THE GENESEE FARMER 



21*1 



For almost the entire distance of this fifty miles, 

 the east bank of the Hudson is one line of country 

 seats — vaiying in extent from 50 to 500 or COO acres. 

 Instead of having the same general features of inte- 

 rest and beauty, nothing is more striking to the pic- 

 turesque tourist than the highly varied character of 

 these places. Every mile seems to present new 

 groupings of headland and foreground, some new 

 combinations of wood, water, and mountain — so that 

 no one who has seen one or two jjlaces can imagine 

 with certainty what will be the aspect and picture.sque 

 character of the next residence. The enchanting 

 beauty of the Hudson itself is varied and heightened 

 too by its peculiar life and animation. Snowy sails, 

 sometimes singly in calms, and sometimes floating 

 along in the light breezes like troops of white swans; 

 swift steamers freighted with throngs of busy and 

 curious people; huge clusters of freight barges, 

 loaded down with the produce of whole countries; 

 and finally, steaUng along under the high wooded 

 banks, the river railway, whose trains fly along be- 

 tween the commercial and political capitals of the 

 State at the rate of thirty to fifty miles an hour — all 

 of these gives to these finest seats on the Hudson a 

 completeness of interest which the traveller looks in 

 vain for anywhere else in America. 



Among the finest of these residences, Montgomery 

 Place, Blithewood, Ellerslie, Hyde Park and others, 

 have been already described, and some of them illus- 

 trated in various other works of ours. Persons wish- 

 ing to see the finest specimens of landscape garden- 

 ing in the country, naturally go to these places, to 

 study them as the best examples of the art, and there 

 are few 2)laces, out of England, where the lover of 

 embellished home scenery can find so much gratifica- 

 tion and instruction. 



About the center of this upper terrace, lies Messi- 

 na, the seat of the late John R. Livingston, Esq., a 

 sketch of which we present our readers this 

 month. This house is one of the noblest in its pro- 

 portions on the whole river, and is worth an exami- 

 nation as a specimen of a first class mansion in the 

 country. It was built by Mr. Livingston, after his 

 return from France, some years ago. He was so 

 much pleased while there with the residence of Beau- 

 MARCHAis, near Paris, that he determined to model 

 his own home upon it. This accounts for the air of 

 a French Chateau, which we discover in some of its 

 features. The design was, however, really drawn by 

 an English architect, Brunel, the celebrated archi- 

 tect of the Thames tunnel — who came out to this 

 country and erected two or three residences for differ- 

 ent members of the Livingston family. The plan of 

 the interior is spacious and elegant — the rooms large 

 and finely proportioned, uniting some of the best fea- 

 tures of both the English and French residences. 



Finely varied and extensive grounds surround the 

 mansion at Messina. There is an abundance of fo- 

 liage and fine old trees, the scenery is beautiful, and 

 the neighborhood most picturesque and interesting. 

 Though not at present in the high condition of some 

 of the places we have just mentioned (owing to the 

 want of personal interest, consequent upon the de- 

 clining health of the late proprietor), it could readily, 

 in the hands of a person of taste and fortune, be re- 

 Btored to its former high keeping. As it is but rare- 



ly one of the firet class residences is to be obtain- 

 ed, we believe we shall render a service to some of 

 our numerous readers who are annually settling in 

 the country, by drawing their attention to a site that 

 has long been considered one of the best in the 

 Union. — Horttculhirist. 



CHEESE-MAKING. 



Mr. Hayward, of Frocester Court Farm, has 

 given his experience as a cheeso-maker in the Vale 

 of Berkely ; it is a valuable document. 



Management of Coivs. — The cows are generally 

 turned out to grass in the end of April or beginning 

 of May, upon those gi-ounds which Mr. Hayward 

 has found, from experience, to produce the most and 

 the richest milk. These grounds are nearest to the 

 homestead, and have always been pastured. The 

 driving of the cows before milking, and the carrying 

 of the milk to any considerable distance, are found 

 to injure the quality of the cheese; and to avoid this 

 consequence, the pasture grounds should always be, 

 as on this farm, near the homestead. 



The cows on this farm are divided into three lots, 

 the young and weak ones being in one lot. Each of 

 these three lots has two fields of pasture, and they 

 are generally kept a week at a time in each field, so 

 that they have fresh pasture every week — an advan- 

 tage much greater than most farmers are aware o£ 

 Great care is taken never to over-stock the pastm'e 

 of the cows. They ought, at all times, to have a full 

 bite of close, short fine grass. Long over-grown grass 

 gives a rank flavor to the cheese, and should always 

 be avoided. 



In dry seasons, when the pasture has got too shorty 

 some of the fields that were intended for mowing are 

 given up to the cows for pasture. When the hay is 

 all cleared off the mowing grounds, and the after- 

 grass begins to grow (it generally takes several weeks 

 to make much appearance), the cows are shifted into 

 these grounds. Land which is long pastured by any 

 animal gets foul and unsound for it, and the after- 

 grass always makes the cows spring their miOv. They 

 are, therefore, generally moved from the pasture 

 grounds into the after-grass before there is much of 

 it for them. 



It is very essential for cows to have a shade and 

 water in every field. The shade of trees, however, 

 is the only shelter from sun and storm which they 

 have on this farm, and indeed in the whole vale. 



Pigs. — Upon this and every dairy farm a number 

 of pigs is necessary to consume the whey — one pig to 

 two cows in summer, but not so many in winter. 

 Their food in summer is grass, clover, vetches and 

 hay; in winter, raw potatoes, with tailing corn, whey 

 and skimmed milk. When they are being fattened, 

 bean or barley meal is mixed with boiled or steamed 

 potatoes, in the proportion of a bushel of meal to 

 two cwt. and a half of potatoes. The breed of pigs 

 kept on this farm is the Berkshire, with a small mix- 

 ture of the Hereford. Some of them are sold in a 

 store state ; most of them are fattened. Five or six 

 breeding sows are always kept, which are regularly 

 fattened off, when one year and a half old, and fed to 

 about three cwt. 



Management of the Dairy. — It is acknowledged 



