76 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



SEPT. 6, 18 



For ihe N. E. Karmer. 



♦ CONVENTION OF BREEDERS. 

 Mr Putmam — Sir — I was pleased to see in one 

 of your late pajiers. a notice from certain eminent 

 brneders, proposin;; that a convention be held in 

 New York, on the I7lh of October next, to endeav- 

 or to settle 8orne disputed points concerning the 

 forms of animals. 'Ihis, it seems to me, was 

 innch needed ; and I hope there will be a full rep- 

 resentation present, from all our breeilinnj States, 

 so that the matter may be fully discussed, and the 

 experience obtained in different parts of the Union, 

 be brought to bear upon the subject. 



It appuars that the two objects which they wish 

 to bring about, are — first, that there should be dif- 

 ferent prizes given at onr agricultural fairs, for dif- 

 ferent races, so that the contest may be between 

 animals, and not between breeds, ns it now is. 

 And secondly, that a certain general standard of 

 excellence may be proposed for each individual 

 race, which will in some measure serve as a guide 

 to the breeder. 



Tlie present system of offering a prize for the 

 best bull, cow, or whatever it may be, without tak- 

 ing into consideration the breed to which it may 

 belong, is absurd ; for that which is an excellence 

 in the one, may be an absolute deformity in the 

 other: for instance, the heavy shoulder of the 

 Short Horn would be greatly misplaced upon the 

 Devon, who, to e.\cel in the yoke, for which he is 

 peculiarly fitted, requires a degree of activity 

 which his more heavily built rival cannot possess. 

 These points it is impossible for the judges to de- 

 cide upon ; every mnn must settle them for himself, 

 being governed by the peculiar ()ualilies he most 

 values, or by the soil and climate in which he may 

 happen to be placed. You might as well ask a 

 certain number of men to determine which is the 

 most profitable crop to be raised in the United 

 States, rice or wheat .'—forgetting that tho one 

 will not grow in the marshes of the South, or the 

 other in the cold, dry lands of the North. In Mas- 

 sachusetts, the Devon is preferred to the Short 

 Horn, whilst in New York, the latter fairly drives 

 the f(,rmer out of the field. And this is as it 

 should be. Here, we rather seek an animal which 

 crossed with our native stock, will give us good, 

 active, working cattle ; whilst with them, beef and 

 milk being the qualities most sought after, they 

 have rightly fixed upon the Short Horn. 



Many advantages, too, would be derived, from a 

 list of the most desirable points of the diR"erent 

 breeds, fixed upon by such a convention as that 

 now coming together. It would be of Ihe greatest 

 assistance to all young breeders, and niiglu be rc- 

 ferre.l to with advantage by many of a iimch riper 

 experience. 



I hope that all the proceedings of the meeting 

 will be published, and that we shall have not only 

 the conclusions that are come to, but also the de- 

 bates in full ; 80 that we may see the reasons both 

 for and against, and judge lor ourselves whether 

 or not the convention have decided arirrht. 



A. R. 

 We know not who " A. R." is, nor do we hold 

 ourself committed to defend his assertion that it is 



SUCCESSFUL EXPERIMENT IN CORN 

 PLANTING. 

 On a recent visit to the farm of B. R. Smith, 

 Esq., near the race course, I was gratified at his 

 success in planting this important staple of our 

 country, affording an additional evidence of the 

 superior advantages of scienliHc culture over that 

 of the common routine pursued for ages past by 

 the planters of our country. 



Mr Smith is not profesaionaily a planter, but a 

 merchant, devoting his few leisure hours to the 

 cultivation of his farm. Di fleering from those who 

 regard book farming (as it is called) as only anoth- 

 er name for vi.'sinnary sppculation, he is a constant 

 reader of agricultural journals — endeavors to profit 

 by the discoveries of others, and possessing a 

 sound judgment, he is able to decide on such modes 

 of culture as are adapted to the nature of the soil 

 and the plants he cultivates. 



Last year, much surprise was expressed by 

 planters that i\Ir Smith should have succeeded in 

 raising 7G bushels and 18 quarts of corn to the 

 acre. He then stated that his experiments were 

 not yet completed — that the ground, by judicious 

 management, would admit of still closer planting, 

 and he hoped yet to succeed in raising 1(J0 bushels 

 to the acre. He doubted the old theory, that what 

 is called "firing" in corn was the result of close 

 planting, but believed it was occa.'sioned by the 

 poverty of tho land. He believed that the hilling 

 of corn was not attended with benefit, and that-ff 

 the land was thoroughly prepared, previous to 

 planting, it required but little other attendance 

 than that given by the improved plow called the 

 cultivator. 



