112 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
whatever state located, we have copied it almost entire. The only re¬ 
maining portion is a recommendation to give legislative encouragement to 
county agricultural societies, by aiding them to offer such premiums as 
will induce the ingenious and enterprising to devote their labor for the 
public benefit; and that the subject be commended to the early attention 
of the next legislature. 
The subject matter of the report is of deep interest, not only to the 
citizens of Pennsylvania, but to the inhabitants of New-York, and of all 
the states, particularly of those upon the Atlantic border. Our system of 
agriculture has generally been that of exhaustion, which, if persisted in, 
will thin our population, diminish the products of the-soil, and lessen the 
inducements to this sort of productive labor, the basis of national prospe¬ 
rity, and the nursery of the virtues and independence which can alone 
preserve our freedom. Individual and associate efforts have proved inade¬ 
quate to effect the desired change. It can only be effected here as it has 
been effected elsewhere,—through the aid and patronage of government; 
and the mode of doing it is correctly indicated in the report before us:— 
by the establishment of schools, in which our boys may acquire a know¬ 
ledge of the science and best modes of practice in agriculture;—and in 
which they will acquire a relish for its pursuits, and a deep interest in its 
prosperity—by agricultural surveys, which will bring to the knowledge of 
all, the best practices and the improvement of all;—and by aid to local 
societies, to enable them to induce useful emulation in their respective 
districts. The object to be effected is one of vast national importance. 
There is no one subject of so deep interest to the country, as the augmen¬ 
tation of our agricultural products. It is not only the farmer who is to be 
profited,—but the merchant, the manufacturer, the artizan, the laborer, 
the professional man and capitalist, will all come in for a full share of the 
benefit. The revenue of our canals, some of which are now sustained at 
serious annual loss, would be increased, by the increased products of the 
soil, and the increased wants of the husbandman. The transportation up 
on our rail-roads and turnpikes would be greatly augmented, and their in¬ 
come correspondingly increased. All would be benefitted, and all should 
lend an effort to aid in the great work 6f agricultural improvement. 
TIMOTHY SOWN WITH BUCKWHEAT. 
On a late visit to Coxsackie, we were shown fields of heavy grass, on 
the farm of Judge Van Bergen, which wete sown severally in 1835, 1836 
and 1837, with buckwheat and timothy. The soil is a pretty tenacious 
clay, which it is often difficult thoroughly to work in spring or autumn; 
but it may be generally well worked in summer; and when the timothy 
is sown at this time with buckwheat, it vegetates promptly, and becomes 
well established betore winter. Clover may be added, if necessary, the 
following spring. Tne grass was uncommonly heavy; and on the field 
sown the current year, it was thick and promising. 
We had an opportunity, at Coxsackie, of comparing meadows which 
had been long in grass, with those in which tillage crops had been made 
to alternate with grass, and of fully satisfying ourselves, had a doubt re¬ 
mained in our mind, of the great utility of the latter practice The re¬ 
cently stocked meadows, although apparently no better in quality of soil, 
or location, than the others, exhibited a burthen of grass two, three, four, 
and in some instances, we believe, five times greater than the old mea¬ 
dows. 
when he visits them, which he asks permission to. do. Though not ex¬ 
actly located in the Bay State, yet we consider the hint as extending to 
us, as we admire the policy of the government in patronizing agriculture, 
and have received a circular, and therefore heartily invite our highly es¬ 
teemed friend to take us in his circuit. 
AGRICULTURAL SURVEYS. 
The great improvement which has taken place in British husbandry, in 
the last half century, has been greatly accelerated by means of the agri¬ 
cultural surveys which, during that time, have been made and published 
of every county in the kingdom. These surveys are different from geo¬ 
logical surveys, although the publications embrace geological maps of all 
the counties, indicating, by colors, the various soils in each. They are 
particularly useful to the practical farmer. They detail the various modes 
of culture, describe and figure the most approved buildings, farming im¬ 
plements and machines, give an account of the main crops cultivated, ro¬ 
tations, domestic animals, &c.; state the product and profits of crops, price 
of labor, and indeed, embrace all that information which a farmer, desi¬ 
rous of improving his husbandry, by adopting the better practices of others, 
must be ever desirous to obtain. They in fact concentrate the best farm¬ 
ing practices in the kingdom, and then disseminate them for the benefit 
of all. 
We are glad to see Massachusetts, after having completed her geologi¬ 
cal survey*, taking the lead in a work of like usefulness, and hope her ex¬ 
ample will be, ere long, followed by other states. And we deem her 
particularly fortunate in the selection of a gentleman, to make her agri¬ 
cultural survey, of high character and qualifications, who combines with 
science, a good practical knowledge of husbandry. The Rev. Henry 
Coeman is too well known, as an agricultural writer, to need our com¬ 
mendation. He is qualified for the task he has undertaken. 
