Monthly bulletin of the United States Agricultural Society

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MONTHLY BULLETIN

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Vol. L] WASHINGTON, MARCH, 1858. [No. H.

Constitution op the United States Agricultural Society. — The undersigned, in order
to improve the Agriculture of the country, by attracting the attention, eliciting the views,
and combining the efforts of that great class composing the Agricultural community, and to
secure the advantages of a better organization, and more extended usefulness among all
State, County, and other Agricultural Societies, do hereby form ourselves into a Society,
and for its government adopt the following Constitution :

Sect. I. The name of this Society shall be the United States Agricultural Society.

Sect. II. The Society shall consist of all such persons as shall signify to any ofiicer of the
Society a wish to become a member, and who shall pay two dollars to the Treasurer of the
Society, and a like sum annually thereafter; and of delegates from the State Agricultural
Societies, in the States and Territories, and District of Columbia, who may be appointed to
attend the annual and other meetings of the Society, and who shall pay the like sum, and
also of such honorary members as the Executive Committee may see fit to elect. Each
member shall be entitled to receive a journal, or publication of this Society, containing an
account of its proceedings, and such additional matter as shall be deemed worthy of publi-
cation, free from any expense except postage. Ten dollars shall entitle one to the privilege
of Life-membership, and exempt him from any annual taxation.

Sect. III. The officers of this Society shall be a President, a Vice President from each
State and Territory in the Union, and from the District of Columbia; a Treasurer and a Sec-
retary, an Executive Committee, consisting of seven members; the President of the Society
and the Secretary shall be ex-officio members ; and the President shall be Chairman of the
Executive Committee.

Sect. IV. The President shall have a general superintendence of all the affairs of the So-
ciety. In case of his death or inability to discharge the functions of his office, the Executive
Committee shall select a Vice President to act in his stead, and be clothed with the same
powers; and he shall perform the same duties as the President until the next annual election.

Sect. V. It shall be the duty of the Vice Presidents to advance all the objects of the As-
sociation in their several districts ; to explain to Agriculturists the character and objects of
this Society, and endeavor to obtain their co-operation and support ; to watch the advance
of Practical Agriculture, and make known the results of the same, by reports or otherwise,
from year to year.

Sect. VI. The Executive Committee shall transact the general business of the Society, and
shall designate the time and place for exhibitions, regulate the expenditures, and take such
supervisory charge of the business of the Society as may best promote its interest, and shall
have the supervision of the publications of the Society. This body shall elect its own Chair-
man in the absence of the President ; four members shall constitute a quorum.

Sect. VII. The Treasurer shall keep an account of all moneys, and shall pay bills only
after they have been audited by the Secretary and another member of the Executive Com-
mittee, and countersigned by the President of the Society, or the Chairman of the Executive
Committee.

Sect. VIII. The duty of the Secretary shall be to correspond with persons interested in
Agriculture. At each stated meeting he shall read such portion of this correspondence as
may be of general interest ; and it shall be his duty to carry out and advocate the views of
the Executive Committee, in obtaining, arranging and publishing any information they may
desire to have laid before the Agricultural community. He shall also keep the record
of the minutes of the Society, and of its Executive Committee, and shall conduct the entire
business correspondence of the Society.

Sect. IX. The annual meeting of the Society shall be held at the City of Washington, on
the second Wednesday of January in each year, when all the officers of the Society, not
otherwise appointed, shall be elected by ballot for the ensuing year ; fifteen members shall

10 Bulletin for March, 1858, of

constitute a quorum. The Executive Committee, however, shall be competent, with the ap-
probation of the Society, to appoint occasional meetings, to be held at other places.

Sect. X. This Constitution may be altered by any annual meeting, by a vote of two-thirds
of the members in attendance, provided not less than fifty members be present.

OFFICERS FOR 1858.

President. — Gun. Tench Tilghman, of Maryland.

Vice Presidents. — J. D. Lang, of Maine, H. F. French, of New Hampshire, Fred. Holbrook, of Vermont, John
Brooks, of Massachusetts, B. B. Thiu'stou, of Khode Island, S. II. Huntington, of Connecticut, B. P. Johnston,
of New York, W. P. Robeson, of New Jersey. David Landreth, of Pennsylvania, John Jones, of Delaware, Odin
Bowie, of Maryland, Philip St. George Cocite. of Virginia, H. K. Burgwyn, 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.
HoUoway, of Indiana, B. F. Edgerton, of Wisconsin, H. C. Johns, of Illinois, T. R. Barrett, of Missouri, Michael
Shoemaker, of Michigan. D. L. Yulee, of Florida, Guy Bryant, of Texas, LeGrand Byington, of Iowa, A. P. Brad-
ford, of California, W. W. Corcoran, of the District of Columbia, Manuel H. Otero, of New Mexico, H. M. Rice,
of Minnesota, J. H. Lane, of Oregon, D. Anderson, of Washington Territory, John M. Bernhisel, of Utah, B. B.
Chapman, of Nebraska, F. M. Arney, of Kansas.

