286 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



MARCH 10, 1841' 



AM) IIOmiCULTURAL REGISTKR. 



Boston, Wednesday, March 10, 1841. 



EIGHTH AGRtCULTURAL MEETING AT THE 

 STATE HOUSE. 

 The Presiflent, Hon. Daniel P. King, infornu'd the 

 meeling that he had n-ceived a ecnimunicalion frDni Dr. ■ 

 Andrew Nichols, oC Danvers, with a re()ncst lh.it it 

 might be laid before the body over whirh he presided. 

 A portion of the conimunieation, embracing the oullines ; 

 of a plan for fiTniii:g an association anion;; the fatniors 

 of the Commonwealth fir the purpose ofeniployiiig one ^ 

 or more agricultural chemists, who should analyze soils, 

 manures, &e. for each n}eniber of the aiisociation, and 

 pr,:p.are a popular treatise upon the science of agricul- 

 ture, havinij been read, the matte' was referred to a 

 committee, consisting fif Messrs Denny, of Leicester, 

 Dr. Jackson, of Boshm, and Collaniore, of Peinbrokei 

 with instructions to report at the next meeting. 



The House of Representatives having prolonged its 

 session until 7 o'clock, and the commiinily in part being 

 engaged in the celebration of the Fourth, the attendance 

 at the H.iU in the early part of the eveningwas so small, 

 that the meeting preferred to n ceive the rematlcs of Mr 

 Emerson on Forest Trees at some other time, and voted 

 a meeting on the following Monday evening for that 

 purpose. 



A gentleman from !New Bedford being present, Mr 

 Randall, who has imported fir his own use both Ayre- 

 shire cattle and Berkshire swine, he was invited to favor 

 us with some account of them. He judges the Ayreshire 

 to be second to none ;ia dairy stock. We understood 

 him to say that one ol his cows from the first to the sev 

 enth of April, besides feeding her calf, made 7 Ihs. of 

 hult >r and furnished '.i pis. of milk daily for other uses. 

 This cow never gave more than 20 qts. of milk per day. 

 This breed do well on short feed ; will thrive where 

 the Durhams would "dwindle. They are more easily 

 kept than our native stock ; and one, with the same 

 keep, will get more milk and more flesh from the Ayre- 

 shires than from natives. He has a fine bull, Ro'i Roy, 

 out of a cow that has obtained the first premiums m 

 Scotland, which he deems superior to any other animal 

 he has seen. This breed are not larger than our New 

 England cows. Feeds his stock n.ostly upon straw and 

 1 1-2 peck of roots piT day to each animal. The hull 

 thus kept, was thought by many, from his fine condi- 

 tion, to hnve been stall-fed. When asked by Mr Buck- 

 minster whether his Ayreshires resembled«jhe slock 

 owned by Mr Gushing, he n-plied that they do resemble 

 Mr Cushing's, but yet difii-r frcmi lliem. Would not 

 volunteer to express any appruh.-nsion that .Mr Cushieg's 

 are not pure Ayrcfhirc, but as he has been questioned, 

 aivestheopinion that there may be in them some Clydes- 

 dale blood. 



Mr Randall has imported two Berkshire sows and a 

 boar. The writers for the Albany Cultivator would 

 lead one to suppose lh;il the real Simon I'lires have IH 

 white hairs in the tail, three white feet and a little 

 white in the face, and that all other parts are bhrck. 

 But bis ore of a red or brick dost crdor, mixed with 

 black. They have done remarkably well; his hoar is 

 now at Mr Cushing's, (Wntertown) where lie trusts he 

 will establish a good character. 



The question was raised whellier the lierkshires will 

 cut up as well as oiher hogs. (Our article in another 

 column uas sent to ihe printer before the meeting.) Mr 

 Colman had recently heard reports unfavorable In them, 

 at which he was somewhat surprised, He saiil that Mr 



Cushman, Representative from Bernardstown, bad had 

 I consigned to him for sale by one of his neighbors recent- 

 ! ly, a very larg,^ hog, and a request was made that he 

 i should not let it be k lown that the hog was of Berk- 

 shire breed, because that would injure the sale. The 

 report is abroad that the meal sellers in the market 

 house were unwilling to purchase the large hogs recent- 

 ly sent to market by Mr I'hinney. (We are not certain 

 whither the last stali went was made hy Mr C. or by 

 some other speaker.) 



Mr Putnam deemed the question an important one, 

 and stated that he had heard objections to this breed 

 from sourcts which entilled thein to much considerat:on. 

 I Mr Dodge, of Hamilton, apprehended thatour farmers 

 1 miglit miss ii, by running after new breids and omitting 

 ' the improvement of ttiose that have long been in iho 

 country. 



Mr Sheldon, of Wilmington, said he was the first man 

 to drive swine from New York ir-tate to this vicinity. 

 Got then the Grass breed ; they resembled the Berk- 

 shires, but were not as good ; did not cut up well. He 

 cares little for the breed— he wants to see the animal— 

 to see the make of bim-and if he likes that, he 'II buy 

 him, asking no questions about hie family name. 



From a bushel of cooked meal ho can get sometimes 

 12 lbs. of poik ; but from raw meal he seldom gets mire 

 than eight. It is important to be very regular as to the 

 hour of feeding; after you have fi.xed your hour, do not 

 depart from it so much as five minutes. A man accus- 

 tomed to his bieakflist at precisely seven o'clock, can 

 tell without a watch very nearly when that lime comes; 

 and the pig can tell as accurately. By th.s regularity 

 you keep them from squealing. A hog that eats every 

 ll.ing— that is, one that gets a variety in his food— will 

 do better than one that is confined to a single article of 

 food, however nutritious that may be. In reply to the 

 quesiion whether the state of the tide at the lime of 

 Blaiighleriug the hog has any efTect upon the pork, Mr 

 S. said thai he had marie extensive observations and 

 was satisfied that the point could not be settled until we 

 could discover some process by which we could kill one 

 half of the .same hog on the flood, and the other half on 

 Ihe ebb of the tide. 



