MOOEE’S EUEAL NEW-YOEKEE: AN AGEICULTUEAL AND FAMILY JOUENAL. 
^rnf. lD[raHtoii’0 Itctatts, 
On the General Relations of Science to 
PRACTICAL AGRICULTURE. 
. LECTURE NINTH. 
Means by which Gteneral Scientific Knowledge 
may be Diffiised, and made Available for the 
Improvement of Practical Apiculture, and the 
General Elevation of the Agricultural Class. 
^Conclusion of Lecture 9</t.] 
You propose to do certain things here in 
New York, and here allow me to make one 
or two remarks. It has been proposed to 
establish an Agricultural College. As to 
this I have no doubt whatever, that it is a 
proper measure to take; as it is proper in 
England, so it is in New York. This should 
be done so soon as you are able to accom¬ 
plish it—it is a right thing to aim at. The 
difficulty does not lie in establishing the in¬ 
stitution, but in the details; you should be 
cautious that in the details you adopt no 
rash or hasty measuers, but act with discre¬ 
tion and judgment. Your efforts should 
not be divided; you should set out with the 
determination to establish the college' and 
nothing else—I mean nothing else in the 
way of establishing colleges. I have been 
asked whether I thought it would not be 
better to have six small colleges in different 
parts of the State. I had not studied the 
circumstances of the State, sufficiently to 
give advice on that point, but whatever these 
circumstances may be, or whatever the in¬ 
tention hereafter, you should not purpose at 
the start to do more than establish one col¬ 
lege, and direct all your efforts to get that 
in good working condition before you at¬ 
tempt another. If you fail in one you cer¬ 
tainly would in twenty, if you succeed in 
one, you can then go on and establish more. 
It is of great consequence in reference to 
the character of the State and of the teach¬ 
ers, that you should have one good school 
first. If you were to establish thirty col¬ 
leges in different counties of the State, I 
should like to know where you would get 
teachers to fill them ? I do not think you 
will find in all America sound men of knowl¬ 
edge and discretion, who could be safely 
trusted to teach scientific Agriculture in 
thirty schools. I do not think they exist in 
the Union, much less in the State of New 
York. You will act wisely and discreetly if 
you try to get one institution, it will be use¬ 
ful to your State, and will turn out men to 
fill up any other schools which you may af¬ 
terwards establish. 
Again, in any building which may be 
erected for this purpose, there should be 
provision only for what is likely to be want¬ 
ed, instead of laying out money in erecting 
buildings to accommodate a large number 
of pupils, who have not come yet; you 
should begin by making room enough only 
for those who first come, and then you can 
add accommodations, as they are found to 
be necessary. One point I desire to im¬ 
press upon you—excuse the liberty I take: 
you should not encourage the idea that any 
great and surprising results will spring out 
of this all at once. I have been myself the 
victim of extraordinary expectations. I have 
been attached to an institution in which per¬ 
sons were interested who had these high- 
wrought expectations of what was to result 
from it, and who almost supposed that one 
result would be, that gold would rise up, as 
it were, in the pockets of the farmers.— 
These results not being realized, many con¬ 
cluded that science was really of no use in 
agricultural operations. If after the lapse 
of years you can, through tliis college, in¬ 
crease the average product of the State—if 
you can raise the average of wheat, alone, 
from 14 to 15 bushels per acre—^ I ask if 
this one additional bushel only, taking the 
State through, would not pay the cost of the 
college for ten years ? If you can raise oats, 
from 26 to 34 bushels per acre, you will 
have accomplished a great result But if 
you expect extraordinary results in a few 
years, eith^ on the general agricultural 
character oi the State or its farming popu¬ 
lation, you will be disappointed—not on ac¬ 
count of the fault of the teacher, or of the 
system, but because your expectations were 
too high. As I have said, I have myself 
been the victim of such expectations; and I 
warn you not to stumble over the same 
stone. If, after the lapse of years, you can 
raise the character of the agricultural com¬ 
munity, so that a stranger, visiting your 
farms, finds the younger men possessed of 
greater intelligence than their fsithers, and 
applying that knowledge intelligently in 
practice, so tliat the superior skill and sci¬ 
ence of the farmers of New York are obvi¬ 
ous, that will indeed be a proud thing for 
you to see, and for a foreigner to discover 
and acknowledge. But so great a result 
cannot be brought about in one year_it 
may take ten years. 
