NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



49 



ELECTION OF POSTMASTERS. and one native and Ayrshire— and, as claiming a 



We are glad to see that Mr. Allen, of this premium, were all classed as native. They were all 



o^j.„ i „„ • + ^a „„ i i i.- • xi rr r "fat fleshed,'' "well favored kine,'' to all which, if 



State, has introduced a resolution in the House of -,. , A , ' ., , '... , , , ' 



„ , ,. . . „ , | it had been possible, vour committee would have 



Representatives, instructing the Committee on the ■ 



Judiciary to report either an amendment to the 

 Constitution, or if Congress in the opinion of said 



been pleased to give premiums. 



We selected for the first premium of eight dol- 

 lars, a cow, owned hy Alexander Wright, of Low- 



Committee has power to make the change, a hill ell, from whose statement it appears that this cow 



providing for the election of postmasters hy the 

 voters of the towns in which they are located. 

 We believe this movement to be a judicious one, 

 and shall rejoice to see it carried out. The power 

 and patronage entrusted to the executive depart- 

 ment of our government are quite too great, and 

 it is time something were done to curtail them. 

 The evil has grown with the growth of the coun- 

 try, so that the administration of the present day 

 has vastly more patronage under its control than 

 was entrusted to the early Presidents. There 

 are over twenty thousand postmasters in the Unit- 

 ed States, dependent upon the ^tecutive for their 

 commissions ; and when we consider the immense 

 labor required to attend to these appointments, 

 the annoyance caused by the hosts of applicants 

 in every change of administration, and the diffi- 

 culty of ascertaining whether these twenty thou- 

 sand men, scattered in every village from Maine 

 to California, are really honest, capable, and 

 obliging, we think it must be admitted that the 

 interests of the country would be benefited by the 

 proposed change. We say, let the people elect 

 their own postmasters, and see if the public are 

 not better served, and if there is not less proscrip- 

 tion for party sake than exists under the present 

 system. It would not be necessary or desirable 

 to change the postmaster of a place every year, 

 and to avoid this, he might be elected for a term 

 of three, four or five years. Which of the parties 

 will add this reform to its creed, and hoist an 

 elective postmaster banner ? 



MILCH COWS. 



The following is the Report of the committee on 

 Milch Cows submitted to the Middlesex Society at 

 their Show in September. 



Your Committee found in the pens eighteen 

 Milch Cows; of these, two very fine animals, one 

 a Devon and the other an Ayrshire, owned by 

 Wm. Spencer, Esq., of Lowell were offered for ex- 

 hibition only: of the remaining sixteen, seven, 

 (among which were some animals of handsome ap- 

 pearance,) were unaccompanied with the written 

 statements necessary to entitle the owners to pre- 

 miums. 



Of the remaining nine, one only was an Ayr- 

 shire, a noble creature, .to the owner of which, Pe- 

 ter Lawson, Esq., of Dracutt, we awarded the first 

 premium for Ayrshires, of eight dollars ; this cow, 

 according to the owner's statement, has given an 

 average of sixteen quarts per day during the season, 

 without grain. 



Of the remaining eight, four were native breed, 

 two were Durham, one was native and Durham, 



is nine years old — calved early in January, 1850, 

 and from the 10th of that month to the 20th of 

 August, 1851, gave nine thousand and twenty- 

 seven quarts of milk, common milk or beer meas- 

 ure ; the greatest quantity in one day was twenty- 

 one quarts and one gill — weight per quart of milk, 

 two pounds. Milk isaich in cream, seven quarts 

 of milk producing one pound of butter. 



During winter and part of the summer this cow 

 is fed morning and evening as follows : one quart 

 of Indian meal and one quart of shorts, with one 

 gill of malt with boiling water poured on them and 

 cooled. In winter she has a peck of carrots daily 

 at noon in addition. 



To the second premium of six dollars, we se- 

 lected a cow owned by James Tuttle, of South Ac- 

 ton. The Committee considered the cow of Dur- 

 ham breed, — according to the owner's statement, 

 she calved August 30th, 1850, and from that date 

 to Feb. 28th, 1851, she gave two thousand nine 

 hundred and seventy quarts of milk, good mass 

 feed only in summer — in winter two quarts of In- 

 dian meal per day and good hay ; she is seven 

 years and three months old. For the third pre- 

 mium, we selected a cow owned by Elijah M. 

 Read, of Tewksbury. This cow is eight years and 

 three months old. Calved Feb. 8, 1851, and, as 

 appears by the owner's statement, yielded, from 

 Feb. 12, 1851, twenty-five hundred and seventy- 

 two and three-quarters quarts of milk. Butter of 

 excellent quality produced one pound from G£ quarts 

 of milk. 



No Devons were offered for premiums. All 

 which is submitted, in behalf of the Committee. 

 Signed, Lilley Eaton, Chairman. 



Singular Fact. — On the premises of N. Currier, 

 Esq., of Canaan, N. H., Ave lately saw an apple 

 tree which exhibited a peculiarity which we have 

 never read of or witnessed. The trunk was about 

 one foot in diameter, perfectly sound and smooth, 

 and 'without any indication either in itself or the 

 roots, of having sprung from two stocks. Some 

 years ago Mr. Currier grafted the entire top with 

 the "Nodhead" apple, which he procured in Ply- 

 mouth, though the fruit originated in Hollis. as 

 we have been informed,. in the orchard of Rev. Mr. 

 Emerson. The grafts were taken from one tree, 

 and inserted at the same time ; and yet one half of 

 the top bears one year and the other half the next, 

 and this without variation. How is the fact to bo 

 accounted for? Mr. Currier tells us it is a con- 

 venient arrangement, since now he is sure of a 

 supply of fine apples every year. — Cong. Journal. 



Ef^ Wheat in Vermont. — The Bradford, Vt,, Ga- 

 zette says that Mr. William Waterman, of that town, 

 raised, the past season, seventy bushels of winter 

 wheat on two and one fourth acres of land ; the wheat 

 will average forty-five and one half pounds of flour to 

 the bushel. The seed before sowing was soaked in 

 strong lime-water. The land was not manured, but 

 deeply plowed. 



