MONTHLY BULLETIN OF Cjje Mmitii ^Mts ^gritiiliural ^octeig. Vol. I.] WASHINGTON, JUNE, 1858. [No. 5. The Royal Agrioultcral Society of England was suggested in a pamphlet published in 1837 by the late Henry Handley, M. P., a fine specimen of a Lincolnshire squire — a good sportsman, an excellent judge of stock, and cultivating his own estate with more intelligence and success than was usual at that time among his class. The first annual encampment of the Society took place at Oxford in 1839, and its first Journal was published in 1840 under the admirable editorship of the lale Philip Pusey, a lively and forcible writer, and a most zealous farmer, who to the day of his death in 1854 devoted his time, his talents, and his fortune to promoting the improvement and recording the progress of his favorite science. He was an example of that delightful combination of scholarship and practical energy which is so common in England, and he exercised the double influence of an accomplished gentle- man and an enlightened agriculturist. In every institution which meets with distinguished success results are always produced which were not anticipated by its originators. Thus it happened that, when the Agricul- tural Society was founded, not one of the promoters foresaw the importance of the mechani- cal department. In the ten sections of the charter of incorporation defining the objects of the association, "implements" are only incidentally referred to as one of the subjects to which men of science were to be encouraged to pay attention, in a miscellaneous paragraph, which includes "the construction of farm-buildings, the application of chemistry to the general purposes of agriculture, the destruction of insects injurious to vegetable life, and the eradication of weeds." At Oxford a few manufacturers saw an opening for obtaining customers, and found their way to the show-yard in spite of the difficulties from the want of that cheap conveyance which is now common to the whole kingdom. One gold medal for a collection of implements, three silver medals, and five pounds for a "paddle-plough for . raising potatoes," were all the rewards distributed in 1839 for what was destined to be the most attractive, as well as the most useful, feature of the Society's exhibitions. After the Cambridge meeting in 1840 the importance of the implements was acknowledged; and the number displayed, beginning with some 3S0 at Liverpool in 1841, increased at the rate of about 100 on every succeeding year, until in 1853, at Gloucester, they reached their highest point in a total of 2,000. The riso or fall of a few hundreds chiefly depends upon the im- portance and railway facilities of the town where the show is held, and the number of arti- cles exhibited is less a test of the progress of mechanical invention than of the sales which are likely to be effected in any particular district. The annual show is only one of the nu- merous modes in which the makers advertise and display their productions. The true prize to the manufacturer is plenty of custom. For several years past all the English railway companies have agreed to convey live stock free, and implements at half their usual charges, to and from the shows of the Royal Agri- cultural Society, the railway company at the towns where they are held generally providing accommodation for the mechanical compartment. This at Chelmsford cost the Eastern Counties road upwards of $15,000. Railway fares and pace could alone bring the number of shilling-paying strangers who contribute to the enormous expense of these exhibitions. The population of the city of Salisbury, including men, women, and children, only amounts to 10,000, but the visitors to the show-yard in 1SS7 were over 35,000. This is of itself a striking proof of the wide and eager practical interest which is felt in agriculture, for there is little to gratify the eye of mere holiday gazers; and when in addition we consider the mountains of coal, iron, timber, artificial manure, lime, and chalk, conveyed in the one di- rection, and the quantity of live stock and corn in the other, we cannot help coming to the conclusion that the locomotive has been the great cultivator of the farmer's mind and the farmer's land — the great agent for the extraordinary advance which British agriculture has achieved in the last quarter of a century. The Royal Agricultural Society, with its council of peers, squires, tenants, and implement- makers — its professors of chemistry, botany, and veterinary art — its thousands of subscri- bers, spread over every county of England — its Journal of transactions and reports — and, above all, its annual encampments in the centres of successive districts — has done for farm- 34 Bulletin for June^ 1858, of ing what the great fairs of the middle ages did for commerce — concentrated and diffused knowledge, brought customers and producers into contact, and helped to extinguish preju- dices in the excitement of social gatherings. They have carried to provincial cities the best live stock, the best implements, and the best cultivators. The influence of example, of com- petition, and even of rank and fashion, has been brought to bear on local obstinacy. Squires have been encouraged to improve their estates by the speeches of even greater men than themselves, and young noblemen, in want of an object, have found it in agricultural duties. Implement-m'akers have had the advantage of the suggestions