1838] 



FARMERS' REGISTER 



357 



The cnpons are a srnod deal larwr than a cock, 

 their pIiimaiTP, I think, much richer; and it is 

 really a beauiilbl siirhl, lo see half a dozen or so 

 of these fine-lookinsjc liinls in a flock. They lake 

 no notice wluilever of the hens, are very cowardly, 

 and have a cluck similar to that of a settino; hen. 



These >ientlen)en let me know, about a year 

 a<T0, the day on which they would make some of 

 them, and I went down, and found ih^ operation 

 a very sini[)le one, and was able to do it nivself, 

 after having seen some two or three operations 

 performed. After the next communication of 

 " Civis," if his method does not agree with mine, 

 I will let you have my modus operandi. 



S. R.M. 



From tlie Farmers' Caljiuet. 

 HOW TO FORM A JUDGMENT OF TI^E AGE OF 

 A HORSE BY HIS TEETH. 



At two years old, the horse sheds the two mid- 

 dle teeth of the under jaw. At three years old, he 

 sheds two other teeth, one on each side of those 

 he shed the year before. At four years old, he 

 sheds the two remainiritr, or corner teeth. At five 

 years old, the two middle teeth are full, no longer 

 hollow, as all the others are, and the teeth have 

 penetrated the gums. At six years old, the four 

 middle teetli are full, the corner teeth only remain- 

 ing hollow : the tusks are sharp, with the sides 

 fluted. At seven years old, the corner teeth are 

 full, the tusks longer and thicker, and the horse is 

 said to be aged. 



Note. It is not meant that exactly at the periods 

 above mentioned these chanfjes take place in the 

 horse ; much depends upon hi? constitution ; whe- 

 ther he be a late or early /oal ; also upon the man- 

 ner in which he has been reared, as to food and 

 shelter, &c. The corner tooth, too, mistht remain 

 a little hollow after the age of seven, but the ap- 

 pearance is still very unlike the mere shells, which 

 they are, at the age of six. 



COMMON SCHOOL LIBRARIES. 



[It will be seen, by the following article, that the 

 legislature of New York has made an appropriation 

 for common school libraries, upon the large scale of 

 munificence and liberality, and enlightened regard to 

 public interests, for which that great state has been 

 distinguished, and by which wise course of policy it 

 has already so eminently profited. New York is a great 

 state, not so much by the natural advantages of her 

 territory — great as these are — as by her wise and libe- 

 ral legislation, for nourishing and sustaining education, 

 agriculture, and all the important interests of the peo- 

 ple. When shall we see the legislature of Virginia 

 making even the tithe of the magnificent grant of that 

 of New York, in the purchase of facilities for popular 

 instruction, or any other mode for diffusing inlbrma- 

 tion, for the benefit of the agricultural community ? 



But while applauding the act, in general, its object 

 and its tendency, we concur heartily with the editor of 

 the ' Cultivator,' in preferring that the subjects of the 



books furnished should be very did'erent. It is unne- 

 cessary hereto repeat, in another ibrm, the views pre- 

 sented to oiu" readers in our recent reii.arks on the pro- 

 priety of the fitate's fiirnisliing agricultural books for 

 the primary schools, (pp. 2fi.3-4) ; as all then said, if 

 the case were applicable to Virginia, might as well be 

 brought to bear on the libraries, as the ordinary school- 

 books, for common schools. We arc glad to have this 

 indirect support of the editor of the ' Cultivator' thus 

 given to our views. If his own excellent agricultural 

 periodical were made to form so large a proportion of 

 the school libraries of New York, as to be placed in 

 the hands of every otherwise destitute boy, who is to 

 be a Idler of the soil, it would be worth ten times the 

 other value of the proposed libraries, and far more than 

 the whole amount of the money appropriated for the 

 annual purchases. — Ed. Far. Eeg.] 



From the Cultivator. 



We were unadvised of the fact, until we saw it 

 announced in a late Jeffersonian, that the legis- 

 laiure made an appropriation at its last session, ol" 

 845,000 per annum, lor three years, for the esta- 

 blishment of common school libraries. We fully 

 concur in the sentiments expressed in the follow- 

 ing extract which we make from the Jeffersonian, 

 as to the salutary influence which this judicious 

 appropriation is likely to have in enlarging the 

 sphere of useful knowledge, and in improving 

 the condition of the producing classes of the com- 

 munity. 



" We trust no friend of the great cause of uni- 

 versal education, no parent, no youth, no lover 

 of his country, has forgotten or will forget the 

 provision so wisely made by our last legi&lature for 

 the establishment and support of common school 

 libraries. We feel a proud satisfaction in contem- 

 plating the fact that New- York stands forth in 

 this matter a pioneer and a glorious example to her 

 sister states. The law making provision for the dis- 

 tribution of the annual revenue of the new com- 

 mon school fund, (arising from the deposit fof 

 the late surplus revenue with the slates,) appro- 

 priates forty-five thousand dollars a year exclu- 

 sively to this beneficent purpose. Each district in 

 the state is entitled to draw its share of this fund, 

 proportioned to the number of its scholars ; and, 

 estimating the whole number of districts at forty- 

 five hundred, this sum would allow an average of 

 ten dollars to each district, or thirty dollars in the 

 course of the three years' duration of the law. 

 We believe thisestimateis rather under than above 

 the truth; and that, with a very moderate display of 

 public spirit on the part of the people, a very com- 

 prehensive and most useful library may be imme- 

 diately secured to every school district in the state. 



" The great advantages of this noble enterprise, 

 to that very large proportion of our citizens who 

 are unable to buy large collections of books, can- 

 not he over-estimated. Not alone lo children and 

 youth will its benefits be dispensed. Parents and 

 others of mature years can readily avail them- 

 selves of the fund of useful and instructive read- 

 ing, which is thus brought to their doors. Even 

 should the library consist of but fifty volumes at 

 first, each family in the district may draw one 

 volume from it per week for the whole year, return- 

 ing it at the week's end for another ; and thus 



