104 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[April, 
BECOHD OF THE BAROMETER AND 
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THERMOMETER FOR FEBRUARY, 1864. 
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Notes.— Light falls of snow on 3d, 8th, 9th, 17lli ■ slight 
rain-fall on 2d, 14th, 24th, not measurable— Zodiacal light 
clearly observed, 5lli and 9th.— Aurora Boi ealis on 12th. — 
Lunar Halo on 21st.— Two Rainbows on 24th. — The 
amount of rain and melted snow is given in the table at 
the times on which it fell. The very accurate reports we 
now give, are furnished us by Prof. 0. W. Morris, of the 
Deaf and Dumb Institution in this city. A parallel sys- 
tem of "observations is taken at the Office of the Agricul- 
turist, but situated as it is in the heart of the city, they 
are necessarily less accurate, owing to local influences. 
Have You Tried F>ots for Plants ?— 
We have often urged in the columns of the Agriculturist 
the great advantage and economy of using small earthen 
pots for starting all kinds of garden stuff, flowers, etc. 
The smallest sizes can be bought in many localities for 
00 cts. to $1/25 per 100, and they will last many years. 
Fill a large number of these with earth, and plant one or 
more seeds in each. Set them on the warm side of a 
fence or building ; water as needed, and cover on cold, 
nights or days with old carpets or blankets, or with straw, 
[f this be done two to four weeks in advance, the earth, 
with the well-started plants, may be transferred to the 
open ground as soon as it is fully warm, and the growth 
■t ill hardly be checked. With a very little trouble one 
may thus get a good supply of early vegetables, two to 
four weeks in advance of open ground sowing or plant- 
ing. Peas, corn, cucumbers— in short, every kind of veg- 
etal-tie and flower, may be started thus. By inverting the 
pot— with the hand upon the earth, the plant passing be 
tween the fingers— the ball of earth will drop out upon the 
hand unbroken. See full directions and engravings, if 
needed, in the April Agriculturist,lSG'2 (Vol. 81, p. 117). 
Remember lite Soldiers.— The Grand 
Army of the Nation is gathering up its strength for what 
will be the greatest and, we trust, the final campaign of 
the war. Daily almost, regiments of soldiers pass our 
office, moving South. Each of these regiments is made 
up of many hundreds of patriots, our brothers, sons, and 
friends, who are objects of interest and solicitude as we 
follow them in thought to their distant camps and battle 
fields. A thousand such regiments are in the field, or go- 
ing there. The U. S. Sanitary Commission is organ- 
ized to send with them, and to them, as many home com- 
forts as possible— comforts for the sick, the wounded, and 
the well. Shall we not fill its storehouse, and provide 
that its treasury shall lack nothing that will aid in this 
great work? Chicago, Cincinnati, Boston, Philadelphia, 
and other cities have done nobly. Brooklyn, with its 
$400,000 Fair, has eclipsed all others, thus far. March 
28th opens the Great Fair of this Metropolis of the Con- 
tinent, which will doubtless eclipse any thing of the 
kind that the world has ever seen. The London Inter- 
national Exhibition was but a bauble in comparison, when 
we consider the object and results. It will be worth a 
long pilgrimage to see and participate in this Fair. But 
these Fairs will not accomplish all that is desirable. A 
million dollars is scarcely more than a single dollar for 
each soldier. — Last month we invited our readers to unite 
and raise a fund among the great Agriculturist Family. 
