1825.] 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



365 



out ofii common drove ot'cadle, probiibl.y from 

 New Hampshire.'' 1 apprclieml the acceptation 

 of the term, native, rrqiiires some dclinilion. 



We liaii been lohl, that the su|)eriorily ot 

 New Eiijrlanil callle, proceeded from tiie excel- 

 lence of Iho Devon slocli, traced to the embark- 

 ation some ages since, of onr ancestor'' at Plym- 

 outh, England. Mr. Welles' coiv, " de^^cended 

 by a cross from Mr. Stuart's cow," imported 

 nearly thirty years ago, is criticised, as of-' Eng- 

 lish breed." How much of English lilood was 

 traced in Mr Welles' cow, remains to be shewn — 

 and of what blood, and in what part olAmerica, 

 the Oakes cow was i)roduced, we have no means 

 to ascertain. 



1 remember Mr. Stuart's cow when a youth. 

 She was not of a breeil which I most approve, l»ut 

 it appears that Mr. Welles' cow, with l)ut little 

 of English blood, was'- purchased at a high price, 

 as an excellent milker, and did not disappoint 

 the expectations" of the gentleman liy whom she 

 was bought, and by whom the- Oakes cow was: 

 at the same time possessed. The Massachusetts 

 Journal has shown, that the O.ikes cow, prodiic- ; 

 ed when live years old, (not four,)bvit lOO pwnids I 

 of butter, in the first year — and that when one i 

 of the "Trustees"' had requesteil Mr. Oakes to ; 

 keep a particular account " this year (lC!6,)''j 

 she [.ToJuced iSf, pounds upon extraordinanjl 

 keep. 



Quere — Whether the product ofa cow, which ! 

 yielded only IGO |)ounds when not forced, and j 

 which yielded Ifl 1| pounds when forced, by " an I 

 extraordinary quantity of rich food," is to be 

 brought in proof of the excellence of " native" 

 c.itlle, wlien her origin is not shown — or should 

 be adduced, in proof of the ingenuity, and skill, 

 of the New Engl.ind farmer, who cm, by sub- 

 stituting milk for water, corn meal for gri», 

 make the satne animal produce twice as innch 

 us com.Tion firtners could hope to obtain. 



•• As DAiiiY c.iTTi.K, the Devonshire breed are 

 not excellent. Rearing for the East country 

 CRAZIERS has ever, or long been the main object 

 of the cattle farmers of this county." — IVcsl nf 

 Engh/ml. vol. 1, jvge 212 — written by " the in- 

 genious Mr. Marshall, (according to Col. Pick- 

 ering, letter No. l,)wlio tr.ivelled over England, 

 taking up his residence lor many months, in a 

 central station ot" every large district, to survey 

 and note the couise of husbandry in earh." 



PENNSYLVANIA AGRICULTURAL SOCIE- 

 TY. 



The Society met on Saturday, April 9lh. in 

 the hall over the Athentsum, in Philadelphia, in 

 conformity with an amendment of their By-laws. 



The following communications and letters 

 were presented and relerred to the committee ; 



From Major Rudd, of Martin Lodge, (Eng.) 

 acknowledging the receipt of the society's 

 " Memoirs," and detailing his experience of the 

 ill effects of soiling, the evils of i'reeding in, the 

 advantages to be derived from the use of man- 

 gel wurtzel, as '• a most valuable and nutritious 

 food for cattle," his objections to the mistakes 

 of many of " the ablest writers on agriculture, 

 as tlieoretical, and not good practical tarmers," 

 their errors in '' recommending salt as a manure 

 which, after having been tried bj' himself, and 

 hy others, on various soils, and in various quan- 

 nties, had not produced the least benefit." &:c. 

 From Charles Champion, of BIyth, (Eng.) dat- 



ed Jan. 7th, on the late contests among the 

 breeders of Hereford and Improved Short Horn 

 cattle, at the great shows in London, and at Tre- 

 degar, in Wales ; and slating, that the quarters 

 of the marquis of Exeter's prize Steer, 2 years 

 II months old, weighed 1 450 pounds; that lord 

 .Althrop's Steer, two months yonng(^r, weighed 

 1271 lbs. nf beef, of the finest kind, lioth of pure 

 Imin'oved Durham Short florn blood — accompa- 

 nied by the official account, showing that his Im- 

 proved Short Horn heifer. Points, gave him a 

 second victory over the Herelords, taking the 

 sweepstakes, where the best animals of various 

 breeds were bronghl into competition, after a 

 year's preparation. 



F'rnm Mr W , of Burley in Y^orkshire, 



to the corresponding secretary, acunow ledging 

 the receipt of the "Blemoirs," and sajing, " 1 

 am happy to confirm your ojjinions of Improved 

 Short Horns. I am largely concerned in the 

 cotton business, and having to provide milk for 

 a large establishment in 1810, I attended ftlr 

 Charles Collings' sale," &c. " I should prefer a 1 

 cow yielding about three gallons a meal, ;ile ] 

 measure, equal to about 30 quarts wine measure 

 daily, to one giving more," &c. ; objecting to 

 the practice of soiling, as he had "found for 

 years, that two cows ranging over the pastures, 

 give as much milk as three conlined in the house 

 and that young ones are more healthy and ot 

 belter grosvth, when allowed to run at large ;" 

 and presenting a scale and measuring tajie, by 

 means of which, certain designated dimensions 

 being given ofcatlle, when fit their dead weight 

 can be ascertained, with great precision. 



