24 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
to infer that more wages was given than was stated, but 
is it fair to publish it to prove the profit of raising corn ? 
Look at it again; divide $61.80 by the number of days 
spent by men, boys and beasts in cultivating this crop, 
and you will find that the amount of each day’s work 
would purchase about 231bs. of this same corn. Now 
the beasts might live upon this quantity of food, but 
the men and boys could not, and buy their lindsey wool- 
sey too. In choosing the statement of Mr. Joseph S. 
Osburn as the subject of these remarks, I entirely dis¬ 
claim every thing of an invidious character. Many of the 
remarks would apply equally well to other statements 
found in the Cultivator, and I shall leave it to your cor¬ 
respondents to apply them where they will suit best, 
and respectfully ask them to continue giving us the re¬ 
sult of their labor and experiments—give us the truth 
—the whole truth—sound conclusions, drawn from the 
new, enlightening and profit working doctrines taught 
and practised by the ablest agriculturists of our country; 
then, only, will we rightly understand and profit by each 
other’s experience. The day is not very far distant, 
when one man and one acre will produce more than two 
men and two acres now do, taking the state together. 
All that is necessary to bring about a result so de¬ 
sirable, is to encourage and circulate sound and well 
conducted agricultural papers, particularly those which 
give as much practice as theory. Then those who 
Will may learn farming as they learned their muitiplica- 
tion tables—learn to connect facts as they connect figures, 
and learn too the relation they bear to each other. 
I have continued this scribbling to an unreasonable 
length, but must urge one thing which is worth more 
than all the rest. Let every farmer and mechanic learn 
the science of his business—or in other words, the con¬ 
nection of parts, and how each and every one is related 
to tbo other, that he may be enabled to pl ace each part 
in the most advantageous position. When the mind and 
body are engaged in the same business, the hands forget 
to tire. Study is therefore no hindrance. If any of the 
above is worth publishing you are at liberty to select 
and use it as you think proper. Respectfully yours, &c. 
JOHN M. DODD. 
There is much truth in the remarks of our cor¬ 
respondent. We could wish that these details were giv¬ 
en with more accuracy; but we do not feel at liberty to 
correct them in this respect. Our object in offering the 
premium, was to increase the average profit of the corn 
crop, by concentrating labor, and inducing a more en¬ 
lightened mode of culture. We consider this object has 
been promoted in the culture of the crops which have 
been presented for premium—that the soil has been 
made to yield a greater product, without a correspond¬ 
ing increase of expense. We looked simply to the fact, 
that while the expense of culture was no greater than is 
ordinary, or should be, the crops were three-fold greater 
than common. Our correspondent is not aware of the 
fact, that manure has not yet hardly a nominal value in 
the west, and that many farmers are glad to have it re¬ 
moved without price. These corn crops afford a demon¬ 
stration of its intrinsic value—and hence, too, results in 
a benefit to the public.— Cond. 
National Agricultural School. 
Washington City, January 22, 1839. 
Jesse Duel, Esq.—Sir—I learned with great pleasure, 
from your letter of the first inst: that you approve of 
my proposition, of having an agricultural school erect¬ 
ed from portion of the Smithsonian legacy. 
The most effective way of carrying this object, would 
be by petition to Congress from the agricultural soci¬ 
eties, from several parts of the Union, and principally, 
as you mentioned to me, in discussing it in the agricul¬ 
tural journals. 
Probably you have received my memorial on the ma¬ 
nufacture of beet sugar; I do myself the honor of present¬ 
ing you that of the proposed agricultural institute. 
I take the liberty of sending you two packets, which I 
request to deliver to the addressed assemblies of the 
coming month. 
Should I go to Europe this coming spring, I shall take 
a tour of the continent, to investigate not. only the new 
improvements in the manufacture of beet sugar, but al¬ 
so agriculture in general. Should you or the assem' 
blies honor me with orders, I should feel happy to at 
tend to them. Very respectfully, 
CHARLES LEWIS FLEISCHMANN. 
