editor’s table. 
229 
®Mtor’0 $ctbk. 
Contemplated Mission to the East. —From 
a letter to Hon. Charles J. Ingersoll, by Aaron H. 
Palmer, Esq., of this city, it appears that a memorial 
is about to be submitted to the Senate of the United 
States, in favor of a Special Mission to be sent by our 
Government to the Comoro Islands, Abyssinia, Persia, 
Burmah, Cochin-China, the Indian Archipelago, and 
Japan, for the purpose of making treaties, and to open 
and extend our commercial intercourse with those 
countries. Mr. Palmer is favorably known to the 
public as Director of the American and Foreign 
Agency, at New York, and for several years has devot¬ 
ed much attention to the resources of Japan and other 
countries of the East, and we trust that if Congress 
should carry out the views of the memorialists referred 
to above, no better man can be found to take charge of 
that Mission. In speaking of the products of Abys¬ 
sinia in his letter to Mr. Ingersoll, he says, that “ a 
late scientific English traveller in that country states, 
that the Gondar cotton, indigenous to the elevated re¬ 
gions of Ethiopia, is of a fine long silky staple, of a 
quality equal, if not superior, to the American Sea- 
island. The Southern Islands of Japan teem with 
most of the productions of the tropics, whilst the 
Northern yield those of the temperate zones. The 
mountains abound in mineral wealth of every descrip¬ 
tion, and the volcanic regions in sulphur. In agricul¬ 
ture, they are very diligent and successful. The 
whole country is highly cultivated, producing rice, 
esteemed the best in Asia, wheat, barley, beans of all 
sorts, culinary vegetables, a great variety of fruits, and 
flowers of the most brilliant hues and exquisite fra¬ 
grance. The mulberry is reared solely for the silk¬ 
worm. The principal object of cultivation next to 
rice, is the tea plant; tea being the universal beverage 
of all classes, as in China. Their gardeners possess 
the skill of dwarfing and gigantifying trees and shrubs. 
The rivers, lakes, and seas, abound in a great variety 
of fish, which is the principal food of the inhabitants. 
“ Mons. Isidore Hedde, an attache of the late French 
Mission to China, w*ho was sent out to make re¬ 
searches in the silk department regarding mulberries, 
silkworms, and the manufacture of silks, has atten¬ 
tively observed the mode of cultivation, seeding, 
planting, and grafting those interesting trees ; and ex¬ 
amined at the different establishments the ingenious 
apparatus for avoiding double cocoons ; the simple 
process for reeling the peculiar fine white silk, and 
the well-known seven-cocoon thread; and the several 
rocesses of dyeing silk, and weaving, painting, em- 
roidery, and sewing, of the singularly woven figured 
silk, exhibiting figures of men, flowers, gardens, &c., 
peculiar to Siichau , the Lyons of Eastern China. 
Mons. Hedde has also made a collection of silkwmrms’ 
eggs, mulberry trees, and the ma plant, from which 
the fine grass cloth is made, together with drawings 
and pictures, apparatus,and looms. He intends to pub¬ 
lish an account of his interesting excursion, and give 
translations of the different Chinese works on mul¬ 
berry trees, the rearing of silkworms, and weaving of 
silk, on his return to Fiance. 
“ Robert Fortune, Esq., the English Naturalist, who 
was sent out to China about three years since, by the 
Horticultural Society of London, has been eminently 
successful, and has already sent to the Society about 
90 cases of living plants, besides a large collection of 
dried specimens of plants and animals.” 
Strawberries. —The editors of the Annapolis Re¬ 
publican have received some strawberries weighing 
40 to the pound, from Mrs. Jefferson Dorsey, of Arun¬ 
del county. Can any of our fair readers show larger 
ones ? 
Importation of Ayrshire Cattle. —Mr. John 
O. Colt, of Paterson, New Jersey, has just imported 
from Scotland, per ship Europe, one Ayrshire bull, 
four years old, and three Ayrshire cows, three years 
old. These animals were selected for him by Mr 
John Tenant, of Shields, Ayrshire, who selected tnose 
imported last fall by the Massachusetts Agricultural 
Society. They are said to be among the best that 
could be procured, and were chosen with special re¬ 
ference to their dairy qualities. The bull is a prize 
animal, and cost £40 in Ayrshire. The cows cost £20 
each. Two bull calves were dropped on the voyage. 
Every one of these animals was in fine condition on 
landing—indeed, we never saw any brought out so 
well before—they have scarcely a scratch or bruise 
about them. These animals are of medium size, and 
very fine for the breed. The bull is the most perfect 
Ayrshire we ever saw, and in his general points would 
do credit to a Short-Horn. We trust that they will be 
an improvement to the dairy stock of the country. 
Cattle for the Boston Market. —Ten magni¬ 
ficent fat cattle passed through this city on Saturday, 
for the Boston market. They were from the farm of 
James S. Wadsworth, of Geneseo. All who saw' 
them agree in the opinion that they were the finest 
specimens of beef cattle ever seen in this city. They 
went east on the cars this morning. The Bostonians 
will hold themselves in readiness for Western New 
York beef. 
The following are their weights :— 
One ox seven years old.. • 2,465 lbs. 
Two ditto six years.4,8C5 “ 
Two steers, three years old. 3,965 
Two ditto four years. 3,365 “ 
One single steer. 1,725 “ 
One ditto, white. 1,790 “ 
One cow. 1,585 “ 
Total... 19,760 
Rochester Dem. - 
The Book of Good Examples. —Drawn from 
authentic History and Biography; designed to illus¬ 
trate the beneficial effects of virtuous conduct. By 
John Frost. D. Appleton & Co., 200 Broadway. Pp. 
2 SS, with engravings. Price $1. This is an excellent 
work to be placed in families, abounding, as it does, 
with exemplary matter, designed to exercise a salutary 
influence on all who may peruse its contents. 
The Fruit Culturist. —Adapted to the climate 
of the Northern States; containing directions for 
raising young trees in the Nursery, and for the man¬ 
agement of the Orchard and Fruit Garden. By John 
J. Thomas. Mark H. Newman, publisher, 199 Broad¬ 
way, N. Y. Pp. 220, 12mo. Price 62| cents. The 
author of the above little work has long been known 
to the public as one of our best writers upon agricul¬ 
ture generally, and the culture of fruits more particu¬ 
larly. In the Culturist he has embodied the results of 
many years of practical experience in his own nursery 
and garden; w r e can therefore recommend it with more 
confidence than we should otherwise be disposed to 
do. In running our eye over the contents, we noticed 
a few errors, but these are of so trivial a kind as not to 
detract from the general merits of the work. We keep 
the book on our shelves, and trust it may have an ex¬ 
tensive sale. We should have noticed it earlier, but 
have only just received a presentation copy. 
Book-keeping by Single Entry. —By James 
Arlington Bennet. For sale by Saxton & Miles, 205 
Broadway. Price $1,50. This is a good system of book¬ 
keeping for the farmer, being more easily comprehend¬ 
ed than that by double entry. The work abounds 
with familiar examples, thus enabling every person 
to be his own teacher in this system of keeping 
accounts. 