Again: it has been proposed to give in¬ 
struction in scientific agriculture, in the 
medical colleges of the State. All instruc¬ 
tion in tliis branch of knowledge should be 
encouraged; no attempt should be made to 
put down such measures, if any are on foot. 
Medical men, passing from the college into 
a rural district, to practice their profession, 
cannot be less useful for having a knowl¬ 
edge of scientific agriculture. Therefore, 
in medical schools, encom-agement should 
be given to efforts to mtroduce this branch 
of study there. So in theological schools, 
the study should be encouraged. Clergy¬ 
men may exercise a salutary influence upon 
husbandry, as upon good morals; but the 
great diffieffity is, that the farmers will not 
send their sons to these colleges, and hence 
the rural schools are best adapted to the 
diffusion, (in the right quarter, and directly,) 
of agricultural knowledge. Besides, if they 
were to go to these colleges, they would be 
apt to learn unsound doctrine. It is not to 
be expected that men, however profound in 
one department of science, and whose hab¬ 
its of thought and study are all in that di¬ 
rection, should be familiar with practical 
agriculture. Hence, they may take up 
crude notions and inculcate them, and do 
harm, rather than good, to the pupils under 
them. 
It has also been proposed to attach agri¬ 
cultural departments to some of the col¬ 
leges. To that there can be no objection; 
at the same time, any encouragement which 
the State may give to this kind of instruc¬ 
tion, should be given to the one school by 
which all other schools will be regulated, 
when once you get it fairly organized.— 
There is this difficulty in regard to attach¬ 
ing agricultural departments to existing col¬ 
leges, that if this new department is under 
mere scientific men, the proper wants of far¬ 
mers’ sons will not be properly looked to.— 
So sensible am I of this, that in the sug¬ 
gestions I made to the Legislature at New 
Brunswick, as to the mode of improving its 
agriculture, whilst I recommended an agri¬ 
cultural school at Fredericktown, where 
there is a college, I have recommended that 
it should not be connected with the college, 
because they are not practical men, and are 
not calculated to give instruction to pupils 
intended for practical life. What is true 
there, is true all over the world. It is ne¬ 
cessary that such a school should be in 
charge of men who understand agriculhire, 
and the wants and wishes of agricidturists, 
and who Icnow xohat shoxdd he done to im¬ 
prove both. 
I believe many persons look forward to 
the introduction of agricultural instruction 
into common schools, and I think it very im¬ 
portant that this should not be lost sight of. 
In the lower grade of schools I think it 
most important, and it should commend it¬ 
self to those having the affairs of the State 
in charge. The mass of your countrymen 
get their instruction in these schools. You 
reach a greater number by introducing this 
study into these schools, and you reach them 
at the least possible expense of money and 
time. You only ask the school master to 
give a little, time to teaching one certain 
book, selected for its bearing on the princi¬ 
ples Only of agTiculture. To facilitate this 
instruction, I drew up lliia little catechism. 
It has been introduced extensively into the 
schools in Great Britian, and translated into 
every European language. But this ob¬ 
stacle has been found to exist, not only at 
home, but in other countries, and that is, 
the want of qualification or inclination on the 
part of the ^schodl master, to teach. In 
Scotland our school masters are Avell edu¬ 
cated men, but they are fixed and station¬ 
ary, pursuing their vocations at one place 
generally all their lives, unless, as is rarely 
the case, some of the more skillful ones are 
transferred to places of greater emolument. 
