68 THE CULTIVATOR. 
conveniently used to work it. We are ndt aware that 
Mr. Hussey’s machine is for sale at any other place than 
by the proprietor, in Baltimore. It can be worked, we 
presume, with Warren’s Horse Power. It is proper to 
remark, however, that we have received a letter from a 
correspondent in Virginia, who thinks that the purcha¬ 
sers of this power will be disappointed in their expec¬ 
tations respecting it, as he certainly has been. The let¬ 
ter has been mislaid, so that we cannot give the objec¬ 
tions he brings against it; if it comes to light, we shall 
forward it to the venders of the power for their con¬ 
sideration. “ C. B.’s” suggestions are under considera¬ 
tion. It is not improbable that we may adopt the plan 
he has proposed. 
Madder. —Mr. E. Tucker of Onondaga county, in 
answer to a request in our Feb. No., gives us his expe¬ 
rience in the culture of madder. About eight years 
since, he procured seed roots at a cost of $20, and set 
out about half an acre, agreeably to the directions in 
the first volume of the Cultivator, on loose land, good 
for Indian corn or wheat, well manured. He tilled it 
three years, dug it, dried it in a kiln, and ground it in a 
grist mill. Thus prepared, the product was not worth 
over $20. Two or three of his acquaintances tried it, 
with similar results. 
Butternut Sugar. — “ One of your Readers;” from 
Brattleboro, Vt. recommends the repetition of an expe¬ 
riment (made in that county with success) of making 
sugar from the sap of the common butternut, Juglans ca- 
thartica. He says that in the instance alluded to, the 
“ sap furnished as much and as good sugar as that of the 
maple.” Experiments of this kind were tried in Con¬ 
necticut more than forty years since, and have frequently 
been repeated since in New-England; but not, we ima¬ 
gine, with such success as to warrant a repetition. The 
sugar, unless very thoroughly cleared of its remaining 
molasses after graining, would be likely to retain too 
much of the cathartic properties which gave the tree its 
name, for common use. 
Strawberry Seeds, of the variety inquired for by 
Mr. Howard of Windsor, Ct., are not to be had, and if 
they were, would not produce the same fruit. The only 
way to obtain the kind wanted, is to procure the plants. 
“ G. E. M.,” Greenfield, Mass., will be welcome 
to the articles he wants, provided we have any to spare. 
His communication shall appear in season for next win¬ 
ter’s operations. 
Product of Two Cows. —“A Friend to Agricultural 
Improvements” informs us that he keeps two ordinary 
cows, and that last spring he thought he would weigh 
the butter made from them through the season; not, 
however,with the idea of making all they possibly could, 
as his family used cream and milk as freely as ever, and 
he raised two calves. The product was 325 lbs., and 
the cows are still milking. This Was certainly a good 
yield, and one which few common cows will equal. 
The same correspondent says he likes the plan of a 
house given in our Feb. No., but that the oven should 
have been placed on the other side of the chimney, to 
prevent heating the buttery. He also objects to D. G. 
M.’s Self-foddering Barn,” as he thinks cattle will 
draw out more than is necessary, and that it will be 
trodden under foot and wasted. 
Night Soil. —Our correspondent, R. F. Houston of 
Alabama, who inquires for the best method of preparing 
night soil for use, &c., will find all the information ne¬ 
cessary in the communication of Mr. Woodfin, given at 
p. 48, current vol. of the Cultivator. He is also referred 
to page 200, vol. 9, for a method of preparing it prac¬ 
ticed in England. 
Michaux’s Forest Trees.— D. C. wishes to know 
if the publication of this work, with Mr. Nuttall’s addi¬ 
tions, has been completed, the price, &c. We believe 
the volumes have all been published. The price of the 
7 vols., with colored plates, is $35. It may be had of 
J. Dobson, publisher, Philadelphia, or we presume at 
bookstores in New-York. 
Queen Bees. —^We are sorry we cannot spare room 
farther to argue the question of the existence of such a 
as a queen bee with Mr. Henry Palmer of New 
Marlboro, who is determined to believe in their non¬ 
existence, “ the editors of the Cultivator and a great 
array of correspondents notwithstanding.” Most of the 
questions he now asks, were answered at p. 155 of our 
last vol., to which he is referred. 
