1SG2. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



307 



NHW YORK STATE SOCIETY. 



Throu!i:li the kindness of its accomplished Sec- 

 retary, B. P. Johnson, Esq., we have before us 

 the twentieth volume of the Transactions of the 

 New Yoi-lc State Agriadtnral Society for the 

 year 1860. Like many of its predecessors, it 

 abounds in valuable statistical information in re- 

 lation to the condition of agriculture, from nearly 

 every portion of the State, and is illusti*ited with 

 vrell executed engravings of animals, insects and 

 agricultural implements and machinery. 



Among so much that gives the experiences of 

 practical men, it is difficult to select and com- 

 ment. At the evening discussions during the 

 State Fair a variety of subjects were discussed. 

 That upon the Indian corn crop is quite interest- 

 ing. Several of the speakers, men of large ex- 

 perience, stated it as their opinion that this crop 

 is tlte most pmfttable of any of the large farm 

 crops. Mr. T. C. Pkters, of Genesee, said he 

 had tried an experiment to determine the relative 

 value of corn-stalks and Timothy hay. Both were 

 chopped and steamed. The cows having the corn- 

 stalks gave the ?nost milk. He also states v/hat 

 we have often urged upon the reader, that the 

 ground and manure where we expect good crops 

 should both be very fine. Mr. Peters says, "The 

 great secret of success in corn culture is to have 

 the ground made very fine before planting." Li 

 company with two other persons, last summer — 

 both very observing and intelligent men — Ave ex- 

 amined the soil in a field of corn, and came to the 

 conclusion that there was scarcely an inch in the 

 whole field that was not a complete network of 

 corn roots. These roots were exceedingly small 

 and delicate, but so numerous as to hold the soil 

 together so firmly as to require some jarring in 

 order to shake it out. How important it is, then, 

 that the soil into which these delicate roots are to 

 run and seek support, should be fine and moist ! 



When the subject of sheep husbandry was dis- 

 cussed, Mr. John S. Pettibone, of Vermont, 

 said that one great secret of success was the pc?-- 

 sonal attention given to flocks — he never knew a 

 man to look at his j)Ig while it was feeding unless 

 it was fine and fat — the man who has poor ani- 

 mals always gives the food and then runs away ! 

 He always keeps his best sheep. 



Mr. Baker, of Urbana, maintained that "there 

 is nothing like a flock of sheep to keep up the fer- 

 tility of the land. Says he has kept 800 sheep a 

 year on something less than 200 acres of land, 

 including the hay and pasture for them ; and has 

 made the land so fertile as to raise 120 bushels of 

 shelled corn on an acre. He feeds potatoes, beets, 

 or carrots, to the ewes, twenty days before lamb- 

 ing, and regards potatoes as the richest food, and 

 beets the easiest raised on his land." 



Mr. Robinson, of the New York Tribune, be- 



ing called on to state what sort of sheep sell the 

 best in the New York market, said, "South Down 

 sheep always outsell every other variety, to the 

 first-class butchers, but they are not appreciated 

 by the Avholesale butchers, who are mostly Irish 

 and Jews. The next most profitable breed for the 

 New York market is the long wooled, heavy car- 

 cass sheep." Early lambs will sell for five dollars 

 a head, and later ones for three dollars, if fit for 

 the butcher. 



The next paper is upon Experiments icith Dif- 

 ferent Manures in Permanent Meadow Lands, 

 meadow here meaning our common upland mow- 

 ing lands. The first broad conclusion arrived at 

 is, "that it has been shown that the produce of 

 hay on permanent meadow land was more than 

 doubled by means of manure alone." 



The reports on farms and the dairy contain val- 

 uable suggestions and details of practice. Under 

 the caption, "Abortive Cows," six or seven causes 

 ': are stated that might cause this calamity. These 

 are common things, such as fright, worrying by 

 dogs, hooked by master cows, &c., but the con- 

 • elusion arrived at is, that, after an examination of 

 I all the facts presented, there is good reason to be- 

 : lieve that the cause of this disease lies beyond the 

 excitinsc causes above enumerated. This is a com- 

 paratively new habit, is altogether more extensive 

 ! than farmers generally suppose, and is making 

 I sad inroads upon the profits of cows in our own 

 State. There ought to be a thorough investiga- 

 tion of the disease and its causes, by some persons 

 competent for the task. 



This volume contains, also, the sixth report on 

 the noxious and other insects of the State of New 

 York, by AsA FiTCii, the entomologist of the 

 State Society. 



We have been interested and instructed by 

 . looking over the pages of this excellent volume, 

 ] and cannot withhold an expression of gratitude 

 i to the State, to the members of the Society, and 

 to the energetic and indefatigable Secretary for 

 sending to the public, annually, a volume so pro- 

 gressive and practical in its character. 



SCARCITY OP PURE ARABIAN MARES. 

 The Arab's love for their mares, and the jealous 

 care with which such animals are treasured in the 

 East, have formed the subject of many an iiitcr- 

 esting story. There is no difficulty in obtaining 

 any number of Arab stallions, for example, of the 

 very purest blood ; but it is next to impossible to 

 procure an Arabian mare of very high reputation. 

 A modern writer on the subject tells us that it is 

 even considered a crime to sell one under any cir- 

 cumstances ; and in pi'oof of the resolute opposi- 

 tion to the practice, a case is related as having 

 lately occurred in Calcutta, where some Arabian 

 dealers had sold their horses, and in consequence 

 of a heavy bribe one was induced to part with his 

 mare. Some weeks after, when the dealers had 



