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70 AGRICULTURAL. DANIEL LEE, N. D., Editor. SATURDAY JULY 28, 1559. CLOVER FOR SOILING PURPOSES. We mentioned incidentally not long since that we had raised as many as one hundred bushels of clean clover seed a year, for some years : and we now add after forty years experience and pretty extended observation, that we know no other plant which has done so much for the im provement of American agriculture as the Tri folium pratense , or common red clover. Its ana lvsis proves it to be richer than any of the Eng- Lch grasses in flesh-forming elements; while its remark abn '.'■itt tap-root enables it to draw its mineral food from tuv subsoil. In skillful hands no crop pays better, 'be following statement made by a reliable farmer to trie cd: tor of the Geneve Farmer will satisfy the intel ligent reader: « j have in close proximity to my barn a patch of ground seven and a half rods by sixteen (three-quarters of an acre.) seeded to clover, from which I kept one span of horses in thriving condition from the first day of June last to the last day of August, besides cutting nine hundred of good hav, which I put into the barn, and har vested of the second mowing seed sufficient to stock an acre or two of ground. This may, and undoubtedly will, seem to many like a big yarn well stretched. In fact, 1 should doubt the truth of such a story myself, had not my eyes seen and my hands felt the truth of such a state ment. Bv the time I had mowed two-tliirds of this little‘patch, the remainder was fit to be mado into hay. which I accordingly did up after the most approved fashion. And that part mowed first was sufficiently large to mow again. I fed them three times a day all they could eat. They smelt not, touched not, tasted not one par ticle of grain during the three months. Used them more or less every day, and at end there was a perceptible gain in flesh. Never, since I could say my team, have I summered a team so cheaply. The greatest cost is cutting and putting it before the horses. I offered them water, but they did not drink to exceeds pail ful a week. “ I am of the opinion that if they had been turned loose upon this piece of ground, ten days would have been sufficient time to cat up and trample into the earth everything green upon it. As five acres of good pasture is little enough to summer a span of horses when allowed to run, there is almost an incalculable saving in soiling them.’’ J- C. Adams. Seymour, New York. We are greatly in favor of soiling all working animals, dairy cows, and hogs, on green clover. For horses, mules, and oxen, it contains rather too much water. To remove this, our prac tice has been to about half dry the clover after it is cut, before giving it to working cattle. Early in its growth the plant has 80 per cent, of j water ; and when in blossom, about 75 per cent. By drying out half of this water, the forage is greatly improved. As milk itself contains 871 | per cent, of water, wo cut and feed green clover to cows without drying. Hogs may lie fed in the same way. We advise every farmer to cultivate at least one acre of red clover. Ten pounds of good ; fresh seed will seed an acre; and we will under- j take to got some seedsman in Augusta to sell that quantity of reliable seed for two dollars. Repeatedly, have we failed to obtain good seed, and been mortified at the result; and we are now taking extra paius to escape a like misfor tune in future. The art of raising an abundance of clover and other grasses at the South is worth studying. No one ought to be discouraged at one or two failures in commencing a now and important business. Many gentlemen in Ala bama are cultivating clover very successfully; and on rich limestone land there is no difficulty. But on miserably poor land, like that under the care of the writer, nothing will grow unless fed like a sick child with a spoon. Most farmers are able to make one or two acres rich enough to produce any plant adapted to the climate. As clover itself yields rich ma nure. it demands a soil naturally quite fertile, or one that is made so by art. To grow great clover, one must manure highly, and cultivate the ground thoroughly. This is the way to keep young plants from dying in dry weath er. Subsoil the land, that the roots may have no difficulty in finding moist earth below the surface. Put four good mules to the plow, and stir the ground as though you did net fear that the pulverization of the soil would injure it. Trench plowing and trencli spading have done wonders in the way of deep ening and improving thin barren land. Let the air and rains have access to every particle of clay, by breaking it up fine. It is unques tionably true that no man in the world has ever learnt the full value of proper cultivation.