of their customers, and, thus taught and teaching at the same time, have every year become more dependent on tenant and less on fancy farmers. Men who went to Shows stanch champions of the flail have been vanquished by the mere sight of a steam-engine driving barn-machinery: as an old Homeric Greek, if he could revisit earth, would instantly recognise the inferiority of stones hurled by the hand to the iron balls projected from the cannon's mouth. The great- est landlords, wandering unknown in the show-yards, have had opportunities of learning wholesome truths from the tenants of other landlords. Self-satisfied ignorance is abashed, and triumphant skill finds at once a large and eager audience. These agricultural exhibi- tions are, in fact, the Woburn and Holkham sheep-shearings, made national and expanded to the dimensions of an age of steam-driven threshing-machines. When the Royal Society started into life there were about four hundred local societies in existence, but they were rather associations for the promotion of eating and drinking than for the promotion of the arts by which the materials for eating and drinking are increased. The speeches were usu- ally complimentary, and the members congratulated one another upon the pre-eminence to which their own enlightened district had attained. They were, in a Word, societies for maintaining local darkness instead of for the acquisition of fresh light from enlarged expe- rience.— \_London Quarterly IlevieiL\~\ The Evil Results of Overfeeding Cattle. — This is the title of a pamphlet recently published in London, written by Mr. F. J. Gant, Surgeon and Pathologist to the Royal Free Hospital, to show that the fat of animals, when produced in excess,. is a disease. Mr. Gant, upon going one day to inspect the prize cattle at the London exhibition, and upon consider- ing their enormous size and weight, attained in so short a period of growth, had at once strong misgivings upon the subject; he '-naturally indulged in a physiological reflection on the high-pressure work against time which certain vital internal organs, as the stomach, loins, heart, and lungs, must have undergone at a very early age;" and he afterwards fol- lowed up the most remarkable of these puffed-up, panting creatures to the slaughter-house, where he obtained possession of their internal organs and portions of their muscular fibre for anatomical examination. The result was to prove that disease, in almost every case, had been brought on by over-feeding; that of most frequent occurrence being the conver- sion of the heart into fat, so as materially to impede its functions, having lost its contractile and propelling power. Disease of the lungs followed in many cases as a matter of course, and even the intestines were sometimes found loaded with a fatty-like mass, consisting "apparently of scrofulous matter." To sum up a very important statement, he tells us — " We should therefore expect in vain to replenish our own muscles by the use of such food, nor should animals thus overfed be regarded as prize specimens of rearing and feed- ing. The heart, being converted into fat, no longer retains its contractile power, but beats feebly and irregularly. The blood, therefore, now moves onward in a slow and feeble cur- rent. Hence the panting breathlessness due to stagnation of blood in the lungs, which the heart labors (in vain) to remove, while the skin and extremities are cold. Hence the stupid, heavy-headed expression of a congested brain, and the blood-stained appearance of meat after death. The slightest exertion to an animal under such circumstp.nces might suddenly prove fatal. Were a man in this condition to present himself at an assurance- office it would refuse to insure his life at any premium. Yet, under similar circumstances, a sheep is awarded gold and silver medals, and its feeder a prize of £20 ! Sales of Short-horned Cattle. — The fourth annual sale of short-horn cattle at Wood- bern Farm, by R. A. Alexander, esq., took place on the 2nd of June. Forty-eight head, the most of them young cattle, wei-e sold for the aggregate sum of $11,755. John R. Bryan, esq., of Kentucky, paid $565 for Naman, a two year old bull, and Samuel Thorne, esq., of New York, paid $500 for Fenella, an imported cow. The prices ranged from these down to $95 for a ten months' old bull calf, and .$90 for a nine months' old heifer calf. Cashmere Goats in Ohio. — We learn from the Scioto Gazette that the flock of Cashmere or Angbra goats sent to that county by Hon. John P. Brown, of Constantinople, have been increased by the addition of four kids, whicli were dropped this spring. All the flock are doing well so far. The U. S. Agricultural Society. 