168 



GENESEE FARMER. 



JlTLY. 



from white flint, and fifty-four from the yellow 

 gourd seed. The result was beyond any thing 



Short-Horn Cattle. 



before raised in northern Ohio, and so much ii 

 favor of the China corn, that 1 have every yea 

 since planted it. Now what I wish particularly 

 to call your attention to is this, that when I com 

 menced with thai corn it was a flint corn ; from 

 seven years' use, it has become so closely allied 

 to gourd seed that the kernal is very much den- 

 ted, and the ears from twelve to twenty rows. 

 The same remarks hold good in relation to the 

 white flint. From sixteen years' acquaintance 

 and cultivation I am prepared to say, that it seetns 

 to bear no similarity to its species sixteen years 

 ago; it was then an eight rowed flint corn; it is 

 now some sixteen to twenty rows gourd seed, 

 which demonstrates to my mind the fact that this 

 climate changes the specie.^ of corn from one 

 kind to that of another." 



Fatting Pigs on Parsnips. 



A correspondent has written to us, to inquire " whether 

 we knew, by our own experience, the quality of the 

 parsnip for feeding and fattening pigs?" In answer, 

 we beg to state, that, at our farm at Oallands, Ringmer, 

 we have been in the habit of employing parsnips for 

 that purpose for some time. Upon reference to our books 

 we find, that on the 11th of October, 1847, we put up two 

 shoats of eleven weeks old and fed them on skim-milk and 

 parsnips, for three months, when they were killed, weigh- 

 ing 231 and 238 lbs. They were well fattened, firm in 

 flesh, and the meat of excellent flavor. The quantity of 

 parsnips consumed by them was nine bushels each. — Sus- 

 sex, (English) Express. 



Remarks. — We have often wondered that no 

 more account is made of this very valuable root. 

 All the world is alive to the value of the carrot ; 

 while this rich esculent, is entirely overlooked. 

 That the parsnip contains more saccharine mat- 

 ter than the carrot, or even any of the beets, we 

 are satisfied. A very excellent wine is made of 

 it, which we venture to assert cannot be made 

 from any other of the whole root crop. Its esti- 

 mation as an edible for the table also tells in its 

 favor. And a herd of hogs turned into a field 

 containing bagas, beets, carrots, and parsnips, 

 would not be long in settling the question which 

 they like best; and as they cannot read the Gen- 

 esee Farmer, and are not influenced by any of 

 our blundering theories, and trust alone to expe- 

 rience, and that unerring guide that nature 

 has provided them in place of reason, we are 

 disposed to give them the credit of being very 

 capable judges — very. — . 



Destruction of Mice.— A curious fact is 

 mentioned of the extraordinary number of 28,07 1 

 mice having been taken or caught from Septem- 

 ber to January, in the Dean Forest, Gloucester- 

 shire, over an area of only 1,603 acres. The 

 successful method adopted there was boring holes 

 in the ground twenty inches deep, wider at the 

 bottom than the top, which prevented them get- 

 ting out when once in, and into which holes was 

 dropped some food. 



It may be recollected that E. P. PRENTiCEy 

 of Albany, reserved from his public sale of 

 Short-Horns, held three years ago, four of his 

 best cows. These cows and the offspring, in all 

 twelve, comprising the entire stock of Mr. 

 Prentice, has lately been purchased by Mr. 

 Geo. Vail, of Troy. Mr. Vail's herd, with 

 this addition, numbers about forty-five head, old' 

 and young, consisting of cows, heifers, bulls, 

 and a few spring calves, and embodies through 

 his own importations, the strains of blood of the 

 celebrated herd of Thomas Bates, of England ;■ 

 and, through those recently purchased from Mr. 

 Prentice, that of Mr. Whitaker's, also of 

 England. 



This herd, as at present constituted, cannot 

 fall to elicit the admiration of those who exam- 

 ine them, for symmetry of form, and superior 

 handling and dairy qualities. As a proof of the 

 latter quality, we refer to the " Transactions of 

 the N. Y. State Agricultural Society," for 1844, 

 page 21.'5, where it will be seen that the Society's 

 first premium was awarded to Mr. Vail for the 

 largest quantity of butter made from six cows in 

 thirty days. It there appears that six of his cows, 

 fed on grass pasture only^ produced 262 lbs. of 

 butter in »hirty days; and that the average yield 

 of milk per day was 22^ quarts for each cow. 



We are authorized to state that Mr. Vail, will 

 sell at private sale a portion of his present stock. 

 An opportunity is thus afforded to those who 

 wish to improve their breeds by communicating 

 to them the best strain of blood of the most cele- 

 brated breeds of Short-Horns in England ; and 

 affording an opportunity to those who may pur- 

 chase, of exhibiting choice stock at the State and 

 County Fairs, to be held the ensuing fall. By 

 reference to the premiums awarded by the N. 

 Y. State Agricultural Society, for several late 

 consecutive years, the estimate in ' which this 

 stock is held, may be seen. *#* 



Cucumbers. — The growing of cucumbers, on 

 an artificial soil, is a doubtful experiment ; but 

 on a rich, virgin, sandy loam, success is certain. 

 Nature makes a grateful pabulum for delicate 

 feeding plants, which man cannot yet imitate. 

 Coarse feeders, like Indian corn, thrive best on 

 highly manured soils; while more delicate 

 plants are surfeited by them. Let him who 

 would grow cucutnbers in perfection, haul int© 

 his garden a load or two of rich, virgin sandy 

 loam, and plant the seed thereon. Many peo- 

 ple cover tlie young plants with boxes covered 

 with millinet. It is better to stimulate the 

 growth of the plant by the free access of sun 

 and air, as then the plant will soon outgrow its 

 enemies. Five minutes spent in killing the 

 bugs, for two or three days in succession, will 

 secure the safety of the plants. S. \\\ 



