34 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
b e joyfully interchanging heartfelt greetings with each 
other—-not only exchanging sentiments, but valuable in¬ 
formation, rare and curious productions of nature, and 
valuable seeds—storing up in our minds a fund of hap¬ 
piness for all our after life. But alas, that one year has 
gone, and another is fast going, and not one mighty 
spirit has stepped forward to say this thing can, this 
thing must, this thing SHALL, be done. Even the en¬ 
couraging echoes that responded from all parts of the 
Union to the first proposition, have died away, until 
not one faint echo meets my ear. Shall I despair to 
wake them again, under such discouraging circumstan¬ 
ces? No—I am well aware that the whole energy of the 
public mind, has lately been engrossed by another and 
exciting subject. But now there is a calm, there is 
room,—room to do good—and should I meet with one sin¬ 
gle echo to my second attempt to awake the public to 
the importance of this great proposition, that will some 
day assuredly shower blessings upon this agricultural 
nation, I shall not feel as though I had written in vain. 
Messrs. Editors, let me reiterate my first text— 
“ something can, something must, something SHALL,” 
may I add, something will be done, and that speedily, 
“ to elevate the character and standing of the cultiva¬ 
tors of the American soil;” for such is the object and 
aim of ihe li American Society of Agriculture,”—“ as I 
understand it.” * * * * 
An oasis in a desert! Not with greater pleasure did 
ever weary traveler over burning sands, meet with an 
oasis, a bright, green, shady spot, abounding in cool 
springs, than I met with the letter of that good old Vir¬ 
ginian, in your last number, just as I had written thus 
far. His invocation shall not be entirely in vain—I will 
“ once more sound my trumpet,” and before the echoes 
die away, I will sound it again and again, until its blast 
shall wake up “ all the true lovers of American Hus¬ 
bandry, to a cordial cooperation in the promotion of a 
project, which I verily believe, if once achieved, would 
become more and more popular with the American peo¬ 
ple, in all time to come.” 
How true it is, my worthy friends, that “ the bonds 
of that cordial brotherhood which should forever unite 
us, would be strengthened, by annually bringing to¬ 
gether the distant members of our great agricultural 
family.” How much they have already been strength¬ 
ened through the columns of agricultural papers. How 
does my heart yearn to take that good man by the hand 
whose letter I have just been reading, and am now com¬ 
menting upon. There is no kinsman among my nu¬ 
merous clan, whom I would sooner meet, or from whom 
I should expect a warmer welcome, than from such a 
man, as his writings indicate James M. Garnett to be. 
If the perusal of a letter from a stranger produces such 
feelings, surely “ our bonds of brotherhood would be 
strengthened,” by a closer communion. This alone 
should be cause sufficient to encourage us to persevere 
in the formation of a National Society. 
How to begin, is the only obstacle. I disagree with 
Mr. Garnett, about looking to members of Congress to 
make an organization ; they never would do it. How 
then shall we begin ? We need not wait for a farther ex¬ 
pression of public sentiment; for as Mr. Garnett says, 
“ the project received such high commendation through¬ 
out the country,” it is evidence to my mind that the ma¬ 
jority are in favor of its “ speedy execution.” Thus, 
then, let the beginning be. I will take the responsibili¬ 
ty to order it, and you, gentlemen, must endorse it, or 
suggest a better one. You must name a committee of 
20 of the most active friends of the cause in the vicinity 
of Albany, to meet at your office on that memorable 
day, the birth-day of Washington, to nominate the offi¬ 
cers pro. tern, of the American Society of Agriculture ; 
such committee will not fail to attend. Such men as 
they will nominate for officers, will not refuse to act. 
These officers, so far as may be convenient, by meet¬ 
ing, and otherwise by correspondence, will organize the 
Society. They will draft a “ bond of union,” and bye¬ 
laws for the orderly conducting meetings and uniting 
members. They will fix upon a time and place for the 
first meeting, and publish an invitation to all the friends 
of agriculture to meet. At that meeting, a constitution 
would be adopted, and officers elected. 
The residence of the first officers is not important, so 
they are men who will lend their energies to put the 
ball in motion, for once in motion, it will never cease 
to roll. Each one should be immediately apprised by 
the nominating committee, of the appointments, and in 
his turn should accept the appointment, that it might be 
published. A small fund will be necessary to d'efray 
postage and printing expenses ; and as soon as the 
treasurer is appointed, I shall forward ten dollars as a 
contribution, and I hope a few others will do likewise. 
