Original Letters of Dr. Franklin. 361 
have found by experiment that a bushel of ‘clean chaff of 
timothy or Salem grass will yield five quarts of seed. The 
rye looks well, and there is abundance of timothy or Salem 
grass come up amongst it, but it is yet small, and in that 
state there is scarce any knowing those grasses apart. I ex- 
pect from the sand’s lying so near the surface, that it will 
produce good. —— —— —— —— —— —— —— 
* * i 
Davi PuiiapELPeuia, Jury 16, 1747. 
~ Dear Sir, 
1 received your favor of the 4th instant. I ought be- 
fore this time to have acknowledged the receipt of the book, 
which came very safe and in good order, to hand. We 
have many oil mills in this Province, it being a great coun- 
try for Flax. Linseed oil may now be bought for 3s. per 
gallon; sometimes for 2s. 6d.: But at New York I have 
been told it generally holds up at about 8s. of this you can 
easily be satisfied, it being your neighbour government. In 
your last, you enquired about the kind of land from which 
our hemp is raised. Lam told it must be very rich land; 
- sometimes they use drained swamps and banked meadows : 
but the greatest part of our hempis brought from Canistego, 
which is a large and very rich tract of land 70 miles north 
from this city, on the banks of the Susquehanah a large 
fresh water river. Itis brought down in waggons. If you 
should send any of your steel saws here for sale, I should 
not be wanting where my recommendation might be of ser- 
vice. We have had as wet asummer as has been known 
here these thirty years, so that it was with difficulty our peo- 
“ple got in their harvest. In some parts of the country a 
great deal of hay hasbeen lost, and some corn mildewed : 
but in general the harvest has been very great. The two 
preceeding summers, (particularly the last,) were excessive- 
ly dry. I think with you, it might be of advantage to know 
what the seasons are in the several parts of the country. 
One’s curiosity in some philosophical points might also be 
gratified by it. We have frequently along this North Amer- 
ican coast, storms from the North East, which blow violently 
sometimes three or four days. Of these I have had a very 
singular opinion some years, viz. that though the course of 
