NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



213 



II lareJ in families, every part of the tnanu- 



a ire being domestic. It is a well known fact, 



h in many towns and villag-es, the proceeds 



il 16 Dianufacture of straw exceeds the value 



illl the surplus beef, pork, butter, grain and 



jr that is sent to market. Hence the ad- 



■itages jvhich will result from tlie introduc- 



I of a more firm and durable stnuv than rye, 



1 which the labor of so many persons can 



well bestowed, are continually becoming 



e obvious. 



I am, sir, your obedient servant, 



SAMUEL DANA, 

 ifroton, Jan. 1823. 



REMARKS BY THE EDITOR. 



Vt fully concur with the Hon. writer of the preced- 

 article, with regard to the probable public benefit 

 le derived from the cultivation of the kind of wheat 

 re described, and the introduction of the manufac- 

 ! of Leghorn bonnets, k.c. We would, however, 

 jest the propriety of the application of a small 

 ntity of lime, finely pulverized, to the soil on which 

 proposed to raise this, as well as any other kind of 

 at, unless it is sown on lime stone laud. lu Tus- 

 y, we are told, that the soil on which this wheat is 

 n, is selected among calcareous [lime stone] hills. 

 le, it is said by chemists, constitutes a part of the 

 w, as well as of the berry of wheat. If lime is nei- 

 • native in the soil, nor supplied by art, we do not 

 how the wheat-plant, which is constituted in part 

 line, can possibly be matured. The lime may be 

 .er caustic or quick lime, pounded lime stone, or 

 lime mortar, or plaster reduced to fine powder. As 

 igorous or large growth of wheat straw, however, 

 ot wished for, a small quantity of lime would pro- 

 ly answer. It is hardly necessary to observe that 

 wstic lime is used it should not be applied while 

 plants are growing. See X. E. Farmer, No. 12, p. 

 92 ; No. 18, p. 139 ; No. 24, p. 192. 



FACTS AND OBSERVATIONS RELITIXG TO 



RICULTURE &, DOMESTIC ECONOMY. 



FOR THE NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



On Neat Cattle. 



(Continued from p. 204.) 



Among the most remarkable breeds of ani- 



ils of the Bos, or Neat Cattle genus, are the 



ild Cattle of Great Britain. This breed is at 



resent to be met within some gentlemen's 



rks, where they are said to remain in their 



iginal wild state. The following account of 



em is given by Mr. Bailey, an English writer. 



" Their color is invariably of a creamy white; 



I uzzle, black ; the whole of the inside of the 



I IF, and about one third of the outside, from the 



iips, downward, red ; horns white, with black 



ps, very fine, and bent upivard ; some of the 



r ills have a thin, upright mane, about an inch 



■ id an half, or two inches long. The weight 



r fthe oxen is from 35 to 45 stone, and the cows 



cm 25 to 35 stone, the four quarters, 14 lb. to 



le stone. The beef is tineiy marbled, and of 



excellent flavor. 



" From the nature of their pasture, and the 

 •equent agitation they are put to by the curios- 

 y of strangers, it is scarce to be expected they 

 bould get very fat ; yet the six year old oxen 

 . re generally, very good beef, from whence it 

 lay be fairly supposed, that in proper situa- 

 lOns they would feed well. 

 " ki the first appearance of any person, they 

 et off in full galk)p,.and, at about the distance 



of two hundred yards, make a whirl round and 

 come boldly up again, tossing their heads in a 

 menaciisg manner ; on a sudden, they make a 

 full stop at the distance of forty or fifty yards, 

 looking wildly at t!io object of their surprise ; 

 but upon the least motion being made, they all 

 again turn round, and fly off with equal speed, 

 but not to the same distance, forming a shorter 

 circle, and again returning with a bolder and 

 more threatening aspect than before ; they ap- 

 proach much nearer, probably within thirty 

 yards, when they again make another stand, and 

 again fly off; this they do several times, short- 

 ening their distance, and advancing nearer and 

 nearer, till they come within such a short dis- 

 tance, that people think it most prudent to leave 

 them, not choosing to provoke them further. 



" The mode of killing them, was, perhaps, 

 the only modern remains of the grandeur of an- 

 cient hunting. On notice being given that a 

 wild bull would be killed on a certain day, the 

 inhabitants of the neighborhood came mounted, 

 and armed with guns, &.C. ; sometimes to the 

 amount of an hundred horse, and four or five 

 hundred foot, who stood upon walls, or got into 

 trees, while the horsemen rode off the bull from 

 the rest of the herd, till he stood at bay, when 

 a marksman dismounted and shot him. At some 

 of these huntings, twenty or thirty shots have 

 been fired, before he was subdued. On such 

 occasions, the bleeding victim grew desperately 

 furious from the smarting of his wounds, and the 

 shouts of savage joy that were echoed on every 

 side. But from the number of accidents that 

 happened, this dangerous mode has been but 

 little practiced of late years, the park keeper 

 alone generally shooting them with a rifle gun 

 at one shot. 



