soon as possible after being spread upon the land, to prevent waste by evaporation. Swamp muck, which abounds in this State, is a most excellent fertilizer, especially when composted with other manures. I am satisfied, from actual experiments, that, when the fertilizing properties of this manure are generally understood, it will prove of great utility to our farming interests. I have reason to believe that the Reports emanating from your Office are the means of conveying a vast amount of useful agricultural information to every part of our widely-extended country; and I shall feel highly gratified if the above is of any service to you in making out your Report. Yours, respectfully, J. D. YERKES. KALAMAZOO, MICHIGAN, January 1, 1853. SIR: In reply to your Circular of August, 1853, I would remark, that the drought of summer was severe, and materially affected the farming interest. Wheat. The berry was large, and the average weight was about sixty-five pounds per bushel; but the head was not more than two-thirds filled, making a small yield per acre; but the large quantity of land in wheat furnished a larger surplus than any previous year. The quantity of land seeded this past fall is not more than half as much as the pre. vious year, owing to the severe drought-and this is applicable to the western part of this State; average price, 70 cents. Corn.-The quantity planted was larger, but it came up badly—the seed not being sound-injured by frost of winter, as corn was gathered damp, being a wet season; which, with the summer drought, has caused quite a failure of the crops in this county-the yield not over one-quarter crop; and the price is higher than it has been for the past ten years, being 50 cents. Oats were almost an entire failure, worth 40 cents. Hay.-Upland cut about one half crop, and the wet land yielded heavy. Upland hay is worth $10; marsh hay, $6. Butter and Cheese.-The quantity made was a scanty supply; the price of the former 20 cents, and latter 10 cents-being higher than for many years. Hogs-The number slaughtered was less than last year; price, from $5 to $6; the surplus has been sent to eastern markets; the quantity salted and held here is less than for a long time. Wool. The quantity was larger than before, fleeces heavier, and the price from 30 to 45 cents. Sheep. The number is on the increase, and worth from $1 to $3. A good deal of attention is being paid to improving the stock. Cattle have been in great demand for Eastern markets, and a great many have changed hands, making the stock less than for many years. The scarcity of hay and grain caused farmers to be a free seller at low prices. Apples. The supply was light, caused by late frost in the spring, and the drought made the fruit small, but better flavored. Peaches very poor and scarce; plums and berries, also. Very great attention has been paid to all kinds of fruit, and the best varieties have been introduced; the trees are generally small, just come into bearing; and a few years will furnish a great surplus of all kinds of excellent varieties. Yours, respectfully, To the COMMISSIONER OF PATENTS. WM. L. BOOTH. NEW CASTLE, HENRY COUNTY, IA. SIR: One of your "Agricultural Circulars" has fallen into my hands; I will endeavor to answer such questions as come under my particular observation. Wheat. There is no guano used in this county, and but very little manure of any kind in the cultivation of wheat. About fifteen bushels are the average yield per acre. Seeding is generally done in September; harvest is about the first of July. We generally sow wheat on oat stubble, plough but once, about five inches deep; the average price this year (say) 52 cents. Clover is sown upon wheat some time in March. Corn.-Average product, about forty bushels per acre; cost of production, 10 cents per bushel. If clover sod, break it up during the winter; about the first of May harrow well and plant in rows about four feet distant each way. If stubble ground, break it up as near planting time as possible; harrow thoroughly and plant immediately. Corn is so cheap that it does not pay for grinding or cooking to feed. Clover and Grasses.-Quantity of hay cut per acre, about two tons; no manures used upon meadows or pastures. Timothy is generally preferred for meadows; cost of growing, about $1 per ton. Do not know that clover is injurious to horses; but think Timothy or blue-grass preferable. Cattle.-Cost of raising till three years old, $15; usual price, $20. Value of good cows in spring $20, in fall $15. The same amount of food will yield more meat in a Durham than in a native animal. Horses and Mules.-The raising of these animas at this time is very profitable; cost of raising a colt until three years old, $30; average price at that age, $60. Blood mares should be provided with good pasture in summer and worked but very little; in winter should be stabled, have plenty of hay and a small allowance of grain. Sheep and Wool.