SHEEP PREMIUMS 
Al i lie New York ?*iiiiu Fair. 
Sheep must in nil eases have been evenly 
and closely shorn, not. earlier Ilian the first 
of April before, Ihe Fair, and the date of 
shearing must lie certified at. the time of entry. 
]f net evenly shorn, or if clipped so as to 
conceal defects, or with a view to improve 
their form or appearance, they will he ex¬ 
cluded from competition, and the exhibitors 
■will be liable to tbe penalty of fraud. Ewes 
competing for premiums, if over two years 
old, must have had living lambs the last 
gttriug, and suckled lambs for three months 
during this season. The facts must la; certi¬ 
fied and evidence furnished, if required. The 
ages of all animals must he given, and satis¬ 
factory evidence furnished, if required. .No 
animal may compete in more than one class 
or division. 
jfo.ll. PAT SHRKP.—Best. fat sRoop. lone wnnlecl, 
over 2 years, $5, 'id do., $3; 30 <t> '..ft. Best, fat sheen, 
long "ii.Uod, noOoi"! ViMn’s, $5; 20 On.. #3; 3d do., ft. 
11,.st ' it. sltoop, middle woolcu. over2 years, $5; 20 On., 
30 On., ¥1 Real fat miOOIe svnnioil. under 
2 ve ils, $5: 20 do.. #0: 3d On , ft. tle.-i, Ini slump, 
cross-breO, over2 yenrs. sr,; 20 On., $3; 30 On.. VI. 
No. 12. i ron; Woni.io sheep—L elo-ttfcrJi.—Beat 
I/'ici'-itei ram, over 2 years, $15; 2U (Id..$ 10; 3d do., 
«;>. I!" -I Leleesler rain, muter 2 j ears, $lf, . 30 On.. » HI; 
30 On., IS. Oust pen 3 Leieesler rum ninths, ftlj); 10 
do., Vi. Best pen 3 ijeiresli'r owes, nver 2 years, $15; 
20 0(i., $li)J 30 On., $5. Best, non 3 r.i iee.sier ewes, un¬ 
der 3 years. $15: 20 On., $|||; HO On., fa, Flest pen Lei- 
cester owe lambs, $HI; 20 do., $5. 
OotMiiolds, —Cota (Voids, same premiums us l,ei- 
ccslors. 
Linr'lnf.— Lincolns, same premiums as T,eieestcrs, 
No. 13. Miiiiii.k-Woiilkii Source. Ilevt Smith 
Ii.iwn mm, over two years, $15; 20 On., $10: 30 dn.. 
$5. Best Smith Down ram, under two years, $13; 30 
do., $10; 3<l do . Beat pen 3 Soul li Down turn!)*. 
Vli); 20 do., .fa. Best pen 3 South Down ewes, nvei 
2 years, $15; 20 du., $l.i; 30 On.. fU. Besl pen 3 soul ll 
Down inves, under 2 years. ?!l); 20 On., fid, no On,, *5. 
Best Pen 3 South Dmvn ewe l.mihs, $111; 20 dn., $.j. 
Best Shropshire Down rain, 2 years nbl, $15; 20 dn., 
$R Best. Shropshire Down non. 1 year I ' 111 , s 1(1; 2,| 
d $10. Best pen 3 Shrupsblre ewes, $15: ,M. On., fit). 
Best Hampshire Down rani, 2years old, $15; 2d dn,, 
; 1(1- Beat llampsliii-e Down ram, I year old, $15; 20 
Co., $10. Best pen 3 Hampshire ewes, $15; 20 iln.. $10. 
No. II. Kim: Worn. p.D Sueep. A—Sheep nf Mprinn 
Irci'if, bred for Ihiew-r.-, uj icnot.- Best, ram over 2 
years old, $t5; 20 do.. $10 : 3d do., fa. Best non unOor 
2 years. $15: 3d On., fin; 30 On.. > e Best, pen 3 ram 
J aiob ,$10; 20 On., .fa. Best pen flows, 2 veal's n|ii, 
$15; 31 On., $10: 30 tin., $5. Best pen 3 ewes. I year 
• Oil. $15; 20 On., $11); 30 (ln„ $6. Best poll 3 ewe lamps, 
$10; 20 On., $5. 
