THE FARMERS' REGISTEK. 



239 



might be used, wiih a rock, some large books, or 

 a heavy trunk, (or a weight. 



When the plants have been thus dried, they 

 can be put away in dry papers, enclosed in a 

 newspaper and tied round, so that they may 

 not be injured by bein<!; broken or tossed about. 

 They should be put away in a drawer where 

 ihey will not suffer from careless handlin<j. 



4tii. In transporting them care should be taken 

 that they <xet no injury li-om rubbing, which will 

 happen it' they are loose. They should therefore 

 be packed tight enough to avoid that. When 

 carelully tied up or eealed, they can be conveyed 

 to any distance in a trunk by private conveyance ; 

 or in a small bo-x made to the size of the parcel 

 may be sent by any of the ordinary public con- 

 veyances. Boxes of plants are yearly traversing 

 the country in this way. 



If the work you have put upon me is worth 

 doing, it is worth doiuiX well ; but this cannot be 

 attained without the aid oi' those who are more 

 particularly interested in it. I hope therefore, 

 that no one will leave lor somebody else to do 

 what he can so easily do himself! The grasses 

 within the reach of any one man, the names of 

 which he is acquainted with, are not very nu- 

 merofls, and the trouble of preparing tv.'o or three 

 specimens of each will be trifling. It must be the 

 agriculturists who will do the work of furnish- 

 ing the common names, for botanists are general- 

 ly professional men who are very imperfectly 

 acquainted with ihem. I will however draw up- 

 on them personally for their knowledge, if you 

 will secure the labors of the farmer in this work. 



If it will furnish any new inducement to the 

 agriculturist to engage in the plan, I will pro- 

 mise to return him his plants, if desired, proper- 

 ly named, so that he may have specimens in hand 

 to refer to in cases of doubt. Very respectfully, 

 yours, &c., M. A. Cuktis. 



ESTABLISHMENT OF A BOARD OF AGRICUL- 

 TURE BY THE GOVERNMENT OF VIRGINIA. 



[Just before our last number was completed 

 we learned from the newspapers that an act had 

 passed the legislature to establish a Board of 

 Agriculture. It was not until some time after, 

 that we learned the provisions of the enactment, 

 and obtained a copy of the law, which will be 

 presented below. Though we have, at former 

 times, labored zealously to obtain from the le- 

 gislature this one boon to the agriculture of 

 Virginia, even if nothing else were done, we 

 had abandoned all such elTorts in despair ; and 

 though a bill for the purpose has ever since been 

 annually brouirht forward, we have had no par- 

 ticipation in the matter ; nor did we know that 

 it was before the legislature this session, until we 

 read of its passage by the lower house. 



We hope that even this poor and feeble be- 

 ginning may do some good, and lead ultimately 

 to much good to agriculture ; but the means are 

 poor indeed, while the objects and duties of the 



board (as stated) are very burdensome" and dif- 

 ficult, not to say impossible for such a body even 

 to approach in perlbrniance. It would be both 

 unreasonable and foolish to e.xpect much from 

 a board thus constituted, and its existence barely 

 tolerated by the government, instead of being 

 encouraged, sustained and aided in itd course, and 

 the pursuit of the designed ends. We foresee that 

 they who have all along opposed all such measures 

 for the improvement of agriculture, will he ready 

 to cry out upon the inevitably feeble operation, 

 as proof of the uselessness of this board, and 

 pronounce the expediency of its being suppressed 

 as worthless. The objection which will be most 

 strongly felt by individuals to acting on this 

 board, will not be the laboring without any pe- 

 cuniary reward, or the opportunity to acquire some 

 honor by rendering the service required, but that 

 they will probably even lose reputation, by the 

 impossibility of doing scarcely any thing of their 

 arranged and expected duties. However, let 

 us hope (or the best results — and among them, 

 that proper members may be found who will be 

 willing to risk loss of credit to themselves, added 

 to the certain sacrifice of much labor, and that 

 with but small prospect of rendering any im- 

 portant service to their country, or effecting much 

 for the object of their association. — Ed.] 



Jin act to establish a Board of jjgricultiire. 



Whereas, it is represented to the General As- 

 sembly of Virginia, that the agricultural com- 

 munity have various interests, requiring the fos- 

 tering care of the state, which should be extend- 

 ed to them according to some system approved 

 by observa'ion and regulated by experience. And 

 whereas it appears to the General Assembly that 

 these ends would be promoted by the establish- 

 ment of a Board whose duty it should be to pre- 

 sent to the Legislature from time to time a gene- 

 ral view of the agricultural statistics of the com- 

 monwealth—to inform the public of the progress 

 of improvement— to communicate such facts, as 

 when collected and digested, may promote the 

 agricultural interests of the stale : and to suggest 

 such measures for the adoption of the Ge'neral 

 Assembly, as the aforesaid board may deem 

 proper for the developement of the resources, and 

 the protection and advancement of that impor- 

 tant branch of industry in the commonwealth; 



Be it therefore enacted, That a board, to be 

 called a " Board of Agriculture," shall hereafter 

 be constituted, to consist of eight members, to 

 be appointed triennially by the executive of this 

 commonwealth ; of whom two shall be selected 

 from each of the .'bur divisions of the state, as 

 specified in the second section of the third article 

 of the constitution, for the apportionment of re- 

 presentation in the House of Delegates ; any 

 three of whom may constitute a quorum lor the 

 transaction of business. 



Be it farther enacted, That it shall be the du- 

 ty of said board to present annually (o the legis- 

 lature a general view of the condition of agricul- 



