MAGAZINE OF SCIENCE AND ART. 
49 
cattle during the winter months, the seed 
of which may be sown in May. 
The President informed the meeting that 
a great quantity of the seed of this grass 
had been saved. 
Mr. Theodore West read a paper on 
analysis of the soil of the Hnnter. 
The President thought, in reference to 
this paper, the quantity of iron was rather 
large. 
Mr. West considered this arose from the 
water passing over ferruginous soil. 
Mr. J. E. I?lake asked Mr. West if he 
found any phosphates in the soil submitted 
to analysis, for this was a substance re¬ 
quired in tho soil for the production of 
lucerne, wheat, <kc. 
Mr. West answered, that he had not 
found any phosphates. 
Mr. T. W. Shepherd read a paper on 
Native Plants, and the Pastoral, Agricul¬ 
tural, and Horticultural resources of Aus¬ 
tralia, being No. 6 of a series on this 
subject. 
The President remarked that concentra¬ 
tion of farmers in a locality would greatly 
facilitate their labours, and the improve¬ 
ment of their farms, and thought that a 
great deal might be learned from our South 
Australian neighbours, they having done 
much to improve agriculture by the im¬ 
portation of machinery, which must bo 
done in this colony if any degree of success 
in agriculture is to be attained. 
The Hon. II. G. Douglas spoke of the 
benefit be had derived from the introduc¬ 
tion of machinery, thrashing becoming 
cheaper every year. The thrashing ma¬ 
chine was much used in the Cowpasture 
district. 
Mr. E. K. Silvester said that there was 
a concentration of farmers in the Cowpas- 
ture district, sustaining the position taken 
up by Mr. Shepherd in his paper, and 
bearing out the truth of the President’s 
remarks. 
Mr. W. McDonell asked Mr. T. W. 
Shepherd if he thought wheat the produce 
of New South Wales superior to that of 
Yan Diemen's Land. 
Hon. E. Deas Thomson—When visiting 
the exhibition in Paris, saw wheat from all 
the Australian colonies. The New South 
Wales was, iu his opinion, superior, and 
obtained this character from the Judges. 
This wheat was grown on the Cowpasture. 
The President read a letter from Mr. E. 
IP. Rudder, of Kempsey, on grasses. 
The Hon. E. Deas Thomson considered 
that the County of Cumberland might be 
made ten times more prolific by the intro¬ 
duction of new grasses, such as the Pampas. 
Dr. Douglas wished to know if any ex¬ 
periments had been made on the Guinea 
grass or staple grass of the West Indies. 
Mr. Miles had sown some of the seed 
which catnc up, and looked promising, but 
died down in the winter. 
Mr. T. W. Shepherd introduced Mr. 
Mills, of Newtown, who laid upon the 
table a tuber of the Jatropha Manihot, to¬ 
gether with two samples of arrowroot, the 
produce of the samo. Mr. Mills informed 
the meeting that the plant was taken from 
Tahiti to Samoatho produce of each 
plant is about 40 lbs. weight, it is propa¬ 
gated from cuttings, Mr. M, bad made 
some experiments, and found that the root 
yielded 70 per cent, of flour of the finest 
quality, the remainder was useful for mak¬ 
ing cakes, &c., for which purpose it was 
used by the natives, who came a long dis¬ 
tance to obtain cuttings of it; the root re¬ 
quires cooking, which deprives it of its 
poisonous properties. Mr. M. thought it 
would grow in Moreton Bay, or Norfolk 
Island, 
The President said lie should have much 
pleasure in forwarding the tuber to the 
Botanic gardens at Moreton Bay, in order 
that the same might be propagated. 
The Hon. E. Deas Thomson proposed, 
and Mr. E. K. Silvester, seconded a vote of 
thanks, to the writers of the several papers 
which had been read this evening, and on 
being put to the meeting by the chairman 
was carried by acclamation. 
Several samples of grass seed were placed 
on the table from Mr. II. Ferris. 
No ballot being demanded, the following 
gentlemen became members of the society : 
D. C. Pool, Esq., Cockle Creek 
E. 0. Gregory, Esq., M.D., North Shore. 
Mr. IIumphreyR icliardson, Botany-road 
transactions 2 
V. Solomon, Esq., Ilomingrea Park. 
W. Graham, Esq., Dry Plains, Cooma, 
life member. 
Richard Keys, Esq., life member. 
J. E. Stacey, Esq., Newcastle. 
Andrew Loder, Esq., Colly Creek. 
G. Kent, Esq., Pitt-street. 
Richard Brooks, Esq. 
W. II. Broughton, Esq., Broughtons- 
worth. 
George R. Woods, Esq. 
