270 

 EXTRACTS FROM CORRESPONDENCE. 



DEPARTMENT SEEDS. 



Mendocino Comity, t)al. — One year ago last spring, or late in the win- 

 ter, I received from you a small quantity of tlie white and of the black 

 Schonen oats, and some barley. I planted them soon after receiving 

 them, but neither variety matured — growing not more than twelve or 

 fifteen inches in height. Not fully satisfied with the experiment, 1 de- 

 termined to leave the ground unoccupied and see what a volunteer crop 

 would do. The white oats did uot seed the land sufficiently thicii to pre- 

 vent the weeds from overrunning most of the ground; still, some spots 

 produced excellent crops. The barley also failed to get a good footing 

 on a portion of the ground, but other portions were well seeded. This 

 barley is low, and the heads of middling length, but well filled. Of the 

 black Schonen oats, however, I have a more encouraging account to give. 

 I had it cut to-day, and thiuk I never saw a finer crop of oats taken from 

 any ground. The heads are large, the grain abundant and very firm, and 

 grows to a height I have never before seen. • I think one-half the stalks 

 would measure, from the ground up, six and one-half feet, and none of them 

 were short. The conclusions I have arrived at are these : This variety 

 of grain will not mature in our dry summer uuless it has the advantage 

 of early sowing, so that the roots may become strong during the winter. 

 I believe it i)ossesses one quality which should recommend it to all Cali- 

 fornia farmers. There is a great deal of grain — wheat, oats, and barley — 

 sow^n in this State expressly for hay. I have never seen a crop of any 

 kind of grain offer so fair a prospect for a hay crop as this did in the 

 haying season. I am confident that it would have produced hay at the 

 rate of four to five tons to the acre, and that of au unexceptionable 

 quality. 



A year ago last fall you sent me one i^eck of Talavera wheat. As 

 I was then engaged in other business, and gave but little attention 

 to my farm, I let all go to various hands except one quart, which 

 I planted myself. My success that year was only middling, though 

 the heads and grain were unusually large and healthy ; but I carefully 

 gathered the product and planted it last fall. I have not yet harvested 

 it, but the apparent result is superior to anything I ever saw on a large 

 scale. It covers about one-quarter acre, stands near five feet high, and 

 the heads vary from four to five inches in length. The straw, chaif, and 

 grain are of a light color, and the grain unusually large. Its flouring 

 quality of course I do not know. Altogether, I believe its introduction 

 among us \vould be a vast improvement on our old varieties. I believe, 

 however, that my little crop is all that is to be found in the county, the 

 other having been allowed to go to waste and mix with other varieties. 

 I shall probably be able to save seven or eight bushels. 



In the quart of Talavera wheat I planted a year ago last fall, I found, 

 when harvesting it, that two grains of an entirely different variety had 

 found their way into it. Something over thirty stalks grew from the 

 two grains. It has a short stalk, growing, in good ground, from two 

 and a half to three and a half feet high; red chaff' and red grain, but 

 when crushed gives evidence of superior whiteness and fineness of flour. 

 I carefully saved the seed from these few stalks, planted them, and they 

 are now just ripening. The heads vary from two and a half to three 

 and a half inches in length, the grains stand at right angles with the 

 stalk, and are more closely compact than any other wheat I remember 

 to have seen. The heads somewhat resemble the club-head wheat, but 



