230 



Editorial Notices. 



Vol. VIII. 



nured an acreof lanri, nor a hill of corn for nine years! 

 * And what,' I asked, ' is an average crop of corn V ' A 

 barrel to the thousand hills.' ' And how many hills do 

 you reckon to the acre V ' Two thousand.' ' And how 

 many bushels to the barrel?' 'Five.' 'Then your 

 crop of corn is ten bushels to the acre.' ' Yes, we are 

 satisfied with that, and half of us do not get that 

 much.' ' Have you marl here,' I inquired. ' Yes, we 

 have plenty of it three or four feet below the surface, 

 but it is too much trouble to dig it.' I mentioned your 

 Poudrette— 'O,' said he, 'a dollar and fifty cents a bar- 

 rel, would make it cost too much.' Seeing a little girl 

 busily engaged in shaking a quart bottle, I asked what 

 she had in it? She answered, creavi, and that she was 

 making butter! I conclude, therefore, that a farmer 

 who has a horse and cart— a wooden plough, rope 

 traces, and a corn-husk collar, and a quart bottle to 

 churn his butter in, feels himself amply prepared for 

 conducting a farm in these digging, without wasting 

 a dollar a year in paying for the Farmers' Cabinet!" 

 A most legitimate conclusion, truly! We should have 

 come to the same precisely, had we been canvassing 

 ourselves, instead of our friend. Where would be the 

 use in stirring up a neighbourhood, that was quietly 

 reposing upon a belief in the perfection of its primi- 

 tive habits, and in making it feel its own privations, 

 by showing it the superior privileges of others! If a 

 man is content from year to year, and from generation 

 to generation, with ten bushels of corn to the acre— 

 with his wooden plough, husk collar, and quart bottle 

 churn, why ask him to waste his money on an Agri 

 cultural paper, that would make him dissatisfied with 

 them all ! Our frjend also informed us, that overtak- 

 ing a boy who was returning in his cart from market, 

 he inquired how far he had come — what his load of 

 marketing had consisted of, and how much he had ob- 

 tained for it? He said he had just sold his load of 

 fodder, — he had brought it nine miles, and got si,\ty- 

 two and a half cents for it! — We could make quite a 

 chapter of reflections upon these little incidents, but 

 as they would not reach the ivfccted district— for no 

 subscribers were obtained— and as those of our readers 

 will be quite as wise as our own, we leave each one 

 to supply his own. 



It would appear from the proceedings of the State 

 Agricultural Society of South Carolina, lately published 

 in the Southern Agriculturist, that it is about to be 

 reorganized upon a more permanent basis. Among 

 the premiums offered for the coming season, is a silver 

 cup, of the value of $20, for the best managed farm. 

 The exhibition of mules, was a very creditable one. 

 Twenty-seven were shown, all of which were raised 

 in the State. The application of marl, and improved 

 modes of culture, both of cotton and rice, are claiming 

 that attention which they deserve, and which may in- 

 crease the staples of that State, beyond the most san- 

 guine calculations. 



Our friend Edmund Ruffin, Agricultural Surveyor of 

 South Carolina, we find on the ground wilh undimin 

 ished public spirit, inciting others to labour for the 

 general good, by the ofier of complete sets of the Farm- 

 er's Register, for the best conducted experiments with 

 marl and lime. 



following premiums, to be awarded at its stated meet- 

 ing, to be held on the 20th inst. 



For the best regularly shaped Camellias, six named 

 varieties to be exhibited, $10. 



For the next best do. do. $5. 



For the best Camellias of other forms, do. do. $7. 



For the best Mushrooms, not less than one dozen to 

 be exhibited, $2. 



At the stated meeting to be held on the 21st of next 

 month : 



For the best Azaleas, ten named varieties to be ex- 

 hibited, $3. 



For the next best do. do. S2. 



For the best American Seedling Azalea, $3. 



For the best Pears, not less than half a peck, S3. 



For the best Apples, not less than half a peck, $1. 



Articles exhibited for competition, are always to be 

 grown by the competitors. 



The Report of the Committee on Cows, at the New- 

 castle County Agricultural Society, in the Ninth mo. 

 last, will be found on page 228 of this number. We 

 take it from the Proceedings of that Society, neatly 

 printed in pamplet form, copies of which have been 

 kindly forwarded to us. We have no recollection of 

 seeing on record, so great a yield of butter as that of 

 the " Lady." Three hundred and sixteen pounds, as 

 the Report states— or more exactly, 315 lbs. 7 oz., ac- 

 cording to our cyphering, in twenty-eight weeks and 

 five days, certainly denote a cow of very extraordi- 

 nary properties. An average of 14 lbs. 9 oz. for twelve 

 weeks — and a yield of 19 lbs. in one single week, fairly 

 entitle her, so far as we know, to the appellation of 

 " Lady of the Union." The regular and exact manner 

 in which E. Morrison, the dairywoman, kept her acf 

 counts, is highly satisfactory. There appears to have 

 been no guessing: we have it in pounds and ounces, 

 and these too, in detail. 



The Address of Dr. Darlington, before the Society, 

 will be found in the present number: we take it also, 

 from the published proceedings above alluded to, and 

 believe it will richly repay for a careful perusal. 



Dr. Thomson, in some remarks happily made in in- 

 troducing Dr. Darlington to the Society, spoke highly 

 of the advantages which had resulted to Newcastle 

 county, fi'ora the operations of its Agricultural Society. 

 He believed that it had been the means of adding di- 

 rectly, and in its consequences, more than half a mil- 

 lion of dollars to the wealth of the county. The great 

 improvement in the character of their stock — their 

 husbandry — the appearance of their farms, and build- 

 ings—and in the price and value of their lands, though 

 not all attributable to the labours of the Society, were 

 yet, greatly indebted to its agency. " The spirit of 

 speed the plough,'' says the Doctor, " is about to be fully 

 roused :" and we cannot deny that Newcastle county 

 has now, both at home and abroad, a fair reputation 

 and standing among the most favoured agricultural 

 districts of the country. 



The Penjisylvania Horticultural Society offers the 



US' SHORT ADVERTISEMENTS, 4:H 

 The subject matter of which, may correspond with the 

 agricultural character of this paper, will be inserted 

 at the rate of one dollar for each insertion of ten lines 

 or less; and so in proportion for each additional line. 

 The money to be paid in advance. 



