Birds when encouraged not only keep in check our insect enemies, but they greatly reduce the number of our most noxious field and garden weeds by feeding upon the seeds after the insect season has passed.

The following birds are insectivorous-that is, feeding on insects alone, and abstaining from fruits and seeds:-The golden-crested wren (Regulus cristatus), wood wren (Sylvia sibilatrix), the willow wren or bay bird (S. fitis), the chiffchaff (S. loquax), the nightingale (S. luscinia), the whin-chat (Saxicola rubetra), the stone-chat (S. rubicola), the wheat-ear (S. Enanthe), the yellow wagtail (Motacillaflava), the treepipet or titlark (Anthus arboreus), the meadow-pipet (A. pratensis), the cuckoo, fly-catcher, the flusher or lesser butcherbird, the night-jar, the sedge-bird, the wryneck, the creeper, the bottle-tit, and to these several others might be added.

The following are insect-eaters, but also eat fruit and seeds: -Hege sparrow, common wren, red breast, red-stark, tom-tit, cole-tit, marsh-tit, greater-tit. The number of seeds of weeds that these devour are immense.

FEARFUL HAILSTORM IN WILTSHIRE.

The villages and country round Market Lavington, West Lavington, and Easterton were visited on last Tuesday morning with a hailstorm of a most destructive character. Fortunately its violence was limited to about a mile in breadth and two miles in length, extending diagonally from Gorecross, along a portion of the hill and the valley of the two

Lavingtons, as far as Eastcott, In this course the crops, chiefly barley, were almost totally destroyed. Immediately after the storm not a blade of grass, or corn, or crop of any kind was visible; the whole surface of the earth was one mass of hail stones. When the torrents of rain which succeeded the bail washed the hailstones from the fields into the valley beneath the hills, they covered the ground in some parts seven feet deep; and when we visited the scene on the Thursday evening after the storm, a score waggon-loads of the hailstones were in masses four feet deep immediately behind Mr. Fowle's house at Market Lavington. The destruction to the small birds was such as would please the most exterminating members of the sparrow clubs; indeed we have been informed that where hundreds of these birds have been in the habit of frequenting, but a solitary one or two are now to be seen; and not only sparrows but all descriptions of small birds have been destroyed wherever tha storm passed over.

It is satisfactory to state that six of the greatest sufferers by the hail-storm were insured in the Royal Farmers' Office, whose surveyor has been, since the storm, over ther lande, and has arranged the amount to be paid to them for the damage done to their crops. Of these the greatest injury has been sustained by Mr. Thomas Neate, of Middle Farm, West Lavington, whose barley crop was ready for the reaper. He says himself "It was one of the finest he had ever grown ;" and his field-book shows that his farm averaged, for the last three years, five quarters per acre. He had nearly 130 acres more or less destroyed. He had made up his mind in the early part of the season not to insure against hail, but on second thoughts (which, in this instance at least, were best) he changed his mind, and hence he has saved a considerable sum of money. His neighbour, Mr. Wm. Sainsbury, was also insured. He felt the effects of non-insurance in 1852, when for once in his life he omitted to secure himself, and consequently suffered to the extent of over £700 in a hail storm of remarkable severity, which took place in that year. Mr. Robert Blake, of West Lavington, Mr. Fred. Stratton of Gore Farm, Market Lavington, Mr. Wm. Fowle, of Simmons and Grove Farm, Market Lavington, and Mrs. Bridget Fowle, of Nap and Parsonage farms, same village, whose crops

were also injured, were likewise insured in the same office, The reporter of the Devizes Gazette thus describes the scene of this fearful visitation immediately after the storm was over:-"For hours afterwards the country around presented a most extraordinary appearance. Not a sign of vege tation was to be seen in the fields. Instead of standing barley, which had given so rich and golden appearance to the hill-side the evening before, nought met the eye but hail, hail, hail burying everything beneath it; while the allotments and gardens, the roads and even the houses, looked as if they had just emerged from a deluge. As to the poor cottagers, their case is indeed pitiable. Many of them who held allotments have lost their entire crop, and the mischief which has been occasioned in their dwellings is sad indeed. For the poor, who have so greatly suffered-in many instances losing the whole of their crop, on which their entire dependence was staked-we have no doubt a subscription will be set on foot." We believe that Mr. Fowle is engaged in the kindly act of collecting subscriptions for the poor allotment sufferers, whose case is pitiable indeed. His address is, Mr. Wm. Fowle, Market Lavington, Wilts; and we hope that those to whom Providence has given abundance will assist the kindly eudeavours of this gentleman to lighten the burdens of these poor people. The effect of the storm upon the allotments is absolutely ruinous. We saw several pieces of barley on the land occupied by these small holders, containing half an acre each, in which it would be difficult to find a bushel of grain left; while the turnips, potatoes, and other roots were in many cases washed completely out of the ground, and swept away in the torrent, or cut into shreds by the hail.