H — Slurp of Merino breed, bred .for VJClfjht of fleece. 
Same premium as unUcr A. 
Remarks.— The above general regula¬ 
tions prescribing Llic comlilirms under w hich 
all kinds of sheep included in the premium 
list must compete at the Fair are, we be¬ 
lieve, the same as last year. The several 
English breeds and varieties to which prizes 
are offered, and the amount of such prizes 
are also, we think, the same. The division 
of Morhios into two classes, the one “ bred 
for fineness of wool,” and Ihe other “ bred 
fur weight of fleece,” is a. decided improve¬ 
ment on last year, when all varieties of I bis 
breed com poled in a. single class. Wo es¬ 
teem the basis of this classification, which 
is really Ihe adaptation of the wool to dif¬ 
ferent uses, a sound one. Sonic have ob¬ 
jected to ibis that it is Impracticable, or at 
least is so unless the different uses require 
wools whose difference in quality is visible 
to the moat ordinary judges. In this they 
virtually assume that competent judges can- 
net lie obtained. It certainly requires a de¬ 
gree of skill to decide on the adaptation of 
Merino wool to its principal uses, hut the 
degree of expertness demanded is not very 
scarce. Fine wool is ordinarily divided into 
as many as four or live classes in the pub¬ 
lished wool circulars and prices current. If 
these classes do not represent visible and 
tangible differences in quality, of what use 
are they, and why are they kept up by 
sound business men versed in the subject'? 
It requires no experience or skill whatever 
to distinguish between the finest of the 
heaviest fleeced American Merino wool and 
"picklock,” or “Ohio XXX,” The differ¬ 
ence is as obvious as that between sixpenny 
and ten penny nulls. A midway degree of 
finem.ss is almost as readily discernible, and 
1 requires no great degree of experience to 
cany tlm discrimination further. Other 
qualities of fine wool, such ns softness,even¬ 
ness, &c., require more experience to confer 
the requisite skill, Yet it is possessed by a 
bmltitudc of observant growers, experienced 
and careful wool buyers, manufacturers, 
staplers, &c. The State Agricultural Socie 
H <>[ New iork never need to go a begging 
lor v ' ,; wing committees fully competent to 
determine the relative value of line wool 
fur ihe leading and most important uses of 
that wool, 
Indeed, we think it easier to obtain a 
•‘■nniid and accurate decision on the real 
q i 'iiiios $nd value of sheep, so far as wool 
1' <l,IKt ‘ | nciI, by classifying them according 
) 1 H: , IIS0S °t their wool, than exclusively 
•tccoiding to blood. And—we trust there 
is no treason in the declaration !-lhe tests 
J use, of pure, utility, would he far simpler 
‘ ' easier understood than those of blood 
^)en applied to the carcass and general ap¬ 
pearance. While Wood tests are supposed 
al1 llje points Which form Urn 
I ^Hcation lines of breed, or are of essen- 
of nir'r' 1 r’ > K ' y ftlH0 lllcltl,le numerous ones 
, ,0n ° rninc >'-°f about as mud, 
on » Va,lw M«‘e “ blue butterfly smut ” 
s| )ec : H t l ,! ’ s( u| a iop-oared rabbit, or some 
I n, ,n !,ml C0lor hackle of n 
■ l-nurimster. A “layman” thoroughly 
uioL ? ,° n UlU S,lhjeCts of Poland 
Uou ' ^ himself fearfully at a 
oss, in the, to him, unmeaning maze of con¬ 
ventional “ fancy points.” 
“ Do we propose to ignore blood in premi¬ 
um lists of sheep?” By no means. We re¬ 
gard blood as an indispensable adjunct of 
sound individual excellence, because with¬ 
out it such excellence cannot he transmitted 
with anything like uniformity to progeny. 
