19 



* 



fessor Henslow, in his report on the disccases of wheat, to the Rojal Agricultural 

 Society. 



" From a variety of considerations, it has always appeared strange to me that 

 practical agriculturists are accustomed to pay so little attention to the raising of 

 pure seed crops. Ihere may be a reason which I do not properly appreciate, 

 that would render it inexpedient to cultivate a seed crop; but I should have 

 thought it was always worth Avhile for every farmer to set aside some portion of 

 ground to be more carefully tended than the rest, for the purpose of securing 

 good and clean seed. Among other reasons for such a practice, he would then 

 be able to weed his crop from every plant infected with bunt or smut, before the 

 furigi ripened." 



WEIGHTS AND MEASUEES. 



During the last session of Congress a standing committee was appointed on 

 weights and measures, and by that act the country was assured that Congress 

 would soon exercise its constitutional authority over this subject. Heretofore 

 we have pointed out the utter perplexity that exists here to determine what tlte 

 English quarter is, and the endless confusion that exists in that nation from 

 every county and commercial city having its own weiglits and measures. 



Before us are some letters from correspondents asking the aid of this Depart- 

 ment to correct the evil they experience of buying agricultimil products in a 

 State having its own standard in weights and measures, and having to sell them 

 in another State having a different standard. We can aid in this important 

 matter but in one way — by asking Congress to arrest, at the earliest moment, 

 the evil that conflicting State legislation, on this subject, is bringing on tlie 

 country, and which will increase, until here, as in Great Britain, its very mag- 

 nitude will serve to perpetuate it. 



INlr. R. E. Johnson, of Baltimore, has recently published an interesting article 

 on the question of adopting the French decimal standard. We cannot better 

 serve our correspondents than by its republication, and, in so doing, we add 

 some remarks of our uwn, suggested by his article. 



The names given to the weights and measures by the French may appear 

 objectionable to many, because it will be thought they are so unlike the names 

 already given to them. But it must be remembered that the object is to have 

 an internafional system of weights, measures, and values, so that when the price 

 of a commodity is stated in a foreign country, it is known here, because of this 

 uniform system among all commercial nations. W^e cannot, therefore, expect 

 that our own common names shall be retained. And the French have very wisely 

 adopted names that are not in themselves French, but are derived from the 

 Greek and Latin languages — that common storehouse of names to new things. 

 We have thousands of words, now familiar, drawn from this source. Thus the 

 word petroleum is derived from the Greek words, j?etra, a rock, and elaion, oil, 

 meaning rock oil. So ayithracite is from the Greek anthrakitis stone coal. A little 

 fixmiliarity with the names given by the French, in their system of weights and 

 measures, will make them as much domesticated as our word dime, which comes 

 from the Latin dec'tmus, the tenth. 



A particular notice of these names, as given by the French, will not be use- 

 less. There nvQj'our measures — of length, of capacitij, of weight, and of surface. 

 There must be a unit or starting-point for each of these, and this luiit must be 

 increased or diminished according to some established number. In our coins we 

 have made this number ten. The dime is the tenth of a dollai-. Hence it is 

 called the decimal system. The French have adopted this in their system of 

 weights and measures, as we certainly should, that i tmay be uniform with our 