The surveyor of the Royal Farmers' Office has handed us ten shillings, which we shall forward to Mr. Fowle; and we trust that those to whom much is given will assist freely, for "God loveth the cheerful giver."

M'CORMICK'S NEW REAPER IN NORFOLK.

On Monday last this new machine was tried on Mr. C. S. Read's farm at Plumstead, near Norwich. The day was hot and dry, and the crop all that could be desired for a public trial. The field was of April wheat, planted on the 28th of that month, and promised a yield of some 30 bushels per acre. There were no furrows, no clover, and no grass, and the corn was nicely ripe and all standing. In fact, if the machine could not cut that crop well, it could do nothing well. But it did more than well. The cut was perfection itself, and the sheaves were laid with an evenness and exactness that was really wonderful. The only fault that could be found was that now and then a few stray ears were dragged by the rake to the butt end of the sheaf, but perhaps this might be occasioned by the stiff beard of the wheat clinging to the other ears, and may be remedied by accelerating the motion of the rake on its leaving the platform. The machine was not started till just one o'clock, and by five had cut down six acres of wheat with a pair of horses driven by a good-sized lad.

On the Plumstead farm one of Burgess and Key's old reapers has now been used four years. There it stood, looking almost as good as new, though it had cut upwards of 700 acres of corn, and had not cost above 40s. for repairs. Yet it was manifest that the new machine had many advantages over the old one. The draught is less; the two horses on Monday did not sweat a hair, whereas three horses are always used in the old reaper. The new machine passes readily the common farm gateways, it turns sharply with the greatest ease, and requires no one to follow it. And then as to the delivery, the sheaf has many advantages over the swathe, for not only can the corn be bound more easily, but the gathering is so

perfect, that to use the expressive words of one of the poor women at the trial, "it was a gleaning as well as a reaping machine.”

There are many farmers who have waited patiently for a really good grass mower and corn reaper before they purchased a machine of this sort. For years we have had mowers that would cut corn, and by the aid of man deliver the grain in bundles at the rear of the machine. But we have not yet had a combined machine with a good self-acting side-delivery for corn. The day is not far distant when this will be accomplished. In its present form we don't think that Mr. M'Cormick's new machine will cut stout meadow grass, although it may do clover pretty well, but Messrs. Burgess and Key can soon adapt it for any grass by lowering the cut and supplying a smooth edged knife. We feel confident that with this sort of combination, and a few minor alterations in the reaper, this machine will be by far the cheapest and most useful that has yet been brought before the agricultural public.

The trial on Monday was in every respect satisfactory; later in the day three horses were attached to the reaper, and driven at a brisk pace, and proved that the sheaves were more perfectly formed by the rapid action of the rake. Some of the corn was trampled on and rolled down, but even then the machine cut and delivered it very well. As the farmers in East Norfolk have not generally finished harvest, and as reaping machines are now no novelty, but few of the neighbouring agriculturists attended the trial. But Baron Ricasoli, the late prime minister of Italy, and a few other distinguished foreigners were present, as was also Mr. Burgess with Mr. M'Cormick himself.

C. S. R.

HAVE YOU SEEN THE MOWERS?

BY H. BELCHER.

Have you seen the mowers reap,
While the gales the brown corn sweep
On the plain ?
When stalwart reapers throw
The yellow prize below-
Golden grain?

Have you seen the reapers stand,
And grip the twisted band
In the sun?

Though tired they work away,
From morn till twilight grey,
Ere they've done.

Have you seen the laden team
At the close, the garland green-
Heard the noise

And song of "Harvest Home!"
And shout of "Here they come !"
From farmers' boys?

Have you seen the MOWER reap,
And beheld the mourner weep-
Heard the sigh?

The MOWER'S golden prize,
Just ripe for yonder skies-
Seen it lie ?

