table matter that, in the state of nature, was spread over its surface-the probable accumulation of ages. The State of Michigan is yet in its infancy; but her resources have been developed sufficiently to show that she possesses all the elements of future agricultural greatness. With a soil naturally rich and productive, and a population eminently devoted to agricultural pursuits, she is des tined to occupy a prominent position in this great republic. I would suggest that, with the facilities which we now possess by means of railroad and other communications with the East-for exporting neat cattle and horses, and in consequence of the low prices of produce, particularly wheat, our farmers would find it much to their advantage to turn their attention now to raising stock. Respectfully, your obedient servant, The COMMISSIONER OF PATENTS. J. D. YUKES. SOUTH NANKIN, WAYNE COUNTY, MICHIGAN. SIR: In your Circular for the present year, you invite farmers to answer certain questions therein propounded. I will endeavor, in my poor way, to answer some of them that relate to the potato crop. Our soil is a light sand. The average yield per acre, taking the town together, does not exceed 150 bushels; the cost of production, 10 cents per bushel. The most prolific are the early June, (white,) flesh-colored, the long pinkeye, and a large black potato, similar in shape to the merino. The best system in planting is in drills, about 3 feet apart; last of April, tillage. I prefer a clover sod; it should be ploughed early in October; deep, flat furrows, thoroughly pulverized with a steel-tooth cultivator, the last week in April; strike furrows with a light plough, north and south-(so that the sun can shine on both sides of the rows;) drop the potatoes once in a foot; cover with the plough. Potatoes should be kept perfectly clear from weeds, as the yield depends almost wholly upon this. Manuring should be done, just before the potato breaks the soil, by using green manure, so as to cover the drills from two to three inches deep, which keeps the ground moist just at the right time; and, as soon as the potatoes are large enough, cover the manure with earth, as a preventive of the rot. Use an early variety of potato and plant early. Hon. THOS. EWBANK, Respectfully, yours, Commissioner of Patents. HARRY LEWIS. ANN ARBOR, WASHTENAW COUNTY, MICH., December 25, 1850. SIR: In replying to your Circular of August last, I would say that this season has been a very productive one, in this region, for grain of all kinds, and other produce of the farmer; nearly everything of which has commanded a liberal price in cash; so that there has never been a year of greater prosperity to the farmer than this. Our soil is naturally so rich, and as yet so little exhausted, that but little attention has been paid to manure. Guano has not been used. Wheat. The average product of wheat is 22 bushels per acre, and somewhat increasing, owing to improvement in preparing the ground; indeed, some of our best farmers find it very easy, by a superior manner of tilling, to make their average exceed 30 bushels per acre. The best method for fallow is, to plough twice or three times, six to ten inches, or more, deep; harrow well; and sow one bushel and a half to the acre, with a cultivator, from September 1 to October 5. Early-sown generally best. I wait until after the frost, to avoid the Hessian fly, which has not been troublesome lately. It is also a great benefit to keep sheep on the fallow whenever the feed will support them. Average price of wheat this fall, 60 cents. Corn.-Average product of corn this season is about 40 bushels per acre, costing about 25 cents, exclusive of use of the land to raise it. Best method to feed is to grind and cook; but we generally feed in the ear. Oats yield about 40 bushels to the acre; barley, 35; rye, 30; beans, 20. Peas did better the past year; but, from the frequent failure, few were sown. Oats most injurious to the land; barley, peas, leave it in a good state for wheat. Hay. We cut from one and a half to two tons per acre. best fertilizer. and beans Clover is the Cattle do well in clover pastures; but sheep like herdsgrass or timothy. Dairy.-Average cost of rearing calves until three years old is $12, which is about their worth; good breeds, worth $16; new milch-cows, worth $15 to $25. I give the product of my neighbor, who supplies me with cheese. He has ten good cows and ten ordinary ones, from which he has made, from 1st May to 1st December, 6,600 pounds cheese-about 330 pounds per cow-and 400 pounds butter, before and after making cheese. Raising Colts is profitable; it costs but little more to raise a colt than a calf; they require but little care, except giving them and the mares good feed. It is well to halter-break them the first winter, bit them at three years old, and harness with a strong, gentle horse, and drive without a load until they become gentle and thoroughly broken; avoid using the whip, if possible; kind treatment by far the best; colts, like children, are easiest governed by kindness with firmness. Wool-growing is very profitable, quite as much so as any other branch of business. It is very extensively carried on in this vicinity, and is on the increase. With wheat, it is the great staple of Michigan. Cost about 15 cents per pound to grow common native wool or Paular merino; other merino 18 cents. Saxony 30 to 35 cents. Large sheep are most profitable for mutton, and those with heaviest fleeces for wool. There was little difference of price between coarse and fine wool the past year. Any kind of clear wool sold for 35 cents, while the very finest sold for only 40 to 45 cents. Native and Paular ewes will rear about their own number of lambs, while Saxony and small merino will not average over half their number; and they require a great deal of care during the winter. Hogs.