These men find no difficulty in introducing 
this catechism. It has also been introduc¬ 
ed into the schools, in England, but there 
the grade of school masters is lower. But 
we have there national schools for the edu¬ 
cation of teachers, the effect of which is, 
that a race of men are now coming out, Avho 
are capable of teaching this branch of 
knowledge. The same difficulty exists in 
Belgium and France, where their school 
masters are not sufficiently instructed them- 
seh'es to teach it Of course this obstacle 
is only to be overcome by additional instruc¬ 
tion to the school masters, dkd it is a re¬ 
proach to them, that they have so little ap¬ 
plication or capacity, that they cannot learn 
a catechism which a boy seven years old can 
perfectly understand. I examined a class of 
about a dozen boys, the eldest of whom Avas 
14, the youngest 7 years of age; the eldest 
got the first prize, the youngest the second. 
It cannot, therefore, be difficult for a school 
master to learn to teach these simple prin¬ 
ciples. 
There is one obstacle, which in this State 
appears to me to be one of some difficulty 
—an obstacle to the introduction of this 
kind of study into the schools, and that ari¬ 
ses from the unsettled condition of your 
teachers. You have not school masters who 
permanently remain in one district; the 
trustees engage a teacher for a limited time, 
and then both parties are at liberty to quit 
the engagement. In England tliey are fix¬ 
ed residents in the parish to which they be¬ 
long. The difficulty here, is therefore, one 
of some moment It precludes a unity of 
system, a concentration of effort in carrying 
it out, and it prevents the school master from 
t^ing that pride in the progress of his pu¬ 
pils, which he AA'ould have if he knew that 
a school was to be under his care for years, 
and he responsible for its management— 
This may stand in your way in introducing 
this study into your common schools, but it 
is not insurmountable, and you would do 
well to inquire how far it is practical to sm*- 
mount it 
One or two observations as to the kind 
of instruction which should go into the 
schools, with a prospect of agricultural im¬ 
provement I have told you what branch¬ 
es of science tell on agricultural operations, 
and bring out principles applicable to the 
growing of crops, that the boy can learn in 
elementary schools; but in learning them, 
it is necessary to use scientific terms. Ni¬ 
trogen, for instance, might puzzle a farmer; 
the boy, therefore, must understand this; 
he must be shown Avhat it is. So with 
phosphate of lime; its nature must be ex¬ 
plained to him, and after that, the boy will 
always attach the right signification to the 
Avord, understand your principles, and ap¬ 
ply them intelligently. These two words 
belong to the chemical nomenclature; but 
in teaching these principles of which I have 
spoken, you do not teach Chemistry. If I 
tell the boy that rocks form the different 
soils, that is not teaching Geology, but ag¬ 
riculture. As to Chemistry, I do not ob¬ 
ject to its introduction into schools. I have 
devoted my life to the study of Chemistry, 
and it may well be supposed that I should 
not be averse to it. I am not So with 
Geology; it is a study in which I feel a deep 
interest, but I do not recommend either on 
behalf of agriculture. I recommend agri¬ 
cultural instruction, and Chemistry and Ge¬ 
ology are only necessary to explain the 
terms used, in the elucidation of agricultu¬ 
ral principles. At the same time, I have 
felt the difficulty of selecting what is neces¬ 
sary to teach, and what should be excluded 
from the list of studies. The chemist and 
the geologist teach their peculiar sciences. 
If they know at the same time the princi¬ 
ples of practical agriculture, then they know 
what it is necessary to teach, and what not. 
If you tell a boy any more than is neces¬ 
sary to enable him, for instance, to distin¬ 
guish nitrogen from every thing else, you 
only confuse him. In this little book, the 
catechism to which I have referred, there 
are about 20 chemical words, Avhich it is 
necessary to explain, and to do this, you 
must show the pupil what the substances 
are Avhich these terms represent. Then he 
can follow you, and then he can understand 
all that is Avritten in this book and the larg¬ 
er Avorks. It is only to this extent, that 
Chemistry und other sciences ought to be 
introduced into your common schools to 
teach agriculture. I do not object to the 
introduction of Geology, Botany or Chem¬ 
istry, but on behalf of agriculture, I do ask 
for it. I only ask, and have asked every¬ 
where, one hour a week during the last year 
of a boy’s tuition, to impress upon his mind 
fully all the elementary principles of prac¬ 
tical agriculture; so that little is required to 
be taught in the elementary schools, and 
this little will produce good directly on the 
boy himself, and indirectly on the boy's 
father. It is remarkable how a man, who 
is most obstinate in resisting any new idea 
or process in regard to agriculture when 
suggested by a grown up man, I say it is 
very remarkable, how readily ho will listen 
to the same thing, coming from the mouth 
of his own son. The boy tells what he 
learns in the school to his father. The 
father is delighted at the wisdom of his own 
son, and he will allow his son to adopt in 
practice on his farm, Avhat he will not listen 
to a moment, if suggested by a stranger and 
an adult What is suggested by his son 
goes through his heart to his head, and that 
is the way to many people’s heads. 
