170 



THE GENESEE FARMER 



foreign consumption. Our vast water-power, cheap 

 coal, and cheap living for those that operate machine- 

 ry, give us great advantages for the manufacture of 

 both woolen and cotton goods for all nations loss ad- 

 vanced in the arts than ourselves. Numerous manu- 

 facturing towns will allbrd valuable markets for our 

 breadstuffis, ])rovisions, vegetables, fruits, lumber, fire- 

 wood, and wiiatever else the earth may produce. 



In past years, we have said and written not a little 

 in behalf of government aid to the wool-growing in- 

 terest; but we are now constrained to admit, in view 

 of rehable official statistics, that wool is likely to be 

 grown cheaper on the immense pampas of ^outh 

 America, in Australia, and other tropical and semi- 

 tropical regions, than our farmers appear to be wil- 

 ling to grow it for home consumption. When mut- 

 ton shall be as permanently valualjle here as it is 

 in England, then wool may be produced as an inci- 

 dental crop, at a cheap rate. The flesh of sheep now 

 sells high, and its production deserves increased at- 

 tention. 



TRANSACTIONS OF THE RHODE ISLAND 

 SOCIETY. 



By the favor of the Secretaiy, Stephen H. Smith, 

 Esq., we are in possession of the T ransactions of 

 the Rhode. Island Society for the Encouragement of 

 Domestic Industry, in the year 1853, a neat pamphlet 

 of 134 pages, which we have read with pleasure. 

 The income of the Society is about $6,000 per annum, 

 of which ^4,485 were derived last year from admis- 

 sion tickets to the Fair ; and the balance from divi- 

 dends on bank stock and fees for membership. The 

 Society has productive property to the amount of 

 nearly $20,000 — a feature worthy of all corameuda- 

 tiou, for it secures stability and confidence in its 

 operations. 



Agriculture, Horticulture and Manufactures, ap- 

 pear to be equally fostered by this Association. The 

 cow that took the first premium was reported to give 

 1,900 pounds of milk in 30 days, being an average of 

 63^ lbs. per day. This is certainly a large yield, but 

 siguiSes very little, because we are not told how much 

 food vfos consumed to form these 1,900 lbs. of milk. 

 For aught that appears to the contrary, the cow may 

 have given less milk, or less butter and cheese, for the 

 food eaten, than otliers offered in competition. 



The Committee offer the follov/ing suggestions, 

 which will apply to other Societies as well "as to the 

 one in question : 



" The Committee would draw the attention of the 

 Society to the principal condition on which the pre- 

 miums can be claimed, viz., the amount of milk pro- 

 duced during any four successive weeks. The object 

 of the premium is, no doubt, to effect the improve- 

 ment of our etock by rewarding those who have ob- 

 tained the greatest results. A cow which yields the 

 most milk witkln a given month, may not necessarily 

 be the best milch cow ; that is, niay not give the 

 greatest aggi-egate amount of milk during the year. 

 The best cow is that which yields the most milk or 

 butter, not for a week or a riionth, but for the whole 

 year, and this is the i'aet which every body considers 

 in buying a cow. Many a cow may be urged by high 

 feeding to # Jarge productjon of milk for a limited 



period, and yield comparatively httle afterwards. 

 Mr. Evans was clearly entitled to the highest pre- 

 mium, but the Committee would have been gratified 

 to know the quantity of milk given by his cow during 

 the whole year. We think the olijcct in view would 

 be better accomplished by changing the present requi- 

 site, so that the premium shall be awarded for the 

 greatest aggregate amount of milk given during a 

 year, or between the two last calviugs. And the 

 quantity should be determined by carefully measuring 

 it at every milking, and recording the amount. The 

 food of the cow should also be stated more delhiitely 

 than it has been heretofore. All this would require 

 some attention, no doubt, and therefore we would 

 have the premium considerably larger than the pre- 

 sent ; say, twenty dollars." 



We insist on the point that the value of a cow 

 depends less on the aggregate yield of milk per day, 

 month or year, than on the relation that exists be- 

 tween the food consumed and its product. A small 

 cow that costs comparatively little, may be more 

 profitable, although yielding considerably less than a 

 large cow, than the latter. 



Among the disbursements of the Society, we notice 

 an item of $122 paid Prof Mapes for a single address 

 delivered before the Association last Autumn. Aa 

 the address is short, we have perused it in the ex- 

 pectation of finding something worthy of being copied 

 into this Journal. The following remarks taken from 

 page 2.5, may interest some of our readers : 



" Most of you know that a pound of iron in the 

 form of a hollow cylinder will sustain a greater weight 

 resting on its end than if the same amount of iron 

 were presented in a solid rod, and this may explain 

 why the bones of animals are hollow, and particidarly 

 those of the bird, which has the power to inflate its 

 bones with air, so as to give them strength by being 

 so filled M'lien combatting their enemies ; and to ivifh- 

 draw this air iviih pleasure ichen desiring to fall 

 rapidly throvgh the atmosphere^ 



The idea of making hollow, cylindrical bones 

 heavier by having air pumped out of them, is original 

 if not instructive. It is not pretended that the walls 

 of these bones collapse by the atmospheric pressure 

 that surrounds them ; so that a bird " falls rapidly 

 through the atmosphere"' by the great weight of a 

 vacuum formed in its cylindrical bones for that pur- 

 pose ! As increased graAity in the bird depends on 

 its forming an empty space in its solids, so it "com- 

 bats its enemies." not by the physical power of its 

 muscles and the natural sti-ength of its earthy bones 

 as other animals do, but by the air forced into the' 

 cavities of its bones! 



On page 29 the learned "Professor" informs his 

 readers that " The valley of the Mohawk, the Cen- 

 esee Valley, and other localities long celebrated for 

 their M'heat crops, have ceased to be profitable wheat 

 growing districts." 



Every writer on American agi'iculture who has put 

 confidence in the statcme-nts of Mr. Mapes as to the 

 wheat crops of the Genesee country, has been de- 

 ceived, and misled his readers. This was particularly 

 the case with Prof Johnston, who published a work 

 in England on his return home from the United 

 States. Yesterday a farmer who resides in this vicin- 

 ity, informed us that a nine acre field yielded him at 



