The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1867-04-09 00:00:00

Agriculturr.

lMuoTcal VZOLTABLIIIFOOD. —The Rev. J. Constab
Principal of the Royal Agricultural Collage, Cirenoester,
has furnished the Agricultural Gazette with the follow-
ing extract from • recnrd of some exact experiments
made by Yr. Church in the College laboratory, and
which have a bearing upon Dr. Voeleker's resent remarks
upo the poisonous ingredients found in immature
vegetable food :—"Some time ago I was asked to examine
Into the cause of the death of some young pigs. They
had been fed upon • mash of bean meal and tnangeld
tops. On examining this mixed food I found it ex•
tremely acid, so acid as to turn blue litmus a brilliant
scarlet inimediati ly en immersion. I thought oxalis
acid might have been introdneel into the mixture; I
tested for it, and found it. Rut* trying the alone experi-
ment with fresh mangold leaves from the field, I found
In them also large qualities of oxalis acid. A determina-
tion of the actual amount of this acid present in fresh
marigold leaves was then made.—ln the middle of
September the leaves of a mangold were cut off close to
the root; they were bruised in a mortar, and boiling
water poured over the mass, which was than analysed.
The method adopted of extracting the oxalic acid from
the leaves enabled me to estimate the Potable oxalates
slone--thoee, in fact, which would be redly active and
I .
poisonous.-15,870 grains of mangold leaves gave oxalate
of calcium equal to 3016 grains of oxalic acid. or 38116
I grains of acid oxalate of potassium. This latter salt,
I commonly known as salt of sorrel, is the form in which
oxalic acid usually exists in solution in the Juices of
' plants. We may therefore calculate our results tato the
form of a per oentage of this salt. Thins it will be found
that in 100 parts of fresh inangold leaves there is 251 of
oxalate of potassium, or 100 lb. of fresh I contein
rather more than 4 ox. of this poisonous substance."

Secedr PILL—In • trial of peas, oondueted at Rune
Newington last year, and reported on in the Gardener?
Maganne, during the months of Amen and September
lut, the following results were obtidned in respect to •
certain number of varieties : —Sutton's Ringleader (alias
Carter's First Crop) was the earliest of all, coming to
perfection in eighty-fire days ; and the nest earliest was
Dickson's First and Best, eightreight days, which was
more fruitful than Ringleader. The bent of the first
early kind. to succeed either of these were fienwiter's
No. 1, which was gathered In ninety-one days from the
date of sowing; Eley's Eases Rana ninety days; and
Early Emperor, ninetydwo days. The old Ringwood
Early, owning into seein ninety days, is first•rate, and
highly prolific, and being vsry hardy will be one of the
beat for exposed distrieta, where Advaneer, • newer kind,
requiring only ninety days, is apt to be injured by frost
when sown early. Tbe following are • few of the very
best pees in cultivatioe, with the number of days from
sowing to ginning in this trial. Of course their
I pen e& vary with ~cos and soils and dales of sowing;
!when sown late, all the kinds cows into tee in a fewer
number of days than when sown early—as, for example,
Yorkshire Hero requires about 100 days if sown in
Itaroh, but only 70 daye if sown in the middle of Ray;
t eremite. 94 days' Champion of Paris, 96 di; Princess
Royal, 10J days ; Veitch's Perfection, 108 eye;d Forty.
fold Marrow, 108 days; Mammoth Marrow, 108 days;
Lord Raglan, 108 days; Maclean's Wonderful, 112 days;
The Price. (Stuart and Mein), 115 days ; Hunt's Princess
R yal, 116 days. Many others were found to be good,
but these are selected as the very best. As • pad
many inferior kinds vein eiltivatioo, and end as mush
to grow as the beat, the OMAN 01 • few of the worst ,
varieties may be useful to our readers —Carpenter's
Erpress,9o days ; Minute, 91 days; Climax, 95 days ;
Moe Beinsitar, 108 days ; Sunnily's Ren 10.1 j dsjs
Dickman's Early Issvoarlta, 95 days ; IWrbsto" mr"

=ege days; Fairbeard's Hangars% 96 dam
's Rm.'Bleu, 9t days ' • Harrison's Glory, 96
days ; Harrison's Perfectioot96 days • Madame, 0.,...
93 days' Prism of Weiss, 100 days; Bice' g 9
days. liany who
them interior,
grow
interior,rwill,
but .e be startled
... th.
led tolled
utm we prowe
that they are so as compared with those plead in the
list of the best.—Gerdeusr's Nagasaki.
A New LID TN/MOVED FAIDINTIED.--TIND BINWEV
stoles that • fannateading, arranged for • sYstscri of
feeds wattle mainly under cover, and elerrYing on all
iD4lOOe farming operations soder the mins roof, km just
been emw_ pirated at Orinkle Park, Yorkshire, for Mr.
Charles M. Palmer. Tbe building may be deseribed as
forming • hollow square, covering lowly halfon-asre Si
ground; the metre of the square Miss oesntied by ib•
es feeding box, twenty is nambsr, eash 10 feet mime,
and sunk 3 feet below the surface ; Me roof rims MO
over this portion' and is supported by thirty 0•181
columns. Around this mates are arranged the following
deparirrents :—Cormowensing on the meth ads with lb.
barn and the thrashing ensoldsory(suWied sad fitted up
by Mr. William Trotter, of armat. ), with mem-
home, smith's shop, spacious straw Moss, implement
home, art-sheds, &a On the met side is • range Sites
stalls for the farm horses, with harness itoroparteneste
for each horse ; and behind these &gals, mos of loom
boxes for brood mares, with hay-bouse sod earn stores.
&c. On the south rids are • large fold-paid for the Mom
wattle (open by archways to the south pietas's, ball.
boom, ko. On the east side is asoosomodstio•
for the milk sows, and calf-pens, boiling-home, owl-take
store, Moran house, he. Tbe palmist metal filings lath.
stable, loom boxes, byre, sea cattle boxes, hats beta
procured from Massa Musgrave & Co, Belfast, mob
animal having • separate trough for water, sapiplied
through • system of pipes, and of which there is • sever-
failing supply of pure spring water at • high
The 'vitae of cemented passages throughout Irrrsuildl
log. in 030D01100 with storehouses, sad the use ef small
rolling waggons for the pergolas of carrying Us feed,
en•ble the feeding operations to be serried ma with the
most esonownioal employment of labour. The =
and ventilation of the building, which are mostly
in the roof, are quite suomedul, as well as the system
adopted for collecting and saving the manure, bath solid
and liquid. The steekyard steads to the sort&
of the buildings, adjoining the berm At the mei
side, at a short diatoms from the loil.wiheurt:soot-Ootbi•
house haa been built for the farm I. which ill
attached • roomy garden; sad. es smut side are 'id
ms *MINIM of lour rooms sech."dith, Prastf in float;
The architect Is N,. Archibald N. ump; of ris
upon-Tyne; and ties buildings, including
have oast shoat 94.11 M. The sootraMor for w
Thomas 411
the works Is Mr. omas Linfoot, of Whitby ; lilr:
John Dixon acted as clerk of the works. cp.