422 



plants with large capsules, but little opium in them. It is remarkable 

 that turnips, sown where the poppy grew, came up, but would not get be- 

 yond the seed-leaf. Repeated sowings on the same lot had the same 

 result. Turnips sown in spots not far removed from the opium-patch 

 are doing very well, and are less annoyed by bugs than ever before. 

 Can it be that the opium poppy leaves in the ground elements incom- 

 patible with the life of a turnip ? 



Wheat-culture. — Snyder, Pa. : Much "Shoemaker" w^heat raised 

 here last year. Millers would not pay as much for it as for other wheat, 

 alleging that it does not make good flour. 



Madison, Va. : Large quantity of Fultz wheat sown this fall ; very 

 I)opular. 



Stafford, Va. : Low prices and poor yield ; more discouragement than 

 at any time since the war. 



Charles City, Va. : !^^^o old wheat left, on account of repeated failures of 

 the crop. 



Mitchell,X.C. : Touzelle, not adapted to this climate; Tappahannock, 

 the best. 



Nicholas, Ky. : Fultz wheat, from the Department, does finely. I 

 raised about -4 bushels per acre. 



Boone, Mo. : I raised 35 bushels of Fultz on seven-eighths of an acre; 

 Tappahannock, 21 bushels per acre. 



Sa7i Luis Obispo, Cal. : Touzelle, from the Department, yields remark- 

 ably. One field of 12 acres averaged 58 bushels per acre. It suits this 

 section ; is free from smut, and sets well against our summer winds. 



Seed-wheat for Egypt. — Sonoma, Cal. : That the excellence of 

 our wheat is attracting the attention of foreign agriculturists is proved 

 by the fact that the government of Egypt has ordered a large quantity 

 of our best wheat for seed in that country. 



Antidote for smut in wheat. — Sonoma, Cal.: We have neither rust 

 nor smut in any of our wheat-fields. I beg leave respectfully to diifer 

 from the advice given on page 4G7 of the monthly report of the Depart- 

 ment for ]S^ovember and December, 1871, wherein farmers are advised 

 to " discard all idea of mixing ingredients with it (seed-wheat) to 

 destroy smut." This question has been so well and thoroughly tested 

 in our State as to be no longer even a matter of doubt. All our seed- 

 wheat is soaked from eight to twelve hours in a solution of bluestoue, 

 (sulphate of copper,) in the proportion of six ounces to every 100 pounds 

 of wheat. Smut being a fungoid growth, resulting from diseased grains, 

 the germ or vitality of these diseased grains is killed by the solution of 

 vitriol, and thus prevented from growing and contaminating the sound 

 grains. A farmer here would be thought crazy were he to sow his 

 wheat without subjecting it to the above process. 



White winter-rye. — Pettis, Mo.: From 4 quarts of white winter- 

 rye I harvested 2i bushels — twenty-fold — the best in quality I ever saw. 

 Sown on the 5th" of November, broadcast, on new white-oak land. It 

 was injured to some extent by chinch-bugs. 



Stone, Mo. : The white winter-rye sent me from the Department 

 yielded a splendid crop both in quantity and quality. It is decidedly 

 the finest rye I ever saw. 



Pemiscot, Mo.: The white rye sent me from the Department yielded 

 one bushel from two quarts, notwithstanding the dryest season for 

 many years. 



Thayer, Nehr. : The white rye received from the Department does 

 splendidly here. 



