Q94 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
ng his leisure hours in hybridizing or crossing 
some of the fine European varieties with our 
American grapes, and has produced-40 varieties 
which lie is experimenting still further with, and 
many of them are of the highest promise. 
Pears.— Heretofore this fruit has usurped a 
disproportionably large share of the attention of 
the Society. A healthful, moderate tone seemed 
on this occasion to pervade the discussions, yet 
there appeared no diminution of enthusiasm, 
and the more than ordinarily large display on the 
tables of the exhibition room spoke well for the 
progress made by our pear cultivators. 
The Crops—Prospective Prices. 
A single subscriber in Indiana, has written to 
take exceptions to our remarks last month, in 
regard to the crops of the present year. The 
fact that only one has so written, confirms the 
opinions we expressed, for we expected to hear 
from many other localities where the crops are 
not up to the average. A reliable friend, an in¬ 
telligent, observing eastern farmer, who makes 
now and then an extended visit'among his sons 
and relatives, residing in Michigan, Illinois, Wis¬ 
consin, Minnesota and Iowa,"called on us to-day, 
and he says “ the wheat crop and the growing 
corn all over the Northwest country, where I 
have traveled since July 15th, exceed anything 
that I have ever seen in my life. I don’t see 
what is to be done with all the breadstuff's, this 
year.” Such in effect are most of the reliable 
reports we get direct from unprejudiced visitors 
to the Northwest. But, as hinted last month,we 
freely admit that there are, scattered all over the 
country, limited localities where drouth, frost, 
and in some cases even too much rain, have pro¬ 
duced short crops. In Missouri, crops are hardly 
an average ; in Kansas they have generally fail¬ 
ed, disastrously so ; in Kentucky and Tennessee 
the yield of wheat and corn will be below an 
average, and in most states south of latitute 38° 
the cereal crops are bad enough. But in the 
great grain-producing States of the North and 
Northwest, there is no mistake about the yield 
being far above the average, taken as a whole. 
In regard to prices, as a general rule, taking 
one year with another, those producers who have 
sold soon after harvest, have averaged better 
prices than those who have held on six to twelve 
months. This has been our own observation for 
twenty years past, and every man who has care¬ 
fully noted the markets, will confirm this. Some¬ 
times a capital hit has been made by holding 
on, but more frequently the reverse has been the 
case, if we take into account, shrinkage and 
loss in storing, interest on money etc. 
This year we have, so far, offered no advice 
as to the best time to sell, for we think the chan¬ 
ces about even, every thing considered. The re¬ 
dundant crop wwuld indicate a decline in prices 
when it all comes to market. On the other hand, 
the demand to supply the deficiency in the South¬ 
ern and South Middle states, together with the 
better foreign demand, will probably absorb most 
of the surplus breadstuff's, and keep prices up to 
fair rates, and perhaps carry them to a higher 
point than now. Much depends upon the result 
of the harvest in Great Britain and on the Con¬ 
tinent of Europe. Until lately, the harvest pro¬ 
spects abroad were had ; but each successive 
recent arrival has brought news of better weather 
and improving prospects. We have probably 
heard the worst, for fears before harvest are 
magnified, not only by farmers themselves, but by 
speculators who have stocks of grain on hand, 
which they wish to dispose of at high rates. 
From a careful survey of all the information at 
hand, we believe the foreign yield of grain will 
not be as bad as it has been represented, but the 
product will be below the average, and there will 
be a moderate but not excessive demand for our 
breadstuff's. The effect will be to prevent very 
low prices here, but not to carry them very high. 
We repeat, then, that the chances for higher or 
lower prices are very near equal at this time, and 
for ourselves, we should be governed very much 
by our circumstances—immediate necessity for 
money, convenience of storage and taking to 
market, etc.—in deciding whether to sell now, 
or wait future developments. 
P. S. Sept. 19th. The news from Europe to¬ 
day indicates better harvest prospects, so much 
so, that there is a considerable decline in wheat 
and flour at London and Liverpool. The New 
York market is consequently falling somewhat, 
but we do not look for any serious effect. All 
the reports of bad crops coming across the Atlan¬ 
tic for two months past, have not been without 
foundation. The opinion expressed above in re¬ 
gard to prospective prices, is slightly modified by 
today’s foreign advices, but only slightly so. 
- “O «-i na ^C n-mn - » 0» 
The Barometer on Washing-Day. 
Every day’s experience and observation 
strengthen our belief in the usefulness of a ba¬ 
rometer. To-day an intelligent farmer from 
Connecticut called in to thank us for the explan¬ 
atory article upon barometers in the August 
Agriculturist. Said he : “ I have had a $20 
mercurial barometer in my house many years, 
but not fully understanding it, I made no use of 
it. Your explanations made me understand it; 
I now daily watch its movements, and am gov¬ 
erned much by it in my plans. Last Monday it 
looked so stormy that wife decided to defer wash¬ 
ing. As my barometer indicated no change, I 
advised her to go on with the work. Tuesday 
morning it looked fair, but my barometer had 
fallen 3-10tbs of an inch and I predicted rain. 
