are the Dutton, white flint, and red glaze; rows 3 feet apart, with hills from 2 to 3 feet in the row, according to the kind used. The Dutton, being of a larger growth, requires more space than the red glaze, and in favorable locations will yield more abundantly; but, as it requires a warmer season to bring it to full maturity, will not answer in every locality as well as some of the smaller varieties. Ground tilled between the rows with a cultivator, and crop hoed two or three times, according to circumstances. My own method is to plant in rows both ways, at the distance of 3 feet. This admits of a free use of the cultivator, which, if run through frequently in both directions, and worked as near the hill as practicable, renders the labor with the hoe for three dressings comparatively light. The corn is cut up by the ground and shocked as soon as the kernel is glazed-say by the middle of September; husked in October. This method is almost universally preferred to that of topping the stalks, as securing a greater amount of fodder, and as being rather beneficial to the maturing of the grain. The average product of this year is more difficult to be estimated than usual, as, owing to the pecu. liarity of the season, more was depending on a right location, and other favorable circumstances, than usual. It has varied even on good soils from 20 to 60 or 70 bushels per acre. Forty bushels may be considered as the average. Price, 50 cents per bushel. There being but little called for this season for shipping, what is not purchased by the distillers will be principally fed by the producers. In feeding corn, I am decidedly in favor of using it in the condition of meal. For hogs, its value is materially increased by cooking; for cattle or horses, I prefer having it ground with the cob. In this form I prefer it in the spring to oats as a horsefeed, or at any season when much hard labor is required of the team.

Oats.-The crop of this grain has been very good, showing an increase above that of last year of fifteen per cent. The quantity sown was larger than usual, and the average yield may be put at 45 bushels per acre; some pieces, however, yielding from 60 to 70 bushels. Present price, 32 cents, or one cent per pound. The best crops are obtained from old lands in good cultivation, but will succeed well on sward ground if sown early, so as to become well rooted before the commencement of the summer drought; quantity of seed, from 2 to 3 bushels per acre. My preference is for the latter quantity, as thick seeding tends to check too luxuriant a growth of straw, and the crop is less liable to be thrown down by heavy storms, and consequently the grain fills better.

Barley. This grain is extensively cultivated in the southward portion of this county, and always finds a ready sale at fair prices. The quantity sown last spring was probably about the same as usual, and the product about the usual average; showing, however, a slight improvement in the quality, the weather for the final ripening of the grain having been favorable; sown about the 1st of May, and harvested about the 10th of August; the two-rowed variety generally preferred; quantity of seed from 2 to 3 bushels per acre, according to the strength of the land; succeeds best after a hoed crop, but may be sown on sward ground, if well tilled; requires a warmer and drier soil than oats, and is considered less exhausting to the soil. Barley and wheat are the two best crops where it is desired to seed down to grass. Price of barley, delivered at the canal, from 63 to 75 cents per bushel; the former has been the

ruling price since harvest, except for a short time, during which it was run up by speculators. Product from 25 to 35 bushels per acre.

Peas and Beans.-These are cultivated to some extent, but not as renovating crops; the former for feeding, and the latter for market. Peas were formerly found well calculated to set the ground for a crop of winter wheat; but since the cultivation of that grain has been, in a great measure, abandoned, there has been a corresponding decrease in the quantity of peas sown. Beans are more largely planted than formerly, and it is believed have generally afforded a fair profit. The average product not known. Price from $1 to $1 25 per bushel, according to quality. The small white generally planted; other kinds occasionally.

Tobacco. The production of this article is at present a mere experiment with us, although its consumption is by no means so. Very few attempts at its cultivation among us were made in former years, and then only on a very small scale. The past year has, however, shown a very material change in this respect, and several have been induced to enter largely upon its cultivation, with a confident expectation that it would afford remunerating profits. Whether these expectations will be realized, or to what extent, it is yet too early to determine, as the crop is yet to be marketed, and the early frosts of the fall injured some pieces materially, but, I believe, not to the extent that was at first apprehended. I understand the encouragement has been deemed sufficient to warrant future attempts in the cultivation; and further experience will, no doubt, enable those engaged in this branch of industry to prosecute their labors more successfully hereafter. A rich, warm, alluvial soil seems to be most favorable to insure success; and as it is found essential that the plants should have as early a start as possible in the spring, they are first planted in hot-beds, and subsequently transplanted at the proper season.

