268 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
and from draining, was dwelt upon, very evidently with 
good effect. 
ThPi tour has most completely confirmed my previ¬ 
ous impressions as to the immense increasing influence 
which the Agricultural Chemistry Association, yet in its 
infancy, has exerted and will continue to exert on the 
prosperity of Scotland. My short sketch of our opera¬ 
tions and progress, is not more incomplete and general, 
than was the notice which Prof. Johnston was compelled 
to take of many most important branches of his subject. 
As he said, “ it was but a commencement,” yet that 
commencement opened to view a fair field beyond ; it 
awakened inquiry, it staggered old prejudices, it gave 
the farmer a new and elevated view of his favorite pur¬ 
suit. Thus aroused and encouraged, he will not be con¬ 
tent with the mere glimpse afforded him; he will have 
recourse to books, and all sources of information; his 
example and success will stimulate others, and thus, as 
is now the case here, the work will go on with great 
rapidity. One of the most intelligent and most success¬ 
ful Lothian farmers, expressed in my hearing his firm 
conviction, that had it not been for the introduction of 
portable manures, and the suggestions of chemical sci¬ 
ence, the rents in Scotland must before this have been 
lowered. Another gentleman after reading Prof. Johns¬ 
ton’s Catechism of Agricultural Chemistry, wrote to 
thank him for having given him, a profession. 
The Association originated with tenant farmers, and 
has by them principally been sustained; though some of 
the proprietors have shown their appreciation of its in¬ 
fluence. It has thus a thoroughly practical character, 
and its officer, Prof. Johnston, from the scrupulous accu¬ 
racy of his statements, both in public lectures and in his 
works, continually increases its reputation. The present 
visit has been to a part of the country where it was but 
partially known. A large number of new subscribers 
was obtained, letters asking for information, and soils and 
manures for analysis are already coming in, orders for 
books have been sent on, and all things show that an 
awakening has taken place. 
These improvements have been and are going on 
among the tenantry, who as you know compose the 
great mass of Scotch and English farmers, and among 
whom it must be always a painful thought to the impro¬ 
ver that these fruits of his toil may at the end of his lease, 
be the cause of an increase in his rent, or go into the 
hands of a stranger. What may we no therefore ex¬ 
pect when such institutions are founded 01 "'ur own soil, 
where the farmer being a proprietor, fee.* that in re¬ 
claiming and fertilizing the soil he is not only increas¬ 
ing his own store, but laying up a rich inheritance for 
his children also. Very truly yours, 
John P. N < rton. 
FOREIGN ITEMS. 
By the Acadia, which arrived at Boston on the 18th 
ult., we received our usual files of foreign papers. 
The Crops, &c.—The grain crops in England and Ire¬ 
land are likely to come in pretty well, notwithstanding 
the fears which had been entertained on account of the 
drouth. Wheat began to decline on the first of July,and 
is now 4s. to 5s. per quarter lower than it was four weeks 
ago. 
The “ Banker's Circular” says —“ If appears to us that 
the cultivation of wheat has been progressively increas¬ 
ing ever since 1839, and that a greater breadth of land 
has been applied to the growth of that grain in the Brit¬ 
ish Islands in 1844, than in any preceding year.” The 
same circular further observes, that “ a good wheat har¬ 
vest in England, is usually followed by a good wheat 
harvest in most parts of Europe. The culture of wheat 
has been very much stimulated and extended in all those 
countries from which we have been accustomed to draw 
our supplies.” 
From the circular of Geo. W. Atwood, dealer in 
American provisions, &c. London, we learn that there is 
but little to encourage the shipment of flour from this 
country, even at the low prices it is now selling here. 
American pork is said to be firm at prices varying from 
40s to 50s. per bbl. in bond. Money is abundant at 1| 
to 2k per cent. For cotton, the demand was steady, at a 
trifling advance. 
