318 



Dam the best — Seasoning of Wood. 



Vol. IV. 



the proper reply, not only would the labours 

 of the marshals be greatly expedited, but, 

 which is of more consequence, a greater de- 

 gree of accuracy would be secured. The 

 marshals will commence in June next, and 

 proceed through their districts as soon as con- 

 sistent with accuracy. The interrogatories 

 refer to the crops of 1839, and to the products 

 of that year must the answers relate. 



AGRICULTURE — INTERROGATIONS. 



What is the number of your horses and 



mules 1 

 How many neat cattle have you? 

 How many sheep 1 

 How many swine 1 



What is the estimated value of your poul- 

 try of all kinds ■? 

 How many bushels of wheat did you grow 



in 1839 ? 

 How many bushels of barley 1 

 How many bushels of oats 1 

 How many bushels of rye 1 

 How many bushels of buckwheat? 

 How many bushels of Indian corn] 

 How many pounds of wool 1 

 How many pounds of hops? 

 How many pounds of wax? 

 How many bushels of potatoes? 

 How many tons of hay 1 

 How many tons of hemp and flax? 

 How many pounds of tobacco? 

 How many pounds of rice? 

 How many pounds of cotton have you 



gathered ? 

 How many pounds of silk cocoons? 

 How many pounds of sugar? 

 How many cords of wood have )rou sold ? 

 What is the value of the products of your 



dairy ? 

 What is the value of the products of your 



orchard ? 

 How many gallons of wine have you 



made ? 

 What is the value of your home-made or 



family goods ? 

 As intimately connected with these, may 

 be added those relating to horticulture — 

 which are as follows : 



What was the value of the produce of your 



market gardens in 1839 ? 

 What was the value of the produce of your 



nursery and green house ? 



It is hoped that editors friendly to the 

 cause of agriculture, or who have readers in 

 the agricultural districts, will give a place to 

 the above interrogations, and invite the at- 

 tention of those interested, that they may be 

 in readiness with their replies. Let the first 

 effort for an agricultural census of the United 

 States, be met in a maimer tliat shall insure 

 the desirable accuracy of the measure. 



To the Editor of the Fanners' Cabinet. 



Dam the Best. 



Sir, — Your correspondent, G. B., at page 

 256 of the Cabinet, is right. I have expe- 

 rienced the truth of the observation, " If 

 Bakewell had commenced with dam the best, 

 instead of sire the best, he would have ac- 

 complished the end he aimed at in one half 

 the time," and I copy a few sentences from 

 a very popular work on the Horse, as farther 

 corroboration of the axiom. 



Your Subscriber, J. D. 



" There are two rocks on which the farmer 

 often strikes in the breeding of horses : he 

 pays little attention to the mare, and less to 

 the proper nourishment of the foal. It may 

 be laid down as a maxim in breeding, how- 

 ever general may be the prejudices against 

 it, that the value of the foal depends a great 

 deal more on the dam than on the sire. The 

 Arabs are convinced of this, for no price will 

 buy from them a likely mare of the highest 

 blood ; and they trace back the pedigree of 

 their horses, not through the sire, but the 

 dam ; and the Greeks, long before the Arab 

 horses were known, held the same opinion. 

 " What chance of winning have I ?" in- 

 quired a youth, whose horse was about to 

 start on the Olympic course. " Ask the dam 

 of your horse," was the reply, founded on 

 experience. The farmer, however, too fre- 

 quently thinks that any mare will do to breed 

 from, for if he can find a great prancing 

 stallion with a high-sounding name, and 

 loaded with fat, he reckons on obtaining a 

 valuable colt, and if he fail, he attributes 

 the fault to the horse, and not to his own 

 want of judgment — far more depends on the 

 mare than is dreamt of in his philosophy." 



For the Farmers' Cabinet. 

 Seasoning of Wood. 



A constant reader of the Cabinet is led to 

 make a few remarks and enquiries on read- 

 ing the article at page 292 of the present 

 month, " on the seasoning of wood by the 

 means of fire," a subject which he considers 

 of much importance. 



1st. He wishes to inquire, whether it is 

 not the external pressure of the atmosphere 

 wliich renders fresh cut wood, when submit- 

 ted to the action of the fire for seasoning, 

 more compact, harder, and of course heavier, 

 than it can become by air or water seasoning. 



2d. And if it be so, is not the most proper 

 season for cutting timber for this ])urpose 

 when the sap is in full How, as it is then 

 most abundant, less glutinous, and more 

 readily evaporated ; and the vessels which 

 contain it being softer and more easily ope- 



