from its ravages. Potatoes are now bringing 50 cents per bushel; which is about twice the usual price. No remedy yet devised for the disease seems to be effectual. Sweet Potatoes.-But two or three years have elapsed since people in this county commenced the cultivation of this root, and then only as a garden vegetable. On dry, warm, sandy soil, it is productive, and grows to a good size; but the experiments made, as yet, are on a very limited scale. Price in market, from 6 to 8 shillings per bushel. Other Root Crops.-Beets, carrots, turnips, and cabbages are, in general, raised only for consumption in the family. The importance of root crops for feeding swine and stock does not seem to be generally understood; and corn, oats, and other more expensive feed are more used. Even potatoes, though raised at a much greater expense than carrots or turnips, are yet more generally used than both together. The cultivation of the ruta-baga turnip is, however, increasing, as is also that of the carrot, to a less extent. This last, for milch-cows, is usually considered the best of the roots. Hay. The crop of hay the present season is about an average one. A good portion of this county is well suited to the growth of the grasses, and from 1 to 3 tons per acre (depending principally on the manner in which the soil is cultivated) are raised. Some little corn is sown broadcast for fodder, but to no great extent. The price of hay this fall averages about $6 per ton. Manures.-But a small portion of our farming lands, as yet, needs manure; but the difficulty is in stopping the exhausting process when once begun. Clover is quite popular as a manure, particularly for wheat; and some of our farmers never sow wheat without also sowing clover, either for a change of crops or for turning under, as a preparation for wheat again. Buckwheat is sometimes sown for the same purpose; but the manure principally used is the farm-yard manure; and farmers are beginning to employ much care and pains in properly preserving it. But little, comparatively, is now wasted. That made in villages is generally either given or sold to farmers in the vicinity, and thus turned to good account. Plaster is used, but not to the extent needed-particularly upon the worn-out lands. I say worn-out lands; but this may seem a very strange term to apply to soil that, 25 years since, had never felt the pressure of the white man's foot. In truth, we have, as yet, no worn-out lands; and those farms which appear such are only those which, year after year, have been skimmed over by those who have held the honorable name of farmer, and subjected the soil to the sluggard's cultivation, or the careless man's ill usage. Ordinarily, deep ploughing, and a little plaster, or a proper dressing of other manures, will induce such land to return thirty or fifty fold, while, for such fellows, it had reluctantly yielded five or ten fold. Agricultural Society.-There is established in this county an agricultural and horticultural society, which is accomplishing much good. It distributed this season $588 in premiums, and its annual fair would have done no discredit to any county in the valley of the Genesee. Very truly, your obedient servant, Hon. THOMAS EWBANK, Commissioner of Patents. THOMAS M. COOLEY. INDIANA. LA PORTE, INDIANA, December 3, 1850. SIR: This being a frontier county of our State, although possessed of many natural privileges-such as nearness to a good and ready market, a rich soil, good, natural roads, &c.—yet our population is so fluctuating, that, for many years to come, we may not arrive at much excellence in agriculture or manufactures. Notwithstanding this, our exports are very considerable especially if we take into consideration the comparatively high cash price which our agricultural products bring. First, as to our crops: Wheat. The wheat sown down in autumn, 1849, made a fine appearance before the winter set in; and, the winter being favorable for the young wheat, its appearance in the opening of the spring was also auspicious. The coldness of the spring, and its lateness, were favorable; the warm rains and warm weather in June caused a most rapid growth, which pushed it principally out of the reach of the rust; which, in this county, did but little harm, either to winter or spring wheat; which we will now show: our county contains about 350,000 acres; of this, one-seventh was estimated to be cultivated in wheat and corn-20,000 acres wheat, and 30,000 corn. The wheat crop averaged about 25 bushels per acre; making 500,000 bushels; its average weight 63 pounds per bushel; at 60 pounds per bushel, standard, we have 525,000 bushels. Deducting 25,000 bushels