Have you seen that MOWER stand,
And cut the closest band-
The earthen tie?
And heard the mighty song,
As HE bore the prize along
Through the sky?

The

YORKSHIRE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. trial of reaping-machines took place at Heslington, near York, upon the farm of Mr. Carr, the agent of Mr. G. J. Yarburgh, of Heslington Hall. There was also a trial of combined reaping and mowing-machines, the society having offered a prize of 10%. for the best of each description. There were thirteen of the former entered for competition-Samuelson's, of York; Dray's, of Farningham; Bamlett's, of Ripon; Hopkinson's, of Goole; Beckwith's, of Ripon; Cuthbert's, of Newton-le-Willows, Bedale; Kearsley's, of Ripon; Sawney's, of Beverley; Abbey's, of Dunnington; Barker's, of Dunnington; and Spencer's, of Doncaster. Two fields, of nine acres each in extent, one containing wheat, and the other barley and oats, were selected for the trials. The machines solely intended for reaping first commenced operations in the wheat field, at eleven o'clock in the forenoon, and in the first instance they each went once round. The machines generally seemed to do their work very well. Cuthbert's was drawn by one horse only, and the others with two, and with the exception of Samuelson's, they were on the manual-delivery principle, The weather was favourable, and the site selected was well adapted to the purpose. The combined mowing and reapingmachines tried were those of Messrs. Brigham and Bickerton, of Berwick; Samuelson, Kearsley, and Dove, of York; and Cranston's (Wood's) machine, of London. The judges were Mr. J. D. Dent, M.P. (who officiated in the absence of Mr. Druce, of Oxford); Mr. T. P. Outhwaite, of Goldsbro'; aud Mr. Scott, of Broom-close, Boro'bridge; and their awards as follow:-For the best reaper, 107., Cuthbert, of Newtonle-Willows; highly commended, Samuelson; commended, Bamlett and Dray. For the best combined reaping and mowing. machine, 10%, Samuelson; highly commended, Kearsley; commended, Dove, of York. The trials occupied about seven hours.

THE TURKISH BATH FOR CATTLE.-A bath of this description, designed specially for the treatment of cattle, but largely made use of also by the people in the neighbourhood, has recently been erected by Lord Kinnaird, in the vicinity of the farm of Millhill, occupied by his lordship's factor, Mr. M'Laren. The curative properties of the bath have already been demonstrated in a marked manner in the case of several calves suffering from scɔur, &c.; but still more wonderful is the influence it has had upon two or three feeding stots affected with pleuro-pneumonia. Out of three patients, two that we saw have every appearance of progressing towards perfect health. They eat well, walk about with seeming comfort and ease, the cough has lost its nasty metallic sound, the discharge from the nose is stopped, they are no more hide-bound, and their coat has no longer the staring aspect of disease. The third patient, a larger animal than the other two, is not yet so far recovered, but the beast is a great deal better than it was. Of course, this one experiment is not enough to justify any one in declaring the Turkish bath to be a specific in the cure of pleuro; but it is valuable so far as it goes, and it is upon an accumula tion of such facts that a science is reared. The heat required to produce a favourable impression in cases of pleuro needs to be very great-up to 200 or 212 degrees, boiling point in fact. At a less temperature the curative effect was not very visible. In other diseases of a primarily less dangerous, but, if neglected, in the end of a hardly less fatal character, the bath has been found "a perfect cure." It can be erected and carried on for a comparatively trifling cost-one that we think would repay large stock-owners to expend.-North British Agriculturist. There is a cattle bath open at the Oriental Bath Company's premises, Victoria-street, Westminster, ED. F. M.

Sixty years ago it would have been difficult to persuade a botanist to include one of the Marine Algæ in his herbarium, so worthless and insignificant were they then esteemed; now they are numbered amongst the choicest dried collections from the vegetable kingdom. The seaside-loving public, who seek health and relaxation in marine breezes, have ample opportunities of seeing them in the freshness of life, and of watching their growth in the shallow pools that are left by the receding tide on our coasts; and we have all become familiar with their diversity of colour and delicate beauty. They have now so many admirers, and have become so popular, that it is unnecessary for me to speak in their praise; in fact, I intend in this paper to be a thorough utilitarian, and to view them only in their practical applications. But as the beauty of the alge has been despised, so their utility appears to have been generally discredited. The Latin poets gave alga the prefix of "inutilis;" and Dr. Johnson has been often quoted, perhaps rather unfairly, as having included them in his "plants that are noxious and useless."