The land on which the present crop is planted, 

 was originally poor and much exhausted by injudi- 

 cious cultivation. It was thoroughly plowed and 

 manured with stable manure, in proportion of CU 

 ^ single cartloads to the acre. The corn was foaked 

 j in saltpetre, rolled in gypsum, and planted on a 

 flat surface in double rows, the stems eighteen 

 inches apart in rows of four feet. Very litUe use 

 was subsequently made of the hoe ; tho cultivator 

 was run through it a few times. The luxuriance 

 of the growth kept down the grass and rendered 

 all further culture unnecessary. The ears are now 

 filled, and the crop is considered safe from the vi- 

 cissitudes of the season. The field has the appear- 

 ance, in its rich green foliage, of a vii^orcms erowth 



Soapsuds for Cabbn/res. — A writer in the Lon 

 don Gardeners' Chronicle, says : " I believe it wi 

 be a thankless piece of service for one gardener I 

 teach another how to grow cabbages and cauliflow 

 ers ; yet as these crops of vegetables have faile. 

 this season in various parts of the country, the fol 

 lowing may perhaps be of use to our cottage read 

 ers. 



Wherever soapsuds have been used plentifullj 

 cabbages and cauliflowers have grown luxuriantlj 

 I have made inquiries (jf several others who hav 

 used the suds, and in no one instance have 1 lioaK 

 of a failure where it has been applied. 



Whether the alkali in the water has prevents 

 the enemy from destroying the roots, and given thi 

 roots more vigor to resist the attack, I do no 

 know; but one thing is certain : where such ma 

 nure has been applied, it has produced the nioa 

 beneficial results. 



I think cottagers may take a lesson from this 

 and save that which would nourish their languish- 

 ing crop, for it is a pity to see a pool of filthy wa 

 ter polluting the neighborhood with its stench 

 while within a few yards of it the vegetables of t 

 garden are dying of an evil whicli that waten 

 would remedy." 



"absurd" to offer a premium for " the best" ani. 

 mal without regard to breed. We are glad that 

 any one here has seen fit to draw attention to the 

 proposed convention, and we very willingly give 

 the above communication a place in our c'dunins 

 —Ed. N. E. F. 



of a young forest. It is the finest field of corn I 

 liave ever beheld, and it is believed by good judg- 

 e.s that the product will not /all far short of 100 

 bushels per acre. — Charleston Mercury. 



Sale of Durham Short Horn Cattle. We have 



seen a notice that C. N. Bement, Esq., .3 1-2 miles 

 west of Albany, will sell at auction, at 10 o'clock, 

 Wednesday, Sept. 1.1, seven bulls, nineteen cows, 

 and three calves, of the Short Horn Durham breed, 

 and eightyfour South Down sheep and lambs. 



Cutlina; GrassM.— Mr Editor: I should like foi 

 you to give your reasons why you prefer thai 

 grasses should be mowed as soon as they are in 

 flower. Our experience suggests that cutting 

 should be delayed until it is so near ripe as not tc 

 scatter. Our grass is the " herds," or as it is call- 

 ed with you, tho " red-top." 



Yours, very re.-jpectfully, II. A. L. 



In reply to the inquiry of our correspondent, «e 

 Itave to state that our reasons are two-fold ; first 

 that cattle relish the grass better, and secondly! 

 that the soil continues longer in heart, inasmuch 

 as prior to the formation of the seed, a larger por- 

 tion of tho nutriment of the plant is derived from 

 the atmosphere, whereas after the commencement 

 of the developcment of the seed, the major portion 

 of the sustenance is abstracted from the soil, thus 

 depriving it of its fertility, without contnbuti'i.g to 

 quantity in the weight of the hay. It is fair, how. 

 ever, to state, that grass cut af'er tho seed is ripe, 

 or partially so, is more nutritious than that wliich 

 is cut when just in flower Jiiner. Far. 



Cabbage Louse — Jfmttr SijuashfS—Jlpules. — In 

 passing over the fiinii of a .Mr Morrison, in Brigh- 

 t(m, last week, we noticed acres of cabbages ninierf 

 by lice, and learned that the cabbages generally in 

 that neighborhood have suffered in the same way. 



Winter squashes look well. We have seen no 

 marks of that worm at the root, which has been so 

 destructive the two last seasons. 



Winter apples are scarce upon the trees in the 

 vicinity of the city. 



Lime for Fruit Trees. — In the autumn of 1841 

 we laid bare the roots or a number of unthrifty ap- 

 ple and peach trees, and left them exposed during 

 the winter, returned the dirt in the spring, and ap. 

 plied to the roots of each tree about half a bushel 

 of gas lime. Last year the trees seemed greatly 

 improved, and the peaches bore more tlian three 

 times as much as they did the two previous years, 

 and the fruit sr)emed improved. Ashes are a "ood 

 substitute for lime, and ordinary lime would p:oba- 

 bly do as well as the gas lime. — Delaware Far. 



Cure for a Foundered Horse. — If your horse 

 founders over night, in the morning take a pint of 

 hog's lard, put in a vessel, and make it boiling hot ; 

 clean his hoofs well, and set his foot ir the lard. 

 Heat it for each foot boiling hot; take a spoon and 

 put the fat over the hoof as near the hair as possi- 

 ble, and if this be done early in the morning, he 

 will be fit tor use in three hours after, (i is bet- 

 ter to remove the horse's shoes, but I have made 

 several cures without. I have tried this on many 

 liorses, and it has never failed LouisviUe Jour. 



