124 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
AGRICULTURAL SOCIETIES. 
Sfew-lTork State Agricultural Society. 
The July meeting of the Executive Committee of 
this society was held at Niblo’s, in New-York, on the 
21st—the President in the chair. Gentlemen were pre¬ 
sent from the counties of New-York, Dutchess, West¬ 
chester, Kings and Queens. Of the Executive Commit¬ 
tee, Messrs. Johnson, Walsh, Nott and Tucker, were 
present. 
On motion of the Hon. Jeremiah Johnson, a commit¬ 
tee was appointed for the county of Kings, to solicit 
members and contributions to the society. A si mi lar 
committee was appointed for New-York ; and on mo¬ 
tion of A. G. Carll, Esq. of Jericho, for the county of 
Queens ; for Dutchess, on motion of J. W. Knee- 
vels, Esq. of Fishkill; and for Westchester, on motion 
of T. Fountain, Esq. of Peekskill. 
The following members were admitted : 
Carll, A. G. p. m. Jericho. Mott, Jordan L., New-York, $5. 
Gere, Luther, Ithaca. Pond, S. P., Brooklyn. 
Ingell, Wm., Volney. Ransom, Joel L., Millport. 
Johnson, Jere’h, Brooklyn, $10. Underhill, R. S. do. 
Kneevels, J. VV., Fishkill. Whipple, J. E., Lansingburgh. 
Kowwenhoven, G., Flatlands. Willoughby, S. A., Brooklyn. 
On motion of the President, it was resolved that the 
next meeting of the Executive Committee be held at 
Rust’s Hotel in Syracuse, on Wednesday, August 18, at 
10 o’clock A. M. for the purpose of appointing commit¬ 
tees, and making the necessary arrangements for the 
Fair to be held at that place on the 29th and 30th days 
of September, 1841. 
Onondaga Co. Ag. Society Fair. 
The Annual Meeting and Fair of this Society is to 
be held at Syracuse, on the same days (the 29th and 
30th days of September,) with those of the State Socie¬ 
ty, which meets at the same place. Liberal and nu¬ 
merous premiums have been offered, and arrangements 
made which it is believed will be satisfactory to all. It 
is cheering to receive from every part of the state, and 
particularly from the old and substantial agricultural 
counties such proofs of a revived interest in the cultiva¬ 
tion of the soil. The autumn of 1841, will be but a suc¬ 
cession of these farmer’s holidays in the state of New- 
York, and an impulse to the good cause may be expect¬ 
ed, the influence of which will long and beneficially be 
felt. 
County Ag. Societies in Mow-TTork. 
Jefferson —A Society was organized in this county 
on the 19th of June. The following are its officers : 
ORVILLE HUNGERFORD, President. 
Vice Presidents. 
Wm. McAllister, 
W. C. Pierpont, 
Elisha Camp, 
Robert Doxtater, 
George White, 
C. E. Clarke, 
Wm. Carlisle, 
Geo. Brown, 
Abiathar Joy, jr. 
Geo. Woodruff. 
Edmund Kirby, 
John L. Goldsmid, 
N. M. Woodruff, 
Executive Committee. 
Abner Baker, Jr. 
John A. Sherman. 
Micah Sterling, Watertown, Corresponding Seeretary. 
A. B. Brayton, Treasurer. 
Adriel Elv, Recording Secretary. 
Niagara —A meeting was held at Lockport on the 
23d of June, at which an Agricultural Society was form¬ 
ed, and the following officers chosen : 
WILLIAM PARSONS, President. 
John Gould, Jr. & C. EL Shields, Vice Presidents. 
Joel McCollum, Lockport, Corresponding Secretary. 
W. O. Brown, Treasurer. 
D. S. Crandall, Recording Seeretary. 
Rensselaer —A meeting was held at Troy on the 
8th of July, at which an Agricultural Society for this 
county was organized, a constitution adopted, and the 
following officers elected for the current year : 
JOSEPH HASTINGS, Esa., of Brunswick, President. 
Vice Presidents. 
Daniel Simmons, Brunswick. 
Geo. P. Dennison, Berlin. 
Z. P. Burdick, Grafton. 
Martinus Lansingj Greenbush. 
