(Jl)c jrarmcr'0 iitcrntl)!^ bisitor. 



165 



are expecied lo be higher this year thiiii for some 

 iiiic past. Prices are f>iven cs (according So 

 quahty) raiifiiiig t'roiii 0/. Ss. to 10^ JOs. per cwt. 



Show of the Highland Societv at Glas- 

 gow. — This exhihilioii took place in August. 

 The entries of stock were hu-ger than on any pre- 

 vious occasion. Tlie nuinher of lots were 1,404, 

 ainonjist which were 222 Ayrshire cattle, 55 

 West Higiiland cattle, 160 horses, 117 sheep, 184 

 lots of hutter, 83 lots of cheese, and 170 iniple- 

 nienls. 



Sales of Stock in England and Scotland. 

 — A sale of Aiijjus polled, or hornless cattle, late- 

 ly took place in Scotland. Cows brought from 

 $100 to $125. Two-year old heifers neaVly $100 

 each : yearling heifers $80, and calves $50 to $60. 

 They belonged to Mr. Fnllerton, of Angus-shire. 



Several sales of Short UorJis have lately taken 

 place. The sale of Mr. Jonas VVhitaker, of Bur- 

 ley, was well attended, and good prices were ob- 

 tained. The bull Buchan Hero, which obtained 

 the lirsl prize at theHigldand Agricultural Show 

 two years ago, was knocked down for350guinea.s 

 to Sir Charles Tenjpest. The Earl of Buchan, a 

 yearling hull by Buchan Hero, brought 200/. He 

 was bought for the King of the Frond). The 

 cows and heifers varied in price from 150/. to 25/. 

 The stock, consisting of 79 bulls, cows, heifers, 

 &c., were shown in excellent condition ; and the 

 ])rices they realized afford sufficient proof of the 

 estimation they held in public opinion. The first 

 33 lots (cows) made 1,452/. the heifers and heifer 

 calves, 1,531/. I9s.; and the bulls, 1,114/.; in all, 

 4,098/. 3s. — or an average of of 51/. 17s. each. 



At Mr. Yorke's sale at Thrapstone, the whole 

 herd of cows, heifers, and heifer-calves, averaged 

 nearly 35/. each, and the young bulls 27/. each. 



Sheep. — At a late sale of Cheviot rains belong- 

 ing to the Messrs. Aitchison, animals brought 

 from 41. lo 14/. per head. 



At two sales of Leicesters, Mr. Bentley's and 

 Mr. Walkins', the average prices obtained were 

 11/. to 12/. each. 



Mr. Bryant's South Downs, 2,000 sheep and 400 

 lambs broughl, at auction, 3,600/. 



At the sale of Mr. J. Elman's South Downs, 

 the prices obtained for ewes were from 30s. to 5/. 



A ram exhibited at the ram-show of Jno. 

 Kirkham, Esq. of Hagnaby, measured in girth 

 6 feet 8i inches, and in length 5 feet 4 inches; 

 some of the yearlings weighed 40lbs. per quarter. 

 — Cidlivaloi: 



Improved Farming in Virginia. — Mr. H. R. 

 Robey, near Fredericksburg, Va.. gives u» the 

 following favorable account of the effect of agri- 

 cultural papers in improving the husbandry of 

 his neighborhood: " VVlien 1 commenced farm- 

 ing, J determined to try the new system of hus- 

 bandry, l)ecause 1 saw the old plan would not do ; 

 the farmers were all going backwards, or getting 

 poorer every year; my new neighbors laughed 

 at me, when they saw me occupying so much of 

 my time in luinling mud and sods from the 

 swamps to pul in my manure pile, and asked 

 where I got that notion from. My reply was, 

 from the Cultivator. They laughed still more, 

 and called me the book farmer, .=aid I would soon 

 find out my folly, and go back to the good old 

 custom, as they call it. Many of those men have 

 acknowledged since, that J? have been pursuing 

 the right plan. 1 have iiovv eight barrels of corn 

 growing, where six years ago one barrel could 

 not be grown ; and all my information has been 

 derived from agricultural papeis. Some of my 

 neighbors, for tvo or three years past, have been 

 taking the Cultivator, and you can perceive an 

 improvement upon iljcir (anus already. They 

 are now not content to put up with the bare ne- 

 cessaries of life. A spirit of improvenjent seems 

 to have taken hold of them •, they begin to culti- 

 vate improved varieties of fruit for market and 

 their families; thus adding profit and pleasure, 

 where neither could be found before they began 

 to read agricultural papers." — Cultiralor. 



