which, it must be granted, that noble specimens of this species of stock are displayed; but little has been done, compared with what ought to be done, when we reflect upon the magnitude and importance of our agricultural interest. There are many farmers, both at the east and west, who, with a laudable enterprise, have imported numerous valuable specimens of farming stock; and we know that there are numerous agriculturists in the heart of Kentucky, Tennessee, and Ohio, upon a domain which we of the east are too apt to term a wilderness, who drive from their barn-yards specimens of sheep, horses, and cattle, which would surprise the less ambitious husbandmen of many of our eastern states. But notwithstanding the too great neglect of this branch of our agricultural interest, which we denominate stock-husbandry, our advance, in this respect, of late years, has been obvious and marked; and this improvement is manifest to every one who will compare the quality of our sheep and cattle with those of the same general species which formerly existed in our own country. Liberal and enterprising gentlemen, adopting the pursuit of agriculture from taste and inclination, and disposed to spread widely the benefits of improved husbandry, have imported at their own expense, from abroad, some of the best species of horses and cattle. As early as 1802, the first importation of merino sheep into this country was made by Colonel Humphreys, of the state of Connecticut, and Chancellor Livingston, of New York. Several companies have been also formed in the states of Ohio and Kentucky, composed of gentlemen of fortune, who have made it an important object to import from Europe the best stock, both of cattle and sheep; and the farming interest of the country is indebted to Messrs. George and Thomas Searle, of Boston, who, in 1824, imported that beautiful and valuable species of sheep, the Saxony, into the east, it having been introduced into the west seven years previously; and to Van Rensselaer and Corning, of New York; Powell, of Pennsylvania; and Cushing, of Massachusetts, for similar services; the lastnamed gentleman having not only imported the best stock, but distributed them among the farmers of his vicinity; deriving, as the sole consideration, the conviction that he had conferred solid advantages upon the agricultural interest of the nation. There are other individuals who have performed similar services."

Great improvements are, however, making in the agricultural as well as in the rearing of live stock, and valuable information on the subject will be found in the Transactions of the New York and other Agricultural Societies, to which our limits will scarcely more than allow us to refer.

The following remarks on the crops of the United States are extracted chiefly from the Reports for 1843, of Henry L. Ellsworth, Esq., Commissioner of Patents, on the Improvements in Agriculture and the Arts, and the statistical tables are all arranged and condensed from voluminous official returns.

PROGRESS OF AGRICULTURAL IMPROVEMENT.

"The progress of improvement in agriculture, though gradual, is yet steady. The importance of this branch of industry is beginning to be more and more appreciated. The whole country is more or less interested in it, as it furnishes, besides what is consumed at home, at least three-fourths of all the exports of the United States.-The vast public domain of unsold lands, too, will be affected by this progress, and its value proportionably advanced. It may be well here to mention some of the principal sources of this improve

ment.

"Causes of Improvement.—The geological surveys ordered and in progress, or recently completed, in many of the states, besides the other important benefits thereby conferred on those states, have contributed much to advance the science of husbandry.

"These, in connexion with the experiments of agricultural chemistry, by thus directing the attention to their analysis, are developing the nature of the soils and their adaptation and means of increased production, by different seeds, products, and methods of cultivation and manures, and so enable the farmer or planter to use the varieties of his land to the best advantage.

"The increasing number of agricultural periodicals and treatises, and their cheap and

more extensive circulation throughout the land, are also producing a happy effect. The farmers and planters in the various sections of our country are thus brought acquainted with each other's operations and success, and also with the methods of cultivation and rearing of stock, &c., common in England and on the continent, new products and the result of their trial are noticed, and the knowledge of many useful discoveries thus extended. The prejudice against 'book farming,' as it has been termed, which has so long proved a barrier to the adoption of valuable improvements thus suggested, is gradually wearing away; and a happy combination of science and practical skill is thus secured, the results of which are every year becoming more and more apparent.

"Agricultural societies also exercise great influence in furthering the progress of agricultural industry. These are but of comparatively recent date, and their institutions and increase in number and prosperity serve to mark the progress of improvement in agriculture; and if still further aided by an efficient board of agriculture, like what exists in Great Britain, they would no doubt be yet more successful. It is only about fifty years since that board was there established, and it has proved of extensive benefit to that active empire. By means of these societies, great numbers of the agriculturists of our country are brought together, to compare notes, as it were, to observe each other's success, and to converse on the topics connected with this branch of industry. They examine the machines, implements, animals, and products, offered for exhibition, and are induced to bestow more care and labour in the selection of their seeds and stock, in the preparation of the soil, and in their tillage and harvesting.-Every year new and valuable improvements are thus made known and introduced, by which many are essentially benefited. Premiums also encourage to effort, and a highly salutary incentive is furnished, in the honour to be acquired of successful and approved farming. A similar effect, too, results from the bounties given by the different states to encourage the culture of some particular product. These have never been offered without a new impulse being stirred, and leading to increased attention to the pursuit. Some of the states in these respects are far in advance of others, but almost all are beginning more to appreciate their true interest, and seeking to extend their true prosperity.

