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 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-jury done to the crop in its early stages by the wire-worm. 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 before the drouth had become severe. The quality is generally good. It is fortunate that the country is well supplied with this important article, as, from the scarcity of grass, farmers have, in many instances, been under the necessity of feeding their stock considerably from the barn or stack, for several months. Wheat gave a good return over nearly the whole country. 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 beyond 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 considered 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 year, and the quality of the grain was also superior. The crop has sold at a fair price, nothwithstanding 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 frequently obtained, in the valley of the Hudson river, for oats that are brought early into market. They are always 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. I 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 evaporation 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, except in very favorable locations. The crop was backward, 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 country, 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 regard to it have been proved to be unfounded. Buckwheat, so far as we have learned, is almost a total failure. In a large portion of New-Jersey, and in parts of Pennsylvania and Maryland, it is a crop of considerable 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, &c., we are informed, there is a partial crop of apples. In New-Jersey, the southern portion 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 NewEngland, we believe fruits in general have succeeded well. Winter apples of fine quality are plenty in market at $1.50 to $1.75 per barrel. Plums, a crop of considerable 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 kind of continual miracle, wrought by the hand of God a real increase of the seed thrown into the ground, in a in his favor, as a reward for his innocent life and his virtuous industry.—Benjamin Franklin. The Mineral Manure Theory. ANALYTICAL LABORATORY, YALE College, EDS. CULTIVATOR-The subject which I have placed at the head of this letter, is not one which can be fully discussed in a single page of your journal; and yet it is one of so much importance that I desire to make a few explanations and statements, regarding the shape which it has now assumed among scientific men. When I mention the "mineral manure theory," I speak of that view of manures which ascribes all, or nearly all, of their efficacy to their mineral constituents. taken as the highest standard of its value. A guano, for instance, with the usual percentage of ammonia, will bring twice as much as one which contains little ammonia, even though this deficiency is replaced by the most valuable possible mineral constituents. I must not be understood to say, that mineral manures are not valuable; on the contrary, I have the highest opinion of them, and recommend their application in almost all cases where my advice is asked; the mineral constituents of the plant are no less indispensable than its organic part, and if one or two of them are absent from the soil, the plant will not flourish. There are many instances of these special deficiencies, which special The principal supporter, and indeed the originator of mineral manures alone will supply, and there are cer this theory, is Prof. Liebig. This distinguished chemist,tain mineral substances which have been found specially distinguished no less by his clear and lucid style, than by valuable; the most so of all these is phosphoric acid. his high scientific reputation, was for a time devoted to Now, the phosphates, that is, the compounds of this acid, "the ammonia theory," excluding those mineral manures are not more necessary to the plant than are the alkalies, to which he now attaches so much importance. A few but the supply is far more apt to be scanty, and thisyears since, however, he saw cause to change his ground, not its intrinsic importance to the plant-is the cause of and has since held, that if we furnish mineral manures its higher value to the farmer. in abundance, plants will, without doubt, always obtain their ammonia, or rather their nitrogen, from the atmosphere or the soil. In pursuance of this idea, he went so far as to compound, after careful study of ash analyses, specific mineral manures for wheat, rye, oats, turneps, &c., which were to take effect upon all soils in a proper physical condition. The failure of these specific manures, which were patented in England, was, as many of your readers doubtless are aware, very decisive. I had supposed the subject rather at rest, but find that in the last edition of Prof. Liebig's "Letters on Chemistry," published so late as the commencement of the present year, he reiterates his former views on this subject in a most decisive manner, and prophecies that our future agriculture will depend upon them, however much we may distrust and disbelieve them now. I have also had occasion to observe quite recently, that some gentlemen of high stand- | ing among our own scientific men, follow Liebig in this as well as in other theories. For these reasons I have thought it best to express my own opinions on this contested point, in order that our farmers