270 
AGRICULTURAL SCIENCE IN COLLEGES, ETC. 
ble for agricultural purposes. Hornblende, also, 
varies materially in its composition, but contains 
from 12 to over 20 per cent, of lime, 10 to 20 of 
magnesia, &c. In their natural condition, unas¬ 
sisted by art, these fertilizing ingredients are given 
out slowly, though the felspar, when subject to 
moisture, is slightly decomposed by the rootlets of 
plants, which suck from them, as they do from bones 
that are buried in the soil, spme of these ingredients 
essential to their own structure and vitality. 
When science shall have advanced to a sufficient 
extent, to detect the mines of agricultural food 
which now lie unheeded in the soil, future genera¬ 
tions will probably find in the barrenest sands, and 
such as are now deemed utterly worthless, stores 
of fertility, that need but the ingenuity of man to 
compel them to yield their hoarded wealth, and 
which, united to the elements of the atmosphere, will 
furnish the elements of life to countless myriads 
of the human race. 
AGRICULTURAL SCIENCE IN COLLEGES. 
We notice, with no little pleasure, the gradual, 
but certain advancement which the practical sciences 
are making in our time-honored seats of learning. 
Yale College, at New Haven, has already an en¬ 
dowed and thoroughly-established professorship, 
which is ably filled by Professor J. P. Norton. 
Amherst College, in Massachusetts, has a practical 
farmer and geologist in its accomplished President 
Hitchcock ; and it has a regular course of lectures 
annually on agricultural chemistry, by Professor 
Shepherd. Other respectable institutions are fol¬ 
lowing in the same commendable track. 
We are happy to add that the Trustees and 
Faculty of Union College, in Schenectady, N. Y., 
under its zealous and enlightened President, Rev. 
Dr. Nott, has taken the initiatory steps by the adop¬ 
tion of the following resolution:—“ Such a change 
is contemplated in the course of studies in Union 
College as to comprehend the more useful applica¬ 
tions of science to the arts, such as civil and 
mechanical engineering, agriculture, agricultural 
and manufacturing chemistry, &c., and also French 
and other modern languages. Most of these sub¬ 
jects have heretofore been taught to a greater or 
less extent; but such a change in the statutes is 
now contemplated, as to allow applicants the privi¬ 
lege of pursuing such branches of study, and such 
only , as they may desire to pursue; and to give to 
each student such a diploma as will express his 
actual attainments. 
“ The scheme embraces a professorship of moral 
philosophy and rhetoric ; of ancient languages and 
literature; of mathematics, pure and applied; of 
natural philosophy, practical and theoretical; of 
natural history and chemistry; of French and 
other modern languages and literature ; of agricul¬ 
tural chemistry, and chemistry applied to the arts; 
of civil, topographical and mechanical engineer¬ 
ing ; of ancient and modern history; of law and 
civil polity; and of anatomy and physiology.” 
If our agricultural journals have contributed to 
the advancement of these movements, as we fully 
believe they have done, they have fulfilled one great 
object of their existence. Public opinion is push¬ 
ing forward these institutions to similar conclusions 
throughout the country; and we trust it will not 
be satisfied till we have elaborate professorships, 
ably filled and amply endowed, and connected with 
experimental farms throughout every leading state 
in the Union. 
QUERIES RELATIVE TO BARLEY. 
I am informed that barley constitutes the princi¬ 
pal food of horses and hogs in Mexico ; that the 
latter take on fat very freely from its use ; and that 
the horses fed on it are capable of enduring much 
harder service than those fed on Indian corn, and 
are kept in equally good condition as when fed on 
the same amount of other grain. 
Having had my attention directed for some time 
to the cultivation of barley, I would be much 
obliged by the answers of any or all of the follow¬ 
ing inquiries:— 
1. What is the amount of nutritive matter in 
barley, and what its nutritive power when com¬ 
pared with other food ? (a) 
2. How does it answer as food for horses, hogs, 
or other animals ? (6) 
3. What is the best variety of barley for culti¬ 
vation, and proper period of sowing, in latitude 
36° N. ? (c) 
4. Is it a certain crop—and if not, to what dis¬ 
eases and enemies is it subject I (d) 
5. What amount can be grown per acre of land 
that will yield 40 bushels of Indian corn ? ( e) 
6. After what crop, in rotation, will it produce 
best? (/) 
7. What quantity of seed is required to sow an 
acre? (g) 
8. What manures are best adapted to its 
growth ? (h) T. S. W. M. 
Belvoir , near Lenoir , N. C., June 25th, 1849. 
(a) The amount of nitrogen, or purely nutritive 
matter, in the grain of barley not dried, is estimated 
at 1 t 7 (H 5 - per cent.; and when dried at 2 T f^ percent. 
The nutritive value of the food of our domestic 
animals, although a prime question in husbandry, 
has never, as yet, been definitely determined, as 
every individual employed in its investigation has 
differed somewhat in his result. The following is 
a list of equivalents, in weight, as to the relative 
value of several kinds of fodder, as compared with 
lbs. of ordinary hay:— 
Wheat, .... 
41 lbs. 
Peas, .... 
Barley, .... 
45 “ 
54* “ 
Oats, .... 
55 “ 
Beans, .... 
Clover hay, 
6U“ 
90 “ 
Ordinary hay, . 
100 “ 
Pea straw, 
Potatoes, 
125 “ 
200 “ 
Cabbages, 
250 “ 
Carrots, 
. 275 “ 
Oat straw, 
300 “ 
Barley straw, . 
300 “ 
Beets, .... 
. 397 “ 
Wheat straw, . 
. 450 “ 
Bean straw, 
. 450 “ 
Green clover, . 
. 475 “ 
Turnips, .... 
500 “ 
According to other statements, 107 lbs. of wheat, 
111 lbs. of rye, 117 lbs. of oats, 130 lbs. of barley, 
