136 
THE CULTIVATOR 
bellows the deleterious air was quickly expelled, the 
rock perforated, and excellent water obtained. 
National Agricultural Society. 
We have several communications on this subject, 
which our limits compel us to abridge. The first is 
from W. Penn Kinzeb, Spring Lawn Farm, Pequea, 
Pa. Speaking of the advantages of a National Society 
of Agriculture, he says : 
“Information with regard to domestic animals, crops, &c. 
would not only become common stock by publication, but if 
annual conventions be held early in autumn, they would at 
once determine the real state of the crops throughout the Union, 
by concentrating a store of correct information from the proper 
source; which at present, is mere hearsay: then, of course, 
the question whether the general stock of bread stuffs will be 
short for home consumption, is at once ascertained, or if there 
be a small or large surplus for exportation, farmers will be 
equally interested in having correct and early information. 
They will not be held in suspense, whether to sell or store, as 
at present. The great national question too, in relation to a 
protective tariff on imposts, which is now producing a contra¬ 
riety of opinion, will thus be met, by a tribunal which will not 
and dare not be disregarded. A question, it need not be said, 
vitally connected with the present paralysis of American indus¬ 
try. Farmers then will look with an eye single to the eleva¬ 
tion of the character and standing of the cultivators of the 
American soil, and select from their number, suitable represen¬ 
tatives, to guard their interests, to the exclusion of the mere 
pettifogger, to whose political appetite they have too long pan¬ 
dered ; who, if he were desirous, would be ignorant of their inte¬ 
rests, yet elevated above their sympathies, he can use the bene¬ 
fit of their suffrages and labor, and, withal, deny to them their 
just reward. Manufacturers would be equally concerned, their 
interests being happily blended with successful agriculture. 
But above all, annual national conventions, composed of the 
industrious productive classes, from all the states of the Union, 
states speaking through their delegates, where political and 
partizan spirit may look in, but dare not enter, where the po¬ 
litical hatchet is buried, and all disorganizing and exciting 
subjects merged into one common whole, for the good of the 
whole. While other conventions are held, too often engender¬ 
ing sectional jealousies, calculated in the end to sever and di¬ 
vide this great Union, here one will be presented, which in its 
general bearing, seeks only the public good, cannot fail to do 
much to cement and unite and strengthen our whole bond of 
union. In times like these, when we find the nation threatened 
by foreign invasion without, and by agitating vexed questions, 
producing civil commotion within, what would be more grati¬ 
fying to the patriot heart, than to witness a convention com¬ 
posed of delegates, however incongruous in political matters, 
yet representing the great interest of the productive classes of 
the nation, altogether forming one harmonious whole, com¬ 
prising four-fifths, perhaps five-sixths of our population, just 
imagine, what a controling political power may be wielded in 
support of the producing portion of our population. A high 
honor to be a delegate in such a body, to enjoy the ‘feast of 
pleasure and the flow of soul.’ ” 
Mr. Kinzer concludes as follows : 
“ On his promised route to Washington City in August, will 
our common friend, S. Robinson, anticipate for himself, or do 
himself the pleasure of a ride on our Pennsylvania line of im¬ 
provements, from Pittsburg to Philadelphia, thence by the 
Baltimore railway to Washington? This route will afford, in 
addition to its expedition, scenery for the Agriculturist, which 
I think he will be unwilling to forego. When he shall arrive 
within fifty miles of Philadelphia, at a point on the railway 
called the Gap, we invite a halt, thence he will be directed a 
short walk to our whereabouts. I need not say, he may here 
depend on a cordial and hearty welcome. I would just suggest, 
that he prepare himself to deliver an occasional agricultural 
lecture while on his tour. May I hear from him ?” 
“ A Young Farmer,” of Woodlawn, N. C., says : 
“ No one, who will for a moment look at the condition of the 
farming interests of the country, can doubt the necessity of 
such an institution. This we readily admit. Then why ad¬ 
mit the necessity, and doubt the expediency? It seems tome 
that all that is necessary to make it expedient, is for the farm¬ 
ing community to see and feel that such a scheme is necessary. 