My time is so far exhausted, that I can¬ 
not detain you with any further details. I 
will only make one other observation, and 
that is, that it is of great consequence that 
a farmer Avho owns a farm now, should 
make himself familiar with the best meth¬ 
ods of improving the soil, in order to retain 
his position, for if he does not, another Avho 
has more skill, will drive him from*his posi¬ 
tion, and take his place. As the son gener¬ 
ally thinks as the father does, there is no 
appeal stronger to such men as are most 
unwilling to adopt ncAv methods themselves, 
than to a father on behalf of his child and 
his future prospects. This is true, as a 
general rule. I knoAV that you have a 
strong desire that your sons should thrive 
in their professions, as parents generally 
have, that their sons should excel in their 
professions. This you can only do, by giving 
them more knowledge than you have; as 
much, at least, as the sons of others, bringing 
up their sons to different pursuits. I can 
make no stronger appeal to you, to exert 
yourselves, to take the proper steps to secure 
that knoAvledge, if not for yourselves, at 
least for those who are to follow you in the 
same profession. I cannot but think that 
you will say with the old man, who in a 
remote part of Scotland, attended one of 
my lectures, and drank in, open mouthed, 
all that I said, and who after I had conclu¬ 
ded, came to me with tears in his eyes, and 
told me he was too old to learn all that, 
but he would like well to have his son learn 
it. I hope ybu will all participate in that 
feeling and see to it, that your sons shall 
not be ignorant of what concerns so nearly 
their prospects in life. 
One of the severest struggles in life is 
that between a proud spirit and an empty 
purse. 
A MAN whom no person pleases is more 
unhappy than one who pleases uobody. 
(Hirtljorii anil darbm. 
PROTECTION FROM THE CTIRCTJLIO. 
L. A. Spalding, Esq., has kindly permit¬ 
ted us to copy a letter written to a gentle¬ 
man in Buffalo, embodying the results of 
experiments made to preserve Apricots, <fec., 
from the ravages of the curculio. It is ho¬ 
ped that other fruit growers will test the 
efficacy of a process, which has accomplish¬ 
ed so much, and that benefits may follow, 
as favorable as those Avhich Mr. Spalding 
has enjoyed.— Niagara Courier. 
Lockport, 6 mo., 1, 1850. 
Dear Friend:— The following statement 
will show the effect of paving under apricot 
and plum trees, which was the subject of 
our last conversation: 
In the spring of 1834 I set out several 
rows of plum, peach, cherry and apricot 
trees, twenty feet apart, and the trees ten 
feet apart in the roAv. My apricots are on 
plum stocks. Up to 1846 I had not a sin¬ 
gle fair crop of apricots from any of my 
trees. Some varieties of plum bore—the 
egg plum did not have but tAVO fair crops 
in that time. At any rate I was discoura¬ 
ged trying to raise apricots and plums. 
