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30 AGRICULTURAL. DANIEL LEE, 3*l. D., Editor. SATURDAY JUNE 18, 1559. BOOK NOTICES. Farm Draining.— Tlie principles, and effects of draining land with stone, wood, open ditches, and especially with tile: including tables of rainfall, evaporation, filtration, excava tion, capacity of pipes, cost, and number to the i acre: and more than one hundred illustrations. By Henry F. French. A. O. Moore & Co., Agricultural Book Publishers, New York, 1859. I Judge French, the author of the above named work, is a practical and scientific fanner, who has studied and observed the advantages of farm drainage in Europe and this country; and his book contains a plain and satisfactory aceount of all recent improvements in draining land for agricultural purposes. As the publish ers state, all the processes described, and mate rials used, are appropnately illustrated; so that any farmer can operate successfully with this excellent manual to guide his labors, and instruct him. Every agriculturist should possess this book, which contains some four hundred octavo pages, for it will be valuable at all times for re ference as historical authority, and showing the evaporation of surface water from cultivated fields and plants, filtration, the formation of springs and swamps, and the most economical way to remove all exeess of moisture where 1 land needs draining. Hints to Horse Keepers: A complete manual for horsemen; including chapters on breeding mules, and other kindred topics. By the lato William Henry Herbert. (Frank Forester,) New York : A. O. More A Co., 1859. The author of “The Horse of America,’’ “Fish and Fishing,” “The Deer Stalkers,” and the “ Complete Manual for Young Sportsmen,” is too well known to country gentlemen to require our commendation of his last and best work, “ Hints to Horse Keepers.” Herbert had noble blood in his veins derived from both parents, was educated at Cambridge, England, and possessed talent and genius, which under better influences, would have placed him among the great men of the age. lie was twice married in this country. His second wife, (a lady from Providence, R. I.) left him soon af ter their marriage in February 1858, and the 17th of April of the same year, ho committed suicide at tho Stevens House in New York. It is jeedless perhaps to say that the author of the work under consideration knew more about horses, their wants, physical and vital powers, and proper management, including breeding, than almost any man of his time; for he made this department of knowledge a pro fessional study. It suited his taste and habits, and his book is full of life and instruction. A Practical Treatise on the Hive and Honey- Bee: By L. L. Langstrotii. New York: A. 0. Moore A Co., 1859. The first edition of Langstroth's work on bee culture, published some twelve years ago, placed him among the scientific cultivators of this branch of rural economy. He is an educa ted clergyman in feeble health, who has the time, tact and true German enthusiasm to ob serve and study honey bees through glass hives and otherwise, by the aid of skillful microsco pists and dissections, with eminent success. We have known many apiarians, but not one equal to Mr. L. He has rendered it highly probable that male bees (the drones) are produced from unimpregnated eggs! When entomologists first proved that the female of the honey bee, wasp and humble bee needs scarcely more than one pairing with the male to produce young broods in succession for her life time, the statement ap peared incredible. Yet as the microscope dis closed the spermatoza in a little sack attached to the ovary duet, it was seen how the fertilising cells from the blood of the male might remain stored up in this sack for an indefinite period to vitalise any number of ova, in after life, in the mother, when the father, perchance, was dead. Without a mate, a solitary female wasp or humble bee builds her nest in the spring, kvs her eggs and rears her young; and this she may repeat indefinitely witliput seeing a male. But that a virgin queen bee should produce male off spring by the hundred, is at variance with all the known laws of animal physiology; and yet, if we understand Mr. Langstroth, his observa tions lead to this conclusion. The fact has long been known that the workers are females whose ovaries are undeveloped: and that a grub of this character may, by proper feeding, become a perfect queen. The study of the formation of sexes in embryo and fictal life is curious, and just now engaging the attention of the most ae cute scientists of the age. Aside from all sci entific researches, Mr. L. is perhaps the best practical apiarian in America. His residence is at Oxford, Butler county, Ohio. We cannot name the price at which the three books above noticed will be sent by mail, but probably at $1,25 each. A. 0. Moore A Co., the enterprising publishers of Agricultural and Horticultural works, which are admirably exe cuted, will consult their interest to mark with a pencil the price per mail on every book sent to the Field and Fireside for editorial notice. ■ ♦»» ■ Aloes to Destroy Bugs, Ac.