FARMIilRS' REGISTER. 



[No. 1 



pression of an opinion as to the proprietary title 

 thereto. 



Now for the letters. What does the letter o. 

 November 1st say, (aHudinix, I suppose, to the 

 simple expression of my belief?) " 1 am not con- 

 tent to let such flimsjr statements pass, without a 

 suitable rebuke" — antl, how does he rebuke the 

 '•flimsy" statement — let us see — to wit: by sla- 

 ting in his letter to Gideon B. Smith, on the r2ih 

 of July, 1830— yes, on the 12th of July, 1330— 

 *' I should have been pleased, if you had stated, 

 that your Chinese mulberry tree" (now the mul- 

 ticaulis) "came from me — I don't believe one tree 

 exists in the country, but yours and mine : we 

 have about twenty"!!! What does he say"? 

 On the 22d of December, 1838, he says, I sent to 

 Dr. Norton " in the fall of 1828, or spring of 1829, 

 the Phillippine Island mulberry, it not having, at 

 that early period, received the title of morus mul- 

 ticaulis." 



If, then, in July. 1830, Gideon B. Smith had 

 but one tree, and IVilliavi R. Prince only about 

 TWENTY!!! and THE about TWENTY- 

 ONE trees were jILL then in the country, how 

 could he ( Wm. H, Prince,^ have sent, in the fall 

 of 1828, (near two years before,) a tree to Dr. 

 Norton ? " 



Is this the promised rebuke of a "flimsy state- 

 ment?" If it is, there is in it more ********* 

 than *****. I now leave it to the public to say, 

 whether there is more flimsincss in my statement 

 than there is discrepancy in his own. 



Again — According to the testimony of Mr. Car- 

 ter,* (postscript, December 22d, 1838, upon which 

 Wm. R. Prince relies to show that Dr. Norton 

 had, in the spring of 1828, a tree (morus multi- 

 caulis) agreeing '-precisely," as he says he some- 

 time since suggested to Gideon B. Smith, it is 

 shown, that Dr. Norton was in possession of the 

 tree as ealy as the spring of '28, and that the doc- 

 tor and John Carter were propagating rajjidly the 

 morus multicaulis in the summer of 1828, whereas 

 he had but about twenty trees in July, 1830, more 

 than two jears thereafter; which, with the one 

 then in the possession of G. B. Smith, he, in the 

 same month and year, (12th July, 1830,) stated, 

 " he believes are the only trees in the country, (a 

 belief which he must eventually contend was " a 

 flimsy statement,") and which he cannot be "con- 

 tent" to let pass without a suitable (self) "re- 

 buke." 



To conclude : I entertain no unkind feelings to- 

 wards Wm.. R. Prince — for Gic'eon B. Smith I 

 have the highest respect. I have studiously avoid- 

 ed the use of" harsh language, other than such as 

 W. R. P. used himselij and have only sought to 

 show, that others, who ought to be better informed 

 than myself, may have been mistaken! in their be- 

 lief as to whom belongs the credit of the first in- 

 troduction of the morus multicaulis into this coun- 

 try. I leave the question of first introduction to be 

 settled by the three claimants, and shall not, pro- 

 bably trouble you again. J. W. 



* In this statement, there isa radical error. It is 

 this: Wm. R. Prince never saw Jo/(?i Carter — another 

 flimsy statement, deserving (self) "rebuke." 



t See Farmers' Register, p. 393, 16th to 51st line, 

 and vol. 6, No. 12, p, 751. 



From the Farmer's Magazine, (1808.) 

 COUNTY AGRICULTURAI., REPORTS. 



The idea of ascertaining the agricultural state 

 of every district in the kingdom, and of printing 

 each survey, according to one uniform model, is 

 the greatest undertaking ever attempted by any 

 institution; and, though carried on with funds ex- 

 tremely inadequate to such an attempt, yet it is at 

 last in a fair way of being happily accomplished. 

 All the counties in England will be completed in 

 the course of this year. Several will remain to be 

 done in Scotland, for the execution of which fit 

 persons can be procured, as soon as adequate 

 funds are obtained for that purpose. In the course 

 of this year, five reports have been already print- 

 ed, and eight transmitted to the board in a state 

 ready lor publication; so that the progress haa 

 been considerable, and the termination of this 

 most important undertaking, by which so large a 

 proportion of the lijnds of tlie board has hitherto 

 been absorbed, is probably at no great distance. 



The advantages to be derived Irom these re- 

 ports, are universally recognized in foreign coun- 

 tries; for the same plan has been alreadj' adopted 

 in France and Russia, and wil! probably be imi- 

 tated in every other civilized countr}'. A letter 

 has latelj' been received tiom a celebrated agricul- 

 turist in France, in which he states hia opinion, 

 "that such a measure is the most useful that can 

 be undertaken, for bringing, in a short space of 

 time, agriculture to a high degree of perfection."* 

 Indeed the information furnished by the various 

 reports and comiTiunications published by the 

 board, far exceeds what is generally apprehended. 

 Dr. Coventry, Professor of Agriculture in the 

 University of Edinburgh, who, fi-om his situation, 

 is led to examine every work connected with the 

 subjects on which he lectures, has recently de- 

 clared, 'that in these late reports and publications, 

 there is detailed more useflil and distinct informa- 

 tion, on various branches of agriculture, and on 

 rural concerns in general, than was in print before 

 these were drawn vp.^'f What then may not be 

 expected, when all these reports are completed, 

 for little more than one-half of them were printed, 

 when this idea of their merit and utility was 

 formed by Dr. Coventry. 



IMPORTANCE OF AGRICULTURE. 



To prove the importance of agriculture to a 

 community, seems very like demonstrating the ad- 

 vantages of having food to eat and clothes to 

 wear. That it is, indeed, the first and greatest 

 concern of every nation, and the foundation of its 

 prosperity in every other matter, is a truth so uni- 

 versally acknowledged, that it has obtained almost 

 the currency of a proverb. — Farmers^ Cabinet, 



* The French expressions are, 'Je crois que ce tra- 

 vail est le plus utile de tout ceux qu'on peut entre- 

 prendre, pour amener, dans un tres court espece de 

 temps, I'agriculture a un grand degre de perl'ection.' 



f See discourses explanatory of the object and plan 

 of the Course of Lectures on Agriculture and Rural 

 Economy, by Dr. Coventrv, 1 vol. octavo, printed at 

 Edinburgh, 1808,. p. 187. 



