produced on one acre varies from 800 to 1,000 lbs., beside 60 or 70 bushels of seed. The brush is said to be worth 4 or 5 cents per lb.; in 1837, it was worth 12 cents per lb. The seed on an acre, at 33 cents a bushel, is said to be equal to a crop of oats. In Northampton and its vicinity, not less than 1,300 acres are thus cultivated, worth, for the brush and seed, $100,000. The seed usually weighs 40 lbs. per bushel. The manufacture of brooms in a small town (Hadley) in Massachusetts is estimated at $160,000; 80,000 brooms were manufactured by one man in a year. To a limited extent, this culture of the broomcorn and its manufacture might be yet more extensively engaged in with advantage. The process of cultivation is similar to that of maize or Indian corn. Further details are given in Appendix No. 5.

Another article toward which attention may be turned is madder, of which it is said 5,000 tons are annually imported. This, however, being a plant of three years' growth before any advantage can be obtained from it, is not likely to engage much the attention of our agriculturists.

The safflower and saffron, which have, perhaps, been confounded by many persons, are other articles of the dyestuffs which have sometimes been suggested as objects worthy of attention. The first of these yields a rich pink dye; but, for various reasons, it can hardly be much of an object to our farmers. Owing to its high price, the demand for saffron is much more than for the safflowers.

The rhus cotinus, or sumach, has also been recommended. Many tho sand tons of this product are annually imported from Trieste. It is a pe rennial plant, and it is said might yield two crops in a year; and it is sup posed that, as it bears a strong resemblance in many respects to the sumach indigenous with us, it would succeed and be profitable.

The crops of the various roots, of peas, beans, &c., for animals as well as for vegetables for the table, are increasing. A new addition to these has been suggested in the hog root, a species of the arum, and possessed a much nutritious matter of which swine especially are particularly fond Among other recommendations, have been mentioned its great productive ness, and that it is indigenous, being very abundant, especially in Virgini:

Cranberries abound in vast quantities in the moist prairies in Michiga and some of the western States. By means of a newly invented rake very simple in its construction and not expensive, 40 bushels may be gat ered by one man in a day; and a cargo of 1,500 bushels has been sent one of the Atlantic States, from the northern part of Indiana, in a flat-bos at one time. The price which this product of ten commands in the ma kets of the cities along the Atlantic varies from $1.50 even up to $250 c $3.50 per bushel. They can be gathered at the west at an expense of n more than 50 cents per bushel. The duty on them in England is n more than 2 cents per gallon by direct trade. They may also be made t produce largely by cultivation. Sir Joseph Banks is said to have raise them at the rate of 460 bushels by the acre.

Ginseng is an indigenous product, and it is raised in large quantities the west. This is an important article of export to China, and the amour sent out to that country within the last 12 or 15 months is said to be u ward of a million of dollars in value.

To the same country, also, now becoming particularly important to us! the additional facilities of commercial intercourse, large quantities of le: are also shipped; 100,000 pigs, weighing 3,000 tons, valued at $250,00

were sent there, from the west, in the year 1842. western product, is so intimately connected with the from agricultural labor, that the mention of it in this improper.

This, beside being a question of diversion place does not seem

A new method of preserving eggs, by packing them in salt, with the small end downward, and by which they have been kept perfectly good for 8 or 9 months, will, it is believed, enable the inhabitants of portions of our country where these abound to make them profitable. Thousands of bushels may be sent off to the Atlantic markets. Great quantities are used? in France; and as the duty on them in England is so low (not two cents per dozen), they might bear exportation. They have been gathered and sold at the west as low as 90 cents per bushel; which, as a bushel contains 45 dozen, is but 2 cents per dozen.

From present experiments, the introduction and raising of sheep on the vast prairies of the west are to be anticipated, and it would not be surprising if there should be a great change in the territory to which the consumers of wool must look for much of their raw material. Hitherto, the New England and middle States have principally furnished the market with wool. But sheep are already beginning to acquire importance in the view of the farmers and planters of the west and south; and if the importation of 1,100 merino bucks in a single year into South America produced such a change in their flocks, why may not equally as striking a result be effected in the western and southern States by a similar introduction there? Millions of sheep could be sustained at little expense on the belt of the oak timber land running through Georgia, 70 miles wide by 150 miles long. Indeed, there is scarcely one of the southern States but would furnish some good section for the keeping of flocks on the uplands. Planters are now also actually beginning to collect their flocks. The sheep-raising States of the north must expect competition. The farmer in the higher and colder latitudes, who has to fodder his flock for a long winter, will certainly feel the effect of this new direction of sheep husbandry, brought, as he will be, into competition with those who enjoy the advantage of an almost perennial spring. So soon as the planter ceases to be absorbed in the production of cotton, the streams of the south will be lined with mills, and the various operations of machinery. The northern and middle States can not but see that it will be so. There are many locations south and west of the Delaware, where three sheep at least can be kept as cheap as one can on the confines of the Canadas.

