14 



THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



well understands the management of horses, 

 to prevent bad habits ; as first impressions 

 are hardly ever entirely removed from mare 

 or horse. 



We recommend corn for colts in the 

 winter, and oats in the summer. Colts 

 and horses should be furnished with good 

 stables, great attention should be paid to 

 stables, the removal of all offensive and 

 putrid matter, to prevent diseases, which 

 frequently proceed from such neglect.— 

 A log stable is preferable to any other, on 

 account of its admitting a free circulation 

 of air in the summer; and by the use of 

 rough edge plank and straw in the winter, 

 can be made warm. The rack should be 

 smooth, high, and firmly fastened to the 

 wall, which will prevent a horse from in- 

 juring his eyes, skinning his face, and 

 doing himself other injury when feeding. 

 The upright pieces in a rack should be 

 four or four and a half inches apart, to 

 prevent long food from being unnecessa- 

 rily wasted. The halter should never be 

 tied to the rack, (horses have been ruined 

 by such carelessness,) but should be passed 

 through a ring in the manger and con- 

 fined to a longer or a smooth piece of 

 wood weighing about a pound. A stall 

 should be four and one-half or five feet 

 wide, which will allow him to lie down 

 with comfort. 



Very respectfully submitted, 



H. H. Henan, Secretary. 



A HINT TO DAIRY FARMERS. 



Last week we took an opportunity of 

 visiting a farm occupied by Mr. Dumbrell, 

 who has adopted the system of tethering 

 his cows upon a somewhat new and pro- 

 fitable system. The land is of a light 

 shravy soil, and through the judicious 

 management of the tenant, by the econo- 

 mical use of liquid manure, and by judi- 

 cious depasturing, he has brought the 

 land into a high state of cultivation. The 

 Alpha and Omega of his system is, per- 

 haps, that of root culture, which has en- 

 abled him to keep a much greater number 

 of cows upon the land to the acre than is 

 to be met with in the neighborhood. The 

 great difficulty which most dairy farmers 



meet with in keeping cows, probably, du- 

 ring the two months preceding the hay 

 harvest, has been overcome by Mr. Dum- 

 brell, who, by tethering the cows, is en- 

 abled to make the meadows of compara- 

 tive smaller dimensions than is customary, 

 yield food in sufficient abundance for his 

 dairy. The usual way of tethering is to 

 allow a cow the range of a circle to the 

 extent of the chain ; and when it has 

 eaten down its food within its area it is 

 removed to another spot. Instead of doing 

 this, Mr. Dumbrell tethers his cows with 

 a chain of twelve to fifteen feet; and 

 when it has consumed the grass within 

 its reach, the pin is removed onward a 

 foot and a half ; the cow then eats this 

 quantity, and is again allowed another 

 bite of the same extent. This plan pre- 

 vents the animal from treading on the 

 food which it consumes while quite fresh, 

 and the chain assists in distributing the 

 droppings. The field is thus fed over 

 evenly, and all is consumed and none 

 trodden upon. Mr. Dumbrell professes to 

 realize good profits from his system, and 

 with a degree of liberality highly credita- 

 ble to his character reserves no information 

 from his visitors. — Surrey Standard. 



From the Richmond Whig. 

 FARMERS' CONVERSATION MEETINGS. 



Messrs. Editors, — It is a subject for re- 

 gret to every thinking agriculturist of 

 Virginia, that there should exist so few 

 aids by means of associated effort, or any 

 other than individual and isolated action, 

 for extending agricultural information. — 

 No where else has individual intelligence 

 and action done more for agricultural im- 

 provement and profit, than can be found 

 in Virginia, and no where has less been 

 effected by any combined efforts of the 

 agricultural class, or even any considera- 

 ble portion thereof. It scarcely need be 

 added, that the Government, the State of 

 Virginia, has done nothing whatever for 

 this all-important object. 



There have existed in Virginia nume- 

 rous agricultural societies, and some still 

 exist. Some of these societies have, at 



