96 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
Original €ommunkationa. 
In Agriculture, Experience is of great value— Theories of 
little, excepting as they are directly deducible from actual ex¬ 
periments and well attested facts.” 
Shelters from the West-^I-Jo. 6 . 
It was on the morning of the 16th inst. that I found myself 
with a single passenger from Missouri, rolling along in a com- 
iortable stage over the National road from Columbus for Cin¬ 
cinnati. I had just had a hearty welcome to the country in the 
way of a severe shake of the ague, but this we think nothing 
of here, as Quinine pills with proper care will break it up in 
twenty-four hours, and then we have only to get well again as 
fast as convenient. It was a raw, rainy day, but wrapped up 
in a thick cloak, with a slight fever upon my brow, and a rea¬ 
sonable exaltation of spirits, I do’nl know but I enjoyed the 
scene quite as well as if the sun had been shining out ever so 
fair. 1 was glad, however, to find a turn in the everlasting 
straight road soon after passing Jefferson, and that the tali 
monotonous forests with their wretched, staring, stumpy clear¬ 
ings had given place to a still somewhat flat, yet beautiful 
prairie country, interspersed with clumps and masses of trees, 
quite park-like, the green grass rapidly coming forward over 
its extensive fields, and giving a good bite to the numerous 
herds of cattle that were turned out to feed upon them. There 
were few buildings however on the road, save miserable log 
cabins, the land being owned in large tracts by persons resi¬ 
dent in towns, or by others who have little taste as yet for the 
neat farm-house and noble barns, that so generally adorn the 
acres of our own more advanced State. 
The season this Spring is said to be cold and backward, and 
at least a fortnight later than usual. No fruit trees were here 
as yet in blossom, but were rapidly leaving out, as well as 
many of the earlier forest trees. The wild willow and buck¬ 
eye were quite green in their leaves, and the soft maple, beech 
and white elm fast following in vegetation. We arrived at 
Springfield in the afternoon ; it is a pretty town situated in a 
valley of a branch of the Mad river, and contains as near as I 
could judge about 3000 inhabitants. Here we left the National 
road and turned off for Dayton, on quite as good a McAdam.—- 
We arrived at this place late at night, and were off early in the 
morning, so that I had no time to examine any of the fine stock 
that is said to be owned in this vicinity. Dayton is quite a 
flourishing business place, and has been the head of canal navi¬ 
gation from Cincinnati north for several years ; this internal 
communication, however, is rapidly extending, and the canal 
will soon be completed to the Maumee, thus connecting the 
waters of the Ohio again with those of Lake Erie; and as it 
passes through a remarkable fertile section of the State, the 
probability is that it will soon do quite as good a freighting 
business as the one now connecting Cleveland and Portsmouth. 
In the hotel at which we stopped at Dayton, there was to me a 
most agreeable and refined sight. At the head of the dining 
room the windows were absolutely festooned with beautiful 
green-house plants, mostly in full bloom. I counted not less 
than forty-three pots, besides some larger boxes of them. If 
these could be changed to the bar-rooms for the glitter of whis¬ 
key and brandy bottles, huge rolls of segars and tobacco, it 
would be a great triumph for refined taste, to say nothing of 
the gain to the health and morals of the community. 
From Dayton on, it is a charming rolling country, the hills 
rising so high at times as almost to be classed among the pic¬ 
turesque. The soil is good and friable, reminding me much of 
our own Onondaga county, though the rocks here are more 
generally of the sand stone than lime formation. Butler and 
Warren are said to be the crack farming counties of Ohio; not 
that the soil there, excepting the bottoms of the Miami, is as 
rich and deep as in many other counties of the State ; but upon 
the whole it is perhaps better adapted to a general rotation of 
crops, and being exceedingly well watered, of a varied surface, 
a healthy region, mild climate, and originally settled mostly 
by northern people, who have retained their habits of industry 
and thrift, and divided into moderate sized farms cultivated by 
the owners, and adorned with neat houses and barns, it is said 
to be the most agreeable part of the State for the agriculturist 
to travel over. 
