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AMERICAN AGRICULTURAL ASSOCIATION,-MISCELLANEOUS. 
Now, why is it that these impositions are and 
can be practised ? It is because of the ignorance of 
purchasers, and the pretensions and dishonesty of 
knaves. The object in this series is to show what 
a horse should be in the general; what he is in his 
particular varieties; what those varieties are, and 
their purposes ; and thus enable our readers to 
judge of the means, not only of producing the right 
sort of horses, but of purchasing them understand- 
ingly. For this purpose we bring to bear not only 
our own experience, but also the matured judgment 
of others, whom we know to possess a knowledge 
unsurpassed on this subject. 
We shall, in our next, take up the bony and 
muscular anatomy of the horse, illustrated, point¬ 
ing out what constitutes a good horse, and why; 
and shall follow on with the history of the Ameri¬ 
can varieties, illustrating each with an appropriate 
cut. If we execute our task as well as we hope to 
do, we shall render a great service to breeders and 
purchasers. 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURAL ASSOCIATION. 
The regular meetings of this association have 
been held, as usual, at the Rooms of the Historical 
Society, and are to be continued on the first and 
third Wednesday evenings of each month. 
A New Theory in the Growth of Plants. —Dr. A. 
H. Stevens read a paper on evaporation and capil¬ 
lary attraction, as connected with the growth of 
plants. He stated that the effect was not to leach 
the soil, and carry dow T n its valuable materials 
beyond the reach of the roots of plants, because 
when the surface of the soil becomes more or less 
dry by evaporation, the water thus charged with 
fertile matters was drawn up again. x4 brick wall, 
by capillary attraction, will raise water to a height 
of twenty feet, if its base rest upon the ground. 
On the borders of a salt marsh, on his grounds at 
Astoria, along a road not overflowed with water, 
he said there are seen during a drought incrusta¬ 
tions of salt upon the surface. 
He contended that, in very dry weather, the 
water is attracted from a considerable depth, thus 
preventing the loss of valuable materials, which 
otherwise would be lost in the earth by the infiltra¬ 
tion of rains, &e. The rapid growth of plants after 
a rain succeeding to a long drought, he attributed in 
part, to the concentration of fertilizing matters in 
the surface soil consequent to its previous desicca¬ 
tion. 
Artificial watering of plants during a drought he 
thought often to be injurious, and never comparable 
in efficacy to natural rain. He explained this fact 
in saying, that by capillary attraction, the fertilizing 
materials around the plant dissolved by the water, 
artificially applied, were taken away by the dry 
soil adjacent. 
He also explained, by the same laws, the arrange¬ 
ment of the radicles of potted plants on the bottoms 
and sides of the pots, as well as the advantages of 
small and frequently changed pots, and the sticking 
of cuttings close to the sides of the pots, rather 
than in the centre, and concluded his interesting 
paper by expatiating upon the beautiful provision 
by which plants incapable of moving, for the pur¬ 
pose of seeking their food, have it brought to them 
by the alternate movement of fertile liquids, passing 
downward during a rain, then upward by capillary 
attraction, and evaporating from the surface, and at 
all times,-by the suction of its radicles and capillary 
attraction, to replace the moisture so abstracted. 
Improvement of Long Island Lands. —A resolu¬ 
tion vras passed, offering a premium of $100, to be 
awarded to the person who shall produce the best 
essay on the means of cultivating profitably the 
plains of Hempstead, Long Island ; the essay to be 
both scientific and practical, and to be presented to 
the Society on the first Monday of October, 1848. 
The Distinguished Blood Horse, Hornblower, 
has been purchased in New Jersey, and sent to 
Genesee county, in this State, as a stallion. He is 
a fine brown, with little or no white marks, six¬ 
teen hands high, and possesses great style and sub¬ 
stance. He is a first class carriage horse. He has 
three crosses of imported Messenger. He was 
bred by Mr. Van Mater, of New Jersey, and was 
got by Monmouth Eclipse, his dam, by imported 
Expedition, out of Zelipha, by imported Messen¬ 
ger, &c. Monmouth Eclipse w r as got by American 
Eclipse, out of Honesty, by imp. Expedition, gran- 
dam Zelipha, by Messenger. American Eclipse’s 
dam was by Messenger. Every horse and mare in 
Hornblower’s pedigree has been a racer, and they 
have got and produced racers ; and not racers only, 
but the very best of road horses. Hornblower 
possesses in an eminent degree the style, size, bone, 
and substance, united with an admirable color, to 
get the finest of road stock for the New York mar¬ 
ket. We congratulate the breeders of Genesee Co. 
and its vicinity, on the acquisition of this fine 
horse, and commend him to them. We shall look 
for his get to be for sale here in a few years, and 
we are confident none better will be offered. 
Cream that has been suffered to stand until ran¬ 
cid, or slightly mouldy, which is often the case, 
should never be churned ; it may make very palata¬ 
ble cream cheese,, but abominably bad butter. 
Cream never rises from the milk after thirty-six 
hours’ standing. This may be proved by the lacto¬ 
meter. It becomes more solid, and thus appears 
thicker, but nothing is gained in quantity, and much 
lost in quality, by suffering it to stand too long 
before skimming. 
How to Make Indian Gruel. —Take 1 quart 
of boiling water and stir in 2 or 3 tablespoonfuls of 
finely-sifted Indian meal, previously mixed with a 
little cold water. Add salt to your liking, and let the 
mixture boil for fifteen or twenty minutes. A small 
quantity of pulverized crackers, a few raisins, or a 
little sugar added, will render it more palatable to 
the sick. 
A Fine Blue-wash for Walls. —To two gal¬ 
lons of white-wash, add one pound of blue vitriol 
dissolved in hot water, and one pound of flour, 
well mixed. { 
Isinglass and gin, dissolved together by slow 
heat, makes a good cement for glass. 