Valuable Cow. —The Amsterdam (N. Y.) Intelli¬ 
gencer says that Mr. J. Hagaman of that place, has a 
cow, that from the 1st of June, 1842, to the 1st of Feb. 
1843, a period of eight months, yielded 202 lbs. of butter, 
and$5,56 worth ofmilk, sold; andnovv gives eight quarts 
of milk a day.” 
Geese and Lambs.— J. Beach, Esq. of Eastkill, 
Greene county, who thinks it economy to take the Cul¬ 
tivator, even in these hard times, because he is sure he 
saves ten dollars a year by it, says that a good farrner 
“ with a thriving housewife, should keep geese. With 
good fences they are no trouble; it costs little to keep 
them, and a small quantity of tar and sulphur, mixed and 
put on the head and neck, at picking time, will protect 
them against the foxes till the next plucking time. My 
nine geese, last season, thus protected, all lived through 
well. Of my neighbor’s thirty-two, not protected, the 
foxes took twenty-three. Mine were equally exposed as 
his. The same mixture, put on the head and neck of 
young lambs, will protect them for a month-at least. I 
have oftened tried it, and saved them, while others have 
lost many of theirs. It may be repeated at any time, if 
the lamb iS not large enough to protect itself. The ma¬ 
terials are in the reach of every farmer, and will not cost 
one cent a head. Can any of your correspondents tell of 
any protection to our dunghill fowls, against minks, (we 
have many Of them in our streams and mill dams,) short 
of shutting them up nights?” 
The Times in Virginia. —We make the following 
extract from a letter form an esteemed friend at Lynch¬ 
burg :—‘‘ We are not prosperous; our late crop of wheat 
was greatly injured, and in many instances totally de¬ 
stroyed by the rust. This is the third crop, in regular 
succession, that has been a more general failure than 
any before recollected. Our tobacco crop, too, a very 
important one in this part of the State, is a very infe¬ 
rior one, in consequence, it is believed, of the wet¬ 
ness of the season. In addition, we had in the month 
of July a most destructive flood, which peiwaded an ex¬ 
tensive district, and did great injury to the crops and 
lands. And last, though not least, we have overbanked, 
which has not only produced overtrading, but overac- 
tion in all the departments of life—improvident con¬ 
tracts and every species of personal expense, and are 
now suffering the effects of a rapidly decreasing cur¬ 
rency—are in that state of contraction or collapse which, 
though not regularly, yet as certainly follows an impro¬ 
per exi)ansion, as the night succeeds day. Our legis¬ 
lative quacks are proposing various remedies, stay laws, 
valuation laws, issues by the banks; and some even go 
so far as to propose another suspension of specie pay¬ 
ments—one of the effects of which would be, finally, to 
renew that portion of suffering which we have already 
passed through. But it is to be hoped that none of these 
nostrums will be forced on the patient, as some of the 
best judges think they would only aggravate the disease, 
and that nothing but industry, economy, and time will 
cure it.” 
“The Soil and the Mind.” —A correspondent in 
New-Jersey, “ H. W. S. C.,” says:—“The harder the 
times, the more need I have of studying and contriving 
the best means of getting along, and consequently I 
cannot afford to give up so valuable an assistant as the 
Cultivator. Among the many points of resemblance be¬ 
tween the ‘ soil and mind,’ there seems to me scarcely 
one more striking than the effect of constant cultiva¬ 
tion. Keep the ground loose, and prepared to receive 
the benefit of all the favorable influences which are 
brought to bear upon it; and keep the mind ever active 
and open to receive whatever information it meets with; 
to digest it well, and choose that which is true and 
sound, rejecting the false and hurtful. And so I say to 
the farmer, read—read—read; if you can’t get hold of 
new works, read the old ones over, and you will find 
the effect is like plowing up an old field. There is 
no reason why a farmer should not cultivate his mind as 
well as his land; and the man who does both, in a pro¬ 
per spirit, is the truest philosopher and the happiest 
man.” 
