THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



339 



KHAIN CATTLE AND THEIR CROSSES. 

 Holkjiam, Albemarle, Sept. 26, 1856. 



Dear Sir, — A considerable number of the 

 readers of your paper requested me to give my 

 views of the Khain Cattle and their crosses, 

 after I had tested them sufficiently to form a 

 correct opinion. The imported bull, very soon 

 after his arrival at my farm, became impotent, 

 and I got from him but four calves, two half- 

 blood males, which I have exhibited at our 

 State Fair, and tAvo females, one full blood, the 

 other half blood. They produced each a very 

 fine male calf last summer by Hon. Wm. C. 

 Rives' thorough bred Durham bull. Red Rover, 

 from Mr. Morris's of New York — all of which 

 I intend to exhibit at our next Fair. 



The full blood is what would be considered 

 a fair milker, giving now, ten quarts of milk 

 per day. The half blood sixteen quarts — a 

 large amount for a heifer with her first calf. 

 This heavy flow of milk may possibly be acci- 

 dental, but I am inclined to believe that the 

 calf with any good milk stock will turn out 

 well. Dr. Davis, who selected the cattle for 

 Lieut. Lynch, told me that they were almost 

 invariably good milkers, in a climate intensely 

 warm w^here they subsisted, the greater part of 

 the year by browsing. 



The full blood, though very active, are two 

 slender, not having sufficient strength. My 

 half blood bulls I htive broken to work, and 

 they perform admirably, possessing enough 

 power combined with remarkable activity — 

 moving with the speed of horses. Their red 

 color, which they generally impart to their off- 

 spring, is also quite a desideratum with tKo 

 lover of the *' heauUful.^' Mr. Philip St. George 

 Tucker and others who procured from me bull 

 calves at the last Fair, speak in high terms as 

 to their thriftiness, hardiness, &c. 



Crossed upon good stock the progeny must 

 prove all we can desire in oxen for work, and 

 if they possessed no other good quality, this 

 alone would sufficiently recommend them. I 

 will have at the Faiv a few calves for sale. 

 Faithfully yours, 



JOHN R. WOOD. 

 Frank G. Ruffin, Esqr., Richmond. 



IMPORTANT TO WHEAT GROWERS IN 

 NORTH CAROLINA. 



At the meeting of the Scientific Association 

 in Albany, this summer, some private conver- 

 sation ensued upon the comparative merits of 

 the grains grown in the West, North and 

 South. It was observed that Southern flour 

 had largely the preference in the West Indies 

 and South America, on account of its being 

 dryer and keeping better in hot climates. 



A gentleman w^ho attended the World's Fair 

 in London, at once remarked that the finest 

 flour he ever saw was made of North Carolina 

 wheat, and ground at mills in New York. Be- 

 ing solicited to submit the observation to writ- 



ing, Dr. Elwyn, of Philadelphia, well known 

 for the interest he takes in agriculture and every 

 thing connected with the useful arts, at once 

 drew up a certificate, of which the ensuing is a 

 copy: 



" I have been desired, by Dr. Gibbon of North 

 Carolina, to record the following fact as inter- 

 esting to the wheat-growers of that State, 

 While acting as chairman of the committee 'on 

 articles used as food,' during the exhibition at 

 the Crystal Palace, I was struck with the quality 

 of the bread offered for examination by Hecker 

 & Brother of New York. It was the whitest 

 and best I ever saw. I asked — being a farmer — 

 the very natural question, as to where they pro- 

 cured their grain ; and was told that the bread 

 was made of flour from North Carolina wheat ; 

 and to my further astonishment, was also in- 

 formed that, in their opinion, the best wheat in 

 the United States was that of North Carolina. 

 (Signed.) A. L. ELWYN. 



Albany, N. Y., August 25, 1856, 



BLANKETS FOR NEGROES. 



" One blanket, such as planters usually buy 

 for negroes, will cost $1 40 and will last about 

 one year. Six yards of kerseys at 28 cents per 

 yard, ($1 68,) will make a warmer blanket and 

 will last FIVE years. I know this from experi- 

 ence. Other reasons besides economy recom- 

 mend kerseys as a substitute for blankets. The 

 former are manufactured in the South, and of 

 one half cotton and mostly of Southern wool, 

 while blankets are made at the North and of 

 Northern and Western yi<do\.— American Cotton 

 Planter, 



THE GROWTH OF THE WHEAT PLANT 



BY CUTHBERT W. JOHNSON, F. R. S. 



On some former occasions, we have examined 

 together many of the phenomena which attend 

 the growth of the wheat plant. In the last num- 

 ber of the Journal of the Royal Agricultural 

 Society of England, Professor Buckman has 

 pursued the same interesting research ; and at 

 no period of the year can we, perhaps, again 

 examine the subject more usefully than on the 

 very verge, as it were, of wheat seed-time. 



The choice of the seed is a primary question ; 

 it is here that in our cultivation Ave dcA^iate, as 

 we too often do, from nature. The seeds of the 

 wild wheat, except in a few instances, are sown 

 where they are ripened \ unless carried by the 

 winds or by animals, they are reproduced for a 

 series of years on the same soil ; in consequence, 

 the plant yields small seeds — perhaps degene- 

 rate. The farmer avoids these ill results by 

 changing the soil ; by carefully manuring his 

 land ; and by varying his seed. He notes, too, 

 that in this alteration of seed, certain facts, with 

 regard to the new Avheat, are beneficially to be 

 regarded. In his prize essay, the Professor has 

 alluded to some of these, and especially to the 



