THE CULTIVATOR 
61 
NEW-YORK STATE AG. SOCIETY. 
At the regular meeting of the Executive Committee 
of the New-York State Ag. Society, at the Geological 
Hall, on the 2d Wednesday of March, the following 
members were present; Messrs. Denniston, Leland, 
Prentice, Tucker, Walsh, M’Intyre, Bement and Hill- 
jiouse—Vice President Leland in the chair. 
The Annual Report to the Legislature, embracing the 
Transactions of the State and County Agricultural Socie¬ 
ties, so far as the latter have reported, was presented, 
and after examination, which occupied most of the time 
of the meeting, were approved, and directed to be 
transmitted to the Legislature, by Vice President Den¬ 
niston of the Senate. 
The committee appointed at a pi-evious meeting to 
procure a room for the use of the Society in the old 
State Hall, reported that they had called on the Commis¬ 
sioners of the Land Odice, who informed them that it 
would be necessary to apply to the Legislature, to effect 
the object desired. It was thereupon resolved, that Vice 
President Leland be a committee to procure the passage 
of a concurrent resolution by the Legislature, authori¬ 
sing the Commissioners of the Land Office to fit up a 
room for the use of the Society. 
The Annual Report of the State Society, above allu¬ 
ded to, was presented to the Senate on the 9th of March, 
and on motion of Mr. Dickinson, chairman of the Com¬ 
mittee on Agriculture, ten times the usual number, to¬ 
gether with 500 copies for the State Ag. Society, and 
twenty copies for each County Ag. Society, were order¬ 
ed printetl. The vol. will be ready for distribution by 
the middle of this month. County Societies can have 
their twenty copies sent them, bound in the same style 
as the vol. of Transactions for last year, by remitting 
$5,00 to pay for the binding, to Luthee Tuckek, Sec¬ 
retary, Albany. 
CATTLE SHOWS THIS YEAR. 
The Onondaga Co. Ag. Society is the first in the field 
with its list of premiums to be awarded this year. The 
Fair is to be held at S 5 Tacuse, October 4, 5. In addi¬ 
tion to the usual list of premiums, Mr. Fullek, the 
President, offers three premiums of $6,00 each, for the 
best conducted experiments to test the value of lime, 
plaster, and salt, as manures. Wm. Fuller, Skaneateles, 
President, and Enoch Marks, Navarino, Cor. Sec’y- 
The Chautauque Co. Society have also issued their pre¬ 
mium list. Their Fair is to be held at Fredonia, Sept. 
29, 30. T. B. Campbell, Westfield, President, and Mr. 
Risley, Fredonia, Sec’y- 
The Oneida Ag. Society have also issued their list of 
premiums, to be awarded at the next Fair, which is to 
be held at Vernon—time not fixed. Benj. P.#ohnson, 
Rome, President, and Elon Comstock, Rome, Cor. Sec’y. 
SPRING WHEAT. 
Theke is a very large part of the United States not 
suitable to the production of winter wheat, or where it 
at best is but an uncertain crop, in which spring wheat is 
a very certain, and in most cases a productive one. This 
arises in a great degree from the severity of our winters, 
the frosts of which alternating with the thavvs of spring, 
lift the fall sown wheat from the ground, and cause the 
death of the plant. This is p.articularly the case, where 
from the abundance of clay in the soil, it is disposed to 
be retentive of moisture as well as heavy in working. 
There can be little doubt that in all parts of the country 
favorable to winter wheat, that grain will continue to be 
grown in preference to spring wheat; it is more pro¬ 
ductive, and makes a finer flour, two causes sufficient to 
insure a preference; but spring wheat makes excellent 
bread, and besides the plant escapes the hazards of our 
winters, which is enough to insure an extensive culture. 
Spring wheat requires a soil rich and in good condi¬ 
tion, not so much from the recent application of manures, 
as from a series of good treatment. Like all the other 
grain crops, if recent or fresh manure is applied libe¬ 
rally to the soil as a preparative for the crop, it is most 
likely to prove injurious, giving a greater growth to the 
straw than to the ear, and rendering it so weak as almost 
to insure an attack 'of the rust, or its lodging in the field. 
