152 
NOTES FOR THE MONTH. 
Acknowledgments. —-Communications have been re¬ 
ceived, since our last, from Granite State, L. C. B., B. 
B., S. B. Buckley, C. F. W., D. W. C., F. Holbrook, 
B. J. H., H. C. W., John Diehl, Elizabeth Diehl, Sal¬ 
mon Cook, W. P. B., G. B. Smith, S. M. Dorr, Prof. 
Norton, L. L. W., Geo. W. Coffin, Jesse Charlton, Ex¬ 
celsior, B., Daniel S. Curtis, P., A. Subscriber, P. F. E., 
W., F. B., Plowman, Evelyn, Warner, J. R. P. 
Books, Pamphlets, &c. have been received as follows: 
Address of Col. M. P. Wilder, at the N. H. State Fair, 
from the author.--Transactions of the Norfolk (Mass.) 
Ag. Society, for 1851, from Hon. M. P. Wilder, Pres’t 
of the Society.--Walks and Talks of an American 
Farmer in England, with illustrations j by Fred. Law 
Olmsted, from the publisher, G. P. Putnam, New-York. 
-Transactions of the Hampshire (Mass.) Ag. Society 
for 1851, from J. W. Boyden, Sec’y--Transactions 
of the Middlesex (Mass.) Ag. Society for 1851, from 
Simon Brown, Esq., Editor N. E. Farmer. 
Preserving Grapes. —We received on the 12th 
March, from Dr. T. W. Blatchford of Troy, a box of 
grapes, in nearly as tine condition as when picked from 
the vines last autumn. They were packed in coarse oak 
saw-dust, the finer particles of the dust having been sepa¬ 
rated by sifting. - 
A correspondent wishes a plan for a cheap hen¬ 
house. Who will furnish a good one? 
Sheep Husbandry. —We have received replies to the 
inquiry of 11 W. M’C.,” in our February number, from 
A. H. Avery, Galway, N. Y.—B. H. Andrews, Water- 
bury, Conn., with samples of wool— L. and A. Whiting, 
Torringford, Conn., who all think they have such sheep 
as our correspondent desires. We have also, a valuable 
paper from D. S. Curtis, Esq., of Canaan Center, N. 
Y., on the general subject of breeding sheep, for which, 
with the others, we shall endeavor to find room next 
month. “ D. W. C.,” Tunbridge, Vt., will find the 
questions he proposes, discussed in these communications. 
We have also been furnished with the report of a com¬ 
mittee appointed at a meeting of farmers in West West¬ 
minster, Yt., to examine and report on the merits of the 
flock of French, Spanish, and Silesian Merino sheep, 
imported last year, by Geo. Campbell, Esq., of that 
town, and Wm. Chamberlain, Esq., of Red Hook, 
Dutchess co., N. Y. The publication of this report in 
our pages, seems unnecessary, inasmuch as all, or nearly 
all the facts embraced in it, may be found in a communi¬ 
cation from the Hon. F. Holbrook, in our last volume, 
page 810. The same committee are to be present at the 
shearing of this flock, and when their report is made, 
we shall be glad to give it a place. 
Homer. —We have been presented, by P. Barber, 
Esq., with a beautiful colored lithographic view of this 
pretty rural village, situated in Cortland county in this 
state. On the rising ground, back of the village, are 
exhibited some of the finest farms in the county. Among 
them, we notice those of Messrs. P. Barber, Israel Boies, 
A. Ballard, A. L. and Geo. Chamberlain and others. 
Aprtl, 
The print is from the establishment of Endicott & Co., 
New-York, and is well executed 
Cultivation of Flax. —If practical proof were want¬ 
ing of the pecuniary advantage, resulting from scientific 
investigation, the recent invention of flax-cotton would 
be a case in point. A description of the peculiarities of 
the flax-cotton and the mode of its preparation has been 
published in the Cultivator. Extensive preparations are 
being made for the manufacture of linen from the im¬ 
proved article, and the attention of farmers is invited to 
the profit of cultivating flax. A pamphlet, together with 
a sample of the prepared flax, has been received from 
Mr. A. Cameron of New-York. The flax is white and 
soft as cotton, while it seems to retain the firm and deli¬ 
cate fibre peculiar to itself. 
Transactions of County Ag. Societies. —We are 
indebted to our friends, in different parts of the country, 
for copies of the Transactions of different County Ag. 
Societies. Some of these, are contained in a single news¬ 
paper, and some in pamphlets of 50 to 100 pages or more. 
They embrace, generally, the annual Address before the 
Society, the Reports of the Judges who award the pre¬ 
miums, and some of them, Essays of great interest, es¬ 
pecially to the localities where published. We have had 
recourse to these Tranactions, for many important facts, 
heretofore communicated to our readers, and intend to 
draw largely from them hereafter. In tendering our 
thanks for them, we wish to make a suggestion to such 
Societies as have not adopted the plan of publishing an¬ 
nual reports of their doings. We know of no way in 
which they could more cheaply promote the objects they 
have in view, than by circulating through their counties, 
an annual pamphlet, containing the usual address, reports, 
&c. Let their speakers and their committees understand 
that their papers are all to be published j. and that such 
reports are expected from them as will be creditable to 
the Society, and useful to the community. In addition 
to this, premiums might be offered for experiments and 
essays on subjects of practical interest to each locality. 
In this way, a considerable amount of important informa¬ 
tion might be collected, and circulated very generally in 
the different counties, and among many who never see an 
agricultural paper. - 
A National University. —Spirited meetings have of 
late been held in this city , for the purpose of discussing 
the importance of an Institution of a more broad and 
comprehensive character, than our colleges, and urging 
its claims upon the Legislature. These meetings have, 
been addressed by Prof. Mitchell, Prof. Pierce of Har¬ 
vard University, Prof. Bache of Washington, Hon. 
Saml. B. Ruggles of New-York, as well as by distin¬ 
guished gentlemen of this city. There seems to he a 
deep interest among scientific and literary men, in this 
project, and there can be no reasonable doubt, but that 
the establishment of such an Institution would be the 
crowning stone to the present incomplete system of edu¬ 
cation. The wants of the Agricultural community would 
be cared for in this plan, and it would form a model for 
and nucleus to lesser institutions, designed to raise the 
standard of popular education. The warmth with which 
the proposal has been received by the leading scientific 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
