V<)I>. XVII. NO. 44 



AND HORTICULTURAL REGISTER 



349 



NEW YORK 



AGRICULTURAL CONVEN- 

 ■i ION. 



Tt e following resolutions were passed at the 

 New York Agricultural Convention, holden in Al- 

 bany in February last. Tl'.ey are of general inter- 

 est and importance. The proceedings in detail, 

 would be too voluminoii.i for the space we have to 

 dev( te to them. 



hesolved, '1 hat this convention respectfully re- 

 quest the legislature of this state to pass an act 

 I'lal'ing it the duty of the assessors in each city 

 nnd town in this State annually to ascertain the 

 '.viiiile amount of the produce of said city and town, 

 mc Hiding agricultural, mechanical, and manufac- 

 t ur.'s of every description — designating each sep- 

 araovly, in proper tables, so that the specific prod- 

 uce ' I said city or town may be seen by the items 

 respectively ; and in order to obtain particularity 

 and uniformity, the Secretary of State be required 

 to make blank tables or forms, such as he may 

 deem proper and necessary, to ascertain the entire 

 produce of the State of every description ; that such 

 blanks may be furnished to the clerks of each city 

 and town, in order that they may be distributed to 

 such officers whose duty it is to obtain such infor- i 

 mation ; that said officer be required to make due 

 return thereof in such manner as shall be designat- 

 ed by the Legislature, and that the Secretary of 

 State may male due report of all such information 

 so acquired, to the legislature annually, in the 

 month of January. 



Risolvcd, 'I hat in the opinion of this convention, 

 the culture of silk is an object well worthy of leg- 

 islative encnuraj-ement by the offering of bounties 

 for a limited number of years, for its production. 



Resolved, That this convention regard the cul- 

 ture of the sugar beet, with a view to the produc- 

 tion of sugar, as a branch of agriculture, which may 

 be prosecuted to the very great advancement of the 

 prosperity of the State, and recommend it as well 

 entitled to legislative encouragement by the offer 

 of liberal bounties. 



Resolved, That this convention regard it of very 

 great importance that a brief treatise, containing 

 plain directions for the growing of the mulberry 

 and the management of silk worms, should be pre- 

 pared and distributed to each of the common schools 

 in this State 



Resolved, That the introduction into all the com- 

 mon schools of this State, of a short practical trea- 

 tise containing plain, simple directions for growing 

 the sugar beet, and extracting the sugar therefrom, 

 according to the latest and best process, would, in 

 the opinion of this convention, greatly contribute 

 to the general introduction of this new branch of 

 national industry, which promises so greatly to in- 

 crease the prosperity and proigote the welfare of 

 the people of this State. 



Resolved, That this convention cordially concur 

 in the recommendation of his E.xcellency the Gov- 

 ernor, in his annual message to the present legisla- 

 ture, that publications upon agriculture, horticul- 

 ture and rural economy, ought to constitute a part 

 of every common school library. 



Resolved, That this Convention respectfully and 

 earnestly recommend, that the legislature make 

 provision for procuring and distributing the above 

 named publications, and that the expense thereof 

 be defrayed out of the fund appropriated for com- 

 mon school libraries. 



Resolved, That in the opinion of this Convention, 

 an-riculture has not hitherto received, from the peo- 

 ple's representatives, that stimulus to improvement 



which sound policy would justify, and n-hich equal 

 justice and the best interest of the state demand. 



Risolved, That the^ i)rodufts of our soil may be 

 vastly increased, our revenue augmented, the 

 wealth and comfort of every class of our citizens 

 promoted, and the character and prospects of our 

 state elevated — by a judicious and liberal appro- 

 priation of public moneys, to enlighten, to stimu- 

 late and to reward, that numerous portion of our 

 fellow citizens who are employed in the business of 

 agriculture. 



Resolved, That an annual appropriation of twen- 

 tyfive thousand dollars of public moneys ought to 

 be made, for a term of years, to encourage improve- 

 ments in agriculture ; and that in the opinion of 

 this Convention it Avill return an annual interest 

 to the treasury, and compound interest to the state. 

 Resolved, That the general principles of the bill 

 to encourage agriculture, reported at the la.'st ses- 

 sion of the legislature, by the committee on agricul- 

 ture, meet the views of this Convention, and that 

 we respectfully request that those principles be 

 adopted by the Legislature now in session. 



Rssolved, That the American Institute richly 

 deserves the fostering care and liberal patronage 

 of the Legislature, as an institution which has al- 

 ready done much good to the state, and which is 

 eminently calculated to promote great and rapid 

 improvement in the mechanic and manufacturing 

 arts, and materially to aid in the improvement of 

 agriculture. 