The responses are beginning to come, in sums of $1 and 
Upward. A Delaware subscriber, for example, sends SI 
for himself, and $9 more, from his uwn pocket, "for nine 
others who ought to be subscribers to the fund, if not to 
the paper."— Some write that they have already strained 
every nerve in home efforts. But can not another dollar 
or more be spared, or be collected in small sums, in pen- 
nies, and haif-dimes, for this good work ?— Please read 
over what was said last month, page 72,~~and then join 
in this special subscription.— Let the boys and girls take 
hold of the work. Let some child in every family begin 
at once to collect little sums from parents, friends, and 
neighbors, until at least a dollar is made up. — We are not 
afraid to guarantee that the money will be well used.— 
We have great faith in the efforts of children. In Lon- 
don we visited a Sunday School where the expenses of 
the school and enough to support a day school for the 
poor, besides two Home Missionaries, and a considerable 
sum annually for Foreign Missions, is all raised by 130 
collectors. Many of these collectors are only eight to 
twelve years old. Our own country Sunday School col- 
lects over $200 a year in the same way. Every one of 
our young readers can thus collect a dollar or two for the 
" Agriculturist Sanitary Fund," ami the work will do 
them good. How many of them will have a place in our 
list? We shall probably add an extra sheet or tw r o to 
give the names together when they are mainly in, and so 
we take none of the present crowded space to acknowl- 
edge the sums already received. 
For the Sanitary Fund.— Many inter- 
esting letters accompany the contributions sent to us, 
which we would gladly print, and which we shall treas- 
ure up as pleasant reminiscences of the enterprise. — 
Here is one containing a $13 family contribution from Sun- 
man, Ind.; another from G. C. P., and family, of this 
city, enclosing the proceeds of silver saved since the 
beginning of the war, and others of similar character. 
New - England Agricultural Soci- 
ety. — A meeting was recently held at Worcester, Mass., 
by leading Agriculturists of the New-England States, at 
which a general Agricultural Society of that section was 
organized, with the following officers : President, Dr. 
George B. Loring, Salem, Mass.; Vice Presidents, E. 
Holmes, Winthrop, Me., F. Smythe, Manchester, N. H., 
Daniel Kimball, Rutland, Vt., Wm. H. Prince, North- 
ampton, Mass., T. S. Gold, West Cornwall, Ct M and 
Amasa Sprague, Cranston. R. I.; Secretaries, Charles L. 
Flint, Boston, Mass., and Henry Clark, Poultney, Vt.; 
Treasurer, Thomas Saunders, Brookfield, Vt. Five 
Trustees were also elected as executive committee, one 
for each State. Exhibitions are to be held in the different 
States in rotation, commencing with Massachusetts. 
An address was delivered by Prof. S. W. Johnson, of New- 
Haven, Conn.: Subject, the objects of such an organiza • 
tion, and the means of promoting agricultural progress. 
Cattle Breeders 9 Association.— At the 
annual meeting of this Society (Worcester, Mass., March 
2d), the following officers were elected : President, H. H. 
Peters, Southboro ; Vice Presidents, Thomas Sanders, 
Brookfield, Vt; E. N. Jameson, Antrim, N. H., J. J. 
Webb, Hamden, Conn.; S. L. Goodale, Saco, Me.; E. D. 
Pearce, East Providence, R. I.; E. H. Hyde, 2d, Stafford, 
Conn.; Secretary and {Treasurer, H. A. Dyer, Hartford, 
Conn.; Chairman of Committee on Pedigrees :' Short 
Horns, S. W. Buffam, Winchester, N. H.; Devons, 
H. M. Sessions, S. Wilbraham, Mass.; Aryshires and 
Herefords, H. H. Peters, Southboro ; Jerseys, John 
Brooks, Princeton. The various committees on Pedi- 
grees were authorized to receive, examine, and on 
approval to record pedigrees of all animals offer- 
ed with accompanying fee of fifty ceats for each * 
animal. The executive committee were constituted 
a committee of appeal on mistake in pedigrees, re 
quired to give them due attention, and if necessary, to re 
port to the Society. The next annual meeting will be at 
Worcester. Everything was spirited and harmonious. 
Michaux 9 Sylva. — This is a fine and 
standard work upon the forest trees of North America. 
There are five large volumes with numerous colored en- 
gravings. The first three are translated from Michaux, 
and the illustrations are from his original plates: the 
other two volumes are by Nuttall and include many rare 
trees from California and Florida. The publication of 
this magnificent work has been suspended for some years, 
and it is now very scarce. -A new copy has been left 
for sale at this office. Price $70. 
