100 
FOREIGN AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 
Jbrrigit Agricultural 
We are in receipt of our foreign journals, per steamer 
Europa, to 26th January. 
Markets. — Ashes, very dull. Cotton, an advance of 
\<L to ^d. per lb., and an active market. About 30,000 
bales changed hands on speculation, the day before the 
steamer sailed. Provisions, an increased demand with 
slightly better prices. Wheat and Flour, lower. Corn 
Is. to 2s. higher. Lard, an improvement with extensive 
sales. Pice and Tallow, on the rise. Wool, the little on 
hand is held at an advance. The news on the whole is 
highly favorable to American products. 
Money still continues very plenty. 
The Way Plants Receive Ammonia. —Plants absorb 
the carbonate of ammonia, both by their leaves and 
roots, but especially by the latter, to which it is con¬ 
veyed by manure or dissolved in water.— Agricultural 
Gazette. 
Conifers from the West Coast of North America .— 
A plan is proposed in Scotland, for obtaining seeds of 
rare conifers from the northwest coast, by means of a 
special subscription for that purpose. The projectors 
of the scheme are George W. Patton and David Smith, 
Esqrs., of Edinburgh. 
Durability of Zinc.— In 1830, I put a cistern, lined 
with zinc, in a forcing house, in which the water was 
heated during the greater half of every year, and in 
1845 it was perfectly good, and serviceable as ever, and 
I believe it continues so to the present time.— Corres¬ 
pondent in Gard. Chron. 
Cause of Discolored YolJcs in Hen's Eggs. —A cor¬ 
respondent in the London Agricultural Gazette, in 
answer to a query in regard to discolored yolks in 
eggs, says;; “ I beg to state that a fowl of mine laid 
about eight eggs of the same description, and I ascer¬ 
tained that she had been kicked, and the yolks in the 
egg bag injured thereby—a practice not at all uncom¬ 
mon among servants when the poultry annoy them.” 
Death of Mr. Loddiges. —We regret to announce the 
decease, on the 28th ult., of Mr. William Loddiges, 
after an illness of three weeks. This gentleman has 
long been known as one of the most persevering culti¬ 
vators of his age, and a genuine lover of plants for 
their own sake. With him has gone the last of the old 
firm of Conrad Loddiges and Sons. The business now 
rests in the hands of, and will, we believe, be carried on, 
by his nephew, Mr. Conrad Loddiges.— Gard. Chron. 
To Get Rid of Grain Weevils. —Agriculturists, who 
wish to get rid of weevils, have nothing to do but, as 
soon as he is aware of their presence, to pitch the sur¬ 
face of some old boards and place them in his granaries; 
the pitch must of course be renewed several times in 
the course of the year, in order to keep the insects away. 
The mere fumes of the pitch is disagreeable to the 
weevils, and will prove fatal if long inhaled.— English 
Paper. 
Destruction of Aviary Birds hy Rats. —Mr. William 
Kidd, of Hammersmith, near London, recently lost by 
rats, 355 choice birds in his aviary, a collection noted as 
one of the most select of its kind extant, comprising 
specimens of nearly every chorister of the English for¬ 
ests, as well as a large number of foreign song birds. 
The rats entered the aviary by gnawing through the 
floor, and, from the height of the floor boards above the 
ground, Mr. Kidd conjectures that the cunning rascals 
carried on their operations while mounted on the backs 
of one another. 
To Drive away Rats. —This may be done by stuffing 
their holes after the following manner, which will ban¬ 
ish them away so that they will not return while the 
taste or smell remains:—Take one pound of common 
tar, half an ounce of pearlash, and as much oil of vitriol 
as will ferment a handful of common salt; mix them 
all together, spread the mixture thick on brown paper, 
and lay a piece in the bottom of the holes for them to 
walk on; then stuff some into the holes and fill them up 
with lime. Or another way: get a paper bagful of 
human hah, from a barber’s shop, and stuff the rat 
holes with it—they will never appear there again.— 
Gard. Chron. 
Dry Process of Preparing Flax .— In the year 1810, 
a new method of dressing flax was patented, by which 
the woody matter was separated from the fibre without 
steeping it, by means of mechanical action, and then the 
flax was bleached by simply washing it in warm water. 
It would appear that the coloring matter is not chemi 
cally combined with the fibrous matter, while the plant is 
vegetating, or after it is pulled, but that the chemical com¬ 
bination takes place while the plant is steeped in water. 
The object of this steeping is to induce a fermenta¬ 
tion, which loosens and destroys a cement which binds 
the fibres of flax to each other and to the wood. The 
fermentation weakens considerably the strength of the 
flax fibres, and even destroys many of them. This dry 
preparation, therefore, if it be practicable on a large 
scale, would be a prodigious improvement. It would 
render the flax fibres much stronger, it would increase 
their quantity, and it would save the expense of the 
materials employed in bleaching the linen. — Agricul¬ 
tural Gazette. 
A New Feature in Agricultural Education .— The 
secretary of the Agricultural Improvement Society of 
Ireland, lately presented a draft of instructions for the 
guidance and direction of the teachers of their several 
districts, and the course the different local bodies should 
pursue to secure due attention to their duties. The 
following are some of the leading subjects to which the 
instructors should direct the farmers’ attentionThe 
necessity of turning up and digging the tillage land 
deeply and well in winter, in order to expose it to the 
effects of the frosts, and to prepare it for cultivation in 
spring. The advantage of removing surface and other 
water, levelling all unnecessary banks and ditches, and 
spreading their contents, either in compost or otherwise, 
upon the land. The profit to be derived from the pre¬ 
paration of manures of every description, by collecting 
weeds, scouring ditches, and accumulating bog mold, 
sand, seaweed, or dung in heaps, and in proper posi¬ 
tions, for easy distribution in the spring. 
Effect of London Sewer Water on Crops. —From the 
evidence lately given before the directors of the 
Metropolitan Sewerage Manure Company,” the gen¬ 
eral results of the experiments of the market gardeners 
as to the effect of sewerage on their crops, was as 
follows:— 
1. Growth is more rapid and healthy after the 
application of sewer water. 
2. Vegetables increase in size. 
3. The yield of raspberry bushes is much improved. 
4. It lessens blight. 
5. Little or no offensive smell is produced from its 
application.. 
From these general statements the report proceeds 
to particulars, and similar evidence is brought for¬ 
ward in proof of the advantage of sewer water to pota¬ 
toes, radishes, vegetable marrow, onions, cabbages, and 
broccoli, seakale, French beans, turnips, carrots, straw¬ 
berries, raspberries, cucumbers, celery, rhubarb, and 
peas. In beets, the plants are reported by Mr. Miller 
to have considerable increase in size; but nothing is said 
of the roots; and Mr. Crouch gives evidence of the 
goodness of broad beans when in blossom, but he says 
nothing of the crop in pod. The advantage to currants, 
gooseberries, and rose trees, is doubtfully reported on. 
