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Agricultural Discussion, Albany, JV. F. 



Vol. Xr. 



places. The wages of these females thus 

 employed are, of course, lar lower than 

 wages with us, and it cannot be expected 

 that we should adopt such practices with the 

 usual price of our grain crop. 



But, in the process of ploughing, there is 

 no reason why we should not do as well as 

 in England. Their furrows are from eight 

 to ten inches wide — seldom exceeding ten 

 very straight — made with the greatest nicety 

 and precision — the slice is of the same thick 

 ness all the way through, so that the sod 

 does not decompose quicker in one place 

 than the other, and the soil becomes equally 

 pulverized ; nor does the grain start une- 

 qually, nor the farmer lose as with us, a third 

 of his crop by its unequal growth. They 

 plough with horses, usually from three to as 

 many as six, in single file, with one or two 

 drivers — sometimes very young lads at the 

 plough. The use of horses, as with us, is 

 evidently becoming more frequent. This 

 work is done with perfect neatness and care; 

 often the result of the labour and experience 

 of years on the part of the ploughman. In 

 England, each individual does one kind of 

 work, so that he understands it perfectly. 

 There they have no such character as a man 

 of all work. The ploughman attends to 

 that work alone. He goes to his work early 

 in the morning and breaks off about two, 

 and then has the charge of his team. If any 

 sods remain undecomposed, these females 

 again appear with their baskets and gather 

 them into heaps, when they are consumed, 

 and the ashes scattered about the land. The 

 roller and the crusher, the latter of which 

 is very heavy, are freely used. The best 

 cultivators distribute the seed by drills, and 

 seed is saved by this, and the grain deposited 

 and covered more uniformly — and the broad 

 cast system seems on the retrograde. 



There are no fences in England — the 

 scarcity of timber is a sufficient reason — the 

 hedges are very neat, and are attractive in 

 their appearance to the stranger. Some 

 farmers there are who, like some in our own 

 country, let things go to loose ends, but in 

 the midst of so beautiful and fineJy culti- 

 vated lands, those exceptions make but a poor 

 appearance. 



He had visited, with great satisfaction, the 

 dairy districts of England, especially those 

 of Cheshire and Worcestershire, our strong- 

 est competitors. One great principle per- 

 vaded them all. The first and second and 

 last thing in the English dairy was neatness. 

 Every thing about them was neat, and noth- 

 ing unsavory was allowed to be there. This 

 extended to the care and keeping of the 

 cattle, and he had seen many stables, where 

 the cattle were kept with the utmost nicety. 



This was a principle with the English in the 

 manufacture of butter and cheese, and it 

 would be in vain for our farmers to seek 

 there a market for these commodities, unless 

 these excellent qualifications had a rigid 

 compliance. 



The salt they use appears to give them an 

 advantage over us. It is chiefly the Liver- 

 pool and of the Ashton brand. This appears 

 absolutely necessary for the preservation 

 and preparation of their fine butter. Our 

 farmers, many of them, are following this 

 example, and are incurring the expense of 

 procuring foreign salt, rather than to buy 

 our own at Salina. 



The great objection there to our butter 

 was that it was salted too much. The Eng- 

 lish had seen but little of our good butter. 

 Most had reached their country under the 

 denomination of grease. Even with us, the 

 proportion of salt is often so great, that with 

 the butter we take in our mouths, comes a 

 lump of undissolved salt. Such carelessness 

 must forever destroy our hopes of a market 

 in England. 



The condition of their cattle is most ad- 

 mirable. They are fatted to perfection. 

 They vary from eighteen months to three 

 years; few being sold in market over three 

 years of age. You may see often 5000 fat 

 cattle at once in the market at London, and 

 out of the whole, there are every week im- 

 mense numbers equal to the splendid speci- 

 mens exhibited at our shows, such as would 

 receive with us the first premium, and this 

 not of one breed alone, but of several. The 

 black cattle. Galloways and West Highland- 

 ers, may be said to stand at the head of the 

 market, and command the highest price. 

 The Herefords are next to the Scotch cattle, 

 and are very fine animals. The Short Horns 

 and Devons are also very choice and superior 

 animals. 



There were three descriptions of the black 

 cattle, which I saw. The Galloway, without 

 horns, the West Highland, and the Runts, 

 equal to either, though of a much smaller 

 size. Similar cattle are common in Angle- 

 sea in Wales, 



The sheep are enclosed in hurdles on the 

 ground, and fed on turnips, vetches, clover, 

 early grass, and whenever one part of a field 

 is finished they are taken to the other, which, 

 after they leave it, is plowed up and used for 

 grain. They go to market by railway, and 

 are in the finest condition, 30,000 of them 

 arrive in London weekly. Go and look at 

 the immense number, and you would suppose 

 there was enough to feed all England. On 

 Monday morning early, you will find them 

 all paraded for sale, and when you go at 

 twelve o'clock you will find them all gone) 



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