It is important to know what our relatio_The Commercial Products of the Vegetable Kingdom Considered in Their Various Uses to Man and in Their Relation to the Arts and Manufactures; Forming a Practical Treatise & Handbook of Reference for the Colonist, Manufacturer, Merchant, and Consumer, on the Cultivation, Preparation for Shipment, and Commercial Value, &c. of the Various Substances Obtained From Trees and Plants, Entering into the Husbandry of Tropical and Sub-tropical Regions, &c.

world, and what is, and what is likely to be, our contribution to

the great aggregate of production. Beyond feeding our own great and

rapidly increasing population, it probably will not soon, if ever,

be very great. It is a mistake, I apprehend, to suppose our country

is naturally a great wheat-producing country. The wheat district at

present, in comparison to the whole extent of our territory, is

limited. It is confined, so far as any appreciable amount is grown,

to about ten degrees of latitude and twenty degrees of longitude,

and embracing about one half the number of the States. The crop of

1848 is estimated by the Commissioner of Patents at one hundred and

twenty-six millions, and our population at twenty-two millions. This

gives a less number of bushels, per head, to our population than the

consumption of Great Britain, which is generally set down at one

hundred and sixty millions, or six bushels to each inhabitant. But

with us Indian corn is a great substitute; so are potatoes and oats

in Ireland and Scotland. Still our consumption of wheat, including

the black population, is undoubtedly less, per head, than theirs.

But in the absence of any certain data, to ascertain either the

actual production, or our consumption, our only safe course is to

take the actual excess, or the amount exported, after supplying our

own wants. This, for the fiscal year 1848, being the crop of 1847,

amounted, in flour and wheat, to twelve millions two hundred and

ninety-four thousand one hundred and seventy-five bushels, although

Mr. Burke's figures would show a surplus of some forty millions!

That there was not, and never has been any such surplus in the

country is very evident, for the foreign demand was all the time

good, and drew away all we had to part with.

The crop of 1848 was, undoubtedly, one of the best and largest we

have ever grown; yet I have ascertained, by application at the

registrar's office, that the exports for the fiscal year 1842,

amounted in wheat to but 1,527,534 bushels, and in flour to

2,108,013 barrels, or less by 226,676 bushels than the exports of

1848. Twelve millions is comparatively a small surplus in a

favorable season, for a country with a population of twenty-two

millions of inhabitants. The loss of a small per cent. in an

unfavorable season would at once sink this excess.

Let us now notice more in detail the different sections of our

country as adapted to the growth of wheat.

The New England States, some of them aided in their recent

enterprises by bounties offered by the state governments, have

failed to insure such success as is likely to encourage them to

continue the culture of wheat; or, at all events, to induce them to

aim at increasing their product to any considerable extent, since,

as one of their own farmers candidly states, "the attempt to grow a

crop of wheat is an experiment."

The States south of North Carolina, and inclusive of a part of

Delaware, have never heretofore succeeded in growing wheat to any

considerable extent, though there were periods in their

history--before the general introduction of the culture of

cotton--when, if it had been practicable to make the cereal one of

their staples, they would certainly have done so. Besides the common

dangers from rust and blight, the fly, and sometimes the frost--as

the past season--they have a most formidable enemy in the weevil. In

Upper Georgia, in the Cherokee country in particular, wheat will

probably be cultivated to some extent, and a limited cultivation of

it by the planters for their own use will probably continue in

several of the southern states. But the cotton, rice, and sugar

states, like the manufacturing states of New England, will not soon,

if ever, add much to the supply of wheat; the rich staples of the

former, and the varied husbandry and grazing of the latter, suited

to supply the immediate wants of a manufacturing population, will be

likely to receive their attention in preference.

Kentucky and Tennessee, though their agricultural history dates back

beyond the settlement of the north-western states, have already been

out-stripped by at least two of them. In neither of these states has

the culture of wheat ever been put forward, and regarded as one of

their best staples, or as very favorably adapted to their soil and

climate. Still, notwithstanding the formidable danger from rust, the

production of Tennessee is estimated to be equal to nine bushels to

each person, and Kentucky about seven and a half bushels. Missouri

may be classed with Kentucky and Tennessee, which she much resembles

in soil, climate, and productions, except that she raises much less

wheat than either, her crop being placed by the Commissioner of

Patents at only two millions, or less than four bushels to each

resident of the state. But, besides that the experience of the past

discourages the idea that these fine states are likely to become

great wheat-producing states, the fact that the staple of cotton may

be cultivated over a considerable portion of one of them, and that

hemp and tobacco are among the valuable products of the other two;

that Tennessee is the very largest corn-producing state in the

Union, showing her soil and climate are particularly adapted to this

description of grain, and that Kentucky and Missouri are unsurpassed

as grazing countries, and there is little ground to suppose that any

change in their husbandry will very greatly or suddenly augment the

production of wheat. Let us come now to the States of Indiana,

Illinois, Wisconsin, and Iowa, and that _fabulous_ wheat district or

territory to the west of these again, from which, according to the

vaticinations of some, may be drawn supplies of wheat to feed the

population of both Europe and America, or fill warehouses that would

sustain our people through a longer famine than that which afflicted

the people of Egypt! I cannot help thinking that, to some extent,

this generally fertile district of country has, so far as the

production of wheat is concerned, been "shouted forth in

acclamations hyperbolical." My own impression in regard to it is,

including the states last named, derived in part from observation,

from intercourse and correspondence with intelligent agriculturists

of these states, and from a careful examination of a geological

survey of two of them, that the soil and climate of this whole

district of country are _not_ particularly favorable to the

production of wheat. The popular idea I know to be otherwise. I am

not going to dwell upon it, or to examine the subject at any length.

There is a single remark that may help to explain the reputation

that has gone abroad in reference to the wheat-producing qualities

of these lands. The prairie sod, when first broken up, generally

produces wheat well, often most abundantly, provided it escapes the

rust, insect, &c. But, when this ground has been much furrowed,

becomes completely pulverized by exposure to the atmosphere, the

light and friable mould, of which most of it is composed, drenched,

as a good deal of it is, at times, with surface water, fails to hold

or sustain the roots of the plant, it is thrown out, or

winter-killed; and "winter-killed," "winter-killed,"

"winter-killed," we all know, is among the catalogue of disasters

that almost annually reach us. Sometimes, when escaping the winter,

the high winds of spring blow this light soil from the roots,

exposing them to such an extent, that, in a dry time in particular,

the wheat often perishes. When breaking up fresh prairies, there was

much encouragement and promise of hope, but which, I believe, has

not been, nor is likely to be, realized by their husbandmen, in the

degree that early experiments induced them to look for.

As appears by the last report of the Commissioner of Patents, the

crop of Illinois, in reference to population and production, is

below that of Kentucky, and both Indiana and Illinois are below that

of Tennessee. The crop of Indiana is set down at 8,300,000, her

population at 1,000,000, or equal to 8½ bushels a-head. The

production of Illinois is stated at 5,400,000, her population at

800,000, or less than seven bushels to each inhabitant--and both

these "fair and fertile plains" are still farther behind the old

"battered moors" of Maryland and Virginia.

Much of their wheat, too, is spring wheat, sown often on land where

the fall crop had winter-killed, increasing the number of bushels

much more than the value of the crop. I have heard it estimated

that full one-third of all the wheat shipped from Chicago was of

this description. Chicago is their great wheat depot. Several

millions of bushels are shipped from this point, _the contributions

from parts of three States_, Wisconsin, Indiana, and Illinois; and

which concentration of their joint product at this new western city,

or something else, seems to have imparted to each and all these

states the reputation of great wheat-growing states, though they

are, in fact, with the advantage of a virgin soil, behind several of

the western states, and two at least of the eastern or Atlantic

States. The geological explorations of the Hon. Robert Dale Owen,

undertaken under the authority of Congress, throws much light on the

character of the soil of Wisconsin and Iowa, and the description

given undoubtedly characterizes much of that region of country. The

specific gravity of the soil, Mr. Owen states to be remarkably

_light_; but what he represents to be a "striking feature in the

character of the Iowa and Wisconsin soils, is the _entire absence,

in the most of the specimens of clay, and in a large proportion of

silex_." Again, he speaks of their being particularly adapted to the

growth of the sugar-beet, which he truly says, "flourishes best in a

_loose fertile mould_." Again, he detected no phosphates; but they

might be there, as the _virgin_ soil produced good wheat. So does

the virgin soil of most of the prairie land.--"The soil was rich in

geine," &c. But I submit that this does not describe a wheat soil,

hardly in any one particular. Liebig tells us, that "however great

the proportion of _humus_ in a soil, it does not necessarily follow

it will produce wheat"--and cites the country of Brazil.

Again, he adds, "how does it happen that wheat does not flourish on

a sandy soil (which much of the soil of these states is described to

be), and that a calcareous soil is also unsuitable to its growth,

unless it be mixed with a considerable quantity of clay?"

The late Mr. Colman, in his _European Agriculture_, states, that

"the soil preferred for wheat (in England) is a strong soil with a

large proportion of clay. But the question after all is, not whether

these States cannot grow wheat, and in comparatively large

quantities, for we know that while their lands are fresh, they can

and do--but whether, considering the hazard of the crop from

winter-killing, the rust, the fly--the risk from the two former

being equal to a large per cent. premium of insurance, they are not

likely to find their interest in grazing, in raising and feeding

stock, instead of attempting to extend their wheat husbandry. Lord

Brougham has said, that grazing countries are always the most

prosperous, and their population the most contented and happy. The

meat markets of Great Britain are likely to prove better and more

stable for us, than their grain markets.

The Hon. Henry L. Ellsworth, a distinguished citizen, and large

farmer of Indiana--distinguished throughout the Union for his zeal

in the cause of agriculture--thus expresses himself on this subject:

"After a full consideration of the subject, I am satisfied that

stock-raising at the West is much more profitable than raising

grain. Indeed, an examination of the north-western States shows a

vast difference in the wealth of the grazier over those who crop

with grain. The profits of wheat appear well in expectation on

paper, but the prospect is blasted by a severe winter, appearance of

insects, bad weather in harvesting, in threshing, for there are but

few barns at the West, or transporting to market, or last, a

fluctuation in the market itself."

