t43 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



FEB, 7, 1838. 



gum of six hundred and fifty Ihoiisnnd dollars, to 

 be added to tlie aggregate wealth of tlie coininu- 



nity. 



If the utility of legislative cncouiHgenient to 

 ngriculture has evRi- been qiipstionable, it is pre- 

 siiniiMlto be so no loiijrer in this Cotnrnonweuitli. 

 The inealciilabh! benefits that have been (brivei! 

 from the i.reniiiiins awarded by agricultural soci- 

 eties, for a series of years, sufficiently inanif;st tije 

 wisdom and forecast of th<! Legislature in thus lib- 

 erally endowing tho.-e institutions. The bounties 

 more recently offered for the encouragement of 

 the culture of silk and the sugar-beet, equally dem- 

 onstrate the wi.-^dom of that paternal policy, which 

 induced the civil fathers ol the Commonwealth to 

 extenil a fostering care and guardianship to those 

 branches of husbandry. '! he institution of an 

 Agricultural Survey, and a generous ai)pro|):iation 

 for the support of a Comtidssioner, is also an il- 

 lustration of legislative munificence, which is en- 

 titled to the grateful remeiTdirance of the conunu- 

 hity. The example of the state of Maine affords 

 an argument, which should not be kept out of 

 sight, in the consideration of this subject. The 

 operation of the law of that state, passed in Jan- 

 uary, 1837, has been most salutary. The cotn- 

 mitlee learn from a letter in their possession, from 

 the Sicretary of JMaine, that though the amount 

 of wheat raised in the state during the last year 

 lias not been officially ascertained, it was believed 

 to be nearly a million of bushels. 



In thus presenting this subject to the House of 

 Re[u-esentatives,the corutnittee aie not aware that 

 their views are in any degree extravagant or their 

 calculations fallacious. They have been desirous 

 that their enthusiasm should be «iualified with so- 

 briety ; and that their zeal for the improvement 

 and success of that art, which is most natural to 

 man, and without which all other arts would 

 avail hut little as means of happiness and comfort, 

 should not ovcrstei) the limits of prudence and 

 good policy. Without further comment or -apol- 

 ogy, they recommend the passage of the accom- 

 panying bill. 



By direction of the Committee, 



JOSEPH T. BUCKINGHAM. 



AND gardener's JOURNAL. 



Boston, Wednesday, Feb. 7, 1838. 



THE WEEK. 



No public news of any p.nrticuhir importance has 



Atlantic . Steam Navigation. — At last the 

 long talked of attempt to navigate the Atlantic by 

 steam is certainly on the point of being made. — 

 Lieut. J. Hoskeii, of the Royal Navy, arrived here 

 on Thursday from Liverpool, in the Garrick, for 

 the purpose of making the necessary arrangements 

 for reception of the " great western steam ship," 

 and for keeping up an intercourse by her means, 

 with Great J5ritaiii. She is already built, and is 

 now in London taking in her machinery. Having 

 accomplished the object of his present voyage, 

 Lieut. Hosken will immediately return and as- 

 sume the command of this vessel, in which he 

 expects to airive at this port in the course of the 

 month of April next. Her points of departure 

 arc Brisiol and New York. She is about 1350 

 tons burthen, and it is calculated will carry about 

 600 tons of coal. — jVeio York Courier. 



An Ohiit paper thinks that the editor of the 

 Lancaster Eagle, a fellow weighing 300 pounds 

 avordnpois ought to be " tried by a court of jus- 

 tice." He had better be tried by a tallow chaml- 

 er. — Prentice. 



occurred since our last nr.iaber. 



In Congress, the collection and sale keeping of the 

 Revenue occupies the attention of the Senate An 

 importiinl bill has likewise passed that body, giving the 

 settlers on the Public Lands (vulgarly called Squatters) 

 the right nf pre-cn)ption or first purchase, when these 

 lands are brought into the njarket. Public men, equal- 

 ly disintcresled, diffHr greatly in o|-inion as to the 

 effects of this law. The amount, which any one is al- 

 lowed to purchase, is limited lo one quarter of a section, 

 or 160 acres; and the person claiming the right of pre- 

 emption must be an cctiial settler. Persons in favor of 

 this law say, that it will prevent speculation ; its advan- 

 tages being limited to actual settlers. Those opposed 

 lo it maintain, that it will favor speculation by inducing 

 persons to lake up temporarily, and without any inten- 

 tion of remaining, the best lands in the market, that 

 the}' may secure the right of pre-emption ; and sell out 

 their rights at a great advance. In many instances 

 without doubt, enormous abuses have occurred ; and 

 persons, without any serious intention of settlement, 

 hare been hired by speculators, by making small 

 clearances, and putting up a mere brushwood shantee, 

 to secure the right of purchase, when they come into the 

 market, at Government price, of some of the best lands 

 in the West We do not pro'ess ourselves to be well 

 informed on this subject ; and therefore give no opinion. 

