1858. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



251 



For the New England Farmer. 

 PATENT OFFICE BEPORT FOR 1856. 



I have before me the Patent Office Report for 

 18-56, on Agriculture. The table of contents prom- 

 ises a rich repast, but a careful examination shows 

 the promise scarcely fulfilled. There are, how- 

 ever, several highly interesting and valuable ar- 

 ticles, and in one respect, there is a decided im- 

 provement on the past. The plates are better 

 executed than in any former number, showing a 

 gratifjing advance in this branch of art in our 

 country. 



The plate of Peabody's Haut Bois Strawberry 

 is beautifully done, and would do credit to any 

 horticultural magazine. 



The plates accompanying Kermicolt's report 

 upon the quadrupeds and birds of Illinois, are 

 highly creditable, both to the author and the ar- 

 tist. The whole article by Kermicolt is very val- 

 uable. It is written in a clear, intelligible style, 

 and exhibits great industry and research, and is 

 an important contribution to the zoology of the 

 United States. The articles upon ckainage as a 

 means of improving land, by Henry F. French, 

 of New Hampshire, and upon the use of muck as 

 a fertilizer, by vSimon Brown, of Massachusetts, 

 are plain, common-sense and instructive articles, 

 and deserve to be carefully read and inwardly di- 

 gested, by ever}' New England farmer especially. 

 The paper upon grafting and budding, by John 

 I. Thomas, of the State of New York, is neat and 

 sensible, and embraces the gist of the whole sub- 

 ject. His descriptions are clear and compre- 

 hensible, and his directions are in general cor- 

 rect, and may be followed with safetj-. The re- 

 ports of the American Pomological Society em- 

 body a good deal of valuable information, and it 

 is to be presumed that the varieties of fruit rec- 

 ommended in the reports from the several States 

 will be found well adapted to the localities where 

 they have been cultivated. The results in fruit- 

 growing arrived at by careful and competent ex- 

 perimenters, are very valuable, inasmuch as they 

 save, to those wishing to obtain good varieties of 

 fruit, a great amount of time and labor. The ar- 

 ticle upon grape culture, by Dr. Warden, of Ohio, 

 contains several useful suggestions. His remarks 

 upon the preparation of the soil, drainage, &c., 

 are worthy of careful perusal. The crowning ar- 

 ticle in the volume is that upon meteorology and 

 its relations to agriculture, accredited to Profess- 

 or Henry, of the Smithsonian Institute. 



Some 131 pages, or about one-fourth part of 

 the volume is prepared by D, J. Browne. Mr. 

 Browne is certainly a man of great industry ; but 

 he obviously has a high opinion of himself and 

 his own abilities, — probably higher than his read- 

 ers will entertain. His articles are prepared up- 

 on the modern plan of lectures and magazine lit- 

 erature. He reads up for the occasion, and se- 

 lects the most striking thoughts and facts from 

 other authors, who have written upon the sub- 

 jects which he discusses. But he often shows that 

 he has not practical knowledge enough of the 

 subject of which he treats, to enable him to distin- 

 guish between the true and the false — between 

 the chaff and the wheat. To be a compiler of 

 other men's thoughts for practical use, a man 

 should understand the subject for himself, and be 

 able to discriminate between that which is erro- 



neous, and that which is true. Otherwise but 

 little reliance can be placed upon his collections. 



We have already a sufficient number of school 

 books, and agricultural books manufactured to 

 order, for the trade, in the same way. Another 

 objection, too, may be urged against some of these 

 articles with propriety. In such compositions, 

 justice would seem to require that due credit 

 should be given to the authors consulted. In 

 some of these articles we have statements given 

 as original that have been before the public for 

 years, indicating either a large share of conceit 

 in the writer, or a low estimate of the intelligence 

 of his readers. 



We have some curiosity to know whether INIr. 

 B. is jwid by the page for the matter which pur- 

 ports to be original, in addition to his salary for 

 services in the office. If he is, this will account 

 for the large space which his articles occupy. 

 We certainly do not object to a reasonable 

 amount of matter from his pen. Some of his ar- 

 ticles are very readable. He writes in an easy' 

 fluent style, and if we could feel that he knows 

 whereof he affirms, and could rely upon his judg- 

 ment, we should be satisfied. We know nothing 

 of him except what we infer from his style, and 

 iiianner of gathering his facts, and the ex cafJte- 

 dra spirit apparent in most of his articles. It is 

 obvious that he is not to be contradicted, and that 

 we are expected to receive his opinions as law 

 from which there is no appeal. The modesty of 

 real knowledge is not as apparent as could be de- 

 sired. A book got up at so much cost and print- 

 ed at the expense of the nation, and which pur- 

 ports to represent the condition of agriculture in 

 the United States, should consist of original and 

 carefully digested matter, in all respects accurate 

 and reliable. The appropriation by Congress is 

 certainly adequate to command the pens of the 

 most intelligent and competent agricultvirists in 

 the nation. Perhaps any suspicion of favoritism 

 in the employment of writers, or of sectional- 

 ism in the expenditure of the funds subject to 

 the control of the bureau of agriculture, is unjust, 

 but we confess that a feeling of this sort has 

 sometimes crept over us, when we have looked 

 over the contents of the volumes from this de- 

 partment. Yours, &c., Middlesex. 



For the New England Farmer. 



'WAR'WICK AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



IMk. Editor : — The town of Warwick, being 

 situated in the extreme north-eastern part of the 

 county, and, by its location, cut off from all in- 

 terest and influence in the county society, it 

 was thought advisable to form a town society, 

 not in the spirit of opposition to the county soci- 

 ety, but with the view of bringing home to the 

 minds of all our farmers the various improve- 

 ments which have been made in the science of 

 agriculture. Accordingly, in the early part of 

 the winter, a large and flourishing society, com- 

 posed principally of farmers, was formed, a con- 

 stitution adopted, and preparations made for 

 holding discussions on some of the most inter- 

 esting subjects of agriculture. And though it was 

 no part of our design to make the learned display 

 which is made by our "Conscript Fathers" at the 

 State House, in their discussions upon the sub- 



