Wheat. The usual average product of wheat per acre is from 15 to 20 bushels, although 30 bushels are often raised. Time of seeding, from 15th August to 15th September; some sow still later. The time of harvesting commences generally about the 1st to the 8th of July, and continues some 3 weeks. No particular preparation of seed known. Quantity sown per acre, from 1 to 2 bushels, generally 13 bushel. What particular variety has proved most advantageous, not informed. Corn.-Average product per acre, about 40 bushels. Cost of production: 12 cents per bushel is paid for raising. For that price it is raised, cut up, and delivered in the shock, not husked or shelled; the land and house rent furnished, together with a small amount of pasturagesay for 2 or 3 cows and 2 horses. Not much manuring done for corn. The plough and hoe mainly used; some, however, use the cultivator. The general method of feeding is raw, and often fed in the field, without gathering; but it is believed that much saving would result from boiling or grinding, especially if ground with the cob, then fed to cattle and sheep. No knowledge of any experiment having been tried to ascertain what would be the product of any given quantity of manure of any kind. The average yield of oats is said to be about 40 bushels per acre. Considerable quantities raised, both for home use and for exportation. Average price, 20 to 25 cents per bushel. Barley.-Average yield of barley per acre, 40 bushels; but small quantity raised; price, 37 to 40 cents per bushel. Rye.-Average product per acre, 25 bushels; price, 40 to 45 cents per bushel; none grown for exportation. Peas and Beans.-No fields of peas or beans raised; some few beans. raised with corn; usual price of beans, 75 cents per bushel. Clover and Grasses.-Timothy usually produces about 13 ton per acre. Large quantities of clover were formerly raised in this county. In one season, a few years since, over 20,000 bushels were exported. Since that time the seasons have not been favorable; the grasshoppers have destroyed much, and it has become more profitable to use the pastures for sheep than to cultivate clover for the seed. Timothy is generally preferred for meadows, when intended for hay or pasture. Some, however, prefer a slight mixture of clover. Quantity sown to acre usually about 1 peck of either, or both mixed; cost of growing hay, $1 50 to $2 per ton; average price, delivered, $4 50 to $5. Butter and Cheese.-No particular or systematic method of making butter, although large quantities are annually made, both for home consumption and for exportation. The amount exported annually will not fall short of 200,000 pounds, and may be much more; average price, 8 to 10 cents. Very little attention paid to the manufacture of cheese; much that is consumed here is brought from the Western Reserve. No means of knowing the relative cost of making butter and cheese, nor the product of either per cow, or from a given quantity of milk. Neat Cattle-Cost of raising until 3 years old, about $13 to $15; usual price per head at that age, $18 to $20; value of good dairy cows in spring, $15; in fall, say $12. Cannot say how much beef 100 pounds of corn will yield, or which stock yields the most; but the Durham stock is generally preferred for beef. For breaking steers, no particular method. Horses and Mules.-The growing of these is esteemed profitable at present prices. The expense till 3 years old for colts, $45; mules, $35 to $40. Best method of breaking, by kindness. Harsh treatment to the horse is productive of much evil: it injures the disposition, and makes him unsafe. So say our best horsemen. Sheep and Wool.-Our farmers consider the growing of sheep and wool, at present prices, as profitable as any branch of their business, if not the most so; but they do not expect the last year's prices to continue. Cost of growing coarse wool, per pound, about 18 cents; for fine, about 25 cents. I can hear of no experiments having been tried to ascertain how much wool a given quantity of hay would produce. I believe our farmers prefer to raise good-sized sheep, although the wool should not be as fine as best Saxony; they then have more wool, and the sheep are worth more for mutton. For that purpose, they cross the Saxony with the French merino, and other large sheep. The proportion of lambs annually raised to the number of ewes is, I am informed, about 75 to the 100 ewes. Hogs. A considerable number of hogs are annually raised and fattened in the county; but the most approved breeds have not been introduced. No experiments have been made to ascertain the comparative merits of the different breeds, the best modes of feeding, or the best methods of curing pork and bacon. Hemp.