Resolved, That the establishment of common 

 school libraries will form an important era in our 

 history, and is eminently calculated to advance us 

 in the march of useful knowledge, to multiply our 

 domestic and social comforts, and to elevate our 

 character — provided that judicious selections of 

 books are made for such libraries — adapted to the 

 capacities and understandings of those whom they 

 are designed to benefit., to the wants and iniprove- 

 ment of the various branches of productive indus- 

 try, and to the promotion of industrious and moral 

 habits in the rising generation ; — and that in this 

 view of the subject, the appointment of a competent 

 board to prepare, or cause to be prepared, a selec- 

 tion of books for common school libraries, by the 

 Legislature, at least so far as the public moneys 

 are to be applied to this object, is called for by the 

 highest consideration of public usefulness. 



niiereas, the growing of wheat is a business of 

 great importance, not only to the agricultural but 

 also to the mercantile, manufacturing, commercial 

 and financial interests of this state -.—^And ichereas, 

 the eastern and northern portions of the state have, 

 for some years past, been visited by the ravages of 

 insects which have destroyed the crops therein, and 

 reduced the farming interests thereof to dependence 

 on their western neighbors for their supplies of 



flour: .Aid tvhercas, this Convention view with 



alarm, the rapid spread of this evil.towards the fine 

 wheat districts of the west : — 



Therefore, in hopes to slop the progress of this 

 scourge in our land, this Convention do most ear- 

 nestly and confidently call upon and request the 

 legislature now in session, to authorize the govern- 

 or or some outher suitable person or persons, to 

 offer a reward to any person or persons who shall 

 discover and make public any remedy for prevent- 

 ing or counteracting the effects of these insects. 

 Such bounty to be paid out of the treasury of this 

 state. 



Jlnd whereas, also a knowledge of the character 

 and habits of these insects may lead to the discov- 



ery of a course of husbandry which may avoid the 

 deleterious effects of the labors of these insects, 



Therefore, this Convention do also request that 

 the Governor may be further autliorized and rc- 

 ([uired to offer a reward for the best treatise on the 

 habits, character and nature of these insects. 

 Such treatise to be submitted to arid determined 

 by a board for that purpose to be appointed. 



TntMoNT.iGUE Co.\L. — The mineral supposed 

 to be coal, which was discovered in [Montague last 

 autumn, does not sustain the hopes which it excit- 

 ed. Specimens were sent to Professor Hitchcock, 

 who submitted them to chemical analysis. The re- 

 s^ilt will be found in the following extract from a 

 letter from him, in answer to one addressed to him, 

 containing some inquiries relative to the subject. 

 Amherst, April \3lh, 1839. 

 Dear Sir, — I have received from at least two 

 gentlemen, specimens of the lately discovered coal 

 in Montague, nnd have subjected some of it to an- 

 alysis. After pulverizing it and heating it nearly 

 to redness to drive off water, I subjected 100 grains 

 to the heat of a powerful furnace, for 2 1-2 hours, 

 in a platinum bowl ; and it lost only 6.7 grains. 

 The residue was common sa'nd. — Surely, a sub- 

 stance containing 93.-1 per cent, sand, cannot be of 

 any value for fuel. Yet I have been told that this 

 substance would burn; and hence I have thought it 

 possible that I may not have received the best 

 specimens. Yet the gentlemen from whom I re- 

 ceived them would not be apt to be mistaken. 

 They have strongly the appearance of coal, yet are 

 nothing but shale ; which contains a little carbon. 

 This rock usually accompanies coal ; yet it often 

 occurs, especially in the valley of the Connecticut, 

 where there is no coal. I have noticed the spot 

 where this supposed coal is dug ; but have not been 

 there since it was discovered. I should think that 

 the question might be settled by boring a few feet. 

 I indulge some hope that a large body of coal may 

 be fouml in this valley : but I confess my expecta- 

 tions are "not sanguine. Small pieces of the best 

 bituminous coal that I ever saw, have been dug out 

 of the rocks in South Hadley, and in West Spring- 

 field. — Greenfield Mercury. 



Ashes. — When wood is burned in a position 

 that excludes the air, the product is coal ; if com- 

 bustion is performed in the open air, the produce is 

 ashes. Ashes by being leached, or having warm 

 water passed through them, are deprived of the al- 

 kali they contain, and this obtained in the shape of 

 potash or soda, by evaporation. Different wood, 

 and plants, vary much in the quantity of ashes and 

 alkali they produce ; the fir, beech and poplar, 

 ranking the lowest, and the box, willow, elm, 

 wormwood and fumitory, the highest. The leach- 

 ed ashes of several kinds of grain, were found by 

 Ruckert, to be constituted as follows : 



Silica. 



Ashes of Wheat, 

 " Oats, 



68 

 Barley, 69 



Rye, 63 



" Potatoes, 4 



" Red Clover, 37 



Leached ashes are found to be an excellent ma- 

 nure, applied to soils that are light, or such as are 

 inclining to be sour; the alkali correcting the 

 acid with which such soils, as the vegetation proves, 

 abound. In some instances, crops of grain, roots 

 and grass, have been nearly doubled by their use ; 

 and no skilful agriculturist permits their waste. 