— A correspon dent of the London Cottage Gardener recommends bitter aloes to destroy the aphis and other insect marauders. Mix half an ounce of aloes with a gallon of warm water, and apply it to the infect ed plants by means of a fine syringe, or water ing can, and. he says, “ before half an hour you will have clean plants.” He syringed his rose trees and cucumber plants with it last season, and it not only cleared the plants at the time, but there was not one on all the season after: and it does not harm the foliage in the least.” It is well known that a solution of aloes is fa tal to the common bed-bug’; and another intense bitter—gentian—is fatal to the house fly. Aloes is a cheap drug, and we would recommend a trial of it. - ! nrs-e Farmer. Tmm sotr& mmmm vxs&s mmb raasaxus. SOUTHERN MANUFACTURE OF PORCELAIN. With Mr. Wheeler, the obliging Secretary of the Southern Porcelain Manufacturing Company, j we recently visited its works in South Carolina, near this city. Mr. Farrar at the establish ment was kind enough to explain to the writer the different processes, from the mixing of the kaolin, or porcelain clay, and felspar, in a crude state, to the final glazing and finishing of beautiful translucent ware. We will not at tempt to describle these interesting operations; but content ourself with the remark that the machinery appears well adapted to the purposes , for which it was constructed, and capable of doing a large and successful business. The steam engine is of thirty horse power; and one : pair of the Burr stones for grinding kaolin, quartz and felspar, is eight feet in diameter. — The felspar is brought from Connecticut. If the granite regions of Georgia and South Caro- , lina were properly examined, it is highly pro bable the mineral required in the manufacture of porcelain would be found much nearer the . works. Some twelve years since we made an analysis ot this kaolin, and found it remarkably free of iron and lima and very similar to that described by Knapp as used for making poree- • lain near Berlin, Vienna and Paris. Both kaolin and felspar differ considerably in different de posits, and even in the same masses. In a ■ pure state, kaolin is a silicate of alumina: but j this white clay contains more or less quartz i ' sand, and felspar in a granular state. The care- , | ful analysis of the most perfect imported China ware shows that European and American porce lains are formed of the same elementary sub stances, and in very nearly the same proportions. The Chinese, however, have been practising this art for thousands of years, and using materials of a long, established character. Our materials are comparatively unknown; while our artists are pursuing what is to them a new trade. Hence a lack of high artistic skill is una avoidable. These difficulties should not dis courage the Company, nor prevent the public giving it a cordial support. Every month its workmen will improve—taught by experience and close observation. Last month they turned out goods to the amount of four thousand dollars; and $50,000 may be about their average a year. The clay from which this strong and durable ware is produced, being exceedingly abundant and cheap, and wood hardly less so at the estab lishment, we visited it mainly to learn what we might of the economy of manufacturing both largo and small pijies and tubes for conveying water from one place to another, for domestic and other purposes. Most persons know that me talie pipes like lead, iron, zinc and copper, are objectionable for various reasons; and that wood as a conduit soon decays. Pipes made of com mon red clay, or tile clay, lack strength to re sist pressure. What is the strength of well vit rified porcelain to sustain the weight of a head of water? The books within our reach throw but little light on the subject. In treating of clay pipes and tulies, voL 2nd. page 211, Knapp describes and figures a hydraulic press of such power “that its application renders pipes sufficiently strong to resist a pressure of from thirty five to forty at mospheres, (above one thousand pounds on the square inch) which, with pipes manufactured in the ordinary manner, would be perfectly impos ible.” Their dimensions, he says, “are from twelve lines in diameter, with five lines thickness of substance, to one hundred lines diameter and ten lines thickness. Their length may be one metre equal to four feet Hessian. The running metre of a conducting pipe, including the con necting pieces, weighed, of the first size, three pounds; of the last one hundred pounds.” It seems incredible that any clay pipe, how ever vitrified, nearly a foot in diameter, (one hun dred Hessian lines in the aperture) and only ten lines in thickness, (something like three quarters of an English inch) should be capable of sustain ing a pressure of thirty five or forty atmospheres. It is true that a glass tube whose sides are three quarters of an inch in thickness, will bear an immense weight of water before explosion; but we should not exjiect it, or any vitrified mineral, to resist a pressure of ojie thousand pounds to the square inch, or thirty five atmospheres.