-I see by the pork brought to market this fall that our hogs are again improving. The Leicester, Byfield, and cross are the most esteemed. Best method of putting up pork for family use is to take out all the bone and lean meat, pack the side pork with rock-salt, and cover with strong brine. Hams and shoulders should be divested, as much as possible, of the bone; then packed in a molasses hogshead, covered with a brine made of eight pounds rock-salt, five ounces saltpetre, two quarts molasses, three large raw peppers, three gallons water, to 100 pounds. Heat and skim it. Keep in brine three weeks, then smoke thoroughly with cobs or hickory chips, and keep them from the flies. The Culture of Fruit is receiving increased attention, and is becoming a very profitable crop, particularly good varieties of apples, peaches, and pears; all of which do remarkably well. Russets, greenings, and Spitzenbergs are among the best varieties for keeping. The bellflower, gilliflower, and Newtown pippins are about the best for exportation, perhaps. The last is the very best. In conclusion, allow me to say that, by comparing the statements in your last Report of the amount of produce in the different States, and by my own observation, I am more than ever convinced that this county in Michigan is one of the best, if not the very best, county in the Union for the farmer; and I should advise the young men of New England, instead of slaving themselves in fertilizing the rough sides of their mountains, or waiting for their good old fathers to die, so that they may divide with their brothers or sisters their already small and worn-out farms, to come to Michigan and secure to themselves a better and larger farm than their fathers ever had-each taking care, before starting, to engage a good, industrious daughter of one of his neighbors to come on as soon as he gets his first wheat field enclosed and his log-house built. Respectfully, yours, Hon. THOS. EWBANK, WM. S. RAYMOND. ADRIAN, LENAWEE COUNTY, MICHIGAN, December 3, 1851. SIR: The state of agriculture in this county is constantly improving. Hitherto the wheat crop has been almost the sole reliance of the mass of our farmers, and the principal effort has been to put in as large an amount of it as possible, at the least possible expense, and to hurry it to market in the shortest possible time. Half-cultivated fields, poor crops, and those often injured from not being secured as soon as they should have been, owing to so much of the labor of the year being crowded into a few days, have been the result. But the opinion is fast becoming prevalent that the wheat crop is the least remunerative of almost anything a farmer can devote his attention to, and the eyes of agriculturists are being turned in other directions for something that will better repay them for their outlay and toil. The cost of raising wheat in this State, including interest on the capital invested in the soil, and excluding the expense of harvesting, varies from 40 to 55 cents per bushel when an ordinary crop is obtained; and this, where the crop is so uncertain as it is in Michigan, leaves but a narrow margin for profit, the price in market ordinarily ranging between 50 and 88 cents per bushel. The average wheat crop of this county, which is universally conceded to be one of the richest in the West, will not exceed, I think, 12 bushels per acre for the last 10 years. There are many reasons for this, but I, think the most prominent of all is the careless manner in which the wheat field is so generally cultivated. Shallow ploughing, that merely skimmed the surface, successive cropping year after year, until the surface-soil was exhausted, or sowing after corn, first turning under a luxuriant crop of weeds, and leaving weeds and wheat to struggle all through the season for the mastery, may almost be said to have been the rule, and thorough cultivation the exception. As our farmers improve in their circumstances, a great change is observable in this respect. That mode of cultivation-which at present is cheap, but eventually dear, and the prime motive to which is quick returns for small outlays-is being abandoned for a more judicious and less exhausting course. The crop of the present year is probably the best ever raised in the county, and was certainly the best put in. It is difficult to say what will be the average, but I think 20 bushels per acre will not vary much from the truth. The best five acres in the county averaged 55 bushels, but the second best that was reported to the County Agricultural Society averaged only 34. A great many fields averaged from 32 to 34, and the most of them, too, without unusual cultivation. On almost