30 
editor’s table. 
from 24 to 27 feet; at the height of a man, 18 to 21 
feet. The expansion of the branches is from 112 to 
120 feet; the height of the tree is 60 feet. A room 
has been built out of the dead wood, from 9 to 12 feet 
wide and 9 feet high.— Annals of the Agricultural So¬ 
ciety in Auslande, No. 142. 
We suspect for “ diameter” above, we should read 
circumference; for it is very improbable, that any tree 
in Europe can be 60 feet round its trunk at the height 
of a man from the ground. There is an oak now 
standing on the estate of Judge Lawrence, Little Neck 
Bay, Long Island, five miles from Flushing, which has 
a spread of branch of 125 feet, which is the greatest 
diameter we ever saw or heard of in an oak. 
Gardeners’ Magazine.— First introduction of the 
Rnta-Baga into England. —The Rev. Thomas New- 
come, Rector of Shenley, Hertfordshire, says, that Sir 
David Kinlock of Gilmerton, near Edinburg, told his 
father, when Vicar of Gresford, Denbighshire, that a 
Swedish nobleman gave him the seed. 
Ill health of Mr. Loudon. —It pains us to hear that 
this celebrated author of so many valuable works on 
agriculture, gardening, and architecture, has been late¬ 
ly seized with an inflammation of the lungs, terminating 
in chronic bronchitis, which, even if the disease should 
be considerably alleviated, will effectually prevent 
him from any longer pursuing his profession, of land¬ 
scape-gardener. Mr. Loudon fell into ill health in 
1821, which obliged him ultimately to have his right 
arm amputated, his left hand being at the same time 
so much injured as to leave him with only the partial 
use of two fingers and his left knee being anchylosed. 
In consequence of these bodily infirmities, Mr. Loudon 
has been obliged to keep an amanuensis and a 
draughtsman for the last twenty years, and also a ser¬ 
vant to act as valet; and had it not been for the ex¬ 
penses thus incurred, and others arising from the same 
source, he might have been now independent, even 
without his literary property. This explanation is due 
to those who are ignorant of Mr. Loudon’s personal 
character. 
Farmers’ Magazine. — Multicole Rye. —It grows 
on common soil, suited to the old-fashioned rye, but 
its habits are totally different. By the report of above 
thirty respectable agriculturists near L’Orient, who 
have cultivated it for the last two years, it does best 
when sown the first of June. Its growth is most rap¬ 
id. Two crops of it are, before July, cut for hay; 
and, by the 15th of August, a grain crop is reaped. 
The straw is from eight to ten feet high, and the ear 
from ten to eighteen inches long. An account of this 
may be found in the Transactions, published by the 
French Minister of Agriculture, &c. Would not this 
variety of spring-rye be worthy of trial in those parts 
of the country where other grasses are difficult of 
growth, on soils rather sandy and light, but which, if 
in good condition, are the best for this grain ? The 
growth, if correctly stated, is truly surprising. 
Rev. W. L. Rham. —This celebrated writer and ag¬ 
riculturist, died at his living of Winkfield, in Berkshire, 
on the 31st October last, in the 64th year of his age. 
He was an’ eminent contributor to the Gardeners’ 
Chronicle, and the Journal of the Royal Agricultural 
Society, and wrote most of those excellent articles on 
agriculture in the Penny Cyclopedia. He had estab¬ 
lished a school in his parish, on an excellent plan, uni¬ 
ting practical industry in farm-labor, with the usual 
routine of instruction. Mr. Rham was born in Switzer¬ 
land, but descended from a family originally German. 
Several of his relatives are conspicuous in the mercan¬ 
tile world, particularly in the United States. 
EWtor’s STiifjle. 
The Silk Question Settled, by the testimony of 
One Hundred and Fifty Witnesses. Report of the Pro¬ 
ceedings of the National Convention of Silk-Growers 
and Silk-Manufacturers, held in New York, Oct. I3th 
and 14th, 1843; published under the direction of the 
American Institute. Saxton & Miles, 205 Broadway, 
New York; price 25 cents. This is a very valuable 
octavo work of 80 pages, double columns, and is the 
most complete in its information on the culture of 
silk, of anything yet put before the American public. 
We bespeak for it an attentive perusal, it being ded¬ 
icated to those most interested, viz : the farmers of the 
United States, every one of whom should possess him¬ 
self of a copy of the above work. The price is made 
low, that it shall have a large circulation, and we are 
of opinion that its publication will be the means of 
giving a new stimulus to the growing and manufacture 
of silk throughout the country. 
Quarterly Journal of the Newfoundland Agricul¬ 
tural Society, published by J. T. Burton, Duckworth- 
street, St. Johns, Newfoundland, 8 pages quarto, price 
2s. 6d. When we found the above work on our table 
this morning, just after a shower of snow, we rubbed 
our eyes with no small astonishment, thinking it must 
have dropped from the clouds—a printed snow-flake. 
Agriculture in Newfoundland! pray what do they raise 
there, save fat fish from the ocean ? Well, gentle read 
er, as you may be in doubt, we will tell you from the 
very pages of our snowy brother of the north, themselves. 
Potatoes, turneps, oats, barley, wheat, hay, grass— 
Here stops our enumeration, for we have only the 4th 
number of the work. Will the editor please send us 
the other 3 numbers, and tell us all about the agricul¬ 
ture of Newfoundland? We would give more to see 
one single article on arctic products, than all his ex¬ 
tracts from foreign works put together, for we confess 
ourselves most profoundly ignorant of the agriculture 
of Newfoundland. The next journal we shall expect 
to hail, will be the Quarterly, or Monthly North 
Pole. We fancy if any one ever succeeds in reaching 
it, and gets into Simms’ hole, he will find it an admira¬ 
ble conservatory for growing tropical plants. Why 
not? Geologists affirm that they grew within the 
polar circles formerly, why should they not continue 
to do so ? Who knows, experimentally ? We have a 
notion that it is a famous place there for tropical pro¬ 
ductions, and that fine apples, may be found, as big as 
a bushel-basket, oranges as large as our hat, and 
bananas a yard long! 
The Planter’s Banner and Louisiana Agri¬ 
culturist. —This excellent paper comes to us under 
a new form, a handsome quarto of 8 pages, weekly, 
price $4 a year, in advance. It is published in Frank¬ 
lin, La., and edited by Robert Wilson. It gives us 
great pleasure to see it devote so much of its space to 
agriculture; and we have been no less entertained 
than instructed, by the articles which appear on this 
subject. Its road journal is capital. Will it have the 
goodness to send us, marked, Mr. Packwood’s system 
of rotation of crops on his sugar plantation ? We par¬ 
ticularly commend the Banner and Agriculturist to the 
notice of the planters of the south. 
The Concordia Intelligencer. —This spirited pa¬ 
per is published at Yandalia, La., directly opposite 
Natchez, and is edited with much spirit and ability, by 
Messrs. Patterson & Thorpe. We especially com¬ 
mend it to southern readers, for the interesting par¬ 
ticulars it is continually giving them upon the subject 
of agriculture. 
