1861 .J 
AMERICAN AORTOUT/TTTTITST. 
167 
The War, and Farmers. 
The effects of the War upon Production—The Pros¬ 
pective Demand—The Certain Prospect of High 
Prices — Wliat should he Done at Once. 
Our office windows open directly upon tlie 
City Hall Square, and its extensive barracks, 
where are gathered the hosts of armed soldiers 
that start from this point southward. Almost 
every day we witness the arrival and departure 
of one or more regiments of 800 to 1000 men 
each. A large number of these troops are stal¬ 
wart men, who have come from the farms of 
New-York and New-England. In the middle 
States and at the West, a still larger proportion 
of the volunteers are tillers of the soil. It is 
safe to estimate that in the Northern States 
alone, more than 50,000 able bodied men have 
already been withdrawn from the labors of the 
farm, (to say nothing of at least four times as 
many more drawn from other occupations,—all 
of whom must be fed, by the way.) 
It is below the mark to reckon the average 
annual result of the labor of each of those men 
ieaving the farm, as equivalent to 1000 bushels 
of corn. (The aggregate result is the same, 
whether a man raise corn only, or say 150 
bushels of wheat, 200 bushels of corn, 10 tuns 
of hay, 100 bushels of potatoes, with small 
quantities of oats, barley, peas, beans, etc., for 
these taken together are equivalent to the 1000 
bushels of corn. He would be a poor laborer 
indeed who could not, without aid, produce the 
amount here indicated.) We then have, as one 
result of the withdrawal of 50,000 men from ag¬ 
riculture, a diminution of the products of the 
soil equivalent to at least 50,000x1000, ox fifty 
million bushels of com! Hundreds of thous¬ 
ands, perhaps millions of acres in the immedi¬ 
ate vicinity of the seat, or seats of war, will be 
only partially tilled the present season. These, 
with other disturbing causes will, at the best, 
tend to greatly reduce the aggregate farm pro¬ 
ductions of the present year ; and the inevitable 
result will be an increased demand and higher 
prices for all that is produced from the soil. 
Looking abroad, we find a large deficiency of 
breadstuffs still to be supplied from this country. 
Since the last harvest, more than thirty million 
dollars worth of "our wheat, flour, and corn, have 
been exported, and this, too, while the purchas¬ 
ers have had their own crop remaining to draw 
upon. With continued peace in Europe, the 
demand for our breadstuffs must be large for 
many months to come. But there, as here, vast 
armies are being raised; almost all of Europe is 
being placed upon a war footing; and on the 
other side of the Atlantic, the signs of the times 
are portentious of a Continental war. 
As we are importing comparatively little, and 
shall import still less for some time to come, our 
breadstuffs sent abroad must bring back large 
amounts of hard coin to be added to our present 
specie reserves, which are already larger than at 
any former period. Over fifty million dollars 
are now lying in the bank and Sub-Treasury 
vaults of this city alone. This money, which 
has lain partially idle, owing to the stagnation 
of business for some time past, is now begin¬ 
ning to move. Within a few months it will 
have been absorbed by loans to the General and 
State Governments, paid out in war expenses, 
circulated through the country, and in part re¬ 
turned to the bank vaults, to again go through 
the same round. In its course, most of this 
money will pass through the hands of the pro¬ 
ducers, partly for the direct purchase of army 
provisions and forage, and partly for food to 
supply those engaged in manufacturing and fur¬ 
nishing implements, equipments, and other in¬ 
cidentals of the war. A hundred millions at 
least will be expended by the General Govern¬ 
ment alone, within the present year, in addition 
to its usual current expenses. The rapidity of 
circulation will, in its effects upon business, 
make this sum equivalent to two or three hun¬ 
dred millions in ordinary times. The agricul¬ 
turists will reap a golden harvest from the strife 
and commotion of the times, and leaving out of 
consideration the motives of patriotism, which 
should incite them to do all in their power to 
produce unstinted supplies of bread, corn, 
meats, and other provisions for those who go 
forth to fight the battles of the country, self in¬ 
terest should prompt them to spare no effort, no 
skill, to raise the products of the soil to the 
highest possible limits the present season. The 
planting season is far spent—is just at its close— 
but let us see 
What can still be Done to Increase the 
Products of the Soil this Year. 
THE WHEAT AND RYE FIELDS. 