Executive Committee. — Henry Wager, of New York, J. McGowan, of Pennsylvania, Josiah Ware, of Virginia,
Frederick Smyth, of New Hampshire, Henry Wilson, of Ohio, John Merrymau, of Maryland, James W.
Brown, of Illinois.

Treasurer. — B. B. French, of the District of Columbia, ) ri«! „„ „» •Mr„„i ■ * n m

Secretary.-Ben. Perley Poore, of Massachusetts, / ^^'''^ =*' Washington, D. C.

This Bulletin is published by the United States Agricultural Society for gratuitous dis-
tribution to its Life Members, and to those Societies with which it is in correspondence.

Horse Taming. — Mr. J. S. Rarey, of Ohio, is now in England, where he has astonished
all classes of society by exhibitions of his miraculous power over the horse. One of these
exhibitions was in the riding school at Windsor Castle, before the Queen, Prince Albert, and
their suites. After Mr. Rarey had been left alone with a vicious colt, eighteen months' old,
an hour and a half, the Royal pai^t}' entered, and found him sitting on the colt's back, with-
out holding a rein. The colt stood perfectly quiet; neither did it show any signs of fear
when Mr. Rarey beat furiously on a drum which was handed hira. Two other experiments
demonstrated Mr. Rarey's complete power over the most restive or nervous horses, and
Prince Albert expressed his gratification and thanks to the possessor of this wonderful
secret. Major General Richard Airey, to whom it has been entrusted, (in confidence,) says
there is nothing in the treatment but what any horseman would approve of.

Mr. Rarey has published a circular, in which he oifers to communicate his secret to five
hundred subscribers, who must either be noblemen or gentlemen. Each one is to pay a fee
of ten guineas, in advance, giving a satisfactory reference before his name can be defini-
tively received, and signing a compact not to disclose Mr. Rarey's art to others. When the
five hundred subscribers' names and the five thousand guineas shall have been received, Mr.
Rarey will commence teaching in classes, in the order of registration, at the private riding-
school of His Grace the Duke of Wellington, which has been placed at his disposal.

The Buffalo Advertiser intimates that it is cognizant of the peculiar secret possessed by
Mr. Rarey, and employed so successfully by him in subjugating the most vicious and unruly
of the equine species. The principle, it is thought, is doubtless the same as that now in use
by horse-breeders and horse- trainers in various parts of the countrj', and consists mainly in
kind treatment, in subduing the fears of the animal, and accustoming him to unusual noises
and objects. But there are other influences, somewhat of a mesmeric character, and em-
ployed as adjuncts, that go to ensure the more complete success of the horse tamer, such as
caresses, the use of drugs agreeable to the horse, scratching in parts not easily reached by
the animal itself, giving food or water, after a long abstinence has occasioned hunger or
thirst, the careful use of various tones of the human voice, &c. The chief secret, however,
according to the Advertiser, which paper has the authority for its statement from those who
understand and practice the art, consists " in raising one of the fore feet of the horse, doub-
ling the knee, and keeping a strap around the fetlock, fastening the foot close to the arm or
^shoulder. The horse then stands upon three legs. Having next put on a surcingle, pass a
long strap or rein through the surcingle, and fastening one end of it around the fetlock of
the other fore foot, attach the other to the surcingle, after the animal is thrown, so closely
as to deprive it of the use of the limb. In this item the treatment may be varied by fasten-
ing the second fetlock to the arm or shoulder after the animal is down." This plan, says
the Advertiser, is successfully pursued by many skilful horse-breakers in western New York,
and the horse yields to the necessities of the case — his spirit of opposition is broken.

The Locusts. — Gideon B. Smith., of Baltimore, Md., who has made the locust a special
study, with reference to the periodicity of visitation, announces that the Southern tribe of
thirteen years locusts will appear during this spring in Mississippi and Louisiana, and during
the spriug of 1859 in Alabama and Georgia.

