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NEW ENGLAND FARMER 



MAY 9, IS38. 



AND gardener's JOURNAL. 

 Boston, Wednesday, May 9, 1838. 



To the Editor of the JYew England Farmer : 



Ukar Sir — As you nre dispospd to j;ive publicity to 

 xvhatever is of jrtt'.rfpt, f-r inatler of amuseniont, in re- 

 liition ti) llie sul)ji-ct i.r Aijiii'iilluie, I hiive t.iken ihe 

 liberty of i:oininiiiiic ting aome singular pints in refer- 

 ence to a breed of alock now owned by myself and a 

 neighbor of iiiino, Capt-. Daniel C:irpenter. Tlie cciin- 

 munination is at your disposal and you will make such 

 disposition of it as your on n jiidguicnl may dictate. 

 About 1.5 years since ("apt. Carpenter, puichased of a 

 Mr Allen, a cow of a bright red, with wliile fice, ilieii 

 five years old. Mr Allen bought bur in the (own of 

 Northborough li-om a drove, while a heifer. At the time 

 of the purchase Capt. Caipenter did not discover any 

 pecuiinrity in Ihe eovv ; nor did he observe any until sin: 

 dropped her second calf, subsequent to his purchase — 

 The calf at that time was a heiler of the color and white 

 face of the mother When the calf was about one week 

 ©)d Capt C. in passinn; his hand over her bead, as mat- 

 tef o( amusement noticed a peculiarity in the formation 

 of tlie ears. They were both slit about two inches from 

 the tif>, precisely in the manner in which farmers fre- 

 ihuently mark their lambs*. This eircunistanee induced 

 1iim to examine the e.-irs of the mother wbich he found 

 slit in ihe'isamo manner. From that time to the present 

 the calves of the breed have been nearly equal in (he 

 proportion of males and feiitales, but singular as it may 

 appear while none of the instes , until a bull calf now 

 .in my stable about six weeks old. have resembled the 

 mother either in cidor, w|ii«€ fece, or split ears ; all the 

 .heifers with only two extejRiwns have had all the char- 

 acteristic- marks of the mother, in color, counlenance 

 and slit ee.is. These two had the slit ears but the one 

 was of a:bTown color, the oilu-r a liiilit red. The bull 

 call :ibove referred to is of the color of the moAer (a 

 bii'dil red) with a delicate while laci- and the slit in bis 

 «arB of usual length. 1 had designed my call for veal ; 

 as 1 am not partial to wbite faced stock, but have been 

 induced by tlie earnest solicitations of Capt. Carpenter 

 to raise luni for a stock animal. His experience in the 

 .breed has been niiieh beyond mine, aB he Jias now 4 ol 

 the cows while I have milked but one. 1 have now in 

 addition to the calf and his nioiher, a heifer two years old 

 this spring forward wiili calf, all resembling each other 

 in color, countenance and ear mark. Capt. Carpenter says 

 thiy do not excel in the quantity of inilk tiiey produce, 

 butin iisquality. In thai respect "he thinks they are hard- 

 ly surfiasB.d. l''o,- the table the m Ik is extremely deli- 

 cious and lh(! buiter produced trom it in complexion and 

 flavor, enout'h to satisfy the fancy and the taste of the 

 most refined epii-ure. 



Should you deem iJio above communication deserving 

 notice, a folutiiin ol the following queries would gratify 

 a constant reader of the Farmer. 



How are the marked ears to be accounted for .' And 

 why should t!ie ear marks be so nearly confined to the 

 females of the breed .■" Have you known of any other 

 instance of calves being inarkfjd ill this manner when 

 dropptd from the mother.' 



Very respectfully, 



Vour obt. servant, 

 BEZALl'-lil, TAFT, Jr. 

 Uxbridge, April G, 1838. 