— Jethro Tull, Smith, of Lois Weedon, Mechi, and a few others, have given us an inkling qf what tillage is capable of achieving. Some of our Georgia friends, whom we are not at liberty to name, will soon test this point for the public benefit. One of the most obvious advantages of feeding stock in cool stables, where all their manure may be saved, is the power it gives to deepen the soil in all the fields near the settlement. It concentrates one's farming operations, saves trouble, fencing, and paying taxes on unproduc tive land. Cotton grown near stables is apt to be much better than that raised in remote fields. The same is true of corn and wheat. In a word, # cheap manure made from clover, will give rich land at the minimum cost. Clover will imbibe more nitrogen from the atmosphere in some form than any other agricultural plant; and, therefore, it furnishes ammonia cheaper than it can be obtained in any other way on most farms. One farmer uses often in New York one hundred tons of plaster to make his clover, and often grass crops; knowing that clover will yield rich manure. According to the analyses of Boussingault, clover is richer in mmm wMTMmms mm*® mm® m®Mm®m* nitrogen (the flesh forming element,) than the seeds of Indian com. It is twice as nutritive as our best corn fodder, provided the leaves and stems of clover are cut and cured at the right time. When three fourths of an acre of this forage plant, will keep a pair of working horses three months, and give nine hundred pounds of good hay besides, why should any man pull the blades oft' his ripening com for feeding horses, to the serious injury of his com crop ? Our experience is too limited to say confidently in what month clover seed had best be sown at the South. We shall try it in several months before and after January next. September or October, is probably the best time to seed. — — WHAT THE PLANTER EXPORTS IN COTTON. A thousand grains of clean cotton fibre were burned by Dr. Jackson' of Boston, and yielded fifteen grains of ashes. These ashes represent the earth}' part of the substances exported in cotton ; tne uiuv --Wd and eighty-five parts in one thousand, removed from the i*i*d, -r" in vertible into air and vapor. To obtain a clear and correct idea of the loss sustained by grow ing four hundred pounds of cotton on an acre, and sending the crop to a distant market, it is necessary to know from what source the eom ! bustible part of cotton fibre is derived; for this forms ninety-eight and a half per cent, of the 1 staple exported. In the first place, let the fact be remembered that nearly one half of cotton, irrespective of the little ashes left when burnt, is nothing but the elements of water, and derived from that liquid. The other half of cotton is carbon, and similar in all respects to common charcoal. In addition to carbon and the elements of water (oxygen and hydrogen,) there is about one-third of one per cent, of nitrogen in cotton fibre. The two ele mentary substances, carbon and nitrogen, are derived by growing cotton plants partly from the atmosphere, and parly from the dissolved mould or manure in the soil. Rich soils supply more, | and poor soils less of this kind of plant food; so 1 that no rule can be laid down to measure the j actual consumption of fertilizing elements in | tilled ground. From a pretty careful considera ' tion of all the facts, our impression is that one : may so cultivate cotton as to increase rather 1 than decrease the vegetable matter in the soil. The gain is derived from the growth on, and in the ground, ofthe leaves, stalks, seeds, and roots of the plant—the lint aloue being removed per .manently. But in addition to all the organic matter thus restored, one may sow rye after the cotton is gathered, which, growing until it is time to plant in the spring, will, if need be, add still more to the fertility of the land. Let us now consider the incombustible sub stances that make the six pounds of ashes which one may obtain by burning four hundred pounds of cotton — a fair yield from an acre. Dr. Jack son found the ash of short staple cotton sent to him from Hamburg, S. C.. to have the following composition: Silica 0.150 Oarlxjnic acid 4.100 Chlorine 1.105 Sulphuric acid 0.779 Phosphoric acid 0.5H1 Lime 1.070 Magnesia 0.250 Potash 4.412 Soda... 2.140 14.557 Loss 413 15.000 An examination ol the above figures shows that carbonic acid, potash, and soda form over one half the elements present. If tillage and the crop removed