Such is the opinion of Mr. Ellsworth, the result of observation and

experience, himself largely interested in ascertaining the safest

and surest course to be pursued. The destiny he has indicated for

this beautiful fertile region of country, will undoubtedly be

fulfilled; it will become a great pastoral, stock-raising, and

stock-feeding country.

Ohio stands now, as she did at the census of 1840, at the head of

all the wheat States, in the aggregate of production; her crop of

1848 being estimated at 20,000,000, which is about equal to 10½

bushels per head of her population. The geological survey of this

State, and the character of the soil, as described in the Reports of

the Board of Agriculture, in a large range of her counties, as a

"clayey soil," "clayey loam," "clay subsoil," &c., shows Ohio to

possess a fine natural wheat soil, if indeed, alter thirty years of

a generally successful wheat husbandry, such additional testimony or

confirmation was necessary.

Michigan has also been successful in the cultivation of wheat. Her

burr-oak openings are unsurpassed in producing wheat. They are

intervening ridges between low grounds, or marshes and bodies of

water, and their location not generally considered very healthy. A

doubt has also been suggested as to whether this soil, being a

clayey loam, resting on a sandy and gravelly subsoil, is likely to

wear as well as some other portions of the fertile soil of the

State. The Commissioner of Patents puts her crop for 1848 at

10,000,000 of bushels, which is equal to 23½ bushels to each

inhabitant! By the census of 1840, the population of Michigan was

212,267; number of bushels of wheat, 2,157,108. Her population in

1848 is estimated at 412,000. While she has barely doubled her

population, she has, according to the above estimate, more than

_quadrupled_ her production of wheat--increased it at the rate of

about one million bushels a year for eight consecutive years, making

the quantity she grows to each head of her population _more than

double_ that of any State in the Union.

We can at least say, and appeal to the past history of the country

to show it, that for a period of more than one hundred years, the

supply of the Atlantic wheat States has generally been constant, and

for the most part abundant. They have furnished the "staff of life"

to several generations of men, and cotemporary with it, an annual

amount for export, that materially assisted in regulating the

exchanges of the country.

England requires for her own consumption, upon the average of years,

somewhere about 32,000,000 bushels of wheat more than she produces.

The average annual entries of foreign wheat for consumption in the

United Kingdom, for the sixteen years ending with 1845, were about

nine and a half million bushels. Inasmuch as the average number of

acres in wheat crop were in 1846 about 4,600,000, the average produce

142,200,000 bushels, or over 30 bushels to the acre--an improvement in

the harvest to the extent of two bushels per acre, will destroy the

demand, and a deficiency to that extent will double it. Now as there

is an available surplus at the neighbouring ports in Europe, in the

Baltic and the Black Sea, of about 18,000,000 of bushels only,

whenever there is a demand for home consumption, for, say 20,000,000

bushels, as was the case in each of the five years from 1838 to 1843,

larger shipments from America will take place; but whenever there are

good harvests, as in the six years from 1831 to 1837, in which the

deficiency only ranged from 230,000 to 1,000,000 bushels, the trade is

not worth notice. It must be remarked, however, that in a country like

Britain, where capital is abundant, consumption great, speculation

rife, the harvest so uncertain, and the stake so great that a cloudy

day transfers thousands from one broker to another, the importation

cannot be closely assimilated to the actual wants of the country. The

ordinary yield of grain in the United Kingdom after deductions for

seed, is about 400,000,000 bushels, and as nearly 100,000,000 bushels

of grain and meal were imported in 1847, there must have been a

general deficiency of nearly twenty-five per cent.

In the "Statistics of the British Empire," the average extent of land

under grain culture, &c., in 1840, was estimated as follows:--

ENGLAND AND WALES.

Produce per Acre. Total Produce.

Wheat 3,800,000 3¼ quarters. 12,350,000

Barley and rye. 900,000 4 " 3,600,000

Oats and beans. 3,000,000 4½ " 13,500,000

SCOTLAND.

Wheat 220,000 3 660,000

Barley 280,000 3½ 980,000

Oats 1,275,000 4½ 5,737,500

In Scotland, ten years ago, 150,000 acres were reckoned to be under

cultivation with wheat, 300,000 with barley, and 1,300,000 with oats,

which is the great crop and chief food of the people.

Mr. Braithwaite Poole, in his "Statistics of British Commerce," 1852,

states--"The annual average production of all sorts of corn in the

United Kingdom has been estimated by competent parties at rather more

than 60,000,000 quarters, and £80,000,000 in value; but in the absence

of general official returns, we cannot vouch for its accuracy,

although, from various comparisons, there are reasonable grounds for

assuming this calculation to be as nearly correct as possible. Some

persons in the corn trade imagine the aggregate production to approach

almost 80,000,000 quarters; but I cannot find any data extant to

warrant such an extended assumption."

The estimated produce of wheat, in quarters, and acreage, he states as

follows:--

Quarters. Acreage.

England 15,200,000 3,800,000

Ireland 1,800,000 600,000

Scotland 1,225,000 350,000

---------- ---------

Total 15,225,000 4,750,000

The average price of wheat per quarter in the last thirteen years, in

England and Wales, has been as follows:--

s. d.

1840 66 4

1841 64 4

1842 57 3

1843 50 1

1844 51 3

1845 50 10

1846 54 8

1847 69 9

1848 50 6

1849 44 3

1850 40 4

1851 38 7

1852 41 0

The best wheat, as well as the greatest quantity, is raised in the

midland counties. From two and a half to three Winchester bushels per

acre are required for seed, and the average produce varies from

twenty-two to thirty-two bushels per acre.

THE CONTINENT.

The quantity of wheat raised in France in 1835 was 71,697,484

hectolitres, of which eleven millions was required for seed. The

average produce per hectare was stated at thirteen and a half

hectolitres.

The total grain and pulse raised in that year was set down at

204,165,194 hectolitres.

Hectolitres.

Maslin 12,281,020

Barley 18,184,316

Rye 32,999,950

Buckwheat 5,175,933

Maize and Millet 6,951,179

Oats 49,460,057

Peas and Beans 3,318,691

Oats, next to wheat is the largest crop grown in France, for the

support of two million horses and three and a half million mules and

asses.

According to the "Annuaire de l'Economie Politique de la Statistique,"

there were 13,900,000 hectares (each about 2½ acres) under cultivation

with the cereals in France.

The primary article of consumption is wheat. At the rate of three

hectolitres (1 qr. ¼ bush.) to each individual, every family would

require thirteen to fourteen hectolitres, costing 210 to 280 francs

(£8 15s. to £11 10s.) according as the price varies, between its

present value fifteen francs, and its occasional cost twenty francs.

In the reign of Louis XVI, Arthur Young referred with horror to the

black bread eaten by the French. Since that time half a century has

passed, and whilst the agricultural produce in France has tripled in

value, the labourers who produce it continue, from custom and

necessity, to eat a detestable bread made from rye, barley, or peas

and potatoes; and, to make the matter still worse, it is badly baked,

without yeast, and being sometimes kept for weeks, it becomes covered

with mould, and altogether presents an appearance enough to turn the

stomach of a savage.

According to Mr. McGregor's estimate some ten or twelve years ago, the

land under wheat culture was 13,808,171 acres, producing 191,000,000

bushels; and 11,715 acres with spelt, or red wheat, the yield of which

was 374,000 bushels.

The other crops were--

Acres Crops, bushels

Maslin 2,251,438 32,000,000

Rye 6,369,879 76,000,000

Barley 2,936,453 45,000,000

Oats 7,416,297 134,000,000

Maize 1,561,372 20,000,000

Wheat and oats are grown all over Russia, which is the greatest corn

land in the world.

In Austrian Italy the yield of grain has been reckoned at three

million quarters, but this seems rather low. About one-half of this is

maize and rye, and a quarter wheat.

It is reckoned that eight million quarters of grain are raised yearly

in Denmark, but this seems doubtful. In 1839, a million quarters of

grain, however, were shipped from that kingdom.

BRITISH AMERICAN PROVINCES.

According to the census return of 1852, the number of acres under

grain crops, and the produce in Canada, were as follows:--

Lower Canada--Produce. Upper Canada--Produce.

Acres. Bushels. Acres. Bushels.

Lower Canada--Produce Upper Canada--Produce

Acres Bushels Acres Bushels

Wheat 427,111 3,075,868 782,115 12,692,852

Barley 42,927 668,626 29,916 625,875

Rye 46,007 341,443 38,968 479,651

Oats 540,422 8,967,594 421,684 11,193,844

Buckwheat 51,781 530,417 44,265 639,381

Maize 22,669 400,287 70,571 1,666,513

Flour may be valued at 21s. the barrel.

The grain crops in Lower Canada are taken in the minot, and not in the

bushel, except in the townships. In like manner, the acres are taken

in arpents. An arpent is about one-seventh less than an acre; and a

minot about one-eighth (some say one-twelfth) more than a bushel.

During the years 1850-1, Western Canada exported upwards of two

million barrels of flour, and three million bushels of wheat, being

equivalent to 13,600,000 bushels of wheat. The value of the wheat and

flour exported in 1851 was £404,033. Canadian flour, like that of

Genessee, is of very superior quality.

WHEAT.--UPPER CANADA.

Bushels. To each inhabitant.

Wheat crop of 1841 was 3,221,991 or 6.60

Do. 1847 7,558,773 " 10.45

Do. 1849 9,706,082 " 12.08

Do. 1851 12,692,852 " 13.33

The quantity of land under wheat in "Upper Canada was 782,115 acres,

showing a yield of about sixteen and three quarter bushels to the

acre. The wheat produced in 1852 was valued at nearly two million

pounds sterling.

LOWER CANADA.

Minots.

Wheat crop in 1843 was 942,835 or 1.36

Do. 1851 3,075,868 " 3.46

UNITED STATES.

Bushels.

Wheat crop in 1839 was 84,832,272 or 4.96

Estimated by patent office 1847 114,245,500 " 5.50

Crop of wheat 1849 100,684,627 " 4.33

In order, however, to institute a fairer comparison, I will divide the

States into three classes, viz.:--1st. States growing over six million

bushels.

Bushels. Population. Bush, per head.