for consumption, we have for market 500,000; the average cash price at Michigan city is 70 cents per bushel; equalling the amount of $350,000 for wheat. The specimen of Troy wheat received from the Patent Office I had planted 21st October, by a careful wheat grower. Mr. G. Rose, of this county, informed me, when east, he purchased some wheat at $6 per bushel, called Troy wheat, and had it sown by way of making experi ment. It may be the same kind I received. Corn. This crop, I said, covered about 300,000 acres; its average product per acre is, by estimate, 40 bushels; average weight per bushel, 62 pounds. The standard weight in market is 56 pounds per bushel; amount of measured bushels is 1,200,000; overplus in weight is six pounds each bushel, 129,000 bushels; this added to the measure, 1,390, marketable weight; deduct for home consumption, 30,000 bushels, and we have for sale 1,360,000 bushels for market. This season, so far, new corn is at the average price of one third of a dollar per bushel. The amount of our corn-crop in market will be $450,000; this added to the receipts for our wheat, gives us $780,000. I will, out of this, make a large deduction of $30,000-the gross expense of seeding, harvesting, and threshing, and carrying to market-which leaves the net sum of $750,000. In my estimate of expenses, we must take into consideration the rapidity with which a crop of wheat may now be seeded, harvested, threshed, and cleaned, compared with the tardy way in which all these operations were performed ten years ago, and we cease to wonder at the small expense of corn. The most tedious operation is the shelling of it; by machinery, 1,000 are shelled in two or three days. Potatoes.-This crop is safer from the rot than heretofore. The portion of the crop which has been most affected by the rot is the mercer potato. The pink-eyes, both kinds, the black Meshanock, (so called,) and the red potato are free from the disease, and are very good and abundant; price, 25 cents per bushel. Sweet potatoes abundant and very good; average price, 38 cents. The crops of oats and barley are short, being much injured by the drought about the middle of June. The heavy warm rains at the close of the month, though they made the corn, were injurious to the oats and barley, which had their growth. I may remark here that the crop of wheat now in the ground looks admirable, and is quite a large crop; no fly or worm has yet molested it. The varieties of wheat sown are the Mediterranean, which is a hardy grain, not subject to be injured by the fly or rust; it has a hard, strong stalk, and produces heavy crops. The next best for this climate and soil is the white-chaff bearded wheat, a different variety from the Troy wheat; its yield is not equal to the Mediterranean. The third variety is the Canada; its best quality is that it resists the winter's severity. The fourth is the yellow lammas; it produces good flour. Another variety introduced is the Hutchinson; its quality is not known. The depth of ploughing for wheat depends upon the character of the soil. The amount. of acres cultivated in wheat and corn, and harvested, cannot be noticed in the United States marshal's report. Other matters, which I have reported in this connexion, seemed to me inseparable from the estimate. The soil is of four varieties-prairies, burr-oak barrens, oak openings, and the thickly timbered land, covered with poplar, sugar maple, walnut, white pine, oak, aspen, and a variety of small under-growth, all rich; but perhaps the prairies have the deepest soil, and produce the heaviest crops of corn. Three methods are adopted in seeding down wheat. Three times ploughing are considered necessary in fallows. One method of seeding is to harrow the seed thoroughly; another is, after the second ploughing, to harrow well the ground, sowing broadcast, and ploughing down the wheat. The third plan, and the best, is to prepare as in ploughing, and then seed with a drill. It is alleged that this resists the frost, and is not so much exposed to the bleak winds of the winter when the ground is bare. Let me say a word or two about culture of corn. The two varieties of corn are white and yellow; but a better than either seems to be a mixture of the two. In a field which a neighbor cultivated, and which I saw when planted, consisting of 90 acres, corn was produced, the ears of which were about 10 inches in length, with 20 rows filled closely to both ends; of mixed seed, and somewhat indented like ground seed; long grain, and small cob; the average per acre, 50 bushels. This was on prairie land. Rotation in crops has not been much attended to as yet. This is much to the injury