79 



THK FARMER S MONIULY VlSITOIl. 



(Fi- ».) 



in this town f.j 



f^Xi^r "''"/ '""S"' f"^l^Ied to prrsont accurate likenesses of the beautiful 

 COW and unr.Talled YEARLING CALF belongin.. to Lkv, Unv • n t Eso 

 of Plaintield, Menden Pnrisli, New H^inpshire, to v.fiose kindnens rnd Vene- 

 rosity are we indebted boUi for the exjjcnse of tiie drawin.r and of tlie cn..ra- 

 ving. ° * 



.i.^I''c'''^'''?°?' '"1"^>-''^8 =^t Clarenion-, where this Ciw was procured, all 

 the definite information Mr.Bryant has been able to obtain is, that the "o-rind- 

 sire of the Calf was a full-blouded D.,rharu short horn. Tlie cow as ne-^r as 

 can be ascertained, is half blood Durham : on the s,ue of the cow has been 

 raised some of the best cattle in Clareni.nt." The weiglit of the cow is a 



little over twelve hundred pounds-that of the calf very near twelve hundred 

 pounds. His g.rtli is si.x feet two inches : his age is now (April 10) ciiri.teei 

 months. ' / ^ ^" 



The calf is an animal of the most perfect prnporiions. His form seems 'o 

 nnite tlie ezcellcncies of many breeds of cattle. The splendid ox raised by 

 ISAAC Hl-rbard, Esq. of Clareinont, which was exhibited ■ •■ ■ -■' 



several weeks about one year ago, was from the sn 



the same breed with Mr. Bryan-fs steer. That oxi wc believe, when h-re 

 exceeded ,our thousand pounds in weight : he vet at the same age is said not 

 to have weighed so much as this beautiful cnlf now weighs 



The production ofsucli animals as the Hubbard ox and BVyantenlf is proof 

 that no part of the world can furnish better cattle than "the Connecticut 

 nver valley. 1 he first and second tiers of towns in New Hampshire on the 

 east side of Connecticut nver are invariably composed of first rate lands for 

 rearing cattle and sheep : the hill towns, elevated several hundred feet above 

 the nver, if tliey are not m part marie up of same of the most fertile inler- 

 vale meadows in the world-not to bo exceeded even bv the exuberance of 

 the bottom lands of the rivers of the West— have their advantages 

 more healUiy air of a higher elevation and their freedom from the foo- 

 tunes producing mildew to the grains. Uf all tlie Co 



Clareraont.situated about fifty miles due west from the political capita! of the 

 Mate, IS considered to be one of the best, if not the verv best. The town of 

 Cornish intervenes on the river between Clr.remont and'riainfield, where the ' 

 ealf andhis dam are now kept ; and these towns for improved a<rrici.lturc 

 and wealthy farmers arc very little behind Claremont. Claremonl v">s net ' 

 settled as soon as Keene by nearly thirty years. To show the slow pra^re=s 

 made by be first .ettlers of New England, what is now Hinsdale, ti/e south- 

 westerly town of New Hampshire on the Connecticut river, was commenced ' 

 as early as lob2— it was then a part of Northlield in Massachusetts ' W. 



istrnnsporied about the country as an object more v>-ortby for exhibition than 

 the lion or the elephant, he is so delicately treated as to be carried, rather than 

 carrv as a beast of burtlien. The Bryant steer is yet truly a calf, because ho 

 cont'uuesat the age of eighteen months to nurse his mother. But men of inde- 

 pendent property really do a great service to the public by raising and keep- 

 ing such creatures as these. They excite the ambition of every farmer to 

 raise and keep a good yoke of oxen, a good cow and such young kine as 

 j grow up into the most beautiful and comely of the beast kind. A farmer's 

 I working cattle, which are trained to almost every service requiring strength, 

 I are his comfort and his convenience : a farmer's herd of cows, producing ths 

 , better part of the food wliich his family daily consumes— the emblem of "filial 

 j and parental affection— deserve his constant c.Tie and attention. 

