28 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
Jan. 
stroys the weeds. The crop is now “ laid by,” except 
in some cases where it may afterwards become neces¬ 
sary to 11 chop out ” some of the largest weeds. 
The harvesting and shipping commences about the 
1st of July. The ground that is in good condition, 
when the crop is removed by the 20th of the month, is 
then set in cabbages. The plants being quite old, and 
ten or twelve inches in height, thereby securing two 
crops in the season from the same land. 
Some good gardeners have adopted the plan of plant* 
ing two-thirds of their ground designed for melons in 
potatoes, omitting the rows where the vines are to 
grow. Before the melons require the ground, the po¬ 
tatoes are harvested, leaving the ground in fine condi¬ 
tion for the coming crop. 
That portion of the crop designed for winter use, is 
suffered to remain in the ground until fall, and is less 
exposed to injury from heat than when harvested soon¬ 
er. In gathering, a two-horse plow is run immediate¬ 
ly under each row, and when well done, but little labor 
is required to complete the work. H. P. Byram. 
Louisville, Ky., Dec., 1848. 
Progress of Agriculture in Ohio. 
Perhaps there is no subject more appropriate to the 
opening year, than some account of the condition and 
progress of this earliest settlement of the now great 
state of Ohio. 
It is not necessary to speak much of the past—the 
enterprise, bravery, industry, privations, and suffering, 
of the hardy and distinguished pioneers of the old 
county of Washington—are they not written in the 
chronicles of our common country, to be known and 
read by all men? 
They were, many of them, fresh from the battle¬ 
fields of the revolution, and with a noble daring they 
sought to establish, upon these rugged hills and within 
these festile valleys, the comforts and institutions of 
their New-England homes. The measure of their suc¬ 
cess can only be ascertained by observation of the pre¬ 
sent. Their children’s children, with such others, also 
worthy, as have been gathered from the four quarters 
of the globe, are here to-day, all Ohioans—bound in 
sympathy and destiny to this, now perhaps, second state 
in the great confederacy. 
There are, however, many things which we may 
learn from you of New-York,.Rnd the rest of the coun¬ 
try, and hence we rejoice in the circulation of “ The 
Cultivator,” a national periodical . 
We have in this county over seven hundred square 
miles of territory, occupied by nearly thirty thousand 
inhabitants, in the main, intelligent, moral and thrifty. 
The vacant lands are fast being taken up by emigrants 
from Eastern Ohio and Western Pennsylvania, owing 
to their comparatively low price. Increased attention 
is being devoted to the growth of wheat; to this end, 
the culture of clover is attracting far greater attention 
than formerly. 
In many parts of our county, the skinning system 
has so long prevailed, as to open the eyes of our far¬ 
mers to the necessity of reclaiming the pristine fertility 
of the generous soil. A plan, adopted successfully, is, 
to sow clover upon wheat, and before sowing again, 
permit a crop of clover to ripen and bear seed, to be 
turned in; and thus the land is enriched and seeded by 
the same process. If with this treatment, lime could 
also be used, of which we have great abundance, the 
advantage would, doubtless, be far greater. 
Most of our soil retains its virgin richness, and hence 
we have not studied with Flemish care, the art and 
economy of saving and applying manures best adapted 
to the soil and crop; but as necessity is the great mo¬ 
ther of invention, doubtless we shall improve in this 
regard. 
This is not regarded as the most favorable part of 
Ohio for raising wheat, corn being the leading staple; 
yet an improved husbandry will increase our wheat 
crops greatly; and in this, our Scotch fellow-citizens 
are good examples. 
You are aware that we have an Agricultural Society 
in successful operation, and during the past summer we 
organized and sustained a Horticultural Society with 
great interest. There is also a District Agricultural 
Society in the county, embracing four excellent town¬ 
ships. It is somewhat difficult to arouse the public at¬ 
tention to an adequate appreciation of the importance 
of these organizations. In this, New-York challenges 
our admiration and emulation. We are endeavoring to 
glean some of that knowledge, which is said to be 
power, from the wisdom and experience of the rest of 
the world. There are, however, too few copies of The 
Cultivator, and of our own Ohio Cultivator, circulating 
among us. 
It is hard to convince some of our sturdy yeomanry, 
that these periodicals deserve as much attention as the 
light and fashionable literature, which, when exclusively 
read, unfits our sons for the plow, and our daughters for 
the homely comforts and duties of the farmer’s fireside. 
Yet, on the whole, we are making some advance in 
knowledge, skill and enterprise; we have but little of 
that weak and foolish pride in this community, which 
regards agriculture and the mechanic arts as degrad¬ 
ing; most of our people regard honest industry as the 
true source and emblem of honor. Darwin E. Gard¬ 
ner. Marietta, Ohio, Nov. 28, 1848. 
Northern Corn in Mississippi. 
The corn I obtained from New-York, I planted, 
and npon my word I do not think one ear in 25 was sound 
enough to gather; I cannot understand it. It matured 
much earlier than our Southern corn; did not grow 
over 6 to 8 feet high the highest, and had, I should 
think, generally 2 ears to a stalk. I had it planted so 
thick that some friends asked me if it was a variety 
of sugar cane. Rows were laid off 3 feet distant, as 
accurately as we could; 4 grains were dropped about 
every 18 to 24 inches, guessed at, though I dropped the 
most of it, myself; plowed once and hoed twice, and the 
only clean piece of land I have. The land was rich, 
well plowed, and corn covered with the hoe. 
I did not pull up a stalk, nor take off a sucker; 
sometimes only one grain vegetated, sometimes 2, 3 
and 4 did, and I might say the average was 3 stalks. 
I counted 8 good ears in one hill, and intending at the 
time to notice particularly when gathered, I would 
not affirm, that there were many with 8 ears, but if 
there had been any stalks without ears, I know I 
should have noticed them, especially as some one or 
more friends went through the patch after out of milk, 
noticing as to firing of the blades. I assure you, the 
blades began to dry up at the ends, sometimes one 
part of the stalk and sometimes an other—not a fired 
blade did I see. 
I had some Northern yellow corn, which had been 
planted in Mississippi a few years; it was intended to 
have been 3 by 1, but I lost my first planting by letting 
the corn lie too long in strong saltpetre brine, and 
when planting the second time I had not enough seed 
to sow it in drills thick enough, and it was very badly 
injured by the weevil, and much never vegetated. The 
consequence was, Iliad a bad stand. Upon the top of 
this, a storm blew it down very badly, the stalk being 
very small. I did not measure the land, as the ex¬ 
periment was not fair. I therefore guessed at it, and 
think I gathered 50 bushels from each of 2 acres, 
whereas my crop that adjoined, no interval, produced 
35 . I showed this piece of corn to several, and defied 