Potatoes.-The potato was formerly largely cultivated in this portion of the county, and was found highly valuable to the farmer for many purposes. Our soil being well suited to produce it in perfection, the annual crop was such as rendered it a cheap article of feed for either cattle, sheep, or hogs, and, in proper quantities, was thought beneficial to the horse. The product from an acre was such as to make it more profitable for such uses than the amount of grain that could usually be obtained from the same quantity of land; the quality being, at the same time, superior. Any surplus we might happen to have of the finer varieties was generally sought for in seasons when there was any demand from other portions of the State, and frequently found a market, even in other States, at prices which would warrant transportation.

Since the appearance of the disease, which prevailed so extensively for several years past, the quantity planted by us has been gradually diminishing, until it is now less than one-half what it formerly was; and the aggregate product has suffered a still greater proportionate diminution, probably not exceeding one-fourth what it was previous to the appearance of the disease. Still it has been cultivated in many instances the last season at a profit, the average product being near 100 bushels per acre, worth from 44 to 50 cents per bushel. The crop has furnished better profits this season than in 1850; the tubers being less affected by the rot, the yield of sound potatoes was, consequently, greater; and a failure of the crop in some portions of the State west of us has caused an advance in the price; so that, although the quantity is still much less than

was formerly obtained, the increased price compensates, in some degree, for the diminution in quantity to those who raise for market. This, of course, cannot benefit those who plant only for their own use; and to the poor, who formerly, in so many instances, relied on the product of their little potato patch as an important means of support for themselves and families, and who in times of scarcity made this root their principal article of diet, the potato rot has proved a most serious calamity. But it is not in the diminution of quantity alone that we have suffered; the quality has, at the same time, deteriorated. The varieties which were formerly the greatest favorites, such as the pink-eye, the Mercer, and English white, being found to be more liable to be affected with disease than some others, have been nearly abandoned, and, in the effort to obtain more healthy kinds, quality has been, in a great measure, overlooked, and to that extent that it has now become quite difficult to procure what we would formerly have considered a first rate article for the table. As to the cause of this singular and destructive disease, which, cutting off as it does one of our most valuable and healthful products,must be considered as one of the greatest calamities that have befallen us for many years, I must confess I am as much in the dark as ever. No examinations or experiments I have been able to make (and these have been numerous) have thrown any light on the subject; and no theory, as yet made public through the medium of the press, or otherwise, has satisfied my mind in relation to it. The effects of the disease are, it is true, sadly apparent to us all; but the real cause is, I imagine, yet to be ascertained; and, until that important discovery is made, no certain remedy: will be likely to be found. Palliatives may indeed be applied, that, under certain circumstances, will seem to produce favorable results; while, under different circumstances, they will be found of no avail whatever. The application of lime, ashes, charcoal, coal dust, together with mowing the tops on the first appearance of the disease, and several other remedies, which from time to time have been so strongly, and often confidently, recommended, I have tried faithfully, but, alas, fruitlessly. Early digging, in dry weather, which has been supposed by some to be a security against loss, has been tried also-sometimes with apparent success; but in other instances the tubers thus secured, and deposited in the cellar in a perfectly dry and apparently sound condition, and carefully attended to, have subsequently been diseased to that extent that it became necessary to remove the whole of them together-a mass of putrefaction. During the past season, the commencement of the disease manifested itself upon the leaves and stalks at a period so early that an entire failure of the whole crop was anticipated; but in this instance the disease seems to have assumed a new phase, and, contrary to all former experience, it was found, on digging the crop, that it was far less diseased than in 1850, when the first symptoms appeared at a period considerably later in the season. The result of all my experience has taught me only this: to select varieties which have heretofore been found the least liable to disease; to avoid the application of fresh manures; to plant early, on a dry, light soil; give suitable after-culture; and then be thankful for such a crop as may be granted me. Still I am not without the hope that, in this enlightened age, the true cause of the disease will yet be discovered,.. and the suitable remedy devised; and whoever shall be so fortunate as

to make the important discovery, may certainly claim to be considered as one of the greatest benefactors of the age.

Carrots have been found a valuable substitute for the potato for feeding; and the cultivation of this root is gradually increasing from year to year. As it is produced for home consumption, no individual has, to my knowledge, gone into it very extensively. The yield varies from 600 to 1,000 bushels per acre. The cultivation of an acre requires much more labor than the same quantity of ground in potatoes; but as the carrot may be sown in drills as near as 10 or 12 inches, the yield is much more abundant. Among the different varieties, the long orange carrot is considered as entitled to the preference.

