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NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



AGRICULTURAL QUESTIONS. 



No. 4 — Subject, Breeds of Cattle. 



I. Of what breed are the cattle now found in 

 Massachusetts and called native cattle 1 



II. How do these native cattle correspond in char- 

 acter and condition with the cognate breed in Eng- 

 land descended from the same common ancestors? 



III. How far is the present difference between the 

 two breeds attributable to difference in climate, pas- 

 turage, and other local facts, and how far to cross- 

 ing or breeding in and in, or management? 



IV. Is breeding in this country conducted as in- 

 telligently and thoroughly as in England, and if 

 not, with what difference? 



V. IIow far is it desirable to attempt in any 

 country the naturalization of a breed of cattle larger 

 than the herbage and culture of that country can 

 keep up? 



VI. May not difference in quality of pasturage, 

 and especially the open winters and abundance of 

 root-food in England as compared with this country, 

 be the reason why imported Durham and other cat- 

 tle of that class are not in general favor in Massa- 

 chusetts? 



VII. What is the true relation between the quan- 

 tity of given descriptions of feed, and the breed, 

 weight and size of the several varieties of cattle? 



VIII. What is the effect on the breed of cattle of 

 working cows in the plough, as is done sometimes 

 in France and Spain? 



IX. Have any experiments been made for the natu- 

 ralization in the United States of the buffalo proper, 

 either the large one which is found domesticated in 

 Egypt, or the smaller one common in India and 

 China' 



X. Have experiments been made for the domes- 

 tication of the bison or wild cattle of America? 

 And if so, with what results? 



XL Have experiments been made for the natural- 

 ization in New England of any of the fine Span- 

 ish breeds of neat cattle ? 



XII. Are the qualities of breed which belong to 

 the best working cattle, the same as those which 

 characterize the best milch kine ? 



XIII. What is the effect on cattle of geological 

 varieties of soil ? 



XIV. What is the result (if satisfactorily ascei- 

 tained) of breeding in and in, or the reverse ? 



XV. From the improved breeds of imported cat- 

 tle, which for a generation or two appear to de- 

 teriorate, might there not, by careful management 

 after the acclimating process shall have taken place, 

 be raised other breeds which should unite some of the 

 excellences both of the European stock and of the na- 

 tive stock; justasditTerent races of men in a genera- 

 tion become Americanized, while they still bear 

 marks of their national origin. 



5^" The estimated value of the public parks and 

 squares in New York city is $8,986,000. 



AGRICULTURAL QUESTIONS. 



No. 5. — Subject, Maize, or Indian Corn. 



I. Of what continent and of what region in that 

 continent is maize a native ? 



II. What is the office of the tassel on the upper 

 part of the stalk, and what is the office of tlie silk, 

 and how can you produce different varieties of corn 

 on the same cob 1 



III. Into what two classes is maize divisible,hav- 

 ing reference to the proximate principles, gluten 

 and farina? 



IV. Of these two classes, which furnishes maize 

 that is most easily cooked ? or that is most easily 

 fermented? or that is best adapted to transporta- 

 tion? 



V. Of these two classes which is the heaviest, 

 bushel by bushel ? Which succeeds best in the 

 North and which in the South? 



VI. Which is best suited to make puddings ? 

 which to make bread? which has the most oil? 

 which can be used as pop corn ? what is the cause 

 of popping ? 



VII. What is there peculiar in the ultimate ele- 

 ments of the chit as compared with the other parts 

 of the kernel? 



V^III. What are the nutritive or fattening quali- 

 ties of maize compared with wheat? compared with 

 rye ? compared with buckwheat or oats ? whether 

 by man or by animals? 



IX. What are the best means for protecting 

 seed against worms or birds, whether by steeping 

 or otherwise ? 



X. What is the best mode of cultivating maize, 

 whether by ploughing and hilling or otherwise? 



XL What is the best soil and the best kind of 

 manure for maize, and how should it be applied ? 



XII. How can you obtain the most fodder from 

 maize, whether by topping or otherwise, without 

 lessening the quantity or injuring the quality of 

 the seed corn? 



XIII. Is maize becoming more extensively used 

 as an article of food, and is there an increasing care 

 in selecting, grinding and cooking it, that it may be 

 at once palatable and nutiicious? 



XIV. Does maize promise to be an important ex- 

 port in commerce, and how is it best prepared for 

 exportation ? 



i^ A gentleman in England intends to cover a 

 large barn, 110 feet long and 28 feet wide, on his 

 farm at Heavitree, with a glass roof, after the mo- 

 del of the palace of glass. The expense will not 

 be above two-thirds of the cost of slate, and he an- 

 ticipates several advantages from the novel roof; 

 among others, it may be applied to the drying corn 

 during a catching harvest. The corn can be placed 

 in the barn immediately upon being reaped, by 

 which means it will have the benefit of the sun 

 when it shines, be protected from the showers, and 

 also dried by artificial heat, if required. He will 

 next sow the land with turnip or rape, and .so get 

 three crops in one year. 



