THE FARMER'S MONTHLY VISITOR. 



Col. Jaivis says he lias killiMl and sold liis sheep 

 in cousequeiu'e of tlie low juices of wool, and 

 should the ])iices advance so as to afford a profit 

 he should soon go into it a<;ain. Tliis may be 

 pood policy for him, but it would not do for mc. 

 Were 1 to dispose of my flock now, I must do it 

 at depressed prices, and when wool should be- 

 ronie a good article I must imrchase sheep at n 

 higli rate ; and the uncertainty and fluctuations 

 of trade, or the contractions of the currency, 

 might again depress wool ere my flock became 

 productive. 



A farmer cannot hastily change his operations 

 to advantage. And should every wool grower 

 adopt the couise suggested by Col. Jarvis, and 

 rid liimself of his sheep, the natural consequence 

 woidd be a rise upon wool ; and it might not be a 

 very easy affair to get possession of another flock 

 after they had once all been slaughtered or sent 

 out of the conntpy. 



What little experience I have had in farming 

 teaches me that there is no better way than to 

 jMU-sue it sti-adily and systematically, and not un- 

 dertake to chiinirc u iih cvcrv change of prices. 



The Colonel ilisclaiuis !ill "desire for a discrim- 

 inating protectinii of Aiunican industry. I re- 

 gret to hear such an assertion from a source so 

 intelligent. I believe that there are but few in 

 New England well informed practical men hold- 

 ing the same opinion. Where is the country, or 

 where was there ever a people whose agriculture 

 approximated to any degree of (lerfeetion, or even 

 became respectable, flourishing and prosperous, 

 that did not receive the fostering care of its gov- 

 ernment? J. W. COLBURN, 



Morris Flats, 23d Dec. 1841. 



the improvement of breeds, we think all such 

 dairy farmers as can afford to go to the price will 

 do well to purchase of the stock which is now 

 offered. The editor of the Visitor has seen that 

 stock, and he thinks it to be an improvement 

 beyond all others that he has ever witnessed. 



The South Down Sheep, to those who would 

 raise wool for conunuu fiimily use, are probably 

 better adapted for all usefid purposes to the 

 farmers of New England who keep small flocks 

 than any other sheep ever introduced. 



Short Horns and Native Cattle. 



To THE Editor of the Visitor. 



Much has been said for a year or tvvo past in 

 our Agricultural papers, recommending " Short 

 Horns" as being a very superior breed of cattle. 

 Hut it appears to me that in extolling the " Dur- 

 hams" so high, the good qualities of our native 

 .stock have been overlooked. I believe that not- 

 withstanding the good qualities which the Dur- 

 , ham cattle possess, there can be as good native 

 cattle produced in old Connecticut as ever '-John 

 Bull" raised. It is a fact, that when any of our 

 fiumers purchase one of these Durham cows, that 

 cow has a decided advantage over his other stock 

 of cows in good keeping, and the result is, that 

 the Durham is a great milker! I do not wish to 

 lower the estimate put upon the introducers of 

 im|)roved cattle ; hut it seems to me that they do 

 not give our native cattle a liiir chance with the 

 others. The native stock have in many instan- 

 ces run out by neglecling to select the very best 

 for breeders ; and tliis by the way has been a 

 great fault by many of our farmers. 



In this part of the State there has a general 

 prejudice ari.sen against the Diuhams, probably 

 owing in a measure to their ignorance of the 

 stock, and partly, to the color. I will now pro- 

 pose the following questions : 



And first, how will the Durhanis compare with 

 our native stock to do the ordinary work on the 

 farm .' 



Second, how will they compare with our stock 

 for the market, when fat.' 



Third, are they the best stock which a New 

 England farmer can invest in, living on a hardy 



These queries, Mr. Editor, I wish you, or some 

 of your correspondents woidd answer through 

 the columns of the Visitor. 



Yours truly, L. DURAND. 



Derby, Ct. Dec. 24, 1841. 



Sale of Cattle. 



Mr. .Taques of Cliarlestown, Mass., will sell 

 at public'Sale on Tuesday the llth day of Janu- 

 ary, 1842, at ten o'clock, A. M., the Cream Pot 

 breed of Neat Cattle, bred by him, and belonging 

 to the Ten Hill stock Airm. At the same Time 

 he will sell about twenty of his flock of pure 

 South Down Rams and Ewes, the original stock 

 of which was selected in England with great 

 care. 



Mr. Jaques' has published catalogues of the 

 pedigree of the cattle which he offers for sale : 

 they are a mixture of the Durham with the na- 

 tive breed, and probably the greatest improve- 

 ment in the quality of milkers ever made in New 

 England. If there be any object in attempting 



Fur the Farmer's Visitor. 

 Cure your Chilblains. 



Mr. Editor, — For more than fifteen years past 

 I have been much afllicted with what are called 

 chilblains. Some ten years ago, I was obliged to 

 walk with two canes, with holes cut on each side 

 of the balls of my shoes. Three years ago, after 

 trying all the " certain remedies" that I could 

 hear of, I purchased me a pair of Rubbers, and 

 put them to wear in the house, as well as out of 

 it. The consequence was, my swelled joints fell 

 away, and my feet were soft and easy all winter. 

 Ever since that time, as soon as my feet begin to 

 itch and burn, I put on my Rubbers. I was ra- 

 ther late this season, and consequently my great 

 toe joints swelled to three times their usual size. 

