110 
Agricultural Societies—Agricultural Premiums—Correspondence, 
half a bushel may be required, but we have never ; 
found more than this last quantity essential. The jj 
exact quantity it is judicious to apply, is what horses, !j 
or cattle or sheep, would require while eating the j; 
hay; but in applying it in this way, we secure the ! 
hay against injury from must, and cattle eat it much J 
cleaner. We have frequently seen cattle leave the 
best qualities of unsalted hay to fill themselves from 
a stack of well salted,coarse, swamp grass. 
A great saving is always made in raking hay on 
smooth ground by using a horse rake. The revolving 
rake already in extensive use, is the most perfect, but 
a simple one can be made by any farmer in a day or 
less, by taking a stick 4 or 5 inches in diameter, and 
10 ieet long, in which wooden teeth about 2 feet long, 
and 8 to 12 inches apart, are fastened in a line, by 
boring and wedging. These should be shaved to a 
blunt point, and slightly curved upward. It is ma¬ 
naged by two handles projecting behind, and drawn 
with a single horse attached to a rope, fastened on 
either end of the shaft. This rake with one man, and 
a boy to ride if necessary, will perform the work of 
half a dozen men. 
We wish our farmers would adopt the plan of sav¬ 
ing more grass seed. For the last 2 or 3 years, it has 
been extravagantly high, from 12s to 18s a bushel. 
An acre of good Timothy will yield from 12 to 20 
bushels of clean seed, and the hay, after taking out 
the seed, is worth all the expense of cleaning. At the 
ordinary price, 5s a bushel, it is a better crop than is 
usually raised. But the principal advantage to the 
farmer would be in raising his own seed that he would 
think he could afford to use it more liberally than he 
does when obliged to buy it, and by this means he 
wou'd frequently double his crops. Thin seeding is 
the great fault of American farming. 
Agricultural Societies.— We intend devoting a 
corner in our sheet after the present number, as a Di¬ 
rectory to the different Agricultural Societies of the 
United States, a few in Canada, and three or four of 
the principal ones in England; As these are very nu¬ 
merous, we shall be obliged to confine our notice to 
the name of the society, place of the annual exhibi¬ 
tion, and names of the President and Secretary. Any 
member of a society who subscribes to this paper, 
will on request, be entitled to such insertion gratis. 
fjT Some inquiries having been made, as to where 
letters should be addressed to the senior editor, A. B. 
Allen ; we reply that he has returned from his South¬ 
ern tour as far as Buffalo, N. Y., where letters will 
reach him, or if more convenient, they may be sent 
to our office in this city, and we will promptly for¬ 
ward them to their destination. 
HjT Ip our Subscribers or exchange papers fail to 
receive our paper regularly, they will please apprise 
us of the failure, as we intend in all cases to forward 
to all entitled to it. 
Ourselves.— One great source of gratification to 
us, as conductors of this Journal, is the prompt and 
handsome manner in which breeders and stock raisers 
particularly, have come forward to sustain us in our 
undertaking. We were apprehensive, as we had been 
formerly interested in this way, that a suspicion might 
exist in the minds of some, that it was our intention 
to favor particular breeds of animals. It has been, 
and will still continue to be our endeavor, always 
scrupulously to avoid doing so. We hope whatever 
experience in stock breeding, horticulture and practi¬ 
cal farming we possess, will serve but to make us the 
safer guides. The subject of gardening, field crops, 
and the renovation and the improvement of soils, 
will have the preponderance over stock in our col¬ 
umns. In assigning the first place to these, we coin¬ 
cide with a correct public opinion, but as great pains 
have been taken to produce superior crops the same 
effort should be continued in procuring improved ani¬ 
mals to consume them. 
We hope that as this journal is found to deserve 
it, our friends will exert themselves in its behalf, and 
as it is received and read by them, let it be circula¬ 
ted among others, that its existence may become gen¬ 
erally known. It must be perfectly apparent to our 
intelligent readers, that at the very low price at which 
this paper is afforded, a large subscription list is es¬ 
sential to its support. This may be easi'y attained 
by a little exertion of our friends, from their neighbors 
and acquaintances. 
Without expense to any individuals, county and 
agricultural societies, may do much to spread infor¬ 
mation on the subject for which they are formed, and 
at the same time sustain the agricultural press, by 
making all the lower premiums payable in agricul¬ 
tural journals. We shall soon have a handsome 
bound volume of 384 pages for one dollar, for this 
purpose. Specimen numbers wiil be sent on request 
from any friends, with the understanding that they 
be circulated. Always address through postmasters 
when possible. 
§£jT We ask the attention of sheep holders, to the 
advertisement on this subject in our present number. 
Those having a surplus at this time, may find a way 
of insuring for them a handsome interest without trou¬ 
ble, expense, or sacrifice. The applicant we know 
personally, and have every confidence that any ar¬ 
rangement with him will be fully carried out. 
ORIGINAL CORRESPONDENCE. 
We are obligingly favored by our friends 
with a numerous correspondence the past month, 
part of which we have inserted entire, others 
we have been compelled for want of room to 
condense, while a few must lie over till suc¬ 
ceeding numbers. 
The sheep for J. D. of North Carolina are 
engaged, and will be shipped last of September, 
which is as early as we think will do for that 
climate. We regret he did not allow us more 
latitude in the choice ; a little higher figure 
would have given him a superb article: Those 
however, we shall send, are very fine, and will 
afford, a great improvement on what he has now. 
We have not met with a Devon bull yet of 
the exact calibre for G. M., we admire his taste 
and can assure him it is just the thing for his 
mountain land. He will see that we advertised 
for the Ayrshires last month, but the breeders 
have not favored us with any communications. 
A friend of ours that we met in the north of 
England last summer, said he should bring 
some over with him this season ; will G. M„ 
wait their arrival ? 
Many thanks to R. N. A., for the southern 
peas, it is too late to plant them this year, but 
we will give them a trial next season. Also 
to D. K., for the cow corn. It is a curiosity, 
but must lie over with the seed peas. 