The first important application of seaweeds was made about the middle of the last century; it consisted in burning them for the asb, as a source of soda; but barilla from abroad entered our market, and the tall chimney of the alkali works rose up in competition against them, and seaweeds were again at a discount. Then the discovery of iodine was made, and the burning of seaweeds became a necessity; and even now we are mainly indebted to this humble source for the means we possess of borrowing the sun's light to paint his own image. We claim seaweed as the raw material which has enabled the photographers of our day to satisfy hundreds of thousands of our countrymen who have longed to preserve the likeness of the illustrious deceased, whose sudden call to another crown has plunged the whole nation in sorrow and mourning. Nevertheless, it must be admitted that the chemistry of seaweed has been but imperfectly studied, and by far the greater part of the rich wreck of marine vegetation annually deposited on our island shores remains unappropriated. I shall first review the various applications of seaweed at present made, and then proceed to point out the best method of bringing our marine harvest to the national barn. I must premise here that under the collective term Seaweed I include all plants growing in the sea and thrown up on the shore, as I shall have to speak of one that is not a true alga. The present principal economic applications of seaweeds are-as food or medicine; as manure; and in the manufacture of kelp; under these three heads I shall consider them, noticing also a few other suggested uses, retrospective and prospective.

SEAWEED AS FOOD OR MEDICINE.-The applications of the algae in this way are very limited, particularly in this country. I shall merely briefly enumerate the principal species employed, and their uses, as an excellent paper on this part of my subject, by Mr. P. L. Simmonds, has already appeared in this Society's Journal, vol. v., p. 362, and to this, and another by Dr. Macgowan, I refer those who are desirous of further information, as I am unable to add anything to them. The algae possess nutritious and demulcent properties; they contain a peculiar gum, and sugar, starch, a little albumen, and a comparatively large proportion of nitrogen.

Laminaria digitata-Tangle, or sea-girdles; the fronds are occasionally eaten when young. The froud of this species no doubt constitutes the goître-leaf, chewed in the Himalayas, the whole plant abounding in iodine and potash, the important chemical remedies for goître. The stems of this plant make excellent handles for knives, files, &c.; if the blade be inserted when the stem is fresh cut, and the weed then allowed to dry, it contracts, holding the blade with great firmness, and presenting a brown wrinkled appearance something like buckhorn. The handle, when varnished, is very durable, and this application is not followed to the extent its value would warrant.

Laminaria saccharina-Sweet tangle, called sea-tape_in China, where it is eaten. This plant has been found by Dr. Stenhouse to be very rich in mannite-a peculiar unfermentable crystalline sugar, obtained usually from manna; and occurring also in the lilac and privet, plants belonging to the same natural order (Oleaceae) as the manna ash-Fraxinus rotundifolia. This sugar coutains C 12 H 14 O 12, and is formed also when ordinary cane sugar is submitted to lactic fermentation. It has no commercial application. This seaweed contains it in the proportion of 12 to 15 per cent., and if there existed a demand for it, mannite could be advantageously prepared from this source. It may be generally seen on the dry frond as an efflorescence. Dr. Stenhouse has found that Halidrys siloquosa contains 5 to 6 per cent. L. digitala, the Fuci, Aliaria esculenta, and Rhodomenia palmata, and probably many others, also contain it.

eaten in New Zealand and Van Dieman's Land, and is conLaminaria potatorum, under the uame of bull kelp, is largely sidered very fattening.

Fucus vesiculosus, bladder wrack, lady wrack, quercus marina, or black tang, is, according to Linnæus, used in Gothland, under the name of swine tang, boiled and mixed with flour, for feeding hogs. It is employed as winter food for cattle and sheep in the Western Hebrides. I have seen cattle in the Isle of Lewis eat it with evident relish, and they appear to thrive well on it. It has been much employed externally as a friction in glandular enlargements, and by Dr. Russell the juice has been given internally with advantage in the same complaint. Carbonized in a closed crucible, it constitutes the Ethiops vegetabilis, formerly used in scrofula.

