32 



NEW ENGLAND FAR]\rER. 



Jan. 



AMERICAN DURHAMS IN PUNCH, i 

 The sale of American cattle in England, in 

 connection with a herd belonging to the Royal 

 family, when "Bulls brought their weight in 

 bullion," was an event rather too funny to es- 

 cape the notice of the London Punch. In his 

 poetic flight, however, Mr. Punch takes large 

 license with American geography ; but then 

 the location of Geneva, N. Y., in lllinore, 

 helps out the rhyme, and being a removal of 

 not over one thousand miles, is no greater lib- 

 erty than is often taken with our latitude and 

 longitude by more prosaic Englishmen. Here 

 are Puncli's verses : — 



The Golden Short-Horns. 



"Eigbt out of the iiino Short-Rorns of English Wood, 

 which 'Our American C.)usins' and Mr. Strafford 

 have just (-old it.icV; to us in a Windsor hotel, averaged 

 nearly £410 a-piece."— il/oniin^r Paper. 



Mr. Strxff>bd raised his time-glass, 



And I'HOnNTON held the pen, 

 When to a Windsor coffee-room 



Flocked f cores of Short-Horn men. 



They crowded round the table, 

 They fairly blocked the door;— 

 . He stood Oh impaignc, did Sheldon, 

 Of Geneva, Illinois. 



They talked of Oxford heifers, 

 Duch. 68 bulls, and how the States 



Had come into the market 

 With another "Bit of Bates."* 



Their expression is so solemn, 



Arid so earnest is their tine, 

 That noug'it would seem worth living for 



But -'iit-d and White and Koan." 



All ready for the contest, 



I view a dauTit'ess three 

 The Macintosh from Essex, 



A canny chiel is he. 



There's Lenky from the hop yards ; 



'Twill he strange if he knocks under. 

 When once the chords are wakened 



Of that Kentish "Son of Thunder " 



The Talleyrand of "trainers" 



Is their cute hut modest foe, 

 Him v.hom the Oods call "CuLsnAW," 



And men on earth call "Joe." 



H<! loves them "points all over," 



Witl. br ght dew on the nofe; 

 And in hif heart of hearts is writ, 



"A touch of Barmpton Hose." 



And sure it well might puzzle 



" The Geii'lemin i.i HI ick," 

 When the three nod on "by twenties," 



To know which you should back. 



And sure the laws of Nature 



Must have hurst each ancient bound, 



When a yc^irling heif. r fetches 

 Mure luan seven hundred pound I 



Bulls bring their weleht in bullion. 

 And I guess we'll hear of more. 



Arriving from Hie paiskures 

 Of Oeniva, Illinois. 



•The American etock was originally from the cele- 

 hraiid herd of Mr. Bates, of England. 



The following 



the American 



Queen's farm at Windsor, is thus immortalized 

 in song. The boys will remember that the 

 English Pound is about five dollars. 



£ 8. 



Third Duke of Geneva 577 10 



Twelfth Duke of Thorndale, 194 5 



Seventh Duchess of Geneva, 7:<5 00 



Fourth Maid of Oxford 315 00 



Fifth Maid of Oxford, -.10 00 



Countess of Oxford 2 2 10 



Si.>cih Maid of Oxford 420 00 



Seventh Maid of Oxford V7.} 00 



KighlhLady of Oxford 472 10 



UNDER-DRAINING VINEYARDS. 

 After expressing the opinion that a thor- 

 oughly well-drained spot, where the water will 

 pass away as fast as it falls, is the one thing 

 needful in vine growing, — more important, ki 

 fact, than location near large bodies of water, 

 shelter from winds, exposure to sun, peculiar- 

 ities of soil, mineral elements, and systems of 

 pruning, the Editor of the Gardener'' s Monthly 

 says : "We do not believe that the usual way 

 of proceeding with tiles will pay the vineyard- 

 ist, because there are so many localities where 

 the soil is naturally adapted to vine growing 

 without this, that he who has to endure the 

 additional expense before he can grow grapes, 

 cannot compete with the other.'" Instead of 

 great expense and labor in trenching, subsoil- 

 Ing and underdralning, beneath the ground, to 

 encourage the roots down to be rotted, Mr. 

 Meehan recommends that efforts be made to 

 "prepare the earth all above the natural sur- 

 face, where the roots will be dry and warm, 

 and near the oxydizing agencies so necessary 

 to the proper preparation of plant food." 



For the New England Farmer, 

 YOUR STOCK CLEAN. 



KEEP 



are the names and prices of 



While much is said about the food, its pro- 

 per quantity and quality, shelter, ventilation, 

 and treatment in disease of stock, too little is 

 said about cleanliness. It is regarded by 

 many as a minor point in stock management, 

 and a laborious and expensive task withal. 

 They associate it with the constant use of cards 

 and brushes, buckets of water and swabs, hoes 

 and brooms — altogether consuming a large 

 part of every day in a dull routine of dirty 

 work of seemingly little use. Hence some 

 farmers let their cows go all winter more 

 thickly coated with manure than ever were 

 their pastures. 



^V'hat can ho more disagreeable and dis- 

 couraging than to turn out of a warm bed 

 some cold morning, and grope your way to 

 the old tie-up, and take your place at the head 

 of a long row of cows, with Hanks and bags 



cattle whose sale near the I well covered with fresh dung, and tails satu- 