It is a good plan to apply manures to a crop of corn or 
roots, and let spring wheat follow these. Thoroughly 
rotted manures, or compost, however, may be applied di¬ 
rectly to the wheat crop. 
Spring wheat should be sown early. We have hardly 
ever known a good, or even an ordinary crop produced, 
where this was neglected. Early sowing favors early 
maturity, and thus avoids the danger of mildew or rust, 
to which this grain, if sown late, is very liable. It also 
enables the plant to throw up its ears, and prepare the 
juices necessary for the perfection of the berry, before 
the extreme heats of summer deprive the plants of the 
moisture necessary for this purpose. 
It is from this necessity of having the soil early pre¬ 
pared for spring wheat, that it becomes desirable very 
frequently, to have the fieUE on which it is to be sown, 
plowed in the fall. If the soil is free from surface wa¬ 
ter, (and no soil on which water stands is fit for a crop,) 
fall plowed lands are seen in the early spring, to present 
a surface finely pulverized by the action of frost, and fit 
for the reception of seed much earlier than they could 
otherwise be. We have seen beautiful crops of spring 
wheat grown after corn or potatoes that had been well 
manured, and after the crops were gathered late in the 
fall, well and deeply plowed for the spring crop. A rich 
dry seed bed was thus ready for the seed wheat early in 
the season, long before a plowing could have taken place 
that would have left the soil in a fit condition for a crop. 
It is as necessary to secure good seed for spring, as for 
winter or fall sowing, and the preparation of it by brin¬ 
ing and liming, should never in any instance be omitted. 
RUFFIN’S ESSAY ON CALCAREOUS MANURES. 
We noticed in our last, the reception of the third edi¬ 
tion of this valuable work from the respected author; but 
we cannot resist the desire to again call the attention of 
our readers to it, in the hope that they will secure a copy 
for themselves, as it is printed in a form that allows of 
its transmission by mail. We prize this work highly, 
as independent of the great truths it discloses in regard 
to the use of calcareous manures, it stands as the first ori¬ 
ginal American work on agricultural science, and one 
which has rarely been equaled in the value of its sug¬ 
gestions in any country. Its publication constitutes a new 
era in southern agriculture; the immense marl beds, as 
well as those of green sand, that underlie so large a pro¬ 
portion of the tide waters of the south, have been brought 
into profitable notice and use by it; and the importance 
of calcareous manures established beyond doubt. Dr. 
Dana has done for muck, or vegetable matter, what Mr. 
Ruffin has done for lime; and as Americans, we feel 
proud that the two best works that have yet appeared 
on these subjects are from the pens of our own citi¬ 
zens. We are glad that they are both receiving so 
much notice; and heartily concur in the propositions that 
have been made in various quarters, to have them ex¬ 
tensively used as minor premiums, by our -4.gricultural 
Societies. 
SEED STORES AND AG. REPOSITORIES. 
Faemeks, encourage your seed stores and reposito¬ 
ries of Agricultural implements by visiting and giving 
them your support. The difierence of profit between 
crops grown from seeds of prime quality, or from infe¬ 
rior ones, is not duly estimated. So with Implements. 
The ease of working, the rapidity of execution, and the 
saving of time in using good implements, should induce 
every farmer, when purchase is necessary, to provide 
himself with the best. So with the dairyman. How 
much hard labor might he save his wife or his dairy¬ 
maids, if he would substitute some of the modern im¬ 
plements for churning and working over his butter, for 
the old fashioned ones he continues to employ. We are 
aware that complaints are made of seedsmen, and per¬ 
haps in a few instances justly, that deceptions are used, 
that the article sold is not always what it is said to be, that 
old seeds or damaged ones are mixed with the new, &c. 
