298 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



MARCH 28, 1838. 



out injiiiy to himself wait upon fifty cows. In 

 those neighl)Oihoofis where such an animal is Itept, 

 the half bred yearlings bring from ten to twenty 

 ilollars, and in some cases thirty dollars. Our 

 farmers only want to helieve this fact to act upon 

 it. But how make them helieve it ? Why let 

 those gentlemen whose tastes, whose considera- 

 tion for the farmer, whose love of doing good and 

 whose means are suffitient, purchase such an ani- 

 mal, and allow his neighborhood a di^critninalive 

 use of his services till conviction followed ihe evi- 

 dence thus brought home to ihem. This has been 

 the practice of yoin- conu)iiltoe, who have allowed 

 the industrious and inquiring farmer the use of 

 their hulls for a few years past, without collecting 

 the amount professedly charged for their services, 

 and they now generally i)ay the service fee cheer- 

 fully, and the work of im[irovement is in our sec- 

 tions of the country rapidly going on. Another 

 reason why the improved short horns are not 

 more tagerly sought for by the great mass of far- 

 mers, is the idea that they reipnre more food and 

 will not keep so easy as the native cow. Now, il 

 they pay better, and in proportion to the extra 

 feed they require, and no one will deny that they 

 do, this objection falls to the ground. The truth 

 is, that as long as the slovenly style of farming of 

 the |iresent day prevails, as it does in too many 

 districts of the slate, this objection will continue 

 to be urged. There is yet very little good farm- 

 ing or systematic rotation of croppijig pursued, 

 either by our large or small farmers. The land is 

 taxed to its utmost as long as it will bear an aver- 

 age crop of any thing, and when completely ex- 

 hausted, it is seeded down with five or six pounds 

 of Timothy and Clover to the acre, and Oats or 

 Buck Wheat, and if, as is generally the case, the 

 grass is light, it is pastured until it recovers again 

 in some measure by the manure dropped upon it, 

 or till it is covered with a heavy growth of tnoss, 

 which turned under in the right time will, after a 

 fashion, enable it again to undergo the process of 

 crop|)ing. Until this system is abandoned, and 

 more attention paid to keep pasture lands in belter 

 tilth, and the growing of root crops for winter foil- 

 der for neat stock, it is almost useless to attempt 

 to improve the breed of cattle, or any thing else. 

 Even the aristocratic race of the short horns in 

 such cases would be compelled to knock under, 

 and in process of time, by hard fare and inatten- 

 tion, would get back to the point from wliich skill 

 and science, and care and attention first rescued 

 them, and gave them their present elevated station 

 among the brute creation. Let it be remembered 

 that a good bite of grass in suuuner, and generous 

 feeding in winter, is necessary to the full devel- 

 openmt and profitable culture of the short horns. 

 Where this cannot be had, aiul the land is light 

 and subject to drought, the beautiful little Devon 

 will best find its value, and though not so good a 

 dairy cow, yet she is the source of the finest work- 

 ing oxen, perhaps in the world. The Devous 

 have also a claim to quick feeding, atid a maturity 

 much earlier than any unimproved breed. Tiiey 

 are said to be the Aboriginal breed of Great Brit- 

 ain, and are there highly valued, and make most 

 delicate beef when fatted. On lands of the above 

 character, the cross between the Devon bull and 

 the native cow would no doubt succeed admirably. 

 These two varieties, the improved Short Horns 

 and the Devons belong to dittevent soils, and are 

 suited to diflfercnt purposes, and both are ex- 

 tremely vidimble in the situations to wliich they 



are adapted. The Galloways are also a breed well 

 fitted, by reason of their hardihood, kindly feed- 

 ing, and much endurance to the severity of oiu- 

 winters, and the uiisery of our barn yards. They 

 are a V(uy handsome breed of cattle, straight and 

 broad in the back, round in the barrel, and full in 

 the rib, in which points they will compare with 

 any breed. 'J'hey lay their fat upon the most 

 valuable (larts, and though the feed be short, and 

 the winters long, they will do well and thrive. — 

 The Ayreshire breed are also said to feed kindly 

 and profitably, in districts where others could not 

 be made to thrive at all, uniting to a greater de- 

 gree than any other breed, the su[>posed incom- 

 patible properties of yielding a great deal of milk 

 and beef. They are new comers, but bring with 

 them a good report, and if they juaintaiu the same 

 excellent character for the dairy in our warmer 

 climate, which they have gained at home, they 

 may become the favorite stock of the country, 

 though it is more than probable that when trans- 

 planted from their moist climate and poor soil to 

 onr warmer climate and richer soil, they will lose 

 their superiority as milkers, and begin to accumu- 

 late flesh. The Hereford and Ilolstein breeds are 

 partially knowH, in this country, and what little 

 is known is not nuich to their credit. The for- 

 mer is no milker, the hitter gives abundance of 

 milk, but it is very poor ; they are slow to feed, 

 slow to move, and yet slower in attaining matu- 

 rity. 'I he Alderney, though ill-shaped, is emphat- 

 ically a l«?tter cow than either of the two last men- 

 tioned, always poor herself to em-ieh the milkpail, 

 and though a great feeder yields very little milk ; 