“Do we object to Hie classification of the 
English breeds and varieties by blood, in¬ 
stead of Ihe special Uses of their wool, and 
the special qualifies of their mutton ?” We 
do not. The boundaries of blood are gener¬ 
ally, to a grea ter or lesser degree, co-terminous 
with the boundaries of excellence, in some 
particulars of fleece or carcass, and lliey are 
old and convenient distinct ions. Let lliem 
stand. Bill let them not he made exclusive 
boundaries, confining every breed or blood 
to one class. This does well enough among 
the long and middle wool breeds and varie¬ 
ties, for they are numerous enough to repre¬ 
sent perhaps all the leading uses of long and 
middle wool. Bui the fine wools are con¬ 
fined to one breed, though their uses are as 
numerous and as different firoill each other 
as are the uses of long or middle wools, or 
probably of both put together. It is absurd 
to assume that Agricultural Societies should 
encourage by premiums any particular breed 
or variety, merely because it is a separate 
breed or variety. The true objects of en¬ 
couragement are the different products of 
wool and mutton which are most, valuable; 
and blood only is encouraged because it rep¬ 
resents, and also secures Ihe hereditary trans¬ 
mission of those different valuable products. 
If this object is accomplished, what differ¬ 
ence does it make whether every given breed 
is confined lo one class, or is divided into 
several classes for premiums? The Merino, 
as already said, represents more uses, or 
hears what may he termed more distinct 
grades of wool, limn all the long wool breeds 
included in the above premium list. These 
different grades of wool are produced by dis¬ 
tinct and established varieties of the Merino, 
each of which transmits its peculiar wool 
hearing properties to its progeny, with as 
much uniformity as if it were a separate as 
well as a pure breed We will name a few 
of these varieties existing in this country 
and generally known among sheep men, viz,, 
the Saxon, Ihe Silesian, the common Merino 
and the improved American Merino, We 
do not propose this as a proper or sufficient 
classification, hut simply to point out under 
familiar names and as illustrations of our 
previous assert ions, well known and well es¬ 
tablished Varieties. We may describe them 
hereafter, when we have more space. 
Considering the above circumstances, and 
considering Ihe very important fact that the 
proportion of fine or clothing wool to Eng¬ 
lish combing wool consumed in the United 
.States, is as four to one, t.lie absurdity and 
injustice of giving vastly the. greatest amount 
of encouragement in the way of premiums 
to kinds ol sheep hearing the latter, ought, 
we think, to he obvious to all. And we he- 
VAOATION LETTERS. 
A Working Editor Our of I In mess. 
I told you I had been talking with Mary 
Jane in the pea patch. She relieved her 
mind on the subject of tlie duties of farm¬ 
ers and their sons. She sympathized fully 
with the “Troubled Marthas” of a year 
ago in the Bubal New Yorker, She said 
that “ Troubled Mahtiia” who first wrote, 
reflected the Condition of things in thousands 
of farmers’ homes. But the men were not 
altogether to blame, she thought. The 
wives and daughters are stupid, They are 
loo willing l.o lie drudged to death. They 
have too imperfect a conception of their 
real places in life and of their real duties 
and privileges. They are too ignorant—as 
ignorant as their husbands and brothers. 
11 they were not they would drive tlm males 
out of the hive of traditional notionulisin, 
and make them more nearly men than ma¬ 
chines, as they now are. As soon as she 
gels married and gets a home of her own— 
if, indeed, she finds a man to marry iter 
who has common sense and love enough to 
warrant, such a step cm her part—she will 
build a home superstructure such ns she 
knows can he realized—one in which labor 
shall become o pleasure, and which shall be 
invested with all the enjoyment which intel 
ligcntouleuliilion and contrivance can create. 
She says she is looking for such a, husband ; 
and before she marries him she must have a 
distinct and complete understanding with 
him ol the details of her duties and privi¬ 
leges. 
