136 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[APRi 
more than one hi seven, if so ruany, that were 
really superior. For the past five years I 
have selected from oilier importations such as 
suited my fancy, and the old biack cow "Ebony," 
imported by Thaddeus Davids, is one. She, with 
"Lop-Horn" from the importations of the late 
Tho;. Richardson, and a bull, "Bashau," im- 
i i : ■ 1 by R. W. Cameron, arc the source of my 
young si ick. Ti. y improve in beauty, strength 
of fancy-marks, and color, but not in quality." 
Walks and Talks on the Farm. -No. 52. 
Mr. Orange Judd, of the American Agricul- 
turist, has placed in the hands of the New 
York State Agricultural Society the sum of Three 
Hundred Dollars to be awarded as special prizes, 
of $100 each, for the best two barrels of White 
Winter Wheat, the best two barrels of Red j 
Winter Wheat, and the best two barrels of j 
Spring Wheat, exhibited at the next fair. I 
hope we shall get samples from every wheat- 
growing State in the Union, and also from | 
Canada. We have never yet had a decent show 
of wheat in the country. Our pomol 
friends are far ahead of US in this matter. We 
have much valuable information ia reg 
the best varieties of fruits adapted to different 
sections, and at the meetings of the American 
Pomological Society have an opportunity >■:' 
examining fruits raised in different States. B'tt 
1 ■> we know about wheat and other grains? 
We hear of the splendid wheatgrown in Oregon 
and California. Some few of us may have been 
favored with a sample sent iu a letter by a 
friend. Rut let us have a barrel or two accom- 
1 by a bunch of the ears and straw, and 
at the same time let us have specimens from 
X >va Scolia,New Brunswick,and M tine, I 
pare with samples from Minnesota and Kansas. 
l.'-t Southern Illinois and Western New York 
show us what effect climate has on tiie t] 
of wheat; Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, 
Wisconsin, and Iowa, should also contribute. 
Pennsylvania, too. raises goo 1 wheat, and Dela- 
ware, Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina, 
ought to be able to show us superb samples. 
And then, what a chance such an exhibition 
will afford us to gc r a change of seed, and of the 
choicest kinds ! We could get a bushel from 
lei from Southern Illinois, or 
from Virginia, and thus, if of the same variety, 
ascertain whether wheat brought from the 
North will ripen earlier or later than seed 
brought from the South — a question on which 
authorities hold different opinions. For one. I 
feel grateful to Mr. Judd for calling attention, 
by Ids liberal offer, to the importance of exhib- 
iting and comparing our best wheats from dif- 
ferent sections of the country. The prizes are 
worth competing for. but aside from that, wheat 
growers shonl 1 d > all they can to make a good 
display for the sake of eliciting useful informa- 
tion, and enabling us all to get a change of seed. 
I understand the intention is to give all the 
exhibitors an opportunity of selling their wheat 
at auction on the fair grounds without charge. 
The dairymen of Herkimer County are in a 
sad condition. Two or three years ago, they 
complained that the State Agricultural Society 
was wholly m the interest of the wheat growers, 
and did nothing for them. The Society has 
done something for us. It offered nearly as 
large a Premium for the Best Barrel of "Wheat 
as for the Second Best Linen Diaper. But when 
it seemed that the midge would cause the entire 
abandonment of wheat growing in Western 
New York, we got no help from the State. We 
fought it alone, and conquered. The dairymen 
have suffered greatly from a disease among their 
cows, audi, for one, am very glad that the State, 
through the influence of the Society, has author- 
ized some of the ablest scientific men in the 
country to investigate the matter at the public 
expense. But the dairymen should not com- 
plain of being neglected. They have now an- 
other trouble. We had supposed that, as they 
have received double and treble prices for their 
cheese, and as it takes less labor to produce a 
dollar's worth of cheese than a dollar's worth of 
wheat, or of potatoes, or corn, they were mak- 
ing money. At a recent meeting of the Little 
Fall-, (Herkimer Co.,) Farmers' Club, this sub- 
ject was discusssed, and everyone of the speak- 
ers presented statements of receipts and expen- 
ditures of dairy farms, showing an actual loss 
with cheese at 14 cents per pound. Before the 
war, with cheese at 7 cents per pound, they made 
money, so at least they now say ; but at the 
present time, owing to high wages and taxes, 
there is no profit in making cheese at 14 cents. 
Here is one of the reported statements : 
'• Hon. Josiah Shull, of Mohawk, has a farm of 
81 1 j acres, which cost $100 per acre. He keeps 
20 cows. His estimate is as follows, making no 
account for the farm : 
EPTS. 
Twenty cows yielding 8,337 pounds i 
whole sold roi s! t 22,8 per hit 
Increase on cotter (critter?) for beef 40.00 

Total receipts - ! 
EXPENSES. 
