AND GARDCNKR'S JOIUNAL. 



10 



TaD HEUIJFOISO OX. 



orrect reprpsontauona of distinct breeds ol caitle, orj more useful tu farmers than portraits of living nni- 

 s wliic'a do not scrvu the purpose of illustration. The Ilcrefiiril ia one of iLe oldest and most celebrated 

 'As, and one which particularly interests the American farmer, owing to its entering so largely into the 

 iposition of our common mixed breed. 



he above portrait, which we find in th; Farmers' Cabinet, i'cop.'ed, we presume, from Low's illiistra- 

 3,) exhibits the true form and characteristics of the Hereford Ox in perfec'.iou. 

 Ib. Marshall's description of this famnus breed of cattle, is as follows: 



The couniennnce, pleasant and open; the forehead broad; eja-, full and lively; borni, bright, tapering, 

 spreading; chest, deep; bosom, broad and projecting forwards; shoulder bone, thin. Hit, and no way 

 tnberant in bone, but full and mellow in flesh; loin, broad; hips, wide and level with the spine; quarters 

 g and wide; rump, even with Ihe general level of the back; tail, slender; bine', roomy, with 

 ease throughout deep and well fpread; rilis, broad and standing close nnd flat on the outer surface, 

 ning a soiuoth, even barrel, the hindmist large, and of full length; round bone, small and snug, and 

 pro ninent; thissh, clean and regularly tapering; legs, upright and short, with bone below the knee small; 

 ■ k, large; twist, round nnd full; Hesh, everywhere, mellow, aolt, and yielding pleasantly to the touch, es- 

 ;iully on the chine, shoulder, and rib; hide, mellow and supple; coat, neatly haired, bright and silky; color, 

 iiiddle red, with bald face. 



' The breeders of these cattle would do well to preserve the old blood in as great a slate of purity aa possi- 

 , for they possess one of the mo=t valuable breeds of cattle in the world. The distinguishing qualities of 

 Hereford Ox are, the groat produce of beef, quick feeding in proportion to their growth snd size, with im- 

 nse stiength and speed in labjr. W.th respect to the most prolitable return in quantity of beef, it may be 

 sumed that no breed in Eiighn 1 can stand in competition with them, and they have accordingly been most 

 eessl'ul at the annual priz ■ cattle shivva, commanding the first prize, alive or dead. A wiiter observes: 

 fais breed, so csleirated for producing quant ty of beef, seems to combine all other desirable qualities — 

 gth, di'pth, substance, rotundity, fineness, yet sufficiency of bone. Their origin is supposed to have been 

 ro33 of the old H:!refjrd and the Northern breed; and this opinion is strengthened by the remarks of a Here- 

 dshire breeder, who says, about 8'J years agn, a Mr. Galiier, of the Grange, procured a bull from York- 

 re with a white fa^'e, and ivide horns, and bred Irom him; the produce became fashionable, and actually 

 d the foanditionof the present famous breed — and hence the bald face of the Herefirds, a breed which, 

 ij lining beef and labDr, stand on the summit: they fatten speedily at an early age, and will live and grow 

 A'here others would scarcely subsist. It is however, universally admitted, that as mdkers they are inferior 

 the D3v.ms nnd many othsr breeds, while compared with these, they are shorter in the leg, higher and 

 laJer and heavier in the chine, rounder and wider across the hips, and better covered with iat; the thigh 

 ■lerand more m iscular, and th3 shoulders larger and coarser." • 



The weight of Mr. Weslcar'a Herefordshire prize O.x, 2192 lbs. the four quarters. 



The Xt:w Enclvnd Farmkr. — We mentioned 

 ome months since, that Atxen Putnam had or^sumed 

 editorship of this old and respectable paper; buta^ 

 thad failed reaching us for some weeks previous, we 

 iould not speak of the eflects of the change. Since 

 ben however, it has arrived regularly, and we ought 



ifore now to have stated that Mr. Putnam's ndminis- 

 .ration has, in our opinion, wrought a decided im- 

 jrovement in its character. The following article on 

 Haymaking is a fair specimen of the genuine farmei 

 atyle of Mr. P. We thank him forsnvingus the trou- 

 ble of writing an article on t'unt subject for our readers, 

 Hay i^Iakinj. 

 Sajlhcs. — Procure a good sci;//ic for every man and 

 boy on the farm, who is to do any thing at mowing 

 This work of cutting the grass is hard enough, witl 

 the best implement that can be imdc. And wher< 

 the tool is poor, the work must be done either poorly 

 or slowly — and in e:ther case the farmer is losing more 

 than the cost of furnishing a better instrument. 11'^ 

 know not — (by the way, this term icc, /am tired of, 

 and shall, wheit it so pleases me, use the more proper 

 representation ot my single self. /) — I know not that 

 any one iif the manufacturers of this article excels all 

 others: some seythes from each factory are good, and 

 others. are nit s";— if y^Ai are unfortunate eno^igh to 



^et a poor one, there is no economy in trying to wor- 

 y throu!;h the season with it; gnawing olT your grass; 

 ;Vhet:ing every five minutes; fretting your own body 

 )r that of your hired man; going to the grindstone 

 every two hours; — these attendants upon a poor 

 scythe are such consumers of lime, that it is better to 

 throw the soft-or the brittle thing aside at once, and 

 chase another. As a general rule the scythe that 

 )ks towards the point works better than the straight 

 one — at least it is so in my hands. The cast off" 

 scythe should not be put into the hands of the boy who 

 is laiming to mow — he wants in his feebler and un- 

 praciiccd hand, a sharper edge than is required by the 

 man. Give him a goorf and a light tool, or else ex- 

 cuse him from this work. 



