36 
FOREIGN AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 
FOREIGN AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 
By the arrival of the Steamer Britannia, we are in 
receipt of our foreign journals to the 19th of November. 
Markets. — Ashes, a slight decline. Cotton , no change. 
Flour and Meal, firm at a small advance. Provisions , 
same as per our last, with the exception of cheese, which 
had fallen 2s. per cwt. Wool in better demand. Other 
articles of American produce, no change. 
Money was a little easier, with a slight fall in the 
rate of interest. Failures still continue among the 
large houses, with innumerable small ones. How¬ 
ever, the crisis was considered past, and we may look 
for better times per next steamer. 
Disinfecting Fluid— One of the greatest boons which 
chemistry could confer, at the present day, would be 
the discovery of some substance easily and cheaply 
procured, that would at once have the power of prevent¬ 
ing the volatilization of the gases formed during ani¬ 
mal and vegetable decomposition, and at the same time 
rendering them fitted for use as manures. Many sub¬ 
stances, such as chlorine, nitrate of lead, gypsum, char¬ 
coal, and sulphate of iron, have long been known to pos¬ 
sess the power of decomposing the noxious gases given 
out during putrefaction, and forming with them solid 
or fluid substances; but the expense, or the injurious 
nature of the reagents, is such, that the matter acted upon 
by them cannot be profitably employed as manure. 
Public attention, however, in England, and particu¬ 
larly on Continental Europe, has recently been called 
to a preparation, originally used by Messrs. Dam of 
Brussels, and Coutaret of Paris, and patented by 
Charles F. Ellerman, late British Consul at Antwerp, 
which, the discoverers assert, possesses the desirable 
qualities mentioned above. Numerous experiments 
have been made in England, France, and Belgium, be¬ 
fore public authorities and a number of scientific men, 
to test the efficacy of the “ disinfecting” or “ deodoriz¬ 
ing ” process, all of whom bear testimony to the perfect 
success of instantly rendering the substances inodorous, 
excepting the reagent itself, which emitted a faintly 
sourish smell. The agent employed is a fluid, which, 
on being added to night soil or other animal matter, in 
a state of decomposition, in the proportion of one part 
in eight to one part in thirty-two, immediately arrests 
the process and prevents the escape of those gases that 
give these substances their disagreeable odor. For the 
purpose, then, of disinfecting drains, cesspools, slaugh¬ 
ter houses, hospitals, manure heaps, and other places, 
this process may be regarded as the most effective of 
any hitherto introduced. 
The discoverers and patentee of this reagent speak in 
positive terms with regard to its value in manufactur¬ 
ing manure, but at present no experiments have been 
performed to test this point. The manure formed by 
this fluid in connection with night soil, blood, &c., is free 
from disagreeable odor, and greatly resembles poudrette; 
but, on account of the facility and rapidity with which 
it may be prepared, it is stated that it can be sold at a 
much cheaper rate. It is also asserted that the com¬ 
pound thus formed contains 4 per cent, of azote, whilst 
poudrette contains but 1| per cent. It is conjectured 
that this fluid is a preparation of iron ; and it is well 
known that sulphate of iron, as an agent for fixing 
the gases of decomposing organic matter, is, that the 
iron unites with the phosphoric acid of the compound 
and forms an insoluble phosphate of iron, thus depriv¬ 
ing the manure of one of its most important constitu¬ 
ents. Whether such a result occurs in the employment 
of this reagent or not, we must wait the result of ex¬ 
periment to determine. It may have sufficient good 
qualities to recommend it as a cheap and useful fertil¬ 
izer, even though a portion of the phosphates should be 
thus rendered useless. 
It is stated by Mr. Ellerman that one part of this fluid 
to one hundred parts of decomposing matter is sufficient 
in most cases for the purpose of manure. Should it be 
found, then, to answer this use, and be sold at one shit* 
ling sterling (22£ cts.) per gallon, as offered by the pa¬ 
tentee, it can but be regarded as one of the most im- 
ortant applications of chemistry to agriculture that 
as ever existed, however remote the age. 
Age of Poultry .—Farmers usually sell poultry alive, 
excepting in some parts of the country, such as the 
Borders, where geese are killed and plucked for the 
sake of their feathers before being sent to market. 
Poulterers in towns, on the other hand, kill and pluck 
every sort of fowl for sale, so that the purchaser has it 
in his power to judge of the carcass; and if he buys an 
inferior article at a high price, it must be his own 
fault. Jt is easy to judge of a plucked fowl, whether 
old or young, by the state of the legs. If a hen’s spur 
is hard, and the scales on the legs rough, she is old, 
whether you see her head or not; but the head will cor¬ 
roborate your observation, if the under bill is so stiff 
that you cannot bend it down, and the comb thick and 
rough. A young hen has only the rudiments of spurs, 
the scales on the legs smooth, glossy, and fresh colored, 
whatever the color may be, the claws tender and short, 
the under bill soft, and the comb thin and smooth. An 
old hen turkey has rough scales on the legs, callosities 
on the soles of the feet, and long strong claws; a young 
one the reverse of all these marksi When the feathers 
are on, and the old turkey cock has a long beard, a 
young one but a sprouting one; and when they are off, 
the smooth scales on the legs decide the point, besides 
difference of size in the wattles of the neck and in the 
elastic shot upon the nose. An old goose, when alive, 
is known by the rough legs, the strength of the wings, 
particularly at the pinions, the thickness and strength 
of the Dill, and the firmness and thickness of the lea¬ 
thers; and when plucked, by the legs, pinions and bill, 
and the coarseness of the skin. Ducks are distinguish¬ 
ed by the same means, but there is this difference, that 
a duckling’s bill is much longer in proportion to the 
breadth of its head than an old duck. A young pigeon 
is discovered by its pale colored, smooth scaled, tender, 
collapsed feet, and the yellow long dowrn interspersed 
among the feathers. A pigeon ‘that can fly has always 
red colored legs and no down, and is then too old for 
use .—Book of the Farm. 
Cultivation of Flax in Ireland .—A fine speci¬ 
men of flax has been exhibited at Cork. The crop 
grown in Mayo has been estimated at £70 per ton. 
the tow sold for £38 per ton. 
Ilawarra Hops .—Hitherto we have been entirely 
dependant on importation from England and America 
for this essential article to the brewing of sound and 
wholesome beer. It is no stretch of the imagination to 
predict that in the course of four or five years our native 
growth of hops will supersede the necessity of import¬ 
ing them. From an estimate of the quantity of beer 
brewed in Australia, the annual consumption of hops 
cannot be less than fifty tons. A sample of colonial 
hops has been sent us, which, we are assured by those 
who are competent judges, may be put in competition 
with the best imported Kent hops, without losing any¬ 
thing by the comparison .—Sydney paper. 
Swine in Portugal .—Besides the short squat thickset 
China hog prevalent in the northern provinces, there is 
another breed, remarkable for its size and long lanky 
flat sides, as though pressed between two deal boards, 
exceedingly high in bone, standing as high as any of 
our race of donkeys, bnt twice as long in hody. Al¬ 
though very flat, this is inlayed, as it were, with flesh 
in due proportion, owing to the extraordinary mode of 
feeding, and the enormous exercise taken during their 
perigrinations, traversing many hundred miles through 
dense woods, deep valleys, and lofty mountains before 
returning to their homesteads to be slaughtered.— Gard¬ 
eners ' Chronicle. 
