30 



THE FARMER'S MONTHLY VISITOR, 



One reason why the cows owned by niilkinen 

 are generally larger than others, is, that they are 

 kept better. Milkmen like to buy two-years old 

 heifeis, and they believe keeping promotes their 

 growth. 



Mr. Wild of Stiirbridge, remarked that large 

 cows would produce more value than small ones, 

 if the keeping be sufficient. If you feed light, a 

 small breed is to be preferred; but you will get 

 more milk from large cows, because ihey eat 

 more. If not better in quality, it will be more in 

 quantity. In respect to training cattle, he would 

 by all means train them early. If takeu after 

 more than a year old, the difficulty of breaking 

 them would be increased. They must not be 

 whipped. If you have well-managed boys, they 

 may be trusied with the breaking of steers, but 

 not otherwise. If steers have arrived at two or 

 three years old, and farmers then put a yoke up- 

 on them, aud let them run, they can never be 

 tamed afterwards. We nuist not insist upon 

 steers being old oxen. Cattle never get over ear- 

 ly mismanagement. In respect to driving cattle, 

 he objects to mitch talking. 



Mr. Jaques remarked that the progeny of an 

 animal depends on his form or shape. Ccelebs 

 weii;lied -i'idO pounds. A heifer calf was brought 

 to tills bull weighing 300 pounds; but she expe- 

 rienced no difficulty in bringing forth a calf If 

 the bull has finely tapered limbs, the calf will be 

 good ; if his limbs are large and coarse, the char- 

 acter of the calf will correspond — have large 

 limbs, and a coarse body. We have had very 

 few of the genuine Durham short-horns in New 

 England. Many of the animals which we have 

 received, as s|>ecimens, are as fair samples as it 

 would be of our horses, to send them a five-dol- 

 lar horse. They would not deem him fit to give 

 to their hounds. 



Tlip ;. lie Durhams have broad bosoms, round 

 1 ihs, Hat backs. Our cows appear to have lost a 

 ril). He likes the Durhams and the Herefords, 

 but we must have animals suited to our soil and 

 climate. He thinks the farmers should seek ani- 

 luals of a medium size. The Durham short-horns 

 are preferred for their London dairies. (The 

 best cows in the London milk-houses are a cross 

 with the Holderness. Reporter.) The bull Boli- 

 var was a beautiful animal. But Mr. Jaf]ues had 

 produced a stock which yielded as much cream 

 as any one. On light soils, the Ayrshire stock 

 will do well. Mr. Gushing of Watertown is enti- 

 tled to the highest credit, for his introduction of 

 this stock. With his customaiy liborality, lie has 

 given away twenty-two of these uniinals. In 

 New England, wc imist have cows which will 

 produce fhe most milk, butter i.nd cheese. Mr. 

 Jaqiies related a story, which he said rested upon 

 good authority, of a Durham cow, lied near Lon- 

 don, with a little girl by her side, to sell the milk 

 as it was drawn, in pints, half-pints, &c., and 

 that in one day her sales amounted to forty-two 

 quarts. He had seen many good native cows, 

 but we could never be sure of their calves. This 

 had been demonstrated, in respect to several very 

 extraordinary animals exhibited at Brighton. The 

 only way to secure a race is to keep the blood 

 pin"e. The Durhams strongly marked their 

 calves ; the stronger the strains of blood, the 

 more certainly we secure the r haracter of the 

 stock. We n)ay, with skill in the selection, affect 

 the color at our pleasure, and by the seventh or 

 ninth generation, accomplish our object. We 

 shall never see a black hair or a black noso on a 

 jiure Durham. (It is believed there are excep- 

 tions to this remark.) A good breeder, when he 

 gets a second cross, goes back, in order to secure 

 the jjlood. The flesh of an animal fiiust have an 

 elastic touch, like that of a healthy man, and not 

 like iliat ofa swelled linih, which, when you pres, 

 it, Ihv iiiii''iit:iliiiii r'-iii;ii!is. 



^\v. ('ii;,-ii\N liu'l lint intended to enter upon 

 this ,li,Mi:»i.Hi, iHit \n- iMt it due to his official 

 laiiuii to 1 lie I'ariiiei'.s of Massachusetts, to say that 

 he had had the pleasure of seeing the improved 

 Durham stock of the Messrs. Lathrops of South 

 Hadley, and he thought them eminently beautiftil, 

 and evincing great skill and care in their manage- 

 ment, on the jiart of thiri" sontloiucn. lie had 

 seen many of the iiiijxivle.l aiiiiiiaU throimlioiit 

 the country ; and one of the herds inipoitcd for 

 the Ohio Comjiany, which he saw on their way, 

 was truly splendid, and in beauty and perfection 

 of form, far supassed any ihirig which he hadev- 



He must, however, in justice add, that he yet 

 Wanted the proof of the Durham Short Horns 

 being the best stock for our dairies. Seven of 

 the race which he had owned, some full and oth- 

 s half-blood, had been inferior as milkers. The 

 quantitv of milk given by many of the animals 

 which he had seen, was remarkable; the quality, 

 in general, interior: though he had found some 

 exceptions to this remiirk ; but these exceptions, 

 he believed, were accidental. 