 I To the superior fertility of the soil in the region of the Connecticut river 

 I valley is undoubtedly due their larger, fatter and better cattle. The advan- 

 j tnge of pastur.ige and summer keeping alone will give a better size to cattle; 

 me neir.-1-borbnod „„1 r' V'^ ^'"'"' P'''*''"'''"^ ^°^^^ on tiie highlands and in tlie "valley are much better than 

 me nei^l.horliood and of, Uiosc to the eastward. Nevertheless, the fine working oxen and the superior 

 niilcli cows on the seaboard show that artificial means, and not excellent pas- 

 turage alone, may make first rate catile. Our opinion is, that every where 

 the cattle may be improved by winter keeping. The root culture.the production 

 oi ruta baga, English turnips, beets and carrots, is calculated not only to im- 

 prove our cattle, but greatly to increase their numbers. In ordinary years 

 these roots may be raised at an expense of from six to twelve cents the bush- 

 el. With either ruta baga, beets or carrots, the quantltv of milk may be in- 

 creased from one third lo one half over the quantitv obtained simply irom the 

 best of dry hay— with thc-m, oxen will work and thrive on ordinary hay dur- 

 ing the winter— and with them, calves and young cattle may be kept growinu- 

 not less tlirifly in winter than in summer. The root culture, entered upon 

 nnect'cut river towM<= ' r'"* P'^'sued with sjiirlt, will enable farmers who have hard and dry grounds 

 , .: , '.'..''!?■}=> for the production of hay, with ease to double the numbers of their cattle. 

 If ceil.irs imder tlieir barns can be prepared to keep these roots, it will bo 

 well. With capacious cellars in tlie houses, many hundred bushels of roots 

 inay be kept in safisty : they will not suffer injury from frost until mid-winter 

 It covered deep in a bay of hay in the barn. Some farmers put them under 

 an artificial cover of the side hill of a field so as to be conveniently opened 

 in the winter. 



in the 

 : some- ' 



Where pasturage is poor or scanty, its place may be profitably supplied 

 with green feed ; and this is sometimes done. A small field of Lucerne or 



• lonn -. „ amfield 1,5,-1. The ajricuUural products of Claremont 



.nl820 were 30,000 lbs. of butter, .-".o.OOO lbs. cheese, 13.5,000 lbs. beef iVo,' 

 000 lbs. pork, 7,500 lbs. fiax, and 1 1 ,000 barrels of Cider. Corn'sh the same 

 year produced 26,000 lbs butter, G.-5,000 lbs. cheese, J'22,000 lbs" beef loS 

 000 lbs. pork, 8 300 lbs flax, and IfirQ b„„Hs cider. IMauifield is n^w' abou 

 the^same size of €ornish, and its produce is very little less or more than that 



The towns which we have just been considering are Inhabited by a popula- 

 tion of farmers which lor intelligence and real indepencence may v'e with 

 any other similar populatioi, of the world. The " cattle upon their thousand 

 hills bear witness of their knowledge and advance in agriculture. That the 

 breeds of our cattle may be much improved by the introduction of improved 

 atock from abroad will not admit of doubt; but not less even deperids on 

 improved breeds than upon the manner in which cattle are kept, and the soil 

 on which they are kept. Every farmer cannot afford to raise and keep such 

 creatures as the Hubbard ox and the Bryant steer. Those animals must be 

 kept more to gratify the curiosity and the pride than to benefit the purs, 

 their owners ; for they are carefully and expensively attended w " 

 the slightest service. The Hubbard 



here as at Brigliton." " 'rVhat is your price for 

 pair of steers are four years old — ihey girt over 



passed the street this d.ay (April 30) from Vermont for tlie Brighton market. 

 " Are these exclusively for siaughter, or are they woikino- oxen '" "I havo 



, both, and had as lief scf ' 



, wcrking oxen .'' "That 

 seven feet each— I will s.dj them for one hundred and seventy-five dollars ! 

 Th^s pr^cc, v.e confess, does not come up to that of our friend'iJryant of Ken- 



I tucky, for his Durham short horns ; but if the farmers of interio'r New Eng- 

 land can obtain for a single yoke of steers at four years of age, brought up m 

 the ordinary way, so high a standard price as one" hundred and seventy. five 

 dollars, they may grow rich simply from the growth of their flocks while they 

 aie resting t>om their labors. 



Cut norm.— A friend inlorms us that he succeeded in destroyincr cut 

 worms by watering ground infested bv them with brine in which liar.rs had 

 been preserved, diluted with a large proportion of water. In his first ap 

 Iihcation he destroyed some of his vegetables, as well as the worms. In con- 

 sequence of using the brine without diluting it sufliclently. In succeediucr 

 thout doing ^ trualshe attained his object, and destroyed the wonn witiiout injuring the ve° 



of 



ver worked a day ; and now that he getablcs.— A'. £. Far 