"While adverting to the causes of general improvement in the agriculture of our country, it may not also be improper to allude to the increased habits of temperance and sobriety of the labourer, by which the condition of the farm-house and farm is so essentially benefited, and domestic happiness and effective strength promoted. A clear head and a vigorous frame, in combination, will ever be most successful in tillage, as in every branch of industry. The lengthening of life and the repair of health, thus secured, render many who have been but drones and mere consumers, also active and efficient producers, as well as healthful consumers. The amount added, too, in the increased skill, as well as the saving from less breakage of tools, machinery of labour, and the actual effectiveness of such labourers as have heretofore been drawn from the intemperate class, now reformed, constitute no small item of gain in this view of the subject. No little damage has been thus sustained in the inebriate' management and cultivation of the land, which is now avoided. Were this the proper place, some most interesting deductions might be made as to the physical force and efficiency thus added to the various branches of industry, and the bearing of the whole on agriculture, as a source of our national wealth.”—Mr. Ellsworth's Report.

Live Stock.-The horses, horned cattle, swine, and sheep of the United States, though still of inferior breeds, have now very greatly improved. We have no space to give any lengthened account of the live stock of America; and those who wish to be well informed on the subject, will find ample descriptions in the Transactions of the New York State Agricultural and other Agricultural Societies.

New York, Virginia, Pennsylvania, the New England States, Michigan, and Vermont, and in time, the prairie regions, will be the principal countries for horses, horned cattle, and sheep. The swine of the western states are increasing rapidly, and of late years for salting, and especially for lard ail.— (See Pork and Lard Oil Trade hereafter.)

The breeding of sheep for their wool has been greatly increased and improved. The following extract on the subject is interesting:--

"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 the planters of the west and south; and if the importation of 1100 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, seventy 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 up-lands. 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 various operations of machinery. The northern and middle states cannot but see that it will do 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 2000 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 6000lbs. of good wool, worth thirty cents per lb. The transportation from Illinois to Buffalo cost about one cent per lb. 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 20,000,000 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 34,000,000 of sheep in this whole country, of which one-fifth are in New York. The safer estimate would probably be about 25,000,000; the estimated value of which, at two dollars per head, would give 50,000,000 dollars. Three sheep is the general allowance per acre for winter provender and summer pasture. The aggregate quantity of land necessary is more than 8,330,000 acres ; which, at the average of fifteen dollars per acre (perhaps it would reach even to twenty dollars), would be nearly 125,000,000 dollars. The amount of wool produced at an average of two lbs. the fleece is 50,000,000 lbs., which, probably, at the lowest average price, is equal to 12,000,000 dollars."

The following are the live and dead weights, raised and fed by Mr. Raybold at his farm near Delaware city. Their wool was long, fine, and silky, such as is raised for the finest worsted stuffs.

Live weights each, 251 lbs. 200 lbs., 200 lbs. 219 lbs., 229 lbs. 233 lbs., 195 lbs. 219 lbs., 209 lbs. 173 lbs, 195 lbs. 195 lbs., 177 lbs. 205 lbs., 189 lbs. 209 lbs., 229 lbs. 183 lbs., 193 lbs. 203 lbs., 189 lbs.

Dead weights each, 116 lbs. 115 lbs., 124 lbs. 124 lbs., 110 lbs. 100 lbs., 119 lbs. 94 lbs., 107 lbs. 105 lbs., 128 lbs. 111 lbs., 110 lbs. 98 lbs., 130 lbs. 117 lbs., 132 lbs. 147 lbs., 111 lbs. 130 lbs., 118 lbs.

The rough fat weighed 371 lbs.

The following Tabular Statement will exhibit the Live Stock and Products of each State.

TABLES exhibiting the Live Stock, Horticultural, and Agricultural Products of the United States, from the Official Returns made by the Marshals, in 1840.

Total...... 84,823,272 4,161,504|123,071,341 18,645,567 7,291,743 377,531,875 80,841,422 108,298,060 155,100,809 124,734

Total.....10,248,108 1,238,502 | 628,3034 219,163,319 35,802,114 790,479,275 61,55295,251 29,023,380 5,088,891

RECAPITULATION exhibiting the total amount of each of the columns in the foregoing tables.

..........

Swine

26,301,293

Various crops.

Poultry of all kinds-estimated value.....dolls.

9,344,410

Bushels of potatoes.

Horticulture.

Pounds of sugar made

Gallons of wine made

Tons of hay...............................
Pounds of hops

wax..........

80,841,422

.. 108,298 060 155,100,809

124,734 10,248,108 1,238,502

628,303

tobacco

......................

219,163,319

7,256,904

Cotton gathered

790,479,275

84,823,272

Silk cocoons

61,5524

"

barley..

.................

95,251

5,088,891

The foregoing returns are made by the officers of the United States who bear the name of marshals. The detailed accounts include not only the returns of each state, but those of each county in each state; and also of the smaller divisions of each county, called townships. The agricultural statistics of the United Kingdom might, in a similar manner, with very little trouble, and at not much expense, be made out at least once in ten years, and even for every five years, by taking that of each parish. I feel greatly indebted to the Hon. Daniel Webster, who sent me, most obligingly, a complete copy of all the voluminous returns made by the marshals of the United States.