1835.] 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



319 



the former paying a duty of 25 cents per bushel. 

 Large shipments would have been made to this 

 country had the price of wheat advanced to $1.50 

 per bushel. 



The crop in all the Atlantic States is generally 

 estimated to be considerably less than an average 

 product. 



Corn had reached a high price ($5.50 to $6 per 

 barrel,) a tew weeks ago, but has declined to 

 $3.75 to $4. The prospect of the growing crop 

 is favorable beyond precedent, and there is no 

 doubt that corn will be cheaper the ensuing sea- 

 sat! than it has been for many years. The abun- 

 dance of this article insures that of others of the 

 first necessity. 



Money has been abundant — Stocks of every 

 description command good prices. Loans for pur- 

 poses of internal improvement are readily obtain- 

 ed on favorable terms. Kail roads are extending 

 in every state, save one, and hopes are entertained 

 that this one (a southern neighbor,) will not long 

 remain an exception. 



x. 



Aug. 22, 1835. 



EXTRACTS OF PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE. 



( Western Penn.) July 12, 1835. 



In this section of the country we are in the back 

 ground. Our land is the best — the markets latterly 

 very good — -the climate and water unsurpassed — 

 but yet there does not exist that spirit of improve- 

 ment, which is developing itself daily in other 

 sections of the country. I attribute the torpidity 

 to the almost entire absence of agricultural publi- 

 cations among our farmers, and their total want 

 of information on the science of agriculture. I have 

 actually seen stables removed to get out of the road 

 of the manure, and have seen farmers (professedly,) 

 throwing the manure from the hog-pens into the 

 streets. I will give you an anecdote illustrative of 

 the spirit of improvement with which we are 

 favored. A Quaker from the lower counties was 

 visiting this section of Pennsylvania; and a far- 

 mer wishing to show all the conveniencies of his 

 plantation, directed the attention of the Quaker to 

 an improved plan he had in execution for remov- 

 ing manure from his stables; which was by a run 

 of some magnitude, which he carried to his stable 

 door, and which from the rapidity of the current, 

 carried off the troublesome trash fast as it was 

 thrown into it ! Do we not need a more general 

 dissemination of information among the agricul- 

 tural portion of our community? 



King William Co. Aug. 5, 1835. 



This year I have three acres in Guinea grass, 

 which having been once cut for green food, the 

 second crop is now securing for winter provender, 

 believing from an experiment of last year, it will 

 be found a profitable adjunct to our provisions. 

 Two other cuttings may safely be calculated on. 



After much doubt whether the gama grass 

 could be advantageously raised here, my conclu- 

 sion is, that the greatest difficulty arises from ob- 

 taining the first plants from seed; after that is ef- 

 fected, other lands may speedily be covered with 

 sets, to any extent, and with but little labor. 



Fauquier Springs, Aug. 20, 1835. 

 I learned on my way up here, that the wheat I 

 sent you along with the Turkey wheat, is simply 

 called blue tvheat, and that it was brought from 

 Ohio by a gentleman of Hanover. I I<now not 

 whether the misnomer originated with me or with 

 some friend from whom I received a description of 

 the wheat. It is a very inconsiderable affair at 

 any rate; but I had always rather correct my own 

 errors than have it done for me by another. 



Warwick Co. Va. Aug. 12, 1835. 



In this county, so far as I have the opportunity 

 of judging, the activity of farmers increases as 

 time rolls on. Those who have marl busily employ 

 the time allotted to such work, in carting and 

 spreading it over the land— others who have not 

 are beginning to make use of lime, oyster shells in 

 a decomposed state from the river banks, woods' 

 litter, &c. &c. We begin to sow clover here for 

 improvement. It is a late thing, and owes its 

 adoption here to the introduction of the Farmers' 

 Register. Those who have adopted the four-field 

 system, as recommended in your Register, (corn, 

 wheat, clover, wheat,) look forward with great ex- 

 pectation of success, both in improvement and 

 profit. Our crops of corn are very promising 



SEASON AND STATE OF CROPS. 



There has been no drought in August, of which 

 there was fear, and on the contrary, as much rain as 

 was desirable for the growing crops. Of course the 

 previous fine appearance of corn continues, and may 



now be considered as assuring a very good crop it 



being now safe from drought, and every other casualty 

 except of freshets on low grounds. But farmers are 

 as apt to be too sanguine, as too desponding — and as 

 we endeavored to moderate the excess of despondency 

 respecting the loss in the wheat crop, and the hope of 

 a very high price for the quantity made, we now ex- 

 press the opinion that the corn crop will not yield in 

 proportion to its appearance, and still less in accord- 

 ance with the general and exaggerated anticipations. 

 The whole growing season has been unusually wet for 

 the climate of lower Virginia — and though apparently 

 not injuriously wet, it will be seen that the unusual 

 growth of corn is more in the stalk and leaf, than in the 

 grain — which we believe is always the case in wet 

 seasons, with regard to every crop. 



In wet seasons, all crops run more into blade — and in 

 dry, the grain is better made than is promised by the 

 parched and stinted appearance of the entire plants. 

 When any region has generally and decidedly a moist, 

 or a dry climate, the truth of this opinion is made too 

 plain to be mistaken: if wet, it is a country good for 

 grass, or for crops of which it is desirable to increase 

 the general bulk, without regard to the seeds — and if 

 dry, it is more profitable for grain crops, or those of 

 which the seeds are by far the most important product. 



The season has been good for clover, especially for 

 the second growth. The land under clover throughout 

 August has been in sufficiently good order for plough- 

 ing, and the whole season for fallowing for wheat may 

 be counted on as decidedly favorable. 