&c. And we are also aware that in nine cases out of ten, 
where seeds turn out differently from what was ex¬ 
pected, or fail to vegetate, the fault is with the pur¬ 
chaser rather than the vender. Complaints of the kind 
named, have been much less frequent of late than form¬ 
erly; and if farmers will only be careful to mark those 
who wilfully deceive in this matter, there will soon be 
an end of collusion. The greatest fault found with our 
Agricultural implements, and the defect is urged against 
nearly all of them, is, that they are too slightly made to 
endure the labor expected from them. They are conse¬ 
quently liable to break, or get out of repair; circum¬ 
stances not likely to increase the good humor of the 
farmer when such accidents occur, as they are most 
likely to do, at the most hurrying times. We think our 
mechanics in general, would do well to take this matter 
of strength and firmness in their construction into con¬ 
sideration, as going far to establish the reputation of the 
implements made by them. 
AGRICULTURAL PAPERS IN NEW-ENGLAND. 
Maine —^The Eastern Farmer, published at Portland 
during the last year, and edited by F. O. J. Smith, Esq., 
has been united with the Maine Farmer and Mechanic’s 
Advocate at Winthrop, edited by Dr. E. Holmes. The 
consolidated paper is to be edited by Messrs. H. and S., 
and to be published at Portland and AVinthrop. It is a 
large and well filled folio sheet at $2,00 a year. The 
Maine Cultivator, a weekly folio sheet, is continued at 
Hallowell, by Mr. Lincoln; and the Gospel Banner, 
published at Augusta, by Rev. Mr. Drew, devotes a page 
to Agricultural matters, under the head of “ The Plow 
Boy.” 
New Hampshiee —In this State, the Farmer's Month¬ 
ly Visitor, conducted by Gov. Hill, is continued at Con¬ 
cord, and is the only Agricultural paper we believe in 
the State. The new vol. commencing with the present 
year, is published at the low price of 50 cents. 
In Massachusetts, we have, first the New-England 
Farmer, the oldest paper of the kind in the Union. It 
is now in its 21st yeai', and has been continued from its 
commencement in the same form and style, a handsome 
quarto, weekly at $2,00 a year. It is edited by the Rev. 
Allen Putnam, under whose superintendence its high re¬ 
putation has been well sustained. 2. The Boston Culti¬ 
vator, a weekly quarto sheet, by Otis Brewer. 3. The 
Massachusetts Plowman, at Boston, by Wm. Buckminster, 
Esq., a large folio sheet, weekly. 4. The Farm¬ 
er’s Journal, Boston, monthly, at 50 cents, by Mr. S, 
W. Cole, the former editor of the Yankee Farmer, 
which was united with the Plowman. 6. The Berkshire 
Farmer, at Pittsfield, by Wm. Bacon, Esq., monthly, at 
50 cents a year. 6. The Farmer’s Advocate, by H. C. 
Merriam, Esq., editor of the Boston Cultivator for the 
last year. This is a large and well filled folio, weekly, 
at $2,50 a year. If the farmers of Massachusetts do not 
pursue their business in the most approved manner, it 
will not be because the information necessary is not 
placed within their reach. 
Connecticut has but one Agricultural paper, the 
Farme’rs Gazette, at New-Haven, semi-monthly, 16 
pages octavo, at $1,00 a year. Joseph Wood, Editor. 
EXTRAORDINARY PIGS. 
Our thanks are due Dr. C. for the following account 
of the pigs fattened by him in 1842. We do not now 
recollect another instance in which a pig of 20 months 
has reached 700 lbs.; and the gain on raw apples adds 
another case in proof of the value of this fruit for feed¬ 
ing pigs. We fully concur with the Dr. that fermented 
food is to be preferred for fattening swine, and that 
the less exercise they take, or the more restricted their 
range, the more rapidly will they take on fat. 
To W. Gayloed, Esq.—Your note of the 16th, mak¬ 
ing some inquiries touching the breed of my hogs, mode 
and time of fattening, and the kind of food used for 
this purpose, was duly received. In replying, I fear I 
shall not be able to communicate such information as 
will be satisfactory to you on all the points on which 
you request it. 
