444 



FARMERS' REGISTER 



[No. 7 



average crop. While in the neighborhood of 

 William Fulcher, of this count}', I understood 

 that he had last year commenced seeding wheat 

 the latter part of August, finishing in September; 

 and that his crop was considered a good one. I 

 did not see Mr. F. himself, but some of his near 

 neighbors gave me this inlbrmalion. While I 

 was in the habit of making wheat, I generally 

 found the lOlh of October to be the best time to 

 be<Tin: of course was much surfirised to hear that 

 seedinn; had been successl'ul so much earlier." 



Brunswick, Sept. 8, 1838. 

 "The hiirh price of the mulberry is retardmg 

 the culture of silk, much to its injury. I had de- 

 termined to retain 20,000 of my best trees; but I 

 could not stand the temptation of the price offered 

 for them, in these dry and high-pressure times. I 

 am extremely anxious that the culture of silk 

 should succeed in this section. Our soil is gone — 

 no lime, no marl — and the litter very poor with 

 which we used to manure our lands, such as oak- 

 leaves, &c. It is really discouraging to view the 

 galls and gullies on our farms, and more fatigu- 

 ing to walk over them; for the gullies are so wide 

 you can't jump them; they must be headed. We 

 must either turn our attention to some other crop, 

 that is not such an exhauster of land, or desert 

 the cotmtry. I am now done with the cotton and 

 tobacco crops on my home plantation, and shall 

 rely on the silk crop to sustain me; and, instead ol 

 improving a lew acres of land li^r cotton or to- 

 bacco, I shall have time to manure double the 

 quantity of land, which will increase my grain 

 crop, so much needed at this time." 



Sepfrvibcr 10. 1838. 

 " I liave no knowledge of the culture of the 

 mulberry, or indeed of fiirming in general, other 

 than that I have obtained from an occasional pe- 

 rusal of your valuable journal. Whilst sojourn- 

 ing at * * *■ * I picked up a number of 

 your periodical to dispel an hour's dulness. I wa.s 

 soon interested; read each succeeding number 

 with eacerness; became a convert to your opinion, 

 that "more money, apart from the consideration of 

 comf()rt and many other et ceteras, may be real- 

 ized bv a judicious system ol' farming in V^irginia, 

 than by the culture of sugar or cotton at the 

 .south;" changed my occupation and residence, 

 and have now set down to attempt the realization 

 of hopes which you have engendered." 



Coochland, J a., Scptemher 10, 1838. 

 "Now that the tops are taken from the corn, a 

 tolerable estimate may be formed of the product. 

 On the James river low-grounds, not more than 

 lialf a crop will be gatiiered; while on the high- 

 lands there cannot be mor(>. than one-fourth. No 

 person that I have seen, iuis expressed a more 

 favorable opinion than this. But the deficiency 

 is not owing entirely to tlie drought. The chinch 

 bugs have infested the country in myriads; and 

 their depredations have curtailed llic crops of corn 

 nearly or quite as much as the dry weather. Not 

 a farm, as far as my observation extends, has es- 

 caped their ravages; in some places they have 

 been so numerous as to utterly destroy whole 

 acres, besides materially diminishing the product 

 of the fields at large. "^ 



Lake Phelps, N. C, ? 

 Sept. 11, 1833. 5 

 " 1 cultivate the rich, low swamp lands of North 

 Carolina, and this is the thirty-fifth crop. I have 

 never known it sutler so much from drought. I 

 cannot get more than two-thirds of a crop. My 

 crop ol" wheat was as ijood in qualify and weight, 

 except once, (1805,) as I ever raised; but lt?ll iiir 

 short in quantity, averaging only about eighteen 

 bushels to the acre." 



Montgomery Co., Mil., Sept. 11th, 1838. 

 "There is a complete failure of every crop that is 

 grown in my neighborhood, with the exception of 

 wheat. Corn, tobacco, oats, and the whole list of 

 culinary vegetables have fallen victims to the in- 

 cessant, and yet unending drought of the past 

 summer. The rye crop, though abundant in 

 straw, yields little or no grain, and that very de- 

 fective, in consequence of the heavy rains that 

 lell in the month of May, when it was in blossom. 

 I am fully convinced that there will be less grain 

 made in our state this year, than there was last, 

 when there was literally no wheat; and the crop, 

 however irood it may prove this, cannot make up 

 the deficiency in the other crops." 



Fluvanna, 20th Sept. 1838. _ 

 " The equinoctial spell was ushered in this 

 morning, with great parade of thunder and light- 

 ning; but as yet, (12 o'clock,) very little rain has 

 fallen, and the clouds seem light and hard, though 

 the wind is at a rainy point, and the season must 

 brino; more. Several days and nights of such as 

 we have had, would be required to start our mills, 

 of which three can grind in a distance of thirty 

 miles, and I believe no others within fifty. The 

 rains that fell about ten days ago, were confined 

 to the lower country. Here, there was a heavy 

 deiu: in Albemarle, not a drop. The dust in the 

 stage-roads of that county, was, yesterday, above 

 the horse's fetlocks, an impalpable powder, and 

 threatening to suilbcate man and beast." 



On the nth and 12th of September, there fell 

 through eastern and part of middle Virginia, a most 

 abundant rain. If too late to benefit the corn, it at 

 least permitted the fallowing and ploughing of elover- 

 jpy lor the next wheat crop to be commencedj in pro- 

 per manner, though much too late. The rain did not 

 extend to the upper country. The general inability 

 to plough for wheat during the best season, and through 

 the best clover and wheat region, must injuriously af- 

 fect the wheat crops of 1839. 



P. S. Sept. 25th and 26th.— Steady and abundant 

 rain. — Ed. Far. Reg. 



LATEST REPORT or THE MULTICAU LIS TRADE 

 AND MANIA. 



A late number of the Saturday Evening Post of 

 Philadelphia, gives the following statement. 



" The sales of mulberry trees have been very brisk 

 for weeks past, even to the amount of several hundred 

 thousand dollars. Many culturists who were disap- 

 pointed in obtaining trees last year — or postponed 

 purchasing on the ground that plants would be a drug 

 and "as cheap as a broom" this year, have now taken 

 "time by tlie forelock," and bought largely at higher 

 prices than when they were "so very scarce and dear" 

 six and nine months ago. 