35 New York State Ar.RictiLTURAL Oollkge. — The Trustees have adopted a plan of a col- lege building, a portion of which will be erected and enclosed before the first day of Decem- ber next, and finished ready for occupancy before the first of April, 1859. The college farm consists of 686 acres, 500 of it under cultivation and in fine condition for farming, being free from stumps and roots ; it is bounded on the west by Seneca lake, and on the east liy the corporate limit of (-)rid. This village is beautifully situated on the summit between the Seneca and Cayuga lakes, on the stage-road, 20 miles from Seneca and 26 miles from Ithaca. '' The college farm rises from the west to the east line 550 feet, a gradual rise, an inclined plain, with a great variety of soil. It is doubtful whether there could be found in the State a farm better adapted for the purposes of an experimental farm. On this farm there is low land and high, medium, and land receiving the lake breezes, protected from the frost by the lake; and high land to receive the eastern as well as the western sun. The great variety of soil, the varied altitude of the fiirm, gives a fine opportunity of having experimental fields, of the various altitudes, which will exhibit lots to compare with lots upon any farmer's farm high or low, as a clue to the best method of farming in his various fields. And this is as it should be, as this farm is for the benefit, and hoped to be for the instruction alike of all the farmers of the State who visit it, as tens of thousands will. " The farm is 2^ miles long, from east to west, and half to five-eigths of a mile wide, just the shape for a State farm ; and when the avenue is laid out, east and west, through the farm, and made a pattern or model road, the lots north aud south all to join this avenue, the buildings of all descriptions for the use of the farm to be erected on this avenue, it will be seen at once that all the teaming for the whole farm would be upon this road, and that every lot on the farm would be easy of access and convenient to the farm buildings. " An all important article — water — will be had in every lot or field on the whole farm, and there is an abundance of water, and where it should be, to irrigate every lot on the farm." The Massachusetts School of Agriculture, of which Hon. Marshall P. Wilder is Presi- dent, has made an appeal for funds. "The trustees will not attempt to provide any estab- lishment, or make any expenditures, until sufficient means are obtained to purchase suitable land, and provide everything recjuisite to carry on a farm, garden, and school, in the way best calculated to fulfil the purposes of the act of incorporation." The Trustees are M. P. Wilder, B. V. French, G. W. Lyman, R. S. Fay, S. Hooper, J. S. Cabot, and C. 0. Whittemore. The Royal Agricultural Society of England held its annual general meeting on Sat- urday, the 22d of May, at its rooms. No. 12 Hanover square, London. The Duke of Marl- borough was unanimously elected President. The report, after stating the arrangements for the forthcoming exhibition at Chester, announced that the exhibition for 1859 would be held at Warwick, and that, if circumstances were favorable, an exhibition would be held at Lon- don after 1860. Cotton and Wool. — Mr. H. Ashworth read an elaborate paper ut a recent meeting of the British Society of Arts, in which he said : " It must be well known that our manufacturing industry is not sustained upon British products alone, — that its first element, raw material, in every branch, is chiefly supplied from abroad. The returns have shown that that manu- facture, which, more than any other, contributes to our national commerce, is cotton ; an article which is indispensable to sustain the existence of that large fabric of property and industry ivhich is essentially its own, and almost in an equal degree to that of its kindred manufacture — wool." Bray's Traction Engine. — The " Illustrated London News " of May 29th, contains an engraving of an improved Traction engine, invented by Mr. Bray, of Folkestone, which is said to possess advantages over all others now in use for its simplicity and utility. The wheels of traction-engines adapted for ploughing have not had sufiicient hold upon the ground when constructed in the ordinary manner. By Mr. Bray's improvement, the driving- wheels are constructed with teeth or blades, which enter the ground, and obtain a firm hold. The teeth are made to slide or move in and out by an eccentric motion, so that they clean themselves of the soil and are again ready to enter the ground, the smooth surface of the wheels being also cleaned by scrapers. The eccentric is capable of adjustment, so that the projection of the teeth may be varied, and thus the wheels may at pleasure be made to act like ordinary wheels, and thus run on highways. With one of these engines of eight- horse power, weighing six tons, six acres of a light, loamy soil, (rather wet,) were ploughed by a frame of three ploughs in ten hours. The fuel cost one English shilling an hour, and it required two men to steer and to manage the engine, and one ploughman. A load of ten tons was drawn up Dover hill, a gradient varying from 1 in 7 to 1 in 11, and brought down again with equal ease. 36 Bulletin for June, 1858, of Congressional Legislation upon Agricultural Matters. — Tht Senate took no action upon the " Morrill Land Bill," which had been passed in the House of Representatives. Senator Stuart, from the Committee on Public Lands, asked that the committee be dis- charged from the further consideration of a bill to enable the Columbian College, in the Dis- trict of Columbia, to found and establish a i)rofessorship of agriculture and mechanical science. The House Committee of Ways and Means recommended an appropriation of $60,000 "for the collection of agricultural statistics, investigations for promoting agriculture and rural economy, and the procurement and distribution of cuttings and seeds." This appropriation, after a warm debate, was carried. The Senate, when it reached that body, decided after debate to reduce it to $20,000. The House adhered to the sum which it had originally voted, and