Fruit. The cultivation of fruit is receiving increased attention; indeed, all are ready to admit that it has heretofore been too much neglected. Our climate is not well suited to the peach; and the plumb and cherry are much affected by the black knot, which, if not attended to thoroughly, soon destroys the tree. The fruit is also liable to be destroyed, or much injured, by the curculio; consequently, these are serious drawbacks upon the cultivation of the stone fruits. With the apple and pear, however, it is quite different. These may be produced in great abundance, and in the highest degree of perfection. The land appropriated to an orchard of judiciously selected varieties of fruits, if properly managed, can be made full as profitable as by any other use to which it can be applied in proportion to the amount of labor required. Indeed, in most seasons, there are but few crops that would furnish anything like an equal profit in proportion to the quantity of land occupied. Although the other fruits may, in time, be made profitable, as yet our principal reliance as a market fruit has been the winter apples. These, in favorable seasons, are beginning to be produced in large quantities, and usually find a ready sale. Many thousands of barrels have been marketed in a single season from this and the adjacent towns, and the quantity is rapidly increasing; but, notwithstanding the increased production, the demand seems to increase in about the same ratio-the prices remaining as good as the average of former years.

The varieties most generally cultivated among us for winter use, as being most valuable for that purpose, are the Rhode Island greening, the Esopus Spitzenberg, the Baldwin, and the English and Roxbury russet. The Newtown pippin does not succeed well with us; and the northern spy, though highly recommended, has not, as yet, been sufficiently tested, although I think highly of the apple as an article of food for stock. Still, with the knowledge now possessed with regard to the cultivation of fruits, the farmer who shall be so neglectful of his apple orchard as to permit the growth of any considerable quantity of such varieties as cannot be used more profitably than in feeding to hogs, or cattle, is certainly guilty of a great oversight. No one, it is presumed, will claim that a bushel of apples contains as much nutriment as a bushel of corn; and yet, with proper care, the quality of the fruit may be made such as to command an equal price in market. Still, as, owing to a variety of causes, some portion of the fruit of each year will be found of a quality unsuitable for market, notwithstanding the greatest amount of care has been bestowed upon its cultivation, I know of no better use to which it can be applied than that of feeding. Given prudently to milch cows, apples induce an increased flow of milk; to sheep, removed from their pastures

to dry fodder, they appear to be a great luxury, and are highly conducive to health, if given in moderate quantities; and, for wintering swine, I consider them far preferable to raw potatoes; indeed, I am inclined to believe, from some facts that have fallen under my observation, that if a selection were made of varieties best adapted to that purpose, apples would be found fully equal in value to the potato for feeding to swine, in any manner in which the latter vegetable might be prepared. As a general rule, sweet apples would, no doubt, be found most valuable for this purpose. Still, I would not make my selection wholly from them, for the appetite of the animal should surely be allowed to have some influence on the decision; and I have frequently observed that, when allowed to select at will, in an orchard where the different varieties were accessible, the pig often manifests a preference for a sour apple, or one moderately tart, if it is rich and juicy. With such a chance for selection, I have known pigs to thrive more rapidly than those of the same litter confined in the sty, and attempted to be fattened on boiled potatoes and pumpkins, mixed with milk, and made as palatable as possible. I would say to the farmer, cultivate none but the best varieties of apples; it costs but a trifle more to raise the very best than it does to produce the inferior varieties. If your trees are old, and still vigorous, but yielding inferior fruit, renew the tops by grafting, and you will soon reap a rich reward. If the tree is decayed or unhealthy, remove it at once, and let its place. be supplied with one that will be worthy of your care, and not a mere cumberer of the ground. Then, if the time should ever arrive when the markets should be glutted to that extent that you cannot make a sale at a remunerating price, you will still find that your labor has not been in vain; you have secured for yourself and family, during most of the year, a palatable and healthy treat; and for the surplus, even your swine grunt forth their gratitude to you while they luxuriate upon the luscious repast.

I have, sir, thus hastily touched upon some of the subjects to which you have done me the honor to call my attention. Owing to the disadvantages under which I labor at present, in consequence of ill health, I confess I have not been able to do this in a manner satisfactory even to myself. Were I able, I should be happy, not only to reply to several of your inquiries which I am now compelled to pass without notice, but also to remark upon the cultivation of some crops grown in this county which I do not find in your list, viz: hops, teazles, and broom corn, all of which are cultivated to a considerable extent with us, and usually yield good profits; but as I have already exceeded the limits I first proposed for myself, I must close.

Wishing you abundant success in your really important undertaking, I am, dear sir, very respectfully, yours,

LORENZO ROUSE.

STATE OF NEW YORK, CAYUGA COUNTY,
December 1, 1851.

SIR: Your Circular, requesting agricultural information, was duly received.

Wheat is the leading crop in this section. I am not aware that guano is used to any extent as a fertilizer in the production of any crops.