2.>1 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



miglit not soon produce its corresponding effect : 

 lor the effect of cause, namely, the tendency of 

 feeding, would remain unopposed in its effects, 

 and be wholly operative. The assumption 

 however here mentioned, ought never to have 

 been made : as well might it have been con- 

 tended by those who had seen only a bad race 

 of hard fleshed animals, that lliere were there- 

 fore no other kind, that would jiroducc a much 

 greater quantity of beef from a given fjuantlty 

 of food. 



But secondly, to ccme to the matter of fact, 

 and to speak from experience itself .Some an- 

 imals have the power of obtaining a greater de- 

 gree of nourishment from a given quantity of 

 lood, tlian others of an inferior description ; and 

 therefore, though some of the former may give 

 a larger quantity of milk than the latter, yet 

 their carcasses also, m.iy at the same lime, be 

 better supported. And 1 have frequently found 

 cows that are great milkers, to keep them- 

 selves at the same time in high condition, to 

 feed with the quickest despatch when drieil of 

 their milk, and whose descendants will arrive 

 at the earliest maturity ; a practical proof, that 

 a great tendency to feeding is nnt incompati- 

 ble with a great tendency to milking. Those 

 alsp who are anxious to witness the same thing, 

 mny have it shown to them when they please, 

 as many such animals can be produced. 



I suspect the assertion here controverted, 

 originated not so much with those who have 

 clone nothing towards the improvement of cat- 

 tle, as with those who have been content with 

 doing but little. These latter being anxious to 

 .sell bet'ore they had sufficiently improved their 

 own breeds, asserted, and asserted truly, that 

 where cattle are to be bred for the slaughter, 

 it is of more consequence to have them early 

 feeders than great milkers. Of this 1 have no 

 doubt ; for if only one of these properties could 

 be obtained, I am tully persuaded, that the form- 

 er would be more advantageous than the latter. 

 But if on the contrary both can be combined, 

 and that they can, 1 am convinced by experi- 

 ence ; we shall not think very highly of those 

 breeds which possess but oije of them. For 

 ■who, that is conversant in these things, does not 

 know the great dift'erence between the value 

 of the produce of two cows, the one a good and 

 the other a bad milker, if we take that pro- 

 duce for one year only ? 1 shall not here men- 

 tion the great quantity of milk that some of 

 my own cows have given, and the short time 

 that it has afterwards required to feed them, 

 lest it should seem to partake of au air of boast- 

 ing. 



U'hen we consider the skill, the perseverance, 

 and the capital required to improve a breed in 

 the carcass only, it is not surprising that so few 

 have attempted it; and when we consider, that 

 the union of great milking with quickness of 

 feeding, required a two fold labor; we might 

 almost wonder that it has been undertaken at 

 nil. Cut yet sir, whatever difficullies may lie 

 in the way, every Breeder who aims at supe- 

 riority, must follow the excellent advice vvhich 

 you have given ; and with respect to which, I 

 cannot do better, than quote your own words. 

 " We should, therefore, endeavor to obtain all 

 the pioperties that are essential to the animals 

 we breed." .\nd this rule was surely practi- 

 cable in the case before us ; by selecting those 

 animals that were the most perfect in point of 



form, in quality of flesh, and so on ; and again 

 by selecting out of these the very best milkers, 

 using in other respects the same care as I have 

 mentioned in a former part of my letter. Such 

 a procedure in the formation of a breed, clear- 

 ly adds very considerably to the expense in the 

 first instance ; but the advantages afterwards de 

 rived are more than a sufficient compensation, 

 as the property of milking is inherited as readi- 

 ly as that ot peculiarity of shape. 



(to BF. CO.NTI.NIEP.) 



From the American fanner. 



CIDER ROY.\L AND BARLEY COFFEE. 

 ^'ineyarJ, near Georgdowu, Feb. 8, 1C23. 

 J. S. Skinnkp., Esq. 



Dear Sir — I observe in ,ypur Farmer of yes- 

 terday, a receipt to make Cider Oil, as you call 

 it — I have some doubts that the person who 

 furnished you with the receipt, is ignorant of 

 what it exactly is ; as well as of the manner of 

 making it — 1 have seen it made very often by 

 Germans, and it is by them called cider royal; 

 and by putting sassafras, or any thing else to 

 flavor it, I am certain would injure it; the way 

 I have seen it made is as follows : 



To make Cider Royal. 



Take a clean well hooped cask, and burn a sul- 

 phur match in it, and keep the bung close stop- 

 ped for about two hours ; then put in four gal- 

 lons of good apple or cider brandy ; then take 

 four gallons of the cider immediately from the 

 press, and put it to the brandy, shaking the bar- 

 rel well to absorb the sulphurous gas, (the ci- 

 der ought to be strained through a flannel,) and 

 then fill the barrel with the cider before any 

 fermentation has taken place, and bung up 

 the barrel tight immediately, and put it in a 

 cool place, and rack it ofi" in March folloiving. 