-No hemp has as yet been grown in the county; but I have no doubt that our lands (especially the plains) are well adapted to the culture of hemp, and that it would pay much better than wheat. Turnips, Carrots, Beets, &c., are not cultivated as field crops, at least so as to be used as feed for stock, to any great extent. Potatoes.-The rot has so completely destroyed the potato for some years past, that few are now cultivated. No variety appears to be exempt from the disease; no remedy known which has proved of much service. Some think they have found benefit by the use of lime, applied so soon as the potatoes are taken from the ground. The lime dries the surface, and it also prevents the disease from communicating from unsound to sound ones. Fruit Culture.-The culture of fruit, particularly of apples, has for many years past received considerable attention. Many of the best varieties known in the United States have been introduced; and most kinds grow well, and are of equal flavor with those of any part of the State. The crop is usually good; but within a few years it has been much injured by an insect, which stings the apple when young, and deposits its egg, which produces a worm, that eats and destroys the core of the apple, and causes decay. No remedy has been discovered to prevent its ravages. Should this evil subside, and our projected railroads be completed, affording cheap transportation to the East and South, the apple crop will be quite productive. The peach crop is quite uncertain; the blossom buds generally get winter bitten; yet when they escape, the crop is sometimes large, and the quality good. Grapes.-The few experiments which have been tried with the grape go to prove that it could be cultivated to advantage in many parts of our county whenever it shall receive proper attention. Manuring.-No experiments have been instituted to test the relative value of the different manures-no lime or plaster, and, so far as I can ascertain, certainly no guano. We have in this county several beds of shell-marl as good as to be found anywhere; but it has not been tried as a manure. BUCYRUS, OHIO, January 5, 1852. SIR: I have succeeded in raising a crop of corn the past season, the debit and credit of which stand thus: To 10 days ploughing... $10 00 By 700 bushels corn.... $218 75 5 days harrowing... 5 00 Fodder.... 75.00 4 00 62 3.00 3.00 shovel-plough.... I find, by careful comparison, that the fodder on each acre is worth more than 1 ton of my best hay for feeding sheep or cattle, the market value being $5 per ton for hay. These figures make the fodder exceed in value the whole cost of production $24 31, which will pay for boarding and husking-items not included above-amply, leaving all the corn and pumpkins as net profit. The 10 acres on which this was raised have been in cultivation 12 years; it is rather a low price of ground, and has paid as great an annual profit, I think, as any in this vicinity. I see as much of the elements of crops in it at present as when first cultivated-a matter of vast consequence to the farmer. The above result is nothing more than every man, by ordinary good farming, can obtain if he will abstain from making an annual dividend at the expense of his capital. I know of no other source from which Hudson (the so-called Railway King) could have borrowed his system of management, unless our American farmers suggested the idea. I have computed the labor and the crops at their market value, and am not able to see any error in my calculations. My plan will be to feed all the produce of this field, and return the manure so made back; give a thorough ploughing and harrowing, plant and cultivate as before, and seed with clover; then go through with the cultivator the last time; by which means as good or a better crop of corn will be obtained, and the field not exhausted. I have omitted to state that the field had been used as a pasture the season previous to planting with corn. I have been cultivating the Osage orange, as a substitute for rail fence, for three years; have sown a quart of seed each spring. The first quart was carefully sown, after soaking a number of days in warm water, from which I obtained nearly 1,200 plants, one third not germinating until the second spring. The second quart, treated similarly, did not produce 100 plants. On the 30th of last April I sowed the third quart of seed, which had been soaked in warm water 5 days, to which I added as much saleratus as I could take up with my thumb and finger, repeating the dose as often as necessary. As soon as sown, the rows of seed were covered with boards, which were not taken off until some of the plants had made their way up to them. I think every seed must have vegetated, as it produced about 8,000 plants. I think 1 inch the right depth to cover the seed, and that it is essential to have the soil deep, mellow, rich, and moist. My plan of planting the hedge has been to throw