TKe U. S. Agricultural Society. 11

Congressional Legislation on AGRictiLTORAL matters. — The Senate (it may not be gene-
rally known) has abolished its Committee on Agriculture — a significant proof of the little
regard generally paid to this great interest of the nation at the Capitol. The Committee on
Public Lands have under consideration a '' Memorial of the members of the Board of Edu-
cation of the State of Michigan, and of the Faculty of the Agricultural College of that State,
praying a donation of land for the Agricultural College;" which was presented in the Senate
on the 10th of December last, with simil;ir memorials praying donations of land from the
" Farmers' High School of Pennsylvania," the " New York State Agricultural College," and
the "Farmers' College of Ohio."

The House Committee on Agriculture meets frequently, and has given earnest consideration
to the Land Bill introduced by Mr. Morrill, on the 14th of January, which it has adopted
almost unanimously, and authorized him to report to the House. A large number of peti-
tions and memorials have been received in support of this Bill, which appropriates 6,330,000
acres of land, to be distributed according to federal representation for the establishment and
encouragement of Agricultural Colleges. It is thought that the bill will pass, and this
number of the Bulletin has been delayed, in the hope that it would have been received and
favorably acted upon by the House. The Committee has also under consideration a Bill
establishing a " National Board of Agriculture," a "Bill incorporating the United States
Agricultural Society," and other matters not yet fully matured. A memorial from Mr. Com-
stock on "Terra Culture" has been considered, and the opinion of the Agricultural Bureau
of the Patent office has been obtained, but no report has been made.

The Michigan Agricultural College, at Lansing, is in successful opei-ation, under the
direction of Joseph R. Williams, Esq., its President, aided by an efficient faculty.

The Farmers' High School, in Centre county, Pennsylvania, will soon be in operation,
under the judicious management of Fred'k Watts, Esq., of Carlisle, its worthy President.

The Maryland Agricultural College has been located about seven miles from this me-
tropolis, on the Baltimore turnpike, and the buildings are to be erected immediately, under
the supervision of Chas. B. Calvert, Esq., the energetic and well-qualified President. Under
liis direction, " science will instruct and enlighten routine, and intelligent observation of
facts in daily experience, will correct and modify the too hasty deductions of science."

Agricultural College in Ohio. — A bill to establish an Agricultural College in Ohio has
been introduced into the Legislature. It appropriates $50,000 for the purchase of a thou-
sand acres of land, not costing more than $25 per acre. The College is to be under the care
of the State Board of Agriculture, and State School Commissioners. The system of instruc-
tion is to be similar to that in vogue in European colleges of this class — that is, beside a
thorough English course, to embrace the sciences having any bearing on agriculture.
Pupils living in Ohio shall always be admitted /ree, and in case of there being too many ap-
plicants for the accommodations, they shall be apportioned according to the population of
each county. The professors are not to be paid over $5,000 for the first year, and $6,000
for the second ; their salaries thereafter to be determined by the Board of Supervisors.

Col. Wade Hampton, who died recently, aged sixty-seven, was a native of South Carolina,
and was educated at its State University, which he left at the commencement of the war of
1812, to accept a commission as Lieutenant of Dragoons in the United States Army. After
serving, under his father, in the northern campaign, he retired to his plantation in the south-
west, but again volunteered when New Orleans was considered in danger, and was appointed
an aid to General Jackson in that memorable defence. His services in that battle were con-
fidential and highly vakiable, and the subject of the general's warmest commendation. The
war being over. Col. Hampton devoted himself to agricultural pursuits, in which he became
deeply interested, and so continued to the time of his death. Long has he been at the head
of those who have contributed to the best interests of his native State and of the whole
South, by liberal, spirited and extensive efforts to improve the breed of domestic animals of
every kind. In these departments he has been eminently successful, and enjoyed the proud
consciousness of doing his State and the Union essential service by the exercise of constant
and efficient exertions.

Schwitz Cattle. — Mr. Barkley, of New York, is making arrangements to import in the
spring a trio of Swiss or Schwitz cattle, from Geneva. The breed is described as quite as
picturesque, with its dun color, black nose, black horns, and long bushy black tail, as the
Alderney or Jersey. They are more hardy, much larger, better milkers, and will doubtless
prove a valuable addition to our stock of fancy milch cows.

1-2 Bulletin for March, 1858, df

Agricultural O&erations of the Patent Office for February. — The following unoffi-
cial abstract of what has been done by the General Government for the promotion of Agri-
culture during the past month, cannot but interest our readers. In the "Bureau" now in
active operation, a foundation has been laid for the " Agricultural Department" which the
Farmers of the United States claim as a right.

