110 



The Crops and the Prices. 



Vol. VII. 



farming, the land improves constantly, grow- 

 ing more productive, and of course more 

 valuable : a farm cultivated in this way, by 

 deep tillage, thorough management, and a 

 well conducted rotation, becomes in time, a 

 rich mould to the depth to which the soil is 

 stirred, and the roots of plants, having thus 

 ample room for range and pasturage, the 

 crops are invariably good ; and thus the la- 

 bour and expense is repaid, and a soil is 

 formed, far superior to the richest native 

 earths, and which can then easily be kept in 

 condition to give the most ample crops. 



Cultivator. 



For the Farmers' Cabinet. 

 The Crops and the Prices. 



Iif almost every newspaper that meets my 

 eye, I notice accounts of the extraordinary 

 crops of wheat, which have this season been 

 harvested throughout the whole country. 

 From these statements, a stranger to the 

 facts might be led to suppose, that this abun 

 dance is so great and so universal, that a 

 seven years' famine could not exhaust it. 



Whether these misrepresentations, — so 

 widely circulated, — originated in ignorance 

 or design, it is needless to inquire, and use- 

 less to know, any further than to place farm- 

 ers on their guard against the consequences 

 of such an erroneous impression. 



So wholly groundless are these reports, 

 and so wide of the truth, that instead of a 

 large excess beyond a usual crop, the yield, 

 in grain, will not equal the average produce 

 of the last three years, by a large amount, 

 while the quantity of straw is great, almost 

 beyond precedent. To this last circum- 

 stance may be clearly traced the mistaken 

 opinions of many persons, unskilled in the 

 art and mystery of agriculture, who, in 

 passing through the country, are deceived 

 by appearances, and promptly conclude, on 

 observing a large bulk of straw, that the 

 quantity of grain must also be large in pro- 

 portion. This is by no means, a sure crite- 

 rion by which to judge, and as applied to the 

 present crop, is certainly very fallacious. 



Many farmers in this State, and in New 

 Jersey, complain, that upon threshing their 

 wheat, they obtain but little more than one 

 half the usual quantity of grain, from a 

 given number of sheaves, and that of infe- 

 rior quality. This, it is presumed, has been 

 occasioned by the rust, which, from accounts, 

 has prevailed this season in every section of 

 the Union, and must prove injurious to the 

 wheat crop generally ; — that however, which 

 was sown very early, it is discovered, has 

 suffered least. 



Several of our country millers having dis- 

 covered this failure in the wheat crop, have 



already repaired to the cities, and taking ad- 

 vantage of the present overflow of the mark- 

 ets, and the consequent depression of prices, 

 have laid in a large supply, to guard against 

 the deficiency which they foresee will occur 

 before the next harvest. It may be inquired, 

 how it happens, if the wheat crop through- 

 out, is so ordinary and so much less than 

 usual, that the supply is already equal to, or 

 greater than the demand? 1 answer, one 

 cause may be traced to the mistaken opin- 

 ions of many farmers, who have been led by 

 false reports to believe that there is a super- 

 abundance of grain in the country, and con- 

 clude that prices will decline as soon as the 

 present want is satisfied. This groundless 

 fear has caused a rush into the markets, and 

 has in a measure produced the very evil that 

 was apprehended. Another cause may be 

 discovered in the want of barns and shelters, 

 in which to store away their grain in the 

 straw, that many farmers in new settlements 

 experience, and who, to prevent loss or ac- 

 cident, conclude it to be safest to thresh it 

 in the field, and sell it immediately. An- 

 other cause, and perhaps the most prominent 

 and general, is the indebtedness of many, 

 which obliges them, even at a great incon- 

 venience and a heavy sacrifice, to thresh 

 their wheat directly after harvest, and con- 

 vert it into money as soon as possible. 



These, w r ith several other causes that 

 might be specified, have occasioned this pre- 

 mature flood of grain in the markets, and 

 the consequent decline in prices. P. W. 



Rural Retreat. Northampton County, 

 Pa., Sept. 6th, 1842. 



Good Tillage. — The ancient husband- 

 men used top dressings of hot manures, such 

 as pigeons' dung powdered, which was put 

 in with the hoe. In the practical operations 

 of agriculture, when we take into account 

 the simple mechanism they employed, they 

 were by no means contemptible : thus Pliny 

 tells us, they were particularly careful in 

 ploughing, endeavouring to have perfectly 

 straight and even furrows. They ploughed 

 the land three times over, always before 

 sowing; sometimes taking a furrow nine 

 inches deep, and sometimes only three, while 

 on heavy soils, nine ploughings were fre- 

 quently given, making a fallow every other, 

 or alternate year. Indeed, it would appear 

 that the advantage arising to vegetation from 

 the soil being well pulverized, was well 

 known; for Cato being asked, "What is 

 good tillage]" answered, "To plough." 

 " W T hat is next?" "To plough; the third to 

 manure; the remainder is to sow plentifully, 

 to choose the seed carefully, and to eradicate 

 the weeds." Hannam. 



