planted, will rarely be much benefited by mulching after the first year's growth. The advantages of mulching to growing vegetables are equally important. Cabbages, potatoes, peas, onions, and other crops, will thus be enabled to maintain growth during the driest weather, This covering is not intended to supersede stirring the soil, but when plants become so far advanced in growth as to be beyond the hoe and plough, mulching may be applied, and those who give it a fair trial on their crops in a dry season, will not require further promptings to repeat the practice.

HEATING GLASS STRUCTURES.

An efficient system of heating green-houses is always a matter of much interest in their construction and adoption; the expenses attending the fitting up of a heater and the subsequent cost of fuel have always been great obstacles, and have been the means of preventing many persons from building, more particularly since it has been an opinion somewhat prevent that a boiler and pipes for the purpose of heating and circulating water is indispensable for the proper diffusion of heat. There is no doubt that water is the best conductor of heat, and, where extensive houses are to be warmed the superiority of water in this respect, together with other advantages connected with its application, such as neatness, cleanliness, &c., will always point out that mode as being the most desirable. Looking at it as a matter of mere economy, we can at once decide that the cheapest mode of heating green-houses is by means of well-built and properly constructed flues. At present prices of material and labor it is probable that for a house, say sixty feet long by twenty wide, it would cost ten times more to erect a boiler with sufficient piping than would be required to build a furnace and flue. But the economical advantages of the flue are not all absorbed in its first cost. Even with the best form of boiler there is great waste of heat which may be economized in a good flue. To prove the above assertions would take more space than we purpose, neither is it indispensably necessary at present; the object in view is to show that there is much fallacy extant concerning the great superiority and economy of heating by hot water, and to attempt to describe some points in the construction of an efficient furnace and flue.

The furnace should not be less than two and a half feet in length; one foot wide, and sixteen inches in height; the sides should be lined with good firebrick placed on edge, backed by four inches common bric. Very little mortar should be used, and that quite thin; indeed, they are frequently laid without mortar-that is, the fire-brick casing. The arch or covering is formed by projecting fire-brick a few inches over the sides, so that the opening left can be covered by one length of the same kind of brick, the whole covered and made level on top by two or three courses of common brick. This is quite as strong for the purpose intended as a regularly built arch, and saves material as well as labor in constructing. On each side of the furnace a space of four inches in width is left to cut off the head from, communicating with and being absorbed by the surrounding building or earth. This chamber is continued the whole length of the furnace, and also a few feet on the flue opening into the house. soon as the sides of the furnace become heated the cold air will rush in, collect the heat radiating from the exterior of the furnace and convey it into the house, thus completely preventing disruption by expansion, a frequent occurrence in furnaces of great apparent solidity. In order to assist in the combustion of the gases of the fuel, and also increase the draft and propulsion of the heat through the flue, an opening at least six inches square should commence at the end of the ash-pit, continuing under and entering into the bottom of the flue two feet from

the back of the furnace,

As

In

The greatest defect of the smoke flue is its unequal distribution of heat. this important particular hot water pipes have a great superiority. The whole

extent of their surface being heated to a nearly uniform degree, the heat is given off at a comparatively low temperature; whereas, near the furnace the flue is heated to excess, while the greatest portion of it imparts little or no warmth to the atmosphere.

This is the flue as ordinarily constructed with brick set on edge; it has been found, however, that by adopting the principle of diminishing the thickness of the material of which it is constructed, as it recedes from the furnace, a flue can be made so as to radiate heat over its entire surface at nearly the same temperature. As an example, supposing 100 feet of flue were required in a house, then the first ten feet from the furnace would be formed of brick-work four inches in thickness, covered on top with a double thickness of brick; then the following thirty feet would be made of bricks on edge, covered by a single brick; then finish the length with terra cotta piping of eight inches diameter, which is usually about three-quarters of an inch in thickness. A flue so built will absorb heat very regularly over its surface, and so far will approach a hotwater apparatus in efficiency, at a greater economy of fuel and at a cost easily reached.