Wife laughed at my instrument, and congratu¬ 
lated herself on getting the victory over my 
scientific weather-teller. Well, it rained hard 
more than half of the day....”—The Springfield 
Republican gives the following : 
Several instances of the usefulness of the ba¬ 
rometer have been made known to us. A gen¬ 
tleman who had fixed a day for commencing hay¬ 
ing, found that his barometer on that morning in¬ 
dicated rain, and he postponed his haying. It 
rained during the day and for two succeeding 
days, but he saved his hay, while his neighbors, 
who had no means of foretelling the weather, cut 
their grass, and lost by the operation. A farmer 
at Chatham, N. Y., had a large quantity of hay 
and grass cut one day, and on going to dinner, 
noticed that the barometer indicated rain. His 
men went immediately to work and saved most 
of the hay and grain, while his neighbors, who 
were not forewarned in lime, experienced a loss. 
A physician at Reading had fixed a day for his 
haying; the morning was fine, but the barometer 
said rain, and he deferred mowing, and advised 
his neighbors to do the same. But they laughed 
at him, and went to work, and the rain came at 
noon. Many such facts might be given to show 
the value of a barometer to the farmer. It will 
soon be considered as indispensable as a clock in 
a farmer’s kitchen. Those who omitted to study 
the article on barometers, in our August paper, 
will do well to refer to it. 
[October. 
What shall be done with Cotton Seed? 
A correspondent from Mississippi puts to us 
the following questions : “'How much oil can be 
expressed from a ton of cotton seed 1 How much 
from the hulled seed by weight? What will be 
the weight of cake after the oil is pressed out ? 
What machinery would be required to clean the 
seed ready for the press? Cost in New-York or 
New-Orleans ? What is the wholesale price in 
New-York, of the oil, of the cake, of the meal?'’ 
These questions open a subject of very great 
importance to the cotton planter. It is whether 
the seed of his main staple, now an article that 
rots at the gin-house, or that is only used for ma¬ 
nure, can be made profitable to him. The plan 
of our correspondent manifestly is, to purchase 
machinery, to express the oil upon the planta¬ 
tion, and to use the cake for feeding, if it can be 
made to pay. The question is not whether a 
mechanic or capitalist in Vicksburg, or Natchez, 
who can buy cotton seed at ten cents a bushel, 
can make the manufacture of oil and cake pay, 
but whether the planter can afford to go into this 
business on his own account? What is the cot¬ 
ton seed really worth to him as he is situated, for 
feeding purposes ? • We wish to look at this as¬ 
pect of the question before proceeding to the 
questions touching the machinery, etc. 
Throughout the cotton region, there is a great 
lack of feeding stuffs. Cotton is regarded as the 
main staple, and every thing else is neglected for 
this. Though it is not regarded as good husband¬ 
ry by the most intelligent planters, it not unfre- 
quently happens, that the planter does not raise 
his own corn, or pork. In a season of drought 
like this, many a planter will spend thousands of 
dollars for corn, hay, pork, beef, etc., that might 
all be made upon his own plantation. Whatever 
may be the fact in the case, it is generally be¬ 
lieved that our cultivated grasses will not flourish 
in the cotton belt, and it is only in rare cases 
that the seed is sown. The cows, where they are 
kept, get a meager subsistence from the woods 
and cane brakes, and give milk but a part of the 
year. The main reliance for fodder for mules, 
horses, and horned cattle, is the stalks and grain 
of Indian corn. This plant, which comes from 
the South, and might be made immensely pro¬ 
ductive and cheap, is very seldom cultivated with 
animal manures, and the crop is much smaller 
than in a less congenial climate, where it has bet¬ 
ter husbandry. Corn is often, if not always, as 
high in the cotton region as in this market. Im¬ 
mense quantities of corn go down the Mississippi 
and its tributaries, to find a market upon the cot¬ 
ton plantations. A dollar is not infrequently paid 
for a bushel of corn, and seventy-five cents is a 
common price. Probably this last figure would 
not be an over estimate for the average price of 
corn in the cotton belt for a term of years. 
In such a region, a new supply of fodder is 
a desideratum, and one of the richest boons that 
could be bestowed upon the planter. We are 
quite confident that he has this desideratum, and 
this boon, in the seed of his great staple. It is 
not until quite recently that the cotton seed l as 
received any attention as an article of food, or 
that any use has been made of it except as ma¬ 
nure. Even now it is wasted quite as often as 
saved, and though its value, as a manure, is 
demonstrated, it is thrown into the nearest 
stream, or suffered to rot in the neighborhood of 
the gin. Its value is not yet generally under¬ 
stood, and there is no large demand, either for 
the oil or for the cake. The whole use of the 
seed is still a matter of experiment, and it must 
be some years before it can work its way into 
