184 
MAGAZINE OF SCIENCE AND ART. 
will ridicule the idea of an editor making 
his personal ailments the subject of a lead¬ 
ing article, and some medical practitioners 
who will doubt our conclusions as to the 
cause of them, but we have no doubt 
whatever; and we are sure that wo should 
have been guilty of a shameful neglect of 
duty if we allowed our desire for privacy 
to suppress this narrative of our painful 
experience. 
TRANSACTIONS OF THE AUSTRALIAN 
HORTICULTURAL and AGRICULTURAL 
SOCIETY. 
THIRTEENTH MONTHLY MEETING. 
Held in the Hall of the Chamber of Com¬ 
merce, Sydney Exchange. 
Tuesday, February 2nd, 1858. 
The President in the Chair. 
Members of Council present.—Messrs. 
J. E. Blake, T. W. Shepherd, P. L. C. 
Shepherd, F. Mitchell, G. A. Bell, F. 
Creswick, W. S. Wall, W. Deane, Hon. 
Sec. ; Dr. Houston ; and about 50 mem¬ 
bers and their friends. 
MINUTES. 
Minutes of last meeting read and con¬ 
firmed. 
PAPERS READ. 
Mr. W. Stewart, of Balmain, read a 
paper on a simple mode of raising water 
by cattle power, the principle of which 
was made very clear to the meeting by 
means of a very well executed working 
model. 
The President remarked that this means 
would be found very useful in the interior. 
The President called upon Mr. P. L. C. 
Shepherd to read a paper on a method of 
numbering plants. 
The President read a paper from Mr. 
Lewis Markham, of Armidale, on ■ the 
Potatoe, its culture, disease, and preven¬ 
tative. 
Mr. T. W, Shepherd observed, with re¬ 
ference to some remarks made in Mr. 
Markham’s paper, that the crown of the 
potatoe always produces the best plants. 
It w'ould be necessary to know how long 
the potatoe had been cut before planting, 
which might have made a material dif¬ 
ference in the experiment spoken of by 
Mr. Markham. Mr. Shepherd also ob¬ 
served that it was the custom in England 
to cut tire potatoe some time before being 
planted. In this colony, on account of 
the dryness of the climate, it was generally 
planted immediately on being cut. 
The President remarked that in Van 
Diemen’s Land it was the custom to cut 
them three days before planting. 
Mr. J. E. Blake proposed a vote of 
thanks to the w'riters of the several papers 
which jiad been read this evening, which, 
on being seconded by Mr. T. W. Shep¬ 
herd, was put to the meeting by the Pre¬ 
sident, and carried by acclamation. 
MODEL FARM AND GARDEN. 
The President laid a tracing of the Go¬ 
vernment Domain at Parramatta upon the 
table, and informed the meeting that the 
Council W'ere now' deliberating on the way 
of raising funds to carry out that very de¬ 
sirable object, the establishment of an 
experimental or model farm and garden ; 
and w'hen they had decided what course 
they would pursue, they intended applying 
for a grant of a portion of the Domain for 
that purpose. 
Mr. Thomas Walker asked if any esti¬ 
mate had been formed of the amount re¬ 
quired. 
The President informed him that he 
could not speak definitely on this point at 
present, hut that the Council would soon 
he in a position to lay before the Society 
and the public every information on the 
subject. 
Mr. T. W. Shepherd wished to make a 
few remarks with respect to a paper from 
Mr. R. Meston, which had been read at 
the last meeting on Agricultural Associa¬ 
tions and Improvement Societies, in which 
the w r riter complained that the Society had 
omitted pastoral interests in its plans. Mr, 
Shepherd said that this was a great mis¬ 
take of Mr. Meston’s, for the Society 
wished to encourage the improvement of 
sheep, cattle, and pasturage, by every 
means in its power, and it was only on 
account of the limited ftmds at the disposal 
of the Society that had hitherto prevented 
them from giving a grand exhibition of 
stock which they trusted they would soon 
be in a position of doing. 
MEMBERS PROPOSED. 
Mr. Moutry, Church Hill; Mr. Mivel, 
American Consul, Macquarie Place ; Mr. 
W. Hemming, Elizabeth-street. 
exhibits. ( 
Mr. John Gay exhibited and presented 
the Society with a very fine dried speci- 
