160 



GENESEE FARMER. 



July. 



The Crops and the Season. 



June has been a very favorable month for the 

 husbandman. Crops of all kinds have come for- 

 ward rapidly. Wheat, the great staple of Wes- 

 tern New York, has suffered very severely by 

 the ravages of insects and the frosts of winter. 

 ]n Livingston county it is thought the injury 

 from these calamities is fully equal to one-third 

 of the usual crop. In Wheatland the damage is 

 estimated, by the most intelligent farmers, at from 

 one-third to one-fourth of the ordinary yield. — 

 After taking much pains to obtain valuable infor- 

 mation, we suppose that the Hessian Fly {cecido- 

 myia destructor) has destroyed about 700,000 

 bushels, or one-tenth of the whole product, on a 

 fair average. An equal amount has been lost by 

 winter-killing — making the yield fall short of the 

 usual crop one-fifth, or 20 per cent. Many sup- 

 pose that this is quite too low an estimate of the 

 damage done by the causes named. Taking all 

 Western New York together, we can not esti- 

 mate the loss over 1,500,000 bushels. Our wheat 

 growers have still to incur the risk of injury from 

 rust. The weather for the last two weeks has 

 been favorable to the attack of this blighting mal 

 ady. It has been quite moist and warm, giving 

 a large growth of stem and leaves to the plant. 



Accounts from the wheat growing regions of 

 the West represent the ravages of the Hessian 

 % as alarmingly destructive. The following is 

 an extract of a letter dated 



Cleveland, Ohio, June 16, 1847. 

 [ have made a good deal of inquiry as to the crops in these 

 parts, and the universal answer is, that the fly is making 

 sad work with the wheat. Some fields will hardly return 

 the seed sown ; and the corn, in consequence of the cold- 

 ness of the weather, is very backward. The best fields 1 

 liave seen appear only two or three inches high, :ind some 

 just coming up, whereas last season at this time it was two 

 feet high. 



The Cobourg (Canada) Star of the 23d June 



says : 



In the Western Districts and the United States, the brown 

 and white grub are destroying the wheat totally. In our 

 own district numerous fields are being ruined by the same 

 insects. The destruction of the crops appears to be pro- 

 j.:ressing throughout the whole world. 



We could easily fill this journal with extracts 

 similar to the above. Although e.xaggerated 

 accounts are constantly .set afloat in the 1800 

 newspapers of the country, yet there can be no 

 question that the crop of wheat in the United 

 States will be very light, notwithstanding more 

 than the usual breadth of land was sown last au- 

 tumn. In our August number we shall have 

 something to say on the best means of avoiding 

 the attacks of the Hessian fly. 



Corn and potatoes now promise an abundant 

 yield. How far the latter crop will suffer from 

 the rot, time alone can disclose. We shall have 

 a large surplus of corn to send to Europe if it 

 shall be needed. 



Wool is coming into this market very freely. 

 Our impression has been, and .still is, that the 



price of this staple will advance some on present 

 rates before October. Should the crops in Eng- 

 land come in as favorably a.s we have reason to 

 expect from our foreign journals, all the woolen 

 mills, suspended in consequence of high prices 

 for food, and the exportation of specie, will be 

 set at work, and create a foreign demand for 

 American wool, not large to be sure, but enough 

 to cause an advance on present rates in this coun- 

 try. For prices see market report. 



Improvement of Sheep from Home Stock. 



Mb. Editor : — Amongst the numerous agri- 

 cultural Improvements of the day, and the mul- 

 tifarious ])ursuits of the farmer, the breeding 

 and improving of domestic animals is of the most 

 importance to the cultivators of the .soil, and to 

 community at large — and none more so than the 

 improving of Sheep, by uniting the greatest val- 

 ue in both carcass and fleece, which can be done 

 to a great perfection if farmers will but be judi- 

 cious and persevering in their breeding. And 

 those enterprising gentlemen who are at the 

 trouble and expense of introducing choice and 

 valuable animals from abroad, deserve the high- 

 est praise, as being the promoters of the best in- 

 terests of society. But yet this desire of having 

 the name of an importer is sometimes carried 

 too far, even at the expense of the farming in- 

 terest. Every encouragement ought to be given 

 to the farmers of our own county, and even sec- 

 tion, to make these improvements. Farmers 

 should always purchase near home, if they can 

 procure as good animals as those froin a distance. 

 By doing so they will savn trouble and expense, 

 encourage a spirit of improvement at home, and 

 promote the general interest of their own coun- 

 try — for the more agricultural productions of any 

 county, or section, can be increased or improved 

 in quality and value, in the satne ratio will the 

 prosperity of the country be increased. 



In passing through the west part of Livingston 

 and the east part of Wyoming, in May, I called 

 upon Mr. Alex. Boyd, in Covington, VVyoming 

 county, to see his splendid flock of Merino 

 sheep; and for size and symmetry of form, and 

 hardiness in appearance — for eveness, fineness, 

 and weight of fleece — I have not seen their su- 

 perior, even amongst the Vermont and Connec- 

 ticut sheep which have been brought into this 

 section from those states, and that too at great 

 prices. I was informed that there were several 

 other flocks in that section which were not much 

 inferior to Mr. Boyd's, so that the farmers of 

 Wyoming might accommodate themselves with 

 choice sheep at much less expense and trouble 

 than going abroad for them — and at the same 

 time encourage the spirit of improvement at 

 home, and increase the value of the productions 

 of their own county. Wm. Garbutt. 



Wheatland, June, 1847. 



