286 



FARMERS' REGISTER 



[No. 5 



num, J. S. Skinner, editor. This is a work of 

 authority, published under the direction and pa- 

 tronage ol' the American Silk Society, and well 

 edited, ii" the three numbers issued may serve as a 

 specimen. There can be no doubt that the silk 

 culture must succeed in this country, but whether 

 societies will advance it more edectually than indi- 

 vidual enterprise remains to be seen. Such publi- 

 cations cannot, however, be otherwise than useful, 

 as directinn: labor into proper channels, and thus 

 preventing mistakes and disappointment in the 

 outset. 



We have thus briefly noticed our agricultural 

 periodicals, and if we have omitted any, will en- 

 deavor to give them a place another time. The 

 h'st amounts to 32, and nearly one-half of the 

 whole are still in their first year. There are pro- 

 bably 1,500,000 families in the United States that 

 are devoted to agriculture, and that each of these 

 should take a paper designed to support their in- 

 terests cannot well be denied. There would seem 

 then to be room ibr as many, or even more papers 

 such as we have notieed, than are now issued ; but 

 that even all these can succeed, is to say the least, 

 problematical, it may be doubted whether all 

 the above papers circulate more than 100,000 co- 

 pies, and of these three-lburths of the whole are 

 issued b}'' some five or six of the journals. A pa- 

 per devoted to agriculture, to the arts or sciences, 

 or even to literature, occupies very different ground 

 from a political journal ; and it by no means fol- 

 lows that, because every county supports one or 

 two of the latter, that tiie same will be done by 

 the former. To render the first what they should 

 be, requires the combined labors and observations 

 of a large circle of individuals ; men of scientific 

 resources, and men of practical skill ; acquainted 

 with the modes of agricultural or mechanical ma- 

 nipulation, as well as the theories on which their 

 business is based ; and their labors and efforts di- 

 rected to produce a common result. To multi[)ly 

 journals of any kind beyond the means of ade- 

 quate remuneration, is to lessen the incentives to 

 emulation and excellence ; and we cannot but 

 think that if in some cases of newly established 

 journals, the material furnished them had been 

 poured into some of the already existing channels 

 of communication wilh the fiuminir community, 

 it would have been well for both. While we cor- 

 dially welcome every new laborer to the agricultu- 

 ral field, we feel bound to state that in order to 

 make an atrricultural journal useful, dilTicuities and 

 labors of which the uniniiiRied are incompetent to 

 judge, will, in all probabdity, be encountered, be- 

 fore the success, which we trust is in store for 

 them, will be effectually secured. 



perhaps, may be denied, and much said about 

 good •mares, blood, form, &c. &c. Look at the 

 facts. 



1 sent two mares to this famed Leviathan ; they 

 were good mares — mares raised in Tennessee and 

 priced at i^SOO each, and this high price said to 

 be low, \vhen the blood, size, and form possessed 

 by them, were considered. The travelling ex- 

 penses there, and back, were ij575 each ; for the 

 season, and their keep whilst with him, 1 paid 

 about §280, besides the worth of a boy six 

 months, who staid wilh them. I got two colts ; 

 one died at a liiw days old — the other is now 4 

 years old ihisspring, and worth perhaps iglOO! 



This is meant as much for every otlier high 

 priced stallion as for Leviathan ; Ibr the thing is 

 general. The expense, in my opinion, overruns 

 the chances of profit. You gentlemen who pub- 

 lish sporting periodicals, are furnished with the 

 sales of high priced nags, but hear nothing of the 

 hundreds of failures, in the attempts to raise blood 

 stock. Let some one competent, take one hun- 

 dred, or one thousand mares, of unexceptionable 

 pedigree and good form, put to high priced stal- 

 lions, and report correctly the proportion of profit 

 and loss thereby accruing, and in my humble opi- 

 nion it will put another ii^ice upon the matter. It 

 is too much of a lottery business ; and tickets or 

 chances cost too much in proportion to the num- 

 ber of blanks. 



I love the blooded horse — am intensely fond of 

 the sports of the lurtj and no man would be 

 more willing to see owners of stallions well pa- 

 tronized and well paid, than myself; but whilst 

 we pay them liberally, let us not encourage them 

 to impose on breeders, from whom their support is 

 derived. 



These crude reflections I wish some one more 

 capable than myself to enlarge upon, and throw 

 just as much light on the subject, as^ will let breed- 

 ers generally see and appreciate the chances of 

 getting a $1000 or .'gsSOOO colt, with the chances 

 also of breeding one thai will never repay ex- 

 penses. D. M. "G. 



COST OF BREEDING IIOKSES 

 STOCK. 



OF RACING 



[Extract from the Tiirf Register.] 



■The prices at which stallions cover are too high 

 — out of all proportion to the chances of profit. 

 A breeder will inevitably incur an expense of §225 

 to send a mare from here (Green county, Ala.) to 

 Leviathan, let her stay through the whole season, 

 and get her home. And it is very possible that 

 the colt he gets, if he gets one at all, will not be 

 worth that money when 3 years old. Now this. 



EXTRAORDINARY SALE OF HEREFORD CAT- 

 TLE. 



From tli0 Britisli Farmers' Magazine. 



Sir — I was formerly an occasional contributor to 

 your periodical, and was at all times a well-wisher 

 to its success. Being now resident in Hereford- 

 shire, I am aflJbrded many opportunities of seeing 

 the fine breed of cattle the county is celebrated for;, 

 and I have, within these few days, been present at 

 a sale wliicli I think you will have a satisfaction in 

 recording in your paixes, as it has not been equalled 

 in the prices produced since the celebrated one of 

 the JMiss Tompkins' in 1S18, at which a bull and 

 cow nearly reached £900. 



The stock of cattle just sold was the property of 

 J. D. Kedward, esq., of Westhide, who has not 

 been many years a breeder, and is now giving up 

 farming, but having made judicious selections, has 

 raised a herd which has gained extensive notoriety. 

 Their distinguishing characteristics are capacious 

 frames, deep flesh, with great aptitude to fatten ; 

 their color red, with white faces, which was the 

 most prevailing color of the county breed for a con- 

 siderable length of time previous to the last twenty 



