172 
THE CULTIVATOR 
matter of interest, but the study of it a source of plea¬ 
sure. 
Our men of talents have lately turned their attention 
to the subject. Our men of property have devoted a 
part of their wealth to its improvement; our farmers 
have brought their intelligent minds, as well as willing 
hands, to aid in the general advancement. And last, 
though not least, the statesmen who have this day met 
with us, we know to be its most devoted friends. 
The state, too, has contributed her aid, by the general 
diffusion of knowledge, in the establishment of her 
schools, and in pursuing a much more intelligent as well 
as expansive system of education. She has aided by her 
geological survey; by her beneficence in contributing 
to the formation of country agricultural societies, and 
the patronage she has bestowed in the formation of this, 
the Agricultural Society of the State of New-York. 
Our agricultural journals, too, of which there are 
many and excellent ones, have immensely multiplied; 
they have awakened public attention, for, from their 
large subscription lists, we must infer that they have 
many willing readers. These are the dawnings—they 
indicate that our progress in happiness is onward; that 
we are the friends of civilization, of education, of all 
that is to make us a great and prosperous people. 
To you, American farmers, who comprise so large a 
portion of our population, a high destiny is committed. 
It is not enough that our fathers formed a government 
which secures equal rights to the humblest, and is the 
rainbow of hope to the oppressed of all nations. It is 
for you to carry on the work, not alone of political, but 
intellectual and moral improvement. A vast field opens 
before j’^ou, and I rejoice that here, where intellect is so 
bright, and humanity has so many friends, these great 
ends are in progress to their accomplishment. 
We have met, fellow citizens, at this place, to com¬ 
memorate the Fair of this Society for the year 1843. Our 
object was to exhibit to your view, and I trust to your be¬ 
nefit, the finest animals we could collect, the best farm im¬ 
plements that inducements in the way of rewards would 
bring together; and not confining our attention to ani¬ 
mals and implements, we have offered premiums for 
almost every variety of articles that either your wants, 
your tastes or your desire for luxury would call for. 
If, from this display, you return to your respective 
homes benefitted by our exertions and anxious hereafter 
to contribute your part to the general improvement, our 
labor will have been well bestowed; for this great state 
will be advanced in its onward march by the streams of 
wealth you will pour into her bosom. 
NOTICES OF NEW PUBLICATIONS. 
Prof. Silliman’s Journal. —The October No. of 
Prof. Silliman’s Journal is before us, containing many 
valuable papers of interest to the general reader. Among 
these, are the notice of Dr. DeKay’s Report on the Fish¬ 
es of New-York; remarks on Tides and Currents of the 
Air, by Mr. Redfield; the Fossil Trees of Nova Scotia; 
on Vibrating Dams; and the paper on the Fossil foot 
prints of Birds, and the impressions of Rain drops in the 
Sandstone of the Connecticut. Every person who has a 
taste for the sciences, should be a subscriber to this 
Journal. 
North American Review _We have received from 
the publishers, the October no. of the North American 
Review. Its articles are written with great ability, and 
two of them are on subjects of great interest. We allude 
to those on the Commercial History and Policy of this 
Country, and the Independence of the Judiciary. The 
Despatches of Cortes, the conqueror of Mexico, will be 
read with interest. This long established journal well 
sustains its high reputation, and in its series forms the 
best History of American Literature existing. 
American Riblical Repository. —We invite the at¬ 
tention of those who are interested in such discussions, 
to a paper on “ English Phonology,” in the October no. 
of this capital Quarterly. It is not often that we meet so 
intelligent and searching a dissection of the structure of 
our language as is there to be found. Of the purely the¬ 
ological department of the Repository, we shall only say 
that it contains many papers profoundly and beautifully 
written. In matters of Biblical criticism, the Repository 
is without a i-ival in this country. 
Eclectic and Museum. —Prof. Agnew deserves great 
credit for the skill with which he monthly serves up the 
very, best papers in the whole range of Foreign Litera¬ 
ture to the subscribers to the Eclectic and Museum. The 
admirers of that “ half reasoning” animal, the dog, will 
find in the Oct. no. a paper after their own heart; con¬ 
taining more curious facts relative to this animal and his 
services, than we have ever elsewhere seen collected. 
The paper by Macauley, on the Life and Writings of Ad¬ 
dison, like all his similar essays, possesses the highest 
merit. Of all our reprints, we prefer the Eclectic. 
“ Valuable Cows.”—^In our June no. “ A Connecti¬ 
cut Boy” questioned a statement of the product of two 
cows, published in the Conn. Farmer’s Gazette. The 
statement was as follows:—‘‘Mr. S. Baldwin of Wash¬ 
ington,' Ct., made between Mai’ch 4, and December 8, 
1843/from two cows, besides supporting a family of two 
persons, 439 lbs. butter and 1,254 lbs. cheese.” The Ga¬ 
zette publishes a certificate verifying this statement, 
which states that the facts can be substantiated by oath 
if necessary. The product it will be seen, is 846^ lbs. 
per cow—over one-third of which was butter. If any 
of our friends can equal this, we should like to chronicle 
the fact. 
