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BICKFORD & HOrFMAN'S DRILL. 



Some of our correspondents have expressed tlieir sat- 

 isfaction with the operation of Bickford fc Huffman's 

 Drill. W. S. FuLLERTON, of Livingston county, in 

 this State, expressed the opinion that, with slight 

 improvements, this drill would be the best in use. 

 We now give our readers an engraving of this Drill. 

 .A correspondents in Wayne county, writes us — 

 " From what I have seen and been able to learn of 

 this machine, I am inclined to think it one of the 

 most valuable and perfect of any thing of the kind 

 yet offered to the public. There is quite an improve- 

 ment in adjusting with accuracy the quantity of seed 

 distributed to the acre, which is effected with great 

 precision by the use of toothed wheels of different 

 sizes, increasing or diminishing at pleasure the rev- 

 olutions of the distributing cylinder. The teeth may 

 be elevated separately or simultaneousl}', according 

 to the wish of the operator, and the drilling tubes 

 themselves are remarkably well made. 



Bickford & Huffman manufactured and distribu- 

 ted to a considerable extent, last year, a Grain Drill 

 of their own, which, so far as I have learned, gave 

 great satisfaction. The one they now manufacture 

 contains some decided improvements on their machine 

 of last year. For cheapness and excellence com- 

 bined, I do not know where farmers can get a bettor 

 macliine for the purposes intended ; and I have no 

 doubt it will prove of great service to the agricultu- 

 ral community, now that the advantages and increased 

 productiveness resulting from drilling in wheat has 

 been so fully and satisfactorily proved.^" 



IMPROVED SHORT-HORNS - BATES' STOCK. 



In my February article on this subject I felt it a duty 

 to place before the public the fact that Mr. Bates 

 considered the jDiic/ie.is blood the cnoiCEST blood in 

 his herd. Having proved this by rtndisjmtahle evi- 

 dence, and having also shown that Mr. Vaii/s bull 

 Duke of Wellington, bred by Mr. Bates, his Meteor, 

 and other Bates bulls ho had sold to gentlemen in 

 this country and Canada, possessed, in addition to 

 their other good breeding, more of this Duchess blood 

 than 3d Duke of Cambridge, I think 1 may safely rest 

 the matter here. 



As, however, a direcl attack has been made upon 

 Mr. Vails very valuable bull Duke of Wellington, 

 by endeavoring to depreciate in the estimation of the 

 puHic his sire Short Tail and his dam Oxford Pre- 



mium Cow, it may perliaps be well to show the utter 

 fallacy of the attack. That Short Tail was a great 

 favorite with Mr. Bates, and considered by him as 

 one of his best sires, is -well known to most breeders 

 of Short-Horns ; and were all other evidence want- 

 ing on this point, Mr. Bates' "opinion as shown by 

 his practice," is fully recorded in the volumes of the 

 English Herd Book. As to Oxford Premium Cow, 

 Mr. Bates' estimate of her value is equally well 

 known, and as a farther proof of her excellence, I 

 need only add that this same cow was awarded the 

 first premium by the Royal English Agricultural 

 Society as the best Short-Hor>' cow ^competi- 

 tion open to all England. 



In the last letter wliich Mr. Bates addressed to 

 Mr. Vail, speaking of the merits of the two animals 

 in question, he says, '■ your Duke of Wellington is 

 decidedly a better bull than 3d Duke of Cambridge.'" 

 To show that Mr. Bates' opinion of the great value 

 of Wellington as a sire was correct, I quote an extract 

 from a letter Mr. Vail received from Col. Hampton 

 of Soutli Carolina, to whom he sold a bull calf, Bel- 

 videre, got by Duke of Wellington out of Lady Bar- 

 rington 3d. Col. H. paid §1300 for this calf. He 

 says : "The bull I purchased of you is not only the 

 best I ever had, but superior to any I ever saw. His 

 get are very beautiful and exhibit all the evidences 

 OF HIGH BLOOD. I liave been a breeder of Short- 

 Horns nearly forti/ years, have imported several bulls, 

 and bought at various times others from the best 

 herds at the North, but have never owned one wliose 

 stock has given me such entire s<itisfaetion,'' Col. 

 Summer also speaks in the highest terms of praise of 

 this fine animal. I might add numerous other testi- 

 mony showing the great value of Wellington, but 1 

 deem it unnecessary. 



The main positions in the article alluded to, are 

 just as easily refuted as the unjust attack on Duke 

 of Wellington. The article, however, in itself is so 

 very ineonsisteiit, and the applications are so wholly 

 inappropriate and unreasonable, that I deem any far- 

 ther notice of it, or of whatever the writer may here- 

 after say on the subject, as entirely su])erfluou8. 



Mr. Vail has recently sold another Bates bull, 

 American Comet, to Mr. Belknap of Michigan, for 

 $300, and. also two cows and two calves about six 

 months old for 8700 more, making in all IplOOO. 

 He has also still more recently sold two animals to 

 the President of the New Hampshire Agricultural 

 Society. S. P. Cnwunti.—Clockville, JV. Y. 



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