TnlUimr of Pens 
reminds me that, one of Farmer Sensible’s 
neighbors grows t wo crops a year, and each 
profitably. lie plows the land designed for 
the crop ill the fall; chooses a stiflisli clayey 
loam,or a loamy-gravel soil; hauls out upon 
it the scrapings of the barn-yard ami culti¬ 
vates it in after plowing; and as soon, in 
spring, as the frost is out enough for a, drill 
tooth to make a three inch furrow, lie tlrills 
i» the pens, in drills four to six inches apart. 
They ripen early, are harvested as soon as 
ripe, lb resiled, boiled in Ihe whey or sour 
milk, or with potatoes, and go to start, his 
stock hogs for the heavier feeding later. As 
soon as the first crop is off, the ground is 
again dressed with rotten manure, inverted 
three or four inches deep and again sowed 
with peas. The result of this crop is used 
lor seed the next, season, any surplus beyond 
his own wants being sold to his neighbors 
whose seed is “too buggy to sow.” But his 
seed peas are never buggy. 
Mowing I lie Roadsides. 
What a blessing is this cattle law ! Some 
lieve they are entirely obvious to the Ex- P'JOr men kicked against it. violently. But 
eculive Committee of the N. Y. State Agri- they did no harm. The roadsides are now 
cultural Society who frame,1 Ihe above meadow lands, or corn fo lds or potato 
premium list, though but a very small pro- , . , ,, . . T , ' 
portion of them are breeders of Merinos. piltclu;H > *>>’ flowerbeds. 1 have been swing 
The Society Jins already tried a classification * ni ? the scythe this forenoon in the public 
of Merinos by quallty ol wool—making, if highway. There are no elder hushes nor 
we remember aright, (our classes based on Canada thistles seeding along Ihe road fence 
27? T?,r' r**™ 
well digested and practicable plan been be- L *°bation by the use of tlie ianner s scythe 
fore the Executive Committee when it * ,as destroyed them; and a heavy crop of 
framed the above prize list, offering as liberal timothy, red top and clover is now cut in 
premiums to Merinos as to English sheep, the place. And it is refreshing to ride aloim- 
Committee would have willingly adopted , hcM country roads and inhale the swee°t 
it. We know earnest efforts were made to smti 
obtain sueli a plan, through the Secretary of 1 i M 1 ' | bcc ol lie new mown hay. It has 
tlm Society, Mr. IIabison. That gentli man wl ' ,n, S'lit a revolution in 
orally and by letter Urged us to present. sug- The Way of Mending Road*. 
goslioi.H on the subject, and we presume lie I T used Lo be the custom to call out all the 
also consulted other fine wool growers. ., tr „ cusu in tocait out an uie 
Some changes having been made in the uses 1 ns !l loa(l district, alter corn 
of line wools within tlm last three or four l )l,mlm S 01 ‘ booing, and tear up the road 
years, we did not fee] prepared to submit a ^des with a plow and scrape the dirt into 
plan of classification without a full investi- the center of the street. I am <da,d to notice 
gallon of the subject, and this investigation that since the cattle law look effect tins 
ill ucnli1 1 nii'l tIiti ni'( 4 ssnrcof ollittuil , , , 
meiils prevented us from making. “ ° jjxwninablo practice is being abandoned. 
We are conscious that we have herein ,! W d ° kee P th« roads in repair? I’ll 
given a very imperfect view of the subject ,el1 you. In almost, every good district Iiere- 
us a whole, Imt we will leave it now,—iiivit- ahouls, there is an excellent gravel bed. If 
mg correspondents who have given the one is found, the had places in the street are 
question of a proper Merino classification tilled up with gravel. If there is no such 
their attention, to send us their views on ,,, > ot * n s lc 1 
the subject. u ’ s * ,l,lle hammers have gone into use, and 
____ l, ie hard boulders of the fields are broken 
EUTURE OF SHEEP HUSBANDRY " p a,ul h>lM 0,1 10 tllc ma '', a "d then 
- covered with a little earth. Plowing and 
Taking everything into consideration,wo scraping is obsolete. r flie roadside grass is 
are inclined to predict good things for the too beautiful and valuable. The.roads are 
future of sheep husbandiv in this country, iietter an,I re-div i. 
