178 



NEW ENGLAND FAKMER. 



April 



brought $25. She made about a cord and a 

 half of manure worth $9. The total receipts 

 from the cow in the year were therefore 

 $250.67. She was kept in the barn most of 

 the year, and fed, in addition to other things, 

 two quarts of dry meal, night and morning. 



IMPKOVED STOCK IN CANADA. 



Last March, our correspondent, Hiram 

 French, Esq., Eaton, Can., sent us an account 

 of a visit to the farm of H. M. Cochrane, 

 Esq., Compton Centre, published at page 307 

 monthly Farmer for 1867. Mr. H. now in- 

 forms us that the Suffolk Punch horse, which 

 Mr. C. had ordered from England, at the time 

 of his visit, arrived too late for service last 

 season. He is described as a beautiful animal 

 of some 1600 to 1700 lbs. Mr. Cochrane also 

 imported last year two-year-old bucks, that 

 weighed 325 lbs. each, last fall, with wool full 

 ten inches in length. Mr. French remarks 

 that an examination of the stock on Mr. Coch- 

 rane's farm is more interesting than the exhi- 

 bition at any Fair he ever attended, and asks 

 us to copy the following article from the Mon- 

 treal Gazette, which he says is correct in every 

 particular. 



Mr. M. H. Cochrane has recently made an 

 addition to his already large and superior herd 

 of full-blooded stock, by the importation of a 

 Shorthorn bull of the celebrated "Bates" or 

 "Grand Duchess" blood. It is from the herd 

 of Mr. Samuel Thorne, of Thorndale, N. Y., 

 and cost $3000. This animal is equal to the 

 very best in America. Mr. Cochrane has now 

 over forty head of pure bred or pedigree ani- 

 mals, nearly every one of which has taken 

 first prizes. We are informed upon the best 

 authority that there is but one larger herd of 

 pure bloods in America ; namely, that of Mr. 

 Sheldon, of Geneva, N. Y. 



In addition to the pure bloods, he has grade 

 animals of superior quality to make up his 

 number to over one hundred. He has also 

 commenced a flock of superior sheep, and has 

 provided barn arrangements for three hun- 

 dred head. 



His farm contains about 700 acres of land, 

 and a considerable portion of it is in a high 

 state of cultivation. Last year, he raised 

 twenty acres of turnips and four acres of man- 

 gel-wurtzcls, and had a yield of t\venty thou- 

 sand bushels on the twenty-four acres. Also 

 three thousand bushels of coarse grains ; three 

 hundred and fifty tons of hay ; and one hun- 

 dred tons of straw ; all of which is being con- 

 sumed l>y his stock on the premises ; and fif- 

 teen tons oil-cake in addition. This gives an 

 enormous quantity of rich manure for use on 

 tbe^arm. He also uses several tons of super- 



phosphates every year, principally upon root 

 crops. 



His sales of surplus stock last fall amounted 

 to over $7,000. His investments in farm, 

 buildings, stock, &c., amounts thus far to 

 $100,000. 



The good influence of so valuable and con- 

 spicuous an example, is already beginning to 

 be seen in that section of the Province in an 

 increasing effort on the part of farmers to im- 

 prove their farms and their stock. 



THE DAIRY IN VIRGINIA. 

 A letter is published in the Utica Herald 

 from a gentleman of Herkimer county, N. Y., 

 now on a visit at the South, with special refer- 

 ence to the dairying business. Writing at 

 Abingdon, Va., he says: — 



I have examined a number of farms in the 

 vicinity of Abitigdon, and if my experience in 

 the dairy business is worth anything, I pro- 

 nounce them superior in every respect to the 

 lands in Oneida, and may be purchased at one- 

 third the price per acre. Good milch cowa 

 may be had for twenty-five dollars apiece, and 

 owing to the clemency of the weather they can 

 be wintered for less than one-third of what it 

 costs in New York. The whole surface of 

 southwest Virginia, which includes all that 

 portion of the State from the Alleghany moun- 

 tains to the Kentucky line, is formed upon a 

 solid foundation of lime stone. A grass, iden- 

 tical with the famous blue grass of Kentucky, 

 springs spontaneously from the ground, wher- 

 ever the heavy timber has been severed. 



The climate of southwest Virginia is ex- 

 ceedingly uniform and salubrious, the mercury 

 in a Fahrenheit thermometer rarely descending 

 to more than 20 deg. below freezing point in 

 mid-winter, and seldom attaining more than 

 95 deg. above zero in the hottest days of sum- 

 mer. The robust figures and ruddy features 

 of even the grey haired old men, indicate 

 great health and longevity among the inhabi- 

 tants. 



The people of this pastoral district of Vir- 

 ginia, have extended to me, and all proper 

 northern men, the most polite and generous 

 hospitality. Instead of looking with a jealous 

 eye upon the emigration of men from a more 

 frigid clime, they are universally anxious to 

 promot« the material interest of their country, 

 by procuring the introduction of northern cap- 

 ital and skill into their midst. 



— English and French writers estimate that dt^ 

 jng the winter season it will take about two pounda 

 of liay or its equivalent daily to each 100 pounds 

 gross weight of the animal to sustain it, and that 

 the quantity of food consumed ahove this will go 

 to its increase. The average daily increase in cat- 

 tle fed for fattening in these two countries is ficOm 

 1^ to 1| pounds. 



