18 S 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
THE SCHOOL DISTRICT LIBRARY. 
One of the most important acts of the legislature of 
New-York, in relation to education, was the passage of 
a law three years since appropriating fifty-live thou¬ 
sand dollars a year for three years, or $165,000 in the 
whole, for the establishment of school libraries in all the 
districts of this state. Millions had been before expend¬ 
ed in teaching all to read, and then the effort was made 
to put into the hands of all. books worthy of being read. 
To provide books of the proper kind was not the work 
of a day or year. The books must be numerous to supply 
the demand; they must be written, for those suitable 
were not in existence ; they must be of a high order of 
excellence, or the intentions of the legislature would be 
frustrated. In making out a series for the first year, the 
Messrs. Harpers were greatly aided by selections from 
their excellent Family Library, and it was, as it deserved 
to be, well received by the public. It was deficient, how¬ 
ever, in works relating to the most important branch of 
industry in this country, Agriculture—a deficiency sup¬ 
plied in the second series published last year by the 
same booksellers, by the incorporation of Chaptal’s 
Agricultural Chemistry ; Armstrong’s work on Agricul¬ 
ture ; and two volumes by Judge Buel. The second 
series was also superior to the first in the better adap¬ 
tation of the series to the wants of the community, an 
advantage derived from the time which had been given 
for its preparation. 
Under the patronage of the Superintendent of Com¬ 
mon Schools, and aided by the general excellence of the 
works embraced, the neatness of their getting up, and 
the convenient manner in which they were offered to 
the public, as well as their extreme cheapness, these se¬ 
ries have had a most extensive circulation, and found 
a place not only in almost every school district of this 
state, but also in many of those in the adjoining ones. 
The Third Series has just been issued by the same en¬ 
terprising publishers, and from a hasty examination of 
a set of the work we do not hesitate to state our 
conviction that in almost every respect, it is far su¬ 
perior to either of the former series. A large pro¬ 
portion of the works embraced in this series have 
been written expressly for it, and among the names of the 
writers we notice with pleasure many of the most cele¬ 
brated in the country; such as Dr. Nott, Professor Ren- 
wick, Washington Irving, Gulian C. Verplanck, W. C. 
Bryant, F. G. Ha Heck, Prof. Upham, Theodore Dwight, 
Dr. Hawks, and others whose names are a sufficient 
guarantee of the value of their contributions. Of the 
works we notice a valuable History of the United States, 
a Life of Dewitt Clinton, Keightley’s History of Eng¬ 
land, Memoirs of John Jay, Alexander Hamilton, and 
Commodore Perry, &c. &c. the whole making a series 
of reading, attractive as well as instructive. Of the 
volumes on American Husbandry furnished by the Edi¬ 
tors of the Cultivator, we shall not be expected to speak 
particularly, farther than to say, we hope they will be 
found useful to the great body of farmers for whom 
they have been prepared. 
The School District Library now embraces about 150 
volumes, and forms one of the most valuable collec¬ 
tions of books to be found in any country. They are 
beautifully bound in cloth, and there are few libraries 
indeed to which they would not prove a valuable addi¬ 
tion. The average price of the volumes is but about 
thirty-eight cents each, and we may mention, that one 
of the works embraced in the present series, Keight¬ 
ley’s History of England, the different editions of which 
sell from five to ten dollars each, are priced in the 
School Library at only about one dollar seventy-five 
cents, and this is by no means an example of cheapness, 
solitary and alone. The price of the present series is 
nineteen dollars, and the Trustees of School Districts 
should make their arrangements for ordering and receiv¬ 
ing them with as little delay as possible. Perhaps 
very few instances can be found in the records of litera¬ 
ture where a series of works have attained such a popu¬ 
larity as the Harper’s School District Library, and more 
rare still are the instances in which such a popularity 
is better deserved. 
BERKSHIRE^ IN KENTUCKY. 
