92 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
confirmed in habits of industry and usefulness, who might, but for them’ 
have become indolent and dissipated. In these banks of savings 
has been formed the necleus of many a comfortable fortune, which 
might otherwise have gone to waste. They have tended to promote 
industry and economy in the city, and they will exert the same sa¬ 
lutary influence in the country, where, indeed, they produce a dou¬ 
ble benefit, by affording loans to the small capitalist, who cannot, 
either from his location or the small amount required, obtain ordina¬ 
ry bank facilities. The subject is worthy the consideration of gen¬ 
tlemen of influence and standing in the country. 
Agriculture, for the purpose of comparison, may be considered as 
a trade, an art, and a science. 
The trade, is mechanical, requiring muscular strength. It is imi¬ 
tative—it is to do a thing as one has been taught to do it, or has 
done it before. The ox in a measure acquires it. He knows his 
master and his master’s crib; he treads the accustomed furrow, 
turns at the head lands, and understands and obeys the driver’s 
commands. The mere servile laborer moves in the old routine, 
without concerning himself about the why and the wherefore, almost 
unconscious that he has a mind. 
The art implies a co-operation of the mind with physical power. 
The mind contrives; it is a lever which greatly assists and abridges 
the labor of the hands. The mind, like the soil, makes return in pro¬ 
portion to the culture which is bestowed upon it. Both are unpro¬ 
ductive without culture. The mind is improved by observation and 
reading, which makes it familiar with the best models of practice, 
and enables it to profit by the improvements of others, in the vari¬ 
ous departments of husbandry. 
The science teaches the laws and properties of inorganic matter— 
as of rocks, earths, manures, &c. &c. of organic matter, as animals 
and vegetables;—of their structure, food and uses—and of the agen¬ 
cy of heat, water, air, light and electricity in their development and 
maturity—the employment and adaptation of all these matters for 
the best uses of man. It concentrates the experience of ages, and 
the labors of nations, upon these interesting subjects, and makes 
them subservient to our wants and our comforts. The science is a col¬ 
lection of facts and leading truths, illustrated in practice, and con¬ 
firmed by experience. 
The trade, therefore, may be managed by the hands, the art re¬ 
quires the co-operation of the mind ; while the science superadds to 
both, a knowledge of the laws and properties of matter, upon which 
the mind and body are required to exert their energies. The first 
may be likened to the feeble boy, the second to the muscular young 
man, and the third to him whose mind and body are in the active 
development of their best powers. 
Worth remembering. —We have been informed, by a gentleman 
who has had practical proof of its success, of a new mode of keep¬ 
ing fruits fresh for the table, as grapes, plums, &c. a long time after 
they have been gathered. It is simply to alternate them in layers 
with cotton batting, in clean stone jars, and to place them in a cham¬ 
ber secure from frost. The discovery was accidental. A servant 
maid in the family of William Morey, of Union Village, Washington 
county, about to visit her friends, secured a quantity of plums in this 
way, to preserve them till her return. They were found to have 
kept in excellent condition, long after this fruit had disappeared in 
the garden. From the hint thus afforded, Mr. Morey, Mr. Holmes, 
and one or two neighbors, laid down grapes in this manner last fall, 
and they enjoyed the luxury of fresh, fine flavored fruit through 
the winter, until the early part of March. 
Political Economy. —We have seen “ First Lessons in Political 
Economy, for the use of Primary and Common Schools,” by Profes¬ 
sor M’Vickar, of Columbia College. It is the first of a series of text 
books which the author proposes to publish, suited to the varied 
ages and capacities of those for whose instruction they are intended. 
This subject, though it may seem to concern only the statesman, is 
one which comes home to the business concerns of every citizen, es¬ 
pecially of those who aspire to the distinctions of society. We give 
an extract, under the young men’s department, as a specimen of 
the matter and manner of the work, and commend it to the notice 
of teachers and heads of families. “ The first principles of political 
economy,” says our author, “ are truisms which a child may under¬ 
stand, and which children should therefore be taught.” 
