1856. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



181 



the ruta-baga, as it may be transplanted succesfullj 

 where the seeds have failed to come. 



(c.) Preparation of land for onions should be 

 much Hke that for ruta-bagas. The seeds of both 

 are small, and require a very fine tilth in order to 

 ensure germination. Charles B. Clark, Esq., of 

 Concord, Mass., has raised the finest crop we have 

 seen this year, and would undoubtedly communi- 

 cate to you his mode of cultivation. A 'liberal 

 dressing of ashes will be quite likelj to brmg a 

 good crop. 



VILLAGE AND FARM COTTAGES. 



The most beautiful, — and what will prove the 

 most useful, — book which we have seen on this sub- 

 ject, is now before us, with the above title. By 

 Henry W. Cleveland, William Backus, and 

 Samuel D. Backus, young, intelligent, and enter- 

 prising men, and published by Appleton & Co., 

 N. Y. 



We cannot half so well in any other way give the 

 reader a true idea of the work, as in the words of 

 those who made it. They say — "In preparing the 

 following pages of designs and prints, we have had 

 in view a class, numerous and important in every 



community, but specially so in ours-comprehend- 1 the Ayrshire cow -Beauty" prompts me to give 

 , . \ / „ , ^ . vou a few facts touching mv Avrshire — a cow which, 



ing mechanics and tradesmen or moderate circum- • . p. - ■ 



stances, the small formers and the laboring men 



The Initial letters are gems, and the thoughts they 

 suggest — with the exception of those of moving 

 ill May — are of the most pleasing character. The 

 Garden has not been forgotten. Not only its out- 

 lines are given, but we have specific directions for 

 planting, pruning, &c. Then there are selections 

 of the best fruits, shade-trees, fiowers, shrubbery, 

 and climbing plants to complete the whole, and 

 make it in reality, A Home. 



In reading the work, in looking at its attractions, 

 and admiring the genius which we found on every 

 page, and ending only with "the end" we felt that 

 we were admitted to the hearts of the authors, and 

 knew them well. And when we sought them in 

 their seventh story, Jauncey Court, 41 Wall Street, 

 N. Y., we found them not a whit difi"erent from the 

 opinions we had formed. 



Every person intending to build or alter a house, 

 should own the book, which may be found at Tick- 

 nor's, 135 Washhigton Street, Boston. 



For the New England Farmer. 



AN AYRSHIRE COW. 



Mr. Editor: — The recent notice in your paper of 



generally. A moderate home, which he may call 

 his own, is beyond the search of no capable and in- 

 dustrious man. It is a laudable ambition which 

 prompts him to strive for such an object. We have 

 endeavored to provide the villager of limited means 

 with a plan for his small house, in which strict econ- 

 omy shall be combined with comfort, good looks, 

 and substantial value. 



"Convenience, facility in doing the family work, 

 and pleasantness of internal aspect and arrange- 

 ments, were our first aim. 



"We believe that every improvement in the 

 abodes of men, which renders them more neat, com- 

 fortable, and ])leasirig, contributes not only to phys- 

 ical enjoyment, but to mental and moral advance- 

 ment." 



These gentlemen do not seek to contribute alone 

 to the physical enjo) ment, but to the mental and 

 moral as well, and this gives the whole work a tone 

 and a value which it would not otherwise possess. 

 The descriptions ai-e prudently written by one made 

 co'm])etent for the task by reading, reflection and 

 observation ; and he has accomplished it with as 

 much of genuine feeling as of art. 



They have not given us the perspectives on bar- 

 ren heaths with forbidding approaches. The sur- 

 roundings exhibit as much good taste as do the 

 architectural proportions and ornaments. Nothing 

 that tends cheaply to embellish and render the home 

 lovely and attractive, is omitted. 



though not graced with the name -'Beauty," was 

 perhaps never examined by an admirer of good 

 cows, but he exclaimed, "What a Beauty !" 



She M'as a gift to me, July, 1846, then a three- 

 year old heifer, some two months after her second 

 calf. From five to seven years old, she rose as 

 high as seventeen, and I think, for a short time, 

 upwards of eighteen quarts ; I have regretted I dicl 

 not preserve a critical minute of her yield at this 

 age. Two years ago this season — then almost 

 eleven — she milked six measured quarts thirty days 

 before coming in. The calf was dropped April 10, 

 1854, from which time to Feb. 22 following, (when 

 I sent her into the country to board,) a period of 

 318 days, her total yield was 2618 quarts, averag- 

 ing 8i quarts nearly per day, and giving nearly 

 seven and one-fifth quarts per day, for 365 days — 

 the entire year. I have amused myself with figur- 



g a little' farther, and ascertained' that this gives 

 654 beer — 798 wine gallons, or 25^ wine barrels. 

 I regret to add, that I lost this cow by milk fever, 

 thirty-six hours after calving, in last June. I have 

 a heifer of promise from her coming three, sired by 

 a i^remium Ayrshire. 



Allow me to trouble you with the remark, that 

 the above cow, some nine years ago, incidentally 

 suggested to me the mode of stalling, of which I 

 furnished you a description, and rough diagrams, 

 some year and a half since, over the signature "Pro 

 Bono "Publico ;" from which, however, the public 

 have derived no benefit — pardon me — it having 

 never been published. But still there is no mistake 

 about that mode of stalHng. For upwards of eight 

 years that cow (and others of mine,) had come out 

 of her stall in the morning, with hair as clean as 

 the best dressed mustache in your city. My broth- 

 er, (named in the description alluded to,) jiut up 

 fourteen stalls under my direction, in his "Big Stone 

 I Barn," in Danvers, some year ago, and without ex- 