The way they do up the hog business among our 
farming friends in the great west, is a “ caution.” Dur- 
hams and Berkshires are the favorite breeds of cattle 
and swine, and neither money or time are spared in im¬ 
proving and spreading the numbers of these valuable 
animals. Were not the peculiar circumstances of the 
Mississippi Yalley, its immense resources for the pro¬ 
duction of pasture and com, and the propriety of the in¬ 
habitants devoting their attention and capital to objects 
that will best repay transportation, to be taken into con¬ 
sideration, the prices that animals of the best kind com¬ 
mand in the west, would be deemed the result of 
speculation, and such as could not be justified by any 
process of rational calculation. We, however, are far 
from thinking such is the case. The farmer who fat¬ 
tens 100 hogs or sells 100 head of cattle annually, can 
well afford, from the increased profit he will receive, to 
pay 100 dollars for a boar or 500 dollars for a bull. On 
this point, any one may satisfy himself in a moment, by 
making an estimate of the greater quantity of meat a 
given amount of pasture or corn will produce when fed 
to the improved animals, over the old breeds. Of this, 
any one will be convinced who will grow and fatten the 
common hog and the Berkshires together. On the sub¬ 
ject of improving their stock, the western farmers are 
setting an example which might well be followed by 
their brethren in the east and south. But our object 
was not to write an essay on stock, but to show from an 
advertisement in the “ Agriculturist,”—(by the way, 
this “ Agriculturist” is a most valuable journal pub¬ 
lished at Nashville,) the spirit with which the men of 
the west enter upon any important enterprise. Wm. P. 
Curd, Esq. of Fayette Co. Ky., after giving a catalogue 
of some 20 or 30 hogs, goes on to say :—“ In all, I have 
14 Berkshire, and 3 Irish Grazier breeding sows, and 
4 Berkshire and 2 Irish Grazier boars, at a cost of 
$3,000. During two years, 31 silver cups have been 
awarded at different fairs to these hogs. From them I 
have sold 110 pairs of pigs at $40 the pair. 254 sows, 
some of which have come 200 miles, have been bred to 
my boars at $10 each. All these facts indicate the 
popularity of this stock.” Mr. Curd gives one instance 
of the facility with which the Berkshires take on fat, to 
which we do not now recollect any parallel. Black 
Hawk, a full bred Berkshire, at eight months old, was 
so injured, accidentally, as to be useless as a boar, and 
was after three months castrated and put in with Mi. 
C.’s fattening hogs, weighing at that time 122 lbs. “ Af¬ 
ter being fed 64 days, he was taken out again and 
weighed, and lifted the beam at 410 lbs; showing the 
astonishing gain of lbs. per day. He is now fed sole¬ 
ly on grass, and weighs 550 lbs. at the age of two years.” 
Notes for tt)£ Jttontl). 
Budding the Pear. —That valuable publication, 
Hovey’s Magazine of Horticulture, gives the following 
account of the method pursued by Mr. Howland, of New- 
Bedford, in budding the pear. “ Mr. H. has adopted 
budding with the terminal eye; and a small part of the 
branch ; the bark of the stock has two incisions made 
similar to the one made by budding : the scion is pared 
down on one side, and the whole is then inserted under 
the bark, and bass matting or yarn applied in the usual 
manner. By this method considerable time is gained ; 
the operation may be performed in July, and a strong 
shoot will be made the same season.” 
Influence of vegetation, in modifying the quali¬ 
ties of Plants. —Prof. Christison of Edinburgh, has 
instituted a series of experiments, which go to show 
that the qualities of plants are essentially changed in 
the progress of their growth; that plants which have 
roots and leaves acrid, narcotic or poisonous while green, 
are frequently inoffensive when ripened, and in some 
cases are good for food. Thus the Ranunculus, or crow¬ 
foot of our meadows, is offensive and poisonous to ani¬ 
mals while green, but is eaten with avidity Avlien ri¬ 
pened and made into hay. 
Inherent heat in living Plants. —The experi¬ 
ments of Dutrochet, which have since been confirmed 
by DeBeck and others, demonstrate that living plants 
have a heat peculiarly their own, and which is retained 
in a greater or less degree while life lasts. That it is 
owing to an electric or magnetic current, influencing the 
circulation, appears very probable, from the different 
manner in which a delicate suspended needle is affected 
by living or dead plants. It is not improbable that 
when the nature of these agencies shall be better under¬ 
stood, the means of creating and directing them will 
constitute the grand object of the farmer. 
