much as possible dried in the shade. If quantities of this be put into a vat, or mash-tub, with boiling water, a very considerable quantity of strong and small beer may be procured, as well as spirits by distillation, which, on being put into casks, may be carried home, and laid up for use. What of the fine young heath is not used in this way, may either be secured on the spot, or carried home, to be given to cattle when fodder becomes either scarce or dear. With a sufficient stock of this article, the lean cattle on a farm may not only be supported, in the event of a severe winter or spring, but also those in good condition prevented from becoming otherwise. Heath intended for this purpose should, however, be carefully stacked up, and kept close; otherwise it becomes less valuable.

In the course of my experiments on trees, I have often been sur prised that the cultivation of the sugar-maple is not more encouraged in the interior and highlands of Scotland. In many parts of America, where the winters are cold, and neither the climate nor the soil better than in Scotland, the maple-tree thrives exceedingly. Indeed the soil in Scotland, in many places, seems admirably cal. culated for the introduction and culture of this highly valuable, and bardy, yet fast-growing tree.

The maple, which thrives best in hedge-rows, and in almost all soils and exposures, may be propagated either by seeds, or by slips. Notwithstanding its rapid growth, the maple is generally near 20 years before it is at its best. How

ever, often before it is half that age, very considerable quantities of juice are extracted from it. To procure which, bore a hole in the tree with a small augur, into which insert a spout, and put a trough, or some thing under it to receive the juice. Having collected this every night, and carried it to the large tub or vessel in or near the wood, prepared to receive it, after being strained, let it be boiled, which is the shortest, and perhaps the best way of obtaining the su gar.

The juice of the maple generally flows during four or five weeks. What comes from an or dinary tree may produce about 20lbs. of sugar, annually. Now, as an hundred trees, particularly if planted in what is termed the quincunx method, may be reared per acre, the sugar produced, though sold at 6d. per pound, will fetch nearly £50. in cash to the proprietor. I am of opinion, however, that in many places the produce would be considerably more.

But the profit of the maple.tree is not confined to sugar alone. It affords also a most agreeable molasses, and an excellent vinegar, while the sap that is suitable for these purposes is obtained after that, which affords the sugar, has ceased to flow; so that the manu. facture of these different products of the maple-tree, by succeeding, do not interfere with one another. Part of the molasses might either be made the basis of an excellent beer; or, by distillation, be converted into spirits; while the rest, with the refuse of the sugar, might be applied to the feeding of sheep, cattle, pigs, and the like, as well 3 F4

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as to a variety of other valuable purposes. If mixed with strong infusions of fine young heath, and given to them, not one of a thousand of the cattle in Scotland would die in a severe winter, or spring, that but too frequently do.

The maple-tree, fortunately, is not in the least hurt by tapping. On the contrary, the oftener it is tapped the better. A yearly discharge of sap from the tree, instead of hurting it, is found to im. prove its growth, and make it yield the more. This is proved by experience, as well as by the superior excellence of those trees which have been perforated in a thousand places by a small wood. pecker that feeds on the sap.

Nor is this all. From the sac. charine matter they contain, the leaves and twigs of the maple tree are calculated to afford food for cat. tle. In America, when they are beginning a farm, or when a sufficient stock of hay has not been laid up for the winter, cattle often live on the leaves and twigs of the maple. Hence, in more points of view than one, this species of wood seems worthy of attention and room; particularly in those distlicts where the breeding and rearing of cattle is the principal object.

Owing to the rugged nature of the ground, the want of roads, and of water-carriage, in many of the interior and highlands of Scotland, wood is often of no value at all. In the county of Banff, for instance, where I resided several years, I have seen trees sold at a shilling each, that in the vicinity of water-carriage, of a good road, or, even of a small village, would have brought ten times that sum;

and I have known trees, that is the vicinity of any tolerably large town, or village, would have been worth four or five pounds each, that scarcely brought as many shil. lings. The truth is, the difficulty of removing wood is such that, though fully grown, and of the very best quality, yet it is not worth the felling. Now, as there are thousands of acres of wood in si. tuations of this kind, in many dif. ferent parts of Scotland, might not such be burnt or otherwise destroyed, and maple planted in its stead? Being yearly bled, the maple would produce a considerable degree of nourishment both for man and beast; and, consequently, be an advantage to the country at large as well as to the landholders. Were there a want of hands in the country, there would be some excuse for neglecting improvements of this kind; but this is not the case; as there are many, in various parts, that know not what to do, nor where to look for employment. But it is not too late; and it is to be hoped that some. thing will be done for them, in the way of finding them employment. There is such a thing as being lost amidst the fervour of fanciful discoveries, and of being carried away by an imagination guided only by vanity; and there is such a thing, I know, as experimental trifling; yet I think I may venture to say, that if, along with the instructions of the Board of Agriculture, and the Highland Society, the cultiva. tion of the maple-tree, and the va rious uses to which fine young heath might be applied, were at tended to, many of the tracks of heath and glens in Scotland would

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soon lay aside their dreary aspect, and become, as it were, like the valley of Sharon.

