Vol. 1— No. 52. 



AND GARDINER'S JOURNAL. 



411 



This list shows some of tPebster's deficiencies, 

 which ought to be supplied in the next edition, for 

 are used as English v:ords. 



Steamer, the fashionable name in England for 

 a steam-boat is not inserted. 



Polianthes tuberosa (the tuberose) is a well 

 known flower of the lily kind. The English 

 name is derived from the Latin word tuberosa sy- 

 nonymous with tuberous, but common usage has 

 "iven it the form of tuberose ; and in Walter, the 

 •climax of barbarism appears in the pronunciation 

 ■ tube-roze," as if it were a rose with a tube.instead 

 •of a lily. Webster's superior learning is well ap- 

 plied in correcting this popular blunder: " Tuber- 

 ose [shard] a plant with a tuberous root and a li- 

 ous flower.'' 



The following extract from the preface may be 

 useful to those who are in search of the most 

 complete Dictionary of the English Language : 



" No efforts have been spared to make it a com- 

 plete defining and pronouncing dictionary for gen- 

 eral use. About sixteen thousand words, and be- 

 tween thirty and forty thousand definitions are 

 contained in this dictionary, which are not to be 

 found in any similar work within the author's 

 knowledge. These additions do not principally 

 consist of obsolete terms, or uncommon and unim- 

 portant significations of words. In most cases, 

 on the contrary, they arc terms and significations 

 which are in constant use in the various depart- 

 ments of science and the arts, in commerce, manu- 

 factures, merchandise, the liberal professions, and 

 i he ordinary concerns of life. They mark the 

 progress which the English Language has made 

 during the seventy years which have elapsed 

 since the publication of Dr. Johnson's Dictionary. 

 Within that period, a complete revolution has ta- 

 ken place in almost every branch of physical sci- 

 ence. New departments have been created, new 

 principles developed, new modes of classification 

 and description adopted. More rigid principles 

 of definition have been gradually introduced into 

 almost every department of human knowledge. 

 fn these respects, however, our dictionaries ha'-" 

 remained almost stationary. The labors of our 

 lexicographers, since the time of Johnson, have 

 been cheifly confined to the introduction of new 

 words into the vocabulary. In the wort of which 

 this is an abridgment, the words have all been de- 

 fined anew. The explanations given are adapted 

 to the advanced state of knowledge at the present 

 day, and to the changes which seventy years 

 have made in theuse of terms. In the definitions 

 of the leading and important words, the significa- 

 tion is' explained by enumerating the properties of 

 the object in question, and not merely by a refer- 

 ence to other words of a similar import. In 

 numerous instances, the distinctions between 

 words which are apparently synonymous are tra- 

 ced with great minuteness; and it is hoped that 

 the present work may supply to a considerable ex- 

 tent, the place of a regular treatise on English sy- 

 n onyms." A Farmer. 



FOR THE G«,NESEE FARMER. 



Iii Morse's Gazetteer printed in 1823, the pro- 

 nunciation of Wabash is given Worbash. If the 

 authors had been as particular in other cases, we 

 should have had for London, Lunnon ; for Vir 

 ginia, Fejinncy ; for Philadelphia, Fihlclfcy ; 

 for Aivburn. Orbun; for Birmingham, Bntmme 



gem ; and we should have been among the most 



fashionable of the illiterate vulgar. 



The writer of this article has conversed with 

 many of the most respectable inhabitants in the 

 vicinity of that river, and he never heard such a 

 sound as Worbash from any of their lips. 



A Travfxler. 



SELECTIONS. 



Fiom the Daily Albany Argus. 

 STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 

 The proposition for a State Society, with 

 branches, or auxiliary associations, if deem- 

 ed advisable, for the promotion of agricultu- 

 ral and horticultural improvement, has been 

 often suggested, particularly in the New- 

 York Farmer, and in the last number by a 

 writer who dates from Saratoga, in whom, if 

 I mistake not, I recognise one of the most 

 enterprising and intelligent, as well as one of 

 the best practical farmers of our country, 

 and whose zeal I know is prompted by an 

 ardent desire to promote the public interest. 

 This writer has proposed, that a meeting be 

 held at Albany, on the 14th day of February 

 next, for the purpose of organizing such a 

 society. 



I freely accord to the utility of such an 

 association, if its objects are limited to what 

 is attainable and proper ; and I commend the 

 subject to the attentive consideration of all 

 who appreciate the importance of these great 

 branches of industry, and who are desirous 

 of seeing them thrive among - us. 



Without being apprised of the views of 

 the gentlemen who have proposed the con- 

 vention, I take the liberty of suggesting some 

 of the advantages which I think may result 

 from the formation of the proposed associa- 

 tion. And 



£. By an interchange! of opinions upon 

 the different branches of husbandry and ru- 

 ral improvement, which the association would 

 give rise to, the knowledge, experience and 

 skill of individual members, would at once 

 be rendered subservient and beneficial to all. 