Pennsylvania 15,367,691 2,311,736 6.65

Ohio 14,487,351 1,980,408 7.32

New York 13,131,498 4,148,182 3.16

Virginia 11,232,616 1,421,661 7.90

Illinois 9,414,575 851,471 11.06

Indiana 6,214,458 988,416 6.28

---------- ---------- -----

Total 69,847,189 11,701,924 5.97

2nd. States growing over one million and less than six million

bushels.

Bushels. Population. Bush, per head.

Michigan 4,925,889 397,654 12.39

Wisconsin 4,286,131 305,191 14.04

Maryland 4,494,681 583,031 7.71

Missouri 2,981,652 682,043 4.38

Kentucky 2,140,822 982,405 2.15

North Carolina 2,130,102 868,903 2.45

Tennessee 1,619,381 1,002,525 1.61

New Jersey 1,601,190 481,555 3.27

Iowa 1,530,581 192,214 7.96

Georgia 1,088,534 905,999 1.21

South Carolina 1,066,277 668,507 1.60

---------- --------- ----

Total 27,865,240 7,078,131 3.93

3rd. The remaining States and territories.

2,791,470 4,466,246 0.63

Total wheat crop in the United States, 100,503,899 bushels.

Population, 23,246,301. Bushels per head, 4.33.

Increase:--U. States, 1839 84,823,272 bushels

" 1849 100,503,896 "

-----------

15,680,627

Or 18.49 per cent. in ten years.

Upper Canada, 1841 3,221,991 "

" 1851 12,692,825 "

----------

9,470,861

Or nearly quadrupling itself in ten years.

Bushels. Population. Bush. per head.

Pr. Ed. Island 1847 219,787 62,678 3.50

Newfoundland 1850 297,157 276,117 1.08

New Brunswick 1850 206,635 193,800 1.06

The Eastern States in 1849 raised 1,090,896 bushels. Population

2,668,106, or 0.41 each.

The population of Upper Canada is 952,904, and allowing five bushels

for each, 4,760,020 bushels; and for seed at one and a half bushels

per acre 1,173,173 bushels = 5,933,193; leaves for export 6,761,668

bushels. More than sufficient to supply the consumption of the whole

of the Eastern States.

"Were the population of Lower Canada to consume flour at the given

rate, it would require--

Bushels.

890,261 at five bushels each 4,451,305

Seed 640,000

---------

5,091,305

Grown 3,075,868

---------

2,015,437

Leaving a surplus of wheat in Canada 4,746,231 bushels, or at four and

a half bushels for each, equal to 1,054,718 barrels of flour.

Professor Johnston in his report on New Brunswick, furnishes some

valuable information as to the produce there.

The following table of average weights indicates a capacity in the

soil and climate to produce grain of a very superior quality:--

----------------+-------+--------+------+-----+-------+-------

----------------+-------+--------+------+-----+-------+-------

Saint John |61 | -- |41 | -- | 50 | --

Westmoreland |60 | 48 |35½ | -- | 48 | 59

Albert |58 | 50 |34¾ | 50 | 45 | --

Charlotte |59 | 45 |39 | -- | 57 | 59

King's |59½ | 48 |37 | -- | 48 | 60

Queen's |58½ | 50 |36½ | 53 | 43 | 61

Sunbury |57 | 55 |38 | 53 | 47 | 57

York |63 | 50 |38 | -- | 51 | 60

Carleton |64 | -- |38 | -- | 52 | 65

Kent |63 | -- |37 | -- | 50 | --

Northumberland |62 | 53 |37 | -- | 45 | 57

Gloucester |63 | 51 |39 | -- | -- | --

Restigouche |63 | 48 |42 | -- | -- | --

----------------+-------+--------+------+-----+-------+------

The general average weights for the whole Province are, for

Wheat 60 11-13 lbs.

Barley 50 "

Oats 38 "

Rye 52½ "

Buckwheat 48 8-11 "

Indian Corn 59½ "

Potatoes 63 "

Turnips 66 "

Carrots 63 "

The annexed statement shows not only the average yield per acre of

each description of crop, but affords an opportunity of contrasting it

with the like products in the State of New York:--

AVERAGE PRODUCE PER IMPERIAL ACRE.

New Brunswick State of New York

Bushels Bushels

Wheat 20 14

Barley 29 16

Oats 34 26

Rye 20½ 9½

Buckwheat 33¾ 14

Indian Corn 41¾ 25

Potatoes 226 90

Turnips 460 88

Hay 1¾ --

A possibility of error in striking the averages is suggested in the

report; and to guard against it the following statement of the

averages derived from the minimum returns is given, viz.:--Wheat 17¾

bushels; Barley, 27; Oats, 33; Buckwheat, 28; Rye, 18; Indian Corn,

36½; Potatoes, 204; Turnips, 389. The diminished averages scarcely

affect the question of productiveness, as in every particular they

exceed the averages for the favored Genesee Valley and the southern

shores of Lake Ontario.

While the productiveness of the soil is thus proven by the statements

of most experienced farmers, the average prices appear to be equally

favorable to the Provincial growers. The following tables of averages

set this in a clear point of view:--

AVERAGE PRICES OF GRAIN PER BUSHEL AND PER QUARTER.

Per Bushel Per Quarter

Wheat 7s. 6d. 60s. 0d.

Barley 4 2½ 33 8

Oats 2 0 16 0

Rye 4 10 38 8

Buckwheat 3 9 30 0

Indian Corn 4 8 37 4

ROOT CROPS AND HAY.

Potatoes 1s. 11d. per bushel.

Turnips 1 2 "

Eng. Hay 49 0 per ton.

Carrots 2 5 per bushel.

Man. Wurtzel 2 1 "

Marsh Hay 20 0 per ton.

AVERAGE MONEY VALUE OF AN ACRE OF EACH CROP.

New Brunswick Canada West State of Ohio

Wheat £ 6 13 0 £2 4 7 £2 19 0

Barley 5 13 7½ 1 19 4½ 2 4 0

Oats 6 3 6 1 11 0 1 13 9

Rye 4 7 0 1 5 10½ 1 12 4

Buckwheat 5 5 0 3 5 0 1 16 3

Indian Corn 8 10 4 2 14 4½ 2 15 0

Potatoes 19 11 0 6 6 0 6 9 4½

On a review of the foregoing and other tables, Professor Johnston has

drawn the following conclusions:--

"That grain and roots generally can be raised more cheaply in the

Province of New Brunswick than in New York, Ohio, or Upper Canada;

and that the Province ought to be able to compete with those

countries and drive them from its home markets."

Such are the deductions of a skilful and scientific, practical and

theoretical agriculturist, from the statements furnished by the most

enterprising and successful of our colonists. Nevertheless, I cannot

conceal a doubt whether all the elements of comparison have been duly

weighed. The result, especially as regards wheat, is so contrary to

pre-conceived opinions, that further investigations should be made. Is

it not possible that, while an equality of expense in preparing the

land for a wheat crop appears to have been assumed, the great care and

expense necessary in New Brunswick to prepare the land, and an

occasional succession of minimum returns would, to a very considerable

extent, account for the supposed discrepancy?

Wheat has, from time immemorial, been a staple crop in the plains of

Northern India, and especially in the Punjaub. The climate and soil

are well fitted for this cereal, but owing to defects and carelessness

in the agriculture and harvesting, the crops, though excellent, fall

short of what most corn-growing countries produce. Further--owing to

foul boats and granaries, and to the moist heat of the months

immediately succeeding harvest, the wheat reaches England in a state

too dirty and weevelled for market. The hard wheat is preferred by the

natives in India to the soft, probably for no better cause than that

the hardness of the grain more closely resembles their favorite food,

rice.

BARLEY.

Oats, rye and barley, are the staple crops of northern and mountainous

Europe and Asia. In England barley is grown principally in the eastern

and some of the midland counties, and chiefly for malting. It is most

extensively cultivated in the Himalaya and Thibet, replacing in many

districts the wheat, and producing an admirable flour.

Since the establishment of the studs at Buxar, Ghazepore, &c., oats

have been extensively cultivated. It is a winter crop.

Although believed to have been indigenous to the countries bordering

on the torrid zone, this grain possesses the remarkable flexibility of

maturing in favorable seasons and situations on the eastern continent

as far north as 70 deg., and flourishes well in lat. 42 deg. south.

Along the Atlantic side of the continent of America, its growth is

restricted to the tract lying between the 30th and 50th parallels of

north latitude, and between 30 and 40 deg. south. Near the westerly

coast, its range lies principally between latitude 20 and 62 deg.

north. The barley chiefly cultivated in the United States is the

two-rowed variety which is generally preferred from the fulness of its

grain and its freedom from smut. Barley has never been much imported

from that country, as the Americans have been rather consumers than

producers. The consumption of barley there in 1850 in the manufacture

of malt and spirituous liquors amounted to 3,780,000 bushels, and

according to the census returns, the quantity of barley raised was

4,161,504 bushels in 1840, and 5,167,213 bushels in 1850. In this

country barley is extensively used for malting, distilling, and making

beer; large quantities are consumed in Scotland, or carried into

England.

In Prussia, about ten and a half million hectolitres of barley are

annually raised. In the Canary Isles, about 354,000 bushels are

annually exported. In Van Diemen's Land in 1844, 174,405 bushels of

barley were grown on 12,466 acres.

The quantity of barley made into malt in the United Kingdom in the

year ending 10th October, 1850, was 5,183,617 quarters, of which about

four million quarters were used by 8,500 maltsters. The quantity of

malt charged with duty in the year ending 5th January, 1851, was

636,641 tons; the average price per quarter, 26s. 2d.

Barley is at present extensively cultivated in the temperate districts

and islands of Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia. In Spain, Sicily,

the Canaries, Azores and Madeira, two crops are produced in a year.

In North America its growth is principally confined to Mexico, the

middle, western, and northern States of the Union, and to the British

North American provinces. The introduction of barley into the American

colonies may be traced back to the period of their settlement. By the

year 1648 it was raised in abundance in Virginia, but soon after its

culture was suffered to decline, in consequence of the more profitable

and increased production of tobacco. It has also been sparingly

cultivated in the regions of the middle and northern States for

malting and distillation, and has been employed, after being malted,

as a substitute for rice.

