voi>. XVI. .v<». as. 



AND GARDENER^S JOURNAL 



299 



Slice, ami become of immense value, by cultiva- 

 tion in a foreiijn climate : thus, the potato, which 

 now furnishes food for millions, was a few centu- 

 ries n<io imfiorteil into Europe merely for its 

 beautiful flower; and ibe cotlon-plmif, which now 

 l-urnishcs the rich .sta|ile of a large |iortion of the 

 Union; was scarcely known in our comitry fidy 

 years ago. It is true, individual effort may do 

 sonjething in this matter, and the increased inter- 

 3St whieti is felt by intelligent individuals through. 

 3ut the Uirion to elevate the character and inipor- 

 ;atice of agriculture may, through societies and 

 Jther laudalde nvans, do still more ; yet the ut- 

 iiost cflorts of individuals and societies are feeble 

 md powerless, conipared with even the incidental 

 iclion of Governn:eiif, which, with its Argus eyes 

 ind Briarian arms, nuiy see at a single glance 

 vhatever will tend to benefit any and every por- 

 ion of our country, and be enabled to collect from 

 very part of the world, and scatter through each 

 ection of the nation, seeds and plants so adapted 

 D our own soil and climate, as will greatly en- 

 irge our productive industry, and diffuse plenty 

 nd happiness throughout the community. An 

 ffort of this kind by tl.'e General Government 

 /ould not only be thus directly beneficial to the 

 eople, but would have a most salutary influence 

 I raising the spirit and standard of agriculture, 

 romotiug sound intelligence amongst its votaries 

 lid in giving a spur and energy hitherto unknown 

 I the first and noblest occupation of man. It 

 ould incite the citizens of the old States, instead 

 r abandoning their own sunny fields and the 

 :enes of their earliest and dearest associations 

 attempt, by the cultivation of some new article, 



resuscitate their old worn-out lands, which, by 

 continual succession of the same crojis, have be. 

 ime, in a measure, unproductive and valueless. 

 The committee take great pleasine in adverting 

 the Treasury circular of September 6, 1827, re- 

 liriug our foreign consuls and naval ofBcers to 

 Meet and transmit to this country, valuable seeds 

 d plants which might come under their obser- 

 tien abroad ; but they have to lament that hith- 

 .0 no eifort has been made by Congress to give 

 ect and value to an enterprise so nobly begim ; 

 (1 although our officers and citizens abroad 

 ve shown a praiseworthy zeal to [)romote the 

 ligbteneii views of the Government, by collect- 

 l and transmitting valuable seeds and plants, 

 t, as there was no place designated for their re- 

 |)tion, and no person charged with their preser- 

 ion and dissemination, they have in many in- 

 nces been suffered to perish, after they had 

 ched our own ports and custotu-houses ; and 

 t for the attention called to the subject by the 

 !sent enlightened Commissioner of the Patent 

 ice, theolil practice of importing seeds to per- 



wordd slill be continued. Your CTtnmittee 

 re, therefore, thought proper to report a bill, 

 cing this whole matter under the charge of the 

 inmissioner of Patents and such individuals as 

 y be employed under him, and making a small 

 )ro|>riation, sufficient to cover the necessary e,\- 

 ises of the undertaking, leaving it to the future 

 dom of Congress to enlarge upon the plan, 

 il, if thought desirable, an agricultural deposi- 

 I and tslablishment may be eventually erected 

 e, at the capital of a great and free nation, that 

 I do credit to her citizens, and rival the boasted 

 iblishments of Europe. Your committee have 

 I thought proper to require that the Commis- 



of his pl-oceedings under the proposed act, irn- 

 bodying notices of valuable improvements in ag- 

 riculture and in agricidlural implements, and sucli 

 statistical and other u.seful matter that may come 

 under bis observati.m, as may tend to prevent 

 frauds and .speculation, and the excessive impor- 

 tation of foreign grain, and ditfuse a general infar- 

 ination on the subject-matter throughout the whole 

 country. Such a doeumeiit your committee be- 

 lieve would be looked for with great intere.st, and 

 lie attended with the most happy and benefical re. 

 suits to every portion of the community. Yom- 

 committee therefore respectfully recommend the 

 adoption of the bill accompanying this report, 

 which ajipropriates the sum of §5,000 for the col- 

 lection of seeds and plants and the establi.-,hmeiit 

 of an agricultural depository in the Patent Ofiice 

 and requiring the Commissioner gratuitously to 

 distribute throughout the Union, the seeds and 

 plants collected, and to make to Congress an an- 

 nual report on the subject. 



and, as to the wit of it, it is as "genuine " as any 

 of the medicines sold by W. T. Conway, or his 

 rlistinguished successor Dr. Brandreth. 



SCHOOLAJTIC EPISI'LE FOR THE HOLI- 

 DAYS. 



" TO SOLON SLY, ESQ. 



'My Dear Sir, — The ajiproaching vacation 



SHEEP HUSBANDRY. 



A second branch of sheep husbandry, which 

 the Essex farmer may prosecute to great advan- 

 tage is the raising of early lambs for the market. 