If you, or any of your readers have aught to say against 
this plan of organization, say it now or never. But 
above all things, let my friends Gaylord & Tucker, 
bear the fact in mind, that the whole responsibility now 
rests upon them to make a beginning of the organiza¬ 
tion. Let them not shrink from the honorable respon¬ 
sibility with which I have autocratically invested them ; 
but proceed at once to name and publish the names of 
the committee, including themselves. 
When the officers are nominated, should they fail to 
perform their duty, they must expect to hear loud blasts 
from the trumpet of friend Garnett, and your most hum¬ 
ble, though devoted friend of American agriculture. 
SOLON ROBINSON. 
Lake C. H. Ia. Dec. 27, 1840. 
Note. —Information—Many persons having read my 
communications, have written to me private letters, and 
often taxed themselves with postage. To persons so 
disposed, I would say, that I do at present, and have 
for many years past, held the office of Post Master. 
HORSES. 
Messrs. Editors —In this age of canals and rail-roads, the 
utility of the horse is materially diminished; and should the 
predictions of Mr. Biddle be verified, it will soon sink much 
lower, by the substitution of the steam engine for the horse, in 
field labor.* This may be a desideratum to the mere utilita¬ 
rian, but I am ready to confess, that to me, the proposition is 
far from being a grateful one. Without being precisely a 
stickler for old habits and customs, against all innovation, I 
would nevertheless retain some of the ancient landmarks. I 
am willing to be whirled along over the rail-roads, and even 
to trust myself in a steam-boat, provided it is on our eastern 
waters. Apropos, will not coroner’s juries begin to bring the 
verdict of “ deliberate suicide” against all wayfarers blown 
up, scalded to death, or drowned, by the explosion of steam¬ 
boat boilers on our western rivers ? I would not object to the 
performance of our chopping by steam, as Mr. Biddle further 
suggests ; and should it see fit to pull flax, dig potatoes, weed 
turneps, clean out cattle stables in the winter, and do up va¬ 
rious other such little “ chores,” why let it!—but do our plow¬ 
ing—supersede our horses ? Never, say I! 
What pleasanter picture does the whole round of rural 
avocations present us, than that of the farmer driving his 
_ sleek bays to the field on a bright spring morning, fastening 
‘them before a No. 5, whose mold-board gleams like burnish¬ 
ed silver, and then turning those long straight furrows, which 
one cannot help fancying yield better crops than crooked 
ones! The air is soft ana fragrant around him; the ground 
bird and sparrow hop about, peering down into the furrows 
with curious little eyes, after their insect prey; while the bobo¬ 
link, shooting up suddenly over his head, comes fluttering 
down, overcome (as unfeathered musicians sometimes are,) 
with ecstacy, at his own tinkling minstrelsy. While the eye 
and the hand of the plowman almost mechanically guide his 
implement, his thoughts wander “ wheresoever they wilt.” 
His business, his pleasure, meditation, or even study, may en¬ 
gross his thoughts—but one thing I’ll warrant you, that ever 
and anon he casteth a look of peculiar complacency upon 
those glossy and powerful beasts, which with arched necks, 
springing step, and an occasional playful uptoss of the head, 
are hurrying the plow around the receding “ land !” Com¬ 
pare all this with a great n-y machine traversing our 
fields, puffing out clouds of pitchy smoke, stifling the vernal 
fragrance with the rank odors of greasy machinery; and in 
the place of the quiet contemplations of the plowman, the 
creaking of wheels and rollers, the fume, fret, and hurry of 
men and boys. Poh! what a contrast! 
