134 



Editorial JVotices. 



Vol. X. 



provement, and showed that the good farmers of Bucks 

 county wore "ell aware that a raw-boned and un- 

 thrifty beast will eat at least as much as a full-blooded 

 and deep milker, without being either so profitable to 

 the pocket, or so sightly to the eye. The very great 

 advantages of superior stock over that which barely 

 pays for its keep, are certainly more wisely and gene- 

 rally appreciated than they used to be, twenty years 

 ago. This rich and well farmed county, will, we ap- 

 prehend, do its duty in remedying what is wrong in 

 these things, and in stimulating even her best farmers 

 to aim at a doubling of their crops, and a continual 

 improvement of their stock. We observe that a full- 

 blooded colt one year old, was on the ground, from Ed- 

 ward Harris's powerful Norman horse. Diligence. 

 There was at the Exhibition a spirited competition, 

 which can hardly fail to be productive of good results. 

 The Address was delivered by Joshua Dungan, a prac- 

 tical man, we believe, and it was listened to with a 

 great deal of interest. 



The late arrivals from England have brought unfa- 

 vourable reports of the grain harvest. Continued wet 

 weather had so affected the crops, that great and seri- 

 ous deficiencies were anticipated. In addition to this, 

 is a calamitous failure of the potatoe crop, not only in 

 Ireland, but also in England and on many parts of the 

 Continent. The ravages of what we here designate 

 as the potatoe rot, are spoken of among the Irish peo- 

 ple as the plague, the murrain, the cholera, in that 

 most valuable of esculents. This great staff of life to 

 six or eight millions of people, seems, in many in- 

 stances, to be turned into a poison, and tlie conse- 

 quences arc looked to with fearful apprehensions. Po- 

 tatoes are worth si.\ty cents— double what they many 

 seasons will command— in our own market in Phila- 

 delphia; the crop being greatly shortened by the late 

 frosts in the spring, and the pinching drought of the 

 summer. Great activity has been manifested in the 

 grain market within the last fortnight. Wheat flour 

 has gone up to jJ5 50 and $6. Wheat is worth .fl 20 to 

 $1 30— rye 70 to 75 cents,— old corn 60 to C5 cents, while 

 new Southern will bring about 50 cents. Good Timo 

 thy hay is worth $18 to $20. 



A SHIPMENT of upwards of 400 bales of domestic 

 wool was made a fortnight ago, from this city to I.iv 

 erpool. The almost unlimited capacity of the West 

 for the rearing of sheep, will enable us to supply any 

 demand which may bo made for their fleeces. Let the 

 West increase her flocks; the demand, we believe, will 

 keep up with the increase. 



Thomas M. Clark, whose farm lies near the Ger- 

 mantown road, left at this oflice a few days ago, some 

 fine ears of yellow corn and a couple of royal sized flat 

 turnips, the seed of which came from Coates', and one 

 of which weighed four and three-quarter pounds. lie 

 says they are chargeable to \he Poudrette. James Gow- 

 en has also left some turnips of the same kind, and 

 about as large as the above. 



The disease which has this year so widely injured 

 the potatoe crop, has made its appearance in Switzer- 

 land. 



A LETTER from Hampton vi le, in Surry county, N.C., 

 dated the 18th ult., speaks of the corn crop, which was 

 then being gathered, as short of an average— it was 

 selling at forty cents a bushel, from the heap in the 

 field. Heavy biting frosts were felt about that time, 

 and the week before they had floods of rain which were 

 greatly needed, particularly in the counties lower 

 down, to enable their mills to grind. The past sum- 

 mer was, in that district, pronounced "the driest of 

 the dry, by the oldest inhabitant." 



It is said several horses have latterly died in the 

 neighbourhood of Princeton, N. J., from eating musty 

 oats. 



During the late Exhibition at the Lamb Tavern, we 

 understood that a number of fine animals, of different 

 kinds, were sold at gooil prices: thus affording farmers 

 encouragement to bring such stock on the ground on 

 these occasions. 



It will be remembered that in the 11th and 12th 

 Nos. of our last volume, Pagchall Morris offered his 

 Chester County farm for sale. In the present number, 

 it will he perceived that the Chester and Delaware 

 County Agricultural Society has awarded him the pre- 

 mium for an average crop on a field of ten acres, of 

 one hundred and one bushels and three pecks of com 

 to the acre. This, we think, is a pretty good recom- 

 mendation of the farm. 



It is with pleasure that we lay before our readers a 

 letter lately addressed by James Gowen, of Mount 

 Airy, to Gen. Richardson, of Richmond, Va. A cor- 

 rected copy has been kindly furnished by the wiiter. 

 Pound, practical matter-of-fact views will be found 

 running all through it. It was written last summer 

 at the Virginia Springs, solely for the purpose of being 

 useful, while the writer was labouring under a severe 

 attack of indisposition. As lie journeyed through a 

 part of that State, he "could not but feel," says he, 

 '• a deep sympathy for her condition." Impressed with 

 this feeling, he wrote the letter, and it strongly marks 

 the untiring interest and energy of purpose which he 

 everywhere carries into his favourite pursuit of agri- 

 culture. 



We learn from Dr. Brinckle, that the ever-bearing 

 Strawberries alluded to on page 132, together with the 

 Clara Victoria and the Pre.sit?e»« described on page 121, 

 were, as requested, sent out to the Queen in the Cun- 

 ard steamer, which left Boston some time last month. 



The Lieutenant Governor has issuid a circular to 

 the magistrates in Nova Scotia, directing them to as- 

 certain the state of the potatoe crop: — what propor- 

 tion will be saved for seed or consumption, &,c. 



The fires in the West Jersey pines, during the severe 

 drought of last summer, were in some neighbourhoods 

 very destructive. We have understood that many 

 acres covered with the Cranberry bush, were entirely 

 run over, and this elegant fruit destroyed. 



