Vol. IV. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



365 



iif butter, and a little more tlian four quarts for a 

 pound of cheese. A dairy farmer informs lis that 

 the skiitmied milk and whey of liis dairy.cmployed 

 in feeding hogs, are worth about three dollars a 

 year for each cow. He so,ys skimmed milk given 

 to swine will not yield half a cent per quart, when 

 pork is or.^y five or six cents per pound. 



Tlie Encyclopedia says " the herbage that would 

 be sufficient to add 112 pounds to the weiglit of 

 an o.\, would, if employed in feeding cows, afford 

 450 gallons of milk." According to this statement 

 one pound of grass fed beef costs the farmer as 

 much as four gallons of milk. This cannot be true 

 in New England. — Hainp. Gazette. 



VEGETABLES IN THE WESTERN STATES. 



Mr Flint, in describing the productions of Mis- 

 souii, Illinois, &c. says the apples are larger and 

 fairer tlian at the North, but less flavored and 

 more insipid ; the cider requires boiling to gain ! 

 body enough to keep without passing immediately | 

 into vinegar. All the roots and vegetables in ' 

 those rich soils are more tasteless than those of, 

 tiiG north. The onion is more mild, the blood-beet 

 less deeply coloured, and this holds good in the 

 whole vegetable creation. The Irish potatoe is 

 not raised with the same ease, or abundance, or 

 goodness as at tlie north ; a bushel of Indian corn 



is raised much easier than a bushel of potatoes. 



Cabbages and peas are inferior in quality and 

 abundance. It is generally conceded that beef is 

 inferior. Wjieat and corn are equally good, per- 

 haps better. 



The " Bulletin des Sciences," says the vegeta- 

 bles and fruits of Hindoostan are for the most part 

 insipid, and have none of the nutritious qnnlities 

 of the same kinds cultivated in Europe. The flow- 

 ers are without perfume ; and the moats are poor, 

 all animals being debilitated ericept the elephant 

 and tlie tiger. — Fruits which grow in perfection 

 in '-old regions commonly degenerate in warmer 

 clijnates and richer soils. — Ihid. 



RURAL TASTE. 

 I regard the man who surrounds his dwelling 

 with objects of rural taste, or who even plants a 

 single shade tree by the road-side as a public ben- 

 efactor ; not merely because he adds something 

 to the general beauty of the country, and to the 

 pleasure of those who travel through it, but be- 

 i-aiise, aloo, he contributes something to the re- 

 finement of the general mind; — he improves the 

 taste, especially of his ov.'n family and neighbour- 

 hood. There is a power in scenes of rural beauty, 

 to affect our social and moral feelings. A fond- 

 ness for these scenes is seldom found with coarse- 

 i^CPs.s of sentiment and rudeness of manners. One 

 may judge, with confidence, of the taste and intel- 

 ligence of a family by the external air of their 

 dwelling. In my excursions in the country, if I 

 pass a habitation, however spacious, standiniT nak- 

 ed to the sun, with nothing ornamental, nothing 

 inviting, around it, I cannot help saying to myself, 

 however abundant may be the slovenly possessions 

 of its owner, there is no refinement in that house : 

 there is no delicate and kindly interchange of sen- 

 timent among its inmates, and if ever they are so- 

 ciable, their sociibleness consists in rude and fit 

 ful loquacity. Their books are few, and those ill- 

 chosen and unread. But if I notice a dwelling, 

 however humble, which is apparently as snug as 

 its owner has means to make it, displaying neat- 

 ness and taste in its fences, and shades and shrtib- 

 T)Qry, and flowGr-pots at the windows, — I feel as- 



sured that this is the abode of refinement ; this is 

 the home of quiet and rational enjoyment, of intel- 

 ligent and kindly intercourse. — Christian Speda. 



LOCUSTS. 



Locusts have made their appearance in different 

 parts of the southern and middle states ; in the 

 neighborhood of New York, they have been dis- 

 covered in large quantities, issuing from the ground 

 at night and crawling upon the trees, the day af- 

 ter having exchanged their shell for wings and 

 legs. 



The Richmond Compiler mentions that the pres- 

 ent season is not more remarkable, in Virginia for 

 the uncommon drought, than for the swarms of lo- 

 custs that have appeared in many parts of that 

 state. The locusts abound principally in the oak 

 forests, where they devour almost all the leaves. 

 They are found south of James river, on the Pa- 

 munkey, and up as far as the Blue Ridge. About 

 Richmond they have cast their old shells, and are 

 depositing their eggs which they place in longitu- 

 dinal slits cut in the bark of the branches. The 

 eggs are white and ranged in rows under the bark. 

 These insects are believed te appear at regular 

 periods ; but different persons disagree in opinion 

 as to the tiv.ae that intervenes between their visits; 

 some say seven and others seventeen years. They 

 are smaller than the common locust, and their col- 

 ours are darker : the body being a deep brown 

 and the edges of the gauze wings yellow. Its 

 note is of a murmuring, mournful sound, and is 

 heard from morning till night. — Clouds of locusts 

 have passed from Africa into Spain ; about the 

 first of April the fields of Andalusia were covered 

 y ith them, and they began to show themselves in 

 the vicinity of Madrid. [N. Y. Statesman.] 