Bov six months rani board 
Man. including board 
Fertilizers— plaster, ii' 
T8.00 
1 other repairs of farm implc- 
m at- 
Wear and tear of implements 
wildings I " " I 
Insurance 
Lis 
Carting milk and manufacturing cheese 
Total expenses slJJU»iW 
Loss S 
In this estimate, it will be remarked that noih- 
in_' is charged for farm, for female labor, or for su- 
perintendence and work by Mr. Sir 
All the grant raised upon the farm is coi 
by them and stock. It wili lie seen that the 
i costs more than $14.25 per hundred. The 
statement was considerc 1 by Lhe< a v ry fair 
If litis is a " very fair estimate," Mr. Shull 
either paid too much for his land, or he does not 
farm it to the best advantage. Perhaps, how- 
ever, the house and buildings are expensive 
ones. He paid (10,595 for the farm. If the 
house is worth $10,000, the land cost him $595. 
This is more than it is worth, according to tie' 
above statement. An amateur drover took a lot 
of cattle to New York, and lost money by the 
operation. "But then." said he, m relating his 
experience to a friend, '• I had the pleasure of 
their company down." Mr. S. has the pleasure 
of looking at his 20 cows and the "beef o 
at a yearly expense of $34.33. The cost is far 
less than a box at the opera. But, seriously, 
taking the statement as it appears, there is 
something radically wrong. The difficulty does 
not lie wholly in the increase of wages and 
taxes. The Club admits that formerly they made' 
money with cheese at 7 cents per pound. At 
this figure, the receipts would stand thus: 
20 cows, yielding S.33" pounds of cheese. 
Increase on animals for beef ... i0.00 
Calves 4 5.00 
$668.59 
If labor and taxe3 formerly cost nothing, the 
receipts would not afford a princely income ; 
they would not pay interest on cost of the farm. 
Probably the real explanation of the matter is 
this. The land cost but little, and the farmer and 
his family did pretty much all the work; they 
lived economically, had no rent to pay, and 
supplied the table from the farm, and conse- 
quently were able to lay up money even with 
receipts less than SV00 per annum. They can 
do so now by adopting the same system. The 
receipts are double, and the expenses are not 
more than double, and consequently the profits 
must be double what they were formerly. — The 
labor items are as follows: 
Bov. six months and board J1S0.O0 
Man, including board 360.00 
Carting milk and manufacturing cheese 215.00 
S755.GO 
The following line, which is taken from the 
statement, is interesting by way of contrast : 
Fertilizers, piaster, &c $18.00 
Seven hundred and fifty-five dollars for extra 
labor, and eighteen dollars for extra manure! 
Reverse the figures for a few years, and cheese- 
making at 14 cents a pound will pay. And by 
that time, Patrick and Dutch John, as well 
as Btidget, Will be willing to share pi 
with the farmer, instead of demanding the 
whole. Instead of keeping 20 cows on a ten 
thousand dollar farm, and raising nothing be- 
sides, it could soon be made to keep fifty ; and 
instead of the "depreciation and interest on 
being a charge to the farm of 5:0.00 a 
head, it would improve $9.00 a head. Ami in- 
stead of getting 400 pounds of cheese from a 
cow, 500 pounds would be obtained. The re- 
ceipts would then stand : 
500 pounds of cheese each, @ 14 eta 
in value of stock, beef sold, Ac 
Calves 
With such receipts, a farmer can aif 
pay a liberal sum for hired help. Our i i ly 
chance of being able to pay high wages audi high 
taxes is by high farming. Low farming neces- 
sitates doing your own work, having iow- 
priced hind, anil adopting an economical style 
of living. The fact that ■/'! the statements made 
at the meeting showed that there was no profit 
in cheese-making, looks a little as though the 
was to discourage others from engaging 
in the business. I am inclined to think the prof T 
its have been overestimatad, and it will be well 
for outsiders to wait a while before investing 
largely iu cows and cheese factory shales. 
An old friend of mine, now a Methodist min- 
ister in Canada, writes : "I once in a while get 
a chance of a Walk and Talk with you through 
the Agrieultwritt, and am glad to find you still 
battling for the right in Agriculture. If you do 
succeed in getting farmers to farm just right, 
what will you do witli all the crops? It is slow 
work to convince farmers that they ought to 
bury their talents iu the earth in the shape of 
underdrains, but I believe what is wrong in 
theology is right iu farming. I was trying to 
convince a friend of mine that it would pay him 
t i crow money at 8 per cent, to invest in un- 
derdrawing his farm. Two years since, the 
fall was so wet he could not put in his winter 
wheat, or do any fall plowing. In the spring, 
the land was stiil very wet, and not having any 
of the land plowed, the crops could not be got 
in till very late. Then came the drouth, and 
the crops were, not worth harvesting. He did 
not make enough from a farm of 125 acres to 
pay his single hired hand. One would think 
such facts would convince him of the advantage 
of draining, but I have no idea of his doing it. 
Yet he says las dish is always upside down 
I when it rains porridge." All the poor man wants 
