876 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
Dec. 
When he first moved into it, he took great pains to im¬ 
port the best breeds from England; these became cross¬ 
ed with the native stock, and have built up some of the 
most magnificent oxen and the best milch cows in the 
country. Our State owes a lasting debt of gratitude to 
that great and truly good man for the fruits he intro¬ 
duced, and the cattle and sheep he imported, which 
now bless the State of which he was one of the earliest 
and truest friends.” 
Thus, the origin of the u enviable race of neat cat¬ 
tle,” to be found in the Kennebec valley, is traced to 
the “ best breeds from England,” imported by Mr. 
Vaughan; crosses from which u have built up some of 
the most magnificent oxen and the best milch cows in 
the oountry ”! 
We heartily concur in the tribute paid the “ great 
and truly good man,” whose name is mentioned in the 
above quotation; but at the same time we would beg 
leave to correct an error. It was the late Charles 
Vaughan, Esq., and not Dr. Benjamin Vaughan, 
who imported the cattle from England. These two 
gentlemen, brothers, settled in Maine nearly at the 
same period,- and both conferred important benefits on 
that part of the country, by their liberal efforts for the 
improvement of its agriculture. The importation al¬ 
luded to was made in 1792. It consisted of two bulls 
and two cows. One of the cows, while on the passage, 
dropped a bull calf; and this animal, having been pre¬ 
sented by Mr, Vaughan to the late Hon. Christopher 
Gore, of Massachusetts, became the foundation of 
what was afterwards widely known as u the Gore 
breed.” The other stock was the foundation of the 
celebrated herds of the Messrs. Vaughan, and was 
continued by them without admixture of other blood, 
till 1824, when a cross was made with the import¬ 
ed short-horn bull Denton. For nearly forty years, 
bulls were annually obtained from these herds, and 
taken to different parts of the State; and many other 
bulls and cows of various breeds—such as Bake- 
well, or long-horn,—short-horn, of different families,— 
Hereford, Devon, &c.—have been introduced at various 
times; and unless the general character of the cattle of 
the State has lately undergone a great change, it is not 
easy to find a good animal for any purpose, that does 
not bear evident marks of an affinity with some of these 
stocks. 
Report of the Commissioner of Patents. 
We have before us a copy of the report from this 
Bureau for 1848. Like the volume from the same 
source for the previous year, it contains a mass of use¬ 
ful matter relating to the progress of the mechanic arts, 
and to the products and improvements of agriculture. 
The staple products of the United States for the year 
1848, are put down as follows; wheat. 126,000,000 
bus.; corn 588,000,000 bus.; oats 185,000,000 bus.; 
potatoes 114,000,000 bus. ; rye 33,000,000 bus.; buck¬ 
wheat 12,500,000 bus.; barley 6,222,000 bus.; hay 
15,735,000 tons; hemp 20,330 tons; cotton 1,066,000,- 
000 pounds; tobacco 219,000,000; rice 119,000,000 
pounds; sugar (produced in Louisiana) 200,000,000 
pounds. 
The following appropriate remarks are made in re¬ 
lation to the increased attention which has lately been 
given to the subject of agriculture: 
“ The world has, within comparatively a few years, 
learned that agriculture offers an almost illimitable field 
for the operations of the scientific as well as practical 
experimenter. Its full development seems to require 
the application of all the physical sciences in some form 
or other—in the analysis of soils; in the nature, struc¬ 
ture and habits of plants; in the food of plants and the 
adaptation of soils and manures to their sustenance and 
growth; in the improvement of the races and kinds of 
animals; in the invention and improvement of uselul 
implements and machines; and finally, in political eco¬ 
nomy, which points the agriculturist to the contempla¬ 
tion of his interests as they may be affected by the in¬ 
stitutions and the legislation of governments. Viewed 
in this light agriculture may truly be regarded as the 
most important, dignified, elevated and honorable pur¬ 
suit in which man can engage. The intellectual quali¬ 
fications which the cultivation of the science of agricul¬ 
ture requires, are therefore not, second in degree to those 
which are necessary for the pursuit of any other science. 
Hence the importance of study, experiment, and close 
observation on the part of the agriculturist. All who 
may be engaged in that elevating and ennobling pur¬ 
suit, may not have the time nor the opportunity to be¬ 
come thoroughly versed in the philosophy which lies at 
its foundation, but, in a life devoted to its practice, the 
humblest will have the time and the opportunity to 
acquire much interesting and valuable knowledge.” 
The American Fruit Culturist. 
Messrs. Editors— Your brief notice of this new 
work by Mr. Thomas, induced me to procure it; and 
I have been so well pleased with it, that I beg leave to 
call the attention of your readers to what I consider its 
improvements over former works of this kind. Unlike 
the old Fruit Culturist, which contained a separate de¬ 
scriptive catalogue of the great mass of kinds, the 
different varieties are all placed together, so as to be 
all embodied under a distinct classification. All confu¬ 
sion is prevented, by the quality of [each sort being 
shown by the type used for the name, so that the reader 
has only to glance his eye over the column of names, to 
select what is most valuable,—what is next so, and so 
forth. Thus, taking the Apple as an example, the 
most highly celebrated and best, 13 in number, are in 
large CAPITALS—the next in celebrity and value, 
consisting of over 50, and nearly all first-rate fruits, 
are in small capitals —the next grade, comprising 
about 100, possessing good or valuable qualities, but 
only recommended for large collections, and including 
also unestablished new sorts, are in Italics ; while the 
remainder, about 75, being those unworthy of cultiva¬ 
tion, are in common Roman letters. The accuracy 
with which these rejected sorts have been designated, 
is shown by the correspondence, without a single ex¬ 
ception , so far as the list goes, with the rejected list 
made out by the American Pomological Congress since 
the publication of Mr. Thomas’ book. 
The vast number of varieties which our nurserymen 
have propagated for sale, and which have thus become 
disseminated far and wide through the country, renders 
such a book particularly appropriate at the present 
time, serving to point out the good from the bad, and 
being just what the great mass of the community now 
wants, in reducing the list of sorts by retaining the 
best. 
In searching for descriptions, a vast amouut of labor 
is saved by the arrangement adopted by Mr. T. For 
example, suppose a young cultivator has fruited a fine 
new apple, but has lost the name, and which I will 
suppose is the Gravenstein. He perceives it is an au¬ 
tumn fruit; he therefore turns to the division appropria¬ 
ted to autumn apples. It is sub-acid; he turns to the 
class of this division containing sub-acid fruit. It is 
striped with red; the section of this class for striped 
apples is quickly examined, and all the labor saved of 
turning over the whole list of autumn apples in search 
of the names. 
The same terms are used for describing the sorts as 
in former works, but they are made much more clear 
and definite to the ordinary reader, by the distinct de¬ 
finitions given of their exact meaning, and made quite 
plain by the use of cuts. 
