106 THE FARMER AT HOME. 



1831, three hundred and eighty-five millions ; in 1821, one hundred 

 and eighty millions; in 1811, eighty millions; in 1801, forty-eight 

 millions ; and in 1791, only two millions were raised. So rapid has 

 been the increase of its culture in our country. Of the amount of 

 cotton annually manufactured, the following calculation has been 

 made. All such calculations must of course be very general ; and, 

 although defective and imperfect, will convey impressions approxi- 

 mating to the reality. Thus, it is presumed that three hundred and 

 fifty millions of pounds are manufactured in England ; one hundred 

 and fifty millions in the United States ; eighty millions in France ; 

 two hundred and fifty millions in India and China ; twenty-five mil- 

 lions in South America and Mexico; thirty-five in Germany ; ten in 

 Spain ; twenty in Prussia ; and the remainder elsewhere. About 

 two-thirds raised in the whole world is the produce of the United 

 States. Our cotton crop in 1850 was 1,002,239,000 pounds. 



COULTER. The iron which is attached to the beam of the 

 plough, immediately before the share, and with its sharp cutting point, 

 by dividing the turf, renders the operation of ploughing more com- 

 plete, is called the coulter. It is constructed and applied in many 

 ways and forms, but the object is nearly the same in all, the cutting 

 of the turf before the share. When properly made and affixed, the 

 coulter greatly lessens the force required on the plough to turn the 

 turf well, as it is easier to cut than to tear or break the matted roots 

 of the grass. The coulter should be as near the share as can be con- 

 veniently, unless the surface to be ploughed is very level, and the 

 depth is regulated by wheels, in which case a greater distance between 

 the coulter and the share is admissible. The point in all cases should 

 be set slightly forward, as it will, if inclining backwards, exert a con- 

 stant tendency to throw the plough out of the earth. The cutting 

 should be as near the line to be made by the share as possible, though 

 if there be any deviation it is found to be better to have it made to 

 hand, as the ploughman's phrase is, than otherwise. 



COW. If we were to name the most profitable of all animals, it 

 would be the cow. What other one contributes so much to the sus- 

 tenance of mankind ? What other one so liberally repays the owner 

 for his care of her ? Is not milk one of the most indispensable articles 

 of human food ? And is not -milk almost exclusively from this ani- 

 mal ? In all temperate climates, the cow and her products of milk, 

 butter, cheese, and beef, constitute one of the most important branches 

 of agricultural income. By paying attention to the breeding of the 

 cow, with particular regard to her milking qualities, and to her sus- 

 ceptibilities for becoming good beef, when past the period of utility 

 for dairy purposes, her value is greatly augmented above what it 

 would be if this attention were neglected. This is sufficiently evi- 

 dent to all who have witnessed the changes thus effected. It is 

 known that some cows will not only pay for the feed given to them 