-Wool-growing is profitable; cost of growing coarse wool (of the Bakewell) about 12 cents the pound; sells generally from 20 to 25 cents just as clipped from the sheep. A cross of the Bakewell and native will yield about four pounds to the head. Large sheep I think the most profitable for mutton or wool. I commonly raise as many lambs as I do ewes; but as a general thing, perhaps, three-fourths the number would be about right. Hogs.-The cheapest method of producing pork is feeding on corn. One hundred pounds of corn will yield about twelve pounds of meat. The best method of curing hams is "sugar curing." CONNERSVILLE, FAYETTE COUNTY, IA.. SIR: Your Agricultural Circular of last August has been put into my hands to be answered. To reply to the several inquiries in regular order is out of the question. I can only give you, in a summary manner, the soil, mode of cultivation, and products of this and the adjoining counties. The county of Fayette is situated on the White Water river, which runs through the centre of the county from north to south. The soil varies from the rich alluvial along the river and numerous creeks, through the various grades of upland, though by far the largest portions of the uplands are rich, composed of yellow loam mixed with a portion of fine sand. The county abounds in limestone, forming in places the beds of creeks, and constituting the foundation for a bed of soil. All the springs are limestone water. In a state of nature the land was covered with a dense forest, consisting, on the uplands, of the beech, sugar maple, ash, walnut, poplar, and oak; while the rich bottom lands abounded with the buckeye and sycamore, in addition to most of the former. The settlement of the county commenced in 1812. The advances made were slow, owing to the heavy forests and the inland location of the county, being nearly sixty miles from Cincinnati, the only market. The very low price of grain forbade its being marketed, and the only produce was flour, pork, and whiskey. For a long time none of these paid, and in this condition things remained until within a few years. The completion of the White Water canal opened a direct trade with Cincinnati, giving life and activity to the twin sisters, Commerce and Agriculture. Connersville is the county seat and the chief market point on the canal within the county. The natural richness of the soil, improved by the mode of clearing, i. e. by first deadening the trees, and then frequently allowing them to decay upon the ground, has sustained a succession of croppings without much diminution until within a few years; and even now the chief improvement required is dressing with clover. Hogs have been, and are still found to be, the most productive source of wealth to our farmers. The fattening of hogs by turning them from the clover fields into the standing corn in September and October, is a source of improvement of the lands. This mode of farming is now undergoing a change in the cultivation of sheep, horses, and cattle, thus lessening the amount of the product of the hog. The rearing of these, together with the wheat crops, forms a considerable item of trade in the county. Flour, though it does not pay well, is beneficial to the farmer in the rest given to land and in rendering the division of labor more equal. Of hogs we have several varieties: the Polish, Irish Grazer, and the Chinese; though of the latter there are but few remaining. Indeed, we have but few hogs of any one pure stock; they have been crossed and sub crossed until the stock is sui generis peculiar to our place, and we are now breeding from the best specimens of the several crosses. The same may be said of our horses as to breed; though not elegant, they are well-formed, serviceable animals, and in demand in the market from $100 to $150. Cattle are attracting more attention; the Durham Shorthorn and the Devonshire constitute the principal varieties, and, like the hogs and horses, have been crossed until the original is nearly lost. Cattle for beef are in demand, bringing from $20 to $50 each, depending upon size and condition. Sheep are of a mixed variety, being descended from nearly all the kinds imported; more attention is being given to this branch of husbandry, which must become profitable, as much of our upland is well adapted to sheep-raising. Poultry is beginning to claim attention, and a well-arranged poultryyard occasionally adorns the farm. Mode of Cultivation.