that sum ($60,000) was finally agreed to by a committee of conference. Motions to print the Report of the Commissioner of Patents, on agriculture, were re- ferred to the Committees on Printing, and in accordance with their recommendations, the Senate ordered 31,420 copies, (of which 5,000 are for the Patent OflBce,) and the House 211,530 copies, (of which 10,000 are for the Patent Office,) making 242,950 copies in all : " Provided, that the aggregate number of pages contained in said report shall not exceed five hundred and sixty-eight, including ten pages of illustrations on wood: And provided further, That the entire amount of copy necessary to complete said report, be placed in the hands of the Superintendent of Public Printing on or before the 31st day of August next." A sketch of the contents of this Report will be found on another page of this Bulletin. A desire to economise the expense of publication led the Committees on Engraving to reject a portrait of an English dray-horse, which it w"as proposed to have printed iu colors, at a cost of 4 cents per copy. The Chairman of the House Committee on Agriculture addressed a letter to the Commis- sioner of Patents, requesting information on the management of the Agricultural Bureau. Commissioner Holt replied at length, reviewing criticisms which have been made by agri- cultural periodicals and societies. It has been stated that persons have been sent out to Europe annually, at the public expense, to gather seeds ; that the seeds gathered, in many in- stances, were such as are already in successful cultivation, and that, when procured, they have not been properly distributed, with a view to the climate and soil adapted to their growth. Commissioner Holt, in answer to these charges, says that persons have not been sent out annually by the Patent Ofiice. The only instances in which expenses have been incurred in this manner were in 1854-'55, when Mr. Browne was sent to Europe, for the purpose of ob- taining information on agricultural subjects, and for making arrangements to procure in future seeds, cuttings, &c., from the most reliable sources, and upon the most advantageous terms, not only in Britain, but on the continent, as well as from other parts of the globe. In 1857 Mr. Claiborne was sent to collect and report information in relation to the consump- tion of cotton. The collections of seeds, cuttings, &c., were made with discrimination, and with reference to their adaptation to our wants and economy. Large portions of these se- lections have been successfully cultivated in various parts of the United States, increasing the products of the farms and gardens, and enhancing the comforts, luxuries, and wealth of the people. In consequence of this, a new field of enterprise has been created, more than two hundred seed-stores established in the interior, and the demands for approved seeds of various kinds, foreign and domestic, have been fully doubled within the last four years. The Commissioner thinks that these seeds, &c., should be distributed, when practicable, throughout the country in larger quantities than has been the case heretofore, and to com- petent and responsible parties, such as agricultural societies, county clerks, seed growers, nurserymen, &c., the most appropriate agencies, he conceives, for the execution of the im- plied trust. Commissioner Holt pays a high tribute to the scientific attainments of Mr. Browne, and gives a sketch of that gentleman's life, to show that his knowledge of agricul- ture is the result of actual experience on farms or plantations. It is sho^n that Mr. Browne has gained his information as a scientific explorer in nearly all parts of the world, as a rail- way and canal engineer, as a chemist working in his laboratory, as an author in his study, and as an editor in his sanctum, ever having at heart the advancement of American Agri- culture. The Sixth Annual Exhibition of the United States Agricultural Society will be held at Richmond, Virginia, by invitation from and in connexion with the Virginia Central Agricul- tural Society. This number of the Bulletin has been kept back in the hope of giving in it the premium list, which will be on a liberal scale, but it will be impossible to have it per- fected until the July number. The grounds are beautifully located on the outskirts of the city, and there is every reason to anticipate a large and interesting exhibition. The facili- ties for reaching Richmond, by land or by water, from all sections of the Union, are unsur- passed, and the citizens are zealously co-operating with the officers of the Exhibition. Ex- hibitors of Agricultural Machinery and Implements are requested to make early application for Fpace and for steam-power, if desired. The U. S. Agricultural Society. 