Vol. I.— No. U 



AND GARDENER'S JOURNAL. 



141 



the harvest of 1830 was about second best the 

 country ever produces. Corn and potatoes al- 

 so, did remarkably well for the shot* period 

 (hey had to perfect themselves; hut much less 

 corn than usual was planted, as the high price 

 it now bears demonstrates. Fruit also, though 

 not abundant, did well. 



Without knowing the immediate efTect on 

 our temperature, occasioned by the huge mass- 

 es of ice at the foot of Lake Erie, we think a 

 priori, that the very low monthly mean for A- 

 pril may bo attributed, in a great degree, to 

 that cause. Its affects at Buffalo and the 

 neighboring towns, must he very apparent, and 

 We should feel gratified with knowing precise- 

 ly the range of the thermometer, while it con- 

 Smuts, and at what time last year and the years 

 previous, tho lake was clear of ice. 



Although unfavorable to early vegetation, 

 April has, we think, been propitious on the 

 whole. Wheat is not benefitted by an ear- 

 ly spring growth, as it has no time to spread 

 and take root, which are all important to the 

 production of a great crop, and as this is deci- 

 dedly the staple article of this country, there 

 is mach in the season to gladden the heart of 

 :he husbandman. 



SALSIFY, OR VEGETABLE OYSTER. 



(Tragopogon porrifolium, L. 



This plant is a hardy biennial, which has, 

 within a few years past, become a favourite 

 with our gardeners. 



It is cultivated for the roots, which are about 

 the size of small carrots, of a dingy white co- 

 lor, with a milky juice. When cooked, they 

 have a flavor not unlike oysters, from which cir- 

 cumstance is derived their common name. To 

 cultivate this plant the seeds should be sown 

 in the fore part of May, in beds of deep rich 

 earth, prepared the same as for parsnips — 

 their general culture and time of use being the 

 same, and also their mode of preservation. — 

 To save seeds, a few plants should be put in 

 the ground in the spring, when they will shooi 

 Up about tour feet high. The flowers are of a 

 dull purple color, which are followed by sued s 

 about an inch long, attached to a feather, like 

 '.he seeds of the dandelion. The young s'alke 

 .ind leaves of this plant are sometime* boiled, 

 and make an excellent dish. 



We think this plant will be more generally 

 cultivated, as gardeners become more acquain- 

 ted with it, as it is the best substitute for oysterj 

 '.hat has yet been discovered, and may be conk- 

 ed in all the different ways in which they are, 

 and in some dishes, it would be very difHcul; 

 to distinguish the two. Having cultivated 

 ".hem for a number of years, we most earnestly 

 recommend tin m to our western farmers and 

 gardeners, as a vegetable deserving a place iu 

 every garden, as they are of easy culture, not 

 liable to be destroyed by insects, and asgmng 

 n variety to the table through the full, winter' 

 and spring months. 



IMPORTANT TO FARMERS. 



The following Setter from Judge Dates, of 

 "■jew York, to C. Dtardoff, Esq. of Dover, 

 contains so many useful remarks on a subject 

 in which tho farmers, not only of this county, 

 but throughout the state, are so deeply inter- 

 ested, that we deem its publication absolutely 

 necessary. The opportunities afforded to the 

 writer, as Chief Engineer of the Ohio Canal, 

 of being acquainted with the nature ?nd char-; 



acter of our soil, as an agriculturist, give his 

 observations an additional claim to our attcn- 

 tion.— TVs. Chron. 



Rocbesler, N. Y. Jan. 7, 1831. 



Dear Sir — From the commencement of my 

 acquaintance with your state, I drew an opin- 

 ion that the interests of Ohio and New York 

 were intimately connected, and that the course 

 of improvement going on in Ohio, combined 

 with that already completed in New York, 

 would eventually open to the citizens of your 

 state a market for their surplus produce, which 

 they had previously been almost under the ne- 

 cessity of throwing away. I am now more 

 than ever confirmed in the opinion, from the 

 actual experience gained in the year which has 

 but now closed. Your products of wheal, 

 hemp, pork, and tobacco, and other articles, 

 find a ready and sure sale, without incurring 

 an exhorbitant expense The agriculturist 

 may sow, and from tho fertilitv of your soil, 

 and the geniality of your ciimate. if he does, 

 he is sure to reap, and not only sure of that, 

 but from the facility of intercourse, he is sure 

 of realizing a fair value for the result of his 

 labour. 



As a proof of this please to observe that be- 

 tween two and three hundred thousand bush- 

 els of wheat have, during the past season, been 

 purchased in, and shipped from Ohio: and in 

 addition, as much as perhaps fifty thousand 

 barrels of flour. 



It is found to bo a fact that the greater part 

 of the wheat raised in Ohio, is of a quality in- 

 ferior to that which makes the first rate flour. 

