NEW ENGL AND FARMER. 



by Jiiu.N li. Rlsskll at iNo. 



ilailica oirci^-l. 



'J fr«i 



VOf.. V 



^.i^jl^K-uUu^VVWeMmiseO^^ 



BOSTOIS, FRIDAY, JUNE 29, 1827. 



No. 49. 



OiUGllNAl. PAPERS 



FOR THE MEW EHGLAIt^D FARMER. 



subject, fioiii people acquaintod with it. I think 

 -- — ■— -- ! tile subject must appear to any one who will con- 

 sider of it ;us oi' some corit:eqiieiico. 



No farmer of judgement, wishes to bioed from 



nchauce ■xood animal, or one accidentally good in 



and the supposition that this breed 



BRKEDS OF CATTLE. 



\Ik Fesse.nde.v — As the advocates of " Lon" i a bad breed 



irns" and " Short Horns," have lately carrieii i ii the result of mf/r accirfe)!/, mny perhaps deter 

 eir controversy so far in the columns of your ; nauy farmers from giving it a trial. On the o'h- 

 pcr, it is possible the subject of this cummunir je- hand, if it can bo proved that the cattle known 



Ition may be to some of your readers, rather iin- 

 kercsting ; but for myself I cannot resrard the 



ir the county of Worcester by the name of York- 

 flire are in fact, the •' Improved Short Horns,' 



jbject, but as one of considerable importance | it will undoubtedly raise them in the estimation of 



here is in the vicinity of the towns of Princeton ' maiy who know the value of "Impioved Short 



Horns." For myself, I think their form, their dis- 

 poiition, and almost every thing about thoiii, for 



Ld Westminster, in the county of Worcester, 

 fmarkable rare of cattle, known there by the ap 



ON THE CULTIVAI^N OP THE PEACH 

 By WrijLiAM Phillips, of Pennsylvania. 

 Riversdaie, J\ovcml/fr '£id, J 809. 

 SiR,--F*m a desire to promote the cultivation 

 of fine frmi and a belief that every publication ol 

 e.\-perimen^ that are att.mdcd with success, may 

 at least ha^ the ' appy effect of stimulating oth- 

 ers m the F»ursiiits of so desirable an object and 

 eventually perfect it, I am induced to relate to 

 you my mode of cultivating peach trees, as well 

 as that pursued by others as far ns they have 

 come under my observation, together with the ef- 

 fects. 



l>llalion of the ^ orksl.ire breed. These cattle bils the conclusion, tliat they are an '• accidental 



J-c much admired by fiirmers acquainted wit.'i v^ri^ty of our own native breed, of Devonshire 



'""■lem for their qualities for the dairy, for their extraction," and I am unwilling to concede so 



irength and hardihood, but above all for their mich to the advocates of native cattle. 



xcc-Uent symmetry, and their unrivalled disposi 

 Ion to fatten at an early age, and upon the raos' 

 luable joints. It seems that the right which (his 

 Ireed has to the title of Yorkshire, is questioneJ 

 |y very high authority. The Hon. John Lowell, 

 report to the .Massachusetts Agricultpral j 

 [ociety, (see N. E. Farmer, vol. iii. page 108, )j 

 lays, " there is, I believe, no colour for this ap- 1 

 Jellation, we should prefer to call it the Westijiin I 

 Iter breed, being satisfied tijat it is purely native." 



T am, sir, 



very respectfully, 



yours, &c. 

 S. HOWARD. 

 Zasion, June 19, 1827. 



Remarks by the Editor. — We agree in opinion 

 Vvfiti Mr Howard, that the subject of his comrau- 

 nicmon is of much importance ; and hope it will 

 elicit the attention of well informed agriculturists 



In the same gentlen;an's report to the Socieij iu : wh) have in possession, or the means of ascer- 



8'2G, (see N. E. Farmer, vol v. page lOti,) he sVy 

 we award the first premium of f 30 to Mr Bojik- 

 on, of Princeton, son ol Ward N. Boylston, filq. 

 or I1I5 =:mall bull 14 months old. of the Westinin 

 tcr breed, couit.iL.i.iy, and v,e feai, erroiiouusly 

 ailed, the Yorkshire breed. They are, probably 

 m accidental variety of our own native breed, of 

 Devonshire e.vtraction." Being at the Brjuhton 

 cattle show^ last year.and then knowing Mr. Low- 

 11'.' opinion, I enquired of Col. Watson, of Prince- 

 ton, respecting their origin. This gentleman is 

 well acquainted with tiie breed, ant' ow ned the ani 

 mal which obtained the first premium for milch 

 cows,and which was of this breed, and called by Mr 

 Welles, " of our native stock." He inforniec) me 

 that the root of this breed was a bull, importei.' 

 from the district of Yorkshire, England, (the 



taining, facts relative to the breed in question. 

 Periaps the following passage, quoted from Mr 

 Lawrence's Treatise on Neat Cattle, may furnish 

 a clue of '■"«"'= consequence in tracing the gene 

 !yj^^y ol tlic raco of animals under considorcclon. 

