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Agricultural Meeting. — Disease of the Buttonwood. Vol. XI. 



Agricultural Meeting. 



A STATED meeting of the Philadelphia 

 Society for promoting Agriculture, was held 

 on the 2nd inst., at their room, Washington 

 Hall, South Third street, A. S. Roberts, 

 President, in the chair, — present twenty 

 members. 



The minutes of the last meeting having 

 been read and adopted, the meeting pro- 

 ceeded to the election of members. J. 

 Francis Fisher, Joseph West, and John R. 

 Gheen, were unanimously elected. Three 

 other gentlemen were proposed for mem- 

 bers. 



The committee appointed at a former meet- 

 ing to obtain the necessary information pre- 

 paratory to holding the Annual Exhibition 

 of the Society, reported favourably thereto, 

 and furnished a list of premiums to be offered 

 on the occasion. 



It was resolved, that the Exhibition be 

 held at the Lamb Tavern on the Lancaster 

 turnpike, one mile from the Schuylkill Per- 

 manent Bridge, in the early part of October. 

 The following named gentlemen were ap- 

 pointed a committee of arrangement, viz: 

 Robert T. Potts, L W. Roberts, Dennis Kel- 

 ly, Aaron Clement, David George, David 

 Landreth, George Blight, Dr. A. L. Elwyn, 

 Manuel Eyre, A. S. Roberts. 



A letter addressed to the President of the 

 Society, by Morris Longstreth, Esq., was re- 

 ceived, enclosing a circular letter from the 

 Secretary of the Royal and Central Agricultu- 

 ral Society of Paris, transmitted to him by 

 his Excellency, Gov. Shunk, requiring infor- 

 mation regarding the potatoe disease. The 

 circular was read, and a committee, consist- 

 ing of three members, was appointed to ob- 

 tain information on the subject, and to for- 

 ward a letter in reply to the Secretary, at 

 Paris. 



The Transactions of the New York State 

 Agricultural Society were received through 

 the medium of our President, Mr. Roberts, 

 and the Secretary was directed to tender 

 the thanks of the Society therefor, and also 

 to transmit to that body the Memoirs of this 

 Society. 



Dr. Elwyn informed the meeting, that a 

 new and cheap drill machine had been in 

 vented by John Moore, of Strasburg, Lan 

 caster county. 



A. Clement informed the meeting, that 

 Hussey's Reaping Machine could be seen at 

 his residence in the city, for a short time. 

 Extract from the minutes. 



Aaron Clement, 



Rec. Sec'ry. 



June 7th, 1847. 



Disease of the Buttonwood. 



A DISEASE, even now but little understood, 

 which made its appearance in the south 

 some eight or ten years ago, has gradually 

 advanced northward, until it has reached, as 

 we noticed last season, a point as far north 

 as Canada, and as far west as Buffalo, and 

 perhaps further. 



Its symptoms are, first, a blight and decay 

 of the smaller twigs and branches; then a 

 gradual scantiness of foliage ; afterwards a 

 mortality of the larger limbs, commencing 

 at the extremities; which very frequently 

 results — especially in dry soil — in the death, 

 of the whole tree. The ravages of this 

 disease, from the general sprinkling of the 

 Sycamore in our woods, and especially by 

 the side of streams of water, has given a 

 blighted and mutilated aspect to the sylvan 

 features of the landscape in many parts of 

 the country. And about Philadelphia and 

 Boston, where, fifty years ago, this tree was 

 quite a favourite in lawns and court-yards, 

 we observe with pain a show of sorry and 

 diseased branches, in the place of the rich 

 canopy of foliage which formerly waved 

 over fine old trunks. 



There hnve been a good many specula- 

 tions about this disease, and at last the pub- 

 lic, we are sorry to see, seem to have made 

 up their minds to abandon the tree to its 

 fate. We regret this, and must beg leave 

 to say a few words more in favour of the 

 time-honoured Sycamore in the day of its 

 misfortunes. 



As there are insects to be found in the 

 young diseased shoots, it was at first be- 

 lieved by many, that the Sycamore malady 

 was caused by insect ravages. Along with 

 others, we shared in this opinion for some 

 time, until Dr. Harris, of Cambridge, Mass., 

 to whose labours in exposing the character 

 and habits of the insects injurious to vegeta- 

 tion, all American cultivators owe so much, 

 convinced us that the insects found in the 

 Sycamore tree, were those whose habits were 

 well known, and that they were incapable 

 of producing the disease in question. 



It is the opinion of Dr. Harris, that the 

 Sycamore disease is a malady caused by 

 some unusual atmospheric state, which af- 

 fects deleteriously the foliage and young 

 shoots; an opinion which, upon further ex- 

 amination and observation, we are inclined 

 to adopt. The best authorities in Europe at 

 the present moment agree, if they agree at 

 all in the matter, that the Potatoe disease 

 is owing to some state of the atmosphere 

 productive of like disastrous effects, to that 

 plant. In both cases, the disease has ap- 

 peared first in one part of the country, and 



