MISCELLANEOUS EXTRACTS.

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume I, Issue 11, 21 December 1844, Page 3

MISCELLANEOUS EXTRACTS.

Extension of slavery in the United States. — The Anglo-Saxon race will one day, we have no doubt, people that immense region on the Pacific wh : ch stretches from, Nootka to California, that New Albion,, which Drake discovered ; but whether this race come from the old stock or the trans/ planted one it matters lutle. Population 0/ the Columbia and the Colorado can no mojt be governed from Washington than/fron London. / ' For the present, Americans have «ougb, to think of in their own disunion./ The struggle between North and South is fierce activity, the South meditating a cimjuest or adjunction, which must give it au <j>ye vhelming increase of power, and which ho nnexation of fresh States in the North en for a long time counterbalance. What exacerbates this struggle between Whig ad LoJo- 1 ' foco, between emancipator and sla 1 eh older; ' is the alternation of party ascendetcy, and the change brought about by change, more than by opinion. A shoit time skce there was a Whig President, Whig Ministry," Whig Senate. The death of one man, Harrison, sufficed b* upset all, and now Mr. Calhouiu the very antipodes of American Wiugi'sra] accepts of the office of leading Minister. Calhoun is the very essence and concentration of the Southern spirit — slave-holder, free-trader, nullificator. He cannet have accepted power without the hope of carrying some of his favourite schemes, and the annexation of Texas is that to which everything points. It is needless to enumerate the host of reasons wbi.h make the Americans, even no inconsiderable portion of the north, desire the annexation of Texas. The absurd obstinacy of the Dictator of Mexico has forced the Texians themselves to desire it ; and had we had at heart the independence of Texas, we should have wrung it from Mexico, and. thereby given it that impulse and prosperity without which a young state lingers. We have done nothing, and nowit is not in our power to resist the enci-oadiment of the i Anglo-Saxon race of America upon the Spa- ! wish. We shall soon be called to take some decided resolution on this point. The American senate may throw out the bill of annexation for this year ; but it is clear that Van Buren must, in order to succeed to the Presidency, pledge himself, and strongly, on this question. The lates^rriter on America, Mr. Godson, declares 'that the anti-slavery movement; has retrograded in America ; that the slave party has strengthened itself in consequencs of attacks and irritation ; -aad that it has organised a permanent system for preventing the education of the s black, or his acquiring the elements of a freer state. This is diabolical, and if coupled with the annexation of Texas, that is, with, the gradual advance of the American slave-holders and slaveholding, the system round the banks, of Jths Gulf of Mexico presents very gloomy pros? pects for the completion of the equalization of the two races. " * Perhaps, however, there might in the case of Texas, as in so many others, be a compromise. Were the slave-holders, con ten ted with extending their system over the Tjsxiaa portion of the valley of the Mississipi, which must follow the fate of Louisiaua,. a solemn compact might be entered into-for prohibiting the extension of slavery further westward. In return for an actual and preseac boon, the Southern States might forego what ought to be to them- the fearful prospect* of unlimited extension of their dangerous and unnatural system over lands, which ha.ye be«u freed from the curse,

Australian Exportation. — Australia could not supply pork sa che&g to England *s America, from her having no oak, beech, and hickory forests, to fatten tup pigs upon their acorns nuts ; but New Zealand w ill be a great rival to America in this respect, from her abundant fern roots furnishing a fattening pig food. Australian flour, according to the Sydney journals, sells for half the price of the American at the Mauritius, the cause being that the Americans kiln-dry their wheat before grinding, and spread the flour out to cool before barrelling it. Thus they prevent its deterioration by heat, fermentation, moulding, or destruction by weevils on a voyage ; while American kiln-dried flour requires about a fifth more water than the English unkiln-dried, and yields about a fifth more bread. Therefore, from all the above defects of Australian unkiln-dried flour, no wonder that kiln-dried American should sell for double the price of the other at the Mauritius. — Tasmanian.

