132 
FOREIGN AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 
Joreign Agricultural 'Nms. 
We are in receipt of our foreign journals per steamer 
Canada to 24th of February. 
Markets. — Ashes falling. Cotton , a decline of •§ d. 
per lb. Grain of all kinds a slight reduction. Provis¬ 
ions, the prices the same as per our last with brisk 
sales. Tobacco, firm. Wool, an advance of 2d. per lb., 
equal to 4 cts. of our money. 
Small Pox in Sheep .—A renewed outbreak of small 
pox among the sheep of Norfolk is announced in the 
English papers. 
Important to Stock Breeders. —Farmers are strongly 
recommended to wash all roots before giving them to 
cattle. Professor Dick states that he has seen 100 lbs. 
of earth taken out of a horse which had been destroyed 
by it. 
Amount of Ruta-Baga Turnips Consumed by Stock 
per Day. —An ox weighing 40 stone, (560 lbs,) will eat 
about 100 lbs. of ruta-baga or Swedish turnips a-day 
along with straw or chaff. Ten sheep of 64 lbs. each, 
will eat about 200 lbs. in the field, and rather less in 
the house.— Agricultural Gazette. 
Fixation of Ammonia .—100 gallons of undiluted 
urine will give off so much ammonia as to require 86-J 
lbs. of gypsum, 139 lbs. of green vitriol, or 123 lbs. of 
Epsom salts to furnish sulphuric acid to “ fix ” it. The 
Epsom salts are the best to use—the non salt the 
worst.— Ibid. 
Pruning Resinous Trees. —The worst tune to prune 
these is in the spring when they are beginning to grow, 
the safest in autumn or winter.— Ibid. 
To Decompose Dead Animals for Manure .—The most 
rapid way to effect decomposition of dead carcases is 
to mix them with something already decomposing. 
Chop the flesh up, and lay it in alternate beds with hot 
stable manure, and cover over with vegetable mould, 
burnt earth, or charred stuff of any land. Any of these 
will detain the effluvia.— Ibid. 
Discovery of a Yellow Camellia.—Ax. Fortune, the 
English traveller and botanical collector, has lately un¬ 
expectedly discovered a real yellow camellia. It proves 
to be one of the anemone-flowered race, the exterior 
petals being French white, and the central ones of a 
rich primrose yellow. He found it in blossom in a 
nursery garden in one of the towns in the north of Chi¬ 
na, which he had visited in search after tea plants. 
Strength of Gutta-Percha Tubing. —A trial of the 
strength of gutta-percha tubing took place a few days 
ago at Stirling, in the presence of a committee of the 
town council, with a view to its applicability for extin¬ 
guishing fires, flushing drains, (fee. The tubing, which 
was one-and-a-half inch bore, was attached to the.wa¬ 
ter pipes; and, although the pressure of the water is 
perhaps the greatest in the kingdom, (being about 450 
feet,) not the slightest effect could be perceived upon 
either the tubing or the joints, whilst the same pressure 
upon strong leather hose scattered the rivets in all di¬ 
rections.— Bell's Weekly Messenger. 
Important Discovery .—Mr. Smith, of Deanston, has 
made an important discovery in the treatment of the 
fleeces of sheep, whereby the fleece of the living animal 
is rendered repellant of water by a simple and cheap 
process; so that the sheep are defended from the per¬ 
nicious effects of wet, whilst the natural emanations 
from the body remain unchecked, and the growth and 
quality of the wool are improved. The effect of this 
waterproofing has been practically tested on some of 
the most exposed sheep walks in Scotland, and with 
signal success. This process, it is expected, will effect¬ 
ually supersede the laying with tar and butter, and 
other salves, at one third of the. cost, whilst the wool 
will be preserved white and pure. Though the laying 
or salving of sheep hitherto has been applied chiefly to 
flocks on mountainous and exposed situations only, it is 
believed that the new mode of treatment will be found 
beneficial to flocks on the most sheltered and southern 
pastures; and that it will go far to prevent or mitigate 
that destructive disease, the rot, which is neither more 
nor less than dysentery, caused by the continuance of 
wet weather, whereby the fleeces of the sheep become 
soaked with rain, and produce the same effect as is 
produced on man by wet clothing. It is also presumed 
that this mode of treatment will lead to the successful 
introduction of the Spanish sheep, and the alpaca, 
which are known to have suffered from the prevalence 
of wet weather in this country. Mr. Smith has secured 
patents for the United Kingdom and the colonies.— Scot¬ 
tish Paper. 
To have Fresh-laid Fggs all Winter. —In February or 
March, set a broody hen, with a sitting of game eggs. 
The black-breasted reds I prefer. The pullets, if liber¬ 
ally fed, will begin to lay in September, and will con¬ 
tinue laying through the winter. I have several hens 
which have been in an egg and have laid an egg in 20 
weeks. If one of them should go broody after laying 
a nest of eggs, put it in a coop two or three days, and 
reduce its food considerably. The hatching fever will 
then go off, when it may be released, and in about three 
weeks, it will begin to lay again. I have practised this 
plan several years with invariable success. The fowls 
must be warmly housed and well fed.— Agricultural 
Gazette. 
White Zinc Paint. —The Society for the Encourage¬ 
ment of National Industry, in Paris, has granted a med¬ 
al of gold worth 3,000 f. to M. Leclaire for his substitu¬ 
tion of white of zinc for v T hite of lead. It appears that, 
from 1838 to 1847, no less than 3,142 persons entered 
the Paris Hospital, attacked by disease, originating in 
the use of lead. Of these, 1,898 persons worked at 
white lead or at minium; there were also 712 paint¬ 
ers, 63 grinders of colors, and 10 preparers of visiting 
cards with porcelain surface. Since 1846, no person 
has been attacked in M. Leclaire’s establishment.— The 
Builder. 
The Use of Ammonia in Green Houses. —I occasionally 
used the carbonate of ammonia last season with bene¬ 
fit by applying a small lump of it, moistened, in the 
way you direct, to the hot pipes ; or sometimes I dis¬ 
solved a small quantity in water, and with it, from a 
fine rose or the engine, sprinkled the hot pipes and boil¬ 
er, thereby filling the house with vapor holding the am¬ 
monia in solution, which, when condensation took place, 
conveyed it to the plants somewhat after Nature’s own 
way. While on this subject, I may observe, that of 
late, ammoniacal gas has been used as “ more effective, 
easier of application than tobacco or other established 
remedies” for the destruction of the insects that infest 
plants, and some of your readers may be inclined to try 
it.— Gardeners' Chronicle. 
Choice of Perenn ial Flower Seeds. —In the way of bien¬ 
nials or perennials for partial protection, or entire ex¬ 
posure in the flower garden, we may particularly in¬ 
stance the following, which may be raised from seeds:— 
First and foremost we place the Humea elegans, which 
requires growing one year as a frame plant, to prepare 
it for planting the next year; it is by far. the most 
graceful and ornamental half-hardy plant which finds a 
place in the flower garden. Stachys, pentstemons, and 
antirrhinums are pretty and useful plants, which re¬ 
quire very little protection; and among those which do 
not need any protection, the most striking are alstroe- 
merias, the hollyhock, perennial larkspurs, (Delphinium,) 
monkshood, (Aconitum,) and several species of dian- 
thus, campanula, and papaver.— Ibid. 
