274 
PLAN OP THE PROPOSED AGRICULTURAL SURVEY OF WASHINGTON COUNTY. 
This is equally effective in holding the fence to its 
place as stakes; easier made, and more durable, as 
the stakes require re-setting by decay at the foot 
every five or six years. This worm-fence can be 
made from thirty to fifty cents a rod when timber 
is of little value, and will last from thirty to fifty 
years, according to the material of which it is com¬ 
posed. For this purpose, all the different kinds of 
oak, hickory, bass-wood, or linden, elm, white and 
black ash, or in fact, any other wood that will 
split, answers a good purpose. I is true this 
fence takes up some room; but its cheapness and 
durability amply compensate for that loss. It 
is not the handsomest fence in the world; but no 
matter—if properly laid, it looks well. Its utility 
is equal to any, except a good stone-wall, and that 
is the main chance for the farmer. Post and rail, 
and post and board fences are valuable, according 
to their cost and the worth of the land they en¬ 
close, and are more ornamental in appearance, and 
economical in the use of land than any other. With 
locust, or red cedar posts, at cheap rates, this fence 
exceeds any other ; even better than hedges, which, 
I take, are hardly a practicable method in this 
country, where boundaries and subdivisions change 
so often, to say nothing of the ill success that has 
attended the efforts to cultivate them. Even in 
England, it is now seriously questioned whether 
the thorn-hedge is not greatly too abundant; an 
eminent agriculturist, in a recent essay, estimating 
that they occupy, in many districts, one-fifth of the 
soil! 
But I must bring these remarks to a close. My 
object is to induce our farmers to reflect on a most 
important subject of their care. We need better „ 
fences, and in general fewer of them. 
L. F. Allen. 
Black Rock, N. Y. July, 1847. 
AGRICULTURAL SUrVeY OF WASHING¬ 
TON COUNTY. 
Dear Sir : —You have been selected to make an 
Agricultural Survey of the county of Washington 
—to collect accurate information in relation to the 
state of its agriculture, and every subject connected 
with it; to suggest means of improvement; and to 
make report with as much exactness as circum¬ 
stances will admit. 
I enclose you a plan of the proposed Survey, 
adopted by the Executive Committee of the N. Y. 
State Agricultural Society, which will direct your 
attention to such inquiries as are deemed most im¬ 
portant. Your own experience will guide you in 
the fullness of examination and report under the 
various heads, some requiring from their importance 
much more extended notice than others. 
The reports oh Natural History, which have been 
prepared under the direction of the Legislature, will 
aid you materially in some branches of the survey, 
as many of the inquiries submitted can be answered 
probably through them, and without as minute per¬ 
sonal examination as would otherwise have been 
necessary. 
As this is the first Agricultural Survey which 
has been undertaken by the State Agricultural So¬ 
ciety, and upon its successful result will depend 
whether the survey be continued in future years to 
other counties or not, it becomes of the highest im¬ 
portance that the work should be done with such 
particularity and care, as will secure a complete 
and finished return. It is desirable that the survey, 
when completed, should be embraced in an octavo 
volume of some 200 pages—but this will depend in 
some measure upon the extent to which it may be 
lengthened by subjects of importance which may 
require particular notice. 
The Executive Committee rely upon your ability 
to perform the work in a manner that will be credi¬ 
table to the society, and so as to be an enduring 
monument to yourself in the future history of the 
Agriculture of the State. B. P. Johnson, 
Secretary N. Y. State Ag. Society. 
To Asa Fitch, M.D. 
Albany , May 12th, 1847. 
PROPOSED PLAN OF THE SURVEY. 
1. Geographical and topographical description of 
the county. 
2. Geological features, minerals and fossils, na¬ 
ture of the soil, distinguishing that composed of the 
“ northern drifts,” or of transported materials, from 
that produced from the rocks of the immediate 
neighborhood. 
3. Length of time the soil has been under culti¬ 
vation ; the original growth of timber, and the time 
it was first cut off. 
4. Date of the first settlement of the several parts 
of the county, and the origin and general character 
of the settlers. 
5. Condition and progress of agriculture from the 
first settlement to the present time, showing what 4 
have been the improvements and causes which 
have produced them; what have been the staple 
crops, the mode of their cultivation, and as far as 
may be practicable, the actual profits of each, at 
different periods. 
6. Present state of agriculture ; the several crops 
cultivated, their respective yields and market value. 
Also, all industrial pursuits connected with farm¬ 
ing, such as the manufacture of maple-sugar, how 
managed in its preparation, &c. 
7. Adaptation of crops, as grains, grasses, and 
roots, to different soils; showing the arrangement 
which in this respect has been found by experience 
to be most judicious and profitable. 
8. Fruits and fruit-trees; having particular refer¬ 
ence to the adaptation of the various species to the 
different soils (mentioned under head No. 2), and 
how far the productiveness, health, or longevity of 
the trees is affected by the nature of the soil, &c. 
9. Weeds and pernicious plants, describing those 
most injurious, whether indigenous or introduced, 
and giving the most approved modes for their eradi¬ 
cation. 
10. Insects, describing those which are prejudi¬ 
cial to the farmer, and noticing the most effectual 
means of preventing their ravages. 
11. Implements, having regard to any peculiarity 
of construction, and noticing any improvements 
which may have been adopted in their form, mode 
of manufacture, or uses. 
12. Live stock (horses, cattle, sheep, and swine); 
showing the numbers of each of these classes kept 
in the county, their diseases, and mode of curing 
them ; the different breeds, and, as far as may be, 
the relative value of each for different purposes; the 
