50 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
TRAVELING MEMORANDA—No. 8. 
Editors of Cultivator. —While in New Jersey I 
learned one fact that I was not aware of, but I am not 
certain but I may have mentioned it in my last letter, 
that the Peach tree which has heretofore afforded such a 
large income to the cultivators in this state, has almost 
entirely failed. This is a great loss to the people—for it 
seemed as though this tree flourished better than any oth¬ 
er crop upon their light sands. It is impossible for those 
unacquainted with the fact, to conceive what an advantage 
the owners of such land have derived from marl. Some of 
the most valuable land opposite Philadelphia is that upon 
the “reclaimed meadows,” from which the tide has 
been dyked out at great expense, and which requires 
great care and sometimes great expense to keep in repair. 
Mr. Benjamin Cooper, at Camden, informed me, that one 
break in his embankment, cost $500 to repair. I hope if 
there are any who may envy those who live in situations 
that seem better adapted than their own to make farming 
profitable, that they will bear in mind that the most fa¬ 
vored locations are not always the most profitable, for 
there are a great many out-goes, that the small farmer of 
the interior would not only find burdensome, but ruin¬ 
ous. For instance, the cost of the fence and dykes on 
Mr. Cooper’s farm, would buy an equal number of acres 
where I live, of better soil, and fence, plow and sow the 
whole to wheat, and put up comfortable farm buildings. 
If we could see and know more of one another, we 
should learn to be more contented and happy in our hum¬ 
ble situations. 
It was lamentable to witness the waste of land and 
wreck of fortunes around Philadelphia, which the Mo- 
rus multicaulus mania produced. Patches of the trees 
are yet to be seen on many farms, but little that looks as 
though the owners ever intended to convert them into 
their only proper use, the feeding of silk worms. 
Fifteen miles above Philadelphia, on the banks of the 
beautiful Delaware, I saw another great waste of wealth, 
in Mr. Biddle’s “ great forcing house,” [not the bank] 
where he boasts that he can produce grapes every month in 
the year. Such vast outlays of money upon such objects, 
are not so creditable to the owner as many of the small and 
almost unknown improvements in farming and farming 
implements that we find in every neighborhood. For in¬ 
stance, at Camden, I saw a new drill barrow, lately patent¬ 
ed by Mr. Jones, which I consider preferable to any oth¬ 
er that I have seen, and which will prove of more advan¬ 
tage to the cultivators of the soil, than all Mr. Biddle’s 
acres of glass hot houses, although he can boast that he 
raised the finest grapes in the world. Again, the improve¬ 
ments that Mr. Edmund Morris of Burlington, has made in 
the manner of feeding silk worms, will be the means of 
producing more real wealth and happiness in the world, 
than all the “ forcing houses” [banks included] in Christ¬ 
endom. His manner of destroying the vitality of the worm 
in the cocoon is so simple and easy, that I am surprised 
that it is not universally adopted, as it must be known to 
most silk raisers. In the roof of his cocoonery he has a 
large window, enclosed by a small close room, in which 
the cocoons are placed, and the heat of the sun is so great 
as to kill the grub quite as effectually and with less trouble 
than baking in an oven. 
Mr. Morris is one of those worthy friends of improve¬ 
ment that deserve to have their names kept before the rea¬ 
ders of all agricultural papers. And the way that he knows 
how to welcome a friend, is the same that I have found 
in so many hundred instances during the summer of 1841, 
and which has tended so much to make me feel proud of 
“My own native land.” 
Burlington is one of the most delightful towns in the 
United States—And reader, I beg you to remember why ! 
Every house has its garden, and every street its shade 
trees. And now, as you hope to have your name remem- 
bered with a blessing by future generations, promise me 
that ere another summer sun comes, parching up the 
earth, that you will make one little green spot where you 
have planted at least one tree. 
At Trenton, I saw, to me, a new kind of crop. Cayenne 
pepper is cultivated to considerable extent,and being dried 
is ground in a common grist mill, put up in barrels, and 
brings about 20 cts. a pound. The grinding costs one ct. 
a pound. Even at the present low price, it is found a very 
profitable crop, easily cultivated, and will grow upon 
any rich soil. 
