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which they afford, than in order to prevent the destruction of Salmon by those voracious animals; whose devastations are thoroughly known to the Scotch, as well as to the English, Salmon Fishers. If the Society can institute a Premium which will tend to prevent the destruction of this most valuable fish, during the spawning season, by porpoises in human shape, by whom myriads are annually destroyed in embryo, they will be doing a still greater good to their country.

The papers published in this volume, under the class AGRICULTURE, are as follows:

On Planting Larch, by John Sneyd, Esq. of Belmont, in Staffordshire.

On the Plantations of Longleat, by Mr. Davis, Steward to the Marquis of Bath.

On Planting Oziers, by John Phillips, Esq. of Ely.

On the Cultivation of Wheat, by Mr. Henry Harper, of Bank-Hall, Kirkdale, Lancashire.

On the same, by Mr. Joseph Webster, of Bankside, near Doncaster.

On the Culture of Turneps, by Mr. John Exter, of Pilton, in Devonshire.

On the Culture of Potatoes, by Mr. Henry Harper.

On the Culture of Rhubarb, by Mr. Thomas Jones, of FishStreet-Hill, and Enfield.

On the Improvement of Waste Land, by John Peart, Esq. of Settle, Yorkshire.

The Class CHEMISTRY contains only three papers, all of which relate to AGRICULTURE: namely,

On Preserving the Seeds of Plants, by John Sneyd, Esq. On converting Weeds, &c. into Manure, by Mr. Browne, of Derby.

On the Culture of Poppies, by A. W. Devis, Esq.

The paper on Rhubarb, by Mr. Jones, is entitled to particular mention; equally on account of the matter which it contains, and of the manner in which it is conveyed.

Mr. Harper's papers are also interesting. Mr. H. is evidently a practical man, and seems to have no pre-conceived theory of his own; though he may be sometimes warped by the fashion of the day, or by the interested views of others. His experiments in a field which had been a meadow for thirty years cannot, however, be of general use; for there is little land of that description, to be broken up for beans and wheat. Mr. H's paper on Potatoes is valuable.

Mr. Phillips's Dissertation on the Ozier is deserving of particular notice. It contains much information respecting the

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varieties

varieties of this most valuable of the salix tribe, as well as oft their cultivation.

Mr. Sueyd's Letter on preserving Seeds, in a state fit for vegetation, conveys a hint which, we believe, is new; and we think that it may be of use in importing seeds from distant countries. We therefore copy it:

Many years ago, having observed some seeds which had got acci. dentally amongst raisins, and that they were such as are generally attended with difficulty to raise in England, after coming in the usual way from abroad, I sowed them in pots, within a framing; and as all of them grew, I commissioned my sons, who were then abroad, to pack up all sorts of seeds they could procure in absorbent paper, and send some of them surrounded by raisins, and others by brown moist sugar; concluding that the former seeds had been preserved by a peculiarly favourable state of moisture thus afforded them. It occurred, likewise, that as many of our common seeds, such as clover, charlock, &c. would lie dormant for ages within the earth, well preserved for vegetation whenever they might happen to be thrown to the surface, and exposed to the atmosphere, so these foreign seeds might be equally preserved, for many months at least, by the kindly covering and genial moisture that either raisins or sugar afforded them: and this conjecture was really fulfilled, as not one in twenty of them failed to vegetate, when those of the same kinds, that I ordered to be sent lapped in common parcels, and forwarded with them, would not grow at all. I observed, upon examining them all before they were committed to the earth, that there was a prevailing dryness in the latter, and that the former looked fresh and healthy, and were not in the least infested by insects, as was the case with the others. It has been tried repeatedly to convey seeds (of many plants difficult to raise) closed up in bottles, but without suc cess; some greater proportion of air, as well as a proper state of moisture, perhaps, being necessary. I should also observe, for the satisfaction of the Society, that no difference was made in the package of the Seeds, respecting their being kept in husks, pods, &c. so as to give those in raisins or sugar any advantage over the others, all being sent equally guarded by their natural teguments. Whether any experiments of this nature have been made by others, I am totally ig norant; but I think that, should this mode of conveyance he purs so far sued still more satisfactorily than I have done, very considerable adMars..vantages might result from it."