We insert with great pleasure I lie foregoing column- 

 nicalion. It certainly del lils some very curious facts 

 in zoology. But curious as they are, we do not indeed 

 consider ihem by any meani so extraordinary us the 

 grave queries, which our respected correspondent ad- 

 dresses to us in the close of his letter, asking us how 

 the ear-marks are to be accounted for.' and why should 

 the ear marks- be so nearly confined to the females of 

 the breed ? What is there which the gentlemen thinks 

 we do not know ? Does he expect us to say " what is 

 the way of the spirit or how ihe bones do grow in the 

 womb." Why the very proposal of such inquiries to 



our modest selv.s has put us out of breath like a fright- 

 ened woman and made our hair stand on end. Does the 

 gentleman ihink because we have lived in Salem, and 

 had the honor of being noticed in public as among ibe 

 witnesses of the wonders of animal magnetism, that 

 Iherefire we have been admitted behind the scenes and 

 have an understanding of the daep secrets of nature, 

 wilh which other mortals are not favored .' Now to be 

 sure, we tihall not prwend that we do not know ; be- 

 cau.se being ranked amonff the instructors of the public, 

 we are expected to know all that is asked of us«; but to 

 such inquiries as these we only say, th.it if we do know 

 we shall not tell. 



To the next inquiry " whether we have known any 

 other cases of calves thus marked when ilropped from 

 the mother, we can only answer; " The story of the 

 patriarchs speckled, and streaked and spotted kine our 

 friend remembers as well as we do. We have known 

 diseases and deformities propagated through several gen- 

 eraf'ons of bipeds as well as quadrupeds. We have 

 known whole families of knockkneed and bowleirged 

 individuals, though a lengthened line of descent. We 

 recollect seeing at Brighton some years since a large 

 litter of pigs, where in respect both to the mother and 

 her progeny, the tail was put on high np in the back, 

 somewhat like a miniature flag staff upon a boy's boat. 

 But any thing like the conversion of an artificial into a 

 natural mark, as possibly from the account may have 

 been the cose with this slit-eared race" of kine, is some- 

 thing quite beyond our philosophy. We must refer the 

 whole subject to our skilful friend and accomplished 

 bleeder at the " Ten Hills Stock Farm ;" who says " he 

 will undertake to breed animals to order ; can throw in 

 a dash of while here and a touch of red lliere ; breed 

 with yellow or blue nises and color the eyebrows to 

 suit the fancy ;"■ perhaps more than this, have the tails 

 Icmo- or sliort or without any tail, and for ought we know 

 have the calves dropped with a russet leather strap 

 about the neck and the owner's name aiid residence 

 upon it in brass nails, and all so clever; but we can 

 only say with the book of Proverbs, "There are several 

 things too wonderful for lis." In conclusion we must 

 express our adrniraiion of the exlraoidinary convenience 

 to the owners, and of saving of piin to the poor animals 

 themselves, if a method can be devised of having our 

 flocks of sheep come all marked to hand, with swallow 

 tails or one slit or two slits or notches or rings in the 

 ear, according to the owners pleasure; or what may be 

 still better having the owner's name in large letters in 

 relief on the side. We know nut what discoveries will 

 bo made next. We do not despair of any thing; and 

 we conclude with recommending this subject to the par- 

 ticular attention of naturalists ; bec.aiise red ochre marks 

 are liable to be washed out; and tar is troublesome in 

 the application and injurious to the wool, and sIHting 

 and cutting the ears is not very agreeable lo the animals 

 themselves; besides its gross injustice in placing a 

 rogue's marks upon a race of animals pre-eminent for 

 their innocence and exemplary good morals; in this 

 respect shaming their inhuman masteis who ought to 

 lose their ears instead of the sheep We add that through 

 the liberality of some public spirited individuals, wo are 

 authorised to offer one bundled dollars premium for any 

 such successful discovery. 



man mind can take in, are those drawn directly from 

 nature. A fondness for natuial scenery is a passion 

 which we cannot cultivate tw excess ; and the gratifi- 

 cations of such a taste multiply as the capacity of enjoy- 

 ment is extended. A taste for pleasures of this kind, 

 prevents trlie morbid excesses of the lower appetites ; 

 diverts us from their indulgence; and accustoms the 

 mind to a purer aliment, whose only tendency is lo im- 

 prove and exall our nature. The cultivation of such a 

 taste is altogether favorable to the religious character. In 

 proportion as our perceptions of beauty are acute and 

 vivid, the wonders of creation spread theuiselvesout be- 

 fore us in unmeasured profusion ; and we find contin- 

 ually gaining strength within us, .i gratefi/1 reverence 

 for that goodness which has so infiniiely multiplied the 

 forms of beauty in every part of creation ; and evident- 

 ly vvitli no other view than to afford pleasure. 



