234 



THE GENESEE FARMER. 



medal cow was as handsome as a picture— one of 

 the most perfect specimens in the yard. It is 

 thought that the Devons do not show that im- 

 provement which marks the Herefords. They were 

 as good thirty years ago as now. 

 The Ayrshires were admirably represented. 

 The other breeds, including Sussex, Long-horns, 

 Norfolk and Suffolk polled, Irish Kerries, Gallo- 

 ways, etc., etc., were all there, but we have not 

 space to allude to their merits. 



The sheep constituted a grand feature of the 

 Fair. There were 640 entries, exclusive of the 

 Scotch and foreign entries. 



Cotswolds were out in great force. There were 

 90 entries of this breed. The Leicesters, Lincolns, 

 and other long-woolled sheep turned out hand- 

 somely. The South Downs, Oxford Downs, Hanip- 

 shires and Shropshires were all there, each good 

 after his kind. 



There were 200 entries of pigs— all of unusual 

 excellence, excepting, perhaps, the Berkshires. 

 The Suffolk and Yorkshire Middle breeds were the 

 champions. The large breeds are less popular, and 

 are said to be going out of fashion, even in York- 

 shire. 



Of horses, there were 280 entries. The Mark 

 Lane Express thus tersely sums up this part of the 

 Fair: "The cart horses were very good, the coach 

 horses very tine, and the riding horses very bad I" 

 Of agricultural horses, the Suffolks and Clydes- 

 dales were the two principal breeds. It is the 

 character of these that determine the character of 

 this department of the show. In this case, they 

 were excellent. The Suffolks well sustained their 

 reputation as light and active but strong and pow- 

 erful farm horses. The Clydesdales were not nu- 

 merous, but they were a well selected lot. Con- 

 sidering their immense size and weight, many of 

 them showed censiderable action, and moved their 

 shaggy legs with an ease that approximated to 

 gracefulness. 



In the foreign classes were shown six breeds of 

 French cattle, and also some from Holland and 

 Switzerland. There were no foreign heavy draught 

 horses, and few of any kind. There were also 

 some excellent French, Spanish and Saxon Merino 

 sheep exhibited. To this department of the great 

 show, we may allude at some future time. 



Agriculture in our Common Sctiools. — A cor- 

 respondent of the N. E. Farmer, John Goldsbury 

 of Warwick, objects to the introduction of the 

 study of agriculture into our common schools, on 

 th ground that teachers already have enough else 

 to do, and because they are not qualified to teach it. 



AM OLD AGRICULTURAL PAPER. 



We have had in our possession for some time si 

 volumes of a monthly agricultural journal, starte 

 in London in the' year 1763, called the Musew 

 Rusticum et Commerciale. 



There is a frontispiece to the first volume, sho-v 

 ing a collection of agricultural implements : a uu 

 with a broadaxe cutting down a tree, a boy shea 

 ing a sheep, a young woman with a spinning whe< 

 and a man plowing with three oxen tandem ! Th 

 picture well indicates the condition of agricultu: 

 in Britain at that time. 



The articles are exceedingly well written, and a 

 mostly on subjects still discussed in our agrcultui 

 papers. For instance, the first article is on t 

 Kentish method of gathering and curing hops ; i 

 second, on the culture of flax in Ireland; the thh 

 on trees and shrubs which will thrive near the 1 

 in which the mulberry is recommended. Next 

 have a new method of cutting wheat: "using 

 scythe six inches shorter in the blade than the co; 

 mon scythe, and instead of a cradle, two twigs 

 osier put semicircular-wise into holes made in t 

 handles of the scythe, near the blade, in sucl 

 manner that one semicircle intersects the other." 

 The next article is "on the manner in whi 

 canary seed is raised." Turn over an old 1 

 bring it " into tolerable fine tilth," and sow pe 

 These are hoed. After peas, sow beans, and k< 

 them clean with frequent hoeings. "These I 

 crops effectually kill the greensward or grass, fa 

 off the rankness of the soil, and the frequent h 

 ings, which are necessary to keep the weeds unci 

 bring the land into fine tilth. After the beans 

 off, the land gets a thorough plowing, and is tl 

 left till spring : about the beginning of March 

 the weather is fine and the season dry r the h 

 gets its last plowing; immediately after which 

 canary seed is sown." 



This is certainly good culture, and the pracl 

 of cleaning land by planting two hoed crops in s 

 cession might be, even now, frequently adop 

 with advantage. 



The writer then proceeds to say that form( 

 it was the custom to sow broadcast, but " t 

 found it very difficult to hoe and keep clean fi 

 weeds 5" so "at present they sow it in furr< 

 made across the lands, constantly taking care 

 make the ridges between the furrows as shar] 

 possible; by this means, the seed, which is sc 

 by hand, slips from the ridges into the furrows, 

 the plants come up in regular rows." The ed 

 remarks in a foot note, that •« this is a faint im 



