1867. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



187 



fight the battle of life on the field of Mars, or 

 in the more peaceful and inviting fields of 

 Ceres and Pomona. 



I found that in his bays, Mr. Tuttle had 

 deposited in the fall some 75 tons of fodder, 

 60 of which were English hay ; and in his 

 stalls were about 25 head of cattle, all of which 

 were clean and in excellent flesh. Most of 

 them were cows giving milk, and producing 

 from five to thirteen or fourteen quarts per day, 

 according to the time of having dropped their 

 calves. 



I was especially pleased to find among his 

 stock, several Short Horn Durham grades, 

 which promise to become very fine animals. 

 There are no cows among us which possess, to 

 my eye, so much beauty as a grade of the 

 Short Horn and Ayrshire. In this mixture, 

 the former loses something of its bulk, which 

 is rather large for New England pastures, and 

 gains in that delicate symmetry which distin- 

 guishes the Ayrshire ; while the Ayrshire gains 

 size, and, perhaps, milking qualities. The 

 finest herds I have ever seen in dairy districts 

 were made up from this mixture, and in some 

 cases with what is called "native" cattle, in 

 which Ayrshire blood was probably present. 

 All about the barn indicated thi-ift and con- 

 tentment. 



The farm contains about 100 acres of excel- 

 lent land. When Mr. T.'s father entered upon 

 it, some 30 or more years ago, it produced but 

 five or six tons of English hay. It now yields 

 60, and the proprietor thinks 100 tons may be 

 cut annually by a higher course of cultivation. 



My next visit was to the farm of Joseph L. 

 HuRD, Esq., a native of this town, but now 

 residing in Detroit. The farm is managed by 

 his brother, Llr. William Kurd, and consists 

 of 400 acres of every variety of land, from the 

 deep bog to light, sandy loams. Some por- 

 tions of it are covered heavily with wood and 

 valuable timber. 



In the revolutionary war, when the British 

 were hovering on our coast or in actual pos- 

 session of Boston, and vicinity, the buildings 

 of Harvard College, at Cambridge, were va- 

 cated, and officers and students occupied the 

 large house that then stood on this farm, — but 

 which was destroyed by fire some ten years 

 since. 



For two or three years past a large flock of 

 sheep has been kept on the farm, but having 



strong jumping and roving propensities, they 

 were gradually sold off. There Is now In the 

 barns a stock of fifty-two head of cattle, in- 

 cluding some five or six horses. Among the 

 stock there are thirty-one head of pure Jersey 

 or Alderney cattle, including two bulls, one 

 four years old, and the other about one year 

 old. A more beautiful sight has rarely been 

 presented to the eye of those partial to this 

 breed, than this stoek in INIr. Hurd's stalls. 

 He states that the cows are hardy and healthy ; 

 good feeders and milkers, docile indisposition, 

 and probably the best butter makers in the 

 world. They are nearly all of the fawn color, 

 and almost as sleek and beautiful as fawns 

 themselves. 



Everything about the barn, cattle, fodder and 

 Implements, was neat and orderly. The whole 

 stock has been fed — and will continue to be 

 fed through the winter — upon meadow hay and 

 shorts, as a large amount of that hay had ac- 

 cumulated in the barn. It was sweet, and the 

 cows were eating It freely. 



Upon this farm there is a vineyard of about 

 four acres, mostly set with Concord grapes. I 

 did not go to it, but understood that it is doing 

 well. At another time I will speak of other 

 farms. Truly yours, Simon Brown. 



P. S. — Since visiting Mr. Hurd''s farm, I 

 understand that it is his intention to sell all 

 his neat stock at auction in the course of a 

 few weeks. There will then be a rare chance 

 to obtain some of the finest Alderney stock 

 that has been presented for a long time. 



AGRICULTURAL COLLEGES. 

 A paragraph copied from the Nation, of 

 which the Ibllowing are the opening and clos- 

 ing sentences, has been copied by nearly all 

 the agricultural press as well as by most news- 

 papers of the country : — 



"The work of organizing and starting so 

 novel an Institution is not to be done piece- 

 meal and at odd hours. It must be the event 

 of the life of him who accomplishes It, not an 

 Incident In his career. It must be his study, 

 not his diversion. * * * The unity of pur- 

 pose, the clearly defined plan of a single head, 

 are far more likely to be successful than the 

 conflicting plans and shifting methods of a 

 dozen heads." 



Col. S. D.Harris, editor of the Ohio Farm- 

 er, who in years past was connected with the 

 Board of Education in Ohio, favors quite a dif- 