Barley, like wheat, has been cultivated in Syria and Egypt for more

than 3,000 years, and it was not until after the Romans adopted the

use of wheaten bread, that they fed their stock with this grain. It is

evidently a native of a warm climate, as it is known to be the most

productive in a mild season, and will grow within the tropics at an

elevation of 3,000 to 4,000 feet above the level of the sea. It is one

of the staple crops of northern and mountainous Europe and Asia. It is

the corn that, next to rice, gives the greatest weight of flour per

acre, and it may be eaten with no other preparation than that of

boiling. It requires little or no dressing when it is sent to the

mill, having no husk, and consequently produces no bran. In this

country barley is chiefly used for malting and distilling purposes. In

the year 1850, 40,745,050 bushels of malt paid duty, the number of

maltsters in the United Kingdom being from 8,000 to 9,000. About one

and a half million quarters of barley were imported in 1849, and a

little over a million quarters in 1850, principally from Denmark and

Prussia. The counties in England where this grain is chiefly

cultivated are Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridge, Bedford, Herts, Leicester,

and Nottingham. The produce of barley on land well prepared, is from

thirty to fifty bushels or more per statute acre, weighing from 45 to

55 lbs. per bushel, according to quality. It is said to contain 65 per

cent. of nutritive matter, while wheat contains 78 per cent.

The estimated average produce of barley in this country may be stated

as follows:--

Acres. Crop.

England 1,500,000 6,375,000

Ireland 320,000 1,120,000

Scotland 450,000 1,800,000

-------- -----------

2,270,000 9,295,000

The average produce per acre, in the United Kingdom, is 4¼ quarters in

England, 3½ in Ireland, and 4 in Scotland. The prices of barley per

quarter have ranged, in England, from 36s. 5d. in 1840, to 27s. 6d. in

1842. In 1847 barley reached 44s. 2d., and gradually declined to 23s.

5d, in 1850.

OATS.

Oats are principally in demand for horses, and the extraordinary

increase of the latter has occasioned a proportional increase in the

culture of oats. They are grown more especially in the north and

north-eastern counties; in the midland counties their culture is less

extensive, but it is prevalent throughout most parts of Wales.

Nearly twice as much oats as wheat is raised in the United Kingdom,

but the proportion grown in Scotland is not so large as is supposed.

The following is a fair estimate of the comparative production:--

Acres. Produce.

England 2,500,000 12,500,000

Ireland 2,300,000 11,600,000

Scotland 1,300,000 6,500,000

--------- ---------

Total 6,100,000 30,500,000

We import annually about l¼ million quarters from foreign countries

and nearly three-fourths of a million quarters from Ireland. The

average produce per acre throughout the kingdom is five quarters. The

price within the last 10 years has ranged from 28s. 7d. per quarter

(the famine year) to 17s. 6d.

The oat, when considered in connection with the artificial grasses,

and the nourishment and improvement it affords to live stock, may be

regarded as one of the most important crops produced. Its history is

highly interesting, from the circumstance that in many portions of

Europe it is formed into meal, and forms an important aliment for man;

one sort, at least, has been cultivated from the days of Pliny, on

account of its fitness as an article of diet for the sick. The country

of its origin is somewhat uncertain, though the most common variety is

said to be indigenous to the Island of Juan Fernandez. Another oat,

resembling the cultivated variety, is also found growing wild in

California.

This plant was introduced into the North American Colonies soon after

their settlement by the English. It was sown by Gosnold on the

Elizabeth Islands in 1602; cultivated in Newfoundland in 1622, and in

Virginia, by Berkley, prior to 1648.

The oat is a hardy grain, and is suited to climates too hot and too

cold either for wheat or rye. Indeed, its flexibility is so great,

that it is cultivated with success in Bengal as low as latitude

twenty-five degrees North, but refuses to yield profitable crops as we

approach the equator. It flourishes remarkably well, when due regard

is paid to the selection of varieties, throughout the inhabited parts

of Europe, the northern and central portions of Asia, Australia,

Southern and Northern Africa, the cultivated regions of nearly all

North America, and a large portion of South America.

In the United States the growth of the oat is confined principally to

the Middle, Western and Northern States. The varieties cultivated are

the common white, the black, the grey, the imperial, the Hopetown, the

Polish, the Egyptian, and the potato oat. The yield of the common

varieties varies from forty to ninety bushels and upwards per acre,

and weighing from twenty-five to fifty pounds to the bushel. The

Egyptian oat is cultivated south of Tennessee, which after being sown

in autumn, and fed off by stock in winter and spring, yields from ten

to twenty bushels per acre. In the manufacture of malt and spirituous

liquors oats enter but lightly, and their consumption for this purpose

does not exceed 60,000 bushels annually in the United States.

In 1840, Ireland exported 2,037,835 quarters of oats and oatmeal, but

in 1846, on account of the dearth, the grain exports fell off

completely. Most of the grain grown in Ireland requires to be

kiln-dried, and is, therefore, of lower value.

The oat, like rye, never has entered much into our foreign commerce,

as the domestic consumption has always been nearly equal to the

quantity produced. The annual average exports from the United States

for several years preceding 1817, were 70,000 bushels.

By the census returns of 1840, the total produce of the United States

was 123,071,341 bushels; of 1850, 146,678,879 bushels.

In Prussia 43 million hectolitres of oats are annually raised.

The quantity of oats imported into the United Kingdom, has been

declining within the last few years. In 1849, we imported 1,267,106

quarters; in 1850, 1,154,473; in 1851, 1,209,844; in 1852, 995,479. In

1844, 221,105 bushels of oats were raised in Van Diemen's Land on

13,864 acres.

RYE.

Rye (_Secale cereale_) is scarcely at all raised in this country for

bread, except in Durham and Northumberland, where, however, it is

usually mixed with wheat, and forms what is called "maslin,"--a bread

corn in considerable use in the north of Europe.

Geographically rye and barley associate with one another, and grow

upon soils the most analogous, and in situations alike exposed. It is

cultivated for bread in Northern Asia, and all over the Continent of

Europe, particularly in Russia, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Germany and

Holland; in the latter of which it is much employed in the manufacture

of gin. It is also grown to some extent in England, Scotland and

Wales. With us it is little used as an article of food compared with

wheat and oats, though in the north of Europe and in Flanders it forms

the principal article of human subsistence, but generally mixed with

wheat, and sometimes, also with barley; 100 parts of the grain consist

of 65.6 of meal, 24.2 of husk, and 10.2 of water. The quantity of rye

we import seldom reaches 100,000 quarters per annum.

The straw is solid, and the internal part, being, filled with pith,

is highly esteemed for Dunstable work, for thatching and litter, and

it is also used to stuff horse collars.

In Ireland there are 21,000 acres under culture with rye, producing

105,000 quarters.

In North America rye is principally restricted to the Middle and

Eastern States, but its culture is giving place to more profitable

crops.

In Bohemia, as in most parts of Germany, rye forms the principal crop,

the product being about 3,250,000 quarters annually.

The three leading varieties cultivated in the United States are the

spring, winter, and southern; the latter differing from the others

only from dissimilarity of climate. The yield varies from 10 to 30 or

more bushels per acre, weighing from 48 to 56 pounds to the bushel.

The production of rye has decreased 4,457,000 bushels in the

aggregate, but in New York it is greater by the last decennial census

than in 1840, by about 40 per cent. Pennsylvania, which is the largest

producer, has fallen off from 6,613,373 to 4,805,160 bushels. Perhaps

the general diminution in the quantity of this grain now produced may

be accounted for, by supposing a corresponding decline in the demand

for distilling purposes, to which a larger part of the crop is applied

in New York. This grain has never entered largely into its foreign

commerce, as the home consumption for a long period nearly kept pace

with the supply. The amount exported from the United States in 1801,

was 392,276 bushels; in 1812, 82,705 bushels; in 1813, 140,136

bushels. In 1820-1 there were exported 23,523 barrels of rye flour; in

1830-1, 19,100 barrels; in 1840-1 44,031; in 1845-6, 38,530 barrels;

in 1846-7, 48,892 barrels; in 1850-1, 44,152 barrels. During the year

ending June 1, 1850, there were consumed of rye about 2,144,000

bushels in the manufacture of malt and spirituous liquors.

According to the American census returns of 1840, the product of the

country was 18,645,567 bushels; in 1850, 14,188,637 bushels. We

imported 246,843 quarters of rye and rye meal, in 1849, equivalent to

49,368 tons; but in 1850 the imports were only 94,078 quarters and in

1851 they were but 26,323 quarters. About 20,000 acres are under

cultivation with rye in Ireland, the produce of which is 100,000

quarters.

BUCKWHEAT.

Buckwheat belongs to the temperate and arctic climates, and is

cultivated in Northern Europe, Asia, and America for the farinaceous

albumen of its seeds, which, when properly cooked, affords a delicious

article of food to a large portion of the human race. It also serves

as excellent fodder to milch cows, and the straw, when cut green and

converted into hay, and the ripened seeds, are food for cattle,

poultry, and swine.

It is raised most abundantly in Central Asia and the Himalaya. In the

latter country the different varieties are grown at various

elevations, between 4,000 and 12,000 feet. The finest samples

exhibited in 1851 were from Canada, but some of excellent quality was

also shown by the United States, Russia, and Belgium. The common

variety grown in Europe is the _Polygonum fagopyrum_, and _P.

emarginatum_ is grown in China and the East. In this country the

produce varies from 2 to 4 quarters per acre. The quantity of seed

sown is 5 to 8 pecks the acre. Vauquelin found 100 parts of its straw

to contain 29.5 of carbonate of potash, 3.8 of sulphate of potash,

17.5 of carbonate of lime, 13.5 of carbonate of magnesia, 16.2 of

silica, 10.5 of alum, and 9 of water.

It is believed to be a native of Central Asia, as it is supposed to

have been first brought to Europe in the early part of the twelfth

century, at the time of the crusades for the recovery of Syria from

the dominion of the Saracens; while others contend that it was

introduced into Spain by the Moors, four hundred years before.

The cultivation of buckwheat, in one or other of its species, is

principally confined to Great Britain, France, Switzerland, Italy,

Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, Russia, China, Tartary, Japan, Algeria,

Canada, and the middle and northern portions of the United States.

In America from 30 to 45 bushels per acre may be considered as an

average yield in favorable seasons and situations, but 60 or more

bushels are not unfrequently produced.

According to the census returns of 1840, the annual quantity raised in

the United States was 7,291,743 bushels; of 1850, 8,950,916 bushels.

