178 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
June, 
berry bushes. This act, he informs, us, “ is still in force, 
substantially, as originally enacted.” Mr. Hayden, in his 
communication before spoken of, also alludes to this act. 
The final conclusion of Mr. B., is, that — u the bar¬ 
berry will sometimes produce blast upon wheat and rye; 
particularly when at a critical time, a favorable wind 
shall carry the strong effluvia from the blossoms of the 
bush directly upon the grain. At other times it may be 
harmless.” 
Some of the cases cited by Mr. Baldwin,, are singular 
enough, it is true; but if blight in the cases was actual¬ 
ly caused by the barberry, why has it not produced the 
same effect in other instanees, where, for au^ht we can 
see, the same causes existed? We have several times 
known grain to be as much exposed to the influence of 
the barberry as in any of the crises referred to by Mr. 
B.,—the bushes growing in full vigor, blossoming, and 
bearing fruit, yet no ill consequences occurred, the grain 
being perfect. 
Mr. Warren Hecox, of Skaneateles, in the 7th vol. 
of the Cultivator, p. 175, states that for the purpose of 
testing this question, he transplanted a barberry bush 
to the midst of his wheat field. In relation to the re¬ 
sult, he speaks as follows; 
‘‘On my wheat ripening, it proved a good crop of 
plump wheat, and no way injured by the barberry in any 
part; the heads of wheat which shot up in the top and 
among the branches , some of which rested or lay reclined 
on the leaves of the bushes, were equally plump and 
good as any in the field. . The bush was green and 
thrifty. Some of the branches or limbs had grown 
ten or twelve inches; there was a sprinkling of oats 
in the wheat, some within five feet of the barberry, 
as plump and good as ever I saw. There was an 
acre of barley in the same field, twelve or fifteen rods 
distant, as good and plump as any I ever had. My 
neighbor’s field of winter wheat, only twenty-five rods 
distant, not at all affected or injured, but plump and 
good.” . 
Chester County Pigs. — I send you the weight of 
■ some hogs of the Chester County breed, so called, which 
have been in such great demand in Pennsylvania and 
New Jersey, and some of which have been sent to a 
great distance. Franklin Comly, Esq., slaughtered one 
on the twenty-fifth of February, which weighed 678 
pounds; William S. Doran slaughtered one in January, 
which weighed 640 pounds; William Janney slaughter¬ 
ed one in February, which weighed 704 pounds; and 
Levi Buckman, Esq., slaughtered one March 1st, which 
weighed 707 pounds; making an average of 682 pounds 
each. Those hogs were kept for breeding purposes, and 
not for making brag hogs. The three first were not 
altered until the spring service was over, and the last 
one was a breeding sow which raised a litter of pigs in 
August last, after which she was fed moderately until 
she was slaughtered. 
But the question will arise in the minds of some, 
whether such large hogs are the most profitable to the 
farmer. Some would say not, and my own opinion is 
that a smaller boned hog, that would not be near as 
great a consumer, and which would weigh from three 
to four hundred pounds at fifteen months old, with ordi¬ 
nary care, would be of more profit to the laboring class 
of community than the larger breeds. For instance, 
the Chester county { ‘ grass hogs,” which have been in 
great demand through Chester, Philadelphia, and Bucks 
counties, will, with proper care through the winter,— 
with an allowance of two quarts of corn per day to each 
pig that would dress one hundred pounds, keep fat 
enough for the knife at any time from two months to 
eighteen months old, and with such treatment will 
weigh from three hundred to four hundred and fifty 
pounds at the above age. They are all pure white, 
short legged, with small head and ears, and of as hand¬ 
some form as the Berkshires. Ploughboy. Newton f 
Pa., March 22, 1847.. 
Depreciation of Lands in Western New-York° 
-—For''some years past, improved farms in several of 
the western counties of this state, have been offered for 
sale in large numbers, and at surprisingly low prices. 
To sell out has been the all-pervading desire among 
farmers, and seldom have they let an opportunity pass 
without embracing it. Their places' have generally 
been supplied by Germans, who now constitute a conside¬ 
rable portion of the population of Niagara, Erie, and 
Chautauque counties. During every month of the year 
they are flocking here from Europe, and spreading on 
every side. In one town, where ten years ago there 
was a flourishing and homogeneous community of yan- 
kees, constituting a large congregation with a settled 
pastor, the Germans have displaced nearly every fami¬ 
ly, and have now the entire control. 
The reasons for this general emigration are various, 
but I will name three that have had much influence. 
1. The original settlers in these counties purchased 
their lands of the Holland Company, mostly upon a 
credit; and as they began in debt, and had to clear a 
dense forest, and support their families, they continued 
in debt, and were likely to thus continue, unless they 
could sell out their improvements. 
2. The boundless and fertile prairies and wheat lands 
of the west were in various ways brought to the view 
of their imagination, and made an object of strong de¬ 
sire. 
3. The facilities of lake navigation have, in effect, 
nearly equalized the value of very large portions of 
government land at the west with the improved farms 
of this state. To show how this is effected, let us con¬ 
sider the single article of wheat—the article from the 
sale of which most farmers expect to become rich. It 
is ascertained that the prairies at the west, which may 
be plowed and sowed to wheat the first year that they are 
taken possession of, will yield, on an average, about 
twice the number of bushel^ per acre, that can be real¬ 
ized from the lands in Western New-York. That 
wheat, when carried to market, obtains nearly as high 
price as is given here. The difference in price arises 
principally from the charge of freight through the lakes. 
From the western end of Lake Erie, say from Detroit, 
Toledo, and Sandusky, the charge per bushel for bring¬ 
ing wheat to Buffalo, is from 3 to 5 cents; and from 
the western and southern shore of Lake Michigan, as 
Milwaukie, Racine, Southport, Chicago, and Michigan 
city, the charges for freight are from four to twelve 
cents per bushel,—eight cents being about the average. 
During the summer, between the hurry and crowd of 
spring and fall navigation, wheat is brought from those 
ports to Buffalo at the lowest rates. This shows at 
once the value of lands in that region. If land in 
Michigan., Wisconsin, and northern Illinois, and India¬ 
na, costing but $1.25 per acre, will yield from 25 to 30 
bushels of wheat per acre, and that wheat will sell for 
as much there within a few cents, as in Buffalo, it, is no 
wonder that farmers are anxious to sell out here and 
remove thither. 
But, the inquiry may be raised, te are not farmers 
there obliged to carry their wheat a long distance be¬ 
fore they reach a market ?” Not farther than multi¬ 
tudes who live in this state. Many bring wheat and 
Barley to Buffalo from places 20 to 30 miles distant ; 
and apples, potatoes, pork, butter, cheese, oats, lum¬ 
ber, See., are brought here by wagons from 40 to 60 
miles. In northern Illinois and Wisconsin, farmers gene¬ 
rally find a market for their surplus produce much near¬ 
er home; though at Chicago, where 400 wagons are 
sometimes seen in a day, loaded with wheat from the 
country, some of them come a distance of 40 miles or 
more. Agents are stationed there as well as here to 
