which have been imported into this country; but these are different from any I have before seen. I regret that these cattle had not found their way to our own state. I think, under the care of some of our good farmers, a trial might have been made with some of our northern cattle, that would probably have proved more satisfactory than those of Virginia, where comparatively much less attention is given to the improvement of neat cattle than with us.

Lieut. Lynch is certainly deserving of much credit for having turned his attention to this subject; and, although these cattle may not prove valuable as a cross with ours, still the effort should be encouraged, and it is to be hoped that our officers, when opportunity offers, will obtain animals from different countries, so that we may be enabled to test the different breeds of animals as to their adaptation to our country.

It seems to me that our society might do great good, if you could secure some of the celebrated Scotch cattle, and try them for our northern mountain counties. They are said to fatten very readily; and, reared as they are in the mountains of Scotland, and in the isles adjacent, they must possess a hardiness of character that would render them valuable.

There are also others, I presume, that might prove useful. I allude to them merely to call the attention of our society to it; and would suggest whether some arrangement might not be made with some of our shippers at New York, by which you might obtain some of those cattle, which as yet, I believe, have not found their way to this country.

I am glad of this opportunity of calling attention to these cattle, and trust the Governor of Virginia will hereafter give to the public the result of this cross with our cattle. It gives me great pleasure to bear testimony to the great courtesy extended to me by Gov. McDowell during my stay in Richmond.

I have the honor to be yours, truly,

Z. PRATT.

LETTER TO PROFESSOR DE-BOW.

AT the annual meeting of the Agriculturalists' and Mechanics' Association of Louisiana, held at Baton Rouge, January, 1847, on motion of D. D. Avery, Esq., it was

Resolved, unanimously, That the Hon. Zadock Pratt, of New York, be constituted an honorary member of this association; and that a committee of two be appointed to carry out this resolution. Committee: D. D. Avery and J. D. B. DeBow, Esquires.

COL. PRATT'S ANSWER.

PRATTSVILLE, GREENE Co., March 2, 1847.

GENTLEMEN: I have received your flattering letter of the 10th ultimo, advising me of my election as an honorary member of the Louisiana Agriculturalists' and Mechanics' Association.

Be assured, gentlemen, that I highly appreciate the honor. Mechanic and farmer as I am, I take great pride in being associated with my brethren of the South. While you furnish us with cotton and sugar, we, in return, send our leather and other manufactured articles, and thus mutually benefit each other. Hoping, gentlemen, that we may thus always be found coöperating for our country's good, and that the exchange of good will and mutual advantage may be constantly increased,

I remain yours, truly.

To Messrs. D. D. AVERY and J. D. B. DEBow, Committee.

28*

STATISTICS RESPECTING THE IMPORTANCE OF A NEW COUNTY.

THE distances from Prattsville, the proposed centre of the new county, to the court-houses in the adjoining counties, are as follows: To Catskill, 37 miles; to Delhi, 32 miles; to Schoharie, 31 miles, and to Kingston, 45 miles. The distances from Prattsville to the centres of the various towns proposed to be included in the new county are from 8 to 14 miles. The population of Greene county, in 1840, was 30,446. Deduct the population of the towns of Prattsville, Windham, and Lexington,-6843,—and it leaves in Greene county 23,603.

The population of Delaware county in 1840 was 35,363; from which deduct the population of the towns of Roxbury and Middletown, 5612, and it leaves for Delaware county 29,751.

The population of Schoharie county in 1840 was 33,351; from which deduct the population of the towns of Blenheim, Broome, and Conesville, and there remains in Schoharie county 25,600.

The population of the various towns in the proposed new county is as follows:

There are twenty counties in this state, the average of whose population is 18,551. There are twenty-nine tanneries in the proposed new county, which employ a capital of about $1,285,000,

a larger amount than is used for the same purpose in any county in the United States.

The surface of the country furnishes an argument in favor of the erection of a new county. It is generally broken and mountainous, and most of the streams are tributary to the Schoharie Creek, which passes through the centre and along the borders of most of the towns included in the new county.

In the erection and division of counties, the convenience and accommodation of the people should be objects of permanent consideration. This being admitted, our claims upon the favorable consideration of the Legislature are, it is believed, as strong as any that can be presented to them. And we doubt not that, sooner or later, this will be admitted by the candid of all parties. All we ask, then, is even-handed justice.

It is objected, by some, that the taxes of the people in the new county will be heavier than they now are.

This position is untenable, for the following reasons: Taxes are made up almost entirely of the expenses incurred in the support of the poor, and in the prosecution of criminal business. The sheriff has only his fees; so with the clerk, surrogate, district attorney and jailer.

The judges' and jurors' fees are the only additional expense. These in the county of Greene for the last year amounted to $600. These cannot exceed one-half that sum in the new county, for the reason that there will not be one-half of the civil and criminal prosecutions and litigation in the new county that there now are in the county of Greene.

Now the assertion is made, without fear of contradiction, that at least five-sixths of the expenses incurred by the support of the poor, and the prosecution of criminal business, come from the river towns, and from large and populous places.

The above remarks, applicable to Greene county, will, it is presumed, apply to the other counties.

PRATTSVILLE, Dec., 1841.

CORRESPONDENCE WITH THE STONE

CUTTERS.

WASHINGTON, July 16, 1850.

SIR: At a meeting of the stone-cutters and other mechanics, in the city of Washington, employed upon the public and other buildings, the following preamble and resolutions were passed, namely:

Whereas, it is not unfit or unbecoming in the laboring men of this country, when they find in a representative of the people talents of a rare character, or great merit, or that he has a peculiar friendship and regard for the interest of the working-man, to give expression to their feelings in relation thereto : Therefore,

"Resolved, That the Hon. Zadock Pratt, whilst a member of the House of Representatives of the United States from the State of New York, manifested his friendship in a practical manner for the working-men of this District, by his unceasing and successful efforts to have the public buildings of this city constructed of magnificent proportions and of beautiful and enduring material; and by his advocacy of the doctrine that the laborer upon said buildings was worthy of his hire.'

"Resolved, That, in order to manifest our sense of his efforts, on several occasions, in behalf of the working-men of this District, and of his industry and good sense as a legislator, we offer to the acceptance of the Hon. Zadock Pratt a stone, of the material of his choice, to be prepared and embellished by our hands and skill, in such manner as will illustrate his own character and career; to be presented by him to the managers of the Washington Monument,