no more than six pounds of earthy salts from an acre, as indicated by the above analysis, its restitution would involve a very trifling expense. But there is good reason to believe that tillage alone to the extent prac ticed in cotton culture will dissolve and remove through the medium of rain-water, more than six pounds of agricultural salts. Some three or four thousand tons of water fall in the course of a year on every acre of tilled land; and where tillage is well done, the amount of earthy sub stances, dissolved and removed in this mass of water, is far greater than is generally supposed. Plowing and hoeing decompose both the miner al and organic compounds in the soil; and if plants do not take them up as food, their loss is almost inevitable. Where plants, such as cotton and corn, are small and far apart, the proportion of loss is greatly increased; for their few, sparse, and short rootlets are incapable of imbibing one half of the plant food developed by tillage. Hence, the folly of cultivating large fields of poor land; for it unavoidably results in making the field much poorer than the loss of tho small crops will in any way account for. It is not the cot ton plant, but the plow, that impoverishes the soil. Study the teachings and wisdom of nature. She nover plows the ground to produce her largest and best plants of whatever kind. Plow ing is at best an exhausting process which gen erally creates a demand for more manure than planters find it convenient to supply. Hence, so many million acres are turned out to rest for twenty or more years, after being cultivated ten, more or less. Diminish the area tilled, and make it more productive by clover, or some other reno vating plant. THE LAURENS AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY.., At a meeting held in Laurensville, as we learn from the Herald, on the 25th ultimo to re-organ ize the Laurens Agricultural Society, the follow ing gentlemen were elected: President —Col. John D. Williams. Vice Presidents —Dr. A.C. Fuller, and W. G. Rice. Secretary —ll. L. McGowan. Corresponding Secretary —J. Wistar Simpson. Treasurer —John Wells Simpson. An election was then held for annual orator of the Society, and Col. D. Johnson, of Union, was chosen. HOW IT PATS TO FATTEN HOGS. Mr. Oliver Slater makes the following state ment in the Ohio Cultivator: Having noticed a discussion in the Cultivator on the subject of feeding corn to hogs, I propose to give to you my experience in this business for the last two seasons, and to show what my com was worth by feeding it to my hogs. lam in the habit of raising the stock I feed, and aim to keep as good as can conveniently be had. I had in Oct., 1857, 52 head of hogs that averaged about 155 lbs., which was then worth $6 00 per cwt. gross, hence the following: 52 hogs, 155 lbs., each=B,o6o lbs. at $6 per cwt— s4B3 60, value of hogs when I commenced to fatten. I fed them until January 20, 1858, and they weighed 378 lbs. each. Reduced to fig ures, we have 52 hogs, 378 lbs. each—l9,6s6 lbs., at $4 454 per cwt. gross—sß6s 85, value of hogs and 1,040 bushels of com, having fed 20 bushels per hog. Deducting first value of hogs, and I have $382 25 for my 1,040 bushels of corn, which is 36} cts. per bushel. The selling price for com was then 25 cents per bushel. I, there fore, gained 47 per cent, on the com I fed this lot of hogs. But let us see how we come out with the hogs fed on the 75 cents com: Last fall, I had 4 1 Lead of hosrs that I commenced fattening Oct. 9tli, that would then have weighed about 175 lbs, each, and were worth at that time $4 per cwt. gross: hence the following: 47 hogs 175 lbs. each—B,22s lbs., at $4 per cwt.— $329, value of hogs when I commenced to fatten. Jan. 10, 1859, started them for Cin cinnati. and they weighed on the Brighton scales, 3904 lbs. each, for which I received $6 414 per cwt. gross. Reduced to figures thus : 47 hogs, 3994 lbs. each—lß,37o lbs., at $6 414 per cwt.—51,178,43, value of hogs and 940 bush els of corn, having fed 20 bushels per hog.