 The practice of one's life is insufficient in 

 any business, without drawing upon the expe- 

 rience of others. The greater the facilities 

 of obtaining this auxiliary aid, the more rap- 

 id is our progress in improvement. Im- 

 provements in husbandry depend on the 

 progress of knowledge, and the opportuni- 

 ties of intercourse among practical men. — 



The people of Asia, borne down for ages 

 by the weight of despotism, and ignorant of 

 the means which science and skill are else- 

 where bringing to the aid of labor, retain 

 generally the rude implements and practices 

 of the primitive ages. And in Europe, en- 

 lightened Europe, the agriculture of many 

 districts has been but very little improved for 

 centuries. In Spain, some of the states of 

 Italy, Russia, Sweden, &,c, the condition of 

 husbandry, and husbandmen, is deplorably 

 wretched. And it is not long since I read of 

 the plough having been introduced, for the 

 first time, into one of the secluded districts 

 of Ireland. It is intelligence — it is inter- 

 course — and above jail, it is societies formed 

 for reciprocating and diffusing agricultural 

 information, which have made the earth to 

 teem with new riches : which have imparted 

 energy to the mind, and efficiency to the 

 arm, of the agriculturist, wherever improve- 

 ment has advanced ; and which, with the im- 

 provement of the soil, have raised the hus- 

 bandman to fits proper rank; in the moral 



and political scale of society. To illustrate 

 my position, I need but point to the oxamplr 

 of Scotland. From being one of the most 

 unproductive, she has become, through, her 

 societies, her publications, and the enter- 

 prize of a few patriotic men, rich in the va- 

 ried products of her Agriculture. These 

 products principally by these means, have 

 been increased seven fold, if not tenfold, 

 within the last fifty years. The improve- 

 ment in intellect has kept pace, as a conse- 

 quence, with the improvement of husbandry, 

 as is evinced by the talents, the probity and 

 industry of her sons. 



2. An association of the kind contemplat- 

 ed might become useful, by establishing and 

 regulating periodical fairs, for the purchase 

 and sale of live stock, farming implements, 

 grains and other seeds. The partial trials 

 which have been made in the environs of our 

 great towns, of appointing particular days 

 for the sale and purchase of cattle, sheep and 

 swine, not only for the shambles, but as farm 

 stock, as well as the long established utility 

 of fairs in Great Britain, and elsewhere, af- 

 ford the strongest reason to believe, that they 

 would prove highly beneficial ; andcontiib- 

 ute more rapidly than any other means, to 

 disseminate the best breeds of animals, the 

 most improved implements, and the choicest 

 varieties of seeds. Products of the farm, 

 like every other commodity, are to be judged 

 of relatively ; and it is impossible to say 

 what is best, until it has been compared with 

 other products of its kind. The more nu- 

 merous the subjects of • competition, the 

 greater the value of that which is found to 

 excel. A farmer may for years entertain an 

 honest belief, that his stock, and his grain, 

 and his implements, are supetioi to all oth- 

 ers; and yet he might become satisfied, from 

 the exhibitions at a fair, that he had labored 

 under a sad mistake, and that what he had 

 so long considered first, were really of infe- 

 rior grade. So in regard to the kinds and 

 profits of his crops, and the manner of man- 

 aging them. I have seen this remark often 

 verified in regard to fruit. Every one gradu- 

 ates his ideas of the cost, from what he has 

 individually witnessed. Individuals have 

 often expressed their surprise at the excel- 

 lence of a bergamot or vergalouse pear, or 

 of a green or other gage plum, which they 

 have the first time seen or tasted ; and when 

 they were told that pears of equal excellence 

 might be raised by every farmer, and so rip- 

 ening in succession as to be brought upon 

 his table almost every day in the year, the 

 declaration has probably been doubted, tho' 

 literally true. By congregating the buyers 

 'and sellers at a point, a salutary rivalship 

 would be produced, fair dealing promoted, 

 something like a regular scale of prices es- 

 tablished, and the husbandman be sure of a 

 ready sale and fair reward for his labor. — 

 The lean stock of Great Britain, as well as 

 that which has been fitted for the butcher, is 

 principally sold at their established fairs, 

 which it is conceded afford great advantages 

 to both buyer and seller. 



3. Such a society might derive much ben- 

 efit to its members, and very much subserve 

 the interests of the state at large, (and 1 

 think an article of the association should ex- 

 act the performance) if its members would 

 attentively note down whatever would occur 

 in their practice calculated to enlarge the 

 sphere of useful knowledge whether there- 

 suit be propitious to their expectations or 

 not; and communicate these dates to some 



