hills ruined-did not cut a plant-and strange to say, in the same field I had fifteen thousand that was not injured. The former was upon second year's ground and the latter on lot land.

Our prospects for this year, so far, are not very encouraging. The weather has been so bad but little has been done on the farms.Some few ploughed part of their land for corn last fall, but since Christmas I have not heard of the first furrow being made. A few plant beds have been burned, and rails gotten in place around the corn land, and this is about all. Most of the farms are very well supplied with hands, in number, but I fear not in quality. The past two years I gave up my profession to attend to my farms, but this year I have given up the farms to resume my practice. I can't do anything with the free nigger, and such white labor as we get is worse. I have rented and leased out my farms to white industrious men, such as will tell the nigger to follow. What will be the result time can only reveal. I could tell much about the experience I have had with different classes of laborers, for I have tried them from Maryland, Pennsylvania, Ireland, Denmark and Virginia, of the white class, and as little as I think of the free nigger, he is superior to any of the rest for our labor. Our people, as a general thing, are despondent; the past has been sad; the future looks dark and gloomy. Those who work most and see and hear the least, seem the happiest. Society is becoming corrupt-individual confidence is being lost, selfish feelings being generated, and people seem to think to take care of self is paramount to all else, without regard to consequences. Many of our citizens are going and have gone into bankruptcy, and to what we are coming, God only knows. Yours, &c.

English Farming.

A Canadian agriculturist who farms several hundred acres of land, and who has lately visited England, was struck with astonishment at the amount of grain raised in places well known to him (he is an Englishman,) and which forty years ago certainly did not grow half the grain now produced from the same land.

How is this? It is neither season nor chance. The seasons are the same as they used to be, and the crops, as seen and examined by the

party alluded to, were the ordinary crops raised every year on the same land. The course of cropping was as follows: Wheat, turnips (or other root crop,) the land having been ploughed four times for the root crop, viz: once in the fall, when the stubble was ploughed in, then cross ploughed in the spring, and subsequently worked till the season for sowing the turnips, with at least three ploughings (often more,) and intermediate dragging and harrowing, and cultivating, until all the couch grass and other root weeds were extracted and burned, or picked and carried off, and all the growing seed weeds destroyed. The land was then manured with farm-yard manure, and finally the seed of the root crop was drilled in with artificial manure, such as super-phosphate, bone dust, guano, &c. The root crops were then horse-hoed, and then finally hoed by hand. Then, when matured, they were huddled off to sheep, or fed in some other way. The land (being then as rich as possible, and clean from all weeds,) is next prepared for barley, which, as might be expected, is certain to be a noble crop, yielding from forty to sixty bushels per acre. The barley having been seeded down with clover and rye grass, (of which the crop cannot fail to be good) the “ seeds,” as the clover is called, are lightly fed off by sheep in the fall, and allowed to grow up in the spring to be cut for hay. The hay crop yields from two to three tons of hay per acre, (usually two and onefourth to two and one-half;) the second growth is either again mowed for hay, or fed off with sheep, according to the necessities of the. farm; and finally, the clover sod is turned under the same fall, the ploughing being about two inches deep, and sown with wheat, the ground being thoroughly pressed before sowing, and the wheat well limed, or otherwise dressed with blue vitriol, &c., and drilled in. The result is, as might be expected, a crop of wheat of at least forty, often sixty bushels per acre. The same course is again followed with the same results, the land all the time increasing in fertility, and becoming each year better instead of worse.

There will be various modifications of this system, according to the quality of the land. Sometimes the wheat crop is omitted, and another crop substituted, but on all the best lands of England this course can be followed with impunity, and without deterioration to the farm.-Canada Farmer.

Carbolic or Phenic Acid and its Properties. Extract from a Lecture before the Society, for the Encouragement of National Industry in France.

By Dr. F. Crace Calvert, F. R. S. The disinfecting, or rather antiseptic, properties of carbolic acid are very remarkable. The beautiful researches and discoveries of M. Pasteur have shown that all fermentation and putrefaction is due to the presence of microscopical vegetables or animals, which, during their vitality, decompose or change the organic substances, so as to produce the effects which we witness, and as carbolic acid exercises a most powerful destructive action upon these microscopic and primitive sources of life, carbolic acid, therefore, is an antiseptic and disinfectant much more active and much more rational than those generally in use.

It is necessary that I should here make a few remarks, explanatory of the distinctions between deodorizers, disinfectants, and antiseptics:

Deodorizers.-All substances merely acting as such are neither disenfectants nor antiseptics, as they simply remove the noxious gases emitted from organic matters whilst in a state of decay or putrefaction, without having the property of arresting decomposition or fermentation. For it has been proved that the source of infection or contagion is not due to noxious gases or bad smells (being merely indicators of its probable existence,) but, as we shall see presently, to microscopic spores floating in the atmosphere, and which by their ulterior development and propagation, are believed to be the true source of contagion.

