Frost on 24th, 2d, and 7th. Ice -inch thick On 28th 900 at 2 p. m.; on 29th 88° at 2 p. m. On 31st 530 at sunrise; 900 at 2 p. m. Dryest Little frost. On 11th 990 at 2 p. m. On 7th 800 at 2 p. m.; on 9th 820 at 2 p. m.; on 20th 720 at 2 p. m. February... 53-4 34.67 46.17 56| 24 March April. 1328 78286 June.. August... September. * Four degrees below zero at sunrise; seventeen degrees above at 2 p. m. Mr. Harris has many bees. He numbers and weighs his hives. When his bees swarm into one, he weighs it again, and thus finds the weight. of the swarm. He afterwards occasionally weighs the hive, to ascertain whether the stock of honey is increasing or diminishing. He thus finds they are driven, at times, in the summer, to resort to their winter stores, and can spare no honey to the lords of creation, consistently with their own preservation. His thermometer is in an open shed, without sides, protected by a roof from the sun; the air has free circulation through the shed. I would suggest that the growths which may be counted in the large trees indicate, for hundreds of years back, the degree of dryness and wetness of seasons. One tree, as it might at some period have been in a diseased state, would not be conclusive. I counted one that showed that this region had suffered from drought for several years in succession, some 130 years ago. I did not seek to corroborate it by the testimony of other trees. The years 1816 and 1817 were very wet and cold; count back from the surface to those years, and you will find the growth of those years larger than most others. Apples. I have in my orchards above four hundred apple trees, of natural fruit; there are but two of them which I deem worth propagating by grafting; and the best of these two attracted no particular notice for six or eight years after I came into possession of the orchard. Good fruit, like good books, may exist some time before it is appreciated. I call it the ivory-sour, from its whiteness and agreeable acidity; it has a flavor all its own. When it is peeled, and cored with a tube, and the cavity made by cutting out the core is filled with loaf-sugar and then baked, it delights the eye by its whiteness, and the almost transparency of its substance, as well as the taste by its flavor. The first settlers here mostly raised apples from the seed; and thus produced many good varieties that will probably pass away, because not sufficiently brought into notice to be propagated. One that would suggest practicable measures to preserve them would deserve to be made chairman of a city agricultural society. A new apple is viewed in the market with distrust; hence, for exportation, that apple is best which is best known. The Newtown pippin has both fame and superior qualities. The Putman russet, the white red streaked Vandervere, or straight-whip, and Long Island pippin, I value, in the order named, as well-known and that keep well. The Gates, Rambo, bellflower, and Rhode Island greening, have more delicacy of constitution, and some seasons will not keep well; and hence nurserymen hesi tate to recommend them as winter-apples; but in years of large crops of fruit-of all kinds-indicating the absence of palsying late frosts, excessive cold, or drought-these varieties may be relied upon for keeping until February, March, and May. Last year I had Rambos and Gates through the whole of May. Hon. THOS. EWBANK, Commissioner of Patents. THOS. H. GENIN. KELLEY'S ISLAND, NEAR SANDUSKY CITY, OHIO, SIR: In answer to your Circular relating to agriculture, I would say, the staple crops of this township are wheat, corn, Irish potatoes, and fruits; the principal of which are apples, peaches, pears, quinces, cherries, and grapes. Wheat. Wheat is usually raised here by once ploughing, sowing one and a half bushel of seed per acre, and harrowing; little or no manure being used. The soil is a limestone clay; two or three crops are usually raised in succession on the same ground; then planted to corn, or seeded to grass or clover, for two or three years; costing about as follows (raised after corn, the corn being cut and removed from the land): One day, man and oxen ploughing, (per acre,)... One and three-fourth bushel seed.. Half day sowing, harrowing, and drawing, say. One and a quarter day harvesting and housing, say $125 156 56 2.00 2.50 $7 87 Usual yield, 25 bushels; costing about 314 cents per bushel. Many years the cost is not over 24 cents; but 31 cents may be called a fair average. Corn is usually raised, or planted, after two ploughings; unless it is on sward. Expense, beginning on sward: One day, man and two yoke of oxen, say. Two days weeding.. ..... .... Husking and cribbing, two days.. $2.50 1 00 150 1 50 $6 50 Yield, 60 bushels per acre; costing about 10 cents per bushel for the labor; calling the stalks worth as much as the cutting up and shelling the grain for market. To the next crop must be added, man and horse, ploughing, say $1 50; making the cost about 12 cents per bushel; seldom exceeding that amount. Potatoes require two days' work, per acre, more than corn, in planting and cultivating: Six to eight bushels seed, worth in the spring, say. $5.00 3.75 8 50 $17 25 Costing, housed, 12 cents; price, for the last season, has been 50 cents per bushel. I plant, for winter use, from the 20th of June to the 1st of July. Our frosts hold off to about the 1st of November. When planted so late, I have never had them rot. I esteem the Mashannock and pink-eye the best summer and fall potato; and a kind of black potato, that I have not seen raised elsewhere, the best for winter and spring; being very prolific; yielding one half more, or double that of the other varieties; and are excellent keepers. The red pink eye and English white are favorites with many; yielding better than the pink eye and Mashannocks, and