From Trenton to New-York, I had a night ride over that 
much traveled rail-road, as my anxiety to beat the State 
Fair at Syracuse compelled me to push forward, leaving 
many of the beauties of New Jersey unseen; but as a 
Sunday intervened, I took that only opportunity to visit a 
most delightful spot, and met with a most hearty wel¬ 
come from that excellent friend of agricultural improve¬ 
ment, Mr. Charles Downing of Newburgh. A beautiful 
work upon Landscape Gardening, lately published by his 
brother A. J. Downing, has rendered the name familiar 
to the lovers of rural scenery in this country. I had not 
the pleasure of meeting the author, but from what I saw 
of his excellent nursery, anil tasteful mansion, I was sa¬ 
tisfied that he was such a man of taste as would confer 
lasting benefits to the country, if he and those like him 
would write much more for the gratification and informa¬ 
tion of their fellow citizens. From my acquaintance with 
Mr. Chas. Downing, lam confident that those who desire 
to order trees from his well filled nursery, will be well sa¬ 
tisfied to be assured of finding him a gentleman of integ¬ 
rity, and that they will find the trees exactly as he re¬ 
commends them, which is a small matter of information 
that may be useful to some of your readers, and one that 
I hope the lovers of good fruit may profit by. 
In passing along the North River, the eye of the lover 
of delightful country residences, meets with constant 
pleasure. 
It ought to convince us of the folly of crowding our 
sons into “ a genteel situation” in a city, to see such a 
large portion of them make a wreck of all happiness, 
and sink in poverty into an early grave, while the few 
whom fortune favors with the mass of wealth that would 
not suffice the mass of citizens if equally distributed, are 
to be found escaping from the city and spending their 
wealth in ornamenting the banks of this beautiful river; 
thus proving that in looking for real social enjoyment of 
life, the country is ever preferable to the city. There 
is much food for reflection and profitable application in 
that trite old proverb, that, 
“ Man made the town, but God made the country;” 
and those that love Him, ought to love to cultivate, im¬ 
prove and beautify the works of his creation, and to be 
more happy and contented amid the gorgeous beauties of 
nature, than in the artificial atmosphere of a crowded 
city. 
And now, Mr. Tucker, I come to the time when I first 
had the pleasure of meeting you face to face, although 
we had long been acquainted—and although it may not 
be particularly interesting to you, it may to some other 
of those acquaintances of mine who I am in the monthly 
practice of meeting in your columns, to describe some 
of the things with which you are already familiar. 
I will therefore address myself to them—I landed at 
Albany, upon one of those delightful days in the last of 
September, for which the autumn of our country is so 
justly celebrated, for affording the most beautiful weather 
imaginable. 
After depositing my baggage, (and here let me observe 
that I am one of those old fashioned men who do not scru¬ 
ple to “carry my own bundle,”) and reading a few letters 
from that place which I am never able to forget, and 
which every man that has “ a home” should ever remem¬ 
ber, I undertook to find some one in this strange place 
that was not altogether a stranger to me, although I was 
personally unknown to all. It was no easy matter, for all 
my agricultural friends seemed to be actively engaged in 
busy preparation for the approaching carnival at Syra¬ 
cuse. Mr. Tucker had took himself off from his office, 
and was as busy among bulls and boars, and horses, hogs, 
sheep and cows, superintending their embarkation on 
board the rail-road cars, as though to that vocation he 
had been “well bred.” After seeing “all right” for an 
early start the next morning, I soon found myself quite at 
home in his house, where we were soon joined by Mr. 
Bement, and at peep of day were seated in a cab ordered 
over night to take us out to the rail-road at the top of the 
inclined plane, a mile or more from the city; for be it 
known that the Albanians have not the most convenient 
rail-road arrangements in the world. 
