The Express.
London, England, 1851-10-28 00:00:00

PARIS AUTUMN RACES.

The last of the government races, and the last also of the
season, took place on Sunday in the Champe-dc-Mars. Sel-
dom have any meetings attracted a greater multitude of
spectators of all classes. All the stands were crowded, and
fashionably attired ladies were in great numbers iu them.
The whole of the vast area of the Champs-du-Mars was
thickly lined with pedestrians of both sexes. Within the
curds the gathering of das;iing equipages was more nu-
Onerous than usual, and every one was hilly occupied. The
members of the Jockey Club were in extraordinary three.
Dcta.:hments of lancers in grand uniform added life and
variety to the scene. the races were very spirited, and
excited the greatest interest. The Ministers of Justice and
Finance, Prince Murat, and the Prefect of Police, were
present.
EaTaAOUDINAUV STAVES of 2,000 fr., for horses and
mares of three years and upwards. Entry, anfr. Wsight
for age. Distance '2,100 yards, starting from near the Ecole
Militaite. 10 entries.

M. AuntoWs t Bucotque, 3 yrot. 6216
M. Amid', t yr% 0913 2
Mr. Cater's to l.ht:tomars, 6 }re, !Itilb
The following were not placed: l'rince de Beauvan's c
James, 3 yro, 1091 b; 31. Saillard's c Adolph°, 3 yrs, 9'2lb;
11 Courtuis' f Want, 4 yrs, 1041 h; ditto f Vesurienne,
3 yrs, 891 b; 31. Dara's e Clovis, 3 yrs, 100 lb.
Barbara made the running to within distance, Bucolique
lying next; Bucolique then went forward, and woo by
about three-quarters of a length. Au objection was made
by the owner of Barbara, on the ground that Bucolique had
unfairly passed before her, but it was withdrawn. the
winner was claimed. ltun in 2 min. 42 4-sth sec.

.....
PRINCIPAL STAKES, of 4,4001 i., for three-year-old colt,+
and fillies. NVeights, colts, ltrdlb ; fillies, 991 b, with Ilb less
in favour of French jockeys. Distance, once round in heats.
Seven entries. _ . .

.....
Al Awn f (Sprocty) 1
M. Cache de 1.. i) c Memory
Mr. Carter's f Annette

e 1).01 Ltath a kr
In both heats Ilervine went away with the running, was
never caught, tuid won easily. She rail the first in 2 min.
14 2-sth see., the second in 2 min. 18 1-sth see.
GUEAT NATIONAL SLAKES of 11,000 fr., fur horses and
mares of 4 yrs and upwards. Weight fur age, with 8141
►ess in favour of French jockeys. Distance, twice round ;
iu beats. 8 eutrit s. . . .

......---. -........-.
M. I.lplu'a I MC.liree, I yr 4, 1001b3 (Pruutite) I I
M. Awn- .133•6 aLa lloture, I yr.., I 2,1*.62
M. Snare re's e !Car, I 3 Tv
Conn, u'llcd.turdle • c I ertm... 1 yrs. Ll.lbe 3 0
Ilaidro c Ilssulin... 1 'TS. 1201110
L. N igwer's h Liwtryo..i, sod, 120162
r 3 dN. e herre"..Gcntil Lien ard, 3y, 1:4162 ... .. . ....

N. C;urtl:. f 'tint, P 91b.— o dr
In the first heat Liverpool went away with the running,
all the others well up. At the top turning Liverpool broke
down, and Tertius took up the running, and continued it
to the back, when La Cloture went ahead. At the Ecole
Miiitaire, however, Messine, who had been lying fourth,
went forward, and won very easily. Run in 4=50 4.55.
In the seeond heat, Lentil Bernard got away fist, and after
passing the bridge was joined by Mazuline. They ran
together to the Eeole, when Mestine went forward, fol-
lowed by Mars. Messiue made the running to the end, and
won easily, Mars second all the way. Rua in 4m. 58 4-52.
Mil race gave rise to little betting, but what there was
was in favour of Measine. The interest it excited amongst
sporting men was very great. From the large amount of
the stakes, it is one of the must important in France.