Southern Rains and Southern Vegetation. —A 
Georgia correspondent of Hovey’s Magazine, in a let¬ 
ter of September, says that “Not less than six feet of 
water has fallen since the first of April; and only once 
until last week has there been three consecutive days 
without rain. At the time of the great freshet, (May 26) 
not less than 18 inches fell in 28 hours, and twice since 
about 12 inches have fallen in 24 hours. * * * I have 
grafts set in March, of cherries, plums, and pears, 
(some even on quince stocks,) which have made a 
growth of from five to seven feet, and are still going 
ahead at a great rate. * * * Among my dahlias, I 
have one received from Thorburn some years ago, which 
measures now eleven feet high and without the least 
sign of a flower bud upon it.” 
Seedling Potatoes. —Mr. Robinson of Waterville, 
Maine, in 1834, planted the seeds from a potato ball, 
and has continued to plant from the product of these 
seeds. Last year he carefully sorted out, and planted 
each variety bj’ itself. One of the varieties, a large 
round kind of a pale orange color proved very produc¬ 
tive, and this year he planted one row with his new 
seedling, and one with the Rohan, to test their com¬ 
parative yield. At the harvest in September, the Ro¬ 
han row yielded one bushel and seven-eighths of a bushel, 
and the seedling row yielded two bushels precisely. 
Another of the kinds was a capital table potato, but 
yielded only about half as much as the other. 
Veteran Farmers. —At the cattle show and fair at 
New-Haven, Mr. Reuben Tucker, of Derby, and Mr. 
Bronson, of Middlebury were present; the first,97 years 
of age, the last 81. P4r. Tucker came for the express 
purpose of plowing a furrow with the long team ; and 
Mr. Bronson walked from Middlebury to N. H. 25 miles, 
and drove a beautiful pair of fat oxen, which he entered 
for the premium. 
Lightning Rods. —During the last summer, a heavy 
charge of electric fluid passed down one of the rods at¬ 
tached to the barn of N. I. Sharpless, of Downington, 
Pa. The barn escaped without injury, except that the 
mortar was torn from the stone walls to a considerable 
extent near the foot of the rod; but strange to say, two 
coavs near the wall, but twenty-five feet from the rod 
were_ instantly killed. The rod was five-eighths of an 
inch in diameter, with platina points. The brass solder 
by which the point was fastened to the rod was melted, 
and no trace of the point could be found. The base of 
the rod or the lower part terminated in charcoal; but 
Avas it not probable that the depth was not sufiicient to 
ensure moisture in a very dry season, and consequently 
the fluid on reaching the earth scattered in every direc¬ 
tion over the surface. 
Great yield of Pumpkins. —Mr. E. H. Derby of 
Boston, has communicated to the Courier the result of 
an experiment in raising pumpkins. He planted 70 rods 
of ground about the middle of May, in hills 9 feet apart 
and well manured. The whole spot was soon covered 
with vines, and some of the pumpkins Aveighed 112 lbs. 
The whole yield ascertained by iveight, was 22,220 lbs. 
or at the rale of 50,788 lbs. per acre. It is of the kind 
called Harrison or Tippecanoe; is rich and solid in the 
flesh, and Mr. D. generously offers to furnish seeds to 
such as may desire them. 
Buckthorn Hedges. —Hedges of this native plant 
are becoming quite common in the vicinity of Boston 
and Salem. Large quantities haA r e been set within two 
or three years, and appear very fine and flourishing. 
They are purchased at the nurseries, for 50 or 75 cents 
per 100, and require protection lor four or five years 
while growing. The number of plants required to a 
rod is 25 or 30, and the expense of the hedge for the 
same distance, seventy-five cents. 