Then why should we hesitate longer ? Recollect that the farm¬ 
ers of our country are a diffident and unassuming people. If a 
few such men as Mr. Robinson and Garnett would take the 
lead, the great mass of the farmers would soon follow. I am 
anxious to see something done for the cause of agriculture. 
But I have no hope of seeing it, unless we can unite, and do it 
ourselves. We need expect no aid from legislative bodies, un¬ 
less we first make it a popular measure. Party spirit, like 
Aaron’s rod, seems to have swallowed up their every faculty. 
Let us then, like a band of brothers, unite on some plan to con¬ 
centrate our strength. If we succeed in this, we can make our 
power felt and respected in any portion of our commonwealth.” 
The next we give, is from Mr. A. G. Alsworth, 
Canton, Mississippi : 
“But how true it is, that many of the cultivators of the soil, 
for want of union and information, have been left for ages to 
grope their way through ignorance and prejudices. If I am not 
very much mistaken in the signs of the times, there is a great 
change now going on in this country. Just at a glance of our ag¬ 
ricultural census, what wonders are told of our resources. Now 
if the cultivation of the soil dan be made to appear both honor¬ 
able and profitable, how many more will be ready to enlist in 
the cause. We have a great many gentlemen of the bar, bank¬ 
ers, brokers, and others, who will soon have to obtain their 
subsistence by some other means than their profession, and I 
doubt not, many of them, with practical knowledge upon the 
subject, would make good farmers. Now, how is this ob¬ 
ject, “ the elevation of the character and standing of the cul¬ 
tivators of the American soil,” to be attained? I think it is to 
be done, first, by farmers associating themselves together, 
forming, agricultural societies, and publishing and extensively 
circulating agricultural journals. In this way, every farmer, 
it matters not how limited his education, if he will take and 
read them, can obtain the experience, if he will not experiment 
himself, of those who are endeavoring to promote the interests 
of agriculture. Thus all are brought almost immediately to 
the best manner of knowing, obtaining, and promoting their in¬ 
terests. And in the second place, by establishing agricultural 
schools, to combine theory and the sciences with practice.” 
A correspondent who signs himself “Northern 
New-York,” from Ballston, takes another view of the 
matter. He says : 
“I have strong doubts of the practicability, and consequently 
of the usefulness of such a Society, owing to the great extent 
of our country and the expense of attending such a convention. 
Our agricultural community is composed of thousands of intel¬ 
ligent, though comparatively small farmers, who never could 
afford to attend a National Convention ; a farmer of a capital 
of from $2,000 to $5,000, consisting in from 50 to 150 acres of 
land, it being a fact well known, that a verv large proportion 
of the farmers of the northern and eastern States are of this de¬ 
scription, and never would attend such a convention. Again, 
any result they might arrive at when met, by a majority of 
votes, touching any disputed point in agricultural science, 
would scarcely command universal assent. Wheat turning to 
chess, or chess to wheat, or any mooted case, will never satis¬ 
factorily be settled by a vote in convention. It would also have 
a tendency to create a kind of agricultural aristocracy in 
which none but the rich could participate. Better lay out the 
money spent in traveling to distant conventions, in diffusing 
throughout the length and breadth of this Republic, agricultu¬ 
ral papers, containing the investigations, experiments and re¬ 
sults of practical and scientific farmers; (on this point, I was 
struck with the very sound common sense remarks of your cor¬ 
respondent, F. Burt of Ohio, in your July number of the Culti¬ 
vator,) so that the man who cultivates his ten acres, as well 
as he that cultivates his hundreds or thousands, can, when 
he comes in from his garden or field, seat himself on his 
summer stoop, and in the shade of his shrubbery, read his 
Cultivator or some other agricultural periodical, costing 
him one dollar a year, and learn the views, experiments, and 
practical results of his brother farmers throughout the country, 
and obtain thereby more knowledge, (book knowledge, if you 
g lease,) than by performing a journey at the expense of one 
undrea dollars to attend an agricultural convention at Wash¬ 
ington or Baltimore. If you wish to improve the mind or ele¬ 
vate the standard of the mass of the farming community, the 
means to effect it must be brought within their circumstances.” 
The “ Skinning System,” &c. 