It is well to have the flue as roomy as possible, especially near the furnace. When common brick are used for covering, the width inside cannot be more than seven inches; if its height is made of three bricks on edge, its dimensions will be about twelve inches by seven inches inside. The less mortar used in the joints, the longer will it stand, and all plastering of the flue, either inside qr out, is very objectionable. It is also well to keep in view that hard-burned bricks will transmit heat more rapidly than those that are soft and porous. In all cases, where practicable, the flue should rise one foot in twenty from the furnace. If one foot in ten feet can be gained, so much the better.

MECHANICAL PREPARATION OF SOIL.

The physical or mechanical condition of the soil, its relation to air and water, has not received that attention from agricultural chemists which its importance demands. They have devoted their investigations almost solely to its chemical constituents, seeming to lose sight of the fact that the permeability of the soil to atmospheric influences is of more importance than the most approved manures. If the money that has been expended upon artificial manures during the last twenty years had been devoted to drainage, sub-soiling and trenching, the products of the country would have been vastly increased.

The soil performs various offices towards growth of plants. It serves as a basis in which they may fix their roots and sustain themselves in position; it also supplies inorganic food during all periods of their growth, and may be looked upon as a laboratory in which many chemic changes are taking place, preparing the various kinds of food which it is destined to yield to the growing plant. Analyses have shown that in most soils the presence of all the constituents of the ashes of plants may be detected, though in variable proportions. But the mere presence of certain substances in soils does not insure productiveness, for it has been shown that crops have failed even in soils possessing all the mineral ingredients required, because, although present, they were not in a sufficiently soluble state to be available. Thus in wet, clayey soils, although containing enough of plant food, the water prevents free access to the decomposing influence of the atmosphere, and crops perish; not because of a deficiency of raw material, but on account of the processes for its preparation being arrested.

This leads us to the foundation of all improvements of such soils, viz., draining. It is a remark frequently made by those having no experience, that draining must be worse than useless in a climate where summer droughts are among the greatest calamities against which the cultivator has to contend.

All who have witnessed the effects of draining need not be told, that even in soils not particularly retentive, draining, in connexion with deep culture, will secure a more ample and lasting supply of moisture in dry weather, and maintain a growing vegetation during the most severe droughts. Draining increases the capability of the soil for absorbing moisture; all soils have their certain absorbing properties; like a sponge, they absorb until their pores are filled, and only the superfluous water that cannot be taken up passes through the drains.

Draining is only the first step towards improvement. The soil must be deeply loosened and pulverized, either by subsoiling or trenching. Either process will be beneficial, and circumstances will decide as to which is to be adopted. Trenching involves a thorough reversion of the soil, of more or less depth, according to its nature and the purposes for which it is to be used. Subsoiling is merely a loosening or stirring up of the immediate subsoil, without reversing its position. When the ground is intended for a permanent crop, such as fruit trees, grapevines, &c., trenching may be adopted. The top surface of good soil will then be placed where the roots will be immediately benefited by it, and the crude subsoil brought to the surface, where it can be enriched by the aid of manures and the ameliorating processes of cultivation.

On the other hand, if the ground is to be immediately cropped with small seeds, as in some portions of a vegetable garden, a finely pulverized surface is necessary, and few subsoils can be made available, or be reduced to that condition while in their crude state. Subsoiling will, in such cases, be most advisable, and trenching can be executed as crops will admit of the operation.

The first process, then, towards securing a profitable depth of soil is draining; next breaking into the subsoil, taking into consideration, whether, in view of the crops to be cultivated, it will be most immediately profitable (of ultimate profit there is no uncertainty) to trench it at once, or merely break up and loosen the subsoil, admitting water and other fertilizing agencies to penetrate, and by a gradual trenching improve to the required depth. When all this has been satisfactorily accomplished, manures can be applied to the greatest advantage, and failures from droughts almost entirely obviated.

WILLIAM SAUNDERS.

