282 
editor’s table. 
®iritor 0 liable. 
Etchings of a Whaling Cruise. With Notes 
of a Sojourn on the Island of Zanzibar; to which is 
appended a Brief History of the Whale Fishery. By 
J. Ross Browne. Illustrated by Numerous Engrav¬ 
ings on steel and wood. New York: Harper & 
Brothers. Pp 580. Large octavo. Price $ 2 . 00 . The 
author of this work appears to be endowed with 
respectable talents, and a refined education ; and, like 
many other young men, with an inherent desire to see 
the world, was induced to undertake a cruise in a 
whale-ship. In submitting his narrative to the public, 
he says that he was actuated mainly by a desire to 
make his experience as useful to others as it has been 
to himself j and, by a faithful account of the service in 
which he spent so eventful a period of life, to show in 
what manner the degraded condition of a portion of 
our fellow-creatures can be ameliorated. The startling 
increase of crime in the whale-fishery demands a 
remedy. Scarcely a whaler arrives in port that does 
not bring intelligence of mutiny. Are the murderous 
wrongs which compel men to rise up and throw off 
oppression, unworthy of notice 1 Will none make the 
attempt to arrest the fearful progress % Such a state 
of things surely calls for investigation. The work in 
question is undoubtedly a faithful and graphic delinea¬ 
tion of the whaling service, and the thanks of every 
true philanthropist we think are due both to the pub¬ 
lishers and to Mr. Browne, for their noble exertions in 
behalf of the suffering and too often oppressed mariner. 
Norman’s Southern Agricultural Almanac, 
for 1847. Edited by Thomas Affleck. Devoted 
exclusively to the interest of the South. New Or¬ 
leans : B. M. Norman. Pp. 86 . An almanac is indis¬ 
pensable to every one. But when, in addition to its 
calendar, eclipses, &c., it contains a large amount of 
information suited to the farmer, the planter, the mer¬ 
chant, the manufacturer, and others, forming a work 
of constant reference in the way of business, its value 
and usefulness are greatly increased. Such we con¬ 
sider the present publication to be, a proof of which is 
manifested by 48 of its pages being filled by the ad¬ 
vertisements of a large number of the business men of 
the South and West. The work is handsomely embel¬ 
lished, and is to be enlarged in future, and annually 
continued. 
A Treatise on Algebra, containing the latest 
improvements, adapted to the use of Schools and 
Colleges. By Charles W. Hackley. Harper & 
Brothers. Pp. 503, octavo. Price $1.50. This is a 
valuable addition to the many choice elementary 
works now in use among American students, embody¬ 
ing the latest improvements in the arrangement and 
classification of the science to the present time, from 
the best sources from abroad. Without attempting 
originality, the author has succeeded in incorporating 
much that is new to the American student, from the 
French, German, and English works on this subject; 
and he has thus given additional facilities for ac¬ 
quiring this important branch of a mathematical 
education. The work is well printed in clear type, 
and upon good paper, an important consideration to 
the student. 
The Tennessee Farmer and Horticulturist. 
Edited by Charles Foster, Nashville, Tenn. We 
have received the third number of a Journal of the 
above-named title, devoted to the improvement of 
Agriculture, Horticulture, the Mechanic Arts, and the 
promotion of Domestic Industry. It contains 24 oc¬ 
tavo pages, and is published monthly at $1 a year, 
f Introduction of the Cultivation of Rice 
into France. —The design has been formed of intro¬ 
ducing the culture of rice into the delta of the Rhone. 
According to experiments made on a surface of 25 
hectares (<31| acres), the rice plant promises a plentiful 
yield of about 50 per cent. In the sitting of the 
Scientific Congress, at Marseilles, on the 9th ult., a 
calculation was presented, according to which, above 
20,000 hectares (49,422 acres) of the salt lands at the 
mouths of the Bhone, and which is capable of being 
flooded, could be turned into rice fields. The whole 
area, at an average of 50f. per hectare, is now scarcely 
worth 2 , 000 , 000 f.; while if rice were grown upon it, it 
would be worth 3,000f. per hectare (the hectare is a 
trifle less than acres) ; and thus the landed pro¬ 
perty of the department would be increased in value 
by 120,000,000f., and even 300,000,000f., if this branch 
of agriculture were also introduced into the neighbor 
ing departments. 
Agricultural Statistics of New York. —The 
following statistics of agriculture are furnished by the 
Marshals employed to take the census of 1845:— 
Acres of improved land in the State - • • -11,767,276 
“ barley under cultivation. 192,503 
Bushels of barley raised.-.- 3,108,704 
Acres of peas under cultivation. 117,379 
Bushels of peas raised. 1,761,503 
Acres of rye sown. 317,099 
Bushels of rye harvested. 2,966,322 
Acres of oats sown. 1,026,915 
Bushels of oats harvested.26,323,051 
Acres of beans under cultivation. 16,231 
Bushels of beans raised. 162,187 
Acres of buckwheat under cultivation- 255,495 
Bushels of buckwheat raised. 3,634,679 
Acres of turnips under cultivation. 15,322 
Bushels of turnips raised. 1,350,332 
Acres of potatoes under cultivation.. • • 255,762 
Bushels of potatoes raised.23,653,418 
Acres of flax under cultivation -....... 46,089 
Pounds of flax raised.. 2,897,062 
Acres of wheat sown.. 1,013,655 
“ wheat harvested.-.. 958,233 
Bushels of wheat raised.13,391,770 
Acres of corn sown. 595,134 
Bushels of corn harvested.14,722,114 
Charcoal a Remedy for the Potato Disease. 
—Almost everything has been tried to cure the potato 
rot, but with little or no success 5 and the impression 
seems to be general that the murphy will rot, no matter 
what is done. 
The application of charcoal has recently been re¬ 
commended, and in a lew instances a trial has been 
given it, that has been successful. The following 
facts would seem to show that it sometimes answers 
as a remedy. 
Mr. N. Green, of Forestburgh, Sullivan county, 
planted, last spring, three rows of potatoes side by side. 
To one row he applied, at planting, charcoal ; to ano¬ 
ther, ashes ; and to the third, lime. When the potatoes 
were dug, there was not a rotten potato in the hills in 
which charcoal had been put ; while all the others were 
more or less rotten. 
Mr. John M. Towner, of Monticello, last year ap¬ 
plied charcoal, and his potatoes were all sound, and of 
a superior quality. This year he put it in but a few 
hills, which were not affected, while there was hardly 
a sound potato in the others. 
Mr. Harvey Hamilton, of this town, has kept pota¬ 
toes a whole year, with charcoal. They did not 
sprout nor wilt. 
Half-rotten potatoes have been put in powdered 
charcoal. In two weeks, the rotten part was found 
black and dry. 
These facts are interesting, and may lead to import¬ 
ant results. They are published for what they are 
worth, the writer hoping that others may be induced 
to give charcoal a trial.— Monticello (F2.) Watchman 