Value of Lime. —From a piece of land, Avhich five 
years since produced only thirty bushels, Mr. CadAvell, 
of Valley Township, Pa. has this year raised four hun¬ 
dred bushels of Avheat. In this interval of five years, 
Mr. CadAvell has spread on this land fifteen hundred 
bushels of lime. 
New Wheat. —A new variety of wheat has been in¬ 
troduced into South Carolina, by Col. Spieren, agent for 
the Osage Indians. It is called the many headed wheat, 
and promises to be a great acquisition. Mr. Spieren 
brought 7 heads home Avith him, and committed the cul¬ 
tivation of them to A. Baker, of Abbeville, S. C. Mr. B. 
says he “believes every seed came up, and each seed pro¬ 
duced a stool of from 20 to 50 stems or straws. Each head 
of wheat contains from 100 to 150 seeds.” Mr. Baker, 
sowed his the 2d of January, but it is evidently a fall 
wheat, and should, he thinks, be sown at least two 
months earlier. He offers to sell the heads at $5 each. 
That looks rather too much like a hoax. It is probably 
a variety of the multi-headed wheat already known— 
possibly the Egyptian. 
Cabbage Worms. —A writer in the Southern Culti¬ 
vator, says he “ had a square of very fine cabbages in 
his garden, upon which the worms had commenced mak¬ 
ing great ravages. Penny-royal was gathered and scat¬ 
tered over the cabbage heads plentifully, and the Avork of 
destruction ceased.” The writer did not knoiv whether 
the discoA r ery Avas a new one, but it seems to have been 
a very easy and effectual one, and well worth a trial. 
Use of the Mullein. —We have noticed in the for¬ 
eign Journals that the common mullein, Verbascum thap- 
sus, is extensively used in the German states to prevent 
the depredations of mice in granaries. The plant is 
gathered, and the leaves and stems placed in considera¬ 
ble quantities in barns and depositories of grain, and is 
said to effect a speedy expulsion of mice from the pre¬ 
mises. Where trouble from this source existed, the 
measure, though simple in itself, might be worth a trial. 
Salt for Poultry. —The Franklin Farmer contains 
a notice of a farmer’s wife in that vicinity who killed 
her flock of thirty young turkeys, by giving them a pint 
of meal wet up Avith a large spoonful of salt. A feiv 
years since, a friend of ours killed about 50 chickens by 
alloAving them to eat a quantity of meal in which salt 
had been liberally put and Avet up for his horse. Salt 
may be safely mixed with food given to geese or gos¬ 
lings, but is fatal to turkeys or chickens. 
Bees Wax. —This valuable material is most easily 
separated from the various substances with which it 
is usually mixed, when taken from the hive, by tying in 
cloth of loose texture, and then being placed in a kettle 
of boiling water. On pressing this bag of comb below 
the surface, the wax rises to the surface, where it should 
be skimmed off and poured in a vessel of cold Avater 
standing by. By repeated pressing or squeezing of the 
bag under the Avater, the Avax Avili all be extracted, and 
saved free from dirt of any kind. When Avell managed, 
wax forms no inconsiderable part of the bee-grcAver’s 
profits. 
Sober Truth. —“ Establish the principle that Avhat 
Ave fairly acquire, is not our own, we shall have as great 
inducement to be industrious and active as the slave has, 
and no greater. You may reduce all to a common level, 
but this Avili net secure all against Avant. That commu¬ 
nity will not be so likely to starve Avhere some have 
\vealth ? as that in Avhich none possess it.”— Buckminster. 
Hogs —“ Long hogs are every thing with some peo¬ 
ple ; but along back is as bad a point in a hog as a 
horse, and a holloAv back is the worst of all points. It 
indicates a bad constitution, and an enormous gorman¬ 
dizer.”— Franklin Farmer. 
A good Pig. —Mr. Bailey Birge of Norfolk, Ct., late¬ 
ly butchered a pig 8 months and 21 days old, Avhich 
Aveighed Avhen dressed four hundred and forty-three 
pounds. The pig was a half blood Berkshire, crossed 
with some native breed. For some time before it was 
butchered, its weight forbid its rising, nor could it see, 
unless the fat Avas pressed aAvay from its eyes. 
