweden, grain is annually brought for seed from 
Torneo (in the north of the gulf of Bothnia, and 
almost within the arctic circle), and sown in lands so 
much exposed that the sowing lime is thrown so late 
that corn, excepting from seed thus obtained, has no 
time to ripen. Districts formerly on this account ut¬ 
terly barren, are thus rendered fruitful. Is it not then 
worthy of the consideration of some of our enterpris¬ 
ing agriculturists, especially of those who occupy 
high cold districts, whether they might not profitably 
import their seed corn from the northern European 
nations, and thus, perhaps, obtain a harvest in Sep¬ 
tember, where now it is commonly thrown into Octo¬ 
ber or November? With this resource it might be 
found that wheat could be growm more extensively 
and more profitably than it is to the west of Sir Robert 
Peel’s line drawn from Southampton to Inverness.— 
Gard. Cliron. 
To Pull Flax. —The time when flax should be 
pulled is a point of much nicety to determine. The 
fibre is in the best state, before the seed is quite ripe. 
If pulled too soon, although the fibre is fine, the great 
waste in scutching and hackling renders it unprofit¬ 
able ; and, if pulled too late, the additional yield does 
not compensate for the coarseness of the fibre. It 
may be stated that the best time for pulling is, when 
the seeds are begining to change from a green to a 
pale brown color, and the stock to become yellow, for 
about two-thirds of its height from the ground. When 
any of the crop is lying, and suffering from wet, it 
should be pulled as soon as possible, and kept by itself. 
So long as the ground is undrained, and imperfectly 
levelled before sowing, the flax will be found of dif¬ 
ferent lengths. In such case, pull each length sepa¬ 
rately, and steep in separate pools or keep it separate 
in the same pool. If the ground has been thorough- 
drained, and laid out evenly, the flax will be all of the 
same length. It is most essentia! to take time and 
care to keep the flax even, like a brush, at the root 
ends. This increases the value to the spinner, and of 
course to the grower, who will be amply repaid, by an 
additional price for his extra trouble. Let the hand¬ 
fuls of pulled flax be laid across each other diagonally, 
to be ready for the rippling — Ibid. 
To make Rhubarb Wine. —To every pound of green 
rhubarb stalks, when bruised, put a quart of cold 
spring water; let it stand three days, stirring it twice 
in a day, then press, and strain it through a sieve, and 
to every gallon of the liquor, put 2£ or 3 lbs. of good 
loaf sugar; barrel it, and to every 5 gallons add a 
bottle of white brandy; hang apiece of isinglass in 
the vessel, suspended by a string, and stop it up close; 
in six months if the sweetness be sufficiently off', bot¬ 
tle it for use, otherwise let it stand in the cask a longer 
time.— lb. 
Preserving Rhubarb. —In addition to “ preserving it 
with sugar like raspberries,” rhubarb can be very suc¬ 
cessfully and agreeably preserved—in bottles as green 
gooseberries are—ped the stalks and cut them into 
pieces as for a tart, and then treat them as if they 
were gooseberries. Rhubarb bottled thus gives us ex¬ 
cellent tarts and pies at Christmas. It can also be 
dried as angelica, and makes a very agreeable dried 
preserve. Have any of your correspondents ever tried 
dried strawberries? They are very good,and the abun¬ 
dant crop of this year will give material to experiment 
on.— lb. 
Bones dissolved in Caustic Ley. —I have seen much 
in your paper of bones being dissolved in sulphuric 
acid as a manure. Are you aware that bones may be 
dissolved in the alkaline ley of the soap boiler, and 
will form a paste of the consistence of butter, which 
may be reduced to any thinness of fluid required for 
application as a liquid manure? Am I wrong in be¬ 
lieving that, as the solvent power consists solely of 
soda-ash and lime, it would be a more powerful ma¬ 
nure than the bones w’ith acid ? There was a patent 
some years ago for making soap in this manner; 
whether the patent is in force now I do not know, but 
that can easily be discovered if thought worth while. 
—Ibid. 
Singular Fact in the Potato. —"We learn that here 
and there the new potatoes have been found, when 
dug up, to be sprouting from every eye. We have 
seen nothing of the sort ourselves ; and we venture 
to ask our correspondents if they have remarked the 
circumstance. It will be a new phase in the potato 
constitution should this habit prove to be general. 
The expression of our informant is, “ the potatoes 
before they are half grown are all growing again, 
throwing out roots and fibres from the eyes, and form¬ 
ing small tubers; a second generation in the year.” 
We would also make another inquiry. The only 
universal fact , relating to the potato disease of last 
year, was, that it did not appear at all, or in a very 
inconsiderable degree, in genuine peat or “ moss” 
land, which appeared to have some power of keeping 
off the decay. What we now are desirous of knowing 
is, Whether the experience of our readers teils them, 
that the same rule holds good this year? We should 
be greatly obliged by information on this point.— Ibid . 
