AND HORTICULTURAL REGISTER. 



PUKMSHED BY JOSEPH BRECK & CO., NO. 62 NORTH MARKET STREET, (Aobicoltobai WABEHOueB.) 



>L..ZXII.] 



BOSTON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, NOVEMBER 8, 1843. 



[NO. 1». 



N . E. FARMER. 



From the Fariner'« Monthly Visitor. 



OUR OWN BREEDS OF CATTLE. 



Is it nnt qiiPKtionnhle whelher, for the actual 

 |rpose of breeding and reariiij stock, it is not 

 ire advnntn^'eoiis to select from the animals long 

 iiesticatcd, ralliur than from the choice speci- 



ns brousl.t recently from Europe ? We are 

 are of li c fact, that all, at no distant period, 

 re impnrtpd ; and that out of similar materials 

 races, the nutcd stocks in England have been 

 med, from judicious crossings and careful selec- 

 ns, added to great attention in feeding. Have 



not often seen, in every part of our own coun- 

 , farmers obtain the reputation of having excel- 

 it cattle, who never paid a high price for an ani- 

 1, but whose succcsH may be ascribed to good 

 eclions, and more than that, careful attention 

 erwards .' The iiiolances are sufficiently nnme- 

 is, of importations with extraordinary keeping 

 erwards, that have resulted in great profit to the 

 porters ; but unless this extra care has been kept 

 , few of the second purchasers have been bene- 

 ted ; and has it not often happened, that these 

 •ently imported breeds, have, when kept with 

 r long-habituated and acclimated animals, shown 

 3 worse condition of the two ? A change of cli- 

 ite and of food, when added to the mode of shel- 

 ring and feeding, necessarily produces a great 

 icration, for better or for worse, in the cattle that 

 e subjected to it. 



The most noted breeds of horses, neat cattle, 

 eep and swine, in England, have been produced 

 ' long and careful altiiition, in a climate far dif- 

 rent from our own ; and for this cause it has, 

 rhaps, often happened that these breeds degene- 

 te in our hands, in our cattle, as in our farm- 

 g, we have to accomplish more with the same 

 imber of laborers. In speed and bottom, in size, 

 id power for draught, our horses, long in the coun- 

 f, surpass the English. Notwithstanding the far 

 eater number of racers trained in England, and 

 e care and attention bestowed, increasing the 

 imber of chances for fleet horses, our racers liave 

 en made in less time for the same distance, than 



that country, or than ever was made ; showing 

 at the horse has improved since he came among 

 I. Our work horses, also, taken as a whole, are 

 perior ; and all the importations for a considora- 

 e number of years, have proved less valuable 

 an the stock already in the country. 

 For our neat cattle, if we purchase those beauti- 

 1 animals that have been imported, and the whole 

 id half breeds from them, wc pay extravagant 

 ices (or tlicm ; and, encouraged by extravagant 

 commendations, excitement keeps up care and 

 tention, which tend still to sustain the acquired 

 iputation ; but would not similar care and atten- 

 an have produced more profitable results with 

 ir own ? 



Some of the best milkere, and all our finest 



beef cattle, have known no relationship to these 

 Durham or Devon, or other bloods. 



If wc calmly reflect and consider the effects of 

 extravagant prices paid for sheep, do we not find 

 similar results .' The thousands of dollars paid 

 some thirty years ago for a single sheep, is now a 

 matter of history. The speculations of those times 

 show how far the mind m.iy be excited by gain as 

 well as by superstition. What has become of the 

 golden dreams that flitted through the imaginations 

 of our people.' We are their representatives, 

 whose herds were to be blessed and profited ; but 

 has it come to pass ? That the merino produces 

 wool of superior excellence, rivalled by the South 

 Down, is without doubt true ; hut they are not 

 generally more valued than our stock tliat was here 

 before th^m. Our climate, for sheep, greatly sur- 

 passes that of England. it is not as moist, espe- 

 cially in winter ; and it ought to have been the 

 case, ere this time, thit our manufactories had been 

 supplied from our own fleeces. The mutton of 

 our country, as well as our beef, is finer in grain 

 and better flavored than the English. 