At Lebanon I called upon Mr. Beach, and regretted to find 
that his grown Berkshires were at Mr. Reed’s, some eight miles 
off. His imported Reading is flourishing there in great and de¬ 
served popularity, and has quite as much business in his harem 
as he can well attend to. His stock is much liked, and his pigs 
two months old are readily sought for at $50 to $60 per pair.— 
He has stretched himself out considerably, I understand, in 
this country, and if any thing, is now thought to be almost too 
Large. I am glad to hear such a complaint upon the part of 
the pork raiser; it shows him that whenever the public desires 
it, we can produce big Berkshires as easily as medium sized 
ones. A very fine portrait of Reading, as well as a grand young 
sow of Mr. Beach’s stock, Miskwa, adorns the April No. of 
that capital, spirited little work, the Western Farmer and 
Gardener. Mr. B. has also quite a number of blood horses.— 
The Muly mare, upon the whole, pleased me the best among 
the fillies, she displayed so much stoutness in her frame and 
structure. Admiral is a beautiful figure of ahorse, and won 
quite a reputation on the turf; and I regret to say that there is 
not patronage enough in the neighborhood to repay his stand¬ 
ing there. He has made two seasons almost entirely at his 
owner’s expense, and is now withdrawn from the public. This 
ought not to be the case, for a cross from him could not but be a 
decided improvement on the horse stock of the country, giving 
it more vigor, spirit, and endurance; and I do not know a finer 
region for raising good horses than the beautiful rolling lands 
of Butler, Warren and Hamilton counties. Crosses of the 
Berkshire abound all along the road, and drovers to the south¬ 
west are said to be doing a capital business by purchasing the 
darkest colored pigs, trimming their ears to the trae point, and 
then disposing of them at the rate of $5 per head, as the gen¬ 
uine animal. Well, if people please to buy under such circum¬ 
stances of those they might know have neither integrity or 
honor, it is their affair, not mine. 
At Dayton, the blossoms of the peach, the cherry and pear 
began to show themselves, and at Cincinnati all the trees, with 
many garden shrubs, on the 17th, were in full bloom, and the 
air was redolent with their fragrance. It is true, in descend¬ 
ing the hills and approaching this last named town, one begins 
to smell pork, but let him not, in consequence thereof, turn up 
his nose a la Trollope, and think that there is neither taste, 
elegance or refinement to be found here; quite the contrary; for 
1 do not believe a more beautiful town of the size exists in the 
United States. Cincinnati stands on a broad platform of the 
right bank of the Ohio, gradually rising to the base of the sur¬ 
rounding high conical hills from low water mark 108 feet. Its 
streets cross each other at right angles, are well paved and 
sufficiently spacious, with generally good substantial brick or 
stone buildings of three and four stories high. Including the 
villages opposite and above, that are in fact but a part of the 
town, it contains a population of 60,000 inhabitants, and car¬ 
ries on a large trade with the remotest confines of the west.— 
It has also extensive manufactories, especially of iron castings 
and machinery, apd rapid as has been its growth, I see nothing 
to prevent its continuing steadily to increase and maintain its 
present predominance, of being the largest inland town of the 
United States. 
With a taste deserving the highest cpfimiendation, many 
gentlemen have preserved, right in the heart of the city, the 
adorned grounds that originally surrounded their houses, ad¬ 
ding, m the absence of public parks, much to the rural beauty 
of the town. Among the most extensive and beautiful of these 
is Judge Burnet’s and Mr. Longworth’s. The latter adds a 
fine garden, and an extensive range of green house, the fra¬ 
grance Horn which was almost overpowering to the senses, al- 
tho its full blooming season had not yet arrived. It is said to 
be particularly rich in the cactus, and contains a greater vari¬ 
ety ol this singular, and beautiful species of plants than any 
other conservatory in America, perhaps in the world. Nor in 
cultivating the foreign flowers and plants has Mr. L. neglected 
those ol his own country, but has stocked his grounds with 
most every thing indigenous to our country, presenting a more 
varied and beautiful show than one could have imagined. He 
has also paid great attention to the grape, and adopting 
our own natural varieties, has been eminently successful.—- 
He gave me a taste of two kinds of wine made from them.— 
One I could not have told from Maderia, and the other seemed 
most capital Rhenish. I do believe that the Ohio Valley will 
one day be a large exporting wine country, and the returns 
from cultivating the grape are already profitable; single acres, 
I have been told, in their produce netted as high as $200 to 
$300 per acre. The Swiss have not suceeded in this business 
at all, mainly because they cultivate their own foreign grape 
exclusively, and in their own foreign maimer. They allow 
nothing lor difference of soil and climate, and can’t be made to 
believe that our natural vines are generally superior. To emi¬ 
nently succeed in this thing, I am confident our own country¬ 
men have got to take it up, and with their knowledge, skill and 
perseverance, I cannot but think that their efforts will one day 
be crowned with marked success. It may seem to some that I 
have dwelt too long on this subject, but when we consider that 
we are annually importing wine to the amount of millions from 
countries that will take nothing, comparatively, of us in re¬ 
turn, in the present depressed state of our agriculture, it be¬ 
hoves us to see if we cannot turn a small share of our lands to 
greater profit than producing corn at 10 cts., and wheat at 30 
cts. per bushel. 
The Hessian Fly. 
Messrs. Gaylord & Tucker —I have not been a subscriber for 
your valuable paper, till the present year, as your list will 
show. Thus far, I find it deeply interesting, and well calculat¬ 
ed to excite and promote a spirit of inquiry and improvement 
among agriculturists. 