Porphyra laciniata is pickled with salt, and sold in London as laver. It is stewed as a luxury in England and Scotland, and under the name of sloke in Ireland. It is also a good alterative medicine, and has been recommended by Professor Hervey (Phycolog. Britt.) as a valuable diet, in the absence of other vegetables, to our whaling crews sailing in high latitudes, where every rock at half-tide produces it. The London market is supplied from Devonshire.

P. vulgaris is eaten in China as a relish with rice, under the name of Tsz-Taai (purple vegetable).

Ulva latissima, oyster green, or green laver, or sloke, is much inferior to the porphyra, but is used in the same manner, has an odour of violets, and a slightly acrid taste. The dried Rhodomenia palmata, dulse, dillish, dulling or water-leaf, plant was formerly much chewed in Scotland and Ireland, but is now superseded by tobacco. Dulse and tangle were at one time commonly hawked in the streets of Edinburgh and Glasgow. It is eaten in Iceland and in the Islands of the Archipelago; it is a favourite ingredient in ragouts, to which it imparts a red colour and thick consistence. It has sudorific properties, and is employed for these in the Isle of Skye. A fermented liquor is made of it in Kamschatka.

Laurencia pinnatifida, pepper dulse, has pungent properties, and is occasionally used as a condiment in Scotland. It is also chewed in Iceland.

Iridaa edulis, called dulse in the south-west of England, where it is eaten by the fishermen after pinching it between hot irons; thus cooked, it is said to taste like roasted oysters.

is eaten in Ireland, under the name of murlins; it is also Aliaria esculenta, bladder-locks, edible fucus, or hen-ware, eaten in Scotland and Iceland.

Plocaria helminthocortos, Corsican moss, has been in use amongst the natives of Corsica as an anthelmintic for several centuries.

Durvillea utilis, used as an article of food in Valparaiso, and by the poorer inhabitants on the west coast of South America. I am indebted to Mr. M. C. Cooke for a fine specimen of this species.

Eucheuma speciosum and Gigartina speciosa are edible seaweeds, eaten in Australia.

Sargassum bacciferum is the celebrated gulf-weed of the Atlantic; the stems are said to constitute the goître-sticks chewed in South America when that disease is prevalent; it is more probable, however, that the stems of the Laminaria digitata furnish these.

Chondrus crispus and C. mamillosus, Irish or Carrageen moss. These afford demulcent and nutritive jellies, and of all algae are the most used in England for food and medicine; the market supply is obtained from Clare and the west coast of Ireland. The plant is sometimes employed in Ireland as a substitute for size. The C. crispus contains 79 per cent. of a peculiar gelatinous principle, called carrageenin; it differs from ordinary gum in not being precipitated by alcohol, from gelatine by affording no reaction with tincture of galls, and from starch jelly by giving no blue colour with tincture of iodine. It is precipitated by alcohol, acetate of lead, and infusion of galls, and converted into grape sugar by boiling with dilute sulphuric acid. It contains C 12 H 10 0 10 according to Schmidt, and C 24 H 19 O 19 according to Mulder. It is employed in pulmonary complaints, and in making bandoline. Gelideum corneum.-This plant is the algue de Java, which is made into an iced jelly, and sold in Ningpo, under the name of niu-mau (ox hair vegetable). It has lately been made the subject of an important discovery by M. Payen (Rep. de Pharm., Jan., 1860). He has extracted from it 27 per cent. of a peculiar principle, which he terms gelose, having ten times the gelatinizing power of the best isinglass. With the same reactions as carrageenin, it differs from it in its wonderful gelatinizing power. I am indebted to the kindness of Mr. Daniel Hanbury for the very fine specimen of crude gelose, imported from Japan, which I am enabled to exhibit. I recently experimented on a large number of British algæ, to ascertain if these gelatinous principles were common to many species. I was somewhat surprised to find that very few contained them, and certainly none in anything like the proportion found in the Chondrus and Gelidæum. Taking the Laminaria saccharina as a type of the membranous species of algæ, I found it to contain, besides mannite, 34 per cent. of a gum soluble in water, and much resembling dextrine. Boiled with a mixture of equal parts of nitric acid and water, this seaweed furnished 22 per cent. of oxalic acid, in fine crystals, probably from the decomposition of the gum. By boiling this Beaweed with water, evaporating the solution, and treating the residue with spirit, the mannite is dissolved out, leaving the gum, which may be of commercial value, either as it is, or as a substitute for sugar in making oxalic acid. The mannite may be crystallized from the spirituous solution.

