228 
editors’ table. 
(Suitors* ®abk. 
Mr. Solon Robinson. —It is mere neglect on our 
part, that we have not, from month to month, chroni¬ 
cled the movements of this distinguished farmer and 
writer upon agriculture. In our last volume, we in¬ 
formed our readers that Mr. Robinson left his residence 
at Lake Court House, (now Crown Point,) Indiana,in 
November last, in his private carriage, with a pair of 
horses, on an agricultural tour and survey through the 
southern states, and also to act as our agent; since 
which he has passed through the intermediate states, 
between Indiana and Louisiana, and over much of the 
latter below New Orleans, then up through Mississippi, 
Alabama, Georgia, South and North Carolina, Virginia, 
Maryland, Delaware, and when last heard from, June 
17th, he was in Pennsylvania. He will probably 
reach New York about the 1st of July. 
We venture to say that not another man in the 
United States ever made such a tour, or gathered so 
much information as this enterprising traveller has 
obtained of the agriculture of his country. Sugar, rice, 
cotton, tobacco, hemp, flax, wheat, Indian corn, grass, 
and nearly all other North-American products have 
received his special attention, together with the gene¬ 
ral management of plantations, farms, stock, &c. He 
has taken copious notes during his long and fatiguing 
journey, the substance of which will appear from 
month to month in our paper. 
What his course from New York will be, is somewhat 
uncertain, information as to this, and some general 
remarks on his tour, will be published in our August 
number. In the mean time, we are happy to inform 
our readers, that, notwithstanding many a mishap and 
peril by flood and field, his general health has been 
good, and that he writes us in the best of spirits, happy 
as ever, in his patriotic and arduous undertaking. 
Gold Dollars. —These pretty little coins, which 
are somewhat smaller than half dimes, have recently 
been issued, in considerable quantities, from the 
United States Mint, and will prove exceedingly con¬ 
venient for transmitting through the Post Office for 
the payment of dollar periodicals, fyc., from those 
states not authorizing the circulation of small bank 
notes. A word to the wise is sufficient. 
The Plow a Bank-Stock Holder. —The plow, it 
is said, goes in for banks, although it holds but one 
share. 
Long-Woolled Sheep. —We call attention to Mr. 
Reybold’s advertisement of a superior lot of long- 
woolled bucks for sale. Mr. R. has taken great pains 
in selecting his sheep from the best flocks in England. 
He has bred them here with much care, and all those 
who have called to see them, speak highly of their 
excellent qualities. 
Maple Sugar in Vermont. —We learn that, the 
past season, on account of its cold and backwardness, 
has proved unusually favorable for the sugar crop, in 
Vermont, the trees averaging a yield of about four 
pounds of sugar each. Caleb Aldridge, of Sutton, 
from 1,700 trees, made (3,000 lbs. sugar; Mi. Noyes, 
made 2,000 lbs.; Woolston Brockway, from 300 
trees, made 900 lbs. ; Harlow Brooks, from 350 
trees, made 1,300 lbs.; and Ferdinand Walker, of 
Lyndon, from 400 trees, made 1,700 lbs. These 
amounts are exclusive of the last run, or molasses, 
being all stirred sugars, equaling in color our musco¬ 
vado, and are worth at least six cents per pound. 
Machine for Removing the Burrs from,Wool. 
-—We have frequent inquiries for a machine for the 
above purpose, small enough to be run by horse 
power, and of so simple, yet efficient construction, as 
to be used by planters in the country. Will any of our 
readers, familiar with a good machine, inform us where 
it is to be had, price, &c. 
Georgia Burr Stone. —The “Savannah Geor¬ 
gian” notices the existence of a burr-stone quarry, in 
Burke county in that state, near the line of'the Cen¬ 
tral Railroad leading to that city. The stone obtained 
from this quarry, the only one of the kind yet discov¬ 
ered in the United States, is said to be equal and in 
some respects superior to that of the French quarries. 
A company has been organized, in Savannah, who are 
preparing to go extensively into the business of manu¬ 
facturing millstones from it, and expect to be able to 
supply the demand of this country with as good an 
article as is now procured from France. 
Pork Packing. —The St. Louis Republican, in a 
late number, gives the total number of hogs slaugh¬ 
tered, this year, on the Mississippi, Missouri, Illinois, 
and other rivers adjacent thereto, at 568,760. and the 
total number in the entire west, at 1,581,000, being: 
an increase of 81,000 over last year’s killing. The- 
number slaughtered in St. Louis was 90,000. 
Report on the Bread Stuffs of the United- 
States, made to the Commissioner of Patents. By 
Lewis C. Beck, M. D., 1849. This brief report em¬ 
bodies much valuable information on the comparative 
value of different varieties of wheat, Indian corn, &c.. 
grown under a variety of circumstances. It also con¬ 
tains the results of several analyses of sound wheat,, 
produced in our own country and elsewhere, the ex¬ 
tremes of which stand thus :— 
Lowest. 
11.75- 
8.31 
Highest. 
14.05- 
16.00. 
Proportion of water, in 100 parts, 
“ Gluten, “ “ 
“ Starch, glucose 
and dextrine, “ 68.65 79.34 
“ Bran, “ 0.20 2.90 
The highest proportion of gluten was found in a sam¬ 
ple of Kubanka wheat, grown on the Kuban River,, 
in the southern part of Russia. A sample from Floyd 
Co., Georgia, afforded 14.36 per cent. 
The result of these investigations corroborate what 
we have before asserted, that the gluten, the nutritive 
portion of the grain, is more fully developed in a dry, 
hot climate, and when grown upon a rich'soil. 
The value of wheat for nutritive purposes does not 
depend upon its superior whiteness, as much of that 
which is of dark color contains a large proportion of 
gluten. Spring wheat, that uniformly brings a much 
lower price in market, is rich in gluten, and fre¬ 
quently of equal value with the best winter wheats, 
which sell at 15 to 30 per cent, higher. We regret 
that Dr. Beck has omitted all investigation of spring 
wheat in this report, as well as the comparative nutri¬ 
tive properties of rye, maize, buckwheat, barley, &c. 
We shall hope for full and minute informatfon on 
each of these valuable grains, which he intimates- he 
may give, in part at least, hereafter. 
Monster Apple Trees. —There is an apple tree 
on the estate of Mr. Joseph Briggs, on Federal Hill, 
in the town of Dedham, Mass., supposed to be about 
one hundred years old, w’hich measures thirteen feet 
and a half in circumference, one foot from the ground, 
and eleven and a half feet, four feet from the ground. 
Its branches cover an area of about sixty feet in 
diameter. This tree is second only to that in Dux- 
bury, which is sixteen feet in diameter a foot or two 
above the surface of the ground, is over one hundred 
years old, and bore, in one year fruit, which made ten 
barrels of cider, in addition to thirty barrels of apples 
put into the cellar.— Boston Traveller. 
Artesian Wells. —The corporation of Charleston} 
S. C., are endeavoring to obtain water in sufficient 
quantity for the extinguishment of fires, by means of 
Artesian wells. In one instance, the earth has been 
perforated to the depth of 770 feet, through a bed of 
marl, without reaching water. In others, the water 
has been reached at a much less depth. 
