28 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Jan. 



raise twenty thousand dollars, to be invested in 

 State stocks, as a permanent endowment of the 

 Society. This was responded to in the most en- 

 thusiastic terms, various gentleman putting down 

 themselves and their whole families, to the third 

 generation, as life members of the society, and oth- 

 ers pledging their respective counties for from $500 

 to $1000. The meeting was protracted to the 

 hour of twelve, and before adjourning the sum of 

 thirty-nine thousand dollars had been raised ! 



The same scenes were enacted on Thursday and 

 Friday nights, and the enthusiasm was kept up 

 in a practical manner, until upwards of sixty thou- 

 sand dollars were subscribed ! A suggestion that 

 the Legislature should be called upon for a sub- 

 scription was promptly put down, several members 

 declaring that the farmers of Virginia, now that 

 their spirit was aroused, needed no help of that 

 kind, but would rely on themselves; yet, during 

 the proceeding, it was found that professional men, 

 mechanics, and merchants, all claimed the right 

 to aid in putting Virginia agriculture upon a firm 

 and enduring basis. A wag declared that, so far 

 from asking Legislative help, the society was now 

 ready to shave the Slate debt .'" 



Think of this, farmers of Massachusetts ! Six 

 ty thousand dollars subscribed in two days to ad 

 vance the cause of agriculture ! Here is a spirit 

 and example worthy of emulation. Virginia has 

 heretofore displayed but few signs of healthy ag- 

 ricultural progress. Her farms and plantations 

 have been cropped and cropped until they have be- 

 come exhausted, and then have been abandoned. 

 But we presume, one of the first effects of this agri- 

 cultural furor, will be the introduction of new and 

 improved modes of culture, by which the soil 

 may be' kept in heart, or reclaimed. The agricul- 

 tural wealth and prospects of Virginia will thus 

 receive an ijopetus which will place her on a par 

 with other States whose natural resources are 

 not so great in this important branch of industry. 

 We look upon this fair as the dawning of a new 

 and brighter day for Virginia. 



For the New England Farmer. 



TAR- WATER FOR THE ONION 

 MAGGOT. 



Mr. Brown : — As I have been a constant read- 

 er of your Monthly Farmer for a year past, and in 

 it have noticed some remedies to save onions from 

 being destroyed by the maggot, I thought, this 

 last season, I would try one and see if it would do 

 any good, as I have for several seasons past lost 

 most of my onions by the maggot. Therefore, last 

 spring, when I sowed my onions,! made the drills 

 and sprinkled ground plaster into them first, then 

 sowed the onion seed on the plaster, and covered 

 it with the soil,and as soon as the onions were up 

 five or six inches high, I procured two quarts of 

 tar and put it into an old tin ten quart pail of wa- 

 ter. I stirred the tar up and let it soak one day, 

 then turned the tar water off into a sprinkler and 

 sprinkled it over the onions about twice in a week, 

 which saved the most of them, and larger and bet- 

 ter onions I never raised in my life, they being the 

 white silver skins. I lost a small part of them, I 

 think, by not applying the tar water soon enough, 

 as the maggot had got into a few before I began to 

 make use of the tar water. 



Yours respectfully, J. N. 



Meredith Village, N. H, Nov. 15, 1853. 



THANKSGIVING. 



We have already uttered some thoughts in rela- 

 tion to this institution which annually unites, once 

 more, the scattered households of our beloved 

 New England. It is suggestive of many pleasant 

 thoughts ; arrests the current of worldly ambition, 

 chastens the hot pursuit of gain, strengthens the 

 ties of affection, and lifts our hearts in gratitude 

 to Him who knows all our wants, and who has 

 abundantly supplied them. 



In a former article we briefly spoke of the Vari- 

 ety and Wealth of the Harvest. We will now give 

 a few moments to a consideration of the Develop- 

 ment of Agricultural Science. This is a prominent 

 cause of the variety and abundance of which we 

 have already spoken. The cultivation of the earth 

 has become a Science and lays under contribution 

 many other sciences ; all the natural sciences are 

 its auxiliaries — botany, chemistry, geology, &c. 

 A multitude of the best minds of this country and 

 Europe are engaged in it. Many of our universi- 

 ties have a department assigned to it, and all, 

 probably, eventually, will. Some of the State gov- 

 ernments have organized an agricultural Depart- 

 ment; while others have the subject under consid- 

 eration ; and even the national government would 

 have had a Bureau of Agriculture, ere this, if 

 the politicians could have spared time from their 

 party tactics. But the farmers — three-fourths of 

 the voters — will soon call their attention to the 

 subject. What an amount of talent will these 

 great organizations turn to this chief industrial 

 pursuit I Every experiment, discovery, or im- 

 proved method, in any corner of the country, will 

 immediately be made universal. And then what 

 a multitude of local societies to reduce to practice 

 all this knowledge, correct it and confirm it by 

 experiment! It is an Art as well as a Science; 

 and it is a fine art, as well as a useful. It covers 

 the land with beauty as well as riches, and what 

 is not the least benefit,this pursuit is elevated from 

 a mill-horse round of toil to an intellectual pursuit, 

 to a pursuit of taste and refinement. A Farmer's 

 Club in a town, in its weekly discussions through 

 the winter, will do as much to cultivate their minds 

 as their farms. How much superior to the old 

 practice of drinking cider and telling stories at 

 their nightly gatherings. 



Another blessing of vast importance to our com- 

 fort, is the elevation of the Mechanic Arts. They 

 are elevated in more senses than one. They are 

 elevated in dignity. In early times, the trades 

 were badges of servitude — only the slaves and serfs 

 were mec(hanic8 ! The mechanical part we now per- 

 form by machinery raises more individuals into 

 the character of overseers. We have greatly im- 

 proved upon the ancients. They made war upon 

 their neighbors and took the vanquished to do 

 their menial work We have pressed the elements 

 into our service, which God made for that very 



