The comet. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1877-1882, 1880-05-15
PARAGRAPHS OF ALL SORTS.

Shaw's botanical garden, in st.
Louis, is no doubt, the finest in the
United States, except the garden To-
Gated at Cambridge. In the former
garden there are over go species OF
palm trees and 100 tropical plants.
The Academy of Science has award
ed Mr.. Darwin premium of s., 800 for
his discourse on botanical science.
There is tree in India called the
whistling tree, which makes noise
like the whistling of man.
The Tokay vineyard, located at Fay
etteville, S. c., has 100 acres in grapes.
The cellar capacity has been increased
to 100000 gallons.
The King of the Belglans offers "a
prize of $6,220 for the best work on
"means for Improvement on low and
sandy coasts"
Green corn is now for sale in the
French market, in New Orleans.
The meeting of the Cotton Planters
Association, at Vicksburg, on the 18th,
from present appearances will be
largely attended.
The bean crop around Crystal
Springs, which looked so promising a
few weeks ago, is suffering from rust,
and no doubt will be a failure.
The Egyptians made and colored
glass 5000 years before Christ.
Four thousand five hundred immi-
grants arrived at the port of New
York last month. At this rate the
Old World will soon be thinned out.
Prof. Tice has written long and in
teresting letter to the st. Louis Repub-
lican on cyclones. He says cyclones
invariably follow railroads and bodies
of water, and are of electric phenom-
ena He says that the cyclone of
Marshfield passed over buildings COW
cred with shingles harmlessly, while
those covered with tin and iron were
torn to pieces. The bark was all torn
from the trees-and the trees splinter
ed, until they resembled brooms. He
closes as follows: 1.-THE sap under
the bark and in the body OF green
wood was, in the tornado, instantly
gasified by the bursting up from the
earth of negative electric current to
meet the positive electricity descend
ing Oh the cloudspout. An explosion
was the consequence; the sap, or
rather the water in it, was expanded
by Justification, 1000 times in volume,
throwing off the bark, shattering the
trunk and riftirg the green twigs into
fibres. That this is what took place is
proven conclusively by the fact that
the dead and dry limbs and twigs
were not affected, and though in i'm
mediate contact with green ones, re-
manned intact" 1t is clear that cy-
clones offer wide field to scientists
for investigation, and that their cause
Is, as yet, imperfectly understood.
At the Annual Spring meeting of
the Massachusetts Horticultural
Society, a specimen of the Asalea ec-
quiSita was shown, which measured
81 feet in height, and II! feet in cir
conference.
A housekeeper tells the Country
Gentleman how she manages with
stale bread. She bakes only once a
week, and with all her care the last
loaves viii get stale. She then takes
one loaf at time, as wanted, puts it
into Il steamer well covered, and lets
it steam for an hour; then puts it in
the oven (not hot enough to burn iD
for about quarter of an hour, to let
the crust become little dry and crisp.
Bread eight days old treated in this
way becomes as fresh as on the first
day it was made.
The Tribune & Farmer gives the
following as the proper proportion of
seed for small vegetable garden. Of
course the proportion can be varied to
suit the taste of the gardner: Aspara-
gus, bed of 10 square yards, l pint
beet, row 50 feet, 2 ounces ; cabbage,
bed of s square yards, l ounce; car
rots, drill Of 100 feet, . ounces celery,
square yards, one ounce; endive, 4
square yards, one ounce; bush beans,
row, 50 feet, l pint; leek, 2 square
yards, ounce; lettuce, 4 square yards,
ounce; onions, 8 square yards, 2
ounces; parsley, row 50 feet, l ! ounces;
parsnip, drill of 200 feet, . ounces {;
peas, early, row 60 feet, l! pints ; peas,
large, late, row 80 feet, u pints; pota-
toes, row 80 feet, peck radishes, 4
square yards, l! ounces spinach, 10
square yards, 2 ounces; turnip, A
square yards, l ounce.