66 



THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



be assigned to the vice-preBidenta of the society, 

 and BO far aa I have any knowledge of the gentle- 

 men already appointed, none are more capable of 

 executing this duty well. A single report from 

 each in regard to hia own state would at once ef- 

 fect the object, after all were properly collated and 

 arranged /or publication ; and annual reports af 

 terwards would make public all the improvements 

 which are constantly being made throughout our 

 country, and which in no other way, probably, 

 could 60 soon, (if at all,) become generally known 

 to the whole body of the yeomanry of the United 

 States. If the vice-president of any particular 

 state should not possess all the requisite informa- 

 tion, it is presumable that he could readily obtain 

 it from the district and county societies which, I 

 believe, are now established throughout the union, 

 and whose members, in all probability, would take 

 peculiar pleasure in furnishing it, when they knew 

 the highly important and national purpose for 

 which it was sought. 



The second great object which our society will 

 endeavor to^ccomplish, and which no local socie- 

 ty can possibly eflect, will bo to ascertain, by loir 

 nnd full trials, the comparative merits of all the 

 most approved machines and implemenis used lor 

 the various purposes of huebantlry; and then to 

 make the results as public as possible. This 

 would soon have the effect of checking, if it did 

 not entirely stop the sale of the numerous " catch- 

 penny" things, which their owners, at present, 

 very often succeed in selling throughout our coun- 

 try, to the immense injury of ignorant purchasers ; 

 for the awards of such a society would, in all pro- 

 bability, be deemed the best attainable evidence of 

 merit or demerit in all euch articles, by every per- 

 son who saw them for the first lime, and of course 

 could know nothing of their real value. 



In the last place, such a society as ours, how- 

 ever partially attended, would ceilainly make our 

 brethren, in the distant parts of our confederacy, 

 sooner and far better acquainted with each other, 

 than any other means that are at all likely to be 

 resorted to ; and would thereby contribute much 

 towards strengthening those bonds of fraternity, 

 the preservation of which is absolutely indispen- 

 eable to the welfare and happiness of the United 

 States : without those ties our union must prove 

 nothing better than a " rope of sand." 



These, my good sir, are my principal reasons for 

 differing from you so entirely in regard to the 

 Agricultural Society of the United Slates. They 

 are the result of long and most deliberate reflec- 

 tion, made, too, many years ago, and before I had 

 any the slightest expectation' that such society 

 ever would be formed, or that I should have any 

 office in it. Of course, no ^'esprit du corps''^ has 

 dictated them. Time alone (as I said before) can 

 prove which of us is right — you or I. But of one 

 thing I feel quite as certain as if it had actually 

 happened. It is, that if your anticipations and 

 fears should prove unfounded, however " heartily 

 you may rejoice" at it, you cannot possibly do it 

 more than will your old friend, 



Ja3ies JM. Garnktt. 



[We were reluctant to express the opinions 

 which are here censured by our highly esteemed 

 friend and correspondent, and will not add n word 

 «f replication, nor say any thing i<i reference to 



the opposite views presented above. We will 

 merely repeat, that we shall not only rejoice, but 

 shall be ready to acknowledge our error, if the 

 anticipations should prove fialse, which, being en- 

 tertained, we thought truth and candor required ue 

 to express ; and which were desired to be ex- 

 pressed in terms the most respectful, as truly felt, 

 for the members of the society. 



The application of the term " ambitious" to the 

 plan of the society was by no means meant in an 

 offensive sense, nor supposed obnoxious to any 

 such construction. It was used merely in regard 

 to the very wide ground and sphere of operations 

 assumed by the society ; and such ambition was 

 noble and praiseworthy for its motives, even 

 though the practical course might prove to be in- 

 judicious and inefficient.— Ed. t\ U.] 



HINTS AKI) OBSERVATIOKS. 



For the Farmers' Register. 



Raising of lambs. — Build a pen upon the plan 

 of a pig pen. Leave a hole for the lambs to enter. 

 Have a trough to put bran or meal in. It will be 

 necessary for you first to catch the lambs, and put 

 the bran in their mouths two or three times. They 

 will learn to eat when five or six days old ; and at 

 the time (eay 15 days old) when they generally 

 die for the want of milk, they can live without the 

 aid of the mother. I have had them to run in as 

 readily as pigs. 



All stock ought to be housed. They will make 

 much more manure, and live upon about one half 

 the food. 



Sheep. — The Merino sheep, with a mixture of 

 the long wool, is best for family use. 



Cattle. — A small cow can live well upon long 

 or short graes ; but a large one cannot prosper 

 upon short graes. 



Tobacco, 1 think, is not as great an exhauslef 

 as corn, the roots running much deeper, and few- 

 er near the surface. 



Uemp is a very profitable crop. It will grow, 

 upon good land, from 7 to 12 feel, and is considered 

 an improver. 



Flax is an exhauster, but a profitable crop. I 

 have known, from two bushels' sowing, between 

 30 and forty bushels seed made, worth ^1.25 per 

 bushel, and 830 pounds of flax from the swingle, 

 worth 10 cents per pound. 



The oat crop is considered injurious to sandy 

 lands, but the clay soil seems to be benefited by it. 



Buckwheat ia considered a very uncertain crop, 

 at times very productive, and a great exhauster of 

 lands. 



The turnip is considered a productive and be- 

 neficial crop, but the greatest exhauster of any 

 thing sown upon the soil. 



Grasses.— The herds-grass is better adapted to 

 wet land, and also upon high sandy land, than 

 any other I have tried. 



Timothy will make the heaviest crop of any 

 grass upon moist land, and grows well upon high 

 manured land. 



Orcltard urass yrow* luxuriantly, and i conei- 