Our trip to Syracuse was a proud one—twenty-four 
cars loaded with stock, and to which was attached a pas¬ 
senger car occupied by Messrs. Tucker, E. P. Prentice, 
Van Bergen, Bement, Chapin, and several other gentle¬ 
men who owned the stock, or were interested in some 
way—the day very pleasant, and the novelty of such a 
train exciting more interest and attention than perhaps 
ever was bestowed upon any train that ever passed over 
the route, and our company all being in a high flow of 
spirits, without being excited by ardent spirits, all tended 
to make the trip one to be long remembered. 
Another fact that should be remembered is, that the 
rail-road companies between Schenectady and Utica, 
and between Utica and Syracuse had tendered the use of 
the roads to the State Society, and all the agents and 
conductors seemed to evince a most laudable zeal in get¬ 
ting their unusual fare safely through. I am satisfied 
that this praiseworthy effort of those gentlemen of Al¬ 
bany and vicinity, who exerted themselves so much in 
getting up this show, will tend much to wake up the 
sleeping energies of the country, to the importance and 
benefit of paying more attention to agricultural fairs. 
Of the proceedings of the fair, it is not necessary to 
speak, as that has already been published, but the reception 
that I met with there was such as to convince me that the 
labor of those who devote themselves to encourage their 
brethren in the spirit of agricultural improvement, will 
be sure to meet with an ample reward from them when¬ 
ever they have an opportunity to show their respect. 
One of the marks of respect of which I feel justly 
proud, was one of the most elegant pitchforks that ever 
I saw, and which has been universally admired by the 
thousands who have seen it, that was presented to me by 
and in the name of the State Agricultural Society of New 
York, by H. S. Randall, esq., Cor. Sec’y of the Society, of 
Cortland Co., where it was manufactured, by Mr. Lewis 
Sandford. I also was presented with one of Barnaby & 
Moore’s premium side hill plows, which has also been 
much admired by all who have seen it since it has been 
in my possession. I was also presented with another pre¬ 
mium plow, but as I failed to receive it before I left 
Buffalo, I will take another occasion to speak of it when 
it arrives. The Side Hill Plow is already described in 
the Cultivator, and I have no doubt will supersede all 
other plows for that purpose; this one also working ad¬ 
mirably in all kinds of plowing. 
Although some appeared to be disappointed in the 
quantity of Stock that was exhibited, I think that, con¬ 
sidering this was the first effort of the State Society, all 
ought to be well satisfied, as the great object was gained 
in the strong interest manifested among ten thousand peo¬ 
ple who were present. No doubt that another year will 
produce one of the greatest fairs ever had in this coun¬ 
try, if the same enthusiastic spirit then manifested con¬ 
tinues to exhilarate the mass of New York farmers, of 
which you may well be proud, for I fully believe that no 
section of our couutry can make a display of such a mass 
as was seen at Syracuse, of more respectable “well-to- 
do-in-the-world” looking people. 
There are a great many small matters that I might 
dwell upon, and which would prove interesting, but I find 
myself getting over the ground so slowly, that I must needs 
pass them over for the present, and again take my seat 
in the car attached to the great stock train, upon the even- 
ing of the first day of October, spending a very cool night 
upon the road, and arriving in Albany for breakfast, on 
my way to Boston. * 
Although time and space are almost overcome by 
rail-road facilities between distant places, yet now time 
and space forbid me from giving a description of Mr. 
Prentice’s farm near Albany, and the beautiful stocks of 
Short Horns and South Down Sheep, which I saw there; 
but I will assure my readers that if they wish to purchase 
they will find Mr. P. a gentleman whose word may be 
depended on, and his stock exactly what he may recom- 
<tnend. Solon Robinson. 
Lake C. H ., Ia., Jan. 15, 1842. 
WOBURNS versus BERKSHIRES. 
Messrs. Gaylord & Tucker —In your December 
No., A. B. A. accuses me of using petty and disingenuous 
arguments. His style is overbearing, but I let that pass, 
as I suppose it is his manner. 
