1851 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
39L 
the country has experienced to the same extent as this 
year, the effects of drouth, though there have probably 
been years when more damage, in the aggregate, has been 
done to crops from this cause. The drouth has extended 
from Virginia and Kentucky northward to the Canadas. 
"Within this extent of territory, however, there are belts 
and small tracts, "which have been so favored with occa¬ 
sional rains, that vegetation has received nearly a supply 
of moisture. Streams and springs are very low at this 
time, (Oct. 29,) and unless copious rains should fall before 
winter sets in, much inconvenience will be experienced. 
Hay was a full crop, coming off in most sections be¬ 
fore the drouth had become severe. The quality is gen¬ 
erally good. It is fortunate that the country is well sup¬ 
plied with this important article, as, from the scarcity 
of grass, farmers have, in many instances, been under the 
necessity of feeding their si^ock considerably from the 
barn or stack, for several months. 
Wheat gave a good return over nearly the whole coun¬ 
try. The yield was somewhat lessened by drouth in the 
Southern States, but even there, the superior quality of 
of the grain fully compensated for any deficiency in 
quantity. In almost every section, with the exception 
of Wisconsin and a portion of Illinois, no complaint has 
been heard in regard to this crop. In the eastern part 
of New-York,and in fact throughout all the eastern part of 
the country, so large an amount of this grain has not 
been obtained for many years, and taking the whole 
country together, the aggregate product is doubtless be¬ 
yond any former precedent. The great success which 
has attended the culture of wheat in the eastern part of 
the country, within the last year or two, is owing in a 
great measure to the adoption of a variety of wheat, the 
Mediterranean, which, from its habit of early ripening, 
has escaped the wheat-midge, an insect which for several 
years almost totally destroyed this crop. This enemy 
is gradually extending itself west, and in the western 
counties of this State, and in Ohio, has done considerable 
injury the last and present season. 
Rye has been less cultivated, in what have been con¬ 
sidered the particular districts for the production of this 
grain, than formerly, because the farmers have returned 
to the culture of wheat—the latter yielding the most 
profit. Rye, however, gave about its usual yield. 
Barley yielded much better than last ye^r, and the 
quality of the grain was also superior. The crop has sold 
at a fair price, noth with standing the large yield. The 
market was chiefly cleared of the old stock before the 
new came in. Prices have lately ranged from 75 to 80 
cents per bushel. 
Oats were better in this vicinity, both as to yield and 
quality, than last year, but as far south as Virginia and 
North Carolina, the crop was hurt by drouth. This crop 
is regarded with much favor by many farmers. It can 
be produced in many situations where other grains would 
not flourish, and it meets with a ready sale at a price 
comparatively high—40 to 42 cents per bushel being fre¬ 
quently obtained, in the valley of the Hudson river, for 
oats that are brought early into market. They are al¬ 
ways in demand as horse-feed—experience having shown 
that there is no food so congenial to the animal, being 
easy of digestion, and imparting both strength and spirit. 
Indian corn has fallen short of an average yield over 
a large portion of the country. This deficiency in the 
Middle States was caused chiefly by drouth, but in the 
northern sections, we are inclined to attribute the failure 
more to the coldness and wetness of the weather in May 
and early part of June, in connection with the great in¬ 
jury done to the crop in its early stages by the wire-worm. 
Heavy rains were frequent in this section soon after 
planting, and continued for some time while the crop 
was small. The rains were followed by high, drying 
winds from the west and north, which by rapid evapora¬ 
tion caused the soil to become heavily consolidated, with 
a hard crust on the surface. This state of the soil, with 
the cool temperature, and the attack of the wire-worm, 
so checked the crop that it never fairly recovered, ex¬ 
cept in very favorable locations. The crop was back¬ 
ward, in ripening, and but for the unprecedented heat 
of the first twelve days of September, (the maximum 
height of the mercury having been for several days above 
90°, in the shade,) it would not in this part of the coun¬ 
try, have escaped injury from frost. 
Potatoes, as usual, are more or less affected by the 
rot, though we think the crop is more sound, and the 
yield generally better, in the eastern part of New-York 
and in the New-England States, than for several years 
before. In the western part of this State, however, the 
rot or disease, has prevailed to a great extent. Nothing 
new, of importance, has been brought out in reference 
to this malady, except that many new conjectures in re¬ 
gard to it have been proved to be unfounded. 
Buckwheat, so far as we have learned, is almost a to¬ 
tal failure. In a large portion of New-Jersey, and in 
parts of Pennsylvania and Maryland, it is a crop of con¬ 
siderable consequence, and in these sections it was cut 
off by drouth. 
Fruits have succeeded well in some sections, while in 
others they have failed. Throughout a large portion of 
the Western States, apples, pears, cherries, &c., were 
mostly destroyed by a frost in May. In the northern parts 
of Ohio, Indiana, See., we are informed, there is a par¬ 
tial crop of apples. In New-Jersey, the southern por¬ 
tion of Pennsylvania, Maryland, &c., there is a greater 
scarcity of apples than has occurred for several years. 
Whether the failure in the latter districts was caused by 
frost, we are not informed. In New-York and New- 
England, we believe fruits in general have succeeded 
well. Winter apples of fine quality are plenty in mar¬ 
ket at $1.50 to $1.75 per barrel. Plums, a crop of con¬ 
siderable value in the vicinity of Albany, were abundant, 
but hardly of as fine a quality as usual, for the want of 
warm weather while they were growing. Grapes, in the 
open air, have not attained their usual flavor from the 
same cause. 
How Nations can Acquire Wealth. —There seems 
to be but three ways for a nation to acquire wealth: the 
first is by war, as the Romans did, in plundering their 
conquered neighbors—this is robbery; the second by 
commerce, which is generally cheating; the third by 
agriculture, the only honest way, wherein man receives 
a real increase of the seed thrown into the ground, in a 
kind of continual miracle, wrought by the hand of God 
in his favor, as a reward for his innocent life and his vir¬ 
tuous industry.— Benjamin Franklin 
