THE CULTIVATOR. 
256 
near my grape vines, which in the fall was put into a 
green-house in which I was planting foreign grape vines. 
Early in May I was surprised to find rose-bugs on the 
young vines in the green-house. I immediately destroy¬ 
ed them, but they kept increasing for several days, 
though none were seen out of doors for full three weeks 
afterwards. The eggs, therefore, must have been laid 
in the compost heap the season before, and brought into 
the green-house with it, where the heat hatched them 
thus much sooner than their existence would have com¬ 
menced in the open air. 55 
THE CULTIVATOR ALMANAC FOR 1846. 
This work, with Astronomical calculations for Boston, 
New-York, Baltimore, and Charleston, has just been is¬ 
sued. It is got up in a uniform style with the previous 
years, beautifully illustrated with a great variety of en¬ 
gravings, and contains much useful matter on gardening 
and farming, which we should be glad to see generally 
circulated throughout the country. Editions will be 
printed for Booksellers and Merchants, with the privi¬ 
lege of occupying the last page with advertisements, at 
$15.00 per 1000. Address the publisher of this paper. 
{jCfh The Cultivator Almanac can now be obtained of 
M. H. Newman, 199 Broadway, and A. L. Halstead & 
Son, No. 7, Platt-street, New-Yorlr—Armstrong & Berry, 
booksellers, Baltimore—Wm, H. Moore & Co., book¬ 
sellers, Cincinnati—D. Baker & Co., booksellers, 80 
Camp-street, New-Orleans—Wm. Ailing, bookseller, 
Rochester, and T. Morehead, Jr., Erie, Pa. 
NARRATIVE OF THE UNITED STATES EXPLO¬ 
RING EXPEDITION. 
All the volumes of this work, five in number, have 
been received. We have before spoken of the two first 
volumes—to the others we have not given the attention 
requisite to enable us to give a particular notice of their 
contents. The narrative appears to detail with all ne¬ 
cessary minuteness every important incident, from the 
sailing of the squadron in 1838, to its arrival in New- 
York in 1842. In the fourth volume, which we have 
just been looking over, we find some interesting remarks 
relative to Oregon, a portion of which territory was ex¬ 
amined by Captain Wilkes and some of his officers with 
considerable attention. A visit was made to Vancouver, 
a post on the Columbia river, occupied by a branch of 
the Hudson Bay Fur Company. Here considerable pro¬ 
gress has been made in farming and in horticulture— 
a garden almost vieing with the Chiswick gardens of the 
Duke of Devonshire, belongs to the post, under the di¬ 
rection of Dr. McLaughlin. “ The farm at Vancouver,” 
says Captain Wilkes, (e is about nine miles square. On 
this they have two dairies, and milk upwards of one 
hundred cows. There are also two other dairies, situa¬ 
ted on Wapauta island, on the Williamette, where they 
have one hundred and fifty cows, whose milk is em¬ 
ployed, under the direction of imported dairymen, in 
making butter and cheese for the Russian settlement. 
They have likewise a grist and saw-mill, both well con¬ 
structed, about six miles above Vancouver, on the Co¬ 
lumbia river. 55 
“ The stock on the Vancouver farm is about three 
thousand head of cattle, two thousand five hundred sheep, 
and about three hundred brood mares. At the dairy we 
were regaled with most excellent milk, and found the 
whole establishment well managed by a Canadian and 
his wife. They churn in barrel churns, of which there 
are several. All the cattle look extremely well, and are 
rapidly increasing in numbers. The cows give milk at 
the age of eighteen months. Those of the California 
breed give a very small quantity of milk, but when 
crossed with those from the United States and England, 
do very well. I saw two very fine bulls that had been 
imported from England. The sheep have lambs twice 
a year; those of the California breed yield a very infe¬ 
rior kind of wool, which is inclined to be hairy near 
the hide, and much matted. This breed has been crossed 
with the Leicester and other breeds, which has much im¬ 
proved it. The fleeces of the mixed breed are very 
heavy, weighing generally eight pounds, and some as 
much as twelve. Merinos have been tried, but they are 
not found to thrive. The California horses are not equal 
to those raised in Oregon; those bred near Vallanwatta 
are in most repute. 55 
Of the kinds, quality and yield of the grain and grass 
grown at Vancouver, Capt. W. gives the following ac¬ 
count : “ The wheat averaged sixty-three pounds to the 
bushel; barley yields twenty bushels to the acre; buck¬ 
wheat, in some seasons, gives a good crop, but it is by 
no means certain, owing to early frost. Oats do not 
thrive well. Peas, beans and potatoes yield abundantly. 