It was a grand idea and ingenuously stated, that the 
Berkshires would have beaten (that is would have been 
kept cheaper than) the Woburns, if they had been fed 
upon the shipstuffs, and the Woburn upon corn. In 
plain English, if 4-± bushels of shipstuffs had been giv¬ 
en to the Berkshires, and only one bushel of corn given 
to the Woburns, though the bushel of corn cost as much 
as the shipstuffs, yet the former would have beat the lat¬ 
ter. How candid! 
The effort to iuduce the belief that it was unfair to 
give only that part of his experiment in which the corn 
was mentioned, is another proof of Ms fairness ! Why 
should I have mentioned the shipstuffs? The Woburns 
got none of it. 
The experiment of feeding Marion was detailed as an 
answer to a plain and direct question, (from A. C. of 
Gainesville, Ala., see Cultivator p. 117,) which I was re¬ 
quested to answer by the editors. 
I had a right to belive his statement, (which was mi¬ 
nutely detailed by Mr. A., the quantity used, the cost of 
each article, the argument and conclusion,) was all cor¬ 
rect. But as Mr. A. himself tries to make it doubtful, I 
shall say no more upon the subject. 
It shows great fairness to bring pigs fed in the summer 
time against those fed in the winter. Mr. A. can but 
know there is at least a difference of 25 per cent, in favor 
of spring and summer feeding. This difference between 
warm and cold weather was strikingly illustrated in feed¬ 
ing my pigs last winter. The first twenty days were 
warm for the season, and Bernice gained sixty-one 
pounds, being an average of over three pounds a day_ 
The next ten days were very cold, the thermometer rang¬ 
ing from 3 to 20 degrees, mostly 7 and 8 degrees, and her 
gain in ten days was only eight pounds. Here the dif¬ 
ference in favor of warm weather was more than 250 per 
cent. 
When several trials had taken place between the Wo¬ 
burns and Berkshires, and many of the advocates of the 
Berkshires admitted that the Woburns would' gain fast¬ 
est, they still contended that they were the greatest 
consumers. I determined they should not avail them¬ 
selves of this argument, unless they could prove it.— 
And accordingly proposed in the Kentucky Farmer, a 
trial by measure. This proposition was taken by Mr. 
Duncan. (See Ky. Farmer, vol. 4, pgs. 315 & 332.) It 
was also taken by J. F. Taylor. I selected Patience and 
Courtenay, two Woburns, to be fed against Caroline Scott 
and Belinda, two Berkshire sows. It was not my fault 
that Caroline Scott was not fed; and if there were twa 
Woburns, did not the Berkshire have a better chance of 
beating one of them. 
Marion was fed upon old, hard, whole corn, and the’ 
sows fed by Mr. Weathers had the same kind of corn. 
The Berkshire sow in this experiment (though beat¬ 
en so far by the well Woburn), yet gained 21 lbs. in ten 
days, fed upon less than 5 ; j lbs. corn a day; while Mr. 
A.’s sows, fed (as amended) upon seven and a half lbs., 
of corn a day, were losing flesh! Belinda weighed 
when put up, 302 lbs., so that although she had the be¬ 
nefit of a stall, she had 52 lbs. more flesh to support out 
of her allowance. Courtenay weighed 425 lbs. which is 
175 lbs. more than Mr. A.’s “ supposed average.” 
The statement about my keeping “ the poor, misera¬ 
ble, stinted Berkshire boar, to show off against my fat Wo¬ 
burns,” is as “petty and disingenuous” as it is malicious 
and destitute of truth. 
Mr. A.’s apology for Mr. Fanning shows great fairness 
in wishing to make it appear that his pigs were very small. 
Mr. Fanning says, “the pigs are the largest Berkshires 
of this vicinity, of their age,” and “are very superior.” 
I now come to the most extraordinary part of Mr. A.’s 
letter. He says, “ But for my own part I am yet to learn 
what the Woburns are.” So it seems he knows nothing 
personally and practicallv, of the Woburn hog!! And 
while every experiment to decide their relative merits 
has resulted in their favor, he still undertakes to write 
them down. If Mr. A. had not been known to be the 
fairest and most disinterested person, some might have 
thought there was envy or selfishness in this. 