DEDRICK’S HAV PRESS.—(Fig. 92.) 
Above we give a figure of a hay press, patented in 
June last, by Mr. L. Dedrick of Kinderhook, which he 
describes as follows: 
“ The power consists of two toggle joints placed op¬ 
posite each other, drawn up by chains, from the lower 
end of each, winding on a windlass. From the wheel 
of the windlass a rope is drawn by a capstan, at which 
the horse woi’ks. A weight is added by a crooked le¬ 
ver, which assists in starting, so that the follower will 
move 12 inches farther than any other Toggel joint 
Press, and with greater ease. 
“ The joints are of such a nature that their power in¬ 
creases sufficient to meet the harder pressure of the hay, 
and thus making the draft of the horse at all times equal. 
The joints drawing against each other, there is but very 
little friction on the windlass. The horse makes 8, 10, 
or 12 turns, as may be desired, in pressing a bale. The 
follower lowers of its own accord, and is regulated by a 
lever in the reach of the person treading the hay, so that 
he can lower as fast as he desires. 
It occupies but a small space—10 feet squai’e is suf¬ 
ficient in any barn, as the power works beneath the floor, 
and the horse will operate highejr, or off in any direc¬ 
tion from the press. Cost, from $100 to $120.” 
THE FARMER’S COAT OF ARMS. 
One of the most attractive and prominent objects at 
the exhibition of the Rensselaer County Ag. Society, 
held at Lansingburgh on the 3d and 4th of October, was 
«« The Farmer's Coat of Armsf’ planned and executed 
by Alexander Walsh, Esq., well known for his long 
continued efforts in behalf of every measure calculated 
to advance the interests or elevate the standing of our 
farmers. 
The structure was pyramidial in its form, 23 feet in 
length and 17 in height. Some idea of its massiveness 
will be obtained, when it is stated to have comprised no 
less than 38 agricultural implements, some of them large 
and ponderous, all valuable and useful to the farmer. 
Among them were a horse power and threshing machine, 
a fanning mill, horse rake, Yankee churn, hay knife, bush 
hook, bill hook, root cutter, corn shelier, cultivator, 
grain cradle, plow, straw cutter, &c. &c. Indeed, there 
was scarcely any instrument wielded by the hand of the 
farmer or used by him, from the common spade and hoe 
and axe to the most complicated and finished of agricul¬ 
tural machines, which found not a fitting place in the 
structure; while the natural roughness of the imple¬ 
ments was softened down and rendered agreeable to the 
eye by a felicitous arrangement and combination of 
fruits and flowers. The whole was symmetrically ad¬ 
justed, forming a pile every part of which was fraught 
with significancy, and whose tout ensemble fully harmo¬ 
nized with all the rules of taste. The pyramid was 
surmounted by a diminutive but highly finished plow, 
on which perched an American eagle, ready, as it 
seemed, from the auspicious and bouyanl impulses of 
agriculture, to spread his wings for a loftier flight. In 
the centre were a barometer and chemical apparatus, 
such as retorts, crucibles, blow pipes, &c., near which 
were the following appropriate printed mottos: “ Every 
change of wind, every fall of rain must affect some of 
the manifold operations of the farmer;” “There is no 
pursuit in which so many of the laws of nature must be 
consulted and understood as in the cultivation of the 
earth.” On the right side was another—“ Agricultural 
implements to save labor, facilitate industry, economize 
time, and increase production.” On the left another— 
“ Cultivate man—the improvement of the animal and 
vegetable kingdoms will surely follow.” In the rear 
another—“ At this period of the year, it is peculiarly 
proper for us to indulge in these Shows and Fairs—the 
horn of plenty ever flows with its abundance—the gar¬ 
dens and fields pour forth their abundant stores.” Illus¬ 
trative of these latter sentiments, around the base as 
well as upon the superstructure, were arranged a rich 
variety of fruits and vegetables—“overflowings of 
plenty’s abundant horn”—made to overflow by the bles¬ 
sings of Divine Providence upon the husbandman's toil. 
Among the rare fruits, &c. that adorned the pile, were 
the following:—Five varieties of Siberian crab apple, 
plums, strawberries, the Pyrus Japoniea apple, the seed¬ 
less Barbary, sea kale, Chincupin chesnut, green globe 
artichoke, celery, carrots, second crop Windsor beans, 
cauliflower, new variety beet, Bassano tomatoes, &e. &c. 
Of named dahlias, it was ornamented by the following; 
Charles XII., Penelope, Zeno, Ansals Unick, Maid of 
Bath, Mania, Windal’s Queen, Beauty of England, Re¬ 
liance, Countess of Mansfield, Bowling Green Rival, 
Rienzi, Beauty of Bedford, Mrs. Rushton, Contender, 
Russell’s Unique, Lord Morpeth, Welfors Mary, Lady 
Mallet, &c. 
