THE FARMERS" REGISTER. 



21 



reeled differently. It cannot be expected that any 

 considerable number ol" individuals, or enough lo 

 maintain the semblance of a " United Stales 

 Agriculiura! Society," can be induced to travel lo 

 Washington, li-om all the stales ol ihe union. 

 And even iC such incredible sacrifices were nuide, 

 and some members were lo attend from Maine, 

 Iowa, Missouri, Louisiana und Florida, as well as 

 from the near neighborhood ol" Washington, what 

 could be expected from their meeting, more than 

 the usual and almost useless procedure of agri- 

 cultural societies in general? And il" no more 

 should be done, no member would again iravel 

 1000 railed — unless he had oiher work to do, and 

 private interesis lo attend to at the seat ofgovern- 

 ment. 



It is not that there are not excellent and abun- 

 dant materials and means at Washington lor an 

 agricultural society of more humble pretensione, 

 and yet of far greater utility than this. There are 

 some resident individuals there, whose names ap- 

 pear in the loregoing proceedings, whose general 

 intelligence, zeal for and knowledge of agriculiure, 

 would dignify and utilize any properly constituied 

 district society; and such a society would be great- 

 ly aided by facilities peculiar to that locality. 

 But these mdividnals and these means will re- 

 ceive no additional aid by belonging loan orga- 

 nization and plan so ambitious as to be made co- 

 extensive With the whole space ol our enormous 

 territory. 



But whatever may be our anticipations and 

 fears, we shall most heartily rejoice if they shall 

 prove to be unfounded, and the value and results 

 of the " United Slates Agricultural Society" shall 

 be shown to be equal to the most sanguine ex- 

 pectations of its founders. 



VIRGINIA SALT MINE. 



From the Journal of Commerce. 



I received last week, from my correspondent, 

 Alexander Findley, Esq. of Saltville, Washing- 

 ton county, Virginia, a package containing, amoiTg 

 other geological specimens, several pieces of rock 

 salt, or sal gem, which is of a very superior quali- 

 ty. 1 have left a sample of it at the office ol the 

 Journal of Commerce, for ihe inspection of any 

 person who may wish to examine it. The rock 

 salt is siigliily iinged with a leddish color. This 

 is the first salt mine found in the United Slates 

 east of the Mississippi river and the great lakes, 

 and may well be reckoned a great treasure. The 

 stratum is about one hundred and fifty feet thick 

 and reposes on a bed of plaster rock, and is a little 

 more than two hundred leet below the surface. 



The section of Virginia where this .salt mine is 

 located lies between the Clinch mountain and the 

 Blue Ridge, and is near the line of East Tenne- 

 see, about equal distance irom Nashville in Ten- 

 nessee and Richmond, Virginia. I have also re- 

 ceived a sample of most beautiliji table salt, manu- 



factured at the salt works at Saltville by evaporation. 



1 have put up specimens of the rock salt to for- 

 ward to the slate geological cabinet at Albany. 



This salt mine was discovered in boring lor salt 

 water — and although it is so near ihe eurlace, the 

 proprietors find ii more profitable to evaporate the 

 brine which yields about two pound* of pure salt 

 10 the gallon, in prelerence to excavating the sal 

 gem. The stale ol Virginia is rich in her mineral 

 deposiies — of iron, coal, sail, plaster and gold — 

 iron, coal, salt and piaster are generally lound 

 near together. E. Meriam, 



From the Kentuclsy Farmer. 



RELATIVE WEIGHT OF GRAIN AND COB OF 

 INDIAN CORN. 



Bourbon county, Dec, 13, 1841. 



To the Editor of the Kentucky Farmer — In look- 

 ing over your inieiestirig periudical, 1 sometimes 

 meet wiili notices ol fine ears of corn produced 

 in our country. Now in order to enable your 

 readers to understand precisely how good they 

 were, it seems to me that jour correspondents 

 should, in deeciibing ilieni, give us the exact 

 weight of the corn both on ilie cob and when 

 shelled, as this would afiord a very certain stand- 

 ard. The length or girth of the ear, the number 

 of rows or grains, are loo uiitwtain measures by 

 which to deiermine the excellence of an ear of 

 Indian corn. A refiection ol ihis kind led me 

 while gathering my corn lo luake the following 

 experiment : 



On the 17ih November last, without any very 

 great care, I selected twelve ol the most remark- 

 able ears that were convenient to hand. The 

 whole, being quite dry, weighed thirteen pounds 

 good weight on ihe cob. The longest ear mea- 

 suring ihuieen inches in length, but only 5| inclies 

 ill circumli^reuce was Ihe lightest of the twelve, 

 and coniained 742 grains. The shortest ear 

 measuring 85 inches and 8^ inches in girth, had 

 22 rows and about 1100 grains— the greatest 

 number of grains on any ol the twelve— but the 

 ear was much lighter than many others of the 

 dozen. The heaviest and best ear of all mea- 

 sured only nine inches in length and S^ inches in 

 girth, containing 18 rows and about 846 grains, 

 it weighed 1 lb. 3^ oz. unshelled ; the corn when 

 shelled weighed 15^ oz. I did not consider this 

 a very remarkable ear for size; but the experi- 

 ment shows how much the eye may deceive us 

 as to the relative value of an ear of corn. Among 

 the dozen there was one ear, selected by several 

 as being decidedly the finest and best. And cer- 

 tainly its appearance was prepossesiing, being 12 

 inches long and 7^ inches in circumference, con- 

 taining on y 14 rows and about 700 grains, which, 

 however, were very large, wide and lull. This 

 ear was the second m weight, mark that, weigh- 

 ing 1 lb. 3 oz. ; the corn it shelled weighed 14^ 

 oz. having a much heavier cob than its success- 

 fiil competitor. The description of corn is the 

 white flint; and considering that the past season 

 was not the best lor corn, 1 think mine tolerably 

 good. The above experiment has suggested to 

 my mind an important improvement that I think 

 may be made in corn. I intend to try it, and if 

 I succeed will indue time inlbrm you as to the 

 result, i am, respectlully, yours, 



JnO. ALF..KN GaNO. 



