254 



FARMERS' REGISTER 



[No. 4. 



appointed by the seeds not sprouting, than in the jyid 

 of crop expected from thein, after years have been 

 devoted to the culture.] 



From the Penny Magazine. 

 WILD DOGS IN VAN DIEMEn's LAND. 



The annoyance and danger occasioned by the 

 wild- dogs in Van Diethen's Land is still a subject 

 of great complaint in the papers of that colony; 

 and the most active exertions hitherto used seem 

 to have had little effect in abating the nuisance. 

 The dogs appear rather to increase in number and 

 boldness. A case is mentioned in which a per- 

 son named Akerly was assaulted by thirteen of 

 these animals, and would probably have been 

 killed if he had not contrived to get up into a tree. 

 The means hitherto employed to eradicate them 

 do not seem to have been commensurate with the 

 growth of the evil. A society has been establish- 

 ed at Gaddesden, near Campbell Town, to effect 

 their destruction; and the house of the chairman 

 exhibits a collection of skins, to the number of a 

 hundred, of dogs that have been killed, of almost 

 all kinds, from the shepherd-dog to the Newfound- 

 land. It is thought that unless the most decided 

 measures are taken, it will be Impossible to pasture 

 sheep in the colony. The dogs bring forth six or 

 eight young at a litter, and commence breeding at 

 one year old, while the sheep brings forth only 

 one, and does not. commence breeding until two 

 years of age. The ultimate and discouraging 

 prospect which this opens is brought nearer by 

 the daily defection of the domestic dogs ol* the 

 colony to the wild ones. "At the remote stock- 

 hunts," says a recent paper, "a free man keeps 

 as many dogs as he pleases; frequently six or eight 

 are kept; these dogs provide for themselves, and 

 continually make off to the wild packs. All re- 

 monstrance is received with a smile, of contempt, 

 and returned by insult; and until such people are 

 strictly prohibited from keeping dogs in the pasto- 

 ral districts under heavy penalties, matters are not 

 likely to mend: indeed it is to be feared that the 

 evil is fixed for ever — that it has been too long ne- 

 glected, and is 'now past remedy." We are too 

 well assured of the resources and power of civil- 

 ized men to partake of these apprehensions; but 

 any delay now in organizing a plan of simulta- 

 neous operation against the dogs, is likely to ren- 

 der their future extirpation a matter of great and 

 increasing difficulty and expense. Meanwhile, at 

 this distance from the spot, it is interesting to watch 

 the various aspects in which this remark-able state 

 of things appears, and to observe the different 

 measures which it may be necessary to adopt 

 against the canine depredators. Since writing the 

 above we find that an "Act of Council" has been 

 issued for the purpose, of restraining the increase 

 of dogs. All dogs are to be registered; and none 

 are to be left at large except in Ilobart Town and 

 Launceston. Unregistered dogs, or dogs found at 

 large contrary to this order, are to be killed. The 

 persons killing them are to be paid from 5s. to 40s. 

 for each, out of a fund formed by the registration 

 fees. The registration fee for a watch-dog kept 

 chained, or a sheep dog, is 2s. 6d.;all other dogs 

 10s., or if females double the respective amounts. 

 The local newspapers are not very sanguine in ex- 

 pectations of good from this measure. 



EXTRACTS OF PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE. 



Abbeville, S. C, July 11th, 1835. 



I congratulate you, sir, on the growing circula- 

 tion of (he Register. Yet it is a matter of sur- 

 prise that, a useful publication like this, which in- 

 terests nine-tenths of the people, should not be 

 still more eagerly sought for, and liberally sustain- 

 ed. Is agriculture, the first, noblest pursuit of 

 man, unworthy of the investigation of the princi- 

 ples which constitute it a science, and of their 

 proper application to practical purposes? This 

 question will be promptly answered in the nega- 

 tive; still men, by their acts, seem to affirm other- 

 wise. It is certain that one of the most efficient 

 means of rendering service to 1he cultivators of' 

 the soil, is to present, in one view, the results of 

 individual experience, by the examination and 

 comparison of which, some principle may be de- 

 duced and established. And as the remoteness 

 of individuals from each other preclude the prac- 

 ticability of a personal interchange of thoughts 

 and opinions, such a work as the Register, may, 

 through the facilities furnished by the press and 

 post office, remove the barrier, and bring men who 

 live many hundred miles apart together, without 

 scarcely any trouble or expense. Its title to pa- 

 tronage is too obvious to demand labored reasons 

 to prove it. 



Columbia, S. C. July 12, 1S35. 



I had intended when I next wrote to you, to say 

 how I was pleased to travel over again the farm 

 of Lagrange in your last number. Our great and 

 good lricnd Gen. Lafayette, and his son-in-law 

 Mr. Delasterie, took me to see the whole of it, at 

 which I was, of course, much gratified. I recog- 

 nized most of the particulars as I read the account. 

 The farm of Lagrange is, I believe, the best as to 

 quality of land of that part of country; but some 

 of his neighbors who have also their farms in the 

 best order, deserve much more credit than ihey 

 generally get; for, if I am not very much mistaken, 

 they had to work on a most miserable fiat, white 

 and wet soil, and nothing but. great skill and great 

 industry could have made such farms as I saw 

 there in a state of improvement. 



Prince George, July 21, 1835. 



I send you specimens of the turkey, and of the 

 blue stem wheal; a couple of heads and some of 

 the grains of each. They are both very fine. 

 Examine them attentively, and see if you can dis- 

 cover any difference. They were raised but a 

 short distance apart, a space of but 15 or 20 feet 

 intervening; and bore so strong a resemblance 

 throughout the whole period of their growth, as 

 to leave on my mind but little doubt of their iden- 

 tity. If it be the same wheat, it may save some 

 trouble to those who, or whose neighbors, culti- 

 vate it under the name of "blue stem," to be ap- 

 prised of the fact. From the high reputation of 

 the turkey wheat, they might incur some trouble 

 and expense, too, to get that which they already 

 have. I have been somewhat disappointed by 

 finding that I have but one valuable variety, 

 where I expected two. The blue stem has the 