On a lot on Mmn st. in this village, where 
I resided from 1823 to 1835,1 had an apri¬ 
cot tree, near the garden fence, outside of 
which was the side-Avalk of the street, and 
inside was a brick Avalk leading to the rear 
of the garden. This tree bore uniformly 
fine crops to maturity, until it was destroy¬ 
ed, about four years ago. I was puzzled to 
account for the fact, that my trees at my 
present residence should not bear to matu -1 
rity, with all my pains of thumping and de¬ 
stroying the curculio, picking and feeding 
the fallen fruit to the hogs—while the tree 
on my old place hung full. In 18461 saw 
a statement, that to pave under apricot, 
plum and nectarines, would prevent the ra¬ 
vages of the curculio. This gave me a clue 
at once to the wherefore of the bearing of 
my apricot on my old place—and I resolv¬ 
ed to pave at once under my trees. In the 
spring of 1846 I spread leached ashes un¬ 
der my apricots and. plums, and paved all 
my apricots and part of my plums. Those 
paved bore abundant and fine crops to ma¬ 
turity in 1846-’47-’48 and ’49; while the 
egg plums which were not paved till the 
spring of 1849, for fourteen years had but 
two good crops—in 1849 I paved under 
them, and they bore a fine crop. They 
are in one of the rows, and I know of no 
reason why they should not bear, but be¬ 
cause they were not paved. They were 
bearing trees when set in 1834, and have 
ever been thrifty—the fruit uniformly fall¬ 
ing off before maturity, excepting as stated. 
I liavG a finp, nectarine which always 
hangs full of green fruit, and it never yet 
produced a ripe nectarine—this was set out 
in 1835 in a row of peaches, and is not pa¬ 
ved. I have this spring spread a coat of 
leached ashes under it and paved it It 
hangs very full, and I have no doubt I shall 
have a fine crop of ripe nectarines. 
I usually sweep up the fallen fruit and 
feed to the hogs. About one-third of my 
apricots are stung and drop, but more re¬ 
main on the trees than I usually allow to 
ripen. Every year since I paved, my apricots 
are loaded with ripe fruit. I sprinkle salt 
freely on the pavement to destroy the grass 
and weeds which spring up between the edges 
of the flat stones I used and to fertilize the 
ground. 
Persons may theorize as much as they 
please—but I have the fullest confidence, 
that paving must produce the same results 
every where. I have neighbors who at¬ 
tempt to raise plums and apricots without 
paving and complain of losing their fruit 
—and fruit falling from my trees show that 
the curculio exists here in great abundance. 
It is not the absence of the insect that saves 
my fruit, but in my opinion its instinct, 
which leads it away from paved trees, be¬ 
cause the chance of reproduction is destroy¬ 
ed and its labor of love lost. Its darling 
maggot cannot burrow in the ground under 
the paved trees! Be it instinct, love, or de¬ 
sire to perpetuate the race, or what it may, 
I know that since I paved, I have fine apri¬ 
cots and a great abundance of them—at a 
season too Avhen such fruit is a great luxu¬ 
ry. The overplus commands a large price 
in our market^ and pmjs better than any 
other fruit The expense of paving is more 
than liquidated the first year. Hard bricks 
—flat stones, or even cobble stones would 
do the job. Salt destroys the weeds and 
grass. Leached wood ashes two or three 
inches thick, on which to lay the paving, is 
important, as being a substance in which 
no maggot would burrow, in dodging the 
stone or brick. 
A friend recently informed me that he 
cht doAvn his nectarine tree, because the 
fruit uniformly fell off. Many have given 
up trying to raise the apricot for the same 
reason; and the plum too, is growing into 
disfavor for the same cause. If this cer¬ 
tain remedy were known and applied, what 
a vast addition to the comforts and pockets 
of our people wohld result! I would men¬ 
tion that my pavements are nine to ten feet 
wide, running lengthwise of the row. 
Very Respectfully, 
• L. A. Spalding. 
Hon. Leavis F. Allen, Black Rock. 
TRANSPLANTING EVERGREENS. 
- S 
It seems not to be very material wheth- \ 
er evergreen trees are transplanted in April, | 
May or June. They may be made to live ( 
in either of these months when they are 1 
properly taken up and set; as it is all im¬ 
portant to take up a sod with the tree, it 
may be as well to transplant this kind ear¬ 
ly in the season before plowing commences. 
