FORETGN AGUlCtlLTURAL NEWS-. 
284 
FOREIGN AGRICULTURAL NEWS, 
By the steampacket Hibernia, we have our files of 
European journals to the 4th October. 
Markets. — Cotton, as we anticipated in our last, 
has advanced fd. per lb., with large sales. The Wheat 
crop proves lighter on harvesting than it promised, so 
that importations from other countries to a moderate 
extent will be demanded. Lard is getting more and 
more into use in England, and manufactories for the 
purpose of making it into oil and stearine ‘have started. 
In other things we see little worthy of note, few or no 
changes having taken place since our last advices. 
Business generally continues good and money plenty. 
Stocks. —These* continue to improve, and a greater 
firmness is manifested in them. Investments, however, 
will be slow and cautious. 
Farmers’ Magazine. — Starch from Rice. — This 
starch, for the manufacture of which a,patent has been 
obtained, has many qualities that render it more desirable- 
for use than the ordinary starch made from wheat. It 
is finer, whiter, and perfectly free from impurities; 
while the linen and other materials in which it is used 
(( retain their stiffness, resist the influence of a humid 
atmosphere, and are not liable to mildew.” Another 
advantage which the article made from rice possesses 
over that produced from wheat is, that less by one 
fourth is required for the purposes of the laundry* 
The New Farmers’ Journal. —Improvement in the 
Cultivation of Hops. —To the list of the various pur¬ 
poses for which iron is employed, will probably soon 
be added the cultivation of hops. The Rev. Mr. 
Formby, vicar of Finsbury, has the credit of suggesting 
the improvement, which consists in stretching a stout 
wire along each alley, to which wire the poles are 
fastened. The advantages of this plan are, that poles 
of much less value than those usually employed may 
be used ; that the injury from gales of wind is avoided ; 
and that the alleys, being open to the influences of the 
sun and air, the mould, that fatal disease of the hop, 
is thus prevented. At Hailing, near Rochester, a gar¬ 
den of nine aeres thus cultivated affords a pleasing 
sight. 
Rags as Manure. —The value of rags has been proved 
by Mr. P. Howard, of Dowlisli Wake, near Bath, who 
dressed a forty-acre piece of land partly with rags and 
partly with lime, and put it into wheat. The result of 
which is, that the part dressed with rags is far superior 
to the lime part, producing stalks six feet four inches 
high, with the ears proportionably long and large, the 
produce averaging forty bushels an acre. Two other 
small pieces on the same farm, dressed with rags after 
potatoes and vetches, are equally prosperous. The old 
laborers of the place declare they do not recollect ever 
seeing such pieces of wheat before. 
Prolific Saw. —Mr. John Fox, of Haverigg, Millom, 
has a sow which, in five farrowings, has brought forth 
the most extraordinary number of one hundred and five 
Pigs. 
Grass Lawns and Lands. —Wc have frequently been 
asked about the best method of preparing and seeding 
lawns in England; the following from the London 
New Farmers’ Journal gives as good directions as we 
have seen. 
Whatever ground is intended to be laid down as 
grass, should be thoroughly trenched or deeply dug, 
and completely cleared of all discriminate plants; it 
should then be brought to the required level, and the 
larger stones and rubbish raked oft'; the edges of the 
beds, walks, &c., should then be carefully formed, and 
firmly trod and beat, and then the whole surface well 
rolled, that it may settle equally ; and finally, the edges 
carefully cut with a sharp spade, it will then be ready 
for sowing, and the following will be found a suitable 
selection of grasses for the purpose :— 
For one acre of light sandy soil.—Agrostis stoloni- 
fera, 1 peck ; anlliuxanthum odoratum, 2 do.; festuca 
tenuifolia, 1 do .3 festuca uuriuscula 2 do.; festuca 
ovina, 1 do.; poa pratensis, 1 do.; poa trivialis, 1 do.; 
Italian rye-graes, 1 do. ; Dutchclover, 1 do. 
For one acre of strong light loamy soil.—Alopecurus 
pratensis, 1 do,;; anthroxanthum odoratum, 1 | do.; 
agrostis vulgaris, 1 do.; festuca duriuscula, 1 | do.; 
festuca ov.ina, do.; Cynosurus cristatur, 1 do.; 
holcus lanatus 1 -| do.; pea trivialis, 1 do.:; poa pra¬ 
tensis, 1 do.; . Italian rye-grass, 1 do..; Dutch clover, 
1 do. 
This will not be more than sufficient for the quantity 
of ground specified, and it should be carefully and 
evenly sown, and well raked in and rolled, if the 
weather permit. When the grasses come up, the 
ground should be carefully gone over and cleared of 
all weeds and spurious grasses, as they appear ; strict 
attention to this will do to insure the future excellence 
of the lawn. During the first season after sowing, 
the grass may be mown three or four times, but not in 
hot, dry weather, and afterward, the oftener it is rolled 
! and mown the .better. 
Sussex Exprkss. — South-Doum Sheep .—The rise of 
the Glynde flock took place upward of sixty years ago. 
The late Mr. Ellrnan selected the best animals he could 
find from all the flocks of the county, wh-ch occupied 
many years. Next he classified them, and after half a 
century’s close attention, he secured a permanency of 
character for his sheep, to which may be traced all the 
leading improvements which the South-Down sheep 
generally have undergone; for until the established 
blood of the Glynde flock was introduced into the coun¬ 
ty flocks, the South-Down sheep was a very imperfect 
animal, in its flesh and in its wool, both of which were 
radically changed through the instrumentality of this 
distinguished Sussex farmer. Mr. Ellrnan before he 
died, had the pleasure of knowing that not only had 
the Sussex flocks undergone the most valuable changes, 
but also that the South-Down sheep were acknowledged 
to be.the best sheep in the kingdom, and were adapted 
for most districts, furnishing per acre a greater weight 
of meat than any other sort. The consequence of this 
acknowledgment was, the substitution in several coun¬ 
ties of our own county sheep; and even at the present 
time this practice is extending itself into other districts, 
and with so much success, that we find, at the national 
shows, distant flock-masters defeating our own neigh¬ 
bors even with our own sheep. 
The Gardeners’ Chronicle. — Great Division of 
Wheat by its Roots. —The newspapers have lately con¬ 
tained an incomplete account of an interesting experi¬ 
ment on the propagation of wheat by division of its 
roots, from which it appears that a field may be cropped 
with wheat without employing more than the 2,400th 
of the usual quantity of seed-wheat. By the kindness 
of Mr. Archdale Palmer we are now enabled to state 
the exact facts, which are explained in the following 
letter from that gentleman :— 
“ As my friend Mr. Pownall has anticipated my in¬ 
tention to make the following experiment public, which 
I have no doubt has attracted your attention, I can not 
longer delay transmitting it to you for the benefit of 
the Gardeners’ Chronicle, agreeably to my original 
.view, as soon as I had ascertained the actual result, 
and that could not be before the wheat was thrashed, 
which has been done this week. 
“ 1842:—July. One grain of wheat sown in a pot 
