abiding consideration of suggestions of this character If "all flesh is grass," as we are told by the inspirthat led me to get the census returns of 1850, relating ed penman, then it is practical knowledge of the highto neat cattle, so arranged as to show in one column all est value, to know how to transform water, air, and the "milch cows;" in another, all the "working earth into grass and human flesh in the most direct, oxen;" and in a third, all the "other cattle." You expeditious, safe, and profitable manner. Disseminate will remember that I had charge of the Department | this knowledge univerally, and the denizens of the of Agriculture in Washington in 1849 and 1850, when | federal metropolis will not have to pay as they now the Census Board had statistical schedules prepared.do, fifteen cents a quart for all the milk they purchase; Before 1850, neat cattle were returned without any sub- nor will the citizens of Knoxville, Tenn., be compelldivision whatever, or any view to their improvement. ed to give a dollar a pound for cheese, as they did in The farmers of New-York returned 931,324 cows in May last, when I left my family there and walked 200 1850, and 1,123,634 in 1860; increase, 192,310. Sheep miles over to Lexington, Ky. There is not a cheesereturned in 1850, 3,453.241: in 1860, 2,617,855; de- dairy in Tennessee, nor in a dozen other States that I crease, 833,386. These figures show a remarkable de- might name, and I doubt if one can be found in Marycrease of sheep, and increase of cows, and that the land. The demand for first rate dairy stock for breedlast named stock pays best. ing purposes, is soon to be large beyond all precedent. In connection with the systematic improvement of The right way to meet this demand is one of the dairy stock in this country, I have long thought it de-points which I aim to illustrate. How can the counsirable to establish a new and an American breed of try make the most of the good dairy-blood which it of neat cattle, to be named, possibly, the Herkimers now contains? or the Chenangoes. If there is a county in England Certainly not by allowing it to be deteriorated in or Scotland that has cows of the same weight with any herd whatever. But deterioration is unavoidable those of Herkimer Co., N. Y., that will elaborate more unless all can judge wisely of the intrinsic value of milk, butter, and cheese in a year than the dairymen of parental blood for extending and improving itself in Herkimer report, the fact has escaped my reading. No future generations, in reference to the speciality of man thinks less of mere names than I do, whether it is transforming vegetable substances into milk. Whatthat of an Essex, Sussex, or Berkshire pig, South-ever of virtue and merit there may be in hereditary Down or Cotswold sheep, or of an Ayrshire or Alder- endowments, are elements in the physiological proney cow; but at the same time, all must admit that as the world goes, name and fame and success are often intimately associated as cause and effect. It may well be supposed that I desired every farmer or ⚫other person to state the number of milch cows he owned or kept for a purpose, and they have accommodated me by returning 6,385,094 in 1850, and 8,728,862 in 1860. The close study of these bovine mothers, whose inherent milk-forming powers have no rivals among all the mammalia, is a matter of incalculable moment. No man is likely to breed dairy cows properly before he is able to appreciate in some degree their true value. To bring this antecedant knowledge home to every understanding, I will notice some facts bearing on the subject. 1. A good cow can secrete forty pounds of rich milk a day for many days in succession. 2. She cannot form anything like one pound of flesh a day for any great length of time; for if so, she would weigh when six years old as many pounds as there are days in six years-2,190 pounds. 3. Two pounds of milk fairly dried, give as much dry matter as one pound of lean meat will yield when equally dried, showing that the milk-forming value of a good cow is about twenty times the value of her muscular and meat-forming system. Lean meat (muscle) loses about 75 per cent. in weight by perfect drying, and milk 87 per cent. 4. Elements valueless to-day as common air, water, and salts in the earth, may be in three days organized into grass; in two days more, the grass will appear as milk in large quantities in a first rate dairy; and in two days thereafter, this milk may appear in the brain and thoughts of man, and in the bone and muscle of his noblest industry. Does not the intelligent reader see in these few facts not only the marvelous powers of the vital principles in grass and in the cow, but also the handy-work of Infinite Wisdom? blem. If the birth of an animal, or its conception, Management of Strawberry Beds. when they were hoed. The result of this treatment LADY SUSAN-2 Years Old-Bred by and the property of T. L. Harison, Morley, N. Y. "Lady Susan" was winner of first prize in yearling class, at Utica, 1863. Got by Hotspur (4030); dam Bar-. oness, by Barrington (1229) ;) gr. dam, Red Rose 2d, by Napier (6238,) &c. SEASONABLE. NOTES. Has a good system of rotation of crops been adopt ed-a system that is well adapted to the soil, as well as to the locality? If one is entirely satisfied with sunshine, contains all the elements of fertility which are necessary to produce wheat. The first consideration always is, what is the character and quality of the soil? Wheat flourishes best on a good loam; but soils that have only a very limited proportion of clay in them, will produce good wheat. his course of rotation, perhaps it will not be advisable to make any innovations on such system. On the would recommend-unless the soil is very light-to Now, to abbreviate directions on this subject, we contrary, if crops have been raised for a number of plow it of a good depth this fall, and let