Disinfectants.-Under this head may be classed bleaching powder, or chloride of lime, sulphurous acid, and permanganate of potash; they first act as deodorizers, and then as disinfectants, but they must be employed in large quantities, to thoroughly oxidize or act upon organic matters, so as to prevent them from again entering into decomposition; but still it is known that if the organic substances so acted upon are exposed to the atmosphere, they will again experience decay and putrefaction; they are, in fact, more destructive agents than disinfectants, and they are never antiseptics.

Antiseptics.-Antiseptics, such as corrosive sublimate, arsenious acids, essential oils, carbolic acid, etc., act as such by destroying all source of decay and decompssition, that is to

say, they destroy or prevent the formation of the germs of putrefaction and fermentation, without acting upon the mineral or vegetable matters present. The advantage of their use is, therefore, that they act, when used in small quantities, upon the primary source of all organic matters in a state of decay; further, they are deodorizers, for they prevent the formation of offensive odours, and consequently they are antiseptics, disinfectants, and deoderizers. The great advantages which carbolic acid possesses over all other antiseptics are, that it cannot be used for any illegal purpose, as arsenic or corrosive sublimate.

And allow me further to add that disinfectants, such as chlorine, permanganate of potash, or Condy-fluid, operate by oxidizing not only the gaseous products given off by putrefaction, but all organic matters with which they may come in contact; whilst carbolic acid, on the contrary, merely destroys the causes of putrefaction, without acting on the organic substances. The great difference which therefore distinguishes them is, that the former deals with the effects, the latter with the causes. Again, these small microscopic ferments are always in small quantities as compared to the substances on which they act, consequently a very small quantity of carbolic acid is necessary to prevent the decomposition of substances; therefore its employment is both efficacious and economical. Moreover, carbolic acid is volatile; it meets with and destroys, as Dr. Jules Lemaire says, the germs or sporules which float in the atmosphere, and vitiate it; but this cannot be the case with Condy's fluid, chloride of zinc or iron, which are not volatile, and which act only when in solution, and are mere deodorizers. This is why carbolic acid was used with such marked success, and therefore so largely, in England, Belgium and Holland during the prevalence of cholera and of the cattle plague. Mr. W Crookes, F. R. S., not only states: "I have not yet met with a single instance in which the plague has spread on a farm where the acid has been freely used;" but he has also proved, by a most interesting series of experiments, that the gases exhaled from the lungs of the diseased cattle contained the germs or sporules of the microscopic animals discovered by Mr. Beale in the blood of such animals; for Mr. Crookes having condensed on cotton wood these germs, and having inoculated the blood of healthy cattle with them, they were

at once attacked with the disease. As to the value of carbolic acid for preventing the spread of cholera, among many instances which I could cite, allow me to mention two special instances: First, Dr. Ellis, of Bangor, says: I have in many instances allowed whole families to return to cottages in which person had died from cholera, after having had the cottages well washed and cleansed with carbolic acid, and in no case were any persons allowed to enter such purified dwellings attacked with the disease. My friend, Professor Chandelon, of Liege, has stated to me that out of 138 nurses who were employed to attend upon the cholera patients-and they must have been numerous, for 2,000 died—only one nurse died, but the nurses were washed over and their clothing sprinkled with carbolic acid. In fact the antiseptic properties of carbolic acid are so powerful that 1-1000th, even 1-5000th will prevent the decomposition, fermentation, or putrefaction for months of urine, blood, glue solution, flour, paste, fæces, etc., etc., and its vapor alone is sufficient to preserve meat in confined spaces for weeks; and even a little vapor of this useful substance will preserve meat for several days in ordinary atmosphere, and prevent its being fly-blowr; lastly, 1-10,000th has been found sufficient to keep sewage sweet, for Dr. Letheby states, in a letter addressed to me, that through the use of such a quantity of carbolic acid in the sewers of London during the existence of cholera last year, the sewages of the city were nearly deodorized. And I am proud to say, that the British Government have decided to use exclusively our carbolic acid (as an antiseptic and disinfectant) not only on board Her Majesty's ships, but in other Government departments; and that no other deodorant or disinfectant, such as chlorides of zinc or iron, permanganate of potash, or any disinfecting powder, shall in future be used for such purpose. Although questions of public health are the province of medicine, still permit me to say a few words on the medicinal properties of carbolic acid. This question deserves to be treated thoroughly, for phenic acid is susceptible of so many applications in this direction, its properties are so marked, so evident, and so remarkable, that they cannot be made too public, and it is rendering a service to mankind to make known some of the employments of so valuable a therapeutic agent.