At present both wool and' meats are high in T1 , • ‘ V l> *» ia T ai >- 
all Hie principal markets of tlm world. Ii is 1 * ,cd 1H not disturbed from year to 
not possible with sheep, as it is with swine, I <!ir !,l1 d glows harder and firmer; there 
to increase production beyond the natural are fewer ruts, less mud, better drainage, less 
demand for consumption, except i)y coiitinu- washing, and consequently less wear'and 
ed effort, for a series of years; hence it is fair mar to teams and wa-ons ' Blessirms on the 
to expect a continuance of ihopBewnu healthv ,, , , 0 ■ ok.ksiii„s on me 
demand for all grades of fleece,and Ibrsupe- ^ oud P ‘ aw 0 ^m Slate ot New York! 
rior qualities of mutton for an indefinite Abo,a '’""t•"*<?«. 
future. The flocks of Urn country are. now, I was talking to-day with 'Pom Splinter 
as a rule, in the hands of good shepherds! about Ids pastures. He said that, they were 
We doubt if there has ever been a lime when “ short.” lie could not get as much milk 
&hc< j p of nil classes* vvctl* hfulilnor limn now r $ • 
as evidenced by the soundness of staple and’ M,, i “ r °"' S ns y en » a S°. thqy 
full growth clmmcleristie of ilie. domestic vtro llsl ' seedt ‘ 1 '- I^ (: had manured them 
fleece now coming forward lo market. There ' vcl * before seeding; but lie j>nt, a. large herd 
is certainly much to encourage the general on them the next sprin"* alter they ■mere 
lloekmaster, whether his specialty he tlm seeded down, and they had been fed ever 
production of fine wool, or mutton and wool, s ; nr . r . T . . 
or breeding animals of any of the principal ... ' ' !' v . '' 1 ^ lassc8 he sowed, 
varieties; and whether his locality lie Cali- (,ve J' a,al Umolhy, was the reply. No 
forma or Colorado, or Illinois Or New Eng- oll| er? No. Have you repealed the seed- 
land, or either of the Southern States— hig? Why no. Why not ? Don’t you 
National Live Stock Journal. know that the timothy is gone after the 
second year? And the clover lias no 
chance lo re-seed; and the defoliation of 
constant cropping affects the vitality of the 
plants. And I saw his pasture, land was all 
one lot, and upland at that. There was no 
rest. Hu hadn’t a hurdle to help his grasses 
to grow. And he pointed to tlm moss, and 
said, “ See, there is more moss than clover.” 
Yes, I answered, and down there is a lime¬ 
kiln with plenty of lime; and yonder in 
your fence corners is grass going lo seed 
that will be wasted. Sow twenty-five or 
fifty bushels per aero on the pastures this 
fall; harrow them thoroughly. Sow red- 
top, timothy, clover, and, if you choose, 
orchard grass, upon tlm ground after it is 
harrowed. Seed liberally. Later in fall or 
early in spring sow a barrel of gypsum per 
acre, and see if you don’t have a better crop 
of grass next year. Sell one-third of your 
cows and you’ll make more money from 
those left, beside not being compelled to 
winter them. 
O verst ockintr llip Fnvm 
is one. of the mistakes farmers make —that 
is, those who depend upon uncarcd for pas¬ 
tures for food in summer. Those who are 
sensible enough to sow corn, or oats or mil¬ 
let for soiling, and lake care that,, no matter 
what the condition of tlm pastures is, the 
stock gets good, sweet food enough, don’t, 
need to he lampooned for their stupidity. 
For in such ease the more stock the more 
food, asa rule, if the immure tlm slock makes 
is properly utilized. Splinter said it, was 
too much trouble to feed stock with green 
corn and such. He didn’t, want to he both¬ 
ered ; didn’t believe it paid; but 1 remom 
her when 1 was up in the country last fall, 
hc“ couldn’t see why BLINDER should make a 
third more pounds of hultcr from the same 
number of cows than lie (Sulinter) did. 
