for boiling, is esteemed one of the best of the finny tribes. My fike furnished, both spring and fall, a full family supply.

TOMCOD OR FROST-FISH.-Gadus tomcodus, Mit.; Morrhua pruino8a, De K.

This is a scaleless fish, and, in appearance and taste, evidently belongs to the family of the cod-fishes. It is round and plump, and about six inches long, making its appearance along shore with the frosts of Autumn; hence one of its name. It is a very delicate panfish, and when fresh out of the water, it has no fishy taste, and few persons would desire a better relish at breakfast or at tea.

MACKEREL.-Scomber crysos, Mit.; Caranx chrysos, De K.

Several individuals of this beautiful little golden mackerel were taken during the autumn. It is small, and so seldom taken that it is not eaten. I made a figure of this fish many years ago, for Dr. Mitchill, from a specimen caught in a net at Sandy-hook, during a visit to that place. The keeper of the light-house at that time was a sea captain, and he called it a rudder-fish, as he said it kept near the rudder of ships in going out and coming in from sea. It is only three or four inches long.

BERGALL OR BLUE-FISH.-Labrus chogset, Mit.; Ctenolabrus ceruleus, De K.

Wherever black-fish are taken, we have the bergall or blue-fish. It sometimes runs into the fikes, but is principally taken by the hook. Its flesh is solid and good, but inferior to the black-fish or tomcod. It is a great plague to sportsmen with the hook and line, as it never takes hold of the bait boldly, but plays around and nibbles at it.

PORGEE.-Labrus versicolor, Mit.; Pagrus argyrops, De K.

The porgee is a summer fish, taken in warm weather with the hook and line on the south side of Long-island, and on the Jersey shore in the Atlantic ocean; but stragglers sometimes come into the bays and rivers, and are taken in the nets. Porgees are astonishingly numerous on the coast, where all that supply the fish markets of New-York, are caught with the hook and line. They are ravenous in taking the bait, and bite at it so quickly, that it is common, with several hooks to a line, to draw up two and three at a time. The flesh of the porgee is white, but rather coarse and dry, with no fat, and though good, is an inferior fish among the numerous better ones frequenting these waters. GURNARD OR HORN-FISH.-Trigla lineata, Mit.; Prionotus lineatus, De K.

The gurnard is an eatable fish, though seldom eaten, as there is very little muscular substance upon it, being all head and bone. Gurnards are troublesome to the fishermen, as they are ugly things to handle, having a number of long bony spines about the head and gill covers; are scaleless and slippery, tenacious of life and live a considerable

time out of water. The hoop-net, which is examined daily at low tide, will sometimes have a dozen or twenty in it at a time, and there is danger of being wounded by the spines as they flounce about the net.

UNUSUAL VISITERS.

In the latter part of September 1843, two unusual visiters were found in the fike soon after being set for the season. One of them was a young green tortoise, with a buckler more than a foot in length. This is the Testudo mydas of Linnæus, the Chelonia mydas of De Kay, and the edible tortoise of the West-Indies, the food of which is so much prized by epicures. I at first thought it had been dropped overboard from some vessel, but was subsequently informed that other individuals had before been taken in Raritan bay. If they have become acclimated to our cold waters, others must nevertheless have previously escaped from the crawls about the city of New-York, in which they are kept in summer, or as above suggested, have been lost from some inbound vessel from the West-Indies.

The other visiter was unwelcome as well as unusual. It was the Cow-nose sting-ray, (Raja bonasus of Mitchill, and the Rhinoptera quadriloba of De Kay,) weighing thirty or more pounds, following in the track of better fish, for the sake of plunder. Luckily he was taken out without injury to the net, and not wishing to make fish of one and flesh of the other, he was buried in the barn-yard under a heap of seaweed, to make manure.

CRUSTACEA.

The eatable crabs, (Supa hastata of Say,) and lobsters, (Astacus marinus americanus of Seba,) of the New-York market, sometimes crawl into the nets and are good prizes. Two other crustaceous animals also enter in greater numbers, and are thrown to the hogs. These are the speckled crab, (Cancer iroratus of Say,) not so large as the eatable species, and the Horsefoot. About the middle of May, the fike was daily full of horsefeet, and had to be taken up lest it be torn to pieces with their claws. Of this animal, the monoculus polyphemus, I have given an account in my communication of last year.