The Cheshire farmers, who were as distinguish- 

 ed as any in the country or in any country for 

 the produce of their cheese dairies, preferred the 

 native stock. From a dairy of eighteen cows, an 

 iverage of fc!33 pounds new milk cheese to a cow, 

 in a year, had been obtained. He had challenged 

 in writing and conversation the owners of the 

 Short Horns in the country to prove by actual ex- 

 periment the dairy properties of this stO(d< ; and 

 he would furnish a list of a hundred cows of our 

 native stock, which had made from twelve to 

 fourteen pounds of butter per week, through the 

 season. He was far from having any prejudices 

 against the Improved Durhams." He was an en- 

 thusiastic admirer of them ; but he wanted their 

 dairy properties tested by actual experiment. A 

 very distinguished English farmer, Mr. Shirrer, 

 who had made the tour of this country, express- 

 ed his regret at their introduction, and pronounc- 

 ed them inliis book the poorest dairy stock in 

 England. We could not be sairl to have formed 

 any distinct race among ourselves, excepting the 

 trials made by iMr. Jaques, and a long-continued 

 improvement carried on in refei-cnce to milch 

 cows, in another part of the State, upon which 

 he had reported. Much undoubtedly, yet re- 

 mains to be done, but nothing in this respect can 

 be effected but by skill, extreme accuracy of ob- 

 servation, and long [ireservance. 



He thought the Durhams not well adapted to the 

 scanty pastures and negligent habits of many of 

 our farmers. AH high bred animals require jiar- 

 ticular care and the most liberal feed. Two of the 

 finest oxen ever raised in the country were of 

 this stock. One, it is believed, a full blood, from 

 Greenland, N. II. weighing over 3400 pounds 

 live weight; and one a half-blood, raised in Clare- 

 mont, NT H. and sent year before last to England, 

 for exhibition. His live weight was said to be 

 3700 pounds; and he was pronounced in Eng- 

 land, by the best judges of stock, as unrivalled 

 for weight and thrift, and eminently well-formed. 

 The best breeds would soon run out if negli- 

 gently or severely treated. This race were un- 

 doubtedh' well suited to the rich pastures and 

 abundant p'oducts of the West, of Kentucky and 

 Ohio. There they would flourish. What niight 

 he done for our own stock by more liberal keep- 

 ing, was yet to bo seen. lie had known a calf 

 from a native cow, at four months old, to weigh 

 nearly 400 jiounds ; and another, at five months 

 old, to weii:h GOO pounds. If the improved Dur- 

 ham stock should prove the best for us, and he 

 kept his mind on this subject open to conviction, 

 we could at once avail ourselves ot the distin- 

 guished improvements of half a century's skill 

 and toil and exi)ense, so liberally bestowed in 

 England. At any rate, the itnproVements wl 

 they had accomplished iu England, so obvious 

 and imi)ressive to the most careless observer, read 

 a most important lesson to us, and showed what 

 might be done by skill and care, by judicious se- 

 lection, by steady i)erseveranee in a regular sys- 

 tem, and liberal keeping; and presented, at the 

 same time, the most powerful motives to exertion 

 and enteq)rise in a branch of husbandry, ac- 

 knowledged by all to be of the first importance. 

 The evening having far advanced it was agreed 

 to postpone tiie further discussion of the subject 

 of Live Stock fi)r the farm, to the next meeting, 

 that the meeting might hear from D. K. Minor, 

 Esq. of New York, accidentally present, on the 

 subject of the newly introduced manurc,Po!(dreHe. 

 (Mr. Minor, at our request,has been kind enough 

 to take our notes, and jiiit his interesting remarks 

 in the subjoined foi-m. Reporter.) 



Mr. President ;— I am not a jiractical farmer, 

 although I have long been closely identified with 

 the iiiqirovement of agriculture, as the jjublisher 

 of an agricultural paper, and otlierwise ; nor am 

 I accustomed to public speaking — yet, as I hold 

 to the rule that tlie farmer should not take a crop 

 from the soil without returning nn equivalent to 

 the soil, I will apply the same rule to myself this 

 evening, and endeavor to contribute something 



for the information of others, in return for the 

 gratification which I have derived from the com- 

 munications made to this meeting by the gentle- 

 men who have already spoken. 