 The House of Representatives have been occupied in 

 settling a contested election ; and have reversed a deci- 

 sion made last September in the case of the members 

 from Mississippi. They have ejected those whom they 

 admitted at the last session ; but liave not yet decided 

 whether they will receive those, who are waiting to 

 take their places. 



.Massachdsetts LKGisLATnRE. — The Legislature 

 have made some progress on the bill to abolish Capital 

 Punishment ; but are still at sea and not even in sight 

 of land. 



A bill has been introduced and passed to a second 

 reading proposing a bounty on Wheat We givo the 

 able Report on the subject, and the form of the Bill re- 

 ported, in the present number. It probably will pass ; 

 but not without opposition. 



Reports have been made on some of the Banks. The 

 breaking-up plough of the active and searching Com- 

 mittee on this subject, has turned up some carcases ab- 

 solutely putrid, and intolerably ofiensive in the nostrils 

 of any man accustomed to breathe the air of common 

 honesty. 



The Reports on the Franklin and Lafayette Banks, 

 two names which in common times ought to have saved 

 them from crime, have disclosed systematic and contin- 

 ued frauds and violations of trust, of the most infamous 

 character; and which ought to subject their perpetrators 

 to condign punishment. But we remember the story of 

 the cobwebs, which ficdd fast the small flies, while the 

 gieat ones burst through them. " I am called a robber," 

 said the Scythian pirate to Alexander, " because I com- 

 mand only one small boat; but you a hero, because you 

 command vast fleets and armies." There is often so 

 much of glitter and magnificence in villany on a large 

 scale, that the moral sense of the community is dazzled 

 and confounded ; and its perceptions fail to do their 



office. The miserable fellow brought before the Police 

 Court last week for stealing a loaf of bread and some 

 cold meat, was sent to the iJouse of Correction, witlinut 

 pity, and in pursuance of the law. Noto: gue saideven 

 " Poor Richard ;" nor once inquired what part the com- 

 munity may have had in his crimes. But the men 

 who rnb the community by thousands and tens of timu- 

 sanils, are too often allowed to put its laws at defiante. 

 Will justice never awake to its duty ? We have no de- 

 sire to see any suffer; but thf-ro is a fearful responsibil- 

 ity resting upon those, who have tlie power of preven- 

 tion, where prevention is possible. Legislators ! Con- 

 servators of public morals ! Looktothis! j 

 The Middlesex Bank has fillen likewise under the justi 

 reproach of gross violations of law ; and cunning eva-j 

 sions of responsibility, wliicli it is important fwr the, 

 public to understand, but which we shall not character- 

 ize. Let the public pronounce their judgment. The 

 Legislature must be some time longer occupied in these 

 fin.incial matters. 



The Frontier. The United States troops under Lt. 

 Col. Worth, have made a descent upon abody of armed 

 men assembled at Dunkirk under the pretence of emi- 

 gration ; and have taken from them their arms and mu- 

 nitions of war. This is a new style of emigration ; and 

 these men, pious souls ! were possibly looking for the 

 commencement of the milieniiim by the time they 

 should get into Canada, when their spears should bo 

 converted into pruning hooks Tfie Canadian vvar, if 

 not at an end, is at least frozen up for the present. 

 Whether it will break out again, wdien the spring thaw 

 comes, remains to be seen. 



.MASSACHUSETTS HORT. SOCIETY. 



Boston, Jan. 27, ]b3S. 

 Apples by Joseph L Smith from Newbury, Flat 

 Sweetings, a desirable Winter Sweet Apple. Also 

 Spreading Sweet, a smaller Apple, medium. 



From Mr J. Clapp, South Reading, a handsome Red 

 Sweet Winter Ajjple, supposed to be the Cainfield. 

 For the Committee, 



B. V. FRENCH, i 



Oeaf and UcMB.-^It appears from ttie sixteen! 

 anuual report of the New York Institution for the fa 

 struction of the Deaf and Dumb, that the whole nuinbii, 

 of pnpils is 150, of whom 112 are supported by the Slate 

 14 by the Institution, 3 liy the Corporation of New Voik 

 2 by the Supervisors of Montgomery County, 1 by tin 

 Supervisors of Dutchess, County, 8 by the State of NeV 

 Jer.sey,and 10 by their friends. The expenditures i( 

 1837 amounted to $27,873 48. Receipts i>ll,8l)6 33, in 

 eluding $14,92(3 55 from the Comptroller for State pupil 

 and 5,000 from do. under the Act of April 3, 1S34.— [fi 

 York Journal of Commerce. 



New York State Prisoks. The expenditures of ^ 

 Auburn prison for the year ending September 30, 183 

 were $70,081 50 The earnings during the same perioj 

 were 46,469 65. The appropriations drawn from to 

 State during the year were i525,000.— The expendituri 

 for the support of the Mount Pleasant prison wel 

 71,523 17. The income for the year was $62,68 

 14. 



To Correspondents. — We have received a higbi 

 valuable communication from Columella, which sha 

 receive our early and most respectful attention. 



We design to give the Massachusetts Farm Reports! 

 our next. 