I wish all who are listening to me were medical men, for I could show, by numerous and undeniable facts, the advantage they might derive from pure carbolic or phenic acid, and if my testimony was not sufficient to convince them, I would invoke the authority of men justly esteemed amongst you. I would recall to you the words of the good and learned Gratiolet, and those of Dr. Lemaire, showing that carbolic acid is the most powerful acknowledged means of contending with contagious and pestilential diseases, such as cholera, typhus fever, small-pox, etc. Maladies of this order are very numerous, but in carbolic acid we find one of the most powerful agents for their prevention; for besides many instances which have been cited to me, I may add that I have often used it in a family in which there were eight or ten children, and that none of the family have suffered from those diseases except those who were attacked previously to the employment of carbolic acid about the dwellings in which such diseases existed. Besides its antiseptic action, the caustic properties of carbolic acid are found useful; most beneficial effects are obtained from it in the treatment of very dangerous and sometimes mortal complaints, such as carbuncle, quinsy, diphtheria, etc., as shown by Dr. T. Turner, of Manchester; and also in less severe affections, such as hæmorrhoids, internal and external fistulas, and other similar complaints. But what must be especially mentioned is the employment of carbolic acid in preserving in a healthy state certain fœtid purulent sores, and preventing the repulsive odour which comes from them, an odour which is the symptom of a change in the tissues, and which often presents the greatest danger to the patient. The services which carbolic acid renders to surgery can be judged of by reading several most interesting papers on compound fractures, ulcers, etc., lately published in the Lancet by J. Lister, F. R. S.; and allow me to draw your special attention to the following paragraphs which are to be found in his paper published in that journal of the 25th September, 1867: "The material which I have employed is carbolic or phenic acid, a volatile organic compound, which appears to exercise a peculiar destructive influence upon low forms of life, and hence is the most powerful antiseptic with which we are at present acquainted. The first class of cases to which I applied it, was that of compound fractures, in

which the effects of decomposition in the injured part were especially striking and pernicious. The results have been such as to establish conclusively the great principle that all the local inflammatory mischief and general febrile disturbance which follow severe injuries are due do the irritating and poisoning influence of decomposing blood or sloughs. These evils are entirely avoided by antiseptics treatment, so that limbs which otherwise would be unhesitatingly condemed to amputation may be retained with confidence of the best results. Since the antiseptic treatment has been brought into full operation, and wounds and abscesses no longer poison the atmosphere with putrid exhalations, my wards, though in other respects under precisely the same circumstances as before, have completely changed their character; so that during the last nine months not a single instance of pyæmia, hospital gangrene, or erysipelas has occurred to them." My hearers can also witness the same remarkable results by visiting the two sick wards of Dr. Maisonneuve, at the Hotel Dieu. Further, I must not overlook the valuable application made of it to gangrene in hospitals by the eminent physician, James Paget, Esq.; and lastly, it has been used by many of the most eminent medical men with marked success in those scourges of humanity, phthisis and syphilis.

In agriculture our firm has stimulated the employment of the carbolic acid for the cure of certain diseases very common to sheepscab, for example. The method of treatment customary in similar cases was very imperfect as well as dangerous, whilst with carbolic acid this malady is cured, and without danger to the animal, by dipping it for a minute, often only for some seconds, in water containing a small quantity of carbolic acid. For this purpose pure acid would be to expensive, and is not used, nor concentrated acid, which ignorant men who have the care of sheep would not know how to use, but by the help of soap and emulsion of carbolic and cresylic acids is made. After having shorn the sheep it is dipped in this mixture; a single immersion in a bath

contained 1-60th of it is sufficient to effect a cure. After scab, the foot-rot is one of the worst and most frequent complaints. Carbolic acid is also for that an efficacious remedy. For this a mixture is made of the acid and an adherent and greasy substance, capable of forming a plaster, which is made to adhere to

the animal's foot for two or three days, preventing the contact of the air, allowing thereby time for the application to have its effect. But if the flock be numerous, it would take a long time to dress the four feet of each animal one after another; so, to make it more easy, a shallow tray is made of stone-a sort of trough; this is filled with the medicated mixture, and the sheep made to pass through it; their feet being thus impregnated with the required substance. Permit me also to state that cattle cease to be annoyed with flies, etc., if washed with this solution, or a weak solution of carbolic acid; and a first-rate salve can be prepared by adding 10 per cent. of carbolic acid to butter, or any other fatty matters used for such purpose.

Tight vs. Open Barns.

Having noticed several communications in the Farmer on the above subject, in favor of open barns where hay is stored, I venture to oppose the theory, premising, however, that as I know whereof I write, what I say is "practice as well as pen and ink," with all deference to Mr. Bancroft, in the Farmer of Nov. 30.