Introduction of the Tea-plant into the United States. — Mr. Robert Fortune, of England, has
recently been sent by the Patent ofiSce to China for the purpose of collecting the seeds of the
tea-shrub and of other plants ; and is instructed to return with them to the United States in
March, 1859, when he will make choice of localities for their cultivation. Investigations are
now being made by this office, in connection with the Smithsonian Institution, for deter-
mining the soil and climate of those regions of the United States best adapted to the culture of
this plant, as compared with similar conditions in China, the results of which will be made
known in the next Agricultural Report. Mr. Fortune, it may be stated, was selected for
this important mission from being peculiarly qualified to carry this enterprise into success-
ful operation. It may be remembered that this gentleman was sent to China some ten or
twelve years ago by the London Horticultural Society, where he wandered three years in
the interior of the " Celestial empire," collecting seeds and plants, which have proved a
great, acquisition to the gardens of Europe, and, to some extent, to those of this country. In
1848 he was made choice of by the British East India Company to revisit the tea districts of
China to collect the seeds of the tea-plant and introduce them into the Himalaya, which last mis-
sion has proved eminently successful, there being at the present time more than 1,500 acres
in full bearing. The tea manufactured from this growth has already found its way into the
London market, where it brings four times the price of the ordinary tea of China, in conse-
quence of its superior qualitj'.

It has already been ascertained that many portions of the United States, in respect to soil
and climate, are well suited to the cultivation of tea, and that, with improved apparatus and
other appliances of American skill, the leaves can be manipulated or otherwise converted
into tea at an expense less than the actual cost of similar preparations in China, even with
the low-priced labor of the Asiatics.

African Seeds. — Measures have been taken to procure a moderate supply of new and im-
proved varieties of seeds from Kaffraria and the countries bordering on the channel of Mo-
zambique and the Red Sea, among which are those of the African sugar-cane (Imphee) of
the Zoulous Kafifers in its pure, unhybridized state. The following is a list of the seeds and
cuttings ordered from Egypt: Summer Corn, (Dourah Sefie,) Syrian Corn, (Dourah Shami,)
Dourah Corn, (Dara,) Rough Rice, (Rouze,) Lentils, (Adse,) Beans, (Foul,) Yellow Lupines,
(Termess,) Red Wheat, (Hanta Sa idi,) White Wheat, (Hanta Beheri,) Barley, (Sheir,) Se-
same, (Semsem,) Flax-seed, (Kettan,) Hemp-seed, (Souf,) Cotton Seed, (Cotne Hendi,) In-
digo-seed, Water-melon, (Batikh Saidi,) Small Squash, (Kari Kossd,) Large Squash, (Kari
estambouli,) Long Squash, (Kari Taril,) Cucumber, (Khiar,) Onion, (Bassal,) Date Seeds,
(Naka Beleh Zaghloul,) Pomegranate seeds, (Roomman, Hedjazi,) Leek Seed, (Kourrat,)
Artichoke, (Kharchouf,) Lettuce, (Rhass Beledi,) Melonkhia, Labakh, Sycomore Fig-seeds,
(Gimmez,) Lotus seeds, Chark-felck, Cuttings of Seedless Grape, (Okel eneb Benati,) Cut-
tings of Ladies Finger Grape, (Savabe el seet.)

Gratuitous Distribution of Seeds. — A prevalent error exists in relation to the agency of
the Patent Office in distributing seeds, cuttings, &c., among the agriculturists of the coun-
try. It has not at any time attempted to distribute assortments of seeds for general use.
It simply aims at introducing from abroad the seeds of new plants, or of improved varieties
of those already here, and of disseminating such as have been cultivated in this country in
particular localities only ; and it performs this duty chiefly by the aid of members of Con-
gress and the agricultural associations in the several States, the object being, through either
channel, not to gratify individuals by the bestowment upon them of curious and valuable
products, but to promote the cause of agriculture by entrusting them to judicious hands for
experiment. As stated in the Report on Agriculture for 1856, "it certainly never was the
purpose of Congress to convert this office into a common seed-store intended to supply the
public at large gratuitously with the means of planting their ordinary vegetable gardens.
***** It requires no little care and discrimination to guard against
a growing tendency to this species of abuse. The recipient of a package of seeds should be
regarded, both by himself and others, as an agent who is willing to devote, gratuitously, a
certain portion of his time and labor for the public benefit, and who acts under an implied
pledge that, should the experiment prove successful, he will, as far as practicable, propagate
and distribute, as from a new-centre, to all around him." Pt may also be stated that he
might publish the results of his experiments in some agricultural or other public journal,
and thus induce others to seek supplies of the same varieties from seedsmen or other
sources, and so in turn contribute to the wealth and luxury of the country.

