108 THE SHORT-HORN COW-ELLEN KIRBY.-SHELL AND CORAL SANDS FOR MANURE, ETC. 
parcel of this seed for experiment in the United 
States. 
(6) The Manilla hemp is the product of a species 
©f musa, highly prized and in great demand 
amongst all the shipping of the East Indies, for 
cables and ropes. The Philippine Islands, also, 
produce a vegetable called “ pine-apple plant,” the 
fibre of which, is manufactured and embroidered 
into a beautiful cloth, generally known in the shops 
of the natives by the name of piha. This plant 
would doubtless grow in some of our southern 
states, and is worthy of a trial. 
THE SHORT-HORN COW—ELLEN KIRBY. 
The following cut was politely furnished us by 
Mr. Sands, of the American Farmer. It is the por¬ 
trait of the Short-Horn cow, Ellen Kirby, the prop¬ 
erty of Col. H. Capron, of Laurel Factory, 
Maryland, ft was bred by James Gowen, Esq., of 
Pennsylvania. 
The Short-Horn Cow—Ellen Kirby.— Fig. 25. 
Col. Capron is one of the most spirited farmers 
and stock breeders in Maryland; and he writes as 
well as he farms. He has recently contributed a 
series of excellent articles to the American Farmer, 
which we have perused with much interest, as well 
as with profit. We hope, as he continues to drive 
the plow, that he will not forget to wield his pen. 
Proper Time for Slaughtering Animals. —It 
has lately been discovered, by a French chemist, 
that the flesh of animals, which are killed in the 
latter part of the night, will keep much longer, 
without salting, than it will when they are killed 
in the day time. This proves that the flesh is 
better fitted for keeping, when the life and blood 
are taken from the animal, at the time its tempera¬ 
ture is the lowest, and the respiration the least ac¬ 
tive. Hence the reason that the flesh from animals, 
that have been highly heated, or hard driven, will 
scarcely keep at all. 
SHELL AND CORAL SANDS FOR MANURE. 
A gentleman well acquainted with the shores of 
Florida and of the Bahama Islands, informs us, that 
in many places, they are composed entirely of the 
fragments of broken, or comminuted coral, shells, 
infusoria, &c., the supply of which, is inexhaustible, 
and would subserve the purpose of manuring all 
the cultivated lands in the Atlantic states, for 
thousands of years. The cost of procuring this 
sand, and delivering it at any of our seaports, south 
of Boston or New York, he thinks would not ex¬ 
ceed $3 or $4 the hundred bushels • and if it were 
brought here, as ballast, from Key West, or Nassau, 
New Providence, it could be afforded for much less. 
This is a subject, we think, worthy of investiga¬ 
tion, and recommend that experiments be tried, on 
a limited scale, by our agriculturists, both at the 
north and at the south. 
It is well known that shell sand has been used 
for agricultural purposes, in the north of Ireland, for 
_ __ ___ one hundred and 
fifty years ; and for 
nearly the same 
length of time, it has 
been carried across 
to the opposite coast 
of Galloway, in Scot¬ 
land, with the view 
of improving the 
land there. In Brit¬ 
tany, on the coast of 
France, it is applied 
in large quantities to 
the clayey soils and 
to marshy grass lands 
with much advan¬ 
tage, and is carried 
far inland for simi¬ 
lar purposes. The 
quantity applied to 
each acre varies from 
10 to 15 tons. 
On the coast of 
Normandy, there is 
a kind of mealy- 
looking sea sand, 
composed of minute 
crystals of carbo¬ 
nate of lime, of broken limbs and claws of small 
crustaceous animals, and of the shells or sheaths of 
numberless infurosia, which is extensively used on 
light sandy soils with good results. 
A sample of shell sand, taken from the island of 
Isla, on the west coast of Scotland, and examined 
by Professor Johnston, consisted of the following 
ingredients :— 
Alumina and oxide of iron, . . . . 65.7 
Carbonate of lime,. ...... 34.0 
Phosphate of lime,.. 0.3 
100.0 
Coral sand, which is similar in its nature to shell 
sand, is preferred by the farmer in a fresh state, 
probably, because it contains both more saline and 
more animal matter than after it has been exposed 
for some time to the air. Payen and Boussingault, 
it will be recollected, ascribe the relative manuring 
