1846 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
BSSSS0 
385 
has been so universally good. It is gratifying that this 
great staple of our country has come in so abundantly, 
as in consequence of the increasing demand for it in 
England, it now bears a good price in our sea-ports. 
Some cheap mode of kiln-drying, or preparing this ar¬ 
ticle for transportation, is highly desirable. Its liability 
to injury by fermentation, or to become musty , when 
kept for a length of time in bulk, is a serious draw-back 
on its value for exportation; and probably prevents it 
from being generally received in England in that per¬ 
fectly sweet condition, necessary to allow the people to 
form a correct estimate of its excellence. Hence, we 
presume, chiefly arises the “prejudice” which is said 
to exist against the use of Indian-meal in England and 
Ireland. If the inhabitants of those countries could 
have the article prepared in its best forms, as it is some¬ 
times to be met with here, we cannot believe their taste 
is so opposite to ours, that they would not relish it. 
Every good American house-wife knows that for culi¬ 
nary uses, it is important that corn-meal be fresh and 
perfectly sweet; and when corn or meal is only trans¬ 
ported, by the ordinary modes, from the interior of our 
country to the Atlantic ports, it is not easy to find it in 
that condition. 
Rye, barley , oats, and buckwheat, have generally 
given good yields. 
Fruit, taking the country together, has probably been 
as good as usual. Peaches were unusually plenty in the 
eastern states, though the quality, from a deficiency of 
flavor, was rather inferior to the product of seasons in 
general. Apples are more plenty than last year, not¬ 
withstanding the deficiency in some small districts, 
caused by spring frosts. 
Potatoes —a crop, which, though of less comparative 
value here than in the British islands, is yet of great 
importance—have in nearly all parts of the country, 
suffered greatly from the malady known as “ rot ” or 
“ potato-disease.” Compared with 1845, we cannot 
say that the damage from this cause has been greater in 
this than in the former year. The injury occurred, for 
the most part, at an earlier period, the present year— 
(the first week in August)—and the rotting appears to 
have been generally so far checked, that at the time of 
digging the crop, the tubers found were mostly sound. 
We have, however, heard of some instances in which 
the rot seemed to come on a second time, towards the 
latter part of the season. The condition of the crop 
since it was secured, seems to be quite various in dif¬ 
ferent places. A farmer from central New-York, in¬ 
formed us a short time since, that his potatoes were rot¬ 
ting so badly in the cellar, that he had been under the 
necessity of sorting them all over, and even with all 
precaution and care, he feared he should not be able to 
save any for seed. We have heard a few instances of their 
rotting in the cellars in the neighborhood of this city; 
but are, nevertheless, inclined to think that they are in 
better condition, in most cases, than was the crop of 
1845 at the same time in the year. 
As to the cause of this destructive malady, as we have 
said on a former occasion, we are convinced but little is 
known; and we are equally convinced that no reliable 
remedy has been discovered. To these conclusions have 
all come, so far as our knowledge goes, who have care¬ 
fully considered the matter, whether in this country or 
across the water. 
At the late meeting of the British Scientific Associa¬ 
tion, at Southampton, where this subject was discussed, 
Prof. Playfair said—“it was of no use to attempt to 
account for an affection of which they were entirely 
ignorant.” He said he had the “misfortune” to have 
been one of the potato Commissioners appointed by 
Government, “ and after all his experience in that ca¬ 
pacity, he freely confessed he knew less about the dis¬ 
ease now, than when he began his experiments.” 
Dr. Lindley, in a late number of the (London) Gard¬ 
ners' 1 Chronicle, thus enumerates the various theories 
and remedies which have been proposed in reference to 
the disease: 
“Plant on hot dry land, says one; dress your land 
with lime, cries a second; lime and salt are better, 
writes a third; use plenty of potash or soda urges ano¬ 
ther. Raise seedlings, shun guano, get sea-weed, fetch 
sets from Peru, plant on slopes facing the sun, plant on 
slopes facing the north, buy Professor Hook-the-Suvp- 
ple’s ‘steep;’ and twenty more panaceas are offered to 
the poor public, which stands bewildered by the kind¬ 
ness of its multitude of friends. And well it may, fOr 
it possesses imperfect means of judging of probabilities 
in a case like this, and has no power of distinguishing 
between right and wrong. For ourselves, we feel it 
would be as presumptuous in ourselves, as in others, to 
hazard any recommendations, where all is confessedly 
most uncertain.” 
We believe it to be true that several kinds of vege¬ 
tation, during the past summer, were affected in a simi¬ 
lar manner with the potato. Prof. Emmons, in the 
last number of the Quarterly Journal of Agriculture, 
states, that the same week in which disease first ap¬ 
peared on the potato, “the leaves of several elms began 
to dry and grow brown upon their edges, and in a few 
days terminated in the death of those leaves, when they 
fell off. Besides the elm, a few maple, horse-chestnut, 
plum, bass, and buttonwood trees, were affected in a 
manner quite similar.” We noticed the same appear¬ 
ances at the time mentioned; and we observed, also, 
that the carrot, (especially the white carrot,) was at¬ 
tacked in a very similar manner, and it has, in many 
instances, rotted as the potato has done. 
BUSINESS FOR WINTER. 
In the northern section of the country, not much can 
be done on the farm during the winter months; but the 
care of stock, the procuring and preparation of fuel, will 
necessarily occupy much time. 
If pastures and fields are covered with grass which it 
is deemed advisable to feed off, stock may be turned on 
for that purpose when the ground is not soft, but they 
should be kept away when there is a liability of poach¬ 
ing the soil. In general, cattle and horses had better 
be fed in the barn, or in suitable fixtures belonging to 
the barn-yard. The extra quantity and quality of the 
manure which may be saved from keeping them in this 
situation, will more than compensate for the trouble of 
feeding them. Sheep, however, while the ground is 
bare and dry, may run out, more or less, according as 
there should be food for them on the ground. 
The poorest fodder should be reserved for the coldest 
weather, after the stock has become seasoned to dry 
food, and when their appetites are sharp. Last spring's 
calves should be fed on rowen, or second crop hay, as 
it is less binding in its effects on the bowels than hay 
from the first crop. A few potatoes, carrots, or tur- 
neps, given daily, will be found very beneficial. Cat¬ 
tle intended for slaughter, should be fed with strict 
regularity, in clean mangers; and they should have 
clean, dry, and comfortably warm places to lie down 
and sleep. 
Farther south, where little or no snow falls, a system 
entirely different from ours, is pursued with fatting- cat¬ 
tle. Instead of being sheltered, they are kept usually 
in open fields, and fed principally with Indian corn, stalk, 
ear, hu^k and all, Avithout any other preparation than 
to cut and shock the corn at the proper time, and carry 
it to the fields from day to day. At first, it would seem 
that there must be great waste in this mode of feeding, 
arid there is unquestionably more food used in making 
a given quantity of meat, than is required where a well 
regulated system is adopted. But it should be remem¬ 
bered that a great object in those sections, is the saving 
of manual labor, that being proportionately a much 
dearer article there, than beef, or the materials from 
which beef is made. Hence, on the score of economy, 
it may be better to waste some corn, than to expend too 
much labor in saving it all. 
Three fields are usually appropriated to stock-feed¬ 
ing. The fatting cattle are fed in each of these, in 
regular rotation, and are followed in the course by store 
cattle and swine, to clean up what is first left. Where 
care is taken to choose dry land, with a firm, clean sod, 
and close attention is paid in feedmg, there is less 