We learn that the Patent Office is overrun by applications for seeds, and that even the
clerks and other employes in the several Departments of the Government are embarrassed

Thf U. S. Agricultural Society. * 18

by requests of this character, which of course cannot be complied with ; and, not only
this, but that members of Congress are importuned to an incredible degree by correspond-
ents, each of whom often plainly indicates that he expects to be supplied with " a general
assortment '' of vegetable and flower seeds, roots, bulbs, cuttings, &c. One gentleman, we
are assured, now has upon his table, unanswered, — and perhaps necessarily to remain so, —
several hundred letters of this character.

The idea that what the Patent Office has done in this respect has operated to the detri-
ment of the interests of seedsmen — as has been asserted — is not only fallacious, but is in
direct antagonism with the truth. On the contrary, it has created an increased demand for
new and improved seeds, implements of husbandry, concentrated manures, and all the mer-
chandise vended by these persons; and, within a very brief time, has doubled the quantity
of seeds, cuttings, &c., imported by the trade from foreign countries, the value of which, last
year, amounted to nearly- a million dollars.

The purpose of " testing " necessarily implies that the plants distributed are not all
known to be of superior quality and perfect adaptation to our soil and climate. Occasional
failures, therefore, cannot be justly regarded as disparaging circumstances. But in many
instances, plants of great value which had long been cultivated in certain States, were
almost unknown in other localities, until their seeds were transmitted thither by the Patent
office ; and persons to whom they had always been familiar, but who were not conversant
with the fact that they were not everywhere known in culture, have remonstrated against
what they have deemed a useless service. The seeds of forest trees have thus been carried
to prairie regions, where the rivers could not float, the winds could not waft, and the birds
of the air could not convey them, and yet where they are found to germinate and grow.
The Improved King Philip Corn, the production of which was previously confined to a
limited region of country near the coast, has proved a blessing to the Northern and North-
western States. Various improved garden products also might be named in this connection,
were it necessarj^ for illustration. The Japan pea has been transplanted from the West to
the East ; the New Mexican White Flint Corn from the South-west to the North-east ; Wild
rice from West to East ; and forest trees and grape cuttings are in progress of interchange.
But it is presumed that the beneficial eflfects of these distributions are at this day almost
universally acknowledged.

Considerable quantities of improved varieties of field and garden seeds from England and
France, and of Chufas and sweet potatoes from Spain, have been distributed during the
past month. It is hoped that the purposes of the Office, as herein explained, may be appre-
ciated by those to whose hnnds they have been committed.

The present Commissioner of Patents, Hon. Joseph Holt, leaves nothing undone on his
part which can increase the usefulness and extend the benefits of the Agricultural Bureau.

Arizona Cotton. — Lieut. Mowry has placed on exhibition at the Secretary's office of the
United States Agricultural Society, a sample of cotton raised from Arizona seed. It is that
described by Major Gray as raised by the Pimos Indians, and resembles the Sea-island in
its fine silky texture and long staple. Gen. Gadsden, in a letter to Lieut. Mowry, accom-
panying this cotton, says :

" You are aware, perhaps, that the black-seed cotton — hybrids of finer qualities which sea
or salt air and superior cultivation has produced, in the Carolinas, Georgia islands, and now
extending to Florida — is a native of the Gila, a river of Arizona. It is from this cotton that
the finest Mexican seropes are manufactured. I was fortunate enough to obtain a handful
of the seed from a friend at Fort Yuma, and have raised seed enough from it to restore it
purely in this State. As these lower qualities of long cottons are getting in demand, I send
enclosed a sample of the cotton as raised near this city, as it might be of interest to you and
the friends of that newly acquired district, seeking to take a place in the cotton fields as well
as silver products of that mineral region.''

Corn in New Mexico. — The editor of the Santa Fe Gazette describes an year of corn, grown
in that vicinity, seventeen inches in length ; also five stalks and four " suckers," all of which
sprouted from a single grain of the common sweet corn, and which together produced twenty-
two ears — not one of the stalks failing to bear its quota. Upon one of these ears there are
about nine hundred and fifty grains.

Sheep-Shearing Machine. — The Rochester N. Y. Union describes a Sheep-shearing Ma-
chine, made by Alexander Allen, of that city, for a gentleman of Louisville, Ky. This in-
genious contrivance is said to be entirely practicable in its operation, and takes off the fleece
closely and quickly, and it is impossible to cut the animal while using it. It is said that
one hundred sheep can be sheared in a day by one man with this machine. The machine
is simple, and a nicely executed piece of work.