These are too far advanced to do much with 
them now. Still, plaster, or lime, and especially 
guano, sown as top-dressing, will improve the 
growth and final yield. The re-opening of 
ditches, or dead furrows, to let all water off 
from low spots, will often do much to warm the 
soil and hasten the maturity of the crop, and 
quite possibly save it from rust and the later in¬ 
sects. Harvest will be a precarious time; the 
absence of 50,000 laborers at that time will be a 
serious hindrance. A reaping machine of his 
own, or the positive engagement of one from a 
neighbor, will be important for the grower of 
10 acres or upwards. Any delay after the exact 
season for cutting, that is, just when the kernel 
is beginning to harden, is a loos of a dollar a 
day on each acre in the value of the crop, in¬ 
cluding its quality, weight, and the loss by shel¬ 
ling. “Hay-caps,” (that is, pieces of coarse 
strong cotton, 1 i to 2 yards square, with loops 
at the corners for pinning down with pegs,) are 
quite as valuable for the grain harvest as for 
haying. Provide a lot of these early ; use them 
over the hay cocks; and have them ready to 
spread over the shocks of wheat, rye, and oats. 
They will shed off the rain, and very likely save 
the grain in good order. These caps will gen¬ 
erally pay for themselves in a single season, 
while they will last for years. 
PLANT CORN NOW. 
This should be the great business previous to 
the 10th of June—the earlier now the better. 
Replant any missing hill in fields already up. 
Seek out the nooks and corners, and wherever 
a hill can be made to grow, drop in the seed and 
cover it. Any spare pasture, any poor spots of 
meadow, may still be turned over and planted 
to corn. The more manure you can mingle 
with the soil under and around each hill the 
better. Look under the poultry roosts, in the 
corners of the barn yard, behind the horse sta¬ 
bles, hi the corner where the cows rest at night, 
under the privies, and wherever a shovelful 
of manure can be found, gather it up, and get a 
little into as many corn hills as possible. The 
work will pay. The good ears of corn next 
Autumn will bring the cash directly, or make 
pork or beef which will sell for cash. By going 
to bed soon after sun-light is gone, with a light 
suppei’, so as to sleep well, and then starting an 
hour earlier in the morning, one may go out 
with a hoe in one hand, a basket or barrow of 
manure in the other, and a pocket full of seed 
corn; and during the hour thus gained, put 
in extra hills enough to bring two or three 
bushels in Autumn, worth a full dollar or 
more to the grower, and more than that to 
the country. The Improved King Philip, Rhode 
Island Premium, the Dutton, or other smaller 
quick growing varieties of com are preferable 
for planting at this late season. Hoeing and 
cultivating the growing com well, is important 
to its yielding well. Weeds and grasses abstract 
from the nourishment and life of the corn. 
Plaster, ashes, Peruvian guano, etc., in or around 
the hills, promote growth. Lime, or wood ashes, 
are excellent in the hill, on fresh sod land. 
FLANT BEANS. 
Beans constitute an important item in the sol¬ 
diers’ fare; they contain a large amount of nutri¬ 
ment in a small bulk. The common field, or the 
small white kidney bean, can now be planted 
with entire safety. The waste places among 
corn, potatoes, etc., should be sprinkled over 
with beans, or other quick growing crops. 
Beans can also be planted between the com 
hills, and on land too wet to use until now. 
They will flourish on a poor dry soil, where few 
other valuable crops would eke out an exist¬ 
ence. By all means increase the quantity of 
beans planted. They are good, substantial, 
cheap food for the home table, and will save 
many bushels of wheat for the market. We 
must, hereafter, give a chapter on the right 
method of cooking them to make them palata¬ 
ble, easily digested, and nutritious. If always 
thus cooked, they would be far more popular. 
SOW BARLEY AND BUCKWHEAT. 
Buckwheat need not be sown until July, but 
barley usually succeeds well when sown early 
in June. Besides, barley forms a pretty good 
substitute for wheat, in case that crop is cut off, 
or is in demand at extra prices. Who is not 
fond of a good, light, warm barley loaf—and of 
buckwheat cakes. How would it work to 
have barley, buckwheat, and garden truck 
enough to about support the family -from six to 
ten months, and sell all the wheat, and corn, 
and most of the beans, and pay up the debts on 
the farm, and at the stores, this year ? 
TRY A SOILING CROP. 
A lot of corn stalks, millet, sugar cane, or 
other forage, to be in part cut up green and fed 
to the cattle, horses, sheep, and swine, in the dry 
season, and in part cured like hay for winter 
fodder, will increase the yield of milk, and but¬ 
ter, and cheese to sell; will keep the animals in 
good heart for labor, or for increasing in weight 
of meat; and will save hay to exchange for cash. 
Plant in drills, or sow, all you can of these crops, 
the first, second, and thiiid weeks in June. 
don’t forget the turnips. 
We have not so high an opinion as some 
others, of the value of turnips for this country; 
yet they are not to be despised. They cost next 
to nothing, and are undoubtedly good for all 
kinds of animals when fed with dry forage dur¬ 
ing all the Winter and Spring. Scatter the seed 
on every vacant spot, alone or among other 
crops, wherever there is room for a root to grow 
and the top to spread, without interfering with 
something more valuable. The quick growing 
sorts, such as the Red Top Strap-leaf, may be 
sown for two months or more yet. Ruta-bagas 
or Swedes, may be soiyn any time this month, 
