376 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
?Dec. 
lie Expedition in search of Sir John Franklin, &c., &e. 
The value of this work renders it deserving of the pa¬ 
tronage of the public. Published at New Haven on the 
first day of every second month, at $5 per year. Edi¬ 
ted by Messrs. Silliman & Dana. 
Observations on the Production, Manufacture, 
Transportation and Preservation of the Cereal Grains. 
By J. R. Stafford. 
This pamphlet is chiefly devoted to stating the ad¬ 
vantages of preserving grain, meal and flour in all cli¬ 
mates, and to an explanation of the operation of a 
machine called Stafford’s Patent Revolving Dryer and 
Cooler. We have noticed the invention on former oc¬ 
casions, and have since received favorable accounts of 
it. The patentee claims for this dryer the following 
advantages: 
3. That it dries all substances without the possibility 
of change of quality, color or flavor. 
2. That it occupies less space, takes less fuel, and 
does more work than any other dryer. 
3. The only attention required is to keep up steam 
sufficient to blow off at the valve weighed at any de¬ 
sired pressure. 
4. That the motion and the heat being uniform, with 
sufficient capacity of dryer, a given amount of grain 
or other substances must be dried, without destroying 
their vitality. 
Thirteen Lectures, on a new Self-supporting Sys¬ 
tem of General and Liberal Education. By Ezekiel 
Rich, Minister of the Gospel and an Educator. 
This is a little book of 224 pages duodecimo, designed 
to show the views of the author in regard to a reform 
in writing the English language—a subject to which he 
has devoted much time and attention. 
“The American Flora, illustrated with four to 
six beautiful colored engravings, taken from Nature,” 
edited by Dr. A. B. Strong, and published by Green 
Sc Spencer, 140 Nassau street, New York. This work 
is issued monthly, in demi-quarto form, each No. con¬ 
taining four to six plates, with 16 pages of superior 
letter press. The October No. has four colored plates, 
viz. The Moss Rose, Sanguinaria Canadensis, Lupinus 
perennis, and Pear. Terms—$3 a year. 
Illustrated Natural History, by the same editor, 
and published monthly, at $1 a year. The October No. 
has four lithographic plates of animals and birds, which 
are worth the price of the number. 
Profits of Fowls. 
Lyman Church, of Middlefield, Mass., states that 
he has derived a nett profit of $108 39-100 in one year, 
from 140 fowls. He submits his account, as follows: 
Value of stock, Nov. 1, 1847,. $40 35 
Expense of feed,... 116 45 
$156 80 
Value of stock, Oct. 1848,. $65 30 
“ of Poultry sold,. 30 68 
u of Manure, 63 bu., 15 cts. 9 45 
11 of Eggs, 1,256 doz., 13 1-2 cts.,. 169 56 
$264 99 
He states that he arrives at this result by actual and 
careful experiment, without guessing or conjecture. We 
extract from his communication, in the Hampshire Ga¬ 
zette, the following in relation to the treatment of his 
follows: u I give them a warm house, with a com¬ 
fortable yard or range, and 150 hens should have from 
one-half to three quarters of an acre. My house is so 
arranged as to keep them when I choose, in separate 
apartments and constantly supplied with food, old plas¬ 
tering, lime, gravel, water, &c.,—with seme secret 
Bests, as well as open boxes, for them to lay in. The 
house should be kept well white-washed and as clean as 
possible. The kind of food I use is varied occasionally, 
—corn, boiled potatoes, barley, oats and wheat screen¬ 
ings ; the latter especially I find very valuable. The 
quality of the food, however, does not, in my opinion, 
influence the laying so much as is imagined. They 
must have enough to eat, and be made comfortable in 
other respects. With my management they lay the 
year round.” 
Characteristics of the Season 1848. 
In this latitude, any show of vegetation before the 2d 
spring months, is always regarded as premature; hence 
the adage that “ all the grass which grows in March 
will die in April.” In fact it is not, usually, till the 
near approach of May that the greenness of the fields 
and forests becomes fairly conspicuous. 
April last, exhibited nothing to excite particular re¬ 
mark, except that the month was very dry. May com¬ 
menced with abundant rain, which suddenly clothed the 
trees with foliage of unusual richness. From the mid¬ 
dle of this month till the middle of June, the weather 
was generally cold and wet ; but it then became warm 
and all crops rapidly advanced in growth. Up to the 
latter part of July, almost all parts of the country were 
well supplied with moisture. After that period, how¬ 
ever, many sections were visited by drouth. A belt of 
country extending from the Allegany range to the east¬ 
ward, embracing some of the southern counties of this 
State, the northern part of New Jersey, and a consid¬ 
erable portion of Connecticut, has suffered severely from 
this cause. 
The average degree of heat for the season has been 
less than usual—the number of hot days comparatively 
few, and the period of warm weather extremely short. 
There was frost in many places on the first of June, and 
in particular spots on the thirteenth, and by the first 
week in September its effects might again be seen. Sep¬ 
tember and October were chilly and damp—there being 
but few fair days. 
Hay gave a full crop, and the growth of grass was 
generally good in all parts of the country, during the 
early part of the season. 
Wheat gave a full average yield in most sections, 
though in some neighborhoods the crop was damaged 
by wet weather after it was cut. 
Rye was generally a full yield, and of good qua¬ 
lity. 
Barley did not yield as well as usual in the central 
portions of the state, where it is cultivated extensively, 
but in some other sections the crop was fine. 
Oats are generally heavy, though with rather a dis¬ 
proportion of straw. 
Indian Corn , that important article for home con¬ 
sumption, and which is becoming every year more valu¬ 
able for exportation, has been good—except in the cold¬ 
er and more northern parts of the country, where, in 
some instances, it failed to ripen fully. But taking the 
whole country together, the crop has never done better, 
and the quantity produced must be unprecedented. The 
best processes of kiln-drying this grain are coming into 
use, by which we are enabled to send it to foreign ports 
in good order, and it can be brought from the interior of 
our country, where it is raised at a cheap rate. 
Potatoes have been less injured by the “ disease” or 
rot, than for the last three or four years. The crop was 
more or less effected about the first August, and in 
some instances suffered to the amount of fifty per cent 
or more. The general yield, however, was light—in 
many places not half an average—even where the tubers 
have shown no symptoms of decay. Our accounts from 
Europe represent the disease as less virulent, generally, 
than in former years. In England and Scotland, the 
rop is decidedly better than that of 1847, and in Ire- 