I. A. Fonda, Hoosick. 
Jacob Heermance, Nassau. 
Henry Hull, Petersburgh. 
Nathan Brownell, Pittstown. 
W. Van Vechten, Schaghtieoke. 
James Jones, Lansingburgh. 
William Masten, Schodaek. 
Henry Conklin, Sandlake. 
Claudius Moffitt, Stephentown. 
Jonas C. Heart, Troy. 
Giles B. Kellogg, Troy, Recording Secretary, 
L. Chandler Ball, Hoosick, Corresponding Seeretary. 
James M. Stevenson, Troy, Treasurer. 
Executive Committee. 
W.P.VanRensselaer, Greenbush 
George Vail, Troy. 
A. D. Spoor, Brunswick. 
Alex. Walsh, Lansingburgh. 
John Wheeler, Troy. 
Wm. A. McCulloch, Greenbush. 
John Sampson, Troy. 
Samuel S. Fowler, Greenbush. 
Saratoga —The organization of an Agricultural So¬ 
ciety took place on the 24th June. Its Fair is to be held 
at Ballston on the 1st Tuesday of October. Officers as 
follows : 
HOWELL GARDNER, President. 
Calvin Wheeler and Jacob Denton, Vice Presidents. 
Archibald Smith, Ballston Spa, Corresponding Secretary. 
Hiram E. Howard, Treasurer. 
John A. Corey, Recording Secretary. 
Meetings are to he held for the formation of Agricul¬ 
tural Societies under the late law as follows : 
Columbia —At the court-house in Hudson, August 
13, at 1 o’clock, P. M. 
Schenectady —At the court-house in Schenectady, 
August 16, at 2 o’clock, P. M. 
Washington —At the house of L. Cottrell in Argyle, 
August 4, at 11 o’clock, A. M. 
Westchester —At the house of S. M- Tompkins in 
Sing-Sipg, August 19, at 10 o’clock, A. M. 
Elisabeth City Co. (fa.) Ag-. Society. 
Extract of a letter from Hampton, (Ya.) dated July 
17, 1841:—“ On the 29th June, an Agricultural So¬ 
ciety was organized in this County, styled ‘ The Agri¬ 
cultural Society of Elizabeth City County, Virginia.’ 
The following gentlemen were elected officers thereof: 
ROBERT ARCHER, President. 
George Booker & James M. Vaughan, Vice Presidents. 
Wm. Massenburg, Treasurer. 
M. Fitz Gibbon, Recording Secretary. 
A. B. McLean, Hampton, Corresponding Secretary. 
George Booker, Robert Archer, John Jones, Ex. Committee. 
An appropriate address was delivered at the meeting 
by the President, a copy of which I will obtain and for¬ 
ward you hereafter.” 
Forte (la.) Ag. Soc.—Kr. Niles’ Address. 
We have read with pleasure the excellent address of 
Mr. J. B. Niles, before the Agricultural Society of La 
Porte, Indiana. It is full of correct feeling, sound sen¬ 
timents and encouragement to the agriculture of the west. 
The immense resources of the Ohio and Upper Missis¬ 
sippi Valleys have hardly begun to be developed. Eve¬ 
ry thing indicates that the climate, the soil, and the sea¬ 
sons have combined to make it the greatest grain and 
meat growing country on the globe. The obstacles to a 
market are now fast being overcome, and the continu¬ 
ous stream of flour and pork that is finding its way to 
New-York, through the Erie Canal, from these very 
states, which, but a few years since, were a vast wil¬ 
derness, is the best proof that can be offered of what 
we may expect when the broad prairies and beautiful 
uplands of that vast region, shall teem with an indus¬ 
trious agricultural population. We learn from the 
Michigan City Gazette, that La Porte county, which 
lies at the S. E. angle of Lake Michigan, contains about 
400 square miles, that in 1840, twenty-five thousand 
acres were in wheat, (the greater part of which was 
destroyed by an unprecedented blight;) that there is 
about the same quantity the present season; that many 
farmers have from 100 to 500 hogs intended for slaugh¬ 
ter next fall, and that 20,000 pork barrels have already 
been engaged; and that in all probability from 30 to 40 
thousand barrels of pork will be packed from that coun¬ 
ty alone. 
