e 
© 
T 
n 
A iMontYiYj I*ubV\c&tUm, dc-yoted to Jigyicultm'o—each No. 1 <5 pages. 
You. III. 
ALBANY, JULY, 1838.—(67 State-street.) 
No. 5. 
PUBLISHED BY THE N. Y. STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
J. BUEL, Conductor. 
TERMS. —Fifty Cents per annum, to be paid in advance. 
Special Agents. —Judah Dobson, Philadelphia—Messrs. Hovey, Boston — 
George C. Thorburn and Alexander Smith, New-York, and Samuel F. 
Glenn, office of the National Intelligencer, Washington. Any gentlemen 
who will enclose us $5, free of postage, will be considered also a special agent, 
and will be entitled to every eleventh copy, or its equivalent, as commission. 
O’ The Cultivator, according to the decision of the Post-master General, is 
subject only to newspaper postage, viz: one cent on each number within the 
state, and within one hundred miles from Albany, out of the state—and one 
and a half cents on each number, to any other part of the Union. 
_ THE C U iLT IV A TO IS. __ 
To improve the Soil ami the Mind. 
[O 3 It will be seen that the Cultivator appears to-day in a new type. As a 
further acknowledgement for our liberal patronage, we shall continue to use 
some pages of small type, which enables us almost to double the quantity of 
matter in them. 
THE HARVEST PROSPECT. 
The wheat crop is represented to be unpromising, throughout the mid¬ 
dle and northern states, and in some districts to be nearly a total failure. 
This arises from three causes:—The first and most prominent' is the 
ravages of the Hessian fly. The devastations by this insect have been 
almost unprecedented in Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, 
N. Jersey, and in some of the southern districts of New-York. A cor¬ 
respondent in Virginia, writes—« The crop of wheat in this vicinity 
is literally destroyed by the fly. Many of our farmers will not at¬ 
tempt to save their crop at all. Out of 160 bushels sown by me, on 
the same quantity of acres, I think it an extravagant calculation to 
say I shall have 500 bushels. This land, in ordinary years, would 
have turned me out 1,500 bushels; and 1 am considered by my 
neighbors, as comparatively a light sufferer.” A correspondent at 
Height’s Town, N. J. says, “the wheat is entirely killed by the fly. 
Some of our farmers, who sowed fifty bushels seed, on good land, 
will not reap their seed. There is not, from strict examination, with¬ 
in ten miles, a single field or patch, but is prostrate. The rye is ge¬ 
nerally poor. Half crops we cannot have. I have good information 
from Pennsylvania, along the Delaware, and their wheat and pros¬ 
pects are alike blasted.” The second cause of failure, is the great 
quantity of snow which covered the ground last winter, and which 
smothered and killed many of the plants. The third cause of a 
prospective light wheat harvest, is the prevalence of the grain-worm, 
the periodical depredations of which, have almost suspended the wheat 
culture, in many of the northern counties. Judging from the past, 
this insect may be expected to extend, this season, to Dutchess on 
the south, and to Oneida on the west. 
Rye suffered from the great body of snow, on the ground in the 
winter. It has not, besides, tillered well;—the continued warm 
weather in May having caused it to send up its seed stalks, before 
the roots had acquired strength and vigor to multiply them. 
The prospect of the corn crop is also bad. Much of the seed 
planted between the 15th and 25th May, in this vicinity, failed to 
grow. This failure is imputed to several causes, all of "which may 
have had an influence. First—bad seed, caused by the September 
frosts, which arrested the growth of the grain before it had suffi¬ 
ciently ripened for seed, or from the grain having been heat either in 
the husk, or after it was cribbed. The weather last autumn was 
extremely unfavorable to saving the corn crop in good condition— 
some that was braided and hung in an airy loft, showing mould upon 
the butt ends of the cobs. Second—some failed from having been soak¬ 
ed till germination had commenced, and then planted in dry weather, 
and but superficially covered. The dry earth abstracted the mois¬ 
ture from the seed, and destroyed thereby its vegetating principle. 