14 Bulletin for March, 1858, of

Patents issued from the United States Patent Office. — For the week ending February
2d, each bearing that date — Moses Bucklin, Grafton, N. H., improved cultivator tooth, having
two shares. — N. Drake, Newton, N. J., improvement in corn-phmters. — James Houck, Clin-
ton, la., improvement in cultivators. — Joseph R. Linener, Cincinnati, Ohio, improvement
in corn-shellers. — Solomon P. Moore, Arrow-rock, Mo., improvement in hemp-brakes. — W.
R. Musser, Baltimore, Md., and John Coleman, Lynchburg, Va., improvement in the appli-
cation of levers of tobacco-presses. — S. J. Orange, Graysville, 111., combination of two har-
rows, which produces a continued rotation of each. — J. 0. Ramage, Lafayette, Ala., im-
provement in ploughs. — J. H. Wiggin, Boston, Mass., improvement in seed planters. — J. A.
Disbrow, Poughkeepsie, N. Y., arrangement of the windlasses, ropes, and followers of a cot-
ton press, by which they protect the press-box from lateral pressure. — Jabez Robins, Leo-
minster, Mass., rotary wheel harrow, with its toothed rim in adjustable sections, so that its
dimensions may be varied, and with an adjustable roller-weight.

For the week ending February 9th, each bearing that date. — C. S. Dickerman, Lansing-
burgh, N. y., hand-card with straight wire teeth for currying cattle. — Edward E. Hawley,
New Haven, Conn., potato-planter, with cutting blade. — M. G. Hubbard, Penn Yan, N. Y.,
improvement in harvesters, by which the spring is attached directly to the finger-bar, the
shoe being placed on one side thereof, and directly in the track of the supporting wheel. —
Enos Page, Streetsborough, Ohio, new arrangement of spiral ring churn dashers. — Elias
Peck, Canton, 111., machine for cutting brush from cotton fields. — Aaron Van Duzen, Goshen,
N. Y., new method of cutting grass or grain bj' a series of cutters attached to a bar, made
to work with a curilinear motion through the slotted fingers, and the stationary cutters
fixed to the fingers. — F. M. Walker, Greensboro', N. C, improvement in corn-huskers. — •
George Watt, Richmond, Va., improvement in ploughs. — T. B. Whj'te, Greenwich, N. Y.,
improved machine for planting potatoes. — Lewis J. Chichester, New York, cotton-gin in
which two rollers are groved circumferentially, and fitted together in the same place, so
that the projecting flanches of each roller will work in the flanches of its fellow roller. — A.
R. Davis, East Cambridge, Mass., improvement in corn-huskers. — Daniel Lombard, Boston,
Mass., do. — Joshua Fairbank, administrator of J. B. Fairbank, deceased, improvements in
hand corn-planters.

For the week ending February 16th, each bearing that date. — Chester Barton, Savoy,
Mass., seeding-machine, of wliich the distributing arrangement and pressure rollers
can be raised and kept free from the ground while the machine is being drawn from place to
place. — H.D. Baker, Pittstown Corners, N.Y., oscillating chair-churn, by which a person "rock-
ing" can churn butter without any further trouble. — Albert D. Briggs, Springfield, Mass.,
intermittingly vibrating gate and moving apron for harvesters, by which the grain cut is
formed into sheaves. — John Drown, Huron, N. Y., field wire or rod fence. — Josiah Foster,
Sandwich, Mass., arrangement for troughs around trees to contain liquid, presenting a bar-
rier to insects or worms. — John Gore, Fredonia, N. Y., improved cutters for harvesters. — W.
A. Horrall and R. G. Sirwell, Grayville, 111., arrangement for connecting and adjusting three
rotary harrows, with pressure rollers, which ensure their rotation with the forward move-
ments of the machine, and at the same time make them conform to the inequalities of the
ground over which they pass. — Charles Howell, Cleveland, Ohio, improvement in adjusting
the castor truck of mowing or reaping machines. — J. W. Langdon, Marengo, 111., extension
reach for wagons. — Frederick Nisbuitz, Brooklyn, N. Y., improvement in harvesters, by
which the sickle is raised by the draught-pole when the machine is turned or backed. — J.
W. Patterson, Philadelphia, Pa., improved raking attachment for harvesters. — H. W. Randle,
Barnsville, Ala., improvement in cotton presses. — Marshall Turley, Galesburgh, 111., im-
proved combination of ploughs. — Charles M. Vail, Susquehannah Depot, Pa., improved
churn. — W. W. Van Loan, Catskill, N. Y., under cutter for ploughs, by which the land is
cut horizontally below the surface, so that it may be the more easily turned over by the
mold-board during the next cut. — Jacob V. A. and Andrew Wemple, Chicago, III., autom-
atic rake for harvesters. — F. W. Witting, Yorktown, Texas, press for compressing cotton
laterally and vertically by the same application of power. — E. H. Bloodworth, Thomaston,
Ga., improvement in ploughs.

