ba g 
Meteorological Journal ut Marietta, Ohi, for 1845. 203 
so that by the middle of May, there was little more appearance 
of vegetation than there usually is in the last of March. Far- 
mers who had hay, fed their cattle the same as they do in winter ; 
and the earth was not fairly soaked with rain until the middle of 
June. Repeated frosts continued to follow each other until the 
first of that month, cutting down and destroying the corn, pota- 
toes and beans, three or four times in succession; so that most 
fields needed to be replanted and replowed two or three times, 
making it as late as the 5th of June when the last replanting took 
place. Early planted potatoes were nearly all ruined, yielding a 
crop but little larger in amount than the seed used. Wheat suf- 
fered excessively from the drouth and frosts. On the 9th of 
April, the mercury fell to-15° Fahr.; killing many fields of 
wheat, which the warmth of March had hurried forward in its 
srowth earlier than usual. About the middle of. June, the pros- 
pect for crops was very gloomy, and there was much fear 
that we should have a greater scarcity of food, both for man 
and beast, than was ever seen in Ohio. After that time, abun- 
dant rains set in through the southern portions of the State, and 
the wheat and corn revived in a wonderful manner; the former 
yielding a medium crop and the latter a pretty fair one. The 
meadows were too much exhausted by the drouth to recover 
their fertility, and the growth of hay was a great failure, yielding 
less than half the amount of usual years, and that of a very poor 
quality. The price of hay, which is commonly five or six dol- 
lars a ton, rose to ten or eleven in the farming districts, and to fif- 
teen and eighteen in the cities. In addition to the other calamities ~ 
of the season, the disease called “ the rot,” appeared among the 
potatoes, and destroyed large quantities of this valuable vegetable. 
What may be the ultimate result of this new scourge remains to 
be seen. It may continue to spread and increase in malignity, or 
more favorable seasons may put a check to it entirely. ‘The late 
spring frosts were more destructive to the fruits than to the grain 
and grasses. Apples, pears, peaches, plums and cherries were an 
entire failure, except in a few favored spots, from Wheeling to 
Cincinnati, along the river and extending back to the vicinity of 
Lake Brie. Grapes, gooseberries and strawberries suffered in the 
same way, about Marietta. The first were all killed, except 
where protected by the warmth of a building, from the frosts in 
May. ‘The season was very similar in this respect to that of the 
year 1834. a . 