I notice a piece, in the number for this month, (March,) head¬ 
ed “ Hessian Fly—A Lady Observer.” Honor and praise to the 
ladies ! I have derived from them the far greater portion of my 
earthly comforts. I feel much gratified at the interest and in¬ 
quiry, which the discovery of Miss Morris, respecting the Hes¬ 
sian tty, has elicited. The great desideratum is the discovery 
that the ovum, or egg, is deposited in the grains of the wheat 
before it is harvested; because, knowing the hiding place and 
fortress of the foe, we can the more surely adopt the means of 
his destruction. I will, therefore, give you my observations, 
confirmatory of those of Miss Morris. 
More than twenty years ago, while I lived in Leesburg, Va., I 
adopted the opinion, that the Hessian fly deposited its eggs m 
the berry or grain of wheat, in its ripening state, and that in¬ 
stinct directed the deposit to the germ or bud ; which was to 
produce the new stalk. The eggs, being deposited in that part 
of the germ, which adheres to the grain, are enclosed within the 
first two leaves that spring directly from the germ. They are 
not often found at the third blade, though this may occur with¬ 
out violation of the general principle, as they may be deposited 
a little deeper in the germ, or may be moved in the growth of 
the plant. 
I was led to this opinion while walking in my garden between 
the rows of peas, ripening for seed. The pods had become yel¬ 
low, but not dry, and opposite to every full pea in the pods, I 
observed a white circular space, from which the juice had ex¬ 
uded, and in the center a perforation. This was done by the 
insect, which deposits in the pea the egg that produces the pea 
bug. And this is the general habit of insects to deposit their 
ova or eggs, in some soft and moist substance, as cherries, 
plums, &c. The fact, observed in the peas, led me at once to 
the opinion that the Hessian fly deposited its eggs in a similar 
manner in the grains of wheat in their ripening state, before 
they became hard. 
Some time about or in the year 1S20 or 21,1 published an essay 
on the Hessian fly, setting forth my opinion, in the Port Folio, 
edited by Harrison Hall, Esq., Philadelphia. In that essay I 
recommended atrial of the following remedy, which I have used 
in a small way, and never found it fail. Soak the seed wheat 
in lime water, kept milk-warm, till the grain is swollen to the 
point of almost sprouting; then roll in plaster, after draining, 
till well coated, to prevent injury to the seedsman’s hand, and 
to promote vegetation. 
I was led to this recommendation by reflecting that two 
agents, heat and moisture, are necessary to quicken or vivify 
insect’s eggs. The eggs being in the grain, the warmth of the 
water would quicken them, and the lime would so corrode the 
membrane or coating of the eggs, as to destroy their vitality. 
Early and Late Sowing. —Wheat, sown early is often destroy¬ 
ed by the fly in autumn; because there then remains, general¬ 
ly, warm weather enough to quicken the egg and bring it into 
the “flax-seed” state, and sometimes to the fly state, and then 
the mischief is done in autumn. In very late sowing, there 
does not, usually, follow warm weather sufficient to quicken 
the egg, and it remains protected in the earth till the warm 
weather of spring, commonly in this climate about the 10th of 
May, when its progress to maturity shows its ravages at every 
stage. 
In our climate, fifteen miles north of Washington city, the 
safest time, to avoid both the foregoing risks, is found by expe¬ 
rience to be from the 1st to the loth or 15t.h of October. The 
reason of this selection of time is, that in ordinary"seasons, 
there will remain warm weather sufficient to quicken the eggs, 
but not enough to advance them to an injurious state before/he 
hard frosts commence, which will destroy them easily, after 
being quickened. The general rule, however, as to the time of 
sowing, must be regulated by the. latitude of the place, so as to 
avoid the extremes of early and late, in reference to that lati¬ 
tude. And, after all, the rule and the reasons above assigned 
for it, will be subject to infringement and exceptions, owing to 
the difference of the weather in different autumnal seasons. 
Cold Winters with little Snow.— Fifty years ago, before the 
inroads of the Hessian fly, the farmers were delighted to see 
their fields covered with snow during the winter, as a protec¬ 
tion to the growing crops. Not so now. Our best wheat crops 
follow winters, in which the snows are light, and the ground 
generally bare or nearly so, and hard frozen, so that little of 
green appears in the wheat fields, and then they are not troubled 
by the fly in the spring. I t have observed this for thirty years. 
The reason, I presume, is that the eggs of the fly and other in¬ 
sects, in their unprotected state, are destroyed by the severe 
frosts; whereas, this effect is prevented when the ground is 
deeply covered with lasting snows. 
Lawler Wheat. —This wheat, a species of the smooth white, 
was recommended to me as fly-proof. I cultivated some 
small lots. I procured some and sowed it about twenty years 
ago. About the first of May I thought it was failing, the two 
ground blades having become yellow. They soon dried away. 