up land, ten feet wide, with the plough, going as deep as possible; harrow until well pulverized; strike a furrow on the centre, straight as a line; stretch a line over the centre of the furrow, put in the plants, 14 inches apart, carefully pressing the soil around them, and placing them exactly where wanted. I cultivate a row of potatoes, or some other vegetable which will not shade them, on each side the first and second seasons. As to their capacity to stand transplanting, I will state that, in 28 rods of two-year-old plants, put out last spring, not a single failure occurred. They were cut off at the surface of the ground when planted. They now stand nearly 5 feet in height. It is my impression that any clipping the first summer retards their growth. Taking all things in view, twoyear-old plants are the best for setting. They require less attention, and make a fence quicker. The expense of preparing ground and planting will not exceed 10 cents per rod. There is a large portion of north western Ohio that is level, and abounding in low grounds that are more or less overflowed with water every season, which prevents their otherwise profitable culture. The soil being of the most fertile description, makes the draining of them very desirable, aside from the influence they exert upon the health and appearance of the country. They scarcely need a drain exceeding 18 inches or two feet in depth. Digging them with the shovel being a laborious, costly, and otherwise objectionable method, induced me to try ox-power for the purpose. I first ploughed, where I wished the drain, to the right width, and as deep as I could; then took a scraper and hauled the dirt into the low places adjoining them by improving the surface; if not deep enough, ploughed again, or until of the required depth. The Report from your Office is annually diffusing much valuable information through our land. It is to be regretted that so many of them find their way to those who make politics, instead of farming, their business. Yours, truly, Hon. THOMAS EWBANK, BENJAMIN SEARS. Commissioner of Patents. MOUNT GILEAD, MARION COUNTY, OHIO, SIR: Your Circular, making inquiries in relation to the agricultural products of the county, came to hand by the politeness of Mr. Chase; and I embrace the earliest opportunity possible to reply to your interrogatories. Wheat.-Guano has never been used in this county; our soil is mostly a clay soil, with some muck bottom lands. Wheat is sown from the 1st to the 15th of September. An average yield is about 25 bushels to the acre. We sow about 13 bushel to the acre. But little summer fallowing is done here; we have subsoiled some, with excellent results. Farmers are adopting the plan of ploughing from 8 to 10 inches deep. The average price of wheat at our market during 1851 has been about 55 cents for white wheat. I am satisfied that the best system of rotation on our soil is to turn sod and subsoil for corn; sow oats the next spring; and after seeding with oats, seed with wheat; then with clover. Corn.--Our average crop of corn is about 50 bushels to the acre; average price, 28 cents per bushel. The average quantity of hay, per acre, is 2 tons; seeds preferred are clover and timothy, mixed. Average price of cheese, per pound, 6 cents; butter, 10 cents. Value of good dairy cows in the fall, $14; in the spring, $18. I think the best plan of breaking steers is to take them at the age of one year, when easy to handle; or to yoke them with oxen already broken. Wool growing is considered profitable. Considerable excitement has existed in the wool-market, and consequently among wool-growers here, during the past season. Ordinary flocks sold readily last spring, after shearing, at $1 each. Thus 100 head would cost.. Interest on $100.. Cost of keeping 100 head of ordinary sheep one year.. $100 00 6 00 75 00 181 00 But to make it safe, we will estimate the cost at $200. Estimating the profits on the wool taken from 100 sheep of ordinary quality, and allowing 3 pounds per head, we have 300 pounds of wool, at 35 cents per pound... 45 lambs, above loss of flock... 100 sheep on hand.. Total..... Deducting cost of flock and keeping.. Clear profit on 100 sheep, or 50 per cent. profit.... $105 00 45 00 100 00 250 00 200 00 50 00 This is a low calculation, and provides for graining the sheep during the winter. We will next take a flock of fine Pennsylvania merino sheep: Keeping (in keeping, we find sheep with grain). Total expense. Wool on 100 head of fine merino sheep, allowing 3 pounds per head, 300 pounds; which, at 50 cents per pound.. 45 lambs, above loss of flock, at $2 50 per head.. Worth of original flock.... Total.... Deducting expenses.. Clear profit on 100 sheep.. or 59 per cent. in favor of fine wool. $250 00 15.00 100 00. 365 00 $50 00 112 50 250 00 512 50 365 00 147 50 |