150 



THE GENESEE FARMEE. 



feet, so far from its being true that cattle arc im- 

 ported from the contiuent'"of Europe to improve the 

 Eujrli>li stock, I believe it to be a fact that not one 

 head is imported for that purpose, and I am quite 

 certain that every breeder of the recognized breeds 

 would give it a most unqualified contradiction. But 

 I thinlTl can say from what the writer in question 

 formed his opinion. Here is a paper fresh from Eng- 

 land, unopened, lying before me — the Agricultural 

 Gazette — the firet in England. I v,il\ open it, and 

 write the Smithfield returns: 



" From Germany and Holland there are 332 beasts, 

 970 sheep, and 155 calves ; from Spain, 43 beasts." 

 Feb. 6. 



"From Germany and Holland there are 278 beasts, 

 60 sheep, and 32 calves; fc-om Spain, 200 beasts." 

 Feb. 10. 



So that it is for feeding, not for breeding, that the 

 animals are imported. I do not believe they are ever 

 imported for the latter purpose, though I have no 

 doubt that, hke many out hei-e, there are those in 

 England who fancy a cow is a cow as long as she has 

 four legs and a head, and keep a stray animal now 

 and then when she may seem a likely milker. I my- 

 self have seen importations of cattle into England, 

 but they were all for Smithfield. 



I think it but an act of justice to my native coun- 

 try to make this statement, for fear that the numbers 

 who read your valuable and instructive columns, and 

 have no means of judging for themselves, may fall 

 into the gross error of imagining that English farmers 

 require fresh importations, or any importations at all, 

 from any other part of the world, to keep up then- 

 stock ; and I repeat that I do not believe there is a 

 drop of foreign blood — no, not one drop — in the veins 

 of any English beast of the higher and more distinct 

 classes of clattle, save in the Short-horns and their 

 kindred, the Ayershires — and in them it is veiy remote 

 indeed, dating before their establishment as a separate 

 breed. Hoping the writer alluded to will bring for- 

 ward his proof or withdraw his assertion, 



I remain, sir, your faithful servant, 



"Woodstock, C. W. A. H. FARiTEB. 



CLEARING LANDS. 



ilR. EniTOR: — In perusing the Gkxesee Farmer, 

 I have often seen a request that all farmers would 

 communicate their experience, that all may be mu- 

 taally benefitted. I thought that among the rest I 

 might add a little ; and if I should happen to com- 

 municate any thing that would be beneficial to my 

 brother farmers in their future practice, I should be 

 more than paid for my labor. 



"When I purchased the farm that I now live on, it 

 was owned by a man who was said to be a very good 

 farmer. I thought so, for it bad been his practice, 

 whenever he cleared a piece of ground, to sow it with 

 wheat and immediately stock it down to grass, and 

 let it remain in that .situation imtil the stumps were 

 sufiBciently rotted, so that most of them could be 

 pulled out by a team. I followed the same plan of 

 management in making adilitions to the clearings. In 

 this way I was enabled to keep almost clear of Canada 

 thistles and weeds ; and when I broke up the land 



that had been thus treated, I found a very hearj 

 s^^■\■lrd, which, together with the decayed wood of 

 stumps added to an unexhausted soil, made the land 

 what it ought to be for future tillage. Thus I wa.-^ 

 blessed with good remunerating crops ; and after 

 taking three crops in succession, the rotted sod had 

 not wholly disappeared, and the land was left in a 

 good condition for a second seeding. 



Now, brother farmers, is it not a much better way 

 for us to endeavor to keep our farms in good heart, 

 than it is to undertake to revive them when once ex- 

 hausted ; besides, I do not see clearly where we are 

 to obtain sufficient manure to bring them back to 

 their primitive richness. I have long thought it to 

 be veiy bad policy to put in the plow as soon as lami 

 Ls cleared from the timber, and take from it three or 

 four crops before seeding. Yom-s, respectfully, 



Marilla, Erie Co., N. Y. \V. M. 



BRICK TILE. 



Me. Editor: — I see by the March number of the 

 Farmer that Mr. Di.vsmore, of Ripley, Chautauque 

 county, ■^Tshes to be informed where drain tiles can 

 be obtained in his vicinity. I would say to Mr. Dixs- 

 MORE that he can get them at Erie, Pa., next July, 

 when brick-makers burn a kiln. I think they are the 

 best tile to drain with that were ever got up. They 

 are made by taking a press-brick mold and putting a 

 half circle in it, so that two of the tile put together 

 will form a hole two or three inches in diameter. 

 They can, however, be made of any size. They can 

 be afforded here for five dollars a thousand : a thousand 

 will lay twenty rods. I lay them so as to break joints. 

 I have made a great many drains with stone, and 

 have found the same trouble that Mr. Dixsmore says 

 he has. I tliink the tile cheaper than stone, even if 

 stone would answer the purpose. Always yours, 



Erie, Pa. Robert Evans. 



"\Ye see no reason why brick manufactured in the 

 form stated by our esteemed correspondent, will not . 

 answer a capital purpose; and as they can be molded 

 with any desirable hoUow, and made thick or thin to 

 suit the ideas of difTerent farmers, draining materials 

 can be provided in abundance wherever good brick 

 are burnt. — ^Ed. 



Mb. Editor : — ^Will not some gentleman who has 

 the means and materials invent glass hydraulics, to 

 conduct water from spring's, &:c., to buildings? I 

 believe them to surpass all others, as to purity of wa- 

 ter, durability, etc. D. Kohler. 



Moxterey, Pa. 



Great Product of Butter. — Mr. Thomas Motley' 

 Jr., of Jamaica Plains, states that his four-yeai-old 

 Jersey cow. Flora, has made, during the eight months 

 ending Januaiy ISth, four hundred and seven and 

 seven-tentlis pounds of butter. Up to November 

 I6th she had no grain. Since then her feed has been 

 three quints cob' and corn meal per day, less than 

 half a bushel of caiTots, and oat straw. — Boston 

 Journal. 



The first step to greatness is to be honest 