The late Judge Buel. 



One of our citizens, says the Albany Cidtivator, 

 in looking over some French journals, found the 

 following annouucemeut of the death of our late 

 distinguished fellow citizen. Judge Buel, made 

 to the Royal Agricultural Society of France in 

 Nov. 1840, which he has translated and fiirnished 

 for pulilication, in the persuasion tliat his many 

 friends will be gratified to read this homage to 



the honorable character and important labors of 

 one of our chief public benefactors, prepareil for 

 the records of the Society of France, hardly se- 

 cond in influence and reputation, to the celebrat- 

 ed Academy of Sciences : 

 To the President of the Royal Society of Agriculture. 



Sir — It is my painful duty to announce the 

 loss which the Society has lately met with, in the 

 death of Mr. Buel, one of its corresponding mem- 

 bers. 



This estimable citizen, like the illustrious 

 Franklin, began his career as a printer, and be- 

 came the editor of several works. 



Al'ter having honorably discharged the duties 

 of a Judge of the County Courts of Ulster, in the 

 State of New York, he was appointed State 

 Printer, and removed to Albany, where he estab- 

 lished the Argus newspaper, which he continued 

 to piddish until 1820, when he gave up this oc- 

 cupation and devoted himself wholly, in the 43d 

 year of his age, to agricultural pursuits. 



Having purchased, near the city of Albany, a 

 farm of 85 acres, which was considered little 

 better than a desert of sand, he improved it to 

 such an extent, and succeeded in obtaining such 

 valuable crops, that he was called the "Provi- 

 dence of Albany." His lands, which had been 

 bought for $30 per acre, were valued at his death 

 at more than $200. 



After his removal to Albany, he represented 

 the city and county in the Stale Legislature, and 

 was appointed a regent of the University. The 

 periodical called the Cultivator, which he estab- 

 lished in 1834, miller the auspices of the State 

 Agricultural Society, enjoyed so great a reputa- 

 tion, that the number of its subscribers exceeded 

 in 1838, fourteen thousand. I must not forget to 

 mention a small, but exceedingly important vo- 

 lume which he published, under the title of 

 " Farmer's Companion," in which he gives an ac- 

 count of the most valuable of his observations and 

 experiments in agriculture — a work []repared at 

 the request of tlie Massachusetts Council, for the 

 especial instruction of young farmers. 



This useful and honorable agriculturist died of 

 ail attack of bilious fever in Connecticut, whi- 

 ther he had done to deliver a discourse before 

 the Agricultural and Horticultural Societies of 

 that State. His loss will be long regretted by 

 the many Societies that were proud to count him 

 among their members. 



Accept, sir, the assurance of my distinguished 

 consideration. D.B. WARDEN. 



Paris, J Vov. 22, 1840. 



Feed all fiittening animals with perfect regu- 

 larity — enough, I'Ut not too much. Save all your 

 straw well for litter and winter feed. 



Colleges. — We have long been of opinion 

 tliat reform was no where more needed than in the 

 course of studies |>ursue(l at our Colleges. The 

 necessity for this reform is well set forth in the 

 following paragraph, which we take from one of 

 Mr. Coleman's Agricultural Addresses: — "Clas- 

 sical learning so called, which occupies now a 

 large portion of the best years of those who pur- 

 sue it, excepting as matter of mere taste, pastime 

 or embellisliment, is of little substantial use to 

 any one. It is a notorious fact, and in my opin- 

 ion sufficiently disgraceful to the boasted wisdom 

 of the age, that at least two-thirds of the young 

 [persons, who enjoy the best advantages of a liberal 

 and classical education, and come out adorned 

 wi^h the highe-t honors of our colleges and uni- 

 versities, are even then incapable of keeping them- 

 selves from starvation ; and have then to begin to 

 learn the practical arts of life ; and the remain- 

 ing third are able to do it, not from anything 

 tliey have learned at these places of education, 

 bdt from what they were compelled perhaps by 

 stern necessity to learn elsewhere." 



