AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
New-¥®rk, Wednesday, Oct. 18. 
Reports of Shows. —Tlie season of State 
and County Shows will soon be over, when 
we shall be able to devote our columns to 
matters of a less local character. 
This week we have allotted considerable 
space to a report of the first Show of the 
Connecticut State Society, both on account 
of the general interest of the Exhibition, and 
because we have a large number of readers 
in that State. 
THE COST OF IGNOEANCE. 
GROWING PEACHES. 
A business transaction has lately come to 
our knowledge, which aptly illustrates both 
the ignorance of horticultural matters in 
rural communities and its great expensive¬ 
ness. The bargain was made, in one of the 
centers of light, in New-England, where the 
people are as intelligent, and as well fur¬ 
nished with schools and churches, as in al¬ 
most any part of the country. 
A smart business-man who took the pa¬ 
pers, and had seen something of the produc¬ 
tiveness of fruit trees in his own grounds, 
desired to turn his knowledge to some good 
account. He proposed to his neighbor to 
set out such a lot—by the way, one of the 
best upon his farm—with choice varieties of 
peach trees ; to market the fruit for him for 
fourteen years, and to give him one half of 
the profits. 
Mr. D. was disposed to look favorably 
upon the proposition. He Avas not realizing 
from the lot more than twenty dollars profit 
per acre; and as the soil and climate Avere 
favorable to that fruit, he might reasonably 
expect, on an average, from fifty to one 
hundred dollars a year, per acre, as his share 
of the profits. It Avould certainly be less 
trouble to care for the trees, than to harvest 
the hay ; and, in any event, he could hardly 
be a loser by the bargain. So Mr. D. made 
a written contract Avith the smart business¬ 
man, to furnish him Avith land for a peach 
orchard, for the term of fourteen years, on 
the above-mentioned conditions. 
The fruit-groAver succeeding so well with 
Mr. D., made contracts.Avith Mr. B., C., and 
others, until his peach orchards sprung up in 
every direction around him, and thousands 
of baskets of the finest fruit are sent to mar¬ 
ket every year. The Avhole expense of stock¬ 
ing an acre. Avith trees hardly exceeds 
thirty dollars, and the trouble of marketing 
is very little. The business operation, on 
the part of the fruit-grower, is certainly a 
very clever one,, as he Avill get his capital 
back again every year, for the Avhole term of 
the contract. 
But just look at the enormous price Mr. 
D. and his neighbors have to pay for their 
ignorance of fruit-groAving! Had they known 
as much • as the fruit-groAver, they Avould 
have invested their thirty dollars where he 
did his, and Avould now be pocketing his 
profits. Some of them are paying, annually, 
one hundred dollars for the use. of his knowl¬ 
edge—Avhich is neither more nor less than a 
tax upon their own ignorance. And yet> 
some of these gentlemen would probably 
consider ten dollars an extravagant outlay 
for horticultural journals, which would, in a 
year, give them the results of the experience 
of the best fruit-growers in the country. 
For nothing, but vice, do men have to pay 
so dearly, as for their ignorance. 
WHEAT CAN BE GR0AVN. 
The above incident is only one of a thou¬ 
sand in farm life, illustrating- the same truth. 
There are large districts, Avhole tOAvns, and 
even counties, Avhere scarcely a bushel of 
Avheat is groAvn, from the simple lack of 
knowledge. Though the finest Avheat in the 
Avorld is groAvn in the same latitude and cli¬ 
mate, they have the absurd notion that their 
soil Avill not raise Avheat. So they import 
Avheat from the neAv lands of the West; and 
in every Avheaten loaf that comes upon their 
table, pay a tax upon their ignorance. Pe¬ 
ruvian guano Avill bring Avheat in any part of 
New-England. So will good stable-manure, 
mixed Avith large quantities of muck. 
MOAVING MACHINES. 
Many a farmer, this Summer, has paid 
large sums for cutting his hay, which might 
have been saved had he knoAvn that moAving 
machines Avere a reality; and that one of 
them Avould do the Avork of six men, and do 
it much easier and better. 
IMPROVED STOCK. 
Mr. D. keeps a miserable, coarse-Avooled 
flock of sheep, cutting but two to three lbs. 
to the fleece, because he does not know that 
a fine-wooled sheep, yielding a fleece of twice 
that Aveight, costs but little more in the keep¬ 
ing than the natives. He keeps only native 
coavs, and makes no selection even of these, 
because he does not know that cows yield¬ 
ing tAvice as much cheese and butter, are as 
easily kept as those that now stock his farm. 
