REGIMENTS FOR THE COLONIES.

Wellington Independent, Volume II, Issue 79, 15 July 1846, Page 3

REGIMENTS FOR THE COLONIES.

[From ths United Service Gazette.} Should ah extension of our niilitarv force be determined on, it appears to us that great advantage might be derived by replacing the five corps now serving in the Auitraliwi colonies by an equal uum

ber of garrison battalions, composed of men who have completed fourteen years service, and not exceeded eighteen. After having served tweniy ono years, and conducted themselves as good soldiers, we suggest that the men should be entitled to small grants of land, either collected or detached as might be deemed most eligible by the Government; but we are of opinion that the whole principle of this proposed scheme should be of a voluntary character. The advantages calculated to arise from this ar. rangement are— 1. Rendering five Regiments available for any general duty, and avoiding the present deteriorating Bystem of dislocating them, by sending them out in small detachments with convicts. 2. The prevention of contamination arising from their duty with convicts after . their arrival at their place of destination. 3. The benefit that would accrue to those coloniesfrom the circumstance of the soldiers and tbeir families becoming settlers at the expiration of their period of service. 4. Their possession of an eligible settlement and ample means of subsistence} instead of being compelled to return home in a comparative state of pauperism. 5. The advantage to the mother country, by bping relieved from the burden of supporting what, to a great extent, becomes a depe.idant popalation. In order to carry this measure into effjet, we would propose that one battalion, or even one company, be sent out, having the Head Quarters at either Chatham or Woolwich, and being under similar regulations to those of the Royal Canadian Rifle Regiment, taking care that the volunteers be of good character and sound constitution. Preference should be given to married men who hava been brought up as husbandmen or mechanics. Every branch of the service should be eligible, for by taking volunteers from the iafantry, cavalry, artillery, or marines, each could be employed with advantage for the defence and protection of the colony, the Ordnance corps and marines be'in? stationed in the neighbourhood of the coast and harbour. The commencement of the formation might ba by single companies, and when four were completed, they might be incorporated into a battalion ia the place in which they are destined to serve. In appointing officers, a selection should be mad of such as are disposed to remain in the colony after their period of service. It must be evident that the gradual dropping off of men who are well acquainted with the resource* of the country would prove of much more advantage to the colony than perfectly new comers, and. ihere can be no apprehension of volunteers to fill! their vacancies in those healthy climates. We throw out these hints for the consideration of the Government, and we anticipate that the good working of the measure would be so amply tested by the success of one battalion, as to ensure the formition of another, until the scheme proposed •hould have been completed. We should suggest that the first experiment might be tried in Van Diemen's Land with good prospect of «ucces».

The Potato Diskasb.—Lecture by Professor. Playfair.—On Wednesday night, a lee taieu being the first of a series of two, upon the all engraving subject of the potato*- decay,; *as delivered by Dr. Lyon Playfair. to the Rayai Agricultural Society of England, in the theatre of the Royal Institution, Albermarle-street. Many of the leading membersof the association were present, amongst them were the Duke of Richmond, Lord Portman, P Pussey. Esq., M.P. Lord Portman took the chair at nine o'clock precisely. After giving a brief history of the potatoe, and a sketch of its sracture and qualities, the professor proceeded to dascribe the prevalent disease. The character of the disease was to attack and destroy the cellular wall, which became, in the first stage, of a reddish colour, afterwards dark brown, and then black, until the cellular walls were destroyed, and the starch globules thus liberated from them, floated out and the whole became a mass of black putrid offensive matter. It therefore appeared that the disease so called was a disease of the cellular tissue of the potatoe. Hs conceived that this disease of the potatoe was chemical decay passing into putrifaction, and that tho cause of it was the imperfect formation of the cell*. If this were the case, it followed ef course that the disease was no new one, but coeval with the potatoe itself. The great prevalence of the disease was attributable to the remarkable sunless weather which had prevailed over the north of Europe, and it was to be remarked that in the souih of Europe it had not prevailed. With these views, believing them as he did, after the most careful reflection to be true he rejected as idle and groundless the notion of the degeneracy of the potato, and tbe idea of iti extinction. After describing the chemical difference be» tween putrefaction and decay, the professor proceeded to describe the means he recommended to preserve tbe roots yet healthy from the destructive influence of tbe disease. The three important principles to be observed were dryness, coldness, and absence of contact. He left it to the practical farmer to decide how these objects were to be obtained ; but he suggested the separation' of the potatoes on a dry floor, with a current of air running through the room—the sprinkling of burnt clay on them—or their being mixed with other dry matter, as sand or stones. He had not forgotten all the various means that had already been suggested for the cure of the disease—the chloride of lime, the chlorine, the steeping of potatoes in nitric acid, tae application of hydrochloric acid, and tbe like.* He had not forgotten these thinge, hut he knew that the application of gases and acids would not build up an imperfectly formed cellular tissue, and however efficacious all or some of these remedies might be, the nation must become a nation of chemists before they could be properly understood or applied. The practical result he had arrived at was, that ihe disease being constitutional weakness of the cellular tissue, or inability to resist th 3 oxygen of tbe air, which weakness was caused by tbe peculiarities of the weather, all the potatoes in the country were, practically speaking, diseased, and would decay, unless placed in circumstances calculated to retard it. Those circumstances he had endeavoured to indicate. Here the professor concluded his lecture by a few general remarks, urging upon all, as a moral duty incumbent upon tham, to use their utmost efforts to stay the progress of the calamity. The Duke of Richmond thea moved a vote of thanks to the lecturer from the Royal Agricultural Society,