Fishes of Surinam. [From the Narrative of Baron Albert Von Sack, Chamberlain to his Prussian Majesty.]

THE salt water fish that are caught on the coast of Guiana, are less delicate than those which are taken on the coasts of Europe, as the muddy water which the large rivers carry into the sea, extend more than thirty miles.

A maritime animal which frequents the coast and the rivers, is the manati, or sea-cow. This animal grows to the size of about fifteen feet in length, and is of a .bulky circumference; the head resembles that of a hog, but the muzzle is shorter; the nostrils are large, its eyes are very small; instead of ears, it has auditory holes; the mouth is large, and the gums are very hard, but without teeth; the tongue is short, as is also its neck; the body is covered with a dark gray very tough skin; on the breast are two paws like those of a sea turtle, with which the manati is said to support itself when feeding on marine plants, and holds likewise their young brood to their udder, which is placed on the chest.

Next to the manati is the gray munik, growing to the size of near three feet in length; it is much like the salmon in its shape, but has larger scales, and is thicker in the body; its flesh is white and delicate: there are plenty of them in the upper part of the large rivers in the colony.

The yellow back is often brought to market at Paramaribo, and attracts the attention of new comers, as this fish is of a saffron colour on the upper part, but the under is white; it grows sometimes near three feet long, and has a large head with two very long whiskers: the body is small in proportion, without scales, and the taste but indifferent.

The warapper is above a foot long, and a fish of good taste. In the rainy season it leaves its swampy retreats with the inundation, and gets into the flooded parts of the forest, where it becomes very fat, and is easily caught amongst the trees, when the water begins to subside.

The old wife is of the size of a perch, to which it bears a resemblance, and is of an excellent taste.

The lumpe is also much esteemed for its flavour. This fish is about a foot and a half long, has a very large head, and its body is marked with longitudinal black stripes. There are a number of wholesome fishes in the rivers of the colony, but they have nothing remarkable in their form, and their methods of living are entirely unknown.

The peri, however, deserves par ticular attention; it grows to the size of about two feet, and is of a flattish shape, with a large head, wide mouth below the head, and very sharp teeth: it has a fin on each side of the belly, a single fin on the back, and another at the end of the tail; the fish is covered with shining thin scales of a blueish colour; it lives in fresh water, is very rapacious, and its jaws are so strong that it will snap off the feet of the duck and other water.

fowls

fowls as they are swimming; it is even said that persons who have been bathing in the rivers, without knowing the nature of this fish, have had their toes, fingers, &c. bit off by them; but the Indians do not dread the peri, for they keep themselves in constant motion, whilst bathing, by which they frighten the fish off, and keep it at a distance.

The que quee is about ten inches long, with a large round-shaped head; the whole fish is covered with hard scales of moveable rings, sliding one over the other, like those in the tail of a craw-fish; the colour is of a brownish grey, and the fish is said to taste well.

The fish called the four-eyed fish, is near a foot long, covered with a brown skin; the head has some resemblance to that of a frog. This fish is found in creeks and thought by many to have really four eyes; but when minutely observed, it is clear that it has only two eyes, but under each is an addition like a part of an eye, which most likely serves this animal as a kind of reflecting mirror, by which it can observe what passes under the water, and thus avoid any unexpected attack, as it generally swims with the head considerably clevated out of the water. It is a very lively fish, and pursues with great vivacity those insects that swim on the surface.

Uses of Insects in Tropical Cli

mutes. [From the same.]

A great number of different species of insects in the Tropics, are in Europe often considered as the worst plague of this country: and

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yet upon mature consideration, it will be found that they are highly beneficial in the order of nature to the country where they exist. The many decayed trees here would encumber the ground, if it was not for the vast numbers of ants which take immediate possession of them, and in destroying the fibres, soon reduce them to the state of fine garden mould; an uncivilized Indian, unacquainted with the danger arising from foul and stag. nant air, would fix his habitation on or near marshy grounds without any thought, were he not driven from thence by the clouds of musquitoes; and should he be determined not to quit this place, he is under the necessity of having a large fire all night, to keep his habitation clear of those insects, and at the same time the smoke expels a great deal of the damp air, without his knowing the be nefit which he derives from it. To destroy these innumerable swarms of insects, surpasses all human strength and ingenuity; and even an Hercules must submit to their attacks; but in proportion as human society shall be extended and cultivation proceed, this evil will also diminish; and if a house be erected in a healthy situation, and properly constructed, the insects will give very little trouble; but the house where I live, though it is in a pleasant spot, is not well built, it being, like most other houses in this place, without a cellar, and stands only on brick pillars about two feet high: the consequence of which is that it affords 2 harbour to many sorts of insects, which in a rainy day, retreathither from the surrounding trees. For this reason, I keep a piece of mat