1853. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



557 



. t, p • 1^ a(-„<.„ Ituow ■nrniilfl make a larsre weight of coarse beef, 

 carefully review the Agriculture of a single Sta Th ey wou d ma.e a L j ^ .^^^^^^^ ^^ 



or even an iiverage County, in any part of the 

 Union, and estimate how much its product might 

 be enhanced by Irrigation, Manuring, Deep Plow- 

 ing, Draining, &c., will perceive that our calcula- 

 tion is for within the truth. . 



But suppose that only half of it, or an addition 

 of Two Hundred and Fifty IMilliona per annum to 

 our annual Agricultural produc^ is attainable, 

 what an immense addition to our national wealth 

 would thereby be insured ! Four-fifths of this 

 would probably be permanently added to the 

 wealth of the country— that i3,tlie farmer whose 



annual product should be swelled from $1,000 to things. 



But the cost of producing a hundred pounds of 

 beef from them, would be better than that ot pro- 

 ducing a hundred pounds of beef, of abetter qual- 

 tiy, fr"m smaller cattle. What the former wants 

 is the kind of cattle by which he can produce the 

 best beef, at the cheapest rate : and the best but- 

 ter, at the least cost per pound. 



A hearty, well-formed, quiet kind of cattle, hogs 

 or poultry, which will give the beet return for the 

 amount of cost in keeping, is the kind we want, 

 whether they grow large or not; I stake this as the 

 true principle for farmers to decide by m all these 



$1,250, or from $2,000 to $2,500, would not eat 

 or drink up the surplus, but would invest the 

 greater part of it in new buildings, fences, barns, 

 implements, furniture &c., &e., giving profitable 

 employment to mechanics and laborers and large- 

 ly increasing the business of merchants and the in- 

 comes of professional men. Such an addition to 

 the annual product of our Agriculture would in- 

 crease the consumption of Manufactures, domestic 

 and imported, in far greater ratio, since from the 

 annual product of every farm the food of those 

 making a living on it must first be taken for 

 home use, affording no business or profit to any 

 one else, leaving only the surplus to form the sta- 

 ple of trade ; and an addition of twenty-five per 



cer>t. to the annual product of each farm would tion to cattle 



The wild rage for large fowls illustrates the false 

 principle under consideration. Yet a hundred 

 pounds of the large chickens would cost more than 

 a hundred pounds of the common kind of towla. 

 The flesh of the large ones also is inferior m qual- 



^ ^The same will hold good, entirely, of_ hogs ;• 

 and also, generally, of cattle. The disposition of 

 every animal, and every breed of animals, has 

 much influence, in ordinary circumstances upon 

 laying on fot or flesh. Every person of observa- 

 tion knows that it is much more difficulty to pro- 

 duce a fat hog from a very uneasy one, than it is 

 from a more auiet one. There is a reason for this, 

 and that reason is not entirely without an apphca- 



probably double the annual exchanges and gener- 

 al trade of the country.— .V. Y. Tribune. 



For the Aew England Farmer 

 THE GOOD flMB COMING. 

 Those who are anxious to see an improved agri- 

 culture, are often told that the time is near when 

 the farmers of the land will be intelligent in their 

 calling. We are referred to the agricultural shows 

 in almost every county, as an indication and proof 

 that this good time is near. , , . -c 



It is not my wish to discourage the hoping, it 



Perhaps the time will come when anima\ phys- 

 iology will be better understood, and the mdica- 

 Itions of such a day we should rejoice to see. 1 

 am not now willing to join the " wild-goose-chase 

 after big things— big oxen, big cows, big hens, <toc., 

 &c I look upon it as the last thing for the farmer, 

 unless he can make abetter profit hy producing 

 such large specimens. If a cow which will make 

 20 pounds of butter per week will cost more than 

 double the sum to keep her which another one 

 will that will make 10 pounds, where is the boasted 

 advantage of the great butter-maker J Now we 

 are among the number of those who believe that 

 in all these things the production of extraordinary 



their hope has anything for a basis. It is my 1^^^^^^^ ^.^ -^.^g g^^^j^or^jin^ry expense. Farmers 

 opinion, however, that various circumstances ot, ^^,. ^j^^ ^^^^ of stoelj^hich, with common treat- 

 the present time give indications decidedly un- 1^^^^ or with the best treatment they can have 

 favorable. Among these, two items only shall [.^^^j^^ extraordinary expense, will make the best 



= '•"- "'^"' These are, first, 1 he false ^^^ ^^ expended. For this purpose 



ittle, fruit, vegetables, &c., ^ant well-formed, hardy, quiet cattle. They 



want such as at all ages.show handsome and good 

 proportions, will grow and thrive upon ordinary 

 food, and are gentle and quiet in their dispositions. 

 An uneasy cow, ox, horse, hog or hen, will not 

 only subject the farmer to more expense to keep 

 it where it should be, but it will require more food 

 for growing or fottening; and it is a question 



with the amount of beef she would make it tat- -ScUo^^o^'at;^^^^^^^^^^ 



tened. But I apprehend that this is not f^ ^^o^' P^f^^^^^t e?me into the^ account before we 



rect rule of judging. One cow may make sixteen All th^;^"«*. ^^^^^f ^he matter. 



pounds of butter per week, while another would jean correcuyjuu greatest 



make only eight pounds. The decision would at. In the P^^o*i'i'^H*'°x ! i l^f^H,.! to Url 



Sice be ghen to the sixteen pound cow. But if crop may be the ast one to be enUtled o a p^e 



the sktfen pounds of butter really cost more mium, for it may be the most unprofitable o^ aU^ 



per TounJ ?han that produced b/ the other We want npth ng to do in a fran^.c effi^^^ 



?ow, the question is decided in her fovor. There who can raise the largest ciop. J^^^^^^^^\^^ 



are cows which can be made to produce a large how to secure the ^^^S not se^u^ed generaUy 



^-yi:^l^^rtS^^^^^:^^^'^^^^^^ «-,, =nd one WW* .ill 



receive notice now 

 principle upon which cattle , , ^ 

 are estimated, as though size of single products 

 was the great thing ; and second, The unwilling- 

 ness to encourage or employ talent in the work 

 of improvement. 



In judging of a cow, or a breed of cattle for cows, 

 the common way of judging of the best cow is by 

 the quantity of milk she would give, or the weight 

 of butter she would make in a given time, together 

 with the amount of beef she would make if fat 



