16 THE YEAR-BOOK OF AGRICULTURE. 



flocks were housed six months in the year, to shelter them from the snow of a high latitude, 

 and were fed from the granaries and stock-yards, mine were roaming over the green pastures 

 of Tennessee, warmed by the genial influence of a Southern sun the fleece thus softened 

 and rendered oily by the warmth and green food, producing a fine, even fibre." 



A number of the leading English agriculturists, as a testimonial of their appreciation of 

 the services rendered to the cause of agriculture by Mr. Lawes, (well known for his experi- 

 mental investigations on the growth of wheat, mineral manures, &c., in connection with Dr. 

 Gilbert,) have recently erected and furnished a laboratory, which, together with an elegant 

 silver candelabrum, has been presented to him. It may be expected that, with increased 

 facilities, more new and valuable results will be attained. 



The importations of English cattle into the United States have been very numerous during 

 the past year. "A few years ago the taste ran in a different direction, and blood-horses 

 were all the go. Priam, Glencoe, Monarch, and horses of that stamp were purchased in 

 England at enormous prices 15,000 or 16,000 dollars being paid for a single animal; but a 

 fondness for racing has diminished, not only in the Northern but also in Southern States, 

 and the importation of well-bred cattle, sheep, and hogs has been pursued with more ardor." 



In Kentucky, in Bourbon county especially, there are at present some of the finest 

 cattle in the world, the descendants of foreign Shorthorn stock. As a proof of their supe- 

 riority over the present English cattle, the Ohio Farmer states the following conclusive fact : 

 "In the last three years about two hundred head of English Shorthorns have been imported 

 into Kentucky, and not one in ten out of them have been able to take premiums over those 

 bred in Kentucky, and, out of one hundred and fifty cows, but two have been successful com- 

 petitors. The bulls have been more successful than the cows, for the reason that aged Ken- 

 tucky bulls have been sold out of the State." 



There is something in the climate and soil of Kentucky extremely favorable to the de- 

 velopment of stock ; and it is stated that, within a district of that State not exceeding forty 

 miles square, there are now as many fine cattle bred as in all England. 



The cattle interest of the Western States has also become one of great magnitude, espe- 

 cially in Ohio. The best evidence of this is the continued announcement of importations, 

 intended for this section of the country, and the exhibitions of the various State fairs. Some 

 of the finest of the recently-imported stock in the United States is now in the possession of 

 the United Society of Shakers, of Union Village, Warren county, Ohio. The Ohio Farmer 

 states that $2000 were paid by this Society for a short-horned prize bull, imported during the 

 past summer. 



The Cashmere and Angora goats, and the Brahmin cattle, imported sometime since by Dr. 

 Davis, of South Carolina, are multiplying both directly and by crossing with native stock. 

 The results thus far attained exceed the most sanguine expectations. 



A number of alpaca sheep have also been recently introduced into the United States from 

 Peru, by Captain James Pedersen, of New Jersey. 



The strange mania which has of late years manifested itself for importing and breeding 

 foreign fowls, has nearly exhausted itself. The effect, so far from being beneficial, has un- 

 doubtedly produced a deterioration of some of the most valued varieties of our domestic 

 fowls. Hybrid races have been produced, which are incapable, in a great degree, of propa- 

 gating their species, are useless for supplying eggs, and worthless for the table. We would 

 call attention to a paper in support of these views,* recently read before the Boston Society 

 of Natural History by Dr. Kneeland. 



Increased attention, attended with valuable practical results, has been recently given to 

 the subject of the artificial propagation of fish in the United States. In Ohio, Drs. Garlick 

 and Ackley, of Cleveland, have succeeded in propagating the speckled trout (Salmo fontanalis) 

 of Lake Superior in great numbers, at small expense. A most interesting account of their 

 experience has been published in the columns of the Ohio Farmer, and an abstract of the 

 same will also be found in the present volume. The Natural History Society of New Jersey 

 have proposed to stock the waters of the Hudson, the Delaware, the Susquehanna, and 



* See department of the Year-Book, Agricultural Zoology. 