— Yes no authority in modern science stands high er than the author cited; and he professes to state the result of experiments—not theory. The weight of ten atmospheres will raise a column of water in an exhausted tube over three hun dred feet in perpendicular height; showing that porcelain pipes up to a foot in diameter, can be made of any required strength. It appears probable that the presence of the fine particles of solid Kaolin, or of pure day, in the finest kind of glass, which give to China its milk-like color, increase the strength of this vit rious cement; as fragments of angular granite are known to strengthen a wall composed in part of any lime and sand cement. In good porce lain, hard felspar is cemented by liquified quartz. The solid particles in vitrified quartz, as it ex ists in China, prevents the light passing through j the glass in direct rays so as to see objects as through a glass window; yet these opaque bod ies do not wholly obstruct the light, as any one may see who will look into a China teacup held up towards the sun, or any good light. No one, we trust, will take exceptions if we suggest the propriety of bringing the excellent water that issues in copious springs from the base of the Sand Hills, in a porcelain pipe, large enough to pass the whole of it into Augusta, so that our tea and coffee, and the water we drink may be as pure as nature’s most perfect filter can make it. We understood Mr. Wheeler and Mr. Turner to say that they were ready to test the strength of their pipe in advance of any con tract to the .satisfaction of the City Council, and then furnish porcelain pipe as cheap as iron pipe can be had, and guarantee its soundness and strength. Believing that Kaolin may become the basis of a large and profitable industry, and local trade, it strikes us that the citizens of Au- ] gusta mav wisely discard their wooden and rot ten pump-logs for bringing water into the city, and indulge themselves in the luxury of taking it fresh to their lips in pure China, direct from the Fdhntain. If we have material almost at our doors that will form a semi-glass tube which will stand a head of water fifty feet high with- j out bursting : while we have both the men and the machinery ready to manufacture such tubing j cheaper then iron, if any pipe is to be purchased, , why not let our own citizens have the contract ? i It will be the auspicious beginning of an im mense trade; for the Chalk hills in the vicinity . of Augusta and Hamburg, are not small; and al ready they are being exported to the North showing intrinsic value. The Kaolin deposit at Aue, near Sclmeeberg. which very nearly resembles our own, has al- , ready been exhausted in the manufacture of por- ; celain. It is only one hundred and fifty years < since Botticher. a German Chemist, was the first in Europe to discover a process by which real porcelein may be manufactured, ne was con- \ fined in prison for several years; twomonarchs, (Frederick I. of Russia, and Augustus, 11. of Po land), long tried to express from him the secret | of trausmuting base metals into gold. The his torian says: “After very numerous and labo- 1 rious exertions, carried on during his imprison ment at Sonnestein, Botticher at length in the year 1709, saw his endeavors crowned with sue cess by the production of true white porcelain.” j The art spread slowly from Saxony, and did not reach Berlin, till 1751; and Sevres, near Paris in 1765. — EARLY FRUIT. Three varieties of the Pear are now dropping ' their fruit. Os these the earliest one, Amire Joannet, is so very small that it is really hardly worth cultivating, where a full sized blackberry j can bo obtained. House ripened it is a pleas ant modestly juicy fruit, but soon Incomes mealy and indifferent. A graft or two inserted upon a tree, devoted mainly to some more des irable sort, is better than devoting a whole tree to this variety. • A few days later and now in season, comes i the Madeleine a variety which though long in j cultivation still is vigorous in growth and quite i productive. The fruit is rather small and if j allowed to overbear, deficient in flavor. If the | tree has been properly thinned the juice and quality of the fruit are much improved and it will be found really melting, sweat and refresh ing. Doyenne d’ ete ripens with the Madeleine and is of about the same size. It succeeds well, whether grafted on pear or quince and the tree comes early into bearing. In quality the fruit is superior in sweetness to the Madeleine and in every respect of a higher grade of excellence while its clear smooth skin, yellowish green, where shaded, and warmed up to a lively blush in the sun, renders it externally much more at tractive. Though rather small yet from its beauty and keeping qualities it is destined to bo ccAne a favorite fruit for market purposes, and thousands of bushels might with profit be yearly | shipped to the Northern cities, supplying them ; with ripe fruit very soon after their own trees come into blossom. The trees of the Duchess de Berry d' ete pear have been extensively sold j as the Doyenne d’ ete. A French nursery