Little or no hay is made, the cattle being able to feed 
all the year round on the natural hay, which they find 
very nutritious, and fatten upon it. The grass grows up 
rapidly in the beginning of summer, and the subsequent 
heat and drouth convert it into hay, in which the juices 
are preserved. Besides this, they have on the farms 
along the river two luxuriant growths of grass; the first 
in the spring, and the second after the overflowing of 
the river subsides, which is generally in July and Au¬ 
gust. The last crop lasts the remainder of the season. 
Neither .do they [the stock] require shelter, although 
they are penned in at night. The pens are moveable; 
and the use of them is not only for security against the 
wolves, but to manure the ground. 55 
DISEASE IN POTATOES. 
From several sections we hear there are already symp¬ 
toms of this disease. B. P. Johnson, Esq., of Rome, 
writes us, July 18th:— 
« I have examined, within the last few days, a number 
of fields, and find indications of the disease in almost 
every field. The upper leaves first show indications of 
the disease—the leaves shrivel or curl up, and it soon 
extends to the entire stalk. In some instances when the 
potatoes have been dug, on cutting them open, a small 
black spot is found in the centre. In others the potatoe 
appears sound and healthy. 
« The disease is not confined, so far as my observa¬ 
tions extends, to any particular variety of potatoe, or to 
any special location. Seed procured from the west, 
where no defect was apparent last year, suffers equally 
with seed selected from the crop raised in this section 
last year. I planted some this year, and made a prepara¬ 
tion of salt, plaster and house ashes, of nearly equal 
quantities, though of ashes the most, and put about a 
handful in each hill before covering. The vines look 
remarkably well, and as yet are free from the curl in the 
leaves. Whether they will escape, a few days will de¬ 
termine. 
“ I am led to believe, that this disease is somewhat 
analogous to smut in wheat. As it has made its appear¬ 
ance so early in the season, I hope careful observations 
wdll be made, in order if possible to aim at some definite 
conclusions in relation to the cause of the disease and 
remedy. 55 
Dr. Camp, of Windham, Greene co., has sent us a 
couple of insects, of a kind which he thinks causes the 
rot in potatoes. He states that the blight which precedes 
the rot, has already attacked the crop, and that on all the 
affected stalks, he finds more or less of these insects. The 
healthy vines, he states, have no insects on them. 
Col. H. S. Randall’s Merino Sheep. —Last season 
we noticed the enormous clip of the Merino sheep of 
Col. Henry S. Randall, of this village. This season we 
learn that his Paular stock, including two rams, averaged 
over six pounds of well washed wool per head! A three 
year old ram sheared 13 lbs. 8 oz., (the heaviest fleece, 
we believe, ever taken from a three year old Merino in 
the U. S.,) and a yearling 8 lbs. 8 oz. Many of the ewes 
sheared 6, 7 and 8 lbs. per head, and one the unparalleled 
weight of 9 lbs. 1 oz.! Col. R. received the first pre¬ 
mium on rams, and the first and second on ewes, at the 
State Fair at Poughkeepsie, (1844,) and the gold medal 
of the Society, for the best managed and most profitable 
flock of sheep, at the annual winter meeting of the So¬ 
ciety in Albany. Cortland against the world \—Cortland 
Democrat. 
