FOREIGN AGRICULTURAL NEWS.

By the arrival of the steamship Britannia, we are favored with our usual files of journals up to the 4th of January. In addition to these, we are indebted to Mr. P. L. Simmons, foreignnewspaper agent, London, for a file of the Sussex Express, and Illustrated News. Our journals are rich in all sorts of matters appertaining to agriculture, and we would be glad of ten times the space that we have to spare this month for making extracts, for our readers would find them of absorbing interest.

MARKETS.-Ashes were held for higher terms. Cotton has advanced from d. to d. per lb., and was extremely firm. Speculators and the trade were eager to purchase, especially of the common and middling qualities, and a large business had been done the preceding month. During the first four days of January, 50,000 bales changed hands at an advance of d. per lb. Stock on hand on the 1st of January, 653,900 bales, against 456,600 bales at the same period last year, and 429,830 the year before. The consumption of cotton in England in 1843 has increased about 150,000 bales. Wheat and Flour have undergone a slight reduction of price, although it is acknowledged that the harvest in Great Britain last year was a deficient one, and that considerable importations of bread-stuffs will be needed. It is the general opinion that wheat and flour must advance soon. Incendiary fires of wheat-stacks continue throughout the south of England. Provisions were in good demand, and the operations the past year in American, have been heavy. A year since to the great body of the English people, our provisions were scarcely known, and the trade is yet only in its infancy. They have now completely established themselves in the English market and overcome prejudice. The finer qualities of cheese were brisk; Beef, Pork, and Lard, in moderate request. The latter article has fallen a trifle. Naval Stores were in tolerable demand. Rice and Tobacco quiet and without change.

Money continues very abundant, and capital is accumulating in large masses, and seeking investment at the lowest rates of interest. The gold mines of Russia have been uncommonly productive the past year, and the precious metals seem to be in abundance everywhere in Europe.

American Stocks of those states which have faithfully paid their interests are rising.

Business generally is in a prosperous condition. Death of Mr. Loudon.-This celebrated agricultural writer died at Bayswater, on the 14th December, in his 60th year, and has left a void no other man in Great Britain will easily fill.

Death of Dr. Van Mons.-This excellent and scientific horticulturist, died at Louvain in September last, in the 78th year of his age. He was the possessor of a nursery and garden for a long time in Belgium, and was celebrated for his new varieties of fruits, especially pears, and we believe produced also many new flowers. Smithfield Cattle-Show.-The great event of the month was the annual show of fat stock at the Smithfield market, which began on the 6th of December, and continued till the 9th. The Illustrated News gives us portraits of the prize animals, and the show is said to have eclipsed all others which have gone before it. We notice the Short-Horns are well in the ascendant this year. A cow of this breed, bred by Sir Charles R. Tempest, took the gold medal; and an ox of Earl Spencer's took the silver medal, being the first prize in Class I. A Hereford ox belonging to Mr. Watson, stood second, while the Short-Horns gained the third and fourth prizes. In Class II. the Short-Horns were first and

fourth, the Herefords second and third. In Class III. a North Devon steer took the first prize, and a Hereford the second. In Class IV. the same. In Class V. a Hereford took the first prize. In Classes VI., VII. and VIII. for cows, the Short-Horns took all the first and second prizes. The show of sheep and pigs was good, but we have not room for details. Prince Albert was among the exhibiters, though he took no prizes. This could hardly be expected for so young a farmer, and we can only wish him better luck next time. He attended the show in person, handling the stock as usual. There were an unprecedented number of visiters present, they being calculated at upward of 60,000.

R. L. Allen.-We notice that the communication of Hints for the Management of Hens, of our correspondent above, is copied at length in the British Farmers' Magazine for January.

Prolific Potatoes.-A friend of mine sent me a potato in April, and mentioned at the same time that it was a very prolific variety. The potato weighed about 6 oz. I planted it whole, and last week took up the produce, which weighed 29 lbs., and consisted of 66 potatoes, 26 of the largest weighing 21 lbs. The above is the largest return I have ever seen.

Blackberry Jelly.-Put the fruit into a jar, tie paper over it, and stew in a sauce-pan of boiling water, or by putting the jar into the oven; strain off the liquor, and to every pint of juice, add a pound of loaf-sugar: put all into a preserving-pan, simmer and skim it. When it will jelly upon a plate, it is fit to be put into jars for use.

Care of the Mange.-This may be effected by washing the animal occasionally with the water in which potatoes have been boiled.