The following algae are also largely imported from the islands of the Indian Archipelago to China and Japan, for the manufacture of gelatinous compounds; they probably all contain carrageenin, or gelose, in large quantity:-The most important is the Plocaria candida; this plant, called agar-agar by the Malays, and bulung at Java, is also imported into this country as commercial Ceylon moss. (The Fucus spinosus bas been imported under the same name.) It has several synobymes Gracilaria lichenoides, Sphærococcus lichenoides, Gigartina lichenoides, &c. The edible bird's nests, esteemed as a delicacy in China, are probably constructed from this weed by a species of swallow-the Hirundo esculenta. It is said by Mr. Craufurd to form part of the cargo of every junk leaving the Archipelago, and the price on the spot is stated at from 5s. 8d. to 7. 6d. per cwt. Though used largely as a food, it is also employed as the best material for varnishing the Chinese lanterns.

Laurencia papillosa―tan-shwui: This, as well as the Gelideum corneum, is used in the preparation of tang-tsai, or Chinese moss.

Gracillaria crassa-Ki-tsai (hen-foot vegetable)-is cooked with soy or vinegar, and is also used as a bandoline for the hair by the Chinese ladies.

Nostoc edule is also eaten in China, and Nostoc Arctium in the Arctic regions.

There are many other algae used exclusively as food by the Chinese, the botanic names of which are not known; but from the opening up of China and Japan to our countrymen, we may shortly expect much information on this subject. The

Chinese are evidently the algae-consuming nation, and there is no doubt that, in our own country, the algae as food have been much neglected. Dr. Davy found the proportion of nitrogen in 100 parts of the dry plants to be as follows:Laminaria digitata.... 1583 | Aliaria esculenta...... 2:424 Rhodomenia palmata.. 1.656 Chondrus crispus 2.500 Gigartina mamillosa .2.198 Iridæs edulis Fucus vesiculosus ....2:397 Porphyra laciniata

....

.3088 ....4-650 This is a very large per-centage, and equal to any of our other vegetable esculents. Researches directed especially to the algae as food would doubtless widely extend our present number of edible species. It may be remarked, however, that those already enumerated require much cooking and flavouring, in order to induce the national palate to acquire a taste for them; that John Bull, although so truly a man of the sea, certainly does not take kindly to an algine diet, and there is no doubt, if it can be shown to his entire satisfaction, that a lucrative mannfacture of chemical products can be conducted wherever there are seaweeds, hitherto esteemed useless, he would prefer vegetables grown in an ordinary garden, to dulse, laver, or any other such marine delicacy, particularly if the weeds can, by any means, be coined into money. It will be my aim, in this paper, to show that this is possible; but before leaving this part of my subject, I would call attention to special cases where the algae may be very useful as food.

That scourge of our seaman, the scurvy, has been considered by many scientific men to be due to the insufficient supply of potash in the salt meat, the juice of which has diffused into the brine. The juices of limes and lemons are largely imported for its cure; if these act, as is supposed, by virtue of the potash they contain, a far better source may be found in the marine algæ. Let the most edible of these be selected for their use, and cooked as vegetables; they are well worth a trial, as they keep when dried, or may be often obtained fresh at sea, and, if successful, would save large sums to the nation, at present annually expended in the juices of limes and lemons; or, if the sailors cannot be induced to acquire a relish for marine vegetables, let the chloride of potassium, prepared from them, be used with common salt in due proportion for salting their provisions; the admixture could not be detected, and there can be no doubt that such a brine would be far superior, in its effects on the meat, to that commonly employed, where we take the juice containing the potash salts out of the meat, and substitute for it a saturated solution of chloride of sodium, with occasionally a small portion of nitre.

For cattle, let the use of seaweed for food be more extensively employed; they thrive on nitrogenous roots, containing phosphate of lime and salts of potash. The algae are strictly comparable to these, as I shall show further on, with the addition that they contain common salt, which cannot be considered a disadvantage. We know that many species are eaten by cattle with great relish, the economy of the food is obvious, and its nutritive value need not be dwelt on.