Col. Adams, of Newbury, said that he continues to 

 keep the Byfield breed, but has cros-ed slightly with the 

 Mackay. Likes the looks of a white hog with lopped 

 ears and a clipped tail. Recently slauglilered two sows 

 20 months old, that iiad brought 15 pigs, and their 

 weight was 825 lbs. His butcher, Mr Colman, of New- 

 burypoil, tells him that no Berkshire of equal weight 

 will cut so thick pure fat pork, on the back, by one inch 

 as his breed. An inlc-lligent farmer in his vicinity who 

 recently slaughiered Berkshires, finds the po; k so indif. 

 f rent that be will not eat it. Col. A. coincides with 

 Mr Sheldon in regard to feeding at a particular hour. — 

 III winter he feeds twice a day ; in sum.ner three times. 

 Mr Sheldon thinks llial pork can be obtained cheap- 

 lest by giving hogs as much as they will eat; he gener- 

 aUy feeds three times a day ; but one season an Irish- 

 man fi'd his swine five times a day; and tiiey did belter, 

 slightly better, than in any other season. The worst 

 course one can take is to give an animal just enough to 

 keep him where he is -. up to that point there is no profit 



but the next kernel of corn, the first that adds to size 



or fat, yrui may gel pay for. The troughs should be 

 coviMed, exccpiing while the hogs are eating. 



Mr Colman corrected a statement made by him on a 

 former eveninif, when he informed us tliat Capl. Mackay 

 brought from England the original of the breed that 

 bears his name. They were brought by Capt. Tracy. 



Mr Randall bad tried, much to his satisfaclinn, a pro- 

 cess of curiniT hams, described last season in the Albany 



Cultivator. (We think it has been published in our 

 columns before we had charge of the paper, but if nol, , 

 we will soon give it an insertion ) 



The Berkshires found more disparagers than praisers. 

 Their comparative merits and delects are nol yel fully 

 known. Those who have them already and like them, 

 will of course coniinue to keep them ;— those who have 

 fair hogs of a different breed, may do well not to incur 

 much expense to obtain this famous kind, until their 

 relative worth is better understood. The color of Mr 

 Randall's hogs, taken in connection with a few facts 

 observed by us the last season, creates a presumption in 

 our mind that there may be a better variety of improved 

 Berkshires than ihat obtained from the vicinity of Alba- 

 ny. We noticed in each cf three litters of pigs last year , 

 one pig of the red or redish color, aid in each instance 

 that was apparently the best pig in the litter. Red with 

 black spots is said to be the color of the genuine old 

 En;;!ish Berkshire; the black comes mostly (rom ihe 

 Chinese black hog. And as ihose p.igs were best in 

 which the color of the old Berkshire slinws itself, the 

 inquiry is legitimate, whether the fashionable Berkshire 

 of the day has not too much of the Cliinese blood ini 

 him ; whether one with less of that blood would nol b& 

 bell.-r. 



AGRICULTURE IN MAINE. 



We are happy to learn that our brethren in the eaB* 

 have commenced holding ineeiings at the capitid. Judg-J 

 ing from the reports given in the Maine Farmer an(! 

 Maine Culli valor, the first meeling must have beer 

 highly interesting. There are intelligence and enter 

 prize enough in that State, when they eball be broughl 

 to bear more directly and generally upon agriculture 

 and upon the inducements there offered to its prosecu 

 lion, to make Maine prominent among the agricultural 

 Slates of the Union. More extensive cullivation of tin 

 soil, in connection with the lumber trade and operations 

 would, we imagine, contribute essentially to the pro* 

 perily and comfort of her ]ieople. Our hearty goo< 

 wishes attend ihose who have commenced laboring tl 

 awaken there a deeper inlercsl in this most natural aiii 

 hiirlily important occupation. 



CORN. 



We are indebted to Lovelt Peters, Esq., ofWestboro 

 for a truss of corn, which has the characteristics of a ve» 

 good kind. We shall with pleasure comply with h» 

 request to use some of it on our own grounds. 



Also, we have on hand a specimen of fine corn fioi 

 Mr John Preston, of Danvers. Other varieties Irom vi' 

 rious directions may be seen at the Agricultural Wan 

 house. 



We are indebted to Mr Peters, also, h.r a communici- 

 lion relative to the slavers in horses, which will be a 

 tended lo at ihe season when that disease usually pr 

 vails. I 



BRISTLES IN ENGRAFTING MORTAR. | 



We 'earned a few days since from E, Phinney, Esc 

 ihat bristles, somewhat chopped up, cut say into thri: 

 pieces each, will make a much more durable niorl 

 than hair, whether for engrafting or plastering. 



On .Mondav evening Mr G. B. Emerson was prevei 

 ed bv ill he; I'th fnim uclivering his address upon Fori 

 Tree's, h discussion was had upon the Koni Cultu> 

 ■I'omorrow evening, Trees will be the suhjecl lor co 

 sideralion. ftlr Emerson will be present if his heal 

 permits. _^ 



The excesses ol our voiilh are dralls upon our C 

 age, payable with interest about thirty years after dai 

 — Lacun. 