 " The extreme coarseness and size of the north- 

 ern short horns led to the introduction of Norman 

 or Alderney bulls, at some period of the eight- 

 eenth century, with the precise date of which Ae 

 ^e unacquainted. The improvement commenced 

 ii Holdorncss, Yorkshire. Never was tiiero a 

 ^ore fortunate cross. In no other country does 

 fexi'.t so e.vcellei.t a breed of cattle, as those of 

 Holdcrness, including all the useful properties. — 

 D one, perhaps the most important respect, great 

 Inilking, they are superior, and even without 

 avals. Their beef is finer than that of the old 



known territory of "Improved Short Horns") to |ahort-horned breed, and they fatten much earlier 

 some town, (I do not now recollect the name of fanri quicker, carrying still a vast depth of natural 

 it.) in Maine — that a man hy the name of S;iwjer flesh, and tallowing within in the first degree. 



the town of VA'cstminster, being on a visit to 

 that state, bought the animal at a great price, ind 

 drove him horn!-. Hence he derived the names of 

 the " Sauyer bull, and from the residfince of liis 

 ovner, liis progeny receive the name .of the 

 ' Westminster breed." 



Mr Boylston. (the sentleman who received the 

 first premium for bulls) was present, at the con- 

 versation, and his opinion concerning the origii of 

 these cattle, coinciscd with ('ol. Watson's, l^ey 

 both appeared somewhat surprised that any jer- 

 Eon should imagine thi't the breed was in mlity 

 nniiv. or an accidental v.iriety of the Devonslire,' 

 Still, however, these men ma>i be inistaken.and 

 Mr Lowell may be i orrect in his opinion of tieir 

 origin. And these observations are respectuUy 

 submitted to the public, in the hope that theymay 

 be the means of eliciting more information 01 the 



They have both speed and strength enough for 

 labour, and their shoulders are well formed and 

 well posited for strength." 



It should seem that they have in England two 

 kinds of short horned cat le ; the one the old 

 northern short-horns, of whose " extreme coarse- 

 ness and size" Mr Lawrence informs us, and the 

 improved short horns which the same writer states 

 were the product of a fortunate cross of the old 

 short-horned breed with Norman or Alderney 

 bulls, ^-c. If the '' Westminster breed" can be 

 traced to a Yorkshire stock, it may be of some 

 consequence to ascertain whether the stock was 

 of the old or the improved race of short horns. It 

 may be however that the old r.ice of coarse north- 

 ern short-horns have been Improved in this coun- 

 try by crossing with our native cattle of Devon- 

 shire extraction. 



^oven years past when I took possession of 

 Riversdaie farm, I planted 30 peach trees in a 

 grass lot which had not been ploughed for at least 



twenty years, and was very tough and bound 



The first and second year they did not grow the 

 least, and ?ppex led as if they would soon die; 

 my gardener wished to cut them down, as he 

 thought them not woith removing, but I preferred 

 trying an experiment with them ; which was to ' 

 thiow about half a peck of well slacked lime 

 (which had been exposed to the weather several 

 months) rqund each : the following spring I was 

 agreeably! surprised with theii very thrifty ap- 

 pearance / they bore as many fine peaches as they 

 could support, and though the ground had not 

 been dug, it was perfectly loose four feet in cir- 

 cumference round them : they grew very much 

 that year, and have continued to produce mi- a 

 grf<at nop every year since, which increases with 

 their si^e, and they are now large trees. Since 

 the fir^^ar, r have fiad the ground annually dug 

 about four feet in circumference round them, and 



I do not find the worms have attacked them yet 



From accident two trees were neglected for two 

 years after I limed the first ; they scarcely bore s 

 leaf; the ground was so hard as to be impenetra- 

 ble to tne roots. I have had lime thrown round 

 them since, and they have recovered and borne 

 some fine peaches, and will, I believe, grow to a 

 good si e. The success of this experiment having 

 convinced me that I could success'uUy raise peach 

 trees on grass ground, I have been induced to 

 plant ou upw.-rrds of eijht hundred in a field that 

 will be alternately in grain and grass, some of 

 w hich bore very fine fruit last summer. Although 

 the ground has been in clover since the trees 

 were planted, they have a very healthy appear- 

 ance, and bid fair to be very durable, but that 

 time only can ascertain ; for my own part, I am 

 perfectly satisfied if they bring me only four good 

 crops, for the trees are then worth nearly as much 

 for fire wood as I pay for the young ones. I 

 would recommend diLrcing round the trees once a 

 year ; it mixes the lime with the earth, much to 

 the improvement of the soil ; fresh shicked lime 

 will not answer as I have known a youn? orchard 

 entirely destroyed by it. which h,ts caused an 

 opinion to prevail that lime in any way is preju- 

 dicial, and I was cautioned by old farmers from 

 using it ; but in the way I used it, after it had 

 been deprived of its excessive heat by a long ex- 

 posure to the weather, I am very certain of its 

 producing the most beneficial effects on all kinds 



