AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
231 
the past career of a government officer. Had this 
effort been one of private individuals, we should 
have been out of place in thus noticing it at length ; 
but the whole affair being done by government 
officers—a Captain in the U. S. Army, a Congres¬ 
sional Committee, and a Head of a governmental 
Bureau—over their official signatures, and the 
franking privilege being made use of to carry on the 
scheme, the matter is a public one, open to public 
reply and criticism, and as such, we have taken 
it up. With these remarks we now give the clos¬ 
ing part of the article put in type last month.] 
The sixth and closing part of the Commissioner’s 
extraordinary document, said to be “ based upon 
authentic and reliable data” (by whom furnished 1) 
is a befitting climax. We would like to copy it en¬ 
tire, but cannot afford the four or five columns 
of space that it would require. As the professed 
object of the narrative is to show the eminent 
fitness of an individual to fill an important public 
station, we may be allowed to briefly canvass the 
statements. The general impression left upon 
the mind after reading this personal history, is 
that, one who has pursued “everything by turns, 
and nothing longwho has bad a hand in some 
twenty different enterprizes in less than that 
number of years, can not possess that steadiness 
of purpose, that patience in investigation of de¬ 
tails, that comprehensive judgment and thorough 
knowledge of any one subject—in short, that 
mental discipline, necessary to “ eminently 
qualify” him to fill what is by far the most im¬ 
portant station connected with the agricultural 
interests of our country. 
To specify. According to the document before us, 
D. J. Browne left the paternal farm at 18, for a dairy 
farm, in Quincy, Mass. The next Spring he is in 
Newburyport “ cultivating garden vegetables and 
seeds on a large scalethen come seven years 
of miscellaneous studying, teaching and other 
pursuits ; then editing a monthly publication for 
a brief period, at the same time “studying the 
Romanic languages” (how many of them 1) and 
also “ comparative anatomy under the distin¬ 
guished Drs. Spurzheim and Warren.” The next 
Winter he is on a cruise in a U. S. ship to the 
West Indies, Cuba and Florida Keys ; the next 
September “ on the peak of Teneriffeand so 
we might follow him from one place to another, 
now engaged in a railroad enterprize in Eastern 
Massachusetts; then on the Niagara river pros¬ 
pecting for a “ Boston Timber Company;” soon 
after, in Dr. Jackson’s laboratory in Boston ; then 
back to Niagara ; now an engineer on the Erie 
canal; then at Syracuse, N. Y., reporting to the 
Prussian Government on the U. S. railroads; 
now in N. Y. city preparing interest tables for 
bankers; now writing on currency, “ tariffs and 
other subjects connected with political economy, 
for the Merchants’ Magazine ;” then at work up¬ 
on the Atlantic dock ; next in Cuba, making a 
railroad, and perfecting (1) a plan fora steam su¬ 
gar mill; next, preparing his treatise on the 
Trees of America (see en passant the character 
of this work as shown up by the celebrated Dr. 
Gray and A. J. Downing); next, an engineer on a 
N. Hampshire railroad; then in a N.Y. agricultur¬ 
al warehouse for six years, attending to business, 
editing an agricultural paper, “ preparing cata¬ 
logues in several languages” (what ones and’how 
many]), and carrying through the press several 
volumes (what ones 1); next, in the Census office 
at Washington, and finally, “June 9,1853, he took 
charge of the agricultural division of the Patent 
Office.” Of the management of affairs in that of¬ 
fice, this same document gives us a specimen in 
the first extract quoted last month, page 199; and, 
aside from that, farmers havo had at least an ink. 
ling of matters, and some of them a little' expe¬ 
rience. 
The document enlightens us on other matters. 
We give an extract or two to show the hasty, su¬ 
perficial method that appears to be pursued in all 
recent investigations connected with an agricul¬ 
tural department, where we ought to have thor¬ 
ough, careful investigation, if any where. Thus: 
“-During an absence of only nine weeks, he trav¬ 
eled through portions of England and France, visiting 
several of the principal seed establishments of those coun¬ 
tries, and obtained portraits of some of the best breeds of 
domestic animals, with a view ofillustrating the Agricul¬ 
tural Reports, and a large quantity of valuable seeds, cut¬ 
tings and tubers.... ” 
Again : “.... On his second mission he passed through 
England, France, Belgium, Holland, Prussia, Hanover, 
Hamburg, and a portion of the kingdom of Denmark, be¬ 
ing absent seventy-seven days, having traveled during this 
fatiguing journey a thousand miles a week, visiting the 
principal gardens and agricultural establishments en route, 
and accomplishing the chief objects he had in view. 
Among those of interest which may be particularly noticed 
were his inspection of the “Exposition Universelle,” at 
Paris, the “ Bloemistries,” or flower gardens, and Haar¬ 
lem Lake, in Holland, and the celebrated nurseries of 
Messrs. Booth & Sons, at Flottbecks, in Holstein. He 
also submitted in person to Baron Von Humboldt, at Pots¬ 
dam, a uniform plan for obtaining meteorological informa¬ 
tion as connected with agriculture in the various coun¬ 
tries of the world, which, with slight modification, met 
his approval.... ” 
The above account does not tell us how many 
of the “ seventy-seven days ” were spent in Lon¬ 
don ; nor does it include the statement.of Mr. 