But Blinder did not let his cows shrink their 
milk during the long drouth and Hplinticr 
did. Blinder cut com out of Ids corn field 
and fed his stock in the stable, actually cover¬ 
ing tbe stable windows with netting to keep 
the flics outdaring hot August, and September 
days. “ Did it, pay you, Blinder? ” I asked. 
“Pay? I guess it did. 1 got a greater pro¬ 
duct from the cows, they went into the win¬ 
ter in better comlilion, and it cost me less to 
keep them up to that comlilion the winter 
through than it. would have cost lo have 
helped them to recover their lost flesh had 
they not. been properly cared for during the 
hot fly months," 
I met Blinder yesterday. “Are you 
soiling your slock this summer?” I asked. 
“No; tlm fuel is 1 was doing belter than 1 
knew, keeping my cattle out of my pastures 
last year. Splinter kept feeding his when 
there was no moisture to sustain vital¬ 
ity in the plants. Tlm dry weather and his 
half-starved stock almost destroyed his pas¬ 
tures. At the same time mine were restin')’. 
My stock did not aid the drouth to destroy 
the grasses. This season has been favorable 
and 1 have had an abundance of forage; hut. 
just, as soon as il begins to dry up, my cows 
will go into the stables.” 
I commend Bunder’s economy to your 
readers. It pays, and hence it in economy. 
MU 
NOTES TOR HERDSMEN. 
Controlling Hie Sex in Breednur. 
The Western Farmer says:—“ Wm. Bee¬ 
be of Freeport, III., informs us that his ob¬ 
servations and experiments in his own herd 
strongly incline him to believe in the cor¬ 
rectness ot the theory Hint if a cow is served 
by the bull at the commencement of the 
heat she will, probably, produce a heifer 
Calf; if not served until the heal, is passing 
°ff) she will, probably, produce a Dull 
call. Of all the theories suggested concern¬ 
ing this matter, this seems to have the 
sanction of the greatest number of bleed¬ 
ers. n.e well known experiments in Swit¬ 
zerland seemed to go far towards proving- 
its correctness; but we think it will be 
found true that very many have failed in 
their attempts to apply this rule in their 
own herds.” 
Hollow Horn Remedy. 
The following remedy can be relied upon : 
“ First, put a little turpentine between and 
hack of the horns; then take two teacups 
half full of salt and water, and pour one in 
each car both at the same time—once a 
day for three successive days. This cures 
the hollow’ horn every time.”—J. M. S., 
Ontario Co., N. Y. 
Moira’ <2n!l* lor Cow* wlili Coif. 
Eight to Leu days before the cow drops 
her calf, feed one arid a half or two hogs’ 
galls in a bran mess. The galls should lie 
saved and dried at the time of killing the 
hogs. This is a sure tiling. No trouble j 
ulterward need he feared, even if the cow ■ 
never (lid well before. It will cause a cow 
lo “ clean” in from one to six hours after 
the calf drops.—N. D. G., lionald, Mich. | 
arm i!rccwamin 
SALT AND SILICA. 
James A. Wiiitney, in lifs article of July 
8lli, inst., headed “ Useful Notes,” states 
that the undersigned still denies that salt 
dissolves silica, and further that Mr. Taylor 
soems to confine his attentions to the lec¬ 
tures of Sir Humphrey Daw, published 
forty-nine years ago. 1 shall endeavor to 
answer these statements in such a way as 
will be profitable to your readers and lo the 
cause of agriculture. 
The fact that sea water docs not contain 
silica should, it, itself, he convincing proof llmt 
salt does not dissolve silica. My statements 
were, however, the result of practical experi¬ 
ment; hut as further proof may he desirable, 
1 respectfully refer your readers to Slorer’s 
Dictionary ot < 'hemieitl Solubilities, edition 
18(tl, subject Silica, in which (he following 
statement is made “ Diflerentsalis possess 
very unequal precipitating powers, the ace¬ 
tates and chloriden being particularly ef¬ 
ficient." We have here a positive state¬ 
ment, the chlorides (common salt) precipi¬ 
tates silica, which is just the statement I 
made. 