Queries. 
Morristown, Feb. 7, 1839. 
Jesse Buel, Esq.—Dear Sir—Will you be good enough 
to give to a subscriber information upon the following 
points, 1st. If a farmer go to the expense of sending to 
Albany for a pair of Bement’s Berkshire pigs, what 
course or rules of breeding must he adopt to keep 
his stock pure, or in other words, how shall he pre¬ 
vent the degenerating effects of breeding “ in-and ini” 
2nd. (As extracted from the Farmers’ Cabinet.) “What 
is the best method known among our builders and me¬ 
chanics of protecting northeast brick walls, and general¬ 
ly of keeping stone and brick houses dry?” 3rd. Has 
the French Asphaltum, which is now used in France and 
England, for roofs, side-walks, &c. been applied in our 
country to protect northeast brick walls, from our heavy 
storms?—if so, where, what is the expense per square 
yard, and with what success ? 
If you have not turned your attention sufficiently to 
the last question, to give the requisite information, will 
some one of your numerous subscribers answer the 
same. For although it may not be strictly an agricul¬ 
tural question, yet it relates to the protection and pre¬ 
servation of brick walls, in which many of your readers 
are equally interested with the SUBSCRIBER. 
REMARKS. 
1. The degenerating effects of breeding in-and-in, can 
only be avoided by crossing with other families or other 
breeds. 
2. For protecting the northern walls of houses from 
the weather, or of keeping stone or brick houses dry, 
the only expedients we have known to be adopted, are 
to cover the exterior with cement, to saturate it with 
oil paint, or to cover it with a coat of white wash. Mr. 
Coke uses the latter as a preservative to wood as well 
as walls. For this purpose the lime is used fresh from 
the kiln, and clean sharp sand, and mixed with hot wa¬ 
ter, andlaid on hot. Our brick walls have been covered 
with a lime-wash, we believe with the addition of a 
little salt. The wash appears nearly as durable as 
paint; and although we consider it some protection, it 
does not prevent the interior of the walls becoming 
damp in the spring and during long spells of damp wea¬ 
ther. 
3. Asphaltum has not been applied in America, that 
we have learnt, to the purposes noted by our correspon¬ 
dent. Asphaltum is a species of mineral tar, composed 
according to the analysis of Klaproth, of 32 parts of bi¬ 
tuminous oil, 30 of charcoal, and 20.50 of water, silex, 
alumine, lime, and the oxides of iron and manganese. It 
abounds in the West Indies, and particularly in the is¬ 
land of Trinidad. It becomes solid on exposure to the 
atmosphere, and burns readily. We are not acquainted 
with the foreign modes of preparing it for pavements 
and roofs. We invite some one capable to supply our 
deficiencies in this matter. — Con d ._ 
Mode of aestroying Pea Bugs, &c. 
North Mansfield, Feb. 14th, 1839. 
J. Btjel —Dear Sir—For about ten years, I have di¬ 
rected my attention specially to the cultivation of select 
kinds of the garden pea,/or seed. By care, and the se¬ 
lection of the purest and ripest seed from year to year, 
the quality of the seed became greatly improved; and 
practice enabled me to ascertain the most successful 
mode of cultivation. My garden contains one acre; up¬ 
on one fourth part of this, I have raised in different 
years from four to seven bushels of pure seed, in value 
from five to six dollars per bushel. 
I have frequently seen it stated, that worm eaten peas 
were not materially injured for seed; but I have prov¬ 
ed by experiment, that they are of little value. Such of 
them as vegetate are of feeble growth, and a very consi¬ 
derable proportion will not germinate at all. 
As soon as my seed is well ripened, I put it in large 
jugs, of any convenient size, well corked and sealed. 
The egg of the insect, within the pea, is at this time in 
such a stale as not to injure the seed, and not being able 
to change its form, or to grow without air, the seed re¬ 
mains until needed for use, entirely without injury. 