Mr. J. It. Moser, of Flint Rock, Lincoln co. N. C. 
gives the following account of the “ skinning system,” 
as practiced in that part of the United States : 
“The ‘skinning system’ is the only system that is generally 
in vogue among us, and that is practiced by some (excuse the 
expression) on an improved plan; for they plant their fields 
year after year in corn, and use no implement in its culture 
except a wretched fixture called a shovel-plow, with which 
they scrape their land, or perhaps at times the addition of a 
hoe. I said they scrape their land, that is, they scratch a fur 
row a few inches deep ; then another so far from the first, that 
it may just cover the space with loose earth, so as to show a 
plowed surface. This they call ‘breaking up their ground” 
some do not even ‘ break up their ground,’ but only mark it 
with their shovel-plows, so as to be enabled to deposit their 
seed in rows. The after culture is performed pretty much in 
the same manner as the breaking up. This is about all the cul¬ 
ture their ground gets till the next season, when the same pro¬ 
cess is again gone through. This may give you some idea of 
our improved system of skinning. This description, however, 
does not apply to all our farmers, for there are some who use 
better implements, cultivate their farms in a better manner, 
are endeavoring to introduce improvements, and are setting a 
praiseworthy example. Still it is a source of regret, that most 
of our farmers are opposed to the improvements in modern 
farming. They say the plans laid down in the Cultivator, and 
other publications, will answer well for the wealthy, but for 
themselves, they are not able to follow them for the want of 
means.” 
We hope Mr. Moser will succeed in his intention of 
carrying out a rotation of crops, as a proof such a sys¬ 
tem is adapted to the south, and in any country where 
wheat, corn, beets, clover, &c. can be grown, we are 
confident there can be no insurmountable difficulties. 
Animals to furnish manures ; lucerne, clover, beets, 
corn, &c. for feeding them, would, in our opinion, be far 
more advantageous to the south than present systems, 
and speedily convince the planter that the great corn 
crops of the middle and northern States are no ‘exagge¬ 
ration.’ Mr. M.’s suggestions respecting Botany and 
Entomology shall receive consideration. 
Transmutation. —Mr. N. Sutherland, a staunch 
believer in the conversion of wheat into chess, gives 
the following methods by which that conversion may 
be effected. As the most of them are not difficult of 
trial, perhaps some may have the curiosity to prove 
them ; and by performing the feat, entitle themselves 
to Mr. Ruffin’s premium : 
“Wheat can be transmuted into chess by taking a few heads 
at harvest, and laying them on the ground to grow where they 
will not be disturbed, the land to be rather poor; or some heads 
may be taken that are scattered at harvest in the stubbles and 
grow, taking them up late in the fall, and setting them in a 
wheat-field ; or some wheat may be put in a dish, and wet and 
dried as it is sprouting several times, and it will come up 
chess; or it may be fed or mowed off when eight or nine inches 
high; any of these methods will change wheat to chess. There 
is another cause that is frequently operative, and that is the 
frequent freezing and thawing of the surface in moist lands, 
which, by drawing the roots partly out of the ground, so injures 
the plant that it cannot produce wheat.” 
Cracked ears in Pigs. —Mr. Sutherland states the 
cause of this complaint in swine, to be exposure to the 
heat of the sun when the skin is tender, and feeding ex¬ 
clusively on dry food. The preventive is to keep the 
pig out of the heal of the sun, and feed the sows and 
pigs with ground food mixed with boiled potatoes, or 
once or twice a week a mess of raw ones. The 
cure is effected by making some ley, by putting ashes 
in water and stirring them up, let them settle and drain 
off, and then with a watering pot sprinkle it over their 
ears, or over the whole body if scurfy ; or ashes may 
be scattered over them while it is raining. 
Swill to Sows.—“ Ho not feed your sows much 
swill or slop in a day or two after their littering. I have 
a man on my place, who gave his sow a pail of swill 
soon after she had pigged, and she died in an hour ; 
and I have known several instances in which from such 
feeding, sows have died in the course of the day.” 