Herein I supposed was its fly-proof virtue. The leaves that 
protected the eggs, dried away before the larvae were enlarged 
and thus they perished. Such kinds of wheat may, therefore. 
be less subject to injury from the fly than, those, the ground 
leaves of which remain longer green, such as the red chaff 
bearded. 
In conclusion, I must say, that Miss Morris deserves the very 
best husband that your country can afford; and that I would 
consider myself honored to have.the privilege of celebrating the 
rites, and assisting to demolish the cake. 
Sincerely yours, JOHN MINES. 
N. B. Please ask your correspondents, so to note the place 
Irom which they write, that your readers may know their lati¬ 
tude and their “ whereabouts.” 
Rose Hill, near Rockville, Md., March 18, 1841. 
Draining and Irrigation. 
Messrs. Gaylord & Txjcker— The advantages and disad¬ 
vantages of draining and irrigation having occupied the atten¬ 
tion of the farming community to some extent recently, I am 
induced to offer a few observations, suggested by my own ex¬ 
perience. My method of draining has been decidedly profit¬ 
able, and can be adopted by others with the like advantage, 
until the question of the benefit of thorough draining shall 
have been decided; which is scarcely likely to happen in our 
day. There are exceptions to all general rules; so with drain¬ 
ing, and doubtless much land in the vicinity of cities and small 
portions of farms throughout the country may be profitably 
drained. My plan is to irrigate one part of my farm with the 
surplus water drained from another part. Where a farmer 
has it in his power to irrigate his meadows or pastures with 
surface water from roads, barn-yards, swamps, marshes or 
plowed fields, (especially those bearing Indian qorn or root 
crops,) it will be for his interest to avail himself of every such 
chance. For instance, see plan, (fig. 54,) with six fields slop- 
i $ 
-<5 
Mm 
Vi 
Hn 
'4|§p8I 
'isSUf 
[Fig. 54.] 
ing to the north ; this year I plow a, b, c and d, and mow e and 
J —here my plan would be to prevent surface water from Tun¬ 
ing on to any of the plowed fields, and to carry it on to the 
meadows. To do this. I make a ditch (see dotted lines) round 
the outside of the field a, and if nearly level, I back furrow it 
north and south into lands twenty-fourfeet wide, which would 
drain the water to the north side of the field, from yyhence the 
ditch would carry it to the north-east corner, where a furrow 
will turn it on to meadow e. A ditch on the south and east 
of field c, carries the water by another furrow on to the 
same field. Plow field b, east and west, and carry the water 
on to meadow e. To keep the water from field d, plow a 
furrow across the north side of meadow e, leading to mea¬ 
dow/. Plow field d, east and west, and carry the water on 
to meadow /. When other fields are plowed, manage the 
drains accordingly. The ditches should be in all cases plow¬ 
ed on the upper side of the fence. 
A brook or swail (see fig. 55) runs from a to b ; if a swail, 
it would be likely to have the wash of two or three fields, per¬ 
haps the wash of the barn-yard. If the field is meadow or 
pasture, drain it in the direction of the dotted lines; in this 
way your water is carried on to the field and evaporated or 
absorbed. The quantity of hay in the swail will be doubled 
by draining, and the fields much benefitted, and'by this pro 
cess the individual farmer becomes a benefactor, by causing 
“ two blades of grass to grow where but one grew before.” 
Where it is desired to plow the swail, and the water cannot 
readily be carried off, under-draining should be resorted toon 
the lowest ground, or it may be plowed in ridges. If you have 
a brook instead of a swail, carry the water from that on to the 
meadow or pasture, as in the case of a swail. In irrigating 
from brooks, be careful that you can turn the water off or on 
at pleasure. Water for irrigation is most valuable in the 
spring, and after rains in summer. Care should be had not 
to let on too much when the grass is nearly grown, otherwise 
your grass becomes lodged and gritty. Following the fore¬ 
going plan, water may be taken from its original channel of 
uselessness or worse, and made to enrich and beautify the 
neighboring fields. It sometimes happens, that after cover¬ 
ing a field with manure, and before it is plowed, heavy rains 
come on and the manure leached into brooks or swails, by 
which it is lost to the farmer in a great measure; but where a 
judicious system of ditching is adopted much may be saved 
to the up-land. 
This plan of draining and irrigation is not as well adapted 
to sandy or gravelly as to clayey or tenacious soils. _ My plan 
for plowing land, which is injured by surplus water, is to back 
furrow into lands twenty-four feet wide on the first and second 
plowing; third plowings, commence the ridge three feet from 
the former plowing; plow the dead furrows deep, by which, 
when you have reached to twelve feet, the whole surface will 
ve been plowed about two feet deep. ELI C. FROST. 
Catharine, N. Y., April 1, 1841. 