of the soil, both in impoverishing it and in causing it to become foul. Cattle-In the feeding of cattle heretofore, the usual method has been to turn beef cattle for market into the corn-fields at a certain season, when the corn is out of the milk; and hogs, also, are fattened in the same way. In this way of fattening no estimate can be made. Young cattle, of 3 years old, average $15 per head. Fat hogs, 18 months old, weighing 200 pounds, $2 50 to $3 per hundred. When otherwise fattened than as above, the grain is ground. Wool. Whether this will become a grazing county or a profitable wool-growing county, cannot yet be decided. This is, however, certain: wool commands a ready sale and fair price; average per pound, 33 cents. Pork.-Mess pork, put up in good barrels of 200 pounds weight, is worth per barrel, at home, $8. Fruit. Our county will excel as a fruit-bearing county. This year the fruit is abundant. A gentlemen from this county carried some fruitapples and pears-and obtained the 2d premium therefor, at the Cincinnati great fair, during October last. Excellent grapes-Isabella, and some other varieties-have been in great abundance this year. The amount of iron cast at the furnace in La Porte this season is above what it was last year considerably, perhaps as high as 1,000 tons. a large portion of which is hollow ware and stoves, which find a ready sale. Plank roads are multiplying from this place as a centre. A railroad (the Mississippi and Buffalo) will reach this place next season. Observations on Meteorology. Here I close my communication for the current year. Had I anticipated your call on me for this year, I would have made exertions to have this report fuller; as it is, I thought it would be best not to trouble you with what would be more fully exhibited by the United States marshal. If the observations on the temperature and state of the weather have anything in them which you consider superfluous, you are the judge of the matter, and can reject what you deem so. I remain yours, with much respect, &c., JNO. C. REID. LA PORTE, INDIANA, December 21, 1851. SIR: Had time permitted, you should have heard from me sooner, although my essay (if entitled to the name) will be short. Yet I would consider myself inexcusable if I did not comply with your request. There are some things respecting public works, the state of trade, and the future prospect of this region of our State, which may not be uninteresting. The great western railroad from Dunkirk to this place will be finished westward from Toledo by the 5th or 10th January, 1852. The immense revolution which will be occasioned by the completion of this road, together with the competition to which it will give rise, can hardly be calculated. Heretofore the transit charges upon our produce, amounting to more than 25 per cent., to New York, and the charge on dry goods from New York to La Porte, at from 75 cents to $1 05 per cwt., must be diminished more than 50 per cent. All these abstractions went into the hands of the intermediaries, such as merchants, commission merchants, brokers, peddlers, &c. Our beef and pork will not cost half the price for transportation to market. All this must benefit the agriculturist. The arrival of the railroad at La Porte has given a spur to all kinds of business; manufactories, with fine public buildings, and many dwellings, have been erected this year. One thing, however, is of dubious utility, which has increased very much in our county, as well as in all parts of the United States: probably double the usual amount of merchantable dry goods has been brought to market here. This inflation of our market by a foreign importation, although it enriches the merchant, impoverishes the consumer, who inevitably pays the duty. Crops.-I will now proceed to give some account of our crops for the current year. As a whole, our crops have been better, uniformly, than usual. The county of La Porte contains about 500 square miles, or 320,000 acres. Of this 25 per cent. is in cultivation, 25 per cent. marsh lands, which leaves 160,000 acres not under cultivation, of wild land. From the best information I have been able to obtain, the land in crop the season now closing may be classed as follows: In wheat, 15,000 acres; corn, 40,000 acres; oats, 15,000 acres; grass, 10,000 acres. The average crop of the wheat is estimated at 15 bushels to the acre.. ... The corn at 40. The hay at 1 ton.. 300,000 bushels. For the current year the prices have been the following average, which I have been curious to ascertain monthly: For wheat, 67 cents per bushel; for corn, 32 cents per bushel; for oats, 20 cents per bushel; for hay, per ton, $7. |