Seed of this kind is of more than double value, compar¬ 
ed with that ordinarily sold; and by repeatedly sowing 
such seed, the ravages of the pea bug, I suppose may be 
in a great measure prevented. Families should be care¬ 
ful to reserve their earliest and best seed, and as soon as 
it is perfectly mature, seal it in bottles. If the seed is 
not dead ripe, the matchless and some other delicate va¬ 
rieties, will to an extent fail of coming up; and any 
considerable delay in bottling will allow the bug time 
to commence his work. 
My principal object in writing to you, is to name a 
disease, which in this region, for a few years past, has 
seriously affected the culture of the garden pea: how 
far the field pea has suffered from the same cause, I am 
unable to state; though there is evidence, in some cases, 
of a new form of blight. 
About four years ago, I observed that the plants in a 
few distinct places in my beds, began, after two or three 
weeks growth, to appear sickly, and gradually to turn yel¬ 
low. I examined the roots, bu t could perceive no evidence 
of any insect. From that time to this, the disease has 
extended, till the profit of culture is destroyed. I first 
heard complaints on this subject in dry gardens, perhaps 
six or eight years ago, and attributed the evil to the 
quality of the manure, but am now convinced, that the 
cause was the same from which the gardens in Connec¬ 
ticut are extensively suffering. 
The following facts I have ascertained relative to the 
disease mentioned. 
1. It appears in places widely remote from each oth¬ 
er, and in instances in which the seed is obtained from 
different sources. 
2. Dry soils, which ordinarily are best adapted to the 
cultivation of the early pea, suffer most; and heating 
manures cannot be used in such soils. 
3. The early pea is most subject to the disease ; but 
even the hardy garden marrowfat, is often diminished 
in its products'one half. Many plants prematurely 
turn yellow and some entirely die. 
4. Ground planted with the pea for successive years, 
bears the most decisive marks of the disease; but change 
of soil does not entirely remove the evil. 
This calamity, if it should extend, will be very seri¬ 
ous. It has nearly ruined the profits of my garden, the 
last four years. I design to apply remedies the ensu¬ 
ing season, and shall employ salt, first of all. If you 
can communicate any facts with reference to the disease, 
or its remedies, you doubtless will oblige very many. _ 
I will only add, that a disease, something similar, has in 
a few instances affected whole fields of maize, without 
any appearance of insects at the root, as I have myself ob¬ 
served. A few spots upon the leaves were the first in¬ 
dications of disease, while the plants were from one to 
two feet in height; and soon the whole field changed its 
colour to a sickly yellow, and scarcely any product 
was obtained, though the plants reached about their 
usual size. A neighbor pointed out this disease in a 
field of mine, two years ago, and his predictions of the 
result were more than realized. Truly yours, a con¬ 
stant reader, GULIELMUS CLERICUS. 
Advice Asked. 
New-Baltimore, Va. Feb. 11, 1839. 
Dear Sir —I think the advice which you give in the 
Cultivator, is generally excellent, but owing to circum¬ 
stances it does not always meet our cases. Your soil is 
better than ours, your farms smaller, and your laborers 
different. I will describe a concern here which actually 
exists, and ask you to conceive yourself the proprietor, 
and say what your course would be. Agricola has a 
farm of 490 acres, about 350 acres of it open, and in 
cultivation; the soil a mixture of sand and clay, the 
preponderance rather in favor of the former. The yield 
from seven barrels to one of corn to the acre, plant¬ 
ed at right angles, four feet distance, two stocks in 
a hill—of wheat, about fifteen to three bushels per acre, 
when fallowed; on corn land, less ; about seventy-five 
acres of the farm in clover, a small portion of low 
land, but the greater part is high and rolling; the whole 
farm under pretty good enclosure, laid off into nine 
fields. He has a family consisting of himself, wife, and 
six children, all daughters excepting the two youngest, 
entirely unable to labor; also nine slaves, of whom, one 
is a man, another a woman, a lad and two smaller boys, 
the rest children unable to work. He has a tolerable 
supply of horses, cattle, hogs, and sheep; and of farming 
utensils; a year’s allowance, and but little money. 
