260 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
men 
France,. 1,429 - 
United States, - - - - 14,250 38,371 
China,. 252 - 
Total,. 118,352 189,024 
With yield at the Queen’s 
beam,. 157,800 262,032* 
There were at the Chincha Islands, on our 
departure, 100 vessels, capable of exporting 
nearly 100,000 tons of guano. The Americans 
far exceeded in amount of tonnage. I enclose 
a list, showing that between the 15th of July 
and the 24th of September, 1853, there had 
been loaded, were loading, or waiting their turn 
to load, 65 American ships, carrying a gross 
amount of 61,982 tons. Other American ships 
were daily arriving, and they now take the 
superior quality. 
On the center island there may be about 
800,000 tons of guano of the first quality, and 
700,000 tons of the second. The island is 
worked entirely by Chinamen; they dig and 
wheel daily about 1,290 tons, of which 1,100 
appear in the shipping dockets. The southern 
and smallest island has not yet been worked ; 
from the windward position the guano is infe¬ 
rior, and has no great depth. 
A commission, consisting of the Peruvian 
Minister of the Interior, with a numerous staff, 
as per enclosed list, are occupied in surveying 
the island. A clerk belonging to the house of 
Gibbs & Co. was the only person that had 
availed himself of the permission given to ac¬ 
company the commission: in fact, the notice 
was short for others to avail themselves of the 
offer. From the plans and elevations of Mr. 
M’lntosh, from my personal examination and 
information, gathered from those on the islands 
conversant with the working, I am of opinion 
that, at the present average rate of exportation, 
the islands would be exhausted of the guano 
that would pay freight, or be salable in the Eng¬ 
lish market, in eight or nine years. 
I have the honor to be, Sir, your most obe¬ 
dient servant, Fairfax Moresby, 
Rear-Admiral and Commander-in-Chief. 
Enclosure in Admiralty Letter from Hear-Ad¬ 
miral Moresby. 
Her Majesty’s ship Portland ,) 
at Sea, Aug. 29. J 
Sir,—I have the honor to submit, for your 
information, the result of the calculations re¬ 
specting the amount of guano now remaining 
on the Chincha Islands. 
The examination — for I cannot call it survey 
—taken by your order, was necessarily exceed¬ 
ingly rough and imperfect, both by reason of 
shortness of time, and the want of proper in¬ 
struments, as well as a desire not to excite ob¬ 
servation. 
To avoid the possibility of underrating the 
quantity, I have estimated at the rate of 40 
cubic feet per ton, and have allowed a consider¬ 
able excess on the measurement given by the 
plans and sections. 
In laying this result before you, I have the 
honor to state that, though no claim to a great 
accuracy is made, I have no hesitation in pledg¬ 
ing myself that the quantity here specified is 
greater than that absolutely remaining on the 
islands. I have, &c., 
W. H. M’Intosii, Naval Instructor. 
Rear-Admiral Fairfax Moresby, C. B., 
Commandcr-in-Chief, &c. 
Tons. 
Quantity remaining on northern 
islands,. 5,500,000 
Quantity on centre island, - - 1,500,000 
Quantity on southern island, - 1,600,000 
Total,. 8,600,000 
Notes of Conversation and Information Ac¬ 
quired by Mr. M’lntosh. 
The mechanical engineer, in charge of the 
excavation on the northern island, told me that 
since he came, in October, 1852, a space of 450 
feet had been cleared into the deepest cutting, 
which amounts to 300,000 tons. I have not 
been able to ascertain the exact present ship¬ 
ment on this island ; but, judging from the 
number of check clerks, laborers, the plans, &c. 
it may probably be estimated at one-fourth 
more than the center island. 
M. Kossuth, the superintendent of the center 
island, having allowed me access to his books, 
I have satisfactorily ascertained that his state¬ 
ment of shipping 1,100 tons per day is correct. 
The details of the work are—150 Chinamen, 
at five tons per day in barrows, and four ship- 
shoots, at 135 tons each day. M. Kossuth fur¬ 
ther informed me that, when he commenced, in 
December, 1852, the rail extended 150 feet from 
the brow of the cliff; and that he has now ob¬ 
tained a distance of 850 feet, in a direct line 
into the deepest part of the cutting. This 
statement, on calculation, further proves the 
foregoing part, as the amount of guano from 
such an excavation would amount to 240,000 
tons, which, in seven months, is at the rate of 
1,200 tons per day. 
MANAGEMENT OF CIDER APPLE-TREES. 
(Concluded from page 226.) 
Utility of talcing off the old bark of trees, 
and the best way of performing that operation. 
—This extremely useful practice appears to be 
of Norman origin. Its introduction is due to 
the Abbe Adrien Le Gendre, cure of Henouville 
near Rouen, about the time of Louis XIII., 
therefore this practice must have been in use 
nearly two centuries. Nothing is more injurious 
to the trees than the old dead and craked bark 
on the stem and thick branches, as it affords a 
soil and footing for mosses and lichens. Pro¬ 
tected by these cryptogamic plants, and hidden 
in the crevices of the bark, great quantities 
of eggs are hatched; and here also numer¬ 
ous larval wait for the return of vegetation, 
in order that they may mount into the top of 
the tree, and devour the buds, leaves, and flow¬ 
ers as they come out. The removal of the old 
bark is therefore doubly advantageous, inasmuch 
as the living bark is brought in contact with the 
air, and myriads of insects, prejudicial to trees, 
are destroyed. Butin performing this operation, 
we must be careful not to take off the live bark, 
and lay bare the alburnum, for in that case al¬ 
most as much harm as good would be done. 
