Sl)c iTavmcr'fi iUontl)Iij iMrntov. 



63 



ambition may ilelude it witli golden ilieaiiis; war 

 may oriidicale its fine fibres and diniinisb its sen- 

 sitiveness, but it is oidy domestic love lliat can 

 render it truly linppy. 



Temptations to amateur farminsr."A Granite 

 Farmer in the Kuipire State.— Improved Cat- 

 tle.— Fairfax, Matilda, A.c. 



Into uliatever |iart of tlie coimtry we jonrney 



however the liice ol tlie soil may be covered 



with deep snow hanks or immersed by the 

 streams of runnini; spring freshets, and tbe trav- 

 elled roads stirred into deep mud— there is an 

 attraction in Agricniiure that fills us with entliu- 

 siasiM when we reflect by the improvements that 

 have been made in some places, what may be, 

 what should be, and what njusl be done in oth- 

 ers. 



Covered up, if tlie earth be in dee[) snows fill- 

 ing the roads liigli above the fences, when we 

 see in a blustering wintiy day a neat and trim 

 barn and yard uilh the cattle, sheep and hojses 

 in good heart, standing on the sunny side of the 

 buildings — when we see the ample piles of rock- 

 maple, beech, oak, or may be evi n pine and 

 hemlock, collected for the subsequent season's 

 use — when we see the whole windows on the 

 claphoarded one story house, may be covered 

 with a coat of white or red paint — we arrive at 

 once, without entijring, at the conclusion tliat 

 there is conilijrt resuiiiug liom the enjoyment of 

 the competences pi-oduced by industry, and inde- 

 pendence wliieh knows no concern for responsi- 

 bililies to the fiice of man, within doors, lo which 

 those who live in the fine bouses of villages and 

 cities are strangers. The care-worn speculator, 

 the nierchaiu watching tbe rise au<l fall of piices, 

 the mechanic looking and depending Ibremploy- 

 iiient upon tlie aliilily and disposition of those 

 about him, can neverappreciale tbe better eiijoy- 

 tnenf, the greater happiness of the farmer whose 

 ample ground produces whatever is necessary to 

 sustain bimsell' and his laniily, and who has al- 

 ways enough in the crib to supply ibe wants of 

 this year's failing crop, or tiie loss of his cattle, 

 horses, sheep, swine, or fowls liom any domestic; 

 calamity. 



We cannot greatly wonder that men who have 

 obtained cotnpetence by a successfiil pnrsifit of 

 business suflicient to retire from it, should find 

 in the pinsinis of the farmei- a strong temptation. 

 'J'bere camiot be a doubt that a greater and bet- 

 ter enjoyment will result li-oin tbe improvement 

 of mother earth even when the cost laid out up 

 on it is not always retiuned, than in tbe spending 

 a waning life of affluence in the meiest indo- 

 lence, fliat retired meicbant of great weallh, 

 Mr. Hk.nrv (X'SHing, of Waterlowir, Ms. spends 

 his thousands amuially upon his favorite farm 

 gromids and bis unrivalled gardens — he calcu- 

 lates npoti and expects no profit. He employs 

 many men an<l domeslics: but fiuther th:ui is 

 necessary for their sustenance and his gratifica- 

 ti(Ui in treating friends and strangers who visit 

 him, he will send notbmg lo market for the sake 

 of the profit. He has ncdghbors all around liim 

 who profit from his experiments and imitate 

 whatever residts from good calculations; and 

 those neighbors, increasing in weabb as they 

 increase the capacity of their land lo yield, make 

 tlie country around in the season of vegetation 

 appear almost like a liiiry laud of eiichauluicnt. 



The example of tliat eminent patron and liiend 

 of Agriculture, the late Judge Buel, in convert- 

 ing a stcrije tract of light bard-pine soil into one 

 of the most beautifully produciive farms of llie 

 conntry, has cieatiMl a passion fiir f;u-ming all 

 around the capital of ibe State of New York. 

 We have heard and read much of the volunteer 

 efforts of Messrs. Cor.mng, Prentice, Cement, 

 M'Intire, Wilson and others, either in the cul- 

 ture of their grounds, or in the introduction of 

 improved breeds of cattle, sljee[>, swine, &c. A 

 late hasty visit at Albany left us but two hours 

 for a personal txaminatiou of any of the im- 

 provements made about that city, and this at the 

 season which of all others was most fiirbidding: 

 alternate snow banks, ice and mud almost pre- 

 cluded the locomoiion of man or beast away 

 from a rail-road during the month of April. It 

 was a most extraordinary spectacle in the midille 

 of that mouth to labor liir many hours in a steam- 

 boat fitted np as a machine to break the ice of 

 two feet thickness to cut out a path up the noble 

 river that annually floats millions of dollars in 



value of the farmer's products to the Atlantic 

 markets. 



