68 
FOREIGN AGRICULTURAL NEWS. 
.foreign Agricultural 2tfeu)0. 
By the arrival of the steamer Washington, we have 
onr journals to the 21st of December. The only news 
of any importance was a slight advance in cotton. 
Remedy for the Gripes in Horses. —We need never 
loose a horse by gripes, provided we administer, when 
first attacked, 1 oz. each of spirits of nitre and paregoric, 
in a quart of warm water. 
Strength of Vitrified Clay Pipes. —Those of three- 
inch bore, lately tried at the works at Glasgow, stood 
the pressure of a column of water 230 ft. high, and 
those of four-inch, 140 feet, without breaking. These 
pipes are said to be much cheaper than lead. 
Remedy for Cattle Attached with Disease in the 
Lungs. —Moderate bleeding, powerful blistering to the 
sides, with setons in the brisket, and strong sedatives 
internally. 
The Object of Mixing Charcoal Dust with Fresh 
JJrine. —Ammonia is the product of the putrefaction, 
which soon takes place in the urine; and the propriety 
of adding charcoal dust to the fresh liquid depends on 
the advantage of retaining the volatile products of that 
decay from its earliest stages. 
Pigs Affected by Cold. —Fine-bred pigs, having little 
hair, must have a much warmer temperature than 
sheep. When pigs huddle together, it is a sure sign 
that they are not warm euough. Cold, stopping the 
circulation in the skin, drives the blood to the internal 
organs, and causes inflammation. 
Comparative Cost of Different Kinds of Pipe in 
England. —Suppose that 1^-inch bore pipe is required, 
the cost will be about Is. 10 d. per yard, cast-iron 
jointed; 3s. 2d., glass-jointed ; 3s. 2d., gutta-percha; 4s., 
lead; and Is. 2d., glazed stoneware pipe, 2 inches diam¬ 
eter, with cemented joints. These prices will vary a 
little in different localities. 
Interesting Physiological Fact. —It is remarkable, as 
among the millions of other proofs of the wisdom and 
provident care of the Supreme Being, that in the milk 
of a female, who has a fractured limb, the lime is re¬ 
duced in quantity until the fractured bone is again 
united. The eggs, also, of a fowl, which has a broken 
limb, are without shells until the broken parts are 
again united. 
Comparative Strength of Water Pipes. —Gutta 
percha, where expense is no object, may be used ; it 
will bear a considerable pressure. A f-inch bore tube, 
% inch thick, has been tested with about 750 feet pres¬ 
sure, without failing. Glass pipes will bear a pressure 
that is almost incredible. From experiments made at 
Nailsea, glass tubes 3 feet long, varying from 1-| to 2f 
inches internal diameter, with thicknesses of from A- 
to of an inch, bore pressure of from 1,500 to 3,600 
feet. 
Manure for Potatoes. —I see in your paper, (quoted 
from the Economist of October 19th,) a method of pre¬ 
paring manure for potatoes, according to which the 
dung, (stable dung and vegetable compost,) was mixed 
with one fourth or one fifth of quicklime. Is not that 
an excellent way of getting rid of the ammonia, equal 
to the bleaching system, by exposing it to the sun, 
wind, and rain?— Timothy Clod, Forfarshire. [Yes. 
But as ammonia is undoubtedly injurious to the pota¬ 
to crop, the object of the writer is, we presume, to do 
exactly what you described.]— Gar denerd Chronicle. 
AnWent Farming. —It is stated in an article on this 
subject, in the July number of the London Quarterly 
Review, that the average product of wheat in the home 
provinces of Rome, in the time of Varro, was 32 bush¬ 
els to the acre, far more than the present average in 
Britain, and probably three times as much as that of 
the United States. 
Experiments on Irish Peat. —"When Mr. Owen’s ex¬ 
periments upon Irish peat were first introduced in the 
House of Commons, the subject was treated with ridi¬ 
cule ; but lately, extensive operations have been carried 
on, and an exceedingly profitable field for speculation 
has been opened. From 36,500 tons of peat, at 2s. per 
ton, the “ Times ” states that the following produce 
has been realised:—365 tons of sulphate of ammonia, 
at £12 per ton, £4,380; 255 tons of acetate of lime, at 
£14 per ton, £3,570; 19,000 gallons of naphtha, at 
5s. per gallon, £4,750; 109,500 pounds of paraffine, at 
Is. per gallon, £5,475 ; 73,000 gallons volatile oil, at Is. 
per gallon, £3,650; 36,000 gallons fixed oil, at Is. per 
gallon, £1,800. Making a total of £23,625. The profit, 
after deducting the expenses of the sulphuric acid used 
in the manufacture, the wages, labor, cost of sending to 
market, &c., amounts to £11,908, or more than 100 
per cent, upon the outlay.— Agricultural Gazette. 
Great Agricultund Movement in Growing Flax in 
England. —A company comprising many of the leading 
nobility and land owners, is seeking from government 
a Royal Charter to give encouragement to agricultu¬ 
rists and farmers to bring into immediate cultivation, at 
least one hundred thousand acres of land, for the pro¬ 
duction of flax straw; which substance the promoters 
of the charter have, (by new and peculiar processes 
never hitherto adopted,) the power to convert into a 
fit state to hold competition with the best flax imported 
from foreign nations, without the aid of steeping, kiln- 
drying, nor mill scutching. The machinery by which 
the fibre is separated from the stalk, without steeping, 
is of a very simple and inexpensive kind, requiring no 
previous knowledge to work it. The unsteeped flax is 
uniform in strength, and free from stains, so that all 
after processes of manufacturing and bleaching may 
be conducted with a facility and exactness not hitherto 
attainable.— Ibid. 
Heating by Steam. —This is by no means a modern 
invention. In 1745, Col. William Cook improved upon 
a plan of heating hothouses, suggested by Sir Hugh 
Platt, many years before, and in 1755, we find him re¬ 
commending it as applicable for the forcing of fruit.— 
North-British Agriculturist. 
The wheat crop in Nova Scotia is an entire failure 
worse than in any former year. 