Hirelings cost from $8 to $10 per month. Now as this 
is a reallcase, you will oblige a subscriber by saying 
how you would proceed, if you were the proprietor. 
Let your answers come out in the March number, if 
convenient. Yours most respectfully, 
JNO. OGILVIE. 
P aster costs from $5 to $6 a ton—lime too far off to 
be procured at reasonable cost, and no manure to be ob¬ 
tained, besides what is raised on the farm. J. O. 
ANSWER TO THE ABOVE. 
Agricola works 350 acres of land, from all appearan¬ 
ces materially good, with two grown persons and three 
lads, besides himself, the whole not exceeding five effi¬ 
cient hands, being about seventy acres to each laborer; 
and he gets an average product of twenty bushels of 
corn, and nine of wheat, taking the mean of his numbers, 
from an acre ! In other words, he barely makes out to 
live upon the product of his 490 acre farm, while many 
a Yankee not only lives, but lays up money, upon a 
tenth of these acres. The difference in the two cases 
arises principally, we suspect, from the capital, the la¬ 
bor and the skill, which are employed on the smaller, 
and not on the larger farm. And the best way of equal¬ 
ing the Yankee in profits, is to imitate him in practice. 
We therefore advise Agricola, to concentrate his spare 
capital, his manures, and his labor, upon fifty acres— 
forgetting that he has any more, except for the range of 
his cattle—and to confine his efforts to the improvement 
of these fifty acres, till he can grow upon each and any 
of them, sixty bushels or twelve barrels of corn, and at 
least twenty bushels of wheat. Manure is the first requi¬ 
site to improvement. Let him save, therefore, every re 
fuse animal and vegetable substance, andapply it econom¬ 
ically. Clover may contribute much to fertility, if plough¬ 
ed under before it has run out, or been eaten down to 
the ground. The beet and Swedish turnip, besides af¬ 
fording much to the farm stock, return much to the soil 
in the form of manure. Let him plant no more corn 
than he can'manure well; and sow no wheat till he can 
grow sixteeen bushels an acre. Let him alternate grain, 
and grass and roots. In this way, with Yankee indus¬ 
try, in six or seven years, we think the fifty acres will 
be made to yield him more than 150 acres do now, and 
with one third of the labor he now bestows, or ought to 
bestow, upon the latter. Let him keep up the fertility 
of this fifty acres by the same means that he raises it; 
and he may then apply his surplus means, the profits 
of the fifty well cultivated acres, to grapple and bring 
forward fifty other acres to a like condition. 
We commend to the notice of our correspondent the 
communication of Mr. Garth, of his state, inserted in 
our last number, and our notice in this sheet, of the ex¬ 
cellent practice of Mr. Brewer, of this state—both de¬ 
tailing the means successfully adopted for renovating 
lands, and rendering them fertile— Cond. 
A new Wheat. 
Galena 24 th Jan. 1839- 
Jesse Bitel—D ear Sir—I send you enclosed some 
few grains of my many headed Santa Fee wheat—I am 
yet at a loss to find, whether the kind I have is the 
winter or spring variety—(they have both in New- 
Mexico) the berries I send you, were produced from a 
sowing made on the 20th of May last—they are defec¬ 
tive ; I have planted some of that grain last fall, as winter 
wheat. I hope yet that some one may succeed in rais¬ 
ing that grain to perfection, as I am convinced of its su¬ 
periority both in yield and quality, over any other 
wheat raised in this country. I have had some single 
straws produce as many as fourteen lateral ears, besides 
the centre or main ear, the laterals being about one- 
third of the length of the main ear. I have several va¬ 
luable varieties of Indian corn or maize; two kinds pro- 
1 cured from the Indian tribes that inhabit this section of 