While the philosophical and chemical apparatus point¬ 
ed to the connection between the natural sciences and 
the pursuits of agriculture, and reminded the beholder 
of the claims of those sciences to the increased attention 
of the farmer, the value of facts and practical princi¬ 
ples found in the agricultural publications of the day 
was also set before the eye on the right side of the struc¬ 
ture, where The Cultivator, the Reports of the N. Y. 
State Agricultural Society, and such books as the Farm¬ 
er’s Companion, Dana’s Muck Manual, the Orchardist, 
and the Complete Farmer occupied a conspicuous place. 
Above these, and on the right side, were cocoons, mul¬ 
berry leaves and reeled silk of 1827—the inventor of the 
structure thus referring to his early attention to the silk 
culture, that now begins to engage the farmer’s atten¬ 
tion. In view of the retirement and repose of rural 
scenes, and the well known fact that certain animals 
which, being out of their sphere in cities and villages, 
there seem timid or untamed, but are quite domesticated 
in the vicinity of the farmer, he also placed a rabbit in 
the bottom of the horse power, as if to represent the 
tranquil scenes and enjoyments of the farmer’s life. 
Grapes were not forgotten; grouped bunches and wreaths 
of these spread their decorations over a large part of 
the structure. By way of protection to the whole, a 
suitable awning was erected, extending over it and or¬ 
namented with graceful festoons. This display of in¬ 
genuity and taste, so strikingly emblematical of the oc ¬ 
cupations of the farmer and of sciences identified with 
his appropriate elevation in society, and with the rich¬ 
est fruits of his labor, could have been insci’ibed to 
none more fitly than the individual selected. A descend¬ 
ant of one whose name is associated with whatever be¬ 
longs to sterling excellence of character, and in whom 
agriculture and its kindred sciences found a most muni¬ 
ficent patron—himself also the enlightened and honored 
president of the Society whose annual Fair this Farm¬ 
er’s Coat of Arms was intended to grace, it was gratify¬ 
ing to read, in a miniature engraving of the fabric, ap¬ 
pended near the centre, the following dedication: 
“ To William P. Van Rensselaer, Esq., the En¬ 
lightened Agriculturist, the efficient and honored friend 
and patron of Natural Science, Temperance, Religion, 
and whatever belongs to the welfare of our Agricultural 
Population, this Farmer’s Coat of Arms, composed 
of machines and implements for increasing the fertility 
of the soil and the productiveness of human labor, is 
most respectfully dedicated, by his obedient servant, 
Alexander Walsh.” 
It Avas the intention of Mr. Walsh to have exhibited 
this “coat of arms” at the State Fair, as we learn by the 
following letter to the President: 
Lanainghurgh, Se^t. 18, 1843. 
Dear Sir —In consequence of many urgent calls for 
my presence here, 1 have been compelled to absent my¬ 
self from the Annual Fair of the State Agricultural Soci¬ 
ety. You may rest assured, however, that the progres¬ 
sive annual growth of the hitherto unowned child of my 
brain—the State Agricultural Society—now almost in its 
twelfth year, and brought into existence by an anony¬ 
mous advertisement inserted by me in the Albany Argus 
of 1832, has afforded me the utmost gratification; and my 
word for it, no parental exertion shall be wanting on my 
part to aid in bringing it to full maturity. 
While going around with you at Rochester, in July 
last, to select the ground for the Fan-, I planned several 
schemes to indicate in as appropriate and tasteful a man¬ 
ner as I could, the end and object of the meeting. I pro¬ 
mised myself much gratification in lending my aid in 
carrying out these plans; but as I am debarred that plea¬ 
sure, I contemplate using one of them at Rensselaer Co. 
Agricultural Fair, namely. The Farmer’s Coat of Arms, a 
pyramid composed of the implements used in agricul¬ 
ture, &c. Yours, respectfully, 
Alexander Walsh. 
GREEN MANURES. 
Messrs. Editors— I have sometimes thought, (though 
I have never tried it,) that ground might be cheaply ma¬ 
nured, by sowing with oats, barley, wheat, &c. 10 or 12 
lbs. of clover seed to the acre, and plowing it under the 
next spring as a preparative for grain or corn crops. 
It seems to me that it would help, at any rate, and be 
cheaper than stable manures. Could you give us any in¬ 
formation on the subject? H. T. C. 
Burlington, Vt. 
The course proposed by our correspondent, is a com¬ 
mon one with many farmers in the wheat districts of 
New-York, with the exception in most cases, that the 
clover is not plowed until the second season. It is 
thought better to let it stand longer than one season, on 
account of the great gain of the roots, and the vigor of 
the plant. There can be no doubt that on soils suitable 
to clover, this method of manuring is much cheaper than 
any other. We know an extensive farmer, and a most 
successful one, W'ho avers that he can manuie his faim 
cheaper with clover, than he could with manure, could 
he have it for only the carting from his yard and spread¬ 
ing. 