La Porte, it must be remembered, is but one of the 
many equally fertile counties of Northern Indiana, and 
from this fact we may form some estimate of their 'pre¬ 
sent agricultural wealth and resources. 
We should be gratified to extract liberally from Mr. 
Niles’ address, but the following on the circulation of 
agricultural intelligence, is all we can find room for, and 
is so just we cannot omit it: 
“ Every farmer—every man who cultivates even a garden— 
and who among us does not ? should be supplied with an agri¬ 
cultural periodical. Who will not find in such a paper, some 
single suggestion doubly worth its cost? New discoveries are gen¬ 
erally the result of accident, or only of long continued scientific 
research. When we remember that the human family existed for 
thousands of years, in utter ignorance of such a fact as the cir¬ 
culation of the blood, is it surprising that men should be inclin¬ 
ed to continue in one routine of farming operations, without de¬ 
viating from the beaten track, for no better reason than that 
their fathers and neighbors have set them the example. Take a 
well conducted agricultural paper, and you are no longer limit¬ 
ed to your own experience and observation, but you may draw 
upon the experience of all the world. By the agency of the press, 
space is annihilated—minds are brought in contact—and what¬ 
ever discovery, practice or science, may suggest, on either side 
of the Atlantic, it can immediately be made as useful to you as 
to the discoverer himself.” 
BOAD3. 
In traveling about the country, one cannot avoid hav¬ 
ing the conclusion forced upon him, that farmers are 
inattentive to the state of their roads, and from having 
used bad ones so long, have ceased to be aware of the 
immense difference there is between transporting a load 
to market over a good, smooth road, and one which is 
muddy, sideling, and full of ruts, holes, and gullies. 
Could their horses, however, he allowed to give an 
opinion we think they would estimate the difference in 
their favor between a good road and a bad one, at least 
one half. 
In making roads, the common practice of scraping 
up the muck or surface earth into a narrow ridge only 
wide enough for a single wagon, is of necessity a bad 
one. The track is soon cut down into the soft materi¬ 
als, water is retained, and deep mud and hard roads 
are the result. If a part of the labor spent in laying up 
the roads, was employed in covering the track with gra¬ 
vel, there would be better roads and far less labor in re¬ 
pairing. 
It is the custom too, in making or repairing roads, to 
expend all the labor assessed in the several road dis¬ 
tricts at once, and generally in the early part of the sea¬ 
son. June is perhaps the best month for repairing 
roads, but some labor should be reserved to make any 
repairs that accident may render necessary. Often af¬ 
ter the tax is worked out, a bridge, or some part of a 
road fails or is damaged, and it too frequently happens 
it remains so, perhaps for the season: dangerous to eve¬ 
ry traveler, and a nuisance to the public. 
Every district, or nearly every one, is provided with 
a common earth scraper, but there is another scraper 
equally if not more essential to good roads, with which 
few road districts are as yet provided. This scraper is 
for leveling the surface of the road, cleaning it of all 
stones, and filling all the ruts made by the wagon 
wheels. It is made with a stick of timber twelve inch¬ 
es wide, six inches thick, and six feet long ; on the front 
side is secured a bar of iron, falling half an inch below 
the wood, or, as is frequently the case, a worn out saw- 
mill saw is substituted for the bar. The tongue or neap 
is put into this scraper in such a manner that it passes 
in a quartering way over the road, filling the ruts, and 
throwing out whatever obstructions may exist. The 
change in ease of travel from a district in which one of 
these scrapers is owned and used, to one where they 
are unknown, is as great as from the rough and muddy 
roads too common in the country to the paved streets of 
the city. 
Agi Books and Periodicals as Premiums. 
