AND HORTICULTURAL REGISTER. 



PUIJLISHED BY JOSEPH BRECK & CO., NO. 52 NORTH MARKET STREET, (Agkioultdral Wabehodse.) 



I.. XXII.] 



BOSTON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, APRIL 3, 1844. 



[NO. 40. 



N . E. FARMER- 



For the New England Farmer. 



SOW LIBERALLY. 



Ir Euitok — Thero are few practices among 

 farmers more injudicious than that of sowing 

 small a quantity of grass and grain seed on a 

 ;nquaiitity of land. Tlioiiglimany enlightened 

 ivators among us are well nware of the greater 

 intnge in liberal seeJinj, and 'Iiuugh this has 

 n rep'^atedly urged by the committee of the 

 .e Agricultural Society in their annual report 

 .he farms offered for the Society's premiums, 

 , it is believed, the practice of scanty seeding 

 ery generally prevalent among llie farmers of 

 isachusetls. 



have never been able to decide to my own 

 sfcction, in M-hat motive this practice has its 

 in, — whether from an idea tlial it is the most 

 nomical — or that any larger qnantily of seed 

 Id be too much for the ground — or whether it 

 diowed out of pure respect to old customs, with 

 lief in their infallibility. But whatever motive 

 prompt it, it is not founded in wisdom, albeit 

 ay have " the crest of antiquity on its brow" — 

 is there any economy about it. A few more 

 ris of seed, it is true, involves the expense of a 

 more shillings ; but if these few more qnarls 

 :eed result in adding a few more bushels to the 

 lucl, surely it would seem to be a dictate of 

 ! economy, to expend the extra shitlinjrs in the 

 'i'l^, to secure the extra dollars in the product. 

 i bushel and a half of wheat, two bushels of 

 I, two and a half pecks of herdsgrass, and a 

 hel of reiltop, are, in the opinion of good judges, 

 fair tllowances for an acre's seeding. 'I'hough 

 d yields may be obtained by less liberal seed- 

 , it does not prove that greater products would 

 result fro.m adopting the liberal system, — in- 

 d, such a result is beyond cavil. 

 t is wr'tten, " He that soweth sparingly, shall 

 I rf.ap sparingly" — and it would be for the ad- 

 tage of very many of our farmers if they would 

 sider whether this maxmi did not account, in 

 le measure, for their slender harvests. 

 ?hat some soils, and under certain circumstan- 

 , will admit, and require, heavier seeding than 

 3rs, is true ; — the judgment of the farmer must 

 ide in such cases as to the proper amount. It 

 le prnciice of sowing too little seed fc^nirally, 

 *liich I am speaking, and it is one which it is 

 )e hoped our agricultural writers will continue 

 lenounce, and, better still, one which our far- 

 ■3 generally will, ere long, renounce, 

 jet those who have any doubt that there is 

 fatcr advantage in more liberal seeding, try 

 effect tins season of an increased quantity of 

 i, and see if the product does not prove that, 

 'aspect to this matter, " as ye sow, so shall ye 



P-" 

 do not claim that there is one single original 

 gestio" in the above, Mr Editor ; but an adage, 

 i as trite, says " we need to be often reminded 



of what we already know" — and my belief in the 

 utility of this axiom, is my apology for offering the 

 preceding remarks. 



Respectfully, yours, D. 



For the N. E. Farmer. 



"ENGLISH CATTLE." 



Mr E[)Itor — In the February No. of the "Far- 

 mer's Monthly Visitor," there is an article under 

 the above caption, signed "Old Essex," which be- 

 trays more ignorance or prejudice in the writer, 

 than it is agreeable to see exhibited by one who 

 writes for a public journal. 



The effect — ([ do not say it is the ohjed) — of 

 the views advanced in the article in question, (if 

 indeed they have nnij effect,) will be to mislead those 

 who are desirous of improving their stoci; : and, 

 having this tendency, they should not go unnoticed 

 and uncontradicted, lly chief design in noticing 

 the article is, not so much to combat its fallacies 

 myself, as to elicit romments upon them by other.-', 

 whose greater experience enables them to speak 

 "according to knowledge." 