 I put on the Rubbers and still keep them on. My 

 feet are now as well and as easy as any other 

 person's. Rubbers will injure the leather, conse- 

 quently I keep an old pair of boots to put into 

 them, having knocked the heels oft'. I have an 

 old pair of Rubbers, into which 1 put a pair of 

 old shoes, pumps, to wear in the bouse. Let 

 your readers, who are troubled with chillilaiiis, 

 try the remedy, and they will most certainly find 

 speedy relief. Thev must nut leave them off one 

 d(W- P. 



East C . 



Diseased Horses. 



In some sections of this neighborhood there 

 a singular disease among horses, wliich prov 

 fatal in many cases. It is something new hci 

 and MO remedy for it is generally knoun. 1"1 

 symptoms are a stillness of joints, swelled limbs, 

 body aild head, with a good deal of lever and 

 weeping of the eyes, and sometimes blindness, 

 and running at the nose. The disease is conta 

 gioiis, and affects whole teams, and sometimes 

 whole neighborhoods. A writer in the Boston 

 Daily Advertiser declares it the same as one that 

 prevailed at the south last year, and gives h 

 mode of treatment, to which he .says, it readily 

 yields if attended to in time. We give it for the 

 benefit of all concerned. 



" Bleed the horse freely, in the neck, mouth or 

 nose : — 1 prefer the latter ; and give immediately 

 a cathartic ball, composed of sulphcr, copperas 

 and nitre, in the proportions of three of sulphur 

 to two of copperas and one of nilre ; the ball 

 large as a pullet's egir. Then give freely a»strong 

 solution of glanher salts — as much as the horse 

 will drink for two or three days, and the cure 

 will be complete. The forage given, after the 

 symptoms appear, should be, ol' course, of the 

 lightest and most cooling kind ; su<-h, for instance, 

 as corn fodder and chopped straw, with a few 

 oats, &c." 



a taste which should stand me in stead unde"^ 

 every variety of circumstances, and be a source 

 of happiness and cheerfulness to me through 

 life, and u shield against its ills, however things 

 might go amiss, and the world frown upon me. 

 It would be, a taste for reading.— .Sir /. Herschel. 



English Manufactures Diminishing.— Eng- 

 land's decline has begun,and it musT go on. She 

 can no longer be regarded as the work-shop of 

 other nations. They are manufacturing for them- 

 selves. Some opinion of their export trade can 

 be foimd in this extract from an English paper:— 



" In a letter to the members for Leeds, Alder- 

 man Bateson shows but too successfully that our 

 export trade in woolens is rapidly declining, and 

 that the superiority has passed fiom us to the 

 continent. In the year 1824 we exported to all 

 foreign countries, including British possessions, 

 of cloths, coatings, dufiils, and kerseymeres, of 

 all sorts, 567,317 pieces; in 1828, 506,596: in 

 1830, 444,360 ; i:i 1840, 258,962. While this 

 downward process has been going on in England, 

 the Continent has been progiessively increasing. 

 The total manufactured in the year 1840, in on- 

 ly one district, in Belgium and Prussia, all within 

 a day's journey of each other, was .■j.):i,'>4.) pieces. 

 Thus it appears that, in one district only, there 

 was made more woolens than Britain exported 

 to all the world, by 76,23;3 pieces. This, be it re- 

 marked, is not an ordinary manufacture, but the 

 old staple manufiicture of England. We need 

 not wonder at the amount of distress in Leeds 

 and the other towns. Alderman Bateson says 

 the landholders are the cause of this national ca- 

 lamity. The foreigners were driven to manufac- 

 ture in self defence." 



Reading. — Of all the amusements which can 

 possibly be imagined for a hard-working man, 

 after his daily toil, or in its intervals, there is 

 nothing like reading an interesting book, suppos- 

 ing him to have a taste for it, and supposing him 

 to have the book to read. It calls for no bodily 

 exertion, of which he has already had enough, 

 or, perhap.s, too much. It relieves his home of 

 dullness and sameness. It transports him in- 

 to a livelier, and gayer, and more diversified and 

 interesting scene ; and while he enjoys himself 

 there, he may forgel the evils of the present mo- 

 ment, fully as much as if he were ever so drunk, 

 with the great advantage of finding him.self the 

 next day with the money in his pocket, or, at 

 least, laid out in real necessaries and comforts 

 for him.self and his family — and without a head- 

 ache. Nay, it accompanies him to his next day's 

 work ; and, if the book he has been reading be 

 anything above the very idlest and lightest, gives 

 him something to think ofj besides the mere" me- 

 chanical drudgery of his every-day occupation- 

 something he can enjoy while absent, and look 

 forward with iileasure to. If I were to pray for 



Mr. Washington Dow and brother in this town 

 raised the last season 280 bushels of shelled In- 

 dian corn on five acres of ground. One acre, 

 which was planted with potatoes last year, pro- 

 duced full seventy bushels. Mr. Dow plants his 

 corn generally on sward land, and puts upon it 

 about twenty-five eartfulls of manure to the 

 acre, about double the usual amount used upon 

 the land of this town. 



It is worthy of remark that in almost all cases 

 where land could be prepared with high manur- 

 ing and deep ploughing, the very severe drought 

 of the hist season had not the effect to reduce 

 much the crop of corn. 



Making Fruit Trees.— When you wish to 

 procure yoimg trees of a particular "kind of fruit 

 for transplanting, dig aiouiid the old tree until 

 you come to a healthy, growing root, wliich cut 

 off, and turn the end of the detached portion out 

 of the ground. It will produce shoots the first 

 season, and in a few years bear fitiit of the same 

 kind as the parent tree. 



