FOREIGN AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 
you know very well in Yorkshire, opening with a 
large wooden latch, and a hole to put your finger 
through from the outside to lift it up, squeaking on its 
hinges when opened or shut, the same to half a note. 
Advantages of Science to Agriculture .■ —A Report of 
the Wenlock Agricultural Club says, that a better in-_ 
stance of this can not be adduced than that of the cel-” 
ebrated French chemist, Lavoiser, who is reported to 
have cultivated 240 acres of land in La Vendee on 
chemical principles, in order to set a good example to 
the farmers; and so successful was his mode of cul¬ 
ture, that he obtained a third more of crop than was 
procured by the usual method, and in nine years his 
annual produce was doubled. 
Simple and Economical Plow. —Mr. Rouse has Intro¬ 
duced a plow, which, if it can do half what he prom¬ 
ises, will prove the most useful and perfect thing of 
the kind yet known. It is thus described : The share 
may be deepened, or flattened, to or from the land in 
an instant without stopping the horses, or the plow¬ 
man’s hand being taken off the plow; that it will go 
with or without a ground, with or without wheels, 
with a wood breast for turnep and summer land, and 
with any shaped iron breast that may be required or 
preferred; that it requires no sledge for its removal 
from place to place; that the coulter may be moved 
six ways, by a movement effected in an instant, and 
so firm that no horse can move it; that the furrow can 
be taken any width and any depth, up-hill or down¬ 
hill with equal facility; that it will be less expensive 
to the farmer and more easy to the laborer than any 
plow yet made, the whole construction being so simple 
as to be kept in repair at less cost than other plows. 
Great Sale of Short-Horns. —Mr. Watkin, of Plump- 
ton, made a sale at auction of 55 head of Short-Horns, 
last month. Upward of twelve hundred gentlemen 
were present, as bidders. The sale went off with 
spirit, and the prices ranged mostly from 20 to 80 
guineas ($100 to $400). The names of the animals 
are not familiar to us ; we can therefore form no opin¬ 
ion as to the breeding of this stock. 
Crops. —The weather in England has been unpre- 
cedently cold and wet during the whole month of May, 
and up to the 4th of June. The grain crops were con¬ 
sequently looking in some instances of a sickly yellow. 
The growth, however, is large; and if the weather 
changes favorably, an abundant harvest is anticipated. 
Grass and root crops were looking uncommonly well. 
Ayrshire Cows. —Count de Gourcy states, in his 
visit to Mr. Smith, of Deanston, that he has crossed 
his Ayrshire cows with Short-Horn bulls, and adds that 
this cross-breed proves the best milkers. 
South-Down Sheep. —The count also states, that he 
found at Mr. Watson’s, of Key lor, a flock of 300 
South-Down sheep, doing admirably on poor, wet, 
heathy -mountain pasture, that lets for 2s. only per 
acre. They subsist there eleven months of the year 
on this poor pasture a*one. The other month they 
have the additional food of turneps. 
Prolific Sow. —Mr. Wilkins, of Longton, has a sow, 
which recently brought forth nineteen pigs at a litter, 
eighteen of which are alive and doing well. 
Solon Robinson , Esq. —We find the excellent commu¬ 
nication of our correspondent, Mr. Robinson, of Illi¬ 
nois, which appeared in the February No. (p. 338) of 
the American Agriculturist, quoted at length in the 
London New Farmers’ Journal, of 22d May. 
Indian Com for Soiling. —The Journal above, rec¬ 
ommends Indian corn to English farmers for soiling. 
We often did the same when travelling in England, 
assuring the farmers, although the corn would not ear 
well and ripen with them, on account of their cool, 
1 25 
moist summers, still, as green food for stock, it was 
quite equal to their best grasses, and that a greater 
weight of herbage might be obtained per acre, than 
from any other grass that they could possibly grow; 
and tfiat it would come in at a time when other food 
was comparatively scant. We scarce know the value 
of corn and corn stalks at home here yet. 
Cultivation of Wheat in France .—The Revue des 
Economistes states, that the production of wheat has 
been nearly doubled in France within the last eight 
years. Forty out of every hundred acres of the tilla¬ 
ble land is now in wheat, and a greater quantity of 
this grain is produced in France, in proportion to its 
territory, than in any other country of Europe. 
Camellias .—A Parisian florist, famed for his camel¬ 
lias, sells £500 worth of that flower alone during the 
Parisian season, for ladies’ bouquets. 
The Murrain among Cattle. —This disease, by which 
thousands of cattle have been destroyed in the three 
kingdoms, still continues to rage in several districts, 
and is not extinct in Lancashire, though less de¬ 
structive here at present than it was during the winter 
months, when some of the Lancashire fanners lost the 
greater part of their stock. It is at present raging 
with very great violence in the south of Scotland. 
Increase of the Royal Agricultural Society. —This 
useful institution now numbers upward of 7,000 mem¬ 
bers; 1,436 having been elected the past year. Its 
funded property amounts to £1,100 ; and it has besides 
a surplus cash balance on hand of £1,200. 
Mr. Henry Colman. —This gentleman has arrived 
safely in England, and we notice his being present at 
a meeting of the council of the Royal Ag. Soe., and 
his making a short address, and returning thanks for 
being elected an honorary member. He made at the 
same time a donation of books on American agricul¬ 
ture to the society. 
Cleveland Lad. —On the opposite page, we have 
the pleasure of presenting our readers with the portrait 
of the prize bull Cleveland Lad, of the celebrated 
stock of Thomas Bates, Esq., of Kirkleavington, Eng¬ 
land. We had the advantage of seeing this superb 
animal at the great show of the Royal Agricultural 
Society, as also at that of Yorkshire ; at both of which 
places he took the first prizes, as being the best bull 
for his age present. He is an animal of immense sub¬ 
stance and great constitution, and very imposing in his 
appearance. According to our best recollection, the 
artist has flattered him a trifle from the pin bones to 
the rump. He is fine in his points, with a deep chest, 
and wide and well-projecting brisket, points in which 
Mr. Bates’s stock especially excel. 
Leibig’s Theory of the Nutrition of Plants.— 
This work has been powerful attacked by the celebra¬ 
ted German physiologist, Dr. Hugo Mohl, in a pamph¬ 
let of 60 pages, accusing him of not possessing even 
an elementary knowledge of the organization of plants. 
That to consider humus as the chief food of plants, is 
not true, &c., &c. Professor Schleider also agrees 
with Dr. Mohl in his opinion of Leibig’s late work. 
We shall give a synopsis of the pamphlet in our next. 
American Plants. —A great show of these com¬ 
menced in London the first week in June. It is said 
to be of unsurpassed magnificence, embracing 16C 
yards of winding walks, bordered by the most mag¬ 
nificent Rhododendrons imaginable, intermixed with 
Azaleas of many colors, and the broad-leaved Kalmia. 
Of the Rhododendrons, there was one specimen 18 feet 
in circumference, 9 feet high, and loaded with about 
600 clusters of beautiful pale violet blossoms. A broad¬ 
leaved Kalmia stood 1 feet high, and 19 feet in circum., 
and was a complete spread of the finest waxy flowers. 
