J:5J^ 



"Hlol 



No. 6. 



AND GARD ENER'S JOURNAL. 



85 



the Cocoon, to oliviaie which, «ny pereon desirous of 

 correct iiilornintion upon lUis subject, will he r»iiiieb- 

 ej the same gratuitously on applioolion to Mr. John 

 aiuKKisoN, at this prison, who h«6 n thorough knowl- 

 edge 01 the business in all its pons, hnving tor many 

 years had the entire charge and oupcriiuendencc ol 

 "'tilnj'""''-'"^'™''"' miinuinciory in Kuropc. 



'"• Ht:NRY POLHKAIUS, A^cnt. 



P. S. Editors of A'cwspnpcrs in this State who are 

 friendly to a chsngc in the mechRUical h'anches now 

 carripJ on in our Siaie I'riains, are requested to give 

 gratuitous insertion. II I'. Ag'*!. 



•"■'BID 



•«.iii 



the above i 



Uiilvnuic Plaut-Protector. 



It appears by a late English paper, that a galvanic 

 battery hue been successfully employed to guard the 

 Dahlia against slugs and snails. Most of our readers 

 will get a correct idea of this npparatns from a tin ba- 

 •in, six inches ill diameter, with the bottom out. The 

 material hovve\-cr, must be zinc, eurroimded by a band 

 ofwpperono inch wide, neatly fined "on the outside 

 near the rim, and held up by dots of soder. It is 

 pressed into the ground, so that no insect can crawl 

 under it; and its cflect is thus described: 



'•The moilusca may crawl up the zinc with impu- 

 nity, but on coming in contact with the copper, will 

 receive a galvanic shock, and immediately turn away, 

 or fall to the ground. I have repe.itedly wati-hed ihem| 

 and have observed they were extremely cautious in 

 approaching a second time. — The apparatus act-- in 

 wet or dry weather, and is therefore always in action." 

 Wc ought to mention however, that the upper edge 

 of the zinc has an indented flange, turned horizontally 

 outward, just above the copper band. 



We have thought of applying this apparatus to the 

 plum tree, &c. to protect the fruit against the ciircu- 

 lio. Insects that fly into the trees, of course will not 

 be interrupted: but the cureulio, like the snail or the 

 slug in England,i8 decidedly a crawler. To prevent the 

 hogs from interfering, a guard of thorns or briers may 

 be useful; or perhaps it may be found to act severnl 

 feet up the trunk, whore rags or tow may be stuffed 

 in between the tree and the magic circle. f 



SPS. [Delivered as n lecture before the clafs of the 

 Chcsier County Cabinet of Natural Science Eeb 1!) 

 1641.]" ' ■ ' 



This little pamphlet contains a largo fund of infor- 

 mation relative to this very important order of plants, 

 and tlie high ottainiiieiits of the nuihoraa an Ameri- 

 can botanist, and the plain ami colloquial style of the 

 lecture, render it uncommonly interesting to the young 

 student in botany. With the exception of one in- 

 stance, where a itauscoiis and 'pernicious drinli is 

 termed a " rich potation," we have also been pleased 

 with the occasional remarks of a general and moral 

 character contained in it. » 



Wilkie's Scotch Plough. 



John M'Connell, of Ontario, very justly objects 

 to the want of accuracy, in the statement of the com- 

 mittee on the Worcester trial of ploughs, where ihey 

 describe the performance of a " Scotch plough," with- 

 out naming the inventor or manufacturer. Ifoarcor- 

 reepondent will turn to the very full report of that tri- 

 al, given at the time, by Henry Colman, in the New- 

 England Farmer, he will find this deficiency of the 

 committee supplied, and that it was Wilkie's plough, 

 imported, which was there exhibited. 



Injustice to Wilkie's plough, it may be proper to 

 state, that at the late trial of ploughs, under the diiec. 

 lion of the Committee of the Ayrshire A,'riculiurnl 

 Society, it accomplished n given quantity ol work with 

 more ease than any other, except Ransom's plough, 

 though the latter did its work in o for more imperfect 

 manner than Wilkie's, when the experiment was made 

 on sward land. We do not consider the Worcester 

 trial as at all decisive, as circumstances, and especial- 

 ly diflerences in the tenacity and condition of the soil, 

 are found to vary the results very materially. We 

 believe however, that experiments of this kind, are 

 the only accurate test of the merits of ditTerent 

 ploughs, and we hope they may be repeated with eveiy 

 necessary variation, as in cloy and in sand, in sword 

 and in stubble, with wide furrows and narrow, shal- 

 low and deep, lapping and flat, and we have no doubt 

 that some which may prove imperfect in one way, 

 may be excellent in another. « 



Darlington on the Grasses. 



We have received from the author. Dr. Darlington, 

 of West Chester, Pa. his " Discourse on the Charoc- 

 ter. Properties, and Importance to man, of the Natu- 

 tk raHiilv of Plants called Rrarainf £«, or True Gras- 



N. Y. State Agricultural Society. 



We have received a letter from H. S. Randall, Esq. 

 Corresponding Sec'y o( the N. Y. State Agricultural 

 Society, complaining of some remarks in our April 

 number, in relation to that Society. Mr. R. thinks our 

 remarks do injustice to its managers, and afibrd evi- 

 dence that we labor under erroneous impressions res- 

 pecting the character ol that Society. Wc cannot 

 consistently publish the whole of the letter, without 

 following it with a lengthy rejoinder; and wishing to 

 avoid all cause of animosity, Wk' prefer to explain, or 

 retract, our remarks, and only give some extracts from 

 the letter. 



