22 



Durham Cow. — Potatoe Disease. — American Institute. Vol. XII. 



chusetts. Their improvements are quite 

 numerous, one of the most important of 

 which, is their recently patented dial-clevis. 

 Combining this with the draft-rod, it enables 

 the plouTfhman to run his plough close along 

 side of a fence or ditch, or turn up wet mea- 

 dows, or rice lands, with the off as well as 

 the near animal treading on the unbroken 

 ground, instead of the open, miry furrow. It 

 also enables him to guage the running of| 

 his plough more exactly in its work than 

 any other clevis I have seen. — New York 

 Agricultural Transactions, 1846. 



From the Farmers' Library. 

 Mr. Phelps's Durham Cow Victoria. 



Messrs. Editors, — In redemption of the 

 pledge made you when last in your city, and 

 in obedience to the wishes of our mutual 

 friends, who have solicited it for your col- 

 umns, I send a brief notice of my Durham 

 cow Victoria. 



She was calved on the 30th day of March, 

 1841, and slaughtered on the 6th day of 

 January, 1847, being five years, ten months, 

 and seven days old — has had four calves at 

 three premature births, none of which have 

 been reared. 



Her standard height was 4 feet 8 inches. 

 Length from horns to tail 7 " 4 " 

 Breadth across the hips 2 " 1^- " 

 Size in the girth 7 " 9 " 



Weight on foot 1890 lbs. 



Net weight of quarters 1312 lbs. 

 » " hide 98 " 



" " rough tallow 176 "—1586 



Loss in slaughtering, 304 lbs. 



She would probably have weighed 2,000 

 lbs. had she been kept until maturity. 



Journalizing the weight of animals having 

 become somewhat fashionable, I will add 

 that I marketed with Messrs. A. D, & H. 

 Reed, of Farmington, the present season, 

 fifteen hogs, averaging 416 lbs., the lightest 

 weighing 332 and the heaviest 524 lbs. 



William J. Phelps. 



Elmwood, Peoria co., Feb., 1847. 



To SAVE Horses from Fire. — " I recom- 

 mend first, to blind the animal thoroughly, 

 and second, to unloose or cut the halter, and 

 the terrified animal will, with kind and 

 gentle usage, at once suffer himself to be 

 led past, nay, even through the raging ele- 

 ment. I have myself been benefitted by 

 possessing the knowledge of this plan, and 

 have satisfactorily and practically put it to 

 the test, after all other means that could 

 be thought of — both gentle, persuasive, and 

 compulsory — had been tried in vain." 



Potatoe Disease. 



At an agricultural discussion at Albany, 

 a few months since, S. Cheever remarked 

 that he had " read much; examined much; 

 experimented much on this subject, and all 

 his investigations had only confirmed him, 

 that this terrible disease was one of those 

 inscrutable dispensations of Providence, sent 

 in its wisdom ; sent for its own mysterious 

 uses; and its causes are yet hid from the 

 mind of man. We only know that it exists. 

 It had been supposed to show itself only in 

 this soil or in that, and yet where one person 

 has proved to his own satisfaction, that it 

 was only in this combination of circum- 

 stances th^t it was evinced, it has shown 

 itself in its direct opposite. It was like the 

 cholera, which came and went, no man knew 

 why or whither, but its dreadful work, all 

 saw. It passed over in its destruction, goino- 

 as it came. He had suffered very little in 

 his own experience, but had seen its effects, 

 and had seen its varied phases, its eccentric 

 features, so much so as to establish to his 

 belief, the truth, that the potatoe disease 

 was a calamity, with no known cause. All 

 Europe had endeavoured to investigate the 

 origin of it. It had been discoursed upon, 

 experimented upon by scientific men abroad, 

 to a greater degree than any other recent 

 subject, and yet^he result of all these elabo- 

 rate and scientific researches had been to 

 establish the truth, that the real causes were 

 hid in the mysteries o'f a Providence that 

 has motives unknown to men. 



American Institute— Farmers' Club. 



April 20th, 1847. 



Robert Lawrence, Esq., in the chair — 

 H. Meigs, Secretary. Mr. Meigs read the 

 following translation made by him from the 

 Revue Horticole: Paris, 1847. 



Growth of Potatoes in the earth without 

 stalks or leaves, 



Lefevre remaiks that the winter culture 

 of potatoes ought to attract the attention of 

 the learned and the practical agriculturists 

 to this curious problem. 



Question. — Can the potatoes continue to 

 grow in the earth when the vegetation of 

 their stalks and leaves is suspended by coldl 

 To this question practical men say there is 

 no difficulty, for they find that the potatoes 

 often develope in cellars and in the banks 

 where they are deposited, young potatoes. 

 Besides, what are potatoes but swelled roots 

 or stems'? 



Last year Mr. Francoeur gave a state- 

 ment to the Royal and Central Society of 