brought into activity as a filter for the
WORKS DESTROYED BY Flat AT NIANCREATER.—
On Saturday evening the works of Mrs. Schofield, fustian sewer -water, and that the soil so satu-
shear( r, stiffener, and dyer, Cornbrouk, Milne were dia. rated had been but ten inches deep, 1,000
covered to be on fire about 730 p.m., and the dames bunt tons, or 224,000 of undiluted sewage water might
forth amidst the combustible materials M the stare, and be thrown upon it, and the water would have passed
burnt with much fierceness. A body of the 16th Lancers
went to the scene of the fire with a small bu-. excellent en- away by the drain, deprived of its principal manur-
gine from the barracks, and did much to prevent the ex- -- .z. • •
tendon of the fire, and soon afterwards Mr. Rose arrived in properties. That would be equivalent to three
tons of Peruvian guano, which is fully twenty times
with six or seven engines belonging to the town. Two of the quantity that would be used upon an acre of
the buildings were ailed, but cue was entirely destroyed, land. Of course such quantities of fluid are inap-
and the loss, which is covered by insurance in the West of !
England office, will probably be between 2,000/. and 3,000/. plicable in practice, but the statement serves to show
The origin of the fire is unknown. About half-past nine ! a -cm well c
o'clock on Sunday morning a three-story building, forming '' that oal and •ll omminated soil, sufficiently
porous to allow of the gentle descent of liquids, and
part of the machine manufactory of Messrs. Wren and yet not so open or fissured as that they should find
Hopkinson, Altrincharn-street, Manchester, was discovered their way by what may be called perpendicular
to be on tire. An alarm was given, and seven engines front
the potice yard were taken to the spot by Mr. Rose, who drains into the ordinary drains below, and, above
was successful in preventing the remaining buildings front all, clictaining a fair amount of the absorbing ingre-
getting on fire, but that in which the fire originated, and client, the clay—that such a soil will receive and re-
which contained a great number of wood patterns, the QC- fain many times the quantity of manure that is
cumulation of 30 years' business, was entirely destroyed. likely to be put upon it in the ordinary course of
The cause of the fire is quite a mystery, the works having management, without the smallest need for fear on
been closed at half-past metre o'clock on the previous night.
The loss will be between 3,0t10/. and 4,000/., covered by in• •
surances in the Sun, Legal and Commercial, Atlas, and drains, provided
the art of the farmer that it will lee lost in the
three other fire offices, so that it will fall very lightly upon
each. i With reference to the cause of this absorbent
soil be properly understood and brought into play."
YORK, NEWCASTLE, AND BERWICK RAILWAY.— power Mr. Way says it would be premature
This company have just commeacA operations for the for- to offer an opinion, as the experiments are
motion of a new branch line of railway. The ground is I
still being
staked out and other preliminary steps are taken for a line actively prosecuted, but adds " that
in the state in which it may be supposed to
which will run front Bishop Auckland to Durham by wayl
silica,.
North-road. and then crossing the river Wear, will join the has a power of combining with ammonia and other
of Page Bunk, Wallington, and Brancepeth down to the exist m clay (that is soluble in acids and akalies),
main line oh the York, Newcastle, and Berwick Railway, ' bases tit a way not hitherto understood. Silica is
1
near the prevent Belmont station. This line will effect a
saving of a distance of nearly twenty miles in the transport I
of the large traffic in agricultural produce, iron, lead, cool, i
and coke, going from the western part of the county of 1
Durham to the north. land it
. ugh to a small extent, soluble in ammonia,
really', though
does not seem inconsistent with the facts to
believe that the free silica of clay is the agent in
. these absorptions.