may be aware, that all chemists do not hold to views which militate almost directly against the ordinary results of practice. My belief is, that when Prof. Liebig advocated "the ammonia theory," he was nearer right than he is now, when he only admits the necessity of mineral manure. Not that he was right then, but that better results would, in most cases, be obtained by the farmer in the use of ammoniacal or nitrogenous manures alone, than by the use of mineral manures alone. We find land in all parts of the country, where strictly mineral applications, such as lime, plaster, marl, &c., fail to produce any very marked effect; but if upon any of our fields we apply guano, or sulphate or carbonate of ammonia, the character of the vegetation is at once changed, its color alters, its luxuriance and vigor increases, and in a great majority ef cases the product is augmented. Every farmer who has observed such matters intelligently, knows that the above statements are correct; indeed they have been so far applied in practice, that the quantity of ammonia which any manure contains, is The same principle applies when we say that nitrogenous manures, of which ammonia is the most common form, are more valuable than any others known in agriculture. They are volatile, easily decomposable, and very soluble; for all of these reasons they are extremely apt to disappear most rapidly. These manures, then, are worth more to the farmer than any others, because they are most likely to be needed, and because their scarcity renders it somewhat difficult to obtain a full supply. I make these statements fearlessly, and confi dently, although against so high an authority as Liebig. I should not presume to oppose him on mere theoretical grounds, but feel that I am here sustained by almost uniform practical results. It must be acknowledged that we have occasional instances reported, of plants grown upon soils nearly or quite destitute of vegetable matter; but in most of these that have fallen under my observation, the fact of the entire absence of vegetable, and particularly of nitrogenous matter, has not been sufficiently established. The information that they give is neither entirely definite, nor well enough made out by continuous and careful experiments, to be set off against the immense array of facts brought forward in favor of the opposite view. Single experiments for a single year, must always be looked upon with distrust until amply verified, and it is by mainly trusting to such, so far as we are informed, that the exclusive mineral theory has been built up. The laboratory alone is pretty sure to go wrong when it attempts to prescribe rules for practice; the chemist must go into the field and study actual experience, if he would serve the farmer effectually. It has been my intention to experiment somewhat largely upon this particular subject, but in the last number of the Journal of the Royal Agricultural Society of England, is a paper by Messrs. Lawes and Gilbert, that almost precludes the necessity of doing anything more. These gentlemen have been experimenting on a large scale during the last ten years, and their results are clearly and admirably set forth. They took a field at the close of a four years rotation, when the manures added at the commencement of the course were exhausted. On this ground they have cultivated wheat for ten years, under various conditions. One plot remained unmanured, and the produce of this served as a standard and starting point for comparison during the whole period. Thus, if its yield in 1845 was 17 bushels per acre, the improvement over this in an adjoining plot, otherwise the same, was set down to the advantage of whatever manure had been employed. Close of the Great Exhibition. An exhibition of the industrial products of all nations may be considered a new feature in the world's history. Hitherto the strife of nations has chiefly been to circumvent each other by the game of war. The present year will even be remembered as marking the time when the first great step in checking this selfish and aggrandizing spirit was taken-when in compliance with a cordial inglobe, all nations were assembled, by their representatives, for the purpose of comparing the progress of each in those arts which conduce to the welfare and happiness Such a system of cropping, continued for so long a time, obviously affords results that are worthy of much confi.vitation from one of the greatest reigning powers of the dence. of man. The London The general effect of this exhibition cannot but be salntary on the world at large. Its tendency will be to promote peaceful relations, to do away monopoly, and to diffuse useful knowledge among men. Morning Chronicle well remarks-" We have, as yet, no standard whereby to measure the probable consequences of the gigantic undertaking. It has shown to the na The first year's comparative practice, was made with various approved mineral manures alone. It was found that even by the addition of large quantities of these, the increase of product over the unnanured plot was but trifling. In the next year the same character of mineral manures was employed, but with the addition in several cases of ammoniacal or nitrogenous substances; in all of these the effect was quite marked, the yield increasing to 10, 12, and 14 bushels, above the unmanured plot. This, in short, was the character of all the results; sometimes ammoniacal manures alone were added, and tions of the world what each can do,-animating, inspirthen