On the POLITE ARTS.

Under this head, we find only one paper: but it is an ingenious communication, for which the Society voted to the author, Mr. Timothy Sheldrake, their Greater Silver Pallet. It is entitled, a Dissertation on Painting in Oil, in a manner similar to that which was practised in the antient Venetian school. The artist should peruse the whole of this Dissertation; to the general reader, it would be unintelligible.

The

The Papers in MECHANICS are

1st, An account of a newly invented Mangle for Linen, by Mr. Jee, with plates. Rewarded with the silver medal.

2d,

of an improved and detached Escapement for Watches, (with plates,) by Mr. John Prior. Rewarded with 30 guineas,

3d, of a new machine for Drawing Bolts in and out of Ships, by Captain William Boiton, illustrated by a plate. Rewarded with the gold medal. This seems to be a very useful machine.

The Papers in COLONIES and TRADE are two.

The first is a communication from Mr. Alexander Anderson, relative to the culture of various useful Plants in the Botanic Garden in the Island of St. Vincent, established about 30 years ago, by General Melville. Rewarded by the Society's silver medal, In this paper is an account of the Artocarpus incisus, or Otaheite Bread-Fruit, which our readers may not be displeased to peruse.

In June 1793, of the original plants fifty were reserved in the garden, to yield future supplies for the different islands; of those, few were two feet high, or half an inch diameter in the stem; most of them from six inches to a foot in height. In October 1794 some began to produce fruit; in March following all of them. At present, most of the trees are about thirty feet high; the stem two feet from the ground, from three to three feet and a half in circumference.

The fruit comes out in succession the greater part of the year; from November till March fewer than at any other time. But as there are six varieties of the tree and fruit in the garden, some kinds are loaded, whilst there is scarcely any fruit on the others; so that some one of them is always in fruit. The number one tree produces is very great, often in clusters of five or six, bending the lower branches to the ground. According to the different varieties, the fruit is of various shapes and sizes, in weight from four to ten pounds, some smooth skinned, others rough or tuberculated; taken from the tree before maturity, the juice is of the colour and consistence of milk, and in taste something similar. It issues for more than ten minutes in a continued stream, and thickens into a glutinous or adhesive substance.

• The fruit is in the greatest perfection about a week before they begin to ripen at that period it is easily known, from the skin changing to a brownish cast, and from small granulations of the juice. When ripe it is soft and yellow, in smell and taste like a very ripe melon: in that state, hogs, dogs, and poultry, are fond of it. When half grown, boiled, it is good food for hogs and poultry. For bread, the best mode of dressing, is baking it entire in an oven as bread; when properly done, and laying aside prejudices, with a little custom, it is equal to, if not better than any kind of bread, as it is lighter and very easy of digestion. Boiled, like yams, it is very E 3

good,

good, and by many preferred to being baked. Negroes either eat it in that condition, or cut it in half, and roast it in the ashes. It may be sliced the same as bread, and toasted on a gridiron. For a pudding, scarcely any thing equals it. After baking or boiling, formed into a mass like dough, and then baked as biscuit, it is nearly the same as biscuit, and will keep as long.

From the first appearance of the fruit (when of the size of an egg), it is three months before they are full, or fit for eating. Having no formation of seeds, the tree produces its progeny by suckers from its roots, at the time it begins to yield its fruit; and a large young family arises, at the distance of three to thirty feet from the parent stem. For two years past, several hundreds of them have been transported to the different islands.

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Independent of its utility, the tree is one of the handsomest, and for ornament would be anxiously sought after in any country. It is hardy, a tough wood, and resists the severest gusts of wind.

