507 



failure of the wheat-crop, caused the old coru to be sold out closely, 

 especially as a lar^e uew crop was in prospect. 



ilissouri. — Saint Clair : Our people are hauling more produce to the 

 railroad, at various points, than ever before: castor-beans, broom-corn, 

 flax-seed, onions, potatoes, and cabbage. The two years of failure have 

 recuperated the soil, and caused the people to phmt more kinds. Hence 

 every one has something besides coru to sell. Johnson : Nearly all the 

 pear-trees standing one year ago have since died, or are badly blighted. 

 The cause is difficult to discover. The autumn has been propitious for 

 the farmer. No excessive rains have fallen to injure the fodder of corn 

 in the shock, which is our mai n dependence as forage for the winter. Even 

 corn cut entirelj^ green is now thoroughly cured. All vegetables that 

 are seasonably late are abundant, and of excellent quality. Clay : Since 

 the destruction by the grasshoppers, crops of all kinds have grown 

 beyond precedent, as to quantity and quality. Food for stock is abun- 

 dant, and pastures abound with rye instead of blue-grass. Laclede: 

 Although the floods destroyed much corn, wheat, oats, &c., on the river- 

 bottoms, yet almost all kinds of crops are good. The uplands are so 

 much better than common that the whole crops are placed above aver- 

 age and the prospects of the county are far better than last year. 



Kansas. — Miami : The failure of wheat, oats, timothy, clover, flax, &c., 

 by ravages of the grasshopper, caused the planting of an extraordinary 

 breadth of (;orn, potatoes, beans, buckwheat, and vines of all kinds. 

 Then the finest season for the growth of these crops has brought our 

 farmers bountiful harvests of them. There was a little too much rain 

 for sweet-potatoes, but the season was just right for Irish potatoes and 

 corn. Ears of coru 12 inches in length, and well filled with the most 

 solid grains, are quite common. The potato-crop is wonderful for 

 extent, quality, and size, worth 15 cents in the market here. The crops 

 of pumpkin and squash are great. Of the Chilian mammoth squash, 

 many weigh 100 pounds, and the premium one at our county fair weighed. 

 143. Our people are well supplied with everything but " greenbacks." 

 Nemeha ; Last year we had almost nothing ; this year we have a great 

 .abundance. Coicley : Our corn-crop this year, averaging 35 bushels 

 per acre, will yield 1,250,000 bushels; wheat, 20 bushels per acre, 

 500,000 bushels ; oats, 40 bushels per acre, 250,000 bushels. Graham ; 

 All our crops were destroyed last year, while this year they are all good. 

 Osage ; Last season we had nothing worth noting ; this season our crops 

 are large beyond any precedent. 



Nehraslia. — Dixon : Neither corn nor potatoes were raised last year. 

 The whole crops were destroyed by grasshoppers. This season we have 

 the best crops ever raised. 



THE DESICCATION OF FRUITS AND VEGETABLES. 



BY THE COMMISSIONER. 



There is, perhaps, no subject which at this moment is commanding 

 more attention, and none which possesses more substantial interest to 

 the agriculturist, than the process for the preservation of food. Of all 

 the vegetables which supply the wants and provide for the comfort of 

 men and animals, there are but few that do not soon decay and are lost. 

 And perhaps, of all the fruits and vegetables that grow, it would be 