Those who may not have perused it, may ask what has this fish to do with agriculture? I will add, that some of them are extensively employed as manure, and I may also repeat that where clams, oysters and fish are so easily taken, some men prefer an easy idle life to working on a farm. Hence farm laborers are annually in demand, and this demand is mostly supplied by transient foreigners.

TIMBER AND OTHER TREES.

On the subject of trees and timber in my last year's communication, I barely named a few of those natural to the soil of Staten-Island. I

have since examined more particularly, and offer the following enlarged list, with the botanical names of F. A. Michaux.*

OAKS.-White oak, Quercus alba, Mich.; Swamp white oak, Quercus prinus discolor, M.; Red oak, Quercus ruba, M.; Black oak, Quercus tinctoria, M.; Pin oak, Quercus palustris, M.; Chesnut oak, Quercus prinus monticola, M.

WALNUTS.-White walnut or shag-bark hickory, Juglans squamo sa, M.; Mockernut or thick-shell hickory, Juglans tomentasa, M.; Pig-nut hickory, Juglans porcina, M.; Butternut, Juglans cathartica, M.; Black walnut, Juglans nigra, M.

MISCELLANEOUS.-American chesnut, Castanea vesca, M.; Elm, Ulmus americana, M.; White beech, Fagus sylvestris, M.; White birch, Betula populifolia, M.; Black birch, Betula lenta, M.; Dogwood, Cornus florida, M.; Tulip-tree or white-wood, Liriodendron tulipifera, M.; Sweet gum, Liquidambar styraciflua, M.; Holley, Ilex opaca, M.; Red cedar, Juniperus viginiana, M.; Yellow locust, (introduced,) Rob nia pseudo-acacia, M.; Sugar maple, Acer saccharinum, M.; Sassafras, Laurus sassafras, M.; Button-wood, or sycamore, Platanus occidentalis, M.; Persimmon, Diospiros virginiana, M.; Peperidge. Nyssa aquatica, M.; American aspen, or poplar, Populus tremuloides, M.; Wild-cherry, Cerasus virginiana, M.; Jersey pine, Pinus inops, M.

I have omitted the fruit trees, mulberries and other exotics, as well as some smaller trees and shrubs. Among the latter is the Shad-bush, a white flowering shrub, that expands its blossoms before the forest trees are clothed with foliage, and indicates the approach of the fish from which it derives its common name.

BARNS.

In my former communication I stated that Mr. Joseph H. Seguine, at Princes bay, on the south side of Staten-Island, had the largest and best barn in Richmond county. Its dimensions were not then known to me. Ample as it was, he has since found it necessary to increase its capacity. It now consists of a main building and two wings, enclosing the barn-yard on three sides, leaving it open on the southerly side. The barn is 105 feet long, 30 feet wide, with posts 20 feet high. It rests upon a stone foundation 9 feet high, on the northerly side against a bank, and stone pillars on the southerly side, making an extensive and deep basement for the shelter of cattle and other uses of the farm. In the central part of the basement he has the machinery worked by horses for a hay press which is on the barn floor above. Exclusive of the threshing boor and carriage house, there are seven bays for hay, each capable of containing sixteen tons; and three bays in the westerly wing of the same capacity; giving space to stow one hundred and sixty tons of hay in its loose state.

From his North-American Sylva.

The easterly wing has a stone foundation, five feet above ground, open on the yard side, and resting on pillars; between which are pens for sheep. The superstructure is forty-eight feet long, sixteen feet broad, and two stories high, having a double pitched roof, with eighteen. feet posts. It contains a stable for six horses, a granary and other farm accommodations.

The westerly wing, not quite completed, is 48 feet long, by 30 feet in depth, and 20 feet posts. Mr. Seguine carries on farming upon an extensive scale, and he has the advantage of a dock in front of his premises, where vessels load and unload, and where a steam-boat touches daily to and from New-York. His barn yard is enclosed on the southerly side by a board fence; is hollowed in the centre to make and preserve manure, and although with the aid of sca-weed, and his stock of horses, cattle, sheep, and hogs, he makes a large quantity, yet he buys freely of street dirt in New-York, wherewith he manures his lands heavily, and his crops show the treatment they receive.

