FOREIGN AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 
317 
FOREIGN AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 
By the steampacket Britannia, we have our files of 
European journals up to the 19th October. 
Markets. Ashes were firm and in good demand. 
Cotton had advanced |d. per lb., and a very large busi¬ 
ness had been done in it previous to the 16th, nearly 
100,000 bales having changed hands in a single week ; 
but on the arrival of the Caledonia at Liverpool on the 
17th, bringing more flattering advices of the state of 
the present crop, the market became flat, and the article 
receded |d., so that the real rise since our last, as the 
market now stands, is only |d. per lb. Stock on hand 
at Liverpool, 732,000 bales; at Havre, 96,000 bales. 
Beef was taken to a fair extent; the stock on hand 
small. Pork was held firm, with rather short supplies. 
Lard had slightly receded. Cheese plenty and rather 
dull. It was thought the better qualities would be 
sought for on the approach of winter. Naval Stores 
and Tobacco in moderate demand. Batter has ad¬ 
vanced a trifle. Flour had declined. Rice in fair 
request. 
Business generally continued very good, and the 
manufactories were in full operation. News had ar¬ 
rived from China of the full ratification of the British 
treaty; and it was anticipated that there would be an 
increased consumption of English goods in the Celestial 
Empire. 
Money still continued abundant, and to be had at low 
rates. The bullion was increasing in the bank of 
England. 
American Stocks were improving, and the holders 
seem unwilling to sell at present prices. 
Canada Flour .—The new Canada Corn-Bill is passed, 
and flour from the British Provinces is admitted at 7|d. 
per barrel, and wheat at Is. per quarter; equal to about 
15 cents per barrel, and 3 cents per bushel of our 
money. We are of opinion that this new bill will have 
a slightly-favorable effect upon our own market. 
The. Harvest in England had proved a good one, and 
things generally in Europe seemed to wear a favorable 
aspect. We trust they may long continue so. 
Great Sale of Stock .—At the late Exmoor sale of 
stock, £6,000 ($30,000) worth was knocked off by Mr. 
Moggridge the auctioneer. The quantity of eatables 
and drinkables provided for the dinner, seemed to be 
in proportion to the sales; two fat bullocks, and 4 hogs¬ 
heads of beer, being among the items on this occasion. 
Liverpool Mail.— Good Effects of Draining .—At 
the late annual meeting of the Liverpool Agricultural 
Society, the President, Lord Stanley, said that he would 
state one instance of the practical returns which might 
be expected from thorough, scientific draining. In 
1841 his father was about to enclose in the park at 
Knowsly a tract of about 80 acres. Of this 80 acres, 
about 20 were strong clay land, with a very retentive 
sub-soil, and the remaining 60 he remembered from his 
boyhood as the favorite haunt of snipes and wild ducks, 
and never saw there anything else. In the course of 
the first year the 60 acres maintained, and maintained 
very poorly during the summer, six horses ; and on the 
20 acres there was a very small crop of very poor hay. 
It was impossible for land to be in a poorer condition; 
and they would agree with him when he told them, 
that in breaking it up, they had some two or three 
times to dig the plow-horses out of the bog. In 1841 
the whole of this land was thoroughly sub-soiled and 
drained, and in 1842, what was not worth 10s an acre 
the year before, was in turneps, and on that land they 
fed off in five months, and fattened for the butcher, 80 
beasts and 300 sheep, and afterward carted into the 
farm-yard 350 tons of turneps. In the present year they 
had a very fair crop of barley and oats, which his friend 
Mr. Henry would be very glad to show to any gentle¬ 
man who felt any curiosity on the subject. Now he 
did not hesitate to say that that land was, at that mo¬ 
ment, worth 30s. an acre. The outlay upon it for pull¬ 
ing up old fences, thorough draining, tiling, and break¬ 
ing it up, amounted just to 11. 10s. per acre, just giving 
20s. for every 150s. of outlay, and giving to the land¬ 
lord a permanent interest of 14 per cent, on the money 
laid out on that unpromising ground. It happened 
that in the same year they took into their own hands 
land which had been abandoned by the tenant as per¬ 
fectly worthless. It was a large field of twenty-two 
acres of very poor sandy soil. It was drained at an 
expense of 2L per statute acre, and in the first year 
they fed off on that land 120 sheep, the regaining part 
of the turneps being carted to the farm-yard ; and he 
ventured to say, that at the expense of 2 1. per acre, the 
land was increased in value 10s. per acre to the land¬ 
lord, and 10s. to the tenant. 
Fences .—Lord Stanley said he had a word or two to 
| offer with regard to fences and the laying out of farms 
in this country. He was no advocate for the destruc- 
■ tion of hedges, or the destruction of hedge-row timber. 
He was well aware that in a country so flat and ex¬ 
posed as. this, it was not ornament only, but it was 
protection that was afforded by hedge-row timber. He 
was aware that the size of fields must bear some pro¬ 
portion to the size of the farm, and that the size of the 
farm must be proportioned to the capital of the farmer 
who occupied it; and with a conviction of the superior 
cultivation and economy of large farms, he would make 
considerable sacrifice rather than remove from any 
farm, too small though he might think it, an indus¬ 
trious tenant who was exerting himself to the best of 
his means and abilities to cultivate it to the best ad¬ 
vantage. But though he was not an advocate for the 
destruction of the hedge-row timber, some bounds must 
be set to the timber, and still more to the fences. He 
had observed in some parts of this country fields of two 
acres, one acre ?> and even three quarters of an acre, 
and the number’of fences this required could lead to 
no profit, but did much mischief. The other day he 
called for a particular return of the quantity of land 
gained in a district of 291 acres, by the mere removal 
of the fences, and laying the fields properly together, 
and what did they suppose it amounted to ? Why to 
22 statute acres, or nearly one seventh of the whole 
surface of the soil. 
Sub-soil Plowing .—The Committee on Farms and 
Crops make the following observations on the bene¬ 
ficial effects of sub-soiling:—Sub-soiling of land, after 
under-draining, we consider has been of great service 
in those instances in which we have seen it adopted. 
If there be any sub-soil on which it is the least likely 
to be beneficial, we think it is the very stiff" clays. 
The sub-soil plow is generally worked by four or five 
horses, preceded by a common plow with two horses, 
and loosens the soil about sixteen inches deep. One 
of the claimants has had a sub-soil plow constructed, 
which he can work with two horses, and which must 
be considered a great desideratum in sub-soil plowing. 
We have just seen a new description of sub-soil plow, 
at Mr. Neilson’s, of Halewood, and which is applicable 
for working between the turnep drills. It will loosen 
the soil twelve inches deep, is drawn by three horses, 
and is likely to prove a useful implement. 
Pharmaceutical Journal. —Sagacity of Bees. — A 
few pounds of honey had been taken from a hive (about 
six miles from London) and placed in a closet, under 
lock and key. The windows of the room having been 