— Now, deducting first value, $329, from $1,176 43, I have $849 43 for my 940 bushels of corn, which is 904 cents per bushel, for shovel ing it out on a clean stone pavement, instead of hauling it several miles to get the high price of 75 cents per bushel, (which near about starves many poor stock hogs to death). I, therefore, made 20 per cent, on my corn by feeding it to this lot of hogs, to say nothing about the ex pense. the wear and tear of hauling it to mar ket. Fourteen acres of my corn averaged 70 bus’hels per acre, and worth 904 cents by feeding to my hogs, makes $63 23 per acre for my corn. Now, if the gentlemen who advise all the farm ers to sell their shoats when com is worth 75 cents per bushel, made more than this out of their com crop by selling it, I should like to hear from them again. The writer of the above makes no account of the valuable-manure derived from the consump tion of so much corn by fattening hogs. We regard the manure produced by a bushel of corn as worth at least a third as much as the corn itself, unless the land has some peculiar ad vantages that serve to perpetuate its fertility. It sometimes happens that the fertilizing atoms obtained from one bushel of com will add con siderably more than that quantity to a growing crop; and sometimes the gain is something less than the weight'of corn consumed to make the manure. The economy of breeding, and rearing, and fattening hogs, and the production and use of manure to the best possible advantage, are mat ters of great importance to the farmer. Every one should feed out on bis land as much of its produce as possible, selling the flesh of animals rather than grain, roots, cotton seed, or forage. - *•*- -1^— — • [Written for the Southern Field and Fireside.] BEEKEEPINGTHE HIVE. Mr. Editor: I would advise no one to un dertake the keeping of bees, unless he will con sent to adopt the proper hive for their use. This is a thing of the first importance, and I can not guarantee success under any other condition. It is true, that bees will work almost anywhere; so will corn grow almost anywhere; but it makes a great difference whether it is planted in a rich soil or in sand. If planted in the first, with pro per after culture, the yield will pay for the trouble; but not so in the last. All happy re sults require proper treatment from the begin ning to the end. In the earlier ages of the world, bees lived in rocks. “He made him,” says Moses, “to suck honey out of the rocks.” “With honey out of the rocks,” says the Psalm ist, “should I have satisfied thee.” Lindley speaks of a bee indigenous to Brazil, whoso hab its are quite curious. He says: “ They consist of a ponderous shell of clay, cemented similarly to martin's nests, and forming an oval mass full two feet in diameter. When broken, the wax is arranged as in our hives, and the honey abund ant.” Captain Basil Hall found, in South Ameri ca, the hive of a honey-bee very different from the Brazilian. “ The hive we saw opened,” he says, “ was only partly filled, which enabled us to see the economy of the interior to more advantage. The honey is not contained in the elegant hexagonal cell of our hives, but in wax-bags, not quite so large as an egg.— These bags or bladders are hung around the sides of the hive, and appear about half full; the quantity being probably just as great as the strength of the wax will bear without tearing.— Those near the bottom, being better supported, are more filled than the upper ones. In the centre of the lower part of the hive, we observed an irregularity shaped mass of comb, furnished with cells like those of our bees, all containing young ones in such an advanced state, that, when wo break the comb, and let them out, they flew merrily away. Clavigero, in his history of Mexico, evidently describing the same species of bee, says it abounds in Yucatan, and makes the honey of Estabentum, the finest in the world, and which is taken every two months. He mentioned another species of bee, smaller in size, and also without a sting, which forms its nest in the shape of a sugar loaf, and as large or larger.— These are suspended from trees, particularly the oak, and are much more populous than our common hives. I have a two-fold purpose in calling attention to these historical facts, first, for the information conveyed; and secondly to show that wherever the honey bee is found, you will see all his movements characterized by the same ingenuity that marks his working hour. The great evil with most bee-keepers, and the one that mostly militates against them, is the badly adapted hive with which the bee is supplied. In supplying him with a house, we must consult his natural wants; and if, at the same time, we can assist him in carrying on the warfare against his ancient enemy, the moth, let us do so; and I know of no better method of accomplishing this than to give him a hive in which he can concentrate his forces, and yet have sufficient room to do * his work. I have found, from experience, that the common box luve is all that is required. This hive must not exceed twelve inches in the clear—by which I mean it must be twelve inches square inside. To make it larger than this, you will give the bee more room than he has any use for; nor