40 



THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



present iheir separale conlribuiions — the accumu- 

 lation of all which would st once furnish a rich 

 Cund, and which, by inducing (brthfT experiments 

 and continued conimunicalion, would i^row more 

 fruitful and profiiahle wiih the progress of the 

 work. Thus if the members of any one interest 

 only were so to avail themselves of ihe facilities 

 offered to all by the Farmers' Register, it would, 

 thereby be made more peculiuriy ihsir otcn publi- 

 cation; and, by embracing other subjef is, would 

 be even more valuable for that i)articular interest, 

 than if all other agricultural subjects were jealous- 

 ly excluded. Thus it depends entirely on the 

 members of any particular branch of agricultural 

 pursuits, whether the Farmers' Register shall be- 

 come, in effect, their own peculiar organ, and a 

 perfect and rich source of information in regard to 

 all that they most need to be instructed upon. 

 And if the members of not only one, but of all the 

 diH'erenl branches of agricultural practice, were to 

 do the same, there would be room for all in our 

 broad pages, and each would be amply served and 

 provided for, without lessening the fullest needed 

 supply to all others. The corn, wheat and oat 

 culture — tobacco culture — the new marling and 

 clover husbandry — cattle, meadows and grazing — 

 the great cotton culture of the south — rice culture 

 — sugar culture — and each of all other departments 

 would have ample scope, and receive as much at- 

 tention, as if each one were the sole subject of con- 

 sideration. 



But if our view in this respect be deemed wrong, 

 and the opposite, against which we have been 

 contending, altogether correct, let us see to what 

 result the latter will necessarily lead. If, as con- 

 veyed by the objections above stated, a particular 

 agricultural region cannot be properly served by 

 any journal unless it be published in, and exclu- 

 sively belong to that region — then every such se- 

 parate region or agricultural interest, should have 

 its own separate and exclusive publication ; or 

 otherwise, that any other publication will much 

 less ably and efficiently serve as an organ of com- 

 munication and instruction. Upon this ground, 

 there would be at least four ee[)arate agricultural 

 publications (perhaps five or six) required for 

 Virginia alone, which has not yet given support 

 to one— and ten or twelve would be needed for 

 the states between the Potomac and the southern 

 limits of Georgia and Alabama. -Now if so many 

 papers were but to divide amongst them the present 

 support, pecuniary and literary, given to the pre- 

 viously existing publications, all of them would 

 soon starve, and die, for want of sufficient aliment 

 of both kinds. And even if continuing to live, 

 and operate, each one, if aided only by its own 

 region, would be so meager and uninteresting, 



that its lingering existence would be of little bene- 

 fit to the public, or profit to its conductor. 



Should so desirable and valuable a result ever 

 be produced in the southern states as that the 

 subscribers, readers, and writers for agricultural 

 journals should be increased ten or twenty Ibid, 

 then there will be advantage in increasing greatly 

 the number of such publications. But until that 

 most beneficial state of things be somewhat ap- 

 pioached, or appear in distant prospect, it will be 

 liir better from the interest of all parties concern- 

 ed, the payers for and readers, as well as the pub- 

 lishers and sellers of publications, and certainly 

 better for the great object of collecting and diffus- 

 ing agricultural knowledge, that two or three 

 journals shall be supported well, and supplied 

 abundantly with matter, than that a dozen should 

 linger on upon barely enough sustenance to save 

 them from extinction. 



SKETCHES OF WESTERN NEW YORK. 



To llie Editor of tlie Fanners' Register. 



Greatfield, Cayuga Co., 10 mo. 12, 1840. 



We have had no frost here yet, thouizh there 

 has been a little at Rochester; and. I understand 

 a severe one further west of ihe Genesee river. 

 This result, however, is to be considered merely 

 incidental, lor I am not aware that the western 

 part of the. state is more subject to early autum- 

 nal frosts than lands near the Cayuga lake. A 

 cold column of the atmosphere, perhaps, fell on 

 that part, imbibing the warmth of the earth, and 

 reducing the temperature ; or they may have had 

 a clear sky with great radiation, while we were 

 curtained in with clonds ; or a breeze may have 

 prevailed here, rolling down on the surface the 

 warmer air li-om above, and counteracting by such 

 mixture the effects of radiation. 



The heath clingstone is now ripeninor; and aa 

 the evening is cool, and some danger from frost, 

 we have been takinsr in a part by way of precau- 

 tion. The southern* character of the peach is in- 

 dicated bv irs extreme sen?'hility to frost ; and also 

 by its deficiency of flavor when it ripens in a cool 

 atmosphere. 



1 mo. 2, 1841. 



The preceding paragraphs were written some 

 months ago ; but a series of unexpected events 

 rendered it inconvenient to pursue the chain of 

 thought that presented at that time ; and F now 

 resume it in the hope that some account of our 

 district will not be unacceptable to the readers of 

 ihp ' Farmers' Register.' 



The principal defect of our climate is excessive 



* It appears from Boyle's Illustrations that " the 

 peach throws wild in different parts of the Himalayas," 

 and that even ono/Afr sjofa'esof itis found in thatree;ion; 

 but I have seen no evidence whatever to show that it is 

 a native of Persia, as its specific name (Jl. persica) 

 would imply. This may serve to explain the remark- 

 able circumstance that the peach is not mentioned in 

 the Bible. 



