MISCELLANEOUS.

Clutha Leader, Volume III, Issue 116, 29 September 1876, Page 7

MISCELLANEOUS.

The Spanish Government liavs compensated the Northern Railway Companies for the losses thus-- sustained during- the pro fro c ted Carli'st war with a . prnn t of £ 160,000 The New York Times pays that iA the shorthorn herd of Mr Whitman, o{ Fitch burg, Mass., U.S , one of the cows gave in one month 1201-lbs of milk, and in one year, being- in milk eleven months, 92001 bs; and one of the calves, fed on cooked food in part, weighed, dressed at thirteen months, 54? Ibs, which indicates that such food makes both flesh and milk in abundance. China is a country where the roses* have no fragrance, and the women no petticoats ; where the laborer has no •Sabbath, and the magistrate no sense of honor; where the roads have no' vehicles, and the ships no keels ; where old men fly kites ; where the needle points to the south, find ihe sign of being- puzzled is to scratch the antipodes of the head ; where the place of honor is on the left hand, and the seat of intellect. is in tliß stomach'; 'where to take off your hat is an insolent gesture, and to wear a white garment is to put yourself in 'mourning'; which lias a literature without an alphabet, and a language without a grammar.

At a meeting of the Edinburgh Botanical Society on June 28 —Mr Gorrie in the chair — Or Hunter read a paper on the deterioration of the potato. This, he held, was owingtofaulfypropagntio 1 -', and to over-manuring- and too much, forcing. , The practice, now almost always followed, of propagating ths plant from cuttings or from the eye? of the tuber could not fail to exhaust in time all inherent, vitality", and growers were further viol atiug th* laws of riaturl by attempting to force into cVergro'wtli one part of the plant to the injury, almost to the destruction, of another part. They now see that potato apples were nearly gone, the reason for this being that the vitality of the growth was almost 'exhausted, and thp potatoes, too, we're more liable to be attacked by disease in their present condition than they would otherwise be. AfterWuotir<r the opinions of several writers as to the origin of potato diseases, the ■doctor, recurring to what he had. been previously saying, submitter! that. any one would now have the greatest difficulty in procuring a cwt. of seed from, the potato apple which wou ] d be warranted to germinate. The only true and satisfactory way, of restoring potatoes to their former healthful and Vigorous condition would be to return to the best seed obtainable from the . potato apple. Having got this, let them take care ,'to keep up a stock of the trup 'and healthy seed, and Jet them p.lso try to asc'etrViii what was the term of the natural life of the potato. For himself, he believed firmly that if they did not take some step of the kind, indicated, th« potato would soon be an esculent of the past. In a Free Church in the north, not a hundred miles from the thriving little town' of Tain, it was the time honoured practice for the musical, part of the service to consist of the efforts of a venerable precentor, eked out as best, they might by the spontaneous,, but not

always harmonious, voices of the congregation. The other day, however, some daring individuals ventured to nioot the idea of set tins-, on, foot a regular choir under an efficient leader^ :whicn proposal, nohvithstftuding SO mB ominous, symptoms ..of disapprobation; was carried into., effect.; One Sunday morning, beheld tlie unwonted, specfcale ,of a duly organised choir under, a new leader, filling- the .place of, the hoary-, ■headed precentor of use-and.-. wont. No sooner had the choir risen ;to Vneir 'feet to begin than three fi-hei-me'n>'en'ter i ed a protest against sucli. Ati unseemly and ■new-fang-led /stare 'of 7 tilings' by indignantly rising and quitting- ..the "cliurcli. 0 n the >foll 6 wing- S /i n d ay, ho weyer , the Z innovation was still continued, and this time a still ''rt©^.^^^'^^ 'if rather indecorauatpkeA.o^iS^pprpba^Qff^Asgiven: rrnmedia^ely the choir' prepaid t<? sin^ between 20 4nd :30 members 'of the congregation stared to their fei't and made "t^^thedoorirt-ftprbrriTsc^pus'riVsh^onie leapingoyei! se^s-in-their.eagerness .to get clear; of such .a profanatioii /of tile • : sacred service. The nekt Sunday the ; • ..otwe,&pwded l-'^uVoHova^ajaidsteffliptvV "'"' and since ■ jjien 'jlVe uunister, s alfifmen'at '. - the desplation* tliaVseen^iio; threaten. ■":'.-; :his 'church ,,^prevailed choir'? td>; ;'>^ cease Dsrh aps ■• well - mean i biif i^er- ; 0; ; n Upp reci afedjl^yr l^ri^i' lre'yete- V i*V : ;^ i occupiesjhis wj6jVt6;d\bo|;u|^r^^ 7'ffn^tig t Vre-^cp ri tiS pti- Vi .^"^?oiisci^L^^2i^ tHously|^li£vedh v^ churctir