F A R JNl E R S ' REGISTER. 



285 



very important branch of buying and seWmg puffs) 

 <>ould be laid naked and made manifest to all.— 

 Ed. F. R.] 



iJ/r. Holmes : — At this time, when po many 

 *' new improvements" in the aris and sciences, as 

 well as almost every branch ol" human industry, 

 are put forth to the public, under the most impos- 

 inj5 titles and caplivaling language, I think it will 

 not be out of reason to throw out a liiw hints to 

 my brother farmers, to be on their guard, and not 

 suffer themselves to be imposed upon, by interest- 

 ed persons, in the sale of some of those " new im- 

 provements," which are almost daily, or at least 

 every week, brought belbre the public — however 

 specious may be their pretensions to the patronage 

 of the community. For, sir, it is a (act, which 

 cannot be controverted, and the more reflecting 

 part of the community already perceive it, that we 

 live in a day of hmnbiiggcry, or in oiher words, at 

 a time when there are men, who are tleiemiiiied to 

 lake the advantage of the more ignorant, by 

 ushering to their notice this thing, or the other, as 

 "a great" or "decided improvement" in this or 

 that branch of business, or eomethin<r which is 

 "new" or " well deserving attention." This is 

 done in various ways, but in none, perhaps, more 

 successfully, or in lohich we farmers are made to 

 feel so sensibly, as through the medium nf some of 

 the agricultural journals of the day, and especially 

 those which are published by persons who are 

 directly interested in the sale of those very articles 

 or '■'improvements^' which are advertised, and to 

 which our '^ particular attention is invited'^ by the 

 editor, under his editorial head. 



You are aware, sir, that there are many journals 

 published, with the imposing title of some " agri- 

 cultural" term, in order to disseminate the adver- 

 tisements of the proprietors, lor the sale of these 

 articles, or improvements, kept in tlieir " agricul- 

 tural establishments, seed stores," or " ware- 

 iiouses," and their great usefulness is thus trum- 

 peted Ibnh every week to the community. This is 

 also done too, by persons who are sonietimes hired 

 at a certain price per week, or year, to conduct 

 these journals, and I am sorry to state that rich 

 persons are lound, too, who are willing thus to 

 lend their talents, and to prostitute their dignity, to 

 aid in this species of deception, whereby we igno- 

 rant farmers are deceived, and thus deprived of 

 some portion of our hard earnin2s. Indeed, we 

 are made the dupes of this kind ol' people, by first 

 subscribing and paying lor their paper, thereby 

 Jurnishing them with the very means to deceive 

 us, and are led to purchase some of their " new 

 improvements," or "valuable seeds," and finding 

 that we have been cheated, alter it is too late to 

 apply the remedy, and in our turn, by thus lend- 

 ing our patronage, help to deceive others. 



Not that 1 would be understood as discouraging 

 the circulation of agricultural journals in the 

 least, lor I most earnestly wish that they might be 

 increased tentbld or more. But 1 would advise 

 every farmer to use the utmost caution, and sub- 

 scribe for those papers, and those only, which 

 have no connexion whatever with any "agricul- 

 tural ware-house," " seed establishments," or the 

 like, unless they are under the control of such per- 

 sons whose standing in society is such as to be a 

 sufficient guaranty to place them above suspicion, 

 in resorting to any of those " artifices" or " tricks 



of trade,"' which are so boldly pursued by some. 

 Ii; sir, we should adopt this course, we should 

 soon drive these worse than useless publications 

 from circulatintr amongst us, not but that they may 

 cofitain something that is valuable, but they are 

 at the same time loaded with articles, in the shape 

 of "editorial," "communications," or "adver- 

 tisements," calculated to gull the public and de- 

 ceive the community. And by lending them our 

 patronage, we encourage them to pursue this spe- 

 cies of "deception, until by bitter experience we 

 find we have been imposed upon, when, perhaps, 

 our minds have become prejudiced, not only 

 asainst this, but every other agricultural journal. 

 We then discontinue that paper, and refuse, or ne- 

 glect to subscribe (or any other, tiiereby depriving 

 ourselves of the beiiefiis lo be derived from well- 

 conducted journals of this description, and we do 

 not stop here, but sufier our prejudices to extend to 

 every improvement, without in any way testing^ 

 iis advantaiies— thereby depriving ourselves of 

 that kind ofinformalion and knowledge, which it 

 is all important that we should have, in order to 

 carry on our business to advantage. 



In order to remedy this evil, I wish to exhort all 

 my brother farmers not to subscribe lor, or in any 

 way lend assistance to, journals ol' this descrip- 

 tion, but to patronize such, and such only, as are 

 edited by a person who is acquainted with the bu- 

 siness of practical agriculture, and one too who is 

 unwilliniT to prostitufe his talents lor " hire" to con- 

 duct a weekly paper, and lend the credit of his 

 name to a journal, which is published by those 

 who are directly interested, in the vending of all 

 articles which are advertised by them, as well as 

 praised by the editor, who is paid a stipulated 

 price lor doing if. 



We want a paper published by a person who ia 

 not a proprietor or copartner in any " agricultural 

 warehouse," "seed store," or " deposite of larm- 

 ers' seeds and tools," and edited by a gentleman, 

 who will not consent to lend the sanction of his 

 name to puff any article whatever, any further 

 than its real merit and intrinsic value will warrant. 

 Such papers there are published, and to such we 

 oucrlit to afford support. They are the vehicles 

 which serve to convey lo us a vast I'und of infor- 

 mation, and will pay us all they cost iijurlbld. 

 Garland, March 5, 1840. Asa Barton. 



From the Library of Useful ICiiowlcdgc. 

 A GLOUCESTERSHIRE VALE-FARM. 



Description of the Tale of Gloucester and Berkeley. 



Between the Cotswold hills and the river Severn, 

 there is a tract of low country, extending in length 

 from Thornbury to Evesham, a distance of about 

 forty miles ; and of various breadths, from four to 

 about ten miles. The surface of this district slopes 

 gradually I'rom the loot of the Cotswold hills to the 

 Severn; and although its miilbrmity is considera- 

 bly broken by several detached hills of the oolitic 

 formation, separated from the main body ; yet, in 

 its general aspect, it may be said to be a level dis- 

 trict. It is statistically divided into the vale of 

 Gloucester and the vale of Berkeley. 



The subsoil of this district is the blue lias-clay 

 formation. Its course through this county is very 



