284 



Precocious Heifer. 



Vol. VIII. 



against what is called book farming, I would 

 have us discard it at once: — as well might 

 the hardy mariner have rejected the intro- 

 duction of the compass into navigation; de- 

 claring himself satisfied to do as his fathers 

 had done; — or the ancient scribe have re- 

 jected the use of the type, in disseminating 

 knowledge over the world. For since tlie 

 mind of man is progressive in its improve- 

 ments, it must be greatly aided by the expe- 

 rience of others in the collection" of import- 

 ant facts. For "how can we reasou bat 

 from what we know?" and to reason cor- 

 rectly, we must adopt something like the 

 following rule, which I think guided the 

 great Newton in his researclies after truth, 

 viz.: that "no more causes ot natural things 

 ought to be admitted than are true and suffi- 

 cient to explain the phenomena; therefore 

 effects of the same kind will be produced by 

 tlie same causes." How often docs it hap- 

 pen, that effects are attributed to improper 

 causes; and hence it is that our inferences 

 are so frequently erroneous. 



But for thinking we have ample time; as 

 never a day ncr an hour passes, that some 

 new object is not presented to the mind for 

 its consideration ; and wliile following the 

 plough, some of the finest effusions of a 

 Burns and a Bloomfield, as well as the more 

 erudite calculations of a Rittenhouso, were 

 suggested and arranged in the mind. 



This arrangement of facts into a system, 

 is called theorizing, or thinking. And acci- 

 dent frequently suggests some fact of great 

 importance to the world, which if not re- 

 corded at the time, may not occur again for 

 ages. For instance, a nurseryman in Bucks 

 county, Pa., accidentally mashed a potatoe 

 bug upon his bare skin; in a short time he 

 found a large blister had risen ; thinking it 

 might be useful for the physician to know 

 it, he communicated it to Dr. Chapman, 

 who experimented with the insect — found 

 it much more active in its blistering proper- 

 ties than the Spanish fly, named it the Meloe 

 Ckapmani, and thus conferred a lasting bene- 

 fit upon his fellow man. 



Again, we know that in cold climates, 

 where the season is short, all kinds of vege 

 tables must come to maturity in a shorter 

 space of time, than where the seasons are 

 longer; hence to produce an early crop, it 

 would seem to be advisable to obtain seeds 

 or tubers from the North, to be planted in a 

 Southern soil ; and this we find to be 

 true as it regards the corn, potatoe, &c. 

 From a parity of reasoning we would infer, 

 that by planting corn and potatoes as late 

 in the season as would permit them to come 

 to a vigorous maturity, we can obtain a seed 

 capable of producing the earliest crop, when 



planted the ensuing spring: and this we 

 likewise find to be true iri practice. But 

 should we conclude that because the North- 

 ern seed had once produced the earliest 

 fruit, the seed from the same would continue 

 to do so, we should be disappointed in our 

 calculations, for it takes but a short time for 

 the plant to become acclimated in its loca- 

 tion, and we must continue to bring our 

 seed from the North every few years, or ob- 

 tain it by late planting aud early digging, 

 even before quite ripe, if we wish to grow 

 an early crop. 



These are but a few instances to show 

 the advantage of observing and recording 

 facts, and of analogical reasoning in our 

 profession. M. B. S. 



Philadelphia co., Miiich 30th, 1S44. 



For the Fiiriiiers' Cabinet. 

 Precocious Heifer. 



I SOME time since promised the editor of 

 the Cabinet, to furnish for its pages an ac- 

 count of a heifer remarkable for precocity 

 as a milker. On a recent inquiry of her 

 owner, Joel H. MidJleton, near this place, 

 I am satisfied with the correctness of the 

 following statement. She was calved in 

 the Fifth month of 1841; in the Eighth 

 month, 1842, being just fifteen months old, 

 her udder was observed to be very much 

 distended, and on being milked, upv.'ards of 

 two quarts of milk were obtained. She con- 

 tinued to yield about this quantity twice a 

 day, for some months, when .she was dried 

 up, lest winter milking should injure her. 

 About midsummer, 1843, she had her first 

 calf. 



This unusually early flow of milk, out of 

 the ordinary course of nature, was most pro- 

 bably induced by the occasional sucking of 

 another calf reared with her, and running 

 in the same pasture. 



Samuel Allinson, Jb. 



Crosswicks, N. J. 



P. S. I am trying an experiment with a 

 few white-oak posts; they are hewn and 

 holed, and soaking in a strong solution of 

 sulphate of iron, (copperas.) I have heard 

 this solution recommended for preserving 

 timber, but do not know how successful it 

 has proved. I have, however, observed that 

 white-oak posts used in a board fence, when 

 almost completely decayed, have generally 

 pieces of sound wood alDout the nails. The 

 theory of this I suppose to be, that a small 

 portion of oxide of iron is taken up by some 

 free acid in the wood, and being conveyed 

 by capillary attraction a short distance along 

 the fibre, preserves it from decay. 



S. A., Jr, 



