35 



not had so long a trial. But it is hardly probable that any of the 

 cows which Mr. A. has operated on, will show the effects of 

 spaying to the best advantage. They Avere generally too old 

 when operated on — many of them being ten years or more. Still 

 Mr. A. is confident that those first operated on give more milk by 

 the year than they did previous to being spayed. As to the 

 quality of the milk, there has been no opportunity of testing it ; 

 it goes in with that of the other cows and is sold in Boston. Mr. 

 A. thinks that by spaying good cows at five or six years old, an 

 average of eight quarts of milk a day could be had by the year. 

 He is determined to follow the experiment till he can know, with a 

 good degree of certainty, what are its advantages. We may add 

 that the French, who were probably the first to try this operation 

 on cows in milk, claim that — " The yield of milk is not only supe- 

 rior Avith spayed cows, and not only is the fattening of these 

 animals quicker, more easy and complete, but the milk Avill return 

 a third more in butter and cheese, and the flesh is more succu- 

 lent, tender, and more thoroughly penetrated with fat." 



Mr. Andrews purchased last Spring the superior Ayrshire bull 

 Albert, imported from Scotland in 1858, by the Massachusetts 

 Society for Promoting Agriculture. His object is to rear some 

 heifers produced by some of his best cows and this bull. Several 

 of the cows from which he intends to breed, are very good, both 

 as to size, shape, and actual produce of milk — some of them gave 

 from fifty to sixty pounds of milk a day during the months of April 

 and May last. It is hardly to be doubted that valuable dairy 

 stock may be obtained from the proposed cross. 



Hazen & Whittier, on a portion of what was the Keith farm, 

 West Roxbury, shoAved us a very handsome field of corn, as also 

 did James Hunt, on another part of the same farm. 



George G. North, West Roxbury, owns the Jersey bull Mar- 

 mion, which has taken the first prize of this Society. Mr. North 

 carries on farming successfully, but we had not the opportunity 

 to examine his crops, Avhich Avere at some distance from his resi- 

 dence. 



T. G. Whytal, West Roxbury, has extensive green-houses and 

 graperies, the surrounding ground being devoted to the cultiva- 

 tion of fruits and flowers. A walk through the establishment 

 showed us that it Avas avcII ke])t, and that the fruits and plants in- 

 dicated the hand of skillful culture. 



Jeremiah Pritchard, West Roxbury, has one of the first grape- 

 houses, on the "cold" plan, that Avas'built in this country. From 

 the hasty glance Ave took at it, the fruit appeared to be abundant 



