322 
TO OUR FLORIDA FRIENDS. 
TO OUR FLORIDA FRIENDS. 
At the urgent request of many of our friends 
in this new and enterprising state, we beg leave 
fo inform them, that our travelling agent, Mr. 
Solon Robinson, will visit them early in De¬ 
cember, and remain for several weeks. He 
will travel there, as he has heretofore done 
at the south, as agent for the Agriculturist and 
our Agricultural Warehouse in New York. In 
his tour, he will make it his undivided object to 
disseminate information on practical and scien¬ 
tific agriculture, and demonstrate the use of 
new and improved implements. He will also 
lace himself in the way of learning all that 
is limited time will permit of the nature of 
Florida soils, the best methods of culture, prac¬ 
tised by her most enlightened planters, and the 
possibility of introducing the growth of new 
and superior products. Mr. Robinson will thus 
act in the double capacity of scholar and teach¬ 
er ; and we bespeak for him such attentions on 
his tour among this portion of our warm-heart¬ 
ed southern friends, as will be sure to render 
his sojourn among them both 'profitable and 
agreeable. 
HEDGE PLANTS OF INDIA. 
At a recent rfieeting of the British Associa¬ 
tion for the Advancement of Science, Dr. Hugh 
Cleghorn read a paper “ On the Hedge Plants of 
India, and the Conditions which adapt them for 
Special Purposes and Particular Localities.” 
The following is the list of plants observed by 
him in general use :— 
Hedge Plants .—Opuntia dillenii, Agave amer- 
icana, Euphorbia tirucalli, Euphorbia antiquo¬ 
rum, Csesalpinia sepiaria, Csesalpinia sappan, 
Pterolobium lacerans, Guilandina bonduc, Park- 
insonia aculeata, Poinciana pulcherrima, Mimo¬ 
sa rubicaulis, Inga dulcis, Acacia arabica, Aca¬ 
cia concinna, Vachellia farnesiana, Epicarpu- 
rus orientalis, Jatropha curcas, Pisonia aculea¬ 
ta, Capparis sepiaria, Capparis aphylla, Scutia 
indica, Azima tetracantha, Gmelina asiatica, 
Balsamodendron berryi, Toddalia aculeata, Bam- 
busa arundinacea, Bambusa spinosa, Bambusa 
nana, Dendrocalamus tulda, Pandanus odora- 
tissimus. 
Ornamental Plants Forming Inner Fences. —Law- 
son ia inermis, Lonicera ligustrina, Citrus limet- 
ta, Morus indica, Punica granatum, Phyllanthus 
reticulatus, Hibiscus rosa sinensis, Adhatoda va- 
sica, Adhatoda betonica, Graptophyllum hor- 
tense, Gendarussa vulgaris, Gardenia florida, Al- 
lamanda cathartica. 
Plants Used for Edging Garden Walks .-—Ped- 
ilanthus tithymaloides, Vinca rosea, Heliotro- 
pium curassavicum, Rosa indica, Rosa semper- 
florens. 
Professor Royle considered this paper a most 
valuable one, and thought its title by far too mod¬ 
est for its merits. The importance of consider¬ 
ing the-adaptability of plants to particular soils 
and climates could not be overrated in all at¬ 
tempts at developing the resources of a coun¬ 
try. Plants which would flourish in a rich al¬ 
luvial soil would not grow in a sandy plain, and 
vice versa. It was not always the case that in¬ 
digenous plants were best adapted for culture 
in particular countries, and in India, they had 
many instances of introduced plants growing 
more vigorously, and extending more widely, 
than native plants. 
Premiums on Entire Flocks of Sheep. —We 
suggest for the consideration of the State Soci¬ 
ety the propriety of offering a large premium 
for the most profitable flock of sheep, consisting 
of not less than one hundred. The profit to be 
made up of the aggregate sale of the wool and 
lambs, after fully replacing from the latter 
the loss by deterioration or death. The quan¬ 
tity of green food or pasturage should be esti¬ 
mated as nearly as possible, and all such as is 
capable of weighing or measurement, should 
be accurately ascertained. The expense of time 
and attention, as well as the annual value in 
rent of sheds, &c., should also be made an item 
in the calculation; and from the whole, the re¬ 
sult is to be deduced. This, it seems to us, 
would enable many flock masters to decide the 
important question, Which is the most valuable 
breed of sheep ? 
Value of Roadside Products. —The remark 
was made to us many years since, by a shrewd 
observer, that the spontaneous products of the 
roadsides in the vicinity of New York, were 
frequently more valuable than the adjoining 
fields. This is no doubt substantially true, for 
there are dandelions and other herbs for the ta¬ 
ble, and their roots for the apothecary; the 
elderberry blossoms for the herbarium, and 
their fruit for the pastryman and the manufac¬ 
turer of genuine Port wine; the blackberry, the 
raspberry, the whortleberry, and the berberry, 
that frequently line the roads in boundless pro¬ 
fusion, and yield large profils, when gathered 
for the market, besides numberless other minor 
and less general products. 
Storing Winter Cabbages.— Such cabbages, 
at the extreme north, as you wish to keep 
through the winter and early spring, may be 
pulled up by the roots, and arranged in compact 
rows, with their heads downward, resting on 
the surface of the ground, so that their stalks 
will stand upright in the air; then, they may 
be covered with straw and earth, and treated 
in every other respect as directed for root 
crops. Should the weather be unusually warm, 
the earth and straw should be opened to let 
in air. 
Substitute for Soap. —A late French author 
recommends potatoes, three fourths boiled, as a 
substitute for soap in washing hands. The use 
of this prevents chapping in cold weather, and 
retains the skin soft and healthy. 
Chemical Facts. —Soils may contain silica 
and alumina; a plant may contain silica, but 
no alumina. Animals contain neither silica nor 
alumina. 