37 Agricultural Operations of the Patent Office. — The Report for 1857, (which will be ready for distribution before the re-assembling of Congress,) will be a valuable work. It will contain original articles on : The Progress and Public encouragement of Agriculture in Russia, Prussia, and the United States, giving the history, progress, and objects of the Agricultural Schools and Societies of these countries respectively, with the amount of mo- neys appropriated for their support and for other agricultural purposes; — On the English Dray Horse; — On Asiatic Goats, by R. Peters, esq., of Georgia; — On the adaptation of the mountain regions of the South to Sheep Husbandry, by Geo. C. Patterson, of Tennessee ; — On the history, geographical distribution, organization, food, and habits of the Llama and Alpaca, and their probable adaptation to certain regions of the United States; — On the quad- rupeds of niinois, by Robert Kennicut, of Illinois ; — On the habits of the Honey Bee, illus- trated by engravings made from photograph of the interior of the hive; — Investigations on the insects and diseases aflecting the Cotton Plant, by Townend Glover; — History, Com- merce, Sources, JIanufacture, and Economical Value of Salt consumed in and exported from the United States ; by William C. Denis, of Florida ; — Researches on Indian Corn ; — Investigation of the sugar-bearing capacity of the Chinese sugar-cane, by Prof. J. Lawrence Smith, of Kentucky ; — Chemical Researches on the Chinese and African sugar-canes, by Dr. Charles T. Jackson, of Massachusetts ; — On the practicability of the Tea Culture in tlie Uni- ted States ; — On the culture and packing of Northern Fruits for the English market ; — Mono- graph of American grape-vines, by Major John Le Conte, of Pennsylvania; — Grai>e Culture in Missouri, by Prof. G. C. Swallow, of Missouri; — Cotton Manufixctures of the United States; — On the Statistics of the consumption of cotton in Europe, by John Claiborne, of Tennessee ; — Early Agricultural History of Illinois, by John Reynolds ; — A paper on the comparative area of the forest and prairie lands of the United States, with a view of show- ing the influence of the forests on the increase or diminution of the annual amount of rain and snow, which may fall on those tracts or the regions adjacent, by Prof. Joseph Henry, of the Smithsonian Institution; — Meteorological tables of some hundred localities, showing the mean monthly and annual temperature, with extremes of heat and cold, the amount of rain in inches, the latest spring and earliest autumnal frosts, for the year 1857 ; — Commercial Statistics, &c. A circular letter has been sent from the Agricultural Bureau of the Patent OfSce to our Diplomatic and Commercial agents, missionaries, officers of the navy, and other public func- tionaries who may be residing or travelling abroad, requesting agricultural and horticultu- ral information. Commissioner Holt says : — " You are probably aware that, for several years past, Congress has appropriated considerable sums for the collection of agricultural statistics, investigations for promoting agriculture and rural economy, and for the procure- ment and distribution of cuttings and seeds, which sums have been expended under the di- rection of this office. Premising that you may possess facilities to aid in the advancement of these objects, the undersigned begs leave to ask of you to obtain and forward to this office, through the Department of State, or otherwise, as far as may be found practicable or expe- dient,/ree of charge, a list or catalogue of the botanic or local names of the principal cereals, grasses, legumes, garden vegetables, tubers, bulbs, flowers, fruits, nut-trees, or of other eco- nomical plants, growing in the countries you may visit, with brief descriptions, either writ- ten or printed in English or in other languages, of their properties and uses, modes of cul- ture, periods of sowing and harvesting, the character of the soil and its elevation above the sea, the mean, maximum, and minimum of the thermometer, and the amount of rain, in in- ches, each month of the year, together with the periods of the latest spring and earliest autumnal frosts." For this purpose proper blanks are sent with the circular. A distribution of ten varieties of Turnip seed has been made, each lot accompanied with a circular, soliciting information as to the growth and yield of each variety. A distribution has also been made, for experiment, of Tuscan wheat, which a number of the most respecta- ble farmers of Berrien county, Michigan, certify to as having been introduced into that re- gion several years back by Mr. William Dougherty', and they declare that they "have never known or heard of its being injured by the Hessian fly, or any other insect, it also being very valuable in every other particular." Dr. Charles T. Jackson's process of making syrup and sugar from the Chinese sugar-cane, (taken from the Agricultural Report for 1857,) has been printed on a letter-sheet and ex- tensively distributed. Mr. Townend Glover is now in Florida, prosecuting his entomological researches. Maj. Williams will soon leave for Texas and New Mexico, to collect the native grape vines of those localities. Dr. Torrey is making a collection and preparing a report on the grasses and Hedge Plants of the United States. Steps are being taken for the preparation and the pub- lication of a series of physical, industrial, and statistical maps, indicating the mean annual summer and winter temperatures of the United States reduced to sea level. One of these maps, prepared at the Smithsonian Institution, is now on exhibition at the Agricultural Bu- reau of the Patent Office, and is very interesting. 