"•' When the cows calve, they hide their 

 calves for a week or ten days, in some sequest- 

 ered situation, and go and suckle them two or 

 three times a day. If any person comes near 

 their calves, they clap their heads close to the 

 ground, and lie like a hare in form, to hide 

 themselves ; this is a proof of their native wild- 

 ness, and is corroborated by the following cir- 

 cumstance, which happened to the writer of 

 this narrative, who found a hidden calf, two 

 days old, very lean, and very weak : on stroking 

 its head, it got up, pawed two or three times 

 like an old bull, bellowed very loud, stepped 

 back a few steps, and bolted at his legs with all 

 its force ; it then began to paw again, bellowed, 

 stepped back, and bolted as before ; but know- 

 ing its intention, and stepping aside, it missed 

 him, fell, and was so very weak, that it could 

 not rise, though it made several efforts ; but it 

 had done enough, the whole herd were alarm- 

 ed, and coming to its rescue, obliged him to re- 

 tire ; for the dams will allow no person to touch 

 their calves without attacking them with im- 

 petuous ferocity." 



The foregoing are some of the most remark- 

 able breeds of neat cattle, where the varieties 

 are most strongly marked. To enumerate all 

 the kinds which are treated of by British and 

 other foreign writers, would require a large 

 volume. We shall, therefore, omit for the pres- 

 ent, any farther notice of any particular breed 

 of neat cattle, and proceed to such facts and ob- 

 servations as apply to all the varieties of this 

 most useful quadruped, which the art of man 

 has ever brought within the sphere of his do- 

 minion 



" In point of utility and profit, no animal can 

 stand in competition with the cow ; a sentiment 

 which has been universal from the primitive 

 ages, and which, to this moment, has lost noth- 

 ing of its force or truth. Her milk, so indis- 

 pensable to civilized man, is her mo>t precious 

 product, and of which the value, in various 

 forms, is so universally and feelingly under- 

 stood. Of this real liquor of life, more valan- 

 blc than the richest ^vines, the cow will give 

 the amount of irxur.y times her u-ciglit in the 

 course of a year, and every year, that she con- 

 tinues in a constant state of reproduction, unto 

 the end of life, when her last gitt toman is food 

 of the most substantial kind, and so many arti- 

 cles of various uses, that no part of her carcase 

 need be wasted or lost ; the worth of these re- 

 places, probably doubles her original cost.'"* 



For some of the marks of a good cow, the 

 reader is referred to No. 3, page 21, of the 

 New England Farmer. To the signs thert- 

 specified, may be added the following. " The 

 indications of copious milking, in whatever spe- 

 cies of cows, arc a capacious and thin udder, 

 large teats, with a large and distinct milk-vein ; 

 these are generally accompanied with a fineness 

 of the head and chops ; thinness of the neck, 

 and somewhat gaunt and meagre appearance of 

 body, promising no great tendency to fatten. 

 In common when a large and fine udder is found, 

 sufficient milking need not be doubted."' 



The cow goes nine months! with young, and 

 rarely produces but one calf at a time. — 

 Where the herd is extensive, an account should 

 always be kept of the time when each cow goes 

 to the male, that she may be dried off at a rea- 

 sonable distance of time before the gestation be 

 completed. The most proper time for the cow 

 to be dried off, according to a writer in Rees' 

 Cyclopedia, is about two months before lier 

 calving, when she ought to he suffered to lie 

 quiet, and not be brought up with the other 

 cows at the milking or suckling times ; for if a 

 cow be continued in milk nearer to the time of 

 calving than two months, it will not only great- 

 ly injure her future progeny, by rendering it 

 weakly and stunted, but will have an ill effect 

 on the health of the cow herself It is, howev- 

 er, said by others, that when cows are well fed, 

 they may be continued in milk till within a 

 week or two of their calving, without suffering 

 any injury from it. But, in general way, it is 

 thought best to let them go dry for a month, or 

 six weeks, or more, according to their condition, 

 in order to the more fully recruiting their 

 strength. But where only one or two cows are 

 kept for the use of a family, it may be well to 

 know that, by good feeding., they may be contin- 

 ued in milk till within ten days or a fortnight of 

 the time of their calving, without much incon- 

 venience or injury to the animal. 



During the winter season, the cows which are 

 expected shortly to calve, ought to be lodged 

 every night under some convenient shelter, tor 

 a week or two previous to calving ; as it may 

 be the means of saving the life of the calf and 

 perhaps of the dam likewise. If the cow 

 catches cold by calving abroad, which may be 

 perceived by her trembling joints, and her re- 

 fusal of food, she ought immediately to be hous- 

 ed under a warm shed, or other building, togeth- 



* Lawrence on Neat Cattle. 



t Generally about from 270 to 300 days. 



England Fanner No. 18, p. 138. 



See New 