But in sober seriousness, who would like to see the horse 
banished from our operations of husbandry ? Who that has 
once enjoyed the privilege, nay luxury, would like to be de¬ 
rived of the command of one of these noble animals, to bear 
im fleetly or slowly, whensoever and wheresoever he listed 
to go? If you can find one such man, I envy neither his 
taste nor his judgment. Yet while all admire the horse, who 
is there in this country, with now and then an exception, who 
bestows any care on his breeding and improvement ? We 
have companies formed to import Short Horn cattle; hogs 
and sheep of every variety are constantly arriving. The 
most unwearied pains are bestowed on their improvement; 
newspapers are filled with controversies on the subject; and 
we have essays written to prove how many white feet, and 
how many white hairs in the end of the tail, marks the genu¬ 
ine Berkshire porker! Not a word however on the subject 
of horses—nor is this the worst of it—there are not a dozen 
good stallions in the State, except of the Arabian or racing 
variety. The thorough bred horse is a beautiful animal; and 
crosses with this blood produce the most spirited, active, and 
enduring saddle horses. Puckler Muskau says of an English 
hunter, I have galloped him for four hours over hill and valley, 
and yet he continues to move on like a machine of steel, and 
not a bead of sweat has started from his hide! The hunter 
is a cross with the Arabian. But are not the mongrels be¬ 
tween the blood horse and our common American mares, a 
little inclined to be vicious ? I do not assert it, but my obser¬ 
vation goes to establish the fact. I have known many capital 
roadsters of this cross, but a large proportion of them were of 
a wild and irreclaimable temper. I well recollect one, owned 
in our family, which no human arm could quell. Many a 
bold fellow bestrode him; some were projected aloft like rock¬ 
ets; some were hurled forward like a bolt from an arbalist; 
others shot off rearward and sideways in all sorts of tangents 
— all were brought to an embrace more violent than loving, 
with their mother earth. Another difficulty has followed the 
blood horse and all of his crosses, so far as my observation 
has extended, viz. contracted feet; and sooner or later it ruins 
or greatly impairs his value. What can be more painful than 
to witness a noble horse in his full strength and vigor, crip¬ 
pled by this incurable disease. Expanding shoes, standing in 
clay, a run at grass, and various other expedients have been 
resorted to ; they may palliate or remove the difficulty for a 
time, but it returns. 
Besides, there are few blood horses with sufficient size and 
bone, to produce those large, showy, sixteen hand horses, 
which in a country where the carriage is so generally prefer¬ 
red to the saddle, will always be the favorites. The farmer 
also wants a horse large enough for field labor. A pair of 
them should be able to break up green sward—not on the 
loose sands around Albany—but on our tenacious western 
soils; and.do it without that violent effort, that wear and tear, 
which always accompanies the performance of what is term¬ 
ed a “ smart little” team. They also should possess activity— 
for marketing, milline', going to church, and “ traveling,” call 
the horses of our independent farmers, during portions of the 
year, as often on to the road, as into the field. That a cross 
with large and comparatively speaking, heavy boned blood 
horses would be far preferable to the common practice of 
breeding dunghills, not one in five of which makes a horse fit 
for the carriage, the saddle, or for farm work, I freely admit. 
But is there no variety not subject to the defects of the Arabi¬ 
an, and which possess his fire and activity ? What were the 
trotting family of Bellfounder horses? Report speaks of a 
splendid animal of this variety, which is or has been in Buffa- 
* Address of Nicholas Biddle, Esq., before the Philadelphia 
Agricultural Society. 
Jo- Were they in part, or wholly of the Arab stock? How 
did they, or more particularly Mr. Allen’s horse, cross with 
good common mares ? 
Some have recommended the heavy English dray or cart 
horse. I am inclined to think he would not prove sufficiently 
a beast of all work for the farmer; and for the carriage or sad¬ 
dle, one would as soon think of driving or bestriding a Rhi¬ 
noceros ! Good for slow and powerful draft, he is but a snail 
on the road; and he is a terrible consumer of hay and pro- 
vender ! Two such horses will consume as much as four 
mules, and they cannot do so much labor. The mule is quite 
as fleet too, on the road, as the dray. 
I would ask if there are any well bred Cleveland Bays in 
this country ? It strikes me they would be precisely the ani¬ 
mal wanted. They have size, style, endurance, and are ex¬ 
cellent roadsters. What say our breeders of valuable horses ? 
What says Ulmus ? Myself and many others would be glad 
of his opinion. Yours truly, H. S. R. 
Cortlandville, Jan. 1841. 
RESULTS OF EXPERIMENTS. 
Sommeiller Potato, Whittemore Pea, «5tc. 
Messrs. Editors—I believe I partly promised last spring on 
the receipt of the package of seeds, &c. from you, that when 
the season of cultivation was closed, I would communicate to 
you the result of the experiment; and I now sit down to fulfil 
partially at least, my engagement. And 
1st. The Siberian Kale or Cow Parsnep.— Part of the few 
seeds I received from you, I sowed in an open border of rich 
light earth, and part in a forcing bed ; but not a single seed 
vegetated that I was able to discover. I regretted this, for 
though I had not formed high expectations of the plant, as one 
suitable to our climate and modes of culture, I was anxious to 
give it a fair trial. 
