"Deep planting, abundance of alkali, salt at the rate of one or two bushels per acre, and the exclusion of fresh manures, are the chief requisites for this crop.

Shallow plowing unprofitable.

"There is no error in husbandry that has proved so fatal to progress, and has been so unhesitatingly clung to as shallow plowing; and indeed, even now, amidst the experience of practice and the assurance of science, the difficulty of persuading men's minds to try and test for themselves, is met by distrust and unconcern. Mr. Warren Granger, a neighbor of mine, at my suggestion made an experiment on a piece of stiff clay land, having an uneven surface, and a steep side slope, which was selected for a fruit and vegetable garden. This piece of land, wet and cold through the spring, holding water in the depressions, and baked bone-dry through the summer, was subsoiled and tile-drained, the drains 30 feet apart, three feet below the surface. The soil, since the work was done, looks, and is entirely changed. The rains instead of running over the surface, washing away its fertility, percolates the soil, depositing its ammonia and other matter it contains near the surface, while the superabundant water passes through the tile. A remarkable fact connected with draining is the heightened temperature of the soil. Careful experiments have proved this. Even ordinary trenching or subsoil plowing, renders the soil a week or ten days earlier in the spring, while deep draining, say to four feet, raises the temperature fifteen degrees. Such lands never suffer from drought, they are early, require less manure, are quick and easily worked, and although expensive at the onset well repay the cost."

FRANKLIN.

B. P. JOHNSON, Esq., Sec'y of the N. Y. State Ag. Soc.:

Dear Sir:-I regret to be obliged to say that I cannot return to you any reports or statements, as contemplated by law, to accompany applications for premiums. This requisition was entirely overlooked by the executive committee, consequently I have none to transmit to you. I shall look to this next year. It was

a new business to our committee and officers this year, and this must be our apology for this neglect. Our first fair was held at Malone, on the 6th and 7th days of October last. It was regarded as an experiment here, but it has succeeded beyond our most sanguine expectations. Our list of premiums was necessarily small, because of the uncertainty of raising funds. In this respect, however, we succeeded much better than we expected. We have paid off all our liabilities, and have on hand $278 to commence the next year with. The fair was well attended from this and adjoining counties, and Canada. The exhibitions in the various departments were highly gratifying for the first year. Our farmers and mechanics were highly gratified with the fair. The institution promises great usefulness to our county society, and I think will be well sustained. I cannot send you this year such an account of our proceedings as would be desirable, but hope hereafter to be better prepared to send you a more detailed report. SIDNEY LAWRENCE, President.

GREENE.

To the Executive Committee of the N. Y. State Ag. Soc.:

The undersigned, President of the Greene county Agricultural Society, in pursuance of the statute, submits the following report: That an agricultural cattle show and fair was held in Cairo, in said county, on the 20th and 21st days of September, 1852; there was a fair display of stock, and a large portion of it of fine quality. The exhibition of sheep was large and excellent.

The attendance at the exhibition was good, better than usual, and a very good spirit seemed to prevail. There was not so many articles entered for premium as there has been in previous years, owing to the severe drought, but the articles were such as to merit general attention. The attendance at the fair was unusually large, and the affair went off in a very spirited and happy manner. Much interest was added to the occasion by the address of Mr. Smith.

The whole amount of premiums awarded was $187; of this amount, 182 have been paid out. There is now in the hands of the treasurer $115.

All which is respectfully submitted.

Durham, Feb'y 12, 1853.

EDWARD JOHNSON, President.

At the annual meeting of the Greene county Agricultural Society, held on the 4th of January, 1853, present Edward Johnson, President; H. L. Day, Secretary.

The following named persons were duly recommended and unanimously elected.

Officers for 1853.-Marcus Beach, President; Stephen Hedges, Lewis Sherill, Peter Dubois, George Robertson, and Hezekiah Smith, Vice Presidents; Augustus Hill, Recording Secretary; E. B. Fenn, Corresponding Secretary; E. Johnson, Treasurer J. A. Cooke, John T. Quitman, E. P. Smith, Albert Tuttle, Cyrus Smith, N. Clark, Stewart Austin, George Budd, Stephen Steele, George Beach, Collins B. Johnson, Executive committee.

HERKIMER.

