1847.] The Crops and the Season. 45 



THE CROPS AND THE SEASON. 



Thus far the crops of this vicinity, and to a great extent in the 

 whole state, have been doing remarkably well. Hay is coming in 

 as well as usual. Corn has nearly attained its forwardness for the 

 season, and bids fair for a good yield. Rye and oats are equal to 

 the crops of any former year, and of wheat there is not the least 

 doubt but the produce will be fully an average one for the state. 

 Of potatoes it may be said that as yet there is only a slight 

 probability that the disease will make its appearance to an inju- 

 rious extent. Those kinds which are the most affected, or which 

 show some signs of disease in the leaf, are those which were im- 

 ported from Ireland. Indeed, what we regard as the concomitant 

 signs of the presence of this malady, are to be observed only in a 

 slight degree at the present time. Those signs, it may be well to 

 state, are the curling and death of the leaves and branches of 

 many of our ibrest trees, as the elm, button-wood, bass, and some- 

 times those of the maple. Still, August is" the month when the 

 tendency to disease is the most intense; and hence it is not possi- 

 ble at the present time to predict with certainty in regard to the 

 crop. We have never entertained, however, but one idea of the 

 disease, viz., that it is a temporary calamity, and that there is no 

 more danger of the potato becoming extinct, or a crop which 

 cannot be depended upon, than the apple, or any other kind of 

 vegetable production. All the speculation in regard to the final 

 loss of this vegetable, we have regarded as idle gossip, a waste 

 of words. That the disease will continue, and effect the crop 

 more or less in seasons to come, is highly probable; but the ca- 

 lamity, like all others which have occasionally visited us, will 

 pass over, and the husbandman will reap, as formerly, the labor of 

 his hands. 



We cannot forbear, in this place, to make a few remarks upon 

 the disposition of the times to speculate upon the probable scarcity 

 of the crops of this country; and what we wish to effect by these 

 remarks is, that farmers and others should take a rational view of 

 the capabilities of our country, especially in regard to the amount 

 of food which it is capable of producing. 



The first point which we would call up to the mind of the reader 

 is the extent of our country. This we need not speak of in detail, 

 but look at the map and the wonderful extent of the grain produc- 

 ing region — rich in its soil, and rich in the enterprise of its in- 

 habitants. In view, then, of this extent of country, we may well 

 inquire if it is probable that any crop is likely to fail the country, 

 if it is every where to be short, and present the spectacle of want 



