58 
FOREIGN AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 
to destroy mice in the winter harboring round fruit- 
trees. 
Use of Charcoal in the Culture of Plants .—Almost 
every foreign agricultural publication that we take up 
is teeming with articles upon this subject, and from 
numerous experiments by the Abbe Piccone, he proves it 
without doubt an efficacious manure. It consists 
principally of oxyde of carbon, the primary element of 
vegetable productions. It is also found an excellent 
preservative from drought, and is sought for with 
avidity to spread upon ground liable to be burnt by 
the sun. 
Mr. Partridge, of this city, in one of his articles on 
city manures, which appeared in our December No., 
pointed out the use of charcoal and the waste of it 
here. When the value of such things becomes better 
known and appreciated among our farmers, we trust 
that our corporation will be able to receive $64 500 
per annum, rather than pay it out for the sweeping of 
the streets and carting away the offal. Several of the 
cities of Europe obtain considerable incomes from 
these sources; and we believe that our sister city of 
Boston, in Massachusetts, also does the same. 
Preservation of Grapes .—Cut the grapes from the 
vine, with one or two joints of wood from below the 
bunch, and.apply hot sealing wax to the end when cut 
off, and seal it closely, *o that no air can enter into 
the tissues communicating with the bunch. They must 
then be hung upon suspended cords in a cool airy room, 
taking care that they do not touch each other, and are 
not exposed to currents of warm air, nor where it is 
so damp as to cause mould, and they will thus keep 
for months. 
The American Agriculturist .—We observe our paper 
regularly advertised for sale in London, and we have 
already received several subscribers from Great Britain 
and on the continent, and are promised a considerable 
increase to our list as soon as the work becomes more 
known. We are certainly very grateful that our hum¬ 
ble labors in the cause of agriculture should be so flat¬ 
teringly appreciated abroad. 
The Bolt Grub, hitherto so destructive to cabbages, 
brocoli, and cauliflower, are effectually got rid of by 
simply soaking the seed in brine previous to sowing. 
To destroy the Red Spider and other insects .—Steep a 
quantity of bruised laurel in water for a day, and for¬ 
cibly syringe the leaves of any infected plant or tree 
with the liquid. 
If our correspondent, Mr. Vail, does not find what 
we recommended, page 55 of this No., efficacious in 
destroying the cocus on his orange trees, he will do 
well to try the above. We presume the laurel recom¬ 
mended is the same as our own, that grows so abun¬ 
dantly over the whole country. 
The Colored Embellishments of Paxton’s Magazine of 
Botany for April, ar eLcelia Acuminata, accuminated-lip- 
ped Laelia; Hovea Pungens,var. Major, pointed-leaved 
Hovea, large variety; Lantana Crocea, copper-colored 
flowered Lantana; Ribes Albidum , whitish flowered 
currant. The lantana is a rich, gorgeous flower, and 
the currant particularly delicate and pretty. 
Mould or its Principles in the Juice of Plants. —Mr. 
Hermann, of Moscow, thus writes to the editor of the 
Journal of Pharmacy : “ I have just made a discovery 
which will certainly prove to be of great importance 
in many respects, viz. that the chief part of the extrac¬ 
tive components of the juice of plants, and therefore 
those of officinal extracts of plants likewise, consists 
of the principles of mould; and I distinguish in these 
juices the following substances in particular : humic 
acids, mould-deposite acids, apocrenic acids, crenic 
acids, and extratactive humus. 
“ This discovery will, I hope, decide the question at 
present so much agitated, on the nourishment of plants, 
as it is highly improbable that these mouldy substances 
contained in the juices of plants, should not have been 
absorbed from the mould earth (humus), but formed 
from carbonic acid, ammonia, and water, by the vital 
process of the plants.” 
Agricultural Chemistry rendered Simple for Practical 
Purposes, by Thomas George Tilley. Parts I. to IV. or 
this work are announced as already issued from the 
press in London. 
Johnston’s Lectures^ on Agricultural Chemistry, Nos. 
XXX. and XXXI. for April, treat of the use of vegeta¬ 
ble and animal manures, and give 27 pages of experi¬ 
ments made with them upon different crops. These 
Lectures, and especially the experiments, ought to be in 
the hands of every enlightened farmer. They are of 
great value, and would be worth their cost to any one 
engaged in agricultural pursuits, ten times over every 
month of his life. We take pleasure in adding, that 
two volumes of these lectures have been republished 
by Messrs. Wiley and Putnam of this city, and that a 
third volume will be given by them as soon as all the 
parts necessary for it are issued from the English 
press. 
The Ladies’ Flower-Garden, by Mrs. Loudon. —Vol¬ 
ume I. of this magnificent work is now completed. It 
is in quarto with XLV. superb colored plates, and let¬ 
ter-press to match; giving a history of the flowers 
figured, and the best method of cultivation. 
Manure for Turneps .—Forty bushels per acre ot 
common cinder ashes, mixed with three or four gallons 
of train oil is found to be an excellent manure for tur¬ 
neps. 
Common Salt for fixing Ammonia .—It is stated in 
the Farmer’s Herald, that common salt scattered or. 
the dung-heap has been found effectual in fixing am¬ 
monia, for it immediately unites with the carbonate ol 
ammonia as it is formed, and a double decomposition 
takes place, producing muriate of ammonia and car¬ 
bonate of soda. 
The Duke of Northumberland. —We have the 
pleasure of presenting to our readers on the opposite 
page, another portrait from the celebrated stock of 
Short-horns, belonging to Thomas Bates, Esq., of Kirk- 
leavington, England. The pedigree of this animal is 
of the deepest kind, and his appearance is equal to his 
breeding. The artist has haidly done him justice in 
the loin and quarter, but his beautiful, fine, masculine 
head, wide, deep brisket, and round barrel, are to the 
life. His color is a rich roan, intermingled with a few 
patches of red and white. He is an animal of great 
piesence and finished action, and upon the whole, the 
choicest bull we ever looked at. He has been repeat¬ 
edly exhibited with his dam, Duchess 34th, at the 
great Agricultural Shows in England, and was never 
beaten. 
Production of Fat and Muscle. —Mr. Karkeek, of 
Truro, delivered an excellent lecture on this subject 
before the Probus Farmers’ Club. We see little, how¬ 
ever, in it that has not been said before by Leibig, 
Bousingault, and one of our own correspondents, Mr. 
Lewis of Kentucky, in the April No. of this paper. 
We quote two paragraphs from the Lecture. 
“ All the carbon of the food, not consumed m the 
lungs, was actually used in producing fat, and that the 
amount of nourishment required for an animal must 
be proportioned to the quantity of oxygen taken into 
the system. And as air was expanded by heat, and 
contracted by cold, it was evident that equal volumes 
of hot and cold air must contain unequal weights of 
oxygen— ergo , a larger quantity of food is required 
