THE FARMER'S MONTHLY VISITOR. 



123 



of our Vice Presidents for the introduction ofEncr- 

 ish Cattle in the western country. In 1817, Mr. 

 Lev/is Saunders of Kentucky, togetJier with two 

 other intelligent and respectable citizens of Fay- 

 ette county, made an importation of Short Horn 

 Durham Cattle. This was the first introduction of 

 this breed into Kentucky, and from them has de- 

 scended all of that stock now known as the impor- 

 tation of 1817. The more recent importations are 

 called the improved Short Horns ; but I believe it 

 will be found that the crocs, produced from the 

 stock of 1817, and the late importations will be 

 truly the improved breed. 



I entertain the opinion that the introduction and 

 propagation of the improved breed of cattle in Ohio, 

 will be perinanent, progressive, and enriching ; I 

 dread no falling off in this great and interesting ex- 

 periment, and believe me, we will in time be able 

 to outstrip England herself, by means of the supe- 

 rior facilities which our country possesses for this 

 kind of business. A country capable of yielding 

 the immense agricultural products of Ohio, must 

 have a decided advantage over one not possessing 

 such ample supplies of provender, however well 

 situated in other respects for the raising of cattle. 

 "The great object of the husbandman is to obtain 

 the most valuable return from his raw material ; 

 to prefer that kind of live stock, and that breed of 

 an}' kind, that will pay hini best for the food the 

 animal consumes. The value to which the animal 

 itself may be brought is quite a different, and infe- 

 rior consideration ;" so, in the rearing of cattle, 

 iliust always be taken into consideration the abun- 

 dance of food ; and the size the animal mast bear, 

 as a question of profit, a proper relation to the quan- 

 tity or scarcity of aliment. Those countries whose 

 produce is scanty and dear, may, as matter of boast, 

 produce as fine formed, and larger sized cattle than 

 ours, but, with reference to profitable investment, 

 tlie countries of scanty supply, must yield as gra- 

 ziers, to those of rich and ample products. It is an 

 established position amongst breeders in England, 

 that the size of cattle must be determined by the 

 abundance or scarcity of food; and that the district 

 of scanty supply, must rest contented with a less 

 noble but more hardy race, than can be profitably 

 produced on more fertile or prolific soils. If these 

 positions are true, is there any question, but that 

 Ohio will take the lead and keep it, in her career 

 of raising fine stock.-* 



That the demand will mcrease with the supply 

 is hardly more to be questioned, than the superior 

 character of the improved Short Horned breeds 

 over the ordinary stock of the country. That the 

 price of such stock v/ill decline, I cannot bring my 

 mind to believe, at least for the present and suc- 

 ceeding generation ; for it is manifest that such 

 cattle are intrinsically and immensely superior in 

 all tile points necessary to make them valauble, to 

 the ordinary stock. I think, gcntleinen, we may 

 pe fully assured of this, when we reflect that it is 

 now 83 years since Mr. Robert Bakewell commen- 

 ced those extensive experiments in Leicestershire, 

 England, whicii terminated in the important im- 

 provements for which his name is celebrated. And 

 how stand the prices and demand, for liis cattle, 

 sheep, and hogs now, and ever since he brought 

 them to such perfection .' The demand in Eng- 

 land for high bred cattle is as large, not only for 

 the supply in America, but on the Continent, as it 

 ever was, and so far froni falling off, it is increas- 

 ing ; and the prices, instead of declining, are on 

 the advance ; can we believe that the demr-nd for 

 them will ceasG, until the boundless regions of the 

 West are amply stocked, and until the people of 

 the union shall cease to be carnivorous ^ liut I 

 wish to impress it on the mind of every intelligent 

 farmer that b}' taking the proper coursie, he can 

 greatly improve his stock of every kind. The an- 

 imal race, like the vegetable kingdom, should be 

 propagated alone from the best and finest speci- 

 mens (^f its kind. Let this course be strictly adhered 

 to, and a very few years will prove its great benefit 

 to the stock of our country ; it was in this way 

 that the fine Durham Cattle were produced, and 

 by following tliis excellent rule, that Bakewell be- 

 came celebrated for his fine slicep, hogs and other 

 stock. And suffer me, in this place, to speak of the 

 Bakawelj sheep, a stock destmed. to be of much vqi- 

 ue to our western growers of wool and choice mut- 

 ton. A thorough bred Bal'.evvell sheep will yield 

 annually from eiglit to twelve ll)s. of wool, and his 

 carcase will weigh from 100 to 150 lbs. when fat ,; 

 and it is much more easily kept than the common 

 stock of tlie country. The wool is not so fiii'o. 