The papers contain accounts of the late Show of the 
Royal Ag. Society at Southampton. The Mark Lane 
Express says it was not equal as a whole to the preceding 
Shows of -the Society, though the remark is intended 
principally in reference to the exhibition of animals— 
the show of implements was thought superior. The 
number of persons that visited the show-yard on Thurs¬ 
day of the exhibition, was thirty thousand. The total re¬ 
ceipts for admissions during the Show, were upwards of 
$ 12 , 000 . 
Letting and Selling Rams. —Mr. Jonas Webb, the 
celebrated breeder of South Downs, held his annual let¬ 
ting of bucks on the 16th July. The services of seven 
of them were sold at auction for the season, at an average 
of £31 each—the highest price obtained for any one,was 
£76, which was paid by the Duke of Richmond. 
Mr. Wm. Hewer, the eminent breeder of improved 
Cotswolds, held his annual sale of rams on the 17th July. 
A large company was in attendance. Forty-four sheep 
let and sold, averaged £11; the ten highest priced ones, 
averaged above £21 each. Several offers, some of which 
were said to be as high as 80 guineas, were made and 
refused for a young buck intended by Mr. Hewer for the 
use of his own flock. 
Royal Presents. —Prince Albert has presented the 
Emperor of Russia, with a Yorkshire stallion, valued at 
600 guineas, a Durham bull valued at £300, and a full 
blooded Leicester buck. 
Poisoned Sheep.—A flock of sheep has been poison¬ 
ed by eating “ wake-robin,” (Arum maculatum.) They 
were induced to eat the plant from its remaining green 
in a field which was burnt up by the drouth. 
New way to make Butter. —The wife of a farmer 
saves herself the trouble of churning, by the following 
contrivance: She ties up her cream in a linen cloth, over 
which she places a piece of print, and buries the whole 
in a damp place in the garden for 24 hours; she then 
takes it up, and turns the cream (which by this time is in 
the shape and consistency of a pudding) into a bowl, and 
by stirring it with a wooden spoon, the butter quickly 
separates from the butter-milk, and is said to be sweeter 
than that produced by the ordinary method. 
{& How many pounds of pork will a bushel of barley 
make ? An English farmer says: The fatting of hogs is- 
profitable when a pound of green bacon, when it is first 
dried, is worth more than the tenth part of the pi ice of a 
bushel of barley, for a bushel of barley is supposed, with 
good management and a good breed of hogs, to produce 
10 lbs. of bacon. 
Experiments in Cheese making _Sulphuric acid, 
it is said, will produce a larger proportion of curd than 
rennet. Professor Traill has made some experiments on 
this subject. He thinks, from the trials he has made, that 
the acid will not answer—it communicated an unpleas¬ 
ant taste anil smell to the cheese. 
Agricultural College in England.-— From our 
English papers we perceive that such progress has been 
made, that the establishment of this institution is consid¬ 
ered certain. The Society, it is said, has now resolved 
itself into a tangible shape, and will immediately com¬ 
mence operations. Port Farm , consisting of about 400 
j acres, within one mile of Cirencester, the property of the 
|Right Hon. Earl Bathurst, has been fixed on as the site 
for the example farm. 
Sowing Machine. —T. Sullivan, in his ‘‘Sketches of 
East Lothian Husbandry,” published in the Agricultural 
Gazette, thus describes a machine for sowing grain and 
grass seeds.—“A machine very extensively used in this 
county, is that for sowing com and grass seeds, broadcast. 
Its great recommendations are, the regularity with which 
it distributes the seed, the saving thereby effected, and ip 
remedying the inconvenience and loss of seed arising 
from sowing with the hand during high winds. The 
machine consists of an oblong box, 18 to 19 feet in length 
supported upon a frame-work on three wheels. A revol 
ving horizontal spindle, with pinions in the inside of the 
box, scatters the seed. Clover and grass seeds are now 
rarely sown by hand, this machine being peculiarly adapt 
ed for sowing such small seeds, and obviating the dif 