The average annual imports of buckwheat into this country have not

exceeded 1,000 quarters, until last year (1852), when they reached

8,085 quarters. A small quantity of the meal is also annually

imported.

MAIZE.

Maize (_Zea Mays_), is the common well-known Indian corn forming one

of the most important of the grain crops, and has a greater range of

temperature than the other cereal grasses. It was found cultivated for

food by the Indians of both North and South America, on the first

discovery of that continent, and thence derived its popular name.

Maize succeeds best in the hottest and dampest parts of tropical

climates. It may be reared as far as 40 degrees north and south

latitude on the American continent; while in Europe it can grow even

to 50 degrees or 52 degrees of latitude, some of the numerous

varieties being hardy enough to ripen in the open air, in England and

Ireland. It is now cultivated in all regions in the tropical and

temperate zones, which are colonized by Europeans. It is most largely

grown, however, about the Republics bordering on the northern shores

of South America, California, the United States and Canada, the West

India islands and Guiana, on the coasts of the Mediterranean, and

partially in India, Africa, and Australia. We see the singular fact in

Mexico of land which, after perhaps thousands of years' culture, is so

little exhausted, that with a very little labor bestowed on it, a bad

maize harvest will yield two hundredfold profit, while a good crop

returns 600 fold.

This grain adopts itself to almost every variety of climate, and is

found growing luxuriantly in the low countries of tropical Mexico, and

nearly equally well on the most elevated and coldest regions of the

table-land; in the rich valleys of the Cordilleras or the Andes, and

on the sandy heights of those mountains wherever a rill of water can

be brought to nourish its roots. In short, it ripens under the sun of

America, in every part of both continents.

Though wheat is characterised as the most nutritious food for man in

all quarters of the world, yet the Indian corn crop of the United

States is not second in value to any product of the earth; cultivated

in the middle and Eastern States, nay, even in the rich cotton-growing

districts, Indian corn is fast rising in importance, and will soon

equal in value that important commercial staple. This indigenous grain

yields to the nation an annual average of five hundred millions of

bushels, and has, within the last five years, attracted much attention

as a life-sustaining food, more particularly at the period of

Ireland's severe suffering, in 1847, and the following years. Nations,

as well as statesmen and farmers, have found it an object worthy of

their consideration and esteem.

When due regard is paid to the selection of varieties, and cultivated

in a proper soil, maize may be accounted a sure crop in almost every

portion of the habitable globe, between the 44th degree of north

latitude and a corresponding parallel south. Among the objects of

culture in the United States, it takes precedence in the scale of

cereal crops, as it is best adapted to the soil and climate, and

furnishes the largest amount of nutritive food. Besides its production

in the North American Republic, its extensive culture is limited to

Mexico, the West Indies, most of the States of South America, France,

Spain, Portugal, Lombardy, and Southern and Central Europe generally.

It is, however, also cultivated with success in Northern, Southern,

and Western Africa, India, China, Japan, Australia, and the Sandwich

Islands, the groups of the Azores, Madeira, the Canaries, and numerous

other oceanic isles.

Maize is not a favorite grain as bread-corn with the European nations,

for although it abounds in mucilage, it is asserted to contain less

gluten, and is not likely to be much used by those who can procure

wheaten flour, or even rye bread.

The large importations which were made by our Government during the

prevalence of the potato disease, brought it into more general use

among some classes, and the imports for home consumption are still

extensive, having been as follows in the last few years:--

1848. 1849.

Indian corn, quarters 1,582,755 2,249,571

" meal, cwts. 233,880 102,181

1850. 1851.

Indian corn, quarters 1,286,264 1,810,425

" meal, cwts. 11,401

The trade in maize, or Indian corn, is totally new since 1846. The

famine in Ireland in that year, and the potato rot in almost every

successive year since, have now fully established it. Like the gold

discoveries, the potato rot may be regarded as a providential means of

effecting a great change in the condition of society. Those

discoveries are not without their influence in the East, and, combined

with the potato rot, they have rapidly increased the commerce between

the East and West of Europe, while they are spreading broad paths

between all Europe and the lands in the Southern Ocean. The imports of

maize from all parts, in 1852, amounted to 1,550,000 quarters, of

which about 1,100,000 quarters arrived in vessels from the

Mediterranean, &c., calling at Queenstown or Falmouth for orders. The

balance consisted of imports from America, France, Portugal, &c., and

also of cargoes addressed direct to a port of discharge, without first

calling off the coast for orders. The quantities received in 1851 and

1852 from the Mediterranean were as follows:--

1852. 1851.

Received from qrs. qrs.

Galatz 223,000 286,067

Ibraila 362,600 211,779

Salonica 35,640 95,377

Odessa 219,170 74,065

Egypt 50,960 86,260

Italy 8,250 162,544

Constantinople, Malta,

Trieste, and other

ports in the Mediterranean 190,720 286,358

--------- ---------

1,090,340 1,202,450

The various quarters from whence we derive supplies of this grain, are

shown in the following table of the imports for the last three years,

which I have compiled from the most recent Parliamentary returns.

INDIAN CORN AND MEAL IMPORTED INTO THE UNITED KINGDOM.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

| 1849. | 1850. | 1851.

|-----------------|----------------|---------------

| qrs. | cwts. | qrs. | cwts.| qrs. |cwts.

----------------------|---------|-------|---------|------|---------|-----

Black Sea | 25,519| | 19,721| | 98,176|

Denmark | 1,300| | 250| | 5|

Hanover | 1,344| | | | |

Belgium | 67| | | | |

France | 135,115| 510| 102,978| 26| 164,128| 29

Portugal Proper | 61,446| | 67,518| 53| 21,922|

Azores and Madeira | 17,214| 7| 7,794| 6| 4,356| 1

Islands | 26,856| 48| 19,982| 48| 34,771|

Sardinian Territories | 13,357| | 25| 2| 1,302| 1

Tuscany | 11,481| 95| 15,612| 94| 34,760|

Papal Territories | 8,927| | 1,876| | 75,588|

Naples and Sicily | 18| | 10,066| | 101,489|

Austrian Territories | 90,540| | 45,748| | 73,966|

Malta and Gozo | 18,198| | 4,969| | 11,002|

Ionian Islands | 5,390| | 7,324| | 5,967|

Greece | 57,520| | 8,712| | 3,252|

Egypt | 12,767| | 71,808| | 127,692|

Moldavia and Syria | 563,799| | 348,456| | 748,180|

Morocco | 760| | | | |

West Coast of Africa | 889| | 2,322| | |

B.N.A. Colonies | 1,645| 164| 1,530| | 4,377| 7

U.S. of America |1,170,154|100,859| 538,155|11,253| 295,978|9,522

Brazil | 1,253| | 468| | 725|

Other places | | | 1,756| | |

| | | | | | 1

----------------------|---------|-------|---------|------|---------|-----

|2,225,459|101,683|1,277,070|11,482|1,807,636|9,561

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

(Parliamentary Paper, No. 14, Sess. 1852.)

The many excellent properties of Indian corn, as a wholesome

nutritious food, and the rich fodder obtained from the stalk and leaf

for the nourishment of cattle, invite more earnest attention from the

farmer and planter in the Colonies to its better and extended

cultivation.

Though the average quantity of grain from each acre in the United

States is not more than thirty or forty bushels, yet it is known that

with due care and labor 100 to 130 bushels may be obtained.

In feeding cattle little difference is discoverable between the

effects of Indian corn meal and oil-cake meal; the preference rather

preponderates in favor of the latter.

Corn cobs, ground with the grain, have advocates, but this food is not

relished, and swine decline it.

Indian corn contains about the same proportion of starch as oats

(sixty per cent.), but is more fattening, as it contains about nine or

ten per cent. of oily or fatty ingredients.

The following analysis of maize is given by Dr. Samuel David, of

Massachusetts:--

FLESH FORMING PRINCIPLES.

Gluten, albumen, and casein 12.60

FAT FORMING PRINCIPLES.

Gum, sugar, starch, woody fibre, oil, &c. 77.09

Water 9.00

Salts 1.31

-----

100.

Prof. Gorham, in "Thomson's Organic Chem.," published in London in

1838, gives another analysis:--

Fresh grain. Dried grain.

Water 9.00

Starch 77.00 84.60

Gluten 3.00 3.30

Albumen 2.50 2.74

Gum 1.75 1.92

Sugar 1.45 1.60

Loss 5.30 5.84

------ ------

100. 100.

Professor Johnston supplies a table, which, he says, exhibits the best

approximate view we are yet able to give of the average proportion of

starch and gluten contained in 100 lbs. of our common grain crops as

they are met with in the market.

From this table I extract the following:--

Starch, gum, &c. Gluten, albumen, &c.

Wheat flour. 55 lbs. 10 to 15 lbs.

Oats 65 " 18 lbs.

Indian corn 70 " 12 "

Beans 40 " 28 "

Peas 50 " 24 "

Potatoes 12 " 2-1/3 "

The Professor remarks that the proportion of oil is, in 100 lbs. of

Wheat flour 2 to 4

Oats 5 " 8

Indian corn 5 " 9

Beans and peas 2½ " 3

Potatoes 0¼ "

Maize is one of those plants in which potash preponderates, for

analysis of its ashes gives the following proportions:--

Salts of potash and soda 71.00

---- lime and magnesia 6.50

Silica 18.00

Loss 4.50

------

100.

Dr. Salisbury has also furnished the proximate analysis of five

varieties of ripe maize or Indian corn:--

Proportions.

One hundred grains of each. Water. Dry.

Golden Sioux corn, a bright, yellow, twelve-rowed}

variety, frequently having fourteen rows } 15.02 84.98

Large eight-rowed yellow corn 14.00 86.00

Small eight-rowed ditto 14.03 85.97

White flint corn 14.00 86.00

Ohio Dent corn, one of the largest varieties of }

maize } 14.50 85.50

COMPARATIVE ORGANIC ANALYSIS.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Starch | 36.06 | 41.85 | 30.29 | 49.22 | 40.34

Gluten | 5.00 | 4.62 | 5.60 | 5.40 | 7.69

Oil | 3.44 | 3.88 | 3.90 | 3.71 | 4.68

Albumen | 4.42 | 2.64 | 6.00 | 3.32 | 3.40

Casein | 1.92 | 1.32 | 2.20 | 0.75 | 0.50

Dextrine | 1.30 | 5.40 | 4.61 | 1.90 | 3.00

Fibre | 18.50 | 21.36 | 26.80 | 11.96 | 18.01

Sugar and extract | 7.25 | 10.00 | 5.20 | 9.55 | 8.30

Water | 15.02 | 10.00 | 13.40 | 14.00 | 14.00

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Large quantities of starch are now made from this grain in Ohio; an

establishment near Columbus consume 20,000 bushels of corn annually

for this purpose. The offal of the grain is given to hogs, 500 to 600

head being annually fattened therewith. The quality of the starch is

said to be superior to that of wheat, and commands a higher price in

New York.

