340 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
Oct. 
My own practice, like that of my father, as long 
as I can remember, has been to steep the seed some 
twelve hours in warm water, and then roll it in 
plaster. I have, also, for many years, carefully 
experimented with the various steeps recommended 
in our horticultural and agricultural publications. 
This spring I used a solution of carbonate of ammonia 
and chloride of soda in my garden, and my seeds 
came up finely; far better than usual, although 
there has been a very general complaint with us, es¬ 
pecially in the early part of the season, of seed per¬ 
ishing in the ground. 
For my beet seed I used the carbonate of ammo¬ 
nia with the most gratifying results. Indeed there 
was not a single plant missing on my two beds. I 
therefore tried the same upon my second planting of 
corn. It came up a week or more, before a few 
hills which I planted dry along side, and for some 
time continued far in advance. This, I then con¬ 
sidered, a convincing illustration of the benefits of 
judicious steeping. 
After a while, however, I found that which was 
planted dry becoming more stout and vigorous, and 
of a deeper green. It gained fast upon the other, 
and has now far surpassed it in size, strength, and 
in general vigor. 
On the 15th of June, I planted a square of my 
garden for late corn, using dry seed of the shriveled 
sweet variety. On the morning of the 6th day from 
planting, it was up two inches, and perfectly even, 
and on the 10th day, it was eleven inches high. 
The same rapidity of growth has continued to the 
present time, notwithstanding the recent dry weath¬ 
er. To-day, July 13th, just four weeks from plant¬ 
ing, it is four feet four inches (4 feet 4 inches) high, 
and of uniform size and strength. (July 18. It is 
now six feet two inches (6 ft. 2 in.) high, a growth 
of more than inches per day from the time of 
planting.) 
If, therefore, the soil is rich, and in proper tilth, 
why should it be necessary to steep the seed at all. 
Plants will not flourish in water or in medicated wa¬ 
ter merely. They need for their sustenance and 
growth the peculiar nourishment which is to be ob¬ 
tained only from the soil. May we not reasonably 
infer that the moisture contained in the soil when in 
proper condition possesses some nutritive proper¬ 
ties which are not to be found in water alone. If 
so, then the water absorbed by the seed in steeping 
must be prejudicial, since it takes the place of, and 
excludes from the seed and the germ, the fertilized 
moisture of the soil. There is danger, too, of inju¬ 
ring and enfeebling the germ itself in steeping, all 
which will be avoided by using dry seed. 
I am disposed to think that this matter deserves 
consideration. The principal advantage of steep¬ 
ing, is to hasten the germination of the seed, and 
thus to get the plants up as soon as possible. Ear¬ 
lier planting, however, will, of course, bring the 
plant out of the ground at the same time, and if the 
crop proves equally vigorous afterwards, will an¬ 
swer the same purpose, and probably with less risk. 
Charles Robinson. New Haven, July 13, 1850. 
Agricultural Capacities of Wisconsin. 
Eds. Cultivator —In pursuance to a call in one 
of your late numbers, asking for information in 
regard to Wisconsin as a farming section, this is 
submittted. 
The country is bounded on the Lake shore by a 
belt of heavy timber, varying in width from five to 
forty miles, running its whole length. All of ex¬ 
treme north-eastern Wisconsin, is covered with tim¬ 
ber, consisting of pine, oak, bass-wood, hickory and 
beach; and bordering all the streams, timber grows 
to a great height and thickness. The balance of the 
country is generally distinguished by oak openings 
and prairies. From the center of the State south, 
prairies prevail, with considerable low wet prairie, 
and a scarcity of timber. Going from the center of 
the State north, the country is found higher, drier 
and more rolling. Here the prairies are smaller, 
being, generally, from one to ten miles in length by 
two to five or six in width. Timber is abundant for 
all the wants of the country; the streams are very 
numerous, affording an abundance of water power, 
and in point of health the country is not surpassed 
by any in the world—the climate is decidedly dry, 
and is considered good for pulmonary complaints. 
The Wisconsin river rises in the north-west part of 
the State, and runs south-west to the Mississippi; 
the Fox river rises near the same source, (see map,) 
and runs south and east to Green Bay. Both these 
rivers are navigable for steamboats, and at the 
Portage, or Fort Winnebago, approach within % of a 
mile of each other. The General Government ap¬ 
propriated 500,000 acres of land to improve these 
rivers—to cut a canal at the portage, (which is 
about completed,) and deepen and clear out the 
channel, &c. This improvement is being prosecuted 
with great vigor, and will be completed during the 
ensuing year. Then a southern or eastern market 
is offered the choice of the farmers of Northern Wis¬ 
consin. A charter has been obtained for a Railroad 
from Fond-du-Lac, on Lake Winnebago, to Beloit, 
in the southern part of the State. The money to 
build the road will be procured on most favorable 
terms from England—negotiations to that effect 
having already taken place. This road will open 
the center of the State south and north, to the 
markets of the east. 
Our school fund will be the best of any State in 
the Union, estimated at over three millions—com¬ 
mon schools will be free to all. There is also a 
university fund, consisting of 500,000 acres of select¬ 
ed lands. 
The inhabitants are mostly Yankees, principally 
from New York, Vermont, Maine and Ohio, and 
will compare favorably in morals, general intelli¬ 
gence, and active enterprise, with any people in the 
world. 
It will thus be seen that in point of position, Wis 
consin, having the Mississippi river on its west, 
Lake Michigan on the east, with the Wisconsin and 
Fox rivers and Green Bay running through the cen 
ter of the northern part, is unsurpassed in facilities 
of getting to market by any of the western States. 
The Wolf river is a large and deep stream that 
empties into Fox, near Lake Winnebago. This ri¬ 
ver is now navigable for steam-boats 150 miles, and 
penetrates one of the best “pineries” in the world, 
where now is manufactured, annually, many million 
feet of lumber. Pine lumber is worth from $6 to 
$12 per 1000 feet. The soil is excellent, resting on 
lime-stone; it shows at first a black vegetable mould 
from 10 to 40 inches thick, next a yellow mould 
mixed with lime-stone pebbles; then coarser lime¬ 
stone, gravel and boulders, and then the rock. The 
soil varies in depth from 8 to 20 or 30 feet. The 
sun does not shine upon a better or a more beautiful 
or bountiful country for farmers. Winter and spring 
wheat, rye, barley, oats, corn, buckweat, potatoes, 
turneps, and vines of all kinds, grow to great luxu 
riance and profit. I have nowhere seen finer gar¬ 
den vegetables produced. The prairie land, owing 
to its fertility, and the ease with which it is subdued, 
has the most admirers. On a prairie farm, one man 