38 Bulletin for June, 1858, of Agricultural Patents issued from the United States Patent Office. — For the week ending May 4, 1858, each bearing that date — Francis and Lodowick Burdick, South East, N. Y., improvement in machine for hulling rice. — James Charlton, Alleghany, Pa., improve- ment in seed planters. — R. H. Fisher. Claremont, N. H., improvement in harvesters. — James J. Johnston, Alleghany, Pa., improvement in seed planters. — James F. Kierstead, La Porte, Ind., improvement in seeding machines. — Chas. N. Lewis, Seneca Falls, N. Y., improved corn husker. — Henry Marcellus, Amsterdam, N. Y., improvement in mowing machines. — ■ Lewis Miller, Canton, Ohio, assignor to C. Aultman & Co., of same place, improvement in harvesters. — Chas. Crook, New Hope, Pa., improvement in harvesters. Patented May 5, 1857. For the week ending May 11, 1858, each bearing that date — George W. Atkins, Milton. Del., improvement in self-regulating grain measure. — C. B. Brown, Alton, III., improvement in harvesters. — Robert J. Clay, St. Louis, Mo., improvement in corn planters. — Jonan C. Conkey, Washington, 0., improvement in harrows. — John De Rush, St. Mary's, 0., improve- ment in grain cleaning machines. — Edward P. French, Nashua, N. H., improvement in bee hives. — L. W. Kelley, Brunswick, 0., improvement in cultivators. — Charles Leavitt, Cleve- land, 0., improvement in corn mills. — L. J., Wm. S., and Cyrus H. McCormick, Chicago, III., improvement in reaping and mowing machines. — George Nolman, Deerfield, 0., im- proved binding device for harvesters. — Enoch Osgood, Boston, Mass., improvement in cotton gins. — Michael Stevens, Lucas, 0., improvement in cider mills. — Oren Stoddard, Busti, N. Y., improvement in harvesters. — Daniel C. Smith, Tecumseh, Mich., improvement in corn buskers. — Solomon P. Smith, Crescent, N. Y., improvement in straw cutters. — Henry C. Smith, Cleveland, 0., improvement in harvesters. — John S. Troxel, Mount Pleasant, Pa., improvement in harvesters. — Chas. E. and Joseph N. Gladding, Troy, Pa., assignor to Chas. E. Gladding, aforesaid, improvement in forks for elevating hay. — Lewis Miller, Canton, 0., assignor to C. Aultman & Co., of the same place, improved finger or guard for guard har- vesters.— B. Kuhns, Dayton, 0., and M. J. Haines, Delaware City, Del., improvement in seed planters. Patented September 30, 1856. — Charles W. Cahoon, Portland, Me., assignor to J. B. Cahoon and D. II. Furbish, of same place, improvement in seeding machines. Patent- ed Sept. 11, 185T. — Ifsachar Frost and James Monroe, Albion, Mich., assignors to Henry A. Burr, Israel D. Condit, Alexander Swift, Daniel Barnum, and John M. Carr, New York, N. Y., improvement in machinery for separating flour from bran. Patented February 27, 1849. Re-issued March 13, 1855. For the week ending May 18, 1858, each bearing that date — W. F. C. Beattie, Cornwall, N. Y., improved method of opening and closing farm gates. — John C. Birdsell, Rush, N. Y., improvement in machinery for hulling and threshing clover. — J. W. Bookaw, Springfield, Ohio, assignor to Warder, Brokaw & Child, of same place, improvement in reaping and mowing machines.^ — Joseph Cawthra, Rochester, N. Y., improvement in corn buskers. — John Endsley and Elihu Fletcher, Abington, Ind., improvement in cultivators. — Ray Green, Cus- sawago. Pa., improvement in corn shellers. — John M. Hall, Warrentou, Ga., improvement in plows. — Martin Hallenbeck, Albany, N. Y., improvement in harvesters. — Charles Howell, Cleveland, Ohio, improvement in reaping and mowing machines. — Henry Mej-er, Bridgeton, N. J., improvement in mill for treating Chinese sugar cane. — H. and J. S. B. Norton, Far- mington. Me., improved device for slicing apples. — L. B. Phelps, Geneva, Ohio, improve- ment in corn planters. — Abner Reeder, Wrightstown, Pa., improvement in apparatus for cleaning the coulters of plows. — Luther Robinson, Melrose, Mass., improvement in seeding machines. — S. Vascow and A. Guirand, Cincinnati, 0., improvement in grinding mills. — P. C. Ingersoll, Green Point, N. Y., assignor to himself and H. F. Dougherty, of the same place, improvement for securing metallic bands on cotton bales. — Warren S. Bartle, Newark, N. J., assignor to Lyman Bickford and Henry Hoffman, Macedon, N. Y., improved machine for sowing fertilizers. Patented April 22, 1858. For the" week ending May 25, 1858, each bearing that date — George W. Barnett, Spring- field, Ohio, improvement in driving wheels for portable steam engines and agricultural im- plements, &c. — Vosco M. Chafee, Grayville, 111., improvement in barrows. — James M. Clark, Lancaster, Pa., improvement in hominy mills. — Edwin Clark, Lancaster. Pa., improvement in flouring mills. Ante-dated February 2, 1858. — I. H. Conklin. Rockford, 111., improve- ment in harvesters. — Jesse Trye, Mendota, 111., improvement in gang plows. Ante-dated March 18, 1858.— Jacob Hibbiird, Weatbersfield, N. Y., improvement in cheese presses. — T. A. riollman, Beardstown, 111., improvements in the manufacture of dextrine and sugar. — Henry Lowe, Baltimore, Md., improvement in preparing paper pulp from reeds. — Joseph McCammon, Dayton, Ohio, improved seeding machines. — G. M. L. McMillen, Dayton, Ohio, improvement in'seeding machines. — B. B. Meacbam, Ridleyville, Fla., improvement in corn buskers. — Oren Moses, Malone, N. Y., improvement in straw cutters. — A. M. Pratt, Lowell, N. Y., improvement in seeding machines.— Christopher Rands, Peoria, HI., improvement in flouring mill. — John C. Stevens, Lee, Mass., improvement in seed drills. — J. A. St. John, Janesviile, Wis., improvement in raking attachment to harvesters. — William H. Seymour and Henry Pease, of Broukport, N Y., assignors to Wm. H. Seymour and Dayton S. Morgan, The U. S. Agricultural Society. 39 of same place, improvement in harvesters. Re-issues.