REPORT OF THE SECRETARY,

The annual fair and cattle show of the society was held on the 28th and 29th days of September, 1852, at the village of Herkimer. The attendance was larger than at any previous meeting of the society. The first day was devoted to the entering and arranging of stock and articles for competition for premiums, and although the weather was very bad with a cold rain, rendering it almost impossible to attend to the necessary duties on the ground, the entry of stock, agricultural and mechanical implements, domestic and household manufactures, fruits, grains and vegetables, and fancy articles of all descriptions, far exceeded anything of the kind ever witnessed in this county.

On the second day the weather was fine, with bright sun, atmosphere clear and warm, being just such a day as one would wish for such an occasion. The forenoon was occupied in examining the several articles entered for premiums. The afternoon was devoted to the address of B. P. Johnson, Esq., Secretary of the State Agricultural Society, which was listened to by a large and delighted audience, after which the reports of the several committees were read and premiums awarded.

The reports of some of the committees are hereto attached, and go to make part of this report. It is to be regretted that so few of the committees made a report in a shape so as to be printed.

It is deemed unnecessary to particularly notice every department of the exhibition; it suffices to say that it was unquestionably good in all its various departments, both as to quality and quantity, far exceeding any previous county fair ever held in Herkimer county. Our society is in a flourishing condition, and under its present organization, with the aid of its present able and energetic officers, and the hearty co-operation of the men and women of Herkimer county, promises much future usefulness, and that it shall be second to no society in the State.

The following are the reports of such committees as were handed to the secretary, with the statements of some of the suc cessful competitors.

STATEMENT OF RODNEY WILCOX'S FARM AND ITS MANAGEMENT.

I took possession of my farm, situated in the southwestern part of the county, in Litchfield, in the spring of 1831, consisting of 160 acres of land, at a cost of $16 per acre, with poor buildings, and fenced with rail fence, and that very poor. The soil is a mixed sandy gravel and clay loam, generally termed a sandy loam, lying upon a limestone rock, which in some places comes to the surface, furnishing good material for fencing and building. My first farming operations were clearing the surface of the ground from stone, and raising grain, chiefly corn, wheat, barley and oats, which were generally a good crop; but grass was a light

crop. My rule has always been to cultivate thoroughly till the soil was clear of grass and weeds, before stocking with grass. In seeding, I sow 2 bushels of wheat per acre; 31 bushels of barley, 3 bushels of oats, one-quarter bushel of corn. For seeding I wet my grain before sowing, and mix 6 quarts of lime and 6 quarts of salt with the seed for each acre; and for seeding to grass, I mix 8 quarts of timothy and 2 quarts of clover with the seed grain for each acre, and sow it with the grain; I drag before and after sowing, and have never failed in seeding in this way.

I give my soil a top dressing of manure, and drag thoroughly after it, which helps seeding very much. I have the best success in seeding grass with barley; I mix my grass seed and grain together, and soak them 12 hours and then sow. My attention has been turned more to grazing and dairying for ten years past than formerly, by which I find my farm improving in productiveness. I practice hauling my manure and spreading it at once, so that a portion of the land where the heaps are dropped, shall not receive so much soakage from the heaps as to cause the grain or grass to lodge in spots and make the grain crop spotted, and ripen unequally. I usually bush the manured portion of my meadows early in the spring after a rain, and again the last of May or first of June. I have never tried any other than barn-yard manure and gypsum. I think gypsum is good on grass land. The average yield of hay per acre this season on my meadows is estimated at 2 tons per acre. I have cultivated 32 acres of land this season; 1 to winter wheat; 3 acres of spring wheat, (black sea wheat); 7 acres of barley; 3 acres of oats, and the remainder to corn and potatoes. The average cost of producing and fitting wheat for market is 47 cents per bushel; barley 32 cents per bushel; oats 18 cents per bushel; coru 32 cents per bushel.

My manner of manuring cultivated land is to apply 30 loads per acre, and plow it in and work it in with the soil, and such manure as I can not carry on to the land in the spring, I pile in the yard and haul it out in the fall. My land produces now five times the amount of grass annually per acre that it did when I commenced upon it, and much more of all kinds of grain, and the chief causes I attribute to deep plowing and manuring. The