1853. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



139 



his agricultural experience, and the incalculable 

 benefits conferred upon him and the whole farm- 

 ing interest of Virginia by the genius and industry 

 of Edmund Ruftin. If ever a conqueror merited a 

 Avreath, then did this conqueror of ignoronce, big- 

 otry, and agricultural desolation. After hand- 

 somely alluding to Mr. Fillmore, now shortly 

 to retire from the labors of office, to go back to his 

 farm ; to his country's father and friend, the Far- 

 mer of Mount A'ernon ; and to the farmers and 

 sons of farmers whose hearts and arms gave suc- 

 cess to the revolution, Mr. Custis concluded with 

 the sentiment of "Speed the Plow," and may 

 health, happiness, and glorious success attend the 

 Society and its efiForts. [Cheers.] 



The President of the Society acknowledged the 

 kindness of Mr. Custis's remarks, and reciprocat- 

 ed by wishing him, on behalf the Socjety, in re- 

 turn, all the blessings of health and prosperity. 



Professor Mapes moved that Edmund Ruffin, of 

 Virginia, be elected an honorary member of the 

 Society. 



Carried unanimously and with applause. 



Dr. Reed; of Massachusetts, offered a resolution, 

 which was passed, as follows : — 



Resolved, That the subject of lectures before this 

 Society at its future meetings, and the selection of 

 lecturers, be referred to a select committee of five 

 of whom Professor Henry, of the Smithsonian Insti- 

 tution, shall be chairman. 



The committee appointed under this resolution 

 consists of Professor Henry, and Messrs. Wilder 

 and Reed, of jMassachusetts, Calvert, of Maryland, 

 and the Corresponding Secretary. 



It was made the duty of the Corresponding Sec- 

 retary to notify all members of their election, and 

 if any decline, the Executive Committee may ap- 

 point others to fill the vacancies. 



A paper written by Professor Booth, of Phila- 

 delphia, on the inadequacy and inability of chem- 

 ical analyses of soils in the present state of the 

 science, was read. 



Professor Mapes hoped it would not be placed 

 among the transactions of the Society, as he dif- 

 fered with its able and learned author on the sub- 

 ject, and believed he could successfully disprove 

 his positions. There was evidence on every hand, 

 both in England and America, that chemical anal- 

 yses had done the greatest amount of good to ag- 

 riculture. 



The Society having understood, at length, that 

 the paper of Professor Booth was not before the 

 Society, under his sanction, it was withdrawn, to 

 be placed under the control of the gentleman who 

 first produced it. 



Resolved, That a circular, in the name of the So- 

 ciety, be addressed by the Corresponding Secretary 

 to the various Agricultural boards and Societies in 

 this Republic and in other lands, requesting, if con- 

 venient, copies of their reports already published, 

 with an exchange of future publications. 



The Treasurer's report was then handed in. 

 On the meeting of the Society on "Wednesday morn- 

 ing there were $182 G2 to the credit of the Society ; 

 since then this had been raised to $1,920 G2, 

 which was their present wealth. [Cheers.] 



The meeting then adjourned to meet again at 

 7 P. M. 



THIRD AND CONCLUDING SESSION. 



The Society met, pursuant to adjournment, at 

 7 o'clock P. M. on Thursday, to hear the lecture 

 of Professor Mapes on "Fertilizers." This very 

 able gentleman, and practical agriculturist, en- 

 chained his auditory for about an hour as very few 

 living men could do on such a topic. He spoke 

 without "notes, but such is his fund of information 

 and intelligence that possibly his extemporaneous 

 addresses excel the generality of written effusions 

 on these subjects. 



After the addresses, the Executive Committee 

 met and transacted much business respecting ar- 

 rangements and agencies for the collection of funds, 

 for the publication of the Journal, for which origi- 

 nal papers were promised by Professor Mapes, 

 Mr. Calvert, Dr. Arthur Watts, Dr. Elwyn, 

 and Jos. C. G. Kennedy. 



The committee requested a copy of the Address 

 of Mr. Custis for publication. 



Professor Henry was elected an honorary mem- 

 ber of the Society. 



After the transaction of business of minor im- 

 portance, the Executive Committee adjourned 

 sine die. 



For the Neiv England Farmer. 

 SWEET CORN. 

 A correspondent of the New England Farmer, 

 among other pertinent questions, asks, "How does 

 sweet corn affect the soil on which it is raised 1 has 

 it been tried as food for stock ? and if so, with 

 what success r' We have had some little success- 

 ful experience, for the last five or six years, in 

 raising sweet corn, for the table, and for fodder ; 

 and that experience has taught us that sweet 

 corn exhausts the soil just about in proportion as 

 the stalk is larger and more nutricious than the 

 northern yellow corn. The kind of sweet corn 

 we have raised grows about eight feet high, the 

 ears eight or ten inches long, large white and 

 plump kernel, and ten rows to the ear, the pith 

 of dark red color, and is called the Evergreen 

 Sweet Corn. The seed was procured from Ohio 

 some eight years since. For fodder wc sow it in 

 drills, three feet apart, and drop the kernels from 

 six to ten inches apart. The yield of fodder the 

 last year was at the rate of seven tons to the acre. 

 Our horses and cows leave the best of hay to 

 luxuriate upon sweet corn stalks, well cured, and 

 run through the straw cutter. The stalks of the 

 sweet corn are large, and recfViire much care in 

 curing to prevent mould. They should stand 

 erect in the barn, or wherever sheltered, and en- 

 joy the benefit of air. Cutting the stalks as near 

 the ground as possible, we leaned the tops of two 

 rows together, leaving here and there a stalk un- 

 cut, and tying from ten to twenty stalks together 



