322 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



[May 6, 



cide. Experiments miiy tie miide, e\^n where 

 there are onlv two or three ol' the I'enton Mood ; 

 by keeping tlieir milk hy itself, nnd seein? how 

 much liutter it will produce. To make a liiir 

 comparative experiment, an equal numher of 

 native cows, equal in quality to the dams of the 

 half-broeds, should he ted in the same manner 

 as the half-breeds, the feed of both, for quantity 

 and quality, to be the same. Or if the half- 



more food, they ought to yield a pro()Oitionallv 

 greater quantity of butter. The native experi- 

 mental cows ou2^ht to be as nearly as possible, 

 of the ages of the half-breeds. 



T. PICKERING. 



From the SVew Yurk ConiriwTcial ..'Idvtrtiser. 



A hide-bound beast, I take it, is just the op- jduced by a cross of onr native cows with the 

 posite to one whose mci/otu/cf/ would indicate large imported bulls. To what degree such 

 a disposition to thrive and fatten kindly. This ; crosses may prove advantageous,— of all the 

 term hide-bound is familiarly transferred from j farmers in Massachusetts, those of Worcester 

 unthrifty cattle to hard bound land ; which hav- county, especially those in the vicinity of the 

 ing been kept long in grass, cropped constantly, i high bred bull Denton, will be best able to de 



and never manured, has become hard and uu- ' '" '' '~ ' '" 



productive. Such land demands the plough and 

 manure to make it 7nelluzv. 



Of the extraordinary disposition to fatten, 

 M ifi>HAix mentions a cow of Mr PRiNccr's, a su- 

 perior variety of the long-horned breed, and 

 rising five years old. When they ceased to 

 milk her, she was put on prime keep for eight 

 months, when she was slaughtered. She was 

 " cracked on the back" — that is, was cloven 

 along the chine ; but the skin had sejiarated 

 from the vertebrse (back bones) which were en- 

 tirely grown over, and buried a considerable 

 depth in fat : her bosom was broad — her flesh 

 nteiloii! — her bone extremeh/ fine. Her toie leg 

 was exactly the size of a Scotch bullock of not 

 half lier weight. She cut six inches of fat on 

 the chine ; and weighed, each fore quarter 

 361 lbs. one hind quarter 3711bp. and the other 

 372lbs.— total 1468lbs. of beef. 



In this part of Massachusetts, the victuallers 

 inform me lljat the average weight of our com- 

 mon cows, fattened to be good beef, is lOOlbs. a 

 quarter. 



Young, in his Northern Tour, crossed the 

 country to Cheshire, the county famous for 

 cheese. }Je says their breed of cows was in 

 general small, and would not (alien to above 32 

 stone — that is, to 448!bs. or 1121bs a quarter, 

 round for the beef. 



According to Sir John Sinclair, the hiile, 

 tallow, head and tongue, iiearl, and every other 

 part of the animal, except the four qiiarters of 

 beef", are considered as olTal. 



BjiKF.vvEr.L's superior skill as an agriculturist 

 enabled him to surpass his neighbours in the 

 management of his farm, as well as of his live 

 stock. The farm consisted of -140 acres, 110 

 of whirl) were arable, and the rest grass. He 

 kept 60 horses, 400 large fheep, and loO beasts 

 of all sorts. He bought neither straw nor hay. 

 All his animals were in high flesh. His cattle, 

 Young says, " were all fat as bears."' A brook 

 ran through his farm, the water of which he 

 could turn over from 60 to 80 acres, put into a 

 pro[)er state for the purpose of being flooded, 

 at suitable tiiVies, and so rendered very pioduc- 

 tive in grass and hay. 



1 have observed that English writers on hus- 

 bandry, mention the propriety of adapting cat- 

 tle to the sort of land of which farms consist : 

 if rich in grass, choose a large breed, if the pas- 

 tures are poorer, select a smaller breed, bo- 

 cause, they say, in the latter case, smaller cat- 

 tle would do well ; while on the same poorer 

 .soils the large breeds would be unprofitable. 

 These observations refer to pasturage only : for 

 in that part of iIk- year in which cattle depenfl 

 wholly un the stall, large cattle may be as well 

 fed as small ones. Cut in raising cattle, I sup 

 . pose that the paslurwj^c season is chielly relied 

 on (or the gnuvlh of our young slock ; and the 

 short glass ot' our paslaros in gi neral, are prob- 

 ably belter adapted to a small than a large 

 breed. However, with the disposition now 

 prevailing, to improve and render our lands 

 i.nore productive, many farms may become suit- 

 ed to that middle sized race which may be pro- 



I'L'ich orchards, where, instead of adopting that 

 careful and improved mode of culture calculat- 

 ed In introduce a renovation of the plants, the 

 chief attention has been directed to the cure of 

 evils from which no permanent advantao-g can 

 ever arise. That our opinion resppctin" the 

 efficacy of an improved mode of cultivation is 

 correct, will apfiear from tlie facts, that where 

 this has been attended to [iroperly, no material 

 injury h is been experienced I'rom these diseases 

 otherwise so widely complained of. It is more 

 than twenty years since 1 (il anted out an orchard 

 of peach trr es in (ireenlield, in Connecticut, for 

 a gentleman in whose employ 1 Uien was and 

 which has never failed, in a single year since 



breeds, being larger, require, and are allowed, ! of producing an a!iu[id.int supjdy of the tinest and 



most delicious fruit. This gentleman is a most 

 accurate observer, and well skilled in horticul- 

 tural subjects. His young trees have been rear- 

 ed from seed of the finest of his fruit, and in- 

 noculated fVom trees in a healthy flourrshin"- 

 state; his orchard is regularly manured, a.;.l 

 constantly retained in a high state of cultivation. 