A corn plant, fifteen days after the seed was planted, cut on the 3rd

June close to the ground, gave of--

Water 86.626

Dry matter 10.374

Ash 1.354

Ash calculated dry 13.053

By the above figures it will be seen that nearly 90 per cent, of the

young plant is water; and that in proportion to the dry matter, the

amount of earthy minerals which remain, as ash, when the plant is

burnt, is large. This excess of water continues for many weeks. Thus,

on the 5th July, thirty-three days from planting, the relations stood

thus:--

Water 90.518

Dry matter 9.482

Ash 1.333

Ash calculated dry 14.101

(Ash very saline.)

Before green succulent food of this character is fit to give to cows,

oxen, mules, or horses, it should be partly dried. Plants that contain

from 70 to 75 per cent. of water need no curing before eaten. The

young stalk cut July 12, gave over 94 per cent. of water. Such food

used for soiling without drying would be likely to scour an animal,

and give it the cholic.

The root at this time (July 12) gave of--

Water 81.026

Dry matter 18.974

Ash 2.222

Ash calculated dry 11.711

(Ash tastes of caustic potash.)

Ash of the whole plant above ground, 6.77 grains. Amount of ash in all

below ground, 3.93 grains.

So late as July 26, the proportion of water in the stalk was 94 per

cent.; and the ash calculated dry 17.66 per cent. The plant gained

21.36.98 grains in weight in a week preceding the 6th September. This

was equal to a gain of 12.72 grains per hour.

The rapid growth of corn plants, when the heat, light, and moisture,

as well as the soil are favorable, is truly wonderful. A deep, rich,

mellow soil, in which the roots can freely extend to a great distance

in depth and laterally, is what the corn-grower should provide for his

crop. The perviousness of river bottoms contributes largely to their

productiveness of this cereal. A compact clay, which excludes alike

air, water, and roots, forbidding all chemical changes, is not the

soil for Indian corn.

When farmers sell corn soon after it is ripe, there is considerable

gain in not keeping it long to dry and shrink in weight. Corn grown by

Mr. Salisbury, which was ripe by the 18th October, then contained 37

per cent. of water, which is 25 per cent. more than old corn from the

crib will yield. The mean of man experiments tried by the writer has

been a loss of 20 per cent. in moisture between new and old corn. The

butts of cornstalks contain the most water, and husks or shucks the

least, when fully matured and not dried. The latter have about 30 per

cent, of dry matter when chemically desiccated.

COMPOSITION OF THE ASH OF THE LEAVES AT DIFFERENT STAGES.

July 19. Aug. 2. Aug. 23. Aug. 30. Oct. 18.

Carbonic acid 5.40 2.850 0.65 3.50 4.050

Silicia 13.50 19.850 34.90 36.27 58.650

Sulphuric acid 2.16 1.995 4.92 5.84 4.881

Phosphates 21.60 16.250 17.00 13.50 5.850

Lime .69 4.035 2.00 3.88 4.510

Magnesia .37 2.980 1.59 2.30 0.865

Potash 9.98 11.675 10.85 9.15 7.333

Soda 34.39 29.580 21.23 22.13 8.520

Chlorine 4.55 6.020 3.06 1.63 2.664

Organic acids 5.50 2.400 3.38 2.05 2.200

----- ------ ------ ----- ------

98.14 97.750 98.187 99.83 99.334

The above figures disclose several interesting facts. It will be seen

that the increase of silica or flint in the leaf is steadily

progressive from 13½ per cent. at July 19, to 58.65 at October 18.

Flint is substantially the _bone earth_ of all grasses. If one were

to analyse the bones of a calf when a day old, again when thirty days

of age, and when a year old, the increase of phosphate of lime in its

skeleton would be similar to that witnessed in the leaves and stems of

maize. In the early stages of the growth of corn, its leaves abound in

phosphates; but after the seeds begin to form, the phosphates leave

the tissues of the plant in other parts, and concentrate in and around

the germs in the seeds. On the 23rd of August, the ash of the whole

stalk contained 19½ per cent. of phosphates; and on the 18th of

October, only 15.15 per cent. In forming the cobs of this plant,

considerable potash is drawn from the stalk, as it decreases from

35.54 per cent. August 16, to 24.69 October 18. When the plant is

growing fastest, its roots yield an ash which contains less than one

per cent. of lime; but after this development is nearly completed, the

roots retain, or perhaps regain from the plant above, over 4½ per

cent. of this mineral. Soda figures as high as from 20 to 31 per cent.

in the ash obtained from corn roots. Ripe seeds gave the following

results on the analysis of their ash:--

Silica 0.850

Phosphoric acid 49.210

Lime 0.075

Magnesia 17.600

Potash 23.175

Soda 3.605

Sodium 0.160

Chlorine 0.295

Sulphuric acid 0.515

Organic acids 5.700

------

99.175

The above table shows a smaller quantity of lime than is usually found

in the ash of this grain. It is, however, never so abundant as

magnesia; and Professor Emmons has shown that the best corn lands in

the State of New York contain a considerable quantity of magnesia. All

experience, as well as all chemical researches, go to prove that

_potash_ and phosphoric acid are important elements in the

organisation of maize. Corn yields more pounds of straw and grain on

poor land than either wheat, rye, barley, or oats; and it does

infinitely better on rich than on sterile soils. To make the earth

fertile, it is better economy to plant thick than to have the rows

five feet apart each way, as is customary in some of the Southern

States, and only one stalk in a hill. This gives but one plant to

twenty-five square feet of ground. Instead of this, three square feet

are sufficient for a single plant; and from that up to six, for the

largest varieties of this crop.

Mr. Humboldt states the production of maize in the Antilles as 300 for

one; and Mr. H. Colman has seen in several cases in the New England

States of America, a return of 400 for one; that is to say, the hills

being three feet apart each way, a peck of Indian corn would be

sufficient seed for an acre. If 100 bushels of grain is in such case

produced by an acre--and this sometimes happens--this is clearly a

return of 400 for one.

Of the whole family of cereals, _Zea Mays_ is unquestionably the most

valuable for cultivation in the United States. When the time shall

come that population presses closely on the highest capabilities of

American soil, this plant, which is a native of the New World, will be

found greatly to excel all others in the quantity of bread, meat,

milk, and butter which it will yield from an acre of land. With proper

culture, it has no equal for the production of hay, in all cases where

it is desirable to grow a large crop on a small surface.

Although there has been much written on the Eastern origin of this

grain, it did not grow in that part of Asia watered by the Indus, at

the time of Alexander the Great's expedition, as it is not among the

productions of the country mentioned by Nearchus, the commander of the

fleet; neither is it noticed by Arian, Diodorus, Columella, nor any

other ancient author; and even as late as 1491, the year before

Columbus discovered America, Joan di Cuba, in his "Ortus Sanitatis,"

makes no mention of it. It has never been found in any ancient

tumulus, sarcophagus, or pyramid; nor has it ever been represented in

any ancient painting, sculpture, or work of art, except in America.

But in that country, according to Garcilaso de la Vega, one of the

ancient Peruvian historians, the palace gardens of the Incas, in Peru,

were ornamented with maize, in gold and silver, with all the grains,

spikes, stalks, and leaves; and in one instance, in the "garden of

gold and silver," there was an entire cornfield, of considerable size,

representing the maize in its exact and natural shape; a proof no less

of the wealth of the Incas, than their veneration for this important

grain.

In further proof of the American origin, it may be stated that this

plant is still found growing, in a wild state, from the Rocky

mountains in North America, to the humid forests of Paraguay, where,

instead of having each grain naked, as is always the case after long

cultivation, it is completely covered with glumes or husks. It is,

furthermore, a well authenticated fact, that maize was found in a

state of cultivation by the aborigines, in the island of Cuba, on its

discovery by Columbus, as well as in most other places in America,

first explored by Americans.

The first successful attempt to cultivate this grain in North America,

by the English, occurred on James' river, in Virginia, in 1608. It was

undertaken by the colonists sent over by the Indian company, who

adopted the mode then practised by the natives, which, with some

modifications, has been pursued throughout this country ever since.

The yield, at this time, is represented to have been from two hundred

to more than one thousand fold. The same increase was noted by the

early settlers in Illinois. The present yield, east of the Rocky

Mountains, when judiciously cultivated, varies from 20 to 135 bushels

to an acre.

The varieties of Indian corn are very numerous, exhibiting every

grade of size, color, and conformation, between the "chubby reed"

that grows on the shores of Lake superior--the gigantic stalks of the

Ohio valley--the tiny ears, with flat, close, clinging grains, of

Canada--the brilliant, rounded little pearl--the bright red grains and

white cob of the eight-rowed hæmatite--the swelling ears of the big

white and the yellow gourd seed of the South. From the flexibility of

this plant, it may be acclimatised, by gradual cultivation, from Texas

to Maine, or from Canada to Brazil; but its character, in either case,

is somewhat changed, and often new varieties are the result. The

blades of the plant are of great value as food for stock, and is an

article but rarely estimated sufficiently, when considering of the

agricultural products of the Southern and Southwestern States

especially.

To supply slaves on plantations with bread, including old and young,

requires from twelve to thirteen bushels of corn each a year. Taking

thirteen bushels as the average consumption of breadstuffs by the

22,000,000 of people in the United States, the aggregate is

286,000,000 bushels per annum.

The increase of production, from 1840 to 1850, was 214,000,000

bushels, equal to 56 per cent.

