1868. 



NEW ENGLAND FAR]MER. 



279 



hoods, and very considerably benefited their 

 common stock. 



In the year 1G08, Quebec, in Lower Can- 

 ada, was founded by the French, and soon 

 afterwards, colonists came in considerable 

 numbers from the western coast of France, 

 and brought with them the little Normandy, 

 or Brittany cattle, closely allied in blood, ap- 

 pearance, and quality, to the "Alderney" 

 cows of the Channel Islands. They are now 

 propagated in all Lower Canada, and through- 

 out the many ancient French seignories in 

 large numbers, forming their principal stock 

 of neat cattle. They proved excellent milk- 

 ers, hardy, easy of keep, and profitable for 

 the dairy. They are also tolerable for the 

 yoke, and for beef. In their remote distance, 

 and limited intercourse with the people of the 

 English colonies, it is not probable that their 

 herds became intermixed. We have no ac- 

 counts of the kind, and the peculiar character- 

 istics of the cattle now there, after nearly two 

 hundred years of acclimation and breeding, 

 show no relations with the New England stock 

 of our Northern States. 



Remarks. — Our cattle market reporter In- 

 forms us that large numbers of Canada cows 

 and heifers are annually sold at (Cambridge 

 and Brighton. Though very small and Infe- 

 rior looking animals, they give very good sat- 

 isfaction as milkers. They are sold at low 

 prices, and the drovers often laugh at those 

 who pay high for petted Jerseys, and are un- 

 able to perceive the same "blood" and the 

 same "points" in these little "Canucks," 

 whose hard usage and hard climate have given 

 them a rougher coat and a somewhat countri- 

 fied appearance. 



"WHEAT IN DRILLS. 

 Mr. Gilpin, of West Iowa, Pa., In a com- 

 munication to the Rural Neio Yorker, says he 

 seeded an acre of wheat In drills, twenty 

 inches apart, using three pecks Mediterranean 

 wheat. In the spring, when the ground had 

 become sufficiently dry to work, a small gar- 

 den hoe harrow was run between the rows, 

 •working three Inches deep. This was done 

 only once. 



"The wheat took a rapid start and outfn"ew the 

 rest of the field. As tlie season advanced it grew 

 tall and strong, and no amount of wind or rain 

 had any effect to lay it down. When the heads 

 formed their greater length was apparent. It was 

 backward in "ripening, and the rest of the field 

 was cut and hauled in before this was ripe. Now, 

 for the result : the experimental wheat yielded 

 twenty-three bushels to the acre, and the rest only 

 nine bushels ; the quality of each was about the 

 same. 



Too many plants of any kind to the square yard 

 or rod invariably crowd'and starve one another. 

 Till the ground deeply and thoroughly, and have 

 no more i)lants than will have room to develop 

 their roots and leaves perfectly, and you will see 

 longer and better filled hends of wheat or corn 

 than can grow where plants are crowded by the 

 use of too much seed, or starved by defective cul- 

 tivation. Isaac, the son of Abraham, probably 

 did not plant over a peck of wheat on an acre, 

 which being hand hoed, and duly irrigated, gave 

 him one hundred fold or one hundred pecks on an 

 acre. 



Herodotus informs us that the province of 

 Babylon raised wheat at the i-ate of two hundred- 

 fold for the seed planted. From this statement it 

 is a legitimate inference that the people used about 

 a gallon of seed to the acre. If so, 200 gallons 

 harvested was about twenty-five bushels "to the 

 acre. Wheat-growers in the south-west seldom 

 sow more than a bushel of seed to the acre, and 

 this often among standing corn, the stalks being 

 cut near the ground in the winter. The seed is 

 ploughed in." 



Will Mr. Gilpin, or some other careful ob- 

 server repeat the above experiment, using a 

 half bushel of seed only to the acre, and make 

 another experiment using only a peck of seed, 

 and make known the result ? By a series of 

 such experiments we may ascertain the amount 

 of seed that will give the largest crop. There 

 can be no doubt that stirring the soil among 

 wheat, by the hoe or harrow. Is as beneficial 

 to the crop as it is to corn. 



CATTLE FEEDING IN IOWA. 



A correspondent of the Prairie Farmer, at 

 Vinton, Iowa, having tried the Illinois plan of 

 turning his cattle into the corn field to help 

 themselves and to tramp mud for exercise 

 and for bedding, concluded it did not pay, and 

 adopted a new plan after this wise : 



My lot, twelve to fourteen acres, and hilly, 

 is surrounded with timber. In the fall I made 

 shedding for seventy-five head of cattle, (num- 

 ber on hand,) eight rods long on north side, 

 with wings on east and west sides, and open to 

 south. In the centre is a large straw stack ; 

 and I kept building as fast as they would 

 destroy it. Cut thirty acres of corn; in fill, 

 before frost, and shocked same in field. This 

 is better than hay for a change. Fed shocked 

 corn once a day, at night; and "snapped" 

 corn in the morning, with timothy and clover 

 hay at noon. This method of feeding kept 

 the cattle well bedded, as they would eat noth- 

 ing but leaves of fodder and corn. Fed 

 shocked corn with an eye to bedding. Had a 

 separate lot for hogs, and drove them out when 

 we fed shocked com. 



To sum up : — My cattle cost me from 2h to 

 3;^ cents per lb. Sold fifty of same in Janua- 

 ry, to be delivered the 29th day of February, 

 for 6 cents per lb., to be weighed In the yards 

 at home. 1 fed about forty bushels of corn to 



