t 



AND HO RTI (CULTURAL REGISTER. 



PUDLISHED BY JOSEPH BRECK & CO., NO. 62 NORTH MARKET STREET, (Aoe.ooitobal Waeehou8e.)-ALLEN PUTNAM, EDITOR. 



BOSTON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, SEPTEM BER ] 4, 1842. 



.[NO. II. 



N. E. FARMER, 



HOME-BRED STOCK. 



If good working oxen are Jesired, and Ilerefords 



Devons are not to bo procured, as you cannot 

 se the precise form or character in either the liull 

 r cow, select fiuch aa in their general conforma- 

 on approach nearest the models required ; but 

 luch more is to be relied on in using such as be- 

 jng to good working families. A form somewhat 

 elieved from the unwieidiness of the more bulky 

 I, should be selected, with longer legs, lighter 

 arcass, firmer muscle, medium bone, slanting 

 houlder, well knit withers, broad chest; spreading 

 before legs well, yet not too deep; ribs well 

 Tched immediately behind tho shoulders, afl^brding 

 mple room for the heart and lungs to play, and 

 caching well back and near the hips ; a broad 

 3vel back ; and most especially a fine open coun- 

 enance, with as much intelligence and as kindly 

 lisposition as possible. Such an animal, with 

 roper attention and feed, will nearly come up to 

 he horse in capacity and endurance, and when 

 cosed from the yoke, will fatten kindly, and pay 

 he grazier as generously as the plowman. The 

 Devon and Hereford, and their crosses, though une- 

 lualled for the yoke arc not surpassed for grazing 

 ind the shambles. 



The pig should have a short fine snout ; an eye 

 hat will not look you out of countenance — nothing 

 3f the Vermillion hue ; a mouse ear we prefer, 

 though others that prefer a large size may be com- 

 pelled to take a flop ear with it ;) a little jowl ; a 

 short neck ; capacious chest; broad back, a little 

 crowning if very long, or perfectly level if very 

 short; belly well let down; legs short and stand- 

 ing on the toes ; broad and deep haras ; tail small 

 and well set up, with a kink or two in it; little 

 hair and no bristles ; a soft handler; quiet habits, 

 and any color you please. He should mature early, 

 and fatten at any age between nine and eighteen 

 months ; eat moderately, and convert into pork on 

 equitable shares whatever food he takes ; returning 

 as near one fourth in weight as possible when nu- 

 tritious, or if coarser and lighter, as much as he 

 can afford. 



To all this, the farmer may say, this is a very 

 plausible theory, and we are willing to concede it 

 may be true enough, but unfortunately wo are be- 

 yond the reach of such improvement ; our neigh- 

 bors liave not this fine stock, nor have we the 

 means to go abroad and procure. Well, then, gen- 

 tlemen, we will advise you what to do. For your 

 breeders, use the very best animals you have or 

 can procure ; and if access to a mule stock animal 

 of the right kind can be had, do n't button up your 

 pockets when the price is stated, but pay liberally. 

 Every penny thus expended is seed scattered on a 

 fertile soil, that in a few months wi,l return you 

 ten or twenty fold. And when your young stock 

 is produced, do n't sell your best filly because she 

 will bring a few dollars more than an indiflforent 

 one ; or work her till superannuated, and breed 

 from some crazy jade, because she is fit for nothing 



else. Do n't take your best calf to the butcher, 

 and raise the others because they are worthless to 

 him ; but save your best, your very best heifer, and 

 if your neighbors have not a belter bull than your 

 best cow otfords, save that for use, though his car- 

 cass should be worthless when you have done with 

 him, which it is not. 



If your sheep are of the common kinds, any of 

 the improved rams will benefit them ; but do not 

 attempt mi.xing the improved breeds, unless you 

 are a skillful and experienced breeder. They 

 have been brought to their present perfection only 

 by careful and judicious crossing. An unlucky 

 cross may unsettle this nice adjustment ; and from 

 two races eminent in their own peculiar excellence, 

 you may get a third willi most of the faults and 

 scarcely any of the merits of either. The points 

 of a highly improved breed are like the well-bal- 

 anced elements in a chemical compound, that are 

 brought together and sustained by their just pro- 

 portions, scientifically arranged. If another ele- 

 ment be presented, or an excess of what is already 

 held in combination, a disturbing principle is af- 

 forded, that, by its attraction, resolves the elements 

 into new and mischievous combinations, that suc- 

 cessive generations may be required to re-establish. 