the increase was several times more than by mineraling, and instructing all. National prejudices, antipathies, manures alone. One experiment was very striking. Four hundred weight per acre, of Liebig's special mineral ma. nure for wheat, was applied to a plot, and produced an increase of but about two or three bushels; upon this same plot, in the next year, a purely ammoniacal ma. nure gave an increase of ten or twelve bushels. To make the experiment still more conclusive, no manure was added to this plot for the next crop, and the yield then fell again almost to the original standard. These trials seem to me perfectly conclusive in this matter, so far as wheat is concerned; they prove that ammoniacal manures increase its growth far more than mineral manures, where both are already present in moderate supply, and that the addition of any amount of the latter will do little good, unless the former be also present. These views are still farther sustained, by a very able paper in one of the late French Scientific Journals. The experiments in this case was made upon oats, and were between forty and fifty in number. They commenced by growing them out in sand, first deprived of every. thing soluble by acid, and then burned to drive off all vegetable matter. In this, as might have been expected, no perfect plants were produced. One mineral substance after another was added, until at last it was found that with a certain seven of them, the plant fiourished better than with any others. It, however, was still far from luxuriant, or from yielding a fair amount of grain; it was not until some manures containing nitrogen had also been added, that entirely healthy, fertile and strong plants were obtained. These experiments appear to have been very carefully conducted, and furnish impor tant confirmation to those of Messrs. Lawes and Gilbert. There are other questions involved in these experiments, which for want of space cannot be discussed here; the main point is, I think, fully established. The farmer may supply special deficincies by special mineral manures, and should aim to keep up the supply of mineral substances in the soil; but he cannot render it fertile, and continue it so, with them alone; he must also supply nitrogen in some form, and will find it in a great majority of cases the most important and efficacious of all fer. tilizers. In despite of theoretical views to the contrary, he will find that in practice, he can best afford to give a high price for those manures that are especially rich in ammonia, or some other compound of nitrogen. Yours truly, JOHN P. NORTON. and animosities, have given way before the 'natural magic' of its influence. A mighty lesson has been unfolded for mankind, bidding all to note the wisdom, and the goodness, and the glory of Almighty God. The lesson cannot, will not, have been read in vain." The description of the exhibition has formed a promi Total number of visitors, 6,201,856. Public subscriptions,.. It was £61,344 00 3,200 00 .... 5,500 0 0 40.000 00 The liabilities amount to £170,743, thus leaving an available surplus of £295,372 138. The awards of Council or Great Medals, to our countrymen, were as follows: Joel Borden, Jr., Texas, for a preparation called Meat Biscuit. David Dick, Meadville, Pa., for Anti-friction Press. C. H. McCormick, Chicago, Ill., for Reaping Machine. Wm. Bond & Son, Boston, for the invention of a new mode of observing Astronomical Phenomena. Charles Goodyear, New-Haven, Ct., for India Rubber Fabrics. Produce of Twelve Acres. EDS. CULTIVATOR-I am induced to give you a short description of a piece of land near the Niagara River, on the farm of Moses Cherry, Esq. The land in this neighborhood is rather peculiar. That portion where blackash timber grew, though wet and swampy, is excellent land when fully drained, even with open drains; while the land nearer the river, and on either side of the ash tracts, is poor and scarcely worth cultivating. On the portion where the black-ash grew, is a friable, mellow loam, of seven or eight inches, or even a foot in depth, resting on a tenacious subsoil. On the dried soil surrounding these swamps, is a stiff barren clay, into which the roots of plants can penetrate only with difficulty. The following is the produce of twelve acres cultivated by Mr. Cherry last season. 800 bushels of corn in ears, sold at 25c.,.. 750 do potatoes at 50c,................... 135 do wheat at 100c..... $200 00 Mr. Cherry had 35 acres of wheat this season, (1851,) which averaged upwards of 30 bushels per acre. In the management of his land, his first object is to drain the surface, fairly, which has been done so far mostly by open drains, and thus managed, the produce is abundant. WM. H. SOTHAM. Black-Rock, Oct. 17, 1851. Laying-in Trees for Winter. A correspondent wishes to know the best mode of preserving removed fruit trees, intended for spring planting, from mice and severe frost during winter. In answer-set them upright on the surface of the ground, or in a moderate hollow dug for the purpose, and then bank up the earth into a broad mound about them, raising it well up the stems. Mice will never ascend a fresh bank of earth under snow. The trees should not be placed so compactly together as to prevent the earth from filling in pretty well among the interstices. If rather tender, incasing or thatching with two or three inches thickness of any evergreen boughs, will afford good protection from severe cold. Large and Small Potatoes. EDS. CULTIVATOR-I