Hon. ISAAC NEWTON.

REPORT OF THE
THE SUPERINTENDENT OF THE EXPERI-
MENTAL FARM.

SIR: When I was appointed to take charge of this place, in September, I found the southwest square and the southeast square had been manured and planted with a variety of seeds and roots. The other portions of the ground had been ploughed several times, and a large quantity of first class manure from the government stables had been applied as a top dressing, and subsequently ploughed in. The grounds have been divided into six different lots, a drive going round the whole, and cutting across at two places, with one centre drive, so that all the several lots are of easy access. The land generally is of a clayey nature, with a slight admixture of sand, and had not been ploughed and cultivated for a long period before it was granted to the Department of Agriculture. The soil, naturally tenacious, had been trampled by many cattle while used as a government corral, and the action of the hot sun made it very hard to break ap; but with constant stirring and the application of large quantities of well fermented manure, combined with the exposure of as large a surface as possible to the elements, it has become very friable and easily managed. The two south

squares are of a more sandy nature, and are better adapted for growing vegeta bles than any of the other lots. There were no buildings on the place but a small office, but there has since been erected a good five-stalled stable for horses. also a seed-room and tool-house, and attached to the main building there is a cart and wagon shed, also a yard in which the Angora goats are kept. A suitable office of two apartments has been erected at a convenient distance from the other buildings. The several kinds of grain and grasses which had been sow turned out remarkably well, considering the lateness of their planting and the condition of the soil. The sorghum was a fine crop, and from the small quantity sown there was raised two barrels of very fine, pure seed. Seventy-sever kinds of potatoes had been planted, fifty of them seedlings from Germany. The seedlings did not all come to proper maturity, but those which did were selected for further experiment. Some of the other varieties did very well, especially Goodrich Early, and a kind called the Orono Unrivalled; this last yielded immensely, and seems to luxuriate in this climate and soil. When the potatoes were dug, they were all pitted in the open air; first covered with six inches of straw, afterwards with twelve inches of earth, and then thatched with straw again, and during very severe frost a covering of fresh horse-manure was added, but removed on the return of thaw. All the potatoes kept well in this way and were in a fine condition when opened in spring., A small portion of land was sown with buckwheat, called Silver-skinned, the whole of which was saved for the purpose of sowing a greater breadth next season, as the kind is a very val uable one, being a much clearer and thinner skinned variety than the usual kind in cultivation, and quite as prolific. Two acres of corn were sown for fodder; it grew very rapidly and produced an immense quantity of forage, which was well cured and fed to the horses all winter.

The clovers, of which two varieties were sown, have taken with the ground well. The Alfafa or Chili clover grows very luxuriantly in the early part of the season, but does not withstand drought so well as the Alsike clover. The Alsike is perennial in its nature, and will prove a great acquisition to this country, as it produces a very abundant crop, and is likely to suit this climate. Among this clover was found a millet, which appears to be a new variety, as there is nothing of the same kind in cultivation in this quarter. The millet from the Crimea is also a very valuable variety. It produces an immense amount of foliage, and grows about four feet high. There was a small yellow corn from southern Russia, which seems to be of considerable value, as it ripens in ninety days from the period of planting. All the seed is carefully saved for further experiment. There was also a very small bean from Russia, more like a pea than a bean in shape, which deserves especial attention. When first sown, it comes up very slowly; and when other beans, sown at the same period, are beginning to flower, this one has not made much show; but gradually it develops itself and spreads along the ground, covering a great breadth with a perfect mass of rich, dark green, luxuriant foliage, and producing an immense quantity of pods, which are generally about five inches long. The small area of ground experimented with produced at the rate of forty-two bushels per acre. Next season it will be more extensively cultivated.

WHEAT.