2d. The Giant Rhubarb or Pie Plant. —These I distri¬ 
buted among several of my friends, in order to multiply the 
chances of success in their propagation, reserving enough to 
seed a few rows in the open garden, as well as in the forcing 
bed. Several of these seeds vegetated, and are now thriving 
plants. Among those I distributed, some succeeded, but ma¬ 
ny failed. The Pie plant is an excellent vegetable, and well 
worthy of cultivation in every garden ; though not perhaps of 
quite as much consequence among farmers who have or may 
have fresh apples for pies, nearly or quite through the whole 
year, as to the city gardener ; and I hope the kind produced 
from these seeds will prove a good variety. I should think it 
rather questionable however, whether plants from seeds would 
be invariably like the original stock, the experiments of Lou¬ 
don and Knight, proving that the Rhubarb is subject to the 
same laws of improvement or deterioration by crossing, that 
govern most other plants. Last spring as soon as the snow 
was off, I placed empty barrels of which one head was out, 
over some of my rhubarb plants, and around these, piled fresh 
horse stable manure as high as the barrels. The plants gave 
a succession of fine stems for cooking, very tender, and much 
earlier than those not so treated. 
3d. The Whittemore Pea. —Of the few seeds of this newly 
imported pea I received from you, I sowed one row of some 
30 feet in length in my garden, and the remainder in drills in 
the field. Those in the garden I bushed at the usual time. 
They grew very tall, but did not blossom early or freely. The 
Washington pea was ripened before a mess could be gathered 
from those in the garden; and when cooked, those who tast¬ 
ed them did not consider them equal in richness and flavor to 
the Marrowfat, and they were much inferior to that pea in 
size. There was one thing however, decidedly in their favor; 
there were no worms or bugs in them. As they came recom¬ 
mended for the field, rather than the garden, I still hoped to 
be able to give a good account of those drilled in the field; 
but they continued to grow and blossom sparingly through the 
whole season, and at this time (Oct. 14th,) show no symptoms 
of ripening. I have therefore come to the conclusion they are 
not adapted to our use as a field pea, since the pea with U3 
usually precedes wheat, and must ripen so as to be removed 
from the field in season for seeding for that important crop. 
4th. The Sommeiller Potato.— This new variety of the 
potato, of which a very few were introduced into this country 
last winter from France, is a seedling resembling the Rohan 
very much in its general appearance except that it is more 
rounded, has fewer eyes, and those not so deeply indented. 
Some of those I have grown however, in color, shape, eyes, 
and every point, so closely resemble the Rohan, that placed 
side by side, would with difficulty be distinguished The 
potato I received from you, had become so dried and 
bruised in its passage from France, that of the twenty-one sets, 
one eye each, into which I carefully divided it, and which 
weighed between eight and nine ounces, only eleven grew. 
These twenty-one sets I planted in a row across a rich part 
of my garden, one eye in a hill, and about two feet distant from 
each other, in the row. As an object of comparison, I took at 
the same time a Rohan potato, and cut from it the same num¬ 
ber of eyes, which I planted in a parallel row, at the distance 
of three feet from the Sommeiller. Of these every set grew, 
and from the first with manifestly the greatest vigor, as the 
sets were fresh and uninjured. I gathered these potatoes on 
the 11th instant, the tops still green, and took from the row 
planted by the Sommeillers forty-seven pounds of potatoes; 
and from the row planted with the Rohans, one hundred and 
twenty-four pounds. The sets of the Rohan took about two- 
thirds of a potato, and weighed between nine and ten ounces. 
When it is remembered that but half of the Sommeiller sets 
grew, and some of these owing to their damaged condition, 
but barely survived, the yield must be considered a good one. 
In size they were not as uniform as the Rohans; but the 
largest weighed three pounds two ounces. The yield of the 
Ronans must he considered an extraordinary one, quite equal 
to any on record. When cooked, the Sommeiller in taste, 
smell, and appearance, would hardly be distinguished from 
the Rohan; it is perhaps a little more farinaceous or mealy, 
and a shade whiter; and I have come to the conclusion that 
the seedling was produced from a cross of the Rohan with a 
variety rounder in form, a less deeply indented surface, and 
perhaps a little preferable for the table. Next year I shall be 
able to give the new potato a much fairer trial, than from the 
circumstances named, it could this year receive. 
As the potato is in many respects one of the important crops 
grown by the farmer, I will add a few remarks on their culti- 
* Owned by Lewis F. Allen, Esq. 
