FARMERS' REGISTER. 



611 



" I avail myself of ihe polite ofler of our friend 

 tJen. Stouart, lo transmit (o you an extract Irom 

 a letter received by me this morniofr, from my 

 early /riend Alpheus Baker, esq., of Abbeville, 

 South Carolina, a gentleman whose statements 

 are entitled to implicit confidence : 



" ' The vvlieat to which you allude was brought 

 to this place Irom the Osage nation, by Col. 

 Sj)ieren, who had been sent to them as a com- 

 missioner by the president of the U. S. JMr. S. 

 brought seven heads ; lie gave me one : I oliered 

 liim $5 a head lor the other six, which he refused ; 

 but alierwards gave them all to me, to cultivate, 

 and give him one-half of the crop, which I have 

 done. 1 sowed the wheat on the second day of 

 January, 1840, in my garden, in drills 18 inches 

 apart in the drill. 1 believe every seed came up, 

 and each seed produced a stool of liom 20 to 50 

 stems or straws. Each head of wheat contains 

 from 100 to loO seeds ; I forgot to tell you that 

 the original head that Mr. S. gave me was noi 

 planted ; that it was overlooked ; and that I have 

 it yet. There were about ten thousand heads pro- 

 duced from the six planted. The wheat was 

 planted at least si.x weeks or two months too late ; 

 and some of it was injured by excessive rains and 

 storms ; but all who saw it agreed, that it stood 

 the stress of weather belter by lar than any wheat 

 in the country. They all agreed that, as a wheat, 

 it was, when grown, indescribably grand. We 

 sell the wheat at five dollars per head. If you 

 think it would be a desideratum in your state, I 

 will send you 1500 or 2000 heads.' 



" My Iriend has accompanied this statement 

 with the accompanying drawing of a head of the 

 wheat in question, and subjoins a note that the 

 grains are large and fair. As he has consulted 

 me on the expediency ol' offering the seed lor sale 

 in Maryland, you would much oblige me by 

 staling, at your earliest convenience, whether you 

 think our farmers would be forward to any consi- 

 derable extent in making so costly an experiment. 

 Your obedient servant, Wm. Geo. Rkad." 



The next succeeding number of Ihe American 

 Farmer (Oct. 7) contains a letter Irom Dr. Gideon 

 B. Smith, in which he, at considerable length, 

 gives satisfactory reasons for pronouncing this 

 " new species of wheat'' to be identical willi the 

 often betbre exploded humbug, Egyptian wheal. 

 He closes his remarks on it by eaymg — " During 

 the tvventy years of my agricultural experience it 

 has been presented to my notice at least twenty 

 times." 



But to our own concern in this matter — or what 

 it might have been — as will appear from the fol- 

 lowing letter, relerred to above. 



County, Fa. Sept. 24, 1840. 



" Sir, — I have not had the pleasure of being 

 personally acquainted with you, but know you 

 liom character, and have taken the liberty ol 



sending you, by Mr. , two heads of the 



California wheat, which I consider very valuable, 

 and lor which J paid five dollars per head. You 

 will see the terms I let it out upon, and if you fieel 

 disposed fo take these two heads on the same 

 terms, I should be glad for you to do so, as I have 



no doubt if you do, that you will take particular 

 pains with it, and give it a good chance. 1 have no 

 doubt, if it should grow us well in this country as 

 It did where I saw it, that it can be sold readily next 

 summer for one dollar per head, or perhaps more ; 

 thathoweverhas tobelried. They planted six heads 

 of this wheat in rows 18 inches apart and about a 

 foot between each grain, and raised 9500 heads, 

 some having as high as fifty heads .^rom one grain. 

 It ought lo be planted in next month, I ihmk, in 

 your section. II" you are willing to plant these 

 heads on the terms specified, copy the agreement, 

 or sign this, and send it by mail to 

 Virginia. Yours, &c. Very respectfully, 



[Blank bond enclosed.'} 



^' Know all men by these presents, that I, Ed- 

 mund RufHn, of the town of Petersburg, have 



this day received of" A. B. of the county of 



and slate of Virginia, two heads of the California 

 wheat, which I obligate myself lo plant, and the in- 

 crease ofsaid wheat for twoyears, provided itshould 

 not all be sold the first year. 1 also agree to use 

 every exertion to sell the increase of the said wheat, 

 and 1 bind myself, my heirs, assigns, &c. to pay 

 over unto the said A. B. or his representative at any 

 time when called upon, one half of the proceeds of 

 the increase ofsaid wheat (i. e. whatever I may 

 have sold) for two years, and render unto the said 

 A. B. a list of those persons to whom sold. The said 

 A. B. shall have the privilege of regulating the price 

 of the said wheat, if he shall think proper. Incase 

 the said A. B. should at any time desire his half 

 of the wheat raised either year, he or his repre- 

 sentative shall have it on application, unless dis- 

 posed of before by myself. Given under my hand 

 this day of 1840." 



Now, pulling aside all other possible objections, 

 which might have prevented our entering into this 

 proposed agreement and copartnership, we really 

 think that Ihe proposer has asked and expected too 

 much. In the first place, besides all the superla- 

 tive ca-^e, and garden culture, which most other 

 persons might as well execute as we could, he 

 doubtless made a proper estimate of the advan- 

 tages of our editorial character, which would give 

 the greatest facilities for pufTmg, indirectly adver- 

 tising, and selling a humbug article; and, in such a 

 matter of business and bargain, we certainly 

 ought lo be paid for this item of advantage. Let 

 us make an estimate, on his own grounds of ex- 

 pectation, as to price, and, for product, of the crop 

 lo which he refers, and see what an enormous 

 price we should pay, and our partnerreceive, for 

 his investment of two heads of wheat, and our 

 nursing care of the products. 



Taking the average of the statement of number 

 of grains, copied above, these two heads, at 125 

 grains each, might have had 250 grains in all. 

 Suppose, as in last crop, "every seed came up," 

 and produced 20 to 50 stems, say average 35, 

 (which, by the way, is not a very extraordinary 

 product — as any coiomon wheat may do as much, 