The Pear tree. —The disease, termed blight, which six or eight 
years ago, as also in 1802 to 1808, destroyed many of our pear trees, 
is again, we learn, making its appearance. We have been of opi¬ 
nion, that the evil arises from a minute insect, which preys upon the 
inner bark. An insect of this kind, almost imperceptible to the na¬ 
ked eye, has been known to destroy forests of the larch in Germany. 
Our opinion has been much strengthened by a conversation with 
Aaron Thorp, Esq., who finding his trees affected, has made trial of 
various applications, without success, until he has found, he thinks, 
an effectual preventive, or cure, in spirits of turpentine. He applies 
it on and about the diseased part, in its unadulterated state, with a 
common brush. 
Green's Straw Cutler. —We have received from the Messrs. 
Shuier, of Lockport, one of these machines, of superior construc¬ 
tion, for which we tender those gentlemen our sincere thanks. 
There is a manifest improvement in the material and strength of the 
knives; and the wood work is substantially made of black walnut, 
the mahogany of the west, and highly finished. Messrs. Shuler’s 
have contracted with the patentee for the privilege of manufactur¬ 
ing and vending the machines in this state; and it is their inten¬ 
tion, we understand, to have them for sale, in all our principal 
towns, the coming fall, of their improved construction. 
The Hop Culture is said to be profitably conducted in England, 
particularly in Kent; and this will be matter of surprise, when we 
compare the produce with the expenses. The produce varies from 
one to twenty hundred pounds an acre, and the writer of British 
Husbandry assumes, as a fair average product, 700 pounds, while 
he estimates the expense of growing and securing an acre at <£35 
10s. (=to $157.62.) Among the items of expense we find the fol¬ 
lowing : 
500 poles, to repair annual losses, at 30s. £7 10 0 
Carriage of do... 1 10 0 
Rent, including parochial rates,. 6 00 0 
Tithes,... 1 10 0 
Excise duty, 18s. 8d. per cwt. 6 10 8 
£23 00 8 
The poles, with us, might cost half the above estimate, and the 
rent here would be high at $10 the acre. Deducting the difference 
in these items, the result would be, that thirty-three dollars of the 
above expense would be saved to the American hop grower, per 
acre, in the expenses above detailed; and that estimating the labor 
in both countries the same, the expense per acre here would b j 
about $70. Calculating the average crop at 700 pounds, and the 
price 20 cents, the value of the crop would be $210, and the profit 
$140 per acre. These data will serve to show to our readers the 
profits of well-managed hop culture. 
Cashmere Goats. —We ought before to have mentioned, that a 
pair of these valuable animals, whose coats furnish the material for 
Cashmere shawls, were shipped in France last winter, for Mr. J. D. 
Kinnear, of this city, and that the female only has arrived in safety, 
the male having died on the passage. This species of the goat is a 
native of Central Asia, and was introduced into France some dozen 
or fifteen years ago. We regret the loss of the male, and hope it 
will be replaced. Mr. Kinnear is deserving of commendation for 
his endeavor to introduce this valuable animal among us. 
HP A. W. Dunham asks, if ground lime-stone will answer for 
manure, as well as burnt lime 1 Lime-stone is corbonate of lime, 
the material sought for in marl, and is beneficial on soils deficient in 
this earth. Burnt lime is at first caustic, brings into action, as food 
of plants, vegetable matters in the soil inert, or insoluble. It gra¬ 
dually imbibes carbonic acid from the atmosphere, and ultimately 
becomes again carbonate of lime. 
“ An old Farmer," recommends to his brethren, that in clearing 
up land, they leave one or two trees, in the line of an intended 
fence, and where it is convenient to have gates or bars, to serve as 
gate or bar posts—as a matter of great economy. If bars are to be 
used, the mortices are to be partially cut in the sides, and a piece of 
plank or board nailed or pinned on as guards. The enclosures may 
be designated by the tree left for a post, as the hickory, maple or 
oak fields. 