 I mention one e.xample which may seem trivial, 

 yet a feather may indicate the course of the wind 

 as certainly as a ship under full sail. A farmer 

 in Ipswich had a lamb come on fir.st of January 

 last. He fed the ewe with plenty of succulent 

 vegetables, and he allowed the lamb to have free 

 access to Indian meal, of which he soon became 

 fond, though the whole amount he consumed was 

 trifling. On the 20th of May the butcher gave 

 him S4 for the lamb, which weighed 9 and 10 lbs. 

 per quarter. Another farmer this last season from 

 30 sheep sold 24 lambs at $3 each. Another from 

 30 sheep sold lambs to the amount of §75. 

 Another from 12 ewes sold IS lambs at $2.50 cts. 

 each. 



I subjoin the account given me by an exact far- 

 mer. " Five years ago he bought 6 sheep for |'2 

 per head. From these he sold 6 lambs at ^2 each. 

 He considered the wool as paying for the keep- 

 ing. The sheep sold in December of that year 

 for $25,50. 



Four years ago he bought 12 sheep but did not 

 do so well because he did not sell the old sheep ; 

 the lambs sold for more. 



Three years ago he had 25 sheep. The expe- 

 riment in the sale of the lambs did well. 



Two years ago he had 50 shee() ; for 40 lambs 

 he received $100, for 4 lambs $8 — $108; for 

 the wool at 48 1-2 cents per lb. he received $73. 

 Total proceeds, $181. He kept the stock. 



This year he had 47 shecii. They gave him 33 

 lambs, and besides these 7 lambs died. The 

 landis brought $2,25 each. They did not come 

 until April." — Commissioner'' s Report. 



We hope the subjoined letter will not be deem- 

 ed out of place in the New England Farmer. The 

 humor of it is so exquisite that we were not wil- 

 iing to withhold it from our friends. A good 

 laugh, if it is not at your neighbor's expense is 

 sometimes medicine ; and we are certain if this 

 letter should greet them in a cold north easterly 



morning, it will at once soften the temperature. 

 ler should make an annual report to Congress] We have gathered it from a late English paper ; 



devolves on me the pleasing duty of reporting to 

 you, by the hands of Master Timothy, the general 

 progress of his studies. In some res|)ects, his ex- 

 traordinary precocity has even exceeded my wish- » 

 es. I have directed his reading principally to Bi- 

 ography, and his ardor has led him to add to my 

 selection the lives of Turpin and Moore Carew 

 together with the instructive narratives of the 

 Newgate Calendar. His progress in penmanship 

 has been so great, that he has not only written all 

 his own letters, but many for his schoolfellows 

 which the versatility of his genius has led him to 

 append their names so accurately as to enable 

 him obtain from their paients, with the help of 

 the post-boy, a considerable addition to his pocket 

 money. I have cleared up a few of these little 

 shades of character which have been brought to 

 light, as you will jjcrceive at the foot of my bill. 

 In Arithmetic, Subtraction has been his favorite 

 rule, as all the drawers in the house can testifi'. 

 He has also worked some complicated sums in 

 Vulgar Fractions, and proved them by the gla- 

 zier's bill inclosed. His skill in Division has also 

 been displayed in his setting all the school togeth- 

 er by the ears. In Composition, his forte is ro. 

 mance and general fiction ; indeed his conversa- 

 tion is of so flowery a nature, as to have been 

 compared to a wreath of li-lies. At our races he 

 greatly improved his acquaintance with the 

 Greeks — Late-in, of course, included^ and my 

 servants picked him up at midnight, land measur- 

 ing, at length on the Turnpike road. He has 

 progressed in Logic, though rather addicted to 

 strange premises, which may lead to serious con- 

 clusions. He has become an accomplished natu- 

 ral philosopher — his pursuit of Ornithology has 

 led hitn to every hen-roost in the village, and all 

 my eggs have been constantly exhausted in his 

 experiments on suction. During his enquiries in. 

 to the nature of animal heat, my favorite cat 

 caught a severe cold, from which she never re- 

 covered, through his turning her out without her 

 skin, on a frosty night. I have inserted a small item 

 from my surgeon's bill, for repairs of his compan- 

 ions' noses, damaged for his passion for Conch- 

 ology ; and a charge, which I fear you will think 

 heavy, for a skylight, destroyed by Master Timo- 

 thy's falling t)irough, while crawling along the 

 parapet on a dark night to seek some information 

 at my gardener's daughter's windows — an extra, 

 ordinary instance of the pursuit of knowledge un. 

 der difiiculties. His decided turn for the belles 

 lettres has deprived me of two of my best maids ; 

 for I have been obliged to discharge them on sus- 

 picion of irregularly participating in his studies 

 contrary to the rules of my establishment. As I 

 do not feel competent however to do justice to the 

 education of so talented a youth, I shall not ex- 

 pect to see Master Timothy again after the holi- 

 days. 



I am, my dear Sir, Your faithful Servant, 



"BaR."*AE0S Bombrush. 

 ' Birchfield Acadeijiy.' — Comic Almanac for 1838. 