This newly discovered property of soils fully ex-
plains much of the variation in the effect of manures
on different soils. Clay is found to be the active
substance in retaining manure, and sandy and
gravelly soils deficient in clay, will be less retentive
of manure. Such soils are, in rural language, said
"not to hold manure." Here the manure should be
applied more frequently and in smaller quantities
than in the stronger soils, where, owing to the reten-
tive power of the clay, we may safely deposit at once
the manure for several successive crops. Thus, in
Norfolk, the light sands are made to bear good crops
by heavy dressings of clay, and for this purpose real
clay is better than marl, of which more than one half
consists of carbonate of lime. And these experiments
lead to a consideration of the state in which manures
should be applied. It is clear that when applied
in a fresh state they are available to vegeta-
tion, as is shown by the success of the barley crop
following the feeding off turnips with sheep, in
which process all the dung and urine are, whets in a
fresh state, incorporated with the sail. This proves
that plants can feed on these matters in their trash
state.

The importance of efficient drainage of land is
strongly confirmed by the kids now brought into
notice. The soil is entrusted with the preservation
of manure ; but to render that preservative power
capable of exercise, the manure dissolved by rain
in the superficial strata, when it is in excess or im-
perfectly distributed, must he brought by draivago
into contact with the active soil below, by which it
will be taken up. On the contrary, when the land
is undrained, this manure is carried off into the
watercourses. The practice of burning clay may
be thought at variance with these experiments, for
the more clay is burnt the more certainly Ls its
power of arresting manure destroyed ; (it this
practice is confined to heavy land, where a small
part of the whole soil is burned, and the absorbent
power of the remainder, by the opening effect of
the burnt day, is brought into more vigorous action.
The perfect comminution and disintegration of a
clay soil, however effected, renders it more
fertile, and tits it to benefit by the manuring influ-
ences of the atmosphere and the rain, which are pro•
bably much greater than is commonly supposed. I'ho
development of Tull's system made by Mr. Smith, of
Northamptonshire, to whose successful experiment of
growing wheat continuously on the same land we
referred on a ffirmer occasion, seems to owe its suc-
cess to this principle; and it is by no means impos-
sible that the abundant stirring and trituration of the
day soil throughout the year, amid its continual ex-
posure to atmospheric influences, may so augment its
absorbent power as to produce comparatively large
crops of wheat without extraneous manure. The
establishment of this absorbent power also indicates
that liquid manure may be applied to a fallow with-
out fear of loss, the essential ingredients being
absorbed and stored up for the use of the future
plants. _ _

It must be remembered that it is the wheat crop
for which nitrogen in the soil has been ascer-
tained to be so important, and that the fallow which
usually preeedes wheat. in strong land has enabled
the ,oil to absorb from the rain and the air an un-
wonted quantity of ammonia. Su tar therefore from
the practice of fallowing. affording any support
to the " mineral theory,- it seems to be just the
reverse.