Hor^e Rake. — The value of this implement for use 

 on a farm of common inequalities of surface, and of 

 common size, is often over-stated in theadverliseinents 

 and pufl's. But the actual icorlli of it justifies its pur- 

 chose. We have used the revolving horse rake for 

 lour or five seasons, on a farm where two acres is per- 

 haps the amount mowed per day: the raking up of the 

 thick green morning's mowing in the latter part of the 

 afternoon, is a fatiguing appendage to the previous 

 hard work of the day. The old horse who has been 

 in the pasture all day, and has nothing to do at pre- 

 sent but kick flies, can gready lighten and considera- 

 bly shorten this labor: wcgencraiiysavcfjt (imc prob 

 ably from 45 to 60 minutes, and in strmgfh more than 



hall. Tins saving tuwiirde the close of the day, comes 

 in very opportunely, and wc would not pari with tho 

 rake for twice iia cost. 



To mannge thi.-< inhtrnmcnl skilfully, requires somn 

 practice — but as toon as one gets a little ncrustonied 

 to it, he can lay the winrows vciy well. On large 

 farms its use nuiat be more valuable than on small 

 ones. Where gram is mowed and rak' (1 up, this 

 rake is very convenient and coinfoiiabic; it lakes all 

 clean, and saves from hard hand raking. 



This inatninient dc8tr\c? more extensive use ihaii 

 it has found hidicrto. 



Time vf CiiUing. — Where grasses arc not lodged, 

 it is well to cut when they are fairly and fully in blos- 

 som; but to avoid having some t)!' them get far past 

 this state before time can be found for securing, il ia 

 prurient to begin upon the more luxuriant fields bo- 

 fore they reach full blossom. 



Curing. — In the early part of the haying season, 

 whde the grasi? is quite green, and much tore is ic- 

 quired for curing, it is well to bo busy in turning it up 

 tu wind and sun; help it along as fast as you can — but 

 Inter in the season, if the weather be good, it wid bo 

 suliiciently cured the day after mowing without much 

 assistance. 



Some lilfic matters amount to considerable in ibo 



course of the season; — in laming vp hay, take tha 



help of the wind; do this too in raking; — in raking 



after the cart, regard the course of the wind and tho 



rection in which the team will next :novc. ond so ar- 



nge as not to be obliged to lake the ground over 



twice. In this simple labor of raking after the call, I 



ve found " head work" as profitable as in any of tho 



eiations upon the farm. 



S:dt. — Hay that would be liaWe to heat nnd pour 

 because not quite cured, mny olun be mowed away 

 widi safety, if six to ten quarts of salt to the ton aro 

 applied. The ulC o'" salt upon nearly all the hr.y as it 

 es into the barn may be wipe. I am inclined to the 

 belief that a farm in ray neighboihood on which salt 

 has been very freely used in that wny, had been great- 

 ly improved by it; that is, I think the manure lias 

 been much more efiicacious in consequence ot the salt 

 applied to the hay. At home we find no hay so palat- 

 able to the stock aa that wdiich is cut young,' three- 

 fourths dried and well salted. 



Clover. — This should be cured without much ex- 

 posure to the sun. I can tell a story that jjoes to show 

 that clover need not be so th irouglily dried as niony 

 suppo-"e. Last year, about the middle ot June, we 

 mowed some very coarse clo\er, scarcely 1 eginn'r.g 

 to blossom, and as full of sap as clover ever w as. The 

 weather wns cloudy and foggy for several cays, so 

 that but little progress was made in curing it; it con- 

 tinued heavy and green; after four or five days, and 

 while the cocks weic damp w'ith fog we loailed it, be- 

 cause the indications of rain were strong. It was ta- 

 ken to the birn, stowed away, and very thoroughly 

 salted. In four or five days it was dripping wet and 

 burning hot ; in fifteen days it was mouldy; in De- 

 cember it was toe hay preferred above all others in 

 the barn by '• old B: g Horn," a dainty cow that was 

 destined for the shambles; every aniir.al in the barn 

 would devour it greedily — and this too, when most of 

 the hay, and all the corn stalks in the bain had been 

 salt'^d; — the salt taste was no rarity. 



Driiilci. — Tht. hay-maker must have a full supply 

 of diink; perspiration will he free, and he muft have 

 something to support it. There is no danger from 

 frcijiienl drinking in the hottest weather. Take cald 

 wafer as often and as heely as you please; there is no 

 tlanger from it, if you have not been too long without 

 drink. Cold icatcr ie the best of all drinks (or slack- 

 ing thirst — it may be sweetened with molasses or 

 with sugar; and if milk is taken with them, the drink 

 is the most servicnble we have ever found — furnish- 

 ing nourishment while it slakes thiist. Rum and Ci- 

 der, and their kindred spirits, aie not to be admitted 

 to the field of the prudent and worthy farmer. I 

 know they are not needed; I know they are not useful 

 there, 'The bay will be cut and cured with more 

 despatch and comfort, when true temperance practi- 

 ces prevail, than wheie alcohol intrudes. 



None but the intemperate are injured bydrinUins 

 cold water. It told ihat I know not the hardship rf 

 swinaing the scythe, and the need a man then has for 

 the stimulus, 1 reply that I do know what it is to 

 swing the scythe, and that on the very hottest dny of 

 1340, 1 tvns mowing from half past four in tie morning 

 till three in the afternoon, with the exception ol limo 

 enough to cat, drink and grind the scythe; and nei 

 ther then nor on any other day of the season, did I ro 

 quire the use of any other drinks stronger than mi'li 

 and water. And no man, after one month of tempe 

 perance, will ever require any thin; elrcngcr. 