Breeding Bulls.-In an excellent article on this subject by Mr. Goodwin, in the Veterinarian, he claims docility of temper as an important point; and in illustration of the merit of this, gives the following anecdote :---

The other day, on looking over the well-arranged and well-managed portion of the agricultural department of the Little Park, at Windsor, a fine short-horned bull, in the shafts of a cart, attracted my attention. Mr. Ingal, the judicious manager of that establishment, observed that he was truly valuable, not only as the best and most useful slave about the premises, being in the continual practice of drawing from two to three tons weight in a cart alone, but as an animal possessed of the finest temper possible. Mr. Ingal, in continuing his narration, said that on one occasion he was turned into an adjoining pasture with another bull, when one of the farming men, in his usual occupation, had occa sion to pass not far from them: one of the bulls com menced a furious attack on the man, got him down, and was on the point of tossing him with his horns. This ever-to-be revered and celebrated beast, seeing what was passing, set off at speed to the scene of action, not to assist the monster in the bloody work he had begun, but to the aid of the defenceless man within his grasp. Feeling confident in his power, he charged the ferocious brute, and was instantly victorious. The man, during this conflict, lay prostrate in a state of fear and insen sibility. On the return of his faculties he found him self still within the reach and power of a bull, but not the vicious beast that had first assailed him, but his fellow-slave, who, after his victorious conflict with the monster, had returned to him, and, in order to pacify him and convince him that he had not anything to feal, the docile creature began to lick him. The man soon perceived that it was his old friend, and got up and heaped on him a load of caresses, and returned to his usual occupation without much injury.

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Editor's Table.

THE BOSTON TRAVELLER is informed that an editorial appeared in one of its July or August papers, with the following sentence: "Yet we do not hold to the idea which was sometime ago advanced by Mr. Allen, of New York, that any person can at will breed Ayrshires by a cross of the Durham Short-Horn with our own native stock." As we published a full explanation of our views in the June No. for 1812, page 97, of the Cultivator, showing that we had been misunderstood, we thought the Traveller had done us injustice in not taking the remarks at that time for our opinions on this subject. The Traveller now says, in its paper of 6th of January :

"We know Mr. Allen has been charged with declaring that we can make as many Ayrshires in this country as we please, by crossing the Durham with our best native cows. We regarded this as rather too literal a construction of Mr. Allen, and our understanding of the matter was, that he intended to convey the idea that Ayrshires were the result of a cross of the native cattle of Scotland with the Durhams, and that we could obtain a similar result by a cross of our natives with the Durhams."

This is satisfactory, and we are obliged to the Traveller for the explanation, for we deemed the first sentence quoted rather a misstatement, but more especially this, which immediately followed it: "He admits, however, if a native cow of the Ayrshire stock fifty years ago could now be found, a near approximation might be obtained by this cross." We have not the slightest recollection of ever making any such admission as this quotation contains, and believe that the Traveller is entirely in error in attributing it to us.

many of the middle and western states, but we believe it grows to greater perfection in Louisiana. We have one in our garden which is ten or twelve feet high, and full of beans. The process of procuring the oil is perfectly simple: boil the beans, bruised, in a bag, and as the oil rises, skim it off. It will be found as clear as olive oil.-Planters' Ban. & Ag.

Large Potatoes and a Great Yield.-We cut the following paragraph from the Planters' Banner, and shall be obliged if the editor will inform us how many bushels make the barrel at the south. Two bushels and three pecks is the northern measure, which would make, if the French arpent be the same as an English acre, at the rate of 660 bushels per acre-an almost incredible yield for sweet potatoes :

"The editor of the Creole says that A. B. Dauterive, of St. Martin, has shown him a sweet potato weighing 5 pounds. Mr. D. obtained two hundred and seventy barrels of sweet potatoes from one and an eighth arpents of land."

Cuba Tobacco.— The Louisville Journal says: We are glad to learn that a number of our agricultural friends to whom we gave Cuba tobacco-seed have been very successful in the cultivation of the plants. Our friend Lewis Sherley has a small and beautiful crop of this fine tobacco. The leaves are very large, and the plants remarkably thrifty; one of them we measured with a foot rule, and found it to be eight feet six inches high, and it is not done growing yet. There is no exaggeration in this statement, and yet it seems so incredible that we feel very much as an honest Irishman did on a certain occasion. Pat wished to induce some friends whom he had left behind in the Emerald Isle, to emigrate to this land, where, according to Franklin, roasted pigs run about crying "Come and eat me!” and in writing to his friends, he stated that a man could get meat three times a week. He showed his letter to his employer, who reproved him, and told him he got meat three times a day. "That's all very thrue, plase yer aner, but if I was to be afther tellin' thim so, they wouldn't believe me at all at all!"