no portion of seasons past, without any reference to regular succes- it be inundated for a long time with water. Standing sion, there are very many instances in which a farmer water will injure a soil very much in a few days. may introduce a different crop from what his soil has Between this time and next spring, make a good ever produced, with a good prospect of its succeeding lot of barn-yard compost, and have it well rotted bebetter than almost any other crop that he can raise.fore it is applied to the soil. Then, spread it evenly, But proprietors of farms ought to be intelligent enough and plow it in. If the soil should not be in a poor to determine this point for themselves. And the pre-condition, the proprietor might safely calculate on a sent time is quite as proper for that purpose, as to deremunerating crop. lay until next season. In very many sections of our country the soil has produced nothing but oats, buckwheat, and Indian corn, until it does not yield half a crop of either. Here, then, is a fair opportunity for a good and profitable improvement in farm management, in raising a different kind of grain or crops of some kind. Preparation of Soil for Spring Wheat. In case the soil is inclined to be wet and cold, we would not advise to attempt to raise a crop of any kind of wheat on it until it has been drained. Upland Cranberries.-At the late meeting of the Pomological Society, William Parry of New-Jersey, so widely known for his skill in raising small fruits, stated that although raising upland cranberries had succeeded in some instances, yet that the amount of labor requir the same amount were expended on strawberries it would produce a far heavier return for the outlay. M. B. Bateham of Ohio, said that among the many experiments that had been performed with them in Ohio, not one had really proved successful. Wheat, whether it is winter or spring wheat, needs a little good manure, and there are but few soils thated to keep them clear from weeds was so great, that if have produced crops for many years past without fertilizers of some kind, that will produce wheat without a sprinkling of good manure. But good barn-yard manure, unless it has been exposed to long rains and "QUEEN OF ATHELSTANE"--the Property of Hon. D. Christie, Brantford, C. W. A Royal Prize-Winner---High Feeding. Herewith we are happy to be able to present an engraving of the Short-Horned Cow, "Queen of Athelstane," from a drawing by J. R. PAGE, expressly for the COUNTRY GENTLEMAN. As our readers are already aware, this cow was one of the late importation of Hon. DAVID CHRISTIE, Brantford, C. W., from the noted herd of James Douglas, Athelstaneford, Scot land. Breeders may be interested in her pedigree at length: QUEEN OF ATHELSTANE-Red; calved 29th April, 1860. Bred by James Douglas, Esq., Athelstaneford, Scotland. Got by Sir James the Rose, 15290. Dam Playful by 4th Duke of York, 10167. The illustration does not exaggerate the symmetry and "great wealth" characteristic of the "Queen." Nor will it give rise to an over-estimate of the high condition in which show animals in Great Britain are exhibited, nor of the skill with which they are brought to that condition by careful management from birth. A glance at this portrait affords the best commentary upon the accounts we have given of the English Shows, and the appearance of the stock collected at them, as compared with our own. It is true that great complaint has been made of this "high-feeding," and equally true that the breeding qualities of individual animals have been injured in some cases, and occasionally ruined by it. But it is not a "sin" of Short-Horn breeders only; the same thing is seen among the Herefords, Devons, Angus, and indeed in all the leading breeds brought to the show-yard, according to their respective fattening qualities;-from our own observation we thought the Hereford and Devon men, in their efforts to vie with the Short-Horns, even went to a greater extreme in this respect. What, then, is the basis on which such high-feeding rests, and why does it continue to be customary, notwithstanding the risks involved? The explanation is not alone due to the fact that abundance of flesh, like charity in the epistle, may "hide a multitude of sins," nor that the eye is taken by mere weight and rotundity of carcass. The truth is that all the feeding in the world, will not result in such an animal as that shown in the engraving, unless the disposition to make flesh, and to early maturity, has existed during previous generations, and been strengthened and developed by a long course of skillful breeding. Nor will the most attentive nursing, and the greatest profusion of fattening material, produce, in the individual, the fineness of bone, the compactness and substance, the smooth and regular exterior, the broad, level back, the thickly meated loin, the springing rib, the depth of chest, the squareness and massiveness, represented in the portrait. Such care and liberal supplies of nourishing food from an early age, simply bring out the qualities which the breeder has been laboring to perfect. They are there, but their presence, and the degree of aptitude and perfection attained, can only be made fully manifest by careful nurture. The same merits may be expected in their descendants, and in stock of half blood, produced for grazing and feeding by the farmer. If there are minor demerits covered up by extra flesh, every feeder of experience who has attempted to put it on, knows that other demerits are quite as likely to be brought out in the process, and that the great and incontestable excellences of the model animal for feeding, are thus only to be tested and proven to the eye;-a man may tell us that his cow, which we are examining in ordinary "store" condition, might be fattened to look exactly like the "Queen" in the picture, but such is our lack of faith that we want to see it done