Pasturage to almost any extent covers the prairie range, and grass and grain for a short winter's feed are cut and reaped by machines at a trifling expense. One gentleman, it is stated, in the vicinity of Buffalo, New York, having a prairie farm in Illinois, of some 500 acres, purchased 2,000 sheep, which he placed upon it, under the care of two faithful shepherds. The sheep were kept without difficulty in the best of health, and the proprietor, as the first fruits of his enterprise, received 6,000 pounds of good wool, worth 30 cents per pound. The transportation from Illinois to Buffalo cost about one cent per pound. These facts are mentioned, not to discourage effort, but to prepare the producer of wool to meet the condition of things that must soon take place in a state of general peace and depression of price of all the staple products. By the last census, it appears that there are in the United States about twenty millions of sheep. It has been thought by those who have paid attention to this subject that this number

is much too low; and the supposition has been made that there are not less than thirty-four millions of sheep in this whole country, of which one fifth are in New York. The safer estimate would probably be about twentyfive millions; the estimated value of which, at $2 per head, would give $50,000,000. Three sheep is the general allowance per acre for winter provender and summer pasture. The aggregate quantity of land necessary is more 8,330,000 acres; which, at the average of $15 per acre (perhaps it would reach even to $20), would be nearly $125,000,000. The amount of wool produced at an average of 2 pounds the fleece is 50,000,000 pounds, which probably, at the lowest average price, is equal to $12,000,000. It will thus be seen that this object is one of no little importance, and that, therefore, it deserves a place while suggesting diversions of labor which may be anticipated.

Another product connected with the clearing up of lands by new settlers is that of pot or pearl ashes. The latter of these can be prepared for the market very easily in the form of black salts, and at little expense. These are said to find a ready sale. Potashes, also, may be produced, though it requires a somewhat larger expense of capital. Five hundred pounds of pot or pearl ashes for one acre of good timber is said to be a very safe calculation, and this sells at $25. Every 400 bushels of ashes carefully saved will produce a ton of pot or pearl ashes, into which they can be turned in 36 hours. For some further details of this subject, reference may be made to Appendix Nos. 6 and 7. It appears that 2,437 casks of ashes from one port were exported in 1842, valued at $48,740.

The tabular statement contains no columns devoted, as in the report for 1841, to the domestic animals, the produce of the dairy, orchard, and horticulture; but it is evident, from all the information which has come under the notice, that these are also steadily advancing. Agriculture is yet destined to experience a great impulse from the new light which is just breaking in upon the farmer, as respects the composition of soils, manures, &c. An agricultural literature is forming of a most important character; and, by the revolution in the mode of publishing books, it may be expected that ere long our farmers in the remotest parts of the country may feel the effect of such a diffusion of combined scientific and practical knowledge. Liebig, Daubeny, and Johnstone's works, and others, which have recently been brought before the public, contain much information on the important subjects of analysis and adaptation, and the effect of various kinds of cultivation and enriching of the soil. And here, too, it may not be improper to mention another work, in itself a treasury of knowledge in agriculture, and everything kindred to it-Loudon's Encyclopædia of Agriculture. Perhaps it would not be too much to predict that, in the course of years, an entire change will be wrought in the mode of applying manures. The wonderful skill of the Chinese in improving their soil, not so good as most parts of our own naturally, by which they are enabled, as it now well ascertained, to support a population of more than 300,000,000 throughout their vast empire, is owing to their wisdom and care in adapting their manures and modes of cultivation to the peculiarities required by the soil. As they separate its enriching elements, rejecting the parts that can have no such effect, they are not constantly exposed to a new growth of weeds, the seeds of which are sown among the loads of compost, and other manures carried out into the field. Hence a weed is a rare thing in their fields, and as soon as it makes its appearance is easily seen and eradicated. The time

is not far distant when the ammonias, silicate of potash, phosphates. &c., which render a particular manure valuable, will be prepared and used in the form of salts, or in a liquid form, sprinkled over the soil, instead of whole loads being carted out from the barn yard and compost heap for this purpose. It needs only the diffusion of such knowledge, and the successful trial by some of our most intelligent and practical farmers and planters, to overcome the prejudice against changes like these, which would do so much to benefit our agriculture. As an evidence of this fact, it may be mentioned that many acres of worn-out lands in Virginia have been recov ered by the skill and toil of enterprising farmers from New England and New York, so that farms under this culture in many instances have been doubled, and even tripled, in value.

