REVIEW OF THE APRIL NO. OF THE AGRICULTURIST. 
243 
was ever imported here from Spain. If this be cor¬ 
rect, are not the improvers entitled to some credit ? 
I saw a communication in the April No. of your 
paper* signed Thomas Affleck, of Mississippi, con¬ 
taining some observations on the different flocks of 
sheep which he examined during a trip to the 
north. He seems to be impartial in his remarks, 
and is disposed to give credit where credit is due. 
I noticed also another communication signed John 
Brown, of Ohio, which seems to be written in a 
very different spirit. This gentleman speaks very 
disparagingly of those that have given a descrip¬ 
tion of their own stock in agricultural papers, in 
answer to inquiries. I think it is a proper course. 
The public have a just right to demand a pedigree 
of their stock, and also certificates to prove what 
they have stated, and it is their duty to give them. 
The gentleman says he has lately given to the 
editor of the Albany Cultivator the names of seve¬ 
ral wool-growers, who have not puffed up their 
sheep in agricultural papers, as entitled to more 
credit. That is perfectly well understood. Per¬ 
haps they do not puff their own up , unless through 
their agent, but they are very active in puffing their 
neighbors down. It is one thing for a man to raise 
his credit by travelling through the country, and 
collecting a flock of sheep by selecting here and 
there one from the finest flocks; it is another for 
a man to be at home attentive to his business, and 
breeding a flock of fine sheep. It is yet another 
and still a more difficult thing to improve a fine 
flock of sheep by the art of good breeding. The 
former does nothing but transfer one man’s im¬ 
provement to another; while the latter not only 
adds to his own private interest, but is able to fur¬ 
nish male and female animals for the improvement 
of others, and thereby adds to the interest of the 
world. Jacob N. Blakeslee. 
Watertown , Ct., June 2, 1846. 
Effects of Slander. —The calumniator injures 
three persons at a time—the person calumniated, 
the one who listens, and most of all himself — 
Spanish Proverb. 
Blight in Grain not produced by the Ber¬ 
berry Bush. —The Berberis vulgaris is subject to a 
disease called mildew ( Mcidium berberidis) which, 
when magnified, is found to consist of a number of 
small orange-cups, with a fine film over each. 
When ripe, these films burst, and the tops of the 
cups assume a ragged, uneven appearance, in 
which state they look like white fungi. The cups 
are filled with innumerable little cases, containing 
seeds or sporules, and these constitute the bright- 
orange powder that is seen on the leaves and 
flowers of the berberry, and was long supposed to 
be the blight on corn both in Europe and America. 
This opinion, though totally unfounded, is of un¬ 
known antiquity. The error has been ably and 
scientifically refuted by Messrs. Du Hamel, Brous- 
sonet, and Drs. Grenville and Lindley. The 
blight on corn is generally a species of uredo, and 
does not correspond in botanical characters with 
the aecidium. One of the principal reasons why 
corn will not thrive in the immediate vicinity of the 
berberry is, on account of the meagreness of the 
soil in which it often grows, it being impoverished 
by its creeping roots.— Browne's Trees of America. 
A REVIEW OF THE APRIL NO. OF THE 
AGRICULTURIST. 
I continue my comments upon your publication; 
but in future I intend to be less prolix. My object 
in part in my Review of the March No. was, to 
show your readers what a vast amount of useful 
matter is contained in each No. ... I shall now 
only notice such articles as I think can be reviewed 
with advantage to them ; as cavilling is not my 
object. As you have given me permission to 
criticise your articles, I shall begin with that 
upon the 
Value of the Grosses. —In my former article 1 
complained of the want of definiteness in writers 
upon scientific subjects—this will apply to this 
article. Perhaps it is the fault of the language, 
that we have no definite term to express our mean¬ 
ing when speaking of “ the grassesa term that 
means a family of some 300 members. Perhaps 
some of your readers are not aware that maize 
(Indian corn), sugar cane, rice, and grain, are part 
and parcel of “ the grasses,” as much as timothy 
and clover. When speaking of the latter and their 
immediate kindred, then, it would be better to adopt 
some definite term. Suppose we say “ stock 
grass,” or “ hay or pasture grass,” to be more defi¬ 
nite in our meaning. I agree with you as to the 
value of the crop of hay and pasture grass, in some 
parts of the Union, but in others there are thou¬ 
sands of persons who are called farmers, who live, 
year after year, without cultivating a single acre of 
such grass. Therefore, anything that you can say 
to induce an extension of culture of such a valu¬ 
able crop, will be well said. 
Agricultural Colleges and Schools are in advance 
of the age—you might as well appropriate that 
space for other matters. It is idle to attempt to 
procure legislative action upon so important and 
beneficial an object, until we are farther advanced 
in the scale of civilisation. Witness our national 
councils, and the Smithsonian bequest. 
Coal Ashes for Grass Lands. —Valuable without 
doubt. But instead of rolling in the cinders, which 
cannot be done so as to keep them entirely out of 
the way of the scythe, let them be put into a cart 
or wagon bed made on purpose to sift ashes, and 
geared to the wheels, so as to give a shaking mo¬ 
tion, and then burn the cinders. 
Sowing Corn for Fodder. —Among your recom¬ 
mendations, why not tell those tens of thousands of 
Southerners who never save any other kind of 
“ roughness ,” how much better than “ corn blades” 
would be a crop of broadcast sown corn, and how 
much easier to provide a supply of fodder where 
they won’t try to raise hay grass, than their present 
system of stripping the leaves from the growing 
corn-stalks ? If the ground is plowed, and weeds 
well turned under about the 1st of July, there will 
be a good crop, without the necessity of drilling or 
after culture. 
Fish for Manure. —Try spent bark from the tan- 
yard. It will absorb the ammonia. 
Descriptive Catalogue. —This is the best adver¬ 
tisement that I have ever seen, as the extract expla- 