Success in cultivating the soil depends mainly 

 on manuring well. Those who manure best, and 

 till properly, are most sure to have good returns. 

 The manure recently introduced into use in 

 this country, called " Poudrette,"' has been long 

 ied iu France, Belgium and Flanders ; and for 

 period still longer in China, with higldy bene- 

 ficial results. Its preparation, and introduction 

 into use in this country, has, however, been at- 

 tended with much difficulty, arising from preju- 

 dice and other causes. In New York, the mate- 

 rial from which it is prepared has hitherto been 

 thrown into the rivers and lost ; but it is our in- 

 tention hereafter, as we may be able to extend 

 our operations, to prevent such a waste, by coti- 

 vertiug it into an article free from offensive odor, 

 nd of easy transportation, for the benefit of ag- 

 riculture. Those who have used it on Long Isl- 

 and and other parts of New York, for three years 

 past, and also in New Jersey and New England, 

 the past season, have, as far as I have heard, been 

 highly satisfied with it as a fertilizer. Its rela- 

 tive value with other manures, has been estima- 

 ted by some who have used them, comparatively, 

 as one to eighteen or twenty of street manure, and 

 as one to twelve or fourteen of stable manure, as 

 sold in New York to the farmers on Long Island, 

 many of whom purchase manure annually to the 

 amount of from two to five or six hundred dollars. 

 Some estimate its value even higher, and cor- 

 rectly so, when the labor of applying it to the 

 ground is taken into the account. 



On corn, it has been used in various quantities 

 —some have applied half a gill to the hill, at 

 planting, and others twice or three times that 

 quantity ; and each, under the circumstances, 

 have produced good cro|is. On ordinary land, or 

 when it is not in better than medium Condition, 

 a gill and-a half to the hill ought to be applied — 

 about one half in the hill at the planting, to give 

 it a vigorous start, and the other half to bo spread 

 on broadcast aiul worked in with the cultivator 

 and hoe, at the second hoeing, w hich will ensure 

 the filling out of the ears to tlie tip This quan- 

 tity may be varied according to circumstances — 

 but the mode of application should generally bo 

 as here recommended. At this rate of applica- 

 tion, 1 1-2 gills to a hill, when planted 3 feet by 4 

 apart, 21 1-2 bushels will be reipiired to the acre ; 

 which will cost, delivered on shipboard, in Nevv- 

 Yor!-, one dollar and seventy-five cents per bar- 

 rel, eontaiiiiiig four hushels heaped measurt — or 

 $9 G3. If applied at the rate of one gill to the 

 hill, the cost on shipboard, iu New York, will be 

 $G 42— and a half gill only to the hill will cost 

 $3 21. 



On wheat, it has been used in various quanti- 

 ties, experimentally and comparatively, with oth- 

 er manures. Twenlij, thirtu, fort;/, and even scv- 

 enti/ bushels have been applied to an acre. 



One gentleman on Long Island " used it on 

 wheat, one jiiece at the rate of forty bushels to 

 the acre, and another at the rate of seventy bush- 

 els to the acre — and the wheat, where he used 

 forty bushels, was as good as that where he used 

 forty farm wagon loads of yard and stable manure, 

 on another acre ; and equally as good as lehere he 

 applied seventy bushels to the acre." 



Another gentleman on Long Island used it on 

 wheat at the rate oi' thirty bushels to the acre, and 

 on another acre adjoining in the same field he put 

 an equal cost of crushed bone, bv way of experi- 

 ment, in the fall of 1839. On .the 9th of August 

 last, he writes thus:- -" My wheat came in well 

 where I used poudrette last fall ; it stood the win- 

 ter well, and the berry is vei-y fine ; but where I 

 used hone about the same cost per acre in the field, 

 it was winter-killed and very much shrunk; and 1 

 should judge that there would not be over half the 

 number of bushels per acre." 



Reports of its oi)eration have been made, in 

 writing and verbally, by many who have used it, 

 and in all cases favorably. Those who have used 

 it for the loosest period, and in the largest quan- 

 tity, sjieak of it most favorably. 



I might enter into detail in relation to its appli- 

 cation to, and effects on, other crops, such as oats, 

 potatoes, turnips, and indeed all kinds of vegeta- 

 bles, but will not, unless desired to do so ; yet if 

 any gentleman present desires to ask questions in 



