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ciations, organized the " Racine Agrirultural Society'' on the 1st of September 

 last; and by the 14th of October, 234 persons had become members by the pay- 

 ment of |1 entrance fee each, thus constituting a fund of 6234. On the 14th 

 and loth of that month, an Agricultural Exhibition and Fair was held, at which 

 $203 50 was distributed, in forty-six premiums to different competitors, in suras 

 varying from $10 to 50 cents each. These premiums were awarded, respec- 

 tively, for the best cultivated farm — best reclaimed marsh lands — best crops of 

 wheat, corn, oats, vegetables, &c. — several for the best horses, working oxen, 

 milch cows, beef cattle, neat stock, sheep, hogs, and breeding animals — for butter 

 and for cheese — for the best ploughing, and various agricultural implements — 

 for manufactures of cassimeres, flannels, sheeps-gray cloth, cabinet furniture, <fec. 

 And diplomas were awarded for a variety of fruits, such as apples, peaches, peai-s, 

 quinces and grapes, and for garden sauce and esculents ; for a good many stoves 

 of new and beautiful patterns; for hardware, mechanic's work and wares, inge- 

 nious and useful inventions, jewelry, &:c] as well as for a great variety of family 

 fabrics, and ornamental and needle work, exhibited by the wives, the daughters, 

 and the families of the members of the society — manifesting a spirit of improve- 

 ment, as well as a degree of skill and accomplishments, on the part of the ladies 

 of the rural districts of our county, rarely excelled in the most refined of the agri- 

 cultural communities at the East. So brief a period intervened between the 

 organization of the Society and the holding of the Fair, (six weeks only) that it 

 could not be expected this first exhibition would aftbrd a fair sample of the agri- 

 cultural products of the county, or of the progress made by our farmers in 

 systematic agriculture, &c. But the exhibition was highly respectable, and highly 

 gratifying to every friend of agriculture in the county. This Society is destined 

 to open up a new and more propitious era for the farming interests of this 

 county. 



Constituents of Soil. — Agricultural chemistry teaches, that soil is formed 

 by the intimate mixture of the debris of rocks, in the condition of sand, gravel, 

 or clay, with decomposed animal and vegetable substances, in the shape of mould, 

 or hnmvs. The simple mineral called alumina, is the base of all clay ; while 

 pure clay is composed exclusively of silica and alumina. Any earthy mineral, in 

 a granulated form is called sand. Now for the sake of simplicity and convenience, 

 I will adopt the division of soils into these three constituents — mould, sand, and 

 clay ; although by scientific analyses, these are susceptible of an almost infinite 

 subdivision. 



Soil, then, is constituted of what might be called an amalgam of sand, clay, 

 and mould. The nature, composition, and value of these constituents of soil, 

 vary indefinitely in different localities; and a slight change in the proportion of 

 the ingredients of a soil, might greatly augment or diminish the product of the 