-The mode mostly pursued is to alternate the crops of corn, wheat, and grass, clover for pasture, and Timothy for meadow. (Some few are using the blue-grass for pasture.) Clover is sown among wheat in early fall or spring; it does equally well sown with oats in the spring. Timothy is sown in the same manner as clover, and frequently mixed with it, and succeeds well both for meadow or pasture, though clear Timothy is regarded the best hay, particularly for horses. About the third year after seeding with clover, the ground is broken up in early spring, and planted in corn one or two years, and then goes the round of wheat, oats, &c., and again seeded in grass. Subsoiling has, as yet, been but little practised; but will claim more attention, as it is believed that the ground stands the drought much better, and the soil yields a much better crop. Wheat is sown by breaking up the ground and putting in the crop broadcast with the harrow. This is done in the last of August, and during September and October. By this mode it yields about eighteen bushels per acre. It is thought that, by a better mode of culture, and putting in with a drill, twenty-five bushels, or more, could be produced. The present plan of cultivating corn is by breaking up the ground in the spring, and sometimes harrowing it; then crossing it off with a plough in rows three or four feet apart. This is done from the middle of April or May. It is then ploughed three or four times during the last of May or June; and the average yield is about sixty bushels per acre. Wheat at the mills, for the last three years, will average in price about 60 cents per bushel; worth now 65 cents. Corn is mostly fed to hogs and cattle. Oats are only raised for a portion of the horse feed. Rye is little cultivated. Hemp and tobacco are very little grown, requiring too much labor. Potatoes are only cultivated for domestic use, being an uncertain crop. Peas, beans, and root crops are only cultivated for culinary use. Barley is a prolific crop, yielding about fifty bushels per acre, and bids fair to be more extensively grown. Fruit.-Apples are of an excellent quality, and are produced in large quantities. The peach, cherry, and plum are but little cultivated, owing to their frequent failure. The peach is injured by the winter and grub. worm; the plum by the curculio. As yet, the object of the farmer in this and the neighboring counties is to obtain the largest profit from the smallest outlay of money and labor. The establishment of agricultural societies this year will doubtless do much for the farmer, and result in an improved mode of cultivation, and more accurate calculations in regard to the profit to be obtained by the application of science to what has long been considered a very simple occupation, involving no great amount either of skill or learning. Judging from the exhibitions at our agricultural fair this year, and the great interest manifested by all classes of our citizens, a competition is awakened, and an interest being gotten up, that will stimulate our farmers to become as intelligent and practical as they now are industrious. The foregoing will explain the reason for my not entering more into detail. Farm-book sand details are superseded by the go-ahead-itiveness of our people. It is hoped that from what has been said, something may be gleaned that will be found useful. Respectfully, JOHN SPIVEY. CENTREVILLE, WAYNE COUNTY, INDIANA, SIR: I view the Reports from the Patent Office as exceedingly well calculated to disseminate a knowledge of the diversified pursuits of the citizens of the United States, and also of the products and manufactures in the various sections of our Union. These yearly Reports will be read with interest and advantage by the mechanic, the stock grower, and the farmer; they will have a place in our history, so that posterity can determine the manner and mode of our ploughing, harrowing, and harvesting. With these remarks, I will respond to your queries, as far as I feel myself qualified. Wheat is sown from the 1st of September to the middle of October. Early sown is uniformly the surest crop. No preparation of seed, except freeing it from chess or cockle, is practised. In August or September the ground is well ploughed 5 or 6 inches deep; from one and a quarter to one and a half bushel of seed is then sown to the acre, and well harrowed, and the seeding is done. The wheat drill was last fall introduced into this county, and the young crop has a decided advantage in appearance over wheat harrowed or ploughed in. McCormick's reaper has been used by some of our farmers during the last harvest, and, though it has failed to given entire satisfaction, yet it is believed to be a great labor-saving improvement, especially in the large prairies of the West. The yield of wheat increases in proportion to the labor in preparing the ground for its reception. From fifteen to twenty-five bushels per acre may be relied on. To avoid the ravages of the Hessian fly, some sow early, while others sow late: both to produce the same result. When the fly attacks the young wheat in the fall, they are sure to prove themselves by their works in the spring. Late-sown wheat is more liable to rust than early, and that kind of wheat that ripens earliest is the surest crop. The weevil is not known here as a pest. Timothy is sown with wheat in the fall, and clover in February or March following. There is no |