Comfrey Root, or Symphytum.-We learn by the Portsmouth Journal, that Mr. Robinson is of opinion, from an imperfect experiment made by him on a small patch of ground, that he will be able next year to gather, at two cuttings, eight tons of leaves of the Comfrey root to the acre, which he says is excellent food for stock. The root is considered very nutritious for man or beast, and Mr. Rich, of Troy, N. H., asserts, that it can be harvested every two or three years, and will yield over 2,000 bushels per acre. We should think it advisable to try the experiment of a rod or two square of growing comfrey in this vicinity. It is cultivated by transplanting the roots, which grow wild in the fields, to any ground deep plowed and well pulverized.

Cane-Cutter.-We see by the Baton Rouge Gazette, that a Mr. Bryan has invented a cane-cutter which works by horse power, and cuts as much cane in 17 minutes as 19 hands can do in an hour. If this be so, it is the greatest labor-saving agricultural machine invented since Whitney's cotton gin.

Castor Oil.-It is not generally known, but it is a fact, that every planter might raise as much castor oil in one year as would be required on his plantation during several years. The plant from which it is made (the recinus communis) is cultivated largely in

The Journal need not have added the comical story of the Irishman to fortify its statement, for in the cold

Cuba tobacco-stalk last season over six feet high; and surely it is no great matter in a country like Kentucky, where hemp grows as large as a good-sized tree, to beat us in the small matter of a couple of feet in a tobacco-stalk.

TO CORRESPONDENTS.-J. M. S. We have not been able to ascertain yet the lowest price at which guano manure may be obtained, probably $4,50 per cwt.

Prof. C. It is much better to procure young Cedars, and indeed to transplant all evergreens, instead of sowing the seed. The islands in Lake Erie are full of them, and other parts of the west. The White Cedar makes a beautiful hedge. See Vol. 2d, page 177.

Agricola shall be furnished the required information soon respecting Pot-Ashes.

W. H. S. Let us have the results of the dairy, and the article on Cotswolds, at your earliest convenience. T. C. P. Send plan of the piggery.

S. W. We shall take up the subject of China, and other breeds of pigs soon. We have latterly been called upon in various quarters for information on these points, and are in hopes of getting something new to communicate before writing.

Examiner, T. C. Peters, B. Hodge, T. D. X., C. T. Botts, S. S., M. W. Philips, T. R. R., Dendy Sharwood, A. R. D., if possible in our next.

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PROPOSAL FOR A COURSE OF LECTURES

ON AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY.

By D. Pereira Gardner, M. D. Formerly Professor of Chemistry and Botany in Hampden Sidney College, Va., Member of the Lyceum of Natural History, New York.

The Course is intended to be of service to the practical agricul tarist, and therefore the methods of discovering and estimating the amount of useful saline matters in the soil will be fully examined. Portions of Botany, Vegetable and Animal Physiology, will be included, to enable the farmer to understand all that relates to the food of plants and animals. Geology, so far as it is necessary to the study of soils and the art of drainage, will be introduced. The action of Manures, and the quantity that may be economically applied, will also be considered.

The Course will be fully illustrated by drawings, minerals, geological specimens, chemical experiments, and analysis.

The number of lectures will be twenty, distributed in nearly the following order :

One Lecture-On the Constitution of the Atmosphere and Gaseous Matters.

One Lecture-On the Essential Structure of Vegetables.
One Lecture-On the Supply of Gaseous Food to Plants.

Two Lectures-On the Physical and Chemical Constitution of the Soil, and its relations to moisture and drought, the theory of drainage, fallows, &c.

One Lecture-On the Organic Food of Plants.
One Lecture-On the Mineral Food of Plants.

One Lecture-On the Influence of Gases, Water, and Saline
Matters, on the production of nutritious substances in plants.
One Lecture-On the Nature of the Chemical Processes in
Plants, and the methods of developing them.

One Lecture-On the Comparative Value of Fodders. Four Lectures-On the Analysis of Soils, in which the methods of determining the quantities of saline and organic matters will be experimentally shown.

Two Lectures-On Mineral Manures, derivable from the geological formations of this and the adjoining States.

The classification of manures, mechanical, simple, complex, and organic; their values, preservation, and collection; the proportions in which they should be applied, &c., will conclude the

SILK MACHINERY FOR SALE.

A quantity of Machinery for the manufacture of Silk, is offered for sale at the State Prison, Sing Sing, N. Y., consisting of looms for weaving broad silks and braids, together with engines and reels for making cords, winding floss, sewing-silk, and from Cocoons; likewise a number of other machines used in the manufacture of silk.