perceive, by recent communications in your paper, that although potatoes have been raised for more than two hundred years, it is still disputed whether large or small ones are the most profitable to plant for seed. Being myself in the dark on this point, I concluded to contribute my mite towards the solution of the problem by submitting it to the test of experience. When I planted the two patches, I expected the product would be about alike. Not being yet satisfied that so great a difference will always result, I shall try the experiment again next season. Last year there was no rot among the potatoes in this part of the country. The early part of the season was cold and very dry. The same kind of potatoes on the same farms, with the same cultivation, are now rotting badly. I attribute the prevalence of the rot to the great amount of rain that has fallen here the present T. F. Scio, Mich., August 23, 1851. season. Protecting Tender Roses. The Prairie Farmer has for several years successfully protected tender roses by covering them with tan-bark, and then shielding the tan-bark from rains by a covering of boards. A Tea rose, which had always stood without injury by this treatment, was accidentally deprived of the shelter of the boards, by which the tan became soaked with rain, and the plant was destroyed. For the same reason, the soil must be well drained. Stripping off the leaves before covering, prevents their decay in contact with the stems, an occurrence often causing portions of the bark to blacken with decay. ANSWERS TO INQUIRIES. be more or less shriveled. INTERMIXTURE OF VARIETIES OF CORN.-TYRO, Greenfield, Mass. If common and sweet corn are planted side by side, smooth grains will, as you say, be found on the ears of sweet corn and shriveled grains on the ears of the common corn. If you take the smooth grains from the ears of sweet corn, and plant them by themselves, the produce will be various-most of the grains will show of the character of the sweet corn, seldom being as hard and flinty as the original flint stock; some will, probably, If the shriveled grains are taken from the ears of common or flint corn, and planted by themselves, the crop raised will also show the intermixture of the varieties; there will not be a strict uniformity in the produce, some grains being almost identical with the pure sweet corn, others of a medium, or half and half character, others scarcely deviating from the parent flint. But the result of the mixture can be worked out, in the course of several generations, so that it will scarcely appear, by carefully selecting for seed the grains which most resemble the original stocks, and plant On the thirtieth of April, 1851, I planted, on one square rod of land, in seventy-two hills, seventy-two small potatoes, from the size of a hickory nut to that of a hen's egg. The seed measured about two quarts, and weighed three and a half pounds. To plant an acre in this manner would require ten bushels of seed. On the same day, on a square rod adjoining, I planted seventy-ing them where there can be no further amalgamation. two large potatoes, in seventy-two hills, placing one in each hill, without cutting. The seed measured more than a peck, and weighed fifteen pounds. On the twentieth of August, I dug both patches. The product of the small potatoes was five pecks, weighing eighty-four pounds, which would give a yield of two hundred bushels to the acre. The product of the large potatoes was one hundred and fifty-eight pounds, measuring nine pecks, which would give three hundred and sixty bushels to the acre. The vines averaged four to each hill, while those of the small potatoes were only three. The vines from the large potatoes grew much faster and larger than the others, but in the size of the potatoes there was no great difference. By a similar course, a new hybrid variety can be produced. Many varieties are known to have thus origina ted. The Darling sweet corn may be named as an example. This was produced by a cross of the sweet with the early Canada corn. The seed of the hybrid variety was taken from the stalks of the Canada-the object being to produce a sweet corn with the habit of growth, or early maturity of the Canada. The shriveled grains which most closely resembled the sweet corn, were picked out of the cars of the Canada, a crop raised from them, and the sweetest grains again picked out of this crop, and so on, till after eignt years' careful selection, the new variety became well established. CABBAGE AND TURNEPS FOR MILCH Cows.-D. B. R., Dutchess county, N. Y. There is perhaps no crop which would afford a larger amount of food than cabbages, but they, as well as turneps, are likely to impart a disagree able taste to milk and butter. Pumpkins are excellent to feed cows, and by being protected from frost, may be kept till December, or later. Carrots are preferable to any other roots for this purpose. MIXING ASHES WITH MANURE." A LOVER OF FARMING," Walpole, N. H. "Do wood ashes operate on manure in the same manner as lime?" Lime tends to liberate the ammonia of manures, by combining with the carbon with which the ammonia was previously united, thus setting free the latter. According to Mr. BARTLETT, whose communication is given in our November number, wood-ashes have a similar tendency to liberate ammonia. We cannot refer to any experiments made to test this point. It is not improbable that something of the effect mentioned, may take place from a combination of the carbon of the manure with the potash of the ashes, which would separate the ammonia from its union with the carbon. Potash, however, greatly promotes the solubili ty of carbonaceous substances, and is highly beneficial from this action. At present we are inclined to think that wood ashes, mixed with strawy stable manure, at the rate of a bushel of the former to a cart-load of the latter, would be on the whole beneficial. But accurate experiments on this point are desirable. HOPS.