This affords another argument for planting when the ground is fresh 
ploughed, and of the planter treading upon the hill, after the seed is co¬ 
vered—-the latter causing the earth, by giving it compactness, to retain 
the moisture. Much corn failed to grow, in consequence of the wet 
NO. 4 . -VOL. III. 
cold weather, which continued from the 22d to the 29th May. This 
happened also to other seeds, as squashes, cucumbers, melons, Lima 
beans, &c. winch in our garden, all rotted in the ground. In addi¬ 
tion to all this, the grub worm has been particularly destructive to 
the corn, after it had surmounted the evils to which we have refer¬ 
red. This pest has seldom been more troublesome. In the Capitol 
park, an entire quarter of grass has been destroyed by them—scarce¬ 
ly a green blade remaining. 
The truth of these remarks, as to the causes of the failure of seed- 
corn, was, in a manner, verified in our practice. Our seed was plant¬ 
ed on different days, between the 12th and the 20th, it being our 
rule to plant immediately after the ground is ploughed. All, except 
the last day’s planting, three days having intervened between it and 
the previous planting, came up well; but of the last, not one seed in 
forty grew, which we ascribed to the wet weather, and which was 
equally prejudicial to other seeds, then recently planted. 
The grass, oat and barley crops, wear a promising appearance; 
the former seldom ever looked liner. But notwithstanding the flat¬ 
tering hope that these crops, and probably potatoes, will be abun¬ 
dant, there is great reason to apprehend a scarcity of animal food 
the coming year, and corresponding high prices. It is, therefore, an 
admonition of prudence, to those who expect to sell as well as those 
who expect to buy, to profit by the time that is still left, to provide 
for expected want. Buckwheat, and turnips, and even millet, may 
yet be sown, in this latitude, to make up for the deficiency in the corn 
and gram crops. The Swedish turnip may be sown the first week 
in this month, and later as we proceed south, with the prospect of a 
tolerable crop, and the common turnip all tiffs month. 
THE MULBERRY. 
No little confusion and perplexity prevails as to the distinctive 
names and synonysms of the different kinds of the mulberry, and as 
to the relative qualities of each for producing silk. The land spe¬ 
cifically known as multicaulis, has been equally well known under 
the synonysm of Chinese. Seed has been recently vended in our 
market, as Chinese, at the enormous price of $5 the ounce, declared 
not to be the multicaulis, and believed not to be a species ever frown 
in China. The red of America has been confounded with the black 
of Europe. We hear of the Dandolo, Italian, Brussa and Constanti- 
nopolitana; and of the rough, dwarf and Pennsylvanian—the first four 
of which,we suspect, are identical, and the latter perhaps only varieties 
of the red, as neither Beck nor Eaton make mention of any American 
species but the red. Yet we have had forwarded to us, by a friend, 
three impressions of mulberry leaves, said to be indigenous, growing- 
wild in Ulster, which seem not to belong to any of the popular spe¬ 
cies, and two of which, at least, appear to be dissimilar. Upon these, 
our correspondent successfully fed the silk-worm. Two of these 
leaves are 10J inches long and 8 broad, the other is 8 inches long 
and broad; and we are told of indigenous kinds bearing both red and 
white fruit. If our friends will furnish us seeds of indigenous kinds, 
other than the red, they will confer on us a favor, and perhaps do a 
public benefit. 
In the mean time, though we cannot promise to clear up the mat¬ 
ter, we will endeavor to throw upon it all the light in our power. 
We will, in the first place, show, from three" modern authorities, 
all the species of the mulberry which have been described. Ken- 
rick, an American authority, names five species, viz:— 
Botanic name. Common name. Native of 
1. Morus Nigra,. Black,.Asia Minor. 
2. Do. Rubra,. Red,. N. America. 
3. Do. Alba,. White,. China. 
4. Do. Moretti,.. Dandolo,. Italy. 
5 Do. Multicaulis,. Many stalked, . ... China. 
Loudon is silent as to No. 4, gives Italy as the native country of 
the black, and adds: 
6. Morus Tartarica,...Tartarian,. Tartary. 
7. Do. Tinctoria,. Fustic, wood,. West-Indies. 
And Sweet adds to the list: 
8. Morus Italics, ... Italian,.... Italy. 