SEAWEED AS MANURE.-The value of seaweed as manure is most appreciated in the Channel Islands. The "varec" or "vraic," as the weed is there called, is considered so valuable that special laws are enforced for its regular collection and fair distribution amongst the agriculturists, many of whom use no other manure. "Point de vraic, point de haugard" ("no seaweed, no corn-yard"), has passed into a local proverb. The seaweeds are of two kinds-" vraic venant," and "vraic scié." The former is the drift weed cast up by stormy seas on their sandy, but rock-bound, shores; this is the most valuable, consisting chiefly of Laminaria digitala and L. saccharina, very rich in iodine and salts of potash; it is allowed to be raked up and collected all the year round, from sunrise to sunset, the time being prolonged during the winter to 8 p.m. This is the constant employment of the cottagers on the coast, both of Guernsey and Jersey, and the collection is at its height in stormy weather. The work is very laborious, the large wooden rakes used being often torn out of the hands of the "vraiqueurs" by the waves. The beautiful sandy bays which abound in these islands are the scenes of their toil. The weed is either thickly spread on the land, and ploughed in fresh with a deep plough, or dried on the beach, and burnt on the cottagers' hearths as fuel, certainly not on account of the cheerful appearance of the fire, or its pleasant odour, but because the charred ash thus produced sells at 6d. per bushel for manure. The fire smoulders quietly; it is never extin

guished, but constantly renewed, and the whitest of all smoke ascends day and night from the rude chimney of these humble dwellings. The "vraic scié" is the "cut weed," cut off the rocks at low tide, consisting principally of Fucus vesiculosus, F. serratus, F. nodosus; the time of cutting it is fixed by law, at Guernsey, from July 17th to August 31st, and at Jersey twice a year, commencing March 10th and June 20th, and lasting about ten days each time. The summer cutting is made a regular holiday in both islands, and to the young "vraiqueurs" of both sexes it is an occasion of great festivity. It is computed that about 30,000 loads of vraic of all kinds are annually obtained from the rocks and bays of Guernsey and the adjacent small island of Herm, valued at £3,000, or 23. per load; this is a mere nominal price if the value of the potash and iodine alone be taken into consideration. The quantity of vraie collected at Jersey is, probably, quite equal to that obtained in Guernsey; but it seemed to me, during a recent visit, that the vraic used was generally not so rich, and that more is burnt and less ploughed in than at Guernsey. In one cottage I found the mother and all her family employed in drying and burning weed, composed entirely of the marine plant known as the grass wrack, Zostera marina (Nat. ord. Naiadaceae), one of the poorest and most common of our seaweeds; the best front parlour was given up to its ignition; this was accompanied by an insufferable odour, which the lady informed me was esteemed very healthy. This is a prevalent opinion amongst the peasants wherever seaweeds are burnt, and in this case I must confess that her statement was fully borne out by appearances, if I might judge by the rosy cheeks of her little assistants. She was getting the ash ready in a hurry to sow with corn on the following day, having, no doubt, the proverb before quoted weighing on her mind. The best seaweeds are stacked in Jersey; a dozen stacks of " vraic venant," thatched over, are common objects in a farm-yard, and small barns are given up to its storage when dry. The value set on vraic may be judged of by the fact that the inhabitants of Sark, having none on their island, import it in fishing boats from Herm, five miles distant; fifty Guernsey and Sark boats may be seen at once at Herm engaged in this traffic; and those who are acquainted with the precipitous nature of the rocks of Sark and its dangerous currents, will appreciate the value of vraic in that island. "Drift-weed" is also largely used in Ireland, as the only manure for the potato crop; this is interesting, because the potato requires a considerable supply of potash. This alkali can hardly, however, be required in the Channel Islands, as the granitic subsoil would, in disintegration, furnish it in abundance; it is probably the earthy phosphates that render the weed so fertilizing there; this is borne out by the fact that the lixiviated seaweed ash, from which the alkalies have been removed, meets with a ready sale in Guernsey, and is esteemed, indeed, richer, no doubt on account of the increased per-centage of phosphates. The residual seaweed ash from the iodine factories in France is highly valued as a manure, and constantly carried a distance of thirty miles from the factory. The agriculture in the western islands is also enriched by this manure, and some of the tangle is brought into Oban by fishermen in boats, and sold at Is. per load. On the S.E. coast of Fife it is laid on the stubble at the rate of twenty cart-loads an acre, and ploughed in; the clover crop never fails, and this is a crop requiring much phosphate of magnesia, an important constituent of seaweed ash. In the Isle of Lewis twenty tons of seaweed are considered ample manure for a Scotch acre. The agricultural produce of the Isle of Thanet, in Kent, is said to have been tripled by the use of this manure, and the farms on the Lothian coasts let for twenty or thirty shillings more rent per acre where the tenants have a right of way to the sea coast, where the weed is thrown ashore. In England, generally, however, seaweed is little valued by agriculturists as an actual manure, and appears to be regarded rather as an economical and useful covering to protect turnips and other roots from winter frosts. Farmers object to its bulk and expensive carriage, particularly now so many portable artificial manures are offered for sale and recommended so strongly by their manufacturers as possessing great fertilizing value in a small compass. There can be no question that many of these are worthless rubbish, and perfectly useless, except to line the pockets of the vendor; and the farmer would do well to turn his attention to the composition of seaweed ash, which really does, as I hope to prove, contain all the constituents of a good manure in a small bulk.