N. Sutherland. 
Italian Spring Wheat. —J. Edwards, of Virgil, 
Cortland Co., states the result of a successful experi¬ 
ment in the culture of this grain. He went 70 miles 
and procured 20 bushels of Italian wheat, which, by I 
thorough cleaning was reduced to 16. This was sown 
in the spring of 1839, and produced 38 bushels to the 
acre, or 468 bushels. The land was plowed only once, 
but well pulverized with the harrow and cultivator, and 
ten loads of leached ashes applied to the acre. This 
wheat was sold for seed at two dollars per bushel. Mr. 
Edwards has about 115 acres of cleared land, and from 
the tilled part of this, (about one-half,) he has in the 
last four years, raised more than six thousand bushels 
of grain. 
Poison of Snakes. —The editor of the Tennessee ‘Agricultu¬ 
rist,’ in noticing the discovery of M. Boucherie, in the coloring 
and the preservation of timber by impregnating the tree through 
the circulation of the sap with metallic oxides, (an account of 
which may be found in the June number of the Cultivator,) 
makes the following remarks However, there are other 
phenomenn full as mysterious. It is true, there is a kind of 
serpent called the ‘ horned-snake,’ whose poison will so circu¬ 
late through a tree it strikes, as to wilt the leaves in less than 
an hour, and finally to Kill the stately oak. We have ourselves 
seen the experiment tried, of letting a rattlesnake strike a pole 
when in full sap, six or eight feet long, and in a lew seconds 
the poison would ascend from the base end, and make its ap¬ 
pearance at the top of the pole.” A friend requests us to in¬ 
quire, in what part of the country the “ horned-snake ” alluded 
to can be found ; or in what authentic work, a description of it 
exists ? 
Great Sale of Improved Stock. 
Wm. Neff, Esq. advertises in the Western papers, that he 
will offer his extensive herd of Improved Short Horn Durhams, 
at public sale, on the 6th and 7th days of September next, at his 
farm near Cheviot, seven miles from Cincinnati. The catalogue 
embraces fifty-two animals, all pure blood, and nine of which 
were imported. For a notice of this stock, see “ Letters from 
the West,” in the July Cultivator. It includes, as rve arc as¬ 
sured from other sources, some of the best blood and finest 
Durhams to be found in the country. There will be sold at the 
same time, a large number of fine hogs of the Grazier and 
Berkshire breeds, and a number of South Down, Bakewell, and 
Cotswold Sheep. One and two years credit will be given on the 
sales. 
Notices to Correspondents, &c. 
Communications have been received, since our last, from A 
Subscriber, W. R. Peck, Commentator, J. M. Garnett, A. G. 
Alsworth, W. Penn Kinzer, J. H. Wilson, J. L. Bowman, C. N. 
Bement, W. D. Taylor, D. L., W r m. J. Wright, H. S. R., L. Phy- 
sick, W. H. Sotham, Wm. Cother, An Onon. Farmer, J. M. 
Weeks, A young Farmer, S. Moore, P., Northern New-York, 
One always willing to Learn, D. H. Cadwallader, Geo.Woodfire, 
A. Walsh, M. Quimby, H. W. M., B. W. Brit, Solon Robinson. 
0= Some notices of New WoTks, Answers to Inquiries, Com¬ 
munications, &c. intended for this number, are unavoidably de¬ 
ferred till next month. 
CONTENTS OF THIS NUMBER. 
State Society Fair—Ag. Prospects, Improved Stock, &c. 
—Kentucky Blue Grass—Florida Fruits,. 
Prof. Silliman’s Journal—N. A. Review—Liebig’s Work— 
N. E. Farmer—Dist. School Journal—The Orchard and 
Fruit Grower—The New English Farmer’s Journal— 
Growung Plants in Charcoal,.... 
Dr. Martin’s Pig—Feeding Pigs—Signs of better Times— 
Planting Trees—Currant Worm—Strawberries,.. 
N. Y. State Ag. Society—County Ag. Societies—Elizabeth 
City Ag. Society—Laporte do.—Roads—Ag. Books, &c. 
for Premium—Butter Dairies,.. • -; . 
Letter from an English Correspondent—Y atenng Plants 
—The Wheat Crop—The Toad—Old Lime Plaster on 
Wheat—Culture ol Potatoes—Broken wind in Horses,- 
Dictionary of Agricultural Terms, &c.. 
