300 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[July, 
The Crop Prospects. 
We present herewith a copy of the synopsis 
of the reports, as furnished us by the Agricul- 
tural Department at Washington. The plan of 
presenting the results is very simple and easily 
understood after a little study. A single figure 
presents the result of hundreds or even thou- 
sands of observations. Thus, for example, in 
the third column of figures against Iowa, the 
figure 12 tells us that the reports from fifty or 
a hundred persons in as many localities in that 
State, show, that the area of Spring Wheat 
sown in Iowa this year is two-tenths, or twenty 
per cent, greater than in 1862 ; while the figure 
11 in the next column indicates that at the date 
of the reports the appearance of the crop was 
one-tenth, or ten per cent., better than the 
average of other years. With this explanation 
in mind, each figure in the whole table will be- 
come significant, and especially the general 
average at the bottom, for the whole country. 
The value of these tables will of course mainly 
depend upon the number of these reports, upon 
the good judgment and honesty of the reporters, 
upon the care in compiling them, and upon the 
promptness in publishing the results obtained. 
Beyond all question, the Agricultural Depart- 
ment can confer a great benefit upon the entire 
country by an extended and properly executed 
labor of this kind. Millions of persons, farm- 
ers, grain dealers, the mercantile community, 
and indeed the whole country will, during the 
next three or four months, be anxious to know 
what are the condition and prospects of the 
growing crops generally. Farmers want to know 
whether the crop is to be an average one, or be- 
low or above an average, for the prospective 
prices will be materially affected thereby. If 
crops are poor, farmers will be less able to buy 
merchandise and manufactures, and less able to 
purchase freely, or pay up for past purchases 
from importers and manufacturers ; there will 
be less grain to export and exchange, and indeed 
the whole fabric of trade and commerce, and 
even the National Finances, will be affected. 
And just the contrary result will be produced 
by unusually good crops ; for, after all, the pros- 
perity of the country depends mainly upon the 
absolute wealth derived directly from the soil. 
Hitherto we have been without any positive 
reliable information, except the reports gather- 
ed on the same plan last year by the Agriculturist 
office. We hope the new Department of Agri- 
culture will spare no effort or expense to carry 
out, on an extended, comprehensive scale, the 
system of gathering these important statistics. 
Let them be so carefully collected and collat- 
ed as to be absolutely reliable, and we can 
promise both a hearty cooperation, and the 
grateful appreciation of the entire country — 
not only of farmers but of all other classes. 
Comprehensive, accurate, and prompt reports 
of this kind, collected at the expense of a few 
thousands, or tens of thousands of dollars, as 
the case may be, will save many millions. 
Of the Crop Prospects Generally, aside from what 
is contained in the Commissioner's report for 
May, we can not give as much information as 
would be desirable. The reports from the 
country at large, gathered from our own corres- 
pondence, and from some twelve hundred Ex- 
Changes, are very various. The general view 
is a cheerful one, "but there are too many hints 
of late Spring, rain iu some places, and severe 
drouth in others, to warrant us in saying that 
the crop prospects are the most favorable up to 
June 19th. In the immediate vicinity of New 
CROP REPORTS FOR 
MAY, 1863. 
Gathered by the United States 
Agricultural Bureau. 
Connecticut 
Delaware 
Illinois 
Indiana 
Iowa 
Kansas 
Kentucky 
Maine 
Maryland 
Massachusetts 
Michigan 
Minnesota. 
Missouri 
New Hampshire 
New Jersey 
New York 
Ohio 
Pennsylvania 
Rhode Island 
Vermont 
Wisconsin 
Nebraska Territory., 
General Average 
WINTER 
SPRING 
, 
WHEAT. 
WHEAT. 
OATS. 
PO ATES 
SOBGUM. 
COT 
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11 
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11 
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8 
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20 
10 
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11 
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10 
9 
9 
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10 
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11 
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11 
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11 
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50 
13 
11 
12 
11 
111 
10 
13 
10 
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11 
10 
10 
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30 
la 
10 
10 
8 
11 
11 
11 
hi 
9 
8 
HI 
10 
11 
in 
10 
8 
11 
10 
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9 
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n 
10 
11 
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11 
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111 
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11 
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8 
10 
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111 
9 
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10 
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in 
14 
in 
15 
10 
10 
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10 
9 
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10 
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9 
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9 
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10 
10 
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10 
111 
10 
10 
9 
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in 
in 
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9 
10 
10 
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10 
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11 
9 
11 
9 
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12 
10 
12 
11 
11 
10 
11 
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IS 
11 
11 
10 
m 
in 
14 
8 
11 
8 
8 
10 
8 
10 
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8 
10 
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10 
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37 
12 
10 
10 
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12 
10 
10 
10 
10 
10 
10K 
The above table presents a very short abstract of the returns to the Agricultural Department, of the amount and 
condition of the crops in May, 1863. A fuller report, embracing other matter, will shortly be issued and sent to our 
correspondents and the press generally. This table can readily be understood by all. The number 10 represents 
an average of the crops, both as to their amount compared with the crops of 1862, and their appearance in May, 
1863. A number above or below 10, represents as many tenths as it is above or below it. Thus 8 is two-tenths be- 
low an average, and 14 is four-tenths above it. The table is prepared by first taking an average from the returns of 
each County, and from these an average of each State, as published in the table. ISAAC NEWTON, 
Washington, D. C, June 15, 1863. Commissioner. 