“Useful Works for the People.” —Under this ti¬ 
tle, Messrs. Greely & Co., publishers of the New-York 
Tribune, have commenced the publication of a series of 
works, in pamphlet form, intended, by their cheapness, 
for general circulation. The first number, containing 
“ Farnham’s Travels through Oregon,” we have not 
seen. The second number, just issued, contains the very 
valuable Report of the Hon. H. L. Ellsworth, Com. 
of the Patent Otfice, (for an extended notice of which, see 
next column of this paper,) on the “ Improvements in 
Agriculture, Arts, &c. in the United States,” made to 
Congress at its late session—together with a “ Treatise 
on raising Swine, and the best method of fattening Pork,” 
from Mr. Colman’s Fourth Report; and an article on 
“Geology as connected with Agriculture,” from the pen of 
our associate, Mr. Gaylord— making together a pamph¬ 
let of 80 closely pointed octavo pages, put up in the style 
of the Magazines, and all for twenty-five cents, or five 
copies for $1,00. Orders by mail, free of postage, ad¬ 
dressed to “ Editors Tribune, New-York,” will be duly 
attended to. The work may also be had of Geo. Jones, 
newspaper agent, in this city. It should be in the hands 
of every farmer in the country, and we think many of 
our statesmen might find the study of it an advantage. 
Morse’s Cereographic Atlas. —We have received 
the second sheet of this Atlas, embracing niaps of Flori¬ 
da, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, New- 
York, and New-York city, eight in number. The Atlas 
is got up in a large quarto form, in a beautiful style, and 
for minuteness and correctness, will not be exceeded by 
any Atlas of the United States. It is issued at the office 
of the New-York Observer, and furnished gratuitously to 
subscribers to that excellent Journal. Mr. Morse’s plan 
is a comprehensive one; and on its completion will fur¬ 
nish a series of maps invaluable to the scholar and gen¬ 
eral reader. 
Wheat Crop of Pittsfield, Mich. —We find the 
following facts (certified to, by six respectable gentle¬ 
men,) respecting the wheat crop of this town in 1842, m 
a western paper“ Number of acres harvested, 2,997. 
Number of bushels, 50,408, being a fraction over 16 
bushels and 2 pecks per acre, on average. Number of 
acres sowed 3,659, being an excess over last year of 662 
acres. The town contains a population of 1,300, and al¬ 
lowing 6 bushels for the consumption of every man, wo¬ 
man and child, and 4,574 bushels for seed, would leave a 
surplus of 39, 424 bushels for market. This, at a dollar 
a bushel, would clear every farmer of debt, and purchase 
his wife a Silk Dress. If any town in this county or 
state, have beat us, we should like to know it.” 
MR. ELLSWORTH’S REPORT FOR 1842. 
There can be but one opinion as to the intelligence, 
zeal and industry, brought by the presiding officer of the 
Patent Office at Washingioa, to the fulfilment of his du¬ 
ties. His Report for the year 1842, (the receipt of which 
was acknowledged by us last month,) is before us, and we 
doubt not, it will be considered by the great mass of the 
people, one of the most valuable the past session of con¬ 
gress has produced. Of its contents, we shall proceed to 
give a briefnotice. 
It appears, that the patents issued the past year were 
517. Re-issued, 13; and 15 improved. During the same 
time, 352 patents have,expired. The receipts for 1842, 
amount to $35,790 96; the expenses, $23,154 48; showing 
at least one department at Washington, not bankrupt in 
its finances. The whole number of patents granted in 
the United States, previous to January, 1843, was 12,992. 
His remarks on the necessity of such additions to the 
Library, as shall enable applicants to determine, by re¬ 
ference to former projects or present patents of the same 
kind at home or abroad, the propriety of taking out pa¬ 
tents, are evidently just. But it is with his remarks, 
and the facts he has collected on Agriculture, that we 
have at present to do. These are included in an appen¬ 
dix of some 100 pages. 
And first, is a tabular estimate of the crops for 1842. 
