1SS8] 



FARMERS' REGISTER 



51 



distrust. Nevertheless, hundreds are eagerly seeking 

 spcd ol'sprini;: wheat at $A and $5 the bushel— and as 

 loni;; as such prices can be obtained, the hunibujj will 



live— and no lonoer. It has already been settled, that 

 some kind of this wonderfid sjiring wheat is not worth 

 sowiii?; but then, it is adiriiied that that land was not 

 the "real Simon Pure" — and half a dozen other kinds 

 will be succes-iively olFcred as the best, paid for at 

 enormous prices, and found alike wantiiig. Some of 

 the sellers of sprino; wheat seed are already quarrellina; 

 with each other, as to the merits or demerits of their 

 respective kinds, as is s'lown by the following extracts 

 from late publications. 



"Tiahan and Siberian Spnng Wheat. — We publish- 

 ed in our paper of the Ifith instant, a communication I '"'V „ „ „,„ i 



r TA A 1 11 c TTi- TVT -sr 1 • not racss work. 



from Dr. Goodsell, of Utica, INew York, comparing ' ^ 



the relative virtues of these grains, and decrying those 

 of the former in no measured terms. Desiring to ex- 

 ercise the strictest impartiality, and at the same time to 

 lay every thing; touching agricultural subjects before 

 our readers which in the least interests them, we have 

 published in this day's paper two letters in reply, from 

 Mr. Jay Hathaway, the gentleman who introduced the 

 Italian spring wheat into the culture of this country. 

 Without malvinj ourself at all a party to this contro- 

 versy, we must express our regret that topics of the 

 kind should be so conducted as to call forth any thing 

 which can he tortured into motives of a sinister char- 

 acter. It is but natural that men should be partial to 

 products of their own; self-love inclines us to the adop- 

 tion of such opinion; but we can see no reason why 

 one man, who maybe satisfied with his own commodi- 

 ty, should step out of hij way to attack that belonging 

 to his neiglibor." — Fanner ^ Gardener. 



The tone of the champion of the Siberian spring 

 wheat, may be inferred from the comments. One of 

 the replies of him who sustains (and is sustained by) 

 the Italian spring wheat, is copied below in full. 



"Dr. Goodsell of Utica, has come out in the "Culti- 

 vator," (Judge Bael's paper,) strongly recommending 

 his Siberian Wheat, and running down or trying to de- 

 preciate the Italian. His letter may possibly hurt the 

 sale of the Italian, where it has not been proven; but in 

 this county, the experience of our whole farming popu 



five seasons in this county, and has not failed in any; 

 it rarely ever rusts, although winter wheat is ruined 

 all around it; it has justly obtained an enviable popu- 

 larity, as the doctor knows, as a sure crop, a good crop, 

 and a larger; — it is the onlj' article about which there 

 was scarce a difference of opinion, until the letter in 

 question: here it will effect little — abroad it may pre- 

 vent a million from enjoying a certain good, which un- 

 like th';- other, has not yet to establish a reputation. A 

 "single swallow does not make summer" — nor the 

 yield of a single field fix unqualified by a character. 

 Many folks make wild gvesses: the doctor says his 

 Quaker friend '■'thinks" tiiat he shall thresh nearly or 

 quite 40 bushels Siberian from one bushel sown. 

 Now this is great, if he has s;uessed truly; yet I can tell 

 him of a man who says he sowed but tialf a bushel of 

 Italian wheat on an acre of land, and that it yielded 

 him 30 bushels after bein<r threshed, and his account is 



lation is against him, and his letter here is quite harm- 

 less. Mr. Jos. Wriglit, a first-rate farmer of this town, 

 has sowed tlie Siberian three years in succession His 

 first crop was fair — his second was poor — and his third 

 was miserable. I do not certainly know of any other 

 person in this place who has raised it, and it must have 

 very rich land, whereas the Italian does not require it, 

 and will do well where the Siberian will not s^rovv at 

 all. The Italian is not liable to rust, let Goodsell say 

 what he will. He is jnalous of the fame of the Italian. 

 Yours, &.C. J. Hathaway. 



The above valuable wheat for seed, may be had (di- 

 rect from Jay Hathaway. Rome, N. Y.) "by applying 

 to John L. Peirce, Bull's Head, North 'j hird-street, 

 Philadelphia, at .f4 50 per bushel, by the single bar- 

 rel. A barrel contains about 3^ bushels. 



Philada., Penii., Jan. 23, 183S." 



A previous and longer reply in the 'Cultivator,' from 

 Mr. Hathaway, contains the following comparative es- 

 tim.ate. The Italian spring wheat is declared to have 

 been raised in "numerous cases, from impoverished 

 lands, that would not yield a crop of oats. This prop- 

 erty alone should give tlie Italian spring wheat a name 

 above every other, as no other in this country possess- 

 es one so valuable, except such as are in common; 

 none other will grow well, and produce a good crop 

 upon a poor and worn-oxit soil, It has been grown for 



Our inference from this correspondence is, that Mr. 

 Hathaway has already made a pretty penny by his 

 spring wheat; and that it is time he should make way 

 for some other public benefactor. 



A late occurrence, which will he described as an il- 

 lustration of some of the foregoing remarks, presented 

 to us, both forcibly and ludicrously, the manner in 

 which humbugs operate. 



A highly esteemed and intimate friend, who is a 

 member of one of the learned professions, and no far- 

 mer, had lately thrown upon his hands the general di- 

 rection of a landed estate. Our friend is a regular 

 though cursory reader of the Farmer's Register; and 

 he had been forcibly struck with some of the state- 

 ments published of the product and great value of 

 spring wheat, which he had seen there, and the far 

 more seducing accounts in other publications; and had 

 not paid so much, if indeed any attention, to our ex- 

 pressed doubts of its value, and warnings against con- 

 fiding in it as a crop. Under the impressions thus form- 

 ed, he came to consult us as to a matter of practical 

 farming; and the following was precisely the substance 

 of his statement and inquiry. "There is a piece of 

 ground, of 10 acres on the M farm, which was 



reserved and prepared for oats. It is but of moderate 

 strength, and as I am told, would probably have brought 

 10 bushels of wheat to the acre, if sown last fall. Now 

 the question is, would it not be the best thing I could 

 do with it, to sow spring wheat, instead of oats? I see 

 by advertisements that that grain is selling for seed at 

 $5 the bushel. Now, if I were to buy and sow only 5 

 bushels on the 10 acres — (so as to make the most of the 

 seed — ) and reap only 60 bushels of product — which 

 surely is a very moderate calculation — and supposing 

 that my crop would sell for no more than ^'4 the bushel 

 ( — for I wish to be sure to be within reasonable 

 bounds — ) and still I shall get ^22 50 an acre, after 

 paying for the seed." — It did not require much trouble 

 to persuade our friend that his scheme was nought, in 

 regard to his own interest. But perhaps it may not be 

 so, as to the public interest; for the account of it which 

 we take the liberty here to give, may possibly serve to 

 save to some others of our readers fully as much money 

 as he had expected to make by spring wheat. He 

 will be not a little surprised, however, to find himself 

 made use of to oppose the progress of liumbugging. 

 The description, on a previous page, of the Egyptian 



