VOl>. XVII. NO. M6 



AND GARDENER'S JOURNAL 



•2(tg 



Tlie history of the Smithsonian legacy is pro- leguminous field plants, roots, vines, mulberry trees, 

 ably well known to our readers. Mr Smithson of fruit trees, &c. 4th, The Animals used and raised 

 lOndon, an Englishra:ui, who is not known, it is by the agriculturalists, &c. 5th, Economj/, or the 

 elieved, ever to have been in this country, dying manner of arranging and conducting a farm. In 



few ycar.s since, left by will a very large property the secondiry compartment, the ioUowing branches 

 ) the United States for the diffusion of useful are to be taught, viz: Veterinary, Technological 

 nowledge and the e.\tehsion of the means and agriculture, culture of forest trees, agricultural ar- 

 dvantao'es of a practical education. Mr Rush chitecture, and civil engineering as connected with 

 ras sent to England by the government to get agriculture. The an.xiliary sciences to be taughl, 

 ossession of the' property, which he succeeded in, are Chemistry, Natural Philosophy, Mineralogy, 

 oing The property is stated to amount to half a ; and Geology, Botany, and Physiology, Zoology and 

 lillion of dollars. The application of the income Meteorology ; the Mathematical Sciences, Drawing 

 f the fund is now the great question presented ] of macliines, animals, plants and landscapes. For 

 ) Congress. This qiiertion is matter of much ■ the purpose of illustrating all these sciences, there 

 lore difficulty than merely receiving the money. ! must be an e.xtensive farm, with a field for e.vperi- 

 Ve shall wait with some impatience to see the ments, work-shops, beet sugar manufactory, mills. 



Ian submitted to Congress and reported on by the 

 opimittee ; and on soLne future occasion, we shall 

 prepared to give our own notions, hmnble and 

 nperfect as they may be. The plan proposed and 

 le outlines of which are given in the letter of the 

 (erald appears very well on paper ; but we appre- 

 end the difficulty of executing it will be very 

 reat. Perhaps it will prove too cumbrous, and 

 toposes too nmch. We will not, however, decide 

 rematurely. The danger to be feared is that the 

 loney will fall into the hands of theoretical instead 

 f practical men, and prove in the end of little 

 tility. If the offices connected with any such 

 istitution should under any circumstances come 

 ■J be matters of mere political favoritism, there 

 an b(? little hojje of its utility, let the party in 

 ower be who they may. 



(From Ihe New Yoik Ht-iald.) 

 PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE. 



THE SMITHSO?(IAr« BEQUEST. 



Jl'ashington, Dec. I7tli, 1838. 



The best method of executing the benevolent 

 esign of Smithson, who bequeathed half a million 

 f dollars lo the United States to be expended in 

 he diffusion of knowledge, begins to excite a 

 ;ood deal of interi?st, and has claimed the attention 

 f several intelligent and scientific men in our 

 ountry. 



The communication? received by the Secretary 

 f State in answer to interrogatories sent by that 

 •fficer to a number of scientific men in the United 

 States, have been referred to a select committee, 

 if which Mr J. Q. Adams is the chairman, and who, 



presume, will be.-<tow upon it much of his atten- 

 ion. A friend has communicated to me the outline 

 )f the plan recommended by a German, which I 

 nentioned in my last ; but whether it will be adopt- 

 d or not, I am not prepared to say. It was presen- 

 .ed to-day by Mr Adams. 



This plan contemplates the establishment of an 

 nstitute in this city to serve as a nursery of scien- 

 ific agriculturalists fcrthe U. S. — to consist of one 

 unidrcd pupils at a time, to be gradually increased 

 rom the profits of tlie farm ; the lectures to be 

 'ree, and the price of board moderate, as half the 

 lumber of pupils are to be practically employed 

 iaily on the farm. In the first or principal com- 

 lartment of this Institute will be taught, 1st, Jigro- 

 lomy, which treats of the different primitive earths, 

 ind other elements of which the soil is composed. 

 Jd, Agriculture, which teaches the cultivation of 

 ie respective soils in such a manner as to produce 



&c. — a botanical garden, a collection of the best 

 implements, or models of them; a library ; a cab- 

 inet of minerals properly arranged according to 

 their chemical character — an apparatus for mathe- 

 matical and physical instruction ; a collection of 

 skeletons of domestic animals for the study of com- 

 parative anatomy ; a collection of seeds and insects 

 and a laboratory. The farm which is to serve for 

 the practinal illustration of the theory is to consist 

 of 640 acres in cultivation, to be divided into two 

 equal portions, to show tlie systems of rotations. 

 One hundred acres of meadow, to show how natu- 

 ral meadows can be improved by draining, irriga- 

 tion, manuring, &c. Eighty acres of pasturage, to 

 show the difference between natural and artificial 

 pasture, and the manner of improving it — four acres 

 for a vineyard — four acres for a hop yard — forty 

 acres for experimental fields, to show how to culti- 

 vate plants useful in agriculture, to try new ones, 

 and for experiments on manures, rotations of crops, 

 and new agricultural implements — a vegetable gar- 

 don of six acres — a mulberry plantation of six 

 acres — an orchard and nursery of twenty acres — 

 five luindred acres of woodland, to show the cul- 

 tivation of forest trees, the mode of preparing 

 charcoal, &c., and a botanical garden of three 

 acres. 