 though sulEciently so for coarse fabricks. But 1 

 believe that a cross, with the Bakewell on the Me- 

 rino, Saxony aiid comviion sheep of the country, 

 will make the most valuable kind for both mutton 

 an,d wool. 1 speak fromeipericnce, having on the 



ground at this time, the full bloods and the half 

 Saxony, and Bakewell sheep. Great attention, 

 gentlemen, should likewise be given to the im- 

 provement of breed of our hogs. There is no class 

 of animals in which the farmer and commercial 

 man haii a deeper interest, throughout the United 

 States, and in this region especially. Cincinnati 

 is now the greatest pork market in the world, and 

 the very high prices which for several years past 

 have been paid in this district for hogs, and the fair 

 prospect of a continuance of these prices, render it 

 of the highest importance that we should avail 

 ourselves of the very best breeds of these animals. 

 From my own experience of rearing as well as the 

 packing of hogs, I believe the Berkshire breed 

 crossed on the Byfield, produces the best breed 

 that can be found in our country, for they attain a 

 fine size at a very early age. The practical and 

 intelligent farmer will soon find the folly of feed- 

 ing a common bullock for six, when one of a dif- 

 ferent breed can be made a more valuable animal 

 in three years. The same remark will apply to 

 hogs and sheep. One of the former of the im- 

 proved Berkshire and Byfield cross, will weigh more 

 when eighteen months old, than a common hog af- 

 ter two and a half years of feeding. And sheep of the 

 Bakewell breed with the same expense of keeping, 

 will produce three times the amount of wool ami 

 twice as much mutton, as one of the common kind. 

 These improved breeds of animals have been but 

 recently introduced in the West, and are not ex- 

 tensively known to our farmers ; 1 therefore take 

 great pleasure in recommending them to public at- 

 tention. If any doubts should exist on the sub- 

 ject of profits arising to the agriculturists, from the 

 rearing of the beautiful breed of cattle, of which I 

 have been speaking, they may refer to a sale which 

 took place on the Clifton farm three miles north of 

 Cincinnati, on the S7th and 28th of June last. This 

 speaks a language too plain and satisfactory to be 

 misunderstood. 1 would also refer to the more re- 

 cent sale of Mr. Samuel Smith's stock, near Lex- 

 ington, Kentucky. 



Gentlemen, the business of raising fine stock 

 cannot be overdone, in a countrj' composed of such 

 a people, settled in such a climate and on sucii soil 

 as ours. The demand will be for years to come, 

 greater than the increase of the pure bloodstock. 



The honor and advantage resulting from 

 tilling the ground. 



I have now, fellow citizens, enumerated but a 

 few of the many great advantages, which result to 

 the farmer, who goes on in the discharge of his 

 pleasing and delightful pursuit, with a steady and 

 constant aim of improving his lands, increasing bis 

 knowledge of the various agricultural branches to 

 wliich his avocations may lead him, of enlarging 

 his fjrtune, of expanding his mind, and of becom- 

 ing a public benefactor. It has been correctly 

 said, that he who causes two spears of grass to 

 grow where but one stood before, is a public bene- 

 factor; and will not the same remark apply to the 

 enterprising and patriotic farmer, who has spent 

 his time, his labor, and his ifioney, in successful 

 experiments in agriculture and the improvement of 

 the domestic animals of his country. 



Gentlemen, the culture of the earth, as it is the 

 most natural, so it is the most innocent and honor- 

 able means of subsistence to the human family. 

 Its e.irliest rudiments were communicated by tlie 

 Deity to the parent of mankind, the first husband- 

 man of tlie earth. Its pursuit has been the object 

 of the greatest and best of men from the earliest 

 period oi' our history. It is an employment that 

 has received more of favorable notice, more of bless- 

 ing and commendation, than any cMier occupation 

 to which man has ever devoted himself Holy Writ 

 is full of its lionorable mention. There its praises 

 are constantly displayed, and its virtues eloquent- 

 ly described. 



Husbandi}- and it* labors, the divine glory of the 

 country, the beauties of the harvest, the fruits of 

 autumn, and tiie joyous employment of the spring, 

 have been the themes of orators and poets from the 

 remotest antiquity. 



The cultivation of the earth has received the flat- 

 tering approbation of the greatest and best of men 

 from the earliest ages. 



Tlipusands of approving sentiments might be 

 called from the sayings and writings of the wisest 

 philosopiiers and wisest statesmen, bearing the 

 wannest testimony to the honorable character of 

 husbandry. Cincinnatus, the noble Koman, was 

 informed as he ploughed his field, that the Senate 

 had chosen him Dictator ; he left his plough with 

 regret, repaired to the field of battle, conquered 

 the enemies of his country, and in sLvteen days laid 

 down his ofiice and returned to his cultivated fields. I 



The Sugar Maple. 