Besides the Otaheitan, Captain Bligh brought from Timor some plants of the East-India Bread-Fruit, two of which he left in the garden. Although the fruit is esculent, yet it is far inferior to the other, and a bad substitute. It is ill-shaped, and of a soft pulpy substance; it has no seeds, but propagates itself as the former does.

The seed-bearing kind, in its external habit, is hardly to be discriminated from the true, yet in fruit differs very much from it, containing no esculent substance but its seeds, in number from forty to eighty, and sometimes one hundred; in appearance like chesnuts when roasted or boiled, they are preferred, by many people, to Bread-Fruit. Negroes are very fond of them.

The fruit is nearly the size of the Bread-Fruit, and is covered with prickles like a hedge-hog. As the seeds readily vegetate, Nature has no occasion for the pushing up plants from the roots, as in the Bread-Fruit. Previous to the arrival of the Providence, a young plant of it was sent to the Garden from Martinico for the true BreadFruit. It grows as fast, and gives fruit as soon, but rises to a larger and stronger tree. In the French islands it is known by the name Chataignier du Malabar.'

We find also in this paper a description of the Laurus Cinnamomum, or Cinnamon, three kinds, and of the Caryophyllus Aromaticus, or Clove.

The other paper contains a communication from Mr. Sievers, of Bauenhoff in Livonia, stating the manner of Rearing and Treating Silk-Worms in the northern parts of Europe.

It

This amusing communication, which relates to other matters than its title expresses, describes the manner of rearing and treating silk-worms, and of cultivating mulberry-trees, in the 58th degree of latitude, and to the cast beyond the Baltic. then proceeds to some general inferences; as that the white mulberry-tree is the only one which will duce good silk;that the white mulberry tree will thrive in England, and even in Scotland as far as Edinburgh, as a middling standard tree :—

that

that the seeds should be sown in plain but light garden land, rather somewhat sandy, without dung;-that the raising of silk-worms should be conducted with excessive cleanliness; that no sun-shine, but only a temperate and broken light, should come on them;-that the heat of the room should be between 12 and 15° of Reaumur;-that the rearing of these worms may be conducted by the aged, and by children;-and that mullberry-trees would grow on Hounslow Heath, and on Finchley Common.

The remainder of the volume is occupied, as usual, with an account of the premiums distributed and presents received Sofar by the Society, and an alphabetical list of the members.

ART. XII. A general View of the Agriculture of the County of Lincoln; drawn up for the Consideration of the Board of Agriculture and internal Improvement. By the Secretary to the Board. 8vo. PP. 456. 98. sewed. Nicol. 1799.

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VEN into the fens of Lincolnshire we have no objection to accompany Mr. Arthur Young; who, to a clear judgment, unites great perseverance, and treats even dry subjects in a manner which renders them interesting. Such a writer, coming with a degree of public authority to explore a country, is entitled to the most polite reception; and we record with pleasure the satisfaction expressed by the Secretary to the Board of Agriculture, on this subject. He seizes with eagerness (as he observes in the Introduction) every opportunity of declaring that it was not possible to meet with a more liberal spirit of communication, than he experienced in the county of Lincoln; not confined to the nobility and gentry of fortune, from whom it might be expected of course, but from every class of the people: the clergy, farmers, graziers, and equally the inhabitants of towns; all were desirous to contribute whatever information was in their power; the numerous breeders of sheep and cattle were emulous in shewing their stock without reserve mystery, and explaining their motives and reasons for adopting or adhering to this or that breed, with an openness and candour which will for ever give me a very high idea of the merit of that respectable class.',

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This testimony is not only much to the credit of the inhabitants of the county of Lincoln, but it tends to stamp a value on the work, as containing a mass of information on which we may depend. The President of the Royal Society is entitled to particular notice, for the assistance which he afforded to the author in collecting materials: but indeed we never heard of a private individual in any part of the world, who was so con

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stang

Mo..y. See p.57.

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