Three hundred spinning wheels 'in opera- 

 tion ON Boston Common. — In an Address de- 

 livered before the Caledonia (Vi.) Agricultural 

 Society, by Henry Sleveiis, Esq., in which the 

 importance of afl"ording suitable encouragement 

 to domestic maniifiicturcs is very forcibly set 

 forth, ihe author says:—" We find iii the Ameri- 

 can Annals, an account of the anniversary of a 

 society for encouraging industry, held 1753, on 

 which" occasion Boston Common presented a 

 novel sight. In the allernoon, about 300 young 

 female s|)iiislers, decently dressed, appearing on 



the common at their spinning wheels, the wheels 

 were placed regularly in three rows, and a fe- 

 male was sealed at each wheel ; the weavers 

 also appeared cleanly dressed, in garments of 

 their own weaving. One of them, working a 

 loom on a stage, was carried on men's shoulders 

 attended with music ; an immense number of 

 spectators were present at this interesting epec- 

 lacle. The Rev. Dr. Cooper preached a dis- 

 course, and a collection was made for the bene- 

 fit of the institution. Ladies of Boston whirling 

 three hundred spinning wheels! These were 

 afterwards the matrons who refused British tea, 

 and who never saw a piano. Wonder if a thou- 

 sand delicate ladies could not now he seen in 

 the city, at their pianos, where one old fashioned 

 rosy damsel could be found at the healthy exer- 

 cise of the spinning wheel ?" 



Mr. Stevens adds — " The woman who manu- 

 factures for her own household, and one piece ot 

 goods to sell, does more to retain the solid coin 

 in our State, than all the banks or the greatest 

 financiers." 



Good Advice. — " A Burke Planter," in the 

 Soulhern Cultivator, says — " We must begin at 

 once the practice of frugality and economy. We 

 must combine farming with planting; produce 

 all that is practicable at home, and no longer per- 

 mit ourselves to be furnished with any of the 

 means of support or of labor from beyond the 

 niounlains. But first of all, we must turn our 

 undivided attention to our own business; study 

 fully the theory of our pursuit, and practically 

 apply its principles. We must test the discove- 

 ries and improvements that are constantly being 

 made ; and by original experiments, add to the 

 knowledge of the country. It is erroneous to 

 suppose that planting is an easy and indolent vo- 

 cation. Properly pursued it is one of the the most 

 arduous ; demanding untiring activity and energy 

 to regulate the negroes, divide and task them 

 judiciously, designate work, mode of doing it, and 

 to observe from day to day that it is correctly 

 done ; attend lo stock ; the manure pit ; the ex- 

 periments going on; with many oilier matters 

 depending on the variety of his collateral works. 

 And exacting constant mental exertion to acquire 

 a knowledge of all the physical sciences, so in- 

 dispensable to enlightened and successful plant- 

 ing, and to keep pace with the improvements in 

 the country; and a cultivated judgment, lo in- 

 vestigate the thousand theories that are broached, 

 to experiment, lo compare facts, to combine 

 and lo apply them. And while the overseer 

 may be exempted from very much of the mental 

 labor of the owner, his physical activity should 

 be increased ; his lime, his efforts, and his 

 thoughts, shonld be devoted to the welfare of his 

 employer, and he should take ihe deepest inter- 

 est in every operation tending lo promote it." 



Apple Pomace. — Let this not he wasted. If 

 consi<lered of no value as food, let it he incorpo- 

 rated with the materials in the hogs' yard, or put 

 in heaps, spreading lime plentifully over each 

 layer of a foot or less of pomace, and, mixed 

 with other manure previous lo being applied in 

 the spring, it will well repay for whatever care 

 has been bestowed upon it. We have known 

 cases where it has been thrown away as worth- 

 less — the farmei declaring that as food it was 

 hurtful to his stock, (probably from being allowed 

 too much of it,) and ihat flnr manure it was of no 

 sort of value, being "poor, sour stuffs." Its sour 

 quality is the sole cause of its worthlessness as 

 manure : get rid of this— neutralize it— as you 

 can by the process above recommended, and it 

 becomes a fertilizer of soil and a nourisher of 

 vegetation.— JV. E. Farvier. 



Poultry. 



The following extracts from a statement ac- 

 companying the report of the Kennebeck Agri- 

 culturalSociety's Committee on Poultry, from the 

 Maine Farmer, contain some valuable sugges- 

 tions. The statistical Agricultural returns for 

 1840, value the Poultry of Connecticut at $176- 

 (j5()_of the United States at $12,170,170, conclu- 

 sively showing that the importance of the sub- 

 ject, in a pecuniary point of view, lias not been 

 duly appreciated. Mr. C. says — 



" The inquiry nnturally arises, ' What breeds 

 are the best ? What method of keeping, the 

 cheapest r' I um expected to give only the re- 



