16 



THE GENESEE FARMER. 



the potatoes have rotted so badly since they were dug that 

 " there will not remain for consumption above one-third 

 of an ordinary average crop." The London Agricultural 

 Gazette, in commenting on these facts, remarks : " Scot- 

 land furnishes so large a share of our supplies that this 

 shortcoming must affect the prices in the English market." 



Working Cattle. — The Prairie Farmer has a sensible 

 article in regard to working cattle-- thinking them prefer- 

 able to horses for the " druigery" of the farm, plowing, 

 harrowing, heavy hauling, etc. We are inclined to.except 

 the harrowing. A fast-walking span of horses is best for 

 this operation. It thfnks the demand for horses for army 

 uses should induce farmers to keep more working oxen. 



Wheat and Corn does' not Pat in the West. — The 

 Prairie Farmer says, with all the emphasis which ital- 

 ics and an earnest conviction can give : " It is no longer 

 projitablfito grow wheat or corn exclusively as a farm crop, 

 and the farmer of the West must turn his attention to a 

 more diversified and mixed husbandry if he expects to 

 keep up the progressive condition of his farm." 



Potatoes Two Years Old. — A correspondent of the 

 Scottish Farmer says that a large quantity of potatoes 

 were accidentally buried about six feet deep in an old ice 

 well. Two years after, in digging to remove the stones 

 from the well, the workmen came upon the potatoes, and 

 found nearly the whole in an excellent state of preservation. 



PriCE of Pork. — The Massachusetts Ploughman remarks: 

 " Hogs are now sold in market at a low figure ; but, as we 

 have a large army to be fed, and as Europe must have a 

 large supply of grain from America, the probability is 

 that good pork will soon command higher prices. At any 

 rate, we can keep it, for we can procure salt at any time." 



A Large Turnip.— The New England Farmer mentions 

 as something wonderful — "a Purple Top turnip which 

 weighs, without leaves or roots, loi lbs., and is nearly a 

 Sabbath-day's journey round it." We have seen many 

 turnips of this variety (Skirvings) which weighed half as 

 much again, and a few, more than double the size. 



Wheat in Minnesota. — The Minnesota Farmer and 

 Gardener says : " Wheat in Minnesota this season will not 

 yield over half as much as in 1860. The average will not 

 be over twelve or thirteen bushels. Of course it does not 

 pay, at present prices [50 to 60c. per bushel], for the labor 

 of raising and carrying to market." 



Corn and Cob Meal for Poultry. — The Maine Farmer 

 recommends to feed poultry with meal made by grinding 

 corn together with the cob. It says that hens and turkeys 

 eat it with avidity and thrive well upon it. 



Drilling Corn. — A correspondent of the Country Gen- 

 tleman mentions an experiment which satisfies him that 

 more corn can be raised from drilling in the seed than 

 from planting in hills. 



Small Pigs.* — The New York Tribune says a small- 

 boned breed of pigs that mature early, so as to weigh 100 

 lbs. at six months old, always sell at extra prices hi the 

 New York market. 



The Crops of Maple Sugar.— Hunt's Merchant's Mag- 

 azine estimates the crop of maple sugar for the past year 

 at 28,000 tons, which at 8 cents per lb. amounts to $5,617,000. 



CAVALRY HORSES. 



In the September number of the Genesee Far- 

 mer for last year, we took occasion to remark that 

 the assertion made by some writers that we had 

 no. horses suitable for cavalry, because we had 

 '''■permitted racing to die ouV was not sustained 

 by facts. The editor of the Boston Cultivator', 

 who is good authority, makes the following re- 

 marks on this subject : 



Many false statements and much false reasoning 

 are perpetrated in regard to the character of the 

 horses procured for our army. One writer at- 

 tempts to show that the horses gathered on the 

 Potomac are very inferior as compared to English 

 cavalry horses, and another contends that in the 

 present contest, "the best horses, as a general 

 rule, will be in the hands and use of our foes. n 

 And yet the noted Mr. Russell, the London Times 

 correspondent, has very highly praised our horses. 

 The reason assigned why the horses of the rebels are 

 better than those of our Government, is that they 

 have more of the blood of the race-horse, or so- 

 called " thorough-bred." Reference is made in 

 support of this notion to the success of the Eng-' 

 lish over the French, in several battles, and espe- 

 cially at Waterloo. The utter fallacy of this as- 

 sumption will be seen when it is understood that 

 the horses which are belieyed to have rendered such 

 service to the English at Waterloo, were the heavy 

 " household troops," which were and have always 

 been to a great extent bred on the Continent. 



In reference to this matter, Youatt remarks that 

 a considerable change has been made in the Eng- 

 lish cavalry-horse by crossing with the thorough- 

 bred, which, he says, was in some respects benefi- 

 cial, "lightness and activity" being an improve- 

 ment for "skirmishing and sudden attack." But 

 lie adds: "There is danger", however of carrying 

 this too far. It was proved at the battle of Wa- 

 terloo that our heavy household troops alone were 

 able to repulse the formidable charge of the French 

 Guard." 



It was in reference to these " heavy household 

 troops," therefore, and not to the lighter charge 

 of race-horse character, that Napoleon uttered 

 the heart-felt exclamation — "See those terrible 

 horses!" his own being literally trodden down. 



Would it not be as well for those wiseacres to 

 wait till the horses of the Confederate and Federal 

 armies have seen some service before they decide 

 so positively against our own ? 



Poultry in England. — As a class, English 

 farmers do not pa"y much attention to poultry. 

 They look after their Short-horns and South Downs--, 

 but poultry is considered rather beneath notice. 

 There are with us some farmers who appear to en- 

 tertain the same opinion. The London Agricul- 

 tural Gazette of Oct. 26th says: 



"It is an undeniable fact that while in many 

 counties poultry keeping as a business is being 

 given up by agriculturists, the supply ot it to the 

 London market by foreigners is assuming the pro- 

 portions of a very large trade. It is not by thein 

 thought beneath the attention of men of capital, 

 station, enterprise, and education." 



