62 



Pumpkins — Spring Wheat. 



Vol. II. 



many years, the staple article of the state. 

 It seems strang-e, but it is not more strange 

 than true, that a vegetable should have a mo- 

 ral and religious influence over the mind of 

 man. Brahnia could never have enforced 

 his code of religious rites, with a hundred 

 incarnations, if India had not abounded in rice 

 plant. His follovv'ers would have become 

 carniverous, notwithstanding all the rays of 

 his glory, and the awful exhibitions of his 

 might, if he had not driven the animals j 

 away, and secured his vegetable kingdom ' 

 for his worshippers. Man is, in spite of his j 

 philosophy, a creature of the earth, and, in 

 a measure, like the chamelion, takes the 

 hues of his position and food. 



The Cotton plant was at first cultivated 



as a flower in our gardens, and a beautiful 



flower it is. This plant alone has made a 



revolution in the finances of the world. Look 



at the growth and consumption of the United 



States, and the immense manufacture of it 



in England, where it cannot be grown, and 



you will find my assertion true in the most 



extended sense. I 



Until our purchase of Louisiana, this 



country was indebted to the East and West) 



Indies for Sugar. In our country — the thir ; 



teen United States — sugar and molasses ; 



were made in small quantities, from corn [ 



stalks, sweet apples, pumpkins, and maple 



trees; but all put together, furnished but a 



small part of the sugar demanded by the 



great mass of the people. Our people are 



fond of saccharine, or sweetening, to use 



our peculiar term for it. 



The corn stalk, the pumpkin, and the 

 sweet apple, are given up for sugar and mo- 

 lasses — and the maple is falling before the 

 axe, and we must rely on the sugar cane 

 alone, unless we can substitute, as in France 

 the sugar beet. The culture of the sugar 

 beet has been commenced with us, and pro- ; 

 bably will be successful. 



Prom Uie Farmer and Gardener. 



York, ra , August 10, 1837. 



E. P. RoHERTs, Esq, — Dear Sir, — You ex- 

 press a wish in your valuable paper of the 

 25th ult., to know the result of the culture of 

 Spring Wheat in different parts of the coun- 

 try. Thinking that perhaps tlie experiment 

 in tliis country might be of some advantage 

 to the public, we give it so far as ascertained, 

 with pleasure. Early last fall, we ordered 

 from different parts of New York, about 100 

 bushels of the Italian, but succeeded in get- 

 ting only G3 bushels. This, with the excep- 

 tion of about ten bushels, (which we sowed 

 ourselves,) was sold in small quantities to 

 the farmers in this county, and we axe grati- 

 fied to say, it has succeeded far beyond the 

 expectation of the most sanguine. It is gene- 

 rally better than the winter wheat. We 

 find too, tiiat it does not require so strong a 

 soil. We have a lot of four acres, a thin 

 chesnut soil, improved by lime and manurcy 

 which we think will give us 30 bushels to 

 the acre. All that we have heard of is free 

 from mildew and rust, while a larger portion 

 of the winter wheat in tliis country was in- 

 jured by it. 



The demand already is considerable for 

 seed. 



Respectfully yours, &c., 



P. A. & S. Small. 



Spring Wheat. — The newspapers are be- 

 ginning to discuss the propriety of our farm- 

 ers turning their attention to the sowing of 

 spring wheat. The wheat which is called 

 white Tuscan, having been imported some 

 years since from Tuscany, in Italy. Our 

 farmers would do well to try it. It has been 

 tried with eminent success in some parts of 

 Pennsylvania and RJaryland. Seed wheat 

 could be procured in Baltimore if desired. — 

 Danville (Amz.) Reporter, 



Puiitpkius. 



It may not be generally knovinihdX pump- 

 kins may be kept fresh and green for a great 

 length of time, if they are gathered before the 

 frost has affected them, and kept in a dry, 

 cool place, secure from freezing. They 

 should be gathered with the stem on and 

 without bruising, as a rupture of the skin 

 will hasten decomposition. It is stated on 

 good authority, that with a little care in 

 gathering this fine vegetable, it may be kept 

 nearly or quite a year, as sound and as well 

 flavored as when first plucked from the vines. 

 Those who have dry spacious cellars, would 

 do well to try the experiment. Qy^ The 

 pumpkins should be placed on shelves and 

 turned occasionally, or what is better, sus- 

 pended from the ceiling. 



Spring Wheat.— A number of gentlemen, 

 residing in Augusta county, last spring pro- 

 cured and sowed small quantities of the Ital- 

 ian or spring wheat. The Staunton Specta- 

 tor says that the experiment has been highly 

 satisfactory and successful in every instance. 

 ''The Senior Editor [of the Spectator] got 

 a bushel, which, after cleansing it of the oats 

 which was mixed with it, left about seven- 

 eighths. This was sown about the middle of 

 March, on a hill side, from which two crops 

 had been taken without manuring, and the 

 yield is estimated by judges at from fifteen 

 to twenty bushels; there being something 

 over thirty dozen. It is a bearded grain, the 

 heads large and well filled, and the straw of 

 a beautiful bright yellow. W^e have heard 

 of one gentleman whose yield from a peck is 



