252 
EOREtGN AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 
with siilphuret of iron, from the pyritical iron ore of 
the country; a smell of sulphuretted hydrogen is some¬ 
times to be perceived about them; and I have seen 
sulphur sublimed among the peat-turf fires of the cot¬ 
tagers, who burn it. In the chemical changes which 
take place also among the bog where the water throws 
down its iron, I think it not improbable that the sul¬ 
phuric acid unites itself with a portion of the aluminous 
matter of the clay, and the plants may thus get alum 
in its nascent state. But, whether it be the super¬ 
abundant oxide of iron, the sulphur, or the sulphuric 
acid, or the aluminous compound, the fact of ferruginous 
peat-bog being favorable to the blueing of hydrangeas 
may be relied on. Perhaps it may be right to mention, 
that the subsoil of the above-mentioned hydrangea-beds 
*s of a chalky nature. 
Melons —-It is said that pigeon’s dung is the best 
manure for melons, and that the Persian fruit thence 
derives its superiority. I am not aware that this ma¬ 
nure has had fair, if any trial in England. In Persia, 
some nobles and wealthy individuals are said to keep 
ten, fifteen, twenty thousand pigeons, chiefly for their 
melon-beds. Not having been in Persia, the writer of 
this note can not speak from actual knowledge; but 
what is here stated is given on very good authority. 
•— E. M . [We understand this to be the fact. It is 
said that small towers, with a door at the bottom by 
which the pigeon’s dung can be cleaned out, are built 
in the melon-fields of Persia. No doubt Guano would 
have the same effect. But those melon-grounds are 
said to be regularly irrigated.] 
Grape Wine .—I gathered my grapes one fine day, 
threw a bunch into a tub, and pressed out the juice 
with (rather an uncommon press) an old but well- 
cleaned cricket-bat. Each bunch was thus pressed 
as it was thrown into the tub, and the produce was 
about four gallons of juice. To this was added about 
fourteen pounds of loaf sugar, and about four gallons 
of pure pond water. I allowed the stalks and seeds to 
remain during the process of fermentation (which was 
very steady for some days); then I strained off the 
wine, and allowed it to remain exposed to the air for 
another day; and finally I put it into an eight-gallon 
cask, which I did not bung down for three weeks or a 
month afterward, when all fermentation had entirely 
ceased. The wine was bottled off in about ten or 
eleven months, and has been mistaken by experienced 
travellers for Moselle. Encouraged by my success, I 
have since made two more quantities, but I have in 
both instances put the wine into the cask without 
waiting for the fermentation : and I put into it a 
larger quantity of sugar ; the consequence is, my wine 
now is like “ Champagne non mousseux .” I may add 
that the strength of the wine is very considerable; it 
burns like brandy, particularly that made last year, in 
which the proportion of juice to water was as three to' 
one. All wine-makers that I have consulted, have 
some nostrum or other to improve the flavor, and al¬ 
most all have the notion that brandy is indispensable ; 
but I have not used anything of the kind. The grapes 
I used were chiefly early white varieties, but I also 
used black Hamburghs, which were very far from 
being ripe. The time was October. 
Receipt for making Grape Wine .—The Gardeners’ 
Magazine says, take 4| gallons water, beer measure ; 
grapes, 5 gallons, beer measure, crushed and soaked in 
the water seven days ; sugar, 17f lbs., at 10|d. per lb. 
—the grapes, perhaps, 5s. The cask in which it was 
made held exactly 6f gallons, beer measure, and pro¬ 
duced 34 bottles of wine clear. A bottle of the above 
wine kept ten years, and proved very good. 
Rutter without Churning .—The Stamford Mercury 
informs us that a cow, the property of Mr. Smith, 
farmer, of this place, has been regularly milked for the 
last twelve months, but during the last thirteen weeks, 
after standing for two meals as usual, the cream when 
taken off has changed gradually to butter, without the 
assistance of a churn of any description; and when 
made up, is considerably firmer than any other butter 
at this season of the year. Strange as this may ap¬ 
pear, it is an indisputable fact. 
To Prevent Cattle from Scouring .—All neat beasts 
have a natural tendency to scouring and flatulent 
disorders; it is therefore a duty of the greatest im¬ 
portance to farmers, to sow and plant in pastures and 
hedges such herbs, in proper quantities, as are found 
to be the best remedies for these, and such other 
complaints as cattle are most incident to. Among 
many that might be mentioned, the following are 
very salutary :—lovage, agrimony, carraway, and cum¬ 
min. 
Grazing .—If bullocks are turned to graze as soon 
as the grass rises in the spring, they keep the ground 
so bare, that, if a hot season ensues, it is burnt up, and 
the farmer either finds a necessity of turning them to 
hay a second time, or his beasts suffer for want of 
plenty. 
Salt and Moss as Manure .—In the Farmers’ Gazette 
we notice, that Mr. D. Blackwood has used salt at the 
rate of 10 bushels to 18 cart loads of moss, and 6 loads 
of fresh farm-yard dung, and found that this com¬ 
post produced from 20 to 50 per cent, more turneps 
and potatoes, on the same kind of soil, than when man¬ 
ured with farm-yard manure alone. These experi¬ 
ments have been conducted since 1835, with uniform 
results, and they go to show, how very valuable the 
muck on our salt marshes would prove in a compost. 
Mr. Lewis makes the following remarks upon this ex¬ 
periment, and we beg especial attention to what he 
says about the salt being decomposed. 
The above is the result of Mr. Blackwood’s prac¬ 
tice, and I can also bear testimony to the fertilizing 
properties of the compound, from my own experience, 
having this year (1840) produced from its application 
15 acres of very fine turneps. In the compost which 
I prepared and applied, there were mixed 75 bushels 
of salt, or at the rate of five bushels an acre; and I 
remarked, after the fermentation had proceeded for 
some time, that the texture and nature of the compost 
changed, as it were, and the whole mass assumed a 
moist and rich appearance, which I ascribed to the op¬ 
eration of the salt in the mixture. I may observe, that 
a general want of success has hitherto attended the nu¬ 
merous experiments instituted upon salt for agricultural 
purposes, but then, these were never performed in such 
a manner as to prove satisfactory ; for the great secret 
appears to lie in submitting the compost to that degree 
of heat which is necessary to produce fermentation; 
and this process should be continued for some weeks 
previous to the mixture being applied to the land, so 
that the salt may either be decomposed, or undergo 
some change from the fermentation, which seems ne¬ 
cessary for developing its fertilizing properties. Now, 
the majority of those who have been in the practice of 
testing the properties of salt,-have either applied it to 
the soil in its mineral state, or have simply diluted it 
with some liquid; and even when a compound was 
formed of earthy matters, and other substances, the 
salt was simply mixed with those ingredients, perhaps 
immediately before being applied to the land, or at all 
events, without any attempt being made to produce 
that fermentation which appears to be essentially ne¬ 
cessary to the success of the whole operation: hence 
the reason why reports of experiments on the use of 