His stye is filled Avith long-nosed, raw- 
boned porkers, because he has never heard 
of Suffolk pigs, or if so, does not knoAv where 
or how to procure them. 
BARN CELLARS AND MANURE. 
Mr. D. has no barn cellar, though his barn 
stands upon the brow of a hill, on purpose 
to make the digging easy. He has all the 
materials to make 500 loads of manure eve¬ 
ry year, and is content Avith half that quan¬ 
tity. His soil Avould easily groAv 60 bushels 
of corn to the acre, and he thinks he is doing 
Avonders Avhen he gets 40. 
GARDEN NEGLECTED. 
Mr. D-kj garden is also neglected, from the 
misapprehension that it Avill not pay so Avell 
as the cultivation of field crops. He has set 
but feAV fruit trees, and many of these are 
dead for Avant of care. 
CROPPING ORCHARDS. 
Mr. B. has an orchard of thrifty young 
trees just ready to bear, but grows impatient 
for a crop of some kind, and soavs it Avith rye. 
He gets his crop indeed, but the grain has 
taken from the soil the ammonia and the 
mineral elements needed by the young trees ; 
their groAvth is stunted, and fruit-bearing is 
postponed for years. He pays dear for his 
ignorance. 
And thus we may go through the rural 
districts, and find on almost every man’s 
premises abundant evidence that he is a very 
heavy tax payer, and the most heavily taxed 
of all his possessions is his ignorance. 
There is some sense in paying Avell for an 
article of use or luxury; but what folly it is 
to make such great outlays for an article 
that is a discomfort, as Avell as a disgrace. 
The school master of the garden is abroad, 
Avith his text-books, periodicals, fairs, and 
practical illustrations of good horticulture. 
Why should not every man that owns even 
a small patch around his house, take lessons, 
and turn his soil to the best advantage 1 
SOCIAL P0M0L0GICAL GATHEKING. 
NEW-HAVEN POMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 
On Thursday evening last Ave had the 
pleasure of attending a meeting of the New- 
Haven (Conn.) Pomologieal Society, in com¬ 
pany with some fifteen or twenty fruit grow¬ 
ers, and others, Avho Avere drawn together by 
the State Agricultural ShoAv. One word in 
regard to this Society. 
Ten years since, a number of those inter¬ 
ested in improving fruits, organized them¬ 
selves into a society, Avith the late Gov. Ed¬ 
wards as President, Dr. Eli Ives, Vice-Pres¬ 
ident, and the late Dr. Virgil M. Dow, Sec¬ 
retary. From that time to this, the fifteen 
to twenty members of this association have 
met Aveekly, or semi-monthly, during the 
season of fruits, to test, discuss, and decide 
by vote, the merits of different varieties ex¬ 
hibited. When fruits are not plentiful, other 
topics, such as manures, culture, &c., are 
taken up. These meetings are held at the 
residences of the members, in alphabetical 
order. 
The meeting above referred to, Avas held 
at the residence of Mr. Elizur E. Clarke, 
who is an active and efficient member, or so 
Ave should judge from the large variety of 
specimens upon his table of his OAvn culture. 
Among them Avere twelve varieties of for¬ 
eign grapes, cultivated under glass, beside 
native grapes, seedling peaches, and several 
varieties of pears. On the table Avere also a 
profusion of pears and other fruits, contribu¬ 
ted by the members, and by Messrs. Hovey 
& Co., of Boston, Avho sent in twenty varie¬ 
ties. 
These different fruits Avere tested, and 
commented upon by the gentlemen present; 
but there Avere so many to be examined, and 
so many to try them, that the usual form of 
voting upon their respective merits Avas dis¬ 
pensed Avith. At 10 o’clock the company 
separated, after passing Iavo hours and a 
half very pleasantly together. 
W r e hope, hereafter, to report, from time 
to time, a synopsis of the proceedings of the 
above society, and thus extend to a Avider 
sphere the practical benefits which have, 
heretofore, been chiefly confined within the 
circle under the immediate influence of the 
members. We shall also be glad to receive, 
for publication, reports from other similar 
associations. An interchange of opinions 
and results, betAveen different localities, Avill 
be productive of mutual as Avell as general 
benefit. 
