244 
REVIEW OF THE APRIL NO. OF THE AGRICULTURIST. 
natory of the three plows will in part show, and the 
hundred other cuts and explanations, together with 
a mass of other information, makes not only a use¬ 
ful, but a very interesting, readable book. 
Mustard as a Field Crop.—If it will yield “ ten 
or fifteen bushels to the acre,” and bring the half 
of the price you say, it is a more profitable crop 
than wheat. Give us more upon the subject. The 
western bottom-lands and rich prairies can carry 
the crop without danger of exhausting the soil. 
American Agricultural Association. —I have but 
little to say of this excellent association. But I 
will report for Mr. Clark upon “ the expediency of 
establishing a silk manufactory,” against the mea¬ 
sure. I have great faith in the growing of silk in 
all this country, but it must be done as a domestic 
business. Every family in the county or villages 
could keep a few worms, and the product w r ould be 
all profit. Silk cocoons should be produced just as 
honey is now, or rather as it should be, in every 
family. 
A Leaf from a Farmer’s Ledger. —I like to see 
this kind of accounts, but I pray that some of 
your readers be not misled in the “ root crops.” 
I have asked, “ will it answ r er when oats and corn 
are not worth more than ten or twelve cents a 
bushel,” and hay from $1 to $2 per ton, to culti¬ 
vate roots for economical feeding ? Such we are 
told is the fact out West. Then, too, $100 w T ill pay 
for 25 or 30 acres of land under good tillage. 
“ Circumstances alter cases,” 
Tiie Row Culture of Wheat. —This, and hoeing 
out the weeds, will do very well for “ a patch but 
for a western prairie field of 300 to 800 acres, 
where land is very cheap as well as team labor, 
and where manual labor is very dear, will it 
answer a good purpose ? As for a drilling machine 
for wheat, when one is wanted, I would recommend 
Pennock’s of Westchester (or in that vicinity), 
Penn. I am greatly in favor of drilling all hoed 
crops, and perhaps it would be profitable to drill 
all grain. 
Rambouillet Merinos. —Too much controversy 
upon this subject to be profitable to your readers. 
If Mr. Bingham’s flock do average 5 lbs. per head 
of real Merino wool, then it is a good flock. If 
Mr. Randall’s average more, and better wool, then 
his flock is better ; to prove which, send the whole 
;to Mr. Lawrence, of Lowell, and publish his certifi¬ 
cate as to the relative value of their fleeces, and let 
us have no more of this uninteresting dispute of 
which is best. 
Scripture's Carriage Wheel. —Unless I am greatly 
mistaken, this is one of the most valuable improve¬ 
ments of this age of inventions. Capt. De Bon- 
ville, about ten years ago, undertook to # cross the 
Rocky Mountains with about sixty wagons, before 
the road through the South pass was known, and 
his wagons literally tumbled to pieces, in conse¬ 
quence of the dryness of the atmosphere at the great 
elevation that he reached; and the same difficulty 
in a lesser degree occurs to every Oregon emigrant. 
How invaluable would be a set of these wheels, if 
they prove to work well! I pray you, Mr. Editor, 
to personally examine some that have been longest 
in use, and tell us what the owners say of them. 
What is the amount of extra expense ? 
Necessity of a Knowledge of Chemical Principles 
to a Farmer.— Convince him of this fact, my 
worthy friend, and then will the country be ready 
for agricultural schools. This is one of the best 
writers that appear in your paper, and this is a most 
capital article, the title of which will be looked at 
and passed over by many a one it was intended to 
benefit, as something to them uninteresting ; as you 
may often hear a farmer say, that he don’t want to 
know anything about chemistry. And yet here, 
in this single article, upon the subject of white to 
preserve his buildings, he might learn enough of 
chemistry to be worth fifty times the price of the 
Agriculturist, every year. For the reasons stated, 
is not white an excellent color for horses and 
cattle ? Let us hear further from R. L. A., upon 
this interesting subject. 
Sheep at the South. —I have no more doubt than 
Mr. Affleck, that fine wool can he grown in Mis¬ 
sissippi ; but that wool will ever be produced there 
in great abundance and profitably, I have some 
very strong doubts. Mr. A. says he commenced 
handling our flocks at Utica. At the same place i 
commenced getting acquainted with this southern 
planter, who, for aught I know, may be a very good 
one. But will he prove a good shepherd ? I hope 
he will not lie in bed and leave his sheep to the 
care of his careless negroes. This is the reason 
why flocks do not prosper better at the South, 
Mr. A. is out of humor with us because w r e charge 
too high for sheep. When they are unprofitable, 
we will charge less. 
Agriculture and Lands of Florida. —This is an 
interesting article, from an interesting writer. 
None of your articles are read with more general 
interest, than descriptions of those portions of our 
new lands that are but little known in the “ old 
settlements.” It is not a matter of surprise to me, 
nor need it be to friend Parsons, that no one has at¬ 
tempted to cultivate and prepare the dried fruits. 
Mr. Affleck gives the reason in the No. under re¬ 
view. Here it is :—The cotton crop affords no 
time for attending to others. From New Year’s 
day till Christmas, it keeps every hand incessantly 
employed.” And still they gain nothing ahead. 
Debts and cotton. Cotton, and debts, and slavery. 
And with all, the only freeman is the slave. The 
master is so great a slave that he has no time to 
cultivate fruit. I can demonstrate, in ten lines, 
that cotton is a curse to the South. “ One of the 
most profitable employments, &c., in Florida, is the 
raising of cattle.” And pray where is if not ? If it 
is profitable in Florida, 1 venture the assertion that 
it is equally, or more so, in Wisconsin ; for there 
the beef is worth twice or thrice as much, and can 
be packed 6 or 8 months of the year, sweet, sound, 
fat, and good, from the wild prairie grass, by means 
of one of the new kind of “ salting machines.” 
In the North, cattle have a value. In the South, 
particularly Central America, their value is at most 
but small. Commend me to the North for cattle¬ 
raising for profit. 
Sheep Husbandry , by John Brown. —Now, 
whether Mr. Brown had lately got himself a pair 
of cowhide boots with thick soles, well nailed, or not, 
I am sure I cannot tell ; but he does hurt some of 
our Down East toes most confoundedly; and hs 
