MISCELLANEOUS.

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume I, Issue 38, 28 June 1845, Page 1

MISCELLANEOUS.

Volcanic Origin of Tins South Sea Islands — Nearly all the regions of the Pacific bear the most unequivocal starks oi having been the scene of volcanic action on- avast scale, and the prevailing features of the larger masses of land confirm the imperfect traditions of the people. Some of the isles present volcanos in a state of activity - r others exhibit only the form and altitude which denote a similar origin in remote ages; while a, third class display undoubted tokens of having been violently changed by the force oi, subterranean fire, if not by the more sudden' shock of an earthquake.- fanna and Pico befong tc- the first class ; Otaheite, Huaheine, and Bolabola are distinct specimens of the second ; and Easter Island may be adduced as an example of the third. Sn this last all the rocks are black, burnt, and honeycombed ; some have the appearance of slag ; nay, even the soil, which is but thinly spread over the calcined masses, bears a close resemblance to darkyellow ochre. Mr. Williams divides the islands of Plutonic origin into two orders, the mountainous and the hilly. In the former, the height of the land varies from 2,000 to 15,000 feet above the level of the sea, the towering- summits gradually rising from their base till they are lost in the clouds. The sides of these magnificent elevations are clothed with bright verdure of various shades, blending together in a very striking manner the elements of grandeur, wildness, sublimity,- and beauty. All the islands of this class exhibit indubitable marks of volcanic eruption. In many of them the rocks are composed of a fine-grained basalt j in others pumice is found, together with stones of varied appearance, which have evidently undergone the action of fire. It is clear, moreoyer, that all these islands have at one time been under water ; for I at the top of the highest peaks, corals, shells, | and other marine substances are seen in great i abundance. The savage and r-omaniac appearance of the rocks, their broken, abrupt, and irregular forms, also indicate that at some remote era they have been subjected to disruption by the power of some mighty agent affecting their interior. — Edinburgh Cabinet Library.

i Economy in Suga*. — Experiment teas proved that half-a-pound weight of refined sugar will give more sweetness than one pound of raw or moist sugar, besides the improved purity and delicacy of the liquid sweetened. This is especially the case in sweetening of coffee.

: Thk First Principles of Agriculture. — 'The first principles of agriculture, which are shown by the best practice, are few. They may "be stated to be these : make and keep the land perfectly dry and- clean, or free from weeds — make and keep the soil which is too adhesive or /too loose, of such a friable nature as will make it receive, retain, and transmit moisture, and thus fit it to produce the most luxuriant state of vegetation — restore to the soil, as a manure, in a state of decay, the greater part of it, if not the whole of the produce after it is consumed by sheep or other stock. Never maunre any land till every weed is exterminated, for weeds grow most, luxuriantly in the soil to which they are natural; if. any of them are left they will outgrow the piant you intend to cultivate, and take

up the greatest quantity of the manure laid on theland. — Morton's Nature and Property of Soils*

The Weevil. — Accident has discovered to a Frenchman a very simple mode of destroying weevils in corn warehouses. Happening to lay in a corner of a granary, in which there was a quantity x>f^eeftt^soH^^sbeepslans-with the fleece on, "he was not a little surprised to find them, a 1a 1 few days after, covered with dead weevils. He repeated the experiment several times, and' always with the same success. At last he ordered his corn to he stirred up, and not a single weevil" remained in it.

Bread. — We extract from a recently, published " Treatise on Food and Diet," by Dr. Pereira, the following directions for making amost delicious unfermented bread, equal in lightness to any bread prepared by tl|e fermented process: — flour, 1 lbl ; sesqui-carbbpatejpf soda, 40 grains ; cold water, half-a-pint, or as much as may be sufficient ; muriatic acid of the shops, 50 drops; powdered white sugar, a teaspoonful. Immediately mix- the sesqui-carbonate of sodaand the sugar with the flour in a large basin, with a wooden spoon ; then gradually add the water, with which the acid has been previously mixed, stirring constantly, so as tofornran intimate mixture very speedily ; divide into two' loaves, and put into a quick oven immediately. If any soda should escape the action of the acid,, it will cause a yellow spot ; which, however* is more unsightly than detrimental.

Scab in Sheep. — Amongst a variety of applications which have been employed for this disease the following will be found as efficacious as most of them, and extremely safe : — Take sulphur 1 lb., oil of tar £lb., palm oil' 21b. ; the two former ingredients to be gradually mixed, and the latter then rubbed down with them. Tobe well rubbed into every affected and suspected" part,' and repeated every three or four days, till? the disease disappears. With regard to prevention, all we can say is — avoid contagion and? poverty ; watch narrowly, and separate the diseased from the sound sheep as soon as the least itching is exhibited. — Agricultural Gazette.

T»e Sowing of "Wheat. — Cora, including' the grasses, when sown thin in good land, is found to " plant," that is, to throw out numerous sideshoots, whereas in poor land, however thinly sown, one, or at most, three or four* sideshoots only are produced ; hence the necessity of the apparently absurd practice of sowing a great deal more seed in poor than in rich land, and the advantage of getting the land into goodheart, whereby this waste of seed is obviated.

Home-made Guano.' — A Rathdowney co--respondent of the Irish Farmer's Gazette says, that, by spreading lightly the manure of his hen house over a piece of inferior grass-land, in May, it produced two heavy crops of grass. This shows the value of the advice, not only to* :have a poultry-house, but, in order to secure the" greatest advantage from it, to spread a layer^of hog-mould or earth under the roosts, by which the strength of the droppings will be retained.

Potatoes. — Of vegetable substances that change their qualities for better or worse, whentransplanted from colder to warmer, or fron* warmer to colder countries, none are more conspicuous than- the potato. The English potato,which produces mealy edible roots in the somewhat similar latitudes of Tasmania and New Zealand, and even in the elevated hill grounds bf some parts of New South Wales, becomes generally so tough and waxy in the less elevated : lands of the latter, as to be in a few generations nearly unfit for use. The way in which new varieties of potatoes are obtained is the same* as that for obtaining new varieties of apples, pears, grapes, &c, namely, by sowing of the seed, each ,of which produces a different variety, so that a • good edible variety, suitable to the climate", is eventually obtained. I have seen as fine edible potatoes grown in Chili, Peru, and Java, as any epicure could desire ; the former in a similai latitude to the southern portion of New Soutl Wales, and the two former in tropical latitudes; but these were the products of seed sown ii those climates, selecting, of course, the bes edible variety for future propagation, Should therefore, no Australian be disposed to raise variety suitable to the climate, by meaas *> seed-sowing, Chili or Peru have only to be ag plied to for a supply, as the Chilian potatoe would, no doubt, suit well the colder Austra lian localities, and the Peruvian the warmer.Cunningham's Hints to Australian Emigrants.