 But no danger need be apprehended by crossing 

 on to an indifferent stock; it might be difficult to 

 make it worse, and there are ninetynine chances in 

 a hundred that it will be made better. — Jlmer. Ag- 

 riculturist. 



VARIETIES— SUGGESTION. 

 A correspondent at Buffalo, " G. P.," has drawn 

 the following portrait of what he calls an enemy of 

 l>ook farming — a class of men once very numerous, 

 but now fortunately quite limited. After noticing 

 the many benefits he has derived from agricultural 

 reading, he says : "The individual I allude to, 

 despised books and papers, saying book farming 

 was fit only for fools; other people could get along 

 well enough without it. His wood yard was in 

 front of his house : the gate was broken down ; the 

 windows broken and filled with rags; around his 

 barn roamed numbers of half-starved cattle and 

 pigs, the strongest rushing over the weakest, and 

 twice as many of all kinds as he could keep with 

 profit. And inch pigs ! They were the true land- 

 pike breed ; legs and snouts as long as the rest of 

 their body; and might be seen standing at a rail 

 fence, digging up the third row of potatoes on the 

 other side. Improvement of stock he scorned as 

 he did books; mortgages accumulated, and his 

 farm went under the hammer of the auctioneer." 



" I have seen a communication in the Cultiva- 

 tor, in which the writer says he always takes away 

 the nest eggs of hens, and that he has never known 

 a nest deserted in consequence. His experience 

 differs from mine ; as I have kept some 20 or .30 

 hens for several years, and they almost always 

 leave their nest when the nest eggs are removed. 

 My hens are of the breed called Poland hens, ex- 

 cellent layers, and rarely setting until the third 

 year." 



" There are many farmers who complain of be- 



ing too poor to purchase and pay for an agricultu- 

 ral paper. As I have not seen the thing mention- 

 ed, I would suggest the propriety of forming far- 

 mers' associations or clubs, to purchase books and 

 papers, relating to agriculture; and having meet- 

 ings at suitable places to take out books and pa- 

 pers, to relate their experience in farming, and dis- 

 cuss topics relating to agriculture. In this way, 

 by the payment of a very smull sum individually, a 

 large circle of farmers might bo provided for; and 

 I have no doubt with the most beneficial results." — 

 Mhany Cult. 



WATER LIME— CISTERNS. 



Charles Merriwether, of Graysville, Ky., requests 

 some " information as to burning water or hydrau- 

 lic lime, the best sand to mix with it, and the mode 

 of making cisterns." 



Hydraulic lime is burned in the usual- manner, 

 but aa it will not slake like common lime, it is 

 ground to fit it for use. Hydraulic lime varies so 

 much in quality, that no general rule can be given 

 as to the quantity of sand it will bear in making 

 cement. When good, three bushels of sand to 

 one of lime, will be the proper quantity, although 

 some use more sand. The sand should be sharp 

 and clean. There should be no clay or loam 

 among it ; since if these are present, the cement 

 will not have the requisite hardness, or set quickly. 

 The best method of making cisterns, is to dig the 

 excavation of the proper size and depth ; then 

 make over the bottom a firm floor of stone, or brick 

 laid in cement, (a single flat stone like those used 

 for paving, that will make an entire bottom, is the 

 best,) and on this foundation build the wall of stone 

 or brick for the reservoir. Whatever may be the 

 material of the wall, it should receive one or two 

 coats of cement on the inside, to insure its being 

 water tight. Some, in making cisterns, place the 

 cement on the earth of tho pit, using neither stone 

 or bricks. Where the ground is very dry, and the 

 sides can be made smooth, this method, where two 

 or more coverings of cement are used, may answer ; 

 but in general, the best way is to construct a wall 

 as above directed. The cistern when made must 

 be covered so as to be secure against frost. In 

 making the cement, it must not be wet up, or pre- 

 pared, faster than it is wanted for use, as lying for 

 any coneiderable time spoils it. — Ibid. 



Tomatoes a Cure for Scours in Pigs — Last fall, 

 we had a pig that was taken with the ecours badly. 

 We tried various remedies for it with but little ef- 

 fect. One day we threw over to it two or three 

 tomatoes, which it ate readily, and which we found 

 gave it relief By following this course a few 

 days, it was finally cured. — Maine Farmer. 



Let no man be ashamed to work. Let no man 

 be ashamed of a hard fist or a sunburnt counte- 

 nance. Let him be ashamed only of ignorance 

 and sloth. Let no man be ashamed of poverty. 

 Let him only be ashamed of idleness and dishon- 

 esty. 



