MAGAZINE OF SCIENCE AND ART. 
121 
Mr. T. W. Shepherd said, that many of 
our grasses are growing out, and, in many 
places, acrid or poisonous plants may he 
taking their place, and that it was a well 
known fact, that the weight of sheep had 
decreased of late years ; formerly the car¬ 
cass of first-class sheep would weigh 90 
lbs., now only SO Ihs.; this Mr. Shepherd 
attributed to the deterioration of our pas¬ 
tures. The public, he was sure, would he 
glad to know, that papers, such as that 
j ust read by Mr. Heston, were discussed 
at the meetings of this society. 
Fir. O. Ottley observed, that it would 
be desirable to have grass seeds experi¬ 
mented upon throughout the colony, and 
the results communicated—on account of 
the various climates that existed in this 
part of the world. 
The following communication, forwarded 
by the President from Mr. Markham, of 
Armidale, on a digging machine, was read : 
Armidste, Oct., 26th, 1857. 
To Alfred Dexison, Esq. 
Sir,—I trust you trill excuse the liberty I take in 
trespassing' on your kindness, by introducing to the 
notice of His Excellency, the Governor-General, the 
model of a digging machine, a description of which I 
enclose.* 
I have the honour to he. Sir, 
Your very humble servant, 
LEWIS MARKHAM. 
Mr. J. R. Miles desired to know if any 
of the members present could give any in¬ 
formation with respect to the blight, which 
is found to be attacking cabbages and tur¬ 
nips in the vicinity of Sydney ? 
Mr. Meston asked if the disease pro¬ 
ceeded from the root ? 
Mr. Miles said, the under sides of the 
leaves are first attacked, and that some 
person had proposed a solution of hitter 
aloes as an antidote, which he thought 
would be a rather expensive corrective. 
Mr. Matthews remarked, that the insect 
was of a green color, and that he had seen 
it on the upper sides of the leaf. 
Mr. Richards thought, that a strong de¬ 
coction of tobacco would he found to stop 
the spread of the disease. 
Mr. T. W. Shepherd considered that the 
disease was caused by the weather. 
Mr. Graham found that it was spreading 
throughout the colony, and that it was 
prevalent at Victoria. 
Mr. Creswick informed the meeting, that 
the disease was known among the garden¬ 
ers as the “ Dolphin,” and was of opinion, 
* This decription will be inserted in the next num¬ 
ber of this journal. 
that an application of tobacco water would 
he found an efficacious remedy. 
Sorghum Sacchabatum. 
Mr. Miles observed, that the Sorghum 
saccharatum was undergoing a great change, 
and that he thought much credit was duo 
to Mr. F. Creswick, for bringing it so pro¬ 
minently before the public. 
Mr. T. W. Shepherd said, that he per¬ 
ceived, through the reports in the papers, 
that in the district of Bathurst, the people 
are laying down a large quantity of sac¬ 
charatum, from which they talk of making 
sugar, and suggested that the society should 
publish some instructions for making sugar 
from this valuable grass. 
Mr. Miles proposed—That local socie¬ 
ties should he requested to communicate 
all the facts they could obtain with re¬ 
ference to this plant. 
Mr. Meston said he intended to lay it 
down as a permanent pasture. 
Mr. Creswick observed that it w r as first 
thought to he an annual, but fact had 
proved it to he a perennial, and that it 
can he propagated from cuttings. 
Mr. Shepherd stated that Mr. R. Hill 
had cut the sorghum three times, and then 
taken a large quantity of seed from it. 
Taro. 
One of the members inquired if the 
edible Taro was in the colony. 
In reply, Mr. Shepherd observed that 
the Taro used by the Pitcairn Islanders 
had been in the colony for a long time. 
CleArihg. 
Mr. Shepherd had noticed that the trees 
had been cut down at the sides of our 
country roads for the purpose of drying them 
after rains, &c., and thought it would be 
better to take them up by the roots instead 
of cutting them down, which would re¬ 
quire doing very often, and prove very 
expensive in the long run. 
The gentlemen proposed at the last 
meeting were confirmed as members, no 
ballot being demanded. 
The following gentlemen were proposed 
as members :— W. Ross, Esq., Merbuam; 
E. Morey, Esq., Euston, Lower Darling ; 
Stephen Cole, Esq., ditto. 
The following notices of papers was 
given for next month :— 
Mr. T. W. Shepherd—Native Plants, 
and the Pastoral, Agricultural, and Horti¬ 
cultural Resources of Australia. 
Agriculture, and the' necessity for a 
better system of cultivation, by Mr. Lewi* 