We might multiply arguments and reasons, why we 

 should cultivate this taste ; and try all that human art 

 can do to make the world beautiful, to adorn our yards, 

 porticoes, fences, windows, dwellings and streets, with 

 shrubs and flowers and trees. Such embellishments are 

 an immense gain to a city; and we look upon the lady, 

 who will ornament her windows in the city with a gay 

 assemblage of geraniums, and daphnes, and hyacinths, 

 and myrtles, and roses, as eminently a public benefac- 

 tor. The amount of pleasure thus given, if it could be 

 measured in the aggregate, or if there were any stand- 

 ard hy which it eould be determined and compared, 

 would be found immens.ly to exceed that which is giv- 

 en by some brilliant rout or ball ; and this at a hun- 

 dredth part of the expense, and leaving no sting behind. 

 We have been led into these reniaiks by witnessing 

 the last week in our rides through Charlestown, a line 

 of elms and maples on each side of Main Street, from 

 tile Square almost to the foot of Winter Hill, recently 

 planted, and carefully protected. This is a most hon- 

 orable work, and we hope will be imitated throughout 

 the State. If there were no motives of taste, no public 

 spirit which would lead to it, yet the increased value, 

 which it will actually give to the property along the 

 whole lino, will ten fold repay the expense. We un- 

 derstand that the laie Timothy Walker, Esq., left in his 

 will .141)0, to be appropriated to the setting out of orna- 

 mental trees in the streets ; a noble bequest ; and that 

 a Tree Society has been formed among the young men, 

 by the subscripiion of a dollar each per year, for the pur- 

 pose of planting ornamental trees throughout the town. 

 They could liardly engage in a more public-sjiirited or 

 uselul work. Charlestown, as a place of residence, 

 combines as many local advantages as are to be found 

 in tlie suburbs of any city. A block of^ brick buildings 

 has lately bven erected on the eastern side of the Main 

 Street, in front of the Bridge Estate, in very fine taste; 

 and which it would be wise in the Bostonians to look- 

 at, if they think it possible that any tiling like taste or 

 refinement can be found out of their own ciiy. .In res- 

 pect to proportions, style and position, as far as exterior 

 is concerned, Boston, it is believed, has no block of 

 buildings to be compared with it. We hcpeour Charles- 

 town neighbors wit| continue their improvements, until 

 their town is rendered as beautiful and attractive as its 

 local capabilities admit of its being made. 



* Tho mark is denominated the swallow's 



tail. 



RURAL EMBELLISHMENTS. 

 It is delightful to witness th.' progress of a refined 

 taste in the increase of rural embellisiiinenls ; in the 

 planting of tries, the training of vines, the cultivation 

 of flowers, and tho f rmation of ornamental gard.-ns.— 

 Amontr the richest and purest pleasures, which the hu- 



CoRRF.CTioNs. Tn|the remarks of John Prince, Esq. in our 

 last Fanner, page 341, third column, 35tli line, it is staled, 

 that Freeborn's plough, Wood's paleiit, was the first iron plough 

 ever seen at Hrigliton, and this in llieyear 1817. 'iliis plou., 

 whii-li was the first American iion plough, was introduced 

 here by Mr Qiiincy, in 1819. l^iit the first iiun plough used at 

 the ploughing matches was a Heverslone English plough, ir 

 ported into this country, by Mr Prince himself. 



In I i.iie fourth from bottom, same column, for President read 

 premiums. 



