Ko. 16. 



Moisture on Plants — A large Calf. 



299 



The dressing applied is washed down and 

 fpartially dissolved, and the solution carried 

 to the absorbing roots of the plants, and thr- 

 nishes tliem with a wholesome nutriment, 

 which produces a healthy and vigorous growth; 

 whilst those plants to which it is not applied 

 remain puny and sickly for want of a full and 

 generous diet. The vigorous plants transpire 

 freely and throw off much moisture during 

 the day, which has been absorbed from the 

 earth with their food. This free transpiration 

 carries oft the excess of heat from the leaves, 

 and materially reduces their temperature be- 

 Jow that of the surrounding atmosphere, du- 

 ring very hot weather, when a condensation 

 of moisture from the air takes place by rob- 

 bing it of some of its heat, for the^same rea- 

 son that a glass or pitcher of water soon 

 becomes coated with moisture on its outside 

 under similar circumstances. The sickly or 

 iialf starved plants v>iiich have not had a full 

 meal, or generous diet bestowed upon them by 

 a dressing, acquire a temperature nearly or 

 quite equal to the surrounding atmosphere, 

 and consequently the precipitation of mois- 

 ture on them is so trifling as not to be much 

 or at all observable. Dead animal, or vege- 

 table matter acquires the same temperature 

 as the adjacent air; but organized living 

 matter, of either kind, during the very hot 

 weather of our summers is generally below 

 the rangeof temperature of inanimate matter 

 exposed to the solar rays; provision having 

 been wisely made by Divine Providence, for 

 protecting animals and plants from the efl'ect 

 of too great a degree of heat, by the evapora- 

 tion of moisture from their surfaces carrying 

 off" the excess. 



The presence of an abundance of dew on 

 plants, early in the morning, I presume, will 

 always be found to exist in very warm weath- 

 er, provided they have been furnished with a 

 ■copious supply of suitable nutriment, of what 

 kind soever, to preserve them in a state of 

 perfect health and vigor, and that without re- 

 ference being had to any supposed attraction 

 in the manure which may have been applied 

 to them. The quantity will be duly pro- 

 portioned to the extent and expansion of the 

 foliage — clover, when in health, having a 

 larger surface of leaves than many other 

 grasses, will, of course, display a greater 

 amount of dew of a morning. Should the 

 above theory not be satisfactory, the writer 

 will feel obliged by any of your correspon- 

 dents furnishing a better one for publication 

 in your valuable Cabinet. X. 



For the Farmer-i' Cabinet. 



A r.arge Calf, 



Mr. LiBBY — Dear Sir : — In the Baltimore 

 Farmer and Gardener, I observe a statement 

 of the weight of several fine animals, the 

 stock of Mr. Beltzhoover, a farmer of skill and 

 enterprise. Among them the most surprising 

 appeared to me that of a Durham calf three 

 months and seventeen days old, the weight of 

 which was 450 lbs. It induced me to try the 

 weight of a calf that I am raising, four months 

 old this day, and the result is very little be- 

 hind that of Mr. Beltzhoover. Mine weighed 

 402 lbs. being twelve pounds heavier, with 

 thirteen days more age tlian his. It may be 

 of some interest to your readers to know the 

 stock and manner of treatment. It is a bull 

 calti 3-4 Durham; sire Col. Powell's full 

 blooded bull Frolick ; dam a 1-2 Durham of 

 fine tbrra and size, a remarkably gootl 

 milcher, and like this celebrated stock, when 

 well treated, always in good condition ; gr. 

 dam a full blood imported cow that I am as- 

 sured yielded 10 lb. of butter per week. Un- 

 til three months old the calf had nothing but 

 its mother's milk, and a very little soft hay. 

 During the last month it has had, in addition, 

 Indian meal and wheat bran, but eats very 

 sparingly of them. The rapid growtli and 

 great size have been produced almost entire- 

 ly by the sustenance of his dam. It has been 

 well housed, and frequently rubbed, and 

 kept constantly in the stable. The w^eight 

 was much greater than I anticipated, yet I am 

 convinced it is no more than may often be 

 obtained from the improved short horn stock. 

 My neighbor, Dr.Geo. Uhler, has a full 

 blooded calf, five months old, from his im- 

 ported cow, and my brother, J. W. R, has 

 a 3-4 Durham 4 1-2 months old, each of 

 which are nearly if not quite as heavy as 

 mine, and are both beautiful animals. 



The readers of the Cabinet would doubt- 

 less be gratified by some information regard- 

 ing Mr. Beltzhoover's mode of liaising stock 

 and hope he may be induced to favor the pub- 

 lic with a statement, pro bono publico, 

 I trust, sir, that in a few years this improved 

 breed will be as common in the vicinity of 

 Pliiladelphia, as it now is near London and 

 Liverpool, wiiere Durhams are preferred be- 

 cause they yield more pfofit as milchers and 

 feeders than any other description of cattle. 

 Yours «fec. 



Algernon S. Roberts. 

 Phil. Co. April 5, l838. 



Splendid colored portraits of the large cat- 

 tle, the Duke of Gloucester and the Earl ofi 

 Jersey, raised and fattened by Mr. Edward 

 Tonkin, of New Jersey, may be obtained at 



diisvoffice. Pxice, $h 



The regular monthly meeting of the Phi- 

 ladelphia Society for Promoting Agriculture!, 

 will be held at the Philosophical Hall, Fifth, 

 near Chesnut street, on Wednesday, the 16th 

 of May, at 11 o'clock, A. M. 