In the first place, by way of explanation, we re- 

 mark that the article alluded to, was written in great 

 haste, and under a feeling of considerable disappoint- 

 ment, in view of what appeared to us the meagre ap- 

 propriation, named in the bill reported to the Legie- 

 loture — being only one-half of ih« amount asked in our 

 petitions. In the second place, we wrote under wrong 

 impressions, in supposing the bill was reported before 

 any of our western petitions were received — which 

 we have since learned was not the case. We also 

 supposed that the " N. Y. State Agricultural Socie- 

 ty" would, as heietofore, confine its operations main- 

 ly to Albany, and be managed chiefly by gentlemen of 

 that vicinity. With these impressions on our mind, 

 and its past history in view, we think it not surprising 

 that we did not cherish the moat favorable opinion of 

 the Society, or expect much general good to result 

 from it. 



We are happy to say however, that the late proceed- 

 ings of the Society, and thezeal and public spirit now 

 monifested by its ofiicers, have made a more favorable 

 impression on our minds; and so long as its opeiations 

 are governed by the principles we believe they now 

 are, the New York State Agricultural Society shall 

 receive our cordial approbation and support; and we 

 think we can safely promiae it the good will and co- 

 operation of the majority of our readers in this Stote. 

 With the worthy Secretary therefore, we say, " let 

 all bickerings and jealousies be forgotten," amonn 

 those who labor in this great cause; and let us put 

 forth our united efforts to help on the work of im- 

 provement, — let our motto be 'OnvanI for the good 

 of all.' Then glorious success, the increase of hap- 

 piness and prosperity, will surely crown our efforts. 



We heartily concur with ihe sentiments of the fol 

 lowing extracts, and hope that wc ond our readers 

 maybe favored with a farther uquaintance with the 

 writer. 



"The meetings of the State Society have here- 

 tofore been hold at Albany, to secure the co-operation 

 of members of the Legislature, ond such other business 

 men os resort to the Capitol during the sessions o( 

 that body This might have been on error. But if so, 

 it was one that escaped the notice of the most icestcrn 

 members of the Society. » » * » The annual 

 Fair is to be held this year at Syracuse. It was pla- 

 ced there on the motion of an individual, who has 

 been for years a member of the State Society— and 

 th» vote received the cpneiirrene* of evsrv .Member of 



the Board, residing " nbeut Albany." All that the 

 old members of the State Society demand is resjicct 

 for tlitir viotires, — when it comes to the matter of dol- 

 lars and cents, they ask no priority — no privilcgcf. 



The eastern members will meet their western friends 

 at Syracuse, and compete with them on fair n nd even 

 terms. Is not this all that can be demanded." 



The cause demands that there should be no bicker- 

 ings—no jealousies in our ranks. The New Genesee 

 Farmer will certainly not be ihe first to ecaitcr dissen- 

 tioa and jealousy among friends and co-woikcrs. If 

 there be rivalries between men or periodicals, or sec- 

 tions of country, let it be manifested in a struggle to 

 outvie each other in eircllencc, in efforts to adtanc* 

 the cause. Instead ol destroying cnrA o(/ier, let us, 

 like the rivals of old, see who can plunge deepest into 

 the ranks of the e7ic7)iv/ • • • • 



I have the honor to be, Gentlemen, 

 Your ob't servant, 

 HENRY S . RANDALL. 



A Tariff on Imporis, acting incidentally for 

 Protection, not generally unfavorable to our 

 Foreign Trade. 



Messrs. Editors — It strikes me that the protective 

 policy of government towards its own manufactures, 

 when tho protection is incidentally given by a tariff for 

 revenue, cannot impair the legitimate importing trado 

 of the country. 



We admit that the amount of capital employed in 

 the foreign trade in New York alone amounts to 48,- 

 000,000, but if we refer to the statistical details of th» 

 articleson which this trade is based, wc shall find that 

 our own manufactured articles of cotton, wool, and 

 iron, besides cabinet-ware, upholstery, and,the thou- 

 sand and one other Yankee notions, form a large item 

 in the aggregate amount. It is true that our trade 

 with England and France may be diminished so far 

 as imports are concerned, if our silks, wines, woolen 

 goods, rail road iron, &c. &c., are in part supplied by 

 home production. But will not our trade with all the 

 rest of the world be proportiooably increased by it 7 



Before the protection which the tariff of 1824 gave 

 to our cotton manufacturers, such a thing as an ex- 

 port of American cotton goods was unheard of; but 

 now so great is the export demand for our cotton fabrics, 

 muslins, calicoes, drillings, &c. &c., that the prices 

 of those articles hove actually improved of late, when 

 foreign goods are a drug in the market. 



Is it sound policy for the north to consume mora 

 French silks than they can pay for, in order that tho 

 south may sell France a few hundred more bales of 

 cotton 1 Would not the south bo more profitably cm- 

 ployed, if in varying her productions, she becomes less 

 dependent on a fluctuating unsteady foreign market; 

 more free from the effects of competition in the produc- 

 tion of a single staple, which of late years has so dis- 

 astrously effected tho pecuniary condition of tha 

 Union ? 



Even the advocates of protection would not oppoee 

 the cotton growing, or as they too arrogantly call 

 themselves, the " exporting" states, from exchanging 

 their staples in Europe to any extent they please, for 

 articles solely for their own consumption. If they 

 con buy their negro cloths, woolen and cotton goods, 

 boots, shoes, cabinet- ware, &c. &c. , on better terms 

 than the north will exchange with them for their cot- 

 ion, the north will not complain. But is it right that 

 the north and west, who have no market in England 

 and France for their agricultural staples, to be compel- 

 led to support an impovsrishing importing trade with 

 ihose nations, merely to enoble the south to export 

 more cotton ^ In order to import we must first be able 

 to consume; and how can we consume foreign fabrics, 

 if we cannot sell the productions of our own industry 1 



». W. 