Tlie pupils admitted into this establishment are 

 to be taught to forge, to shoe a horse, to make a 

 wheel and wagon, to stock a plough, to build out- 

 houses, &c. The number of pupils at the com- 

 mencement is not to exceed 100 — to be at least 

 14 years of age at the time of admission — of good 

 moral habits — to possess an ordinary English edu- 

 cation, and be capable of comprehending a popular 

 course of lectures. They are to be divided into 

 three classes. The third or free class is not to ex- 

 ceed 20 in number — must stay two years — perform 

 the work of the farm, and receive their tuition, 

 boarding and lodging free. The second class is 

 not to exceed 60 — must also stay two years, to 

 acquire the theory and practice of agriculture, and 

 all the auxiliary sciences. The first class is to 

 consist of 20 pupils, who have been two years in 

 the third class, and who desire to perfect themselves 

 for professors of similar establishments. This 

 class is to have the superintendence of the other 

 pupils. The officers of the institute are a director, 

 who has tlie entire direction and control of the es- 

 tablishment ; a treasurer and two clerks, five pro- 

 fessors and a teacher of tlie lower branches. The 

 practical manipulations are to be illustrated -by a 

 superintendent of the farm, a superintendent of the 



lands, erecting the building, buying stock, &c. are 

 estimated at $150,000, and 8140,000 are to be in- 

 vested at six per cent, and out of the proceeds the 

 salaries of the Professors and officers are to be 

 paid. If this should be adopted, it will be the only 

 institution of the kind in the United States, and 

 the first attempt ever made by Congress to promote 

 the most valuable and important branch of our na- 

 tional industry and wealth. The other plans con- 

 sist, I believe, of the old fasliioned-univeirsities, &c. 

 and systems of free lectures. The great difficulty 

 will be so to arrange any institution as to prevent 

 it from being filled with mere partisats^, and used 

 for mere parly purposes, as every public institution 

 under the control of the Government now is. 1 

 understand there are even now party menials from 

 abroad looking out for piofessorships in this insti- 

 tution ; but I trust, it these poor tools of party are 

 to be paid at all, they will be paid not out of the 

 money of a benevolent Englishman, but out of the 

 public Treasury, which those now in power seem 

 to think belongs to them and their supporters exclu- 

 sively, and which they are permitted to steal, pilfer, 

 and squander as they please. 



stable, who teaches riding and breaking horses ; a 

 Ie'Zos^veriel7ccoi^'Thi^^^^xU^^^^ °f the sugar beet manufactory, a 



:hemical and mechanical agriculture. 3d, Vcge- 1 machinist, gardener, shepherd, &c. 

 ahh Productions, teaching the culture of grasses, '■ The total cost and expense of purchasing the 



Anecdote of Doss. — We find in the Belfast 

 (Me.) Republican. Journal the following interesting 

 anecdote, illustrating the wonderful sa-acity of 

 dogs. It is cortainly equal to anything of the kind 

 which we have seen for some time — and bears 

 away the palin from Jesse the Gleaner : 



" My uncle was the owner of a very fine dog of 

 the mongrel kind, which was remarkable for his 

 domestic habits and quiet disposition. One after- 

 noon in summer, the family 'vere sitting near the 

 open door when on a sudden the dog sprang out of 

 the house, and without any apparent provocation, 

 seized a boy who was at that moment passing the 

 house, threw him down, tore and bit him very se- 

 verely in many places. Medical aid was called, — 

 the physician assured the lad that his wounds were 

 dangerous — this with other inducements made for 

 this" purpose, prevailed upon the lad to disclose 

 whether he had ever abused or injured the dog in 

 any way. He related that some days previous, he, 

 in company with three other lads, had, out of pure 

 mischief, caught tlie dog, whipped him, and other- 

 wise maltreated and abused him rather unmercifully ; 

 and that the dog as soon as he was released, made 

 off without any attempt to revenge the injuries 

 which they had inflicted upon him. Before these 

 facts were known and the time the dog assaulted 

 the lad, tl^e gentleman who related the anecdote 

 was requested by his uncle to take down the gun 

 and shoot the cog who had then returned to the 

 house and was very quietly reposing himself after 

 the conflict. No sooner was this direction given, 

 than tlie dog arose and stealthily leaving the house, 

 was not seen near the premises for a fortnight en- 

 suing, at the end of which, when all supposed that 

 poor "Lion" had been sacrificed for his castigation 

 of the boy, he returned ; the boy having recovered 

 from his injuries, and the anger of his master and 

 others interested had abated — the lad certainly 

 havinu' learned a good lesson, and the dog dis- 

 playing no small share of shrewdness and cunning 

 throughout the whole transaction. The foregoing 

 facts will be readily recognized at Union (Lincoln 

 Co.) where they transpired some years since. 



The average weight of cotton this year produced 

 to an acre is estimated at 64 lbs. 