The production of New England advanced from 6,993,000 to 10,377,000

bushels, showing an increase of 3,384,000 bushels, nearly fifty per

cent. New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland,

increased 20,812,000 bushels, more than fifty per cent. In the

production of this crop no State has retrograded. Ohio, which in 1840

occupied the fourth place as a corn-producing State, now ranks as the

first. Kentucky is second, Illinois third, Tennessee fourth. The crop

of Illinois has increased from 2,000,000 to 5,500,000 bushels, or at

the rate of 160 per cent. in ten years.

Of the numerous varieties some are best adapted to the Southern

States, while others are better suited for the Northern and Eastern.

Those generally cultivated in the former are the Southern big and

small yellow, the Southern big and small white flint, the yellow

Peruvian, and the Virginian white gourd seed. In the more Northerly

and Easterly States they cultivate the golden sioux, or Northern

yellow flint, the King Philip, or eight-rowed yellow, the Canadian

early white, the Tuscarora, the white flour, and the Rhode Island

white flint.

The extended cultivation of this grain is chiefly confined to the

Eastern, Middle, and Western States, though much more successfully

grown in the latter. The amount exported from South Carolina, in 1748,

was 39,308 bushels; from North Carolina, in 1753, 61,580 bushels; from

Georgia, in 1755, 600 bushels; from Virginia, for several years

preceding the revolution, annually 600,000 bushels; from Philadelphia,

in 1765-66, 54,205 bushels; in 1771, 259,441 bushels.

The total amount exported from America in 1770, was 573,349 bushels;

in 1791, 2,064,936 bushels, 351,695 of which were Indian meal; in

1800, 2,032,435 bushels, 338,108 of which were in meal; in 1810,

1,140,960 bushels, 86,744 of which were meal. In 1820-21, there were

exported 607,277 bushels of corn, and 131,669 barrels of Indian meal;

in 1830-31, 571,312 bushels of corn, and 207,604 barrels of meal; in

1840-41,535,727 bushels of corn, and 232,284 barrels of meal; in

1845-46, 1,286,068 bushels of corn, and 298,790 barrels of meal; in

1846-47 16,326,050 bushels of corn, and 948,060 barrels of meal; in

1850-51, 3,426,811 bushels of corn, and 203,622 barrels of meal. More

than eleven millions of bushels of Indian corn were consumed in 1850,

in the manufacture of spirituous liquors.

According to the census of 1840, the corn crop of the United States

was 377,531,875 bushels; in 1850, 592,326,612 bushels.

The increase in the production of corn in Ohio has been (in ten years)

66 per cent. I have also before me the auditor's returns for the crop

of 1850, as taken by assessors, and the number of acres planted. The

auditor's returns are:--

Seventy-three counties 55,079,374

Darke county 524,484

Twelve counties, average 8,400,000

----------

Total 64,003,858

This is an advance of 15 per cent. on the crop of 1840, and it is

known that the crop of 1850 was better than that of 1849. The number

of acres planted, and the average production was:--

Acres planted 1,810,947

Bushels produced 64,003,858

Average per acre 35-3/8 bush.

Considering how large a portion of hill land is planted, and how many

fields are ill cultivated, the average is high. Many persons have

believed that taking all years and all lands into view, the average of

corn lands was not more than thirty bushels. But the immense fertility

of _bottom_ lands on the rivers and creeks of Ohio make up for bad

cultivation and inferior soil. We may see something of the differences

in the production of corn, by taking the averages of different

counties, thus:--

Acres. Crop. Average.

Butler 62,031 2,646,353 42½

Warren 42,322 1,757,409 42

Pickaway 65,860 2,627,727 40

Ross 69,520 2,918,958 42

Compare the average of these counties, which embrace some of the best

lands in the State, with the following:--

Acres. Crop. Average.

Carroll 10,107 316,999 32

Jackson 15,680 439,850 30

Monroe 23,375 728,242 31

Portage 10,426 329,529 32

Vinton 11,413 345,470 30

The last counties contain but little bottom land, and hence the

average of corn is reduced one-fourth in amount. Of these counties,

two are full of coal and iron. The resources of the last are more slow

to develop, but in the end will be equally valuable.

But a small quantity of the corn of Ohio is exported _as grain_. It is

first manufactured into other articles, and then exported in another

form. The principal part of these are hogs, cattle, and whiskey. It is

difficult to say exactly how much corn is _in this way exported_, but

the following is an approximation--

Bushels.

In Fat Cattle 4,000,000

In Fat Hogs 10,000,000

In Whiskey 2,500,000

----------

Total 16,500,000

Taking into view the export of corn meal--about twenty millions of

bushels--the residue goes to the support of the stock animals on hand,

of which there are near three millions, exclusive of those fatted for

market.

The exported corn in the shape of cattle, hogs, and whiskey, is worth

about thirty cents cash, while on the farm it is not worth

twenty--thus proving that it is more profitable to consume corn on the

farm, than to export it in bulk. This fact is well known to good

farmers, who seldom attempt to sell corn as a merchantable article.

No mining in the world has ever been equal to mining in a fertile

soil, and no treasury is so reliable as a granary of surplus products.

Indian corn and meal generally find a market in the West Indies,

Newfoundland, Spain, and Portugal. It commands a good price, and finds

a ready sale in the ports which are open to its reception.

Deducting one-sixteenth for the amount exported, and one-tenth for

seed, the quantity of maize annually consumed for food in the United

States by a family of five persons is 85 bushels.

Maize may be considered as the great staple of the agricultural

products of the States. It is exported in large quantities, in a raw

state, or when manufactured into meal. Before it is manufactured into

meal it is dried by a fire, in a kiln prepared for that purpose. By

this process the meal is much less liable to become sour on the

voyage, and can be preserved much longer in a warm climate. No

inconsiderable quantities have likewise been consumed in distillation;

and the article of kiln-dried meal for exportation is destined to be

of no small account to the corn-growing sections of that country.

The improvement continually making in the quality of the seed augurs

well for the productiveness of this indigenous crop, as it has been

found that new varieties are susceptible of being used to great

advantage.

The following was the produce of the different States in the years

named, as given in the Official Census Returns:--

-----------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------

| 1840 | 1841 | 1843 | 1850

| Bushels. | Bushels. | Bushels. | Bushels.

-----------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------

Maine | 950,528 | 988,549 | 1,390,799 |

New Hampshire | 1,162,572 | 191,275 | 330,925 |

Massachusetts | 1,809,192 | 1,905,273 | 2,347,451 |

Rhode Island | 450,498 | 471,022 | 578,720 |

Connecticut | 1,500,441 | 1,521,191 | 1,926,458 |

Vermont | 1,119,678 | 1,167,219 | 1,252,853 |

New York | 10,972,286 | 11,441,256 | 15,574,590 |

New Jersey | 4,361,975 | 5,134,366 | 5,805,121 |

Pennsylvania | 14,240,022 | 14,969,472 | 15,857,431 |

Delaware | 2,099,359 | 2,164,507 | 2,739,982 |

Maryland | 8,233,086 | 6,998,124 | 6,205,282 |

Virginia | 34,577,591 | 33,987,255 | 45,836,788 |

N. Carolina | 23,893,763 | 24,116,253 | 27,916,077 |

S. Carolina | 14,722,805 | 14,987,474 | 18,190,913 |

Georgia | 20,905,122 | 21,749,227 | 26,960,687 |

Alabama | 20,947,004 | 21,594,354 | 24,817,089 |

Mississippi | 13,161,237 | 5,985,724 | 9,386,399 |

Louisiana | 5,952,912 | 6,224,147 | 8,957,392 |

Tennessee | 44,986,188 | 46,285,359 | 67,838,477 | 52,000,000

Kentucky | 39,847,120 | 40,787,120 | 59,355,156 | 58,000,000

Ohio | 33,668,144 | 35,552,161 | 38,651,128 | 59,788,750

Indiana | 28,155,887 | 33,195,108 | 36,677,171 | 53,000,004

Illinois | 22,634,211 | 23,424,474 | 32,760,434 | 57,000,000

Missouri | 17,332,524 | 19,725,146 | 27,148,608 |

Arkansas | 4,846,632 | 6,039,450 | 8,754,204 |

Michigan | 2,277,039 | 3,058,090 | 3,592,482 |

Florida Territory| 898,074 | 694,205 | 838,667 |

Wisconsin | 379,359 | 521,244 | 750,775 |

Iowa T. | 1,406,241 | 1,547,215 | 2,128,416 |

D. of Columbia | 39,485 | 43,725 | 47,837 |

+-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------

Total | 377,531,875 | 387,380,185 | 494,618,306 | 500,000,000

-----------------+-------------+-------------+-------------+-------------

The Indian corn crop of 1850, for the whole of the United States, is

returned as over 500 million bushels, a gain of about 40 millions on

that of 1840.

I give below the quantities of Indian corn and meal which were

exported from the United States in the following years:--

Corn, Bushels. Meal, Bushels. Value. Dolls.

1790 1,713,241

1794 1,505,977 241,570

1798 1,218,231 211,694

1802 1,633,283 566,816

1806 1,064,263 108,342 1,286,000

1810 1,054,252 86,744 1,138,000

1814 61,284 26,438 170,000

1818 1,075,190 120,029 2,335,405

1822 509,098 148,288 900,656

1826 505,381 158,652 1,007,321

1829 897,656 173,775 974,535

1833 437,174 146,678 871,814

--(_Pitkin's Statistics of the United Stales, and Seybert's

Statistical Annals_.)

_System of culture pursued in the United States_.--Maize, the _corn,

par excellence_, of America, is grown in every State in the Union.

Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, Virginia, and Indiana, are in their order

the greatest producers of this grain. In Illinois, North Carolina,

Georgia, Alabama, Missouri, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, New York,

Maryland, Arkansas, and the New England States, it appears to be a

very favorite crop. In Massachusetts, the most Northern and least

favorable State on that account, being cold, a fair proportion is

grown, the aggregate produce being greater there than in any of the

grains, except oats; more, indeed, than might be expected, were not

labor somewhat cheaper than in more Southern States, where the climate

is more congenial. The ordinary produce is twenty-five bushels per

acre; forty bushels is often raised, and in prize crops the weight has

come up to 100 bushels per acre. In Ohio the average is fifty-five

bushels to the acre. The eight and twelve-rowed varieties of Indian

corn are those most usually grown in New York, and the average produce

of a good field in that State is from forty to sixty bushels; on

ordinary ground twenty-five to thirty is a fair crop. The same returns

appeared to be derived from ground in New Jersey. Mr. Doubleday, of

Binghampton, New York, estimates the produce of that neighbourhood at

forty bushels, and the expense of raising the crop as follows,

estimating the worth of the land at twenty-five dollars (say £5) per

acre:--

Dollars. Cents.