before we fully credit the statement. It is the recognition of these facts on the part of the practical farmers of England, which sustains, and indeed, compels breeders to keep up a practice, objectionable in many of its bearings and results, and so much decried by a strong and influential party. The substance of the argument we may have given before, but, with so excellent an example of the point to which the practice is carried, now before us, we have been tempted to recapitulate the real lessons that are afforded by an animal in such condition-the lessons as to judgment in breeding, as well as care in nurture, which are thus developed. "Few," wrote the late Col. Rotch, "who admire and recognize them, are aware how many qualifications go to make up this splendid whole; or how carefully each point has been weighed and discussed, and its relative value decided; how the useful parts are divided from the ornamental and fashionable, and how systematically the whole has been carried out." Some of our readers may be indisposed to credit the correctness of the Queen's portrait, from the perfection shown, but, as already stated, having seen and examined the cow herself, we do not consider her merits over-drawn; and the sketch, which was submitted to the criticism of many good judges at the recent Provincial Show at Hamilton, so far as we know, met the entire approval of all. Currants and Gooseberries---Their Cultivation. Among the smaller fruits, none possess greater value, in our humble opinion, than the currant, and yet none have less attention at the hands of cultiva tors. It is presumed that not one person in a hundred understands the simple process of cultivating either currants or gooseberries, although it has been detailed in all the horticultural publications with which the world abounds. Thousands of persons with every appliance for success are still content to live without a plentiful supply of these delicious, healthy and cheap luxuries, merely because they have not paid any attention or thought to the matter. They have a few stunt. ed bushes set in the grass, with three-fourths of the stocks dead, and then wonder why they do not bear in abundance. out again the second year. They have been known to attain six feet in height. This places the fruit out of the way of fowls and prevents the gooseberries from mill-dewing, which often happens when the fruit lies on or near the ground and is shaded by a superabundance of leaves and sprouts. It changes an unsightly bush which cumbers and disfigures the garden, into an ornamental dwarf tree. The fruit is larger and ripens better, and will last on the bushes by growing in perfection until in the fall. Many people suppose that the roots make out from the lower buds. It is not so-they start from between the bark and wood at the place where it was cut from the parent root. The White and Red Dutch Currants have been cultivated for a great length of time, and have not, until within a few years, been displaced by any new varieties. The currant requires to be severely pruned when the object is large and handsome bunches and berries. It is useless to expect fine fruit unless this is attended to. At the spring pruning, every new shoot should be headed back to four or five eyes, and the old wood wholly cut out, or as much of it as pos sible, as it is only on the young and vigorous wood that the best fruit is produced. By attending to thesa suggestions, the cultivator may have the finest fruit, Duchess county, 1864. JACK SCREWS. C. N. B. These are often useful, in many ways, to every far. mer. Barns, and other buildings, often settle slightly out of position, not only causing injury to the buildings themselves, but also interfering with a free opening and shutting of the doors, &c. A few minutes' use of one of these screws is generally sufficient to set H Fig. 1. all right. They may be used for lifting any heavy body, and as a wagon jack, for large or loaded wagons. The figure (1) exhibits Reed's patent, consisting of two screws, one above the other, moving in opposite directions, thus effecting double work at each revolution of the lever.-Annual Register. thrown out by the old stumps. They merely require Cabbage plants may be raised easily from sprouts to be cut from the stump with a portion of its bark pertaining to them, and to be planted in rows like rooted seedlings and to have the usual watering. It is the mode of raising cabbages universally adopted by the Chinese. There is not a more beautiful shrub growing than the currant, properly propagated; and the same may be said of the gooseberry. Cultivators who pay any attention to the subject, never allow the root to make but one stock-thus forming a beautiful miniature tree. To do this it will be necessary to take sprouts of last year's growth, and cut out all the eyes or buds in the wood, leaving only two or three at the top; then push them about half the length of the cutting into mellow soil where they will take root and run There is certainly no rarer, more amiable and canup a single stalk, forming a beautiful symmetrical tree. did quality, than habitual justice to the motives of If you wish it higher you have only to cut the eyes' people not in our set, and not subject to our influences. EXHIBITIONS OF FAT STOCK. Our Agricultural Exhibitions, excellent as they are, and with all the various departments they in clude, fail necessarily, from the time of year at which they are held, to cover the whole ground. Those who are conversant with the results of English experience, know how important a place is taken in Great Britain by the December Shows of Fat Stock. They attract nearly or quite as much attention as the summer exhibitions. The turn-out both of stock and spectators at the Agricultural Hall of the Smithfield Club, at Bingley Hall, Birmingham, and Liverpool, is very large. Cannot something of the kind be inaugurated here? Twelve