Our old acquaintance and employee of twenty 

 years since, the senior editor and proprietiu- of 

 the Albany Cullivalor, invited ns to visit Ilie farm 

 of his friend, Ezra P. Prentice, Esip, about, 

 one mile sonih ol the city of Albany. This gen- 

 tleman, a retired merciiaiit and maunliiclnrer, 

 who has made a speedy and an ample fortune in 

 dealing extensively in the article of furs, is yet 

 in the prime of lifi', and carries into the pursuits 

 (iV agriculture all that energy and decision which 

 secured him such abundant success in his fbr- 

 riiei- pursuit. We were not a little surprised to 

 learn that he was from the Granite State, a na- 

 tive of .Msiead, and grandson of the late Judge 

 P. of that town ; and that be had caught bis in- 

 spiration and tact for business and enterprise 

 from those «ell known country merchants and 

 traders, Messrs. Hutchinson- and Cueney, who 

 weve long well know n to the farmers of Chesh- 

 ire, and who in a fiiir business made each in bis 

 life-time a respectable estate. The partner in life 

 of Mr. Prentice is a daughter of our deceased 

 friend Cheney, to whom the flourishing village 

 of Newport owes much of ils prosperily, anil 

 whose inilefaligable exertions, almost "solitary 

 and alone," created, while a (iiember of the Leg- 

 islature, the new county of Sullivan. 



Mr. Prentice purchased a few years since, at 

 the price of about one hundred dollars an acre, 

 the farm on which In* now resides. On this 

 land be lias erected an elegant mansion which 

 must have cost at least $20,000: in ils rear is a 

 beaufdid garden interspersed witli arbors ol" 

 grape vines and oilier fruit and ornamental trees 

 and shrubbery. The front view from this house, 

 lii^h above the river, is most s|)lendid, with the 

 city of Alliany at the lefl, and the white sails of 

 the river craft, with its floating palace sti'amers 

 passing up and down upon the right. Directly 

 frcmting this residence, nearly down to the level 

 of the river, is Rensselaer's island, laid off into 

 lots for garden cultivation. 



Mr. Prentice has arranged his farm and grounds 

 in tfie finest possilile taste. His long ranges fd 

 slables are kept with great neatness. The litter- 

 ing wbicli he uses for bis cattle is saw dust and 

 wood shavings: these, as the best absorbents of 

 iiriiie, added to the droppings of the cattle, and 

 heaped with other masses of litter, are converted 

 by (ermentation into the most valuable manure. 



Mr. Prentice devotes his almost exclusive at- 

 tention lo the rearing of cattle. These are most- 

 ly Improved Short Horns, of which he kee|)S 

 about sixteen breeding cows. He keeps a fe" 

 animals of the common stock of the country, lo 

 show by coiiliast Ibe great difference between 

 Ibein aiid the oftspring of his imported slock. 

 For the likeness of his Improveil Short Horn 

 Bull Fairfiix, we are indelned lo the volnnleer 

 generosity of our fl-ieud Tucker of ihe Aliiany 

 Cultivator. The plate was engraved as a front- 

 ispiece to the second volume of ihe Traiisaclioiis 

 of the New York State A^rii-iilliiral Society: 

 ibis animal received in 1841, the first prize as the 

 best two year old bull from the New Yoi k Slate 

 Society : "and tbe first prize of a bull of any age 

 at the' last fair of the American Iiistiinle at Ibe 

 cily of New Y^ork. He was sired by the highly 

 celebrated English bull Sir Tliomas Fairfiix, and 

 was iiiiporleil in the cow by Mr. Prentice three 

 years ago. He is of a milk white color, which to 

 the admirers of our best New England native 

 cattle may be an objectio>i, since we are in the 

 habit of associating health, sireiigib and ele-^ 

 gance more with deep red, than wi;li cattle of 

 any other color. 



But llie most extraordinary, if not the most 

 valuable animal of ibe callle kind we have ever 

 seen, is Mr. Prentice's cow " Matilda," _ the 

 mother of seven beautiful cows and heifers tVom 

 seven down lo two years of age standing side by 

 side with her in the saitie slable. Allliough the 

 color of Matilda is milk white, with one excep- 

 tion her otfspriug are brindle, in a mixture of 

 white. This llimily of cows, we may safiily as- 

 sume, has never been exceeded in this or any 

 other country. We need only see them lo be 

 convinced that there is much ill an improved 

 breed of cattle— that a good cow for a breeder 

 may bo cheaper t<i an iiidepeudent tiiruier at ihe 

 price of one hundred and even five hundred dol- 

 lars than a bad cow to be taken as a gift. 'J'lie 

 poiiils of the good cow, of "long in ihu face and 



calm in the eyes," "clean in the jaws and full in 

 llie chine," " wide in the hips and thin in the 

 Ihlghs," "broad in the ribs and long in the 

 rump," " light in the neck and small iii the tail," 

 " wide in the breast and .«ilkj of skin" — are all 

 prominent in Ibis family of Matilda. 



