REVIEW OF THE APRIL NUMBER OF THE AGRICULTURIST. 
191 
C Curious Facts in Vegetable Physiology. —There 
are a great many curious facts,friend Solon, not 
yet dreamed of in your philosophy. Truly, 
“ this is a great country, as yet but little known.” 
Not one farmer in ten knows the value of the 
soil he has plowed for half a century, princi¬ 
pally because he has just skinned over the sur¬ 
face without seeking to know what hidden 
treasures lie only a few inches below. But 
how could he know about facts in vegetable 
physiology without studying them ? 
To Kill Cockroaches with Red Lead. —Arsenic 
or any other poison is equally good, and all are 
effectual; and yet, thousands will read the reci¬ 
pe and never try it. 
Wheat Growing in the West. —The writer of 
the article under this caption gives a truthful 
picture of the slovenly way that wheat is sown 
in Michigan, and at the same time expresses the 
opinion that drilling wheat will soon supersede 
broadcast sowing. Why, my dear sir, not one 
farmer in ten ever heard of such a labor-saving 
crop-increasing machine. Not one in fifty ever 
saw one, and not one in a hundred believes in 
the advantage of using them, and not one in a 
thousand will buy one within the next ten years. 
There is something else to be drilled into their 
heads before they will drill wheat into the 
ground. 
Burning Gas for Fuel. —If this should be gen¬ 
erally adopted, I greatly fear several individu¬ 
als will be utterly consumed ! 
Soiling Cattle. —This article is very good as 
far as it goes. It might have enumerated sev¬ 
eral other crops suitable for the purpose. 
Upon good soil, few plants can exceed barley 
for i soiling. At the south, the cow pea would 
be superior to any other crop; besides, it is 
one of the best fertilisers, and when cut and 
cured, makes the very best of hay. I have 
found Morus multicaulis an excellent feed for 
cattle, when cut while it is young and tender. 
All stock that are kept up and fed with green 
food in summer, should be provided with salt 
balls to lick. These are made of clay, salt, 
ashes, and lime, in equal parts. The ingredi¬ 
ents should all be pulverised fine, and sifted, 
and then moistened just enough to make them 
hold together. Soiling will never be practised 
to any extent in this country while land is so 
cheap, and while the absurd practice is contin¬ 
ued of building expensive fences to keep stock 
running wild in all the commons and highways. 
The Endicotl Pear Tree —A long living evi¬ 
dence of the virtue of the man who obeyed the 
injunction of wisdom, which bids him plant a 
tree. Reader, go thou and do likewise. Im¬ 
mortalise thy name, and cause future genera¬ 
tions to bless thee. 
Prize Merino Sheep. —Pretty good for the old 
north state. Yankee shepherds had better have 
a care. Rip Van Winkle is waking up, and 
with a mild climate and cheap lands, may yet 
draw the wool over the eyes of sheep breeders 
who have six months of winter to contend with. 
But how is it about dogs, Messrs. North Caroli¬ 
nians'? When I was acquainted in that state, 
some five and twenty years ago, it beat all cre¬ 
ation for worthless sheep-stealing curs, Virginia 
always excepted. You cannot save your mut¬ 
ton and dogs, too, gentlemen. You had better 
buy a sausage cutter and send the dogs to the 
New-York Market! 
Wire Fences. —I only notice this article to de¬ 
ny one point incidentally introduced, and that 
is, “ stone walls are often necessary to use up 
the stone.” It is not so. There is not a stone 
wall in New England, but would be of more val¬ 
ue to the owner if buried beneath the surface 
to drain the soil, than it is above, where it 
disfigures the beauty of the landscape, affords 
a constant harbor for all sorts of varmints , and 
is one eternal torment to all who depend upon 
the abominable nuisances for a fence. So much 
for stone walls. If any one is hard headed 
enough to defend them let him stand forth. 
[Well, then, suppose this soil, as we have now 
and then seen it in New England, is already so 
full of stones that you cannot get them below 
it, or that you have no land that needs drain¬ 
ing 1 ?— Eds.] # 
A New Fibrous Plant. —There are a dozen 
other kinds of fibrous plants besides the okra, 
that men will learn to appreciate one of these 
days. If the flax plant can be dissolved by 
chemical process, and its fibre converted into 
flax cotton, I should like to know why the cot¬ 
ton plant cannot be treated in the same way. 
It has also a heavy coating of fibre. The time 
may come when the pine apple will be grown 
in Florida for its fibre, which is superior to linen 
for beauty and strength. The common bear 
grass, which abounds upon the South-Atlantic 
and Gulf coasts, is another fibrous plant, the val¬ 
ue of which has never been appreciated. 
Discovery of Phosphate of Lime as a Manure .—- 
This article has been read with more interest, 
perhaps, than would have been an announce¬ 
ment of a gold mine in the same locality. The 
scarcity and consequent high price produced by 
a general consumption of an article so limited, 
in quantity as bones, must always deter the 
