FARMERS' REGISTER. 



311 



or machines, (or drill sowing, in that country, quite 

 surpass all we have. He did not remember to 

 have seen the horse-rake used in England, al- 

 though he had seen in operation implements for 

 spreading hay, from the svvarth, to dry, or rather, 

 perhaps, tor turning it, drawn by horses. 



There were other matters connected with Eng- 

 hsh agriculture, upon which he might say a word 

 or two. Crops were cultivated in England of 

 which we knew little. The common English 

 field bean, a small brown bean, growing not on a 

 clinging vine, like some varieties of the taller 

 bean, ran in what is called with us the bush form, 

 like our common white bean, upon a slight, up- 

 right stalk, two or two and a half feet high, and 

 producing from twenty to Ibrty bushels to the acre. 

 It is valuable, as food lor animals, especially for 

 horses. This bean does not jzrow well, in thin 

 soils, or what is called a hot bottom(/) A strong, 

 stiff', clayey land, well manured, suits it best. 

 Vetches, or tares, a sort of pea, were very much 

 cultivated in England, although almost unknown 

 here, and is there either eaten green, by shpep, on 

 the land, or cut and carried for green food (g.) 



The raising of sheep, in England, is an inmiense 

 interest. England probably clips fifty millions of 

 fleeces this year, lambs under a year old not being 

 shorn. The averasje yield may be six or seven 

 pounds to a fleece (/t.) There are two principal 

 classes of sheep in England, the long woolled, and 

 the short woolled. Among these are many varieties, 

 but this is the general division, or classification. 

 The Jjeice^ter, and the South Down, belong respec- 

 tively, to these several families. The common 

 clip of the former may be estimated from seven to 

 eight pounds ; and of the last from three to three 

 and a half or four. Mr. Webster mentioned these 

 particulars only as estimates ; and much more ac- 

 curate information mi^ht doubtless be obtained 

 from many writers. In New England, we were 

 just beginning to estimate rii^litly the importance 

 of raising sheep. England had seen it much 

 earlier, and was pursuing it with far more zeal 

 and perseverance. Our climate, as already ob- 

 served, differs from that o!" England ; but the great 

 inquiry applicable in equal force to both countries 

 is, how can we manage our land in order to pro- 

 duce the largest crops, while at the same time we 

 keep up the condition of the land and place it il 

 possible in a course of gradual improvement? 

 The success of farming must depend m a conside- 

 rable degree upon the animals produced and sup- 

 ported on the farm. The farmer may calculate in 

 respect to animals upon two grounds of profit ; the 

 natural growth of the animal, and the weight ob- 

 tained by fattening. The skilful firmer, there- 

 fore. expects where he gains one pound in the fat- 

 tening of his animal, to gain an ecjua! amount in 

 the growth. The early maturity of stock is con- 

 sequently a point of much importance. 



Oxen are rarely reared in Enirland for the yoke. 

 In Devonshire in Cornwall, ox teams are employ- 

 ed ; but in travelling one thousand miles in En<j:- 

 land, Mr. Webster saw only one ox team, and 

 here they were driven one befijre the other, and in 

 harnesses similar to the harnesses of horses, ilul- 

 locks are raised for the market. It is hiirhly de- 

 sirable, therefore, both in respect to neat cattle and 

 sheep, that their growth sljould be rapid and their 

 fattening properties favorable, that they nviy be 

 early disposed of, and consequently the expense of 

 production lessened. 



Is it practicable on the soil and in the climate of 

 Massachusetts to pursue a succession of crops ? He 

 could not question it ; and he had entire confidence 

 in the improvements to our husbandry and the 

 great advantages which would accrue from judi- 

 cious rotation of products. The capacities of the 

 soil of Massachusetts were undoubted. One hun- 

 dred bushels of corn to an acre had been repeat- 

 edly produced, and other crops in like abundance. 

 But this would not effect the proper ends of a ju- 

 dicious and profitable agriculture, unless we could 

 so manage our husbandry that by a judicious and 

 proper succession of crops, the land would not only 

 be restored after an exhausting crop, but gradu- 

 ally enriched by cultivation. It is of the highest 

 importance that our farmers should increase their 

 power of sustaining live stock, that they may 

 therefrom obtain the means of improving tlieir 

 farms. 



The breed of cattle in England was greatly im- 

 proved, and still improving. He had seen some 

 of the best stocks, and many individual animals 

 from others, and thought them admirable. The 

 short horned cattle, brought to this country, were 

 often very good specimens. He said that he had 

 seen the flocks from which some of them had 

 been selected, and they were certainly among the 

 best in England. But in every selection of stock, 

 we are to regard our own climate, and our own 

 circumstances. We raise oxen for work, as well 

 as for beef; and he was of opinion that the Devon- 

 shire stock furnished excellent animals for our use. 

 We had suffered that old stock, brought hither 

 by our ancestors, to run down, and be deteriorated. 

 It had been kept up. and greatly improved, in 

 England, and we might now usefully import li^om 

 if. The Devonshire ox is a hardy animal, of 

 size and make suited to the plough, and though 

 certainly not the larsest for beeli yet generally 

 very well fijttened. He thought quite well, also, 

 of the Ayrshire cows. They were good milkers, 

 and being a hardy race, on that account, well suit- 

 ed to the cold climate, and to the coarse and some- 

 times scanty pasturage of New England. After 

 all. he thought, there could be no doubt, that the 

 improved breed of short horns were the finest cat- 

 tle in the world, and should be preferred, wherever 

 plenty of good feed, and some mildness of climate 

 invited them. They were well fitted to the Wes- 

 tern States, where there is an overflowing abun- 

 dance, both of winter and summer feed, and where, 

 as in England, bullocks are raised for beef only. 

 He had no doubt, also, that they might be usefully 

 raised in the rich valleys of the Connecticut, and 

 perhaps in some other favored parts of the state. 

 But, lor himself, as a farmer on the thin lands of 

 Plymouth county, and on the bleak shores of the 

 sea, he did not lisel that he could give, to animals 

 of this breed, that en'iertainment, which their mierit 

 deserved. 



As to sheep, the Leicester were like the short 

 horned cattle. They must be kept well; they 

 should always be fat ; and, pressed by goo.j kecj)- 

 ing, to early maturity, they are Ibund very profit- 

 able. " Feed well,"' was the maxim of the great 

 Roman farmer, Caio ; and that short sentence 

 comprises much of all that belonirs to tlxe profita- 

 ble economy of live stock. The South Downs p.re 

 a i^ood breed, both for wool and mut!« ). They 

 crop the ^rass that irrows on the tfiiii soils, over 

 beds of chalk, in Wiltshire, Ilampshii'c, and Dor- 