York, the long absence of rain has materiall}' 
damaged the hay crop, and lessened the growth 
of most other crops. Favorable weather here- 
after may bring forward the cereals, for the 
rains we have just had, can not restore the stunt- 
ed grass. The general reports are favorable for 
fruit. Our own personal observation, extending 
a hundred miles into Southern New- York, 
is that a comparatively small amount of fruit 
has set this year. The trees were everywhere 
full of blossoms, but a large proportion of them 
blasted. A similar state of things is reported 
from some other localities, while in others there 
has been abundance of rain, and not too much. 
The Repcn-ts from Europe are almost as varied as 
from this country. Drouth has prevailed in 
many parts of Great Britain and the Continent, 
so much so as to tone down the exuberant feel- 
ings manifested about the first of May. The 
news by the last steamer is more cheerful than 
that received during the previous three weeks. 
Millet Seed Injurious to Horses. 
In the April Agriculturist "Basket Items," 
you say, that if Hungarian grass is fed w T ith 
the straw it is generally thought to be safe. It 
is so far from safe, so really unsafe, I must write 
a word. Last Fall three horses were killed by 
it at one time from only once feeding. While 
waiting for a threshing machine to be set, an 
armful of it was given to them, and before anoth- 
er night three were dead and others made sick. 
I came very near losing a nice mare by feeding 
it one Winter. Four years ago almost every 
neighbor of mine used it for horses, now I know 
of not one that dare feed it. I could name a 
dozen horses in this vicinity killed, or nearly so, 
by using it. We never thresh it except for seed 
for sowing. Most here think that it is the seed 
that injures, and that when cut before the seed 
fills it is safe. Is it not the hull of the seed that 
Irritates the coats of the stomach and intestines 
and thus causes disease? Wm. B. Reed. 
[Remarks. — So many have reported cases 
similar to the above, that it would seem almost 
certain that for some reason, millet (Hungarian 
grass) seed can not be safely fed to horses. At 
any rate the safe plan on which all appear to be 
agreed is, to cut the grass for fodder before the 
seed is ripened, when it is to be fed to horses. 
For sheep or other stock, for all we have heard 
to the contrary, it appears to be desirable food.] 
Reasons for Tillage. 
Does any one inquire the reason why we plow, 
and harrow, and dig and hoe? A very sensible 
inquiry. We do these things partly in order to 
bring the ground into a proper mechanical con- 
dition for receiving seeds, and for growin" 
plants. By the long continued falling of rains, 
the soil becomes compact and hard. So, also, 
the covering of a heavy body of snow in Winter 
brings the ground into a sodden and firmer stale. 
This is the case especially on clayey soils. Run 
the plow, or work the spade through these com- 
pacted masses of earth, and it will render them 
porous, easy to till with the hoe, and prepared 
to receive whatever seeds we may wish to grow. 
Then, again, tillage benefits the soil chemi- 
cally. It opeus the pores, so that" it imbibes those 
fertilizing elements which the air contains. The 
atmosphere is a storehouse of carbonic acid and 
ammonia, but the earth can not be enriched by 
them largely, until its bosom is opened b} T cul- 
tivation. The soil, too, contains mineral and 
animal substances in a state of partial decom- 
position, which need the agency of the atmos- 
phere to resolve them into good food for grow- 
ing plants. Jethro Tull was no mere theorist. 
So in reference to needful moisture. When 
the soil is well disintegrated, and the air ena- 
bled to circulate freely among its particles, there 
will be deposited a greater amount of water 
than in stiff, unbroken ground. And this mois- 
ture will be present just in proportion to the 
depth and thoroughness of the tillage. Hence 
it comes to pass that subsoiled lands seldom, if 
ever, suffer in the severest drouths. The air 
descending to the roots of plants, moisture fol- 
