1859. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



71 



cows, $46 ; oxen and steers, $108 ; horses, $285. 

 What could have induced the discerning farmers 

 of Worcester to apply so large a portion of their 

 funds to the horse, is beyond my power to con- 

 jecture. I admire a good horse, but I can see no! 

 reason why he should be entitled to a larger, 

 award than a fine pair of working oxen, or a fine; 

 herd of milch cov.-s. This horse mania is running' 

 away with our judgments and our money also. I 

 am sorry that it is spreading so wide and so deep 

 among the substantial yeomanry of Massachu- 

 setts. It should be corrected. Essex. 

 December 13, 1858. 



Well might as well expect the body to grow and 

 flourish without its vitalizing breath ; theory and 

 practice must go together, and it is well if the 

 practice is quite thorough before we pause to 

 theorize much. That proper schools for instruc- 

 tion will afford the young farmer important aid 

 in the pursuit of his business, will not admit of a 

 I doubt, it seems to us, in any unprejudiced mind. 

 What such schools shall embrace, and how they 

 shall be managed, are questions not yet settled 

 amons us. 



SPIRIT OP THE AGRICULTURAL PRESS 



Long White French Turnip. — A writer in | 

 the Germantoicn Telegraph has given this turnip | 

 a fair trial, and concludes that the common yel-j 

 low ruta-baga is far preferable to grow, either for 

 stock or for culinary purposes. | 



Fall Manuring for Corn. — Another writer 

 in the Telegraph states that he has long been in 

 the practice of hauling out manure early in the 

 spring for corn, directly from the barn-yard, andi 

 in its unfermented state, and plowing it under j 

 deeply and thoroughly. He calls ten inches deep 

 plowing. He says — "I have tried hauling out and 

 spreading manure in the fall for corn ; but if I 

 can trust my own observation, never with the; 

 beneficial results as to the crop or to the land 

 ■which were obtained by the former practice." It; 

 is his opinion that decomposed manure 2)lacedj 

 near the surface will give an early growth to coi'w 

 by ii,s more immediate action, but that unfermen- 

 ted manure properly plowed under, icill finish a 

 crop with a heavier yield, and leave the land in 

 higher fertility, than the former method. 



This is an important matter, and ought to be 

 settled by numerous well-attested experiments in 

 in various localities. 



Agricultural Education. — The Neio Jer- 

 sey Farmer, published at Trenton, in introducing 

 to its readers a recent letter of Gov. Wright, of 

 Indiana, describing an agricultural school in Ger- 

 many, says — "Every profession has its school — 

 why agriculture should be left to glean its learn- 

 ing as best it may, we cannot understand. If 

 schools are necessary to train the clergyman, the 

 lawyer, the doctor, the merchant and the artist, 

 is it not eminently proper that agriculture, which 

 depends so entirely foi- its complete success upon 

 a knowledge of the natural sciences, should also 

 have its schools ?" 



Certainly it is, and it passes our comprehen- 

 sion to know why, among farmers themselves, 

 such prejudices exist against everything that is to 

 qualify the young farmer for his profession, ex- 

 cept the mere act of his working upon the land 

 with his own hands. It is breath spent in vain to 

 talk about managing a farm well theoretically. 



Cows for Milk. — Mr. C. N. Bement, in 

 speaking of Devonshire cows, in Emery^s Jour- 

 nal of Agriculture and Prairie Farmer, published 

 at Chicago, says, incidentally, that he "has found 

 great difference existing in all breeds of cattlo ; 

 some cows run to fat and are spare milkers ; the 

 lean and -well-formed are apt to be good ones. 

 Some digest their food better than others, and 

 these do better on the same pasture or quantity 

 of food ; some feed faster and more constantly, 

 and these are apt to be the best milkers. * * * 

 There appears to be as much diversity among 

 cattle in these particulars as among men and 

 women who may daily sit together around the 

 same table. No error can be greater than that 

 of believing a cow can give rich milk upon poor, 

 lean, spare diet. There must be in the food that 

 which will supply the materials of which milk is 

 composed, or else it must be impossible for the 

 cow to produce it. The better the food, the bet- 

 ter and the richer the milk." 



That is the true doctrine, plainly expressed. 

 It is just as impossible to get large quantities of 

 rich milk from a cow that is meanly fed, upon in- 

 nutritious food, as to "make a good whistle from 

 a pig's tail." 



South Devon Sheep. — Col. L. F. Allen, 

 editor of the American Herd Book, of Black 

 Rock, N. Y., writes as follows to Mr. Went- 

 worth, of Chicago : — "I hope your Illinois people 

 will appreciate the magnificent South Doicns you 

 have introduced among them. It is the only 

 kind of mutton for a good table. * * Half 

 and three-quarter sheep revolutionize the article 

 altogether in quality and flavor. I speak from 

 } ears of trial. A really good saddle of mutton 

 is scarcely excelled by any other meat." 



The Apple Crop in Waltha:\i, j\Iass. — The 

 Waltham Sentinel gives an account of the apple 

 crop in that town this season, but only speaks of 

 winter apples of the first and second quality. The 

 cider apples and others not marketable must con- 

 siderably swell the amount. The name of the 

 person, and quantity raised by each, is given. 

 We find that one person had 850 barrels, and 

 two others 700 and upwards. The total number 

 of barrels of winter apples is put down at tweclc 