 that milk, however, is of an extraordinary excel- 

 lent quality, and gives more butter than can be 

 obtained from any other cow. The above enu- 

 meration contains the description of all the breeds 

 of cattle that we aie familiar with, either person- 

 ally or by reputation, that have been imported 

 into the country for the purpose of crossing with 

 our native stock. Of them all, your committee 

 are of opinion, that the Improved Short Horns, 

 for the rich and fertile valleys, and the North 

 Devons, for the higher but sweeter feed of the up- 

 lands, are the most profitable of all to cross with 

 our native stock. They have been the longest in 

 the country, and experience has proved their worth. 

 The Galloways are probably next in importance, 

 and the day may yet come when the Iiills of 

 Franklin and Essex, and the whole Northern Fron- 

 tier, for which they are admirably calcidited, may 

 be covered with them. It only remains to con- 

 clude this report, and in the words of a Lincoln- 

 shire farmer, we would say to tho:?e who are, or 

 would be, engaged in tlie business of rearing 

 stock of any description — "It should be an inva- 

 riable rule to breed from small boned, straight 

 backed, healthy, clean, kindly skinned, round 

 bodied, and barrel shaped animals, with clean 

 necks and throats, and little or no dew lap, care- 

 fully rejecting all those which may have heavy 

 legs and roach backs, together with much appear- 

 ance of ofial." W. A. S. NORTH, 

 Chairman of the Connnittee on Neat Stock. 



REPORT OF COMMIITEE OF AGRICUL- 

 TURE IN CONGRESS. 

 We have received through the politeness of 

 that early and distinguished fi-iend of Agriculture, 

 Ex-Governor Lincoln, the Report of the Congres- 

 sional Committee of Agriculture on the subject of 



an Agricultural Department, embracing the col- 

 lectiolis of the most valuable seeds and plants 

 from foreign countries and their gratuitous distri- 

 bution through the United States. We cannot 

 doidit that a project so reasonable will receive the' 

 sanctioii of Congress as a measure having a most 

 direct and useful bearing on the agricultural im- 

 provement of the United States. We deem it 

 matter of duty to lay the Report at once before 

 the readers of the N. E. Farmer. 



REPORT: 



The Committee on Agriculture , to whom were refer- 

 red so much of the report of the Commissioner of 

 Patents as relates to agriculture, and also areso- 

 lution of the House of Representatives of March 

 5, 1838, on the same subject, report : 

 That they have had the same under considera- 

 tion, and have come to the unanimous conclusion 

 that some legislative action in the- premises is- 

 imperiously demanded. Agriculture, manufac- 

 tures, and commerce, have been considered the 

 three great interests of our country ; yet it is a 

 strange and singular fact, that whilst millions upon 

 millions of the public treasure, drawn in a great 

 measure from the agricultural portion of the com- 

 munity, have been expended to protect, preserve, 

 and promote the interests vested in manufacturei 

 and commerce, scarcely a dollar has been apprcp- 

 priated, either directly or indir»ctly, to advance 

 the interests of agriculture: and this fact is the 

 more striking when it is considered liow large i 

 majority of our whole population is engaged ir 

 t,he cultivation of the soil, and that probably eigh 

 tenths of the Representatives in Congress arf 

 elected by that most worthy and substantial, ye 

 most unobtrusive and retiring class of onrcitizens 

 The committee make these remarks in no unkint 

 feelings towards the commercial and manufactur 

 ing classes of our community ; but, on the con 

 trary, they regard them and their efforts to ele 

 vale the character and ]iromote the interests o 

 their country as worthy of all jTaise : and wliils 

 they complain that so little has been done for thi 

 interests of agriculture, they would by no mean 

 intimate that too nuich lias beeih done for ou 

 manufactures and commerce'; yet the commitlei 

 would draw from these facts the conclusion tliaV 

 lis so much has been done for two branches of oiiM 

 national interests, any measure calculated to pra 

 mote the third, and as your committee believe, ttl 

 most important branch, ought to meet with favor 

 able and liberal consideration from (Congress.— 

 The extent of our country and the variety of cli 

 mate and soil are sucli as to invite to the produc 

 tion of almost every article that will promote tb 

 comfort and convenience and even the luxury o 

 man, and render us, in the utmost extent of th 

 term, the rhost independent nation on earth ; yei 

 although our " lines are fallen in pleasant places, 

 and we have " a goodly heritage," and the hour 

 tiful hand of our Creator has scattered over lli 

 face of the earth, in rich prolusion, seeds an 

 plants of every variety, as tliere is a peculii.| 

 adaptation of each of these productions to .'i0.^l 

 particular climate or soil, our great advantage 

 of little importance, unless we are enable 



will b( 



to avail ourselves of them. And it is a fitct to 

 well known to require argument or illustratiot 

 that many |)lants which are of little account i 

 their native soil, increass in variety and luxur 