Mr. Colman has addressed a circular to farmers in the several towns, so¬ 
liciting their co-operation in accomplishing the survey; and to give sys¬ 
tem >o his undertaking, and awaken their inquiry, he has addressed to 
them queries embracing all the matters which are interesting to good hus¬ 
bandry, with a request, that they will be prepared to give him answers 
A Commendable Undertaking —A company has been organized in 
New-York, through the active and praiseworthy exertions of Mr. Minor, 
of the New-York Farmer, for the manufacture of Povdrette and Uric, 
two articles of concentrated manure, of great power in promoting fertility 
in the soil, from the contents of the city privies, upon the plan which has 
long been successfully followed in Paris, and more recently in London and 
other cities. If we are to judge from its influence in Europe, it will add 
greatly to the products of the soil about the city, reduce the price of ve¬ 
getables in the market, and incalculably promote the cleanliness, health 
and comfort of the citizens. It is estimated that the vidanges of that me¬ 
tropolis amount to 250 loads per day. They are completely defecated 
from odour by chemical process, and may be transported and used with 
as little offence to the senses as stable dung, or leached ashes. May the 
undertaking prosper._ 
OLDEN TIMES—1793. 
We continue our notice of the first volume of the old Agricultural 
Transactions. 
DECAY OF APPLE TREES. 
William Denning communicates the first notice we find on record of 
what is now termed the blight in the apple, pear and quince. Mr. Den¬ 
ning first observed-the disease in his orchard above the Highlands in 1780. 
“ As I observed the young, remote and tender shoots first affected,” says 
Mr. D. “ I traced the "malady to the spot where the sap ceased to flow, 
but could discover no external cause. On the second year, I found the 
boughs wounded deeper, and progressing yearly, the trees continued to 
sicken,' and in six or seven years died.” The disease first appeared in 
the end of June and first of July, when suddenly the leaves withered, 
j turned red and soon fell off; the whole tree appeared sick and the fruit 
! full of spots and unpromising. Mr. Denning ascribed the disease to a bo- 
I ver which entered from the ground into the heart-wood of the tree. The 
| blight of the pear and apple is now ascribed to an insect, or perhaps dif¬ 
ferent insects of the same genus, whose stings are poisonous to the elabo¬ 
rated sap of these trees. The blight has since appeared periodically, at 
intervals of a few years, and has continued some five or six years at a 
a time. No preventive is known; though to cut off the diseased branch¬ 
es, into the sound wood, and immediately to burn them, thereby probably 
destroying the ova of the insect which causes the injury, is believed sen¬ 
sibly to lessen the evil. The tree becomes affected by the poisonous ela¬ 
borated sap which descends from the diseased branches. 
ADDRESS OF CHANCELLOR (THEN JUDGE) KENT. 
This was delivered before the society at the anniversary meeting of 
1796. The speaker justly appreciates the importance of agriculture, 
when he terms it “ the absolute means of our subsistence; the source of 
nutriment to the arts; of freedom, energy, commerce and civilization to 
mankind, and, in short, as the firmest basis of national prosperity.” 
He is no less correct in commending, as rich in the blessings of health 
and contentment, the pursuits of agriculture. 
“ It is certainly,” says he, “ a precious advantage attached to agricul¬ 
tural life, that it leads to no intemperate avidity for wealth, and inspires 
bold and generous sentiments of freedom and independence. Although 
the remark be perhaps too strong, that cities are the graves of the human 
species, yet it is obviously true, that the farmer’s life, from the use of 
wholesome air, abundant exercise, moderate pleasures and simple diet, 
[invaluable blessings, which few justly appreciate,] is by far the most fa¬ 
vorable to health, longevity and population.” 
In describing the condition of Great-Britain, in past times, Chancellor 
Kent depicted, in no faint colors, some of the evils of our own times. 
“ The interests of 1 trade and manufacturers [and we may now add, of 
the legal profession,] gained the ascendancy over the cultivation of the 
land; the industry of towns was preferred to the industry of the coun¬ 
try, amt farmers submitted to be governed by [lawyers,] merchants and 
mam/facturers, and pay a heavy premium for their simplicity and ge¬ 
nerosity. The mercantile system, (a system of restraint and monopoly,) 
arose in full vigor and maturity, and gave a tone to national policy and 
habits of thinking. It did more; it produced ruinous wars and intolera¬ 
ble exactions, as if the interests of agriculture was only a secondary 
matter among the concerns of civil society; as if farmers were Jit only 
to be the slaves of ambition, and to supply, with scarcely an interval of 
repose, the prodigality of wars,undertaken to support the balance of trade, 
and to satisfy the jealousy and avidity of established companies.” 
As a means of improving our husbandry, the palladium of our freedom, 
and the source of national wealth, he suggests the importance of an agri¬ 
cultural survey of the counties, in the following terms: 
“And in respect to the state at large, an accurate account of the qua¬ 
lity of the soil and timber, of the effects of the seasons and of the state 
of improvement, in every county, ought to be collected. Also the man- 