GEOLOGY.

Last year I stated as follows:-"On the north side of the island, near Port Richmond, a stone quarry has been opened, and is now "worked, and the materials sold in New-York for granite. It is hard, "and looks well when hammered into blocks for masonry, and may answer all the purposes of building, yet the rock is not granite, but a "continuation of the greenstone formation of the Pallisadoes on the "Hudson river. It will be found on future examination, that it is un"derlaid by sandstone probably resting on serpentine, and the serpen"tine on granite."

Since the above was written and forwarded to the State Agricultural Society, Mr. Issacher Cozzens has published a Geological work, in which he confirms my views stated in the preceding paragraph; and he has since informed me that on the eastern shore of Staten Island, near the Quarantine establishment, the storms have washed away the bank, and laid bare the granite rock on which the adjacent hill of serpentine

rests.

In the above-mentioned work, Mr. Cozzens states, that the green-sand formation of New-Jersey, which contains the valuable marl there extensively employed as manure, underlays a portion of Staten Island and of Long Island. It would be a great boon to the farmers of these islands, if, by digging wells or by any other means, they should strike into a bed of Jersey marl, which by analysis is known to contain a large proportion of potash, that gives it the fertilizing quality so conspicucus in Monmouth county in that State.

SAMUEL AKERLY.

A Geological History of Manhattan or New-York Island, together with a map, &c.-8 vo, New-York, 1843.

THE MANURES USED UPON LONG-ISLAND.

[By WILLIAM KETCHAM, Jericho.]

Long Island is situate in the southeastern part of the State of NewYork between 40° 36′ and 41° 12 north latititude, and 2o 60' and 5° 2' east longitude, from Washington, containing an area of about 1545 square miles, or 990,000 acres.

Its climate is generally mild, snow remaining but a short time, owing to the damp warm breezes from the Ocean.

It is divided into three counties, viz: Kings, Queens and SuffolkKings, the smallest, occupies the west end, and contains about 50,000 acres-Queens, the middle county, both in size and situation, has an area of about 240,000 acres-Suffolk, the easternmost and largest, contains about 700,000 acres.

On Long Island are to be found almost every variety of soil, except the stiff heavy clay. The northern part is generally rough and uneven, though not rocky. The soil on this side of the island is generally of a fine sandy loam, although there are some coarse gravelly spots. The middle and south side is generally level, of a fine sandy soil, resting in most instances upon a coarse gravelly subsoil, but there are portions that have a heavy loamy soil and a close retentive subsoil.

Near the centre of Suffolk county are extensive sandy pine barrens, very little used for cultivation, but affording great quantities of pine wood, the sale of which forms the chief support of the inhabitants. Near the middle of Queens county there is also a large tract of uncultivated land, but free from timber of any kind; the soil is light, deep and sandy, and produces well when well cultivated. In its natural state it produces a kind of coarse grass, upon which thousands of cattle and sheep find their support during the spring and summer.

Perhaps there is no part of the State where the Agriculturist expends such large sums annually for manure as upon Long Island. In Kings, Queens and the Western part of Suffolk, large quantities of horse manure, street scrapings, ashes, ground bones, and to a limited extent poudrette, are annually procured from New-York, Brooklyn, Albany, Boston and other places. A few years since the prices of the above named manures reached a ruinous height; horse manure selling at New-York for 62 cents per cart load, (of nominally 14 bushels, but in reality of 10 or 12,) which with freight for 30 or 40 miles made it cost the farmer $1 and sometimes more, exclusive of drawing it from the landing, often from 4 to 6 miles; but the "hard times" came and reduced the price of that as well as many another more elegant but less useful article; the price is now from 35 to 37 cents at New-York. One would suppose from the high price of manure, and its being indispensable in farming operations in this section of country, that great exertions would be made to increase the amount of home manufacture by every means in our power but such