No. 7. 



On the Best Mode of Feeding Cattle. 



213 



uable varieties of apples, which enter ex- 

 tensively both into her foreign as well as 

 her domestic commerce, and are eagerly 

 sought after in almost every civilized coun- 

 try of the globe. The most celebrated, and 

 unquestionably the best variety extant, for 

 shipping and for winter use, is said to have 

 been the spontaneous production from a seed, 

 more than a century and a half ago, in New- 

 town, on Long Island, near New York, and 

 is well known by the name of " Newtown 

 Pippin." The original tree stood on the es- 

 tate owned at present by Mr. John J. Moore, 

 of that town, and for a long time its fruit 

 was called "Gershom Moore Pippin," in 

 honour of its former proprietor. After en- 

 during for more than one hundred years, it 

 died, in about the year 1805, from excessive 

 cutting and exhaustion. Its scions were in 

 great request by all the principal amateurs 

 and orchardists of the day, and engrafted 

 trees of it are still to be met with in the 

 neighbouring towns, which have stood be- 

 yond the " memory of man."* It is to be 

 regretted, however, that the trees bearing 

 this excellent variety of fruit, in many parts 

 of the country, begin to manifest symptoms 

 of decline; and it is believed by many, that 

 the period has arrived in which nature is to 

 terminate their existence, and like their pa- 

 rent stock, are about to pass into decrepitude 

 and final decay. 



As the longevity of the apple tree is com- 

 paratively limited, which is obvious from the 

 perishable nature of its wood, there are but 

 few very aged individuals to be met with, 

 either in Europe or in America. The oldest 

 trees of which we have received any ac- 

 count, are said to be growing near Plymouth, 

 in Massachusetts, and are represented as 

 being upwards of two centuries old. An 

 ancient tree of the "Pearmain" variety also 

 stands on the Charter Oak place, in Hart- 

 ford, Connecticut, which was brought from 

 England by Mr. George Wyllys, previous to 

 the year 1645, and consequently must be 

 more than two hundred years of-age. Its 

 trunk, though much decayed, still sends 

 forth several thrifty boughs, which annually 

 produce from two to three pecks of excellent 

 fruit. 



On the authority of Dr. James Mease, of 

 Philadelphia, there is a mammoth apple tree 

 at Romney, in Virginia, which grew spon 

 taneously from seed, and is estimated to be 

 fifty years old. It has attained a height of 

 forty-five feet, with a trunk more than a 



* On the estate of Mr. Gardner G. Rowland, 

 Flushing, there are several old trees of this description 

 which bear abundantly every other year, and are sup- 

 posed to be one hundred years of age. 



yard in diameter, and a spread of branches 

 of fifty-five feet. It is said to be in a flour- 

 ishing condition, and continues to increase 

 in size. In 1835, it produced 180 bushels 

 of large fruit, besides four or five bushels 

 left under its boughs as damaged, and seve- 

 ral bushels, which, it was calculated, had 

 been taken by visitors, in the course of the 

 season ; so that the total produce, in the 

 opinion of Dr. Mease, amounted to nearly 

 two hundred bushels. 



The greatest quantity of fruit borne on a 

 single tree, in England, in one year, that we 

 have heard of, is recorded in Dodsley's" An- 

 nual Register," for 1777, It grew in the 

 orchard of Mr, Hackman, of Littlefield, in 

 Sussex, and produced 74 bushels of fruit, 

 which, on being weighed, was found to ave- 

 rage 14 pounds to each peck, and conse- 

 quently the total product of the tree was 

 nearly two tons. 



The largest recorded apple tree in Brit- 

 ain, is at Herbert's farm, near Hereford, 

 which, in 1836, was forty-eight feet in 

 height, with a trunk five feet in diameter, 

 and a spread of branches of forty-eight feet. 

 —Broione's Trees of America. 



On the Best Mode of Feeding Cattle. 



BY PROFESSOR JOHNSTON. 



The following is the substance of a lec- 

 ture delivered at Inverness, before the High- 

 land Society of Scotland. After a few pre- 

 liminary observations, the lecturer observed : 



As a cattle importing district, therefore, 

 the extension of sound information in regard 

 to the economical use of food, must be of the 

 very greatest importance ; that is, in what way 

 they could grow the greatest amount of beef 

 or mutton at the least possible expense. This 

 he was prepared to show was to be effected 

 by the use of certain mixed food, and pre- 

 pared food. An individual going from one 

 end of the country to another to observe the 

 state of agriculture, will look not merely at 

 the kind of stock, but he will more particu- 

 larly observe the implements of husbandry 

 in use throughout the various districts. In 

 order, therefore, to form an estimate of the 

 degree of attention paid to this matter of pre- 

 pared food in England, on his visit to New- 

 castle, at the great cattle show recently held 

 there, he turned his attention particularly to 

 the examination of the implements exhibited, 

 having a bearing upon this point. Amongst 

 these he found chaff-cutters, a peculiar ma- 

 chine for crushing corn and other seeds, and 

 other instruments; all showing how much 

 regard was being paid to this subject by 

 practical men. There was no doubt but 

 that the subject of the quantity of food which 

 cattle require to produce a certain weight 