California State Agricultural Society. — The Board of Managers of the State Agricul-
tural Society, for 1858, met at Sacramento during the second week in January, and spent
several days in preparing for the next Agricultural Fair, which is to be held in Marys ville,
next fall. John C Fall, of Marysville, is President, and 0. C. Wheeler, of Sacramento, Cor-
responding Secretary. The Union says, that according to the recent amendment of the Con-
stitution, the office and rooms of the Society are to be at once established in Sacramento,
and other steps taken to insure increased action and usefulness for the future. A renewal
of the appropriation from the State will soon be asked for at the hands of the Legislature,
as recommended bv the Governor in his recent message.

The U. S. Agricultural Society. 15

The Smithsonian Institution. — The system of meteorology, established under the direc-
tion of the Institution, (and in which the Patent office has co-operated for several years,)
is still carried on. The number of observers on the 1st of January was three hundred and
thirteen, who record their observations every day at 7 o'clock a. m. and 2 and 9 o'clock p.
m. — sending monthly returns. Quite a number of these observers arc furnished with full
sets of standard instruments, and the system is increasing both in precision and in magni-
tude. Regret is expressed, however, by Professor Henry, that the observers are not more
uniformly distributed over the whole country; for while the northern and eastern States are
abundantly supplied, the southern and western are deficient, particularly Indiana, Kentucky,
Tennessee, Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas.

The reduction of the registers is continued by Prof. Coffin. He has completed those for
1854, 1855, and 185(J, and is now engaged on those for 1857. A summary of the more im-
portant reductions for 1854 and 1855 was given in the Report of the Patent office for 1856,
and hope was entertained that an arrangement could be made by which the whole series
would be published at the expense of the General Government. But this expectation has
not been realised, and the Institution has commenced to stereotype the work on its own
account. Copies of the stereotype impressions are forwarded, from time to time, to observers,
as they become ready for distribution.

The great object in view in regard to this branch of science, at the Smithsonian Institu-
tion, is to furnish materials which all who are so disposed may study, and from which de-
ductions may be made as to the peculiarities of our climate, or the general meteorological
phenomena of the globe. Of the especial relations of meteorology to Agriculture, Professor
Henry says, in his last report :

" We cannot hold out the idea that great results are at once to be obtained for the improve-
ment of agriculture, and the promotion of health and comfort, by a system of meteorological
investigation. There are no royal roads to knowledge, and we can only advance to new
and important truths along the rugged path of experience, guided by cautious induction.
We cannot promise to the farmer any great reduction in the time of the growth of his crops,
or the means of predicting, with unerring certainty, the approach of storms. But in the
course of a number of years the average character of the climate of the diiferent parts of the
country may be ascertained, and the data furnished for reducing to certainty, on the princi-
ple of insurance, what plants can be most profitably cultivated in a particular place ; and it
is highly probable that the laws of storms may be so far determined that we shall be able,
when informed by the telegraph that one has commenced in any part of the country, to say
how it will spread, and whether it may be expected to extend to our own locality. We
make these remarks in order to prevent disappointment and the evils produced by exciting
expectations which cannot possibly be realized."

Camels. — The following extracts from the official report of Lieut. Beale, describing his
journey from Texas to California with the camels recently imported by the U. S. govern-
ment, show that these " ships of the desert" are admirably adapted to New Mexico. He says:

"Unsupported by the testimony of every man of my party, I should be unwilling to state
all that I have seen them do. Starting with a full determination that the experiment should
be no half way one, I have subjected them to trials which no other animal could possibly
have endured, and yet I have arrived here not only without the loss of a camel, but they are
admitted by those who saw them in Texas, to be in as good condition to day as when we
left San Antonio. In all our lateral explorations they have carried water sometimes for
more than a week, for the mules used by the men, themselves never even receiving a bucket
full to one of them.

" They have traversed patiently with heavy packs on these explorations countries covered
with sharpest volcanic rock, and yet their feet, to this hour, have evinced no symptom of
tenderness or injury. With heavy packs they have crossed mountains, ascended and descen-
ded precipitous places, where an unloaded mule found it difficult to pass even with the as-
sistance of the rider dismounted and carefully picking its way. I think it would be within
bounds to say that in these various lateral explorations they have traversed nearly double
the distance passed over by our mules and wagons."

The last mail from California brings intelligence that this party of camels were at Fort
Tejon, but would probably be sent to Fort Yuma, for use between that and the various posts
in New Mexico. It is said that a company has been organized in Texas, to procure a herd
of camels for private use.