Leonard Wray, concerning the negotiations re¬ 
specting Imphee seed, and getting out a Patent 
for a sugar-making process—all of which may be 
produced, we presume, if called for. 
We can not go into a detailed examination of 
the forty-odd enterprizes referred to in the docu¬ 
ment signed by Mr. Holt. We will allude to a 
single one, to show the extent and thoroughness 
of experiments made by the clerk of the Agricul¬ 
tural Department, and how safe(l) and general(?) 
are the conclusions to be drawn from the results. 
As one qualification of his fitness for his present 
post, we are informed that while engaged on the 
Niagara River for the Boston Timber Company, in 
the Spring, Summer and Autumn of 1837, he was 
“.... E xperimenting with bone-earth taken from an an¬ 
cient tumulus on Tonawanda Island, and testing its effi¬ 
cacy in the production of turnips:... ” 
A gentleman cognizant of the facts, remarked 
on reading the above, that these experiments 
amounted to putting a few shovelfuls of bones, 
ashes and earth from one of the Indian mounds 
upon a small turnip plot in a garden, on a new 
rich soil where a good yield of turnips was of 
course obtained. 
---—- 
Insects at the Roots of Pea Vines. 
To the Editor of the American Agriculturist: 
My peas have been injured for two years past 
in a way never before witnessed by me. In the 
latter part of June the vines begin to turn yellow 
and the growth is arrested. On inspection the 
roots are found dead, or dying. As this was first 
noticed two years ago, in a short row of the 
“ Early Champion,” it was attributed to some 
peculiarity, either in that variety of pea, or in the 
soil of that locality. But it has since appeared in 
all parts of the garden, and in every variety. The 
vines are affected at every stage of growth—be¬ 
fore the blossom, and after the pod is formed 
On careful inspection, I found that the injury 
commenced in the root, a little below the stem. 
A longitudinal portion of the skin, turned brown 
and lacerated, indicated that some worm had been 
at work. The injury apparently commenced im¬ 
mediately beneath the skin, extending eventually 
through the portions betweer ; t and the heart. 
An examination of a number of plants failed at 
first to bring into view the cause of the mis¬ 
chief, but on carefully opening an injured root of 
a plant giving the first indications of damage, 
and bringing a microscope to my aid, a minute 
worm of greenish white color was discovered, 
wriggling actively to put himself out of sight. In¬ 
significant as the fellow is, I doubt not he is the 
cause of the mischief. The damage which he is 
doing this year is considerable. Now, Mr. Agri¬ 
culturist, can you tell me and the rest of mankind 
how to deal with this pest 1 Garden. 
Remark.— VVe are not able to prescribe in this 
case. Investigation is needed, and we hope 
“ Garden,” and others will give the subject care¬ 
ful attention. There is a possibility that the vine 
may be diseased from some cause, depending upon 
soil or season, and that the insect referred to has 
only taken possession of the defective plant,though 
it is probable that the insect is the primary cause 
of the mischief. We have known pea vines sim¬ 
ilarly affected but have not looked for the insect 
described above. 
- *-—j ® -- 
Judicious Agricultural Premiums. 
There are very good reasons for recommend¬ 
ing the Managers of all agricultural and horticul¬ 
tural Societies, to pay as many of their premiums 
as possible in the form of subscriptions to some 
good Journal, devoted to the objects which the so¬ 
cieties are aiming to promote. If this be done, 
thousands of persons will thus be led to read, 
and become better cultivators, and better citizens. 
They will be led to take greater interest in the 
advancement of soil culture, and will be more 
ready to assist in sustaining those enterprises in¬ 
tended to promote such an end ; so that the So¬ 
cieties will, by this means, increase their own 
funds and usefulness. 
Giving looks as premiums, in part, secures the 
same end, and these are preferable to money pre¬ 
miums ; but a good journal, coming a dozen 
times a-year, and treating of a variety of topics, 
will, in most cases, be more likely to give satisfac¬ 
tion, hv treating of some topic just adapted to the 
wants of the particular recipient, which is frequent¬ 
ly not the case with a book on a specific subject. 
The frequent and continued visits of the periodical 
keep up an interest better than the single recep¬ 
tion of a book which is read or glanced over, 
and then laid away, and perhaps forgotten. We 
think that twelve copies of the Agriculturist, for 
example, received at twelve different periods, 
would produce almost as good an effect as if an 
award of twelve books were made, one to be de¬ 
livered monthly. 
We were led into the above remarks, by having 
before us the announcements of several agricultu¬ 
ral societies for the present year, in which peri¬ 
odicals form the majority of the premiums. The 
Chester Co. (Pa.) Agricultural Society, for ex¬ 
ample, offers three hundred different premiums, to 
be paid by a yearly subscription to some periodi¬ 
cal named. We are thankful for the compliment 
paid to this journal, by offering so large a propor¬ 
tion of these premiums in copies of the American 
Agriculturist. The same thanks are due to nu¬ 
merous other societies, such as the Nemaha Co. 
Society, Nebraska ; the Portage Co. Society, O. ; 
Susquehanna Co. Society, Pa., &c. 
To avoid even the appearance of “ax-grind¬ 
ing,” we seldom refer to the above topic. We may 
here say, for ourselves, that we have no pecu¬ 
niary interest in the matter, from the fact that 
the Agriculturist is now so widely circulated 
