No. 2. 



Work in Ireland, — Independence of the Farmer. 



49 



this is an unmixed native or not. In the 

 account which is on record of the famous 

 Cramp cow in England, a remark is made 

 deserving the notice of all milkers and farm- 

 ers — "Milch cows are often spoiled for want 

 of patience at the latter end of milking 

 them." 



The question has often been asked — what 

 is the average produce of a cow in milk? 

 An experienced milk man in Essex county, 

 says it is five beer quarts daily, -when well 

 fed; others say one gallon. It is said a cow 

 requires two tons of hay in the season — and 

 should have from one to two quarts of meal 

 a day, and about a peck of vegetables. Soil- 

 ing is well adapted for the cow ; grass, oats, 

 and corn, cut green, furnish excellent food 

 for this purpose. Carrots are invaluable 

 through the winter. 



Our farmers would render a great service 

 by furnishing at our annual fairs, written 

 statements of their own experience in the 

 management and produce of their cows. 

 May they not be fairly called upon to do so? 

 — Springfield Republican, 



Work in Ireland. 



In Ireland, on the river Foyle, below Lon- 

 donderry, where it widens into a lake, a 

 great work is going on in redeeming a large 

 extent of land from the sea. At the reces- 

 sion of the tide, an extensive surface is left 

 exposed. The plan is simply to enclose the 

 land by a strong stone wall, or embankment, 

 which will effectually exclude the sea. The 

 work is as yet in embryo, though a large ex- 

 tent of wall is visible. I was told it would 

 include full 2,500 acres ; but the source of 

 my information was more casual than au- 

 thentic. After it is once securely enclosed 

 and brought into cultivation, it appeared to 

 me there would be no difficulty in irrigating 

 at least a considerable portion of it, by water 

 from the neighbouring hills. I do not know 

 that this is a part of the plan. 



The example is one of bold enterprise, 

 and is undertaken by one of the city compa- 

 nies in London, who have large funds at 

 their disposal. I refer to it, hoping to in- 

 duce my readers to reflect for a moment 

 upon the essential difference, in the invest- 

 ment of capital, between that which is ac- 

 cumulative and productive, and that which 

 is unproductive and deteriorating. If a man 

 spends one hundred thousand dollars in the 

 erection and adornment of a house far be- 

 yond his needs, the capital invested makes 

 no return ; the house is liable to continued 

 wear and decay; and a large expenditure is 

 required, not only to live in keeping with 

 the establishment, but to keep up the estab- 



lishment; and if some allowance is to be 

 made for the pleasure enjoyed in this display 

 of the owner's vanity and gratification of 

 his pride, it must be regarded as a pleasure 

 not of a high character, and almost purely 

 selfish. On the other hand, capital expend- 

 ed in the redemption of land from the sea, 

 or in the improvement of waste lands, be- 

 comes at once recuperative ; the crops soon 

 give a greater or less return ; production 

 quickens and increases production; power 

 in this case, as in many others, grows by the 

 action of its own energies; useful labour is 

 called out ; human food is increased, and 

 human comfort is provided for. The eye of 

 the observing traveller rests with grateful 

 delight upon these beneficent triumphs of 

 human art and industry. The performers 

 of such good, and oftentimes grand works, 

 in the works themselves, erect to their own 

 honour monuments far more glorious, in the 

 estimation of true philosophy, than eques- 

 trian statues, or marble mausoleums, or even 

 the mighty pyramids of Cairo — the altars 

 where human toil and life were recklessly 

 and criminally sacrificed to despotic pride, 

 and to an ambition of renown which has no 

 place among those virtues which truly adorn 

 and elevate our nature; a desire of a vain 

 immortality, which, in this case, seems to 

 have met with a remarkable moral retribu- 

 tion, in that even the names of the founders 

 of these wonderful erections remain beyond 

 the deciphering powers of human skill. — 

 Colman''s Tour. 



For the Farmers' Cabinet, 



Independence of the Farmer. 



To THE Editor, — It has always been a 

 source of gratification to me, when I enter 

 a farmer's residence, to see lying upon the 

 table or on the shelves of his library, one or 

 more -of our valuable agricultural periodi- 

 cals. It follows as an almost invariable 

 rule that thai man — if he but carefully 

 reads them and fully appreciates the value 

 of their contents — is, or soon becomes an 

 intelligent and thrifty farmer — realizing 

 with pleasure, the fruits of his industry and 

 enterprise. He is aroused to a sense of his 

 own interest, and will not be found turning 

 a deaf ear to the friendly admonitions or in- 

 structions of an enlightened member of his 

 fraternity, saying — he does not need the 

 knowledge or experience of this man, or of 

 that, to assist him in conducting his agricul- 

 tural affairs; his knowledge is sufficient for 

 him ; and that he will not be humbugged 

 with the result of the experience of others, 

 through the medium of agricultural papers, 