 In the springof the year 1807, I planted out 

 We recommend to the attention of the puh-ja poach orchard of about one acre upon this 

 lie the I'ollowing Essay on the cultivation of the j island, within three miles of the Citv Hall, and 

 Peach tree It is written by a practical Hnrli- 1 ,|,jring the nine succeeding years, "viz. Iil'l the 

 cultuHst, who has an extensive and tlnuriBhing| year 1816, not more than si.\ trees died out of 

 nursery, of the choicest kinds of this delicious the whole— two or three of which were not 



thrifty when I set them out, but owing to the 

 quality of their f'ruit. I wished to try them; the 

 others were injured by a hea\y storm, when 



fruit. 



PEACH TREES. 

 Several considerations seem to render any 

 correct information respecting the successful cul- i loailed Willi fruil ; and in fict, 1 had more trniil)|(j 

 tivalion of the Peach Tree, a subject of consul- in propping up hmbs to support f'ruit, than in 

 erabie importance. It is a fruit universally ad- ! guarding against inlecled farina, or pursuing- 

 mired, and its cultivation here for many years' magsjnts. 



past has generally been very unsuccessful. Va- 1 In 1816 I commenced the cultivation of about 

 rious opinions have been entertained as to the : ten acres of land on Greenwich lane, where ! 

 Jeleterious causes which have «o universally ^ have continued the cultivation of the peach 



obstructed the successful culture of this delight- 

 ful fruit ; and it would be no dilTicult task to ex- 

 hibit the erroneous doctrines so long and so 

 widely propagated, respecting the sadly deteri- 

 orated slate of our peach trees. Tnal melan- 

 choly term, " the yellows,'' and the still more 



with great success, and have at this present mo- 

 ment upon the ground several thousand peach 

 trees, [>erhaps in no respect inferior to any 

 ei/er raised here at any former period. I ivould 

 njt be understood to aver, that the cultivation 

 oithe peach is a matter ol" as little indillerence 



frightful bugbear of -'the maggot,"' with all the a' present, as it was 30 years ago. The suc- 

 evils arising therefrom, have been multiplied ctssful cultivator now, is under the necessity of 

 into insurmountable obstacles ; and the niisguid- pir=uing a mode of culture calculated to reno- 

 ed cultivator', directing their sole attention to ; vite the species, by selecting a ne.v and improv- 

 tlie discovery of some particular apidication for e. race of plants. This cannot iie achieved by 

 the counteracting of these evils, appear to h ivc chemical plaislers, or scientific dissertations on 

 altogether overlooked the true and radical cause | ih' torrifying name of a worm, which the e.\- 

 of the failure of the peach tree. This, like j pei'icncn of twenty years' ineifectual specula- 

 every other vegetable, is liable to disea>e from tioa-i on (hose subjects, have siifKciently proved, 

 the inclemency of seasons, from the attacks of I Maiy tine new varieties raised l'r»m the seed of 

 insects, and other external violence, from the , th'sfruil, are at present, and have for many years 

 want of proper nutriniLMit, and lastly, by that' lioei. under successful cwltivatiop, in this vicini- 

 natiiral tendency lo decay by which the unalter- ty. Vet, buds taken even from these, and in- 

 able laws of nature have wisely limit 'd the o |*erted on slocks raised from seed of old defec- 

 dinary period of duration of every thing thai live trees, may be very liable to fail; for, a- 



mongst the fruil of such trees, many of the 

 stoujs have detective kernels, and although such 

 will often grow, yet they produce a sickly race 

 of plants, which no culture can invigorate, and 

 which the slighte-t injury destroys. It is there- 

 tore as necessary to be careful in selecting good 

 send to raise the stocks, as lo procure buds from 



lives. The peach tree is of a comparatively 

 short duration, to the pear or apple; and al- 

 though by budding, or grafting, any particular 

 sort may be increased to any amount, yet, as 

 both thtfse operations only extend a contiuuiitioii 

 of a part of the original plant, its time of dura- 

 tion must terminate ; and we have no hesitation 

 in giving it as our opinion, that the late failure good healthy trees. 



in our peach orchards has been more owing to I There are also many other particulars 

 causes arising from the natural termination ofl which require great care and altenlion on the 

 the duration of the sorts so long propagated, part of the cultivator, and which the limits of 

 than from any extraordinary malignancy ofdis- a single essay would not permit our treating of, 

 ease. If this opinion be correct, there is lilllo [separately. Our main object in the present es- 

 wonder to see tke long languishing state ofourUay is from a ("aithful statemect of u long series 