It is gratifying also to observe that the attention of the State Legislatures are more and more turned to the subject of agriculture.

The State of New York, by a law passed May 5, 1841, appropriated $8,000 per annum, for five years, for the encouragement of agriculture and household manufactures, to be divided between the county societies, which raise a certain sum of money for the same purposes. Had a longer time been permitted before the transmission of the report to Congress, recourse might have been had to the valuable report of the New York State Agricultural Society, which is yearly required by the provisions of the State law.

LARD OIL, ETC.

The subject of the manufacture of oil from corn and lard was introduced to the notice of the public in the report of last year. As corn oil has heretofore been connected with distillation, although it is easily made and an.swers good purpose, less attention has been devoted to it. It has been suggested, on high authority, that it can be gathered from the mash which is prepared by fermentation for feeding swine. If this should be confirmed by further experiments, as it would not be liable to the same objection urged against the former, the manufacture of spirituous liquors, it may hereafter be carried on to great extent. No doubt seems to be entertained of its value for burning, and all other purposes to which oil is applied but painting.

Much interest has been felt in the subject of oil from lard, and the almost daily inquiries respecting its process of manufacture, &c., and its close connexion with the question of disposing of our agricultural products, forms a reason for giving it a more extended consideration in these remarks. Complete success has attended the enterprise, and the number of those engaged in prosecuting the business is continually increasing. Several large factories for the manufacture of this oil have been some time in operation in Cincinnati, and thousands of gallons are daily prepared for home consumption and exportation. It is also carried on at Cleveland, Ohio; Chicago, Illinois; Burlington, Iowa; Hannibal, Missouri, and other places. both in the western and Atlantic States.

It is considered much superior to olive or sperm oil for machinery, and for the manufacture of woollens, &c. It can be furnished also at half the price, and therefore, it will doubtless supersede that article of import. As it contains less gelatine than other oils, it is found much better for combing wool, for which purpose a single factory wished to contract for 10,000 gal

lons from one establishment. It is also undergoing trial in England; and, if it succeeds, of which there can scarcely be a doubt, large orders for it may be expected, or at least the American lard itself, which pays a less duty, will find a ready market. An order for 600 gallons, with this view, has already been received for the use of a cloth factory in Huddersfield, England. It has also been stated in the journals, that a gentleman is about taking out a large quantity, recently ordered from the West, for the purpose of trying it there as an article of trade, and it has recently been stated that 16,000 bbls. have been sent from Cincinnati to England. Repeated experiments, too, have shown that for the purpose of combustion, no oil is superior. It is important, in trying it with this view, to obtain a good article, manufactured from good lard, and not from the dark-burnt, which creates smoke and clogs the flame. For want of sufficient care in this respect, some have no doubt met with disappointment in their attempts to substitute this oil for sperm oil in the lamps.

The following are given as the relative constitutents of lard oil and sperm oil, in one hundred parts of either:

It will thus be seen that the difference in carbon is only ; about the same in hydrogen; while in oxygen it is about in favor of the lard oil. The large quantity of carbon proves that it may be relied on as a material for giving light, as it is well ascertained that whenever carbon predominates in an animal oil, the article is capable of a high degree of luminous power. Experiments have been made by Mr. Campbeli Morfit, of Philadelphia, which may be found mentioned in the paper furnished by him in Appendix No. S These resulted in favor of lard oil. About 60 lbs.. in 100 of good land, in tallow only 28, is cil; and the processes of manufacture resorted to, show that it may be made a profitable business. Large onders have already been executed at the West for this o.. to be used in the eastern States. The heat of land oil for the blow pipe has been found to be much greater than that of sperm. Lard itself melts at 829 of Fahrenhet: its specific gravity at 60° is 0.98 Lard erstallizes in small globales; sperm in faxes or scales... Its soluble m boiling alochsl. The proportion is 80 gallons of land to 1 of alcohol. The application of stearin for candies which was also alluded to the last year's report, promises greatly to reduce the proe of that article, as will be seen by Mr. Morfit's leder, already a înded to in the Appendix Na S. He thinks at the price of such candles equal to spermádou, may be erectal y reduced to 12 cents per pound.

As the capillary atmmotion of land of is not so get as the of sperm. it is roommended data or form of the lamp should be sunt

bulk of the oil as matt to the point of combestor, as posse

tring the

It is also recommended that the tube should be fed thioner at the top where the wick k laser event the escape of beat Tinous lamps have beer constrerad for ngard as vel as ini di, which hare been found to answer rom me The sole Istri and it is urpose. affords a light mysteriosad by any other the bet varit and quasity of kovinous power, and the letter of M» Milford en lector at Cere hod. Ohio. Appendix No. 6, shows that the burning of this of, has bear intro