332 
Tour in England, Wo. 10.—Legislative Duties in regard to Agriculture, 
the packing house, they would at least make 
excellent manure. 
Pork .—The English, hitherto, have been 
in the habit of eating an entirely different 
salted article from the Americans ; the small¬ 
er kind of hogs being put up there, the side 
pork of which is well marbled, or intermixed 
with fat Snd lean. But we are not sure now, 
that we shall not soon revolutionize their 
tastes in this particular, and that our clear 
heavy mess, such as is packed for the Boston 
market, will not eventually take precedence 
there, when its superiority and goodness 
comes to be well tested. That for bacon, 
must of course have as much lean about its 
hams and sides as possible, consistent with 
juicy tenderness ; but their manner of curing 
this kind of meat, is so entirely different 
from ours, owing to the difference of their 
climate, that we doubt whether it will be an 
object to prepare anything, with the view of 
exportation, except the choicest kind of 
hams 5 and these should be made as near the 
celebrated Westphalia as possible. 
Mutton Hams and Shoulders .—A large 
trade in these, prepared and dried like veni¬ 
son, may be carried on with England, pro¬ 
vided they abound with lean tender meat; 
and to produce this, we know nothing equal 
to the South Down sheep. Of these we shall 
give portraits hereafter. Their forms as 
nearly resembles the outlines of Fig. 31, 
as a sheep can an ox; with the same well 
developed brisket, wide loins, round rumps, 
deep twist, and fine head and legs. 
Sheep and Pig Tongues. —These, if very 
nicely prepared, and put up in kegs of 50 lbs. 
each, would command a ready sale in Eng¬ 
land, at about the same price as beef tongues. 
Now they are almost universally thrown 
away at our packing houses. 
LEGISLATIVE DUTIES IN REGARD TO AGRI¬ 
CULTURE. 
We consider the Agricultural press has been alto¬ 
gether too remiss, in its calls upon our Legislative bodies 
for aid in the promotion of agricultural advancements. 
Wa can hardly refer our M. C. ? s to the letter of the 
Constitution, authorizing the establishment of an agri¬ 
cultural board for the United States, and therefore we 
suppose our strict constructionists, must abide their 
time till we can get sufficient strength to insert a clause 
as an amendment, which event is to be looked for, 
about the time of discovering the quadrature of the 
circle, or the transmutation of the baser metals into 
gold. Yet we could record, with a great deal of satis¬ 
faction, the appending such a department to the Patent 
Office, and with an equal amount of satisfaction, wit¬ 
ness them advancing, pari passu, in the promotion of 
the entire interest of our citizens, instead of limiting 
it to a part as is now done. What benefits might not 
result to the community of this broad Union, from the 
diligent selection of foreign seeds; their careful culti¬ 
vation by scientific farmers; and the gratuitous and 
general distribution of such as on experiment were 
found to be adapted to increase our comfort and pros¬ 
perity ? The collection of the latest and best informa¬ 
tion and means of agricultural improvement, and its 
distribution among the citizens of the United States ; 
the establishment of a great national school for the ex¬ 
clusive education of farmers; the employment of men 
of science to investigate and develope new principles 
on the subject, all these are objects which would seem 
to commend themselves to an assembly that once voted 
themselves ec the most free and enlightened body in the 
world.” 
But we are dreaming. A utilitarian scheme fraught 
with so much substantial, homely benefit to their 
stituents, would probably be deemed altogether * A of 
place in a body so much in advance, in this all-r ivanc- 
ing age. We therefore forbear, and turn to o r State 
Legislatures, who having the reserved powers resting 
with them, are at full liberty to consult the interests 
of a class which constitutes three fourths of their con¬ 
stituents, and is the foundation of all the wealth and 
prosperity of the nation. To your most honorable 
bodies, then, we come, in behalf of those high interests 
we advocate, from Maine to Louisiana, and respectfully 
prefer our petitions: 
That you would each and every one of you, organize 
an intelligent and efficient hoard of agriculture, which 
shall convene at least while the Legislature is in ses¬ 
sion, and promote by every proper means the great 
objects they hold in trust. 
That an intelligent board for a geological survey shall 
be commissioned to go through the remotest corners of 
every State, and discover the hidden treasures which 
the all-bounteous Creator has stored up for the comfort 
and prosperity of his people ; that they may search out 
coal mines; uncover the beds of gypsum and lime; probe 
the deposits of peat, green sand, and marl; trace up 
those subterranean rills of salt to the fossil beds, more 
rich than the mines of Poland; discover and apply 
successfully to the production and augmentation of 
vegetable life, the stores of potash concealed and locked 
up in the hills of mica, on mountains of feldspar and 
basalt; develope and make known new sources of fer¬ 
tility among the minerals and other deposits; and 
finally, analyze and classify the grand divisions of local 
soils, and prescribe such means for their improvement 
as the unlettered farmer can understand and success¬ 
fully apply. 
That you should delegate an agricultural commis¬ 
sioner, if that duty be not specially designated for the 
board, to go through the length and breadth of the 
State, and examine the present condition of agricul¬ 
ture ; its susceptibilities for improvement; the kinds 
of crops and animals raised ; the profits of each vari¬ 
ety; their comparative merits with each other and 
those of different. States; what new ones can be intro ¬ 
duced ; and finally, to publish this information and 
spread it through every school district and family in the 
State. 
That you would found an agricultural college, and 
establish agricultural schools, and incorporate and foster 
experimental farms, which shall imbue the minds of 
our youth with deep, and comprehensive, and enduring 
principles of agricultural science. To such a body of 
men, thus educated, could we confidently look for the 
diffusion of an accurate, a general and practical know¬ 
ledge of soils, manures, plants, animals, and all the 
objects of rural investigation, that would annually re¬ 
turn in profits to the citizen's of the State, tenfold the 
totn 1 of all the expenses incurred in their education. 
That you would bestow liberal bounties on the pro- 