*,' Vinclaud Lands " Again.— Last year 
(in May) we gave the result of some hasty observations, 
made at that locality, which were not the most favor- 
able. In February of this year we admitted as an adver- 
tisement the views of Mr. Robinson, of the Tribune, 
which were in high praise. We have now before us a 
circular entitled "Information Concerning Vineland, N. 
J.", by Alexander Cole, cor. Sixth and Chestnut Streets, 
Philadelphia, which gives a picture directly opposite that 
set forth by Mr. Robinson. Mr. Cole claims to speak 
from experience as a purchaser and settler, and seller- 
out, at Vineland. We are not sufficiently acquainted 
with the matter to decide between these conflicting 
views. It may be well for those interested in the mat- 
ter, to read all sides. Application to Mr. Cole, with or 
without a stamp or two to cover expenses, will secure a 
copy of his circular. Very strong statements on either 
side of any question require to be taken with allowance.. 
Bring; out the Rap;s. — They are scarce and 
high now, the paper makers say, and so they put up their 
prices terribly— higher than ever before, with a single ex- 
ception. It costs us more than $4000 for each number, 
for the white printing paper alone. The good housekeep- 
er will consult her own interest, and that of publishers 
also, by hunting up and selling all their paper rags. 
Martynia Pickles. — The Martynia de- 
scribed and Illustrated on page 113, yields a pod which 
properly prepared makes a most excellent pickle. Mr. 
Daniel Willis, Long Neck, Richmond Co., N. Y., com- 
municates to the American Agriculturist the following 
particulars of his manner of preparing them: He has 
cultivated and pickled them for three years past, and is 
now supplying all the principal Hotels in New-York 
City wiih pickles, which we have tried and know to 
be excellent. The pods are picked while they are yet 
soft enough to be easily penetrated with the thumb nail, 
and thrown into brine made strong enough to bear an egg. 
They are ready for pickling in ten days, or may be kept in 
the brine longer. If this be done, the brine should be 
changed about once a month, or often enough to prevent 
the pickles from softening. When wanted to pickle, they 
are taken from the brine, washed in cold water, and soak- 
ed in vinegar two or three days. Then add about lib. of 
sugar to 1 gallon of vinegar, with cloves, allspice or other 
spices to the taste ; tie them in a bag and let them soak in 
the vinegar until the strength is extracted ; heat the vine- 
gar to boiling and pour upon-the Marty nias, which should 
previously have been removed from the vinegar in which 
they were soaking, and placed in a cask or other suitable 
vessel. After a few days they are ready for use. 
Getting the JEditor 9 s Picture.— The 
writer of this (who superintends making up the paper,) 
last month slipped in an item which he thought would sat- 
isfy those who had applied for the likeness of the Pro- 
prietor. But requests continue to come, both from indi- 
viduals and Illustrated Journals. One wide-awake West- 
ern lady found out a way to obtain It thus : She wrote, 
" Tell Mr. Judd that from long reading the paper we feel 
pretty well acquainted with him, morally and intellectual- 
ly, but we want to see his face, if we can't take him by 
the hand. We have imagined him 'good-looking*, but 
after what was said in the Marcfi Agriculturist, we shall 
believe him a *real homely man' if he don^t send his pho- 
tographic carte de visite for our table. I guess he will, 
and not to ask it without a recompense, I send along two 
subscribers. Won't a small premium on these meet the 
expense ? "—Such a homely home-thrust as this was not 
to be parried, and so the lady got two pictures for the 
two subscribers, an ordinary photograph, and a vignette. 
She evidently understood human nature, and knew 
two vulnerable points— the face and the pocket. Perhaps 
this establishes a precedent which it may be necessary 
to follow in other similar cases. F. - 
Spring- Wheat.— In Taylor Co., Iowa, the 
varieties of wheat sown are chiefly Scotch Glub and Fife, 
though many regard the Black sea as a more certain crop. 
h 