Reviewing the facts of practical agriculture as
followed in this country, we have seen how small
is the utmost animal loss of alkalies under the export
of corn and meat alone, and that the demand thus
made upon the stores of the native soil will generally
be most insignificant. Phosphoric acid, on the other
hand, is sent off the farm in much larger quantities
than the alkalies; but under good cultivation it is
already in actual practice frequently more than re-
stored by the import of cattle fail, or direct
manures, and the very practice of agriculture in this
country necessitates tho production of farmyard
inanure, by menus of which it is that so large a pro-
portion of the mineral elements of the crops raised
upon the land are in due time restored to it ; and
it appears that 14 tons of farm-yard manure to
the acre, upon the same ground year after year, in-
variably protluced less wheat than was obtained by
dressings of ammoniac:ll salts ; that farm-yard dung
and rape cake only increased the produce of grain in
proportion to the amount of nitrogen they contained;
and the question is to what good purpose can such
a vast bulk of carbonaceous matter be applicable?
So long as grain alone is cultirated it is obviously of
little use. But Messrs. Lawes and Gilbert's experi-
ments in the cultivation of turnips answer that in-
quiry in a way completely satisfactory. They show
that the production of turnip bulbs depends upon the
supply of carbonaceous matter iu the soil, and that
the true office of the turnip and other root crops con-
sists in converting the otherwise useless refuse of our
corn crops, straw, into a succulent and nourishing
food for animals. They say that during their
experiments in only one instance has the acre-
age weight of bulbs reached seventeen tons;
they know that mineral matter required by
the turnip has not been deficient, and in
many instances very large quantities of nitrogen
have been supplied; but the essential substance, car-
bonaceous matter, required fbr bulb formation has
been but moderately supplied in the form of rape
cake ; and, in one instance, where it was supplied in
a larger quantity by dung, the greatest produce was
obtaired. To obtain heavy craps of roots, dung is
the cheapest source ; but farm-yard manure is ever
limited in quantity, and the question is what arc the
best substitutes to grow turnips. The experiments of
Boussizignult and Dr. Thomson show the loss of car-
bon by the respiration of animals is so great, that in
feeding off a crop of turnips, one half of the car-
bonaceous matter in it is dissipated and lost
to the farm. The phosphate of lime, too, is
largely consumed in forming the bones of young
animals, while the export of potash is so small that
the quantity contained in one acre of turnips would
nut be entirely exported under twenty years. Tho
economical application of mineral manures seems to
be i• 'tell to phosphate of lime alone, and even then
in most cases it is employed not as an element of
which the soil is deficient, but as an agent for pro-
moting to a remarkable degree the early and vigo-
rous development of the young plant, and carrying it
with rapidity over those stages, any delay in which
' is attended with great injury and often with the de-
struction of the crop. The sources of phosphate of
lime are guano, bones, and die compound of bones
and sulphuric acid, called superphosphate of lime.
The latter manure is the form which is
found to produce the greatest effiet upon
the young plant, and especially upon the deve-
lopment of a large amount of fibrous roots.
It should, however, be understood that tho bulk of
an agricultural crop of turnips depends materially
upon the amount of organic matter contained in the
soil, without which the development of the power of
growth, by means of the phosphates, will be un-
availing. All these experiments corroborate most
strikingly the soundness of the practices adopted by
our best farmers, and indicate the direction in which
the inferior class of farmers must proceed to make a
living profit by their business. We shall endeavour
hereafter to apply the results of these experiments,
and the principles they educe to the elucidation of
the present state and future prospects of English

BIRKENHEAD, LANCASHIRE, AND CI:FEMME JUNC-
TION.—It appears that a provisional agreement has been
entered into between this company and the Great Western,
the Shreshury and Chester, and the Shrewsbury and Bir-
mingham Railway Companies, for allowing the latter to
work traffic over the Birkenhead line on certain term, and
conditions. The associated companies are to have the right
of conveying any traffic over the Birkenhead, Lancashire,
and Cheshire Junction Railway until an act shall be ob-
tained authorising a lemse of that railway ti the associated
companies, provided such act eau be obtained after two
bona fide application,' to parliament iu the years 18.52 and
1813. The associated companies ere to pay to the
Birkenhead Company for the use of the line and
works 60 per cent. of the rem ipts for the traffic pass-
ing over that lino to or from the lines of the mseciated
companies, but out of the receipts fur the local traffic on
the Birkenhead line the associated companies are to pup to
the Birkenhead Company 75 per cent. of such receipts.
The Birkenhead Company are to give to the associated
companies all the rights, conveniences, and accommodation
of their stations, offices, &e. On obtaining the met re-
ferred to a hair of the Birkenhead Railway shall be com-
pleted, and all their property and plant are to be trans-
! ferred to the associated companies, the latter to secure to
the Birkenhead Company three per cent. per annum on the
capital of 2,030,0001. The Biel enticed Compmy are
to have the option, at any time after the ainalgama-
Hon of the three companies, and before the lot of
January, 1856, to amalgamate at par their fixed capital of
2,000,04)01.