Colonial Manufactures. — We have again and again urged upon our melt of capital to employ their money in colonial manufactures, but hitherto in vain. What can be the reason that a woollen manufactory is not in full operation long before now? How easy to employ capital to better advantage and more credit than by usury, would it be to manufacture carpets, blankets of all sizes and qualifies, flannels, cloths for common wear, of various patterns and quality, and also lambs' Wool and other woollen stockings. Why is mere not a paper manufactory — an article of uch immense consumption in these colonies ? v"c think there are plenty of rags, and, if m, the flag called the sword grass of the sW appearance and much of the same natue is the New Zealand flax, would, we feel co\ficent, be a useful auxiliary in the mauufactn? of paper. There is a hat manufac- ' tory jst commenced by Mr. Reeves, on the New "own Rivulet, of which our police report £veB notice of the very encouraging counteance of one of the territorial J. P's., who h,s had the modesty and kindness to prefer jn unfounded information against the roanufaturer. We have also several ale and beer mnufactories, which produce these articles oi excellent quality. We haye also received i sample of coionUl porter, lately brewed by Mr. Elliss, of Macquarie Street, who has added this branch to his brewery, and, as ; first effort, it does him infinite credit. The improvement of his kiln to dry the malt to the temperature necessary for making porier is all that is -wanted to produce an article of first-rate quality. The colonial beer and jporter establishments are justly entitled to the patronage of the whole colony, not only because of the retention of the capital in the colony, but also because of the encouragement they are calculated to give to the barley growers. — Colonial (Hobart Town) limes.

Wool Growing. — The paragraph below confirms us in an idea of what may be done with sheep in this country, especially in the west : for what is there in this respect of the ctst, is doubly true of the west. Some years since we passed the farm of a widow lady in the East, whose flecks of sheep, it was said, amounted to nine thousand ! That is the scale on which they ought to be kept to be profitable. " The wool growing business of the eastern and western portions of the Union," say the Buffalo Commercial Advertiser, " is receiving much attention, and is found to be susceptible of beiug made vastly more profitable than is generally supposed. Mr. Reybold, a wool grower in the state of Delaware, has a flock of one thousand Leicester sheep, from which he clipped eight thousand pounds of good wo-ol last season. This important result has been produced mainly by the aid of physiology judiciwiHy applied to the breeding of thi* valuable domestic animal. Mr. Reybold can sell his wool at the low price of twenty cents a pound, and then realize from his flock the annual income of 1600 dollars. Suppose it will take 600 dollars of this sum, and the whole value of the increase of the flock to defray the expense of their keep, then each sheep nets its owner a clear profit of one dollar a year. Sheep husbandry must and vrill flourish in this land of boundless Dastures." — Cincinnati Chronicle.

Caution to Farmees. — The following extract will shew the danger and folly of the practice of keeping milJc in zinc bowls, a custom which has lately become very prevalent ; these articles being sold with the recommendation of a larger quantity of cream being produced owing to the galvanic action, *' I wonld scarcely hare believed," says Dr. Elanes, of Berlin, " that zinc vessels could again have come into use for holding any fluids nsed for alimentary purposes, as Vanquelin 40 years ago proved that such wer« certain, after a short time, to hold a considerable portion of zinc in solution. I have found, by experiments, that a solution of sugar, which bad stood only a few hours in the

: sinnmer .in a zinc vessel, contained a considerable . portion of zinc , salts. It bas been often stated that the cream will, separate more easily from the milk if the latter be kept for a short time in a zinc vessel. As, however, it h known that milk will turn acid much sooner than a solution of sugar, it is the more to be apprehended that some zinc will»be diJI solved, and such milk will be more noxious, as it is well known that even a small amount of zinc will cause violent spasmodic vomiting. — Pharmaceutical Journal.

Dueling. — New Articles or War. — Every officer who shall give or send a challenge, or who shall accept any challenge to fight a duel with another officer, or who being privy to an intention to fight a duel, shall not take active measures to prevent^tuch duel, or who shall upbraid another for refusing, or for not giving, a challenge, or who shall reject, or advise the rejection of a reasonable proposition made for the honorable adjustment of a difference, shall be liable, if convicted before a general ifcmrt-martial, to b^cashiered, or suffer such^other punishment, as the court mayJfeard. — Qfaval and Military Gazette.

