650 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



[No. 11 



commanded *B5000. This is no small sum for the 

 profits ol" a single year. Here then is a source of 

 public benefit and private wealth. It must be al- 

 lowed that the maxim of most people is — " Far 

 fetched and dear bought." But why not use the 

 wealth that lies at our very doors ? We are per- 

 suaded that nothing but a knowledge of the merit 

 of this article, and a smile from that capricious lady, 

 Fashion, is necessary to make the use of it very 

 general. It is not so dusty nor so cumbrous as 

 the anthracite coal, which we buy so dear and 

 bring so far. Let us try it. Who will take our 

 hint ? At any rate, fiishionable or not, well cured 

 peat, now in the market, would command five dol- 

 lars a cord from somebody. 



From the New England farmer. 



AGRICUT^TUnAL SUBVEY OF THE COMMON- 

 WEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS. 



We have been informed, and are much pleased 

 to learn, that a topographical survey of this state, 

 with particular reference to its agriculture, under 

 the sanction ol" the legislature, is in contemplation. 

 Surveys of this kind have been accomj)lished in 

 Great Britain and Ireland, and the results have 

 been very useful and interesting. Almost every 

 cultivator has some improvement, or peculiar mode 

 of tillage, some new or improved seed, plant, fruit, 

 breed of animals, mode of treating their diseases, 

 some new and and superior ituplemcnts for facili- 

 tating and adding elHcacy to labor ; something 

 peculiar in liis practice .of the art of husbandry, 

 which, if generally known, woidd be generally 

 adopted, and prove beneficial to every individual 

 of the great lamily of man. The knowledge 

 derived Horn actual survey, sanctioned b}^ ocular 

 demonstration, and correctly reported, could have 

 none of the disadvantages attributed to book 

 farming. It would be the results of experience, 

 communicated, for the most part, by men who 

 practice what they communicate, and who can- 

 not afford to practise incorrectly. 



In carrying into effect a survey of the kind al- 

 luded to, much — almost everything would depend 

 on the agricultural knowledge and judgment, as 

 well as industry, of the person or persons to whom 

 the surveys may be entrusted. It would be easy 

 to accumulate masses of matter, as flat, stale and 

 unprofitable as the figures in the calendar pages 

 of an old almanac; but if the inquirer knows what 

 has been in use, and is capable of judging of what 

 might be found useful in rural economy, mines of 

 information might be explored, more valuable 

 than those of Golconda or Potosi. 



In order to obtain valuable results to the re- 

 searches, said to be in contemplation, a system 

 should be pursued as regards objects of imjuiry. 

 In Great Britain, the following course, or some- 

 thing similar, was usually adopted : — 



Survey of Middlesex. 



Middlesex is part of the north side of a vale 

 watered by the Thames, and contains 179,200 

 acres, exhibiting a great variety of agriculture. 



1. Geographical slate and circumstances. 



Climate. — Healthy; warmer near London, from 

 the fires kept there. Stationary winds from south 

 west and north east. In spring, frost in the hol- 



lows, when none on the hills: thermometer has 

 been as high as 83^, and as low as 6^ below zero. 



Soil. — By long continued manuring, the surface 

 soil almost every where looks like loam. 



Surface. — Gently waving; highest towards the 

 north ; Ilampstead 400 feet above the level of the 

 sea, &c. 



llineral Strata. — 1. Cultivated surface. 2. 

 Gravel of flints, &e. Water: Abundant and ex- 

 cellent. The Thames falls about 24 feet in ten 

 miles. Mineral waters, at East Acton, Ilamp- 

 stead and Bagnigge wells. Fish caught in the 

 Thames : sturgeon, salmon, tench, &c. Spring 

 water found at various depths, from 5 to 300 feel ; 

 the latter the depth at Paddingion. 



2. State of Properly. — Estates generally under 

 the care of attorneys and badly managed. Ten- 

 ures : much freehold, considerable extent of copy- 

 hold, some church, colleffe and corporation land. 



Then follows: 3. Buildings; 4. Mode of occu- 

 pation ; 5. Implements; 6. Enclosing; 7. Ara- 

 ble land ; 8. (irass lands ; 9. Gardens and orch- 

 ards ; 10. Woods and plantations ; 11. Improve- 

 ments; 12. Live stock; 13. Rural economy; 14. 

 Political economy ; 15. Obstacles to improvement; 

 16. Miscellaneous observations ; 17. Means of 

 improvement. 



Other topics of inquiry might be added to, or 

 substituted for some of the above mentioned; 

 and, perhaps, circular letters containing queries 

 relative to such points of information as are 

 thought of the greatest consequence, might be 

 sent to intelligent cultivators, in the towns about to 

 be visited for the purposes of agricultural survej's, 

 &c. By such and other means which will suggest 

 themselves to practical and ingenious cultivators, 

 a mass of information may be elicited which will 

 be of a value, scarcely to be overrated by the 

 most sanguine anticipations.- 



From the Saratoga Sentinel. 

 ELECTRO-MAGNETIC ENGINE. 



In company with Dr. Steel iind several other 

 gentlemen, we called upon Messrs. Davenport 

 and Cook, of this village, on Saturday, with a 

 view of examining the electro-magnetic engine 

 invented by the senior partner. 



The ingenuit}', yet simplicity of its construc- 

 tion, the rapidity of its motion, together with the 

 grandeur of the thought that we are witnesing the 

 operations of machinery propelled by that subtle 

 and all pervading principle, electricity, combine to 

 render it the most interesting exhibition we have 

 ever witnessed. 



Although we shall say something on the sub- 

 ject, it is perhaps impossible to describe this ma- 

 chine by words alone, so as to give more than a 

 faint idea of it to the reader. 



It consists of a stationary magnetic circle, form- 

 ed of disconnected segments. These segments 

 are permanently charged magnets, the repelling 

 poles of which are placed contiguous to each 

 other. Within the circle stands the motive wheel, 

 having projecting galvanic magnets, which re- 

 volve as near the circle as they can be brought 

 without actual contact. The galvanic magnets 

 are charged by a battery, and when so charged, 

 magnetic attraction and repulsion arc both brought 

 into requisition, in giving motion to the wheel — 



