THE CULTIVATOR. 
371 
PRODUCTS OF THE YEAR 1844. 
Wheat. —This great staple product, has yielded va¬ 
riously in different sections of the country; but in 
a territory embracing so many degrees of latitude, 
and possessing so varied a climate, it can hardly be 
expected that the same crop will succeed equally well 
in all parts, the same season. In Maine, New-Hamp- 
shire, and Vermont, Spring-wheat is generally cul¬ 
tivated, as it is considered better adapted to the cli¬ 
mate than the winter wheat. The worm in the head 
(Cecidomyia tritici,) improperly called weevil, has pre¬ 
vailed there to such an extent for several years, that this 
crop has been considered quite uncertain. The insect 
has, however, been less destructive during the two last 
years, and from all the accounts we have seen, the yield 
of wheat in that section has been generally good the past 
season. In the eastern part of this State, (New-York,) 
the insect above mentioned injured the winter wheat to 
some extent, but in the Genesee Valley and the great 
wheat districts of the State, the crop was good. In 
northern Indiana, northern Illinois, Michigan and Wis¬ 
consin, the fly (Cecidomyia destructor,') did much injury 
to the crop—in many instances occasioning almost a total 
failure—and we are informed that this enemy has already 
made its appearance in great force in the early fall-sown 
wheat. In the southerly part of Ohio, Indiana and Illi¬ 
nois, wheat in many cases did not fill well. The growth 
of straw was very great, but the prevalence of warm, wet 
weather occasioned much of it to fall down or rust. This 
was quite generally the case on rich land. On the up¬ 
lands of not so rich a quality, the crop was better and the 
grain plumper and heavier. Taking the western States 
together, however, we think the wheat crop did not give 
an average yield per acre, though from the large quanti¬ 
ty of ground sown, the aggregate product was not proba¬ 
bly less than in any previous year. So of the country at 
large; there was, probably, as much wheat produced the 
past season as in any former one. 
Indian Corn. —Although this crop did not appear so 
promising in the fore part of the season, owing to the 
coldness and backwardness of the spring, yet the mild 
and favorable weather of the latter part of the summer so 
well matured the plant, that the yield has generally been 
an uncommonly good one. In the northern and eastern 
States, as well as in Canada, we feel justified in stating, 
that so good a crop has not been generally got for seve¬ 
ral years. This is a crop of very great consequence to 
all sections of the country, and for home consumption, is 
undoubtedly of more value, every thing considered, than 
any other kind of grain. Well has it been said by a dis¬ 
tinguished agricultural writer, that it is “ meal, meadow, 
and manure The grain affords a most wholesome and 
nutritive food for man and beast, the stalk and leaf afford, 
when properly cured, a most excellent fodder for cattle; 
in fact, from no grain crop can so great an amount of 
sustenance be raised per acre, and from none can so good 
a return be given to the land in the shape of manure. 
Oats. —This, as a grain crop, may be considered as 
entitled to rank next to the preceding in importance. As 
food for horses, especially those which are employed in 
quick work, oats are preferable to any other grain, and 
constitute the most convenient food which can be given. 
The yield this year is generally good, in most sections. 
Rye and Barley. —These are less cultivated than any 
other grain. In some neighborhoods, barley might be 
cultivated more largely to good advantage. On soils to 
which it is well adapted, it will produce from forty to 
fifty bushels per acre. The straw is excellent fodder for 
sheep and cattle. 
Hay —In the easterly part of Massachusetts, and some 
other sections, we have complaints that the crop of hay 
was much cut off by drouth, but taking the country to¬ 
gether, we think the crop was at least an average one, 
though the quality may not be so good. 
Potatoes. —This crop has suffered much in many dis¬ 
tricts from the epidemic which seems to be overspread¬ 
ing this country, as well as the old world. Considerable 
alarm is justly excited from the prevalence of this dis¬ 
ease. To the northern portion of this country, as well as 
to a large portion of Europe, the potatoe crop cannot be 
considered of less value than any other. It has become 
an important article of human sustenance among all 
classes. By the rich it is prized as a wholesome and pa¬ 
latable article of diet, while to the poor it is indispensi- 
ble—affording more sustenance in proportion to the ex¬ 
pense of production, or to a given extent of land, than 
any other crop. Where it has not been affected by dis¬ 
ease, the crop of the past season, has been generally a 
good one. 
Fruit —We do not recollect any year in which the 
different fruits have been so abundant and of so fine a 
quality, as the last. The various stone fruits, particularly 
plums, have been uncommonly plenty and good. This 
may be in a great degree owing to the disappearence of 
the curculio, which for several years has been so deadly 
an enemy to this description of fruits. Apples are gene¬ 
rally plenty. From Maine and New-Kampshire, we 
hear that best kinds are almost a drug. We should sup¬ 
pose they might be exported to good advantage. We be¬ 
lieve the apples of that region are generally found to 
keep better than most others, and are well liked in the 
southern markets. What better article can the farmers 
of Maine turn their attention to, than good winter apples 
for exportation ? 
THE POTATOE PLAGUE. 
The disease which has largely affected the potatoe 
crop in Europe and America during the last two or three 
years, (though in this country chiefly during the last sea¬ 
son,) is exciting anxious inquiry among the community, 
and close observation among scientific men. Mr. Tesch- 
macher of Boston has published the result of his observa¬ 
tions; and we now add the opinions of another gentle¬ 
man of New-England, Prof. Charles T. Jackson, who 
left the following hasty note in reply to inquiries made 
while he was passing through this city: 
Albany, Sept. 23, 1844. 
Dear Sir —While passing through the western part of 
New-York, my attention was called to a peculiar disease, 
which affects the potatoe plant this year, and having 
heard something about it in Michigan and Wisconsin, I 
was anxious to examine the first potatoe field where the 
disease could be witnessed. This I had an opportunity 
of doing in or near the village of Trenton, N. Y., where 
a very intelligent farmer exhibited to me the ravages 
which had been effected by it in his fields. The disease 
was first indicated by numerous small drops of honey 
dew on the stems of the potatoe plant, about a month ago. 
Then followed a rust, with death of the stems, and the 
disease was found to extend along the bark to the potatoe 
tuber, which is a subterranean stem, and not a root as 
some have supposed. I observed that the potatoe began 
to rot next to the skin, and the disease penetrated inward 
in many cases to the depth of half an inch. No fruit or 
potatoe balls formed on any of the diseased plants, and 
the vines looked parched and blackened as if they had 
been killed by frost. 
I learned that where lime had been used in the propor¬ 
tion of about a table spoonful to the hill, that there no 
disease has appeared. Also, that after vines had become 
affected, the best remedy was to cut the stems off close to 
the ground. The good farmer in Trenton said that his 
crop had suffered very severely; and that where he had 
formerly raised average crops of 300 bushels to the acre, 
he shall this year realize but 50 bushels. The German 
population who depend on digging potatoes on shares, 
will severely suffer this season. I would invite you, sir, 
to inquire into the origin of the honey dew. I find vari¬ 
ous theories offered, but none of them are satisfactory. I 
have heard the disease of the potatoe ascribed to the age 
of the plant, reproduced continually from tubers, but this 
cannot be the fact, for no such distinction can be found in 
the potatoes of various ages and kinds. The Yellow, 
Red, Pink Eye and Chenangoes, have all equally suffered 
this year. No peculiarities of soils or of manures, appear 
to afford any explanation, for the plant appears to have 
been affected in one as much as another. 
The potatoe crop in Wisconsin, as I learned from a 
farmer just from there, has suffered severely, as have 
those of Illinois and-Michigan. C. T. Jackson 