Work for the Month, &c..; —;...'. * ‘ 
Origin and History of Indian Corn, in a letter from the 
late Hon. T. PiokeriSg— 1 The Cankerworm, by H. Mer- 
CHANT - The Peach, important experiment, by L. Phy- 
Manufacture of Silk at Auburn—Fine Cattle in Auburn 
and its Vicinity, by H. S. R.-Plan of a Church, by John 
Cain— Qualities and Management of Cattle, by S. V\. 
Jewett— Good Medicine for Hogs, ••••■ • .. 
On Draining, by Henry Stephens —The Commentator, 
Freezing Vegetables, by E. S. B.—Smut in Wheat, by D. 
L.—Clarke’s Silk Reel, by A. Clarke— Hessian fly, by 
T. W. Wells— The Peach Tree Grub, by D. Tomlinson 
—Improvement in Shingling, by J. L. Bowman Cure for 
Cough in Horses,.. . 
Analysis of Grain, Roots, &c. by J. M. Garnett— Cots¬ 
wold Sheep and Hereford Cattle, by Wm. Cother, . 
Mr. Prentice’s Bull, Nero—Feeding Cows, &c., by Long 
Island— Landscape Gardening, by Alex. Walsh— Upper 
Canada, by J. Harland— The Hessian Fly, by G. Bergen 
—Weight of Hogs, the Byfields—Inquiry, by A. B.—Cure 
for Murrain—Sheep with foul Noses,... 
Bees, No. 4, by J. M. Weeks— Protection against Drouth, 
by An Onon. Farmer— History of the Hawes’ Eerkslrires, 
by C. N. Bement— Manure, by Richmond— Hay Rigging, 
by A Subscriber . 
Farming in the Southwest, by Uncle Jo.—Sugar from 
Starch, by Viator— The Moth and Cockroaches—Chess 
from Rye, by Geo. Mentz— Turning Cattle into the 
Highway, by An Enemy to Litigation —Lucerne, by M. 
Rounsaville— South Downs and Berkshires—Strawcut- 
ter for Horse Power—Corn, protection against Drouth, 
by Pearl— Carbonic Gas in Wells, by J. S. Slattf.r, - 
National Ag. Society, by W. P. Kinzer, A Young Farmer, 
A. G. Alsworth, and Northern New-York —The Skin¬ 
ning Syste^i, by J. K. Moser—Various Notices, &c- 
Illustrations. 
J 
125 
^ 128 
129 
130 
131 
132 
133 
134 
135 
136 
Fig. 66.—Dr. Martin’s pig ‘ Eernice,’- .. 
Fig. 67.—View and Elevation of a Church,. 
Fig. 68.—Clarke’s Silk Reel,. 
Fig. 69.—Mr. Prentice’s Short Horn Bull Nero, 
123 
129 
131 
133 
Subscriptions for the Cultivator 
Are received, in the different cities, by the following Agents : 
Augusta—Geo. Eobertson. 
Alexandria—Bell & Entwisle. 
Boston—Eben Wight. 
Hovey & Co. 
Baltimore—G. B. Smith. 
Buffalo—Harlow Case. 
Halifax, N. S.—C.H. Belcher. 
Hartford—E. W. Bull. 
Louisville—D. S. Chambers. 
Montreal—Eenj. Brewster. 
New-Orleans—-W. Dinn. 
Nashville—Trabue, West & Co. 
New-York—Israel Post. 
G. C. Thorburn. 
New York—Alex. Smith. 
J. L. Mott. 
G. Freeborn. 
W. A. Chapin & Co. 
Philadelphia—J. Dobson. 
D. Landreth & Co. 
Providence—A. H. Stilwell. 
Quebec—A N. Morin. 
Richmond—R. Kill, Jr. &. Co. 
Rochester—S. Hamilton. 
St. Louis—E. P. Pettes. 
Toronto—Eastwood & Skinner 
Utica—W. Eristol. 
Washington—J. F. Callan. 
STEAM-PRESS OF C. VAN BENTHUYSEN. 
