THE FARMEllS' REGISTER. 



653 



Boils'? The premiums he has oblHined, and 

 ihe desire which ii is natural lie siiould feel 

 to bring his plouiih into nolice nnd couifieii- 

 lion with others, ought to operate as n siruii<^ 

 inducement lo him lo use every means in his 

 power lor ihis purpose. 



Jiut my present ohject is, just lo say, the 

 Bubsoil plough, with its operations, have con 

 vinced me that the sysieni oi siirring the 

 hard pan is ahout lo become the value of the 

 rent of our land to us ; and the ihing is ai 

 once so complete and manifest, that it niusi 

 have struck every beholder with surprise. 

 Many had their doubts as to the feasibility of 

 turning the next Currow-slice on to the loos- 

 ened earth ol the subsoiled furrow, ihinking 

 It probable that the work may be harder and 

 the land might not lie so smoothly ; but such 

 was not the case, for the ILirrow was turned 

 as easily and laid as evenly as though no sub- 

 soiling had been practised. But, only just 

 think lor a moment of the eflect which the 

 system will have on the tap-rooted filanis ; 

 and more especially on the growth of the po- 

 tato, when deposited on the loosened soil of 

 ihe furrow and covered vviih manure, vvliich 

 will be carried down by every rain to the ia|)- 

 roots of ihe plants imbedded in it, instead of 

 the sets being laid upon the hard pan of the 

 soil, at the depth of a lew inches only, as iliey 

 now are. I should expect that it will be ihe 

 means of adding many thousand bushels to 

 our crops, especially in a time of drought, 

 enabling us to cope with " ihe Green moun- 

 tain boys," who find it by no means an un- 

 common occurrence lo turn up from 1000 to 

 1800 bushels to the acre! Where are these 

 sjbsoil ploughs to be obtained 7 John Davis. 



Lancaster County, Pa. 



Pruning should be attended to, and practised 

 annually, sparingly at first, or great injury 

 may arise from ihe infliction ol" large wounds 

 and the ex|)osure of ihe trees to violent winds 

 during win'er, before the young wood had stiot 

 lorih to protect them. 



FRUIT TR£E}S. 



From tlie Farmers' Cabinet. 



The practice of draining, so necessary for 

 the well-being of every species of vegetables, 

 is found of superlative importance to orchards 

 having unhealthy subsoils, the presence of 

 which is easily shown by moss growing on 

 the branches and a coarse and open bark. 

 The Boston Cultivator states, that a Mr. 

 Chinny has found by experience that the 

 water in a retentive subsoil was so injurious 

 to the growth of his trees, as lo jusiily the 

 expense of ditches cut fi-om two to three feet 

 deep to carry off the water, which, collecting 

 in the subsoil, paralyzed and comipied the 

 tender roots. At the botiom of ili.se drains 

 is left a water-course about eight ini-hes dee|), 

 covered with flat stones ; on these some brush 

 is thrown, and the whole is filled with the 

 earth that had been dug out in forming the 

 drains. Thus has he secured the most entire 

 success on land that before had baffled all his 

 attempts to raise an orchard. A periodical 

 liming is of the greatest benefit to an or- 

 chard ; 60 also is the washing of the trunk 

 and branches of the trees with strong soap- 

 suds, which also might be applied to their 

 roots, opening the ground for " the |)urpose. 



niopioR artici>p:s FOR liXHinrrioN at agiii- 



CUI.TUUAL. SHOWS. 



From tlie Farmers' Cabinet. 



Mr. Editor, — The remarks by Joseph Stille, iiv 

 ihe l:isi No. of the Cabinet, on the late Exhibition 

 of the Philadelphia Agricultural Society, contain 

 matter for serious reflection. Although not pre- 

 sent on that occasion, I have seen the same pro- 

 pensity lor large cattle exercise an undue influence 

 on Ihe minds of many elsewhere, ami in no place, 

 perhaps, are persons wholly free from that parti- 

 ality. The mosi likely thing to convince of Ihe 

 error that almost all have imbibed is, lo impress 

 upon them the axiom in etock-breeding, lo begin 

 with dam the best ; relying more upon the female 

 than the male lor the production of large cattle of 

 good proportions. It is easy lo obtain large calves 

 Irom overgrown bulls, but unless Ihe cows be large 

 also, the oflspring is scarcely ever well-formed ; 

 often indeed arelhey found of a cross-bred, coarse, 

 lanky character, as disgraceful to the breeder as to 

 the sire. And these remarks were exemplified 

 at the late Exhibition at Syracuse, where some of 

 the smallest and neatest of ihe thorough-bred 

 Devon bulls were best known and most highly 

 prized, as stock-getters of the greatest value ; 

 and I must say, I consiJer the breeders of short- 

 horns peculiarly blameablein this .respect — push- 

 ing on their animals by means of the highest 

 keep to mammoth siz-?. — all wrong, depend upon 

 it. 



I have been much pleased with some very 

 judicious remarks contained in a late number of 

 the New England Farmer, on this subject, and 

 believing that a large proportion of your readers 

 would coincide with the writer in the view which 

 he has taken, if Ihey had the opportunity lo be- 

 come acquainted with them, I have copied them: 

 lor publication, should you approve. The editor 

 says — 



" Is there not reason for supposing that people 

 are accustomed to exhibit at these fiiirs the largest 

 squash, pumpkin, or ruta baga — the largest calf — 

 ih(! largest steers, and every thing the largest of 

 its kind "? Is size Ihe principal thing regarded? 

 And do the members ol committees make size thf> 

 criterion of merit 7 Such questions should find 

 no place in our columns if we did not suppose they 

 must, in too many instances, be answered in the 

 affirmative. Now, what we wish to see is the 

 best, not the largest merely. And it often hap- 

 pens — it ordinarily happens — that the very large 

 calf is a coarse- made animal, unfit for a breeder. 

 There are exceptions to this remark, and yet it is 

 true as a general statement ; many members of" 

 committees regard form and fineness of make in 

 fixing upon their awards, still we never attended 

 a show where we could feel satisfied that size was 

 not too much regarded. If in our judgment we 

 are correct, the influence of cattle shows tends, in 

 some degree at least, to the introduction of a large 