We are much gratified to perceive that the sugges- 
tion made by us as to the propriety and usefulness^ of 
substituting agricultural periodicals and books for the 
smaller premiums offered at our agricultural fairs, in¬ 
stead of the cash, has been so favorably received and 
promptly acted upon. We cannot doubt that the best 
effects will result from the practice. For years, the Stale 
Agricultural Society of Rhode-Island, (and perhaps it 
does at present,) ordered annually several hundred co¬ 
pies of the New-England Farmer, for distribution in the 
several towns of that state, and experience has proved 
that the money so employed was most usefully expend¬ 
ed. From almost every quarter, in the spirited organi¬ 
zations and preparations making for the fall fairs we 
perceive this principle has been engrafted, and with the 
most auspicious promise. From it) to 50 volumes of 
the Cultivator have been offered by many societies ; and 
the La Porte Agricultural Society, which is setting a 
noble example to the west, has considerably exceeded 
the latter number. Other valuable journals, and agri¬ 
cultural books, are, we are pleased to perceive, not for 
gotten. 
Butter Dairies. 
In a large part of our country, the business of the 
dairy is now, and must be so hereafter, an important 
part of the occupation of the farmer, and the best me¬ 
thods of conducting it, are consequently highly deserv¬ 
ing attention. Holland has long been famous for its 
butter, immense quantities of which are made for expor¬ 
tation, and the advanced price it commands in every 
market, as well as its fine flavor and consistence, shows 
that its character is deserved, and not the result of ac¬ 
cident. In the Journal of the English Agricultural So¬ 
ciety; is an article on the Rural Economy of some of 
the districts of Holland, particularly that of Holstein, in 
which an instructive account of the Holstein mode of 
making butter is embodied. From it we shall select a 
few facts, illustrating their methods of producing such 
superior butter. 
The dairies, which are usually large, varying from 
100 to 400 cows, are provided with buildings and ac¬ 
commodations on the same scale, and with particular 
reference to the intended results. Of these, the milk 
cellar is the most important, and in the size and site of 
this the greatest care and skill is shown. Where prac¬ 
ticable, it always fronts the north, and in addition, is 
shaded with rows of trees, and furnished with a project¬ 
ing roof, in order more effectually to protect the building 
from the sun. It must always be sufficiently large to 
contain the produce of four milkings. The floor on 
which the milk is set is sometimes flagged, hut more 
usually of brick, nicely fitted, and the whole slightly 
inclined, that no water may lodge on them. This floor 
is washed and kept with the neatness of a parlor table. 
In some instances this floor is divide 1 into compart¬ 
ments, with brick or stone ledges three or four inches 
high, and these compartments, filled with xvater from a 
pump, receive the dishes or pans, and preserve them at 
a temperature that secures the best and greatest amount 
of cream. The milk cellar is sunk about four feet in the 
ground, and the height is sixteen or eighteen feet. The 
windows are numerous, to give a good circulation of 
air, furnished with shutters and glass sashes, on the in¬ 
ner side of which gauze frames are fixed, to exclude in¬ 
sects when it is necessary for the purpose of air or 
coolness to remove the sashes. 
When cheese as well as butter is made at the dairy, 
(which is sometimes the case,) the cheese department 
is never permitted near the butter dairy, i; from the vi¬ 
cinity of which every thing is kept removed, which, by 
any possibility, could exercise a sinister influence on 
the very susceptible substances of milk and butter, 
which suffer to a degree, those unaccustomed to ob¬ 
serve it, little suspect, from an impure atmosphere.” 
The dairy is managed by women, of whom there is the 
superintendent, or head dairy woman ; and one dairy 
maid to every eighteen cows. There is beside, the 
owner, or overseer, and one or more men who attend to 
the feeding of the swine. There are others, whose 
business is to attend to the cows, see that they are pro¬ 
perly fed, and every thing in its proper place and keep¬ 
ing. The overseer sees that the cows are fully milked, 
as on this the quantity and excellence of the cream is 
greatly depending. It has been ascertained by careful¬ 
ly re P ea ted experiments, that the first drawn milk con¬ 
tains five, the second eight, and the fifth seventeen per 
cent of cream. 
The business of the head dairy woman is arduous, 
and demands a full acquaintance with the various pro¬ 
cesses. “ She must not only thoroughly understand, 
but accurately observe the precise time when the milk 
should be creamed ; the degree of acidity it must attain 
in the cream barrels ; its temperature, xvhether requir¬ 
ing the addition of warm water, or cold, to the churn ; 
as well as thG all important operations of kneading, 
beating,salting and packing the butter.” The milking 