any of the cultivated lands in this county there is no difficulty in raising from 20 to 35 bushels of this grain per acre, by proper cultivation, when the season is favorable. Still our open winters always render the crop an uncertain one, and make it the interest of the farmer to devote his attention more particularly to other branches of agriculture. Of the varieties raised, the Mediterranean would seem to be the most profitable, were it not that the dark color of the flour detracts greatly from its price in market. It is the most certain to produce a good crop of any kind with which we are acquainted here, and ordinarily weighs heavier than any other; but it is never a favorite with the pastry cook, and commands in market about six cents per bushel less than the white varieties. The white-flint is a very general favorite, but the Siberian and Soule's varieties are perhaps equally so. Wool. Next to wheat, wool is now the most important crop raised for sale in this State. The kinds of sheep kept are mostly of the coarsewool varieties, with some small proportion of Saxon and merino blood; but the imported breeds are fast being introduced from Chautauque county, New York; from Vermont, and other portions of the eastern States; quite a number of Paular merino, and other fine wool bucks, have been brought into the county the present year. A better quality of wool is now every year exported, but buyers make so little difference in the price as rather to discourage than encourage this state of things, and to induce many to incline to the long coarse-wool breeds. But more care and discrimination are observable every year in the purchase of this commodity. The quantity of wool purchased in this village the present season was 170,000 pounds, at an average price of 39 cents. There are several other villages in the county; but, as near as I can ascertain, the above amount is full three-fifths what was purchased in the county. This is an increase of about 33 per cent. on the purchases of last year. A large amount is retained for home manufacture, but it is impossible to say what proportion of the whole clip. The population of Lenawee county is less than one-fourteenth of the whole population of the State. Beyond question, more sheep are kept here, in proportion to population, than in newer counties; and I doubt if it would vary much from the fact if the amount of wool exported from this county should be set down at one-tenth the total sales of the State. An estimate on this basis would produce the following result, and show the vast importance of the wool crop to this State: Exports of wool from Lenawee county. Total exports from the State... Cost, as above.... .. 280,000 pounds. $109,000 2,800,000 pounds .$1,090,000 The clip of another year may not bring so high a price, but it will certainly be larger in amount than the figures above given. The woolgrowers of Michigan possess an advantage over those of the eastern. States which will not fail to be soon appreciated. Owing to the cheapness of land, they require a capital of only from 20 to 50 per cent. of the amount needed further east; and from the more mild and open character of our winters, they can produce the same amount of wool at a cheaper rate. They can then sell it at prices differing only nominally from those paid at the doors of the manufacturer. Corn. The quantity of corn raised is constantly increasing. The season this year was wet, and the crop comparatively a poor one-probably not averaging over 30 bushels per acre. The white and yellow Dent are raised principally, and yield better than other varieties. A good deal of this county is naturally well adapted to the growth of corn; and, with proper cultivation, in favorable seasons, crops of from 75 to 120 bushels may be raised. The best 5 acres raised in the county this year averaged 77 bushels per acre. The average price this fall has been about 33 cents; and, at this price, it is considered more profitable to raise than to grow wheat at 75 cents. Taking one year with another, the labor and expense that will be required to raise 10 bushels of wheat will be sufficient for the production of 25 bushels of corn. The great bulk of the corn raised is fed out at home to hogs, cattle, and horses; but a large amount is also exported. Taking one year with another, there is undoubtedly now more corn than wheat raised in the State, and I think there is more even this year. Barley. But a trifling amount raised-little more than sufficient to supply the two or three breweries in the county. Price, about 38 cents. Oats. This grain is raised principally for feeding horses, and is more relied upon as food for them than any other. The amount raised is from 30 to 60 bushels per acre, and it varies in price from 18 to 30 cents, averaging about 22. Our best farmers do not ordinarily raise much for sale. Corn is quite as profitable, and less exhausting to the soil. Rye. None of consequence raised. It brings, in market, about the same price as barley, and is raised at an additional expense of probably 50 per cent. Potatoes.-A larger proportion than usual of this vegetable was destroyed by the rot this year. On sandy soils the disease was less prevalent than elsewhere; but no kind of soil seems to be entirely exempt |