FOREIGN AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 
157 
submitted to the notice of the council was derived from 
a first attempt at the production of the Indian corn 
sugar in America, but there was no reason why simi¬ 
lar success should not attend the trials made in this 
country. 
Flax. —Mr. Colman also presented to the society 
several specimens of flax, prepared by steam, with a 
view to its being spun on common cotton machinery : 
namely— 
Specimen, No. 1.—Green flax broken, and the fibres 
bcparated entirely by the action of machinery, and called 
the “ stem flax. 55 
Specimen, No. 2.—Green flax broken, the fibres sep¬ 
arated, and the glutinous matter washed out entirely, 
Dy the action of machinery and pure cold water. 
Specimen, No. 3.—Flax which had gone through the 
same processes as the two former specimens, with the 
addition of hot water, and a small quantity of alkali in 
the last water; also shortened and equalized for spin¬ 
ning. 
Specimen, No. 4.—Yarn spun from flax in specimen 
No. 3, on a cotton throstle, with the preparation and 
carding altered. 
Mr. Colman, at the same time presented a specimen 
of perennial flax, a plant growing wild in Calhoun 
county, Michigan, U. S., and transmitted to him by 
Mr. T. I. Walker, of Eckford. 
Silk and Cotton. —The following specimens of silk 
and cotton were also presented by Mr. Colman to the 
society:— 
1. A specimen of wild silk found upon the forest 
tree in the interior of Mexico, produced by an insect, 
said to be of the spider family, and resembling floss 
cilk. 
2. A specimen of silk-cotton, from a tree of the Ba¬ 
hama islands. 
3. A specimen of native cotton, found growing in a 
wild state in the interior of Mexico, the produce of a 
large tree. 
Mr. Pendarves, M.P., then moved a vote of thanks 
to Mr. Colman for the interesting specimens and de¬ 
tails he had brought under the notice of the council; 
and having dwelt on the advantages the society would 
derive from the information Mr. Colman, as one of 
their honorary members, would from time to time lay 
before them during his present visit to England, he 
would, he trusted, be enabled, after his agricultural 
tour through the kingdom, and especially after his per¬ 
sonal attendance and inspection at the ensuing Derby 
meeting, to carry back to America a favorable re¬ 
port of the agricultural improvements of the Old 
Country. 
The noble chairman was quite sure that the propo¬ 
sition then submitted to the council required no second¬ 
ing ; and the motion being put, the vote of thanks was 
carried unanimously. 
Protruding of the Uterus. —The Stamford Mercury 
says, that a cow, the property of Mr. Evison, of this 
place, a snort time since, soon after calving, protruded 
the uterus. Mr. Raynor, of Candleby, farrier, being 
called in, cut off the part, and to the surprise of every 
one acquainted with the operation, the cow is doing 
well. 
On the Relative Influence of the Parent Animals on 
the Sex of the Offspring. —In the Ten Towns Messen¬ 
ger, are some curious observations on this subject, 
which we extract. 
The influence exerted by the relative age of the 
parents in determining the sex of the offspring, I think 
I shall show to be considerable, all other things, as 
health, and condition, nature of keep, &c., being equal. 
If the male is younger than the female, or if they 
are of the same age, the offspring will probably be 
female. 
If the male is but very little older, a few months or 
a few years, according to the longevity of the kind of 
animal, the sex will be doubtful, and probably depend 
on their relative health and strength at the time of 
impregnation. 
And lastly, if the male be considerably older than 
the female, while yet his animal powers are undimin- 
ished. in vigor, the greater the difference, the more 
likely will it be that the offspring shall be male. 
The following table is illustrative of the relative in¬ 
fluence of the age of the parents on the sex of the 
offspring. This table is drawn up from the records of 
the British peerage, where, of course, every particular 
of marriages and births has been for ages recorded. 
Where the husbands were younger than the wives, 
to 100 girls were born 86 boys.. 
“ of the same age as the wives, 
to 100 « “ 94 — 
<( <e older from 1 to 6 years, 
to 100 « « 103 —. 
“ « older from 6 to 11 years, 
to 100 « « 126 — 
“ “ older from 11 to 16 years, 
to 100 “ “ 147 —- 
It will at once be seen, that the influence shown by 
this table is too striking to be the result of chance. It 
is drawn up from the ages alone, without taking into 
consideration any secondary causes, and yet, notwith¬ 
standing this, the probability is shown to be nearly as 
high as three to two in the extreme. Now, should the 
analogy hold good between man and domestic animals 
(and there is every reason to believe it does, in a great 
measure, with such as produce one or rarely more at a 
birth), I think it will be granted me, that this influence 
is sufficiently great to demand our attention. This, 
however, is the point at issue, which I hope your 
readers will aid in solving. 
That the relative condition of the health and strength 
of the parent animals at the time of impregnation 
should have some considerable influence in determin¬ 
ing the sex of the offspring, where the age and other 
circumstances are equal, it is easy to conceive, but 
very difficult to prove. I have no facts to offer on. 
this head, but the very marked manner in which the 
offspring in other respects sometimes takes after one 
parent, sometimes after the other, successively, is strong 
presumptive evidence that such would be the case with 
reference to the sex. 
Ventilation in the Cheese-room. —Mr. Livesey, in the 
Preston Chronicle, contends strongly for a plentiful 
supply of pure air where cheese is kept. He says full 
one half of the cheese, last summer, was very much 
faded and strong-flavored, and had to be sold at a re¬ 
duced price; in many instances, so much as 10 per 
cent, below the price of a good article. Although there 
are other causes which produce these effects, I have no 
doubt the chief cause was keeping them in close, small, 
confined rooms. I scarcely ever go into a cheese room, 
but I find both the door and window closed; and when 
these rooms are filled with cheese, the air is so bad and 
polluted, as almost to be suffocating. My first effort is, 
generally, to get the window open; but in this I am 
often frustrated, for I find it either without any open¬ 
ing, or nailed up; and in many cases the cheese are 
crammed into a small room, without window or any 
means of ventilation whatever. Cheese being animal 
matter , can not have too much air. I have noticed 
for some time, that those dairies that have been kept 
in a large well-aired room, have been quite sound; 
and those kept in a close, sickly room, were either 
