No. 9. 



Editorial Notices. 



293 



of this latter sub.stiince is well known — hence 

 the facility with which the potatoc contain- 

 ing it nndcrgocs putrefaction. Any injury 

 to health from the use of these patatoes is 

 out of the question ; and nowhere in Ger- 

 many has such an effect been observed. In 

 the diseased potatoe no solanin can be disco- 

 vered. It may be of some use to call atten- 

 tion to the fact, that diseased potatoes may 

 easily, and at little expense, be preserved for 

 a length of time, and afterwards employed 

 in various ways, by cutting- them into slices 

 of about a quarter of an inch, and immersing 

 them in water, containing from two to three 

 per cent of sulphuric acid. After 24 to 36 

 hours the acid liquor may be drawn off, and 

 all remains of it washed away by steeping 

 in successive portions of fresh water. Treat- 

 ed in this manner, the potatoes are easily 

 dried. The pieces are white, and of little 

 weight, and can be ground to flour, and baked 

 into bread along with tiie flour of wheat. I 

 think it probable that the diseased potatoes, 

 after being sliced and kept for some time in 

 contact with weak sulphuric acid, so as to be 

 penetrated by the acid, may be preserved in 

 that state in pits. But further experiments 

 are necessary to determine this. It is cer- 

 tain, however, that the dilute sulpliuric acid 

 stops the progress of putrefaction." — Glas- 

 gow Herald. 



THE FAKITIERS' CABINET, 



AND 



Philadelphia, Fourth Month, 1846. 



A VALUED friend at Gettysburg, in a letter speaking 

 of the Cabinet, " begs leave to suggest the propriety 

 of giving us more practical facts, rather than filling 

 the paper with speeches at af»ricultural fairs, and con- 

 troversies about ploughs, which are only known to 

 particular sections of country. What we want to 

 know, is how to raise the greatest amount from a 

 certain quantity of ground, with the least labcur and 

 expense, Give us the facts, my dear sir, with the 

 ■modus operandi," Now this is all very well — and looks 

 particularly well on paper; and we have more than 

 once solicited our friends to furnish us with state- 

 ments of facts, and we acknowledge many obligations 

 to them. We would query with our Gettysburg friend, 

 whether he has done his part in relation to facts and 

 operations? It should not be forgotten, that the editor 

 cannot sit in his office, and make facts. He asks that 

 they may be given him ;— he asks, in short, the hearty 

 cooperation of his friends in this matter,— and every 

 subscriber he is in the habit of considering a personal 

 friend, for there is growing out of this connection, a 

 pleasant kind of acquaintanceship, which may mutu- 

 ally attach and interest. As was lately said by another 

 correspondent in Maryland, " the work is a good one, 

 let us go ahead." 



A MEETING was held at Uockvillo, Monttfomery Co.. 

 Wd., on the 4th ult„ for the purpose of forming an 

 Agricultural Society, for that county. A committee 

 was appointed to prepare a Constitution to be report- 

 ed at a subsequent meeting. 



The name of Mahlon Gillingham, on p. 25r> of last 

 number of the Cabinet, is an error :— It sliould be 

 Chalklcij. 



We received some time ago, through the kindness 

 of a friend— we presume of the Uccording Sec, Asa 

 Fitch,— "The Washington County Post," published at 

 Salem, N. V., containing an account of the spirited 

 proceedings at the Annual Fair of the Agricultural 

 Society of that county, in the tenth month last. It 

 should have been earlier referred to, but was mislaid-, 

 and escaped notice.— How does it happen that these 

 Northerners beat us so much in raising corn ? Ought 

 not we in this State, our summers being a little longer 

 — at least to equal them? And ought not our good 

 fiirmers of Burlington, Gloucester and Salem, on their 

 delightful Jersey soils, to surpass all others in the 

 corn crop ? And Delaware and Maryland too, where 

 are they ? Calvin Skinner of Cambridge reports 131 

 bush. 52G qts. of corn to the acre ; and John McNaugh- 

 ton of Salem, N. Y., takesthe second premium for 128^ 

 bushels. Eiglitysi.x and a half bushels of oats were 

 raised by Andrew Thompson. The efforts of this so- 

 ciety really seem to have stirred up its members to 

 good purpose. " Who thought five years ago," says 

 the Report, " that 4(5 bushels of wheat— 40 bushels of 

 rye— 100 bushels of oats— 120, and i:!0 biisliels of corn, 

 could be produced upon an acre in this county? The 

 most fertile districts of the vaunted west, would be 

 proud of such crops as these. Some of them fall but 

 little short of the largest yields that are upon record; 

 they conclusively show that the worn out hills of old 

 Washington can successfully compete with any sec- 

 tion of our country." 



The kindness of L. Ledyard, the Recording Secre- 

 tary, has placed also on our table, the Transactions of 

 the Madison County Agricultural Society, N. Y.. con- 

 taining an article on the Geology of the county, and 

 also the addresses of L. Ledyard, and Prof. Conant, 

 These annual publications of the doings of agricultural 

 societies, are indicative of the strong interest felt in 

 the proper developement of our agricultural means, 

 and cannot fail to give a stimulus to improvement. 



The quantity of rain which fell in the 3rd. month, 

 184G, was a little more than four inches and a half. 



4.G inches. 



Penn. Hospital, ilh mo. 1st, 1846. 



This is the season,— and we trust the generality of 

 farmers do not need to be reminded of it— to provide 

 for a plenteous supply of vegetables. They make 

 cheap living, as well as wholesome and good, and 

 greatly add to the luxuries of diet. Some farmers are 

 apt to think labor spent in the vegetable garden al- 

 most thrown away :— The very contrary, we think is 

 the fact. Plant plentifully, nurse carefully, and the 

 whole season, enjoy richly. 