It is based, of course, on the U. S. Agricultural census 
of 1840, but corrected with great care; and so far as our 
correspondence with all parts of the Union enables us to 
judge, with a good degree of correctness. We subjoin 
the aggregate of some of the most important products, 
and such of our readers as please, may compare the pro¬ 
ducts of 1839 and 1842 by referring to the statistical ta¬ 
bles in a former volume of the Cultivator. 
Wheat, bush. 
Barley,. 
Oats,. 
Rye,. 
Buckwheat,... 
Indian Corn,.. 
Potatoes,. 
102,317,340' 
3,871,622 
150,883,617 
22,762,962 
9,483,409 
441,829,246 
135,883,381 
Tons of hay,.. 14,053,355 
“ flax & hemp, 158,569 
lbs. of Tobacco, 194,694,891 
lbs. of Cotton, 683,333,231 
lbs. of Rice, .. 94,007,484 
lbs. of Cocoons, '244,124 
lbs. of Sugar,.. 142,445,199 
This statement is followed up by remarks on the se¬ 
veral crops, and the causes which have increased or di¬ 
minished them for the current year; on the various new 
products that promise to become important aids to Ag¬ 
riculture, such as the making of oil from lard, sugar 
from corn-stalks, &c., and on the state of the markets at 
home and abroad; and the probable results of the efforts 
now making, to extend the consumption of our grain 
and meat in foreign countries. On all these topics, and 
many others, he has brought together a mass of facts, 
which cannot fail to be examined with much interest. 
Those parts of the Report relating to the manufacture 
of sugar from corn-stalks, and the conversion of lard into 
oil, with the correspondence accompanying them, are 
the best and most complete accounts of these processes 
yet given to the public, and are certainly most oppor¬ 
tune, as the attention of farmers in all parts of the coun¬ 
try has of late been much directed to them. The thanks 
of the community are due to Mr. Ellsworth. 
NATURAL HISTORY OF NEW-YORK. 
We have received three more volumes of this splen¬ 
did work; consisting of Prof. Emmons’ Report of the 2d 
Geological District, Dr. DeKay’s continuation of the Zool¬ 
ogy of the State, embracing the reptiles and fishes; and 
a volume of plates illustrative of the various species of 
these animals found in the state. The engravings of this 
part, are much superior in execution, as a whole, to those 
of the Mammalia, and will well compare with the best 
specimens of animal engraving extant. The descriptive 
part by Dr. DeKay, is well written, and evidently with 
great care. That it should be perfect, no one acquainted 
with the natural sciences will expect, but all will rejoice 
at such an immense advance towards a full and accurate 
knowledge of the animals of this state, as is disclosed in 
these volumes. 
Prof. Emmons has given an excellent report on the 
geology of the district assigned him; with a great vari¬ 
ety of engraved views, maps and sections, rendering his 
descriptions much more clear and satisfactory. Having 
in our two last numbers, devoted so much space to a no¬ 
tice of Prof. Vanuxem’s Report, we must pass over that 
of the 2d district, briefly; particularly as the names for 
the systems and series of rocks are the same in both,with 
the exception that the body called the Pulaski shales by 
Prof. V., are named the Lori’ain shales by Prof. E., as the 
development of this rock is much more complete at the 
latter than at the former place. Prof. Emmons contends 
strongly that the lower limestones are primitive in the 
same sense, and have the same origin as the admitted 
primitive rocks, such as granite, gneiss, &c., and we 
think some of his arguments and examples difficult of 
refutation or evasion. As showing the distance to which 
blocks of this primitive crystalized or dolomite limestone 
has traveled, we may say that we have seen large speci¬ 
mens of it, plates of yellow mica mingled with the lime 
crystals, on the highlands in the south part of Onondap 
CO. The nearest point to limestone of this kind, is m the 
beds described by Prof E. in the east part of St. Law¬ 
rence CO. . . oi i 1- 
The utility and importance of this great State work, 
becomes more apparent as the work advances; and we 
trust the efforts to distribute the copies of the work 
throughout the state will be successful. Next to a know¬ 
ledge of ourselves, is a knowledge of the woild around 
us, and the varied beings by which it is tenanted. 