This machinery is now in practical operation at the Prison, and was constructed under the immediate superintendance of an experienced and skilful manufacturer, who still has the works under his charge, and is offered at private sale, between this date and the 15th of February next. If not disposed of at that time, will then be sold at public auction in New York. For further particulars apply at the Prison, to Dec. 23, 1843. IMPORTANT AGRICULTURAL WORKS, On sale by P. L. SIMMONDS, Agricultural Agent, 18 Cornhill, LONDON.

WM. H. PECK, Agent.

2t

JOHNSON ON FERTILIZERS, published at 12s., reduced in price to 8s., one of the best, most complete, and popular works on

manures extant.

THE IMPLEMENTS OF AGRICULTURE, by J. A. Ransome, illustrated by numerous highly-finished wood-cuts, price 9s. THE FARMERS' ALMANAC, by Johnson & Shaw, for the years 1841, 42, 43, 44, 200 pp., Is. each. An invaluable handbook, full of sound practical information, and useful to agriculturists at all times, and in all places.

AGRICULTURAL CHEMISTRY FOR YOUNG FARMERS, by C. W. Johnston, Esq., F. R. S., 18.

THE AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. Published Monthly, each number containing 32 pages, royal

octavo.

Cents; three copies for Two Dollars; eight copies for Five Dollars. TERMS-One Dollar per year in advance; single numbers, Ten Each number of the Agriculturist contains but One sheet, subject to newspaper postage only, which is one cent in the State, or within 100 miles of its publication, and one and a half cents, if over 100 miles, without the State.

ADVERTISEMENTS will be inserted at One Dollar, if not exceeding twelve lines, and in the same proportion, if exceeding that number.

Remit through Postmasters, as the law allows.

Editors of Newspapers noticing the numbers of this work monthly, or advertising it, will be furnished a copy gratis, upon sending such notice to this Office.

Volume 1 of THE AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, with table of contents complete, for sale at $1; handsomely bound in cloth, $1 25. It is a neat and tasteful book, and makes a handsome premium for distribution with Agricultural Societies; to which, when several copies are ordered, a liberal discount will be made.

To prevent confusion, all letters merely ordering this work, or enclosing money for subscriptions, should be addressed to Saxton & Miles, 205 Broadway, post-paid or franked by the Postmaster, Communications for publication, to be directed to the Editǝr; and all private letters, or those on business disconnected with the paper, should be addressed, simply, A. B. Allen, 205 Broadway New York.

CHARLES STARR, Jr.,

MENDHAM, MORRIS COUNTY, NEW JERSEY,

Is prepared to execute all orders for thorough-bred Berkshire Pigs, from the imported boar Hagbourn, and a superior Boar of Windsor castle family, and fifteen choice sows, lately procured from A. B. Allen, of Buffalo, New York.

Pigs from this superior stock, from 2 to 3 mouths old, will be delivered, well caged, on shipboard, at New York, for $25 to $30 per pair. Feed furnished, when desired, at $3 per barrel.

Persons desiring either pigs or full-grown animals, can be sup plied with all the advantages of Mr. Allen's stock at Buffalo, with

out incurring the risk and cost of canal transportation-the adver tiser's residence being but half a day's journey from New York. Woburn pigs of a superior quality also for sale, caged and delivered as above, for $25 per pair.

ORIGINAL CORRESPONDENCE.
Stock of Peter A. Remsen, Esq., A. S. -
The Peach Tree, S. S.,

Hardiness of Durham Cattle, D. B. Birney,
Hereford Cattle, Wm. H. Sotham,
The Wheat of Taos, J. H. Lyman,
Butter-Making in Orange County, F. J. Betts,
Gravel in Animals, Joseph Cope,
Buckthorn Hedges, B.,

A Mexican Farm, Mexico as it was, And as it is,
The Best Sheep Country, John J. McCaughan,
Butter from Sour Milk, B.,

each.

MILCH COWS.

We have orders for three first-rate Milch Cows. They must be of good form and size, easy milkers, gentle disposition, orderly in pasture, and from 3 to 6 years old. Grade Durhams would be preferred. State quantity and quality of milk they will give, price, &c., and write post-paid.

Agricultural Colleges, R. L. Allen,
The Cranberry, B. G. Boswell,
Draining Swamp-Lands, J. Thomas,
Worn-Out Lands, A Traveller,
Silk-Culture, D. Stebbins,
Culture of Potatoes, &c.,

Review of Liebig, Gardeners' Chronicle,
Northern Calendar for February, Am. Ag. Almanac,
Southern

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