18 



of tlie prairip, and was rich in vegetable mould. The land was ploughed 

 about ten inches deep, and dragged three times before, and the same number of 

 times after sowing. 



I did not discover any difference in the appearance of the wheat after it came 

 up from what it would probably have presented had it been sown in the fall, 

 except that it did not tiller on the stool quite as much, but this I thought was 

 attributable to the very great dryness of the season. The growth was vigor- 

 ous and healthy throughout, as much so as wheat sown in the fall that had win- 

 tered well. It exhibited no signs of disease whatever, and the heads were long 

 and well filled. The product was harvested about one week before my spring 

 wheat that was sown three days after it. There was no other winter wheat 

 rai.'^ed in the vicinity, so that 1 am unable to say what the difference would 

 have been in the time of ripening between it and the same, or any other kind 

 of fall wheat sown in the fall. The date of sowing I have not got, but I think 

 it was in the last week of March, or the first week in April. It was as soon as 

 the ground would permit it. 



The experiment has demonstrated, to my mind, that fall wheat can be suc- 

 cessfully grown by sowing- in the spring, and in all probability as large a crop 

 can be raised as by fall sowing, at least in this climate, in a majority of instances, 

 without the risk of winter-killing, though these facts were not sought after 

 when the experiment was commenced. I regret that in sowing all the seed 

 last September, I did not re-sow a portion of it to repeat the experiment and 

 compare the results with that sown in the fall. That sown in the fall was look- 

 ing finely when I last saw it. 



Yours, very respectfully, 



C. R. HOAG. 



Isaac Newton, Conmmissioner. 



TOBACCO PRODUCTIOiV ON THE CONNECTICUT RIVER. 



The department has furnished for this spring's planting a large quantity of 

 the Connecticut seed leaf tobacco. It is not only an excellent variety, but is 

 very productive, and well adapted to the colder latitudes of our country. For 

 the purpose of showing how productive it is when planted in a suitable soil and 

 cultivated properly, we publish the following statements sent to the department 

 by a correspondent : 



" Samuel S. Smith, of Poquonock, Hartford coimty, Connecticut, raised last 

 season, from two and three-fourth acres of land, 6,461 pounds of tobacco, being 

 2,350 pounds to the acre. 



" 0. H. Seymour, of the same county, raised on seven-eighths of an acre 2,323 

 pounds of first-class tobacco, which is at the rate of 2,613 pounds per acre. 



" Thaddeus Smith, of Hadley, Massachusetts, raised twenty-four tons on twen- 

 two acres, being 2,181 pounds per acre," 



WILL CONGRESS TAX TOBACCO LEAF? 



To this question we may now give an answer in the negative, and we are sure 

 that the information it conveys will be hailed with joy by the growers of to- 

 bacco. No class of men are more ready to contribute to the support of govern- 

 ment than they, but any tax on the leaf must so evidently destroy the export 

 of it — amounting in past years to twenty millions of dollars — that the tax itself 

 would have resulted in an evil of so much greater magnitude to the country 

 than benefit to the government, that the well-being of the country demanded 

 its exemption from the proposed tax. This was shown clearly a year ago by 