— Went y Green, Ottawa, 111., improve- ment in cutting device for harvesters. Patented March '21, 1854. Ante-dated September 21, 1853. Henry Green, Ottawa, 111., improvement in mowinj;: machines. Patented March 21, 1854. Ante-dated September 21, 1853.— Henry Green, Ottawa, III., improvement in reel supports in mowing machines. Patented March 21. 1854. Ante-dated September 21, 1853.— Henry Green, Ottawa, 111., improvement in cutting device for harvesters. Patented March 21, 1854. Ante-dated September 21, 1853. The United States Agriculti'kal Society was founded in June, 1852, by a, national Ag- ricultural Convention, (called by the direction of twelve State Agricultural Associations,) at which there were present one" hundred and fifty-two delegates, representing twenty-three States and Territories. It has since been in active operation, receiving the confidence, pat- ronage, and favor of American agriculturists, and co-operating with State and Local Asso- ciations. If it has not accomplished all which its founders anticipated, or which its present officers desire, it has furnished pleasing evidence of its growing prosperity and usefulness, as will be seen by the following brief summing-up of its operations. Annual Meetings. — Six of these have been held at Washington city, and they constitute in reality the "Board of Agriculture," recommended by the Farmer of Mount Vernon. Gen- tlemen from almost every State in the Union, (many of them delegates from Agricultural Associations,) have annually assembled to discuss such topics as have been presented, cal- culated to advance the cause of agricultural improvement; — interesting and valuable lec- tures have been delivered by practical and scientific farmers; — reports have been submitted by committees specially appointed to examine new inventions and theories, and by delegates who have been accredited to the agriculturalists of other land; — and there has been a gen- eral interchange of opinion. "The great practical truth and characteristic of the present generation, [said the Farmer of Marshfield,] is, that public improvements are brought about by voluntary association and combination. The principle of association — the practice of bringing men together for the same general object, pursuing the same general end, and uni- ting their intellectual and physical efforts to that purpose, is a great improvement in our age. And the reason is obvious. Here men meet together that they may converse with one another — that they may compare with each other their experience, and thus keep up a con- stant communication. In this practical point of view, these Agi-icultaral Associations are of great importance. Conversation, intercourse with other minds, is the general source of most of our knowledge. Books do something. But it is conversation — it is the meeting of men face to face, and talking over what they have in common interest — it is this intercourse that makes men sharp, intelligent, ready to communicate to others, and ready to receive instruction from them." An7ntal Exhibitions. — These have been held at Springfield, Mass.; Springfield, Ohio ; Bos- ton, Mass. ; Philadelphia, Pa. ; and Louisville, Ky., each exhibition distinguished by some national feature. They have been self-sustaining, the receipts meeting the disbursements of upwards of one hundred thousand dollars for premiums and expenses; and they have not only increased the efficiency of State and Local Associations, but have called together larger assemblages of people than have ever been convened upon other occasions, embracing not only our most intelligent yeomanry, but gentlemen of every art and profession from every portion of the wide-spread Union, evincing that the national pulse beats in unison with our own, and that the public voice is responsive to the call. At the banquets with which these national jubilees liave been concluded, eminent gentlemen have met upon the broad plat- form of good citizenship, merging all sectional jealousies and party distinctions in a general desire to improve and to elevate that great calling which gives independence and strength to our nation. A Secretary's Office, Library and Reading Room., has been established at No. 356 Pennsyl- vania avenue, Washington City, where the members of the Society, and others interested in agricultural improvement meet as brothers at a common home, and find a collection of objects in which they have a common interest. Many State and County societies have con- tributed their published transactions, premium-lists, the names of their officers, and other information, which has been duly registered, and they have received the Monthly Bulletin of the Society in return. A majority of the agricultural and numerous other publishers have contributed their periodicals and newspapers, and thus aided in forming a Free Agricultural Library at the National Metropolis. The services of the Secretary (Ben : Perley Poore) have been tendered to all agricultural organizations and publications wishing information at the seat of government. Published Transactions. — Six large annual volumes have been published, containing much useful and important matter. As they will in future be relieved from publishing the reports of the annual meetings and exhibitions, there will be more space for elaborate articles front the pens of distinguished practical and scientific agriculturalists on subjects previously as- signed, for which premiums will be offered. 