-"F.," Wheeler, Steuben county, N. Y. Your best way to obtain a knowledge of the cultivation of hops, would be to go into some neighborhood where they are grown, and personally examine the whole process. The roots could be packed in boxes or barrels and sent to any part of the country. You will find an article on this subject in our volume for 1847, pp. 82, 83. BUDDING ON THE BLACK CHERRY.-R. H. We have seen the cultivated cherry, engrafted on the black, but it did not do well. We have heard of some attempts at budding on the black stock which did not succeed. If the union of the two were practicable, we cannot see that it could have any advantages over budding on the mazzard stock. NEW PUBLICATIONS. HARPER'S MAGAZINE for November is before us. It is well sustained, and will do much in forming a taste for a higher literature than has heretofore been the burden of our leading monthlies. It is difficult to particularize articles, where all are pleasing and instructive. The biography of Napoleon is replete with interest, and shows in its true light his transcendant genius as a general, and his wonderful ability as a statesman, in combination with rare virtues. The "Editor's Table," "Easy Chair," and "Drawer," display a marked originality, to say nothing of the wit. ments, on the ocean passage, and straightway fall in love with some 66 gray old tower," or other age-honored structure; but HORACE GREELEY Americanises everything. A free, independent, radical thinker, as he is, he praises all he finds to admire, and censures what he can. not approve-appropriates all the good, and frankly exposes the bad-tells facts as they are, and truths as he believes them. The book will not fail to instruct the | reader in the social and political aspect of the European states, and will especially please those who like an honest sincerity, even if it conflict with private opinion. CHARLES SCRIBNER.-This adds another, to books deRURAL HOMES, BY GERVASE WHEELER. New-York, signed to cultivate Architectural Taste, and assist those who wish to combine neatness and elegance with convenience, in their dwellings. The author claims, as the of a fixed principle in rural architecture," capable of distinctive, original idea of the work, "the embodiment adaptation to all conditions and circumstances. The volume comprises models of buildings, means of warming and ventilation, plans for harmonising the dwelling with the surrounding scenery, and hints in the selection of furniture, &c., concluding with a theory of rural architec ture as a fine art, and its influence on the mind, heart, and social virtues. THE HORTICULTURIST.-Among other notices of publications, showing signs of better things in the literary and scientific world, we would not forget one, that has grown up under our own fostering care, THE HORTICUL TURIST. Closely restricted to its own sphere, it has the "spice of life," which originality imparts to any production. The extensive horticultural information of Mr. DOWNING, his discriminating power, and easy, flow. ing style, give him an enviable rank in the editorial corps, and make the Horticulturist the text-book in rural art, and the standard in rural taste. A new volume (the 7th) commences with the new year. Price $3 a year— two copies for $5. THE INTERNATIONAL MAGAZINE-published monthly at New-York, by STRINGER & TOWNSEND-leads off this month, with an extended description of the Fair of the N. Y. State Ag. Society, illustrated by several well executed engravings, from the pen of HORACE GREELEY. This periodical is enriched by original articles from some of the best American prose and poetical writers. Extracts from foreign literature-a record of important news at home and abroad, and notices of new and valua. ble publications. It has a wide and extending circulation. PIONEER HISTORY OF THE Settlement OF PHELPS AND GORHAM'S PURCHASE, is the title of an octavo volume of 620 pages, by O. TURNER, Esq., whose "History of the Holland Purchase," we noticed a year or two since. This work embraces the history of the entire center of Western New-York, and shows the indefatigable efforts of the author in the collection of every thing tending to illustrate GLANCES AT EUROPE, BY HORACE GREELEY.-We the trials, character and energy of the first settlers of the "Genesee Country." It is a most valuable contribution are indebted to the publishers, DE WITT & DAVENPORT, to the general history of the state, and will be read with New-York, for a copy of this work. Perhaps it is a suf- lively interest by the numerous descendants of those ficient commendation to say that the book has the origi- whose history it delineates, and who are now scattered nal stamp of its author. It certainly forms an epoch in over our wide-spread country-for, fruitful as is the celebrated Genesee Valley, it has sent forth its thousands Journals of Travel. Most American travelers seem to to aid in subduing the ever receding "far west." Pub. have thrown up their peculiar views and in-bred senti-lished by WM. ALLING, Rochester |