The Indiana State Board op Agriculture have arranged their premium list for the next
Fair. The amount of premiums has been fixed at $8,000, to be paid in cash. It has been
determined to hold the Fair at Indianapolis, on the grounds heretofore occupied, without
enlargement or extra expense. >

16 Bulletin for March, 1858.

United States Agricultural Society. — The Library and Secretary's office has been per-
manently established at No. 356 Pennsylvania avenue, Washington city, and is open every
week-day from nine o'clock a. m. until noon. It is the intention of the officers of the So-
ciety to make this a rendezvous, " where all those connected with agriculture who visit the
metropolis may meet as brothers at a common home, and find a collection of objects in
which they have a common interest."

Donations of books for the library, of minerals for the cabinet, of models of agricultural
implements, and of agricultural periodicals and newspapers, are respectfully solicited, and
will be acknowledged. The services of the Secretary are placed at the disposal of all
agricultural organizations in the United States, who may wish information or assistance at
the seat of Government.

The Society's Medals awarded at Syracuse and at Louisville in 1857, will positively be
ready for distribution early in April. The execution of the dies has required more time
than was anticipated, but they are completed, and the beauty of the medals will atoue for
the delay.

Life Members of the United States Agricultural Society are entitled to the use of the Li-
brary, to free admissions to the Exhibitions, to the annual volume of Transactions, to this
Monthly Bulletin, and to an elegant Diploma.

jg®"" All gentlemen interested in the advancement and recognition of Agriculture, are
respectfully invited to become Life Members of the Society. The admission fee often dollars
(which is the onlj^ payment required) can be remitted by mail to the Treasurer, Major
B. B. French, Washington City.

Lists OF Officers for 1858 are respectfully solicited from State Boards of Agriculture,
State and county Agricultural Societies, and Farmers' Clubs. Also, the time and place of
holding the next annual Exhibition.

Editors who may kindly send their periodicals or newspapers to the Library of the Uni-
ted States Agricultural Society, will have them directed to " The Bulletin, Washington, D. C."

Historical Notes and Queries. — In the " minutes of the Philadelphia Society for the Pro-
motion of Agriculture," under date of April 8th, 1806, there is a recommendation that an
account of a machine for hulling clover "be published in the newspapers, and communica-
ted to the Agricultural Society at Washington." Was there, at that time, an Agricultural
Society at the then recently established metropolis ?

Historical skdchcs of " the South Carolina Society of Agriculture," "The Philadel-
phia Society for Promoting Agriculture," " The Massachusetts Society for Promoting Agri-
culture," " The Connecticut Society for Promoting of Arts, Manufactures and Agriculture,"
"The Agricultural Society of New York," "The Agricultural Society of the Province of New
Brunswick," and such other Agricultural Societies as were formed on the American conti-
nent during the last century, are being prepared for publication in this Bulletin. Gentle-
men who may have in their possession facts concerning these societies will confer a favor
by informing the Editor.

The first Agricultural Medals awarded in the United States, were from a die order-
ed by the "Philadelphia Society for Promoting Agriculture" in September, 1785. The
device as described, represented : " Industry, driving a yoke of oxen in a plough, and
" guiding it with both his hands ; Peace following, crowned with the Neiv Constellation, and
" supporting over her right arm a cornucopia, teeming with the choices products of the
" earth. Over the figures the sum in meridian splendor. On the exergue this motto — Inter-
" est Omnium." The first die, cut by Mr. Reynolds, was rejected by the Society, and a second
one was cut by Mr. James Trenchard.

Royal Agricultural Society of England. — No. XL. of the Journal, which is the second
part of the eighteenth volume, contains : Statistics ; Meteorology ; Public Health ; Price of
Provisions ; Report on Steppe Murrain or Kinderpente, by James Beart Simons ; Paper on
Howe's Shoeing, by Wm. Miles ; Paper on the Manurial Properties of clay from gas works, by the
Rev. W. R. Bowditch ; Time on entry on farms, by the Rev. William Holt Beever ; paper on
paring and burning, by Dr. Augustus Voelcker; Communications on the relative values of
cattle-box Manure and farm-yard Manure, by Charles Laurence ; Elementary introduction
to the subject of vegetable physiology, by Arthur Henfrey ; Report on the exhibition and
trial of implements at the Salisbury meeting, by C. Wren Hoskyns ; Paper on Road-mend-
ing, by the Hon. William G. Cavendish ; Agricultural Chemistry — on the growth of Barley
by different manures, contiguously on the same land, and on the position of the crop in rota-
tion, by J. B. Lawes and Dr. J. H. Gilbert.