The writer, alter relating a somewhat humor- 

 ous, but very improbable story, the gist of which 

 is to ridicule the pretensions of the Durham breed 

 of cattle to superiority over our natives, (in the 

 relation of which ho speaks of the Merino sheep as 

 " bubbles," meaning that they are " Imiubugs" ! !) — 

 says : 



"The writer of this article has come to the con- 

 clusion that the cattle of this country, as a whole, 

 are decidedly superior' to those of any other: and 

 that we act the wiser and better in selecting at 

 home than in going abroad. * * If, indeed, our 

 own cattle are so decidedly inferior to the .cuttle 

 now in England, it would be well that so impor- 

 tant a truth should be known. * * Let us have 

 something besides mere assertions — something 

 that will prove superiority, and not figurative boast- 

 ing," &c. 



Now in all this, I charge the writer either with 

 ignorance, prejudice, or insincerity. How much 

 experience or observation can the writer have had 

 to justify such a conclusion as that to which he 

 has arrived, supposing him to be sincere in stating 

 it? But little, precious little, certainly He could 

 not have known the superior merits of the foreign 

 breeds compared with our own, and have come to 

 such a conclusion — unless he perverted his judg- 

 ment. I can suppose him prejudiced in favor of 

 the doctrine of ''our own superiority," and thus 

 account for his baseless conclusion, — and I can 

 suppose, again, that this prejudice, and a desire 

 (a very unworthy one,) to persuade our farmers 

 that there is no breed of animals superior to what 

 they have, led him to express views which were 

 not his sincere convictions. However, by whatev. 

 er motive he was influenced, his pretended conclu- 

 sion is unsupported by facts ; and I have the charity 

 to think he is aware of this. 



He asks for facts to prove the superiority of the 

 English breeds. Had he been a candid reader of 



our prominent agricultural journals, he would have 

 been furnished with conclusive evidence in the 

 case, if he would admit the concurrent testimony 

 of many honorable men, to be evidence ; and I 

 hope this hastily penned notice of his article, may 

 have the effect of inducing those who may be in 

 possession of such facts as he requests, to present 

 an array of them for his candid consideration — al- 

 though they would be full ns likely to meet hia 

 ridicule — for, (and the opinion is submitted with 

 doe respect,) we take him for one of that class who 

 will not be convinced of any thing that is contrary 

 to their preconceived an(f cherished prejudices, 

 or who will not own it if they are. Such per- 

 sons should never obtrude their bigoted notions on 

 public attention through the press; — their influ- 

 ence is to lead others astray, — and it is this ten- 

 dency of the article under notice, that induced 

 these hasty comiuciits upon it. 



I have as much true nntionnlity in my prejudi- 

 ces, I conceive, as " Old Essex" can have ; — I go 

 for ,'\inerican productions before all others, so far 

 as they arc equal to all others, and no farther; — I 

 have not — I trust I never shall have — any of thai 

 ultra sort of nationality betrayed by " Old Essex," 

 which will not admit superiority to our own pro- 

 ductions, although its existence is as palpable as 

 the sun in heaven. 



I cannot, in conclusion, forbear to express my 

 surprise that the article in question should have 

 been published in the "Visitor," without any com- 

 ments by its editor. Gov. Hill, though he may 

 not have had any personal experience with the no- 

 ted English breeds of cattle, has had abundant op- ■ 

 portunitics of observation to enable liini to judge of 

 their superior merits compared with our common 

 natives, — and I cannot think that he concurs in 

 the views advanced by "Old Essex." 



Viry respectfully, &c. D. 



The following is related by the Central N. Y. 

 Farmer, in connection with an account of Hon. 

 Daniel Webster's farm at Marshfield : 



"There is an incident connected with Mr Web- 

 ster's purchase of Mr Welles, which shows that 

 the farmer of Marshfield knows how to select good 

 cattle. He called on Mr Welles, and inquired of 

 him what he would ask for one of his cows, to be 

 selected by Mr Webster, and was informed the 

 price. He went to the stable where a large num- 

 ber of cows were kept, and called for a pail. The 

 attendants were very much amazed at this ques- 

 tion, and watched with interest the operations of 

 the man who had delighted thousands with the ex- 

 hibition of his talents. He began milking the 

 cows, and passed on from one to another, until he 

 approached the most valuable of the herd. The 

 owner became somewhat excited at the manner of 

 testing his cows. .Mr Webster soon sat down by 

 the most valuable cow, and commenced trying her 

 milking qualities, and afler milking a short time, 

 says, "this cow tvilt do for me." " You can have 

 her," said the owner, "but if you ever want to 

 purchase another cow of me, I think 1 shall have 

 something to say about the selection myself." 



