118 



Autumn. — French Dairies. 



Vol. VI. 



not bringing back provisions for farm use, I 

 tliink 1 may say they always came back with 

 manures. I had some years ago in my pos- 

 session a book, which was borrowed by some 

 kind friend or other, who liked it so well that 

 he forgot to return it. This book gave the 

 best account of the English practice with re- 

 spect to manures, of any I have ever seen. 

 It was said in that book that five thousand 

 tons of manures had been applied in one year 

 on a single estate. I know that the quanti- 

 ties are immense, and that the lands in that 

 country are kept in a high state of fertility 

 by the axiom impressed on the husbandman 

 that food is as necessary to the earth as to 

 the human body. But do not think that I 

 have selected a pattern farm for the subject 

 of the foregoing remarks. It was in all re- 

 spects only a medium farm. There could not 

 be the same opportunity for the more elabo- 

 rate practices of husbandry that tliere is in 

 large Yorkshire farms. It is my opinion that 

 some of tlie best managed farms in England 

 were on the estates of the Duke of Bucking- 

 ham at Stowe, in Bucks. It is, however, the 

 fashion in England to patronize agriculture : 

 heaven grant it may become so here. You 

 can form no idea with what ease an Ameri- 

 can can introduce himself to the English, if 

 he is fond of farming. The gift of a few ears 

 of Indian corn to the Horticultural Society, 

 brought me tickets and invitations without 

 number to their gardens and fetes at Chis- 

 wick. — Far. Mon. Vis. 



Autumn. 



Oh ! there is bnaiity in the dying year ! 

 'T is sweet, at quiet eventide, to ga?^ 

 Upon tlie fading hills, when tlie dim haze 



Hangs like a pall ahove old Autumn's bier. 



These ancient woods ! how beautiful in death! 

 For see, the vivid green hath left the leaf. 

 And brighter hues are there ; yet they are brief, — 



Their pomp will vanish at the cold wind's breath. 



There is a breeze amid the leaves! it swells, 

 Far in the solemn wood-paths, like the peals 

 Of music o'er the waters. Hark ! it steals. 



Sweet, as the distant sound of evening bells. 



It is the voino of Autumn ! — the low dirge 

 Sung mournfully within its ruin'd halls. 

 It stirs the fallen leaves, and sadly falls 



On the hushed air, like whispers from the surge. 



The summer-birds have sought a sunnier shore ;— 

 They lingered till the colli, cold wind went in 

 And withered their <;reen homes — their din 



Is mingled with the rivulet's song no more. 



Rich flowers have perished on the silent earth, 

 Ulossoms of valley and of wood, that gave 

 A frasrrance to the wind, have found a grave 



Upon the scentless turf that gave them birth. 



Pale, faded year! thy dying hour hath come! 

 Oh I lh(!re are crowds, that with a joyous brow 

 Welcomed thy birth, whose n)irthful voices now 



Are hushed in the long silence of the tomb ! 



Neither in nature nor in society is any 

 thing good that is violent 



For the Farmers' Cabinet. 

 French Dairies. 



Mr. Editor, — Every one who was present 

 at the Dinner Table of the Philadelphia Ag- 

 ricultural Exhibition will join in praise of the 

 Butter which was furnished by Mr. Biddle 

 on that occasion ; we were given to under- 

 stand that it was made from his imported 

 Guernsey Dairy, one of which animals was 

 exhibited, and very deservedly took the pre- 

 mium for stock of that class. I had often 

 heard that the butter made from these pecu- 

 liarly thin and disreputable-looking breed of 

 cattle was very different from that produced 

 by cows of any other breed, and have now 

 had an opportunity of testing the truth of the 

 observation; it was indeed of a "marrowy 

 consistence," and I can understand how it is 

 that such butter is not so soft in summer or 

 so hard in winter, the cause being, you have, 

 contained in the butter, the flesh of the ani- 

 mal, as might be seen by examining the little 

 creature on the ground, for indeed there was 

 but little as a covering to her bones, the per- 

 son who had charge of her declaring it was 

 in vain to endeavour to put it there, for it 

 would not stay, running all into butter; add- 

 ing, " the more food is given, the more milk 

 will be received." 



Now, without regard to the appearance of 

 the animal, are not such cows just what we 

 want for the dairy 1 It is said, but not be- 

 lieved by any one who has had the only op- 

 portunity of judging — namely, by experience 

 — that they eat as much food as larger ani- 

 mals; but even if this were true, what then] 

 why, do we not grow our produce with a 

 view of its being consumed, and if we are 

 paid for it, is not every purpose answered? 

 or are we like the boy, who wished to eat 

 his cake and keep it too? But this is not the 

 fact — experience convinces that four of these 

 little cows can be kept with the food that 

 would be consumed by three of a larger 

 breed, while they are as hardy, healthy, and 

 far more conveniently housed and cared for 

 than any other breed whatever. Nor is the 

 remark, that they cannot be fed to profit after 

 they go dry, less wide of the truth, for the 

 reverse of this is the fact, and with this re- 

 markable advantage, the beef even of the 

 oldest cow when well fatted, is superior to 

 all other of the same age — for why? the 

 fiesh is younir, and is always in the state 

 which is most valued and of readiest sale, a 

 marbled consistency, and peculiarly juicy, 

 although it must be added, of a yellow co- 

 lour, which is naturally to be expected. 



A traveller through Normandy, where these 

 cows are uniformly kept for the dairy, says, 

 " The management of their cows is not much 

 better than that of the sheep, yet the cream 