GREAT CALF. 



The large Cow of the English breed, noticed in 

 this paper last year, and owned by Mr. Obadiah 

 Kendall, of this town, recently brought forth a 

 calf, weighing, at the age of three hours, one hun- 

 dred and twenttj pounds. It was sired by the fa- 

 mous Bull C'wlehs,o\vne.(i by Col. Jaquos of Charles- 

 town. It is also worthy of notice, that 9 pails of 

 milk per day was taken from her, for several days 

 previous to the birth of the calf. [Concord Gaz.] 



[From Memoirs of N. Y. Board of Agriculture.] 



Letter from Mr Featherstonha.iigh, ofDuanesburgh, 

 to General Stephen Van Rensselaer, dated De- 

 cember 3, 1825. 



Sir, Having now had an opportunity of examin- 

 ing some of the calves got by that magnificent bull 

 Champion, imported by you in the summer of 1824, 

 I sit down with much pleasure to communicate 

 to you, as you have desired, my opinion of the 

 relative value of the improved short horn stock, 

 with the other breeds of cattle known to us here. 



So many individuals of that blood have within 

 the last ten years been brought from England into 

 this, and into some of the neirfhbouring states, and 

 their descendants are now so widely spread, that 

 opportunities for observation and comparison are 

 becoming very abundant in the vicinity of the 

 coast ; and even offer themselves, although par- 

 tially as yet, in the interior. 



I have upon different occasions availed myself 

 of the increased facility for observations of this 

 nature ; and with the aid of my own personal ex- 

 perience in this and other breeds of English as 

 well as of our native cattle, do not hesitate to 



say, that I have seen many individuals of the pure 

 blood of the improved sliort horns, which have de- 

 scended from inqjortcd stock and their progeny, 

 in no manner degenerated from the fine animals 

 tliey sprang from : and their mixed progeny, got 

 by short horn bulls upon the finest American cowp, 

 as far as they have fallen under my observation, 

 and have been taken proper care of, surpass any of 

 the native or mixed breeds I have yet seen in the 

 United States. I am aware that warm controver- 

 sies have arisen on this subject amongst us, wliicji 

 was the case in England for a while. The own- 

 ers of the stately short horns have been accused 

 in both countries of pressing their favourite stock 

 into notice ; and the Herefords and Uevons, to say 

 nothing of others, have taken the field against 

 them. Public opinion, however, on the other side 

 of the Atlantic, as far as I am acquainted with it, 

 appears to be decidedly in favour of the short 

 horns. Every year seems to bring them an ac- 

 cession of patrons, and to strengthen the opinion 

 that it is a breed "n-hicji renders the most money 

 in the shortest period of time." 



In expressing this sentiment, I know that I sub- 

 ject myself to the charge of a partial leanint- to 

 them, as it is known I commenced the importation 

 of them into this neiglibourhood many yearii ago. 

 Nevertheless it is true, that near twenty years ago, 

 I began to breed with the greatest care from cho 

 native cattle, and certainly with that comparative 

 success which accompanies a careful attention to 

 matters of every kind. My bulls were tatKed of, 

 and my cows were much finer than those of my 

 neighbours, who continued to breed promiscuc-";Iy, 

 As soon as^I could get into good blood, I bean 

 witli the Devons, which in a few years eclipsed 

 my old stock. Tbe Devon stock is very beautiful: 

 I have always admired them, as I think every one 

 must do. I now possess a great many individuals 

 of that breed ; and although I look at taem v, ith 

 pleasure, I should be more satisfied with them if 

 they were all pure short horns ; not becau,?e these 

 last are most beautiful — they are to^ large lorfbat 

 e:.pression — but be.raase I think,- conibining all 

 their oualities, they are the most val'iable race of 

 cattle I have seen. The persons, therefore, who 

 are opposed to short horns, appear to depart some- 

 what from liberality, when they insinuate th%t ihe 

 proprietors of that breed are in all cases biassed in 

 the prefeience they e.ipress. There is no ground 

 for imputing insincerity to men whose deliberate 



judgement is formed from a careful experience 



Amanwlio institutes a fair experiment with the 

 various breeds of cattle, and comes to the same 

 conclusion 'vhich men of greater e ;perience and 

 knowledge than himself have before arrived at, 

 deserves to be thought sincere. 



In a letter addressed by me in March, 182.3, to 

 Mr John Hare Powel, on this subject, and contain-- 

 ed in the 2d volume of oar Memoirs of the Board 

 of Agriculture, I observed — -'Take one short 

 horn with another, no breed is more valuable for 

 its milk, or keeps in condition under the same cir- 

 cumstances, or goes to beef at less expense, or 

 furnishes more money and manure in a given time." 

 I am now entirely confirm-d in that opinion. At 

 every stage of their growth, if they are well takea 

 care of, they appear to me to be. under siioilav 

 circumstances, comparatively worth much more 

 money than any other breeds I am acquainted 

 with. 



When you apprised me of the arrival of your 

 fine bull Champion last summer, I availed myself 