The interest of which is 1 16

One ploughing with double team, and harrowing 3 50

Seed and planting 1 00

Plaster or gypsum, and putting on the hill 0 37

Ploughing and hoeing twice, cutting

or stalking the corn 2 75

Husking or thrashing 2 50

-----------------

11 62

Average yield, forty bushels; cost of produce, twenty-nine cents. (1s.

4½d.) per bushel.

Nothing is here put down for manure or cartage, because the fodder,

cut up and saved, as usually adopted, is equal to the manure required.

It is looked upon that the preparation of ground for corn costs less

than wheat; the approved plan is to plant on sward ground, ploughing

at once, and turning the ground completely over, then harrowing

longitudinally until, a good tilth is obtained. Should the soil not be

rich enough, stable manure is first spread on the land.

Now suppose the corn to sell at seventy-five cents the bushel, the

account would stand thus:--

Dollars. Cents.

Forty bushels, at seventy-five cents. 30 00

Cost 11 62

---------------

Gain per acre 18 38

or £3 13s. 6d. British money profit per acre.

In Lichfield, Connecticut, the cost of produce has been, for the

items as stated above, eighteen dollars twenty-five cents, or the cost

of each bushel thirty-six and one-half cents. The acre produce was

fifty bushels, so that it stood thus:--

Dollars. Cents.

Fifty bushels, at seventy-five cents 37 50

Cost 18 25

-----------------

Gain 19 5

or £3 12s. per acre.

The cost of producing maize varies somewhat in the other States,

thus:--

Per bushel.

Cents.

New Hampshire (Unity) the cost was 50

Fayette county, Pennsylvania 16 ¼

Donesville, Michigan, only 17 ½

Plymouth, Massachusetts 17 7/10

The cost on producing this crop was small, but it appears to have been

a small crop, and did not bring more than thirty cents per bushel.

In Monroe county, the richest land in the State of New York,

estimating the land at fifteen dollars per acre, the producing cost

stood at:--

Dollars. Cents.

Interest at six per cent. 0 45

One ploughing sward, cover or stubble 1 00

Harrowing, furrowing, seed, and planting 0 87½

Cultivating three times and hoeing 1 00

Husking the hill 1 00

Shelling and cleaning 1 00

---------------

5 82½

This yielded fifty bushels, the cost of producing the bushel was

eleven and three-fifths cents. This low cost was owing to the fact of

no manure being used; and while it speaks volumes as to the natural

fertility of American soils, yet it reflects very disgracefully upon

the careless system adopted there, as under such treatment no land

could continue, after some years, to produce a crop which could come

into competition with those from newer and less exhausted lands; but

if under a good system of tillage the ground was yearly renewed with

manure, and those amendments which every soil requires, after a crop

has been raised from it, added to the soil in top-dressing and in

ploughing-in, we should never hear of the exhausted state of New

England land, or see the sons of the soil moving west and cultivating

newer soils, thus removing much of the capital and intelligence of a

country away from it.

Supposing the corn of Monroe county sold at seventy cents per bushel,

the balance would appear thus:--

Dollars. Cents.

Fifty bushels, at seventy cents 35 00

Cost of production 5 82½

--------------

Gain 29 18½

£6 1s. per acre profit.

In Northern Ohio and in Illinois the cost of production averages

twenty cents per bushel.

The mode of cultivation in Connecticut and the New England States has

been thus described to me by Mr. L. Durand, an experienced

agriculturist:--If the soil selected is light and mellow, it should be

ploughed and subsoiled in the spring, first spreading on the coarse

unfermented manure which is to be ploughed in. For marking the rows

for planting, a "corn marker" may be used to advantage. It is made by

taking a piece of scantling, three inches square and ten to twelve

feet long, with teeth of hickory or white oak inserted at distances of

two to four feet, according to the width designed for the rows. Then

an old pair of waggon-thills and a pair of old plough-handles are put

to it, and your marker is done. With a good horse to draw this

implement, the ground may be made ready for planting very rapidly. It

is better to leave the ground flat than to ridge it, for the latter

mode has no advantage, except when the ground is wet. The difference

in the two modes is chiefly this:--When the ground is ridged, the corn

being planted between the edges of the furrows, it comes immediately

in contact with the manure, springs up and grows rapidly the fore part

of the season. When the ground is left flat, and the manure turned

under the furrows, the corn will often look feeble at first, and in

growth will frequently be much behind that on the ridges; and the

inference early in the season is, that the ridged ground will give the

best crop, but as soon as the roots of the corn on the flat ground get

hold of the manure (say about the 20th of July), the corn will shoot

rapidly ahead, and the full force of the manure will be given to the

stalk just at the time of forming the grain. Corn cultivated in this

way, if the soil is deeply tilled, will often keep green, while that

on ridges is dried up.

Many farmers, at planting, shell the corn off the cob, and plant it

dry. Others soak it a few days in warm water. But when the seed is

only treated in this way, it is very likely to be pulled up by birds

and injured by worms. The best way to prevent this is to first soak

the corn in a strong solution of saltpetre; then take a quantity of

tar, and having warmed it over a fire, pour it on the corn, and stir

with a stick or paddle till the grain is all smeared with the tar;

then add gypsum or plaster till the corn will separate freely, and no

birds will touch the grain.

The time of planting, in the United States, varies with the season and

the section of the country. In New England it may generally be planted

from the 15th to the 25th May. Where the ground is flat, a light

harrow or a cultivator is much better to go between the rows than the

plough. Formerly a great deal of useless labor was spent in hilling up

corn; in dry seasons this was worse than useless. The earth hauled

round the stalk does not assist its growth, nor aid in holding it up;

the brace roots, which come out as the stalk increases in height,

support it; and it has been observed, that in a heavy storm and

thunder gust, corn that is hilled will be broken down more than that

which is not hilled. The ground which is kept level has also the

advantage of more readily absorbing rain, rendering the crop less

liable to suffer from drought. The field should have two or three

regular hoeings, and the weeds be carefully kept under.

In harvesting the following will be found a good plan:--Let two hands

take five rows, cutting the corn close to the ground. A hill should be

left standing to form the centre of the shock, placing the stalks

round it, so that they may not lie on the ground. After the shock is

made of sufficient size, take a band of straw, and having turned down

the tops of the stalks, bind them firmly, and the work is done.

Maize may be cut as soon as the centre of the grain is glazed, even if

the stalks are green. There will be sufficient nutriment in the stalk

to perfect the ear, and the fodder is much better than when it gets

dry before it is cut. If the shocks are well put up, they may stand

four or five weeks. The corn may then be knocked out, and the fodder

secured for winter use.

The report of the Ohio Board of Agriculture for 1849, contains many

interesting statements in reference to maize culture, made by the

officers of numerous county agricultural societies. In Miami county,

2,030,670 bushels were grown, at an average yield of fifty-five

bushels per acre. Three varieties are cultivated: the common gourd

seed, for cattle; the yellow Kentucky, for hogs and distilling; and

the white, for grinding and exportation. According to the returns from

Green county, which produced 1,250,000 bushels of corn in 1849, "a

regular rotation of clover, corn, wheat, and clover again, is best for

corn; and no crop pays better for extra culture." The Harrison county

Agricultural Society reports the pork crop at 4,800,000 pounds; and it

gave its first premium for corn to Mr. S.B. Lukens, whose statement is

as follows:--

"The ground had been in meadow ten years, was ploughed six inches

deep about the middle of April, was harrowed twice over on the 9th

May, and planted on the 11th four feet by two feet. It came up well,

was cultivated and thinned when ten inches high; three stalks were

left in a hill. About two weeks afterward it was again cultivated,

and the suckers pulled off. About the last of June it was again

cultivated, making three times the same way, as it was laid off but

one way.

d. c.

Expense of culture, gathering, and cribbing, was 17 10

Produce of 374-3/8 bushels, at 31¼ cents 117 10

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Profit on three acres 100 00

The evidence on which a premium was awarded was such as should satisfy

any one that 374 bushels were grown on three acres of land, and at a

cost not exceeding 17 dollars 10 cents, delivered in the crib. This is

producing corn at less than 5 cents a bushel.

Whether the statement be true to the letter or not, it shows

conclusively the great value of a _rich soil_ for making cheap corn.

The Board of Agriculture estimates the crop of Ohio last year at

70,000,000 of bushels. Taking the United States as a whole, probably

the crop of corn was never better than in the year 1849. One that has

rich land needs only to plough it deep and well, plant in season, and

cultivate the earth properly with a plough or cultivator, to secure

the growth of a generous crop. On poor soils the case is very

different.

To raise a good crop of corn on poor land, and at the least possible

expense, requires some science and much skill in the art of tillage.

Take the same field to operate in, and one farmer will grow 100

bushels of corn at half the cost per bushel that another will expend

in labor, which is money. It unfortunately happens that very skilful

farmers are few in number, in comparison with those who have failed to

study and practice all attainable improvements. To produce cheap corn

on poor land, one needs a clear understanding of what elements of the

crop air and water will furnish, and what they cannot supply. It

should be remembered that the atmosphere is precisely the same over

ground which yields 100 bushels of corn per acre, that it is over that

which produces only five bushels per acre. Now, the whole matter which

forms the stems, leaves, roots, cobs, and seeds of corn, where the

crop is 100 bushels per acre, is not part and parcel of the soil. A

harvest equal to fifty bushels per acre can be obtained without

consuming over ten per cent, of earth, as compared with the weight of

the crop. No plant can imbibe more of the substance of the soil in

which it grows, than is dissolved in water, or rendered gaseous by the

decomposition of mould.

The Commercial Products of the Vegetable Kingdom Considered in Their Various Uses to Man and in Their Relation to the Arts and Manufactures; Forming a Practical Treatise & Handbook of Reference for the Colonist, Manufacturer, Merchant, and Consumer, on the Cultivation, Preparation for Shipment, and Commercial Value, &c. of the Various Substances Obtained From Trees and Plants, Entering into the Husbandry of Tropical and Sub-tropical Regions, &c. · 第 8 / 20 章

It is important to know what our relation is to this staple of the