224 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
July, 
per cent. I have no doubt they ate a fourth more than 
the same number that were protected, of which the 
loss was only two per cent. In consequence of this re¬ 
sult, I built ample sheds during the past summer, pro¬ 
vided with hay-lofts—one 60 by 20, and another 55 by 
20 feet. (I will just observe for the benefit of those 
who are building sheds of this land, that 24 feet is 
about the proper width, and the additional expense of 
four feet is trifling.) These sheds are set to two barns, 
and enclose the yard on three sides. Here, in separate 
divisions, I have kept my sheep the past winter. They 
had good hay and plenty of water, and the yards were 
strawed three times a week. I feed some grain to my 
lambs in winter, and give some to ewes in spring. My 
loss up to this time (April 15th,) is half of one per 
cent. Many of my sheep were in low condition in the 
fall, yet I would like to compare them with any flock 
of the same number, that have had no protection. E. 
Halley. Cleveland, Ohio, April, 1849. 
Legislative Aid to Agriculture. 
Eds- Cultivator — I wish to make some inquiry in 
regard to the money raised by the legislature for dis¬ 
tribution to agricultural societies. I am informed by 
our late representative, that the money designed for 
counties which have no organized agricultural society, 
still lies in the State treasury. I find by referring to 
the Transactions of the State Society for 1847, that 
there were but forty-one county reports; and it is pro¬ 
bable many of these societies were not- organized for 
several years after the appropriations were made. It 
appears to me that some legislative action should be 
taken at an early day, in reference to this matter. In 
relation to those counties where there are no organised 
agricultural societies, and where the people are unwil¬ 
ling to organize, it seems to me that there would be 
nothing wrong in taking their quota of the money which 
now lies idle, or is used for other purposes, and distri¬ 
bute it among the counties where there are such socie¬ 
ties. I have no doubt that this course would cause the 
formation of societies in several counties, and would be 
the means of doing much good. Lotan Smith. Falls- 
burgh-, N. ¥., May, 1849. 
Agricultural Chemistry. 
We have been furnished by Mr. J. H. Salisbury 
with the following account, prepared by him for the 
Transactions of the New-York State Agricultural So¬ 
ciety, of some investigations connected with the com¬ 
position of the tomato, and the fruit of the egg-plant. 
These investigations are interesting from being mostly 
in a new field, and as relating to substances which are 
coming more or less into use as edibles.— Eds. 
The tomato and the egg-plant belong to the order 
Solanacea—the potato tribe. The properties of many 
of the plants of this order are very interesting and im¬ 
portant. Many of its families contain a powerful nar¬ 
cotic principle, which renders the herbage, and gene¬ 
rally the fruit, very poisonous. A number of these 
bodies are among the most active medicines: as bella- 
dona, henbane, stramonium, &c. 
Among the species of the Solanum family, a number 
are cultivated for the palatable and nutricious food 
which some parts of the plant furnish, while others are 
highly valued as furnishing some active principles used 
in medicine. Those of the former class most highly 
esteemed, are the potato, tomato, and egg-plant. 
The part of the plant eaten, when mature, is gene¬ 
rally free from any deleterious qualities; although the 
herbage of the potato plant, and especially the youug 
sprouts, contain a poisonous body,—a vegetable alkali 
called solania. The herbage of the tomato and egg¬ 
plant probably are also pervaded by a poisonous princi¬ 
ple, though I do not know as this has as yet been 
actually demonstrated. 
Tomato or Love Apple. —( Solanum lycospersi- 
cum.) This, like the potato, grows wild in South 
America, and is supposed to be indigenous to that 
country. It was introduced into notice in 1796, soon 
after the potato It has been cultivated and used for 
a long time in Europe, and for some time in the south¬ 
ern states; yet its introduction into the northern and 
eastern states is of a comparatively recent date. The 
extent to which it is now cultivated is sufficient evi¬ 
dence of the high esteem in which it is held. Of the 
numerous forms in which it is used, it is quite unneces¬ 
sary here to speak. 
There are two distinct varieties in cultivation, the** 
red-fruited and the yellow-fruited. Of each of these 
there are several sub-varieties, the principal of which 
are: Of the red—the common large-lobed, the small, the 
pear-shaped, and the cherry-shaped ; of th e yellow —the 
large-yellow, the small, the pear-shaped, and the 
cherry-shaped. 
The fruit of one of the red sorts was examined by 
M. M. Fodere and Hecht,* who give the following 
bodies as the result of their investigation: 
1. An acid seemingly peculiar. It is destroyed by 
distilling heat. In the berries, it is probably combined 
with a bitter matter, thought to be solania. 
2. A volatile oil, difficult to separate, and which 
evaporates with great rapidity. 
3. An extracto-resinous brown matter, of a pitchy 
consistency, having a strong smell, a bitter-sweet taste, 
soluble in water, and partly soluble in alcohol and 
ether. 
4. An albuminous matter, which readily putrifies. 
5. A little mucous sugar, detected by the smell of 
caromel at the commencement of combustion. 
6. Sulphate of potash, a little chloride of potassium 
and calcium, pure potash, and probably a vegetable 
alkaloid, which resides much more abundantly in the 
leaves of the plant. 
This examination was made some years ago, when 
the methods of analysis were less perfect than at pre¬ 
sent. If solania exists in the berries, its amount must 
be very small, as the raw fruit is often eaten in large 
quantities without any bad results; in fact, the effects 
are considered beneficial rather than otherwise. 
The kind here examined was a very fine seedling 
from the large red, raised.and furnished by Mr. Rath- 
bone, of Kenwood, Albany. The fruit only was ana¬ 
lysed. 
Percentage of water, dry matter and ash. 
335.8 grains of the fresh fruit gave, of 
Per centum. 
Water,. 318.20 94.758 
Dry matter, . 17.60 5.242 
Ash,.... 1.12 0.334 
Ash calculated on the dry matter, .... 6.372 
The above shows that there is but little over 5 per 
cent, of dry matter, and 94 per cent, of water, in the 
fruit. The ash is highly deliquescent. 
Composition of the ash. 
Carbonic acid,... 11.050 
Silicic acid,. 1.775 
Sulphuric acid, . 1.790 
Phosphoric acid and peroxide of iron,. 24.075 
Lime,. 0.075 
Magnesia,. 1.610 
Potash, ... r 20.805 
Soda,... 25.535 
Sodium,. 2.790 
Chlorine, .. 4.245 
* Journal de Pharmacie, xviii, 106. 