Mr. W., in an off-hand way, stales, “ The 
chemical reactions by which saline solutions 
dissolve silex, arc so well known to chemists 
that it is not necessary to repeal them here.” 
Mr. W. will find, by a little research and 
experiment that common km 1 1 . j* one of the 
exceptions to the general rule, that saline 
solutions dissolve silex. Mr. Whitney’s 
great, error consists, however, in not taking 
into consideration that salt in the soil de 
composes by contact will, a large variety of 
HU balances. I will take the liberty just here 
of introducing him to Sir 11 umpiiuey Da v vs 
lectures, page 22!) American Edition,, in 
which the following occurs :—“ When water 
is present, which can afford oxygen to ihe 
sodium, Hoda may be obtained in several 
modes from salt.” 
Salt when combined with quick lime is 
decomposed, and sodium is liberated.— 
Scheete. 
In 1782 Morveau & Carny procured a 
patent#from the French government to es¬ 
tablish a manufactory a,l, Oroisic, for extri¬ 
cating soda from common salt, by means of 
lime, and “ Bertiiollet has rendered it 
probable that Ihe soda, which is found 
abundantly on the west side of Fgypt, is 
formed naturally by a similar process.” 
ScilEELE also discovered Unit, iron decom¬ 
posed Halt, liberating sodium, which in turn 
becomes soda. 'Flics decomposing action of 
sulphuric, phosphoric and other acids is 
well known. Bulphuret of iron also decom¬ 
poses salt. 
From the example given urn can explain 
the seeming anomaly that all hough salt 
will not, dissolve silica, its presence in Ihe 
soil may lead indirectly to the formal,ion of 
its solution. Common salt contains gene¬ 
rally two impurities, the chloride ol calcium 
and chloride of magnesium, they are deli¬ 
quescent., and absorb moisture from the 
atmosphere, and as “ pure water is a solvent 
of silex,” (see Htorkii) the mere presence of 
moist,mw might account for five per cent, of 
silex in Hooker’s experiments; but since, 
salt is decomposed by so many substances, 
liberating sodium, which becomes caustic 
soda, and as the caustic and carbonate dis 
solve silex, we can easily account for the 
presence of soluble silicates in the soil; slid 
adhering to the fact that “salt will not dis¬ 
solve silica.” 
Now to the charge that I seem to coniine 
my attention to Davy’s lectures, 1 have to 
say, in answer, that for many years past 1 
have been confining my readings just as 
Mr. Whitney lots done, to modern lectures, 
&c., Oil the science of agriculture; blit a 
few mouths ago, a. friend of mine placed in 
my hands Davy's complete course of lec¬ 
tures, when lo my astonishment I found 
that the “ immortal author of lectures on 
agrieullu're” had given lo the world the text 
hook to all modern writers on this subject. 
Tlm very first, paragraph of his article re¬ 
lates to two of Davy’s discoveries. Who 
taught Mr. W. of the existence of potassium 
ami sodium—was il not Sir Humphrey 
Davy ? 
Again, he writes of the value of sulphate 
of lime as a manure; (lull information dates 
as far hack as 1708, and was the discovery 
of Mr. Mayer, a German clergyman. Did 
we reject information because ol its age, we 
would have to lay aside Mr. Whitney’s 
Statement in relation to the use of salt, for cat¬ 
tle, because Pliny recommended its use for 
that purpose over .1,700 years ago. Johnson, 
a modern eltemisl, recommends a combina¬ 
tion of stilt and lime as a manure; but so 
did Davy. Again, Mr. Whitney writes of 
chlorine; why, sir, the very name chlorine, 
as applied, was the creation of Sir Hum¬ 
phrey Davy. It will he seen, on a little 
reflection, that we cannot write on the 
science of agriculture without decorating 
our articles with the illustrations of that 
great man. Thomas Taylor. 
