R 1850. 



THE GENESEE FARMER. 



eggs of the Shang-hae are of a lighter color, though 

 they may be very properly called a salmon. Your 

 chickens are probably Shanghaes. The feathered 

 log is the most marked distinction between the 

 Silanghae and Cochin China. 



FAIR AND FLOWERS IN SENEOA COIJNTY. 



Thk Agricultural Fair of Seneca County is to held 

 at Ovid, on the 26th and 27th of September next. 

 H. D. DiDAMA, the Secretary, has furnished us a list 

 of premiums. But what will interest the ladies more 

 particularly, is the special premiums offered on flow- 

 ers. There are some true lovers of the beautiful, in 

 Seneca County. They not only possess the taste, 

 but the zeal and activity that can not fail to accom- 

 plish good. It will be seen by the ex!. -net we give 

 from the list of "extra premiums,'' that a ''floral 

 Jimd" is to be raised by contribution, and very lib- 

 eral prizes awarded. Had not our Seneca County 

 friends been quite so exclusive, we should like to 

 have taken a few shares of that floral stock. How- 

 ever, we shall endeavor to see for ourselves the fair 

 and flowers of Seneca County, in September. 



1st. For the greatest variety, and choicest specimens of 

 flowers, grown and cultivated from seed sown or planted in 

 Senecu County, by any young unmarried lady, not over 

 twenty-five, nor under sixteen years of age, Loudon's Flower 

 garden of Ornamental Annuals — value $13. 



2d. For the second greatest variety, and choicest speci- 

 mens of flowers, under the same regulations, Lindley's Veg- 

 etable Kingdom, or the structure and uses of Plants, with 

 illustrations — value $8. 



3d. For the third greatest variety and choicest specimens 

 of flowers, under the same regulations. Loudon's Gardening 

 for Ladies, illustrated — value $2 ; and Popular Flowers, 

 their cultivation and treatment, in all seasons, plates — $2. 



The funds for procuring the prizes shall be contributed by 

 gentlemen resident in Seneca County, in sums not less than 

 one dollar each, and expressly for the above purpose ; and 

 the contributors to this " floral fund," shall be entitled to 

 premiums under the following terms and regulations : 



1st. For the best essay on " The influences of rural life, and 



pursuits upon tlie human mind." 



The successful competitor shall be allowed to present the 

 premium awarded for llie greatest variety of flowers, and to 

 receive from the successful lady a boquet of the choice and 

 rare flowers cultivated by her. 

 2d. For the best essay on " The relation of vegetation to 



seasons, or the periods of growth and the periods of rest." 



The successful competitor shall be allowed to present the 

 premium awarded for the second greatest variety of flowers, 

 and to receive from the successful lady a boquet of the 

 choice and rare flowers cultivated by her. 

 3d. For the best essay "On the colors and odors of 



flowers." 



The successful competitor shall be allowed to present the 

 premium awarded for the third greatest v.ariety of flowers, 

 and to receive from the successful lady a boquet of the choice 

 and rare flowers cultivated by her. 



The committee appointed by the Society as Judges on 

 fruits, flowers, and vegel.ables, shall decide upon the merits 

 of the flowers presented under this arrangement, and shall 

 award the premiums in their discretion. 



A committee shall be appointed by the officers of the So- 

 ciety to examine and decide upon the merits of the seve- 

 ral essays, and adjudge the premiums in their discretion. 



All essays shall be transmitted to the President of tlie So- 

 ciety, on or before the first day of September next, signed 

 with a fictitious name ; and the writer shall enclose his 

 proper name in an envelope, sealed and superscribed with the 

 fictitious name, which envelope shall not be opened, unless 

 the party presenting it proves to be the successful competitor. 



All essays not entitled to a premium shall be returned to 

 the writers as they may direct. 



All persons disposed to contribute to this fund, will please 

 to transmit their several contributions to John D. Coe, Esq.', 

 Treasurer, at Romulusville. 



Soutl)8' Department. 



THE ANALOGY BETWEEN ANIMAL AND 'TliGE. 

 TABLE LIFB. — Nc. 1. 



The elementary materials of animal and vegetable 

 matter are precisely identical ; the organs essenti; 

 to the growth and reproduction of each are similar, 

 and they are nourished or destroyed by the same 

 agencies. That internal, invisible power, which we 

 call the "principle of life," forms a clear distinction 

 and boundary between organized, or living bodies, 

 and all inorganic, or mineral substances, in the uni- 

 universe. But between animals and plants, no such 

 great distinguishing trait exists. The cabbage is 

 no less alive than the cow that feeds upon it. The 

 superiority of the latter over the former consists 

 chiefly in this — the existence of mind, intellect, 

 brain, and nerves ; of which the plant is deficient. 

 In their more perfect forms, the distinction between 

 animal and vegetable life is obvious enough — for 

 instance, no one would be likely to confound a horse 

 chestnut witli a clicstnut horse ; but as we approach 

 the extremities of the animal and vegetable kingdoms, 

 the distinction is not so easy. There are many nat- 

 ural productions, such as sponges and some fungi, 

 which were originally considered minerals, after- 

 wards vegetables, and are now universally regarded 

 as belonging to the animal kingdom. Plants are 

 aptly termed the connecting link between the min- 

 eral and the animal. It is not unlikely that they 

 existed for ages on this planet before animals ap- 

 peared. From the crumbling debris of the granite 

 rock, moistened by the rain, springs the moss which 

 nourishes?, or supplies with organized food, the moose 

 and the deer. That subtle essence which we term 

 vitality, or the living principle, is a curious subject 

 for study and research. To endeavor to analyse or 

 investigate it, seems penetrating into the very arcana 

 of nature. In what part of the plant it chiefly exists, 

 or to what quarter it retires during the winter, we 

 know not ; and we are just as ignorant in regard to 

 animal life. In both it operates towards every point 

 — it exists and resides in the whole ; and the proof 

 of its existence is drawn from its resisting those 

 putrefactive or chemical agencies which instantly 

 begin to operate when it becomes extinct. While 

 life exists, the animal or vegetable thrives, and in- 

 creases in bulk ; the tree puts forth annually a new 

 progeny of buds, and becomes clothed in a beautiful 

 foliage of lungs (for every leaf is a distinct lung,) for 

 respiration, thus absorbing from the air through its 

 leaves, and from the earth by its roots, the food neces- 

 sary for its growth and perfection : while from its 

 decay, as from the death of animals, there is formed 

 in rich abundance the means of new births, new buds, 

 and new harvests. 



Such is the simple, but beautiful circle of nature. 

 That which lives, flourishes, decays, and dies, is not 

 lost — the great principle of life only changes its 

 form, B.nd the destruction of one generation of plants 

 and animals, is but the necessary preparation to the 

 support and existence of the next. F. 



To the man of thought, not only the elaborate 

 works of some great author, but tlie simplest sen- 

 tence, furnishes abundance of material. The works 

 of nature, the starry heavens, the mighty cataract, the 

 whirlwind and the storm, and even the woodland 

 flower, calls forth the most elevated sentiments. 



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