From Charles Champion, Esq. dated Feb. 14, 

 in reply to an order lor Improved Short Horns. 

 It is inquired " whether I think it possible for 



Mr "s Short Horn covvs to give 30 quarts 



of milk daily. 1 can assure you, I have no doubt 

 of it, as I have known several instances of Im- 

 proved Short Horn cows giving larger quanti- 

 ties." 



From the corresponding secretary of the Ag- 

 ricultural Society at Vevay, Indiana, asking in- 

 formation on the culture of the vine, &.C. 



From Richard K. Meade, Esq. of Frederick 

 county, Va. to the corresjionding secretary, in- 

 quiring "in behalf of the Valley Society, the 

 price of Imjiroved Short Horns, their weight 

 when dropped, when one month, and six months 

 old ; their general weight, the increase at inter- 

 vals of six arid twelve months, their care and 

 keep from lirst to last, the most profitable age 

 to lit them (or the butcher, and then their 

 general weight; and asking information upon 

 ["different breeds, as to beef, milk, work oxen," 

 ! &c. communicating hisobjc'ts, the measurement 

 and weight of his cattle, their management and 

 I food. 



The replies to these various questions, em- 

 ! bracing necessarily the whole system ot manag- 

 ! iiig and breeding certain races of neat cattle, as 

 well as distinguishing their properties. 



A letter from James Cox, Esq, of Buck's coun- 

 ty, giving his experience of Improved Short 

 Horns, as good milkers and quick feeders. 



From Mr Kersey, on improved breeds of neat 

 callle and sheep, the excellence of Dishley and 

 Tunisian sheep wlien crossed by native breeds; 

 on the early maturity of Improved Short Horns ; 

 the remarkable weight of an half-breed Improv- 

 ed Short Horn calf, six months old, bred by Mr 

 Kobt. Clemmens, the quarters of which weighed 



331 pounds in the market ; on lire extraordina" 

 rv quantity of rich milk alTonled by one of Mr 

 PowePs imi-orted cows, a year after her calf 

 had been produced. 



From Mr Comlorl, on the quantity of milk 

 given by an imported cow at Povvelton, in ad- 

 dition to the consumption of her healthy call' 

 running at her side, supposed by him to be equal 

 to about 8 quarts at a meal. 



From a gentleman in one of the middle 

 counties of Pennsylvania, after nearly a year's 

 experience, declaring his entire approbation of 

 the Improved Short Horns, stating " in the sum- 

 mer I (lurchased a very hamlsome well formed 

 heifer from a neiijhbouring farmer, of the same 

 ago with the Improved Short Horn heifer, I have 

 kept them together, and they have satisfied our 

 liirmers of the astonishing difference between 

 the improved stock and our native breeds of the 

 best kind. With the same keeping, the size 

 and weight of the Short Horn heifer are double 

 that of the other. The bull promises to be a 

 splendid animal, and besides our own use, he 

 will soon pay costs," 



From Mr. Alburger, an extensive grazier on 

 certain cattle. 



From Mr. William Bradley, a dairy farmer 

 and grazier, approving highly of Improved Short 

 Horns for the dairy. 



From James Williams, Esq. of Hilton, pre- 

 senting some very fine ruta baga, drilled so late 

 as the 27th July, between carrots. The roots 

 had been deposited in a cellar, where they have 

 continued in a state of perfect preservation. 



From John Hare Powel, Esq. on the advan- 

 tages of protecting the soil as much as practi- 

 cable during the summer, illustrated by his ex- 

 periments in the two last seasons, upon nearly 

 ninety acres of fine alluvion, which, after being 

 early mown, was not depastured until the latter 

 part of autumn. 



On the superior effects of recent manure in 

 comjiarison with those of rotted dung, ascertain- 

 ed liy repeated experiments upon large fields. 



On the use of oyster shell lime and the econ- 

 omical mode of obtaining it. 



On file family of Tunisian mountain sheep pre- 

 sented by Col Pickering to Judge Peters — their 

 advantages in fieece, form and properties over 

 those which have been recently imported, and 

 his success in obtaining a valuable cross from the 

 union of the Bakewell mixed breed with the 

 variety obtained by Mr Bones t"rom Col. Picker- 

 ing's Timisian sheep and Jeffery's importation 

 of Irish blood. 



Reuben Haines, Esq. communicated a valua- 

 ble accession to his piggery by a present from 

 Mr Hayward, in England, from whose stock Mr 

 Haines' fine swine had been originally obtained. 



Mr Kersey sent for the inspection of the soci- 

 ety an jngenious contrivance by which a dog 

 may be made to work a churn or grindstone. 



Mr Powel presented some oats, taken in (he 

 presence of himself and the recording secretary, 

 from the stomach of an imported heifer, which 

 had died in consequence of having eaten too 

 largely ofunground oats just before leaving the 

 ship, and being allowed free access to water, 

 immediately on landing. The animal had been 

 buried thirteen months under a mound of manure 

 covered closely with clay — the oats exhibited 

 the fresh and bright appearance of those recent- 

 ly reaped. They were produced to enforce the 

 belief that unground oats when consumed with- 



