FOREIGN AND MISCELLANEOUS NOTICES. 



If the advantages to be derived from it are 

 as great as jNIr. Comstock promises, we are 

 sure the Legislature will no longer withhold 

 from him the paltry sum of $150,000."— 

 Poagh. Ewrh, Dec. 21, 1850. 



" Bm'fits obtainable from the Discovery i?i 

 Fegutation. Experimmted uponfoartecn 

 years. 

 General Outlines relative to the discovered 

 Natural Principle advantageous toAgricul- 

 ture. See Bill No. 395, which was refer- 

 red to a committee of five, who unani- 

 mously reported complete, April 6, and 

 passed the Assembly )'esterday. See As- 

 sembly Document No. 23, of IG pages. 

 1st. That the discovery is a Law of Vege- 

 tation. 



2d. That it Avill introduce the s\veet pota- 

 to and almost all other crops, into higher 

 latitudes. 



3d. That it forms a rule by which to cul- 

 tivate. 



4th. That plants cultivated according to 

 it, will have a more robust constitution, 

 will endure greater excess of drouth and 

 rains; will be more uniformly productive; 

 will be less liable to be preyed upon by in- 

 sects. 



5th. That it will introduce the best modes 

 of cultivation, and perpetuate them. 



Gth. That by the discovery the common 

 modes of cultivation can be demonstrated to 

 be erroneous. 



7th. That by it the comparative value of 

 manures will be better tested and known. 



8th. That by it the annual potato rot will 

 be prevented, [(ji^^ The recent occasional ex- 

 cessive rot is referred to in the appendix.] 

 9th. That when known it will be a nation- 

 al honor. 



10th. That it being an idea or knowledge 

 of a certain law in nature, and the practice 

 not altogether new, although the objects to 

 be obtained by the practice are new, it can- 

 not be patented. 



11th. That the copy-right laws cannot 

 protect it. They protect words only. 



12th. That the admitted best judge of Bos- 

 ton said, " It is one of the prettiest things 

 in the world, because any one could use it 

 and nobody know it." 



13. That the discovered principle has 3 

 practical bearings on the cultivation of 

 plants; and when comprehended commends 

 the practice instantaneously. 



N. B. That the laws of all civilised soci- 

 ety are intended to protect their discoverers, 

 (ji^ Three committees, after knowing 

 the secret, have unanimously recommended 



it to public patronage. Russell Comstock 

 Albany, Jlpril 10, 1850. 



Appendix. 



14th. That the sun will rise tomorrow is 

 a moral certainty, but the existence of this 

 newly discovered principle in vegetation, 

 can be demonstrated to a philosophical and 

 matliematical ccrtaintj^ as tlie discovery is 

 founded on self-evident facts; a knowledge 

 of which, from its nature and importance, 

 should be one of the first lessons to be taught 

 to a young agriculturist, in a state agricul- 

 tural school or elsewhere; to the young lady 

 who would rear her house plants successful- 

 ly, as well as to all gardeners, and also wor- 

 thy of the attention of all who value im- 

 provement in art and science, and in the con- 

 dition of our species, man. 



15th. That in the cultivation of all agri- 

 cultural crops, a knowledge of the principle 

 is essential, to know how to preserve the vi- 

 tality and healthy growth of the plants. 



16th. That the discoverer's system of cul- 

 tivation is formed by a combination of dis- 

 coveries. 



17th. That he has discovered the cause 

 of the excessive potato rot, and an economi- 

 cal and natural method of preventing it, al- 

 most to a moral certainty. 



18th. That the bonus or reward of ^150,- 

 000, which is suggested in said Assembly 

 Document, No. 23, by eight}^ of the princi- 

 pal tax paj'^ers of the town of the discove- 

 rer's nativity and residence, and others of 

 Dutchess county, when paid by the state, 

 will be a powerful stimulus to cause all ter- 

 ra-culturists to test the existence of this dis- 

 covered principle in nature experimentallj'; 

 a practical knowledge of which will cause 

 them to abandon their traditional mode of 

 cultivation, and to adopt the improved sj's- 

 tem, which is in direct opposition to their 

 traditional custom, and therefore may re- 

 quire (to be quickly introduced,) the most 

 powerful stimulants, conviction, interest and 

 popularity, to make the inroad on their cus- 

 tom. 



19th. That the honor of the Republic de- 

 mands legislative action on the subject with- 

 out delay, even should the discoverer de- 

 mand of the state the amount which he had 

 encouragement to believe congress would 

 appropriate eleven )'ears since, say three 

 quarters of a million, instead of this state's 

 proportion of that amount, but he has never 

 set any price. 



20th. That the want of lobby-money, to 

 cause honorable members of the legislative 

 bodies to read all the proofs, may have been 



No, IV, 