or fifteen years ago, our State Agricultural Society made the attempt, and exhibitions were annu ally held for some time. But they failed to attract the competition of the parties for whose benefit they were mainly intended, the farmers and feeders of our own State; indeed, then, there was far less done in the systematic preparation of fat stock for the butcher than there is now; the prizes, which were not large, unless we are mistaken, went, in most cases, to any moderately well fed animals or carcases that might happen to be here at the time, and, at best, the shows were small and thinly frequented. alive or dressed, would also have a place. And the usual show of seed-grains, dairy products, &c., held at the time of the Winter Meeting, would probably be increased, from the increased number of farmers who would be called to the city, and who could, with very little additional trouble, bring with them something to compete in one or more of the classes open. Those who have undertaken feeding as a regular part of Winter Farming, would be brought out, and their success would be illustrated and enforced upon the notice of others. Statements of the mode of feeding adopted might be advantageously called for from competitors, where practicable, and we should hope that there might be a large number of farmers from all parts of the State attracted to witness the Exhibition, while all the leading butchers would not fail to be present, and-as the whole would undoubtedly close with a sale of all that might be offered for the purpose the occasion would assume the importance of a great Market-day, and premium animals would be sure to win, beside the prizes taken, the extra bids of the most appreciative purchasers the country affords. Our contemporaries, we are confident, will be doing their readers a service by bringing this matter before them, and if lack of time or other unexpected obstacles intervene to prevent the completion of the project the present winter, we shall certainly hope that the next may be signalized by the permanent establishment of such a series of Shows. Indeed, if the in It does appear to us that a more favorable time has now arrived for the successful trial of this experiment. As to location, there are few points which seem to com-terest is manifested which one would suppose might bine so many advantages for the purpose as Albany; be expected, in view of the progress our Agriculture It is on the way directly, for all the western and is constantly making, a Club might be formed for the northern parts of the State, either to the market of express purpose of holding these exhibitions, working Boston or New-York. It has become a recognized in harmony with, and as a cognate branch of the center of buyers from both places, and is superior to State Agricultural Society, but keeping its funds sepa a location in New York itself, from this very fact.rately, in order that the new affair should be made And for feeders in all the river counties, it is but self-supporting, and that it should have the undivided little out of the way-the means of access being so benefit of any subscriptions tendered for its use. Its good, and the attendance of buyers certain. time, the week of the Annual Meeting of our State Agricultural Society, or that immediately succeeding it, is just in season for the displays of prime meat by which Washington's birthday is always honored among the butchers of our leading cities. As to encouragement would be for the benefit of all buyers and dealers in stock, and they, as well as the farmers and feeders, ought to unite in the effort. Could we not depend upon the co-operation of both classes, and would there not be a decided advantage in bringing them together and in extending the acquaintance of each with the other? ABOUT SQUASHES. There may not, possibly, be now a sufficient interval for the publication of a prize list for the coming February. But the "agitation" of the question will do no harm, even if it is too late to get under way before the We have this season tested the Turban, Yokohawinter of 1866. And we are by no means sure that a beginning may not be made this winter. The Executive mo, and Hubbard squashes. The Turban we all proCommittee of the Society will be inclined to give the nounce a poor thing, yet we will give it a trial next subject fair consideration at least, and it would be of year. The Yokohamo is much better, and is a fine interest to us as well probably as to the Board, to hear from different parts of the State, with what favor the proposition is received among those who can take part in such an exhibition. We should be glad to see liberal prizes offered, and, if the funds of the Society are thought insufficient at the present time to bear depletion, we are confident that a subscription could be made up for the purpose, among those who appreciate the importance of extending greater encouragement to this branch of farming operations. grained, fair quality squash, yet its form is objectionable. It is a good bearer. Neither of these are anything like equal in quality to the Hubbard, the sugary sweetness of which has in no wise diminished during the four or five years we have had it in cultivation. This squash should be baked or roasted-boil ing seems to destroy its peculiar sweetness. Nursery Hill, Otoe Co., Nebraska. H. T. VOSE. Grapes in Minnesota.-A correspondent at St. Paul, writes us as follows: "I see by an article in the The programme would naturally include cattle, Co. GENT. that they speak of Aug. 24, as very early for sheep and swine-the different breeds of each, classi- grapes to ripen in latitude 44°. We are near 45°, and I sold grapes in St. Paul, Aug. 16, and my Concords were fied together or separately as might seem most likely fully ripe Sept. 10-Northern Muscadine, Aug. 31, and to attract competition and give satisfaction. Poultry, Burton's Early, Aug. 16. T. M. S.' |