ENCOURAGING SIGNS FOR AGRICULTURE. WEEVILS. 459 



Consumption of Vegetable Food in the United States. 



Professor Tucker, in his work entitled " Progress of the United States," says 

 that about firtecn-sixleenths of the grain and potatoes produced in the U. S. are 

 consumed at home, eitlier directly or in the form of animal food, and only ono- 

 sixteenth is sent abroad in either of these forms. 



The quantity of vegetable food annually consumed in the United States by a 

 family of five persons, after deducting one-sixteentli of the grain for the amount 

 exported, and one-tenth for seed, is as follows : 



Indian coril 85 bashels. I Wheat, rye, fee 25 bashela. 



OatB 28 .. I Potatoes.". 25 



To the articles annually consumed by a Aimily are to be added poultry to the 

 value of $2 25 ; pickled fish, one-third of a barrel ; rice, 12 lbs. ; sugar, 42 lbs. ; 

 besides garden vegetables, products of the orchard, and game. 



IMPORTANT TO FARMERS.— A letter from a highly respectable hotise in New-York to 

 a commercial house in this city, says: " The preference is now altogether for yellow com, though 

 but a few months back white was preferred. Meal from white corn is now al.«o difKcult of sale." 



Yellow corn, wo understand, can be readily sold for 4 or .3 cent.s per bushel more than white in 

 the New-York market. The farmers will perceive tlie importance, in planting their next crop, 

 of having reference to a fact likely so seriously to allect their interests; for, even if the next Eu- 

 ropean harvests sliould be abundant, it is not to be doubted that the demand for corn will continue 

 to be large for twelve or eighteen months to come. Having become familiarized, indeed, to its 

 use, we may anticipate that it will continue, even after the necessity in which its exportation orig- 

 inates shall have ceased to exist, to constitute no inconsiderable portion of the food of the people 

 of Great Britain. [Richmond Whig. 



ENCOURAGING SIGNS FOR THE CAUSE OF AGRICULTURE.— There are no let>- 

 ters we peruse with moro pleasure than such as the followiugf. They show that the public 

 sentiment is taking the right direction, and that we are steadily, even thougli it be slowly, 

 approaching a great reform in our systems of education — one under which the youth of the 

 country will cease to be instructed in anything and everything but in those very branchea 

 of knowledge by which they may gam, with more ea.se and certainty, that condition of com- 

 petence and comfort wliich probity and diligence ouglit to insure to every citizen of the Re- 

 public. \Vhat we want — the great want for almost every State — as we have repeatedly 

 urged, is a Normal School, at its Seat of Government or elsewhere, in which teachers should 

 be taught and prepared for the great, the noble office of instructors of yo7tth. 



We are truly gratified to see how wisely and feelingly this subject has been dwelt upon 

 by Gov. Briggs, in his Address to the Massachusetts Legislature; and will copy that part 

 of it in our next. 



We shall never forget the delightful sensations experienced iu witnessing the exercises of 

 such a school at Albany, to which we were tiiken by an enlightened citizen who has since 

 done to Fairfax, Virginia, the favor to take up his abode there. 



We will not so far reflect on the judgment of any reader as to suppose that he does not at 

 once see the connection between enlightenment of the mind of the masses, and security of 

 property, and the general prosperity and safety of the coimtiy. 



John S. Skinner, Esq. Baltimore, January 12, 1847. 



Dear Sir : I am desirous to find a situation in cvay respect suitable for a son of mine, 20 year* old, to 

 learn farming, horticulture, &c. Presuming you are able to inform me, I take the liberty of requesting you, 

 jf you know a situation of the above kind, that you will inform me. I would merely add that my son is a 

 very moral young man, and is desirous of learning the business of a farmer. An answer, at your earliest 

 convenience, will oblige Your obedient servant. 



To Destroy Weevils. — Apply with a brush to the walls and floor of the granary, strong 

 lime-water, and in a few days aiierward wash the floor with soap and warm water. 



(939) 