In the early part of September, the middle west square was ploughed twice and dragged before sowing with wheat. When the quantities were large, the seed was sown broadcast; but when the quantities were small, which was the case in all but two instances, the seed was drilled at 133 inches between the rows. Sowing was begun on the 15th of the month, and all the seed sown came up very rapidly, and very soon covered the ground. In fact, some of the kinds made too much headway, as the severe frost killed many of the finest sorts. The following is a list of the kinds of wheat experimented with:

Nursery Wheat, Sole's Winter, Reid's White, Eastern Prussian Scheffell, Western Prussian Scheffell, Frumento Andriolo Esastico Rosso, (Froment Renfle Glabre et Blanc,) Frumento Andriolo Esastico Bianco, (Froment Petanielle Rouge et Glabre,) Frumento Rosso Collo Barbu, (Froment d'Odessa Rouge Barbee,) Granone Winter, Arnautka, Hallett's Pedigree, Tappahannock, Prussia No. 1, Prussia No. 2, seven varieties no name, (from Prussia,) Blue Stone, Sherriff's White Bearded, Premium White Mediterranean from Port Mahon, Red Bearded Mediterranean, Fenton, Trump, Red Chaff, Hopetown, Tauntondean, Tasmanian, Amber, English Wooley Eared, Chinese, Australian, Golden Drop, Rough Chaff, Chiddam, Blue Cone or Rivetts, Sandomir, Small Cujavish, Sherriff's Red Bearded, Browick Red, Spaulding's Prolific, Red Nursery, Red Thickset, Clover's Red, Red Lammas, Clever Highland, Hard or Horny, Kessingland, Flickling's Hallett's Genealogical, Welch, numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6, Puget Sound, Weddell's, Oxford, Nairn Peige, A. Bell's, Champion, Wunder, Blue Jacquin, Golden Swan, Vilmorin's, Dorking's Glory, Essex White, Drowed's, Talavera, Piper's Thickset, Blue Refford, Tall Cluster, Algier, Flickling's Prolific, Brodie's, John Dunn's, A. Hay's, Old Red, Hunter's White, John Stevens', Schonermark's, Weizacker Winter, Nottingham Red, Eley's Reissen, Eclipse Dwarf, Baxter's, Archer's Prolific, Canadischer, Club Headed, Grinnell's, Lammas, Red Chili, Black Sea.

SPRING WHEATS.

Gherica, April Red Bearded, Arnautka Hard, Oregon, Summer Spelt, Fernor April Summer.

The wheat crop generally, on this place, has been very good, with the exception of some of the varieties which did not stand the winter, and some kinds received too late, and in such small quantities that their merits were not sufficiently tested. On the 15th of September, sowed two ridges of red bearded Mediterranean wheat, and two ridges of premium white Mediterranean wheat, from Port Mahon, both of which came up in four days, and, in consequence of the fine, open weather which prevailed before frost set in, they made a very fine appearance. On the 9th of October a sowing of both of the above kinds was again made; they also came up well, but not so rapidly as the first sown lots. During the winter, the first or September sowing of the premium white Mediterranean wheat withstood the winter very badly, and during the severe frost in the month of January, it was entirely killed; whereas the same wheat sown in October withstood the winter much better than the red bearded Mediterranean wheat, kept ahead the whole season, and was harvested on the 27th of June. This seems to be a wheat well adapted to this climate, large berry, well filled and thin skinned; produced forty-eight bushels per acre. The red bearded Mediterranean wheat sown in October did not stand the severe frost so well as the same kind sown in September, showing that the best period for sowing the red bearded Mediterranean wheat is September, and for the premium white Mediterranean, from Port Mahon, is October. The Tappahannock wheat has been the earliest of all the varieties experimented with, although it does not seem to be so productive as some of the other kinds; still the fine quality of the grain, and its earliness, is very much to be regarded, as an early variety is much less liable to disease and other contingencies. Some of the kinds which promised to be fine crops when growing, turned out very coarse samples. Some of the spring wheats are remarkable for their productiveness and early maturity. The Arnautka hard spring wheat, April red bearded wheat, and Black Sea wheat, are about the best, sown from the 12th to the 29th of March, and harvested 10th of July.