1851. 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
405 
miums maybe had gratis, on application to Mr. Johnson, 
the Secretary of the Society. 
Address of Hon. Frederick Holbrook at the Ver¬ 
mont State Fair. —Seldom have we seen so much 
valuable thought in so small a compass. It is strictly an 
Agricultural Address, presenting the importance and 
dignity of man’s sphere, as the tiller of the soil,—the 
scope which the varied branches of agriculture gives to 
superior talent,—the high purposes which should animate 
every farmer, and the rich reward which awaits his suc¬ 
cessful efforts. He claims that more is required of the 
farmer of the present day, than to have the “ hard day’s 
work in him”—that agriculture should be studied as a 
rational, progressive science, and have among its chief 
votaries, high-minded, intelligent young men, who know 
how to observe and compare, to invent and improve, and 
in what way to perfect their profession. He argues, that 
a mind thoroughly imbued with first principles, familiar 
with the laws of nature and the mode of their manifes¬ 
tation, would find food enough for its ambition, and suf¬ 
ficient range for its power, in a pursuit which was in the 
beginning man’s only inheritance, and more than all, 
would preserve, by constant communion with nature, 
that natural simplicity, integrity and love of country, 
which render man worthy of a citizenship in a free and 
enlightened country, and those hidden virtues which 
make a rural home attractive and happy. We cannot 
but admire the spirit that breathes in the whole produc¬ 
tion, and believe that a Society, which has so auspicious¬ 
ly commenced its existence, will do much in carrying 
out the exalted aims, which its president has exhibited 
so profoundly, truthfully and practically. 
Correction. —A letter has been received from Prof. 
Mapes, with reference to some remarks, (see page 339, 
Oct. No.,) attributed to him, in which he says, “ I feel 
it a duty to deny most emphatically ever having made 
such assertions at the Farmer's Club, or elsewhere." He 
says that he read a letter to that body from Mr. P. Ma¬ 
son, of Somerville, N. J., who asserts that he had raised 
pork at 4-| cents per pound, on cooked corn meal , and 
that when a sinylar pen was fed with raw meal, the pork 
cost 12| cents ner pound. Also a letter from Mr. James 
Campbell, of Weston, N. J., giving some results of the 
feeding of carrots to cattle, but that he made no mention 
of feeding carrots to hogs. Our authority for the state¬ 
ment attributed to Prof. Mapes, was a report claimed to 
be 11 official,” which we found in the New-York Leader. 
Fair of the American Institute. —The animal de¬ 
partment of this exhibition the present year, is stated to 
have been superior to the display of any former year. 
We-are informed by those who attended, that the cattle, 
sheep, and swine, comprised many of the very best spe¬ 
cimens of the various esteemed breeds. The depart¬ 
ments of manufactures, implements, 8cc., though not as 
full as in some former years, were considered rather su¬ 
perior in respect to the character of the articles. A very 
large number of premiums has been awarded, consisting 
of gold and silver medals, money, plate and books; but 
want of space obliges us to refer to the official Report of 
of the Institute for particulars. 
Variety of Ducks. —We saw at Col. Sherwood’s, in 
Auburn, last summer, a singular variety of ducks, and 
on inquiry were told that they were obtained from Mr. 
John S. Clark, of Throopsville, Cayuga county. We 
were so much interested in their appearance, especially 
from their striking resemblance to the wild black-duck, 
(Anas obscura ,) that we wrote to Mr. Clark to learn 
their history. In reply, he said — u The ducks you in¬ 
quire about, have been bred distinct from any other va¬ 
riety, at least twenty years. We obtained them some 
ten years since, in Orange county, and were then told 
that they were originally descended from the wild black- 
duck, and from the great resemblance, I have no doubt 
the statement is true, but cannot affirm this as a certain¬ 
ty. The characteristics of this variety are, nearly a 
uniform color, [a little darker than the wild black-duck,] 
good size, attaining the weight of eight pounds, dressed, 
at four months old, very quiet, and very prolific, one 
duck laying from 150 to 200 eggs in a season, with pro¬ 
per care. There are some in this vicinity which have 
lately acquired a top-knot , equal to any Poland fowl.” 
We have lately received from Mr. Clark a pair of these 
ducks, which fully answer the above description. The 
drake has the top-knot in perfection. There also came 
with this pair, a couple of the beautiful wood, or sum¬ 
mer duck—the handsomest of all the duck family 
Singular Phenomena. —Mr. Thos Hancock, of the 
Ashton Nurseries, Burlington, N. J. j informs us that on 
the 2d of Nov., a most singular phenomena was observed 
at a pond adjoining his lands. The fishes, consisting of 
pike, sunfish, calfish, roach, eells, &c., of all sizes, from 
one to twenty-two inches, were dying in great numbers. 
He states that the water appeared unusually clear, and 
seemed to magnify the objects in it. The pond gets low 
in summer and fills up with the fall rains. With the ex¬ 
ception of a ditch recently opened into the pond, about 
half a mile above the outlet, there had been nothing to 
affect the state of the water. Can any one account for 
this? 
Small Potatoes to Plant. 
A writer in the Cultivator last spring, stated that small 
potatoes were as good to plant as large ones. I had some 
doubts of it at the time, and thought that inasmuch as 
the size of all the potatoes raised in the season of 1850, 
were uncommonly small, it was possibly like making a 
virtue of necessity to recommend small potatoes to plant. 
However, I thought that I would try the experiment. I 
therefore took four rows across my patch, side by side, 
land of equal quality and condition, and planted them on 
the 19th day of April, 1851—two rows with very small 
potatoes, averaging in size from a walnut to a small but¬ 
ternut, and put two and three in a hill. Planted the 
other two rows with a full common large size potato. In 
the course of the season, I could not discover any differ¬ 
ence in the appearance and size of the vines, and on the 
first day of October, 1851, I dug the said four rows. 
There was a fair yield of good size potatoes in the whole; 
and I could not perceive any difference in the size, quali¬ 
ty or by measure, between those rows planted with the 
small potatoes, and those planted with the large ones. I 