Of the breed of the two smallest, I know nothing, as 
I bought them last spring, when about a year old, of a 
person who has since moved out of the country. I un¬ 
derstood, however, from him at the time that they 
were of an improved breed. They weighed at that 
time (April) about two hundred pounds each. The 
largest of my fattened pigs was of a cross between the 
Berkshire breed and a kind known in this vicinity as the 
Saratoga breed, from their having first been introduced 
here from that county. They are entirely white, very 
handsome, and though rather large boned, keep and fat 
easier than any breed of hogs I ever saw. I have been 
informed—how correctly I cannot say—that their true 
name is the Russia breed. 
There was no particular care or pains taken of the one 
I slaughtered, the first season. He was kept for a boar 
until about a year old. He was wintered entirely on raw 
apples, principally sour ones; and on this food, gained 
from 160 lbs., which he weighed in November, to 300 
lbs., which he reached in April. He was then altered, 
and put up in a pen with the other two hogs,where they 
remained until they were killed in the latter part of Ja¬ 
nuary last. They were from 19 to 20 months old, and 
weighed respectively—704 lbs—578 lbs.—410 lbs. 
Their only food, from April to September, was boiled 
potatoes and buttermilk, mixed and fermented. In Sep¬ 
tember, I mixed into this food ten bushels of ground 
peas; after this, until they were killed, their food con¬ 
sisted of barley meal, mixed with milk and water, and 
suS'ered to stand until sour. Of this they had all they 
would eat. 
Their pen was some 12 by 15 feet, a partition run¬ 
ning across the middle, with a door-way, and half of it 
roofed over. In the covered part was the trough. They 
were never suffered to run out into a yard, a mode many 
prefer. I have been many years of opinion that hogs 
will fat faster and cheaper under a system of close con¬ 
finement and fermented food, than in any other way. 
Should you deem the foregoing statements such as would 
interest the readers of the Cultivator, they are at your 
service. AY. F. Coo'pee, M. D. 
Kelloggsville, Cayuga co., March, 1843. 
SAk Cultuee. —The Report of the New-England 
Silk Convention, held at Northampton last autumn, affords 
the most gratifying evidence of the progress of the silk 
culture in various sections of our country. Mr. D. B. 
Biakesley of Newark in this state, says that he last year 
raised 300 lbs. first rate cocoons from one and a half 
acre of mulberries; the whole expense, including rents 
and every thing, was $42,40. He planted five acres to 
mulberries last year, and will plant another five acres 
this spring. The progress in Massachusetts will be 
shown by the fact, that the bounty paid in that state 
amounted in 1836, to only $71,37, while in 1842, up to 
1st of October, it had risen to $3,351 91. In 1838, the 
Society at Economy, Pa., raised 1,400 lbs. cocoons—in 
1839, 1,800 lbs_in 1840, 2,400 lbs_in 1841, 4,400 
lbs_in 1842, 5,500 lbs. In connection with this sub¬ 
ject, we would invite attention to the circular of Messrs. 
Haywood & Co., of New-York, given on another page 
of this paper. Judging, and rightly too, that this busi¬ 
ness would soon be one of importance, they have turned 
their attention to it with a view of opening a ready 
market for the raw silk, and of rendering such assistance 
as may be in their power to its growers, by furnishing 
information, eggs, reels, &c., which may be depended 
upon. 
“ Ceedit.” —During the last two months, we have no¬ 
ticed no less than seventy-five articles, in different papers, 
copied from the Cultivator, without the proper credit. 
If the omission to credit, has arisen from carelessness, 
such negligence ought to be corrected. We have al¬ 
ready stricken some thirty papers from our exchange 
list, on this account, and shall have to cut off still more, 
unless justice in this respect, is done to the Cultivator. 
The last Spirit of the Times, brought us a most ele¬ 
gant steel print of Col. Johnson, ‘‘ the Napoleon of the 
turf. 
