FOREIGN AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 355 
FOREIGN AGRICULTURAL NEWS, 
Our latest advices from Europe are to the 14th of 
0 ctober. 
Markets. — fishes, sales trifling. Cotton, a decline 
©f %d. per lb. Wheat and Corn, firm, but without 
change. Beef, an advance of 2s. to 3s. per tierce. 
Pork and Lard, as per our last. In other products 
we notice no change demanding attention. 
Money was abundant, and some investments going 
#n in American stocks. 
The Grain C?-ops throughout Great Britain and 
Ireland prove to be under an average ; but on the 
continent they are large, and the supplies from that 
quarter will be abundant. Potatoes are extensively 
affected by the disease and large quantities have 
rotted. 
Guano and Tobacco from Peru. —A vessel lately 
arrived in London, from Callao, having on board 1,300 
tons of guano, the largest importation of that article, 
which has taken place for a considerable time past. 
The same vessel brought 430 bales of tobacco, which 
would appear to be a rather unusual and remarkable 
article from the southern part of this continent. 
Blue Vitriol, a Preventive of Smut in Wheat. — A 
farmer, in South Berks, states that, by the use of blue 
vitriol (sulphate of copper), he has succeeded for. four 
seasons in warding off the smut in his wheat. The 
plan adopted appears to b« simple, cheap, and efficient. 
Agricultural Schools in France. —At a recent 
session of the National Assembly of France, the 
principal part of the day was devoted to the bill 
relative to agricultural schools. It was resolved that 
one of these institutions should be founded and main¬ 
tained in each department at the public expense, and 
further, that the country should be divided into agri¬ 
cultural districts, not exceeding twenty, in each of 
which a government school is to be established. 
Vegetarian Society. —There is a society in exist¬ 
ence, in England, under this title, the members of 
which abstain from eating meat and drinking intoxi¬ 
cating beverages. The annual meeting was celebrat¬ 
ed a short time since, by a public dinner at Manches¬ 
ter, to which 232 persons sat down, many of whom 
had been abstainers from animal food, for periods 
varying from 20 to 40 years. The following is a list 
of courses served up :— 
First Course. —Large savory omelet, rice fritters, 
beet root, onion and sage fritters, savory pie, mush¬ 
room pie, bread and parsley fritters, force meat frit¬ 
ters, large macaroni omelet—water the only beverage. 
Second Course. —Plum pudding, moulded rice, al¬ 
monds and raisins, cheese cakes, figs, custards, grapes, 
flummery, sponge cakes, gooseberries, creams, nuts, 
red and white currants, moulded sage, fruit tarts— 
water the sole beverage. 
Russian Beef in England. —A vessel lately arrived 
at London from Archangel with 797 tierces of beef, 
15 barrels of ox tongues, and other productions of the 
Russian empire. 
Draining by Steam. —The stone of the building for 
a new steam engine of 50 horse power for the drain¬ 
age of the fen lands of the Stow Bardolph district, 
was lately laid, in the presence of several of the 
commissioners, which afforded a gratifying sign of im¬ 
provement to the county. 
Poudrette Companies in France. —Tt is stated that 
there are twenty-two companies in France busily en¬ 
gaged in converting the refuse of towns into inodor¬ 
ous poudrette. The disinfectant generally employed, 
is said to be the chloride of iron. 
Derby Cows. —The native cows of that county is 
the old long-horned breed. They are said to be 
scarce, and are only to be found in a few dairies near 
the lakes in Westmoreland, in Lancashire, Cheshire, 
Shropshire, Staffordshire, Derbyshire, Warwickshire, 
Gloucestershire, and Oxfordshire. The breed is be¬ 
coming deteriorated from the practice of breeding “ in- 
and-in.” Their milk and cream, as well as their beef, 
are represented to be of superior quality. They are 
longer in attaining their growth than the short horns, 
but feed easier ; that is, fatten quicker on inferior 
food, and are more certain of breeding in a rigorous 
climate. The short-horns give more milk at first, aL 
ter having calved, but the long-horns continue longer 
in milk. They are also longer in attaining their full 
milk, but they have been known to produce an 
abundance up to the age of 17 or 18 years. One in¬ 
stance is recorded in which a cow of this race gave 13 
quarts each meal, and held on to 11 quarts until she 
went dry. 
Hornets.— -Part of their diet consists of nectarines, 
peaches, apricots, grapes, greengages, plums, ap¬ 
ples, and Pears. The wasp is carnivorous as well as 
fructivorous, and entomologists will probably pro¬ 
nounce the hornet to be so likewise. It enters bottles 
of sugar and water or sugar and beer that are hung 
about wall fruit trees as wasp traps. 
Tyiiig Herbaceous Plants. —instead of tying these 
up like sheaves of corn, have a hoop of a small wire 
drawn through or fastened tightly to an upright stick 
placed in the ground. Then let the flower stalks be 
tied regularly round the hoop, having some loose ones 
in the centre to form a close head. Some staked in 
this way here look extremely well. 
Dr. Klotzsch's Plan of Topping Potatoes. —Mr: 
Wainwright, of Rushton, Northamptonshire, has tried 
Dr. Klotzsch’s plan of topping the potato crop, and 
gives the following as the result of his experiment. 
Row in which the leading shoots were nipped off— 
Produce. Sound. Diseased. Diseased when dug. After being dug. 
70 lbs. 14 lbs. 56 lbs. 14 lbs. 42 lbs. 
Row in which the leading shoots were untouched— 
Produce. Sound. Diseased. Diseased when dug. After being dug. 
86 lbs. 23 lbs. 63 lbs. 11 lbs. 52 lbs. 
Giving an excess of diseased tubers in the former in* 
stance in the proportion of 344 to 317. The produce 
however, in the former case, was of the finer quality. 
Notwithstanding great care has been taken to give the 
potatoes as little manure as possible, the disease has 
been most pernicious. The result of two weighings 
gave 98 lbs. sound to 111 lbs. diseased, and 46 lbs. 
sound to 328 lbs. diseased. The diseased tubers, after 
a few days, became extremely offensive and utterly 
useless. 
Extraordinary Crop of Potatoes. —A gentleman in 
Banff, having in the spring received a few potatoes, 
part of a small quantity procured from Rotterdam, 
planted them in his garden in the Seatown having cut 
the seed as usual. The plants very soon appeared, and 
through the summer continued to grow most luxuri¬ 
antly, so much so that all who saw them predicted 
that there would be nothing but shaws. This predic¬ 
tion, however, has been anything but verified ; for, 
on the crop being dug, which it was on Tuesday last, 
there were gathered from the ground, which consist¬ 
ed of exactly one Scotch rood, or fall, or the 160th 
part of a Scotch acre, the unprecedented quantity of 
18 pecks, or four and a half bushels—the produce be¬ 
ing thus at the rate of 720 bushels per acre. At seve¬ 
ral of the stems upward of 40 potatoes were found, 
one had 63 full-grown potatoes, and another were 
counted the very extraordinary number of 110. We 
understand that the gentlemen who received them has 
determined upon greening and preserving the whole 
for seed, and we sincerely trust that he will be suc¬ 
cessful in bringing this prolific potato into general 
use. We may mention that there was not the slight¬ 
est appearance of disease, but on the contrary, every 
tuber had the most healthy appearance, giving every 
reason to believe that not a seed will be lost.— Banff 
Journal. 