There is no tree more natural to the hills and 

 mountains of New Hampshire than the Rock or 

 Sugar Maple : as in the colder and less fertile soil 

 the white birch, as on the light plain ground the 

 pine, as in the rocky swamp the alder, and in the 

 alluvial swamp the tamerack, so on the warm, 

 springy, rocky mountain ground the Sugar tree 

 springs up spontaneously. If the track of a road 

 is cut in the valleys between the mountains, the 

 rock maples in countless numbers are generally the 

 first to grow on the sides fS the travelled path.— 

 The uncleared woods on the high lidls and far up 

 the sides of the mountains are pretty sure to pre- 

 sent a sugar orchard. 



While on our late journey, we were pleased to 

 see the attention paid by many farmers to a nurse- 

 ry of maples. There can be no grove more 

 beautiful than one of maple trees in a clean pasture. 

 In L-iudon and Gilmanton we passed several of 

 these groves : the spot selected for them is most 

 likely to be in a valley where the rocks cover a 

 large share of the ground. Here in tlie heat of 

 a summer mid-day the 'flocks of cattle and sheep 

 repose; and nothing can be more refreshing in ex- 

 treme hot weather than a maple shade which gath- 

 ers like a bellows the cooling air. 



A thousand sugar maple trees will cover over but 

 a small space of ground. The second growth of 

 these trees is rapidly increasing among our farm- 

 ers. The ingenious sugar makers in Grafton 

 county have a method of collecting tjieir sap to be 

 boiled down in their kettles, by means of a trough 

 cut fioin a spruce, or other straight log: the sap is 

 first turned from pails into a tub which communi- 

 cates with the trough by a cock atone extreme and 

 runs to a hogshead or other receptacle at the other, 

 where the sap is wanted for use. These troughs 

 which are easily made may be arranged in such po- 

 sitions as to save much travel and heavy hand car- 

 riage in collecting the material for manufacturing- 

 sugar. 



The sugar making in many parts of New England 

 is becoming an important business: it is a money- 

 saving as well as a money-making business. No 

 tree can be found more beautiful to decorate tlie 

 road-side or the door yard than the Sugar tree. In 

 the summer it will shade us — in early spring it will 

 reriind all cost and trouble of rearing in what is 

 most pleasant and grateful to the palate and useful 

 in the sustenance of lamilies. 



Improved breeds of Cattle. 



The more we reflect on the subject, the more are 

 we impressed with the thorough conviction that 

 farmers will be generously paid for attention to im- 

 proving tReir breeds of cattle. Where the breed 

 is decidedly bad, it should be sold or swapped off 

 for slaughter — where it is passably good, it should 

 be crossed with a better breed ; and where it is 

 very good, it perhaps may be made better by 

 mixing with another breed that excels in some 

 point where this is deficient. 



If we may credit the histor}' of cattle in Europe, 

 the present race has been wonderfully changed 

 from what it was centuries ago. Better keeping 

 and attention in a succession of ages have given 

 additional size and strength and docility to the cow 

 and the ox : the wild animals out of which these 

 highly useful domestic animals have been reared 

 v/onld scarcely be recognized as of tlie same race. 



As in the vegetable creation, in the improvement 

 of Indian corn, wheat, potatoes and other useful 

 products of the earth, in the selection of seeds a- 

 dapting them to soil and climate, so in the animal 

 world the creatures ranging amidst onr hills and 

 valleys in summer and fed in our stalls in winter, 

 should be improved not only by selecting the best 

 to be reared, not only by ample feeding, but by at- 

 tention in choosing those breeds which present the 

 best points. 



At the Centre Family at Enfield, N. H. we saw 

 a (cw d .ys since, a drove of calves of the present 

 spring that were almost equal in size to the great 

 bulk of yearling cattle that are seen ranging in the 

 pastures. Among these was a beautiful white face 

 h-jifer of deep red— the l:irgc.;t and handsom- 

 est cilf of the present year that we have yet seen. 

 Tlie Shakers at Enfield have for several years had 

 what they supposed to be a mixture of tho Durham 

 breed of cattle : tho delicate limb, the length of 

 the head and the clean nostrils of this fine heifer, 

 indicated that she was of blood superior to common 

 cattle, as did indeed the appearance of the dozen 

 calves along with her. 



In another pasture were their working oken— all 

 of them fit enough for slaughter— between which 

 and the ordinary oxen there was as wide difference 

 in size and comeliness as between the calves we 

 have just noticed and those to be mat with all a- 



