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Otago Daily Times, Issue 260, 20 October 1862, Page 6

Tiib AttiANCE between Aoiucclturk anj> CnEMiSTitr.—To keep up the fertility oFhis fields, the cultivator cf the w>H has to. make himself acquainted with its general composition, as well as with the nature both of the particular substances wliich he lsxinnually extracting from it, aud of those with which lie must supply the, loss. For each of these purposes the bid of chemistry becomes indispensable to the farmer. Davy's exceiieut work on agricultural chemistry first called the attention of the' ihoro intelligent British farmers to the value of chemistry in the improvement of their nrfc, but it is only'withia the last 20 years that the attention of agricultttralHs has been generally directe'l to the subject, rnbre particularly by the works of Liebig and Boussintfault. Tlie nature of manures once clearly defined, almost every • agricultural improvement at which practice had amved by slow degrees, receives a satisfactory expla- : nation, -whilst a variety of improvod applications I necessarily suggested themselves. The principles of : fallowing and of the rotation of crops, and the Jheory ofspil-burningr/ are no longer mysteries;- the action of lime, of wood ashes, and of bones is now perfectly ; intelligible.. In tliis country too high a value cannot be setupoh/the discovery of hew sources 'of material convertible 1 by the farmer into human food. Chemistry has pub us in possession of the excreted wealth which centuries had accdmnlated in the Wands of the Pacific, and if the means which it has' suggested for preventing the enormous waste of valuable matter perpetually and irrevocably swept away bythe Thames and others of our lHrge rivers, have not as yet been perfectly successful, it lias enabled us to substitute for natural manure, products for the components of which the refuse of even' trade and-manufacture is i now carefully sifted. Perhaps there is no more striking illustration of the value of the aid which aericulture has derived from her new . ally, than the success which of late hss attended the search for jnmeral manures. This search, directed by the philosophical interpretation of *few isolated facts has been rewarded by the discovery of considerable quantities of phospTiate of lirae in various parts of England, thus realizing the "prophetic anticipation of Mebis, that" m the remains of an -extinct animalworld England is to find the means of increasing' her wealth in agricultural "produce; as slie* has already found fche'ffreat support bf her manufacturing industry in fossil fuel, the preserved matter ""ot primeval forests, Hhe remaifls of a' y«2«kble 'mav\i:'—J>r. Boffmann. r ._*,,! ' *WiOT asd Tobacco in the Aißtrair Dibteict.— Saturday's Border Peat saps :-r-Jhe steam: plough is bardat work upon;soiae of our rich'plains, trenching land for vlne^,,and if the area of vineyards here does not teach IWHKacjres $is year, it willno^/all very &r short bf it ' The p^Daration of land fbr vines absorbs a great deaT more capital.than cotton growing, but in addition to the extension of old vineyards, we hear of many new plantations being made, ranging from fi\« _tq thirty acres.. We; too. have our public companu s on each side of the river, formed for the purpose of extending the cultivflfcfon of our favorite staple. Our axe begiouing to feel tbeir way to the Melbourne market, ana the result *of. triat^oonami. even -• WSS^2teSISM^'VW t^ cheap wines ot tne .aunter, south Aiiatralia, ajid Geelonjrf! • > *W&fr nf? e B°"*inj^*a^allon is apt so fiifeh a price as i«s?^ Kf' is aflcrure shayrhave.l'a^en. |p3y§ v^^^nOT'onr3^rj£ai3sv. Of %*fjT©^ to.know^t^at local eont^n^p^elfi^i^u|«s,^and buy^upfthet walk of what tolS o^^*^*^ WA jgtdde A. g£^'}%d&mi{ j^wfv» &&*s£idi %pjssi£ '. ""'," 11