Alaiilda was calved in 18-U, and was raised by 

 C.N. Benient, Es(p at Three Hills Farm, nearlhe 

 cily of Albany: her dam " Majesty" was inipoil- 

 ed by the lale Mr. Hollis diieclly from bis yard 

 in JJIythe, England, oil his removing to Ihi.s 

 country for seltlement : her owner refused the 

 price of .*700 fijr this cow when she first landed. 

 Our fiieiid flicker presents in successive niim- 

 b(!rs of bis Cultivator correct likeiies.ses of some 

 of the improved cattle, iiiuler the auspices of 

 men of means and of elevateil lasie and gener- 

 osity, who are ailding iiiillioiisof nllimate benefit 

 to the country by improving those animals on 

 which iiiati is greatly dependent fiir sustenance 

 as well as for lalior. We wfiiild be pleaseil lo 

 group the family of Matilda in one of the nnni- 

 beis of ihe Monlhly Visilor if the owner would 

 present I hem fiir the graver. 



Mr. Preuiiee likewise has paid adeiilioii to the 

 rearing of South Down Si eep, and slid keiqis 

 up an interest in the production of Berkshire 

 swine. His present object is almost exclusively 

 directed to the Diiibam Sliort Horned Callle. — 

 His fiiriii is cultivaieil with ibis view. He plunghs 

 and tills very little land : his manures are spread 

 upon the siirfiiie of his meadow grounds, whii h 

 give liiiii ccqiions supplies of excellent hay lor 

 the cattle. Much of his gioiiiul yields a value 

 in bay exceeding the lawful inteirst upon a cost 

 of three or four hundred dollars to the acre. 



Recipe for making good Bread. — James 

 Ro(-lie, long celebrated in Baltimore as a baker 

 of excellent bread, having retired from business, 

 has fiirnislied llie Baliimore American wilh the 

 following recipe for making bread, with a request 

 that it should be pnbiislied fiir llie inlbrmatioii of 

 the public : 



"Take an earthen vessel larger at the lop 

 than the bottom, and in it put one pint of milk 

 warm water, one and a half pounds of flour and 

 half a pint of malt yeast; mix tlieiii well togeth- 

 er, and set it away, [in winter it should be in a 

 warm place.] until it rises and falls again, which 

 it will in liom three to five lioins (it may be set 

 at night if wauled in llie moriiiiig ;) lliei. put two 

 large spooiifids of salt iiiio two quarts of water, 

 and mix it well with tbe above rising; then |iiit 

 ill about nine pounds flour and work your dough 

 well, and put it by until it becomes light. Then 

 mix it out in loaves. New flour requires one 

 Ibintli more salt than old and dry flour. The 

 water sboiihl be tempered according to the wea- 

 ther; in spring and liill it should oiily be milk- 

 warm; in hot weaiher, celd; and in winter, 

 warm." 



Washington Cake — So called, because il was 

 a fiivnrite at the table of Geii. Washington. Re- 

 ape for making. — Take two lbs. of flour, one 

 quart of milk, with an ounce of biiller, healed 

 icigeihei ; put the milk and butter into the flour 

 wlicii il is about lukewarm, add a ceiil's worlli 

 of yeast, three eggs and a lea-spoonlid of salt ; 

 |ilaci- it in pans over night, and bake il in the 

 morning, in a quick oven, for ihree quarters of 

 an hour. 



To make Yeast. — Two middling sized boiled 

 potatoes, add a pint id" boiling water and two 

 table spoonfuls of brown sugar. One pint of ho 

 water should be applied lo every half pint of the 

 componiid. Hot water is b«'tler in warm wea- 

 ther. This yeast being made wilhonl flour will 

 keep longer, and is said to be much better than 

 any previously in use. 



To Wash Woolen Goods. — Tiie art of'wash- 

 iiiL' woolen lioods so as lo preveni them fioiii 

 shrinking, is one of the dcfiderala in domeslic 

 economy worthy of being recorded, and it is 

 tberefbre with satisfiiction that we explain this 

 simple jirocess to our readei.s. All dcscriplions 

 of woolen goods shonlil be washed in very hot 

 water with soap, and as soon as the article is 

 cleansed, iiiiinerse it in cold water, let it then he 

 wrung and linng up to dry. — Selected. 



To be truly and really indeiiendent, is to sup- 

 port ourselves by our own exertions. 