will it do to tell me that bees will fill a barrel. I know they will; but that is no reason why he should be hived in one. You must give them room enough, but not too much, which will be the case if you give them more space than above described. Your hive must not only be of a proper size, but it must be well made—-made with a view to accommodate the bee, not the moth. To make your crib rat-proof, you make it tight; in the same way, you must make your hive, for, if you leave any cracks, you do just the very thing you should not do—that is, you provide the moth with places for depositing her eggs; but, if, on the other hand, your hive is con structed in a workmanlike manner, the chances are in your favor that your bees will not be mo lested. The country is full of patent hives, but the best of these will never come into general use, for the reason that they are too costly. Mr. Miner’s cross-bar is a very good hive, and can be cheaply made. Mr. Langstrotli has, within the past few years, invented and patented an other, with which I ‘am disposed to be pleased; but the question is, will it continue to perform all that he claims for it ? lam afraid that the multiplicity of arrangements, necessary for its perfection, will be an objection to it. Bees, al though governed by a queen, are quite demo cratic in their notions, preferring simplicity in all cases, when it is within their reach. The hive before described answers every purpose. Let your lumber be of the best quality—free from all cracks, knots, and twists —not less than one inch in thickness: rabbit and nail both ways, so as to prevent warping, and you will have an excellent hive. The top board must be sixteen inches square; this will give you a pro jection of one inch, which, being bevelled, will add to the appearance, besides give you a conve nience for handling. In the top, you will bore five inch and a quarter holes, to permit the bees to pass from the lower to the upper section. Os this section, I will speak in my next. If you wish your hive to last for fifty years, give it two or three good coats of white paint before using, and an occasional coat afterwards. Respectfully, V. La Taste. ■ [Written for the Southern Field and Fireside.] ARROW ROOT. Many years ago, before the Florida Indian war, I left Charleston, for St. Augustine, in the sloop Elamsville of Bristol R. I. When off the coast and forty five miles below St. Augustine, we were driven ashore and wrecked on the sand beach; the vessel went to peices, and was soon lost sight of, by being swallowed up by the quick-sand. After a starvation of five days (six of us in all,) we crossed the Mosquito river, and reached the settlement of Col. Darley. Here we were well cared for by the Colonel and citizens of Tomoea. At dinner there stood in the center of the table a dish containing some twenty to twenty-five well cooked wild ducks; each per son was helped to a duck, and what was left from the plates was thrown to the dogs, hogs, kc. An Indian would readily give five or six ducks for a load of powder and shot. Venison and fish were also in great abundance. The sweet and bitter sweet oranges grew in great plenty; particularly the latter, which seemed in digenous 10 the soil, the lime trees and banana rather sparingly; the sugar cane grows very finely and of the largest size; though with all this the chills and fever prevailed to a consid erable extent in the fall of the year—the most delightful season in Florida. Here it was that I first met with Oceola and a number of his tribe. I learned from him a number of interesting facts; ho stated that the Indians would steal from white man, but not from one another; they also owned a number of negroes, who enjoyed the savage life equally with themselves. Standing near a hammock one day with Oceola, he pointed out to me two small spiral, slim, stalks with long narrow leaves, very green and stiff, having the appearance of an ever-groen.— He dug it up; the root appeared to be a bulb about the size of two fists; the skin was dark and ridgey, very similar to the Tanyah, grown near Charleston, and sold in that market for the table. He called to him a squaw, and directed her to prepare it for food; she first pealed it as you would a potatoe. He took up the peel and in formed me, “ yon see dis; if hog eat um, hog die." This caused me to think it very poisonous. I at least was satisfied without testing it farther. This bulb after pealing was beautifully white, this the squaw grated with a tin grater; she then washed it in about half a dozen times, changing the water after each operation; she then spread it on a cloth to dry in the