hav ing sent them to this country under this name but the Duchesse is a pear of larger size, later in season and more vinous than the Doyenne d' ete. It lacks also its bright red cheek, but it is itself an excellent fruit and well worthy of cultivation. Os Apples the Red June, a favorite with all, is now in season, and as it ripens gradually will continue in use some time. The May which ripens earlier lasts but a few days and is of in ferior flavor but still s worthy of culture. The early Harvest is a more highly flavored apple j than the June and succeeds equally well. The j Red Astracan, also now in season, is very fruit- i fill, and a good fruit for cooking, but for eating j decidelly inferior in quality to the June and j Harvest. . A LAW DEPARTMENT IN THE UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA. The Hon. Jos. Henry Lumpkin, Wm. 11. Hull and Tiios. R. R. Conn, Esqrs., of Athens, will commence the first session of a Law School in connection with the University of Georgia, on the first of October next. A school of this char acter is much needed to enlarge the educational advantages of the Institution, and disseminate among the cultivated youth of the State, and the South, a better knowledge of those enduring principles of right and of justice on which the law is founded. It is a mistake to suppose that the mental discipline and solid attainments which a young gentleman may acquire in a Law School will be of no service to him in after life, unless he pursues the practice of law as a profession.— There is no calling or pursuit in a civilized com munity, in which the legal rights of person and of property may not be often presented for con sideration ; and on such occasions, correct knowl edge may be equivalent to both money and char acter. Law and Order being fundamental ele ments of society, the science of government should be carefully studied by every freeman as a part of his republican education. Where the Ballot box is sovereign, the elementary princi ples of common law and wise statutes canndt be extended too widely among the voters and jury men of a State. In a word, able law schools de serve the good will and fostering care of every one who can appreciate the value of progress in mental culture, in virtue and justice. Such as avail them;,elves of the teachings of Messrs. Lumpkin, Hull and Cobb, avail themselves of the extensive libraries of these gentlemen, and of the valuable library of the University, will command advantages as studonts which are denied to most of their contemporaries seeking fame and fortune in the world. Let parents and guardians rememlier that knowledge is better than property, or rather it is the safest of all pro -1 pertv, and the most productive; for while ordi nary wealth may be lost, and consumed in a thou sand ways, knowledge is a living and ever-grow | ing power of production, which a man cannot lese ‘ while he lives and has his reason. Every citi zen should understand that his physical strength j is valuable just in proportion to the wisdom which he possesses to direct his own labor and ! that of others to the best advantage, and the wi -1 sest purposes. In this way alone can one both 1 think and act a very useful and honorably part through life, and enjoy high public esteem. A noble spirit is at work in Georgia among her educated children; and we look confidently for ripe and rich fruit, in connection with their Stato University, at no distant day. It must ■ have a School of Mines to aid in developing the ; great mineral wealth of the State; while the ap : plication of science to manufactures and agricul ture will place the study of their elementary prin : ciples on a sound and popular basis. The chairman of the Prudential Committee of the Trustees of the University has recently made ■ ! a report in reference to some important changes contemplated in the present organization of 1 Franklin College; a notice of which will be found in this paper, together with some additional re marks on university education. AN ENLARGED ORGANIZATION OF THE UNI VERSITY OF GEORGIA. William L. Mitchell, Esq., chairman of the Prudential Committee of the Trustees of the U i niversity, has recently made a report, printed by : order of the Committee, in which it is proposed to | enlarge the organization of this state institution, I and better adapt it to meet the educational wants of the public, and fulfil the purposes for which an university charter was granted by the Leg | islature in the last century, in obedience to the constitution of Georgia. 1. It is proposed to establish an Institute as a preparatory academy, in connection with the University, where students shall remain until they arc sufficiently advanced to join the junior class ; having pursued the same studies which | wonld have been required had the}’ been regu i larly through the Freshman and Sophomore ! classes; so that the certificate of proficiency from I their teachers shall entitle them to join the junior ! class without an examination. By this arrange i ment the two first classes in college will cease to exist as such; and students of the college pro per will be advanced in age and education, and better able to realize the responsibility of their position before joining the University, or col lege. 2. To establish University Schools each in dependent of the other, and also of the col lege proper so far as such school can bo self sustaining. It is suggested that the Medical College of Georgia, in the city of Augusta is will ing to be incorporated with the State University on terms which appear just and proper. 