A process has been recommended by Dr. Stenhouse (Philɔsophical Magazine) for the manufacture of acetic acid from wet weeds by fermentation. His experiments were conducted with some of the Fuci; these were mixed with lime, and kept moist at a temperature of 90° Fahr.; he obtained by distillation with sulphuric acid an average of 1.5 per cent. of anhy. drous acetic acid! it is contaminated with butyric acid. This might, however, be separated and turned to account in the manufacture of butyric ether or essence of pine-apple. I have not heard of this suggestion being carried out, but it might be tried on those weeds intended for manure. In this case the best method would be to ferment them in pits with lime or chalk, at the ordinary temperature in the summer, leaving each portion in for two or three months, and supplying its place by a fresh load until the lime was saturated; the liquid would then be pumped out, evaporated to dryness, the residue sold as crude acetate of lime, and the weed carried to the manure heap. The whole process could be crudely and economically carried on by an agriculturist near the sea.

The ashes of several fuci have been found by M. Malafati to contain silver, as well as lead and copper in minute proportion. The silver in the ash of Ficus serratus is estimated at 1-10,000th of its weight, or about 3 oz. to a ton. Other algæ probably contain this metal, as it has been found universally present in sea water; but, desirable as it may be to increase our stores of it, this would not be an economical source, and it is proba ble that the 2,000,000 tons, calculated by M. Tuld to be dissolved in sea water, might be better extracted by the copper sheathing of our ships, in which the copper is gradually replaced by the silver; the sheathing thus becomes after a time rich in silver. It has been found in the sheathing to the extent of 17 oz. in the ton.

The manufacture of paper is so important to a civilized nation-so many sources of the raw materials have been sug gested-that we are not surprised to find seaweeds amongst the number. Two patents were obtained in 1855, the first dated June 20th, by Martenoli de Martinoi and others, of San Francisco, for the employment of seaweed in the manufac ture of paper; and the second, dated November 29th, by Charles Maybury Archer, for the employment of seaweed in the manufacture of paper, and for the production of textile fabrics. Neither of these was proceeded with; the true algae, in fact, having no fibres in their structure, would appear to be singularly inappropriate for the strength required in paper. Another patent was recently obtained by Ebenezer Hartnall of Ryde, dated May 31st, 1861, for the application of the grass wrack, Zostera marina, to the manufacture of pulp for paper, to be used alone or in combination with other fibrous materials. This appears more practicable, as this plant is not one of the algae, and it does contain fibre resembling the grasses. This patent, however, was not proceeded with.

Another patent was obtained in 1858, dated August 5th, by Donald M'Crummen," for the application, use, and treatment of marine plants, heaths, or heather, and other vegets. ble productions, as well for the manufacture of paper as for the production of alkaline and other salts." According to his specification, the plants are crushed or bruised, and exposed to the action of boiling water or steam, nutil the soluble salts are removed; the insoluble residuum, after treatment with various agents of disintegration, is to be employed in the manufacture of paper, millboard, and papier machié. The solutions This is the only patent which has been proceeded with. I obtained to be evaporated to dryness to recover the salts. have received small specimens of the crude fibre and black salt from Mr. M'Crummen, but in justice to him I am bound to state that they are sent to me as the first crude results, and he has not yet worked the process on a large scale. (To be continued.)

By desire of the Committee of Council on Education, Sutton's collection of specimen grasses and grass seeds will, at the close of the International Exhibition, be per manently arranged in the Educational Department of the South Kensington Museum. The Albert Agricultural Institute, Dublin, wish to secure a similar collection for the use of the students of that College.