I have two barns, one of which is shingled all over, and has a double floor; the other is old and open. I have for years been putting hay into the former, made at least from onethird to one-half less than that put into the latter, and never yet have taken any poor or smoky hay therefrom. While from the old barn the hay is always poor on the sides of the mow.

A neighbor of mine had an old house well shingled, lathed and plastered, which he filled with grass, cut and housed on a cloudy but dry day. In the spring it was taken out, when all but a few inches on the top was beautiful and much better perfumed than Lubin's Extract, called "New Mown Hay."

Col....., of New Bedford, filled some new oil casks with grass, green from the meadow. After a year had elapsed he found it in the same condition as when headed up. Keep the air from your hay as well as from the fruit which you put into cans, and it will keep.

Let those building barns think of these things and not go back to the days of their grandfather, "when grass was allowed to go to seed before mowed, and corn was planted five feet apart and the plough was used instead of the cultivator.-New England Farmer.

From "Turf, Field and Farm." Origin of the Percheron Horse. Mr. W. T. Walters, of Baltimore, who, with the approbation of the Emperor and the aid of General Fleury, the imperial equerry, has imported into this country the very finest lot of this valuable race of horses to be had in all France, has sent us a translation of Du Hays work on the Percheron horse, published under the auspices of the French Minister of Agriculture. The book will prove an acceptable addition to agricultural literature and of great value to all engaged in breeding horses.

The third chapter of the book treats of the origin of the Percheron, often called the Nor

man horse as follows: "Now what is the origin of the Percheron? Some attribute to him an Arabian ancestry; others, less explicit and without positively assigning to him so noble an origin, hold him to be strongly impregnated with Arabian blood. M. Eugene Perrault,

one of the most extensive and skillful dealers

in fancy horses in all Europe, has frequently

remarked to me that of all the various races of horses none were so interesting to him as the admirable Percheron, and that, judging from his appearance and qualities, he was satisfied he was a genuine Arab, modified in form by the climate and the rude services to which he had for ages been subjected.

"We cannot, however, find in history the written positive proof that the Percheron is an Arab, but we believe it easy, by fair historical deduction, to prove the fact.

"It is well known that after the defeat of the famous Saracen chief Abderame by Charles Martel, on the plains of Vouille there fell into the hands of the victors a magnificent cavalry, since more than 300,000 infidels were killed on that day, and the horses which they rode were, like themselves, from the East. Upon a division of the spoil a large number of these were assigned to the men of La Perche, of Orleannais, and Normandy, who composed the bulk of the French forces, and they must necessarily have left in their progeny indelible traces of their blood.

"La Perche, like all Christian countries, furnished, as is well known, her contingent of fighting men to the crusades, and the chronicles cite several Counts of Bellesmer, Mortagne and Nogent, barons and gentlemen of that province, who, with many of their vassals made pilgrimages to the Holy land.

"The Abbe Fact, in a letter addressed to the Congress of Mortagne, July 16, 1843, and in his great work upon La Perche, cites in this connection a Lord of Montdoubleau, Geffroy IV., and Rotrou, Count of La Perche, as having brought back from Palestine several stallions, which were put to mares, the produce of which was most carefully preserved.

"The small number of the sires, their incomparable beauty and manifest superiority, must have led to the in-and-in breeding so ties of the sires became indelibly fixed upon much deprecated by breeders; but the qualitheir propeny.*

The Lord of Montdoubleau was, it is said, the most zealous of the advocates and breeders of the new blood, and being the most zealous, was the most successful; hence it is the Montdoubleau stock is to this day the best in Perche. The Count Roger, of Bellesmer, imported both Arabian and Spanish horses, as did Goroze the Lord of Saint Cerney, Courville, and Courserdult, these are historical facts which have their importance. Like chronicles it is true exist for other provinces; land of noble horses), also for Brittany and for Limousin, for Navarre, for Auvergne (the Maine, but in the latter not the least sign of Eastern blood is perceptible. The fact is the Crusaders from all the French provinces naturally brought back with them more or less of the Eastern blood, which they had learned to appreciate on the plains of Palestine--but the truth is it has not been preserved there, and that we in La Perche should be so fortunate, after so many centuries, as to be able to show the traces of it, should stimulate us to its careful preservation.

'From the time of the Roman denomination, the horse in his Oriental forms, was not only valued by the Gauls, but was particularly prized in Perche. In 1861 a subterranean vault was discovered in the middle of a field, near Jargeau(Loiret), upon the borders of Perche; it contained a statue of Bacchus, surrounded by bachannals; with these were found a horse, a stag, a boar, some fish, a grape vine, and other native products of the country; but the horse was indubitably of the Arab form, which goes to prove that at that remote period there were Arabs in the country, or that the native local race from which the portrait was taken resembled the Arab.