sun, which took but a little time. This, then, said he, is your arrow root, and can be found in large quantities in East Florida, and which constitutes the Indian bread. In hunting for skins the squaws follow their lords with tray and grater. The skins were hung to trees, and marked, so that no Indian coming across them daro touch or disturb them. Gen. Hernandes having failed to make a crop of corn the first year in settling here, fed and kept his negroes hearty on this coicntil-root the Indian name for the arrow root. I have often wondered since why this article has not become more an article of commerce. Certainly the pres ent inhabitants are acquainted with the facts, and again, could we not in South-western Geor gia introduce it by planting it in the hammock lands ? would it not be profitable ? there are more suggestions of mine for farmers to consider and act upon. Respectful^, Charles Pemble. Specific for Bugs ox Vines. —Having seen by your paper that many truckers in your sec tion are anxious to ascertain a simple and sure remedy to destroy bugs on squashes, cucumbers, and the like, I will give you one which is almost a specific, and within the reach of every one, especially those living on the sea-board. Procure fresh fish—of any kind whatever, the commonest and cheapest just as good—a suffi cient quantity, according to circumstances—say one peck to a barrel of water. Lot them stand therein a day or two, in order to commence de composition, and emit their necessarily unplea sant odor; then remove the barrel to your patch, just dampening the leaves. In addition to driving away the bugs, your plants will become green and healthy, and soon grow beyond the reach of any future swarm of depredators. It may bo necessary to use the water two or three times in the course of two weeks, but remember that every application is equivalent to a dressing of manure, whieh will amply repay for the labor, which is very trifling. Fresh fish offal is of equal value with the fish. , Correspondence Country Gentleman. A solution of nightsoil from the garden house will probably answer as well as fish, where tho latter cannot be had.— Ed. Field and Fireside. Charles Pemble. FARMING IN WESTERN VIRGINIA It will doubtless interest many of our readers to learn something of the soil, and farmers who are settling in Western Virginia. They are thus described by a correspondent of the Genes see Farmer: The country is generally mountainous, or rather hilly. A good portion, however, is good farming land. Some farms are situated on the streams and are very rich, and of a sandy loam. Other farms, situated on upland, are more of a clay soil with, now and then, a gravelly ridge.— The land is generally free from stone, excepting rocky bluffs, or some particular spots. Wheat and Indian corn are the main products of the country, Irish potatoes grow well. Turnips grow in abundance. Clover well, yet timothy is the standard grass in this Section of country. Oats have been considered a very sure and bountiful crop, but it failed last year, owing to the rust There has been but little snow this winter, so little that plowing could be done at almost any time. There is but very little time in winter but what work can be done on the farm to good ad vantage, and very comfortably, too. The sum mers are very temperate. Farm lands sell according to location, quality, the improvement there is on them, Ac. There is now quite a stir in the land market. Farms may be bought to suit almost any purchaser from one hundred, to two hundred, three hundred or five hundred acres, and ranging from eight to twenty dollars per acre. It is rather a new country, and farms of one hundred acres, with from twenty five to fifty acres improved, and comfortable dwellings, can be had for from six to ten dollars per acre, and a little farther South land is still cheaper. Ellenboro is our marketing place, where every kind of farm produce brings a good price. The country is well timbered, white oak, hick ory, sugar maple, walnut, black oak, and beauti ful poplar timber in abundance, and this is con sidered one of the very healthiest countries. I have lived in the country fifteen years, and dur ing that time there has been very little sick ness ; and although this is a slave State, there are not over thirty colored persons in this county.