40 Bulletin for June, 1858. The Mo7ithly Bulletin contains eight large and closely printed pages, containing reports of the annual meetings, exhibitions, and operations of the Society, with a general statement of the position of agricultural affairs at the metropolis, (including such information as is furn- ished by the Agricultural Bureau and by the Examiner of Implements in the Patent office,) and reports of the operations of State Boards and Societies, Agricultural Colleges, and of all Legislative recognition of the predominant interest of the country. The Secretary of the Society, charged with its editorship, will endeavor to make it a valuable compilation of geo- j)onic facts, interesting to the agriculturalists of the United States, and an acceptable visitor at every rural home. The United Slates Agricultural Society, having thus endeavored to awaken an extended and general interest in the great cause which it was founded to advance, — having promoted a more cordial intercourse and a closer alliance between cultivators, and the varjous State and Local Agricultural Societies, invites all good citizens who may wish to extend its use- fulness to enrol themselves in its ranks. Entirely dependent upon the public for support, it confidently appeals for co-operation and pecuniary aid to those who appreciate agriculture. Life Blembrrs receive an elegant Diploma, the annual volume of Transactions, the Monthlj' Bulletin, free tickets of admission to all Exhibitions, and their share of such seeds and cut- tings as may be procured for distribution, without any additional assessment or payment beyond the admission fee of ten dollars. A7innal members receive the annual volume of Transactions and the Monthly Bulletin, paying a fee of two dollars. County or town socie- ties have the privilege of making their President, Secretary, or Treasurer a Life Member, in which case the Society will receive the publications, &c. Remittances for membership can be made by mail, to Hon. B. B. French, Treasurer U. S. Agricultural Society, Washington, D. C. All correspondence must be addressed to the Secretary, Ben : Perley Poore, Wash- ington, D. C. OFFICERS FOR 1858. President. — Qen. Tench Tilghman, of Maryland. Vice Presidents. — J. D. Lang, of Maine, H. F. French, of New Hampshire, Fred. Iloilirook, of Vermont, John Brooks, of Masbachusetts, B. B. Tliurston, of Rhode Island, S. H. Huntington, of Connecticut, B. P. Johnston, of New York, W. P. Kubeson. of New Jersey, David Landreth, of Pennsylvania, John Jones, of Delaware, Odin Bowie, of Maryland, Philip St. George Cocke, of Virginia, II. K. Burgwjn, of North Carolina, F. W. Alston, of South Carolina. Richard Peters, of Georgia, C. C. Clay, jr., of Alabama, M. W. Phillips, of Mississippi, J. D. B. DeBow, of Louisiana, Lucien Buttles, of Ohio, W. L. Underwood, of Kentucky. T. Fanning, of Tennessee, D. P. Ilolloway, of Indiana, B. F. Edgerton, of Wisconsin, H. C. Johns, of Illinois. J. R. Barrett, of Missouri, Michael Shoemaker, of Michigan, D. L. Yulee, of Florida, Gny Bryant, of Texas, LeGrand Byington, of Iowa, A. P. Brad- ford, of Califoinia. W. W. Corcoran, of tlie District of Columbia, Manuel II. Otero, of New Mexico, H. M. Eice, of Minnesota, .1. H. Lane, of Oregon, D. Anderson, of Washington Territory, John M. Bernhisel, of Utah, B. B. Chapman, of Nebraska. F. M. Arney, of liansas. Executive Committee. — Henry Wager, of New York, J. McGowan, of Pennsylvania, Josiah W.are, of Virginia, Frederick Smyth, of New Hampshire, Henry Wilson, of Ohio, John Merrymau, of Maryland, James W. Brown, of Illinois. Treasurer.-^. »■ French of the District of Columbia, | ^^^^^ ^^ Washington. D. C. Secretary. — Ben. Perley Poore, ot Massachusetts, J " jg^^/Sw^A ^wnwai -Fa?r at Richmond, Va., by invitation of the Virginia Central Agricul- tural Society, October 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, and 30. Premium List in the Bulletin for July. Fairs for 1858. — An attempt will be made to publish, in the Bulletin for August, a com- plete list of all State and County Fairs for 1858. Many Secretaries have already furnished us with the dates of their respective fairs, and it is to be hoped that the list can be made perfect. Meanwhile we give a list of such State Fairs as we have received the programmes of: States. Alabama, California, Connecticut, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Vermont, Wisconsin, Places. Montgomery, Marysville, Hartford, Centralia, Indianapolis, Oscaloosa, Louisville, Augusta, St. Louis, Dover, Trenton, Syracuse, Raleigh, Sandusky, Providence, Columbia, Burlington, Madison, Secretaries. N. B. Cloud, Rev. 0. C. Wheeler, Henry A. Dyer, S. Francis, John B. Dillon, J. H. Wallace, W. D. Gallagher, Geo. R. Kalb, Jas. 0. Adams, Wm. W. C. Force, B. P. Johnson, Wm. D. Cook, John H. Kelppart, W. R. Staples, R. J. Gage, Chas. Cummings, D. J. Powers. Time. Oct. 18, 19, 20, 21, 22 Aug. 23, 24, 25, 26, 27 Oct'. 12, 13, 14, 15 Sept. 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 Oct. 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 Sept. 28, 29, 30, Oct. 1 Sept. 28,29,30, Oct. 1, 2 Sept. 21, 22, 23, 24 Sept. 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 Oct. 6, 7, 8 Sept. 14, 15, 16, 17 Oct. 5, 6, 7, 8 Oct. 20, 21, 22, 23 (?) Sept. 14, 15, 16, 17 Sept. 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 Nov. 9, 10, 11, 12 Sept. 14, 15, 16, 17 Oct. 4, 5, 6, 7, 8