Preserving the Vitality of Seeds. — One of the most difficult questions has been, how to preserve the life of seeds through long voyages. The result of an experiment at Bermuda, where, from the frequent changes from dry north winds to very moist hot southerly, seeds keep very badly, offers a hint which may prove valuable. A bottle of onion seed, carefully sealed, was put into the bottom of a rain-water cistern, which was sunk five feet below the surface, This was early in February. In November, the usual time of sowing, it was taken up, and the seed sown, as well as other seeds received at the same time, but treated in the usual manner. Of the latter, from a fifth to a tenth part vegetated, but the seeJ which had been kept under water came up regularly, four or five days sooner than the others, the plants were strong, and not more than one-fifth of the seed failed. It is therefore suggested that seeds imported from or sent to distant countries should be carefully sealed, and put into one of the ship's water tanks. They will here be preserved from changes of temperature, and may probably reach us in a sound state.

Pumpkins. — A naval officer who has commanded ships of war for years between the tropics, abserves, that he always hung pumpkins in a ket, astern, and found them tint only to make excellent soup for the crew, but as he was never without a milch cow on board, and sometimes two, that pumpkin was excellent for them.

Feeding Poultry. — Professor Gregory, of Aberdeen, in a letter to a friend, observes, " As I suppose you keep poultry, I may tell you that it has been ascertained, that if \ou mix with their food a sufficient quantity of egg shells or chalk, which they eat greedily, they will lay, cceteris paribus, twice or thrice as many eggs as before. A well-fed fowl is disposed to lay a vast number of eggs, but cannot do so without the materials for the shells, however nourishing in other respects her food may be ; indeed a fowl fed on food and water, free from carbonate of lime, and not finding any in the soil, or in the shape of mortar, which they eat off the walls, would lay no eggs at all, with the best will in the world."

Agriculture. — The Guano or Modern Coprolite. — There are districts in England, of many miles in extent, where strata of considerable thickness occur, in which one-fourth part of the whole mass is made up of the focal matter, or excrement, of the former in-r habitants of the ocean, This fact is certainly astonishing, but loses all its incredibility when compared with the Guano, a substance the excremental nature of which has been indubitably established by the chemical analysis of Klaproth, Fourcroy, and Yauquelin. This j substance, nevertheless, forms on the coasts of Peru deposits of such extent, that, at first sight, we have difficulty in admitting it to be the dung of sea birds, which once rested here at night, although upon considering all its relations, this can alone be its true nature. When we consider that, at the least, ever since the 12th and 13th centuries, it has been : the constant custom to manure the land with guano, for which purpose many millions of cubic feet have been scattered over the sandy deserts of Peru (the possibility of cultivation along the sea coast depends entirely on this precious substance), and that it has been constantly abstracted in the same quantity, and that now, from repeated experiments, it appears the birds of a whole island cannot produce a few ships' cargoes ; what must be our astonishment at the long succession of centuries, or the prodigious multitude of birds which must have been requisite to accumulate these guano deposits. It is evide.nt, however, from the observations of Frazier, of feathers having been found at a considerable depth in

the mass, that its formation is entirely to be attributed to birds. Under the empire of the Incas, the guano was regarded as an important branch of state economy. It was forbidden on pain of death to kill the young birds on the Guano Islands. Each island had its own inspector, and was assigned to a .certain province. The -whole district between Ariea Chaucay, a distance of 200 nautical miles, was manured exclusively with guano. In consequence of such precautions, we can easily understand its prodigious accumulation. Not a vestige now remains of all this excellent organization. Tbis is completely established by M. Marians de Riviero, who, in a Spanish treatise, a short extract of which is given in Ferussac's Bulletin, sect. i. t. xi. p. 84, mentions, that the Spaniards have entirely forgotten the wise provisions of the Incas, to secure the preservation of the precious manure. The Peruvians begin now to discover their error, and look forward with anxiety to the period _when the guano will no longer suffice for the wants of husbandry. In fact, the discovery of new beds of the brown guano, which is of oldest formation, daily diminishes in frequency, and the production of the white guano, that which is still forming, has suddenly decreased, since the unlimited freedom of trade has attracted so many vessels to the coast, which scare away the flocks of birds which used formerly to roost upon the rocks and islands. Notwithstanding all these disadvantages, very lately the annual product of brown and white guano, amounted to about 6,300 tons, for which the duty has been about £40,000 sterling per annum, paid at the different ports from which it is transported into the interior. M. Bnckland prefers for the Guano the name of Ornithocris, — Arcana of Science ■and Art.