— We are in what we call Western Virginia, twen ty miles from the Ohio River, about sixty miles below Wheeling, and thirty-six miles from Ma rietta. There aro five excellent flouring mills within four miles of us, and the country is well supplied with saw mills. Two steam mills within three miles of us are continually sending off flour to the Baltimore market. Should persons wish ing to move here wish to make any further inqui ry concerning our country, I will cheerfully fur nish them with all the information they may re quire, either through the columns of the Farmer, or personally, by letter. J. M. Woons. Ritchie C<nirt House, Va. 1 I»i From the Gentssee Farmer. TO PREVENT RATS, MICE, AND INSECTS, WORKING IN THE GRANARY. These live pests aro a great, eye-sore to all fanners and grain dealers, and a little caro and trouble will keep them away, and at the same time the remedy will be a benefit to most kinds of coarse grain. For the benefit of those who would like to keep grain all summer, or a year, I will, in a brief manner, give the course to pur sue, that the loss by these little thieves may be comparatively small. After the grain is in the bin, and made level and smooth, put on the top about four quarts of fresh slaked lime; let this be spread evenly over the grain. This will keep out rats and mice in a bin that contains one hundred bushels. This lime must be slaked so it looks like flour, fresh from the miller’s bolt. If the lime is left upon the surface of the grain, the rats and mice will not skip and play there a great deal, before they ; will have to sneeze some; and, further than this, there is always enough grease or oily substance remaining upon the feet of rats and mice to make the lime adhere to them. After they have been once into it they will not return again the second time. You may likewise throw this lime about their haunts with much benefit; but if insects are to be kept out, you must mix the lime with the grain as you put it in the bin. and shovel it through and through until it i 3 mixed thoroughly ; then place on the top four quarts of the slaked lixne. Four quarts of un slakcd lime is sufficient for one hundred bushels of grain ; and it will do no hurt in many kinds of grain if it is never taken out, for it is an al kali which is good for botts in horses. It will neutralize the acid in hog swill, and prevent their vomiting ; and, in fact, this small quantity of lime would be a benefit to most kinds of stock, if it should be ground with the grain. If you apply the lime to wheat, buckwheat, and corn, or the like, and do not want it in the grain, get out your fanning mill and run it through. To slake lime perfectly, put it into a tight, stout vessel, and pour on boiling water, about half as much water as lime in bulk ; cover up the lime as soon as the water is in, and leave it until cool. Good unslaked lime will more than double its dimensions when well slaked. A. L. Smith. — Fremoxtia Californica —Toney in Smithson ian Contributions to Knowledge, Yol. V. t. 2.—Of this most remarkable plant a solitary individual w r as raised in 1851 in the garden of the Agricul tural Society from a seed received from Mr. Robert Wrench. In April, 1854, it produced flowers for the first time, as large as those of Trollius asiatieus, brilliant yellow inside, apricot colored outside, with the addition of some cin namon colored down; and their substance was so thick that each flower remained in perfection for weeks. It was proved to boa beautiful hardy shrub, with a habit wholly uulike that of every hardy plant in cultivation, most resembling indeed some of the Hibiscuses of Western Aus tralia. The plant has hitherto resisted all attempts at propagation, and still remains at Chiswick unique in Europe. This most interesting shrub wms first described by Dr. Torrey in the work above quoted, from dried specimens gathered by the Rev. A. Fitch at the sources of the Sacra mento, in the northern part of the Sierra Nevada of California. Also, on hill-sides, Mariposa county, especially near the gold works of the Merced Company, flowering in May. This genus is a near ally of the celebrated Cheirostemon of Humboldt, the Hand Tree of Mexico. The lat ter differs, however, in the form and texture of the calyx, the lobes of which are deciduous; in the much longer stamineal column and secund mucronate freo portion of the Aliments; in the straight parallel anther-cells, and in some other characters of less importance. Whenever it shall have been found possible to propagate this plant, we shall have added an uncommonly fine thing to our list of small neat hardy shrubs. G. Chronicle. — • ———— Sale of Mules. —Mr. F. S. Fisher, of Boyle county, sold recently fifty head of two-year old mules for the handsome price of one hun dred and forty-one dollars per head. The pur chasers were Mr. John Thorns, of Fayette, and ■ Mr. D. W. Jones, of Boyle. The mules aro to be delivered about the Ist of May.— Ohio Farmer.