keeping better. I have been using the subsoil plough the last three years, with the most satisfactory results; proving it a much cheaper method of improving worn land than manuring. I will give one experiment, as follows: 100 Lot 6 acres, seven years under annual cultivation, to wheat, corn, or potatoes, without manure; crops growing lighter. For eighth crop, ploughed with subsoil plough, one yoke of oxen; after the furrow plough, planted corn; light from neglect in hoeing; fine crop of weeds. Ninch crop, ploughed same manner the other way of lot, somewhat deeper than before, with both ploughs: crop improved; fed out without being measured; corn cut off 20th September 1850; wheat sowed without ploughing: One day sowing.... Two and a half days, man and team, harrowing and drawing. Yield, 241 bushels, costing 2 cents. Add seed, nine bushels white flint, say.. Costing less than six cents per bushel.. $1.00 3 13 75 4 S8 9.00 $13 88 The cost of sub-soil ploughing, previously, would not exceed 2 days per acre; man and one pair of oxen, $2 50 per acre; being much cheaper than hauling manure equivalent to it from the manure-yard to the land. This year, after the wheat was off, I again ploughed the same lot with two pair of oxen, No. 5 plough, as deep as it could go, say 12 to 16 inches, making a mellow soil of that depth, and throwing much of the sub-soil on top; again sowed it to wheat about the 1st of October, 1851. 'The result will be seen next year. Various kinds of wheat have been tried. The Genesee white flint has the most and strongest advocates, both for yield and quality. Grapes. Much attention is being paid here to the grape-the fruit never being killed by frost in spring or fall. It ripens perfectly every year. The Catawba and Isabella are the favorite varieties, being hardy, full, and constant bearers, and making wine of superior quality. The vine is traced on trellises (made of red cedar) set from 6 to 8 feet apart. The plants being from 3 to 5 feet in the rows, the expense of setting out and preparing an acre for 3 years, at which time they begin to bear, is from $100 to $150. When in full bearing, say 6th year and after, 200 to 300 bushels is a fair crop; worth $2 per bushel for wine. The annual cost of cultivation being from $50 to $75 per acre, yields a greater profit than anything a farmer can raise. Hon. THOS. EWBANK, ADDISON KELLEY. Commissioner of Patents. BELLEVILLE, RICHLAND COUNTY, OHIO, SIR: In compliance with your request, as contained in your Circular for 1851, I embrace the opportunity of giving you such general information as I am in possession of in relation to the improvement of agriculture and the exportation of products from this county. The articles of export are wheat, flour, corn, flaxseed, clover-seed, dried fruit, (apples and peaches,) horses, cattle, sheep, hogs, bacon, pork, 'lard, beef, tallow, butter, and cheese. Potatoes thrive well here, but there is not more cultivated than for home consumption. Wheat. This grain is cultivated to considerable extent, and produces well; its average yield with me is between 20 and 26 bushels per acre; and it will give that yield throughout the county, if the land is well cultivated. My time of sowing is from the 8th of September to the 1st of October, and time of harvesting from the 5th to the 20th of July. My manner of culture is to plough down a heavy crop of clover the latter part of July; I then harrow it well. Some use a heavy roller first after ploughing, and before harrowing; let it lie till 6 or 8 days before seeding, then cross harrow again. At seed time, I sow the wheat and harrow twice, or plough in with a shovel-plough or a cultivator. The wheat drill is coming into general use, and I think it a very elegant manner of putting in our wheat; there is an increase in the quantity of wheat, owing perhaps to a more thorough manner of its cultivation. My manner of rotation is a crop of wheat on a clover sod; the next year a crop of corn; the next a crop of oats, and again set to clover. I have no remedy for the Hessian fly or weevil, except late sowing to prevent the Hessian fly, and early sowing to prevent rust or weevil. The average price the past season, in Belleville and Mansfield, has been 60 cents; the present price is 50 cents. The best kind of wheat we have is white blue stem and whig wheat: the former a beautiful white berry, and the latter a red berry, with a very thin bran, producing beautiful white flour. Both varieties weigh from 60 to 66 pounds, and are much sought after in the market. Corn.-No guano is used as a manure in this part of the State. My average crop is about 35 bushels per acre. Last year my crop was 60 bushels per acre; season was very good. This year my crop has made 32 bushels per acre. This season was very poor for the growth of corn. My manner of cultivation is as follows: In May I plough my ground, and harrow it once; I then turn round, furrow it out 3 feet each way, (always ploughing from 6 to 8 inches deep;) drop from 3 to 5 kernels in a place; cover it well 3 inches deep; plant from the 15th to the 20th of May. At the time of planting, I rol my corn in plaster. This causes the corn to come up and grow very fast, and never to turn yellow. I then go through it twice with a cultivator; I then go through twice with a shovel plough, the last time going three furrows in a row. I then lay it by till the corn begins to be getting hard. I then top it; set the tops up till it is cured. When the corn is fit, I husk it on the stalk, turning stock in to eat it up clean, and they will fatten on it. Through experience, I find that at least one-third of a saving may be made by having the corn ground and cooked both for beef cattle and hogs; but the price of pork and beef in this country is so low, that it will not pay for this trouble. |