3. A school of Civil Engineering and applied Mathematics; the professor to be paid in part from the treasury of the University. 4. An Agricultural School in connection with I the Terrell endowment, in,which the application of Chemistry to the Industrial Arts, as well as agriculture is to lie taught. 5. Scliolorsliips, Fellowships and Professor ships in the University, are contemplated in the report now before us; but our space will not permit more than an allusion to this feature of the enlargement of the Institution. It will be for the Trustees to consider the advantages, and disadvantages of the proposed change at their next meeting; and it is not our place to express any opinion on the subject. Something, howev er, ought to be done: and we doubt not that wis dom and progress will characterize the action of : the Board. —■• - [Written for the Southern Field and Fireside.] IS IT TRUE? j Mr. Editor : I have often heard it said that j vultures and birds which feed on carrion, are | void of the sense of smell, and find the carcass I by the sight. Is it true ? j Dr. James Johnson says “he was led to i doubt the received opinion while observing, some i years ago, a concourse of birds of prey from l every point of the horizon towards a corpse I floating down the river Ganges, and that during i the North-east monsoon, when the wind blew j steadily from one point of the compass for months ;in succession. It was extremely difficult to im ; agine that the effluvium from the body in the i water could stream off in direct opposition to | the wind, so as to be perceived by birds many i miles distant. It lias been ascertained, by direct j experiments, that, where very putrid carrion was exposed in a basket, through which the ef fluvium could penetrate, while it was concealed from sight, it attracted not the notice of birds of prey, but when it was exposed to view, crowds of them came rapidly from different quarters of the horizon, when these were invisible a few minutes before. This is most rationally account- I ed for from their soaring at an altitude beyond ! our sight, though they can thence discern their prey.” 1 am not prepared to give credence to this reasoning; for, even admitting it to be true to the letter, it is not enough to prove conclusive ly that birds of prey are void of the sense of smelling; it only proves that of sight to be keen to an extraordinary degree. Nor is it reasonable to suppose that the Creator woidd have provided them with the necessary organs, and yet make i them useless. We all know' that the fish found in the Mammoth Cave of Kentucky are perfect ly eyeless, and we can readily understand the reason for this, but in the other case we cannot; in fact, if I were jiermitted to make a sugges : tion, it would be that the sense of smelling ought to be more acute in those animals whose nature is to feed on matter emitting a rank odor. The hawk is provided with a very keen sense of seeing, because his habits of life requires it; besides, his reputation is so bad, his enemies so numerous, that, without such a provision, his existence would be more than precarious; but with the buzzard it is not so—he is on the very best of terms with men, under no necessity for keeping a watch, except for something to eat, and if lie can’t find that with his nose, I must conclude that he is badly adapted for this world. Y. L. THE SOUTH ADAPTED TO WHEAT CULTURE. Successful experience is fast proving the im portant fact, that the best cotton growing states are as well adapted to the production of wheat as to the great agricultural and commercial’ st aplo of the South. Os course, it will take some time to bring as much skill and enterprise to bear on wheat culture as characterize the cultivation of cotton; but it is something to know that the large production of this valuable grain is entirely practicable in this quarter of the confederacy. The first new wheat delivered in Charleston was grown on the plantation of J. F. Mathews, Jlsq. at Pon Pon. St. Bartholomew's Parish, in the low country. The Mercury calls attention to the fact that the sale of this crop at one dollar and seventy five cents a bushel (indicating a fine quality) shows “ the entire adaptation of that section of the state to the culture of wheat, and the degree of profit to be derived therefrom.” The Kdgefield Advertiser of June Ist says : the accounts of wheat crops are very cheering; the prospect is generally thought to be rather better than it has been for some years past.” The Savannah Republican of the same date . notices the sale of now wheat in that city, from the plantation of W. B. Hodgson, Esq., in Burke county. Ilia crop was thrashed in the field