 If it is not line when racked, it may be fined 

 with the whites of eggs — and as soon as quite 

 bright, rack it again into a clean cask and it 

 will keep for years. Some persons do not sul- 

 phur the cask, under an idea that it produces 

 head-ache ; others put but three gallons of 

 brandy and from ten to twelve pounds of sugar 

 to it. It is, if properly made, and of good ci- 

 der, a fine vinous beverage, to drink in sum- 

 mer, when diluted with water; and in the Ger- 

 man Counties of Pennsylvania, it was the favor- 

 ite drink, when they got any refreshment at 

 taverns, by all those persons who could not af- 

 ford to get wine. Those persons that 1 knew 

 most famous for making good cider royal, put 

 rye whiskey to it instead of br.indy, as it soon- 

 er became assimilated to the cider and vinous 

 than brandy ; that is, it was not to be tasted, 

 when brandy could always be discovered by a 

 nice palate. Brandy put to cider or wine af- 

 ter it is well fermented, never loses its flavor in 

 cither cider or wine, and instead of becoming 

 vinous, as it ought to be, by fermentation, it is 

 only branded cider, or what used to be called, 

 some ;i() or 40 years ago, Sampson ; which was 

 one gill of brandy or other spirits, put to a tan- 

 kard of cider, which always produced head- 

 aches. 



You also, in the last Farmer, make mention 

 of the naked Barley — i remember it for at least 

 fifty years, and it was used by the German 

 farmers of a part of York County, Pennsyl- 

 vania, and Frederick County, Maryland, to make 

 coffee of; and I recollect of hearing it spoken 



of as infinitely superior to Rye, as to its flavo 

 and salubrity— but I do not recollect of seein| ' 

 it for upwards of thirty years ; but former!- 

 I have seen it brought to Y'ork Town, Penn ' 

 sylvania, and Frederick Town, Maryland, fo 

 sale by the name of Coffee Barley — The Ger 

 mans called it " Coffcdgerst.'"' 



To make Barley Coffee. 



Roast it in the manner that common coffee i: 

 roa=ted, then take one portion of coffee t( 

 about as much as one third of the quantity yoi 

 commonly use for one meal ; then take thret 

 times that quantity of the roasted barley whol 

 (not being ground) and boil it by itself, ther 

 strain through a tin strainer, with smaller holes 

 than a cullender ; put that liquor over the first 

 portion of coffee and make in the usual manner 



I knew a very respectable Clergyman, who 

 was fond of some of the good things of this 

 world ; that for several years, I was acquainted 

 in his family, always used his coffee made in 

 the abovo manner — and he used it, because he 

 thought it an improvement on foreign coffee 



P. S. — I have called on a Germaa's son, now 

 middle aged, who says that he has often assist- 

 ed his father in making Cider Royal, and he 

 says, that roy receipt for making it is correct. — 

 His father was famous for making good cider 

 royal of the best quality. He himself, attempt- 

 ed this last year to make one barrel of it, and 

 it turns out to be as hard as the hardest cider. — 

 He spoke to a person who makes good cider, 

 and one whom he could depend on, and gave 

 him an extra price : the cider was made early 

 in the morning, and brought to him before 9 

 o'clock ; he immediately drew off some of the 

 cider, and put to it ten pounds of sugar, and four 

 gallons ofapple brandy, and bunged them up 

 tight immediately. He attributes the hardness 

 to a fermentation having taken place before the 

 sug.u- and lirandy was put to it, instead of the 

 sugar and brandy being put into the cask first. 



i<H 



THE FARMER. 



BOSTON .—SATURDAY, MARCH 8, 1823. 



■t 



AGRICULTURAL LECTURES AT DARTiMOUTH 

 COLLEGE. 

 We learn with much pleasure that Professor Dana, 

 of Dartmouth College, proposes to give a course of 

 Ivcctures, accompanied witli experiments on the gener- 

 al principles of Agricullure, embracing, particularly, 

 the subject of Soils and Manures. The course, we are 

 informed, will be completed in twelve lectures, begin- 

 ning on the first Wednesday of April, and continued 

 daily. We are told that Professor Dana would be gra- 

 tified by the attendance of any gentleman or practical 

 farmer, and will give him, gratis, the privilege of such 

 attendance. We hope the Professor will meet with 

 due encouragement in this benevolent project ; andi 

 that he will successfully employ the lights of science 

 to direct the course of the most useful of the arts. — 

 That he possesses the qualifications which may enable 

 him to apply a knowledge of Chemistry to very impor- ' 

 tant purposes, as respects Agriculture, will, we think, ■' 

 be evident to those who have perused his " Report rn. 

 a disease afflicting Neat Cattle, in Burton, N. H." pub-, 

 lished in our paper No. 14, p. 105. 



ON MAKING MAPLE SUGAR. 



We have repeatedly been requested by our corres* 

 pendents to furnish some statements relative to the' 

 cheapest aud best way of making and cleansing map)* 