The best time for the operation is after heavy 
rain, as the dead bark is detached much more 
easily when it is moist. When there are no 
scrapers for the purpose, old spades, Dutch hoes, 
&c., may be used, but the edge of the instru¬ 
ment should not be too sharp, lest it should go 
to the quick. As soon as the trees have been 
scraped, all the bark, moss, &c., should be col¬ 
lected and burnt; for unless that is immedi¬ 
ately done, the larvae will not be long in taking- 
shelter in the ground, or in the grass round the 
bottom of the tree. After this, and especially if 
the trees have been scraped too near the quick, 
it is well to apply with a paint brush, or with a 
soft broom, a sort of wash made of fresh cow- 
dung, to which is added a little clay; this is di¬ 
luted with urine, in which some lumps of quick¬ 
lime have been slacked. The soft mud at the 
bottom of puddles may be used as a substitute 
for this preparation. 
Gathering and Preserving the Fruit. The 
fruit should if possible be gathered in fine 
weather, in order that it may be dry when 
brought in. The time of gathering varies from 
the end of August to the end of November, ac¬ 
cording to the varieties and the locality. Be¬ 
fore gathering, the fruit should have arrived at 
a proper degree of maturity. This may be 
known, especially in early varieties, by the 
smell, by the coloring of the seeds, and also 
when the weather is calm, by finding fallen fruit 
which is neither wormy,nor in any way imper¬ 
fect. The fruit is detached by shaking the 
branches, either by getting up in the tree or by 
means of a hook. Poles should be employed as 
little as possible, and with great care, because 
they break and destroy the fruit spurs. It is 
advantageous to keep each sort of apple separate, 
in order to be able to mix them, so as to produce 
the best quality of cider. It is of the greatest 
importance to shelter the apples; for if left 
out of doors, the rain or melted snow carries 
away part of their juices, and, in consequence, 
cider of only middling quality can be obtained. 
We know that in years of abundance there are, 
in many instances, insufficiency of buildings to 
shelter the whole of the fruit; but it is neither 
difficult nor expensive to erect temporary sheds 
by means of straw mats, from two to two and a 
half inches thick, and made of long straw 
squeezed between two pieces of wood, which are 
fastened with osier or wire. Two of these mats 
leaning against each other like a roof form a suf¬ 
ficient protection against rain. Apples should 
be protected from frost, for it deteriorates them 
as much as rain does. This is so much the 
easier, as at the time of the hard frosts nearly 
all the apples are crushed, except those that are 
not ripe, and we can therefore put them in the 
regular buildings. If these buildings are ac¬ 
cessible to frost, the best way to preserve the 
fruit is to cover it with straw and damp cloths, 
as previously recommended. The manufacture 
of cider requires more attention and cleanliness 
than it generally receives. Not only should all 
the instruments and vessels used in crushing be 
clean and free from smell, but the straw also on 
which the pomace is laid should be fresh, clean, 
and, above all, free from mildew. It is said that 
the English in Herefordshire, Somersetshire, and 
other counties give and preserve an agreeable 
taste to the cider by mixing large turnips with 
it. We may with propriety mix bitter and 
sweet apples; and provided the former are not 
present in too great proportion the cider is 
sometimes improved by the mixture ; but when 
we wish to obtain cider that will keep long, we 
should reject the sour apples, as the liquor they 
produce is very pale, and soon turns acid. 
SMITHFIELD SHOW OF FAT CATTLE- 
This great annual show of fat cattle came off 
in the second week of December, and was larger 
and more numerously attended than ever. The 
following general remarks upon the animals pre¬ 
sent are from the Mark Lane Express. It will 
be seen that the Devons are coming on famously: 
Prior to entering into any detail in reference 
to the show, we may briefly review the different 
breeds as they have come under our immediate 
observation. In the first place we may observe, 
that for many years past there has been a spir¬ 
ited contest between the Devon, Hereford, and 
Short-horned breeders — in other words, each 
party has used great efforts to increase the nu¬ 
merical strength and weight of the respective 
breeds. These efforts have been so completely 
crowned with success on this occasion, that it is 
somewhat difficult for us to determine to whom 
the palm of the greatest amount of merit be¬ 
longs. However, we may intimate that the 
Devon class— to which our attention was in the 
first instance directed — exhibited several points 
of excellence worthy the serious attention of 
graziers and breeders in all parts of the coun¬ 
try ; indeed, we may remark that, collectively, 
this was one of the most remarkable portions of 
the exhibition. Let the reader conceive for a 
moment that there were collected, almost in one 
spot, 1,300 to 1,400 Devons, chiefly from the 
westward, all nearly of the same weight and 
color — that each animal was worth, on the av¬ 
erage, fully £30—-and it will at once be per¬ 
ceived that the show was indeed well worthy of 
a close inspection. With the remark that the 
Devons were decidedly superior to those brought 
forward in 1852, wo shall now pass to the con¬ 
sideration of the Herefords. This noble breed, 
which was contributed largely from diffei’cnt 
localities, kept up its long-established character 
surprisingly. In the Baker-street exhibition 
last week this particular breed showed a slight 
falling off, but to-day it exceeded all former 
* Allowing one third more than the register tonnage. 