by means of a small steam engine, placed on wheels, and so light in structure as to bo moved about , by hand power. Reapers, gang-plows and steam, aided by a better system of tillage and farm economy, will soon achieve wonders in the production of wheat as a great southern staple. Much depends upon the proper preparation of the soil. If too wet in any part, it should be drained; for wet land rarely if ever yields good wheat. If there is considerable vegetable mat ter in the ground cultivated, limeing or marling will better adapt it to the habits and wants of this cereaL It is of more importance than many suppose that the land be made right in all res- • pects before planting or sowing the seed. A fine seed bed, rich in all the essentials of fer tility, gives one the best chance for obtaining a profitable crop. Above all things, work the soil so it will not wash, and lose the elements of wheat by having them transported into some distant creek or river. Take the best possible care of whatever fruit fulness nature has given to your cultivated fields by constructing hill-side ditches wherever ne cessary, and horizontal plowing. To waste the raw material of paying crops of grain and cot ton, from sheer carelessness, and then buy guano at a high price, or do without it at perhaps a greater loss, is the way to mako farming a los ing business. Learn to mako the most of al[ the natural resources of your plantation; then your annnal crops of whatever kind will pay a good return for the labor and money expended. Be careful to sow the best seed wheat you can command, and not too late for the climate. It is better to put too little rather than too much seed on an acre; for if the land lias heart and strength, the young plants will tiller, and spread in the spring, if too thin on the ground. Wash all seed in blue-stone water and dry in lime or ashes, before sowing. Sow small lots to wheat, barley, rye or oats, for pasturage, so as not to injure your main crops by winter feeding. No cotton planter goes over his crop of grow ing cotton with hoes more earnestly to kill grass and other injurious plants, than do the wheat growers ofWestern New York, to kill red-root and other weeds among their growing wheat. Care i pains and close attention to the crop, from be ginning to end, always secure the most satisfac tory results. —■•«■■■— [Written for the Southern Field and Fireside.] AGRICULTURAL LETTERS FROM HANCOCK. BT AN OLD MEMBER OF THE PLANTERS’ CLUB. NO. HI. Ignorant Planters—Experimental Farms—Mooted Questions. The great difficulty of our Southern farming is, that few planters have ever learned tho very alphabet of agricultural chemistry. Without this knowledge, how can such progress be made as is commensurate with tho great interests in volved? How many of them know of what their soils are composed, beyond the simple and palpable compounds of clay and sand ? True, there are now many catechumens, old and young, who are learning all they can from reading agri cultural papers, but most of them never having received the basis of a scientific education, make sad progress; and many blunders at almost every step. The wisdom and munificenco of our own Terrell has partially provided for the wants of a certain class, in this regard, but proper ad vancement can never lie made until we have agricultural schools and experimental firms all over the country. We suggested years ago to the Planter’s Club of Hancock, the establishment of an experimen tal farm, remarking at the time, that this would prove to be our crowning glory, and give to our Club an advance in agricultural science above and beyond any other movement it has mado. What are clubs, what are fairs, what are agri cultural schools even, without well conducted experiments? Mere theories without practice, while the latter is practice developing theory. Both should always go together, in order for proper success in any of the departments of scienc?. One well conducted experimental farm in twenty years would throw more light on agri cultural science than all the practice and expe dience of individual farmers, as gathered and pbblished in our journals, would do in double that time. Every enlightened farmer is experi menting all the time. One in one way, and one in another. How much trouble and expense would be saved if this thing could be done on a single farm, by some distinguished practical and scientific man? Just look at the questions of vital importance to every Southern planter re maining as yet undecided, embracing tho com parative value of certain fertilisers and ameliora tors, of various grasses, as well as different modes of agriculture, involving, in fact, every possible question of interest to the planter. It is yet a mooted question (nay, it has been decided in the negative), as to whether there is any winter grass suited to our Southern climate in every respect. What a field for investigation on an experimental farm I Twenty years ago, Edmund Ruffin of Virginia, announced that he | had found in the cow-pea a great ameliorator of our Southern soils, which, he felt assured, would ! accomplish for the South what the clover was