 This is not owing to a want of proper virtue 

 in the soil, or to any unfriendly peculiarity of 

 climate ; but is attributable to the quality of 

 wheat sowed, and, in many instances, to a 

 practice of permitting the crop to stand in the 

 field till it is dead ripe, before the sickle is ap- 

 plied. Much of the wheat which has late 

 ly been grown in your state, and found its 

 way to this market, has been manufactured 

 here, and the flour sent to New York market, 

 where, I am sorry to say, some of it, under the 

 riaid course of inspection there pursued, has 

 been disgraced. This is a circumstance which 

 has not happened to tho flour manufactured 

 from tho wheat grown in this country. Some 

 millers who have manufactured and sent into 

 market the flour of ihe wheat of your State 

 indiscriminately, with the flour made from the 

 Genesee wheat, have had the mortification to 

 have their brands condemned, and their high 

 character partially diminished. Others who 

 have taken the precaution to grind and send it 

 unmixed, have only been able to obtain for it 

 th- character of second brand superfine. The 

 inevitable result will he, ihat your flour must 

 go into the market with a lower character than 

 ours, to wit, second rate superfine. 'This cir- 

 cumstance, acting on a whole people, and that 

 people so respectable as the inhabitants of O 

 hio, must be extremely unpleasant as well as 

 unprofitable. Our best farmers, to enable 

 them to furnish wheat of. the finest quality for 

 the mills, are particularly careful in the selec- 

 tion of th eir seed. They seldom allow them- 

 selves to sow more than two or three years in 

 succession, the same seed which was on the 

 same firm. They change often, and always 

 gain by it, both in weight, measure, anil qualify. 

 Some lake the precaution to obtain their seed 

 from a great distance, and always find their ac- 

 count in it. I would suggest the idea of pur 

 suing the same course among you. I would 

 even take Ihe liberty to advise yon to send to 

 this country for jour seed. I have observed 

 that seeds of many kinds are improved by 

 transfer from a northern to a warmer climate, 

 and deteriorated by a contrary course. This 

 may he said to be particularly the case with 

 wheat. The wheal grown in the Genesee, 

 Seneca and Cayuga oountries.has long been ac- 

 knowledged to possess a decided pre-eminence 

 of character. The change, under the present 

 facilities of intercourse, can easily take place, 

 and should it, you alone will be the gainers. 

 The Gencscc wheat, among those I have men- 



tioned, bears, perhaps, the highest character, 

 The kinds most sought after here, as the best, 

 and producing the best flour.are the flint wheat, 

 the bald red chaff wheat with a white berry, 

 the bearded red chafl" wheat with a white ber- 

 ry — and perhaps some others. All these kinds 

 can easily be procured. The flour produced 

 from them is a mellow yellowish hue, and seft 

 feathery feel. That produced by the Ohio 

 wheat of blueish white, and somewhat harsh 

 sandy feel, subject lo be under the most care- 

 ful course of manufacturing, mixed with dark 

 or blaok specks. 



I have do interest ir any mill or establish- 

 ment for the purchase ofwhoat or flour,but still 

 feel an anxiety that your productions should 

 be as good and as fair in market as they can 

 be. I have no* idea that a change can be 

 brought about instantly; but if only a few- 

 would adopt the practice, a short time would 

 show the utility of it, and the community at 

 large be benefitted. Some wheat has been ob- 

 tained from Goauga, Huron and Seneca coun- 

 ties, which can be called first rate. The "rain 

 from any other counties may be made as good. 

 The wheat from Michigan is superior to thai 

 from Ohio ; their 6eed was obtained almost 

 wholly from this State. I am, respectfully 

 vours, <&c. DAVIDS. BATES. 



FromLoudou's Encyclopedia of Agriculture. 

 NATURAL HISTORY OP THE HORSE', 



Continued from page 13-1. 



The British varieties of saddle horse may be 

 reduced into the racer, the hunter, the impro- 

 ved hack, the old English road horse, the gal- 

 loway, and the pony ; the two latter of which 

 we shall consider in another place. 



Therace horse is descended, some from Ara- 

 bians and others from Barbs, but principally 

 tho former. Races or courses were very ear- 

 ly a part of British sports ; ami it is natural to 

 Biippose that on this account, endeavors would 

 be made lo improve and enlnrgo the breeds of 

 the native horses. Roger de Bellestne, Earl 

 of Shrewsbury, is the first on record who im- 

 ported a Spanish Stallion, whose progeny was 

 afterwards extolled by Michael Drayton, in 

 his Pohjalbwn. In Ihe reign of Henry IV.. 

 public ordinances wore made favorable to the 

 improvement of the breeding of horses. The 

 courses of those timos were, however, proba- 

 bly little moro than ordinary trials of speed 

 between the indigena or the slightly improved 

 breeds; and it was not until the days of Hen- 

 jry VII. and VIII., that the true Arabian horses 

 were imported. During these reigns, stallions 

 from Arabia, Barbara, and Persia were procu 

 red, their progeny were regularly trained to 

 the course, and from these periods we trace 

 that gradual cultivation of the English race 

 horse, which has, at length, produced a breed 

 unrivalled throughout the world for symmetry 

 of form, swiftness of progression, and dura- 

 bility under exertion. The accounts on re- 

 cord of feats performod by some of our horses 

 on the turf are truly astonishing. Bay Mai 

 ton, ran at Vork, four miles in seven minute? 

 and forty-three seconds. Childers, known by 

 I the name of the flying Childers, moved thru' 

 a spice equal to eighty-two feel and a half in 

 a second. After these Eclipse, Highflyer. 

 Matchein, llambletonian, and others, have 

 contributed to keep up the reputation of the 

 English racer 



Cliviale has a great influence over thcfvrm of 

 animals, and that form is found indigenous to 

 each, whioh host fits it for the purposes rertni- 

 red of it. In the arid plains of the east where 

 herbage is scarce, a form is given which ena- 

 bles its brute inhabitants Jo readily transport 

 themselves from one spot to another; and as 

 in every situation the flesh of the horse i? 

 greedily sought after by ihe predatory tribes, 

 so here, where those are peculiarly strong and 

 active, the horse is formed peculiarly agile and 

 swift to escape their attack, as well as pecul- 

 iarly light, that iiis weight might not sink hjiri 

 in the sandy plains, nor retard him in his flight- 