What has been proved in relation to our horses, 

 and cattle, and sheep, is true in relation to our 

 swine. Over and over again, in almost every part 

 of our country, where the imported breeds have 

 been kept with our own, the latter have proved su- 

 perior. The truth is, that men of means nnd taste 

 have almost always turned their attention solely 

 to the beautiful specimens of the imported breeds, 

 and accounts of these have found their way before 

 the public through our cattle exhibitions and agri- 

 cultural publications, filling the eye of the amateur 

 farmer, and diverting almost the whole attention to 

 them. 



It is hoped that the time is at hand, when we 

 shall look at home rather than abroad for excel- 

 lence, believing, as [ firmly do, that all our domes- 

 tic animals, whose very constitutions have been 

 changed and become assimilated to our soil and 

 climate, are superior to the imported for pleasure, 

 profit or palate : and, like their owners, have ad- 

 vanced and improved over the original stock, from 

 being transplanted to 'he new world. 



If others will believe with me, and bestow the 

 requisite care and attention, at no distant time, 

 Europe may be looking to America for superiority 

 in domestic animals as well as men. 



New Hamfsbir£. 



Manuring Potatoes Woollen rags hove been 



found to be an excellent manure for potatoes. The 

 rags are cut into small piece-i and put under the 

 sets at planting, and the effect produced is de- 

 scribed as wonderful, the quantity produced far 

 exceeding that on ground manured in the usual 

 way. It might heighten the effect, if the rags 

 were dipped in, or saturated with, anlimonial gas 

 liquor. — English pap. 



It is with antiquity as with ancestry, nations are 

 proud of the one, ond individuals of the other ; but if 

 they ore nothing in themselves, that which is their 

 pride, ought to be their humiliation. — Lacon. 



GEOLOGICAL DEFINITIONS. 



The following definitions may be useful to lomc 

 of our readers, as explaining the meaning of lerma 

 which frequently occur in agricultural writinga: 



" The primitive tarllis are four : clay, sand, 

 lime and magnesia. 



Clny is called by geologists, alumina, alumine, 

 or argilaeeous earth. 



Sand is called silez, silicious earth, earth of 

 flints. 



Lime, as it exists in the soil, is commonly called 

 calcareous earth. The term calcareous is not prop- 

 erly applied to any soil, unless it will effervesce 

 with acids. 



Ecrh of these earths, answer a determinate and 

 specific purpose in the economy and growth of 

 plants, and the perfection of soil lies in a mixture of 

 the whole. 



Vegetable matter — all vegetable substances io a 

 decaying or rotten state. 



Animal matter — All animal aubstancea in a pu- 

 trifying state. 



Organic matter — A term applicable to both ani- 

 mal and vegetable substances in a putrifying state. 



Vegetable mould — The earthly remains of vege- 

 table substances which have either grown and de. 

 cayed on the soil, or have been conveyed thither 

 in the process of cultivation. 



Loam is a combination of vegetable mould with 

 the primitive earths. 



Marl is a substance consisting of lime with a 

 small portion of clay, and sometimes of peat, with 

 marine sand and animal remains. It is useful as 

 manure, and is distinguished by shell, clay and 

 stone marl." 



Chicken Hatching. — Some enterprising persons 

 in Brooklyn, L. I., have established an " institution" 

 in that city for the purpose of hatching chickens 

 on a large scale, which is dignified with the eupho- 

 nious name of Polotokion. It comprises five or six 

 long buildings, and several acres of land. 



They have a similar affair in England, called the 

 Eccateobeion, which is in successful operation, and 

 turns out one hundred chickens a day. 



The practice of artificial hatching has long pre- 

 vailed in Egypt, and has recently been introduced 

 into France. Reaumer, we believe, was the first 

 person who succeeded in raising chickens by 

 means of the common oven. The modern appara- 

 tus consists of a series of flues supplied with hot 

 water. A good deal of care is necessary in rais- 

 ing the youngsters, as they do not prove very 

 healthy. It is said that they have to be taken care 

 of by the old hens for at least a month after they 

 are hatched. — Farmer'i Gaz. 



Things that I have seen — I ha»e seen a farmer 

 build a house bo large and fine, that the sheriff 

 turned him out of doors. — I have seen a young 

 man sell a good farm, turn merchant, fail, and die 

 in a poor house. — I have seen a rich man's son be- 

 gin where his father left off — wealthy; and end 

 where his father began — penniless. — Far. Cab. 