It is not necessary to take up a long root 
with a fir, a hemlock, or a pine; but it is \ 
absolutely necessary to take up a sod with j 
the roots; and sods will adhere to them bet- j 
ter at this season of the year than when the i 
earth is more dry. i 
There is not much risk in taking firs from ] 
good nurseries, for the multitude of fibrous i 
roots that are found in every direction, hold i 
enough earth to insure their growth. But I 
pines or firs taken from the forests have - 
but few roots, and they need more care. < 
The bark that covers the roots of pines < 
and other evergreens, is very thin and ten- i 
der, and when the trees are pulled up and ; 
set as we set apple trees, the bark comes ' 
off, and not one tree in fifty survives. Long 
roots are not needed, and the trees may be 
taken up by cutting around at a distance ! 
of twelve inches from the trunk, when that 
is not more than five feet in height. 
These trees and clumps of each may 
be set when the earth is wet, for there 
is not the same need of spreading out 
the roots and keeping them separate as 
there is when trees are taken up without 
the earth. Yet it is important in all cases 
to keep the earth loose, and light, and free 
from weeds around them.— Selected. 
ASHES AND LIME FOR PLITM TREES. 
I HAVE in my garden a plum tree, which 
for three or four years past, has borne very 
full; but not till this year has any portion 
of the plums been sound. 
They were are all bored, or rotted and 
fell from the tree before they were ripe.— 
Two or three other plum trees, of a differ¬ 
ent kind, which have borne less, shared the 
same fate. Last year, a young tree, which 
stood near an ash-leach, and which had 
never borne before, produced a solitaiy plum 
and that was sound. This suggested the 
idea, that its preservation was owing to the 
ashes wliich had been scattered around the 
roots of the tree. Following out the hint 
thus given, I last spring spread ashes and 
lime, with manure and salt, around all my 
trees. The result has been, that they all 
have borne this year, more than usual, and' 
most of the fruit has been sound. This rv.« 
suit I ascribe, in part to the ashes and lime. 
The same, I find, is recommended by “An 
Old Digger.” And the conclusion is obvi¬ 
ous, that alkali enough will destroy the 
young insects as they lie burrowed in the 
ground or attempt to emerge from it in the 
spring. If in this Avay sound plums can be 
raised, it will be found a very easy way.— 
Let some of our readei*s try the experiment 
1 and note the result— Berkshire Culturist. 
MANAGEMENT OF ANIMALS. 
In breaking or managing a horse, how¬ 
ever intractable or stubborn his temper may 
be, preserve your OAvn. Almost every fault 
of the brute arises from ignorance. Be pa¬ 
tient with him, teach and coax him and suc¬ 
cess, in time, is certain. There are tricks, 
however, Avhich are the results of confirm¬ 
ed habit or viciousness, and these sometimes 
require a different treatment A horse ac¬ 
customed to starting and running aAvay, may 
be effectually cured by putting him to the 
top of his speed on such occasions, and 
running him till pretty thoroughly exhaust¬ 
ed. 
A horse that had a trick of pulling his 
bridle and breaking it, was at last reduced 
to better habits, by tying him tightly to a 
stake driven on the bank of a deep stream. 
With his tail pointing to the Avater, he com¬ 
menced pulling at the halter, which sud¬ 
denly parted, over the bank he tumbled, 
and after a somerset or two, and flounder¬ 
ing a while in the water, he was satisfied to 
remain at his post in future, and break no 
more bridles. 
A ram htis been cured of butting at every 
thing and every body, by placing an unre¬ 
sisting effigy in a simikir position; when the 
sudden assaiJt on a wintry day, resulted in 
tumbling his ramship into a cold bath, which 
his improved manners took good care to 
avoid in future. 
A sheep killing dog has been made too 
much ashamed ever again to look a sheep 
in the face, by tying his hind legs to a stout 
ram, on the brow of a hill, while the flock 
were quietjy feeding at the bottom. On be¬ 
ing set free, and somewhat startled at set¬ 
ting out, in his haste to rejoin his friends, he 
tumbled and thumped mtister Tray so sadly 
over the stones and gullies, that he was quite 
satisfied to confine himself to cooked mut¬ 
ton thereafter. 
Man’s reason Avas given him to control 
“ the beasts of the field and the birds of the 
air,” by other means than brute force. If 
he Avill bring this into play, he will have no 
difficulty in meeting and overcoming every 
emergency of perverse instinct or bad habit 
in the dumb things, by his superior cunning. 
—American Agriculturist. 
IS 
I 
