288 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



June 



fertilized by different varieties. It is not uncom- 

 mon to hear persons recommend some variety of 

 l)each as always producing from the stone the same 

 varietj'. 



There may possibly be varieties of the peach 

 that will not mix with others, but it is very doubt- 

 ful. Probably a stone from a peach tree, or a seed 

 from an apple tree, that is so far from all other va- 

 rieties as not to be reached by the pollen of another, 

 will be found to produce its like, though it would 

 not be contrary to analogies if the product of a 

 mixed parentage should propagate a race of some- 

 what mixed qualities. I leave this question for 

 the scientific members of the Massachusetts Horti- 

 cultural Society, who understand it much better 

 than I do. 



This brings me to another topic of the same 

 number — 



THE BREEDING OF LIVE STOCK. 



Some person, whose name is nameless, sends you 

 a note, headed, "Natives looking up," which fur- 

 nishes an excuse, if one is needed, for a word on 

 this subject. 



Some gentleman has paid $150, it seems, for a 

 native cow, intending to raise her offspring. If this 

 cow is really an accidental cow, a cow that has no 

 known parentage, the gentleman will probablj- 

 share the ill success of others who have tried, so 

 many times, the same experiment. 



It requires something more than one cow to per- 

 petuate a stock of cattle, and if the old way of "or- 

 dinary generation," as the catechism has it, is to be 

 resorted to, the milking qualities of this animal's 

 posterity — according to the generally receved opin- 

 ion — will depend more on "the company she 

 keeps," than on herself. The tendency of hybrids, 

 both vegetable and animal, is towards the species 

 most permanently established. You might about as 

 reasonably expect the stone of the largest peach 

 on a tree, or the seed from the largest apple, to re- 

 produce its like, as to expect this remarkable cow, 

 compounded of accidental qualities, in unknown 

 quantities, to produce a great milking stock. From 

 a Devon bull, she will produce, generally, a Devon 

 calf. From a less firmly established blood, or from 

 a bull of like accidental parentage, she will produce 

 a stock of average qualities, probably with their un- 

 known ancestors, ringstreaked, speckled or other- 

 wise, as chance, or some unfathomed law of Nature, 

 may order. There is no objection to any gentle- 

 man paying a high price for a native cow, or to his 

 attempting to establish a new and native breed, but 

 there are serious objections to the dissemination 

 of the idea, that these ill begotten, accidental great 

 milkers are sm-e, or even likely to produce stock of 

 this same quality. 



The man who buys such an animal, admits the 

 very principle claimed by those who breed blood 

 stock. He thinks his cow will transmit an accidental 



quality to her posterity, a quality which she did not 

 acquire through any fixed quality of blood in her an- 

 cestors, while the breeders of the Ayrshires or Jer- 

 seys contend that it is more reasonable to expect 

 that a fixed and uniform quality, uncontaminated 

 by doubtful blood, will be contained in the progeny. 



With no special interest in any particular stock, 

 I feel bound to enter a protest against the idea, 

 which often appears in the correspondence of the 

 Farmer, that native stock, that is, stock of un- 

 known, and of course, mixed blood, is as valuable 

 for breeding, as that of established character. 



Exeter, JV. H., May 11th. 



For the Netc England Fanner. 



CATERPILLARS. 



Friend Brown : — The season for caterpillars 

 has now arrived, and as usual, various receipts are 

 published in our agricultural journals to destroy 

 them. The best and most efficient way to destroy 

 them I know of, is to rub the nest with spirits of 

 turpentine, which can be easily done by tying a 

 woollen rag to the end of a pole. Dip in the liquid, 

 and just rub the nest; being very penetrating, the 

 whole will be at once saturated, and the effect will 

 be sure death to the inmates. Going over an or- 

 chard twice is usually sufficient for the season. — 

 The nests frequently escape detection the first 

 time, but one application is sure cure for the evil. 

 Yours truly, W. G. Lewis. 



Framingham, May 15. 



For the New England Farmer. 



HOW TO CURE HAMS. 



I have, for nearly thirty years, practiced curing 

 my bacon in a pickle, made as strong with good 

 salt as could be made, and then reducing it just 

 one-half, by adding the same quantity of fresh wa- 

 ter. This gives it the right seasoning without salt- 

 petre, which, in my estimation, rather injures than 

 benefits it. Sugar or spices may be added to suit 

 the taste, or ideas of those who are to use the ba- 

 con ; or the hams can be ysed without smoke. A 

 similar pickle I find to be the best for beef used 

 through the winter, and when the weather becomes 

 warm, take it up, and give the requisite quantity o* 

 salt for summer preservation and use. 



RuFUS McIntire. 



A Luxury for Animals. — It is related of Rev. 

 Sidney Smith, that when on his farm, each cow and 

 calf, and horse and pig, were in turn visited, and 

 fed and patted, and all seemed to welcome him ; 

 he cared for their comforts as he cared for the 

 comforts of every living being around him. He 

 used to say, "I am for all cheap luxuries, even for 

 animals ; now all animals have a passion for scratch- 

 ing their back-bones ; they break down your gates 

 and palings to effect this. Look ! there is my uni 

 versal scratcher, a sharp-edged pole, resting on a 

 high and low post, adapted to every height from a 

 horse to a lamb. Even the Edinburgh Reviewer 

 can take his turn. You have no idea how popular 

 it is. I have not had a gate broken since I put it 

 up. I have it in all my fields." 



